Perhaps an idea would have been to find the dealer catalogs/packages and list the Hasbro recommended RRP as retailers would then list them at whatever they wanted.
I think for the Alarvez or Bellomo books they mentioned the publisher wanted the current value listed, would need to find the interview. Maybe they are in the same situation.
I would of backed them but a bit too pricey with shipping and like Skullcruncher said not the biggest fan of the black background and for the cost I would want pictures of the packaging too
I am really wary of Kickstarters with long delivery times, but these books look to be almost finished and ready to go to printing. I am going to bite, as I don't have any of the previous photo reference books. Just don't know whether to get both volumes
On the lookout for MISB Headmaster Highbrow, Takara or Hasbro. I'm sure I could make you a sweet deal!
I hate that Bellomo Book but am definitely in the minority with that thought.
There's no need for "current prices" in the book IMO. These aren't books you'd take with you toy hunting and the aftermarket prices vary too much anyway. The original RRP would have been a nice trivia point, but somewhat pointless too.
(If it was me, I'd include the RRP and the original case breakdowns as an appendix, I found those case breakdowns fascinating when I first came across them).
It's a heap of what are little annoyances (that add up) combined with the praise it gets despite these flaws that gets to me.
Little annoyances like:
the rigid template that calls all weapons and accessories "easily lost"
the quality of the toys photographed
the quality of the toy photographs (too much flash, not correct focus)
the personal opinions and assumptions about the toy (or sometimes the tech spects) in the commentary
numerous (mostly pointless) references to the Dreamwave guidebooks and no obvious indication the writer ever read a Marvel Comic
the lack of commentary for later toys "due to space" and not at all because he never read the Marvel Comics.
Interesting, I'll have to take a closer look. I have to be honest, I received it, flicked through it and put it on the shelf next to all the other books I'm going to have time to read one day. He did say that the second edition, the one I have had a lot of better quality toys in it, I've never seen the first edition to know how different they are.
With regards to the comics, it's a pretty safe bet to suggest Brandon has read a lot of the comics I'm guessing.
Maybe the photos are better in the newer edition, but there's other guidebooks with better photos on my shelf than the first edition.
And I wouldn't mind that the author hadn't read the comics, it's just that he says he has, but apart from the (too often) quotes from the Dreamwave MTMTE books he never seems to reference the comics the way he references cartoon episodes (and that's light on too). The book would be better without commentary rather than committing to it, filling space with pointless descriptions of the tech specs bios and then declaring the first year Micromasters "lack inclusion in Transformers continuity and canon" so he's not going to bother. I mean, each of them has a whole page in the Dreamwave MTMTE book at least. One was a wrestler!
Anyway, I've backed this project. Showing my roots as a Transformers Book collector over a Transformers Toy collector, I'll spend $100 on a third party TF book, but wouldn't consider spending $100 on a third party TF toy.