Quote Originally Posted by UltraMarginal View Post
I think you're right, I'm getting a feeling that this 'crowd funding' is just another tool to engage the fans. They have put in so much work and development to this already, there must be some kind of mould already created, maybe even a soft aluminium or silicon mould. Close up shots don't show any striations like you might expect from 3D printed parts. even if it's just the visible parts of each mode, that's still most of it. Yes there's probably a fair amount of NRE (Non recurring Engineering ) left to perform, to clean it up from a transformation perspective but to not proceed with this now would be a massive investment loss for Hasbro and Takara. Especially that the fine print does say that they will be looking for other avenues to distribute to the rest of the world once funded.
I agree with this sentiment, as I think they probably wanted to see just how much support there would be by the really obsessed people who want a (realistic) Unicron toy, could afford this at short notice... and if they got above a certain amount (which their bean-counters would already have designated), they would still go ahead with it. I think the Japanese listing will help get the numbers they need, and it should mean Hasbro HK should be offering it somehow as well, as they have a significant customer base as well (big enough to support BOTH Hasbro and TakaraTomy toys in their countries).
And since this would be a once-only toy (until probably the 50th anniversary) because this release will take out most of the people willing and able to afford a toy like this of a character that will only appeal to certain eras of the fandom, they are going to need to make sure this one production run pays for the entire process, and makes a bit on the side. My guess is maybe reaching six or seven thousand backers they will go ahead and produce their minimum number, and then sell off the rest to those who were able to save up their money during the 20 months it took to release it (or keep pre-selling it during that time until the total number are sold).