War For Cybertron - Earthrise

[griffin]

I wonder if Hasbro pressured Takara for consistent paint apps to prevent competition, or did Takara just underestimate how much of their base was overseas collectors? When it was different colours I was often on the fence, but extra accessories like arms-microns made it essential to buy a TakaraTomy spare

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hasbro telling them to keep the toys the same, just to increase their own sales, from those western collectors who might have been buying the Japanese versions if they had better colours or accessories (which would be people like me who would pick and choose the various figures from Japan or Hasbro that appealed to me).
I used to buy a fair few regular retail toys from Japan, but this year it has dried up almost completely, thanks to the mainlines being identical and the over-priced Masterpiece toys limiting what I am comfortable with on the high-priced end of the scale. As such, I've only bought four of this years TakaraTomy TFs so far, missing a number of 2019 MPs and some one-off rarities.

[Tha_Phantom]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hasbro telling them to keep the toys the same, just to increase their own sales, from those western collectors who might have been buying the Japanese versions if they had better colours or accessories (which would be people like me who would pick and choose the various figures from Japan or Hasbro that appealed to me).

Not gonna go full PoKeYmAn LiCeNsE level of conspiracy theory here, but I thought it was simply a cost-saving measure for Takara. I mean, even the packaging is near-identical if not exactly the same between Takara and Hasbro now.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hasbro telling them to keep the toys the same, just to increase their own sales, from those western collectors who might have been buying the Japanese versions if they had better colours or accessories (which would be people like me who would pick and choose the various figures from Japan or Hasbro that appealed to me).
I used to buy a fair few regular retail toys from Japan, but this year it has dried up almost completely, thanks to the mainlines being identical and the over-priced Masterpiece toys limiting what I am comfortable with on the high-priced end of the scale. As such, I've only bought four of this years TakaraTomy TFs so far, missing a number of 2019 MPs and some one-off rarities.

Not gonna go full PoKeYmAn LiCeNsE level of conspiracy theory here, but I thought it was simply a cost-saving measure for Takara. I mean, even the packaging is near-identical if not exactly the same between Takara and Hasbro now.

I'm inclined to agree. All these figures would be being made in the same factory. Saves changing paint or doing two separate runs - must be cheaper in the long run.

And would Takara agree to something to boost Hasbro sales if it meant damaging their own? As I've done the same as Griff - I used to have bi-yearly shipments from HLJ, not any more. Nearly all the CW combiner groups I got the UW versions as well due to different paint and sometimes differently done characters. That way I could have the Gestalt set up with the individual bots as well. Didn't bother with the Predacons and Terrorcons as there was no difference, I just got the Hasbro versions.

I suppose it boils down to how much influence Hasbro has over TT. I really don't know personally.

[Sinnertwin]

Look on the bright side, you save money for those of you that used to double dip.

[griffin]

In hand photos of Cliffjumper... which looks to be a really small Deluxe.

[Paulbot]

Looking at Cliffjumper... The scale. Those arms. It's gotta be retooled for Bumblebee right?

[SMHFConvoy]

Looking at Cliffjumper... The scale. Those arms. It's gotta be retooled for Bumblebee right?

Hasbro has said no but it'll get retooled as Runamuck and Runabout

[Tha_Phantom]

Hasbro has said no but it'll get retooled as Runamuck and Runabout

Out of curiosity, when/where did they say that?

[SMHFConvoy]

Out of curiosity, when/where did they say that?

Here

It makes just as much sense as a bumblebee retooled, probably would just need a new head.

[griffin]

In-hand images of Hoist.
These are still 3 months from being released globally, so it's unlikely that these are production figures, but could be test-run figures, which might be very close to the ones we will see at retail.