Takara-Tomy FOC Bruticus in game-accurate colours & Encore G2 Devastator

[kup]

RobotKingdom has got ahold of the pre-orders now, will cost $156 for the single order with the cheapest shipping option, insured.

That's the Asia Exclusive Energon repaint, not the Takara-Tomy Fall of Cybertron Bruticus release.

So what's going on with that? I thought that this toy was a Hasbro Asia exclusive and not Tomy's. So they are releasing two simultaneous Bruticus sets now? (Energon and FOC)

If they are trying to cash in on the popularity of the FP Crossfire set with that then they are very late for the party as all are sold out. Not much of a market if the only way to get the upgrades is on inflated price after market.


You can see the Tomy FOC Bruticus toys for pre-order here:

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services...ID=119&lang=us

They are $31 ($155 total) before shipping so not cheap.

[SuspectimusPrime]

That's the Asia Exclusive Energon repaint, not the Takara-Tomy Fall of Cybertron Bruticus release.

So what's going on with that? I thought that this toy was a Hasbro Asia exclusive and not Tomy's. So they are releasing two simultaneous Bruticus sets now? (Energon and FOC)

You can see the Tomy FOC Bruticus toys for pre-order here:

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services...ID=119&lang=us

They are $31 ($155 total) before shipping so not cheap.

Thanks for the correction! (Sorry everyone! Maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to be posting at an ungodly hour )

The branding is quite confusing - both Henkei UM and Energon/ROTF repaint Bruticus both has TakTom's logo on it, whilst both excluding Japan. UM being exclusively Chinese (like Reissue Sixshot; and albeit having Japanese written on the box art), and Bruticus being exclusively Asian. Perhaps both reissues are wearing the TakTom label to reflect greater perceived quality, and so, greater price justification? Kind of the opposite of what happened to Hasbro HK's DOTM Que/Wheeljack, though there was no blatant profiteering in that response to their market.

If they are trying to cash in on the popularity of the FP Crossfire set with that then they are very late for the party as all are sold out. Not much of a market if the only way to get the upgrades is on inflated price after market.

It is odd, the logic seems reversed.
* No reissues for FP Munitioner/Explorer, whilst the target market is not limited to China.
* Henkei UM is aimed only at China, but FP City Commander was recently reissued officially from FP, and unofficially through their KO-er's. Also interesting to note that there has never been a KO of UM.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

The branding is quite confusing - both Henkei UM and Energon/ROTF repaint Bruticus both has TakTom's logo on it, whilst both excluding Japan. UM being exclusively Chinese (like Reissue Sixshot; and albeit having Japanese written on the box art), and Bruticus being exclusively Asian. Perhaps both reissues are wearing the TakTom label to reflect greater perceived quality, and so, greater price justification?

I wouldn't be surprised if you were onto something there. To hazard a guess, Hasbro Asia has seen there's a niche market for these pieces and has decided to take advantage of it, probably with suitably exclusive prices to boot.
Personally I'm quite glad about it, even at the inflated 'exclusive' costs it's cheaper than the secondary market (if you can find the pieces there at all), so pretty much everybody wins (sort of) except those looking to charge ridiculous prices on the secondary market.
As for the add-on sets themselves, well...

* No reissues for FP Munitioner/Explorer, whilst the target market is not limited to China.
* Henkei UM is aimed only at China, but FP City Commander was recently reissued officially from FP, and unofficially through their KO-er's.

...FP (and the other 3rd Party Producers) aren't under the official HasTakTom umbrella (and are officially frowned upon to boot, to the point of being banned at Botcon), and thus Hasbro Asia can't really commission extra runs of their complementary items.
It's up to FP if they want/are able to do more runs of Explorer/Munitioner/City Commander, though I imagine there'd be no lack of demand if they did.
As far as 'aimed only at China' goes, yes and no...while China is a pretty large and growing market, I'd be very surprised if the powers-that-be at Hasbro Asia were unaware of much of the fandom's willingness to import exclusive/hard-to-find TFs at heftier prices. Perhaps it's more like 'released in China, aimed at whoever is willing to buy them'.
It's not like Hasbro sells directly to us after all, they sell to suppliers who then sell them on to us. They still get paid whether those suppliers are BBTS or Toys R Us.

Also interesting to note that there has never been a KO of UM.

Umm, yes there has.
I picked one up last year thinking it was genuine. Happily it turns out the wheels can be used to mod Generations Springer into a triple-changer, so it wasn't a total waste.

[kup]

yes there has.
I picked one up last year thinking it was genuine. Happily it turns out the wheels can be used to mod Generations Springer into a triple-changer, so it wasn't a total waste.

That is FANTASTIC!

[Zippo]

Drat, now I do feel bad that I ordered 2 of the SDCC Bruticus. One was going to be opened but once I had it in hand I couldn't justify it since of the rather large sum of $ that it cost to aquire.

Hope for offical (non 'shopped') picture soon so I can decide my opening plans for Bruticus and his many repaints.