FEBRUARY 2015 Japanese (and HK excl) toy items

[griffin]

These are TakaraTomy toys I currently know about, and maybe some significant licensed items, scheduled for release in FEBRUARY in Japan & Asia (most JP toys are also released through Hasbro Hong Kong).

These monthly lists are archived on the Australian Transformers Checklist here if you need to refer to a completed list later.

Dates and details can change at any time - Approximate yen prices listed are just a rough guide to their retail price in Japan.
(posting corrections or additions are greatly appreciated - I will try to update as often as I can)


FEBRUARY

Kreo Capsule Kreons (x12) - February 12
Optimus Prime (Custom version), Bumblebee (Custom version), Jazz, Ratchet, Red Alert, Mirage, Megatron (Custom version), Starscream (Custom version), Shockwave, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave.

Legends
LG-10 - Arcee - February 14 (4,500yen)
LG-11 - Chromia - February 14 (4,500yen)
LG-12 - Windblade - February 14 (4,500yen)

Sega Genesis Megatron (1,000 units) - February 20 (10,000 yen)

Q-Transformers
QT-11 - Gen1 Jazz (new - Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86) - February 21 (1000yen)
QT-12 - Gen1 Sunstreaker (new - Mazda RX-7 FD3S) - February 21 (1000yen)
QT-13 - Gen1 Red Alert (remould Lambor - Lamborghini Countach LP500S) - February 21 (1000yen)
QT-14 - Gen1 Smokescreen (redeco Prowl - Nissan FairladyZ 280Z-T) - February 21 (1000yen)

Playstation Optimus - February 28 (10,000 yen)

Bearbrick Movie Optimus - February 28 (6,000 yen) - (Licensed product - NOT released by TakaraTomy)


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FUTURE ITEMS - for reference, to be moved to next month's topic
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MARCH

Masterpiece
MP-23 - Exhaust - March 21 (was Feb 28) (7,000 yen)
MP-24 - Star Saber - March 21 (was March 15) (19,000 yen)

Cloud
TFC-A04 - Cloud Ironhide (redeco VOY GEN Roadbuster) (5940 yen - TakaraTomy Mall excl) - March 21 (5,940 yen)
TFC-D04 - Cloud Hellwarp (redeco VOY GEN Sky-Byte/Gelshark) (5940 yen - Ehobby excl) - March (5,500 yen)

Q-Transformers
QT-15 - (Gen1) Hound (new - Suzuki Hustler) - March 21 (1000yen)
QT-16 - (Binaltech) Bluestreak (new - Subaru WRX Sti) - March 21 (1000yen)
QT-17 - (Gen1) Tracks (remould Crosshairs - Chevrolet Corvette C7) - March 21 (1000yen)
QT-18 - (Movie) Nemesis Prime (redeco Movie Optimus - Western Star 4900SB) - March 21 (1000yen)

Transformers Adventure
TAV01 - Bumblebee (RID Warrior) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV02 - Grimlock (RID Warrior) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV03 - Strongarm (RID Warrior) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV04 - Steeljaw (RID Warrior) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV05 - Fixit (RID One-Step) - March 21 (1600yen)
TAV06 - Underbite (RID One-Step) - March 21 (1600yen)
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TAV07 - Roadblock (light green/purple redeco GEN DLX Scoop) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV08 - Gurijiba/Greenjeeper (mid green/orange redeco RID Warrior Strongarm) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV09 - Swoop (black/red/grey redeco Animated DLX Swoop) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV10 - Slug/Slag (purple/red redeco Animated DLX Snarl) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV11 - Bloody Knockout (grey/black/red redeco Beast Hunters DLX Knockout) - March 21 (2700yen)
TAV12 - Dreadwing (dark blue/gold redeco Beast Hunters Dreadwing) - March 21 (2700yen)
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TAVVS01 - Bumblebee Vs Steeljaw (same decos?) - March 21 (4800yen)
TAVVS02 - Grimlock Vs Greenjeeper (same decos?) - March 21 (4800yen)

Transformers Adventure (Gimmick)
TED01 - Bumblebee (RID Hyper-Change - same deco?) - March 21 (3800yen)
TED02 - Grimlock (RID Hyper-Change - same deco?) - March 21 (3800yen)
TED03 - Sideswipe (RID One-Step - minor redeco) - March 21 (1600yen)
TED04 - Prowl (AOE One-Step - minor redeco) - March 21 (1600yen)
TED05 - Junkion (AOE Power Battler - blue/grey redeco) - March 21 (1900yen)

Transformers Adventure EZ promo (with 3000y purchase)
Bumblebee (translucent yellow) - ToysRUs.
Steeljaw (translucent purple) - Edion, BIC, Kojima.
Strongarm (translucent blue) - Hakuhinkan TOY PARK Ginza, White Peony Ishinomaki shop, Yamada Denki, Yodobashi Camera.

DMK-02 - Dual Model Kit TF3 Bumblebee (reissue) - March (3,700 yen)

Million Publishing Go-Shooter - Feb/Mar??

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APRIL

Transformers Adventure
TAV13 - Nemesis Prime (black/aqua redeco RID Warrior Optimus) - April (2,500yen)
TAV14 - Ultra Magnus (Beast Hunters VOY - minor redeco) - April (4,300yen)

Transformers Adventure (Gimmick)
TED06 - Big Optimus Prime - April (3,600yen)

Q-Transformers
QT-19 Gen1 Convoy - April 25 (1000yen)
QT-20 (??) Megatron (grey Lamborghini Neno) - April 25 (1000yen)

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MAY

Transformers Adventure
TAV15 - Lockdown (Animated DLX redeco?) - May (3,500yen)
TAV16 - Bombshell (GEN Legends redeco?) - May (1,300yen)
TAV17 - Shrapnel (GEN Legends redeco?) - May (1,300yen)

Transformers Adventure (Gimmick)
TED07 - Bumblebee (RID One-Step?) - May (1,500yen)

Legends
LG-13 - Gen1 Megatron (Leader) - May 30 (7,000yen)

Masterpiece
MP-10 Convoy reissue - May 31 (20,000 yen)

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JUNE

Unite Warriors
UW-01 - Superion boxset (Silverbolt, Firefly, Slingshot, Airraid, Skydive) - June (14,000yen)

Transformers Adventure
TAV18 - Drift (RID Warrior - redeco?) - June (2,500yen)
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TAV19 - Powerglide (GEN Legends redeco?) - June (1,300yen)
TAV20 - Adams (Cosmos) (GEN Legends redeco?) - June (1,300yen)
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TAVVS03 - Strongarm Vs Snarl (same decos?) - June (4,500yen)

Transformers Adventure (Gimmick)
TED08 - Steeljaw (RID One-Step?) - June (1,500yen)
TED09 - Grimlock (RID One-Step?) - June (1,500yen)

Q-Transformers
QT-21 (??) Skids (redeco Hound - blue Suzuki Hustler) - June 27 (1000yen)
QT-21 (??) Drift (remould Sunstreaker - white Mazda RX-7 FD3S) - June 27 (1000yen)

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JULY

Masterpiece
MP-21G - Gen2 Gold Bumble - July 25 (5,000yen)

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UNKNOWN (at the time of last update)


Hasbro Hong Kong/Asia
APS-01U - Asia Premium Series Ultimate Optimus (Jetwing Optimus w/t accessories) - FEB-APR? (US$???)
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.
.

[griffin]

Legends Arcee in box, looking very nice in its closer Gen1 colours to the Hasbro version, but that's understandable considering the demands of retailers in both markets.
Hasbro would have been trying to reduce or offset (with black) as much pink as possible on this "boys" toy, that is really only going to appeal to the long-time fans (as opposed to other Generations toys that are still going to sell to non-fans or new fans because of how it looks on the shelf).
And since it was originally planned to be moulded to allow for a Blurr redeco, but the designers managed to convince the higher ups against it, this is a mould that may have to rely on sales of Arcee units to make its money back. (I think we'll see a Paradron Medic within a couple years by FunPub... but that won't earn Hasbro/TT much money to help pay for the R&D.)


I think it is probably going to be the definitive toy version of the original Gen1 Arcee from the cartoon & comic... and is likely to be the only one we will ever see that homages that version of the Arcee character name. (which is why I'm tempted to get a Japanese version as well, just to have the pinker, Gen1 version)

Anyone else getting this one, in place of the Hasbro version, or even in addition to the Hasbro version?

[prjkt]

I'm not too sure. I'm tempted, but while I enjoyed the G1 cartoon as a kid, I never saw the movie or S3/4 until only recently, so I'm not too attached to the character.

Hasbro Arcee is great I imo, I kind of prefer the black parts, as it breaks up the outline and adds contrast, and is good enough for my classics collection, which is mostly updated/reimagined forms of G1 characters, so colour me happy. Again this is just my opinion, and I can see the point in desiring a perfect G1 accurate figure as it's be the first we'd ever have.

[Bladestorm]

I will probably get this for my daughter as she collects the fembots (and LOVES the Hasbro Arcee). I will wait till I see it on the shelves here though before I decide.

Not sure if anyone is interested, but thought I would include some on the ground (in HK) pricing/info for a couple of the upcoming releases:

Pre-orders of Gold Bumble here are HK$290 (works out around AU$48)
Pre-orders of the Tak Tomy MP-10 are HK$1099 (works out around AU$182)

None of the shops I've visited so far have even heard about the Ultimate Optimus - no pre-orders or prices for that. (Having said that most of them haven't heard about the Barricade/Soundwave release either... so I'm starting to wonder other than RK who has access to these in HK).

[ampoldj]

Havent made PO on exhaust and Star Saber and most PO are already closed. With AUD still down i dont think i won't be able to grab those 2 in time just hopefully Star Saber's price doesn't go off the roof til i can get him. Good thing i got PO on MP10 Convoy Reissue from TFi, just not sure if their 85aud price for G2 Bumblebee the best PO price in the market now.

[griffin]

Also out February 14th with Arcee is Chromia, and a picture of it in box can be seen here.

This one is also being packed in a box in vehicle mode, but probably should have been packed in robot mode to make it look bigger, as the condensed bike mode leaves a lot of empty space in the box.

[griffin]

The third of the trio of fembots for next week in Japan is Windblade, and it's packaging image has been released on twitter as well by Hisashi Yuki.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Dammit Amazon Japan has some price gougin going there.

[griffin]

Do they have free shipping like Amazon US? If so, that might be why, as the Amazon US prices on toys are usually a dollar or two above retail to offset their "free" shipping.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

From some stores, yeah, shipping's free, but not usually. The trouble is, while Arcee was pretty reasonable from Takara's Amazon presence, she sold out pretty quickly and now the gouger-type outlets have all the available stock.

I missed out on her by maybe an hour or two...stoopid cleaning my house before pre-ordering TFs.

Anyway @TC, I recommend hitting up Yamada Denki, possibly Bic Camera if you have one nearby. There aren't any Bic Cameras near where I'm at so I don't know if they're stocking CHUG stuff these days. Joshin seems to be skipping most of the CHUG range, and even the most reasonable hobby shop adds a mark-up over and above standard retail (the best hobby shop I've found for new stuff is Capsule G-One in Den Den Town btw).

EDIT - I'm planning a shopping trip to Den Den Town this Saturday to pick one up, so you're welcome to join me if you can make it to Namba by 11-11:30ish (and if your missus doesn't mind you going toy shopping on Valentine's Day).