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Best news all weekend. Anyone know if you can order masterpiece TFs from TRU online?

Stormrider wrote:What the heck Takara? How come Hasbro can release the same figure for less?

Different market expectations are a big part of it. In Japan, EVERYTHING is expensive compared to what we're used to paying for the same or similar items, even without the exchange rate making things worse. Just look at the price of their normal Transformers releases. It's what, 2700 yen for a Deluxe? That's about $30. You charge that much in America, you can kiss your sales goodbye. So right off the bat you know the price is going to have to be lower in America to make it appealing enough that consumers feel the product is worth the amount they pay for it. We also don't know if there's any differences in composition, like cheaper plastic or removing the die-cast. If so, those would help account for it. Hasbro is probably selling it at much closer to production cost for a smaller profit margin with the hope that the price will lead to enough sales to make up for that.

I'm pretty surprised to see people complaining about Hasbro's release of MP-10 or any of the reveals this year at Botcon. I remember last year people going on about how cool the WFC "sub-line" was, but bitched about how limited the characters were. Now they're giving us more characters and the Geewun fanboys are having a fit. The line is called Generations for a reason. It's supposed to encompass ALL generations and iterations of the Transformers franchise. I personally would love it if they DIDN'T reference the G1 toy line ALL the time. Give G2 some more love. Hell, some Armada characters could really use some updates (Starscream, Megatron, Sideswipe). Even Beast Machines should be referenced every once in a while; I'd love to see a Botanica toy.

I guess the point is that you can't please the fandom as a whole. Hasbro could give MP-10 away FOR FREE with a super model that gave free blowjobs every time you Transformed the figure and I bet there would STILL be fans who would complain that she used too much teeth.

Awesome, must have with trailer (and a 50% discount)!

samikai wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I'll say it again. Making it TrU exclusive is total bullshit because so many of us will miss out on him and we will have no choices but to pay scalper prices on Ebay.

To hell with store exclusives!

This!

How many people had to overpay for TRU Masterpiece Grimlock? Heck, how many of you never saw him or Rodimus at stores. Good luck to those who want the US release.

I never saw Rodimus, but Grimlock actually shelfwarmed at the local TRU for quite a while, believe it or not. I would've bought one, but $70 wasn't in my budget at the time.

Likewise, I think $100 is a fair price for this OP (it's what I paid for the original MP Convoy import) but I just don't have the spare dough anymore.

I saw both Grimlock and Rodimus at my TRU. Picked up Grimlock for 80.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I think what people are forgetting is just what this release means. Before all the US MP had to fit into a certain shelf space, this was one of the reasons Rodimus didn't come with his trailer. Hasbro is taking a huge chance with this toy due to the size of the packaging. Prime takes up roughly the same space as two voyagers side by side, he wouldn't work at Target or Wal-mart due to the lost space. Would you rather see Prime at Target for a slightly lower price or plenty of Voyagers for you to buy? Remember Transformers at TRU have a much larger area.

If size was an issue Walmart and Target would not have had Ultimate Optimus on shelf as he was as wide as 2 voyagers and about 5 inches higher in box height. Not only did they have Ultimate but many stores near me had 6-8 on the shelf. Target and Walmart toy space may be small but they plan out according to seasonal, promotional, and manufacturer line changes. This allows movement of product placement and helps accommodate things like size constraints.

I think TRU might be a better fit due to the figures price point. Walmart sold Starscream well, but I believe when Skywarp tanked and they had to clearance so many that might have soured their desire to carry anymore. TRU seemed to fair better with the price point of the MP line an even sold them after they price hiked the figures.

Again, very impressed with how hasbro are handling this figure. If the $100 price tag turns out to be true then that's simply amazing.

Living in the UK I'll inevitably have to import either way, so I may still get the Takara version just because I slightly prefer the colours on that one.

Sodan-1 wrote:Again, very impressed with how hasbro are handling this figure. If the $100 price tag turns out to be true then that's simply amazing.

Living in the UK I'll inevitably have to import either way, so I may still get the Takara version just because I slightly prefer the colours on that one.

Not so, Toys R Us UK seem to get in the MPs okay. They might not restock, but there was a 2nd wave of MP Grimlock that seemed to hang about for ages.