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New magazine scans have surfaced that give us some new looks at many upcoming Takara Tomy figures:

• AM-21 Arms Master Optimus Prime
• Gaia Unicron
• AM-20 Ironhide
• AMW 10-12
• MP-12 Lambor
• MP-13 Soundwave
• MP-14 Red Alert
• United EX Jet Master Prime
• United EX Combat Master Prime
• United EX Roller Master vs Chopper Master
• Sci-Fi Revoltech #040 - Optimus Prime DX

As expected; Ironhide only has 1 cannon in the AM version. Well, if he's a Tak exclusive, I could always give him Kup's cannons.

unicron looks pretty good on his own. dont know about this whole combining thing. will be picking this one up.

Unicron's micron turns into a poop.

Hey, the first colour photos of Masterpiece Red Alert. Looks like TakaraTomy went with a red head.

Finally! Some half-decent photos of Unicron. He looks badass with gold chrome, and I'm glad he has his own alt-mode as those combined forms look poor. Really want to troop build the guy.

MP Soundwave isn't looking quite as good now he's in colour. Still cool.

Takara's Weaponizer Optimus is looking pretty shiny as well. I've seen the Hasbro one in-hand and it's seriously not a bad looking figure. Truck mode sucks. S'all looking like good stuff.

RhA wrote:Unicron's micron turns into a Dinosur monster.

Fixed.

Good to see Uni will fit on the BAD GUY as well, although that means the armor is more wrap around and makes me worry about stability. I however forsee a possesing Unicfoand will be trying to wrap him around all kinds of other figures

I'm guessing this confirms that Soundwave's cassette will in fact be Laserbeak and not Buzzsaw, unless the colouration is off. I always liked Buzzsaw better, but Laserbeak is obviously the more popular choice. The only thing that would have me second-guessing is the beak appears to be orange/yellow, which is a Buzzsaw trait, whereas Laserbeak in the G1 show had a grey beak. But yeah, almost certainly Laserbeak. I like finally getting to see Red Alert in his full glory, looking forward to these new MPs.

Soundwave looks damn good, but I'm not buying into Masterpieces for the most part. I would be interested in some of those PCC figs, but only if the costs can come down on some of them.

hahaaaaa Ironhide looks awesome

Trikeboy wrote:Hey, the first colour photos of Masterpiece Red Alert. Looks like TakaraTomy went with a red head.

TTomy went with a half toy accurate (red thigh) and half toon accurate (red head). They already gave him red head, should've went the extra mile with the white thigh and be full toon accurate.

loads of good stuff there. Prime with the Matrix/sword looks pretty cool. Going to have to look at some reviews of the basic figure though to see if it's worth the extra cost when all I really want is the accessories.
Unicron looks pretty cool. Or hot rather. I know he's rocks, but he looks like fire which is reasonably awesome. Not sure on the various alt modes.
Prime/AM Ironhide isn't doing much for me. It's not bad, but I don't need it. MP Sideswipe and Alert are cool looking, but don't really appeal to me. Soundwave looks okay, but yeah, he looked better in the grey prototype preview we seen, somehow. Maybe with better pics of the final painted one. Regardless, as cool as he is, it's the cassettes I'm really wanting.
The PCCs just looks cleaned up and given some really good photography. Not sure there's enough there with those sets to warrant a 2nd pop at them. The Movie-verse Prime thing at the bottom does nothing for me.

HOWEVER! I'm very happy to see that AM 10-12 are Soundwave's (which we already knew), Bulkhead's (in blue, but still, saves me buying AM Bulk) and Arcee's who is pretty decent looking as well. Am on the fence about the shield thing, but probably go for these. Bulk's one at least.

With Shining R.A. of Arms Master Optimus, and the B.H. and Arc repaints, the Star Saber and Galaxy Launcher will be mine yet!

The only thing worthy of purchase on that page was Lazerbeak!

Everything else is "Meh" at best.

Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

I am tempted to pre-order Alert, as it would be nice to have a Cybertron Security Director in my collection. But I am also hoping that they will reissue MP-8 Grimlock... So I have to wait and see.

And with Soundwave, he is also tempting. He is tied to my childhood, and yet... I feel no connection with him these days. So I guess I should just hope for a Soundblaster version.

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

It's because he is a more complicated piece, as it was made to include up to three cassettes. That, and it also includes an extra Transformer (Laserbeak) piece. So I am seriously assuming that it costs them a bit more to make him than it does to make the other two.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

It's because he is a more complicated piece, as it was made to include up to three cassettes. That, and it also includes an extra Transformer (Laserbeak) piece. So I am seriously assuming that it costs them a bit more to make him than it does to make the other two.

I think you missed my point. If Sideswipe Alert is the equivalent of, say, 64 US dollars, and BBTS charges $84; then why is Soundwave costing the equivalent of $72 and BBTS is charging $170? That's a huge markup. According to the pictures, Soundwave only costs 500 more yen than Red Alert. So it's not even $8. Closer to $6.

Also, Sideswipe in October. Did we know that already?

How I wish for a supreme Unicron. This one looks awesome though...I still don't get the combining gimmick however.

datguy86 wrote:

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

It's because he is a more complicated piece, as it was made to include up to three cassettes. That, and it also includes an extra Transformer (Laserbeak) piece. So I am seriously assuming that it costs them a bit more to make him than it does to make the other two.

I think you missed my point. If Sideswipe Alert is the equivalent of, say, 64 US dollars, and BBTS charges $84; then why is Soundwave costing the equivalent of $72 and BBTS is charging $170? That's a huge markup. According to the pictures, Soundwave only costs 500 more yen than Red Alert. So it's not even $8. Closer to $6.

Also, Sideswipe in October. Did we know that already?

I am not missing your point. You are missing mine. Soundwave is a more complicated piece. He includes the new feature of placing three tape-based Transformers in him. And atop of that, he comes with a MP version of Laserbeak. So my point is that because of that additional feature, and the possible difference in his size, is more of a $120 piece. And with the addition of Laserbeak, it becomes a $140-$150 piece.

Also, the Japanese market does not follow the same practices here. So when it comes to a product like this, you will find that Takara Tomy will sell it for less there than here. Simply because the said retail price is how much it is worth if you bought it there. However, over here, they have to include a set price... Any possible transition fees... Shipping costs... And make it where both they and the import stores that buy these items can both make a solid profit.

Thankfully, they do not follow the practices when it comes to DVDs/BDs in Japan.

And actually, I did not. So thanks for the head-up, which makes me think I'll have enough time to decide if my 11th/12th/etc. will be him. (I'm trying to be very picky, even though I have missed out on a number of items that I do/did want.)

YoungPrime wrote:The only thing worthy of purchase on that page was Lazerbeak!

Everything else is "Meh" at best.

Laserbeak comes with Soundwave, who makes a nice MP piece. So I am surprised you said he was "Meh" at all.

Besides, the other two MPs are complete surprises as these are very minor characters. Lambor was mainly a season 1 character, and Alert is only best known for his paranoia-based glitch.

But the rest... I agree with you. But I guess it is because I have no emotional attachment to those characters.

Can't wait for Sideswipe and Soundwave. I'll get Red Alert later..... the rest, really not interested, especially the PCC stuff.......

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

No, the price is right. You missed the 10000 Yen Symbol in the front. 1万６５９０円

Deruji wrote:

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

No, the price is right. You missed the 10000 Yen Symbol in the front. 1万６５９０円

Thanks for pointing out the price. It greatly helped me understand what he was saying as I was wondering why he said it was so low.

That, and I wish I knew the actual price now... As I feel like a dork relying on old information tied to importing and pricing.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

Deruji wrote:

datguy86 wrote:Huh. Soundwave is only about $8 more expensive than Sideswipe or Red Alert, but we'll be paying twice as much. The Hell?

No, the price is right. You missed the 10000 Yen Symbol in the front. 1万６５９０円

Thanks for pointing out the price. It greatly helped me understand what he was saying as I was wondering why he said it was so low.

That, and I wish I knew the actual price now... As I feel like a dork relying on old information tied to importing and pricing.

At the current(2012.08.23) exchange rate(100Yen~1.30$) 16590 Yen are about 215$