Masterpiece Prowl Found In Toys "R" Us Computers

Oh my god!!!!!!! Yes!!!!

I suppose this is good news. At that price point though, he better come with twin missile launchers. If they were smart they release them in case assortments including Bluestreak and Smokescreen.

Meh! @ $59.99 it's cheaper to import it from Japan..

mooncake623 wrote:Meh! @ $59.99 it's cheaper to import it from Japan..

If you know where I can get them imported to the U.S. for less than $60 including shipping, please share!

I got a Takara Bluestreak because I got one through TFSource's Amazon storefront and was able to apply Amazon credit I had. If this is true about Prowl, I'll wait instead of importing.

On HLJ Wheeljack and Smokescreen are pennies over $50, slow shipping from japan is about $8.

Wonder if they will continue with the style of packaging found on Hasbro and Acid Storm for these little guys?

Great news for everyone who couldn't/ didn't import him.
Bad news for myself as this continues a long string of things I imported only to find out later they will be released domestically;

I suppose this is better than nothing, but I really would like to have seen domestic releases of the Countach mold, preferably Red Alert.

I'm wary of this, as Hasbro will likely wanna change the deco of an otherwise already-perfect figure into being something less than the level of perfection that it already has.

GuyIncognito wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:Meh! @ $59.99 it's cheaper to import it from Japan..

If you know where I can get them imported to the U.S. for less than $60 including shipping, please share!

I got a Takara Bluestreak because I got one through TFSource's Amazon storefront and was able to apply Amazon credit I had. If this is true about Prowl, I'll wait instead of importing.

http://www.anime-export.com/product/17656

here for wheeljack before it sold out. They had Pre-orders for a few weeks.

EDIT: For Prowl I don't mean you can do it now since Japanese retailers are all sold out. but when preorders first went up it can be had for less than $60 shipped.

jamesbenjamin wrote:On HLJ Wheeljack and Smokescreen are pennies over $50, slow shipping from japan is about $8.

HobbyLink Japan? They don't have either figure available, as far as I can tell. Unless I'm missing something, they don't really seem to have much in the way of Transformers at all.

What is the shipping like to the US from Anime Export? I assume they're in China.

Sabrblade wrote:I'm wary of this, as Hasbro will likely wanna change the deco of an otherwise already-perfect figure into being something less than the level of perfection that it already has.

If past domestic MPs are anything to go off of he'll probably have just a few extra paint or decal operations to make him more toy accurate than screen accurate.

Actually with that in mind now that I think about it, Red Alert would probably have a black helmet if he was released...

I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

All the Takara MPs that Hasbro has released have a price about 40% of the original price. MP10 was about $250 initially, showed up here for $100. Soundwave + tapes ran about $250, here he's $120. The seekers are $125, here they're $60-$75.

triKlops wrote:Bad news for myself as this continues a long string of things I imported only to find out later they will be released domestically;

Me too. I bit the bullet just a couple of days ago & placed an order for MP Prowl.

I guess I should cancel my preorder of MP Sideswipe.

This is NOT good news. At all.

TRU EXCLUSIVE GRIMLOCK: Never found at retail.

TRU EXCLUSIVE RODIMUS: Never found at retail.

TRU EXCLUSIVE OPTIMUS PRIME: Never found at retail.

TRU EXCLUSIVE SOUNDWAVE: Never found at retail. Had to BRIBE a TRU manager to get one.

See a pattern here? Only about 5% of us who want Prowl will be lucky enough to find MP Prowl. That includes BRIBING TRU managers.

Most of those who ARE lucky enough to find him will scalp him on eBay.

So, sorry. TRU EXCLUSIVE is BAD NEWS. May as well not release him at all.

I would not cancel SideSwipe. I am not sure he will be getting a US release.

For $60, I'd rather buy the Japanese one from BBTS and save myself the stress of finding it at TRU.

Still, I think this is good news. It shows Hasbro is willing to release the Autobot car Masterpiece toys.

Scrap! I finally broke and ordered the Takara releases from Captured Prey last night for Prowl and Bluestreak. I was afraid if I didn't get them now I wouldn't be able to afford them on the secondary market later. If these include extras or have cooler colors like how Hasbro's MP-10 did I am going to be seriously bummed. If they are just the same though, its worth the $10 more each I paid just to avoid the hassle and stress of dealing with TRU exclusives. Some days I think that store intentionally designs chaotic, impossible to find releases to keep people coming back to their stores over and over, hoping they will buy something else while they are there

jamesbenjamin wrote:I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

I agree with this assessment. If Prowl is packaged as a standalone at 59.99, it would be pretty sad to know that TRU MP Rodimus was the same price at retail. Hopefully Hasbro/TRU decided to drop the Sideswipe single in favor of a Sideswipe & Prowl 2-pack. The Soundwave & Cassettes bundle shows there's precedent for that (though with Soundwave, it admittedly made a tad more sense).

Even with a TRU release, though, I wouldn't overlook Takara's Prowl. With Rodimus, MP-10, Soundwave/cassettes, and the various Seekers, I have found the plastic quality and durability (not to mention paint apps) to be far superior on the Japanese versions compared to what Hasbro puts out. For me at least, the price differential is worth it given all that.

yeah theres no way its going to stay $60 its TRU after all, if it was walmart or target then sure but we all know TRU jacks the prices up so im going to say itll be $75. But in the off chance that it stays $60 ill probably wait til i get a 20% off coupon then pick it up, after MP Soundwave im not touching any MPs unless they are $50 or under. Wonder if he'll have any new accessories or if its just a straight up repackaging

megatronus wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

I agree with this assessment. If Prowl is packaged as a standalone at 59.99, it would be pretty sad to know that TRU MP Rodimus was the same price at retail. Hopefully Hasbro/TRU decided to drop the Sideswipe single in favor of a Sideswipe & Prowl 2-pack. The Soundwave & Cassettes bundle shows there's precedent for that (though with Soundwave, it admittedly made a tad more sense).

Even with a TRU release, though, I wouldn't overlook Takara's Prowl. With Rodimus, MP-10, Soundwave/cassettes, and the various Seekers, I have found the plastic quality and durability (not to mention paint apps) to be far superior on the Japanese versions compared to what Hasbro puts out. For me at least, the price differential is worth it given all that.

This about sums it up...

Megatron Wolf wrote:yeah theres no way its going to stay $60 its TRU after all, if it was walmart or target then sure but we all know TRU jacks the prices up so im going to say itll be $75.

If MP Acid Storm is $75 at TRU, what makes you think the MP cars would be the same price?

megatronus wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

I agree with this assessment. If Prowl is packaged as a standalone at 59.99, it would be pretty sad to know that TRU MP Rodimus was the same price at retail. Hopefully Hasbro/TRU decided to drop the Sideswipe single in favor of a Sideswipe & Prowl 2-pack.

I would have to disagree w/ both assessments. TRU has been no stranger to price inflation for its exclusives. Wasn't MP Acid Storm more expensive than MP Thundercracker, despite being released a mere 1 year apart?

Plus, I have yet to see any of TRU's MPs warm the shelves - they're gone quite quickly. TRU has every incentive to jack up prices.

Joetx wrote:

megatronus wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

I agree with this assessment. If Prowl is packaged as a standalone at 59.99, it would be pretty sad to know that TRU MP Rodimus was the same price at retail. Hopefully Hasbro/TRU decided to drop the Sideswipe single in favor of a Sideswipe & Prowl 2-pack.

I would have to disagree w/ both assessments. TRU has been no stranger to price inflation for its exclusives. Wasn't MP Acid Storm more expensive than MP Thundercracker, despite being released a mere 1 year apart?

Plus, I have yet to see any of TRU's MPs warm the shelves - they're gone quite quickly. TRU has every incentive to jack up prices.

Grimlock & Rodimus shelf warmed for a huge amount of time in the Northeast. Thundercracker did too, and now Acid Storm has been on the shelves for what, 5 months?

Only the underproduced MP-10 & Soundwave figures sold out super quickly... and while I wouldn't be surprised if Prowl were a full $60, it sure would be a sad thing.

Joetx wrote:
I would have to disagree w/ both assessments. TRU has been no stranger to price inflation for its exclusives. Wasn't MP Acid Storm more expensive than MP Thundercracker, despite being released a mere 1 year apart?

Plus, I have yet to see any of TRU's MPs warm the shelves - they're gone quite quickly. TRU has every incentive to jack up prices.

I'm pretty sure I paid $75 for Thundercracker - same price as Acid Storm who, incidentally, has been warming the shelf at my local TRU since it first came out. (In recent years, Grimlock and Rodimus MPs warmed the shelves for months.)

Cool for those who will be able to grab him at TRU, but I'm still sticking with the Tak one I'll have delivered soonish.

It does seem too expensive though, this has got to either be a wrong initial price or it is a two pack, or even three pack.

I was able to get the Amazon exclusive Prowl for $52 and the non-exclusive for just under $50.

$60 isn't a deal by any means but definitely a realistic price for the figure considering it's size, licensing, paint apps, and the fact that it's a TRU exclusive.

I think anyone who thinks this is a 2 pack is in for a rude awakening, as while the other Masterpiece figures have been cheap (anything over $120 and it's probably going to have a hard time selling) compared to their Takara counterparts, I think that we're going to see an exception with the Autobot cars.

Have we forgotten about the days of the Commemorative Series Reissues at TRU? It was $30 for Autobot Cars when their Japanese counterparts could be had for $22 - $25 easily.

I think TRU has caught wind of how popular these releases are and is taking full advantage of it.

Randy

GuyIncognito wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:On HLJ Wheeljack and Smokescreen are pennies over $50, slow shipping from japan is about $8.

HobbyLink Japan? They don't have either figure available, as far as I can tell. Unless I'm missing something, they don't really seem to have much in the way of Transformers at all.

Yes, HobbyLink. They deal mainly in preorders, and they usually have very few available after release. So you need to keep checking after products are officially announced, but if you can get in while the preorder is open their prices are very good. And yeah, like others said, I was able to get all three Datsuns for $50-$60 each shipped via SAL, which only took 2-3 weeks to Canada.

GuyIncognito wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:On HLJ Wheeljack and Smokescreen are pennies over $50, slow shipping from japan is about $8.

HobbyLink Japan? They don't have either figure available, as far as I can tell. Unless I'm missing something, they don't really seem to have much in the way of Transformers at all.

HobbyLink Japan has had every mass-release Japanese exclusive Transformer figure in stock at one point or another since at least 1998 (which is when I first started ordering from them) if not longer (maybe mid 1990's).

They carry everything, it just sells out right away at times or is sold out and they don't bother to get more stock.

Randy

megatronus wrote:Grimlock & Rodimus shelf warmed for a huge amount of time in the Northeast. Thundercracker did too, and now Acid Storm has been on the shelves for what, 5 months?

Northeast of where, not America, or at least not as far up as Maine? Never once saw Grimlock, Rodimus, or Thundercracker (or Prime for that matter). Saw Soundwave and Acid Storm once each, but they didn't stick around. These things may as well not exist for some of us. I miss the days of when these were Walmart exclusives and they stuck around long enough to be on Clearance, but I suppose that's why they don't get them anymore.

As far as the price on Prowl goes, here's what I paid with shipping for the three cars through HLJ (Sideswipe and Red Alert would be similar, but I think I deleted the invoices from my email):

Prowl - ¥5,320 (about $52 today)
Bluestreak - ¥5,420 (about $53 today)
Smokescreen - ¥5,980 (about $58.50 today)

Of course, that's HLJ's price and not MSRP plus shipping, but that would come to about the same price as TRU has listed.

Emerje

megatronus wrote:

Joetx wrote:

megatronus wrote:

jamesbenjamin wrote:I posted this over on TFW as well, but I have to say there's no way that price is right. Either its a two-pack and the other figure's name was truncated in the computer listing (we all know that happens) or the price is just a placeholder.

I agree with this assessment. If Prowl is packaged as a standalone at 59.99, it would be pretty sad to know that TRU MP Rodimus was the same price at retail. Hopefully Hasbro/TRU decided to drop the Sideswipe single in favor of a Sideswipe & Prowl 2-pack.

I would have to disagree w/ both assessments. TRU has been no stranger to price inflation for its exclusives. Wasn't MP Acid Storm more expensive than MP Thundercracker, despite being released a mere 1 year apart?

Plus, I have yet to see any of TRU's MPs warm the shelves - they're gone quite quickly. TRU has every incentive to jack up prices.

Grimlock & Rodimus shelf warmed for a huge amount of time in the Northeast. Thundercracker did too, and now Acid Storm has been on the shelves for what, 5 months?

Only the underproduced MP-10 & Soundwave figures sold out super quickly... and while I wouldn't be surprised if Prowl were a full $60, it sure would be a sad thing.

You've had much better luck @ TRU than I have then. I regularly visit 2 TRU locations about 15 miles apart in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I've only seen MPs Grimlock, Rodimus, Thundercracker, & Acid Storm, although approximately once each. And they've all been gone the next time I go there.

I do agree that online Acid Storm was available for a fairly long period of time as far as MPs are concerned. Perhaps it had to do w/ the price jump (IIRC, Thundercracker was $60, whereas Acid Storm was $75).

I never saw either MP-10 or Soundwave.

If that price is correct, which i dought and the fact that I paid only 69 $ for my wonderful toys-r-us mp Thunder cracker makes me think that this mp Prowl might come packaged with some additional stuff like TRS mp Soundwave did. Maybe both crome rocket launchers, a poster and some other things. Either way I'm eager to see this all will turn out.

Thundercracker was not $60 at TRU. It was $70 or $75.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... r-tru.html

I, too, paid around $75 for MP Thundercracker.

Here's hoping Prowl comes with some kind of new accessories or has slightly different paint from the Takara version. Red eyes, perhaps?

Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Hero wrote:Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Beggars can't be choosers. Be glad Hasbro was able to get ANY of these MPs for the U.S. Maybe they're "skipping" Lambor because Lamborghini wouldn't let Hasbro use the name in the U.S. or demanded too much in return.

I would be mad but I doubt we'll see em where I live.

GuyIncognito wrote:

Hero wrote:Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Beggars can't be choosers. Be glad Hasbro was able to get ANY of these MPs for the U.S. Maybe they're "skipping" Lambor because Lamborghini wouldn't let Hasbro use the name in the U.S. or demanded too much in return.

How the hell is being disappointed that they are skipping on a new mold release in the US equating to "beggars can't be choosers."

Please explain.

Hero wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

Hero wrote:Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Beggars can't be choosers. Be glad Hasbro was able to get ANY of these MPs for the U.S. Maybe they're "skipping" Lambor because Lamborghini wouldn't let Hasbro use the name in the U.S. or demanded too much in return.

How the hell is being disappointed that they are skipping on a new mold release in the US equating to "beggars can't be choosers."

Please explain.

I am sure the original author is referring to the fact that Hasbro is drastically behind on releasing the MP's. OVER 2 years behind, to be exact. Or, 13 Masterpiece releases behind (*counting the 3 that have NOT been released yet in 2014, but who will most likely see release BEFORE the US Prowl release). So much so, that the original author simply feels LUCKY that Prowl is even getting a US release.

Now, I know you are going to say, "How is the US behind on 13 releases"? Here's the list.

Lambor (Sideswipe)
Alert (Red Alert)
Tigertrack
Prowl
Streak (Blue Streak)
Smoke Screen
* G2 Lambor (Sideswipe)
* eHobby Datsun Exclusive
* Sound Blaster
* RatBat
* Wheeljack
* Ultra Magnus
* Bumblebee

Follow the asterisk ( * ) next to the name, to the parenthesis in the paragraph above "(", ")" to defend any retort someone may have against such releases.

Hero wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

Hero wrote:Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Beggars can't be choosers.

Please explain.

"Beggars can't be choosers" means "When resources are limited, one must accept even substandard gifts" or "When you cannot have exactly what you want, you must accept whatever you can get."

You read this news, and your reaction is "I'm pissed that they skipped Lambor." I read this news, and my reaction is "I'm happy that they're releasing Prowl in the U.S." I choose to be thankful for what I get rather than pissed about what I don't get.

GuyIncognito wrote:

Hero wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

Hero wrote:Skipping over Lambor? That pisses me off. :/

Beggars can't be choosers.

Please explain.

"Beggars can't be choosers" means "When resources are limited, one must accept even substandard gifts" or "When you cannot have exactly what you want, you must accept whatever you can get."

You read this news, and your reaction is "I'm pissed that they skipped Lambor." I read this news, and my reaction is "I'm happy that they're releasing Prowl in the U.S." I choose to be thankful for what I get rather than pissed about what I don't get.

I see. The difference here is that while you consider yourself a beggar at the mercy of Hasbro's whim and I am a consumer. Good to know.