Hello,
We regretfully must announce that all preorders for the Takara MP-23 Exhaust have been cancelled. There has been an ongoing legal problem with this figure due to trademarked Marlboro roof/hood design that is not approved for sale in the USA. Takara modified the original design and went into production using a modified paint deco. It appears the redesigned paint deco did not go far enough to fix the problem, and Phillip Morris USA will still not allow this item for sale in the USA. We have been in contact with the law firm representing Phillip Morris and they told us that the changes were not substantial enough to eliminate potential consumer confusion between the Marlboro trademarked design and the current paint deco on the MP-23 Exhaust.
We apologize for the problem on this item, but we must abide by the requests made by Phillip Morris. We look forward to less complicated future Takara Transformer releases.
Sincerely,
Joel Boblit
BigBadToyStore
Retailer Toyer City has also reported that Hasbro Asia will be cancelling distribution of this cigarette inspired retool. But what does that mean exactly?
In the past you may have read stories of chain stores like ToysRus in Australia seeing Takara Tomy Masterpiece figures on their shelves. That is thanks to the distribution from their local office Hasbro Australia. This is much like the often reported Hasbro Asia which covers territories like China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Such a cancellation could mean that those territories will not receive the scandalous MP-23. However this does not mean the figure is outright cancelled. An announcement such as that would likely have to come from Takara Tomy themselves which has yet to happen. Many have also speculated that with the recent in-box shots and being slated to release this month, that an outright cancellation is unlikely.
Stay tuned to Seibetron.com for any developments in this Exhausting Saga....
(Special thanks to the all knowing Seibertronian Jelze Goldrabbit!)
