The Energon Pub

Arctorro wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

daimchoc wrote:From TFCon 2013:

Fansproject's M3 (MotorMaster) is now named Diesel. Will also have an MSRP of $120USD.

Ouch, $120 is kinda steep, though understandable given the price points of the smaller figures plus the fact that Diesel is going to have to include all of the combiner kibble. Hopefully he'll be up for preorder and released soon.

Kinda steep! This should've been $100 max... Committed now, so not much I can do about it.

Yeah, I guess so with the smaller figures sitting at $60, but even those are way overpriced IMO, given their simplicity, lack of paint apps and small size. I like them OK I guess, but they don't feel at all like they justify their price point (and this coming from a guy who imports Takara Prime and Generations figures through BBTS without a moment's hesitation ).

Well I can't wait to pit this against classics Prime with the FansProject trailer!

xyl360 wrote:

Arctorro wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

daimchoc wrote:From TFCon 2013:

Fansproject's M3 (MotorMaster) is now named Diesel. Will also have an MSRP of $120USD.

Ouch, $120 is kinda steep, though understandable given the price points of the smaller figures plus the fact that Diesel is going to have to include all of the combiner kibble. Hopefully he'll be up for preorder and released soon.

Kinda steep! This should've been $100 max... Committed now, so not much I can do about it.

Yeah, I guess so with the smaller figures sitting at $60, but even those are way overpriced IMO, given their simplicity, lack of paint apps and small size. I like them OK I guess, but they don't feel at all like they justify their price point (and this coming from a guy who imports Takara Prime and Generations figures through BBTS without a moment's hesitation ).

Many of us were thinking that FP was trying to spread out the cost of MM by adding $10 to the price of the limbs. Clearly they just intended to rip us off from the start

FP should leave the gestalts to the professionals

xyl360 wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Rated X wrote:This truck is either gonna make or break the set. Fansproject has lost their edge. lets see if they can at least keep up with MMC, TFC, and Toyworld.

If the truck is going to make or break the set, shouldn't you wait until it's released before declaring that FP has lost their edge?

I don't think they've lost their edge. This looks like classic FP to me. Everything starting with the not-Insecticons has been really lackluster in my opinion, and this set is no exception. I still believe that these were designed a long long time ago though, and that's why the combiner aspect of it isn't quite as cool as some of the other third party combiners out there. FP kept it simple, and while I'm not the biggest fan of some of the design choices, I'm still buying them all because they do look decent combined.

The reason I say Fansproject lost their edge is because 3-4 years ago the used to be THE 3rd party Transformers company. Now Fansproject is just A Transformers 3rd party company. Take a look at all the new faces on the block that produce whole original figures. There’s TFC, MMC, Toyworld, and Maketoys. Then you got the up and coming Mech Ideas, SXS, Unique Toys, Planet X, and Fans Toys. And lets not forget Igear who has really stepped up their game in using original molds. All I’m saying is Fansproject is not the king of 3rd parties anymore. I don’t think anyone can truly own that title at this point. I think it’s the Function X series that is keeping Fansproject alive. The Stunticons are good, but by no means are they great. They don’t live up to the hype other Fansproject releases deserved during their respective releases dates. Lets see if their Roadbuster and Quickswitch can truly deliver a home run.

Don't understand why people are so certain that this is not great but says its good? It looks great to me but at this point no one has it in hand so who's to say how great this is? Since everyone complaining about it is getting it anyway why not wait to have it in hand before we pass judgement on how FP is doing with this project?

As for the price I expected it to be $100 since they are charging $10 extra per limb to "keep cost down for Motormaster" so if not then MM would have cost $160 while the bigger more diecast Boardside cost $90? GTFO FP, no need to lie to your costumers like this.

MM looks alright, not sure I like the weapons array, but I guess they have to use up all the components some how.

Rated X wrote:The reason I say Fansproject lost their edge is because 3-4 years ago the used to be THE 3rd party Transformers company. Now Fansproject is just A Transformers 3rd party company. Take a look at all the new faces on the block that produce whole original figures. There’s TFC, MMC, Toyworld, and Maketoys. Then you got the up and coming Mech Ideas, SXS, Unique Toys, Planet X, and Fans Toys. And lets not forget Igear who has really stepped up their game in using original molds. All I’m saying is Fansproject is not the king of 3rd parties anymore. I don’t think anyone can truly own that title at this point. I think it’s the Function X series that is keeping Fansproject alive. The Stunticons are good, but by no means are they great. They don’t live up to the hype other Fansproject releases deserved during their respective releases dates. Lets see if their Roadbuster and Quickswitch can truly deliver a home run.

Gotta say, I agree completely with this.

mooncake623 wrote:Don't understand why people are so certain that this is not great but says its good? It looks great to me but at this point no one has it in hand so who's to say how great this is? Since everyone complaining about it is getting it anyway why not wait to have it in hand before we pass judgement on how FP is doing with this project?

As for the price I expected it to be $100 since they are charging $10 extra per limb to "keep cost down for Motormaster" so if not then MM would have cost $160 while the bigger more diecast Boardside cost $90? GTFO FP, no need to lie to your costumers like this.

Ummm... most have 3/5 parts of this project in hand already and some 4/5. So people have enough to decide if they like it or not.

Arctorro wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:Don't understand why people are so certain that this is not great but says its good? It looks great to me but at this point no one has it in hand so who's to say how great this is? Since everyone complaining about it is getting it anyway why not wait to have it in hand before we pass judgement on how FP is doing with this project?

As for the price I expected it to be $100 since they are charging $10 extra per limb to "keep cost down for Motormaster" so if not then MM would have cost $160 while the bigger more diecast Boardside cost $90? GTFO FP, no need to lie to your costumers like this.

Ummm... most have 3/5 parts of this project in hand already and some 4/5. So people have enough to decide if they like it or not.

Indeed but the complaints are of the combine team no? I mean we all already complain about the small size of the limbs and already. I'm just saying give it a few more months to get in hand before we write it off? I don't I still think it's going to look awesome in hand.

The set's definitely overpriced. Especially compared to other FP offerings. Maybe I'll change my tune if MM comes with a whole lot of little parts, but I doubt it.

I also agree that FP is no longer king of the hill. They'll always be relevant, but other companies have caught up.

If this were 3 or 4 out of a non-combining team of 5 I would agree that we have seen enough of the figures by now to judge. But this is the central component, I can't see how any accurate judgment can be made until Motormaster is in hand. Having said that, I think Motormaster looks brilliant. Better than I thought, In fact. I can't wait for this guy now.

Also I agree that FansProject are no longer the best. They are being attacked from multiple sides. Firstly, their first fully-fledged Transformer has been utterly bettered by Hasbro. Also City Commander and their Superion upgrade is looking decidedly creaky, and releases like 'Protector' and the ninja-ised Insecticons polarised opinion. Apparently they are a bit of a nightmare. I have been waiting for deluxe Insecticons from Kapow since December and also I have only received car Crash and T-Bone of the stunticons, apparently they are not too hot on their communication at all.

To me, FansProject is like that amazing cheerleader at school who is now in her mid-20s; she is still pretty attractive, but now has a couple of bawling kids hanging off her arm and a bit of a beer gut. If FansProject give me the Protectobots, all is forgiven though.

Banjo-Tron wrote:
To me, FansProject is like that amazing cheerleader at school who is now in her mid-20s; she is still pretty attractive, but now has a couple of bawling kids hanging off her arm and a bit of a beer gut. If FansProject give me the Protectobots, all is forgiven though.

Hahaha. I think Down force has an amazing transformation. It is awesome and much better then the first two. Just be very careful.

I guess I have a far more forgiving nature for their past releases. Not sure I like how Hasbro's Springer looks in my collection - it's pretty big. Large enough that I don't know if he fits into the movie cast I have going. Although he's way more fun to transform than Defender, I'll give him that! And I still love City Commander although he's aged. He still has a place in my own collection.

Thing is, when they first began 3rd party toys seemed like a dream come true and FP was the best at what it did. They pushed the envelope. But what they've done has now been surpassed. Full figures are the norm. And their penchant for giving this own spin on a character - once merely annoying - is now more of a detriment than ever. Probably because the fear of legal prosecution has faded away, there doesn't seem to be any excuse to purposefully fudge a character's face or colours anymore.

I don't think the cheerleader analogy is quite right. It's more like there's now a whole BUNCH of pretty cheerleaders, some brining more game and speed to the table. That makes FP's flaws less forgivable.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:The set's definitely overpriced. Especially compared to other FP offerings. Maybe I'll change my tune if MM comes with a whole lot of little parts, but I doubt it.

I also agree that FP is no longer king of the hill. They'll always be relevant, but other companies have caught up.

Overpriced? - Kind of.... Maybe for some...

For me, I got the Maketoys Yellow Giant sets, with each set of two at roughly $120 each. Where the bots are roughly $60 a piece. For this set, we have the limbs at around $60, right? and then Diesel is MSRP'd to be $120. Let's say it's going to be $140 because the e-tailers will be adding to it. So that's about $380 compared to about $360 with Yellow Giant. It's about/roughly the same cost if bought as a set. I can live with it. Again, that's just my opinion.

My first thought was that $120 is way to much! Then, I saw the pics of the robot mode with the trailer becoming the weapons array, and now I'm ok with it. Still a lot of money, don't get me wrong! On the other hand, I paid $120 for a trailer to make combat hero prime looks like Magnus with a weapons array, and I still had to buy the figure it attaches to separately... and it isn't a combiner.

Basically, these are all a lot of money! However, comparing third party prices these days, I think it's still reasonable for what it looks like you're getting.

On the flip side, I've been enjoying my Toyworld non-Throttlebots a lot more than these FansProject not-Constructicons.

daimchoc wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:The set's definitely overpriced. Especially compared to other FP offerings. Maybe I'll change my tune if MM comes with a whole lot of little parts, but I doubt it.

I also agree that FP is no longer king of the hill. They'll always be relevant, but other companies have caught up.

Overpriced? - Kind of.... Maybe for some...

For me, I got the Maketoys Yellow Giant sets, with each set of two at roughly $120 each. Where the bots are roughly $60 a piece. For this set, we have the limbs at around $60, right? and then Diesel is MSRP'd to be $120. Let's say it's going to be $140 because the e-tailers will be adding to it. So that's about $380 compared to about $360 with Yellow Giant. It's about/roughly the same cost if bought as a set. I can live with it. Again, that's just my opinion.

Giant's a reason I think this set is overpriced. Giant's limbs are all much larger then these guys even if the combined form is a similar size. But they're the same price? No way. I also look at Crossfire's limbs, which come with a TON of accessories and a lower price (if I remember right).

I'll have to get a closer look at MM to see if I really think he is overpriced. But the limbs? Definitely. They are really not $60 toys.

Edit: Original retail price for Crossfire? $50. AND it came with a TON of accessories. So, yes, $60 for the limbs is overpriced in my book.

We buy combiners as a set, right? If you just want to buy the limbs, then it does look overpriced. As for the the colossus set, those figures have extra accessories because they are an upgrade set. This is the first time that FP has given us a Full combiner.

daimchoc wrote:We buy combiners as a set, right? If you just want to buy the limbs, then it does look overpriced. As for the the colossus set, those figures have extra accessories because they are an upgrade set. This is the first time that FP has given us a Full combiner.

Those figures have extra accessories AND cost less. That's all that really matters when we're talking about this being overpriced or not.

Not saying it isn't worth getting. It is. But I won't try and make excuses for FP either; this set is overpriced by about $10 per limb.

Still no Fn robot in colour !

Well... to play Devil's advocate for a moment... Yes, Explorer and Munitioner were originally about $50.00, $10.00 less then these limbs... but they did also come out years ago. Things may have just become more expensive over time. This is evidenced by the fact that the recent reissue of Explorer and Munitioner was about $130, or $65 per figure. These limbs are then about $5.00 less in comparison.

On the other hand... Explorer ad Munitioner did have a heck of a lot more accessories with them. Probably more then $10 worth... So by that measure... yeah, maybe these are more expensive! Of course, we are also comparing new releases to re-issued molds.

So yeah... I can kind of see this from both sides. Would I mind if they were cheaper? Not at all! Heck, I do wish they were a bit less expensive. But their prices are not outside of the range of reason... just on the high end of that range.

I'd like to believe the price increase is due solely to rising cost of materials, but I can't help but remember the two Micromaster homages made form the same moulds that cost the same price .... but lacked all the accessories. Mostly unrelated to this, but it does make me mistrust their pricing scheme.

It just seems like they see people will pay more, so they raised the price.

Everyone's so wound up with prices, you all seem to have missed Mindwipe in the back of that shot of Diesel being held in robot mode???

The way I'm looking at it is I've paid for four of the five members of this team (three of which are in-hand). I like how they look together. They look like a good group of figures and I can't wait to finish them off with Diesel (who is looking proper diesel with all that ordnance on his back. The trailers's wheels are a tad small though.) Yeah, they're not the most fun figures ever made but they are collector's pieces after-all. Often such items aren't particularly functional and often earn themselves a love/hate reputation. Even though I've already paid 2/3rds of the cost for this set, if I really didn't like Diesel or the end-product Intimidator, I wouldn't waste another $120 on something just because I'd already spent $240.

I want this complete set so I'm going to suck it up and pay the money and hold judgement until I have them all in-hand.

Sodan-1 wrote:Everyone's so wound up with prices, you all seem to have missed Mindwipe in the back of that shot of Diesel being held in robot mode???

Damn, nice catch, I missed that completely ! He looks GREAT! Mindwipe is my favorite headmaster, so it looks like if he turns out decent (which it appears he will based on that prototype), I'm all over it !

I was there, Mindwipe looks awesome. Didn't look like much in the concept sketch, but he really came alive in person.

Mindwipe did look very cool and very clean.

I'm all in for these guys. The size didn't come as a surprise to me and i love FP aesthetic. Bring on Motormaster.

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