The Energon Pub

Looks real nice. But wait..... no Hound? And no opening crotch flap? Totally worthless TT. Can't recreate the iconic scene. Not worth it.







All joking aside, damn I wish I had $300 bucks to burn right now.

Too big for my shelf and a little too bland for my liking, I'll pass. The nicest touch are without a doubt the figurines.

Barricade.it wrote:I hate that this figure has the wings attached to the backpack: the original Skyfire (like the Macross toy He was derivated from) has the wings on the reare of the chest, not on the backpack.

This gives to the alt mode a weird shape.

Nope. The original Skyfire had his wings exactly where they are. Behold:

Transformers Masterpiece MP-57 Skyfire
Pre-Order scheduled to arrive in April 2023

£249.99 £269.99 - Indemand Toys 10% Deposit Available

£269.99 - Kapow Toys 10% Deposit Available
(Estimated Delivery 31-01-23)

$269.99 - TFSource (Estimated Arrival: February 2023)

US$ 219.90 - RobotKingdom(Estimated Arrival: February 2023)

$268.99 - Omegalock(Estimated Arrival: February 2023)

S$ 320.00 - OhMyPrimus

Pre order is now on Pulse $274.99. speaking of which, the Power Days sale has cleared out all their in stock MP except Nightbird ( which was not part of the sale)

o.supreme wrote:Pre order is now on Pulse $274.99. speaking of which, the Power Days sale has cleared out all their in stock MP except Nightbird ( which was not part of the sake)

It's still so weird to me that Pulse UK doesn't stock Masterpieces.

I don't like the way Masterpiece has swayed towards smooth, cartoon accuracy. The earlier MPs were a good blend of cartoon accuracy, but with molded "realistic" details.

I actually much prefer Siege Jetfire...the only things that I like about this MP are the mini figs, the little lasers next to the cockpit, and the fact I can't see his head in jet mode.

Indemand is £270 not £250

blackeyedprime wrote:Indemand is £270 not £250

Oddly enough, it was £250 when I posted it. That's very naughty...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Pre order is now on Pulse $274.99. speaking of which, the Power Days sale has cleared out all their in stock MP except Nightbird ( which was not part of the sake)

It's still so weird to me that Pulse UK doesn't stock Masterpieces.

Why? Hasbro UK, the last time I checked, was a pokey little office and warehouse combo somewhere in Wales, with staff that had no clue about Transformers whatsoever. Their computers had Tigerhawk listed only as "Flying White Tiger"...

MeGrimlock78 wrote:I don't like the way Masterpiece has swayed towards smooth, cartoon accuracy. The earlier MPs were a good blend of cartoon accuracy, but with molded "realistic" details.

The new MPs since Skids also blend real world vehicles with cartoon designs. The trains are really leaning into the alt modes and Trailbreaker comes with extra parts depending on how realistic you want the truck to look.

For Skyfire he's a cartoon only character with a cartoon only alt mode, it would be hard to give him "realistic" details that fans would accept as right for the character. A lot of people really hated the greeble on the WFC line so course Takara Tomy is going to take that to mean "more like the cartoons".

Overcracker wrote:All joking aside, damn I wish I had $300 bucks to burn right now.

How do pre-orders work for you? If you aren't pre-ordering from somewhere that requires payment up front then you have nearly a year to worry about it.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

blackeyedprime wrote:Indemand is £270 not £250

Oddly enough, it was £250 when I posted it. That's very naughty...

This is why I jumped on the BBTS pre-order, didn't want to find the price go up after the Pulse pre-order turned out to be higher.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

MeGrimlock78 wrote:I don't like the way Masterpiece has swayed towards smooth, cartoon accuracy. The earlier MPs were a good blend of cartoon accuracy, but with molded "realistic" details.

The new MPs since Skids also blend real world vehicles with cartoon designs. The trains are really leaning into the alt modes and Trailbreaker comes with extra parts depending on how realistic you want the truck to look.

For Skyfire he's a cartoon only character with a cartoon only alt mode, it would be hard to give him "realistic" details that fans would accept as right for the character. A lot of people really hated the greeble on the WFC line so course Takara Tomy is going to take that to mean "more like the cartoons".

Overcracker wrote:All joking aside, damn I wish I had $300 bucks to burn right now.

How do pre-orders work for you? If you aren't pre-ordering from somewhere that requires payment up front then you have nearly a year to worry about it.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

blackeyedprime wrote:Indemand is £270 not £250

Oddly enough, it was £250 when I posted it. That's very naughty...

This is why I jumped on the BBTS pre-order, didn't want to find the price go up after the Pulse pre-order turned out to be higher.

Emerje

A lot of people also LOVED the Siege detailing on Jetfire and HATE the "bland" cartoon look, so that's irrelevant. The main reason MP Jetfire is "plain" is because the cartoon aesthetic was the direction TT have chosen, due to concentrating upon a core market for such figures in Japan. Skids, et al, were more "toy-esque" due to Honda partially funding, or collaborating with TT, as part of the specific car's anniversary, from what I've read.

I'm surprised he's that cheap. Pleasant surprise

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I'm surprised he's that cheap. Pleasant surprise

Same. I won't be getting him but I'm very happy for all my friends here.

primalxconvoy wrote:Why? Hasbro UK, the last time I checked, was a pokey little office and warehouse combo somewhere in Wales, with staff that had no clue about Transformers whatsoever. Their computers had Tigerhawk listed only as "Flying White Tiger"...

Because how it should work, Pulse UK is a regional distribution hub for Pulse US. Same stock, same offers etc The only thing different should be the currency conversion. Instead, it appears to be the same "franchised" BS as Amazon. No accountability. No product knowledge. Nothing.

Worthless.

Hence why you'll note when I list a sampling of price points. I don't typically list Amazon or Pulse.

Man, them accessories tho. May get it just for them.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:Why? Hasbro UK, the last time I checked, was a pokey little office and warehouse combo somewhere in Wales, with staff that had no clue about Transformers whatsoever. Their computers had Tigerhawk listed only as "Flying White Tiger"...

Because how it should work, Pulse UK is a regional distribution hub for Pulse US. Same stock, same offers etc The only thing different should be the currency conversion. Instead, it appears to be the same "franchised" BS as Amazon. No accountability. No product knowledge. Nothing.

Worthless.

Hence why you'll note when I list a sampling of price points. I don't typically list Amazon or Pulse.

You're preaching to the choir here. The story state of the toy market in the UK was partially why I left to live in Japan. Mind you, we can't get many other western toys here easily, but TFs are my main thing, so...

Well, I pre-ordered off Pulse. No non-refundable deposit and if it turns out to be junk, it's easy to cancel. The taxes were killer though. Also, if it's good I'm sure I can find it earlier from other sources.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Well, I pre-ordered off Pulse. No non-refundable deposit and if it turns out to be junk, it's easy to cancel. The taxes were killer though. Also, if it's good I'm sure I can find it earlier from other sources.

Nice. Takara Tomy doesn't offer the option to cancel pre-orders, zoo it's swings and roundabouts between the two services...

primalxconvoy wrote:You're preaching to the choir here. The story state of the toy market in the UK was partially why I left to live in Japan. Mind you, we can't get many other western toys here easily, but TFs are my main thing, so...

It is the same frustration I get sourcing a lot of collector lines online. Physical retail for them is virtually non-existent in the UK. So I have no other alternatives. That's beyond the nonsense you get from HasTak that don't think the rest of the world exists outside of the US and Japan.

Storm Collectibles - If you don't get the newest preorder as soon as it is dropped, directly on their site. It is pot luck if you even find another seller, outside of the second hand market.

NECA - Some lines don't have distribution outside of the US. So if you want EG Gargoyles. BBTS is your only real option. Unfortunately you'll likely be paying twice the price in customs.

Machine Robo/Action Toys - Good luck trying to find any of these that are listed (if listed at all) as out of stock. Since Action Toys don't seem to do reissues at all.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:You're preaching to the choir here. The story state of the toy market in the UK was partially why I left to live in Japan. Mind you, we can't get many other western toys here easily, but TFs are my main thing, so...

It is the same frustration I get sourcing a lot of collector lines online. Physical retail for them is virtually non-existent in the UK. So I have no other alternatives. That's beyond the nonsense you get from HasTak that don't think the rest of the world exists outside of the US and Japan.

Storm Collectibles - If you don't get the newest preorder as soon as it is dropped, directly on their site. It is pot luck if you even find another seller, outside of the second hand market.

NECA - Some lines don't have distribution outside of the US. So if you want EG Gargoyles. BBTS is your only real option. Unfortunately you'll likely be paying twice the price in customs.

Machine Robo/Action Toys - Good luck trying to find any of these that are listed (if listed at all) as out of stock. Since Action Toys don't seem to do reissues at all.

To be fair, I only use Amazon Japan and TT Mall in Japan. The days of physical shop's exclusives have long gone. Even Toys R Us (which still exists in Japan) stopped being a relevant place to get TFs years ago. Most Japanese toy departments only have a handful of TF stuff.

Yeah, whenever I read on here about shop exclusives for Walmart, Target and other such places that have no presence outside the US. What that says to me: You're not getting it outside of eBay.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yeah, whenever I read on here about shop exclusives for Walmart, Target and other such places that have no presence outside the US. What that says to me: You're not getting it outside of eBay.

That's the same for me, although I've got American cums who visit me (sans C19) and they sell/give some of those to me. I missed out on the Micromaster set though, which was annoying.

I'm sure they'll turn up one day though, for bugger-all.

primalxconvoy wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yeah, whenever I read on here about shop exclusives for Walmart, Target and other such places that have no presence outside the US. What that says to me: You're not getting it outside of eBay.

That's the same for me, although I've got American chums who visit me (sans C19) and they sell/give some of those to me. I missed out on the Micromaster set though, which was annoying.

I'm sure they'll turn up one day though, for bugger-all.

It reminds me of being a kid, in the early 90's. Looking through the mini catalogues that came with all figures and knowing most of them I could never own. As they simply weren't available in the UK. My Aunt went to Florida in the mid-90's and (knowing I was a fan) bought back several Toy Biz X-Men figures. Ones I didn't even know existed.

The fact that worldwide online connections haven't corrected the distribution problems from 30+ years ago is the depressing thing about all of this.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yeah, whenever I read on here about shop exclusives for Walmart, Target and other such places that have no presence outside the US. What that says to me: You're not getting it outside of eBay.

What are you referring to?