The Energon Pub

AcademyofDrX wrote:If anyone genuinely feels cheated that the product isn't worth the $600 they've committed for it, I'll be happy to pay you that amount to take it off your hands, and you won't have to feel disappointed anymore.

Ditto. I didn't have the money then, but I do now. Also at the time I wasn't too impressed and thought there was too much panel action with the legs, but seeing the finished product, I would rather have it than not, but I don't think it's worth more than the initial asking price, so if the 2ndary market goes crazy, I'll pass without difficulty. So if you bought it and don't want it, PM me.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Can't wait to see the ridiculous secondary market valuation for this figure.

I can not now unsee the fact that the lower teeth are not painted silver... in the production photos they were. Now it just looks lazy and unpolished. You mean I'm going to have to paint them myself on a 600 dollar figure? GTFOH Hasbro... Lazy.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Sad that even something like this could end up with paint shortages and mold layout limits.

Yeah, I feel this. It'd be nice to know why the $600 crowdfunded toy couldn't get this done. Not a guess, but an actual reason given from the source.

Unpaintable plastic perhaps? The type of plastic used for structural integrity like joints is different from the regular ABS, and more often than not, the paint normally used doesn't stick to it. Also, generally speaking, in pre-production shots it seems that the type of plastic isn't decided upon yet, resulting in deco plans being changed later on. It's happened before.

I'm so close to drawing comparisons between this Unicron and "3P" figures in general given the price, like who can get which things done at the price asked.

toycave_studios wrote:I can not now unsee the fact that the lower teeth are not painted silver... in the production photos they were. Now it just looks lazy and unpolished. You mean I'm going to have to paint them myself on a 600 dollar figure? GTFOH Hasbro... Lazy.

I guess that I could mention the fact that if you used a credit card there might be some buyer protection that, regardless of what Haslab says, if you can prove some bait and switch or something you might be able to get your money back from Haslab. You'll probably have to return Unicron but...

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I mean, I'm sure there was a logical thought process behind it. but even with unpaintable plastic, couldn't they have chosen an ORANGE version for that? Too deep in the process I guess? I really hope Reprolabels comes to the rescue for that.

That's when we need an accurate chart of the complete mold layout of the tooling. See how many molds are used with that plastic and which parts are affected by color change.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

toycave_studios wrote:I can not now unsee the fact that the lower teeth are not painted silver... in the production photos they were. Now it just looks lazy and unpolished. You mean I'm going to have to paint them myself on a 600 dollar figure? GTFOH Hasbro... Lazy.

I guess that I could mention the fact that if you used a credit card there might be some buyer protection that, regardless of what Haslab says, if you can prove some bait and switch or something you might be able to get your money back from Haslab. You'll probably have to return Unicron but...

He'd have an easier time selling it on the 2ndary market, I think, might even make a little money. But he would get at least his money back.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:Unpaintable plastic perhaps? The type of plastic used for structural integrity like joints is different from the regular ABS, and more often than not, the paint normally used doesn't stick to it. Also, generally speaking, in pre-production shots it seems that the type of plastic isn't decided upon yet, resulting in deco plans being changed later on. It's happened before.

I'm so close to drawing comparisons between this Unicron and "3P" figures in general given the price, like who can get which things done at the price asked.

That'd be an interesting chart to see. 3P does get really pricy, especially the friggin' combiners. Once they went MP I hopped off the train for the most part.

I mean, I'm sure there was a logical thought process behind it. but even with unpaintable plastic, couldn't they have chosen an ORANGE version for that? Too deep in the process I guess? I really hope Reprolabels comes to the rescue for that.

The irony is that most 3P MP-alikes are far more sensibly priced than their official counterparts nowadays. Compare MMC's Azalea (about £80) to MP Arcee (£130!). Guess backpacks are expensive!

But yes, at this pricepoint I'd expect this bloody thing to be borderline flawless. Even disregarding my dislike for the base design work, the weird cheaping out they did is seriously lame.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:(checks the vid) The lower teeth aren't painted? Geez. I guess it to match the faceless head, but come on, guys. If this were 3P I'd have expected it to be painted. I don't think I want to sharpie my $600 Transformer. I'll sticker it, though.

I don't think Primus would be worth it. Not to me, at least. As a character he's not nearly as important. Not every TF needs a rival.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I'd be interested in mass production of the G1 Unicron Prototype. Not for the same amount of money, but I'd back it. If they needed to add more, they could finish the G1 Arcee prototype (with the same inaccurate colors) so people could have a complete G1 movie cast in G1 form. It may be the same character, but it fills a totally different niche and is a real piece of history. I don't think it'd ever happen, though.

ABSOLUTELY agreed that they should release the G1 prototypes ESPECIALLY UNICRON "the Grail". I actually told John and Ben that at the Vince DiCola Transformers the Movie Score Concert during SDCC 2019. I suggested that they either release him in limited numbers or as some sort of lottery limited edition item. I would so back that. It would be perfect to add to your G1 TF figure display while adding the Haslab Unicron to your WFC figure display. I hope enough of the fandom makes this a thing and Hasbro strongly considers it. They could even box him in G1 inspired deco from the time period.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Can't wait to see the ridiculous secondary market valuation for this figure.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Can't wait to see the ridiculous secondary market valuation for this figure.

Why wait?

Regimus Prime wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:(checks the vid) The lower teeth aren't painted? Geez. I guess it to match the faceless head, but come on, guys. If this were 3P I'd have expected it to be painted. I don't think I want to sharpie my $600 Transformer. I'll sticker it, though.

I don't think Primus would be worth it. Not to me, at least. As a character he's not nearly as important. Not every TF needs a rival.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I'd be interested in mass production of the G1 Unicron Prototype. Not for the same amount of money, but I'd back it. If they needed to add more, they could finish the G1 Arcee prototype (with the same inaccurate colors) so people could have a complete G1 movie cast in G1 form. It may be the same character, but it fills a totally different niche and is a real piece of history. I don't think it'd ever happen, though.

ABSOLUTELY agreed that they should release the G1 prototypes ESPECIALLY UNICRON "the Grail". I actually told John and Ben that at the Vince DiCola Transformers the Movie Score Concert during SDCC 2019. I suggested that they either release him in limited numbers or as some sort of lottery limited edition item. I would so back that. It would be perfect to add to your G1 TF figure display while adding the Haslab Unicron to your WFC figure display. I hope enough of the fandom makes this a thing and Hasbro strongly considers it. They could even box him in G1 inspired deco from the time period.

I would love to see unproduced prototypes or other vintage-inspired limited-run products through HasLab. I find "huge and expensive" to be limiting as an overall approach. I mean, "expensive" is probably a given either way, but it feels like this funding system could be leveraged for a much wider range of products.

As a comparison, I've been looking at Mattel Creations. It's not crowdfunding but exclusive art toy releases. Hasbro doesn't have an equivalent, but they could leverage HasLab for similar output.

Burn wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Can't wait to see the ridiculous secondary market valuation for this figure.

Why wait?

Congratulations Universe. You Win. I never thought I'd ever do a spit take in real life. Now I have, and clean up wasn't fun.

I figured you know, maybeeeee $1000 to start with, but no, they are starting at 2.5X backer price and go up. What a joke. Keep in mind, this is not an indictment against the toy itself, or Hasbro, just against some people's unrealistic expectations.

I've stated many times I've made peace with not having one. besides, for me personally, there are plenty of other Transformers I'd rather have for $600. I have a couple of them in fact. This toy is awesome no doubt about that. Also it is unique however.... We know there are at least 8000 in the world. To me, although convention exclusives are for the most part repaints/remolds, I'd much rather have some of them, because there are only a few hundred at most, and that's all there ever will be.

o.supreme wrote:To me, although convention exclusives are for the most part repaints/remolds, I'd much rather have some of them, because there are only a few hundred at most, and that's all there ever will be.

I effectively paid for my Unicron by selling my BotCon 2000 convention exclusives. I had just been dragging them around for twenty years, but the buyer was excited to complete his convention-exclusive Beast Wars collection. Everyone came out ahead, and that's a really fun opportunity you can get in this hobby and fandom.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

o.supreme wrote:To me, although convention exclusives are for the most part repaints/remolds, I'd much rather have some of them, because there are only a few hundred at most, and that's all there ever will be.

I effectively paid for my Unicron by selling my BotCon 2000 convention exclusives. I had just been dragging them around for twenty years, but the buyer was excited to complete his convention-exclusive Beast Wars collection. Everyone came out ahead, and that's a really fun opportunity you can get in this hobby and fandom.

That does sound like a win-win . I could have done the same, (sell some exclusives to pay for Unicron) but I like what I have. Conversely however, back at BC 2000 I straight up traded my Convention Shockaract and Apelinq that I pre-paid for; for Car Robots JRX and Ruination. (They were brand new at the time) Although I long since sold my older TF's I didn't regret that decision, and would do it again.

Nice shot showing Fort Max, Scorponok, Trypticon, Omega Supreme, and Metroplex standing together with Unicron

Honestly thought he'd be a bit bigger.

Looks like this old pic was a little off.

I think it's fairly close; he does looks to be standing behind Fort Max instead of behind him.

This was posted back in 2019 when they were still trying to get people onboard so we should have known it wasn't quite as impressive as the early prototype. Still pretty damn impressive IMO.



Still, side-by-side instead of Max trying to avoid Unicron's toes would have been better comparison.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:This was posted back in 2019 when they were still trying to get people onboard so we should have known it wasn't quite as impressive as the early prototype. Still pretty damn impressive IMO.



Still, side-by-side instead of Max trying to avoid Unicron's toes would have been better comparison.

Emerje

IMHO a titan class for 600 is not impressive, if it were truly as big as early reports then yes maybe it would be more impressive and yet another reason I trust my witchy intuitions and am not sorry at all that I didn't back it.

Size class /= height, and it hasn't been for the entire product line. I'm glad that both groups (e.g. bought or didn't) seem validated in their decisions, but all of this increasingly feels like nitpicking to me. Maybe nothing can or should be $600 of plastic, but if anything can meet that standard, IMHO it's this guy.