The Energon Pub

o.supreme wrote:
...eh, not so much. I may be jaded living in CA, but I'm not exactly in *the big city*, but average apartment rent for one bedroom is around $800. Mortgage Payments for a *single-family-home* can range anywhere from $1500 to $2500. Even one of my relatives who lives in Idaho where cost of living is far less, her Mortgage Payment is $800, and she purchased her home 20 years ago. Still. I'm not completely out of the loop. I work in the mortgage industry, I know there are several homes that are paying a $600 mortgage, or less. But of course, those homes/families are not looking at $600 toys to say the least.

As an odd point of interest, in my area (northern Indiana), it is actually cheaper to own a home, than rent an apartment. See, good or even okay credit is hard to come by, because people are stupid with money, so mortgages are hard to get, but anybody can rent an apartment. Average pay is decent, thanks to the RV industry booming the last decade, so people can afford the higher rent.

Average house payment: 600

Average apartment: 700

Ironhidensh wrote:I agree, "elite" was a bad word choice, but I still don't think this is for the average collector. This is a massive purchase, no matter how special, awesome or once in a lifetime it is, at the end of the day, its more than most car payments and almost as much as a house payment. This is an item that is only for well off collectors.

"Well off" might even be a bad term, but what I'm getting at, is I've seen people justifying skipping actual bills and things that matter, just to buy a fancy toy. That's a bad thing.

I'm not knocking you at all, just making sure we're positioning this the right way, because in situations like this, positioning is everything.

I wouldn't say 'well off' either - I think labels generally are unhelpful. I acknowledge that well off collectors are more likely to jump than the median income collectors, but I would argue that Unicron is for anyone who has an emotional connection to the '86 movie.

Not everyone will go for it, but everyone has an opportunity, and as a crowdfunding project, this thing is for 'us' in the broadest sense. My fear is that people who might otherwise go for it will demur due to all this talk of it being only for a certain subset of people.

Stargrave wrote:You know that’s a really good point I appreciate that. I think I’m trying to appeal to everyone given what all this represents. From the ‘elite’ to a grunt like me I root for all of us because at the end of the day, we all have been drawn to this hobby (which is the best hobby). I just see fans.

Honestly it was your appeal during the recent podcast that inspired my current view on Unicron I really loved what you said.

Thanks! I'm really worked up about this, and it kills me to see people trash the project or go negative out of instinct. I don't think this is for everyone, but that doesn't mean we as a community shouldn't frame it positively. This is a good thing!

I am such a serious buyer but honestly terrible timing I already have 3 OP 3.0 on pre order and I had an entire year to plan a budget and then they come and just throw a wrench at my plans. I usually just buy everything and resell for a good price what i don’t need in my collection but how could I not need Unicron? My biggest question though is what happens to TakaraTomyMall if he’s not funded in the US? If they don’t count as the 8,000 will all their orders get cancelled? And if not does that take away the urgency of the Haslab fund? Also I will be royalty pissed off of the two have different decos I was so mad with the new mp shockwave I boycotted and bought MP-36+ the deco needs some variety not some apology for getting wrong the first time. Either way I hope this gets funded because worst case scenario I’m not looking forward to ship a 20 pound massive transformer from China if Haslab gets cancelled

GrangerPerry wrote:I am such a serious buyer but honestly terrible timing I already have 3 OP 3.0 on pre order and I had an entire year to plan a budget and then they come and just throw a wrench at my plans. I usually just buy everything and resell for a good price what i don’t need in my collection but how could I not need Unicron? My biggest question though is what happens to TakaraTomyMall if he’s not funded in the US? If they don’t count as the 8,000 will all their orders get cancelled? And if not does that take away the urgency of the Haslab fund? Also I will be royalty pissed off of the two have different decos I was so mad with the new mp shockwave I boycotted and bought MP-36+ the deco needs some variety not some apology for getting wrong the first time. Either way I hope this gets funded because worst case scenario I’m not looking forward to ship a 20 pound massive transformer from China if Haslab gets cancelled

My wager is if HasLab doesn't fund Unicron, it's not happening anywhere.

Hate to say it but I’m sure 3rd party companies are working up designs right now if it doesn’t go through.

Stargrave wrote:Hate to say it but I’m sure 3rd party companies are working up designs right now if it doesn’t go through.

Prototypes of pieces have already been shown.

I've seen some reports that certain stores are supposed to be counted in the preorders, but it still seems strange that Takara's aren't Also I'm not surprised the 3p are jumping onto this, I doubt any will be better (the upscale certainly won't be as it will just maximise the flaws that mold had, namely the half planet mode.)

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I've seen some reports that certain stores are supposed to be counted in the preorders, but it still seems strange that Takara's aren't Also I'm not surprised the 3p are jumping onto this, I doubt any will be better (the upscale certainly won't be as it will just maximise the flaws that mold had, namely the half planet mode.)

I get the feeling that the stores that will count will give a pre-order count a few days prior to the end, and then add a few more onto the count for themselves should someone want to pre-order past the Pulse date

Takara & Hasbro collaborate on Transformers, but they are separate companies with separate balance sheets and all the rest - it's not surprising to me that Hasbro needs to meet its own minimum, independent of Takara.

That said, as I've opined before, I'm confident the BBTS, TFsource, and other retailer orders play into Pulse's 8000 minimum. I suspect that's why the Barge number rocketed as much as it did in the final days, because that's when their' orders registered.

megatronus wrote:I'm confident the BBTS, TFsource, and other retailer orders play into Pulse's 8000 minimum.

Of course they do. As I said before, they're probably just getting as many employees as needed ordering their maximum of five. I seriously doubt there's any behind the scenes deal between the online retailers and Pulse. They're more than likely in the same boat as everyone else.

Burn wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm confident the BBTS, TFsource, and other retailer orders play into Pulse's 8000 minimum.

Of course they do. As I said before, they're probably just getting as many employees as needed ordering their maximum of five. I seriously doubt there's any behind the scenes deal between the online retailers and Pulse. They're more than likely in the same boat as everyone else.

I think it's more likely that BBTS has a deal with Hasbro. Why would this would be the one instance where that's not the case?

megatronus wrote:

Burn wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm confident the BBTS, TFsource, and other retailer orders play into Pulse's 8000 minimum.

Of course they do. As I said before, they're probably just getting as many employees as needed ordering their maximum of five. I seriously doubt there's any behind the scenes deal between the online retailers and Pulse. They're more than likely in the same boat as everyone else.

I think it's more likely that BBTS has a deal with Pulse. Why would this would be the one instance where that's not the case?

I've talked to a customer support personnel at BBTS. She confirmed the preorders went towards the count and that they were working closely with Hasbro on Unicron.

So to the fans that have been known to get 2 of the same figure to open one and keep the other MISB like I've done. IF...you could easily afford 2 would you do so considering the over all size involved...?


Would you be able to keep 1 MISB or would you consider keeping 1 in robot mode and the other in planet mode...?


After some deep thought I think I could easily keep 1 MISB. I would definitely keep the box to the other one which I would normally chuck out but for obvious reasons I'd hold on to this box. Just some crazy thoughts on this subject.

I'd keep one in my personal collection, in robot mode, posed with every Transformer I have. I don't know what that would look like, but it just would have to be so.

The second I would take on the road to tour the land, work the county fair and flea market circuit teaching all young and old of the way of Transformers. Like Johnny Appleseed, but with Transformers.

Yeah just me n' Unicron, going on adventures, breaking hearts, and solving crimes in our spare time.

I feel good about this. I was fortunate enough to back this dream Haslab project last week gleefully. One thing I’ve learned over the years from collecting is that it’s much like, no... exactly like the stock market. I can’t imagine Hasbro, one of the most successful toy companies of all time with some of the biggest franchises attached to it watching almost 1.2 mil as of this writing (2,078 backers) walk out the door. The marketing so far has felt more like an initial launch. The updates will no doubt come rolling out with a few sweeteners along the way. They’ve thought this out and it will succeed because they won’t allow themselves to take an embarrassing very public L with Haslab. The Sail Barge was a bragging rights victory not just for the Star Wars fandom but particularly for Hasbro’s effort to woo high end collectors that have grown up with so many of their brands. I’ve already got Unicron’s spot high upon my Transformers G1 and Masterpiece featured Detolf Cabinet

I have a very hard time believing Takara Tomy's pre-orders don't count towards the campaign. The stipulations they've placed on ordering are unlike anything I've ever seen on TTM, the closest being the last crowd fund they did, Grand Maximus. And those stipulations have nothing to do with the price as they've had other things on there even more expensive. Even right now they have some golf bags for ￥64,800 (Unicron is ￥75,600).

They also have in large, bold text towards the top (translated from Japanese):
Commercialized with 8,000 units achieved worldwide! Acceptance starts at Takara Tomy Mall in Japan too!
That sounds like confirmation that they're involved in Hasbro's crowdfund to me.

Emerje

I would be very surprised if the TTM preorders weren't involved in the crowdfund, considering A. Japan is full of the kind of collectors who eat this sort of thing up and B. it's TakaraTomy that manages the factories.

Stargrave wrote:I'd keep one in my personal collection, in robot mode, posed with every Transformer I have. I don't know what that would look like, but it just would have to be so.

The second I would take on the road to tour the land, work the county fair and flea market circuit teaching all young and old of the way of Transformers. Like Johnny Appleseed, but with Transformers.

Yeah just me n' Unicron, going on adventures, breaking hearts, and solving crimes in our spare time.

Touché good sir. Touché

2100 backers as of today

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:If he happens, Unicron will be displayed in planet mode for my collection. I have my Unicron of Light for robot mode, this guy is way too impressive in planet mode to not be in it.

also, having read some of the older posts in here, I feel like i am going to need to talk about the engineering and molding costs to make something this size. As an engineer, and looking at it from that angle, the price really does make a ton of sense.

I look forward to your post, and I wonder, would it work as an article for the site?

ZeroWolf wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:If he happens, Unicron will be displayed in planet mode for my collection. I have my Unicron of Light for robot mode, this guy is way too impressive in planet mode to not be in it.

also, having read some of the older posts in here, I feel like i am going to need to talk about the engineering and molding costs to make something this size. As an engineer, and looking at it from that angle, the price really does make a ton of sense.

I look forward to your post, and I wonder, would it work as an article for the site?

Dude, Zero that’s brilliant. That would be so cool! Not like spare time grows on trees but D-Max that would be a fascinating ongoing feature you could totally go through examples from your own collection. I would eat that up my dads an engineer and math teacher I kinda have it in my blood I’d love some toy engineering talk.

Stargrave wrote:2100 backers as of today

Should be at 3000 by end of day to be *on pace*. Not trying to be a downer, just trying to keep things realistic. Yes I am aware now, that large quantities of backers often come in towards the end of crowdfunding projects. I just like the science of numbers, that's all, my secular job involves auditing, so I'm a little weird like that

I did *hope* that today being 8/1, we might see a slight influx based on the fact that in many situations, peoples income gets paid to them on the first of the month (some places are weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly etc...) but we shall see if this in fact has any effect.