The Energon Pub

I'd love a cool Pathfinder, especially if they feminized it a little to diversify her from the others

Glarryg wrote:These are awesome. The clampy hands on not-Cy-kill really take me back. I'll probably get him so that Megatron can kill him repeatedly. Then I'll get the not-Leader-1 and have Optimus... I don't know, repeatedly pass him up for promotions. Whatever the good guy equivalent would be.

Glarryg

Put Leader-1 in a position equivalent to Animated Sentinel Prime. Done.

BBTS Preorders in, and you're not going to like the price:

Bike Robo $45.99
Rod Drill $45.99

Stands 4 1/2 inches tall [Edit: Bike Robo]. Actually a small deluxe or even scout sized? (CW hound is roughly 5 1/2 inches.)

I have to say that I am disappointed in both the size and price...

[Edit] Estimated delivery of 2nd Quarter 2016

Kiiiiiinda starting to remind me of Third Party pricing - I think I might be tempted to get one still. When there's discounts on. Later in my life when I have a job.

Can rod drill not even move his legs forward with that pelvic plate? Wow, no way I'd pay $45 for that

WEAK

These are high-end collector items rather than children's toys, most likely designed more for display purposes than for play value, so it's no surprise to see them this pricey.

As for the size, Machine Robo/GoBots were always on the small side when compared to Diaclone/Micro Change/Transformers anyway. Even in the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon were the GoBots generally depicted as Minibot height, with only the biggest ones like Zod and the combiners being the exceptions.

Agamemnon wrote:Stands 4 1/2 inches tall [Edit: Bike Robo]. Actually a small deluxe or even scout sized? (CW hound is roughly 5 1/2 inches.)

I just measured the height of deluxe Windblade and she stands just over that height, so I'd say these guys are basically small deluxes (definitely larger than scouts).

I also found this blog post containing some images of some of the other (I assume) planned releases, including some not mentioned/pictured yet (Turbo) and a few others (including Fitor, which was mentioned though not pictured previously):



I agree with others here though regarding the pricing. It's way too high for my tastes given the size and level of detail etc. for these figures. I've already got Salmoore and while his design isn't exactly perfect, he works pretty well as a classics style Cy-Kill. Were these priced around the same price as a Takara deluxe I'd probably be all in, but as it stands I'll be waiting for a price drop before committing.

Bbts always Jack the price up on import items. Before we get too upset over how expensive it is, I'd suggest waiting to see what online stores like hlj set the price for.

I was definitely expecting these to be more in the realm of the Super Gobots, size-wise. Hmm...

Yowza. Twice what we were thinking they'd cost.

Yeah, definitely gonna wait and see what HLJ charges. Even shipping directly from Japan would be worth it if you buy a bunch at once.

Glarryg

Ironhidensh wrote:Bbts always Jack the price up on import items. Before we get too upset over how expensive it is, I'd suggest waiting to see what online stores like hlj set the price for.

Yeah, definitely. The price that was estimated was never the price of importers were gonna charge, though there was never a source for that price. MP Bumblebee was the same size and BBTS charged even more. This makes sense for high end collector items of "MP style" go-bots.

Leader_Ultra_Magnus wrote:Now we just need Ryan to give us a Gobot emoji.

Did you ever go to Gobotron.com ?

This is basically no different from the pricing of MP Bumblebee. Anyone expecting anything less was hoping for too much.

Had these been made to be sold to children as playthings then the prices would seem absurd. But they're adult collectibles instead of children's toys.

Anyone thinking these prices are too high ought to think the same about all MPs and all third-party TFs.

Sabrblade wrote:This is basically no different from the pricing of MP Bumblebee. Anyone expecting anything less was hoping for too much.

Had these been made to be sold to children as playthings then the prices would seem absurd. But they're adult collectibles instead of children's toys.

Anyone thinking these prices are too high ought to think the same about all MPs and all third-party TFs.

These are even cheaper than MP Bee by 20$. AND you get this:

Super articulated......Die cast parts........fully modular display platform with each figure.........what more could you ask for?

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:This is basically no different from the pricing of MP Bumblebee. Anyone expecting anything less was hoping for too much.

Had these been made to be sold to children as playthings then the prices would seem absurd. But they're adult collectibles instead of children's toys.

Anyone thinking these prices are too high ought to think the same about all MPs and all third-party TFs.

These are even cheaper than MP Bee by 20$. AND you get this:

So it's an even better deal than it ought to be. Sweet!

Sabrblade wrote:People hoping for a Path Finder figure should keep their expectations low since this a Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos line and Path Finder's MR counterpart, UFO Robo, didn't appear in the Revenge of Chronos anime.

Still want her. Still will be... angry if/when we don't. Not gonna lie/apologize.

Anyway, the rest? Hell, yeah! Classics-style Gobots, about damned time!

I think the sticker shock for comes partially from the guesses from a couple of days ago and the fact that we have seen so many of these in prototypes. (And some like Leader-1 and Spay-C are even bigger, thus likely to be more expensive, right?) If I'm in, I'm in for the lot. I don't know that I like "Classics" Go-Bots enough to get this many and spend the money. I think I'd rather consider things like Takara Ft. Max and the entire Titans Returns line...

Agamemnon wrote:I think the sticker shock for comes partially from the guesses from a couple of days ago and the fact that we have seen so many of these in prototypes. (And some like Leader-1 and Spay-C are even bigger, thus likely to be more expensive, right?) If I'm in, I'm in for the lot. I don't know that I like "Classics" Go-Bots enough to get this many and spend the money. I think I'd rather consider things like Takara Ft. Max and the entire Titans Returns line...

That quoted price was in yen. Given the typical BBTS markmup on imports, I think the quote is pretty accurate. HLJ's shipping is only a couple bucks (if even that) more than BBTS so you can probably import this for less than BBTS's pre ship asking price.

Ironhidensh wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:I think the sticker shock for comes partially from the guesses from a couple of days ago and the fact that we have seen so many of these in prototypes. (And some like Leader-1 and Spay-C are even bigger, thus likely to be more expensive, right?) If I'm in, I'm in for the lot. I don't know that I like "Classics" Go-Bots enough to get this many and spend the money. I think I'd rather consider things like Takara Ft. Max and the entire Titans Returns line...

That quoted price was in yen. Given the typical BBTS markmup on imports, I think the quote is pretty accurate. HLJ's shipping is only a couple bucks (if even that) more than BBTS so you can probably import this for less than BBTS's pre ship asking price.

Oh, indeed that is most likely the case. Yet, I was hoping for less of a markup, as others were guessing. (I seem to recall that the speculation was based on similarly priced, in Yen, of other products and how they were marked up. It is likely there is a greater markup on these based on much fewer units being sold. These probably won't sell like Hasbro, or even Takara, Transformers in the US.) I cannot blame Machine Robo manufacturer or BBTS for this. It is entirely on me and my assumptions.

But, at the lower price point I was considering all of them. Now, I am, maybe, considering just a couple. The price difference is enough over the lot to make a big difference.

Kurona wrote:

JasonCanty01 wrote:

Optimum Supreme wrote:

Kurona wrote: I dunno why I like Pathfinder. I just kind of do.

She reminds me a bit of the cylon fighter ships on the original Battlestar Galactica, that's certainly a point in her favor.

My Friend who's into zen and said that their beauty is in how ugly they are, and he sent me a Pathfinder. I then noticed her humanoid form just struck me as a Robot Japanese School girl. The red on her chest looked like a Sailor Fuku bow, and had a grey dress.

And now I can not see her as anything other than a Robot School girl.

Well SHIZZLESNIT, now I can only think of her as a sailor scout. I don't know if this is good or bad.

Yep you really cannot unsee it once you do see it. Shes a Robot Sailor school girl way before Nobel Gundam and BRASS from Medabots.




Huh I just wonder did they do this intentonaly at Bandai? Did Hanna Barbera/Kenner know she was meant to be female or just randomly said make this one a girl.

I'm pretty sure none of the original Bandai Machine Robo toys are meant to be anything other than straight robots. Any "feminizing" done by HB and thus interpreted by any fan is purely in the eye of the beholder.

I remember a crazy fan theory years ago that Devastator in Japan was originally supposed to be "Diva Star" (long before Victorion was even a thought) with a broad chest and small hips. Now get that image out of your head heh...

U.S price is exactly where I thought it would be at, so I expect the Japanese price to be between $30-$35 apiece for these two. Not knowing how available this line is going to end up being though, I already preordered my two of each until better preorder prices open up at HLJ.

Ironhidensh wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:I think the sticker shock for comes partially from the guesses from a couple of days ago and the fact that we have seen so many of these in prototypes. (And some like Leader-1 and Spay-C are even bigger, thus likely to be more expensive, right?) If I'm in, I'm in for the lot. I don't know that I like "Classics" Go-Bots enough to get this many and spend the money. I think I'd rather consider things like Takara Ft. Max and the entire Titans Returns line...

That quoted price was in yen. Given the typical BBTS markmup on imports, I think the quote is pretty accurate. HLJ's shipping is only a couple bucks (if even that) more than BBTS so you can probably import this for less than BBTS's pre ship asking price.

Yeah, and we should remember that these arent just retail mainline figures (like Takara Legends or UW toys), these are collector figures (I wouldnt even call them classics, this is really its own thing and surely limited). For those who arent aware of the markups, let me just give a few as examples just so that people get that the price they see from importers is not the actual price the company is asking for these:

Dynamite Action S! No.3 "Steel Jeeg"

45$ in Japan

75$ at BBTS 66% markup




Dynamite Action No.37 Tetsujin

135$ in Japan

200$ at BBTS 48% markup




MP Bumblebee G2 version

36$ in Japan

65$ at BBTS 80% markup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The lowest markup (48%) would make these 30$ in Japan which is pretty damn close to what was supposedly said to be the Japanese price. So yes, indeed, these would be around that price range in Japan. Also, BBTS and others try to get preorders early by having them available before the actual preorder date in Japan to offset their overseas competitors. So, as with MP Shockwave, they can overestimate the amount and then lower it later, when the other listings come out, to be more competitive.

One thing though, I am unable to find any figures from "action toys" at amiami, hlj or nippon yassan. It's the same company that did Ultimetal Prime, do you guys know if he was available from them?

when are these new Gobots going to be available on Ebay?

Stuartmaximus wrote:when are these new Gobots going to be available on Ebay?

Is.....is this a serious question?

Ironhidensh wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:when are these new Gobots going to be available on Ebay?

Is.....is this a serious question?

yes!