The Energon Pub

BBTS is another store that doesn't play ball with listing shipments as gifts.

Whether it was off at a tangent or not the price of this set , plus the inevitable customs sting for me as a UK buyer has finally made a Fansproject Product not viable for me. I stuck with Steelcore and the rip-off shipping but this one, beautiful as they are I'm not going to get mugged for. I have the originals...they will have to do..

And as to the comment on "tax-evasion" where do I even start? Customs are NOT allowed to collect duty on postage charges - but they do it so consistently that it isn't a "mistake" they are doing it as a deliberate policy to grub every penny/cent they can. The postage is declared separately on the forms yet they still do it. This is illegal under European law and they know it but do it TO EVERYONE. If that isn't Illegal behaviour I don't know what is. Attempts to minimise their ability to do this are therefore NOT illegal or even unethical. No taxaxtiuon without representation remember?

The threashold at which they get away with levying duty has also been unchanged and unlinked to inflation for about 18 years - shadey behaviour in the extreme on the (silent) part of HMG.

It's not TF Source's job to sort this out for us however - it's for us UKers to hold our lazy, corrupt, arrogant and largely unelected Authorities to account - even if it means getting off our lazy asses to do it.

Rant over. Enjoy it those of you getting it. I'll have to wait for the ebay knock-off to feel marginally less dirty.

Motorthing wrote:BBTS is another store that doesn't play ball with listing shipments as gifts.

Whether it was off at a tangent or not the price of this set , plus the inevitable customs sting for me as a UK buyer has finally made a Fansproject Product not viable for me. I stuck with Steelcore and the rip-off shipping but this one, beautiful as they are I'm not going to get mugged for. I have the originals...they will have to do..

And as to the comment on "tax-evasion" where do I even start? Customs are NOT allowed to collect duty on postage charges - but they do it so consistently that it isn't a "mistake" they are doing it as a deliberate policy to grub every penny/cent they can. The postage is declared separately on the forms yet they still do it. This is illegal under European law and they know it but do it TO EVERYONE. If that isn't Illegal behaviour I don't know what is. Attempts to minimise their ability to do this are therefore NOT illegal or even unethical. No taxaxtiuon without representation remember?

See, a 2 minute google search has proven you wrong:

HM Revenue and Customs wrote:If you're sending or receiving goods by post for your personal use from outside the European Union (EU), you'll have to pay any tax and/or duty once the goods arrive in the UK. Normally Royal Mail/Parcelforce will pay what's due on your behalf and may charge a handling fee which you must pay before your parcel can be delivered.
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If duty and/or tax is payable, Royal Mail/Parcelforce will pay this to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on your behalf, and charge a handling fee to cover:
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http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/paying-tax.htm
So basically, it sounds like even though you didn't buy it in the country you'll need to pay taxes as if you did. Pretty standard actually.

Motorthing wrote:It's not TF Source's job to sort this out for us however - it's for us UKers to hold our lazy, corrupt, arrogant and largely unelected Authorities to account - even if it means getting off our lazy asses to do it.

As I said before, write your elected officials or campaign for changes if you want the system to change.

I don't think it's the fact that they're taking fees to cover the import, that's annoying, sure, but not the issue. It's the fact that Royal Mail is charging the fees based on the total cost of the item plus the shipping charge already paid, when they should only be adding the tax to the retail cost of the items being imported, regardless of the price of shipping.

Also: Ooh, Transformers!

Back on topic please..

I'm still a bit on the fence with these guys, FP has yet to drop the ball for me, that being said, I want to see Venom before these guys are shipped. More than just a prototype as well. I want to see the finished product or at least a painted final stage mock-up.

Like BBTS, TFSource allows you to preorder without paying upfront. If you are at all interested in this trio, go ahead and preorder them:) you can always cancel between now and release!

JRFitzpatrick7 wrote:Like BBTS, TFSource allows you to preorder without paying upfront. If you are at all interested in this trio, go ahead and preorder them:) you can always cancel between now and release!

It must be said that cancelling a preorder at TFSource is not nearly as easy as it is at BBTS. They don't much care for it.

JRFitzpatrick7 wrote:I'm still a bit on the fence with these guys, FP has yet to drop the ball for me, that being said, I want to see Venom before these guys are shipped. More than just a prototype as well. I want to see the finished product or at least a painted final stage mock-up.

Sadly that's probably not going to happen. At TFCon they said they "might" do a venom at some point, but it wasn't on their immediate list.

Mkall wrote:

JRFitzpatrick7 wrote:I'm still a bit on the fence with these guys, FP has yet to drop the ball for me, that being said, I want to see Venom before these guys are shipped. More than just a prototype as well. I want to see the finished product or at least a painted final stage mock-up.

Sadly that's probably not going to happen. At TFCon they said they "might" do a venom at some point, but it wasn't on their immediate list.

That would be a bad choice by FP. If they sleep on it, somebody else will do it. It's a a win for whoever puts it out.

Mkall wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:these never sold out? wonder how many they really made

Last I saw, they dipped below 100, then they started to slowly go back up. So TFSource is either cancelling those who exceeded the maximum of 2 or their adding some from a reserve stock that they would keep to deal with broken figures which will eventually become "warehouse finds"

Yeah, it is strange.

Rated X wrote:

Mkall wrote:

JRFitzpatrick7 wrote:I'm still a bit on the fence with these guys, FP has yet to drop the ball for me, that being said, I want to see Venom before these guys are shipped. More than just a prototype as well. I want to see the finished product or at least a painted final stage mock-up.

Sadly that's probably not going to happen. At TFCon they said they "might" do a venom at some point, but it wasn't on their immediate list.

That would be a bad choice by FP. If they sleep on it, somebody else will do it. It's a a win for whoever puts it out.

Agreed, though it wouldn't do well for them to mass release a venom figure if his squadmates were limited issues, maybe something else to see release through FPC? Who knows?

daimchoc wrote:

Well played to Fansproject that they aren't just simple repaints. I see new molding, new heads and new weapons. awesome job. As many have said, I hope there is a Venom homage at some point.

Trikeboy wrote:

daimchoc wrote:

Well played to Fansproject that they aren't just simple repaints. I see new molding, new heads and new weapons. awesome job. As many have said, I hope there is a Venom homage at some point.

Agreed. I'd be pretty stoked if FP released the weapons alone as an 'upgrade' for their standard Insecticons too.

Stormrider wrote:I'm totally digging. Molds fit these characters better than the first three. Coloring looks great.

Agreed.

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but after reviewing the prototype pics of the Warbugs, they appear to have head sculpts that are different from the Ninsecticons and the Armored Battallion Set, so I assume that the Warbugs are actually different characters and not based on the G1 Insecticons or Deluxe Insecticons.

Any news on venom yet ? Prototype pics ? I read the last 2 pages and saw nothing important. I like the look of this set. And honestly the other "Warbug" idea looks like it's just going to be Cybertronian modes for the insecticons.

Rated X wrote:Any news on venom yet ? Prototype pics ? I read the last 2 pages and saw nothing important. I like the look of this set. And honestly the other "Warbug" idea looks like it's just going to be Cybertronian modes for the insecticons.

I wouldn't hold your breath on this. At TFCon, FansProject said that Venom was only "being" considered and they had more pressing projects at the moment.

Would love to have the Warbugs in red and black to be used as army builders for the Ninsecticons. The heads look different than all the other Insecticons, so I'm not sure which direction they are going with the Warbugs.

I'm thinking that the heads should look similar if they are Cybertronian versions of the first 3. I'm glad that all 3 sets have their uniqueness. Makes getting all of them more worth it.

Mkall wrote:

Rated X wrote:Any news on venom yet ? Prototype pics ? I read the last 2 pages and saw nothing important. I like the look of this set. And honestly the other "Warbug" idea looks like it's just going to be Cybertronian modes for the insecticons.

I wouldn't hold your breath on this. At TFCon, FansProject said that Venom was only "being" considered and they had more pressing projects at the moment.

As long as someone makes a Venom in scale with the others, I dont care who makes it. It could be TFC, MMC, or a CHMS repaint of Backfirey with a re-tooled head for both modes. Ill be a happy camper.

Not sure if this has already been posted before.

daimchoc wrote:Not sure if this has already been posted before.
http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/bmiddle/99c13ab2g ... p40jwj.jpg

You posted most of them yourself on page 1

Mkall wrote:

daimchoc wrote:Not sure if this has already been posted before.
http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/bmiddle/99c13ab2g ... p40jwj.jpg

You posted most of them yourself on page 1

You are right, my friend! I think I'm getting senile...

damn, that box looks fantastic. I want these now.

Cue me giggling like an idiot.

I cannot wait for these guys. I'm hoping the 4th is made at some point.