The Energon Pub

Takara’s Not lying when they say “hot item.”

Emphasis on “hot.”

Sabrblade wrote:Somebody say something before about her being the wrong size?

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Image sources.

The first pictures we saw of her made it look like she was taller then cheetor, almost the same height as primal. but that easily could be a trick of the camera angles. also it was still a painted prototype, and may have been bigger then the final product will be.

I have a MIGHTY NEED!

For real, this might be the first BW MP I buy. It helps of course that given that she's a giant spider, there's no need to worry about alt-mode scale (and thus she can fit in basically any display you want) and that she's probably one of my favourite Transformers characters ever. I kinda wish she'd come out before the time I went to TFNation though, so I could have gotten her or her box signed by Venus Terzo. Oh well, maybe if I get a time machine (or I see her at another con)...

I have such mixed feelings about this. I love Beast Wars, so I'm excited to see the characters get Masterpiece toys. However, I cant help but be disappointed that it didn't happen before Masterpieces started costing $1x10⁴⁴ a piece. At this point I've stopped collecting the line because I just can't keep up with the prices.

This is the only one I am impatiently waiting on. Chiefly because I want to get her out of the way so I see characters I actually want to buy.

Nah not at all Immortal Starscream that's not stalkery- that's just poetic romanticism, with an edge. Like, a sharp dangerous edge

Considering the line is theoretically only 14 characters...



^I would have preferred Him, about 8 characters before her. Putting BA at the very tail end of the MP Beast Wars line, alongside Airazor and Scorponok.

Sabrblade wrote:Somebody say something before about her being the wrong size?

(Click each for full size)







Image sources.

I think it's the wrong size for the price.

She'll seem taller once Megs there collapses in agony from a broken crotch.

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

I'd imagine the excuse would be increased parts count, increase in the cost of resources used to make her and the stand. The more real reason could just be that they know people will pay the price and so just focus on them, writing off all those who rather have more bang for their buck, or have a more streamlined release with a reduced price (no stand).

Of course the truth behind her price could be even stranger then we could think.

MP Dinobot was last year. There is no way in hell there was even a noteworthy enough increase in the cost of resources within less than 12 months, that had to be passed on to the customer. I am also extremely dubious that she has a higher parts count than anyone else previously.

As for these stands, worthless chunks of plastic that they are. I do find their sudden, compulsive inclusion really suspicious too. As I imagine, HasTak are well aware that if they sold them as two separate price points - with or without the stand - Less than half of collectors would pay the inflated price.

Malicron wrote:She'll seem taller once Megs there collapses in agony from a broken crotch.

Maybe if he kept his mouthy hand to himself she wouldn’t have had to break it

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

Quite frankly no. It is a cheap looking, easily produced display stand. It still shouldn't price her above Cheetor, as I'm sure the price should be relative to the figure, not the accessories?

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

Quite frankly no. It is a cheap looking, easily produced display stand. It still shouldn't price her above Cheetor, as I'm sure the price should be relative to the figure, not the accessories?

But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

Quite frankly no. It is a cheap looking, easily produced display stand. It still shouldn't price her above Cheetor, as I'm sure the price should be relative to the figure, not the accessories?

But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

Quite frankly no. It is a cheap looking, easily produced display stand. It still shouldn't price her above Cheetor, as I'm sure the price should be relative to the figure, not the accessories?

But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

agreed, but also isn't that stand supposed to light up? I thought it said in her details release that that something lit up on her. Though honestly, I would be more for the stands being sold separately. the pegs seem to work for most retail figures. They are connectable, modular and customizable. Takatomy would just need to make some optional colors, like ark orange, nemesis purple, etc, and I would buy a bunch of them. given they were at a decent price.

one thing to consider though, is geometric tolerances for something like a mp figure have to be exceptionally high. On a smaller figure, this could lead to more parts failing qc, more waste which in turn would mean a higher production cost.

00Stargrave00 wrote:Nah not at all Immortal Starscream that's not stalkery- that's just poetic romanticism, with an edge. Like, a sharp dangerous edge

hot, poisonous, deadly.

Immortal Starscream wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I think it's the wrong size for the price.

This. 100%

Although smaller than Cheetor, price-wise, she is in-between Optimus Primal and Dinobot, with no justification whatsoever.

The stand and web accessory isn't justification for the price?

Quite frankly no. It is a cheap looking, easily produced display stand. It still shouldn't price her above Cheetor, as I'm sure the price should be relative to the figure, not the accessories?

But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

agreed, but also isn't that stand supposed to light up? I thought it said in her details release that that something lit up on her. Though honestly, I would be more for the stands being sold separately. the pegs seem to work for most retail figures. They are connectable, modular and customizable. Takatomy would just need to make some optional colors, like ark orange, nemesis purple, etc, and I would buy a bunch of them. given they were at a decent price.

one thing to consider though, is geometric tolerances for something like a mp figure have to be exceptionally high. On a smaller figure, this could lead to more parts failing qc, more waste which in turn would mean a higher production cost.

00Stargrave00 wrote:Nah not at all Immortal Starscream that's not stalkery- that's just poetic romanticism, with an edge. Like, a sharp dangerous edge

hot, poisonous, deadly.

I never thought about that (the increased production costs)

The stand does indeed light up. Only way we can get real closure on to why the prices are the way they are would be to invent truth serum like on TV and give it to the people at Takara Tomy who are in charge of pricing. Till then all we have is speculation. I would be more interested to see the pricing of the next few to see if we are facing a price hike.

william-james88 wrote:But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

If the 'more stuff' were context relevant than yes, I'd agree. For example, If it were a Stasis pod (or that weird flying version, she made) or Tarantulas control console, from his lair.
The stand is essentially another part of the box, much in the same way as the clear plastic blister that holds the figure. It has no intrinsic ties to Beast Wars figures specifically. It could be for any figure, from any line.

Immortal Starscream wrote:one thing to consider though, is geometric tolerances for something like a mp figure have to be exceptionally high. On a smaller figure, this could lead to more parts failing qc, more waste which in turn would mean a higher production cost.

Except, Optimus Primal, Shadow Panther and Cheetor exist. They are smaller figures and still cost less. Plus, oddly enough, so far the only Beast Wars figure with QC issues was the biggest one....

Maybe the cost increase is to make sure there's more checks to make sure megs doesn't happen again

ZeroWolf wrote:Maybe the cost increase is to make sure there's more checks to make sure megs doesn't happen again

I doubt that very much...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:But nothing's free. I dont like the price either and I would much rather pay cheaper and have less accessories. But I dont think this release as a whole would make sense to be cheaper than cheetor when you get more stuff.

If the 'more stuff' were context relevant than yes, I'd agree. For example, If it were a Stasis pod (or that weird flying version, she made) or Tarantulas control console, from his lair.
The stand is essentially another part of the box, much in the same way as the clear plastic blister that holds the figure. It has no intrinsic ties to Beast Wars figures specifically. It could be for any figure, from any line.

Immortal Starscream wrote:one thing to consider though, is geometric tolerances for something like a mp figure have to be exceptionally high. On a smaller figure, this could lead to more parts failing qc, more waste which in turn would mean a higher production cost.

Except, Optimus Primal, Shadow Panther and Cheetor exist. They are smaller figures and still cost less. Plus, oddly enough, so far the only Beast Wars figure with QC issues was the biggest one....

true enough, though I could argue that both figures needed more qc when it came to paint. my cheetor is disintegrating. all the joints that have paint on them have fractures all over the place. just from standing on my shelf. Primal just doesn't have enough clearance to account for his paint. and production costs have been going up every year.

Also keep in mind, I'm just playing devils advocate. I personally find the price a punch in the gut. But then when MP-01 came out and cost $80 at walmart, I also found that to be a punch in the gut at the time.

Immortal Starscream wrote: and production costs have been going up every year.

How much actual truth there is to that, when used as an excuse by HasTak themselves, remains unknown. The worst part though, is that it seems to parallel an increase in QC issues from both Hasbro and Takara. So perhaps it is more an overall lack of competence, mixed with greed, that is the true reason for increases here?