The Energon Pub

[fenrir72]

Mebbe to each his own taste? And yes, the price is indeed at par with the HB domestic release . Which is kind of weird that (again based on each of our quirks), people will balk at buying a TT version due to pricing issues but will spend oodles to get a pain in the @ss htf HB Wildrider and Slingshot and all other accessories to bling up the domestic version.

Again, that might be personal preference but still.........

I think amiami is an excetion - not a rule, every importer (bbts, etc) charges much more than amiami, so are there other places that charge lower prices? Plus buying through hts with coupons and free shipping, or other retailers will net you a much lower cost, you just have to have patience; I haven't paid full price for a combiner yet, nor do I ever intend to.

Plus by accessories, do you mean 3p upgrades like hands/feet? If so, that's kinda unfair, 'cuz they're selling them/people are buying them for the TT releases...

Without naming names. I betcha you too know(not you hellscream) of some fellow sebertronians who do so would without batting an eyelash bash TT and then buy 3rd party Devastators or accessories as if the difference don't matter.

That makes me scratch my head.

Of course, S/H does make a difference and proxies like HTS need to make a profit too. Also, not everything TT does is a godsend, I'd also like to make it clear but at present TT has been doing a lot of homeruns.

[Hellscream9999]

Mebbe to each his own taste? And yes, the price is indeed at par with the HB domestic release . Which is kind of weird that (again based on each of our quirks), people will balk at buying a TT version due to pricing issues but will spend oodles to get a pain in the @ss htf HB Wildrider and Slingshot and all other accessories to bling up the domestic version.

Again, that might be personal preference but still.........

I think amiami is an excetion - not a rule, every importer (bbts, etc) charges much more than amiami, so are there other places that charge lower prices? Plus buying through hts with coupons and free shipping, or other retailers will net you a much lower cost, you just have to have patience; I haven't paid full price for a combiner yet, nor do I ever intend to.

Plus by accessories, do you mean 3p upgrades like hands/feet? If so, that's kinda unfair, 'cuz they're selling them/people are buying them for the TT releases...

Without naming names. I betcha you too know(not you hellscream) of some fellow sebertronians who do so would without batting an eyelash bash TT and then buy 3rd party Devastators or accessories as if the difference don't matter.

That makes me scratch my head.

Of course, S/H does make a difference and proxies like HTS need to make a profit too. Also, not everything TT does is a godsend, I'd also like to make it clear but at present TT has been doing a lot of homeruns.

Yeah, I get'cha, I've been considering getting the nonef hands for ol' galvatronus, just so he has more expressive hands, the closed fists, and lack of ball-jointed necks really hurt the posability of such large figures after a while.

Anybody get the nonef hands yet?

[william-james88]

Alright, I really don't keep up with the foreign sites since hts is pretty convenient for me; everyone here seems to pimp amiami so much, and no other japanese site (seemingly), and from the way people talked about it, that it was some special secret. So I guess the ~$40 difference to that and bbts and such is for fees and profits?

I only ask, as I legitimately am out of this loop (but for an equivalent price, you are still getting gypped by TT )

The whole deal with pricing and cost and how the two could be different or interchangeable can really create a headache so I can totally understand how it can seem confusing. I just know you are a smart guy who likes being well informed so I wanted to bust that myth about Takara prices (also, someone above said that Takara is not always better than Hasbro, which is also true, like with the whole Prime line)

Yeah people pimp amiami but there are others. HLJ.com is one of them and animeexport as well. That's where I bought my Takara Devastator for only 141$ US (plus shipping).

And yes, for the equivalent price, you are getting less paint apps (except for Motormaster), no argument there .

BBTS charges more to cover their higher cost. Now it has been argued (rightfully so) that both Takara and Hasbro toys are made in the same factories (which has been proven) and are thus both imported into the country and thus the travelling and importing fee doesnt really add up to the Takara toys costing more. That is sound logic. And I dont think BBTS is too greedy either. I think they are either taxed more of subject to a higher cost per figure due to the japan exclusive distribution of these toys. What I mean is that Takara distributes to local Japanese stores (ex: Toysrus) but not to BBTS. And thus, a third party Japanese company must buy from Takara and then sell to BBTS (which needs to have this shipped to them from Japan instead of the asian country of the toy's production factory). So that increases the price (since every party needs a cut). By buying from amiami or hlj or any other Japan retailer, you are buying from someone who bought straight from Takara, hence the cheaper price. For the Hasbro products (which also need to be shipped from asia to america), since they are Hasbro's product, I am pretty sure that Hasbro deals with the shipping cost and distribution starts once the product is in the states. So BBTS doesnt need to deal with that extra cost.

All I mean to say is that what BBTS charges is reflective on their cost and not the figure's inherent price in its country of initial distribution. For americans, its a nice service they do since you have all your figures under one roof and you dont have to fear of them selling out right away and the shipping is minimal. But for the rest of the world (especially europe and australia), buying from BBTS would be nonsensical due to the huge shipping cost. So it makes more sense for them (and me) to go through the japanese retailers where they can at least get the figures for their actual price and deal with the extra costs themselves without another party coming in between them and their toys.

[Cobotron]

What I mean is that Takara distributes to local Japanese stores (ex: Toysrus) but not to BBTS. And thus, a third party Japanese company must buy from Takara and then sell to BBTS (which needs to have this shipped to them from Japan instead of the asian country of the toy's production factory).

Not sure this is true. I think BBTS and others buy directly from Takara.
The main reason BBTS and other importers charge more is taxes. Taxes, taxes, duties, taxes, duties, and more taxes. Did I mention duties? It also costs a lot of money to be an importer. In the US you must have an expensive license that must be renewed annually. The US customs department puts a duty on all foreign goods not intended to be sold in the US market. Be it booze, cologne, Turkish rugs, toys, etc. So BBTS has to pay those taxes and keep up their importers license. Hence the mark up.
Same reason we have Customs agents at airports. A tourist returning from Japan with 1 MP G2 Bee in their suit case will not have to pay a duty because it as seen as a souvenir, or gift. A tourist returning from Japan with an entire case of MP G2 Bees will have to pay the import duties because Customs sees this as intent to sell. And those duties/penalty may be higher if you don't have a license to import.

But, all and all you are correct. BBTS and others has to mark up their prices to cover their costs.

[Rated X]

The takara version looks so much better than the hasbro versions because they are cartoon accurate. I have the hasbro versions already and the takara aerialbots so I can speak on them from in hand experience. Takara just looks better. Its not so much about who has more paint apps in some cases. Its about who has the proper paint aps. Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid. I personally feel sometimes the only reason the crappy Hasbro decos exist is to justify takaras existance. All the figures come from the same mold located in China and they homage the same G1 character so theres no reason why they cant make just one universal G1 accurate deco for worldwide retail. I really doubt kids in the US were sending e-mails to hasbro demanding drag strip have purple stripes and for dead end to have his chest painted red. More paint apps arent better if their sole purpose is to make the figure non-G1 accurate and serve as a advertisement to to promote takara as being the savior of G1. Dont get me wrong, I commend takara for bringing us a proper Groove and Blast Off. But thats something hasbro should have done in the first place.

[william-james88]

What I mean is that Takara distributes to local Japanese stores (ex: Toysrus) but not to BBTS. And thus, a third party Japanese company must buy from Takara and then sell to BBTS (which needs to have this shipped to them from Japan instead of the asian country of the toy's production factory).

Not sure this is true. I think BBTS and others buy directly from Takara.
The main reason BBTS and other importers charge more is taxes. Taxes, taxes, duties, taxes, duties, and more taxes. Did I mention duties? It also costs a lot of money to be an importer. In the US you must have an expensive license that must be renewed annually. The US customs department puts a duty on all foreign goods not intended to be sold in the US market. Be it booze, cologne, Turkish rugs, toys, etc. So BBTS has to pay those taxes and keep up their importers license. Hence the mark up.
Same reason we have Customs agents at airports. A tourist returning from Japan with 1 MP G2 Bee in their suit case will not have to pay a duty because it as seen as a souvenir, or gift. A tourist returning from Japan with an entire case of MP G2 Bees will have to pay the import duties because Customs sees this as intent to sell. And those duties/penalty may be higher if you don't have a license to import.

But, all and all you are correct. BBTS and others has to mark up their prices to cover their costs.

Thanks for Expanding on this Cobotron, and sorry to have confused you further with my inacuracies Hellscream.

Also, an easy trick for tourists to get away with toys is to simply open the box. That's how I got away with my Hasbro asia Wheeljack

[Sabrblade]

Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid.

The G1 Drag Strip toy had a purple head and accessories.



Years later, the Universe 2008 SE-03 Decepticon Drag Strip (Special Edition) would be the first Drag Strip toy to take that purple and apply it to somewhere on the toy's body below the head.



Factoring in the BotCon Animated toy (a separate character) in this as the next Drag Strip toy, it's clear that the purple have evolved and grown over time to have more of a presence on Drag Strip toys over the years, which makes it seem that Hasbro views the purple as Drag Strip's secondary color these days.

[steals_your_goats]

Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid.

Why does everything the new toys have need to homage the old ones? Why can't they just be different for the sake of being different? I prefer the Hasbro decos because they're not trying to pander so hard to the g1 purists, they're doing something different and for me it definitely pays off. In my opinion making the new toys so painfully g1 accurate is a bigger compromise than any gimmick ever will be.

[munkimus prime]

So there is such a thing as being to G1 accurate.

[Shockwave7]

The one thing I hated about the G1 lines was how they welded the 'legs' together on almost all of the figures. They had BOTH legs as one solid piece with a tiny indentation running down the middle that we were supposed to imagine was where the legs split apart. The G1 smaller combiner figures were notoriously bad in that regard.

[Cobotron]

Ya, it was horrible back when I was a kid, having to use my imagination ALL the time.


Please read with 62.7% sarcasim.

[no-one]

Ya, it was horrible back when I was a kid, having to use my imagination ALL the time.


Please read with 62.7% sarcasim.

yup, I'm on a MGS kick today

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid.

Why does everything the new toys have need to homage the old ones? Why can't they just be different for the sake of being different? I prefer the Hasbro decos because they're not trying to pander so hard to the g1 purists, they're doing something different and for me it definitely pays off. In my opinion making the new toys so painfully g1 accurate is a bigger compromise than any gimmick ever will be.

I agree. I like updates and modernization's, not more posable versions of old toys. I like the new hasbro guys. They pop a good bit more than Takaras and some of the new paint apps just look better and sexier (Cough Defensor Cough) than the G1 homage. more colorful.

[Hellscream9999]

Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid.

Why does everything the new toys have need to homage the old ones? Why can't they just be different for the sake of being different? I prefer the Hasbro decos because they're not trying to pander so hard to the g1 purists, they're doing something different and for me it definitely pays off. In my opinion making the new toys so painfully g1 accurate is a bigger compromise than any gimmick ever will be.

I agree. I like updates and modernization's, not more posable versions of old toys. I like the new hasbro guys. They pop a good bit more than Takaras and some of the new paint apps just look better and sexier (Cough Defensor Cough) than the G1 homage. more colorful.

Exactly - these are updates, they are not the original vehicles (would've liked a 3 axle dragstrip though) they're modern vehicles, with appropriate, visually interesting paint apps. The TT set is disgustingly plain, it's so very ugly how plain these guys are; and more to the point, these are 'race cars' or something similar, they should have crazy and cool paint apps, like real racing cars (any kind, like customs and such - which I believe these are supposed to be, or at least break down, and the gray guy and the maroon guy).

I don't want pure G1, I probably never will - none of their deco's looked that great, especially when applied to much larger modern figures (case in point: that dragstrip TT sneezed yellow paint onto), and if I'm paying the same price for them, I want the paint apps that make the figure look nice, and the purchase worth it

[william-james88]

The takara version looks so much better than the hasbro versions because they are cartoon accurate. I have the hasbro versions already and the takara aerialbots so I can speak on them from in hand experience. Takara just looks better. Its not so much about who has more paint apps in some cases. Its about who has the proper paint aps. Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid. I personally feel sometimes the only reason the crappy Hasbro decos exist is to justify takaras existance. All the figures come from the same mold located in China and they homage the same G1 character so theres no reason why they cant make just one universal G1 accurate deco for worldwide retail. I really doubt kids in the US were sending e-mails to hasbro demanding drag strip have purple stripes and for dead end to have his chest painted red. More paint apps arent better if their sole purpose is to make the figure non-G1 accurate and serve as a advertisement to to promote takara as being the savior of G1. Dont get me wrong, I commend takara for bringing us a proper Groove and Blast Off. But thats something hasbro should have done in the first place.

Hey wait a sec there X, wasnt it you who said people shouldnt kid themselves to finally getting a "G1 Megatron" toy out of the CW Leader class one since it wasnt even the right alt mode? I found that totally valid since it was true. Megatron isn't a gun, so all this G1 deco is more of an homage rather than portraying the actual G1 Megatron.

But here it seems you are taking the opposite stance by saying that these toys should have their G1 paint jobs. Does that mean you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons? Because they clearly arent. Motormaster doestn even have a trailer, which you know is not an attachment to his body but rather his actual body. And not just that, but Dead End is the wrong car, and Dragstrip is the wrong kind of F1 racing car. He should have 2 sets of wheels in the front and since he doesnt it makes the G1 deco on Takara look super silly since they are painting black to homage wheels. You dont find that a bit lame? I am not kidding myself that Leader Megs isnt G1 Megs so I dont see why you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons to the point that they need to only have that G1 deco.
They are stunticons for a new era, with slightly different alt modes, so I dont see why the paint apps cant be slightly different too.

[william-james88]

Why does everything the new toys have need to homage the old ones? Why can't they just be different for the sake of being different? I prefer the Hasbro decos because they're not trying to pander so hard to the g1 purists, they're doing something different and for me it definitely pays off. In my opinion making the new toys so painfully g1 accurate is a bigger compromise than any gimmick ever will be.

To be fair, being G1 accurate did bring out how great the engineering on Superion is:

There are a few reasons I opted for Takara's over Hasbro's. Firstly, it actually comes out cheaper than buying the hasbro version locally at walmart. It come to about the same price if I waitied for a sale and plus I would be waiting forever for slingshot (I can always get the alpha barvo mold as blades later).

Secondly, while the deco is better, the big part of the deco that gets me giddy is the superion chest. Let me explain.

The character model has Silverbolt's chest transform into Superion's chest and they are very different color wise. Silverbolt's chest in the G1 cartoon is red but seperated by white while Superion is red all across (except for a small patch).

Due to the engineering of back then, the G1 toy could not do that so the chest was a full red for both Superion and Silverbolt since it didnt really transform.

However, the new updated Combiner Wars toys have the engineering so that whatever chest Silverbolt has, Superion doesnt necessarily have to share it. And indeed, the transformation into a torso is quite involved and the same chest peices are not reused. And yet, Hasbro's lazy paint job doesnt showcase that at all since you still end up with a full red chest for both Silverbolt and Superion.

However, Takara does make the most of this great tnrasformation by showcasing how the torso has morphed and is far from just being Silverbolt's chest. And for once, the color change on the chest is very visible. This may look small, but it is a big deal for me since it highlights the evolution in engineering of these wonderful toys.

[Hellscream9999]

The takara version looks so much better than the hasbro versions because they are cartoon accurate. I have the hasbro versions already and the takara aerialbots so I can speak on them from in hand experience. Takara just looks better. Its not so much about who has more paint apps in some cases. Its about who has the proper paint aps. Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid. I personally feel sometimes the only reason the crappy Hasbro decos exist is to justify takaras existance. All the figures come from the same mold located in China and they homage the same G1 character so theres no reason why they cant make just one universal G1 accurate deco for worldwide retail. I really doubt kids in the US were sending e-mails to hasbro demanding drag strip have purple stripes and for dead end to have his chest painted red. More paint apps arent better if their sole purpose is to make the figure non-G1 accurate and serve as a advertisement to to promote takara as being the savior of G1. Dont get me wrong, I commend takara for bringing us a proper Groove and Blast Off. But thats something hasbro should have done in the first place.

Hey wait a sec there X, wasnt it you who said people shouldnt kid themselves to finally getting a "G1 Megatron" toy out of the CW Leader class one since it wasnt even the right alt mode? I found that totally valid since it was true. Megatron isn't a gun, so all this G1 deco is more of an homage rather than portraying the actual G1 Megatron.

But here it seems you are taking the opposite stance by saying that these toys should have their G1 paint jobs. Does that mean you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons? Because they clearly arent. Motormaster doestn even have a trailer, which you know is not an attachment to his body but rather his actual body. And not just that, but Dead End is the wrong car, and Dragstrip is the wrong kind of F1 racing car. He should have 2 sets of wheels in the front and since he doesnt it makes the G1 deco on Takara look super silly since they are painting black to homage wheels. You dont find that a bit lame? I am not kidding myself that Leader Megs isnt G1 Megs so I dont see why you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons to the point that they need to only have that G1 deco.
They are stunticons for a new era, with slightly different alt modes, so I dont see why the paint apps cant be slightly different too.

I think the word you might be looking for is hypocritical, but does anyone else find it kinda ironic that a retooled/reshelled hotspot would have yeilded a perfect G1 motormaster, i.e. with cab feet and a pseudo trailer?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I think the word you might be looking for is hypocritical, but does anyone else find it kinda ironic that a retooled/reshelled hotspot would have yeilded a perfect G1 motormaster, i.e. with cab feet and a pseudo trailer?

Since you mentioned it: yes. I like the mold far better too, so it wouldve been nice

[Hellscream9999]

To be fair, being G1 accurate did bring out how great the engineering on Superion is

While TT superion is great, their defensor and menasor are really not; so I think it might be one of those things where we should refrain from blanket statements about them (TT's superion and devastator are beautiful , and menasor and defensor really aren't )

[Hellscream9999]

I think the word you might be looking for is hypocritical, but does anyone else find it kinda ironic that a retooled/reshelled hotspot would have yeilded a perfect G1 motormaster, i.e. with cab feet and a pseudo trailer?

Since you mentioned it: yes. I like the mold far better too, so it wouldve been nice

Well it would have had a ridiculously long cab and needed a different wheel set up (which may have been impossible) but the thought did occur to me while I was pondering hotspot

[D-Maximal_Primal]

To be fair, being G1 accurate did bring out how great the engineering on Superion is

While TT superion is great, their defensor and menasor are really not; so I think it might be one of those things where we should refrain from blanket statements about them (TT's superion and devastator are beautiful , and menasor and defensor really aren't )

Agreed. so far they are splitting 50-50 to me

[Flashwave]

I won't argue with amiami they're great, but I live in America, so things are a tiny bit different price wise, but I think that they are more exception than rule, and should be referenced as such.

Amiami is not the exception, they (and the other japan retailers) are the actual rule for the price. Do not let anyone else fool you into thinking otherwise, the retail price of Takara releases are the SAME as Hasbro. This has been debunked to death. Check out these retail prices (this is in retail, not online):


8.82$ US


16.96$ US


30.54 $US

So that means that the only sites which actually let you buy at the actual retail price in Japan (which by definition IS the rule) are the local Japan sites, because they have their own local market to compete with. Think about it, when discussing the rule for Hasbro prices, are you looking at how much it costs in store here in north america, or how much someone in Japan is paying for a Hasbro product they cant get (like Rook)? You will also notice that Amiami, HLJ and AnimeExport never stop giving a discount. The discount is ever present, because that is the retail price in Japan. The premium you might pay is only due to extra cost but we cant confuse it with the actual price of the toys. What I mean to say is that you are free to say that it sucks that we have to pay extra to get them over in the US (it really does suck!), but saying that Takara is charging a preimium for sub par paint jobs is not true. They charge the same amount. The paint job for the stunticons is still really lame though

But William, I CAN confuse shipping with the actual price of the figure because that's still what I am paying. I'm still paying $200 for a set of figures to come to me from Japan (well, I'm not. Couldn't wait, prefer Superion with black, interchangable with Defensor hands, and yes I got suckerpunched with Slingshot and Wildrider, ow!). Ypu're right, the actual figures themselves are only $150, and the remainder is either being paid directly to the Japanese company (And their Postal sERVICE) to mail them to me, Or to an Importer who already shouldered that cost (Like BBTS) but despite what Streetcost was and is, I still have to pay that extra $50 to ship to them. Thus, despite what AmiAmi or Takara are charging, a $150 figure is still a $200 figure. It's the exact same argument as "all those people on Ebay who sell an item for $1.50 + $15.00 Shipping vs someone selling the same item for $16.00+ Free Shipping", it's just applied differently.

And I'm pretty sure that people in Japan consider Rook to be a $30 deluxe for the same reasons too. It's not only us crazy Americans. Just saying.

EDIT: I think I slightly misread the argument. But I do remember some Takara fgures (pre merger?) that were priced more into the collector side than their Hasbro counterparts. Maybe I am crazy (okay, yes that's confirmed...) but that's where that argument comes from.

[fenrir72]

The takara version looks so much better than the hasbro versions because they are cartoon accurate. I have the hasbro versions already and the takara aerialbots so I can speak on them from in hand experience. Takara just looks better. Its not so much about who has more paint apps in some cases. Its about who has the proper paint aps. Hasbro seems to like to create paint apps that have no homage value. Why does hasbro drag strip have all that extra damn purple anyways ? Its neither cartoon accurate or vintage toy accurate. Its almost like they wanted to homage Botcon Animated Dragstrip which is just plain stupid. I personally feel sometimes the only reason the crappy Hasbro decos exist is to justify takaras existance. All the figures come from the same mold located in China and they homage the same G1 character so theres no reason why they cant make just one universal G1 accurate deco for worldwide retail. I really doubt kids in the US were sending e-mails to hasbro demanding drag strip have purple stripes and for dead end to have his chest painted red. More paint apps arent better if their sole purpose is to make the figure non-G1 accurate and serve as a advertisement to to promote takara as being the savior of G1. Dont get me wrong, I commend takara for bringing us a proper Groove and Blast Off. But thats something hasbro should have done in the first place.

Hey wait a sec there X, wasnt it you who said people shouldnt kid themselves to finally getting a "G1 Megatron" toy out of the CW Leader class one since it wasnt even the right alt mode? I found that totally valid since it was true. Megatron isn't a gun, so all this G1 deco is more of an homage rather than portraying the actual G1 Megatron.

But here it seems you are taking the opposite stance by saying that these toys should have their G1 paint jobs. Does that mean you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons? Because they clearly arent. Motormaster doestn even have a trailer, which you know is not an attachment to his body but rather his actual body. And not just that, but Dead End is the wrong car, and Dragstrip is the wrong kind of F1 racing car. He should have 2 sets of wheels in the front and since he doesnt it makes the G1 deco on Takara look super silly since they are painting black to homage wheels. You dont find that a bit lame? I am not kidding myself that Leader Megs isnt G1 Megs so I dont see why you are kidding yourself that these are the G1 stunticons to the point that they need to only have that G1 deco.
They are stunticons for a new era, with slightly different alt modes, so I dont see why the paint apps cant be slightly different too.

I think the word you might be looking for is hypocritical, but does anyone else find it kinda ironic that a retooled/reshelled hotspot would have yeilded a perfect G1 motormaster, i.e. with cab feet and a pseudo trailer?

Has the glue dried up already?

[fenrir72]

https://twitter.com/TFYUKI/status/631313014214365184

Courtesy of tfyuki

Alternate transform combiner mode

[Cyberpath]

From Yuki:

G1初期のアニメ決定稿には、何で玩具と微妙にデザインが違うのか？と思う奴が何体もいるが、古い資料を紐解くと、玩具のＮＧデザインや仮の試作品が元になっている事が多い様だ。この手の奴をリメイクする時のデザイン作業はイロイロと注意が必要だ！

Translated from Japanese by Bing

Animated manuscript in early G1, what toys and subtly different design? Unraveling the old materials are body I think he is, and has been based on toys NG design and prototype of the provisional seems likely. Design work on the remake he hands the Iloilo and need attention!

Yuki's former reference to Blast Off:




More pix of UW02 Menasor: https://twitter.com/TFYUKI/status/631676608647069696