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[Emerje]

So...since all TRU stores are closing in the U.S. ...Is there any chance this toy is sold at any B&M, or does it appear at this point, it will be online only?

Online only for now, unless Hasbro is able to convince another major retailer to take him. I have heard some unexpected stores like J.C.Penney and Party City will be adding or increasing toy sections to make up for the loss of TRU so anything can happen.

Emerje

[-Soundwave-]

So...since all TRU stores are closing in the U.S. ...Is there any chance this toy is sold at any B&M, or does it appear at this point, it will be online only?

Online only for now, unless Hasbro is able to convince another major retailer to take him. I have heard some unexpected stores like J.C.Penney and Party City will be adding or increasing toy sections to make up for the loss of TRU so anything can happen.

Emerje

Let's hope so, most toy sections are small if they have them at all. (At least where I am)

[william-james88]

So...since all TRU stores are closing in the U.S. ...Is there any chance this toy is sold at any B&M, or does it appear at this point, it will be online only?

Online onlyand I don't think that will make a lick of difference. Those who want it, will get it one way or another.

[CrashDummy]

The Predacons look awesome in every configuration. Mine would need a third party sword and hands though. Anyone that thinks those Don't look good and are too blocky must've been born in the nineties.

[william-james88]

The Predacons look awesome in every configuration. Mine would need a third party sword and hands though. Anyone that thinks those Don't look good and are too blocky must've been born in the nineties.

'88

[Emerje]

The Predacons look awesome in every configuration. Mine would need a third party sword and hands though. Anyone that thinks those Don't look good and are too blocky must've been born in the nineties.

'88

'86

Personally I don't have any real issues with the animal modes not being full of articulation. Alpha Trion's lion mode only had any (limited) articulation at all because of his transformation. When was the last time we even had transforming quadrupeds that didn't share its limbs between bot and beast mode and still had fully articulated beast limbs? I can't think of any, it just isn't a thing. There's nothing unusual about the Predacon beast modes being bricks.

Emerje

[Qwan]

The Predacons look awesome in every configuration. Mine would need a third party sword and hands though. Anyone that thinks those Don't look good and are too blocky must've been born in the nineties.

'88

'86

Personally I don't have any real issues with the animal modes not being full of articulation. Alpha Trion's lion mode only had any (limited) articulation at all because of his transformation. When was the last time we even had transforming quadrupeds that didn't share its limbs between bot and beast mode and still had fully articulated beast limbs? I can't think of any, it just isn't a thing. There's nothing unusual about the Predacon beast modes being bricks.

Emerje

'99, you got me, but this baby boy knows what he wants out of a toy. I'm not so bothered by their blockiness as I am by the fact that their blockiness hasn't really achieved anything from a design perspective. The advantage of blockiness should be that it's easier to split up and integrate parts in an unobtrusive way - that's part of why shellformers are way less common in mainline Generations stuff than they are in Movie toys, for example - but these guys still just end up with huge chunks hanging off them that clearly aren't "meant" to be there. If Predaking's thighs became something I'd be more alright with them, but they heckin' don't - they just hang around in both robot and beast modes, begging you to pretend like they aren't there.

Long story short, personally I don't mind brickiness or blockiness too much as long as it results in a good figure. If a toy is blocky and also I hate it, that doesn't mean I hate it cause it's blocky, but it also doesn't change the fact that I don't like it. But I mean what do I know, I was born in the nineties.

[TF-fan kev777]

Long story short, personally I don't mind brickiness or blockiness too much as long as it results in a good figure. If a toy is blocky and also I hate it, that doesn't mean I hate it cause it's blocky, but it also doesn't change the fact that I don't like it. But I mean what do I know, I was born in the nineties.

(old man voice) Well crap, '76 here so I have no idea where I fit in with all you young'uns.
But Qwan, I think you've summed up my thoughts on Predaking and blockiness in general. Except I don't hate the design, I'm just kind of meh. I'll still get it, but this will probably be the first Titan that I show some restraint and wait for the deals around Christmas. (Really wising I would have done that for Fort Max.)

[o.supreme]

I'll still get it, but this will probably be the first Titan that I show some restraint and wait for the deals around Christmas. (Really wising I would have done that for Fort Max.)

High Five's TF-fan kev777 (I'm a fellow 76 er)

See this is where I have an internal struggle. I've seen first hand almost every Titan be readily available (online at least) years after its release. But since I missed out on the first one (Metroplex). I've feared each one after that will have a lower production run. Also there's the issue of B&M vs online. I see way fewer of each successive Titan at actual B&M, and with the closure of TRU, I guess that makes Predaking pretty much an online exclusive. I just wish they'd come out and say it. Sets like CW Liokaiser and TR Siege on Cybertron were promoted as such form the very start, so I knew I didn't have to go searching high and low for them. however with Liokaiser I was able to wait, and get a good price. With the "Siege" set, its run was so limited, if I hadn't jumped on it immediately, there would be no way I would ever have got one.

I'm not sure when exactly T30 Metroplex stopped being available online. I started searching in mid-2015, and wasn't able to find one online, so it must have been less than 2 years after the figures release. I would like to get Legends re-release, but even $260 is a little much for me right now. As for the others...

CW Devastator (2015) was readily available (at least on BBTS) until about 6 months ago, the last few of course sold for more than the $150 retail price, but I was able to get the (better IMHO) UW version for about $180 on eBay about a year ago.

2016 Fort Max & 2017 Tryp are still readily available (again looking at BBTS) for their standard $150 retail, some other sites however are even discounting them. Still I believe a combination of Trypticon being more desirable, and Hasbro producing way less of him has led to there being less quantities. meaning, overall I believe in the long run, you'll see Trypticon disappear overall before Fort Max does.

So what about Predaking....well we know TRU wont be carrying it. I very much want this set, and have no issues with it. The only problem is the price. TBT, I got my Titans from TRU and put them on layaway, so I could pay them off slowly over time. As far as I know, nobody offers layaway online, for obvious reasons. So not usually ever having $150 to throw down on a toy, will force me to wait, and if this things happens to sell out quick, and there are no holiday sales, I am going to be one ticked off fan. But such is life....an $80 Predaking around the end of the year would be welcome news indeed, but I guess we'll see.

[TF-fan kev777]

So what about Predaking....well we know TRU wont be carrying it. I very much want this set, and have no issues with it. The only problem is the price. TBT, I got my Titans from TRU and put them on layaway, so I could pay them off slowly over time. As far as I know, nobody offers layaway online, for obvious reasons. So not usually ever having $150 to throw down on a toy, will force me to wait, and if this things happens to sell out quick, and there are no holiday sales, I am going to be one ticked off fan. But such is life....an $80 Predaking around the end of the year would be welcome news indeed, but I guess we'll see.

I honestly think finding Predaking around Christmas should be relatively easy. I also started collecting after Metroplex was not available and lucked out finding one on ebay a couple years ago for $140. I got Devy and Fort Max at TRU, not for layway, but for their 10% off discount for using their credit card (mental note, time to cancel that) as well as the rewards points, so they were my preferred source of Titans, because I was too impatient to wait for a sale and worried about how long they would be available. I got Trypticon from TRU.com because he was slow to show up in my area stores and I had a coupon expiring that I was able to use online.

But the thing I noticed about availability, at least at TRU stores, was that each year the Titan was easier and easier for me to find. The Devy I got was the only one I ever saw in a store and I didn't even see it on a shelf, I called the day they got it in and had them hold one for me. Fort Max was on shelves for quite some time, as was Trypticon, so I think there should be plenty to go around.

I also don't think you need to wait for a Hasbro confirmation that it will be online only. In fact, they may not be the entity to decide that. It will really be up to Walmart, Target and other chains to decicde if they want to dedicate the shelf space. And they have essentially already answered that question for you the past 3 years (that would be a no).

So you should be safe to assume that it will be online only, at least at mainline retail chains. And looking at Amazon's history the past 3 years, I think it is also a safe assumption that we should see a pretty good deal around Black Friday. Just be ready then, I know I will.

[o.supreme]

But the thing I noticed about availability, at least at TRU stores, was that each year the Titan was easier and easier for me to find. The Devy I got was the only one I ever saw in a store and I didn't even see it on a shelf, I called the day they got it in and had them hold one for me. Fort Max was on shelves for quite some time, as was Trypticon, so I think there should be plenty to go around.

I never saw a Devastator in stock at any TRU store. I saw Fort Max pretty regular. But for Trypticon I had to check behind the counter and basically swindle the clerk into selling me a the one that I saw hiding back there. I did see it maybe once or twice after that, but it was not often.

[-Kanrabat-]

Oh, it's current year already...


Yup, I too, was born in 1976. Summer.
Man, where all those years gone? It seem it was just yesterday that I moved to my first apartment in Montréal from some village just to fail at art college... That was August 1993.

I was not into toys at all at that time. It was video games or bust. Sega AND Nintendo all the way!

[ZeroWolf]

Wait...why are we talking about ages again? I didn't think there was a connection between the ages of someone and what they thought of predaking, I just thought it was their tastes and what they wanted in a titan class figure.

...

Is it wrong though that I'm ready to hear about next year's offering already?

[-Kanrabat-]

Wait...why are we talking about ages again? I didn't think there was a connection between the ages of someone and what they thought of predaking, I just thought it was their tastes and what they wanted in a titan class figure.

...

Is it wrong though that I'm ready to hear about next year's offering already?

Guess it was all about that whole "nostalgia" thread derailing.

The funniest thing is the only true "nostalgic" transformers toys for me are all G1, but so very few: Optimus Prime, Defensor, and Apeface. THAT'S IT!

I had to wait until my 30's to get back into Transformers. And to go back to Predaking, my very first experience is with the Platinum G1 edition. It's a "nostaliga" that is barely a few years old. So ironically, G1 Predaking is still fairly new to me. Still, it does not deter me from getting exited over the POTP version, flaws and all.

As for next year, please Scorponok? He's long overdue.

[william-james88]

Wait...why are we talking about ages again? I didn't think there was a connection between the ages of someone and what they thought of predaking, I just thought it was their tastes and what they wanted in a titan class figure.

...

Is it wrong though that I'm ready to hear about next year's offering already?

You and me both!

[Wolfman Jake]

As for next year, please Scorponok? He's long overdue.

I'd say Omega Supreme is even longer overdue. Plus, we've had two Decepticon Titan Class figures in a row now. Time for another Autobot Titan.

[ZeroWolf]

Hasbro upset my theory about titan releases I thought it was going to go autobot, con, autobot, con etc then they announced predaking when going by my theory it should have been omega supreme, leading to scorponok. *sigh* though thinking in terms of rivalries, pred is without his rival, the bot in the cartoon who chased him off, sky lynx. Maybe a titan form for him maybe?

[Emerje]

I would happily buy a Titan Sky Lynx, even if they didn't include the electronics. They could turn the shuttle mode into a Titan/Prime Master playset of sorts. It'd be a lot of fun.

But then you have to figure that after two Decepticons in a row we could end up with two Autobots in a row and then push Scorponok to 2021 (the end of the War for Cybertron trilogy).

Emerje

[ZeroWolf]

That's the problem with the fact they've done two con titans now, an alternative release schedule was preferable. If hasbro do make a titan class sky lynx that gives them releases to 2022 at which point it becomes harder to say what they could release at that scale (this is also assuming they go the haslab route for primus and unicron). Maybe they would finally do metro titan but would they dare release that at full price if all he were was a simple redeco

[o.supreme]

As far as Transformers go, originally as a kid I was all in until the animated series ended in 1987. There were 2 toys from the 1988 line I would liked to have had (PM Prime and the Seacons), but never did until I was an adult collector years later. I kept getting the comic until its end in 1992, but it was never as good to me as the animated series was.

So I got no toys from 1988-1993. It was only 5 years, but at the time it felt like TF was dead forever. I was a senior in HS when G2 came out. I got a few toys, and the marvel Comic, and recorded re-airings of the original show off sci-fi channel. Then in 1996 I was an original BW detractor, until I saw the animated series. I loved the series, but only bought toys of characters I really liked (Tigatron, TM Primal, TM Megatron, Magnaboss, Tri Predacus, Rampage, Depth Charge, TM2 Megatron, Tigerhawk, Optimal Optimus) yup, that's it. At the same time in the mid-late 90's I was going to conventions and snagging up as many original series Transformers as I could (mostly combiners and other city bots) before eBay, and the prices getting really ridiculous. From the late 90's to 2005 I pretty much got every animated series faction leader, and any accompanying bots that went with them, oh, and Alternators, I loved that line. Then in 2006 I sold EVERYTHING.

My son was also born in 2006. When age appropriate he would get a random TF here and there, but nothing special. Then in 2015 when CW came out, all that changed. Of course I waited until the line almost ended to start up again. I had to wait to make sure they were serious about doing all the combiners, not just the 3 or 4 most popular ones form the original series.

Now I'm back fully into generations. The first original Predaking I purchased in late 1998 was through a private transaction. I think I paid around $150 at the time, but 4 of the 5 were die-cast (only Hreadstong was plastic), you would think the lighter leg would cause balance issues, but it worked fine. After having him for about 8 years, he went with everything else.

Now 12 years later, I'm looking forward to a new updated Predaking.

As for the next titan. Obviously Omega Supreme being my favorite character plays close to my heart. But FT Terminus Giganticus raises the bar pretty high for Hasbro, not sure they can match it. Also its been argued long and hard *against* a parts former, seems most fans want Omega Supreme to be something he wasn't originally, and I'm not ok with that. So Scorponok, I think would be easier to engineer, and less divisive for the fandom. Some have speculated you could heavily retool Trypticon, but we'll see. Let the toy engineers keep working on an Omega Supreme. I could wait until 2020. It's needs to be perfect, or not at all. Mediocrity with that toy (for me), is unacceptable.

[CrashDummy]

This message forum drives me nuts. I can't find my posts. I still don't know how to respond to a specific message. Anyway me being born in 78 and I guess I would call myself a G1er but I would have to say the beast era shows and Transformers Prime are two the most well written TF series. I know slap stick humor had to be included in Beast Wars just to make it qualify as a kids show. But I still consider G1 Prime to THE Optimus Prime.

[Wolfman Jake]

But I still consider G1 Prime to THE Optimus Prime.

Everyone does, my friend.

[Emerje]

I can't find my posts.

Go into your User Control Panel and scroll down, you should see "Your Activity" in big letters and a "show your posts" link. If you click on the title of your post it'll take you to where it was posted in the forum. Alternatively if you go in a topic and look at the page counter on the top right corner you'll see a link that says "First unread post" and it'll jump you to the next post after the one you made or after the last one your read. You can also do this from the topic lists, there's a tiny orange paper icon with an arrow next to all of the topics you can click on to jump right to the first unread post to save you a step.

I still don't know how to respond to a specific message.

You don't have to reply to a specific one since posts are all lined up in a list rather than trees or whatever if you're just adding tot he conversation. If you absolutely have to reply to something specific there's a quote button at the top right corner of every post that will automatically copy the text from the post into your reply.

Emerje

[Va'al]

Via one of our regular news sources on Facebook, the Hobbymizer discussion group based in Hong Kong, we have an update on the upcoming Titan class figure part of the Transformers Power of the Prime toyline - combiner Predaking, with the Prime Master Onyx Prime!

The update, namely, includes images of the lineart sketches for the main combiner figure and the Predacons that form it, some prototype and cartoon reference shots, a small comparison with predecessor Devastator, and a colour look at both the Predacon team of Razorclaw, Torox, Headstrong, Divebomb, and Rampage, plus the combined Predaking mode - all found in the next issue of Figure Oh! Magazine. Check it out below, and let us know what you think!

[o.supreme]

The size difference between Predaking and Devastator is less than I thought it would be, which is encouraging. They do scale well together, even if they are not to scale with all other combiners.