The Energon Pub

by **Vicalliose** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:09 am

xyl360 wrote:
Vicalliose wrote:Takara Vehicon and Prime are no longer available but bulkhead and Cliffjumper are back up for pre-order. Not quite sure how I wanna approach this.

I already have Takara Bulkhead and Cliffjumper in hand. Cliffy is cool, but Bulkhead is incredible. I highly recommend the Takara version over the pea green Hasbro version.

I was already considering the Takara Bulkhead long before Hasblow made their dick move. I may add him to my PoL regardless of my overall choice.

On a side note. I keep seeing BBTS running out of Cliffjumpers and Bulkheads but they just keep ordering more. Why don't they order some Optimus Primes?

News Credits: 1 · by **Erailea** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:51 pm

Vicalliose wrote:
xyl360 wrote:
Vicalliose wrote:Takara Vehicon and Prime are no longer available but bulkhead and Cliffjumper are back up for pre-order. Not quite sure how I wanna approach this.

On a side note. I keep seeing BBTS running out of Cliffjumpers and Bulkheads but they just keep ordering more. Why don't they order some Optimus Primes?

Well that's exciting. I might actually get the pre-orders for Cliff and Bulky, put Bulk in yesterday, Cliff the day before.

As for OP, they might be waiting for a certain amount of orders to go in before ordering. Bigger bulk, lower cost (for the buisness buying of course).

by **Vicalliose** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:11 pm

Erailea wrote:As for OP, they might be waiting for a certain amount of orders to go in before ordering. Bigger bulk, lower cost (for the buisness buying of course).

Takara Optimus Prime has officially been discontinued according to HLJ. I don't know if I even care if I can't even get the big guy... :-(

News Credits: 3 · by **metaphorge** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:19 pm

Has any body done a parts-count comparison between any of the First Edition toys and their Robots in Disguise counterparts? Maybe the reason for the switch is to decrease the number of parts each toy has, thus reducing hand-assembly time and overall labor cost, since my understanding is that labor cost is increasing at a much faster rate in Asia than materials cost.

by **Mr_Wayne** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:06 pm

Got my first edition voyager prime today. I can't believe how awesome this thing is hasbro should put this kind of engineering into all of that figures

News Credits: 1452 · by **Blurrz** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:25 pm

Mr_Wayne wrote:Got my first edition voyager prime today. I can't believe how awesome this thing is hasbro should put this kind of engineering into all of that figures

First Edition Voyager Prime, Renaissance Man.

by **Evil_the_Nub** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:07 pm

Has there been any word from Hasbro on why they screwed this up so bad?

News Credits: 1 · by **Erailea** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:51 pm

Evil_the_Nub wrote:Has there been any word from Hasbro on why they screwed this up so bad?

I'm waiting on that myself... got an email from customer services saying they were forwarding my email onto the management team and I should hear back from them within 48 hours... well, it's been 48 hours and no word. Not surprised though considering it took customer services 4 days to email me and I think their website said they usually get back to people within 24.

Soooo... we'll see... maybe.

Like BIGGUY007 on Facebook · by **BIGGUY007** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:55 pm

Erailea wrote:
Evil_the_Nub wrote:Has there been any word from Hasbro on why they screwed this up so bad?

I'm waiting on that myself... got an email from customer services saying they were forwarding my email onto the management team and I should hear back from them within 48 hours... well, it's been 48 hours and no word. Not surprised though considering it took customer services 4 days to email me and I think their website said they usually get back to people within 24.

Soooo... we'll see... maybe.

When you hear from them, tell them that I have $60 with their name on it cause I want the following First Editions: Voyager Optimus Prime, Voyager Bulkhead, & Deluxes Starscream & Cliffjumper.

by **Evil_the_Nub** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:18 pm

Erailea wrote:
Evil_the_Nub wrote:Has there been any word from Hasbro on why they screwed this up so bad?

I'm waiting on that myself... got an email from customer services saying they were forwarding my email onto the management team and I should hear back from them within 48 hours... well, it's been 48 hours and no word. Not surprised though considering it took customer services 4 days to email me and I think their website said they usually get back to people within 24.

Soooo... we'll see... maybe.

Hopefully the delay is due to a flooding of complaints.

News Credits: 3 · by **metaphorge** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:21 pm

I have this mental image of a WalMart buyer trying to transform Voyager Bulkhead from robot to SUV and failing miserably....

News Credits: 3 · by **metaphorge** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:02 am

An answer to one of the questions I posed earlier:

tekering wrote:While many of the Japanese releases from United and DOTM lines have "Made in Vietnam" stamped on them, the Takara First Edition Prime figures are all marked "Made in China." I think you may be on to something here...

All of this would make a great deal more sense if transferring the tooling for the First Edition molds from the old factories in China to the new factories in Vietnam were impossible or prohibitively expensive.

It doesn't seem out of the question that Takara Tomy could have had some sort of dispute with their Chinese manufacturer(s) at the end of their business relationship.

by **Vicalliose** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:39 am

Well, that's a wrap. I was so indecisive I didn't get any of 'em. Then again, like I said, what's the point if I couldn't get Optimus. I'm not going to press my luck with ebay either.

In the end I'm more than satisfied with what I ordered instead, Play Arts Snake and Cyborg Ninja. Frankly I think I'll stay out of Transformers until Fall of Cybertron shows up. I'm not even gonna bother with the show if the just gonna screw me over in the toy department, besides TFPrime is mediocre to the extreme.

by **Evil_the_Nub** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:21 pm

Well I just got this email response.

Thank you for contacting Hasbro Customer Service.

As we greatly value our TRANSFORMERS fans and consumers, we appreciate the opportunity to clarify and explain the current situation with TRANSFORMERS PRIME First Edition figure availability in the U.S.

We very much apologize for the miscommunication with our great retailers in the U.S. Regrettably, as a result, the TRANSFORMERS PRIME First Edition Wave 2 Deluxe, Wave 1 Voyager and Entertainment Pack figures were posted for pre-sale in error. Final product was not produced for these figures to ship within the U.S. As such, any consumer who placed a pre-sale order with Big Bad Toy Store or Entertainment Earth in the U.S. received a note that their order had been cancelled and these orders will not be fulfilled. While it is common for Hasbro to cancel production and/or shipment of collectible figures prior to being listed for pre-sale, this particular situation was unique. We deeply regret this circumstance and understand your frustration.

We would also like to express that we hear the fan community in the U.S. loud and clear - you want these specific TRANSFORMERS PRIME First Edition figures. While we can’t confirm anything at this time, and the format in which these figures are packaged and distributed may change, the team is looking into ways to make these available at a later date in the U.S. and will keep the fan community and our retailers posted as opportunities develop. We want to make this right, and making these figures available to the U.S. fans is a top priority for the team. We greatly appreciate your understanding and ongoing enthusiasm for the brand and hope in the mean time, you enjoy the TRANSFORMERS PRIME figures that are hitting shelves now and in the coming weeks.

Regards,

The TRANSFORMERS Team

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:35 pm

Just pointing out that I tried to start a bid for picture related at 300$ on Ebay for 7 days.

After 14 watchers, no one bid.

Oh well, I just put it for Buy-It-Now at 300$ plus shipping.

Less than 24 hours later, if was sold and paid... by a CANADIAN.

Oh the irony.