The Energon Pub

Cobotron wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:And speaking of appalling, why is Grand Galvatronus $200 at tfsource

Weird! Must be some kind of mistake. When I got mine a while back, they were just $159 a piece, like all of the other Takara-Tomy Mall exclusive Unite Warriors releases up to that point.

Could it be because he is actually sold out at TFSource proper and this is a set being resold at its increased second market value. That could be confirmed if you try to order 20. If they cant fulfil that, then its a secondary market listing. This toy is sold out everywhere else so thats why I am thinking this is not a primary market listing.

At BBTS I often see prices inflate on things as inventory dwindles. I bought 4 deluxe and 1 voyager Dark Energon Prime figures for like 42 bucks a year ago. Now they are marked back up to "collector" prices.

A la "Surge Pricing?" That's a good theory. It's also a disgusting practice for goods. Services...I'm not sure, but it's mostly likely simple economic policy at work, as usual.

Yeah, my mom used to go on BBTS to get birthday or Christmas presents for me. She later started realizing that the prices were highly inflated after looking at prices at our local Target. She now buys off of Captured Pray after seeing their booth at BotCon.

DigitalBrave3 wrote:Yeah, my mom used to go on BBTS to get birthday or Christmas presents for me. She later started realizing that the prices were highly inflated after looking at prices at our local Target. She now buys off of Captured Pray after seeing their booth at BotCon.

Your mom took you to Botcon? Thats pretty awesome, mine wouldnt be caught dead there

william-james88 wrote:

DigitalBrave3 wrote:Yeah, my mom used to go on BBTS to get birthday or Christmas presents for me. She later started realizing that the prices were highly inflated after looking at prices at our local Target. She now buys off of Captured Pray after seeing their booth at BotCon.

Your mom took you to Botcon? Thats pretty awesome, mine wouldnt be caught dead there

Well, as he's not old enough to drive

But, I'm in the same boat as you, my mother wouldn't have taken me, but only because she wasn't interested in my interests

DigitalBrave3 wrote:*grabs the comic that came with CW First Aid* Uuuhhh... I'm looking at the bottom left corner of the inside cover, where it clearly says in large bolded letters, Transformers Combiner Wars #12. So yeah, it does say what issue it is. Am I the only person on the planet who found out that the issue numbers are on the inside covers in large bolded letters?

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here, but they are never referred to as "Combiner Wars 1-20" anywhere outside of the packed in comics. They did the same thing with the Dark Cybertron comics, calling them Dark Cybertron 1-12 during Thrilling 30, but at least those were similarly labeled in the trade copies I think even while the individual issues were RID XX and MTMTE XX. The problem is that the pack-in Combiner Wars comics comprise more than the 6-issue Combiner Wars comic series, they actually are excerpts from all over RID, including some stuff that actually came out before Dark Cybertron. The full Combiner Wars pack-in comic list is:
Alpha Bravo and Vortex: RID #8
Skydive and Brawl: RID #9
Firefly, Quickslinger, and Blast Off: RID #11
Dragstrip and Swindle: RID #12
Breakdown: RID #13
Offroad: RID #14
Air Raid: RID #15
Dead End and Brake-Neck: RID #16
Streetwise: RID #33
Rook: RID #34
Blades: TF (formerly RID) #35
First Aid: TF #36
Prowl: TF #37
Sunstreaker: TF #38
Ironhide: TF #39 AKA Combiner Wars Opening Salvo
Mirage: Windblade #1 AKA CW #1
Trailbreaker: TF #40 AKA CW #2
Wheeljack: Windblade #2 AKA CW #3
Hound: TF #41 AKA CW #4
Smokescreen: Windblade #3 AKA CW #5
And according to the inside covers these are known as Combiner Wars 1-20. See the confusion?

Agamemnon wrote:Don't forget that CW wave 1 was all international packaging, so we didn't get the first four issues of CW comics. (Well, #3 came in Quickslinger...)

As you can see from my list above, they reprinted the first wave comics to be included with the Combaticons, and additionally, Dragstrip was included in some wave 2 revisions with his comic. Despite the trouble at the outset, we got all the comics in the end. I suppose if they hadn't had to reprint those first four with the Combaticons, we might have gotten the Combiner Wars Epilogue issues (TF 42 and Windblade 4) and the Combiner Hunters one-shot, but I don't know what the fourth comic would have been.


Also, addressing a misconception I saw earlier, the MSRP for Combiner Wars Deluxes was $14.99 for waves 1-3, and $16.99 for waves 4-6. I don't know why it went up halfway through the line. On HasbroToyShop, restocks of earlier wave figures reflect the higher price, but they're also on sale or price cut right now for $3 off so they're $13.99. Except Air Raid for some reason.


Bringing this back to Titans Return, I think it was confirmed that TR figures will all be coming with stat cards instead of comics, which I think is super neat.

That Bot wrote:Also, addressing a misconception I saw earlier, the MSRP for Combiner Wars Deluxes was $14.99 for waves 1-3, and $16.99 for waves 4-6. I don't know why it went up halfway through the line. On HasbroToyShop, restocks of earlier wave figures reflect the higher price, but they're also on sale or price cut right now for $3 off so they're $13.99. Except Air Raid for some reason.

I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

That Bot wrote:

DigitalBrave3 wrote:*grabs the comic that came with CW First Aid* Uuuhhh... I'm looking at the bottom left corner of the inside cover, where it clearly says in large bolded letters, Transformers Combiner Wars #12. So yeah, it does say what issue it is. Am I the only person on the planet who found out that the issue numbers are on the inside covers in large bolded letters?

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here, but they are never referred to as "Combiner Wars 1-20" anywhere outside of the packed in comics. They did the same thing with the Dark Cybertron comics, calling them Dark Cybertron 1-12 during Thrilling 30, but at least those were similarly labeled in the trade copies I think even while the individual issues were RID XX and MTMTE XX. The problem is that the pack-in Combiner Wars comics comprise more than the 6-issue Combiner Wars comic series, they actually are excerpts from all over RID, including some stuff that actually came out before Dark Cybertron. The full Combiner Wars pack-in comic list is:
Alpha Bravo and Vortex: RID #8
Skydive and Brawl: RID #9
Firefly, Quickslinger, and Blast Off: RID #11
Dragstrip and Swindle: RID #12
Breakdown: RID #13
Offroad: RID #14
Air Raid: RID #15
Dead End and Brake-Neck: RID #16
Streetwise: RID #33
Rook: RID #34
Blades: TF (formerly RID) #35
First Aid: TF #36
Prowl: TF #37
Sunstreaker: TF #38
Ironhide: TF #39 AKA Combiner Wars Opening Salvo
Mirage: Windblade #1 AKA CW #1
Trailbreaker: TF #40 AKA CW #2
Wheeljack: Windblade #2 AKA CW #3
Hound: TF #41 AKA CW #4
Smokescreen: Windblade #3 AKA CW #5
And according to the inside covers these are known as Combiner Wars 1-20. See the confusion?

Agamemnon wrote:Don't forget that CW wave 1 was all international packaging, so we didn't get the first four issues of CW comics. (Well, #3 came in Quickslinger...)

As you can see from my list above, they reprinted the first wave comics to be included with the Combaticons, and additionally, Dragstrip was included in some wave 2 revisions with his comic. Despite the trouble at the outset, we got all the comics in the end. I suppose if they hadn't had to reprint those first four with the Combaticons, we might have gotten the Combiner Wars Epilogue issues (TF 42 and Windblade 4) and the Combiner Hunters one-shot, but I don't know what the fourth comic would have been.


Also, addressing a misconception I saw earlier, the MSRP for Combiner Wars Deluxes was $14.99 for waves 1-3, and $16.99 for waves 4-6. I don't know why it went up halfway through the line. On HasbroToyShop, restocks of earlier wave figures reflect the higher price, but they're also on sale or price cut right now for $3 off so they're $13.99. Except Air Raid for some reason.


Bringing this back to Titans Return, I think it was confirmed that TR figures will all be coming with stat cards instead of comics, which I think is super neat.

Great info, thanks! I guess what I am looking for from those first four comics from CW is the comics with the new, figure matching covers. Of all of the comics, I imagine these might be the most sought after, and therefore the most collectible.

But, alas, I don't believe I've ever seen a Firefly, Skydive, or Aplha Bravo comic cover... (Though, it has been some time since I looked...)

Hellscream9999 wrote:

That Bot wrote:Also, addressing a misconception I saw earlier, the MSRP for Combiner Wars Deluxes was $14.99 for waves 1-3, and $16.99 for waves 4-6. I don't know why it went up halfway through the line. On HasbroToyShop, restocks of earlier wave figures reflect the higher price, but they're also on sale or price cut right now for $3 off so they're $13.99. Except Air Raid for some reason.

I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

I say it was $14.99 because that's the price HTS had for earlier wave figures, and also there was a bit of a shock when, at SDCC 2015, the MSRP for Deluxes was shown at $16.99.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D

Hellscream9999 wrote:

That Bot wrote:Also, addressing a misconception I saw earlier, the MSRP for Combiner Wars Deluxes was $14.99 for waves 1-3, and $16.99 for waves 4-6. I don't know why it went up halfway through the line. On HasbroToyShop, restocks of earlier wave figures reflect the higher price, but they're also on sale or price cut right now for $3 off so they're $13.99. Except Air Raid for some reason.

I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

The MSRP was 16.99. Here is the suggested retail amount: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 2219D3089C
The earlier waves were that price as well: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 8D538F4206

But sadly, that's all it is, suggested. It can be higher or lower as long as it's around that price. And 18$ is around that price. And Hasbro Toy Shop was simply selling them for less than MSRP, probably to get rid of their inventory.

Agamemnon wrote:But, alas, I don't believe I've ever seen a Firefly, Skydive, or Aplha Bravo comic cover... (Though, it has been some time since I looked...)

They were never available in the US. But they were made. Here was an article on them: http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... ion/33738/

william-james88 wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

The MSRP was 16.99. Here is the suggested retail amount: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 2219D3089C
The earlier waves were that price as well: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 8D538F4206

But sadly, that's all it is, suggested. It can be higher or lower as long as it's around that price. And 18$ is around that price. And Hasbro Toy Shop was simply selling them for less than MSRP, probably to get rid of their inventory.

I was ready to disagree but I did some digging (not easy to do, with Seibertron's archives *cough hint hint cough*) and damn it you're right. In this post breaking down the products, classes, and prices, CW Deluxe are listed at a $16.99 MSRP. I'm still fairly certain HTS has had the earlier wave figures at $14.99 the entire time but I have no way to verify this, nor do I especially care. I can only hope TR Deluxes continue to be priced below MSRP at most stores, or some good sales come along (or both).

That Bot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

The MSRP was 16.99. Here is the suggested retail amount: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 2219D3089C
The earlier waves were that price as well: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 8D538F4206

But sadly, that's all it is, suggested. It can be higher or lower as long as it's around that price. And 18$ is around that price. And Hasbro Toy Shop was simply selling them for less than MSRP, probably to get rid of their inventory.

I was ready to disagree but I did some digging (not easy to do, with Seibertron's archives *cough hint hint cough*) and damn it you're right. In this post breaking down the products, classes, and prices, CW Deluxe are listed at a $16.99 MSRP. I'm still fairly certain HTS has had the earlier wave figures at $14.99 the entire time but I have no way to verify this, nor do I especially care. I can only hope TR Deluxes continue to be priced below MSRP at most stores, or some good sales come along (or both).

Yup, he was right; could'da sworn I'd seen somewhere that the msrp was bumped up to $18, but, even still, $17 is a little much for deluxe's, and $19 is far too much. I didn't pay those prices for the CW figures, and I definitely won't pay those prices for TR figures, they aren't made well enough for that kind of money

Hellscream9999 wrote:

That Bot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:I believe the msrp of the cw deluxe's was actually $18, but stores under cut that price

The MSRP was 16.99. Here is the suggested retail amount: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 2219D3089C
The earlier waves were that price as well: http://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/pr ... 8D538F4206

But sadly, that's all it is, suggested. It can be higher or lower as long as it's around that price. And 18$ is around that price. And Hasbro Toy Shop was simply selling them for less than MSRP, probably to get rid of their inventory.

I was ready to disagree but I did some digging (not easy to do, with Seibertron's archives *cough hint hint cough*) and damn it you're right. In this post breaking down the products, classes, and prices, CW Deluxe are listed at a $16.99 MSRP. I'm still fairly certain HTS has had the earlier wave figures at $14.99 the entire time but I have no way to verify this, nor do I especially care. I can only hope TR Deluxes continue to be priced below MSRP at most stores, or some good sales come along (or both).

Yup, he was right; could'da sworn I'd seen somewhere that the msrp was bumped up to $18, but, even still, $17 is a little much for deluxe's, and $19 is far too much. I didn't pay those prices for the CW figures, and I definitely won't pay those prices for TR figures, they aren't made well enough for that kind of money

$17 is steep for a deluxe. My local TrU wants $19.99 for CW deluxes...
I don't know for sure, but I don't see caving for any of the TR deluxe figures if they're $16.99.
In fact, even if they end up being $13.99 at HTS, the thought of skipping this line seems more and more realistic.

I can understand prices rising in line with inflation as that's normal for just about everything. Here in the UK the minimum wage increases each October, so in theory we would have more money to afford all these things that are suddenly that little bit more expensive. It seems however that the price of tfs are rising faster than that, which is a big problem, since it means a lot of us will end up waiting for sales and price reductions before we buy. Though even then the sales just soften the blow really.

I would be interested to see which tf range is the best seller for hasbro, thus earning them the most cash.

The community over at Transformers Italia is buzzing with Titans Return news of recent! Today, we have confirmation that the big bad bot himself, Fortress Maximus, will be gracing some of the retail shelves in the south of Europe, thanks to a tip from the retailer catalogue via fellow Transformers fan Massimiliano Guida. Is this good news for the rest of Europe too? We'll have to wait and see!

Va'al re- wrote:Titanic robot of immense strength, capable of incredible transformations: from his head, with only five steps, Autobot Cerebros comes to life, whose head in turn becomes the Titan Master known as Emissary. The robot's body becomes an imposing and impenetrable fortress in just 15 steps, filled with cannons, thick defenses and incredible sound effects!

Requires 2 AAA batteries - not included

mmm might help but I think it'll be hard to beat the uk prices in europe

frogbat wrote:mmm might help but I think it'll be hard to beat the uk prices in europe

The current rumours are floating around the €200 figure. Which is roughly £160 - the current UK price for online retail - or 224$ USD.
(Though the financial market is currently going bananas, so expect those numbers to change very quickly.)

So Australia already got him, and Europe is ready to have him, and here we sit in America still waiting for figures to start shipping out. Shesh!

On another note for the prices: My Toys R Us had combiner wars deluxes for $19.99, and then I was there a few weeks ago and they were charging $23.99 for deluxes and $26.99 for voyagers. But then, at walmart, deluxe prices are still solidly at $14.99. When I bought Superion, Menasor and Defensor limbs on HTS I bought them at $14.99 a piece before any sort of coupon I was using. Even my target is selling them at $14.99. So TRU is junk, don't buy there, and Walmart and Target are good. Entertainment Earth also sells limbs for $64.99 in a set of 4, coming to about $16 a piece.

It is weird though since we are no longer getting the comic (a usual $3-4 value) and the prices went up. That is major jumping the shark

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:So TRU is junk, don't buy there

TRU is just about always higher in price than the other big box type outlets, especially on items where the manufacturer's don't set the price. That is all part of their business plan. The flip side is they "usually" have a better selection than the big box stores. It makes sense if you think about it. TRU has to make all their profit off of toys. The other places can better absorb lower margins on toys with sales from other departments, which are typically more profitable than toys.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:So TRU is junk, don't buy there

TRU is just about always higher in price than the other big box type outlets, especially on items where the manufacturer's don't set the price. That is all part of their business plan. The flip side is they "usually" have a better selection than the big box stores. It makes sense if you think about it. TRU has to make all their profit off of toys. The other places can better absorb lower margins on toys with sales from other departments, which are typically more profitable than toys.

True, but $14.99 to $23.99 for the same combiner limbs is stretching it a little bit though...

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:So Australia already got him, and Europe is ready to have him, and here we sit in America still waiting for figures to start shipping out. Shesh!

On another note for the prices: My Toys R Us had combiner wars deluxes for $19.99, and then I was there a few weeks ago and they were charging $23.99 for deluxes and $26.99 for voyagers. But then, at walmart, deluxe prices are still solidly at $14.99. When I bought Superion, Menasor and Defensor limbs on HTS I bought them at $14.99 a piece before any sort of coupon I was using. Even my target is selling them at $14.99. So TRU is junk, don't buy there, and Walmart and Target are good. Entertainment Earth also sells limbs for $64.99 in a set of 4, coming to about $16 a piece.

It is weird though since we are no longer getting the comic (a usual $3-4 value) and the prices went up. That is major jumping the shark

A few things I would like to comment on here just to add to the discussion:

1. The Hasbro street date is actually June 25th for Titans Returns figures in North America. Downshift learnt this from one of his TRU resourse. However, that is the shipping dae which means you have to give it time to reach the store and for the employees to place them. That blows a bit for me though because I never saw the Skylynx wave of limbs in stores. It might be late for Quebec, we just got the latest Legends toys.

2. TRU may be junk in the states, but it is a Godsend in Canada. Of all retailers with direct accounts with hasbro, TRU Canada has sold them the cheapest by far. They also have amazing store policies for returns, rainchecks, pricing, exchanges and the like. And hee they are the best stocked sotres for TFs and they get big ticket items sooner (like all the CW G2 sets). Its too bad you guys cant experience the greatness.

3. The value you give to the comics is a bit trivial. The Comics have very little cost involved. The pic is of the backing board, the inside is all reprinted, I think the only new bit is the bio but even then, that could have been done for the site. The cards that come with TR add to the toy's fiction and are made specifically for the toy. They only come with the toys, as well, and are not derivitive or reuses of other media. So more development cost went into those and thus will probably hold more value later. The price you wrote is what a comic sells for when its hot out of the oven. The 3-4$ price is to pay for the work put in by the artist, writer and every other part. Months later, you can find them in dollar bins (I can). The reprints only have to cover the cost of the paper and ink spent on it, so any value placed above that is very trivial (kinda like 90s O pee chee hockey cards).

william-james88 wrote:

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:So Australia already got him, and Europe is ready to have him, and here we sit in America still waiting for figures to start shipping out. Shesh!

On another note for the prices: My Toys R Us had combiner wars deluxes for $19.99, and then I was there a few weeks ago and they were charging $23.99 for deluxes and $26.99 for voyagers. But then, at walmart, deluxe prices are still solidly at $14.99. When I bought Superion, Menasor and Defensor limbs on HTS I bought them at $14.99 a piece before any sort of coupon I was using. Even my target is selling them at $14.99. So TRU is junk, don't buy there, and Walmart and Target are good. Entertainment Earth also sells limbs for $64.99 in a set of 4, coming to about $16 a piece.

It is weird though since we are no longer getting the comic (a usual $3-4 value) and the prices went up. That is major jumping the shark

A few things I would like to comment on here just to add to the discussion:

1. The Hasbro street date is actually June 25th for Titans Returns figures in North America. Downshift learnt this from one of his TRU resourse. However, that is the shipping date which means you have to give it time to reach the store and for the employees to place them. That blows a bit for me though because I never saw the Skylynx wave of limbs in stores. It might be late for Quebec, we just got the latest Legends toys.

Yeah, for me around my area it normally takes about a month to 2 months for items to show up from the time stores online start shipping, with some rare exceptions, and it normally takes a month or so before they start showing up at stores such as HTS, where I usually buy, so I know I have some time. I'm not sure of other peoples situations but that is my predicament.

william-james88 wrote:2. TRU may be junk in the states, but it is a Godsend in Canada. Of all retailers with direct accounts with hasbro, TRU Canada has sold them the cheapest by far. They also have amazing store policies for returns, rainchecks, pricing, exchanges and the like. And hee they are the best stocked sotres for TFs and they get big ticket items sooner (like all the CW G2 sets). Its too bad you guys cant experience the greatness.

I need to start being more specific with the whole TRU thing. I keep seeing all the pictures of your TRU's and it makes mine look so sad. They have yet to get past Battle Core Optimus voyager wise and the prices are outrageous. And I'm jealous since my TRU, whether or not that is other TRU's too I do not know, does not have good service. Rain checks aren't a thing there and they are very greedy with prices. I tried to price match the combaticons when they were there for $19.99 a piece with the walmart price for deluxes, which was $14.99, and they said that unless it is the exact item IE if I saw Vortex at walmart for $14.99 and brought proof, they would give me vortex at that price, but they would only price match him, and they won't price match online things either like Walmart.com. It really is sad how different Canada and the US are with some stores

william-james88 wrote:3. The value you give to the comics is a bit trivial. The Comics have very little cost involved. The pic is of the backing board, the inside is all reprinted, I think the only new bit is the bio but even then, that could have been done for the site. The cards that come with TR add to the toy's fiction and are made specifically for the toy. They only come with the toys, as well, and are not derivitive or reuses of other media. So more development cost went into those and thus will probably hold more value later. The price you wrote is what a comic sells for when its hot out of the oven. The 3-4$ price is to pay for the work put in by the artist, writer and every other part. Months later, you can find them in dollar bins (I can). The reprints only have to cover the cost of the paper and ink spent on it, so any value placed above that is very trivial (kinda like 90s O pee chee hockey cards).

I was considering that the original comics cost $3.99, and I took off about a dollar since they do lack some of the features, but it is still about $3 worth of comic there. I agree that older comics would be sold off cheaper and the price is meaningless, but that's how I had thought of them. Made me feel a little better that I was getting a good toy and a comic for a good price (especially with the spotlights of Trailcutter and Hoist)

With Titan Returns, we are generally getting two transforming figures in each package... (#JustifyCosts?)

Agamemnon wrote:With Titan Returns, we are generally getting two transforming figures in each package... (#JustifyCosts?)

Yeah, the extra engineering is a cost offsetter.

But at the same time, Generations Brainstorm was a very tall and nicely sized voyager with the same gimmick. But that was also a tail-end-of-the-line-one-shot deal, so it makes no real argument either way.

Besides, headmasters are cool. I shall still buy dammit. Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost

Thanks to fellow Seibertronian Down_shift we have some information for you regarding Canada's ship date for Titans Return as well as some prices in Canadian currency. Here is what Down_shift had to say:

Down_Shift wrote:It's not a sighting, but it is relevant to all of our interests.

I'm 99% sure everyone has seen this stuff before since it' been out there for a while now, but I thought I'd post it again since these are hitting stores shortly.

Legends Class - $12.99 (SKU#789658)
Deluxe Class - $19.99 (SKU#789661)
Voyager Class - $29.99 (SKU#789663)
Leader Class - $59.99 (SKU#789666)
Titan Class - $229.99 (SKU#789669)
Computron Gift Set - $149.95 (SKU#789634)

I checked with a friend at my local TRU and had them run the SKU in their computer (the green and back screen, not the web browser one) and it shows most of them shipping around the 25th, with the exception of Computron because I forgot to check.

Obviously mileage will vary by store and location. But, if you have someone you can chat with at your local TRU run have them run those SKU numbers and it might just give you a time line that you can use to build a plan of attack!

I should specify that they said it could show up as early as the 25th or even the first week of July. Like I said, mileage may vary but I hope this helps with the hunt!

Just to precise, the June 25th date is a "Ship Date" and in this context, it likely means "date that our distribution centers will send them out to stores", but to which stores, in what quantity, and at what pace is going to be almost entirely unknown. However, with that date being within the next 2 weeks, it is logical to assume that the rest of North America is not far behind. So keep your eyes peeled!

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:True, but $14.99 to $23.99 for the same combiner limbs is stretching it a little bit though...

I am right there with you, I would absolutely despise TRU is they were that high. I beleive our more leniant price matching laws are the reason they cant get away with that in Quebec/Canada. They would lose too many sales to Walmart (which is next door to my TRU ). Pretty nuts how that price gap between deluxe and voyager keeps getting smaller.

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:I was considering that the original comics cost $3.99, and I took off about a dollar since they do lack some of the features, but it is still about $3 worth of comic there. I agree that older comics would be sold off cheaper and the price is meaningless, but that's how I had thought of them. Made me feel a little better that I was getting a good toy and a comic for a good price (especially with the spotlights of Trailcutter and Hoist)

Yeah, I hear you. I think the reason see no value to them is because they dont come with the international version, which comes with a card instead. So I dont feel I am missing out on anything with the switch. And plus, if they have the same MSRP with or without comic, it means that Hasbro themselves see little value to them and I guess those business notions end up forging my thoughts on their value. But I am sorry for your loss there.

Agamemnon wrote:With Titan Returns, we are generally getting two transforming figures in each package... (#JustifyCosts?)

Costs dont need to be justified to me, we are getting these at a huge bargain compared to what people's parents spent in the 80s for their kids.

Here is G1 Hardhead with his old price sticker intact:



Unlike the early G1s, headmasters were all plastic and like most G1, paint apps were minimal and they cost 15.47$. That is the equivalent of $32.58 today, meaning that people's parents had to work the same amount of hours necessary to make $32.58 today to be able to afford that toy back then.
Almost 30 years later, we are now getting a toy of that similar size with modern engineering, a higher parts count, more articulation and more paint apps (with a collector card ) for.... 16-20$. So you only have to work the amount of time it takes to make 20$ instead of 32$ to be able to afford this toy.

Transformer toys have gotten far more affordable than when they originally appeared and we tend not to realize that.