The Energon Pub

[Emerje]

Runabout's a no-show in my neck of the woods, either.

I never saw Runabout in store either, but I was lucky enough to get him off the site and he was never delayed. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to pre-order Thrust and have no faith in his showing up in my local store which is why I jumped on his order this morning. We only have five Targets in the entire state of Maine and they're spread pretty far apart, you'd think they'd want to make sure the exclusives are well stocked since each store is expected to serve such a large area of people. But no, they'd apparently rather overstuff stores in regions where people have easy access to half a dozen stores in a small area so stuff can go on clearance.

Anyway, different Target tangent: Stimulus check came today, decided to break down and get Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker after Target cancelled my pre-orders (they would have been $15 each). Sunstreaker I was able to get off Pulse for $21 after tax and free shipping after missing him on Amazon at that price. Trailbreaker was trickier and most costly since he's been hovering from $25 to $30 for a while now. I was able to get him off BBTS for $22, but also had to pay tax and shipping. While at BBTS I also finally got ER Optimus Prime, but for $55. It's my own fault for having to pay extra for him, I was sure his price would come down like most Leaders eventually do, especially with the cheaper Netflix version and re-release in Kingdom, but instead his price seems to be sky rocketing and I can't understand why. But I need his map piece so I can't wait for Kingdom. Oh well, can't complain too much about overspending with free money.

Also picked up a Micromaster Battle Squad on Amazon, $10, mainly for the map piece, but it's a nice set of figures that I can get some use out of. Same story with Rung, buying him a second time mainly for the map piece, but he's a nice figure, shame I had to pay $12 on eBay for him.

At least that completes retail Earthrise for me. All that's left for the second phase of the trilogy is the rest of the GO releases and the Shattered Glass set. Glad I'm not all that interested in the cards or Kingdom would force me to buy all kinds of duplicates!

Emerje

[Hero Alpha]

My problem isnt not having any Thrust in stock near me. It's that I dont have any Target stores within 100 miles. So I am really out of luck when I keep missing the online orders.

[Emerje]

My problem isnt not having any Thrust in stock near me. It's that I dont have any Target stores within 100 miles. So I am really out of luck when I keep missing the online orders.

I don't miss those days at all. Missed so many Target exclusives because the nearest store was 75 miles away. The first exclusive I can remember buying when the local store first opened was Universe Leo Prime (the white one, got the red one later that same day at TRU).

Now that we've seen pre-orders filled for Thrust I'm thinking we'll see it come in and out of stock several times like the Seekers did.

Emerje

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I haven't seen Thrust, Runabout, and the seekers. The clones and Leadfoot were the only Target exclusives I saw, and Leadfoot went quick while the clones finally went marked down to $12.49

[TF-fan kev777]

I was able to find Thrust in my local store yesterday (no Kingdom or SS86 goodness). Still no word on my pre-order, but keeping my fingers crossed as I got that at a better price from a sale.

[Sabrblade]

While I did manage to find the Clones and Skywarp/Thundercracker (albeit, at a Target on the side of town I never go to), I never saw Leadfoot at all.

Of course, I haven't gotten Roadbuster or Topspin, either, so Leadfoot's not a major loss.

[Overcracker]

Question:

Was the Starscream and Thundercracker set a Target exclusive in thew U.S?

I found the set for about $35 bucks down here in a department store that has very limited transformers most time and if Thrust is also a TG exclusive there it may show up in this store as well here and many still have a shot at actually getting him.


Also, why is Thrust alway an exclusive of some type?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Question:

Was the Starscream and Thundercracker set a Target exclusive in thew U.S?

I found the set for about $35 bucks down here in a department store that has very limited transformers most time and if Thrust is also a TG exclusive there it may show up in this store as well here and many still have a shot at actually getting him.


Also, why is Thrust alway an exclusive of some type?

Yes, Thrust, TC/Skywarp, the Clones, Runabout, and Leadfoot were all Target exclusives

[Overcracker]

Question:

Was the Starscream and Thundercracker set a Target exclusive in thew U.S?

I found the set for about $35 bucks down here in a department store that has very limited transformers most time and if Thrust is also a TG exclusive there it may show up in this store as well here and many still have a shot at actually getting him.


Also, why is Thrust alway an exclusive of some type?

Yes, Thrust, TC/Skywarp, the Clones, Runabout, and Leadfoot were all Target exclusives

Thanks. Gives me some hope.

[o.supreme]

I could have sworn there was a separate thread for the Galactic Odyssey Releases. My apologies as I cannot find it. Anyway...

Just trying to update my mental checklist as the only one I ordered was the Botropolis set (Amazon currently says scheduled to arrive 2/17/21).

Am I correct in that the first Three are out, and the last Two are not out yet?

[sol magnus]

I could have sworn there was a separate thread for the Galactic Odyssey Releases. My apologies as I cannot find it. Anyway...

Just trying to update my mental checklist as the only one I ordered was the Botropolis set (Amazon currently says scheduled to arrive 2/17/21).

Am I correct in that the first Three are out, and the last Two are not out yet?

Correct. Barricade/punch Counterpunch aren't due out until March.

[TF-fan kev777]

I could have sworn there was a separate thread for the Galactic Odyssey Releases. My apologies as I cannot find it. Anyway...

Just trying to update my mental checklist as the only one I ordered was the Botropolis set (Amazon currently says scheduled to arrive 2/17/21).

Am I correct in that the first Three are out, and the last Two are not out yet?

Correct. Barricade/punch Counterpunch aren't due out until March.

Actually incorrect, sets 3-5 are not out yet. The micromaster set also isn't out yet along with botropolis and Barricade/Punch-Counterpunch with the micros being the next one up (I think).

[sol magnus]

I could have sworn there was a separate thread for the Galactic Odyssey Releases. My apologies as I cannot find it. Anyway...

Just trying to update my mental checklist as the only one I ordered was the Botropolis set (Amazon currently says scheduled to arrive 2/17/21).

Am I correct in that the first Three are out, and the last Two are not out yet?

Correct. Barricade/punch Counterpunch aren't due out until March.

Actually incorrect, sets 3-5 are not out yet. The micromaster set also isn't out yet along with botropolis and Barricade/Punch-Counterpunch with the micros being the next one up (I think).

Whoops. I skipped a few. I tend to focus on what I'm actually buying.

[o.supreme]

I know Amazon shipping is all kind of wonky, but does "One Per Month" going back to November 2020, and ending in March 21 sound about right?

[TF-fan kev777]

I know Amazon shipping is all kind of wonky, but does "One Per Month" going back to November 2020, and ending in March 21 sound about right?

Sort of? I do remember the second set was announced exactly 30 days after the first one, but I think the next 3 each got accelerated after that, from an announcement standpoint. But by the time the last 2 were announced, I think the Paradon Medic set might have already been delayed and the clones jumped ahead of them. Hard to remember with pretty much every site playing musical shipping dates for pretty much most of 2020.

I'm pretty sure the last 3 are set to release Micromasters set 2 on Feb 3, Botropolis set 5 on Feb 17 and Barricade/Punch set 4 on March 3. With Set 5 leapfrogging set 4 right from the start.

So IF, the Paradon medic set would have actually shipped November 1st, and all the remaining sets stay on schedule it would have worked out to 1 a month with January being skipped but Feb double dipping.

Edit: I just realized how weird things got. The clones were set 3, announced second and shipped first.

[Munkky]

My Prowl and Ironhide set has finally been dispatched and is coming on Monday, nearly five months after I pre-ordered it. That leaves Runabout as the only Earthrise figure I still want to buy, but of course I'm not holding out much hope of ever owning it.

[Sabrblade]

Runabout is in stock at Target.com again. I just got an order in.

And a pal on another board is helping me to get Thrust.

[Munkky]

Runabout is in stock at Target.com again. I just got an order in.

And a pal on another board is helping me to get Thrust.

Does Target do international shipping? Or do they only ship to the US?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Runabout is in stock at Target.com again. I just got an order in.

And a pal on another board is helping me to get Thrust.

Then I have a chance of seeing him in stores again tomorrow. Tho, I will not get Runabout without his partner Runamuck. Not gonna pine for the other with duos anymore, got that covered with Snapdragon without Apeface.

[Sabrblade]

Runabout is in stock at Target.com again. I just got an order in.

And a pal on another board is helping me to get Thrust.

Then I have a chance of seeing him in stores again tomorrow. Tho, I will not get Runabout without his partner Runamuck. Not gonna pine for the other with duos anymore, got that covered with Snapdragon without Apeface.

I got Runamuck for Christmas from Amazon, so he's covered.

[Sabrblade]

A mere five hours after I placed my order for Runabout and Target sends me another email saying it's shipped. Yay.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Question:

Was the Starscream and Thundercracker set a Target exclusive in thew U.S?

I found the set for about $35 bucks down here in a department store that has very limited transformers most time and if Thrust is also a TG exclusive there it may show up in this store as well here and many still have a shot at actually getting him.


Also, why is Thrust alway an exclusive of some type?

It was a Skywarp-Thundercracker exclusive set, not Starscream-Thundercracker. More's the pity, after what happened with SIEGE Skywarp.

Thrust isn't always an exclusive - Generations Deluxe Thrust (a redeco of Gentei Thrust) was wide release.

The reason we always have Seekers ending up as exclusives is because they're a bunch of guys who all blatantly use the same base mold (with the Season 1 trio being straight recolors) and there's only so many wide-release slots to go 'round per line. Especially after Generations sublines getting reduced to a 1-year span. And the Seekers are now at the Voyager price point, which has fewer slots to begin with.


Crossposting this here since the only difference between SIEGE and ER Astrotrain is the box.

[Overcracker]

Question:

Was the Starscream and Thundercracker set a Target exclusive in thew U.S?

I found the set for about $35 bucks down here in a department store that has very limited transformers most time and if Thrust is also a TG exclusive there it may show up in this store as well here and many still have a shot at actually getting him.


Also, why is Thrust alway an exclusive of some type?

It was a Skywarp-Thundercracker exclusive set, not Starscream-Thundercracker. More's the pity, after what happened with SIEGE Skywarp.

Thrust isn't always an exclusive - Generations Deluxe Thrust (a redeco of Gentei Thrust) was wide release.

The reason we always have Seekers ending up as exclusives is because they're a bunch of guys who all blatantly use the same base mold (with the Season 1 trio being straight recolors) and there's only so many wide-release slots to go 'round per line. Especially after Generations sublines getting reduced to a 1-year span. And the Seekers are now at the Voyager price point, which has fewer slots to begin with.

Yeah,sorry, I meant Thundercracker and Skywarp, I own the set. .

Technically, Thrust was a Botcon exclusive first, then was a Japanese release which was not the Botcon mold, which was then used for the regular release. several years later. Though as I recall he wasn't that easy to get anyway. Still he was a Botcon Exclusive first, then a Japanese store exclusive.

So yes, Think of a Thrust released in the last 20 years and he was very likely an exclusive of some type at some point.

[Sabrblade]

Still he was a Botcon Exclusive first, then a Japanese store exclusive.

That only happened in the first place because the 2006 Classics line was never supposed to be anything more than a brief filler line. Hasbro was never going to make Classics Thrust. They just needed something on the shelves to bide time for the first Movie toyline to get released in 2007 since the Cybertron line was already on its way out by 2006.

Hasbro didn't anticipate how popular the Classics line would be since, to them, it was just a quick little side thing. They let BotCon finish off the Seekers since Hasbro themselves weren't going to do them at the time. To them, Classics was over and finished, and they wanted to focus on the main event that was the 2007 Movie line. It wasn't until afterward that they reconsidered ending Classics so soon by creating its successor Universe line in 2008.

But at that time, they still considered the BotCon 2007 figures as the true "Classics" versions of those toys, and so avoided making new versions of Thundercracker, Dirge, Thrust, Dreadwind, Huffer, Alpha Trion, and Weirdwolf until much later in the Generations lines (Springer was the only exception to this since his BotCon toy was just his ground vehicle, so Universe Springer was able to use his helicopter mode by being a redeco of Cybertron Evac).

[Overcracker]

Still he was a Botcon Exclusive first, then a Japanese store exclusive.

That only happened in the first place because the 2006 Classics line was never supposed to be anything more than a brief filler line. Hasbro was never going to make Classics Thrust. They just needed something on the shelves to bide time for the first Movie toyline to get released in 2007 since the Cybertron line was already on its way out by 2006.

Hasbro didn't anticipate how popular the Classics line would be since, to them, it was just a quick little side thing. They let BotCon finish off the Seekers since Hasbro themselves weren't going to do them at the time. To them, Classics was over and finished, and they wanted to focus on the main event that was the 2007 Movie line. It wasn't until afterward that they reconsidered ending Classics so soon by creating its successor Universe line in 2008.

But at that time, they still considered the BotCon 2007 figures as the true "Classics" versions of those toys, and so avoided making new versions of Thundercracker, Dirge, Thrust, Dreadwind, Huffer, Alpha Trion, and Weirdwolf until much later in the Generations lines (Springer was the only exception to this since his BotCon toy was just his ground vehicle, so Universe Springer was able to use his helicopter mode by being a redeco of Cybertron Evac).

The reason for the exclusivity is less the point. Even when not being an actual character his color scheme for things like Cybertron and Titanium was made exclusive.

The point is he was exclusive, and he was definitely hard to get once he was released regularly several years later.

The point being, you always need to jump through hoops to get Thrust.