The Energon Pub

The variant packaging of the upcoming Transformers movie products continues. Check out the latest pictures found on eBay of the following products ...


Deluxe Bumblebee with clear blue windows and missiles in American packaging with sticker of Japanese logo:






Fast Action Battler Optimus Prime and Starscream in packaging exclusive to TakaraTomy (woo hoo!):








Real Gear Power Up VT6 in American packaging with sticker of Japanese logo:



Photos are from type-f's eBay store.

The clear plastic makes that Bumblebee figure look a lot better.

If they're giving Bumblebee clear winshields I wonder if we can expect the plastic quality of the Takara/Tomy releases to be better as well.

That looks really good, I might have to get that BumbleBee.

I wounder if Hasbro will remake Bumblebee like that

Megatron_Wolf wrote:I wounder if Hasbro will remake Bumblebee like that

They won't. Their prototype had them but they made the conscious decision not to go ahead with it, almost certainly in order to cut costs. It would be like them going back and adding more paint apps to the figures who got screwed (like Cybertron Soundwave).

AbsumZer0 wrote:

Megatron_Wolf wrote:I wounder if Hasbro will remake Bumblebee like that

They won't. Their prototype had them but they made the conscious decision not to go ahead with it, almost certainly in order to cut costs.

And let's not forget how crappy the plastic feels on some of these movie toys, too.

That's sooooo annoying. And I really don't get why Hasbro have had to cut corners to keep costs down on this one figure, when other figures have the same proportion of clear plastic and apint on them. Of course a Japanese import to the UK won't be cheap....

Well, that's pure laziness.

A collector and customizer friend of mine explained that since the prices of petroleum has gone up, so has the price of plastic resulting in us having to pay more for our action figures. I bet that Hasbro probably changed the forumla for a lot of their plastics to a cheaper blend to keep costs down. I also wonder how badly the petroleum prices, production costs, and higher prices scaring consumers is cutting in to their profit margins.

since these are manufactured in China, its probably cheaper shipping to Japan than the US, which might be why they could spent a little more to give it the clear windows...

I'm curious. Is the Us versions windows clear plastic that is painted over? Or is it solid yellow plastic? Because if it's just painted over clear you can remove it with some rubbing alcohol.

Nightwatcher wrote:I'm curious. Is the Us versions windows clear plastic that is painted over? Or is it solid yellow plastic? Because if it's just painted over clear you can remove it with some rubbing alcohol.

It's solid yellow with painted metallic blue.

So they're not gonna change Optimus Prime to Convoy... COOONNVOOOY!!! Maybe this is old news.
How do the Japanese fans feel about this? Stormrider?

Talyn wrote:since these are manufactured in China, its probably cheaper shipping to Japan than the US, which might be why they could spent a little more to give it the clear windows...

Japan's toy and hobby industry also has a greater dependency upon late adolescent/adult collectors than here in the United States, so they can get away with smaller production runs and slightly higher prices while, at the same time, it's harder to get away with cutting corners. If not for the Japanese market we would never have gotten Alternators or the Masterpiece figures here in the U.S., not because "Hasbro sucks", but because the American toy market alone wouldn't make their production costs economically feasible.

The packaging on the FABs from Takara looks a thousand times better than what we're getting.

D-340 wrote:The packaging on the FABs from Takara looks a thousand times better than what we're getting.

I guess Takara thinks that collectors will keep their versions on card, while Hasbro thinks their packages will get ripped open by toddlers and promptly thrown out.

I'm sorry, but I think the clear plastic, showing all the robot parts, is stupid. It totally kills the illusion of this being "in disguise". I'm sorry you guys like this but won't be able to get it, unless you import it from Japan, but I'm personally very happy that the Bumblebee we're getting in the States has windows that are not clear.

Besides, how many of you guys prefer 2008/2009 BB over 1974 BB anyway?

I do have to admit, though, that I like these blue missiles better than the yellow missiles we're getting.

I wouldn't mind the painted windows if they weren't metallic blue flake. Why they couldn't just paint them a regular deep blue I don't know.

Though it doesn't matter because like you said I'm getting the 08' version. I love the transformation of the chest on it and overall bulkiness.

Jaz-Zen wrote:I'm sorry, but I think the clear plastic, showing all the robot parts, is stupid. It totally kills the illusion of this being "in disguise". I'm sorry you guys like this but won't be able to get it, unless you import it from Japan, but I'm personally very happy that the Bumblebee we're getting in the States has windows that are not clear.

Besides, how many of you guys prefer 2008/2009 BB over 1974 BB anyway?

I do have to admit, though, that I like these blue missiles better than the yellow missiles we're getting.

I wouldn't dislike the painted windows so much either if they'd at least bothered to paint both sides so that the 'wings' don't look so rubbish in robot mode.

AbsumZer0 wrote:

Jaz-Zen wrote:I'm sorry, but I think the clear plastic, showing all the robot parts, is stupid. It totally kills the illusion of this being "in disguise". I'm sorry you guys like this but won't be able to get it, unless you import it from Japan, but I'm personally very happy that the Bumblebee we're getting in the States has windows that are not clear.

Besides, how many of you guys prefer 2008/2009 BB over 1974 BB anyway?

I do have to admit, though, that I like these blue missiles better than the yellow missiles we're getting.

I wouldn't dislike the painted windows so much either if they'd at least bothered to paint both sides so that the 'wings' don't look so rubbish in robot mode.

Same here. And I have to agree that metallic flake blue isn't exactly a great choice of colour...

1337W422102 wrote:

D-340 wrote:The packaging on the FABs from Takara looks a thousand times better than what we're getting.

I guess Takara thinks that collectors will keep their versions on card, while Hasbro thinks their packages will get ripped open by toddlers and promptly thrown out.

I can't believe I didn't figure that out right away Now I feel dumb.

Still doesn't help the overall suckiness of the FABs.

Okay, you guys are right, Hasbro should have at least painted both sides of the windows, preferably with a better color.

And, actually, I got to thinking, and it hit me that I buy Alternators for their car modes, and display them in their car modes, but I buy figures from the more traditional lines (Cybertron, Classics, Movie, etc.) for their `bot modes. So if my `74 BB is gonna be in `bot mode 90% of the time, why should I care if certain things, like clear windows showing `bot parts, "kill the disguise." He's not going to BE in disguise most of the time, so who cares?? :p Silly me.

So if my friend were to go to japan for me to find movie toys or masterpieces mp01-05 or binaltechs or perhaps older g1 items, where would she go exactly?

Here is my thread regarding the issue: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... =6664&sid=