The Energon Pub

So I was just surfing some of the site's sponsors for new Transformers preorders and decided to look at the Takara brand stuff for the heck of it. I have never bought a Takara product before, probably because of the freaking high prices, and I put myself on low budgets for TF toy hauls. But it seems TakaraTomy releases the best stuff in my opinion. Of course, I was so excited to hear about WingBlade Optimus Prime, but not so excited to hear he was Takara only. Then they announced the new redeco of classics Megatron and the new redeco of Cybertron Primus. Also Takara onlys. They even still make their version of Alternators, G1 reissues, and it seems more Masterpiece figures than Hasbro. Now to me, it seems quite a few people on here speak of purchasing the Takara Japenese products, sometimes even just the same (or very similar) figures we get from Hasbro but Takara-made. I don't really understand that.
My questions to you guys are:
1. Are Takara products actually higher quality than Hasbro?
2. Would it be worth it to pay a higher price for new Takara exclusive figures?
3. Would it be even minutely worth it to buy a Takara version of a Hasbro toy, even with small differences (ex. metallic paint, different weapon)?

Personally, I've never felt the need to buy the Takaras. I've never been overly impressed with the decos (chrome doesn't do it for me), and the price is a great hindrance. Nine times out of ten, whatever Takara releases, Hasbro also releases. Not always the case, but I've never felt the non-Hasbros have been worth getting.

That said, I've recently started to lay down money for some Takara products. Not having a large collection of G1 toys, I decided I wanted the Takara reissue of Predaking, and the Masterpiece Rodimus with trailer trumps a cheaper, non-trailer Hasbro release any day. So I'm on the road to Takara-ville. I haven't decided on the Takara Primus yet, but it could happen.

In any case:
1. I can't say for sure.
2. That's up to you, but if it's something you want, I vote go for it.
3. Again, it depends on your tastes. I'd be just happy with a Hasbro Masterpiece Rodimus if it weren't for the fact that it won't have the trailer. To Takara I go. But for chrome or a slight paint difference? Not worth it to me.

In the end, the only person who can really answer questions 2 and 3 is yourself. Go with what you want and what you can fit into your budget.

It comes down to personal taste. It might be worth it to get figures that are only Takara made like wingblade optimus prime, or the alternity figures. The Takara figures that I have are not any better quality than their Hasbro counterparts. The only masterpiece figures that Hasbro has not released are Megatron (for obvious reasons) and repaints of Starscream and Optimus Prime. It should be noted that Hasbro's Rodimus will be sans trailer.

OptiMagnus10 wrote:My questions to you guys are:
1. Are Takara products actually higher quality than Hasbro?
2. Would it be worth it to pay a higher price for new Takara exclusive figures?
3. Would it be even minutely worth it to buy a Takara version of a Hasbro toy, even with small differences (ex. metallic paint, different weapon)?

1) Contrary to popular belief; no they aren't. They typically have either more paint apps than the Hasbro version or chrome, but that doesn't mean better QC.
2) Depends on the figure and if you're willing to part with the extra money
3) Some figs yes (Hot Shot, Inferno, Ratchet, Hound) some figs no (Octane, Sunstreaker and Silverstreak)

Bottom line is, look at what both lines are offering and make a choice based on your preference.

Soime choice TFs require buying Takara. Label Soundwave and Blaster being foremost in my mind. The upcoming MP rodimus seems like it requires a Takara buy as well.

LOST Cybertronian wrote:It comes down to personal taste. It might be worth it to get figures that are only Takara made like wingblade optimus prime, or the alternity figures. The Takara figures that I have are not any better quality than their Hasbro counterparts. The only masterpiece figures that Hasbro has not released are Megatron (for obvious reasons) and repaints of Starscream and Optimus Prime. It should be noted that Hasbro's Rodimus will be sans trailer.

Well, I found WingBlade Prime for a good price...mint in package. I may get him sometime. And yeah, if Hasbro would've released Megatron we'd have kids shooting each other to death.
I really don't care for MP Rodimus, and never bought a Rodimus even though he one of my favorite characters. It should be noted I have recently returned to the TF fan base, plus I've skipped out on almost everything G1, and I'm not extremely aquainted with G1 (go ahead, shun me to death).
I hope Hasbro releases MP Prime again, because he is the Holy Grail to me. Plus, I don't want to pay $300 dollars for an older one.
BTW funny avatar. Two of my favorite characters.

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:It comes down to personal taste. It might be worth it to get figures that are only Takara made like wingblade optimus prime, or the alternity figures. The Takara figures that I have are not any better quality than their Hasbro counterparts. The only masterpiece figures that Hasbro has not released are Megatron (for obvious reasons) and repaints of Starscream and Optimus Prime. It should be noted that Hasbro's Rodimus will be sans trailer.

Well, I found WingBlade Prime for a good price...mint in package. I may get him sometime. And yeah, if Hasbro would've released Megatron we'd have kids shooting each other to death.
I really don't care for MP Rodimus, and never bought a Rodimus even though he one of my favorite characters. It should be noted I have recently returned to the TF fan base, plus I've skipped out on almost everything G1, and I'm not extremely aquainted with G1 (go ahead, shun me to death).
I hope Hasbro releases MP Prime again, because he is the Holy Grail to me. Plus, I don't want to pay $300 dollars for an older one.
BTW funny avatar. Two of my favorite characters.

There is nothing wrong per se with not being aquainted with G1, I am guessing you are just a younger fan who probably grew up with Beast Wars or the Unicron trilogy? Although there is no time like the present to get aquainted with G1 . It's great to get to know the roots of this awesome hobby.

LOST Cybertronian wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:It comes down to personal taste. It might be worth it to get figures that are only Takara made like wingblade optimus prime, or the alternity figures. The Takara figures that I have are not any better quality than their Hasbro counterparts. The only masterpiece figures that Hasbro has not released are Megatron (for obvious reasons) and repaints of Starscream and Optimus Prime. It should be noted that Hasbro's Rodimus will be sans trailer.

Well, I found WingBlade Prime for a good price...mint in package. I may get him sometime. And yeah, if Hasbro would've released Megatron we'd have kids shooting each other to death.
I really don't care for MP Rodimus, and never bought a Rodimus even though he one of my favorite characters. It should be noted I have recently returned to the TF fan base, plus I've skipped out on almost everything G1, and I'm not extremely aquainted with G1 (go ahead, shun me to death).
I hope Hasbro releases MP Prime again, because he is the Holy Grail to me. Plus, I don't want to pay $300 dollars for an older one.
BTW funny avatar. Two of my favorite characters.

There is nothing wrong per se with not being aquainted with G1, I am guessing you are just a younger fan who probably grew up with Beast Wars or the Unicron trilogy? Although there is no time like the present to get aquainted with G1 . It's great to get to know the roots of this awesome hobby.

Yes, I am a younger fan who dismissed the Beast Era and Robots in Disguise. I was somewhat into Unicron Trilogy, mostly buying Optimus Primes. I'm now trying to get G1 Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, and maybe get some G1 and Beast Wars DVD's. It just saddens me that I've dismissed so many good toys and tv shows to date. I credit my permanent fan loyalty to the works of Mr. Michael Bay, shockingly to some.

I live in Japan and I usually buy Takara Tomy's versions unless it's a figure that's I missed (I did that with a few Classics figures) and I'd have to say that the quality is just the same. Both have some figures that are better than others quality wise.
The thing that Takara Tomy does do better is paint jobs. Hands down their paint jobs are way better than Hasbro's (way better for me = G1 accurate).

Blurrz wrote:Hell Yay



X-Dimension Mini-consnomnomnom.

What...on...earth...?

Anyway, on topic, sometimes they're worth it, sometimes not. Takara does get some really cool figures or decos that will likely never see the light of day over here. A few of their Henkei (Classics/Universe) figures were far superior to the Hasbro ones when it comes to decos, so those were worth it to me. Sadly the price of importing Takara versions has gone up lately, so I've passed on a lot more than I used to. That won't stop me from getting Takara's MP Rodimus though, and maybe Predaking if I'm lucky. When it comes to Generations and Movie figures, I think Hasbro will do.

Its usually best to limit yourself to exclusives or toys you really want.

Theres very little point in duplicating your entire collection for alittle bit of chrome.

I buy takara for items I cant get else where, in the UK we get shafted alot and its cheaper to import from Japan than from America.

Some takara items are superior(Classics Hotshot for example), or will never be released anywhere else(takotank, gigastorm, megaplex, lioconvoy, etc).

Japan also has loads of extra takara product you never hear about in the form of little bust ups, exclusive t shirts, hats, bags, table wear etc. It is very easy to get sucked in to duplicating everything just cherrypick is my advice.

well I got an order in today of some figures and I had ordered the regular Hasbro Universe Onslaught because I always liked the look of him but never bought him in stores.(i could get 2-3 deluxes for one of him). But I saw him for 19.99 on the site i went too. Imagine my surprise today when I get to the onslaught package and I see instead of that grayish/purple whatever color mine is navy...? I was very confused, but he looked more faithful to the G1 so I was like Ok... I went on the website and saw that I got shipped the Takara version.(I dont know if this was accidental or if they ran out of the hasbro ones and sent what they could). But Paint wise, takara looks much better. As far as joints well Onslaught is all ratchet joints and none are loose so i cant complain. One of his cannons is bent but I can fix that with a hairdryer. So for my $19.99 I think takara is totally worth it.

ShardFenix wrote:well I got an order in today of some figures and I had ordered the regular Hasbro Universe Onslaught because I always liked the look of him but never bought him in stores.(i could get 2-3 deluxes for one of him). But I saw him for 19.99 on the site i went too. Imagine my surprise today when I get to the onslaught package and I see instead of that grayish/purple whatever color mine is navy...? I was very confused, but he looked more faithful to the G1 so I was like Ok... I went on the website and saw that I got shipped the Takara version.(I dont know if this was accidental or if they ran out of the hasbro ones and sent what they could). But Paint wise, takara looks much better. As far as joints well Onslaught is all ratchet joints and none are loose so i cant complain. One of his cannons is bent but I can fix that with a hairdryer. So for my $19.99 I think takara is totally worth it.

You lucky slag! Where did you buy it from? Just curious, not that I expect to order Hasbros and get Takaras.

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

ShardFenix wrote:well I got an order in today of some figures and I had ordered the regular Hasbro Universe Onslaught because I always liked the look of him but never bought him in stores.(i could get 2-3 deluxes for one of him). But I saw him for 19.99 on the site i went too. Imagine my surprise today when I get to the onslaught package and I see instead of that grayish/purple whatever color mine is navy...? I was very confused, but he looked more faithful to the G1 so I was like Ok... I went on the website and saw that I got shipped the Takara version.(I dont know if this was accidental or if they ran out of the hasbro ones and sent what they could). But Paint wise, takara looks much better. As far as joints well Onslaught is all ratchet joints and none are loose so i cant complain. One of his cannons is bent but I can fix that with a hairdryer. So for my $19.99 I think takara is totally worth it.

You lucky slag! Where did you buy it from? Just curious, not that I expect to order Hasbros and get Takaras.

Robot Kingdom

OptiMagnus10 wrote:1. Are Takara products actually higher quality than Hasbro?

From a personal perspective, a few years ago when it was just Takara, their figures were a much higher quality.

Since the merger with Tomy and a lot of companies having to tighten their belts, their quality is on par or just slightly above that of Hasbro.

2. Would it be worth it to pay a higher price for new Takara exclusive figures?

That's a strictly personal preference based on how much you want a figure and how much you're willing to pay.

3. Would it be even minutely worth it to buy a Takara version of a Hasbro toy, even with small differences (ex. metallic paint, different weapon)?

I sometimes buy TT over Hasbro, simply because they might do a better paint job.

New Sideswipe? Passing over the Hasbro version because I don't like the small spots of red they did. TT's looks so much cleaner.

Again though, personal preference.

ShardFenix wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

ShardFenix wrote:well I got an order in today of some figures and I had ordered the regular Hasbro Universe Onslaught because I always liked the look of him but never bought him in stores.(i could get 2-3 deluxes for one of him). But I saw him for 19.99 on the site i went too. Imagine my surprise today when I get to the onslaught package and I see instead of that grayish/purple whatever color mine is navy...? I was very confused, but he looked more faithful to the G1 so I was like Ok... I went on the website and saw that I got shipped the Takara version.(I dont know if this was accidental or if they ran out of the hasbro ones and sent what they could). But Paint wise, takara looks much better. As far as joints well Onslaught is all ratchet joints and none are loose so i cant complain. One of his cannons is bent but I can fix that with a hairdryer. So for my $19.99 I think takara is totally worth it.

You lucky slag! Where did you buy it from? Just curious, not that I expect to order Hasbros and get Takaras.

Robot Kingdom

Hmm haven't checked them out yet.

Okay I have considered a few TT figures:
Wingblade Optimus Prime
(Animated) Voyager Ironhide
Sidearm Sideswipe

How does this sound? Are there any more exclusives you guys like?