The Energon Pub

[El Duque]

If you've had Transformers Prime Deluxe Wave 5 on pre-order with site sponsor BBTS you should have received an email today verifying that the originally listed Ironhide is in fact Sergeant Kup. Not that surprising, we've known that was the case for a while now. The interesting part of the email is that Ironhide may be joining the ranks of Voyager Breakdown and Gaia Unicron as Takara Tomy exclusives with no expected domestic release. See the email below.

Hi - We have just learned that Ironhide is not expected to be released domstically, and will instead be replaced by Sergeant Kup. We thank you for your order, and apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks,
BigBadToyStore.com - Toys, Action Figures, Vintage Toys, and Collectibles

[Mkall]

Bit of a bummer, considering that was one of the few Prime figures I think would do well in a classics lineup. I had seen this coming and preordered the Takara version just in case.

[Gearslide]

Soooo....

Concept art of Ironhide was made so he could be in Prime.
Then he wasn't in Prime, but Hasbro took that concept art and made a Cyberverse Commander Ironhide toy.
THEN Hasbro designed a Deluxe size figure based completely off of the concept art, with near perfect accuracy.
And painted it as Kup and released it.

Hubbawha?

And so, the Takara Exclusive figures now include:

Skywarp
War Breakdown
Jet Vehicon
Swerve
Gaia Unicron
Ironhide

Not to mention that Takara will be releasing "Silas Breakdown," "Nemesis Prime," "Smokescreen," and "Leo Prime"

My wallet says "ouch"

[SW's SilverHammer]

over used but fitting

Hubbawha?

as for that, all i can think is that Hasbro or retailers thought that Kup's colors would be more appealing, sort of like what they did with FOC combaticons, or they're lazy.

[LordBludgeon]

I'm starting to wonder who I should be more disappointed in and frustrated at...

Takara for getting all these exclusive figures and decos...
or
Hasbro for not also releasing them domestically...

I would rather have Ironhide, not Kup...
and,
No Unicron?
No versions of the Breakdown mold?

Bludgeon is not amused by this...

[Noideaforaname]

That sounds more like "the Ironhide listed was actually Kup" rather than "no Ironhide at all."

Then again, who knows with how things have been going lately.

[Manterax Prime]

I'm starting to wonder who I should be more disappointed in and frustrated at...

Takara for getting all these exclusive figures and decos...
or
Hasbro for not also releasing them domestically...

I would rather have Ironhide, not Kup...
and,
No Unicron?
No versions of the Breakdown mold?

Bludgeon is not amused by this...

And neither is the great Manterax Prime.

[Doubledealer93]

i think more of my money should go to takara.....

[Gearslide]

i think more of my money should go to takara.....

I KNOW more of my money should go to Takara!

Oh wait...
it already is!

Those little Microns are freakishly addictive (and fun to put together!)

[kirbenvost]

And now the preorder is sold out, of course. Dammit, why is Hasbro half-assing every toy line nowadays? Used to be we got silly repaints no one wanted, now we don't even get figures that are on the show that everybody wants.

[Megatron Wolf]

just look at it this way, if hasbro keeps shooting themselves in the foot like this they will eventually no longer be able to stand and have to change how they do things. Either that or keep losing money and alienating fans.

[CommanderHazar]

It seems to me that Hasbro is convinced the only figures anyone really wants are Optimus Prime and Mutebot/Hot Shot/"Bumblebee". They don't seem convinced that the other characters are going to sell well enough to justify putting more than one to a case.

Considering that Optimus Prime and "Bumblebee" are the only ones I can ever find on the shelves anymore, and they never seem to move, I'd say they're seriously wrong on that score, only they're unwilling to realize it. All they'll seem to see see is "None of these others are moving, none of the retailers will order them, so lets stick with a dozen versions of these two."

I don't even consider the line to be Transformers anymore: it's The Optimus Prime and "Bumblebee" Fashion Showcase.

[xyl360]

So Takara beats out Hasbro with regards to what the collectors want yet again? Color me not surprised.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these days Hasbro caters to the kiddies and focuses on the bottom line while Takara focuses on collectors.

I knew there was a reason that every modern MP release started out being released in Japan by Takara .

[noctorro]

just look at it this way, if hasbro keeps shooting themselves in the foot like this they will eventually no longer be able to stand and have to change how they do things. Either that or keep losing money and alienating fans.

I don't think twelve year olds give a crap if the mold is teal or red.

But importing sucks, I know, people in The Netherlands import almost all of the transformers we get.

[trence5]

I once read that some one stated that they're releasing Kup because Ironhide was killed in the movies .... If go by that reasoning why release figures that aren't even in the show (Smokescreen is supposed to be showing up, who does NOT have a toy, while Hot-shot, who DOES have a toy, we haven't heard hide or hair of)? And for that matter - last I checked, at least in the states, Ironhide was a little more popular than Kup.

[SKYWARPED_128]

But importing sucks, I know, people in The Netherlands import almost all of the transformers we get.

Where I'm at (SE Asia), we rely on hobby stores for any and all TF needs. Departmental stores suck at stocking TF's, and TRU is probably even worse. Seems like kids here prefer video games a lot more than physical toys, so stores don't like to bring them in.

The only time I ever saw TF's being sold out was during the 2007 TF movie craze.

[Evil_the_Nub]

And now the preorder is sold out, of course. Dammit, why is Hasbro half-assing every toy line nowadays? Used to be we got silly repaints no one wanted, now we don't even get figures that are on the show that everybody wants.

I wish they were half-assing it. This is 1/8-assing at most.

[KNM2012]

I could have said this in a nutshell. Mostly because Takara Tomy is not following the same path that Hasbro is using. Which means that even if Kup shows up on PRIME, they'll use their version of Ironhide in some form of their own media.

But I cannot rule out on Hasbro, as I found their Airachnid and Arcee figures to be a bit better. But I am contempt with the one piece I have in my collection.

And for that matter - last I checked, at least in the states, Ironhide was a little more popular than Kup.

However... When was the last time Ironhide told a good tale?

But seriously... He was also killed off in Transformers: The Movie along with Ratchet and Wheeljack. So even then, there is always that chance he died before or during PRIME... And they based it on that event, and not the "confusion" aspect (which is the start of this issue). That, and we can also assume that Generations 2/Fall of Cybertron will include an Ironhide figure. And if that happens, his fans should be happy.

[Heavy B]

OOO, Called it. I don't know WHY hasbro won't release it, seeing as how hes a simple redeco, but this is what we should expect from the d-bags at hasbro.

[gavinfuzzy]

Sooo... They made an Ironhide mold and decided to release it as Kup? Way to go hasbro...

Again, there is no logical explanation for this. Kup against Ironhide, whatever made hasbro think Kup would outsell Ironhide, one of the most badass robots in the movie? He was black... But at least kids remember the name... The only logical explanation I see is that Hasbro decides NOT to release it just to give Takara something exclusive for the Japan market. I'm convinced we were supposed to get SDCC's Bruticus at retail, but then Hasbro needed something for SDCC and they pushed it over to there, and decided to make a less superior version for retail just to make people at SDCC seem like they are getting some premier item...

Well, I'll be getting AM Ironhide when he comes... I'll get hasbro's Kup too, if only, to make the 2 girls 1 Kup joke with Arcee and Airachnid.

[KNM2012]

OOO, Called it. I don't know WHY hasbro won't release it, seeing as how hes a simple redeco, but this is what we should expect from the d-bags at hasbro.

Don't forget that if it was not for those d-bags, there would be no such thing as Transformers.

Besides... We should not rule out a reason for this, much less a nice WFC/FOC Ironhide from them.

[griftimus prime]

good news is there will be plenty of bbs and repaints for all in the us.

[Duke of Luns]

It seems to me that Hasbro is convinced the only figures anyone really wants are Optimus Prime and Mutebot/Hot Shot/"Bumblebee". They don't seem convinced that the other characters are going to sell well enough to justify putting more than one to a case.

Considering that Optimus Prime and "Bumblebee" are the only ones I can ever find on the shelves anymore, and they never seem to move, I'd say they're seriously wrong on that score, only they're unwilling to realize it. All they'll seem to see see is "None of these others are moving, none of the retailers will order them, so lets stick with a dozen versions of these two."

I don't even consider the line to be Transformers anymore: it's The Optimus Prime and "Bumblebee" Fashion Showcase.

It kinda does seem that way, and I so hope that doesn't end up being the case. Overproduction of He-Man/Skelator killed the MOTU 200X line.

As for the topic at hand, well d'oh. Ironhide was one of the figures on my radar because the classics version...kinda stinks, mostly because of that dang blasted poorly designed looking down head.

I will not cry foul against Hasbro because I rarely import and 99% of my collection is made up of Hasbro Transformers, but this is a pretty weird and dumb move.

[Hypershock]

And now the preorder is sold out, of course. Dammit, why is Hasbro half-assing every toy line nowadays? Used to be we got silly repaints no one wanted, now we don't even get figures that are on the show that everybody wants.

I don't think they're half-assing it, i think they're just really unsure of where they want this line to go. They've had some hits and misses with Prid, admittedly more misses than hits, so they're probably taking a step back, looking at the reactions to the current figures and trying to come up with a game plan of where they wanna go from here. We haven't heard anything past voyager wave five/deluxe wave five, and that's the current wave for deluxes, plus i'm assuming that those voyagers will be out shortly.

I think they're not sure whether to do new molds of existing characters, or release molds that havent been released, or just straight up repaints of everybody from now on with a new figure here and there. I wouldn't say it with 100% certainty, but i do think it's a strong likelihood that we get at least some of these guys by the middle of next year

[Flakmaster]

Just look at my signature. That's about what I think of these constantly cancelled US releases.

There's a reason that I stopped buying TFs in the last 2 months.