william-james88 wrote:fenrir72 wrote:
Kind of running like clockwork eh wj88? Seems like there's a regular interval for these "eruptions" to appear then disappear again. Like acne. Iirc , you and many others already mentioned the alternative sources on where to procure imports at less "painful" circumstance. Heck, even Kanrabat and yours truly also opined on the subject. Maybe this is to justify an individual's meaningless existence in this cruel world where the only constant is the soap box/bully pulpit on the evils of Hasbro and TT.
Yes, Fenrir, it is exactly like clockwork. And I am sure Wolfman Jake shared our opinion on that, he was totally ready for any rebuttal. Anyways, it is so much like clockwork that I have bookmarked my response for whenever I hear something like that again. And just to be clear, I totally feel the pain of added costs getting in the way of people owning figures (like how I am unable to get UW Defensor at the same price as the other combiners since it wont be available at Japanese retail, or all the times an MP or Platinum figure wouldnt be available at retail in Quebec because of language laws). But those added costs should not be a negative point towards the figure itself, or the people making the figure. And that is the distinction I hope people can make. I wish we could just grow out of this counterintuitive fan myth so we could instead just focus on the toys. But I am ready for next time just in case it happens again
By the way, speaking of prices, I am so habituated by the constant talks of Hasbro's bottom line that I have a hard time seeing how Takara can charge the same amount for their version of Devastator. They retooled a bunch of him and added a bunch of features, so I can only assume they are operating on lower margins. Is it because local competition is so fierce that they think they would lose sales if they released what Hasbro is releasing in he rest of the world? Or is it simply part of their company mindset that quality should not be jeopardized to increase margins (which seems to also be shared by Nintendo, which is currently living off savings) ?
We are still on topic so I'll use as a source a previous interview with the TT engineers a few months back. I know you read it too. Before UW Superion, not sure if it was Yuki or one of the TT guys made mention that before they release a product, they make sure to "attune it" to their target audience. (Here we go again with Japan blah blah blah different tastes etc). Anyway as we already all already know, the house of ideas come directly from HB. With the exception of TFGo! combiner team. So we get the somewhat half (?)made different paint apps figs.
In Japan, again, for those ignoramus's who dissent without thinking.........."presentation" IS everything! You lose in that first acid test, your product loses. Not to mention the stiff competition.
And another thing, using the SoC analogy for Bandai's products, they can afford to release very expensive pieces and still sell because of the available market. For Japan and Asia at least. I hear that SoC don't do well in the USA.
So I'm not going to complain anymore. The click buy or not buy button, it's all up to us consumers.
In as such it causes me to scratch my head why some would not bat an eyelash buying super EXPENSIVE 3rd party products (I also buy some) but rant and rave when official "mass release" products come out "imperfect".
So if HB Bruticus comes out with a sloppy BlastOff and TT comes with a shuttle type version, you'll know where I stand.
P.S. I too had to bite the bullet by pre ordering/paying up for Guardian too. No choice 'cause I like mine with a "Groove".
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