Hasbro Platinum Edition G1 Reissue Insecticons on Kmart.com

Does this mean that indeed these are KMart exclusives after all and toysrus wont be carrying them in the states? Wouldnt be the first time products are exclusive in different companies acording to country. The 2 pack of Smash and Change Optimus and Grimlock was a KMart exclusive in the states and a Walmart exclusive in Canada. And Walmart had Platinum Predaking as an exclusive in canada, while I dont think that was the case in the states.

Kind of blows that these insecticons are exclusives to the two companies that charge most for TFs.

Stupid, freakin', gosh-awful price...

My stupid Kmart got like 40 of these, I don't why there just gonna go on clearance being so expensive.

Is it just me or are figure prices going up all around for transformer toys. I mean even getting the Combiner Wars toys, deluxes are $20 a piece now when I recall them ranging from $14-$16 each like a year ago.

A friend of mine recently saw Year of the whatever Soundwave at Toys R' Us here in Canada and it was $220!!! Not on your life for that ugly coloured monstrosity.

What's with the price hike?

Wheeljack808 wrote:What's with the price hike?

Exchange rate between the US and CAN $, plus the overall inflation. We were kinda lucky that the prices were constant for years. Unfortunately, it's over and we have to deal with it.

Still, let's consider ourselves lucky that North American prices are not following Europe or Australia... yet... For some toys, it's better to just order from Japan. Roughly the same prices, INCLUDING SHIPPING, plust the good ol' Takara premium paint job.

As for the Platinums, sure, they are not great for the asking prices. Still, consider them scalper proof!

Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

william-james88 wrote:Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

Are you assuming that BBTS gets these for thew same cost as Kmart?

Personally, while I am not interested in these, I find that there is hope that the Coneheads will be coming to BBTS.

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

Are you assuming that BBTS gets these for thew same cost as Kmart?

Personally, while I am not interested in these, I find that there is hope that the Coneheads will be coming to BBTS.

No, I was assuming their overhead costs were less than KMart's. Their suppliers might be different but since I am not sure, I didnt factor it in. Their overhead is far less though, that is certain, and the trend is that they sell at a cheaper price too.

And I never ever had a doubt that BBTS would get the coneheads. I can guarantee it. Someone let me know if I am wrong but BBTS has carries every transformers toy (takara or hasbro) with the exception of Convention Exclusives.

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

Are you assuming that BBTS gets these for thew same cost as Kmart?

Personally, while I am not interested in these, I find that there is hope that the Coneheads will be coming to BBTS.

No, I was assuming their overhead costs were less than KMart's. Their suppliers might be different but since I am not sure, I didnt factor it in. Their overhead is far less though, that is certain, and the trend is that they sell at a cheaper price too.

And I never ever had a doubt that BBTS would get the coneheads. I can guarantee it. Someone let me know if I am wrong but BBTS has carries every transformers toy (takara or hasbro) with the exception of Convention Exclusives.

I think they even carry at least some of the convention exclusives too. (I've seen Botcon figures and I remember SDCC Metroplex as well as a Hong Kong convention Metroplex, if memory serves.)

(And not to derail the conversation too much, I know what you mean about less overhead, but BBTS is a small time store, not a big retail chain. They still have overhead that may even be larger than expected. I used to work for a comic shop, and you'd be surprised by the overhead costs. But, without knowing what the per unit cost is, it's hard to jump to a conclusion that BBTS is price gouging. Now, fairness in reporting: BBTS is just over the MN/WI border from me and I do think very highly of them. They have taken very good care of me. SO I will be quick to jump in and defend them.)

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

Are you assuming that BBTS gets these for thew same cost as Kmart?

Personally, while I am not interested in these, I find that there is hope that the Coneheads will be coming to BBTS.

No, I was assuming their overhead costs were less than KMart's. Their suppliers might be different but since I am not sure, I didnt factor it in. Their overhead is far less though, that is certain, and the trend is that they sell at a cheaper price too.

And I never ever had a doubt that BBTS would get the coneheads. I can guarantee it. Someone let me know if I am wrong but BBTS has carries every transformers toy (takara or hasbro) with the exception of Convention Exclusives.

I think they even carry at least some of the convention exclusives too. (I've seen Botcon figures and I remember SDCC Metroplex as well as a Hong Kong convention Metroplex, if memory serves.)

(And not to derail the conversation too much, I know what you mean about less overhead, but BBTS is a small time store, not a big retail chain. They still have overhead that may even be larger than expected. I used to work for a comic shop, and you'd be surprised by the overhead costs. But, without knowing what the per unit cost is, it's hard to jump to a conclusion that BBTS is price gouging. Now, fairness in reporting: BBTS is just over the MN/WI border from me and I do think very highly of them. They have taken very good care of me. SO I will be quick to jump in and defend them.)

Sounds fair, and its nice to see passion for the hobby and the outlets that help us enjoy it. All I really meant was that KMART and Toysrus were accused of price gouging with those insecticons and it is now releaved that BBTS charges the same price. We can all take that as we wish.

And also, because I am still a bit sour on the subject, BBTS did price gouge on Windblade. It was not a lot mind you, BUT she was priced higher than her wavemates and they all sold for the same price at brick and mortar retail (as they obviously should), and I did find that to be a d!ck move. Sorry to be bringing up the past, they also did help me too in getting toys I couldnt find anywhere else, at fair prices. But in times where collecting TFs is really big with a bunch of exclusives and fun stuff coming out with little money to go around (add to that a sinking canadian dollar), I am a bit more keen to prices.

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Further confirmation of the horribly priced Insecticons. We all knew Kmart overcharged and Toysrus as well. But BBTS? Come on guys, you don't even have a storefront, you don't have to sell at the same price as Kmart (79.99$!$! + shipping).

So it seems that Kmart will be a brick and mortar store with exclusivity to these while they can still be obtained on BBTs, as was always the case with previous platinums.

Are you assuming that BBTS gets these for thew same cost as Kmart?

Personally, while I am not interested in these, I find that there is hope that the Coneheads will be coming to BBTS.

No, I was assuming their overhead costs were less than KMart's. Their suppliers might be different but since I am not sure, I didnt factor it in. Their overhead is far less though, that is certain, and the trend is that they sell at a cheaper price too.

And I never ever had a doubt that BBTS would get the coneheads. I can guarantee it. Someone let me know if I am wrong but BBTS has carries every transformers toy (takara or hasbro) with the exception of Convention Exclusives.

I think they even carry at least some of the convention exclusives too. (I've seen Botcon figures and I remember SDCC Metroplex as well as a Hong Kong convention Metroplex, if memory serves.)

(And not to derail the conversation too much, I know what you mean about less overhead, but BBTS is a small time store, not a big retail chain. They still have overhead that may even be larger than expected. I used to work for a comic shop, and you'd be surprised by the overhead costs. But, without knowing what the per unit cost is, it's hard to jump to a conclusion that BBTS is price gouging. Now, fairness in reporting: BBTS is just over the MN/WI border from me and I do think very highly of them. They have taken very good care of me. SO I will be quick to jump in and defend them.)

Sounds fair, and its nice to see passion for the hobby and the outlets that help us enjoy it. All I really meant was that KMART and Toysrus were accused of price gouging with those insecticons and it is now releaved that BBTS charges the same price. We can all take that as we wish.

And also, because I am still a bit sour on the subject, BBTS did price gouge on Windblade. It was not a lot mind you, BUT she was priced higher than her wavemates and they all sold for the same price at brick and mortar retail (as they obviously should), and I did find that to be a d!ck move. Sorry to be bringing up the past, they also did help me too in getting toys I couldnt find anywhere else, at fair prices. But in times where collecting TFs is really big with a bunch of exclusives and fun stuff coming out with little money to go around (add to that a sinking canadian dollar), I am a bit more keen to prices.

I understand your feelings. Look at it this way. In order to fill all of the Windblade orders (she was very popular!) cases had to be broken up. Now, BBTS has to sit on the unwanted stock to sell Windblade. That's extra cost to them. It's all really supply and demand. When there is a high demand for a product, the price naturally goes up.

But, back to the Insecticons, you actually bring up a very good point. I now wonder that the per-unit cost is for the big retailers. Is it possible that Hasbro itself is causing such a high price as the supplier? I don't think Kmart or Toys 'R' Us care enough about the demand for these things to have it impact their pricing. So, now I think it might be further up the supply chain...

Speaking of BBTS, it's been a few orders that heavy custom fees were slapped onto them. Average 30$CAN for each orders, no matter what ammount they are. Add the US-CAN $ conversion, and I don't save anything. I end up paying WAY more than some Asian shops with bigger shipping fees because customs ignore them for some reason.

Unless BBTS have something I REALLY want and I can't get anywhere else, I will avoid it.
Sad, really.

Wheeljack808 wrote:Is it just me or are figure prices going up all around for transformer toys. I mean even getting the Combiner Wars toys, deluxes are $20 a piece now when I recall them ranging from $14-$16 each like a year ago.

A friend of mine recently saw Year of the whatever Soundwave at Toys R' Us here in Canada and it was $220!!! Not on your life for that ugly coloured monstrosity.

What's with the price hike?

I think it's the exchange rate that's changed, not the prices. I'm in the U.S., and I paid $14.99 each for the Combiner War Deluxes at Target. (They're $16.99 at TRU.)

While we have had stock photos covering every mode of the upcoming polarizing Platinum Astrotrain and Blitzwing G1 reissue set, they have all been rather small. Hobby Brinquedos, the same Brazillian online retailer who gave us high quality images of the upcoming Cyber Battalion figures, has put up some very high quality versions of the photos already revealed as well as a brand new stock photo of the Jet and Shuttle mode where the later is shockingly not mistransformed this time.
The new pictures, mirrored below, can be magnified extensively, so please click on them to see the bigger version.

Astrotain still manage to be misstransformed twice.

Also, why the weird collors again?

-Kanrabat- wrote:Astrotain still manage to be misstransformed twice.

Also, why the weird collors again?

I know the train is mistransformed, but where<s the other time he is in those pics?

Blitzwing looks .......okay. Astrotrain...

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Astrotain still manage to be misstransformed twice.

Also, why the weird collors again?

I know the train is mistransformed, but where<s the other time he is in those pics?

Isn't the tail wing on the chest in bot mode sitting too low?

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Astrotain still manage to be misstransformed twice.

Also, why the weird collors again?

I know the train is mistransformed, but where<s the other time he is in those pics?

The other is in robot mode: the tailfin needs to be slid upward just a tad. Then again, the animation model omitted it, having it tucked away in the chest. I'm still at a loss for his colors though.

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Astrotain still manage to be misstransformed twice.

Also, why the weird collors again?

I know the train is mistransformed, but where<s the other time he is in those pics?

The tailfin (or V) is supposed to be on top of the robot chest like so:

Yup, still really digging these. Do we have a price on these yet?

These figures hurts my eyes.

so why the lame color scheme? couldnt go with similar to g1 colors in some way or at least something that doesnt look so wacky!

Hey Vaal that Astrotrain can be re-purposed to become a g1 Triple changing Alpha Bravo!



And Blitzwing can be Flywheels!

Ultra Markus wrote:so why the lame color scheme? couldnt go with similar to g1 colors in some way or at least something that doesnt look so wacky!

I guess Hasbro either wanted to try some new colors to see how it would sell or their homaging the decos of some obscure character or their ocs.




Or some people were really craving Ice Cream.

Platinum Blitzwing looks like it should have been called Flywheels.





Which HasTak would have colored this toy in Fywheels colors. Instead of doing that Double Dealer repaint.

They are so ugly and yet so appealing. Great WTF-versions. Let's see if I can get these at a reasonable price.

yup that's what i'll refer to these in my head. the wtf edition.

frogbat wrote:yup that's what i'll refer to these in my head. the wtf edition.

Wtfsrotrain and Blitzwtf.

Well at least based on my perspective that means more for y'all.

So pretty

OK, that's definitely orange on Astrotrain, not red... right?

Blitzwing/Flywheels needs some Reprolabels to give it some detail, and then it'll look pretty cool.

I'd buy this set if it were a reasonably-priced US retail release, but I'm guessing this set is going to be at least $100 US, right?

Just a few touch ups would help Astrotrain not look so weird. White wing tips would be a good start. Sigh.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:
I guess Hasbro either wanted to try some new colors to see how it would sell or their homaging the decos of some obscure character or their ocs.

Yup, they are. Remember how Blitzwing is homaging Flywheels, who is made up of 2 seperate vehicles which then connect to form a robot ?

Behold ladies and gentlemen, the source of the homage.

I give you....

Victory Mach Tackle





As seen on the pics, the robot with all those weird colors (akin to this astrotrain release) is made up of 2 seperate vehicles which combine, one being a white and purple Shuttle and the other being a bright red-orange truck.

The notable difference though is that both those vehicles do have their own robot modes though, and are more akin to the energon superlink autobots. But they were sold together to form the bigger robot which combines all those crazy colours.



Notice how the chest mirrors the same thing on Astrotrain when you tuck in his back shuttle fin?

we were joking about the horrendous prices on the platinum sets and that they would be there forever but in just one week, my TRU sold out of all the insecticons, Optimi and Soundwaves. I dont know if its all to scalpers. But if it is, those guys are idiots. They are still readily available online with free shipping.

Ugh exuse me, i just puked in my mouth

william-james88 wrote:

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:
I guess Hasbro either wanted to try some new colors to see how it would sell or their homaging the decos of some obscure character or their ocs.

Yup, they are. Remember how Blitzwing is homaging Flywheels, who is made up of 2 seperate vehicles which then connect to form a robot ?

Behold ladies and gentlemen, the source of the homage.

I give you....

Victory Mach Tackle





As seen on the pics, the robot with all those weird colors (akin to this astrotrain release) is made up of 2 seperate vehicles which combine, one being a white and purple Shuttle and the other being a bright red-orange truck.

The notable difference though is that both those vehicles do have their own robot modes though, and are more akin to the energon superlink autobots. But they were sold together to form the bigger robot which combines all those crazy colours.



Notice how the chest mirrors the same thing on Astrotrain when you tuck in his back shuttle fin?

Oh, I LOVE that cute li'l thing! Also, proof that duo combiners work well.
Really, I'd like a return of the Energon Power Links, but better executed with better bot modes.

Yeah, these were some of my absolute favorite combiners. They kind of walked all over the more recent two robot combiners. The set of them included so many heads… Depending on which robot took over each combined mode, you would get a different head... Plus the gestalt head. I would highly recommend these to anyone And of course it's really great to finally know the reason behind the wacky colors on these two new homages

The official Transformers site has just revealed the price of the Astrotrain and Blitzwing Platinum set to be 65.99$US (approx retail). This is less than the 79.99$ price tag of the Insecticon Reissue.

And just in case you weren't caught up, it seems we have a better idea of what the wacky Astrotrain colors are meant to homage. While Blitzwing's colors homage Flywheels, Astrotrain appears to homage the Mach Tackle set from Takara's Victory (which features a white and purple shuttle and a red/orange truck).

It is still unclear which retailer will get the exclusivity to these figures.

How much did these retail back in the '80s, and what year did they come out exactly?

This gives me hope that the Coneheads won't be prohibitively expensive.

I was at Kmart the other day, and there were 8 Platinum Insecticon sets just sitting there. Really, just a shame. I bet they really would have moved at $59.99.

Considering I bought the previous TRU reissue for $17.50 (yea BOGO 50% with the TRU Perceptor reissue!!!) that $79.99 price point is just brutal.

Ah. Now we wait for availability.

I dont get why they didnt do these homages in the classics molds instead of bricks ?

I'll buy these just because. So is this the new thread for the Astro-Blitz talk?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I'll buy these just because. So is this the new thread for the Astro-Blitz talk?

You can use either, its up to you. But since the other platinum releases dont have a thread of their own and all the info regarding this line is here, I thought it would be best to keep all the news here as well. Like that someone can come on this thread and search for the relevant info they want instead of finding a certain info elsewhere and stuff being scattered.

So the news (t least when I write it) will be here with all the platinum news, but you can post wherever you wish since both threads exists.

Rated X wrote:I dont get why they didnt do these homages in the classics molds instead of bricks ?

So Hasbro can drain more money from the collectors

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:

Rated X wrote:I dont get why they didnt do these homages in the classics molds instead of bricks ?

So Hasbro can drain more money from the collectors

I'm calling it an experiment, and leave it at that. If it proves successful, expect a few more of those. Flywheels was a Triple Changer in the Marvel and IDW comics, so it has some precedent.

Really, it's no different from e-Hobby's offerings, except not renamed and more accessible.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:

Rated X wrote:I dont get why they didnt do these homages in the classics molds instead of bricks ?

So Hasbro can drain more money from the collectors

I think it's more because these were the same size. The classics molds are a deluxe and voyager.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:How much did these retail back in the '80s, and what year did they come out exactly?

They ranged from $9.99 to $11.99 depending on which store you went to. But that was 1985 dollars. The inflation adjustment makes the equivalent cost approximately twice that in today dollars.

Using an online inflation cost calculator I looked up the adjusted cost of each side of the 9.99 to 11.99 range and found the following:

9.99 in 1985 dollars = 21.79 in 2015 dollars
11.99 in 1985 dollars = 26.16 in 2015 dollars

If you had a time machine and went to 1985 and explained to them that all you had was 2015 money, you would have to use 21.79 dollars from 2015 to buy one triple changer in 1985. This is because 20.15 dollars don't buy as much as 1985 dollars did.

Going along with this scenario, buying two triple changers in 1985 with 2015 money would cost somewhere in the range of (21.79 x 2) = $43.58 to (26.16 x 2) = $52.32. So the equivalent of somewhere between $44 and $52 in 2015 money is what these would have retailed for back in the day, depending on which store you went to.

I've noticed that when it came to the old giftsets, the price of the set equaled the total cost of the individual members at retail. There were no real cost savings in buying the giftset. It all worked out to pretty much the same price.

The bottom line is that if all other things were equal and only inflation was accounted for, if Hasbro sold an Astrotrain/Blitzwing giftset in 1985 then the approximate inflation adjusted retail price would be in the neighborhood of $44 and $52 today.

I'm pretty sure these guys originally were in stores starting around mid '85.

I'm guessing the other factors involved are that these are now a niche market (for collectors), which means smaller numbers... and the oil prices, which affect the cost of plastic production. We can see how Hasbro/Takara are trying to minimize the plastic used in the new toys to help cut costs. Plus there is still die cast metal, which is its own production adventure.

All of these affect the price of the reissues G1 toys and help drive up the price.

Actually, I think Hasbro IS onto something. They are combining the reissues into logical sets, which saves a lot on packaging materials and costs. (Take the 3-pack insects and jets for example.) I think that was a great business decision and a win for both of us.

It's funny, the difference of about ten bucks makes me think these triple changers are "affordable" but the Insecticons aren't. Weird how we perceive value and deals.

Bottom line, it helps me to split the cost between the toys to help gauge if it's an okay value. Would I buy the individual toy for that price?