The Preorder Goal to Start Production of Takara Legends LG-EX Grand Maximus Has Been Achieved

To add, the homage is merely to the concept of Grand being a Pretender, nothing more. The actual suit is based on Waverider/Diver, and is a retool of PotP Cloudburst.

And good to see the goals being met!

Bounti76 wrote:Fellow Seibertonian Emerje has clued us in to some fantastic news! Takara's LG-EX Grand Maximus was put up for pre-order a couple of weeks ago (via Takara Tomy Mall), shown with a translucent plastic Prime Master decoy suit homaging his original Pretender shell. The Prime Master suit was shown with the caveat that it wouldn't be included unless the threshold of 3,000 preorders were met. Based on the images below, it looks like the goal has been met, and all orders will now include a Prime Master decoy suit! It was also confirmed on Twitter that the suit will be included. This set will be released in March of next year, and if you're still interested in preordering this figure, why not click this link to be taken to a list of our sponsors who are selling it! But hurry; preorders are only currently open until next Thursday, November 2nd.






Additonally, Emerje provided us with a link to hear a sound clip from the new figure! If you can't read Japanese, scroll down to the links just past the picture showcasing the now confirmed Prime Master exclusive suit and Grand Max in his starship mode.

And last but not least, why not check out Seibertron's own gallery of Grand Maximus and his Pretender shell to see how the newly announced figure compares to the original!

Keep your eyes glued to Seibertron.com for all the latest news!

The article got it wrong. That gray text means it's not yet achieved and will be a challenge.

The red text means the goal was met for 2,000 records. 3,000 has yet to happen and the article should be corrected.

Randy

Powered Convoy wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Fellow Seibertonian Emerje has clued us in to some fantastic news! Takara's LG-EX Grand Maximus was put up for pre-order a couple of weeks ago (via Takara Tomy Mall), shown with a translucent plastic Prime Master decoy suit homaging his original Pretender shell. The Prime Master suit was shown with the caveat that it wouldn't be included unless the threshold of 3,000 preorders were met. Based on the images below, it looks like the goal has been met, and all orders will now include a Prime Master decoy suit! It was also confirmed on Twitter that the suit will be included. This set will be released in March of next year, and if you're still interested in preordering this figure, why not click this link to be taken to a list of our sponsors who are selling it! But hurry; preorders are only currently open until next Thursday, November 2nd.






Additonally, Emerje provided us with a link to hear a sound clip from the new figure! If you can't read Japanese, scroll down to the links just past the picture showcasing the now confirmed Prime Master exclusive suit and Grand Max in his starship mode.

And last but not least, why not check out Seibertron's own gallery of Grand Maximus and his Pretender shell to see how the newly announced figure compares to the original!

Keep your eyes glued to Seibertron.com for all the latest news!

The article got it wrong. That gray text means it's not yet achieved and will be a challenge.

The red text means the goal was met for 2,000 records. 3,000 has yet to happen and the article should be corrected.

Randy

I want Grand either way, but the Prime Master suit would be a nice bonus. On the Masterforce show when he wasn't in full Grand Maximus mode, he was usually inside that Pretender shell. If the figure is produced without it, I may even consider buying some other Prime Master & doing a repaint to act as a substitute.

Powered Convoy wrote:The article got it wrong. That gray text means it's not yet achieved and will be a challenge.

The red text means the goal was met for 2,000 records. 3,000 has yet to happen and the article should be corrected.

Randy

Yep, all I tipped was that Grand Max met its release goal (and passed along the graphics the audio samples and Twitter post), I didn't say the titan master had.

Emerje

Considering the "correct" shell was used only recently I guess the reason they don't use is is because the new figures doesn't fit ?

As I don't have the original G1 figure or the Botcon reissue/repaints.

I was wondering has anyone checked this ?

Does the new Fort Max "Cerebro" fit inside the old Pretender shell still ?

[If it doesn't I can't see why they can't include that too].

That said I don't mind if they venture in the 3rd party area and actually sell an official new gun, Pretender shell and sidekick accessory and so on. (perhaps a radar dish and pistol as well - maybe even a new mould small sword).

If they made an event out of it that would be worth having. i'd be surprised though if they would actually go to the trouble to make all those missing pieces when there is so very many of them... and that is without even getting into Ramp issues. or how he can fall over backwards and might need some better feet or heel supports.

But if they are not interested then I'm sure someone else will addresses a lot of that on the 3rd party scene. I feel the lack of decent ramps and the missing weapons the most though.

This one is a bit of a chin stroker - I really like the characters colours so it is very tempting (as is the other Six knight toy) but without any sign of a Scorponok or Black Zarek he'd just seem a bit lonely.

But having a double (or more) city is pretty appealing as a local of play for all the little things that are so trendy these days.

The article has been rewritten correctly, we apologise for the mistake. It was due to miscommunication and technical difficulties on staff.

Randomhero wrote:I ended up canceling LG Triggerhappy, Misfire and Slugslinger. It’s holiday season and after getting the Titans Return ones and standing them together I said “this is fine. These are great I don’t need the Takara ones.”

I have Kup and Hotrod and the Target Masters just arnt the selling point I originally imagined. They’re cool but I’m not attached to target masters. They all look the same and while I grew up with the cartoon and rebirth they’re still just tiny dudes that turn into oversized guns with no personalities to me. They just stand on a shelf while I give Hot Rod and Kup regular guns or no guns at all

I was kinda thinking the same thing, but for a bit of a different reason. I can get some personality out of the Target Masters as I was a big fan of the G1 cartoon as a kid. And part of me was eager to get some of the Takara stuff to get these Target Masters. (Realistically, Blurr, Kup, and Hot Rod looked so damn good, I had to get the Takara versions. So, the Target Masters were a plus.)

All that said, I am finding the Target Master figures themselves underwhelming. I just opened Kup and Hot Rod last night. And the cool head turning around with the waist turning is a very nice touch. However, the arms and legs just do not seem to peg in very well. Given the ball joints and my penchant for transforming my stuff when fiddling at my desk, I foresee much furniture polishing in my future, or just placing the Target Masters on the shelf and never fiddling with them. For the expense (sure, I am an importer, so more expensive for me than the intended audience) I'm just not that satisfied.

Also, a quick note on Kup. I love the paint job and the bot mode. However, the remolding of the arms makes the alt mode crap, in my opinion.

RAR wrote:Considering the "correct" shell was used only recently I guess the reason they don't use is is because the new figures doesn't fit ?

Size was probably a factor:



... but the main reason is probably because in PotP the Pretenders have been shrunk to Titan Master size, and have suits to match that. Anticipating a future TakaraTomy release (with retooled face plates to match the original inner robot heads), one of those suits was chosen instead in order to remain consistent.

So I finally got around to using the Sharkticon/Sweep head. I was curious to see how it looked on the Hasbro Scourge... and the answer is shockingly well! The different shade of blue is so minor that you can only notice it if you're looking for it.





And another thing that's an option, is switching out the light Takara Titan Master arms with the dark Hasbro arms. Honestly I'm not sure which I like better

Didn't realize the legs were so easy to switch out. Took another shot with Hasbro arms and legs on the Takara Sweep. I think the total lack of light pieces helps him fit in better with the body.

The pure white of Takara's Triggerhappy makes the gray of Hasbro's Triggerhappy look faded and worn by comparison.

Agreed, though I have no idea what Takara were thinking when they made the eyes the same colour as the faceplate. I'm happy with my Hasbro Triggerhappy but the Takara one does look cool.

Black Hat wrote:Agreed, though I have no idea what Takara were thinking when they made the eyes the same colour as the faceplate. I'm happy with my Hasbro Triggerhappy but the Takara one does look cool.

They didn't. The mouth plate is red the face plate around the eyes is gold.

steals_your_goats wrote:

Black Hat wrote:Agreed, though I have no idea what Takara were thinking when they made the eyes the same colour as the faceplate. I'm happy with my Hasbro Triggerhappy but the Takara one does look cool.

They didn't. The mouth plate is red the face plate around the eyes is gold.

Yeah, Triggerhappy had red eyes, a yellow face, and a red mouthplate in both cartoons.

The Rebirth


The Headmasters


As a result, Takara's ends up being the more Rebirth-accurate version.

We'd better get to the 3000 preorders for the pretender suit. That is the main reason I want Grand Max.

If we don't get there and they cancel the pretender shell, I'll cancel my preorder

I only wish the deco looked more like the G1 one. The transparent plastic really bummed me out. If they don't make it to 3000 I'll just do my own repaint and try to match the original as much as possible.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:We'd better get to the 3000 preorders for the pretender suit. That is the main reason I want Grand Max.

If we don't get there and they cancel the pretender shell, I'll cancel my preorder

Now THAT's commitment!

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:We'd better get to the 3000 preorders for the pretender suit. That is the main reason I want Grand Max.

If we don't get there and they cancel the pretender shell, I'll cancel my preorder

Now THAT's commitment!

Dude, Pretenders are one of those things that not many people like and not many get made nowadays that I love (thanks for that BURN), and I really want that shell. the figure itself would be cool, especially with the sword and the fact he can stand with my Hasbro Fort Max and he would be slightly different due to the middle head sculpt, but for me it's all about that pretender shell.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:We'd better get to the 3000 preorders for the pretender suit. That is the main reason I want Grand Max.

If we don't get there and they cancel the pretender shell, I'll cancel my preorder

Now THAT's commitment!

Dude, Pretenders are one of those things that not many people like and not many get made nowadays that I love (thanks for that BURN), and I really want that shell. the figure itself would be cool, especially with the sword and the fact he can stand with my Hasbro Fort Max and he would be slightly different due to the middle head sculpt, but for me it's all about that pretender shell.

That's one expensive shell.

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:We'd better get to the 3000 preorders for the pretender suit. That is the main reason I want Grand Max.

If we don't get there and they cancel the pretender shell, I'll cancel my preorder

Now THAT's commitment!

Dude, Pretenders are one of those things that not many people like and not many get made nowadays that I love (thanks for that BURN), and I really want that shell. the figure itself would be cool, especially with the sword and the fact he can stand with my Hasbro Fort Max and he would be slightly different due to the middle head sculpt, but for me it's all about that pretender shell.

That's one expensive shell.

More like icing that makes the cake worth eating. I would buy that figure if it has this one thing that completes it

Yeah, I agree that for the price tag this SHOULD have something extra to make it more attractive.

I'm happy with the BBTS price. Not so much more than the Takara Fort Max.

Pretender shell is a great bonus, if it happens.

megatronus wrote:I'm happy with the BBTS price. Not so much more than the Takara Fort Max.

Pretender shell is a great bonus, if it happens.

I mean, I'm not contending the price, it is reasonable. I'm only willing to pay that price should the pretender shell happen.

Speaking of which, I wonder if they would drop the price should the shell not happen

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm happy with the BBTS price. Not so much more than the Takara Fort Max.

Pretender shell is a great bonus, if it happens.

I mean, I'm not contending the price, it is reasonable. I'm only willing to pay that price should the pretender shell happen.

Speaking of which, I wonder if they would drop the price should the shell not happen

I don't think they'll drop the price. The assumption is that by the time they reach 3000 units, there's enough cushion in their P&L to provide that bonus shell. If preorders settle at let's say 2500, they're probably still just surpassing the margin needed to make production viable from a business perspective.

megatronus wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm happy with the BBTS price. Not so much more than the Takara Fort Max.

Pretender shell is a great bonus, if it happens.

I mean, I'm not contending the price, it is reasonable. I'm only willing to pay that price should the pretender shell happen.

Speaking of which, I wonder if they would drop the price should the shell not happen

I don't think they'll drop the price. The assumption is that by the time they reach 3000 units, there's enough cushion in their P&L to provide that bonus shell. If preorders settle at let's say 2500, they're probably still just surpassing the margin needed to make production viable from a business perspective.

The cost-effectiveness is probably also why TakaraTomy opted for the existing Waverider tooling and not sculpt a single new part for essentially a bonus item. In fact, from what I've seen with Overlord and Sixshot, the more parts able to be changed out, the more likely that will happen.

I get that most of us with our desk jobs can 'afford' this import... but I still lament that it's not more affordable for, you know, the KIDS who might want to buy it. I do know a number of friends who can't pull together the funds for this (or Greatshot either). I have to pour one out for my homies.

Should i open my legends hot rod or sell? Hhhmmmm. I have the original classics that i still love and don't have character duplicates in my classics collection. But i love his magenta an shao shao looks much nicer than recoil. Just musings on the tram home while fighting a migraine after yet another crappy day at the office.

Didn't they announce that they made it to the 3000 pre-orders needed for the shell?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Didn't they announce that they made it to the 3000 pre-orders needed for the shell?

No. That was an error on this site's part. The real announcement was the 2000 mark being reached, while the 3000 mark would be a challenge.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Didn't they announce that they made it to the 3000 pre-orders needed for the shell?

IIRC the announcement was that they'd made it to 2000 preorders so the main man 'bot would be made, and they still had some to go before 3000 and the shell? I'unno for certain, I have trouble understanding things I can read , but I think that was our best understanding last I heard.

[Ah, ninja'd again. See Sabrblade above for a considerably more useful answer, naturally.]

Just a heads up for anyone who may have missed out on the earlier Legends Headmasters, it appears that BBTS has new preorders up for many of them. I just checked for kicks to see if I could get Scourge, and he is relisted. The only ones sold out at this time are Super Ginrai, GodBomber, and Octane. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was looking for these earlier Legends figs, like maybe that fantastic Blurr...

Interesting. Scourge was just reissued to coincide with the Sharkticon release.

If anyone wants to see the latest Legends comics, they are in their own thread takara-legends-manga-thread-p1919398.php#p1919397

Sakamoto is at it again.

Agamemnon wrote:Just a heads up for anyone who may have missed out on the earlier Legends Headmasters, it appears that BBTS has new preorders up for many of them. I just checked for kicks to see if I could get Scourge, and he is relisted. The only ones sold out at this time are Super Ginrai, GodBomber, and Octane. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was looking for these earlier Legends figs, like maybe that fantastic Blurr...

Why would anyone buy Super Ginrai at that price when you can get the God Ginrai set for $15 more? Even if you already have God Bomber why not just pay the little extra and sell the first one and get two bonus Headmasters for the trouble?

Emerje

It looks like it's official that the Takara Legends Grand Maximus figure won't come with the pretender shell. Takara Tomy Mail's preorder page has stopped accepting orders & it appears the threshold of 3000 was not met. The good news is the goal of 2000+ was met, so while the added bonus won't be included, at least the figure itself will go into production. Here is a link to Takara's web page:

http://takaratomymall.jp/shop/g/g4904810963691/

What happens if people cancel?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What happens if people cancel?

TTMall doesn't allow cancellations so it isn't an issue on that end. Cancellations at places like BBTS and TFSource wouldn't have an effect.

It's a shame the suit isn't being included, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. It still strikes me as odd that they would go to all the trouble of molding a finished figure complete with color-correct plastic if there was a chance they wouldn't be making it.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What happens if people cancel?

TTMall doesn't allow cancellations so it isn't an issue on that end. Cancellations at places like BBTS and TFSource wouldn't have an effect.

It's a shame the suit isn't being included, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. It still strikes me as odd that they would go to all the trouble of molding a finished figure complete with color-correct plastic if there was a chance they wouldn't be making it.

Emerje

I'm pretty sure it was an existing tooling for a figure seeing mass release. Changing the color is NBD.

megatronus wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What happens if people cancel?

TTMall doesn't allow cancellations so it isn't an issue on that end. Cancellations at places like BBTS and TFSource wouldn't have an effect.

It's a shame the suit isn't being included, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. It still strikes me as odd that they would go to all the trouble of molding a finished figure complete with color-correct plastic if there was a chance they wouldn't be making it.

Emerje

I'm pretty sure it was an existing tooling for a figure seeing mass release. Changing the color is NBD.

Waverider retool of PotP Cloudburst. Got a news item dedicated to that:

Possible first look at Transformers Power of the Primes Waverider Decoy Suit mold

megatronus wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What happens if people cancel?

TTMall doesn't allow cancellations so it isn't an issue on that end. Cancellations at places like BBTS and TFSource wouldn't have an effect.

It's a shame the suit isn't being included, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. It still strikes me as odd that they would go to all the trouble of molding a finished figure complete with color-correct plastic if there was a chance they wouldn't be making it.

Emerje

I'm pretty sure it was an existing tooling for a figure seeing mass release. Changing the color is NBD.

Sure, but the molds are currently being used to produce the Cloudburst shell, seems strange to hold up a mold, even for a little while, just so Takara Tomy can mess around with it.

(edit) Just to be clear, by "molding a finished figure" I mean making a figure out of the mold, not making a new mold for the figure.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What happens if people cancel?

TTMall doesn't allow cancellations so it isn't an issue on that end. Cancellations at places like BBTS and TFSource wouldn't have an effect.

It's a shame the suit isn't being included, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. It still strikes me as odd that they would go to all the trouble of molding a finished figure complete with color-correct plastic if there was a chance they wouldn't be making it.

Emerje

I'm pretty sure it was an existing tooling for a figure seeing mass release. Changing the color is NBD.

Sure, but the molds are currently being used to produce the Cloudburst shell, seems strange to hold up a mold, even for a little while, just so Takara Tomy can mess around with it.

(edit) Just to be clear, by "molding a finished figure" I mean making a figure out of the mold, not making a new mold for the figure.

Emerje

I'm pretty sure production has already ended for the first wave, so scheduling one right now is no biggie. They're due in March, so there is a little time to make things work.

Is it just me or does kickback have a remoulded face?

Insurgent wrote:Is it just me or does kickback have a remoulded face?

I think it's just clever painting on Takara's part - or more accurately, decidedly un-clever painting on Hasbro's. Best as I can tell, Hasbro Kickback has the same two-big-eyes-and-a-nose dealio going on that the Takara one does, but his black "visor" paint was just swabbed over his entire upper facial area without any regard for molded details. It's not terrible I suppose, but if there was one thing that makes me want LG Kickback over my current TR version, it's how much better his head looks here.

Huh. I'm gonna have to have a closer look at kickback. I noticed he has nose but didn't realise he had the eyes too.

Unless Chrome's translation is just teasing me it sounds like they've decided to produce the Pretender shell anyway.

Takara Tomy Mall wrote:We did not reach the target number of 3,000 pieces with the bonus "Grand Printer Tender Suit", but after receiving requests from everyone, we reached the target number of 2,000, and commercialization was decided!
Thank you very much for your reservation. Please wait for a while until product delivery in March.

@TF_pr wrote:The reservation of "LG - EX Grand Maximus" has ended. We did not reach the target number attached to the benefit "Grand Printer Tender Suit", but we decided to commercialize it at 2,000 OVER! Thank you very much for your reservation.

Somebody confirm this.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Unless Chrome's translation is just teasing me it sounds like they've decided to produce the Pretender shell anyway.

Takara Tomy Mall wrote:We did not reach the target number of 3,000 pieces with the bonus "Grand Printer Tender Suit", but after receiving requests from everyone, we reached the target number of 2,000, and commercialization was decided!
Thank you very much for your reservation. Please wait for a while until product delivery in March.

@TF_pr wrote:The reservation of "LG - EX Grand Maximus" has ended. We did not reach the target number attached to the benefit "Grand Printer Tender Suit", but we decided to commercialize it at 2,000 OVER! Thank you very much for your reservation.

Somebody confirm this.

Emerje

Judging from that (mis)translation, it sounds to me like they're just saying that they didn't reach the 3000 mark for the pretender shell, but are still making the main figure since they did reach the 2000 mark.

I agree with Sabr. Sounds like no shell.

News story will be posted here in a little bit regarding this.

Right after I go cancel my Grand Pre-order

Today comes with some sad news for some of those who were interested in the new Takara Legends Grand Maximus. As you may remember, about a week ago the 2000 Limit to start prodcution was achieved, though the 3000 pre-order limit for the Pretender shell had not been achieved. Well, we have word this morning that Takara Tomy Mall is no longer accepting pre-orders towards that goal, and the decision has been made that the pretender shell will not be made. While this is a bummer to those who were excited to have a modern Grand Maximus with a pretender shell, the 2000 limit was reached, so the figure will still be made. At this point in time, there is to be no price reduction since the pretender shell will not be included. You can check out the announcement from Takara Tomy Mall below, courtesy of Autobase Aichi on Twitter. The rough translation simply says that the 3000 limit for the shell was not reached, but enough pre-orders came in to start production.