Transformers Prime Ironhide Takara Tomy Exclusive?

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.

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"

over used but fitting

Gearslide wrote: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.

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...

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.

LordBludgeon wrote: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.

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

Doubledealer93 wrote: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!)

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.

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.

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.

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 .

Megatron Wolf wrote: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.

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.

noctorro wrote: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.

kirbenvost wrote: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.

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.

trence5 wrote: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.

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.

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.

Heavy B, in 3-D wrote: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.

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

CommanderHazar wrote: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.

kirbenvost wrote: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

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.

I'm sure we'll still get Ironhide here in the US. Probably a later wave or even a Walmart/Target/KMart/TRU exclusive. He's all set for US standards (as evident by Kup's release) and he's a pickup truck which us yanks love.

After looking at Voyager Breakdown closely, you can tell he was never intended for US release. He's covered in Micron attach points, has thinner plastic in various spots and seems way too expensive to produce at current Voyager Price points. Probably will be the same with Unicron.

Looks like the completist will need to rely on importers from now on.

Flakmaster wrote: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.



my thoughts on Hasbro's current marketing strategy is above.

You're assuming they HAVE a marketing strategy, which I'm no longer convinced they do.

It isn't possible to make money selling toys if you don't actually release the frigging toys.

Actually, Hasbro has a pretty good marketing strategy this year. It's Avengers >>> Furby >>>> Transformers. The less space Transformers taker on those cargo containers from China means more space for Avengers toys. Spiderman toys are probably up there too.

It's great as a Hasbro investor. Sucks as a collector.

A mold that is supposed to be an Ironhide but not an Ironhide? I thought Ironhide is much more famous than Kup at least he appeared in all three movies (if not, where those arm cannons from) and the previous Animated series.

Hasbro is deliberately f***king with us. No other way to say it.

I expected this.

I guess not having yet another red car in the Deluxe range is a good thing, more variety.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I guess not having yet another red car in the Deluxe range is a good thing, more variety.

I too am getting tired of the red coloring all over the Autobots, but not when it's someone this badass. Time to import.

And now I have a reason to get Sergeant Kup. Ironhide needs cannon donations.

Hypershock wrote:

kirbenvost wrote: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.

They should've listened to the clamoring for FEs a lot earlier. All of those figure were hits (aside from BB, whose quality still can't be denied), yet they 'canceled' them for reasons unknown. Aside from the ridiculous case assortments, I don't buy the 'lack of retailer interest' excuse, unless the cost of production really has gone up that much, leading to price increases. Now they are getting released, but it's a little late. Most of the people who wanted them badly already paid out the nose to get them.

So now for the main line they've chosen to go with these simplified toys, which is fair enough, but now they can't even release all those. They're failing almost as badly as with DOTM. Maybe they should stop releasing multiple lines at the same time. I'm as happy as anyone that we're getting FoC toys, but I would like to finish a line just once without 1/4 of the figures getting canceled.

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.

Everything they've done from Armada to the first Movie seemed to work, I don't understand why they have trouble figuring out what to do. They've been making Transformers for 25 years, you'd think it wouldn't be so hard for them to produce and distribute them.

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

That's assuming the line even survives that long.

They've done well with a lot of things, Masterpieces, getting store exclusives released, media, etc, but their main lines are really.

Doc bot wrote:
After looking at Voyager Breakdown closely, you can tell he was never intended for US release. He's covered in Micron attach points, has thinner plastic in various spots and seems way too expensive to produce at current Voyager Price points. Probably will be the same with Unicron.

Looks like the completist will need to rely on importers from now on.

Other than the Micron ports (which could've been added later like the deluxes), I disagree about Breakdown. He doesn't look any more complex than FE Bulkhead or Prime, which were both sold for regular Voyager price in Canada. Unicron seems a lot different though, almost as if he was designed by a different team.

PrymeStriker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I guess not having yet another red car in the Deluxe range is a good thing, more variety.

I too am getting tired of the red coloring all over the Autobots, but not when it's someone this badass. Time to import.

And now I have a reason to get Sergeant Kup. Ironhide needs cannon donations.

And the Micron?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I guess not having yet another red car in the Deluxe range is a good thing, more variety.

I too am getting tired of the red coloring all over the Autobots, but not when it's someone this badass. Time to import.

And now I have a reason to get Sergeant Kup. Ironhide needs cannon donations.

And the Micron?

The Micron looks fugly, and will probably be tossed aside in a box somewhere. Ugly Orange Cannon.

Hasbro....YOU KNOW I WANTED IRONHIDE NOW SOMEONE FIRE F*** UP FRANK.

PrymeStriker wrote:I expected this.

Can I borrow this when they announce an Ironhide for one of the upcoming wave sets for their Generations line?

Well, if we can't get Ironhide, buy Kup and repaint him red (or get Ironhide and use Kup's cannons.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:I expected this.

Can I borrow this when they announce an Ironhide for one of the upcoming wave sets for their Generations line?

Just kidding.

Anyone know how bulky the Kup/Ironhide mold is in comparison to Generations Ironhide? I'm seriously considering replacing Ironhide with this guy, but not if he's significantly tinier.

i'm so sick and tired of this.. the last prime figure i picked up was knockout..

they're completely ruined a line that i thought had a LOT of promise.

BRING ON MASTERPIECE SOUNDWAVE, RED ALERT, & SIDESWIPE.

TimothyR wrote:i'm so sick and tired of this.. the last prime figure i picked up was knockout..

they're completely ruined a line that i thought had a LOT of promise.

BRING ON MASTERPIECE SOUNDWAVE, RED ALERT, & SIDESWIPE.

Technically, my last Prime figure was Knock Out too.

But I imported Breakdown. Don't know if you'd count that.

I thought this line was going to have a lot of promise as well. I still hope they'll be another "series" of Prime where we get all the characters and toys that we didn't get in "Series 1." I'm going to lose faith in that soon, though.

Mkall wrote:Anyone know how bulky the Kup/Ironhide mold is in comparison to Generations Ironhide? I'm seriously considering replacing Ironhide with this guy, but not if he's significantly tinier.

When did they make a Generations Ironhide? Because I know that they made a Generations Kup, but cannot find anything on Ironhide. Or did you mean Universe Ironhide?

TimothyR wrote:i'm so sick and tired of this.. the last prime figure i picked up was knockout..

they've completely ruined a line that i thought had a LOT of promise.

BRING ON MASTERPIECE SOUNDWAVE, RED ALERT, & SIDESWIPE.

Number one rule when it comes to an American toyline: If a deluxe toy was made to be part of a series, expect to see that figure to be in some part of the series as long as new episodes are being made.

And with Hasbro doing this, these characters will either be in the animated series, IDW comics tie-ins, and/or a game series-based tie-in.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

Mkall wrote:Anyone know how bulky the Kup/Ironhide mold is in comparison to Generations Ironhide? I'm seriously considering replacing Ironhide with this guy, but not if he's significantly tinier.

When did they make a Generations Ironhide? Because I know that they made a Generations Kup, but cannot find anything on Ironhide. Or did you mean Universe Ironhide?

TimothyR wrote:i'm so sick and tired of this.. the last prime figure i picked up was knockout..

they've completely ruined a line that i thought had a LOT of promise.

BRING ON MASTERPIECE SOUNDWAVE, RED ALERT, & SIDESWIPE.

Number one rule when it comes to an American toyline: If a deluxe toy was made to be part of a series, expect to see that figure to be in some part of the series as long as new episodes are being made.

And with Hasbro doing this, these characters will either be in the animated series, IDW comics tie-ins, and/or a game series-based tie-in.

We're rather lacks on toys. They're putting Prime as a show first, then a toyline. This is further proven by the lack of a Voyager Breakdown, Smokescreen, Jet Vehicon or Unicron in the U.S (let-alone nobody confirming an Insecticon or Shockwave release at all), the fact that PRiD came out 1 1/4 of a year after the original air of Prime, and that First Edition was cancelled barely halfway into the toyline, only to be re-released a whole year later.

And quite frankly, there have been many, many toys in toylines that never made it into Transformers fiction. So that's barely true. (Take Darksteel from DOTM for example. Or Air Raid, as he seems to have two different counterparts that differ across movie fictions).

PrymeStriker wrote:We're rather lacks on toys. They're putting Prime as a show first, then a toyline. This is further proven by the lack of a Voyager Breakdown, Smokescreen, Jet Vehicon or Unicron in the U.S (let-alone nobody confirming an Insecticon or Shockwave release at all), the fact that PRiD came out 1 1/4 of a year after the original air of Prime, and that First Edition was cancelled barely halfway into the toyline, only to be re-released a whole year later.

And quite frankly, there have been many, many toys in toylines that never made it into Transformers fiction. So that's barely true. (Take Darksteel from DOTM for example. Or Air Raid, as he seems to have two different counterparts that differ across movie fictions).

Never said they were doing anything perfectly. I'm just saying that they are being Hasbro, or at least the Hasbro that is trying to make these toys for the kids that watch the show on The Hub.

Besides... According to TFwiki, Ironhide is currently rumored to be part of the Deluxe line's future wave. And this makes me wonder if he will be part of their early 2013 line, and if it will be distributed along with one or two Insecticon characters.

Oh... And wasn't their FIRST EDITION line a mess before it was cancelled? Because all I remember is that I missed out on obtaining the Takara Tomy version of Arcee before getting her Arms Microns version. But from what I read, they had numerous issues from this toyline before cancelling it. Shame, though, as they could have brought this back as an edition for collectors that dislike their RiD line.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:But from what I read, they had numerous issues from this toyline before cancelling it. Shame, though, as they could have brought this back as an edition for collectors that dislike their RiD line.

What issues, exactly? The only one I've heard is that retailers didn't want to stock up on the figs.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:But from what I read, they had numerous issues from this toyline before cancelling it. Shame, though, as they could have brought this back as an edition for collectors that dislike their RiD line.

What issues, exactly? The only one I've heard is that retailers didn't want to stock up on the figs.

From what I was told, besides the fact that it turned out to be a limited run with pieces being distributed outside the U.S. markets... There were distribution issues within the U.S.

But I did recently hear a rumor that they might bring out a few pieces to Toys"R"Us this December.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:But from what I read, they had numerous issues from this toyline before cancelling it. Shame, though, as they could have brought this back as an edition for collectors that dislike their RiD line.

What issues, exactly? The only one I've heard is that retailers didn't want to stock up on the figs.

From what I was told, besides the fact that it turned out to be a limited run with pieces being distributed outside the U.S. markets... There were distribution issues within the U.S.

But I did recently hear a rumor that they might bring out a few pieces to Toys"R"Us this December.

First Editions will be released end of November for the holiday season. The best part? No Bumblebees!

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

Mkall wrote:Anyone know how bulky the Kup/Ironhide mold is in comparison to Generations Ironhide? I'm seriously considering replacing Ironhide with this guy, but not if he's significantly tinier.

When did they make a Generations Ironhide? Because I know that they made a Generations Kup, but cannot find anything on Ironhide. Or did you mean Universe Ironhide?

Guess so. They all run together

Keep dropping those balls, Hasbro.

I'll only import AM Ironhide if he appears in the show. If not, then I'll be skipping this mold altogether.