TF Views

News just rolling in from BotCon apparently, Hasbro/FunPub's apparently going to be doing a Subscription Service for a chunk of TFCC-exclusive toys, kind of like what's being done with the GI Joe Club. What was shown was:

Scourge (RTS Laser Prime repaint)
Breakdown (Universe Classics Sideswipe repaint, G1 colors, looks like the BotCon head)
Jackpot (Animated Jazz repaint)
Ultra Mammoth (BWNeo Big Convoy repaint, in gloriously ridiculous Ultra Magnus colors)
Slipstream (TFPrime FE Starscream repaint)
Circuit (ROTF Axer repaint)

And a Depth Charge from the HFTD Terradive mold'll be the freebie for next year, apparently.

I'm gonna be honest: I actually want a lot of these. Scourge, Breakdown, Ultra Mammoth, and Slipstream (love that mold) all appeal. I'm mainly wondering what sort of beastly dollars this subscription service will cost, and if you'll need to be a member of the Club ON TOP of buying the subscription in order to do so.

Thoughts, anyone else?

BWprowl wrote:News just rolling in from BotCon apparently, Hasbro/FunPub's apparently going to be doing a Subscription Service for a chunk of TFCC-exclusive toys, kind of like what's being done with the GI Joe Club. What was shown was:

Scourge (RTS Laser Prime repaint)
Breakdown (Universe Classics Sideswipe repaint, G1 colors, looks like the BotCon head)
Jackpot (Animated Jazz repaint)
Ultra Mammoth (BWNeo Big Convoy repaint, in gloriously ridiculous Ultra Magnus colors)
Slipstream (TFPrime FE Starscream repaint)
Circuit (ROTF Axer repaint)

And a Depth Charge from the HFTD Terradive mold'll be the freebie for next year, apparently.

I'm gonna be honest: I actually want a lot of these. Scourge, Breakdown, Ultra Mammoth, and Slipstream (love that mold) all appeal. I'm mainly wondering what sort of beastly dollars this subscription service will cost, and if you'll need to be a member of the Club ON TOP of buying the subscription in order to do so.

Thoughts, anyone else?

I usually don't buy exspensive repaints. But I've gotta admit a few here are seriously tempting me to break this rule.

I'm always trying to build up my Beastwars Ultra Sized toy shelf. I'm 65%complete. I was going to buy a Big convoy. but the secondary prices for a MISB one are over $60

I'm seriously thinking about buying TFCC Ultra mammoth. because I need the mold for my BW Ultra sized shelf display. also I like the icy colors,other colors & persona attached to the mold.

I'm seriously thinking about buying TFCC Slipstream. the TF Prime starscream mold with the new slipstream head looks really good. also like others I've wanted a slipstream toy forever. I thought the TFCC slipstream toy was voyager sized & not deluxe sized.

TFCC Circuit is a easy pass,the rainbow colors look horrid on this beautiful HFTD Lockdown toy mold. I don't mind buying obsecure TF characters TOYS as long as their not extremly obsecure characters like circuit is.

TFCC Rid Scourge,No thanks I hate the mold. I already own thec superior 2001 Hasbro TRU super sized Scourge toy that has a voyager sized truck cab/bot.

TFCC Jackpot no thanks. I wasn't that fond of the action masters concept nor nostaligia. needless to say,I hate the newer action masters persona's that made their persona/designs/name debuts in the 1990 action masters TF toy line.

TFCC Breakdown in G-1 colors is a 50/50. had the MP-11 Sideswipe not been announced by Takara. I would have at least been interested in buying this TFCC G-1 Breakdown. However my gut feeling tells me Takara chose MP-11 Sideswipe as a toy because their gonns repaint & remold this toy to the extreme. my guesses are we'll see the following TF persona's using this MP-11 lambor/sideswipe toy mold: G-2 black sideswipe,Movie verse grey sideswipe. Sunstreaker with a newer head. G-1 & G-2 Breakdown with a new head. G-1 Redalert. and the list goes on....

As far a the TFCC 2013 Club freebie goes. I like it. I was a huge beastwars cartoon & toy fan. I liked BW depth charges toy & cartoon persona. I might consider buying this toy if the price is low. I do like the trident king neptune styled staff the toy has & the fishy looking robot head sculpt.

I must admit,I'm a bit worried about how much TFCC/Fun pub will be asking for each subscription figure. I'm not willing to pay over $40 for a deluxe. I say a fair price is around $28. for the voyagers subscription figures a fair price is between $40 to $48.

Sadly it seems like TFCC/Fun pubs TF exclusives are so high. their literally three to four to five time more than the retail USA store prices.

If you hate Action Masters, you are gonna love this year's issue of TimeLines.

That said, I have nothing against the Action Masters in terms of characters. (Krok was pretty inoffensive in the old comics for example.) But, I really do not get why the Fan Club is making new toys of so many of them.

If the rumours about the simpler packaging are true, these should be fairly inexpensive, more like extra copies of the freebie figures than the Club Store exlusives, (maybe @0 to $30.) On the other hand, this is a subscription service. I am given to understand they will let people buy individual figures, but at a higher cost, which is likely to push the price back up.

I am in for Breakdown and maybe Scourge.

TFCC Ultra mammoth

That mould is seriously over-rated. The beast mode is less posable than many G1 toys. And, it is almost a parody of shell-forming. The robot mode is loaded with kibble. Even the guy is loaded with kibble and panel bits. Even allowing for its size, I would not recommend paying more than $35 including shipping.


Dom
-has a partly completed custom Breakdown.

I was under the impression that the GI Joe subscription service was that you paid a year in advance for figures, and you don't get to pick and choose what you get, you simply get 1 of each of what they're talking about whether or not it's an army-builder. If that's not wrong, then I can't see that model working for TF since those are much more expensive molds and have no interchangeability, not without a much bigger up-front investment from the subscribers.

If that is wrong however, then I suspect this will be a very difficult service to keep going because fans will trend the ones they like and stick the service with the ones they don't, which will be a budget-killer.

IMO, the better option is to force buyers to get the entire year's figures whether or not they want them simply to ensure an entire year's product moves month after month properly, but some folks will have a hard time buying into the program sight-unseen.

JediTricks wrote:I was under the impression that the GI Joe subscription service was that you paid a year in advance for figures, and you don't get to pick and choose what you get, you simply get 1 of each of what they're talking about whether or not it's an army-builder. If that's not wrong, then I can't see that model working for TF since those are much more expensive molds and have no interchangeability, not without a much bigger up-front investment from the subscribers.

Surprise! They still haven't said about how the Joe club one will work on that front. Yes, seriously. They also didn't announce any of the details about buying single figures, later or otherwise. I suspect this whole credit card fiasco has made them push back on the deal a bit, and since the TF one was coming out they didn't want to launch one without the other. I would also presume that the Joe club one would follow the same model as TF (detailed below) but who knows.

Anyway, it seems like this is pretty clear-cut from what they said: you can pay all upfront or in three installments. If you don't want to buy all of them, they will be available individually at a later date for Mo Money. Also, it was repeatedly stated that you'd have to be a member of the GI Joe club to participate in its subscription deal so I would assume the same is true for the TF one. (Seriously, back in March when the renewals were due, they were HEAVILY pushing this fact. "You might as well join the club right now because you're gonna have to later if you want to buy the sub figures, at all.")

If that is wrong however, then I suspect this will be a very difficult service to keep going because fans will trend the ones they like and stick the service with the ones they don't, which will be a budget-killer.

IMO, the better option is to force buyers to get the entire year's figures whether or not they want them simply to ensure an entire year's product moves month after month properly, but some folks will have a hard time buying into the program sight-unseen.

Well, it's not really sight-unseen since we know the identities of all the upcoming figs and who they'll be. (I'm assuming they're only doing six in the first year, since these guys are indeed way bigger than Joes.) That said, there's literally only one of these I give any amount of fucks about (guess who it is) so I'm going to piggyback on someone else's sub and buy one later.

Dominic wrote: That said, I have nothing against the Action Masters in terms of characters. (Krok was pretty inoffensive in the old comics for example.) But, I really do not get why the Fan Club is making new toys of so many of them.

Hey, if it’s these or more 1984-86 dudes, I’ll take some remade Action Masters in a heartbeat. Circuit at least makes sense as a recolor of Axor (it’s the sort of fully-precedented thing I could see you doing actually, Dom). I’d like to see them do something like, say, Treadshot from the Generations Warpath mold, or even Skyfall from the Seeker mold with a new head.

I am in for Breakdown and maybe Scourge.

Showing Scourge first-thing was a deviously smart move by them, since they know that’s the one everyone wants. Honestly, they could’ve made him the freebie this year and sold a bajillion memberships that way, but this should net them a fair amount of money too.

TFCC Ultra mammoth

That mould is seriously over-rated. The beast mode is less posable than many G1 toys. And, it is almost a parody of shell-forming. The robot mode is loaded with kibble. Even the guy is loaded with kibble and panel bits. Even allowing for its size, I would not recommend paying more than $35 including shipping.

But dude, it looks sooooo cool! And come on ‘Ultra Mammoth’. Like seventeen years later it’s like the Magnus-based counterpart to stuff like LioConvoy. Also, it’s effectively a new character, we have to at least give them credit for that.

Dom
-has a partly completed custom Breakdown.

Heh, for once Hasbro beat you to getting a repaint done, instead of the other way around.

Onslaught Six wrote:Anyway, it seems like this is pretty clear-cut from what they said: you can pay all upfront or in three installments. If you don't want to buy all of them, they will be available individually at a later date for Mo Money. Also, it was repeatedly stated that you'd have to be a member of the GI Joe club to participate in its subscription deal so I would assume the same is true for the TF one. (Seriously, back in March when the renewals were due, they were HEAVILY pushing this fact. "You might as well join the club right now because you're gonna have to later if you want to buy the sub figures, at all.")

Well, it's not really sight-unseen since we know the identities of all the upcoming figs and who they'll be. (I'm assuming they're only doing six in the first year, since these guys are indeed way bigger than Joes.) That said, there's literally only one of these I give any amount of fucks about (guess who it is) so I'm going to piggyback on someone else's sub and buy one later.

Yeah, I’ve been weighing how much a subscription would be worth it to get some of these. On the one hand, I really want stuff like Scourge, Breakdown, Slipstream, Ultra Mammoth, and even Circuit to a degree (Jackpot’s the least interesting of the bunch, but even he’s inoffensive). On the other hand, 300 god damn dollars is a lot of money, on top of the $40 subscription fee, and I’m really not interested in Depth Charge (I like the mold, and Tiggs is right that it fits the character remarkably well, but I already own that mold twice and I’m not the biggest Depth Charge fan to begin with), and I *really* don’t want that horrible, horrible magazine, nor do I want to give my money directly to an organization that’s in league with . I might see if I can find someone to piggyback on the subscription of (but that could be hard since I assume these things are one-per-customer), or maybe even bite the bullet and just order the ones I want at markup from BBTS or something.

BWprowl wrote:

Dominic wrote: That said, I have nothing against the Action Masters in terms of characters. (Krok was pretty inoffensive in the old comics for example.) But, I really do not get why the Fan Club is making new toys of so many of them.

Hey, if it’s these or more 1984-86 dudes, I’ll take some remade Action Masters in a heartbeat. Circuit at least makes sense as a recolor of Axor (it’s the sort of fully-precedented thing I could see you doing actually, Dom). I’d like to see them do something like, say, Treadshot from the Generations Warpath mold, or even Skyfall from the Seeker mold with a new head.

Yeah, what's the deal with Warpath not getting whored out to be like 30 tank dudes? Seems like a reasonable enough thing.

Then again, I haven't even opened my Warpath. And he's been sitting there for a year.

Showing Scourge first-thing was a deviously smart move by them, since they know that’s the one everyone wants. Honestly, they could’ve made him the freebie this year and sold a bajillion memberships that way, but this should net them a fair amount of money too.

I know, right? Instead a bunch of people will have this stupid Depth Charge repaint.

But dude, it looks sooooo cool! And come on ‘Ultra Mammoth’. Like seventeen years later it’s like the Magnus-based counterpart to stuff like LioConvoy. Also, it’s effectively a new character, we have to at least give them credit for that.

Is it? Or is it just Ultra Magnus turning into a mammoth for some reason? (And also, no, it doesn't look that cool.)

Yeah, I’ve been weighing how much a subscription would be worth it to get some of these. On the one hand, I really want stuff like Scourge, Breakdown, Slipstream, Ultra Mammoth, and even Circuit to a degree (Jackpot’s the least interesting of the bunch, but even he’s inoffensive). On the other hand, 300 god damn dollars is a lot of money, on top of the $40 subscription fee, and I’m really not interested in Depth Charge (I like the mold, and Tiggs is right that it fits the character remarkably well, but I already own that mold twice and I’m not the biggest Depth Charge fan to begin with), and I *really* don’t want that horrible, horrible magazine, nor do I want to give my money directly to an organization that’s in league with . I might see if I can find someone to piggyback on the subscription of (but that could be hard since I assume these things are one-per-customer), or maybe even bite the bullet and just order the ones I want at markup from BBTS or something.

BBTS probably won't sell these. Do they have a history of doing it with, say, Runamuck and Runabout?

They have said that "extras" will be available "later" for More Money, like I said earlier, so I'm assuming it'll be pretty easy to get extra ones. At the least I know I'm going to be piggybacking on someone else's, so...

Onslaught Six wrote:Then again, I haven't even opened my Warpath. And he's been sitting there for a year.

The hell? Open that shit up, man! Warpath is, easily, one of the top five toys released last year.

Is it? Or is it just Ultra Magnus turning into a mammoth for some reason? (And also, no, it doesn't look that cool.)

I’unno, I figured that if he was Ultra Magnus he’d be named ‘Ultra Magnus’. The new-ish name, to me anyway, implies that this is a new, Magnus-themed dude, like Optimus Primal and LioConvoy for Optimus Prime before him. We’ll see, I guess. (Also, I mainly meant that the mold itself looks pretty badass, though I do really like the color scheme)

BBTS probably won't sell these. Do they have a history of doing it with, say, Runamuck and Runabout?

They have said that "extras" will be available "later" for More Money, like I said earlier, so I'm assuming it'll be pretty easy to get extra ones. At the least I know I'm going to be piggybacking on someone else's, so...

Eh, some people were comparing these to Mattel’s subscription-based MOTUC toys, which BBTS does sell. My main concern over trying to buy ‘extras’ directly from Hasbro is how many ‘extras’ will be available. Remember that Punch/Counterpunch sold out, like, the day pre-orders went up. You know Scourge is gonna go lightning-fast. The others, maybe not so much, but I think if you want to buy the ‘extras’ it’ll be one of those cases of being on Hasbro’s website the second they go up for sale and hoping you get an order in fast enough.

IMO, the better option is to force buyers to get the entire year's figures whether or not they want them simply to ensure an entire year's product moves month after month properly, but some folks will have a hard time buying into the program sight-unseen

The biggest obstacle is more likely to be convincing people to deal with Brian Savage at all to begin with. I have almost nothing good about dealing with Master Collector. The credit card hack is just the latest thing.

O6's description of the Joe subscription service is a good example of how Savage operates.

They generally rely on a small, but hard-core, base of collectors who will suffer through the uncertainty of dealing with somebody who should have "bad trader alerts" up the wazoo, and will buy most any figure, making the "blind buy" aspect less of an issue.

No joke: I know of at least one high-profile fan (who I will not name here) who refuse to buy directly from Savage or MC. Legit, he goes on to eBay and pays more money, just so he can say he is not buying from Savage. (He can take the financial hit that indulging this particular lunacy requires.)

I might go the eBay route for Breakdown.

Well, it's not really sight-unseen since we know the identities of all the upcoming figs and who they'll be. (I'm assuming they're only doing six in the first year, since these guys are indeed way bigger than Joes.) That said, there's literally only one of these I give any amount of fucks about (guess who it is) so I'm going to piggyback on someone else's sub and buy one later.

JT may be talking about how well the figures are made more than what the figures will be.

I’d like to see them do something like, say, Treadshot from the Generations Warpath mold, or even Skyfall from the Seeker mold with a new head.

Why do you say Skyfall?

LIke I said, it is not that I am against Action Masters. I just do not get the fixation that the Fan Club has on them.

Honestly, they could’ve made him the freebie this year and sold a bajillion memberships that way, but this should net them a fair amount of money too.

Exactly. They can effectivly force people to buy the whole set because they announced 1 or two really solid toys. (If I had the money, I would take the ride and just deal with the TFA stuff, selling it late.)

I wonder where Scourge will be in the line-up. I am betting the toys likely to be popular will be sold towards the end of the year.

But dude, it looks sooooo cool! And come on ‘Ultra Mammoth’. Like seventeen years later it’s like the Magnus-based counterpart to stuff like LioConvoy. Also, it’s effectively a new character, we have to at least give them credit for that.

Seriously, that mould is way over-rated. Trust me on this.

Heh, for once Hasbro beat you to getting a repaint done, instead of the other way around.

Well, Master Collector beat me....

or maybe even bite the bullet and just order the ones I want at markup from BBTS or something.

For the number of figures you want, it will probably be cheaper to join the damn club. You could easily end up paying $300+ for the toys you want later. But, if you join the club, you get some surplus figures to sell off along with the freebie figure. And, you can share the crappy magazine with us.

BBTS probably won't sell these. Do they have a history of doing it with, say, Runamuck and Runabout?

I think that is a question of how many that BBTS can get. Remember, the club does not make *that* many. And, the cost of ordering the toys would likely be prohibitive for BBTS. Freebie figures would be especially hard, because most of those are going right in to the hands of people who want them to begin with.


Dom
-just wants Breakdown.

Dominic wrote:The biggest obstacle is more likely to be convincing people to deal with Brian Savage at all to begin with. I have almost nothing good about dealing with Master Collector. The credit card hack is just the latest thing.

O6's description of the Joe subscription service is a good example of how Savage operates.

They generally rely on a small, but hard-core, base of collectors who will suffer through the uncertainty of dealing with somebody who should have "bad trader alerts" up the wazoo, and will buy most any figure, making the "blind buy" aspect less of an issue.

No joke: I know of at least one high-profile fan (who I will not name here) who refuse to buy directly from Savage or MC. Legit, he goes on to eBay and pays more money, just so he can say he is not buying from Savage. (He can take the financial hit that indulging this particular lunacy requires.)

The more I hear about MasterCollector and Brian Savage, the more they sound like the TF/GI Joe equivalent of MattyCollector and ToyGuru.

I might go the eBay route for Breakdown.

If you only want the one toy, that’s probably the most economical route, yeah. Of course, now you’ll be more compelled to track down a ‘Special Edition’ Classis Dragstrip, the insanely rare/expensive Gentei Wildrider figure, and just hope that Hasbro gets around to Dead End and Motormaster someday.

I’d like to see them do something like, say, Treadshot from the Generations Warpath mold, or even Skyfall from the Seeker mold with a new head.

Why do you say Skyfall?

If you’re asking why I said Skyfall at all, it’s just because like Treadshot, I have a fondness for the toy/character (this was even before Roberts got ahold of him for ‘Bullets’ and turned him into pretty much the opposite of what I’d always imagined him as. Still neat to see him get use though). If you’re asking why I said Skyfall from the Seeker mold, it’s just because Skyfall’s original toy has some Seeker-ish details, so I figured that mold would work best. Plus the idea of getting an Autobot out of the Seeker mold just appeals to me, for some reason.

LIke I said, it is not that I am against Action Masters. I just do not get the fixation that the Fan Club has on them.

I think it’s a thing that they know the Action Masters have their fans, so they want to give some of them (especially the rather popular ones like Axer, Banzai-Tron, and Slicer) more ‘legitimate’ Transformers toys. Pretty much everything they do is an homage, and the amount of Action Masters they’ve homaged still pales in comparison to the ’84-’87 characters they have. I think it’s nice to see lots of different phases of G1 represented by fan-focused repaints, rather than Ark-crewing the thing into oblivion (as I know some would like to see).

Exactly. They can effectivly force people to buy the whole set because they announced 1 or two really solid toys. (If I had the money, I would take the ride and just deal with the TFA stuff, selling it late.)

There’s only the one TFA recolor, Jackpot, in there. Like I said, I’m neutral on him, particularly since I retired my TFA display a while back (though they might make a return when DOTM ends up going into storage).

I wonder where Scourge will be in the line-up. I am betting the toys likely to be popular will be sold towards the end of the year.

I stupidly assumed he would be the first, since he was shown first, but you’re right, they might hold him back just to ensure people ride out their subscription.

Heh, for once Hasbro beat you to getting a repaint done, instead of the other way around.

Well, Master Collector beat me....

Whatever, Master Collector is like the Jean-Paul Valley to Hasbro’s Bruce Wayne.

For the number of figures you want, it will probably be cheaper to join the damn club. You could easily end up paying $300+ for the toys you want later. But, if you join the club, you get some surplus figures to sell off along with the freebie figure. And, you can share the crappy magazine with us.

I admit, being able to legitimately crap all over the Club Magazine and Willis once every couple of months does have a certain appeal. Is the included comic series still as awesomely, hilariously awful as ‘Balancing Act’ was back in the day?