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Originally Posted by blandstalker Picked up Ultimate Prime. Even though the combined mode isn't terribly articulated, it is a lot of fun and better than I was expecting. Very good toy.

Agreed. I picked him up on sale a while ago, and was very pleasantly surprised. I was initially going to pass on him, but am very glad I picked him up.

Originally Posted by encendido5 I saw this on jalopnik. Check out their version of Devastator! http://www.maketoys.jp/

Holy crap that is awesome. Why does all the figures Hasbro put out never look that cool? Its the reason why I haven't picked up a non MP transformer in the past 5 years.

Originally Posted by KingDox Holy crap that is awesome. Why does all the figures Hasbro put out never look that cool? Its the reason why I haven't picked up a non MP transformer in the past 5 years.

It better be awesome because the projected cost is going to be $100 for each set of two figures, or $350 for the set. (Yes, I realize that doesn't add up. The two figure sets are going to be yellow, and the gift set is going to be green. There's bound to be more demand for the green set.)

Of course, there's also TFC toys' Hercules, which you can see here. Each of those toys is Voyager sized. It's going to be one hell of a Devastator. Unfortunately, there have been some QC issues. TFC toys is taking care of it, but buyer beware, especially if you preorder and get first run figures.

I've gotten two of the TFC guys. They're even more expensive than the Maketoys ones. I'm just looking the other way when it comes to cost with these. I don't have many extravagances, and combiners are one of my weak spots. Devastator was also what brought me in to Transformers, so it was going to be one or the other.

The really good news about the Maketoys Devastator is that they're doing the yellow one first, so QC will be a known quantity and they will have ironed out any problems by the time the green guy rolls around. Maketoys is also related to FansProject, and their QC is always excellent. Better than Hasbro's.

Maketoys is also doing an upgrade for the RtS G2 Prime figure. I am so getting that.

Originally Posted by Zmonkay 25% off + free shipping @ HasbroToyshop.com FSFAM11 mickeyp: Great time to pick up Leader Sentinal Also, apparently Prime toys have hit Canada, so hopefully the US will get them soon!

Thanks a lot! My son will be getting this for the holidays from his grandparents now!

BJs has the Ultimate Optimus for $56.99.

Originally Posted by blandstalker It better be awesome because the projected cost is going to be $100 for each set of two figures, or $350 for the set. (Yes, I realize that doesn't add up. The two figure sets are going to be yellow, and the gift set is going to be green. There's bound to be more demand for the green set.) Of course, there's also TFC toys' Hercules, which you can see here. Each of those toys is Voyager sized. It's going to be one hell of a Devastator. Unfortunately, there have been some QC issues. TFC toys is taking care of it, but buyer beware, especially if you preorder and get first run figures. I've gotten two of the TFC guys. They're even more expensive than the Maketoys ones. I'm just looking the other way when it comes to cost with these. I don't have many extravagances, and combiners are one of my weak spots. Devastator was also what brought me in to Transformers, so it was going to be one or the other. The really good news about the Maketoys Devastator is that they're doing the yellow one first, so QC will be a known quantity and they will have ironed out any problems by the time the green guy rolls around. Maketoys is also related to FansProject, and their QC is always excellent. Better than Hasbro's. Maketoys is also doing an upgrade for the RtS G2 Prime figure. I am so getting that.

So all things being equal, which Devastator would you get? I want to get at least one of them, but having a hard time deciding between the two. What site do you buy them from ?

Originally Posted by jbz So all things being equal, which Devastator would you get? I want to get at least one of them, but having a hard time deciding between the two. What site do you buy them from ?

I buy them from Automaton Toys, but that's for Canada. You can't go wrong with BBTS, Ages 3 and Up, or TF Source. I've used them all. They're all good. One thing in BBTS's favor is that you can set up a Pile of Loot, where they hold multiple orders and ship them all at once. You have to wait, but you only pay once for shipping. That helps with things like this, where there are multiple releases over time. Otherwise, I'd check each retailer for cancellation policy, in case you change your mind.

I went with TFC Hercules because I wanted the bigger Devastator. It was also first. I also haven't ordered much lately, so I didn't feel too badly about going the installment route, though the final cost is still insane. I don't think I would have gotten it if it had only come in a set.

Here are some things to consider:

Cost
TFC Hercules will be $500-600. Maketoys Giant will be $300-$350

Size
Hercules is comprised of Voyager sized bots and will be almost as tall as Unicron. Giant is comprised of scout sized bots and will be slightly taller than the head of the upgraded Energon/ROTF Bruticus.

Style
This one you'll have to figure out. Some people swear Giant is more G1 and Hercules is more classics. Personally, I'd look at pictures of each and see if there are any must-haves or dealbreakers. To me, they both look good and neither one fits any better or worse in my collection.

QC
There are QC issues with Hercules, but so far TFC has been addressing them. Maketoys is an unknown quantity, though they're related to FansProject, so that's a plus. Maketoys is the safer bet because of the gift set and second release.

Excellent info, thank you very much.

That ROTF Bruticus is pimp too. Sigh...why do these things have to cost so much. My goal was to try to get all of the Japanese MPs at some point, but no way I can do that if I start going into these customs.

Today (Nov. 29) HasbroToyShop.com is having free shipping with no minimum and 20% off using the code EAWL0QK

Free shipping and 20% off does not work on exclusives, so while they do have the NYCC Prime pack, there's no discount whatsoever.

Got me a HA Dragstrip, a couple of Scourges (for Sweeps), and an extra Warpath.

Got Sky Shadow and Junkheap today at TRU...2 deluxes for $17.99 sale going on.

Wasn't yesterday the launch of the TF: Prime line?

I'm not really keeping up with TF these days -- my love for the line comes and goes and I'm currently out of room to display anything new anyways.

I've rushed out for the last few lines right at launch day just to find those same waves still on the shelves months later, so I'm just going to pick up the random TF: Prime figure here and there until I've got the first few waves. No rush to drop a large amount of cash right away and I don't know, I don't think these figures are going to fly off the shelves.

Originally Posted by animalspinners Wasn't yesterday the launch of the TF: Prime line? I'm not really keeping up with TF these days -- my love for the line comes and goes and I'm currently out of room to display anything new anyways. I've rushed out for the last few lines right at launch day just to find those same waves still on the shelves months later, so I'm just going to pick up the random TF: Prime figure here and there until I've got the first few waves. No rush to drop a large amount of cash right away and I don't know, I don't think these figures are going to fly off the shelves.

If it was the local TRU I was at today did not have them out yet.

Prime figs have been trickling into TRU's for a little over two weeks now, but they've been inconsistent and it isn't a full launch. Just Deluxe Bumblebee, Starscream, and Arcee. I haven't seen any yet, but apparently Bee is pretty common, but SS and Arcee are harder to find since there are more Bee's in each case.

very strange "launch" of a new line.

Prime figs hit Canada first, and it's the same story. I lucked into them by making an unscheduled stop at a TRU and there were 2 Arcees and 1 Starscream left. Since then, it's been only Bumblebees.

The case assortment is 4 Bees, 2 Arcees, and 2 Starscreams. Judging from comments here, it looks like stores got 2 or 3 cases and that's it.

It's not really the launch of the line -- that comes later when it hits all retailers -- but I don't know what Hasbro was trying to accomplish other than making life difficult for fans and enabling scalpers. Dribbling these figures in to TRU during the holiday season is a bizarre idea. Any "buzz" they generate will be lost in the holiday madness.

Weird, I could have sworn the "official" launch was December 1st for all stores?

When is it now? 2012 sometime?

This line is already mismanaged before it even comes out... at this rate, it will suffer the same fate as Animated. I'm not bothering even checking my TRU since its scalper central and a shitty store to boot.

The really confusing part, is that these are part of a "preview" or "First Edition" (or whatever they're calling it) wave. The "official" launch is sometime next year. The problem is it is currently unknown if these first edition figs will be integrated into the full line launch as well, or if they are only going to be in this early release wave. Deluxe Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are already getting entirely new molds in the "officlal" launch.

Even stranger? That will make 3 versions of Cliffjumper: First Edition, First Edition "Zombie" Cliffjumper, and the new mold early next year. 3 versions, for an ultra minor character on the show he's killed in like the first 10 minutes of the series...

The official launch for Prime is going to be late February/March. Until then, it's First Edition and only TRU.

Originally Posted by Zmonkay The really confusing part, is that these are part of a "preview" or "First Edition" (or whatever they're calling it) wave. The "official" launch is sometime next year. The problem is it is currently unknown if these first edition figs will be integrated into the full line launch as well, or if they are only going to be in this early release wave. Deluxe Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are already getting entirely new molds in the "officlal" launch.

Can you provide a source for this? It's currently what I'd call "common knowledge" (for those of us who plug in to that sort of thing) but I can't find anything definitive or where it's coming from. It just gets repeated a lot and somewhat fuzzier each time. Thanks, Hasbro -- it wasn't bad enough before, but now we have to play Telephone when figuring out what you're releasing.

It would be incredibly stupid of Hasbro to use this half-hearted sort-of-launch as a way of distributing figures that will either be changed or not released again. I can't imagine it, but they've done stupid things before.

I'm hoping it's just confusion over the various molds. I know there are two Cliffjumper molds -- the one that will be in the First Edition "preview" wave 1.5, and the one that will be later release as the Robots in Disguise subline (which is a different mold). Then there's Zombie Cliffjumper, which is a redeco of the original 1.5 mold.

The question is: will Cliffjumper 1.5 be re-released when the line officially launches. I can't imagine it wouldn't be. The only people who would benefit from not releasing it again would be scalpers.

Originally Posted by blandstalker Can you provide a source for this? It's currently what I'd call "common knowledge" (for those of us who plug in to that sort of thing) but I can't find anything definitive or where it's coming from. It just gets repeated a lot and somewhat fuzzier each time. Thanks, Hasbro -- it wasn't bad enough before, but now we have to play Telephone when figuring out what you're releasing.

Wish I could. Best I can say is "common knowledge" as well. Really hope it is incorrect / misinterpreted. What I would think is the "first edition" figs will have unique packaging for collector's that say "First Edition", but the figs will be released en mass in the Spring.

I mean, there's like 10 figs that are supposed to be "First Edition". Wouldn't make any sense to go through the work of producing them and not have them be a full mass retail release...

I'm not too concerned overall though, considering Hasbro's love of repainting every figure 20 times. I never found a Perceptor or Windcharger (Reveal the Shield?) but am just banking on them eventually repainting the molds down the road.

Wow, this line is a mess.

I hate hate hate TRU -- we only have one of them here for all of Tampa and the surrounding cities and it is picked clean by scalpers every morning.

I don't get why this line is constantly pushed back -- its bad enough that most kids probably don't even get the channel TF: Prime is on, but now they've made it so the figures are impossible to get? Isn't the first season of the show already done and we still have no figures?

Now we have to deal with all this BS about First Edition and non-first edition?

This is extremely poor brand management. I don't get how they messed it up this bad and at this point, they are just dooming the line themselves.

The TF: Prime line was pushed back because of the movie. The movie merchandise is going to be the big holiday seller, and I actually don't have a problem with this. The profits from the movie line pays for stuff like Generations and Prime, so I would rather it be pushed back and get a full line instead of the original plan (which was to release only a few figures, folded into lines like Generations).

I'm not wild about the First Edition crap, because that seems to be aimed at getting people to buy extras of the figures because the special packaging might be valuable someday. It would be good marketing if distribution was up to the task, but this is a TRU exclusive, and we all know what that means. Add scalpers into the mix and you get a mess and a headache, which is what we have now.

Originally Posted by Zmonkay What I would think is the "first edition" figs will have unique packaging for collector's that say "First Edition", but the figs will be released en mass in the Spring.

I agree with this. I think confusion over the various molds morphed into the idea First Edition mold exclusives, which I find difficult to believe. It's possible, but unlikely, and I don't think Hasbro wants to cheese off its customers that much.