The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[apptt4]

23 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/massive-haslab-unicron-toy-revealed/43589/

that is absolutely ludicrous! I must have it.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/massive-haslab-unicron-toy-revealed/43589/

Insanely cool, but no way do I have $600 by the end of August.

[Dobber]

That is AWESOME! I love how the planet mode looks. No way I can afford it but WOW!

Chris

[JB0]

It is definitely incredible.

[nightmareB4macross]

It looks simply amazing! I should it to my eight year old son and he said we should both ask to get this for Christmas so we can split the price.

This is a complete must have.

Edited July 15, 2019 by nightmareB4macross
Got one!!!

[M'Kyuun]

This is shaping up to be the  Unicron toy I've always wanted, but holy crap that price!  Before I plunk down $600, I want to see a full transformation video with all the bells and whistles. I don't think I'm asking too much as a potential consumer. 

I never thought they'd make a toy like this. I have the lackluster Armada Unicron, which has been the best Movie toy incarnation thus far, with a couple slightly updated rereleases over the last decade or so.  And now this. Still, I can see $300, $350 tops for something like this, but the asking is pretty crazy and feels more like fleecing than receiving a premium toy. Still I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested or tempted.

 

[derex3592]

My GOD Bones...It's FULL OF WIN!!!!! 

[nightmareB4macross]

From an aging standpoint, there might never be anything as incredible as this version so I figured it is now or never. 

The price point is actually pretty good considering it will be fully finished and has more articulation that we could have ever hoped for. 

If you compare this pound per pound for what we pay for Macross items this is only a drop in the bucket. If you all recall a few years back there was an HDP Yamato SDF-1 released and that was beyond two grand!! And even at that price point people stepped up.

I don’t know about you guys but I am totally on board with this. I just hope we get a production. Right now we are more than 90% shy of the goal set and I just hope we get there.

My son is really excited about this and to see him like he does when he accomplishes a new goal or level in his games is what I am very grateful that we together have something to look forward to and he will cherish as time goes on. 

I can’t wait.

[David Hingtgen]

I have a sneaking suspicion the back of the planet isn't all there, that it's flat/sliced off, kind of like the bottom of the old toy.  Would love to be proved wrong, but a few angles seem like "I should be able to see 'further around the bend' but I can't".

[technoblue]

Unicron is a beast--I love it. I don't know if I'll be able to budget for it by the deadline, but this for sure is a grail-level centerpiece. I saw an animated GIF of the mouth movement (in planetoid mode), and it's so smooth. I'm curious to see what other gimmicks are included with this giant boy.

27" tall in bot mode--he stands taller than my bookshelf speaker stands! 

[anime52k8]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

This is shaping up to be the  Unicron toy I've always wanted, but holy crap that price!  Before I plunk down $600, I want to see a full transformation video with all the bells and whistles. I don't think I'm asking too much as a potential consumer. 

I never thought they'd make a toy like this. I have the lackluster Armada Unicron, which has been the best Movie toy incarnation thus far, with a couple slightly updated rereleases over the last decade or so.  And now this. Still, I can see $300, $350 tops for something like this, but the asking is pretty crazy and feels more like fleecing than receiving a premium toy. Still I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested or tempted.

 

$300 doesn't go that far anymore. $300 doesn't even get you a prime with trailer anymore. And it's still a better deal than anything flame toys has offered.

:edit:

of course you could always wait for the oversized Chinese knock-off version.

Edited July 16, 2019 by anime52k8

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, anime52k8 said:

$300 doesn't go that far anymore. $300 doesn't even get you a prime with trailer anymore. And it's still a better deal than anything flame toys has offered.

:edit:

of course you could always wait for the oversized Chinese knock-off version.

Funny you say that; I was wondering to myself how long it would take for some third party to either knock this off, or make something better.  I'm generally not interested in oversized figs; I tend to be ok with the scales of most official stuff, especially the last few lines of Generations where scale seems to be of greater import than in the past, which is a nice change. A proper sized Unicron compared to the current Siege line would still be about as big as my house, which is just a touch unreasonable, not to mention difficult to display.  Joking aside, this is one figure that an oversized version would actually be reasonable, if one has the room to display it. But I imagine trying to handle something bigger than the current model would also prove challenging. It's already 19 lbs- a pretty heavy toy, especially when a lot of folding/unfolding and other mechanical manipulations are involved, and that's to say nothing of the strength of joints required. There comes a point where the ratchets would be difficult to rotate due to the requisite tolerancing. 

However getting back to improving the figure; looking at the official, while it's impressive, it does seem like it's going to be by and large a panel-former, as it looks like at least half of the planet surface breaks up into smaller panels which fold up rather noticeably behind and to the sides of the lower legs. I would have hoped that more of the robot bits, as there's a lot of robot there, would unfold and form at least half of the planet surface. I don't think so, though. I'm guessing the bot goes basically goes into something akin to the fetal position, and then those panels on the legs unfurl to become the surface. I'm reminded of Unique Toys Challenger and all the inside out origami they pulled off, and that's the sort of engineering I'd love to see brought to bear on a figure this size. The Unicron transformation scene is one of my favorite bits of animation, and I'd love to see at least the basics of that sequence replicated in a toy. 

3 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

I have a sneaking suspicion the back of the planet isn't all there, that it's flat/sliced off, kind of like the bottom of the old toy.  Would love to be proved wrong, but a few angles seem like "I should be able to see 'further around the bend' but I can't".

Nope, fully spherical. Unicron's Planet backside. Unicron's Planet profile   If you look at the backside, you can make out the arms interlocking. That's actually close to the film transformation, along with the hands retracting into the forearms. With all the panel formation, it's difficult to discern how the legs fold up, though. I really hope they eventually post a transformation, or at least a partial transformation, vid, just to give some idea how it all comes together. I feel the hook setting in.

[JetJockey]

Why is this big company still doing Kickstarter type stuff? I thought after Jabba's thing that maybe they would actually make big toys without this sort of fan money grab. Retroblasting on youtube had a few episodes about this situation.

[jenius]

Unicron toys sell poorly so they're trying to take the risk out of making it. The traditional model would be that a manufacturer considered something and the accountants say "no" and no one outside the company hears about it. In this case, the accountants said no but someone loves it enough to keep the dream alive another way. I'm not sure what the problem is... You can always not support it.

[ErikElvis]

Ok I’m officially in for unicron.  No idea where I’d put him though. 

[JetJockey]

34 minutes ago, jenius said:

Unicron toys sell poorly so they're trying to take the risk out of making it. The traditional model would be that a manufacturer considered something and the accountants say "no" and no one outside the company hears about it. In this case, the accountants said no but someone loves it enough to keep the dream alive another way. I'm not sure what the problem is... You can always not support it.

I'm just not fond of this no risk money to big or even medium sized companies that can and should be able to afford the risk. I've mentioned it before in the video game and anime Blu-ray topics as well.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by JetJockey

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, JetJockey said:

I'm just not fond of this no risk money to big or even medium sized companies that can and should be able to afford the risk.

Speaking as someone without a strong opinion on crowdfunding but who has worked in risk assessment and analysis, just because a company can afford to take a risk doesn't mean that they will (or even should). Yes, Hasbro could choose to put Unicron into production and come away with big profits for the fiscal year even if they actual lose money on Unicron, but no company beholden to it's shareholders settles for big profits when all you have to do for bigger profits is not throw money on a high-risk, low-reward product. Somebody, probably a team of somebodies, at Hasbro looked at Unicron and figured out how much it would cost to produce at a few likely production numbers, how much they'd have to charge to get enough benefit (not just pure profit, but consumer goodwill, brand engagement, etc), and how many sales were likely at that price, and they determined that the risk outweighs the benefit.

By crowdfunding, Hasbro isn't just reducing risk by getting consumers to front the cost, they're giving consumers a chance to provide the benefit by paying more than they could probably charge through normal mass-market retail, bypassing the retailers, and increasing engagement with a core audience that's passionate about the brand.

[M'Kyuun]

I hadn't thought of it in that light, but as someone with no marketing background, it makes sense to me. Personally, the crowdfunding aspect doesn't bother me; in fact, I think it's a perfect venue for this sort of product. It gives the manufacturer a much clearer sense of demand without, as you said, taking the risk on mass production only to see the product languish on shelves. Too, Unicron is a big toy, and many folks simply don't have the room for him (I don't either, but I'll find a way ), so that's another factor of risk. Anyway, I'm edging ever closer to paying my money down on this guy, as I doubt we'll ever have another opportunity to have an official large scale Unicron toy done this well. 

And as I mentioned, I have no idea where I'm going to display this guy- I'm nigh out of room as it is. But it's just too cool to pass up.

[Mog]

To be honest, I’m surprised Hasbro hasn’t done this more for its potential big ticket /holy grail items.

Am I remembering incorrectly, but didn’t the Star Wars BMF and Imperial Shuttle eventually get sold at discounted prices at stores?

So, going this route does reduce Hasbro’s risk while still getting out cool toys, if the demand is there.  Plus, it wouldn’t shock me if the toy makers at Hasbro themselves also get energized working on these holy grail toys.

. . . Now if we could only get Arcadia to do something similar for a TV-Style SDF-1. . .

[M'Kyuun]

Yeah, I'm guessing these large products are indeed dream toys even for the designers, who , I'd imagine are fans, at least in part. So to work on something like this, make it workable for mass market, i.e., meeting safety standards, etc, is probably quite rewarding to the design team. Prior to crowdfunding, I'm guessing the design teams had to launch a promotional campaign to convince the execs that it was marketable. History has shown that many of these big projects generally don't sell well, unfortunately. So, I think the crowdfunding platform works well as a measuring stick to gauge interest, and the willingness of the fanbase to shell out a higher sum for 'dream toys'. 

So far, I think they're doing ok; as of right now, only on the morning of the second day, they have 1030 backers, with 46 days to go to hit 8000. I think they'll make it. I hope so.

Edit: 

I figured what the hell. So I'm in for $627 after tax. Number 1033.  I'm already measuring space for a potential shelf just for this guy (he's as tall as three of my normal CHUG shelves). I hope I have a reason to install it after August 31st. Gotta say, I'm getting just a little excited at the prospect.

Edited July 16, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[peter]

It's not 100% risk free for Hasbro.  If they don't deliver, or if they've miscalculated the cost of production versus sale price, they can still end up in the red. 

What they have done however, is fund this project using little of their own $$.  The best way to make money is by using someone elses's.....except in this case, they're not borrowing from a financial institution who charges interest, they're getting the financing from the end user in advance.

Either way, I hope this thing goes through because it looks like an absolutely incredible toy....too bad I have to go be poor somewhere else.

[Tking22]

Looks quite amazing, but a pass for me, four MP combiners later, and an MP Omega Supreme, I simply don't have the room. I'm a bit baffled at people complaining about the price, Takara is, for some people in certain areas, charging $400+ for a new MP Optimus, $575 for this massive beast seems a steal in comparison. I'm definitely far more interested in what third parties will do with this, or based on this if they can't get a hold of one, which I imagine at least a few will.

[jenius]

It's not going to get made, with all the publicity they were at less than 20% this morning.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

It's a great looking Unicron, no doubt.  I'm just not a big enough fan. I have the Amazon Armada Unicron from a few years ago, and that does it for me.

[treatment]

Received Hasbro's Siege-line Skyfire...

Quite derpy in whatever Hasbro calls it in armored-mode thingy...

 

[nhyone]

I'm amazed they still need 8,000 backers at this price point.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, nhyone said:

I'm amazed they still need 8,000 backers at this price point.

I'm not. Tooling isn't cheap, and this thing has LOTS of parts with heavy detailing. And there's going to be a minimum order size in the thousands. I'd bet they can't buy less than ten-thousand sets of parts.

 

I'm not saying they won't make any money on this, just that their profit margin is going to be narrower than it seems. The margin on the regular toys is high because the upfront cost of molds is spread across tens of millions of units.

[Xigfrid]

That looks like an enormous soccer ball !

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Xigfrid

[M'Kyuun]

Yeah, I think the planet part is around 19" diameter, with the energy rings taking it to 30".  It's a pretty impressive piece.  

I hope it gets made, but they're just shy of 1200 backers on the third day of the campaign.  I'm thinking folks are put off by the price tag- not many people have $600 laying around to buy a toy, even if it is a 'dream toy'.  

I still think they should promote it better. Do a video detailing transformation, or at least stages of the transformation, and show off any other features to get fans excited. It looks cool, and they're doing a pretty good job with coloration, but if you want to move a transforming robot, the transformation is a big part of the selling point. Also, if there are electronics with Orson Welles doing some of his more notable lines, show that off too. Personally, I'd like to see a nice stop motion transformation, but I'd be content to see a Takara designer doing it.

Thinking about it, Hasbro should have debuted this thing at SDCC, and maybe put it on the Transformers convention circuit to try and drum up support. It's one thing to see it on a screen, but if fans could see it in front of them, being demoed, or in a big glass case they can walk around , it'd make a stronger impact.  

Edited July 17, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[sh9000]

 

[M'Kyuun]

One of the coolest transforming scenes ever.  Suffice to say, I doubt his toy will have so much transformation as panelformation, but at least it looks like they got a close approximation with the arms.

Exorbitantly priced potential exclusive figures aside,  Hasbro showed some new Siege stuff at SDCC.

In particular, I was looking forward to the more G1 inspired Astrotrain, but these pics have me thinking otherwise. He only looks half complete in his shuttle mode, unless that base folds to become the rest of his cargo bay doors. If so, I wish they would have shown it, as that just looks inexcusably foul. It's stuff like this that make me wish there was at least one third party making Generations scaled figs. Some competition in this arena might make Has/Tak step up their game. The design dichotomy in this line frustrates me- some figs are nigh perfect, and then there's stuff like this.

I'm digging the little cassettes, though. Spinister is going to look odd when you pick his heli mode up and there's another complete upside down canopy section on  its belly. Odd design choice, although I get it for bot symmetry. The original toy's canopy split in half to form the legs, so this was an interesting design choice that I believe will allow him to accommodate a headmaster fig. Actually two, if both legs are identical.  Apeface is looking pretty good, although they don't have his robo-ape mode on display.

Query: who are the two blue truck dudes in the foreground with Astrotrain? There's something very familiar about them, but just vaguely.

Edited July 17, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[captain america]

3 hours ago, Xigfrid said:

That looks like an enormous soccer ball !

 

I always wanted my own planet. 

[derex3592]

I don't know why people are b*tching and moaning about the price. If you consider hard core fans are being asked to drop $400 on Prime Ver 3, this reeaally isn't that much more money for what you are getting. Just my .02. 

 

I want this, but uhhhh...I don't have my own storage shed to keep it in and display it...sooo that's a no. 

[ErikElvis]

I don’t think $575 is bad at all.  A lot of money yes. But for what you get not bad. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by ErikElvis

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, JB0 said:

I'm not. Tooling isn't cheap, and this thing has LOTS of parts with heavy detailing

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that the tooling for the Titan-class Metroplex was around $300,000.  That's before you account for plastic and actually paying the factory to make and assemble the parts.

4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Query: who are the two blue truck dudes in the foreground with Astrotrain? There's something very familiar about them, but just vaguely

I'd guess Power Punch and Direct Hit.

20 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

I don't know why people are b*tching and moaning about the price.

Because I don't have $600 to spend right now, not because I think it's unreasonable.