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Transformers |OT| Transform and roll out...
- Thread starter Mike M
- Start date
aparisi2274
Member
If anyone is interested, BBTS has up a preorder page for the Takara version of Devastator.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK12152&mode=retail
It's currently going to set you back $220, which to me, is not worth it.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK12152&mode=retail
It's currently going to set you back $220, which to me, is not worth it.
Weltall Zero
Member
That seems way too cheap, in fact. I would gladly pay 300$, but it's unlikely that I could get my hands on it for less than 400$ considering shipping to Spain and abusive customs.
Anyone knows of a fairly priced Euro shop that does Japanese imports? That would at least save me the customs fee.
Princess Viola
Member
I got CW Prime and Legends Bombshell today.
Prime has a good looking robot mode (gonna repurpose him as Ginrai) but his truck mode is very "eh" to me.
Bombshell is pretty cool in both modes, but I feel that $10 is my limit for these small guys.
Prime has a good looking robot mode (gonna repurpose him as Ginrai) but his truck mode is very "eh" to me.
Bombshell is pretty cool in both modes, but I feel that $10 is my limit for these small guys.
Pleasantly surprised by Takara Devastator's price. He's basically the same as the MSRP of Hasbro Devestator once you take into account discounts from HLJ or AmiAmi. Basically you only have to eat shipping. Assuming shipping sits around $50-$60 (seems like a good bet to me), that seems like a fair increase for the increase in mold and paint quality and the extra accessories. I was going to go with the basic retail Hasbro edition, but looks like I need to keep an eagle eye on HLJ now.
Importer shops would have to pay the same customs fee, right? I would expect their prices to be higher to account for that. At least, that's what I find for shipping costs and local based retailers in the US. You might still be better off getting it from HLJ or another Japanese shop that gives discounts on the base price and eating the customs fee.
Importer shops would have to pay the same customs fee, right? I would expect their prices to be higher to account for that. At least, that's what I find for shipping costs and local based retailers in the US. You might still be better off getting it from HLJ or another Japanese shop that gives discounts on the base price and eating the customs fee.
GodParticle
Member
Sever came in and I got around to transforming. He's HUGE and built like a tank
GodParticle
Member
Yeah, they get better with each release. The only downside is my scoria looks a bit out of place next to him haha. I'm tempted to double-dip on the dinos just because them and devastator occupy my 2 favorite toy spots of all time
aparisi2274
Member
I got my MP-10 Reissue tonight and I love it...
I have MP-1 and I love that figure, and while I prefer that version over this one based on size and weight and how well its put together, I do like owning a complete prime with trailer and have him in line with more recent MP molds with regards to size...
I have MP-1 and I love that figure, and while I prefer that version over this one based on size and weight and how well its put together, I do like owning a complete prime with trailer and have him in line with more recent MP molds with regards to size...
HammerOfThor
Member
I just got word from my supplier that Takara Devastator is a TT Mall exclusive(like Defensor) so I don't think HLJ and others will be carrying it unless something changes.
I adore MP-10. Easily one of my favorite transformers of all time. While MP-1(or 4) has size and weight on its side, MP-10 just hits the sculpt dead on. It has so much more personality. MP-1 looks a bit messy in truck mode, is a bit too boxy in robot mode and has the 1 saggy chest window. MP-10 just feels super heroic and amazing. I'm happy I have both, but I can't understate how cool 10 is. It truly is the definitive G1 Optimus in my opinion. Hopefully Takara will do a Megs to match it soon.
BBTS doesn't list it as such and they reported on the Defenosr news as soon as it launched. Also, Anime-Export has pre-orders up and they are an in-japan retail only outlet like HLJ. It's possible they jumped the gun and Devy is a Mall exclusive, but it doesn't seem likely.
BBTS doesn't list it as such and they reported on the Defenosr news as soon as it launched. Also, Anime-Export has pre-orders up and they are an in-japan retail only outlet like HLJ. It's possible they jumped the gun and Devy is a Mall exclusive, but it doesn't seem likely.
Weltall Zero
Member
It's not up on HLJ yet, is it (I just checked and couldn't find ? If you're going to check on them regularly, feel free to give a heads up when it's up for preorder, I'll do the same.
I think import customs are different between European countries, or perhaps they have special arrangements, but it's not unusual for them to offer prices that are below what one would pay by ordering straight from Japan and paying customs (customs in Spain are downright barbaric and you can expect to pay 30-35% of the total price, including shipping, as extra). Once in Europe there is no customs fee between countries. The biggest advantage is not having to go to customs to pick up the package myself and paying for yet additional handling fees.
Same. Want those elbows and visor.
Whoa, I didn't know about Anime-Export at all... 130 for Takara Devastator is cheap! Hell, an US one will set you back 200 here and I didn't consider it too expensive! Very tempted to jump on this right away, how are they? Do you order from them regularly? Any other in-Japan shops like this and HLJ? Thanks a lot for the tip BTW.
HammerOfThor
Member
Yeah, I guess they jumped the gun telling me that. It looks like a broad release.
I always keep track of HLJ for new transformer stuff, so I'll give a post as soon as it goes up. Anime-Export is a very reputable shop. I haven't ordered from their personally, but I know people who order their MPs there regularly and have heard of very few issues. Their customer service is very slow, but that's pretty much the case with any Japanese shop that's not HLJ. They also require your order (minus shipping) paid up front, while HLJ charges you everything at ship time. That's why I tend to go HLJ for my pre-orders. HLJ is also very lose about order cancelations. You can cancel easily any time from your account information page.
The main Japanese shops online that I see/use are Hobby-Search, Anime Export, HLJ, Nippon-Yassan and AmiAmi. They all have pros and cons. HLJ gives a bit less of a discount than AmiAmi or Anime Export, but they tend to have cheaper shipping and have great CS. AmiAmi and AE offer more discounts (with AmiAmi also having a discount points program if you buy regularly from them), but their CS is quite slow. Hobby-Search is somewhere in the middle, but is a perfectly good reputable shop if the others are sold out. Nippon Yassan tends to be on the expensive side for both shipping and figures, so they are a last resort. Their main benefit is being a middle-man for figures that are exclusive to one Japanese website or something. They're fine, but I would avoid them for normal retail figures. I would say expect the other shops to go live with their pre-orders sometime in the next week. It can be a bit random at times, but they usually all go up fairly close together.
The main Japanese shops online that I see/use are Hobby-Search, Anime Export, HLJ, Nippon-Yassan and AmiAmi. They all have pros and cons. HLJ gives a bit less of a discount than AmiAmi or Anime Export, but they tend to have cheaper shipping and have great CS. AmiAmi and AE offer more discounts (with AmiAmi also having a discount points program if you buy regularly from them), but their CS is quite slow. Hobby-Search is somewhere in the middle, but is a perfectly good reputable shop if the others are sold out. Nippon Yassan tends to be on the expensive side for both shipping and figures, so they are a last resort. Their main benefit is being a middle-man for figures that are exclusive to one Japanese website or something. They're fine, but I would avoid them for normal retail figures. I would say expect the other shops to go live with their pre-orders sometime in the next week. It can be a bit random at times, but they usually all go up fairly close together.
Weltall Zero
Member
Thanks a ton for all the info. I have used HLJ extensively for the last decade and Nippon Yasan occasionally, I think, so having more, also reputable options is invaluable. Seriously, I can't overstate how helpful this is for me.
I see that Anime Export doesn't seem to be able to quote shipping costs until after you've paid, which is kind of a downside, but as long as they're reasonable it would be OK. Of course, I'd rather pay a bit more and buy from HLJ who have always been impeccable with customer support. Hopefully they'll put it for preorder soon and they'll offer a good discount as well.
Again, thanks a lot for the info!
I don't believe so. The SDCC version and regular version review haven't mentioned it. Seems like it's already pre-painted and stickered for the details. No word on the Japanese edition, but it's a safe bet it won't use them either.
Princess Viola
Member
is it normal for CW Prime to have one really goddamn strong arm ratchet or what?
Weltall Zero
Member
Hmmm. They should have remolded her face, that happy, innocent smile doesn't mesh that well with the tough girl black deco and Rathalos-killing sword.
sol_bad
Member
I know a few of you guys suggested I start with Masterpiece toys but I decided to go with a few cheaper options to start with. I know it won't be exciting to you guys but I picked up Waspinator and Chromia today.
My local shop also has Windblade and should have Arcee back in stock shortly.
I have officially started my Transformer collecting. I'll start saving for MP Optimus Prime while I collect a few deluxe Generations ffigures.
My local shop also has Windblade and should have Arcee back in stock shortly.
I have officially started my Transformer collecting. I'll start saving for MP Optimus Prime while I collect a few deluxe Generations ffigures.
Weltall Zero
Member
I know a few of you guys suggested I start with Masterpiece toys but I decided to go with a few cheaper options to start with. I know it won't be exciting to you guys but I picked up Waspinator and Chromia today.
My local shop also has Windblade and should have Arcee back in stock shortly.
I have officially started my Transformer collecting. I'll start saving for MP Optimus Prime while I collect a few deluxe Generations ffigures.
Chromia is a great toy, good pick. I already had an Animated Waspinator so it seemed kind of redundant for me.
Be sure to pick Windblade if you can, it's a really cool toy and Chromia is her bodyguard or something.
Princess Viola
Member
Man I want Chromia so bad.
Actually I want more fembots tbh. The only one I own is my KO Minerva. (Not including any repurposes or whatever)
Actually I want more fembots tbh. The only one I own is my KO Minerva. (Not including any repurposes or whatever)
Bloodember
Member
I'd love to see more fembots. I have all three of the generations: Chromia, Windblade and Arcee. Seen them at Wal-mart a few months back and grabbed them all.
Takara are doing Blackarachnia, Nightbird, and Slipstream as retools.
LOL Blackarachnia's boob fangs.
Weltall Zero
Member
Is that a retool of Animated Blackarachnia without her zip line? Ugh.
Man, Animated was so awesome. Stylized bot modes, great alt modes and original gimmicks for each. I own almost every single one of them (basically all non-remold non-legends except Leader Bulkhead, Sentinel Prime and Hot Rod).
Slipstream is a pretty good remold, although I don't like her colors. I would probably pick her up if I didn't have Windblade. Hell, if Hasbro releases a decent version, I might pick her up anyway.
Who the hell is Nightbird? *googles* Oh... that's something that happened, I guess.
Nah, she has the zip line in spider mode.
Weltall Zero
Member
Ah, correct. I see one of the little claws back there.
Also, hilariously appropriate avatar.
Edit: I hadn't much looked at the spider mode, I see now what you mean about boob fangs (I was looking at robot mode). Can't say I like them that much, they would look much better in both modes in opaque black rather than transparent yellow. On the other hand those multiple transparent spider eyes are absolutely bitching.
Princess Viola
Member
That's one way to make sure no one can screw off her bra this time.
I still have no idea what Hasbro was thinking with the bra for Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia.
Actually, I have no idea what they were thinking of with anything for Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia. What a crap toy. If there was anything to validate the new Blackarachnia, it's the existence of that figure.
Gets weirder when you consider that large pedipalps are the hallmark of a male spider.
Princess Viola
Member
Wouldn't be the first Transformer with a beast alt mode that turns into an animal of the opposite gender as they are.
HammerOfThor
Member
Oh man Combiner Wars Devastator is simply amazing. No regrets whatsoever picking this thing up.
True, but I find it amusing that the thing that identifies the beast mode as male is made out of the robot mode's boobs, because I am 12.
sol_bad
Member
Has anyone used TF Direct before? It seems to be one of the cheapest places to get MP-11SW Skywarp.
http://tf-direct.com/store/masterpiece-mp-11sw-skywarp
http://tf-direct.com/store/masterpiece-mp-11sw-skywarp
You know, after rewatching all of Beast Wars, the show is still fucking incredible. The first two episodes are pretty bad (And very awkwardly animated), but then the show finds its way by The Web. By Other Visits in season 2, the animation looks really good and it's unbelievable that this is the same show. The framing and environments just are such a step up.
The characters also are still great. One thing I love that I never thought about before is that after Maximal No More, every single consecutive episode has one of the Maximals make a comment about Dinobot's betrayal, setting up Code of Hero well. And the humor helps keep the show from ever feeling self-important or overly serious. For example, in Bad Spark, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's flirting is awkward, so having Megatron say "Yuck" upon hearing it lets the audience know the awkward romance is not being taken too seriously. And while there is a lot of broad slapstick, there is also some really funny dialogue-based humor: "Why do you always talk to yourself?" "Ah... I simply have a penchant for... intelligent conversation." That doesn't mean the show can't be serious when it wants to be; again, see Code of Hero.
Then there's the way every character has their own voice. The voice-acting is so great that you could remove the footage and audiences would still be able to easily tell which character is speaking and how they feel. Characters voiced by the same actor like Dinobot and Rattrap manage to never sound alike, and even minor characters like Inferno have unique memorable voices. But the standout by far is David Kaye as Megatron, who is just so much fun to listen to. Unlike most other Megatrons who growl or intimidate, his Megatron sounds completely human and charming. I think this was a good idea, because unlike most other Megatrons, Beast Wars Megatron's voice-acting highlights what he's feeling instead of what he's supposed to make other characters feel. Also, his verbal tic is hilarious and fits his ego. "Yesssss..."
I dunno, I just really love Beast Wars and watching it again makes me remember why.
The characters also are still great. One thing I love that I never thought about before is that after Maximal No More, every single consecutive episode has one of the Maximals make a comment about Dinobot's betrayal, setting up Code of Hero well. And the humor helps keep the show from ever feeling self-important or overly serious. For example, in Bad Spark, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's flirting is awkward, so having Megatron say "Yuck" upon hearing it lets the audience know the awkward romance is not being taken too seriously. And while there is a lot of broad slapstick, there is also some really funny dialogue-based humor: "Why do you always talk to yourself?" "Ah... I simply have a penchant for... intelligent conversation." That doesn't mean the show can't be serious when it wants to be; again, see Code of Hero.
Then there's the way every character has their own voice. The voice-acting is so great that you could remove the footage and audiences would still be able to easily tell which character is speaking and how they feel. Characters voiced by the same actor like Dinobot and Rattrap manage to never sound alike, and even minor characters like Inferno have unique memorable voices. But the standout by far is David Kaye as Megatron, who is just so much fun to listen to. Unlike most other Megatrons who growl or intimidate, his Megatron sounds completely human and charming. I think this was a good idea, because unlike most other Megatrons, Beast Wars Megatron's voice-acting highlights what he's feeling instead of what he's supposed to make other characters feel. Also, his verbal tic is hilarious and fits his ego. "Yesssss..."
I dunno, I just really love Beast Wars and watching it again makes me remember why.
See, in most cases this would be clunky forced exposition, but with Megatron, it makes perfect sense that he would be melodramatically narrating this to himself, setting up his victory.
Also, David Kaye has a Megatron video every Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfQeocUHbbY
For those looking for him, AmiAmi and HLJ have their Unite Warriors Devastator Pre-Orders up.
https://secure.hlj.com/product/TKT83165/Sci
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-012326&page=top
Anime-Export looks to be the cheapest overall, but everyone has their stores they like to stick with and they require up front payment. Think I'm going with HLJ even though they're like $20 more. The flexibility of their order cancelation system is worth it to me.
https://secure.hlj.com/product/TKT83165/Sci
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-012326&page=top
Anime-Export looks to be the cheapest overall, but everyone has their stores they like to stick with and they require up front payment. Think I'm going with HLJ even though they're like $20 more. The flexibility of their order cancelation system is worth it to me.
Weltall Zero
Member
Heheh, thanks:
Yeah, for that price difference it's not even a contest. HLJ all the way. Thanks for the heads up!
BattleMonkey
Member
Oh man Victorian looks awful, all recolors, no new bots, doesn't even look like female bots.
Only nice thing is the new hands and feet included with Victorian, huge upgrade over the rest of the CW line with those crappy interchangeable hands/feet.
Only nice thing is the new hands and feet included with Victorian, huge upgrade over the rest of the CW line with those crappy interchangeable hands/feet.
I like Victorian as a complete thing and the properly painted single bots on the slide looked good, but I like gaudy G2 Combiners in general. Love all the remolds she's getting as well. Hasbro put a good amount of work into her.
Man, the Generations SDCC panel was a total shitshow. One of the worst panels I've seen in some time. A bunch of repaints, an incomplete combiner and a couple exclusives. MP Starscream is nice for those that didn't get the Takara version, but it should've come way sooner.
The Scattershot release on his own is absolute horseshit. I haven't minded the Combiner Wars changes so far. The replacement limbs are fine by me as long as they keep the original spirit. Not releasing any of the technobot limbs is stupid. Scattershot seems like a great remold of silverbolt, but he's useless without a nice set of color correct limbs to go with him. Hopefully they're coming in a later line and this is just an excuse for a partial reveal, but it's a really stupid choice.
Man, the Generations SDCC panel was a total shitshow. One of the worst panels I've seen in some time. A bunch of repaints, an incomplete combiner and a couple exclusives. MP Starscream is nice for those that didn't get the Takara version, but it should've come way sooner.
The Scattershot release on his own is absolute horseshit. I haven't minded the Combiner Wars changes so far. The replacement limbs are fine by me as long as they keep the original spirit. Not releasing any of the technobot limbs is stupid. Scattershot seems like a great remold of silverbolt, but he's useless without a nice set of color correct limbs to go with him. Hopefully they're coming in a later line and this is just an excuse for a partial reveal, but it's a really stupid choice.
HammerOfThor
Member
My biggest qualm with Combiner Wars so far are the consistent repaints. I get the cost and the need for repaints, but its kinda jarring at this point. Sky Lynx should be coming out this year along with Bruticus instead of Optimus Maximus(?) and the original Optimus Prime voyager.
If I was browsing and came across Scattershot, I would think it was just a Silverbolt with some third party addons; but maybe I just need clearer pics of it.
And aside from colors the re-tooling on Victorion isn't enough to distinguish . Bruticus looks distinguished.
Although I do love that Victorion has ankle pivots.
If I was browsing and came across Scattershot, I would think it was just a Silverbolt with some third party addons; but maybe I just need clearer pics of it.
And aside from colors the re-tooling on Victorion isn't enough to distinguish . Bruticus looks distinguished.
Although I do love that Victorion has ankle pivots.
Tizoc
Member
I'd really like for a 'remastered' release of the show, the DVD quality leaves much to be desired.