Three new Henkei exclusives: Crystal Convoy (out), Skywarp (out) and... THUNDERCRACKER?!

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:58 pm

Thundercracker and Skywarp are Hobby Toy Market and Gonbo Store exclusives, Crystal Convoy is a eHobby/Internation Tokyo Toy Show 2008 Exclusive.

SOURCE: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ms-164938/

Ackula · Post by **Ackula** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:30 pm

I hope for the sake of irony that the Thundercracker is widely available and does not fetch extremist prices. This could well be the funniest development yet, Takara is either going to really piss fanboys off, or make them very happy, depending upon how much money they did or did not have at last years Botcon.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:50 pm

That is genuinely fantastic.

Though my Classics Thundercracker is obviously better.

Blitzwing · Post by **Blitzwing** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:11 pm

Yeah, I would never pay the $180 that I've seen Botcon Thundercrackers going for on a certain popular auction site, so hopefully these ones will be sold at a reasonable price.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:16 pm

While I don't doubt they're cheaper, Japanese + Store Exclusive + Scalpers
will probably still equal quite a lot...

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:19 pm

I seem to remember that - for a while at least, I have no idea if it's still the case - BotCon Tigatron was actually cheaper than BW Jaguar... and the latter was a full retail job.

Blitzwing · Post by **Blitzwing** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:59 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:While I don't doubt they're cheaper, Japanese + Store Exclusive + Scalpers
will probably still equal quite a lot...

Hmm... are the Takara Encores considered exclusives, or are they widespread in Asia? Because I was able to get some decent deals for those.

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:16 pm

Well, Skywarp won't be an insane purchase, since the two-pack was pretty widely available. But, yowza, I expect that Thundercracker to cost a mint...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:45 pm

Blitzwing wrote:Hmm... are the Takara Encores considered exclusives, or are they widespread in Asia? Because I was able to get some decent deals for those.

I'm guessing they're more widespread - dunno whether they're exclusive to a store, but I think they're general releases. Bluntly, this is also a lot more desirable to a lot of people than most ot eh Encore stuff, which is either slightly weird characters or toys, or stuff that's been reissued umpteen times. Plus this one could well be impossible to tell from a figure that's currently fetching three-figure sums. And I do think scalpers will lock down on exported examples.

I'm very hopeful of being wrong, despite the shitty blue, but I just don't see a Japanese store exclusive making this thing considerably more widespread in the West. [Guesswork]We're maybe talking it halving the value of the BotCon toys - a big slice, but they'll still be pricey[/guesswork]

Blitzwing · Post by **Blitzwing** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:24 pm

Yeah, I was browsing some other TF sites and the general opinion is that these guys will most likely cost $80 to import to North America. If that is the case, I won't be getting one.

Post by **Clay** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:57 pm

Halfshell wrote:That is genuinely fantastic.

Though my Classics Thundercracker is obviously better.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:20 pm

As I see it, it's around 30-40 for the figure [if you know where you're shopping

] and what, a maximum of 20 shipping from Japan to either the US or EU? Sure it's not dirt cheap, but it's not impossibly pricey either, considering on average a Botcon seeker cost 150 USD.

numbat · Post by **numbat** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:54 pm

I do hope that Thundercracker is not too expensive. I'd love to be able to complete my Classics Seekers (at least the core three).

(I'll never be able to afford the Botcon exclusives - the prices they go for are insane! A shame, as Thrust was always my favourite...)

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:15 pm

Knightdramon wrote:[if you know where you're shopping ]

Where'd that be? And "maximum of 20 shipping" relies on dealing with someone who's charging at actual cost, and with no insurance options. Theoretically, you could get one cheap. Anglo can probably pick one up for $10, for example. Seeing as the relatively undesirable Jusco Car Robots exclusives were Hell to get hold of... Christ, huge slices of the Movie line (as in conventional Western releases) were tricky for a lot of people to find. Classics Astrotrain was tricky for people to find... some people will get bargains, for sure, but most of these are destined for scalper city. Once, of course, we've deducted genuine Japanese kid purchases from what's likely to be a pretty small production run. This is possibly the first really desirable Japanese store exclusive, not being a 'new' character or some random made-up variant... This is basically a toy people have been crying out for since Classics Starscream hit.

I stick by my rough guess of this being around half as much as the BotCon one - cheaper, but not cheap. Again, I can only reiterate that I hope to be proved utterly wrong, but the realist side of me suggests anyone thinking they can pick this up for the same price as Encore Ironhide is in for a surprise.

I wonder if Hasbro can get around any agreement with BotCon by modifying the deco slightly - ideally to the lovely dark blue used for the toy - and just issue him as a late-wave line filler for Classics 2.0... And then do full wing retools for Thrust and Dirge...

See, I'm not all bastard cynic...

Post by **Warcry** » Wed May 21, 2008 7:43 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:Classics Astrotrain was tricky for people to find.

You're joking, right? He warmed shelves around here for, like, a year.

Once, of course, we've deducted genuine Japanese kid purchases from what's likely to be a pretty small production run.

Now I know you're joking. Japanese children buying Transformers? Unheard of! ]I wonder if Hasbro can get around any agreement with BotCon by modifying the deco slightly - ideally to the lovely dark blue used for the toy - and just issue him as a late-wave line filler for Classics 2.0... And then do full wing retools for Thrust and Dirge...[/quote]
I don't doubt that they could if they wanted to, but they'd have to weigh the profit they'd make against the potential losses that would come from pissing off their business partners like that. After all, if people thought Hasbro were going to release popular convention exclusives at retail later on, there would be fewer suckers shelling out idiotic amounts of money for them at BotCon and I don't think the organizers would be happy about that.

Personally I think they'd stand to make a fair chunk of change off of Thundercracker, at least, if they released him at retail. Whether that would be enough to make it worth the risk for them, though...

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Wed May 21, 2008 7:54 pm

You know what would be sweet? If they did him up in Armada Thundercracker (super Starscream colors). I'd buy that. He's my favorite armada seeker.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed May 21, 2008 7:57 pm

Warcry wrote:You're joking, right? He warmed shelves around here for, like, a year.

Energon Ultra Magnus syndrome, people in place X can't get one for love nor money because every single one of the toys has been sent to place Y for no discernible reason.

martyboy70 · Post by **martyboy70** » Wed May 21, 2008 8:19 pm

Cliffjumper wrote: See, I'm not all bastard cynic...

Did Classics Astrotrain even get a UK release as I never ever saw him in the wild and my local Woolworths was pretty stacked with Classics and Alternators when they were current?

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed May 21, 2008 8:26 pm

I brought one from Tesco, they had them in Wilkinsons as well.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Wed May 21, 2008 8:31 pm

Wilkinsons? Mad. It never even occurs to me to check in there... and I have to walk past one between checking Sainsbury's and Woolworths.