Generations/Fall of Cybertron Toys

[Warcry]

I'd love to get a 'G2 Bruticus', but is there any way to order one affordably in the UK?

Your best bet is to go through the preorder process on Amazon US (who'll ship anywhere in the world for a price, apparently) and see whether or not their shipping/handling charges to the UK are going to be insane. I was surprised that even with shipping and the border-crossing charges, I was still actually paying less than if I'd bought the five mass-retail deluxes here in Canada. Shipping'll be worse for you, no doubt, but maybe not bad enough to keep you from ordering.

The only other place it'll be availiable is BBTS, and since their preorders aren't going up until September (when Amazon's may well be sold out) and they generally have to mark up everything they sell to make up for a lack of volume anyway, the toy will probably be $10 or $15 more expensive before shipping.

[numbat]

Thanks Warcry - I hadn't realised Amazon.com would deliver toys to the UK. I remember when they wouldn't send toys out here but would send books, CDs, DVDs, etc...

It's about £54.26 to order G2 Bruticus including delivery to UK, which is a pretty damned good price for five deluxes these days!

I'll see if I can get this one past my wife (who may not be so receptive after I ordered MP Soundwave and MP Sideswipe without consulting her)... Fingers crossed!

[numbat]

In an amazing turn of events, my wife agreed that I could order G2 Bruticus! Woo hoo! That went surprisingly well. The end of this year is looking unexpectedly exciting for Transformers now!



Once again, around £55GBP delivered to the UK is a damned good price for five deluxe figures these days, and that colour scheme is much nicer than the mainstream alternative. BigBadToyStore must be annoyed by Amazon's low price (for item and international shipping)...

[Blackjack]

Haven't been following toy news- haven't been following any Transformers-related news, in fact, for a while now.

Bruticus: The nonsense G2 colours that look so garish in actual military vehicles look so much better on nonsense military-esque vehicles. Certainly a better fit with the alien alternate modes than the militarized colours that the G1 Combaticons had.... of course, not that Hasbro's Vortex or Blast Off got their G1 colours right...

Wreckers: Why the hell would they bother sculpting new Xaaron, Impactor, Whirl and Roadbuster heads if they are going to homage Ruination? Ruination, of all people, who no one gives a shit about. It's stupid, because, well, all they need is to colour it right! They went all the trouble to give new heads, got all the accurate Wrecker names, which is kind of a passable job for a cheap repaint-with-a-new-head-people-will-buy... then screw it over by repainting them into Ruination. The thought process of Hasbro designers never cease to amaze me. Hell, they even gave Impactor a harpoon gun and Twintwist two giant drills! No doubt waiting to release the 'correct' colours as some sort of exclusive deal or something like that.

Grimlock: WANT. His dino mode looks like he's got a tumour in his tail but he's a proper dinosaur Grimlock toy without Pretender transformation layout or silly Animated Godzilla jaws and I want it.

Fireflight: Actually looks quite good, and looks distinct enough from its original mould to warrant a purchase. Is it a crime to say I like this colour scheme better than its G1 colours?

Ultra Magnus: The mold suits Magnus better than Optimus Prime, that's for sure, although the vehicle mode still looks like an ugly mass of shapes glued together. I'll probably be buying this toy if I can find it anywhere.

Prime Slicer: Call it Wheeljack all you like... about time we got this, instead of the cringe-worthy Stunticon slapjob we got. That rest of the obligatory mold repaints... most especially yellow Knock Out looks appalling.

Prime Skyquake: Another Prime toy that actually looks good. About time, too... after the mess they made out of some show characters like Airachnid and Knock-Out, about time we got one or two good ones.

Soundwave and Blaster: They both look horrendous. At Deluxe Class price, I might buy them just for display purposes, but as it is they look so clunky and ugly.

Circular Cassette Army: The Frenzy-Rumble-Rewind mold looks like a brick, and sadly the Laserbeak-Buzzsaw mold looks unwieldy as well. Probably will get Laserbeak nonetheless. Steeljaw/Ravage and Ramhorn seem promising, though, although if I do get them they'll probably remain in their beast modes for all eternity... turning into breath mints isn't really a step up from turning into cassettes.

China 'G1' exclusives: Legends class aside (Motorbreath? Really?), the only one that looks buyable is probably only Springer, maybe Powerdive or Swerve at a stretch... they look like what they would look if someone like Nick Roche or EJ Su decided to redesign them with a new Earth-mode. The rest? The rest... Wheelie, Hot Spot, Brawn and everything, looks like they picked anyone with similar alternate modes and slapped colours and new heads and called it a day.

[Jaynz]

I don't know. Saw a lot of Jazz, Prime, and Shockwave in the store and really wasn't too impressed. Questionable vehicle modes, kinda bland (and over-etched) robot modes, and a humeungeousosititaous new price point. $15.99 is just too much for a deluxe... I think I'm just seriously priced-out of getting this line.

[Denyer]

Anyone else see these?

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ay-175465/

Grimlock, Blaster, Soundwave, Rumble, Ravage, and Ultra Magnus are going to put a hurtin' on my wallet...

I'll be more excited if we get all five Dinos this time... probably the best 'update' of the original we've seen at a normal retail price point.

[Jaynz]

I'll be more excited if we get all five Dinos this time... probably the best 'update' of the original we've seen at a normal retail price point.

We actually haven't had the full Dinobot set since the RID side line, have we? Several Grimlocks and some oddball filler here and there, but all five as regular toys? I actually think we have to go back that far...

[Thunderwave]

I'll be more excited if we get all five Dinos this time... probably the best 'update' of the original we've seen at a normal retail price point.

Hopefully!

Although I read an article that had bits of an interview with High Moon. Apparently Hasbro was against the Dinobots making an appearance at all. They wanted to retire the group but the devs for the game where insistent that all the Dinobots make an appearance. So that said, we might not get a toy of Snarl, Sludge, Swoop, or Slag at all, but if we do I know I, for one, will probably pick them all up to finally get all 5 together in one place.

Also, I've been watching Beast Wars finally. What do you think our chances of a Dinobot repaint/retool of Grimlock coming down the pipe? The character is starting to grow on me.

[Jaynz]

Apparently Hasbro was against the Dinobots making an appearance at all.

I'm honestly starting to think that Hasbro doesn't want to do Transformers at all anymore. The lackluster toy showing for the last movie, the complete botching of the Animated line, the half-ass attempt for the "Generations" line now, and the insanely bad distribution and assortment work for Transformers: Prime ...

But, hey, we get four decos of Bruticus coming... none of which really game or character accurate, so that's, er, something.

They wanted to retire the group but the devs for the game where insistent that all the Dinobots make an appearance.

That's it.. retire the most popular sub-team Transformers ever had... maybe they've got four more Bumblebee decos to replace them?

Also, I've been watching Beast Wars finally. What do you think our chances of a Dinobot repaint/retool of Grimlock coming down the pipe? The character is starting to grow on me.

After Classics Dinobot? I'm thinking the answer is somewhere between "Slim" and "None". Hasbro really seems to be hostile to the Beast Era these days for some reason.

[Warcry]

I don't know. Saw a lot of Jazz, Prime, and Shockwave in the store and really wasn't too impressed. Questionable vehicle modes, kinda bland (and over-etched) robot modes, and a humeungeousosititaous new price point. $15.99 is just too much for a deluxe... I think I'm just seriously priced-out of getting this line.

The price has been steadily climbing for a decade everywhere else in the world, and the only reason you haven't seen it earlier is Walmart. It sucks that you guys have to experience it all at once instead of $0.50 or $1 at a time like we did, but if you thought you'd be paying $10 forever for Deluxes while prices go up everywhere else and your dollar goes down, you were dreaming.

I'll be more excited if we get all five Dinos this time... probably the best 'update' of the original we've seen at a normal retail price point.

Unfortunately, probably not. We're already looking at stuff for mid-2013, I think. How much longer after that are we going to be seeing tie-in toys released for a video game that's coming out this year?

I'd love to get all five Dinobots and all three Insecticons, but it doesn't look like it's in the cards.

We actually haven't had the full Dinobot set since the RID side line, have we? Several Grimlocks and some oddball filler here and there, but all five as regular toys? I actually think we have to go back that far...

I don't know how many people would count those. I mean...dimetrodon Sludge? I wouldn't say there's been a single decent set of Dinobots since 1985. Grimlock's the only one who gets much love.

[Jaynz]

The price has been steadily climbing for a decade everywhere else in the world, and the only reason you haven't seen it earlier is Walmart. It sucks that you guys have to experience it all at once instead of $0.50 or $1 at a time like we did, but if you thought you'd be paying $10 forever for Deluxes while prices go up everywhere else and your dollar goes down, you were dreaming.

I knew that there was a price increase coming, but the last 18 months have been nuts. It's a surefire way to kill your business model to go from 'impulse-level toy' to 'holy crap' on a deluxe in such a short span. If I'm looking at the prices as just rediculous, I can't imagine most parents are going to say "Sure, Timmy, here's $15 for yet another Optimus Prime.".

The fact that the more affordable basic line has become Cyberverse Commanders, which are pretty stiff on their own, doesn't help. It would have helped immensely if Cyberverse had a wider assortment of figures, I suppose... rather than yet another series dominated by Prime and Bumblebee.

Unfortunately, probably not. We're already looking at stuff for mid-2013, I think. How much longer after that are we going to be seeing tie-in toys released for a video game that's coming out this year?

It's possible if they keep pushing the DLC and the 'game universe' from both it and the Jagex game. I'm not exactly holding my breath, though. Hasbro's interest in Transformers really seems to have waned this year. I'm actually not sure what they want to be pushing now...

I don't know how many people would count those. I mean...dimetrodon Sludge? I wouldn't say there's been a single decent set of Dinobots since 1985. Grimlock's the only one who gets much love.

They weren't the greatest, but they were the last time the band was back together that I can think of. It's a little easier to think of them as the RID Dinobots, though, rather than the G1 team...

[numbat]

I knew that there was a price increase coming, but the last 18 months have been nuts. It's a surefire way to kill your business model to go from 'impulse-level toy' to 'holy crap' on a deluxe in such a short span. If I'm looking at the prices as just rediculous, I can't imagine most parents are going to say "Sure, Timmy, here's $15 for yet another Optimus Prime.".

Replace 'Timmy' with 'Chris' and dollars for whatever amount of pounds sterling, and you are quoting my wife...



Getting any more Optimus Prime figures past her will be near impossible - she doesn't see the difference between MP-04, ROTF Leader or RID Prime, or understand why I have so many of that red, white and blue guy. When she saw I'd ordered MP Sideswipe, she accused me of getting yet another Optimus Prime too...

Yeah, Bumblebees have really diluted the lines lately. Stores around here have sold out of Prime figures now, and restocked the shelves with DOTM Bumblebees or overpriced Botshots - justifying the money for a Deluxe is one thing, but when you're paying near the same for a set of two cheap plastic Botshot things surely Hasbro has decided to try and kill the line?

Ach well - sure it'll pick up again, and hey, I'm really looking forward to G2 Bruticus and Takara's upcoming Masterpieces. So the mainline may be floundering a bit, but I'm actually picking up more Transformers this year that I expected - albeit exclusives and collectors lines.

Maybe TF4 will reinvigorate Transformers toys if it really does follow new characters as Bay suggests (then we'd sidestep the danger of another line clogged with Bumblebees...).