THIRD PARTY TOYS NEWS

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 3:25 pm

Gigatoys Snarl appears to be huge---two heads taller than MP10.

Rumours in his designated thread at tfw2005 seem to indicate he'll be cheaper than Scoria.

This seriously intrigues me...

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:20 pm

Don't think it's going to pay off as a strategy.

http://i.imgur.com/9NBoRQg.jpg

And the Bullsfire not-Swoop doesn't look particularly promising in alt-mode. I think both are passes, personally.

http://i.imgur.com/K6uhYvC.jpg

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:42 pm

Yeah, I can't see who is going to want a Masterpiece Snarl that's so much bigger than Grimlock, especially if other third party peeps are doing the Dinobots as well.

The preorder on Gauntlet has gone up, and if anyone was after the not-Crankcase instead that's up as well.

Post by **Clay** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:22 pm

Yep, and relatively cheap for a 3rd party toy too.

He's about scout-sized, so that would make his price roughly comparable to importing a Takara version of a similarly sized figure.

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 7:47 pm

Scoria reviews are starting to show up... and you can pose the legs like the original toy with the dino bits on the outside, which is a nice touch.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 196&type=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqD5KNVBqgg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiN1CVL2hqE

Post by **Clay** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:21 pm

The last figure for Mastermind Creation's Feral Rex, Tigris, is up for preorder.

Leo Dux (Razorclaw) is due in stock at various online stores this week, while Talon (Divebomb) is still due sometime in between.

Post by **Clay** » Thu May 08, 2014 10:01 pm

Warbotron's not-Brawl in pictures.

Nearly out in the wild it seems.

Post by **Warcry** » Thu May 08, 2014 10:11 pm

Not too shabby! My biggest complaint about third-party combiners is that they usually sacrifice the individual robot modes to make the combined mode cooler, but this is legitimately a nicely realized Brawl. I can't even tell from looking at it that it's supposed to combine with anything.

A tad overdetailed like most third-party toys, but not nearly as noticeable as it is on most.

Post by **Denyer** » Fri May 09, 2014 6:26 pm

Seems a bit skinny, but he is a favourite character...

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Sun May 11, 2014 1:02 pm

Hmmm...certainly a mixed bag for me.

Both Brawl and Blast off look genuinely nice figures, but with all the faff about their company I'm a bit hesitant to even consider them.

Rumours about this company doing a Menasor for their next combiner.

Post by **Clay** » Sun May 11, 2014 1:58 pm

Knightdramon wrote:Hmmm...certainly a mixed bag for me.

Both Brawl and Blast off look genuinely nice figures, but with all the faff about their company I'm a bit hesitant to even consider them.

I had to go and research what people were complaining about after Air Burst came out... and I can say that I don't see what the big concern would be. I'd chalk it up to the larger boards creating an echo-chamber of whining about people not having their toys instantly.

For anyone who'd rather have a summary, apparently BBTS paid a significant advance note to this Warbotron company, figuring they would need X figures based on previous sales of third party combiners. In the process, they basically funded and purchased the first production run for each of the five figures, leading to a loose 90-day exclusivity window for each figure before the second production runs start. Warbotron apparently didn't inform other vendors that BBTS would be getting most of the stock by virtue of paying cash up front, and this has led to a grand hissy-fit by way too many people, and in many cases the same people who cancelled their orders with BBTS for Fansprojects Diesel after they received their stock five days after TFSource.

First world problems, I tell ya.

Post by **Warcry** » Sun May 11, 2014 3:13 pm

Clay wrote:Warbotron apparently didn't inform other vendors that BBTS would be getting most of the stock by virtue of paying cash up front

This right here is what pissed a lot of people off, and to be honest I can understand it. All those other retailers spent time and money advertising something that became, for all intents and purposes, a store exclusive at their biggest competitor and their customers wound up not being able to get what they were sold. If the manufacturer had come out and said it was BBTS-exclusive for the first production run right off the bat I don't think anyone (other than the retailers themselves) would have been bothered, but the way things played out really does make the Warbotron team look like a shady operation.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Sun May 11, 2014 4:13 pm

Yeah, that's what "killed" it for me as well.

Lots of bitching and drama in the UK thread over at tfw2005, especially from a UK retailer who openly attacked another retailer for having better prices [for f*ck's sake] regarding this as well...

Regardless, warbotron's non-communication of this exclusivity deal at all until the first day of the release is a very shady way of dealing, by my standards. I'm concerned over the company just packing up and going away without informing anybody, and leaving me with an incomplete gestalt, regardless of where I buy it from.

Other things can/are 1st world problems with this fandom, yes, but this last one "scares" me a bit more than missing paint apps on a deluxe

Post by **Denyer** » Sun May 11, 2014 6:14 pm

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... st10874837
edit2: other side -- http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... st10904399

If one retailer got the first production run, eh. These aren't mass-produced and distribution takes a while anyway.

Probably going to wait until the re-stock Warden I've got coming turns up and then order from Omegalock. Also gives a chance to see if the company takes the cash they were paid up-front by BBTS and does a runner.

edit: Looks good. Not sure what's up with the silly pink guns in other pics.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... st10985433

Post by **Clay** » Sun May 11, 2014 8:36 pm

Warcry wrote:This right here is what pissed a lot of people off, and to be honest I can understand it. All those other retailers spent time and money advertising something that became, for all intents and purposes, a store exclusive at their biggest competitor and their customers wound up not being able to get what they were sold.

Oh yeah, I get that. If I were a retailer, I would be pissed. But on the consumer end, I don't see the big deal. Shop A doesn't have stock, proceed to shop B. Of course, I waited a year for the second run of MP Sideswipe, so I'm not generally fussed to have something yesterday. That's what I mean when I say an echo chamber of whining.

It's interesting in the link that Denyer posted that the "small shop" fellow cites a large profit margin per figure without revealing what he planned to charge for them. I don't understand what he's trying to say... that some figures have a large profit-margin, therefore business is evil? As even he said, if BBTS wholesale price is $30 a figure for a minimum purchase of 200 units, that's still $6000 up front. If you're running a smaller web store that only needs ten units, I don't see how he plans to not get squeezed out of business. He also says that everything went fine until invoice time, meaning he didn't pay up front for a large chunk of the run anyway.

Then there's also people complaining aboutBBTS having a monopoly on the figures and charging whatever they want, neatly ignoring the fact that their biggest competitor has them priced with a $1 of difference.

I mean, I understand the frustrations, and it's apparent that Warbotron's communications are, at best, lacking and, at worst, intentionally underhanded, but I'm failing to find any sympathy through the "plucky little mom & pop internet shop" angle.

Knightdramon wrote:Regardless, warbotron's non-communication of this exclusivity deal at all until the first day of the release is a very shady way of dealing, by my standards. I'm concerned over the company just packing up and going away without informing anybody, and leaving me with an incomplete gestalt, regardless of where I buy it from.

I seriously doubt they'll make a night flight when they've already gone through the trouble of designing and prototyping the things. As it stands, all that's left to do is produce the product and collect the money. If we had only seen silhouettes of the remaining figures and nothing concrete, that might be more of a concern.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Mon May 12, 2014 6:23 am

Clay wrote:
I seriously doubt they'll make a night flight when they've already gone through the trouble of designing and prototyping the things. As it stands, all that's left to do is produce the product and collect the money. If we had only seen silhouettes of the remaining figures and nothing concrete, that might be more of a concern.

Might be just me being paranoid, but we've had figures that went as far as test shots then we never even saw them for quite some time--or never.

Igear Impactor [Presser] and that not-Ironfist that just resurfaced are two prime examples of that.

Again, might be me, but the above, combined with their very lacking and shady communication to all other retailers, got me to pause.

Which is a pity because I'm really, really liking what I'm seeing from them.

Post by **Denyer** » Wed May 14, 2014 8:19 pm

Kapow seem confident and have lowered the pre-order price, so something's presumably happened behind the scenes.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Thu May 15, 2014 9:09 pm

Kapow is pretty much confirmed to be run by a crybaby man-child who openly attacks other UK retailers when they dare shop around and present better prices than him.

Not putting any stock at all at anything they carry, say or state anymore.

But generally speaking yes, the warbotron situation is better now.

Post by **Denyer** » Fri May 16, 2014 7:43 pm

They're rarely the best prices and the site interface is still poor (can't add separate shipping for individual dispatch with the generic cart system, for example, and out-of-stock isn't clearly indicated in listings) but decent selection and convenience factor.

edit: Not sure what to make of the guns apparently having been changed to black, eyes to orange and possibly the green changed. I like the green and purple eyes as is, and late changes are a surefire way to lose goodwill by pissing off a proportion of pre-orderers.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/members/t ... ticus.html

Ryan F · Post by **Ryan F** » Tue May 20, 2014 12:08 pm

Knightdramon wrote:Kapow is pretty much confirmed to be run by a crybaby man-child who openly attacks other UK retailers when they dare shop around and present better prices than him.

Not putting any stock at all at anything they carry, say or state anymore.

In the interests of fairness, I feel I must chime in here and say I've had nothing but great service from Kapow. They are quick to respond to emails, have great customer service, and are eager to help out on the rare occasion I've had a problem figure.

Yes, Andy's outbursts on TFW2005 were very much uncalled for (accusing another UK dealer of being a tax evader), but that aside I've had no problems with Kapow's service.