[En Sabah Nerd]

Last night my local comic shop had the new DCC animated figures, the only one I even thought about picking up was Two-Face. I didn't know if it would have the same QC everyone complains the Batman has so I decided to go home and watch some reviews to decide. Obviously I bought him, though I'm a little bummed because the clerk last night said he was only $15 but the computer rang him up at full $25. Overall I do really like him in hand, his legs are stiff and his feet are adorably tiny, but he looks so nice and his accessories are fun to look at and mess with.

[jmurray90720]

[PROVOST]

Today's mail arrivals -

[tweaksalot]

Sweet. Salvo was one of my favorites back in the day!

[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PROVOST

Today's mail arrivals -

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweaksalot

Sweet. Salvo was one of my favorites back in the day!

Salvo was one of my favorites as well. I loved that crazy assault rifle of his with the mines, and that rocket launcher was amazing. He's definitely a figure that needs to be redone!

Sweet find with the Desert Scorpion as well Provost. Also one of my favorites. I always used to use him as a scaled down version of the Predator when I was younger since he had that sweet backpack with the uzi on it. I wish Hasbro would have done him outside of the Collector's club figure...

[tgbobafett]

been trying for the past 2 days to upload 4 pictures I took on my phone and it wont let me...wassup w/ that? i didn't want to spam and have 4 posts or anything ya know!

[PROVOST]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweaksalot

Sweet. Salvo was one of my favorites back in the day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

Salvo was one of my favorites as well. I loved that crazy assault rifle of his with the mines, and that rocket launcher was amazing. He's definitely a figure that needs to be redone!

Sweet find with the Desert Scorpion as well Provost. Also one of my favorites. I always used to use him as a scaled down version of the Predator when I was younger since he had that sweet backpack with the uzi on it. I wish Hasbro would have done him outside of the Collector's club figure...

Yeah,Salvo is indeed awesome!!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on him here

[Il Cattivo]

[Falconhood]

BrainStorm
#transformers came in the mail by SacredKnightOfTomorrow, on Flickr
Acid Storm
#transformers by SacredKnightOfTomorrow, on Flickr

[Poison Shadow]

So, I got one of those Chinese bootleg BAF Groots in the mail, and I know at least one or two other people here have posted about it, so I'd like to compare notes. Are there multiple versions out there?

I could have sworn I've seen pics of one that seemed to have all of his shoulder articulation intact, as well as the wrists. Not only does this one not have the shoulder and wrist hinges, but he also has a red light in the middle of his chest. He also falls apart just standing still, and every limb is extremely loose.

Not complaining, mind you. I'm just curious if I picked a dud. The intention was always to turn this into a smart phone holder for my Sister in-law's desk at work, so his joints will be sculpted over anyway, but I am still considering getting one for my 3.75" shelf if there's a better version out there.

[Cyclopswc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poison Shadow

Ooooooh! I think you got the prototype of the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Iron Man Mark XXXXXXX GrootBuster Armor!

[K Dubious]

I have recently came across one of the bootlegs in person and it was great. Exact same articulation as yours (No Wrist, shoulder, Knee, or ankle joints), but the joints were tight, and yours is the first I have seen with the light up chest. I'm fairly sure this is done so that the Bootleggers can say it isn't an action figure it is a flashlight, which is very typical with bootlegs, but yours is the first Groot I have seen with it, so I guess the second wave of KO Groots are making their way around the globe.

[Nymesys Prime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poison Shadow

So, I got one of those Chinese bootleg BAF Groots in the mail, and I know at least one or two other people here have posted about it, so I'd like to compare notes. Are there multiple versions out there?

I could have sworn I've seen pics of one that seemed to have all of his shoulder articulation intact, as well as the wrists. Not only does this one not have the shoulder and wrist hinges, but he also has a red light in the middle of his chest. He also falls apart just standing still, and every limb is extremely loose.

Not complaining, mind you. I'm just curious if I picked a dud. The intention was always to turn this into a smart phone holder for my Sister in-law's desk at work, so his joints will be sculpted over anyway, but I am still considering getting one for my 3.75" shelf if there's a better version out there.

guess I was the only one who didn't notice there was a Groot in the picture!!

[Panthro1978]

[Trivial Psychic]

Picked up TMNT on Blu Ray from Best Buy yesterday...


And while I ranted a little while back on "Look What I Passed Up" thread about how much I hated the new looks and designs of the new "Robots In Disguise" show coming up, I did pick up Grimlock because I dug his "Transformers Animated" throwback look, and for some reason, this particular alt mode really reminded me of Godzilla. I'll probably be removing that "Hub" autobot sticker, for a reprolabel...that thing looks terrible. I also saw BB, Lockjaw and the Prowl-Wannabe bots as well, but they were a very easy pass compared to ole Grim here...



And just a thought, if the new show is supposed to take place chronologically after the end of "TF:Prime" on Cybertron, then what the hell is the point of calling the show "Robots In Disguise?" How are they exactly disguising themselves, when everyone in Cybertron can turn into a car or jet? They should have just called it TF:Animated II (Electric Boogaloo...)

One more detail that I left out, despite the new line being sinfully ugly, and offering nothing new in the ways of sculpts, size, and transformation, it seems that Hasbro will also be charging more for the new waves. Grimlock rang up at $16.99, two dollars more than the $14.99 Bayformers and Generation lines. Thankfully there were $14.99 stickers all over the aisle, so that's what they ended up honoring in the check out line.

Even worse so...despite the increase in price, Hasbro is also FAILING TO INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS with their deluxe figures now. All the instructions are now on the back of the blister card. So...they go cheap by leaving out the easy to collect and store instructions, and on top of that, raise the price? WTF Hasbro? Seriously?

[TimothyR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

Picked up TMNT on Blu Ray from Best Buy yesterday...


And while I ranted a little while back on "Look What I Passed Up" thread about how much I hated the new looks and designs of the new "Robots In Disguise" show coming up, I did pick up Grimlock because I dug his "Transformers Animated" throwback look, and for some reason, this particular alt mode really reminded me of Godzilla. I'll probably be removing that "Hub" autobot sticker, for a reprolabel...that thing looks terrible. I also saw BB, Lockjaw and the Prowl-Wannabe bots as well, but they were a very easy pass compared to ole Grim here...



And just a thought, if the new show is supposed to take place chronologically after the end of "TF:Prime" on Cybertron, then what the hell is the point of calling the show "Robots In Disguise?" How are they exactly disguising themselves, when everyone in Cybertron can turn into a car or jet? They should have just called it TF:Animated II (Electric Boogaloo...)

One more detail that I left out, despite the new line being sinfully ugly, and offering nothing new in the ways of sculpts, size, and transformation, it seems that Hasbro will also be charging more for the new waves. Grimlock rang up at $16.99, two dollars more than the $14.99 Bayformers and Generation lines. Thankfully there were $14.99 stickers all over the aisle, so that's what they ended up honoring in the check out line.

Even worse so...despite the increase in price, Hasbro is also FAILING TO INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS with their deluxe figures now. All the instructions are now on the back of the blister card. So...they go cheap by leaving out the easy to collect and store instructions, and on top of that, raise the price? WTF Hasbro? Seriously?

I've been complaining about this type of shit for a while now.

Hasbro is cutting costs left and right but the prices of the figures don't reflect the cost cutting. I mean, $17 for a figure with no ankle joints, no wrist joints, a ton more pins than screws, a super simplified transformation, lack of paint detail of any kind, and the cheapest lightest plastic you could imagine. It's truly unbelievable that they can get away with a $17 price tag.. The profit margin must be huge.

I understand that these are kids toys.. But why cheapen them and simplify them so much? I mean, they have the hyper change versions, the one step versions and the legends versions of these figures.. What about their older fans?

And don't give me generations, the upcoming combiner figures have the same exact problems.. Not too far into the future there won't be anything other than masterpiece transformers for collectors.. It's sad. Hasbro seems to be phasing out their transformers collector base.. Yet their other brands get figures seemingly intended for adults, the x-men, spider-man, guardians, iron man, and captain America legends figures all seem collector oriented and specifically the Star Wars black series figures.. Those are great.. Where's the transformers version of Star Wars black?

Star Wars has two clear sets of figures, the cheap 5 POA figures for kids, and the super nice, collector friendly black figures.. Transformers seems to orient everything towards little kids, even the stuff that should be collector friendly is cheap and lazy.

Hell, even hasbro's recently released version of masterpiece prowl is far cheaper than the takara version.. It's missing paint, and they used a completely different much cheaper and lighter plastic.. Yet they charged $70 for it.. You could get the takara version for $50 or $60 from some overseas etailers.

Sorry for the rant but, unlike you, I really like the designs on the new show, it just absolutely sucks that there aren't any decent figures of these designs.

[En Sabah Nerd]

I think costs of plastic are just increasing as other lines I buy are also slated to go up a dollar or two in the coming year.
Hasbro treated us too well with figures like their voyager Rhinox, it seems they gave us such great generations toys so it would hurt more when they did this. They feed on our misery.

In "what I just got" news, my final Christmas-ish item (Tacit Ronin from Pacific Rim) arrived in the mail today so now I can focus on finding things for my parents. Thanks for existing Amazon Prime!

[kylactus]

it's not the cost of plastic! the cost of the base materials (PVC) and the like have been static for the last decade. PLASTIC IS NOT LINKED TO PETROLIUM! the raw material cost is in no way the issue in the rising cost of toys. Its the changing labor market in Asia, namely the emerging middle class in China who are demanding higher wages and improved working conditions at overseas factories. The good news here is soon it will be more cost affective to just bring the production facilities back to the US.

[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimothyR

I've been complaining about this type of shit for a while now.

Hasbro is cutting costs left and right but the prices of the figures don't reflect the cost cutting. I mean, $17 for a figure with no ankle joints, no wrist joints, a ton more pins than screws, a super simplified transformation, lack of paint detail of any kind, and the cheapest lightest plastic you could imagine. It's truly unbelievable that they can get away with a $17 price tag.. The profit margin must be huge.

To be fair, the new Grimlock has decent articulation and paint apps (take that for what you will...considering the new show doesn't appear to use a huge color pallete to begin with.) but honestly, this toy is not worth a price increase to 16 bucks, nor would it be worth the 14 dollar price range most deluxes are now. These are easily 5 to 7 dollar figures at best. And I'm not buying the whole cost of plastic argument Hasbro gives either...lemme show you an example.



No fancy angles here...these are side by side. I have G.I.Joes and Marvel Unverse taller than Grimlock here. And is Hasbro seriously suggesting that the costs of plastic and paints justifies Grimlock being nearly as expensive as NECA's Godzilla...which is much heavier and sturdier plastic, not to mention a more finely painted one?

Despite my hatred of the new show's look, I love this new Grimlock. He's fun to transform, looks good, and is decently articulated, but the lack of instructions and the higher price point really pisses me off. It reminds me of what video games did a few years back by not including instruction manuals with full priced games, and how digital games, despite the lack of packaging, paper, and solid goods like discs, still sell at full price. Seriously, when is the cash grab truly enough?

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

it's not the cost of plastic! the cost of the base materials (PVC) and the like have been static for the last decade. PLASTIC IS NOT LINKED TO PETROLIUM! the raw material cost is in no way the issue in the rising cost of toys. Its the changing labor market in Asia, namely the emerging middle class in China who are demanding higher wages and improved working conditions at overseas factories. The good news here is soon it will be more cost affective to just bring the production facilities back to the US.

I didn't know Hasbro ever said anything about why prices are rising, I was just spitballing a possible reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

And I'm not buying the whole cost of plastic argument Hasbro gives either...lemme show you an example.



No fancy angles here...these are side by side. I have G.I.Joes and Marvel Unverse taller than Grimlock here. And is Hasbro seriously suggesting that the costs of plastic and paints justifies Grimlock being nearly as expensive as NECA's Godzilla...which is much heavier and sturdier plastic, not to mention a more finely painted one?

NECA has been better than Hasbro for giving more at the $20 price range. They are the very company I was using as reference when I previously mentioned price increases. When I asked on Twitter about the next set of Predators costing $21 a piece instead of the usual $18, Randy from NECA responded saying costs of making them goes up, so price goes up too.
I assume this refers to factory labor or something that would affect other companies as well due to Hasbro's increase in price.

[snake5289]

Received the Injustice Batman/Joker and Doomsday/Catwoman packs I ordered from Amazon today. So that's cool.

[Ninjinister]

[PROVOST]

Today's latest -

[Bradsdadg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

Picked up TMNT on Blu Ray from Best Buy yesterday...

Picked this one up as well, for my son. Got it for $15, figured that would be the best price for a while. At least before Xmas anyhow...

[Exodus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bradsdadg

Picked this one up as well, for my son. Got it for $15, figured that would be the best price for a while. At least before Xmas anyhow...

Dang where is it at for 15? Eh I'll just get the BB steel book one for 5 bucks more since I'm using my reward $ it's basically free.