I'd say that's less an attitude than it is the reality of the current retail climate.
If the rumours are true, Hasblo are back to their anti-consumer shenanigans by selling off core-class Ramhorn and Ratbat with an unwanted/irrelevant Perceptor.
Every time Hasblo does this, they leave my money on the table.
As for shopping preferences, I use online 100% now. It's just cheaper and with pre-orders at Amazon Japan, TT Mall (for the handful of exclusives) and/or ShowZ, I'm guaranteed availability. I gave up on even bothering to look for TFs at retail about 10-15 years ago in Japan after Toys R Us Japan stopped carrying them consistently.
Every time Hasblo does this, they leave my money on the table.
As for shopping preferences, I use online 100% now. It's just cheaper and with pre-orders at Amazon Japan, TT Mall (for the handful of exclusives) and/or ShowZ, I'm guaranteed availability. I gave up on even bothering to look for TFs at retail about 10-15 years ago in Japan after Toys R Us Japan stopped carrying them consistently.
With this recent M.A.S.K.-related interest, just casually throwing it out there that a new M.A.S.K. toy is coming here.
I don't really see this as Anti-Consumer in any way. If the Core Class is going away, they had to find something to pack it in with. These being Studio Series figures, they were going to be with someone from the movie. Blaster would make more sense, but since that's a voyager that would make for a more expensive set, and would be just as redundant. Perceptor is also in that scene, so he's the next most logical character to pack them in with.
If I had my druthers, they'd come with opaque Eject and Rewind as a 4-pack of cassettes, but since Eject/Rewind is built into the Blaster mold (I believe), I don't think that's an option.
I'd prefer to buy at retail, but distribution sucks. And I no longer work at Target, so I can't grab stuff right off the truck anymore. So I preorder online, and if I see it in person first, I cancel the order and pick it up; but if not, BBTS gets my money.
Same. I do miss "the hunt" as it was a fun way to get out of the office and kill time during my lunch hour back when that was a thing I had. Now I can't count on ever seeing any particular thing in stores. I'll always see SOMETHING, but you never know what will actually make it onto the shelves, so if there is something I HAVE to have, it gets pre-ordered.
When gas was cheaper and stores were closer it made sense. When gas is $3+ it doesn't take a long trip before not finding something equaled shipping, and many places have free shipping anyway.
And re: Instagram, I could see it ONCE on one computer before it locked it, and another I couldn't see anything, so clearly, mileage may vary.
And re: Instagram, I could see it ONCE on one computer before it locked it, and another I couldn't see anything, so clearly, mileage may vary.
Retail distribution’s gotten worse and the same toys are less expensive buying from online specialty stores around here. There is legitimately no reason to go retail as a collector aside from impulse buys.
There's something to be said to being able to see the figure before you buy it so you can avoid getting one with a bad paintjob or factory damage or whatever.
So people outside the gaming community misuse anti-consumer as well.
Packing figures with another figure that you personally do not care about is not what anti-consumer means.
I agree that retail distribution for Transformers is pretty bad (I work in retail auto parts, so my preference to support brick and mortar is more on principle as a solidarity thing), and I have a Pile of Loot at BBTS for the "must-haves", so it's not like I don't buy online at all, I just prefer to make most of my purchases in-person; beyond the reasons already stated, I do like the thrill of the hunt, and there are a lot of figures I want to see in-person before I pull the trigger on them.
That said, I have probably been unnaturally lucky: the last wave of figures I never saw in retail was the Devcon/Axlegrease deluxes. Before that was way back in Earthrise, the Sunstreaker/Trailbreaker wave (and the Runabout Target exclusive). I found Netflix Bumblebee and Soundwave, Velocitron Cosmos and Crasher, and Toxitron Sideswipe, all in stores, at least twice. It probably helps that my wife regularly travels to Ohio to visit her family, and is willing to check Transformers when she stops at stores along the way, on top of having several Walmarts and Targets within a 60-mile radius that we fairly regularly visit on family excursions (we're more Journey people than Destination people). Even then, I come away empty-handed more often than not.
So, yeah, for most people, I can see the appeal, and even need, to rely on online sources for Transformers, the retail stores just aren't that reliable and consistent a source most times. And yet, it seems like the retail sales numbers are what determines what Hasbro's product offerings are. So, it's definitely a conundrum.
That said, I have probably been unnaturally lucky: the last wave of figures I never saw in retail was the Devcon/Axlegrease deluxes. Before that was way back in Earthrise, the Sunstreaker/Trailbreaker wave (and the Runabout Target exclusive). I found Netflix Bumblebee and Soundwave, Velocitron Cosmos and Crasher, and Toxitron Sideswipe, all in stores, at least twice. It probably helps that my wife regularly travels to Ohio to visit her family, and is willing to check Transformers when she stops at stores along the way, on top of having several Walmarts and Targets within a 60-mile radius that we fairly regularly visit on family excursions (we're more Journey people than Destination people). Even then, I come away empty-handed more often than not.
So, yeah, for most people, I can see the appeal, and even need, to rely on online sources for Transformers, the retail stores just aren't that reliable and consistent a source most times. And yet, it seems like the retail sales numbers are what determines what Hasbro's product offerings are. So, it's definitely a conundrum.
It's interesting, the new deluxe Prime is a bit smaller than I'd prefer (most would probably agree Voyager would have been better), no trailer, there are some paint apps/sticker details missing, places that are gray where they could be silver with more budget, the matrix is clear blue instead of normal colours. If we weren't already apparently getting a Studio Series 86 Commander Prime, I'd say this was all a setup to have a "premium" rerelease of the deluxe Prime down the road, with the trailer and slightly different deco. Doesn't it kind of FEEL like that, though? (for the record I think it looks pretty good for what it is).
They’ll probably have some sort of premium release with a trailer at some point, maybe in a year or so, probably as an exclusive, as to not compete with missing Link. Might even use the rumored SS Commander trailer.
They could have sold them with Steeljaw instead or even via a non-SS line with some other cassettes (Enemy, Roseanna, Sundor etc). Heck, even a repainted deluxe as a brand new character wouldn't have hurt. Instead, the only way to get a new mold is to buy it with a figure many of us already have, at a price that's much more than it would have been on its own. I'd say that was pretty anti-consumer.
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Missing Link is also available without the trailer though, so isn't it competing with that version now?
Yeah but the version without the trailer is in cartoon colors. It's different enough.
i believe there was a dodgy 3P/KO Dinobot combiner that had an ankylosaurus bot that wasn't half bad for around $30 dollars. You might want to get it just for that figure?
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I went ahead and put in a pre-order for him just to have an Optimus to put on my desk at work. I think he looks cool for what he is, but he won't be in with my primary collection display. Now if before he's released we hear about a new premium edition , I might cancel this preorder.