I was at work today and my phone made that great sound that said that I had an email. Earlier my cousin told me that our case of Reveal the Shield figs were finally in stock so I hoped to see word that my ordered case of Warpath, Thundercracker, and Wheeljack would soon be on its way as well. Instead I received news that the Official Transformers Club had opened pre-orders up for this years exclusive toys... lets take a look...
ANIMATED/TRANSTECH CHEETOR: $52.00
First things first... sticker shock... I was blown away by the price for this figure. I can remember paying about 40 for my previous deluxes, but that still seems a bit steep. I really like how this figure looks. Firstly, they had Derrick Wyatt design the head mold, and if you have read the Allspark Almanac, you know how much detail he puts into his designs (but that is for another post... if you don't have the Allspark Almanac I or II, I highly recommend you pick them up!). The head mold is completely new, and the paint app looks incredibly detailed. Also its Animated! The Blurr mold has barely any use, and its awesome to see it resurrected for a new fig, an even giving us a taste of what Transtech would have been. The price still has be a bit surprised. I am really trying to figure out if I can rationalize this to myself, and more importantly to my wife for this investment.
GENERATION 2 RAMJET: $58.00
Hello sticker shock again! If i remember right the Seacons were like $89.00. Here we have a deluxe figure for 58 when two years ago I got a G1 Gestalt for twenty bucks more... whats the deal. Well since Cheetor is 52, then Ramjet should have so much remolds and new molds to make it more worth wild right? I have yet to see any remolding on this figure... so why the high price tag? Maybe because the seeker mold is a highly desirable mode, Hasbro wouldn't want to part with it. Hold it a second, remember the Decepticon Games set with not one but three Seekers... that had a price tag of 400 bucks, and it came with 3 seekers, a Bugbite, and a Voyager mold... something has to be up. And speaking of molds, Master Collector already had the mold changed for that missal too! I remember when I got my sets in the mail... hopefully Master collector remembers that the missal launchers are two separate molds this time. When I received my three Decepticon Games sets I was so happy to receive 2 lefts of each missal launcher, and 4 rights... making it great to call them and try to make it right. All I see of this mold is a way to milk the fans out of money. I am once again happy that I missed the Gen 2 Redux line because I don't even have to listen to my completest conscience. The way I see it this is complete waste of money... and Savage is just tying to dig into your wallet.
I love that the club is enlarging the universe that I love, but as of late I have been let down. Last year I missed Punch/Counter Punch because of what i consider bad planning, and this year any enthusiasm I have is kind of just eh. When Savage saved us from Hallet's going under and offered a free second year of membership for taking a first I was incredibly happy. However since that time I feel that Master Collector has been very little help. I have received damaged items from them, and I feel that they are just trying to rip off a captured population. I look at their club store and very seldom see a great deal or an amazing jump start for a collection. They were supposed to allow us to preorder and get our figs direct, but it seem as of late they are a dollar more expensive and a month behind.
This price reveal has just been another brick in the wall. To add insult to injury from what I found on TFW2005, the cheapest shipping is set at 15 bucks. so if you just get a deluxe G2 Ramjet your looking at a 73 dollar deluxe (12 dollar) figure. I have no problem paying a premium price for a premium product, but that price is astronomical. $125 for 2 deluxes shipped... PLEASE, I paid less for my complete G1 Metroplex!
As of last week I was on the fence whether these two would become part of my collection, and today I decided that I will leave Ramjet for another eager collector. I am still not sure about Cheetor, but I am definitely leaning toward a NO. I love that my club membership this year has went to my Sideburn and about 10 minutes of reading material, but I guess that's how the cooking crumbles.
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