Robots in Disguise (2001) Appreciation Thread

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Looking the entry, it also says "initial product" was what was opened, so mine could have been from a later production batch.

I'll see if I can verify that statement with the wiki staff.

Meanwhile (and to get us back on topic), I'll also see if I can dig up any info on where we originally heard about the drop test being what prevented the Brave Max import from being released.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Unfortunately, both the Encore releases of G1 Fort Max and God Fire Convoy didn't do so well, with the former sitting unsold at online retailers for a long time,
*curses up a violent storm*

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Yet by the time I could afford one again... vwoosh. To the moon, those prices went.

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Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
*curses up a violent storm*

Yet by the time I could afford one again... vwoosh. To the moon, those prices went.
Looking at my purchase history from BBTS, the Encore retailed for $330 USD (plus shipping).

After a quick Google search, the one place that seems to still have it in stock and not for an outrageous price is RoboToyBase at $300 USD. Though, like places like RobotKingdom and TFSafari, they're based over in Hong Kong, so shipping will bump up the price by a lot, but still less than the doubled, tripled, and quadrupled prices you'll find on eBay and such.

I'd say, if you really want it, to keep an eye on this listing and save up what you can until you're financially ready to bring this big boy home. :)
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Meanwhile (and to get us back on topic), I'll also see if I can dig up any info on where we originally heard about the drop test being what prevented the Brave Max import from being released.
I looked into this and found something pretty interesting.

According to several reports from BotCon 2002 (July 26-28, 2002) on ATT, the drop test failure didn't cancel the Brave Maximus import outright, but rather delayed it, with the reports saying that Hasbro hoped to see it eventually released the following year in 2003 instead of 2002, after first finding a way to somehow fix the plastic. So despite this delay, they were still trying to get it released that long after. This matches up with Nevermore's product code findings placing the RID Fort Max release in April/May 2003. Looking over the Armada toyline's wave release dates, RID Fort Max coming in April/May 2003 would have placed its release smack dab in the middle of Armada's run, during the transitional period between the final waves of the figures that came in the blue packaging and the first waves of The Unicron Battles.

Additionally, a 2006 report on Iacon One from Steve-o Stonebraker mentioned the following:
The "drop test" we heard about for RID Fortress Maximus has an additional element that hasn't been discussed previously: drops done in-package. It wasn't all that clear at the panel, but he later clarified it for me. The drop test we heard about before, where the toy has to not break in dangerous ways, is indeed done. But they also drop packaged toys to see how damaged the box gets, whether the toy gets damaged inside, whether it gets knocked out of position so it won't be in the bubble in the right way, etc.. The Fort Max packaging couldn't take this beating, and that was at least one contributor to the reason he wasn't brought over here.
The phase "at least one contributor" suggests there was more to it than just the drop test failure.

Based on what The Predaking said about FAO being on the decline during 2002-2003, it was likely a combination of both the closure of several FAO stores at that point and the drop test failures that led to RID Fort Max's release being canceled. Though, while FAO would have been the exclusive brick-and-mortar retailer for the set, it would have also been exclusive to certain online retailers like Big Bad Toy Store, Entertainment Earth, Marz Distribution, and Action Figure Xpress. But I'd bet that Hasbro was wanting the figure to have a brick-and-mortar presence first and foremost, since widespread online shopping was still a relatively new thing at the time. And the closure and ultimate bankruptcy of FAO Schwartz likely contributed to the cancelation of RID Fort Max's release, which was first confirmed in September 2002.

Although, I can think of one more thing that probably led to its cancelation: Armada Unicron. By late 2002, Hasbro would have already been working on that figure, and likely wanted it to be the big centerpiece that the fandom would focus on more than anything else. A new western release of the much larger G1 Fort Max mold could have potentially stolen Unicron's thunder. It wouldn't surprise me if someone higher up at Hasbro was like "The Robots in Disguise cartoon line is dead and gone. We're well into Armada now, and we want Armada Unicron to be next big deal. Fortress Maximus keeps failing the drop test, and FAO Schwartz is going under. So let's save ourselves a lot of money and hassle, and just can that release and move on."
 
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lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I mean, the drop test failure simply happening at all already makes it "at least one contributor" to the release being scuttled.

I am fascinated by how drop tests also test the packaged toy. Always thought it was just the toy itself. But this makes sense.

Still baffled by the choice to go with FAO Schwartz for this, but that might be a lack of familiarity with the chain and looking at it from 20 years into the future.

Man, I miss Botcon reports. Good times living vicariously through reading those. These days all I'd have to choose from would be vlogs, which are not my thing.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I mean, it was first released back in 2013. The fact that it's been sitting unsold on that site for 11 years is a pretty good sign.

(Just don't spread the word that they still have one left)
Heh, whoops.

But yeah, we'll see. My luck, either they sell it before I can get to it, or worse.

We'll see.

Oh, and thanks for finding it for me! With any luck, that won't have been in vain.
 

Dake

Well-known member
Citizen
It's semantics, but we have a current instance of a retail partner pulling out of a plan with Target changing their minds about the Buzzworthy entrants. It's entirely possible it was FAO's management that said "Yeah, we can't take this on amidst all the other issues we're having." Once they backed out, there was nowhere else to slot Max in.
 


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