Studio Series discussion

[lastmaximal]

"But I don't WANNA pay the aftermarket prices, WAAAAAAHH!!!!!!"

If I'm being totally honest? I've sounded like this in the past (to be fair, the aftermarket can be r o u g h).

In this entire conversation, I've been speaking from a context that has for all my collecting life had to deal with aftermarket prices for things that are exclusive to the US and exclusive to Japan. If not for The Allspark and, more specifically, some helpful and generous (with their time and effort) friends I've made on here, I'd have maybe less than half of what I've been able to have over all that time. Getting almost anything outside what regular retail imports (sometimes a wave or two is skipped) has always been work. And that's just the US stuff. Takara stuff? Specialty store ONLY.

So I get it. Yeah, it do be like that sometimes. I've heard the WAH EXCLUSIVES complaint and even joined in it for decades. It can be difficult, and worse, it can be costlier than usual. And it's only ramped up further over the course of WFC on, when each line would have a sizeable chunk of it as exclusives (and some of it characters that completed subsets, like the Seekers and Datsuns etc). It can be frustrating, if only for the extra work and cost it can slap on.

But exclusives have always been a key part of how the brand stays prominent. Actually a good indicator that the brand is doing well. Necessary evil, if you like. And on a practical level, where I am, distribution and specialty stores have gotten so much better at ensuring supply is there for the demand over the last 8-10 years or so (barring the supply chain weirdness that affected things like the Earthrise exclusives), so it doesn't suck as much as it used to. And the costs aren't even insane.

But regardless of that, it's always just been something to just grit my teeth and deal with. I'm following a property for which there are two main providers that we have to import from. It all comes with hoops to jump through. If you want to collect this, this is how.

And ultimately that's been a healthier position to take, versus taking for granted that I should have a steady stream of stuff primarily made available for my environment (as some US or Japan based buyer's might) and coming to believe that anything outside of that is a personal affront.

It actually strikes me as a bit odd of a complaint to be voicing so venomously in 2026, when (1) the online option is so robust as to allow for various avenues to get these, and (2) stuff that proves to be messily elusive can be rereleased as package refreshes or in alternate formats -- this very figure is seeing its second release, minus four hangers-on.

It's a little jarring, and frankly the vitriol and reductiveness in that one screenshot felt incredibly alien. It makes me grateful that if I'm in an echo chamber, it's one that doesn't wallow in adolescent bitching.

 

[lastmaximal]

Oh no, lastmaximal just made the list!

 

[lastmaximal]

New SS Devastation Bumblebee looks great, and like a huge glowup over SS '86 Bumblebee.

This is pretty neat, but I'm more or less good as far as having G1 Bumblebee. If I get one more it may be the SS86 one (to upgrade with a 3P head of a non-sour expression), as I was surprised at how charming and fun I found it when I got Bumper. There's just something so pleasing about the chonk and character of it, and the lack of partsforming (partly the annoyance of removing and reattaching at all, and partly the worry of the tight fit of the trunk shield pegs into the hand holes) helps its case a lot.

This one I'll wait for a redeco of, hopefully as a new character. But it looks REALLY nice (there's something oddly comforting in seeing what is pretty exactly the Classics "shoes") and is a pretty cool surprise. Tbh if he'd also been smiling like the Classics one, I might have been a BIT more tempted.

 

[unluckiness]

If I could get a Japanese exclusive repaint of a figure from a Japanese exclusive line in the United States then someone in Japan can get an exclusive figure from one of the US' largest big box retailers.

We get neither Japanese or American exclusive toys officially in a consistent manner. It’s been like that ever since I’ve been buying toys. It sucks but them’s the breaks. I’m just glad Botcon never actually made a set that I needed.

when Haslab decided that the Eastern hemisphere pays double for Omega Prime, I made one or two posts about it then talked to US based relatives that currently dislike my part of the family, smoothed that dispute over, convinced them to vacation in the Philippines, then waited eight months to get Omega Prime. Also had to walk somebody through video call crack inspection. At the same time, I was setting money aside to buy it at the inflated price just in case.

We have like a hundred San Diegos in our country but Mattel decided that only the San Diego in California gets the Hammond Collection Buck T-Rex. I looked up eBay prices, posted one time about it and decided that I wouldn’t shell out despite my sentimental connection to the green T-Rex. Thankfully, an alternative popped up but that just goes to show that collecting is ultimately a waiting game.

You either want things enough to find a way logistically/financially/whatever to get them or you make due without. These are playthings at the end of the day.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

I don't know the last time I actually bought a Target exclusive in a Target store. 2007 maybe? They're always easy enough to find online. Walmart exclusives have been way more hit or miss.

When I lived up in Iowa, Target exclusives were really easy to get in store, as well as the Walmarts I had access to. Since moving to Oklahoma, exclusives across the board have been more hit and miss than I was used to up north. Walmart has only in the past few years really gotten better about availability online to make an impact. Target is generally good in store, but a bit iffier online.

And that’s ALL dependent on the exclusive itself. Some things are just more popular, it seems. Around here, I’m kind of screwed given it’s a 45 minute drive to a town large enough to support more than Walmart, which makes exclusives viable.

We get neither Japanese or American exclusive toys officially in a consistent manner. It’s been like that ever since I’ve been buying toys. It sucks but them’s the breaks. I’m just glad Botcon never actually made a set that I needed.

when Haslab decided that the Eastern hemisphere pays double for Omega Prime, I made one or two posts about it then talked to US based relatives that currently dislike my part of the family, smoothed that dispute over, convinced them to vacation in the Philippines, then waited eight months to get Omega Prime. Also had to walk somebody through video call crack inspection. At the same time, I was setting money aside to buy it at the inflated price just in case.

We have like a hundred San Diegos in our country but Mattel decided that only the San Diego in California gets the Hammond Collection Buck T-Rex. I looked up eBay prices, posted one time about it and decided that I wouldn’t shell out despite my sentimental connection to the green T-Rex. Thankfully, an alternative popped up but that just goes to show that collecting is ultimately a waiting game.

You either want things enough to find a way logistically/financially/whatever to get them or you make do without. These are playthings at the end of the day.

While I readily admit that, being in the US, I got it FAR better than international fans. But where I live, my lone Walmart is darn stingy on its offerings, meaning I’ve been online-first for more than a decade now. And as stated, “hunting” would require a 45 minute drive EACH WAY to a town big enough to have more than a piddly single Walmart.
As an American, gas is ”cheap”, but an hour and a half drive starts to add up in gas, vehicle wear, and even money for the CHANCE of finding what I’m looking for. Physical retail just seems to suck around me for the last couple years…

I’ve taken the perspective of “if I’m really meant to have it, a purchasing opportunity will present itself at a cost I’m comfortable with”. And it’s largely done me good, even if it means having to wait for demand to die down, or for an additional production run from the manufacturer. Yes, I’ve missed out on things (looking at you, GI Joe stuff), but “toy karma” usually provides in other ways.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

1/ Exclusives are great, but they should (and often have been) of minor characters and/or special versions of characters, such as the upcoming "Green Lio Convoy" in Japan or the "He-Man/TF crossover figures" in the US. We can take them or leave them.

2/ Exclusives of main characters are not acceptable, especially when they are the only version of those characters at the time.

3/ Importing (American) figures into Japan is far too expensive. Shipping has always cost too much, plus scalper prices (and now these days), plus US tarrifs and plus the weak Yen all contribute to a final price that is far too expensive.

As stated before, Hound hasn't been recently released at mass retail globally and that's not cool.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

I’ve taken the perspective of “if I’m really meant to have it, a purchasing opportunity will present itself at a cost I’m comfortable with”. And it’s largely done me good, even if it means having to wait for demand to die down, or for an additional production run from the manufacturer. Yes, I’ve missed out on things (looking at you, GI Joe stuff), but “toy karma” usually provides in other ways.

I hope so too. I would have thought that the second release of Hound would have been a good time for that character to be released to the masses, but it seems that his fate is to be similar to that of Prowl's...

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

That wasnt very nice.

You're right, it wasn't. I just don't normally encounter such apologist or dismissive comments at this site these days, so my counter to that was probably a little too much. My apologies.

 

[LordGigaIce]

1/ Exclusives are great, but they should (and often have been) of minor characters and/or special versions of characters, such as the upcoming "Green Lio Convoy" in Japan or the "He-Man/TF crossover figures" in the US. We can take them or leave them.

2/ Exclusives of main characters are not acceptable, especially when they are the only version of those characters at the time.

Here's the thing. This is a Target exclusive, one of the largest big box retailers in the largest consumer market in the world. Sure, it's an exclusive, but it'll be one of the more wider available exclusives. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a seller who can get you one at cost plus shipping.

Again, ML Sentinel Prime was a Japanese convention exclusive repaint of a Japanese exclusive mould from a Japanese exclusive line. I really wanted it though, so I paid a premium to swing it.

Hound, even accounting for import costs, shouldn't be anywhere near that level of headache. So spare me.

You're right, it wasn't. I just don't normally encounter such apologist or dismissive comments at this site these days...

You compared a retailer with 2000 locations across the largest consumer economy in the world to a corner store in Botswana. You deserved what you got.

You either want things enough to find a way logistically/financially/whatever to get them or you make due without. These are playthings at the end of the day.

Pretty much. The new price increases in the US to account for tariffs are what these things have cost in Canada for at least fifteen years. Moving to the US and getting this stuff at a discount relative to what I grew up with was really cool for a bit, but I'm not as doom and gloom over this stuff as a lot of people in the US are. It's unfortunate, but I'm used to being picky and choosy. This has been normal for me far longer then not.

 

[Sabrblade]

If I'm being honest, Hound has never really ever struck me as being a "main" character outside of like, Episodes 1 and 2 of the G1 cartoon. Sure, he was always around throughout the first two seasons, but more as a side character than a main. A recurring one, but he always had such minor supporting roles and was more defined by his hologram gimmick than his personality. Those first two episodes really were his sole time in the spotlight as a real focal character.

Same with his comic appearances. He's always had a presence, but rarely as one of the main leads. That is, up until recently with his role the Skybound G.I. Joe comics. But even then, he's the sole Autobot who actually features in that series, so it took making sure there were no other Autobots around at all for him to finally be the main Autobot in the limelight.

Like so many other G1 Autobots, Hound's really felt like "Always a groomsman, rarely a groom."

 

[lastmaximal]

I don't really disagree with any of that, Sabrblade, but you know as well as I do that none of that matters because the sole rationale is "wah a thing isn't available right at my doorstep wah".

 

[Sabrblade]

Heh, I'm also one who deliberately skipped out on Cosmos. I just didn't feel the need to get him.

I'm not obsessed with recreating the entire lineup of 1984/1985 bit players.

 

[unluckiness]

Personally, it's not Hound for me unless his feet have an area code. This Hound's feet need to be at least three times bigger than this.

I don't really disagree with any of that, Sabrblade, but you know as well as I do that none of that matters because the sole rationale is "wah a thing isn't available right at my doorstep wah".

Of note is that the few times Takara decided to release Hasbro exclusives, he was then grumbling about the price.

 

[Sabrblade]

Of note is that the few times Takara decided to release Hasbro exclusives, he was then grumbling about the price.

He really shouldn't be so surprised considering how much more expensive Transformers toys (even the normal retail ones) usually are in Japan when compared to the rest of the world.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Personally, it's not Hound for me unless his feet have an area code. This Hound's feet need to be at least three times bigger than this.

So he needs a DNA Designs upgrade kit.

 

[Platypus Prime]

"These boots are made for walkin', they're also made in China, so their import duties are rather excessive, and-"

-The day Hound's shoes were not delivered.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Yes. I hate what the toon did to Hound. He needs big feet.

Help me, Missing Link. You're my only hope.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

Yes. I hate what the toon did to Hound. He needs big feet.

Help me, Missing Link. You're my only hope.

There's always Henkei Henkei Hound.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

As stated before, Hound hasn't been recently released at mass retail globally and that's not cool.

So…why hasn’t Takara bothered to release it? That sounds like the bigger, immediate, issue.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

So…why hasn’t Takara bothered to release it? That sounds like the bigger, immediate, issue.

My grievance is with Hastak in general, so yes, that's an issue. Although there might have been times when Takara has released individual figures from Hasbro multipacks (even quite recently, but I can't remember which figure it was), it seems that the (possible) 'good old days' of TT releasing most of the main figures (regardless of their exclusivity elsewhere) are somewhat diminished?

Still, hope springs eternal.