HasLab Unicron fan reviews land, and the crew dissects what changed from the prototype. The planet-mode maw is blue instead of orange, the lower teeth are unpainted blue, and the tiny Galvatron figure shrank to a blob. John leads the discussion, and the crew debates cost-cutting and what crowdfunding owes backers. A leaked Movie Masterpiece Optimus Prime box and a new Transformers Monopoly round out the news. Studio Series 86 Blurr and Kup start arriving.

News

Movie Masterpiece Optimus Prime Box Leaks

A low-quality photo on Weibo shows what looks like a Movie Masterpiece box for Bumblebee movie Optimus Prime. Two hosts think it looks fake, and one compares its layout to his Movie Masterpiece Ironhide box. Still, the crew agrees the figure is overdue. One host hopes a Masterpiece version fixes the flimsy Studio Series truck mode. [Source: not found]

Monopoly: Transformers Edition

A new Transformers Monopoly set appeared. One host owns the premium Transformers Monopoly set shown at HasCon 2017, which includes Unicron. He says Monopoly editions are hit and miss on their tokens. Another host still has an older Transformers Monopoly set sealed. [Source: Big Bad Toy Store]

Kingdom Commercial

A War for Cybertron: Kingdom commercial surfaced online. Brian neither loved nor hated it, and he says Transformers ads have been dull for years. [Source: not found]

HasLab Unicron Production Changes

HasLab Unicron fan reviews began on February 8 after an apparent embargo. John lays out three changes from the prototype on the HasLab page. The planet-mode maw is blue rather than orange. The lower teeth in robot mode are unpainted blue while the upper teeth are silver. The Galvatron mini figure shrank from headmaster size to a barely recognizable blob, though Rodimus turned out fine.

Diecast, who bought two, says the prototype set the expectation for a $600 dream project. He notes the orange plating looks better than before. Don argues Hasbro must address it or future HasLab projects will suffer. Brian thinks the changes come down to cost-cutting and suggests Hasbro drop HasLab. Rob says backers who paid $600 up front should not care about Hasbro’s realities. He adds that Star Wars HasLabs answer to a licensor, while Transformers does not. John says crowdfunding creates a closer contract with fans that Hasbro may not be built for. A patron in chat calls crowdfunding a giant corporation on its own website silly.

What We Got This Week

Rob got Studio Series 86 Blurr. It looks far more like Blurr, but he prefers handling the Titans Return mold.

Diecast got Studio Series 86 Blurr and Kup from Amazon and is keeping them in the box. He thinks Blurr’s face is a little long. Jazz has not shipped yet.

Matt got Kingdom Warpath and loves it. He dislikes some plastic colors and finds no good place for the shield in robot mode.

Brian got Studio Series 86 Blurr and Kup, which take more origami than he expected but look great. He also got his first non-junker G1 Optimus Prime. The box is rough and the trailer has a broken peg, but the cab is in shocking shape.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16:15 — 70.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More