A HasLab Victory Saber shipped early by mistake from Hasbro’s Hong Kong fulfillment, and its photos show serious quality control problems. The issues include stickers instead of paint, paint slop, a filled-in socket and a damaged Victory Leo leg ratchet. HasLab Deathsaurus climbs past 6,000 backers as Japanese preorders open. Rise of the Beasts Deluxe Airazor shows up in hand and wins the crew over. Holiday Optimus Prime gets a designer behind-the-scenes, and a Stretch Armstrong Bumblebee surfaces in the UK.

Brian kicks off this year’s Elf on a Shelf Warmer push, drawing on his own experience as a poor child and an adoptive parent. Donations can go to a local drop box or through the wish list at tfradio.net/elf. He also thanks the TFW2005 member who wrote in to clarify a London Comic Con report the show covered last week.

News

HasLab Deathsaurus Passes 6,000 Backers

Deathsaurus sat at about 6,082 backers during the show, up roughly 60 in a day. Japanese preorders are opening, and international orders usually get added in chunks. The crew expects another bump when color photos arrive. One host compares it to the Engine of Vengeance, which stalled after missing its early-bird goal, and to the slow-building Sky Striker. Don wishes the campaign came with subtitled Victory episodes so new fans could see the character. [Source: not found]

Victory Saber In Hand, With QC Problems

A production copy shipped early by Hasbro’s Hong Kong fulfillment shows stickers on Victory Leo’s wing where the samples were painted. The Brainmasters have paint slop, and one saber socket is filled in. One Victory Leo leg ratchet is missing or damaged. The crew notes there is no data yet on whether this copy is an outlier. One host explains quality control as minimizing variability and wonders about the odds the worst copy went out first. Another shares anecdotes that Asian-market product sometimes shows weaker QC. Backers have not received address-confirmation emails yet, and the crew urges Hasbro to get ahead of the concern. [Source: TFW2005]

Transformers: EarthSpark Episode One Goes Up on YouTube

The first episode was posted officially on YouTube ahead of the Friday debut on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon. The crew expects weekly episodes rather than a full-season drop and plans to discuss it next week. [Source: not found]

Rise of the Beasts Deluxe Airazor In Hand

The crew likes the look, calling it a perfect crossover of a beast toy and a movie toy. One host compares it to Energon Divebomb and wants a paint wash to bring out the sculpt. Blade says on Twitter that Rise of the Beasts will not count toward his Beast Wars collection, but he will buy them all if they look like this. [Source: Autobase Aichi]

Holiday Optimus Prime Behind the Scenes from Mark Maher

One host loves the holiday Optimus Prime and preordered one. The crew discusses rumors the mold began as the canceled Amazon Optimus Prime. Another notes Volvo licensing limits how many redecos make sense. [Source: Mark Maher, Instagram]

Stretch Armstrong Bumblebee Turns Up in the UK

So far it appears only in UK retail. One host expects more licensed products like it as Hasbro’s new leadership leans on licensing. Don worries a flood of cheap licensed products could dilute the brand. [Source: Kiddimax]

What We Got This Week

Don

Don’s Transformers pickup is Toyworld HMS Warspite, a third-party take on movie Jetfire as a World War II battleship, preordered about two years ago. He praises its weathering, tight fit and individually adjustable turrets. It can reportedly combine with Studio Series Optimus Prime.

Diecast

Diecast’s Studio Series Crosshairs arrived from Amazon with part of the roof and wing loose in the box. One host recalls Sam Smith saying on Instagram that the roof plate is meant to come off for a cleaner robot mode. Hasbro Pulse accidentally sent Diecast two of the second Masterpiece trainbot. Studio Series 86 Ironhide also arrived, still unopened.

Rob

Rob got Legacy Crankcase to go with his Gundam order. He finds the chest does not lock down as well as Skids, and the car mode feels under tension. Still, he is glad to have another Scavenger.

Brian

Brian finds Studio Series 86 Ironhide floppy and not worth the price. Ness in Discord compared it to Universe Ironhide. He opened BotBots series six and calls the pizza car a garbage partsformer. He grabbed the last discounted Masterpiece Optimus Prime base from Dorkside Toys after a Discord tip. With the yen low, he got MP-13B Ratbat with its Soundblaster. Diecast found him a Henkei Megatron at TFCon. He added a boxed G1 God Bomber to pair with his boxed Super Ginrai.

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