So the other day I pre-ordered TakaraTomy 2010 Unicron and the Masterpiece ‘Corpse’ Convoy as I call it with a friend from Robotkingdom. Of course this means I won’t be seeing either the MP4S or the Unicron until this September, but what the heck? Happy birthday to me.
Before I placed the order I made a quick little joke – “You know, once we place this pre-order, Hasbro is going to announce their release of 2010 Unicron.” My friend didn’t think that was so funny.
So it got me thinking – is Hasbro going to release the big guy again? When Hasbro announced they were releasing Unicron in the Universe line, most of us hoped for exactly what we are seeing TakaraTomy release this coming September. Instead, it was just Armada Unicron repackaged in a Supreme Universe box.
I’ve also been informed that although Masterpiece Sleep Mode Convoy is limited to 2010 pieces, the preorders for Unicron will dictate how many of the figure will be produced, much like Henkei Skywarp, Thundercracker, Thrust, and Dirge. The figures will somewhat be made to order based on the Toy Hobby Market preorder numbers.
It was recently that a supposed exclusive Transformer figure named Thrust found its way back into the United States from Japan with its newly remolded parts. What’s to stop Hasbro from producing this new Unicron with its fancy new head? The only thing I can think of were the poor sales of the previous 2 Unicrons, but those didn’t match the Generation 1 homage we really were craving.
So that’s the predicament us all-seeing Transformers illuminati find ourselves in: predict the market and get the figure you want based on your educated intuition and lose out if your predictions doesn’t come true… or spend the money the first time, and feel regret when the figure gets released stateside.
It’s a tough call, but anyone who actually bought King Grimlock for a measley crown might be wise to consider the possibilities…
And also of note – The Toy Hobby Market 2010 Unicron pre-orders don’t close until after after Botcon, which is where the US version of the figure would be announced. I see what you did there…