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While the big reveals from today came from next year's continuation of the legacy line, the big reveal Hasbro kept for the end was Shattered Glass Soundwave. We saw that it was indeed based on the Netflix mold and that it has a new headsculpt which includes a headband. It was explained that they preferred to have the headband molded into the head rather than have a seperate piece of plastic. Of course, that means it looks more like a headband than a bandana ala Solid Snake. One cool thing to note is that the retailer incentive cover (so a variant found in comic shops) is drawn by none other than Hasbro designer himself Mark Maher.

Below is a link to the Hasbro Pulse preorder followed by images from today's event and official images.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transf ... iant-cover

Sabrblade wrote:Just to note that this mold's new deco and headsculpt are likely what allowed its use outside of the Netflix line, as a use of this mold in Legacy instead of the Siege mold would have been no different from the original Netflix deco, which is why Walmart prevented it from being rereleased unaltered at mass retail. The completely different deco and head are what enabled this mold to see use again.

I agree completely, but at the same time if that's all it takes then they should have done a new cartoon style head and a darker shade of blue (maybe swap out the silver for white, I know that's not always popular). I feel like they're using Walmart as an excuse not to do him when they've now demonstrated twice (SG Soundwave and Buzzworthy Goldbug) there are workarounds if they're willing to put in the work. They would make back the cost of a new head sculpt at retailer no problem.

Emerje

So was that the reason we got a VW Goldbug in Buzzworthy? Because he had a new head?

If that's the case, I'd love to see a Marvel G1 accurate purple Soundwave with a mouth. New head, new deco.

He looks glorious! Definitely worthy of a knighthood...

Rodimus Prime wrote:So was that the reason we got a VW Goldbug in Buzzworthy? Because he had a new head?

If that's the case, I'd love to see a Marvel G1 accurate purple Soundwave with a mouth. New head, new deco.

New head and different deco, yeah. The fact that it's the only one which didn't come with an extra head is very telling.

I love the headband!
Now I have to find something flowy to stick on the back to make him look like Ryu

william-james88 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:So was that the reason we got a VW Goldbug in Buzzworthy? Because he had a new head?

If that's the case, I'd love to see a Marvel G1 accurate purple Soundwave with a mouth. New head, new deco.

New head and different deco, yeah. The fact that it's the only one which didn't come with an extra head is very telling.

Of what exactly? I know that often an Exclusive that was previously offered elsewhere has to have a slight change in order to be considered different from the previous release, yet I don't see why it could have also included an extra head after all it was also a different deco.

It's apparent they're only able to utilize the VW model in a unique instance with one of those actually being G1 Bee for Walmart while the other is a separate bot at Target so it's certainly not retail specific on when they can use the VW License. It was likely too soon for them to reuse the VW mold for SS86 but that's where I would have loved to see VW BB again, my only hope is that version get another shot somewhere because it current hovers between $80-100. I suspect the Target Goldbug basically just set this back from happening even further.

A different deco is not enough here, it also has to have a change to the mold. Coming with both heads would make it technically the same version of the mold but with a bonus accessory.

Soo,

I don't want to be one of those people who grosses about the price, because I remember Botcon Exclusives and this isn't that different,

But comparatively, the same price for Soundwave vs the Trion/Orion sets this feels like less. And he is only one more tape than the Blaster that's in this set for an extra $20.aybe there is some extra heft in the molding that makes the difference but it gave me pause. I bought both tape players but I think I may regret it. Got spoiled by Pulse staying close to MSRP all this time

Flashwave wrote:And he is only one more tape than the Blaster that's in this set for an extra $20.aybe there is some extra heft in the molding that makes the difference but it gave me pause. I bought both tape players but I think I may regret it. Got spoiled by Pulse staying close to MSRP all this time

While I also agree that SW (and Flamewar for that matter) are asking more than they should, this comparison to Blaster is a false equivalency, since Blaster's single cassette is part of Blaster's mold and thereby gets made and is already paid for every time that Blaster mold is used. SW's compatriots are entirely separate molds, so this is effectively one figure (Blaster & Rewind) versus a multipack (SW + Ravage & Laserbeak).

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Flashwave wrote:And he is only one more tape than the Blaster that's in this set for an extra $20.aybe there is some extra heft in the molding that makes the difference but it gave me pause. I bought both tape players but I think I may regret it. Got spoiled by Pulse staying close to MSRP all this time

While I also agree that SW (and Flamewar for that matter) are asking more than they should, this comparison to Blaster is a false equivalency, since Blaster's single cassette is part of Blaster's mold and thereby gets made and is already paid for every time that Blaster mold is used. SW's compatriots are entirely separate molds, so this is effectively one figure (Blaster & Rewind) versus a multipack (SW + Ravage & Laserbeak).

Plus there's the exclusive comic.

william-james88 wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Flashwave wrote:And he is only one more tape than the Blaster that's in this set for an extra $20.aybe there is some extra heft in the molding that makes the difference but it gave me pause. I bought both tape players but I think I may regret it. Got spoiled by Pulse staying close to MSRP all this time

While I also agree that SW (and Flamewar for that matter) are asking more than they should, this comparison to Blaster is a false equivalency, since Blaster's single cassette is part of Blaster's mold and thereby gets made and is already paid for every time that Blaster mold is used. SW's compatriots are entirely separate molds, so this is effectively one figure (Blaster & Rewind) versus a multipack (SW + Ravage & Laserbeak).

Plus there's the exclusive comic.

The previous comics averaged around a $7 or $8 upcost, this one is double that. I'm thinking some of the extra cost came from the new head sculpt since it isn't part of the original mold. Some of the cost of UM probably came from that as well. SG Blurr's head was part of the mold already like Goldbug's so the price didn't get affected by that.

Emerje

Sabrblade wrote:What if the comic turns out to be double-length? Like, what if the story was too big to finish off in one final issue, that they needed to increase the length to finish it up properly? That'd make the comic more expensive.

Sounds like something they should/would have mentioned in the listing

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Flashwave wrote:And he is only one more tape than the Blaster that's in this set for an extra $20.aybe there is some extra heft in the molding that makes the difference but it gave me pause. I bought both tape players but I think I may regret it. Got spoiled by Pulse staying close to MSRP all this time

While I also agree that SW (and Flamewar for that matter) are asking more than they should, this comparison to Blaster is a false equivalency, since Blaster's single cassette is part of Blaster's mold and thereby gets made and is already paid for every time that Blaster mold is used. SW's compatriots are entirely separate molds, so this is effectively one figure (Blaster & Rewind) versus a multipack (SW + Ravage & Laserbeak).

Plus there's the exclusive comic.

The previous comics averaged around a $7 or $8 upcost, this one is double that. I'm thinking some of the extra cost came from the new head sculpt since it isn't part of the original mold. Some of the cost of UM probably came from that as well. SG Blurr's head was part of the mold already like Goldbug's so the price didn't get affected by that.

Emerje

Someone on facebook mentioned Pulse told them that hasbro has to charge more to make up the higher price of paying Walmart for the right to use their exclusive mold. The part that has me as a big skeptic of that is that no customer service has ever been that well informed about such a thing.

Speaking of being well informed, it was interesting for Hasbro to directly address the legal implications of using the word "convert" over "transform" in friday's stream.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:What if the comic turns out to be double-length? Like, what if the story was too big to finish off in one final issue, that they needed to increase the length to finish it up properly? That'd make the comic more expensive.

Sounds like something they should/would have mentioned in the listing

Emerje

What if they wanted it to be a surprise?

No surprise to be had, we have all the info on the comics on Previews, none are double. Plus, even if it was, the "exclusivity" tax has no linear correlation with the amount of pages.

https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/S ... D-GLASS-II

Sabrblade wrote:Broken pic.

it was a link, hence why it didnt work. fixed now

On a topic other than Soundwave and the "ouch" price...

Thought I had ages ago but didn't get 'round to articulating: I think they might have been able to get a Megatron closer to the original SG Megs by retooling TR Galvatron. Ditch the treads, the Galvatron crown, and the panel clipped to the waist, give him new paldrons and a new forward fuselage, add a piece on the back (taking advantage of both the pin brackets for the fuselage and a square socket on the back) with the wings, replace the faceplate...

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:On a topic other than Soundwave and the "ouch" price...

Thought I had ages ago but didn't get 'round to articulating: I think they might have been able to get a Megatron closer to the original SG Megs by retooling TR Galvatron. Ditch the treads, the Galvatron crown, and the panel clipped to the waist, give him new paldrons and a new forward fuselage, add a piece on the back (taking advantage of both the pin brackets for the fuselage and a square socket on the back) with the wings, replace the faceplate...

If they did SG Megs before WFC, sure. But with all that retooling they might as well use the most current mold, which is what they did. But a TR Galvatron is SG Megs colors would have looked good.

I pre-ordered Soundwave, though I am still not thrilled with the price.

Anyone else thinking about how Slicer is the next comic in line, but the preorder is for January, though Flamewar is for November and Soundwave December releases? I'm thinking Slicer comes this month, 3 months early by surprise.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I pre-ordered Soundwave, though I am still not thrilled with the price.

Anyone else thinking about how Slicer is the next comic in line, but the preorder is for January February, though Flamewar is for November and Soundwave December releases? I'm thinking Slicer comes this month, 3 months early by surprise.

I was initially uninterested in the SG line. But yeah, the prices are all kinds of crazy. Flamewar is $42 USD for a Deluxe and 1 BM (Basically a $27 retail value), while for just 7 dollars more (at $49 USD), you get Slicer & Ex-Suit (2 deluxe; basically a $44 value).

Flamewar is probably the worst offender. Soundwave isn't much better, but his popularity I'm sure will overcome most people's hesitancy.

This is especially frustrating since initially I had no issues avoiding the line altogether, but now I just want two *parts* of the most recent wave

Only Fireglide (from Flamewar), and the Exosuit (from Slicer). I'm probably better off hoping to look on eBay to see if anyone is selling them separately. This has worked in the past, but more recently it has been challenging. Nobody seems to want to sell Knightstick (from Selects Cyclonus) by itself.

Probably because those are a canonical pairing whereas things like the BM's that came with the Skywarp Amazon exclusive a few years back weren't.

I think I've realized why flamewar and Soundwave have such bad markups; whoever is in charge of pricing is misallocating each of the pack in bots as a "full size" core class figure for pricing. $25 deluxe flamewar+$11 'core' fireglide=$36,+$6 comic=$42. $35 voyager Soundwave+$11 'core' ravage+$11 'core' laserbeak=$57, +$6 comic=$63.