But Rattrap was worth the wait considering he was the most show accurate mold up to the date! Followed soon after by one of the Optimus Primals and the giant Cheetor. Sad part was, the next most show accurate figure was Silverbolt... tiny, tiny, Silverbolt...

I know, but that's my point. How much more would fans have dug that Air Attack Supreme Optimus Primal if it had been released when the series was airing, rather than a year and a half later?! How much less was *your* excitement? Everyone was in full R.I.D. mode by the time that toy hit the shelves. And that sucked because it was a brilliant toy that was almost totally overlooked by the fandom, almost purely for this reason.

Think about that! Arguably THE best Optimus Primal toy ever, and hardly anyone noticed. How much less will be your excitement to buy Animated toys if all episodes have aired, from start to finish???? That is an interesting point tho. Air Attack OP was release in 2002, almost 2 years after the end of Beast Machines... Crazy suckage...

well, would you rather they delayed the cartoon until the time the toys are released in store?

Yes I'd like a cartoon delay if the toys weren't coming out right away. I know in the past you had to wait for some after their cartoon appearance and others came out way before they appeared on the cartoon. But at least it wasn't six months early or six months late.

i think thats what hasbro's policy is: "If we have great toys, we make consumers wait a hell-of-a-long time... why? cuz the toys look goood and we're all still playin wit em! heck we're hasbro!"

>>well, would you rather they delayed the cartoon until the time the toys are released in stores?

YES. When I'm fired up and excited about TFAnimated shows, I want to buy the toys, not sit and drool over a million ridiculously overpriced ebay auctions or have to wait and buy every toy after all 2 seasons worth of shows have aired.

Re: your comments Autobutt:
>>i think thats what hasbro's policy is: "If we have great toys, we make consumers wait a hell-of-a-long time..."

I certainly do NOT think Hasbro intended to have there be a 6 month toy release delay. They're in business to sell toys. They certainly don't *want* to tick off their consumers.

I suspect it's that they still were able to sell a hell of a lot of movie toys and retailers were not willing to take other toys off the shelves to accommodate both movie and Animated. AND they probably tried to delay airing animated shows but CN said, enough's enough we want to start airing it... CN wanted to maximize their ratings and wanted to tap into the movie excitement by starting to air shows sooner than later.

I'm guessing it's probably something like that. But I don't have to like it!

Here's where I stand with the issue (you may want to cover your eyes if you are squeemish). I have not bought a figure since July last year. Shocking, I know, but true. That said, I really like TFA Bulkhead and would really like a figure, but I'm the kind of guy who will eventually go "I should probably keep my money for something else," and not buy the figure, and adding a delay between show and toys is not going to help the matter any.

And I'm with you, Perceptor. I think that's exactly what happened, because why would Hasbro push for the show to be released so early when the figures weren't coming out yet? That's just bad marketing. It's like how Marvel introduced the crossover with the New Avengers. It was Marvel's chance to cash in on the movie as well. Worst is, Marvel originally had the rights to the TF comics back in the day. IDW should have seriously been like "Sorry, Marvel. You had your chance." All of this stuff really is just based on the movie hype and I won't be surprised if we see similar occurances when G.I. Joe hits theaters.

You haven't purchased a Transformer since July???? You mean no Landmine, no Stockade, no Incinerator, no premium color decos or screen battles? I can see skipping 6th version of Bumblebee, or night vision Optimus... but dude you're really missin' out!

See that's the thing, dude, I keep lookin' at Nightwatch Optimus goin', "Man, he sure looks cool, and I'd like to own him, but I don't feel like dishing out the forty to fifty bucks to pick him up!" Seriously, if I got any version, it'd probably be that one simply because I like the scheme, but it's just not enough for me to grab it. But that's why I want the animated figures, I really frickin' want Bulkhead! But if he's not out soon, I'm going to lose interest! I'm actually holding out though until the Leader class one hits shelves, but I haven't really decided yet.

I can relate to not buying toys. In the nine months the movie toys have been on the shelf, I bought 10 deluxes and 3 voyagers. I just got Landmine and want Stockade and Incinerator so bad. They usually space toy releases throughout the year in quarters. I wonder if the delay has anything to do with the writers' strike delaying the second movie. If Animated is due in July, then Classics/Universe is due when, before Christmas? Guess we can ask four weeks from now at BotCon. OMG, only four weeks.

I'm much more interested in the Leader class Bulkhead than voyager, but only because it's more to scale w/ other TFA toys. If you're only going to buy 1-3 toys, stick w/ the voyager. It's very cool and if it's not standing right next to deluxe bumblebee, it doesn't look too small! Then you'll have the extra $20 to drop on something else.

BTW TPR, I think you must be on drugs to considerer Night Watch OP over the regular or soon-(now?)-in-stores: Premium version! That toy is on my list of top 5 favorite toys of all time! and the newer Premium ver even comes w/ a sword. If you actually don't own Movie Leader OP, that's the one to finally drop $40 on!

That's the thing, I don't mind spending the money if it's a character I am particularly fond of. I dropped $90+ for Transmetal Ravage (X-9 Jaguar) from Japan becuase I love Ravage (hence the name). I also own all but two incarnations of Cheetor, repaints and all, just because I love the character, so I may end up buying both Voyager and Leader (though, it's unlikely at this point for me to do that). I'm considering Leader though because he's electronic and has all the accessories and such, so I think that's where I'm going to go. Besides, he has electronic phrases! The only time that was ever bad was RiD Prime (why did he say Maxamize?).

And I know about the sword, Perc, but I'm a big fan of Nemesis Prime and NW Prime reminds me of him. I really wish they had released him as NP, I would have snagged him in a heart beat, now all I can think is that OP is some kind of stalker if he's doing "Night Watch". I'll tell you what I would drop the bucks on is a Leader Class Bonecrusher. Or better yet, a Leader Class Mikela... perhaps I've said too much...

Overall though, I'm really looking into grabbing a bunch of the TFA figures, I'm just looking forward to so many. And if the rumor is true that there is going to be a Waspinator figure, you can bet I'll be looking into it. But until that day comes, I'm keeping my eyes open for all of the Beast Wars Robot Hero figures.

Well, TPR. I'm gonna get both versions of Bulkhead because of obvious reasons for Leader Bulkhead, but Voyager Bulkhead is more show accurate and in scale with his Decepticon counterpart Lugnut. If I just get Leader Bulkhead, I don't want him towering over Lugnut. I want then to fight each other evenly.

And Perceptor, the sword is the only thing good about Premium Prime. His head is different but NOT more show-accurate than the first. The only thing more accurate about that head than the old head is that its antennae are longer. And even though it has a new sound (the transformation sound), that is only a minor improvement. And even though there's silver paint instead of gray, there's LESS blue paint because of that. Premium Prime isn't as great as it sounds, BUT I agree with you completely that the original movie Prime is a great figure.

Sorry for the outburst guys, jus trying to release some anger that i have with not having the animated figures yet (which im sure im not the only one who feels)

Looks like ebay shourld change its name to eboom.

No apology necessary Autobutt. I'm as displeased w/ the wait for TFA toys as anyone.

BTW, good pt. SB. I can't say Premium OP is 'better' I haven't seen it yet. Frankly, I'm totally w/ ya. Considering how much improved the paint scheme on Megatron is, I'm disappointed that they didn't improve OPs as well. From what I can tell, they actually made it look less movie accurate.

Hey, I saw Starscream Voyager in a store (located in Singapore) at around $30 bucks (also singapore dollars). Maybe I should pick it up.

well, hopefully the scheduling for the release date for toys for other seasons of TFA will be a lot better than this.