Hasbro Pulse Premium’s free trial ends, and the crew debates whether $50 a year for free shipping is worth it. Don lists the slow shipping, missing international shipping and a clumsy order history, while Brian explains why fixing a store platform is rarely simple. Funko announces a Grimlock Pop for its virtual con. With no Toy Fair this year, the crew plans its own Toy Fair livestream for March 6. In the haul, Diecast’s third-party Shockwave turns into Galvatron’s ship from the movie.
Fake Toy Fair Livestream
Toy Fair did not happen this year, but RFC will keep its annual livestream tradition on March 6 and just talk toys all day. Brian hopes Hasbro holds a Fan First Friday that week.
News
After two free years, Pulse Premium now costs $50 a year for free shipping. Don says Pulse charges for a premium service that is not premium, citing customer service, slow shipping, no international shipping and the struggle to find past orders. The crew notes that replacements for defective items come from Hasbro and can be a different, older toy. Diecast bookmarks every active order to keep track across 23 pages of history. Brian, who is choosing a warehouse system at work, explains that a platform’s limits and contracts can make changes take years. Don may still pay if Pulse-only exclusives appear. The crew notes the timing is bad, coming right after last week’s HasLab Unicron disappointment. [Source: RFC News Desk]
Funko Virtual Con Exclusive: Retro Toys Grimlock Pop
Funko’s virtual con runs March 1 through 5, with an Emerald City Comic Con exclusive Grimlock Pop. The crew credits TFormers for the story. Several hosts dislike Pops, but this one skips the usual button eyes, and one host wants it despite himself. [Source: not found]
What We Got This Week
Don got a Big Bad Toy Store shipment with Trailbreaker to keep boxed, Fans Hobby’s Athena and a Firestar. He got a good deal on Generations Selects Ricochet, though he is not crazy about the Jazz mold. He picked up Hothouse as a weapon, which could serve as the spear for a future Titan Black Zarak. His friend Fred sold him a second set of the Walmart Headmasters Wave 1 to keep boxed. He also got the Parallax add-on armor for Classics Optimus Prime for $15 and the Cordon and Spin-Out two-pack.
Diecast got a third-party Shockwave that turns into Galvatron’s ship from the movie. He loves the ship mode and its magnet-activated lights, though the instructions are junk. He got Dr. Wu’s tiny Galvatron and Soundblaster, which are about the size of a Prime Master shell, and he wants New Age’s Straxus next. He also got a Jazz with no Porsche license on the box, DX9’s Dragstrip for their Menasor, and an X-Transbots trailer with its upgrade kit. Rounding it out are an Earthrise Arcee upgrade kit, Mech Fans’ Flywheels and a new-mold Brainstorm. He also got the first two Magic Square Stunticons and Iron Factory’s Ultra Magnus with Minimus Ambus. Many Taobao boxes arrived at once, so much of it is still unopened.
Rob had nothing this week.
Brian bought out his Dollar Tree’s Transformers mini figurines to get the G1-style display box. Kim found the dual-branded Transformers and My Little Pony candy gravity box at Ollie’s. He finally found the new deluxe Jazz, which is a solid G1 interpretation, though the door kibble now hides behind the shoulders. He also got a vintage boxed God Ginrai in great shape for less than he expected.