Concept Art for Transformers Power of the Primes Rodimus Unicronus by Ken Christiansen

Survivefan23 was fortunate enough to find Alchemist Prime with Submarauder & Alpha Trion with Landmine at their local Walmart in Laurel, Mississippi. This wave has been tricky to find but it seems that it is getting more widespread. Our very own xrotorstormx and bounti76 report finding this wave at their local Walmart stores. If you need any figures from this wave it looks like a good time to roll out to the store and do some hunting. The picture below was provided by fellow news staffer bounti76 to show us what he purchased at his Walmart. It is tricky to make out but it looks like these figures cost 4.93 each.

I also found these at a walmart in long beach yesterday! lol

.... I just assumed these would be skipped.

This distribution is SUCH a mess. Like... It's always had it's bad points since I started collecting... But this is just awful.

Can confirm. I found and purchased a single pair of Landmine and Submaurader at the Meijer and Mooresville, IN. I had seen a case there during the initial run, but that was bought out. This was very likely a restock and not returned merch.

All of Wave 2 will be restocked sooner or later, if we are to believe Hasbro's Facebook post. I'm glad, I want my Volcanicus to be completed,not to mention I got a Sinnertwin and Pretenders lacking team mates

I was going there to pick up Battleslash & Roadtrap. I wasn't expecting to find them. I got my mom to let me get both.

Yeah, I found a case of them at Walmart in Iowa City on Monday, logged them in the sightings.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:All of Wave 2 will be restocked sooner or later, if we are to believe Hasbro's Facebook post. I'm glad, I want my Volcanicus to be completed,not to mention I got a Sinnertwin and Pretenders lacking team mates

Well that is something. Bravo for them acknowledging the shortage. Whether or not this comes to fruition with retailers is another story but...at least it's something. Unlike TR Deluxe wave 5...no explanation for that...

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:All of Wave 2 will be restocked sooner or later, if we are to believe Hasbro's Facebook post. I'm glad, I want my Volcanicus to be completed,not to mention I got a Sinnertwin and Pretenders lacking team mates

Sinnertwin? No, I meant Rippersnapper

Since Wave 3 is shipping, anyone attempted an Abomenaticus or Destron Super Scramble?

Anybody have a link to Hasbro's Face Book post? Maybe it was news and I missed it. Been off the grid for a minute.

I'd like to see what they said, and don't face space.

Cobotron wrote:Anybody have a link to Hasbro's Face Book post? Maybe it was news and I missed it. Been off the grid for a minute.

I'd like to see what they said, and don't face space.

It's not on the front page, rather it's in the post with the Wave 3 Terrorcon announcements:

Official Transformers Facebook page

The post in question reads:

Hasbro wrote:Hi Transformers fans! We’ve heard that Wave 2 of Power of the Primes sold out relatively quickly, but they aren’t extinct yet. Consumers can expect to see these out again in stores and online in the U.S. this Summer.

I originally found mine at freaking Kroger, and have seen none since.
KROGER, for crying out loud.
Ugh.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The post in question reads:

Hasbro wrote:Hi Transformers fans! We’ve heard that Wave 2 of Power of the Primes sold out relatively quickly, but they aren’t extinct yet. Consumers can expect to see these out again in stores and online in the U.S. this Summer.

That might be the best thing I've read all day. I like that the didn't just say Deluxe either because there's still a bunch of stuff I need from this wave.

Emerje

You can't say Hasbro doesn't listen to us, as this statement we now have clearly shows. The Official Transformers Facebook page was flooded with comments regarding the lack of Power of the Primes Wave 2 product in stores. This was in response to Hasbro posting that Wave 3 was coming soon, leaving many fans worried that Wave 2 was going to be skipped by the stores they frequent.

Hasbro saw all these comments and responded in the same facebook thread with the following:

Hasbro wrote:Hi Transformers fans! We’ve heard that Wave 2 of Power of the Primes sold out relatively quickly, but they aren’t extinct yet. Consumers can expect to see these out again in stores and online in the U.S. this Summer.

There are a few things to take note here. Firstly, this just refers to the US, specifically. Also, while this is good news, Hasbro had given the same statement regarding the Seige of Cybertron set from Titans Return last year, which never did get restocked by the exclusive retailer, BBTS.

The big takeaway here is that Hasbro does indeed listen to us and try to comfort us every way they can. Our distribution woes are not getting unnoticed.

Hey does anyone have issues with Rippersnapper not closing the back of his legs in shark mode? I am having real trouble here.

william-james88 wrote:Hey does anyone have issues with Rippersnapper not closing the back of his legs in shark mode? I am having real trouble here.

As in like, the front and back halves of his shins don't close up fully in shark mode? Yeah mine has the same problem. It helps a bit to make sure that the "fronts" of his shins (on the back in shark mode) are pegged in; the kneepads nestle into the shark's back very particularly and that makes a world of difference to the gap. But sadly, I've not yet found a way to close the gap completely.

william-james88 wrote:Hey does anyone have issues with Rippersnapper not closing the back of his legs in shark mode? I am having real trouble here.

That's a problem I'd love to have..........................sigh..................


In the meantime, haters gonna hate.

Survivefan23 wrote:I was going there to pick up Battleslash & Roadtrap. I wasn't expecting to find them. I got my mom to let me get both.

I have put my mom in that same situation many times! lol

Qwan wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Hey does anyone have issues with Rippersnapper not closing the back of his legs in shark mode? I am having real trouble here.

As in like, the front and back halves of his shins don't close up fully in shark mode? Yeah mine has the same problem. It helps a bit to make sure that the "fronts" of his shins (on the back in shark mode) are pegged in; the kneepads nestle into the shark's back very particularly and that makes a world of difference to the gap. But sadly, I've not yet found a way to close the gap completely.

Just don't go making fun of Rippersnapper's thigh gap. He's VERY sensitive about that nowadays.

william-james88 wrote:You can't say Hasbro doesn't listen to us, as this statement we now have clearly shows. The Official Transformers Facebook page was flooded with comments regarding the lack of Power of the Primes Wave 2 product in stores. This was in response to Hasbro posting that Wave 3 was coming soon, leaving many fans worried that Wave 2 was going to be skipped by the stores they frequent.

Hasbro saw all these comments and responded in the same facebook thread with the following:

Hasbro wrote:Hi Transformers fans! We’ve heard that Wave 2 of Power of the Primes sold out relatively quickly, but they aren’t extinct yet. Consumers can expect to see these out again in stores and online in the U.S. this Summer.

There are a few things to take note here. Firstly, this just refers to the US, specifically. Also, while this is good news, Hasbro had given the same statement regarding the Seige of Cybertron set from Titans Return last year, which never did get restocked by the exclusive retailer, BBTS.

The big takeaway here is that Hasbro does indeed listen to us and try to comfort us every way they can. Our distribution woes are not getting unnoticed.

That's all fine and good... But when they were NOT stocking Wave 2, we (or at least I -) got an ASSton more Wave 1. So... Now those are all just going to shelf-warm like crazy.

DecepticonFinishline wrote:

william-james88 wrote:You can't say Hasbro doesn't listen to us, as this statement we now have clearly shows. The Official Transformers Facebook page was flooded with comments regarding the lack of Power of the Primes Wave 2 product in stores. This was in response to Hasbro posting that Wave 3 was coming soon, leaving many fans worried that Wave 2 was going to be skipped by the stores they frequent.

Hasbro saw all these comments and responded in the same facebook thread with the following:

Hasbro wrote:Hi Transformers fans! We’ve heard that Wave 2 of Power of the Primes sold out relatively quickly, but they aren’t extinct yet. Consumers can expect to see these out again in stores and online in the U.S. this Summer.

There are a few things to take note here. Firstly, this just refers to the US, specifically. Also, while this is good news, Hasbro had given the same statement regarding the Seige of Cybertron set from Titans Return last year, which never did get restocked by the exclusive retailer, BBTS.

The big takeaway here is that Hasbro does indeed listen to us and try to comfort us every way they can. Our distribution woes are not getting unnoticed.

That's all fine and good... But when they were NOT stocking Wave 2, we (or at least I -) got an ASSton more Wave 1. So... Now those are all just going to shelf-warm like crazy.

In other words, Hb dropped the ball again with their finely tuned distribution system which other folks hereabouts were so quick to deny it's existence.

Please, please let this actually happen... I am not paying Amazon's prices for Sludge and Snarl.

They need to totally change their distribution methods. The old assortment thing doesn't work anymore. Stores are sick of getting stuck with crap that has to go on clearance.

This summer we'll get wave 2, we'll never see wave 3 & wave 4 will show up at Ollies in September of 2019.

Aimless Misfire wrote:They need to totally change their distribution methods. The old assortment thing doesn't work anymore. Stores are sick of getting stuck with crap that has to go on clearance.

This summer we'll get wave 2, we'll never see wave 3 & wave 4 will show up at Ollies in September of 2019.

Not that I want to be cynical, but I have to say, this comment is probably and sadly accurate.

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Aimless Misfire wrote:They need to totally change their distribution methods. The old assortment thing doesn't work anymore. Stores are sick of getting stuck with crap that has to go on clearance.

This summer we'll get wave 2, we'll never see wave 3 & wave 4 will show up at Ollies in September of 2019.

Not that I want to be cynical, but I have to say, this comment is probably and sadly accurate.

And it comes from a user called Missfire, aka the TR toy most never saw

Rodimus Knight wrote:

Aimless Misfire wrote:They need to totally change their distribution methods. The old assortment thing doesn't work anymore. Stores are sick of getting stuck with crap that has to go on clearance.

This summer we'll get wave 2, we'll never see wave 3 & wave 4 will show up at Ollies in September of 2019.

Not that I want to be cynical, but I have to say, this comment is probably and sadly accurate.

My suggestion: have stores put an order limit to prevent too much Wave 1 stock from being sent out only to rot on the shelves and pegs. That has plagued Movie lines time and time again.

I've had some good luck finding the wave 2 deluxes at Walgreens. In just the few I've been to in the area I picked up two Snarl, two Rippersnapper and a Sludge. I've also seen several more Snarl and Rippersnapper but I only want two of each right now. No luck so far on Darkwing and Moonracer though.

BBTS has Rippersnapper for $10 currently though so there's that for those of you who don't have one yet and want to pay less than retail for it.

There are more and more moving parts with distribution the more I think about it. Another which is harder to fight is incompetence/apathy of store employees. I mean I went to the closest walmart to me yesterday (which is one of the worst so I try to avoid it), but they were in the middle of inventory. and wouldn't you know...a whole case of RiD Warrior class, and PotP wave 1 Voyagers came out. Now I've seen many stores lately restock wave 1 PotP Deluxe, but not Voyagers, so I'm sure this was siting around in the back room for some time. I've many times been tempted to ask a store manager if I can have access to their stockroom to work the TF section myself (hey its free labor for them), but I know there are many policies that would prevent this. I mean I don't expect employees to be experts on every toy line, but when you ask... if an employee can check the back for something and they come at you with that automatic "no we don't have any", you know that they don't care, and the consumer is denied as a result. I mean I worked at a retail store 20 or so years ago, I worked exclusively in the stock room offloading trucks and moving product around the store, never worked in the store itself. But when I was identified by a customer, I always went out of my way to get them what they asked for.

I did find wv 2 prime masters at Wal-Mart the other day..

Just picked up the entire first wave of Takara's PotP courtesy of Amiami. Compared to Hb Optimus, my version is free from paint smudges (the silver stripe on his truck cab)

The rest, like Rodimus etc, has much finer/neater paint apps.

No crimped foil decals (still looks a bit cheap) on either Optimus or Rodimus.

Boxes have two to three JP translated labels over the Int'l box parts. Same with the instruction. It also got an extra JP decal and the print, compared to my Hb Optimus is a lot less blurred.

My first time to see a Beachcomber....my! The mold is a site for sore eyes! Excellent update. Same with Windcharger. So G1 cartoon! Though I also own his RTS version (equally awesome) this one is just as good!

Slash is too cute for words! Jazz also has the MAGA symbol with the black paint apps less smudgy looking. Too bad HB/Takara ditched his rim jobs as seen on his boxart (yet they can afford to give Beachcomber those gray ones and Wincharger that silver strip on his bumper).

The Primemasters(Dowlos/Skullgrin) paint apps are much neater on his skull piece. Same with Metalhawk and Phoenix/Cloudburst. Much neater in my version. Really sad that Metalhawk is blue instead of yellow or gold.

They better not do revised waves again cause thats just going to make things worse just like titans return. What they need to do is release wave 3 on schedule then after that re-release wave 2 or even wait till after 4 if there is one (havent been following wave assortments). And they also need to stop having multiple lines out at once, having studio series & generations fight for shelf space is stupid and detrimental for both consumers & hasbro and is part of the problem here. Hasbro needs to completely rethink things

Megatron Wolf wrote:They better not do revised waves again cause thats just going to make things worse just like titans return. What they need to do is release wave 3 on schedule then after that re-release wave 2 or even wait till after 4 if there is one (havent been following wave assortments). And they also need to stop having multiple lines out at once, having studio series & generations fight for shelf space is stupid and detrimental for both consumers & hasbro and is part of the problem here. Hasbro needs to completely rethink things

W3 is already in transit, and probably state side somewhete bwtqeen Hasbro and Dist.

There is not enough product for repack waves in PotP, besides wave 3 has assorted figures (Jazz, Grimlock etc...) that are 2nd releases, and all wave 4 deluxes will be rereleases except for Novastar.

I'm glad to hear Hasbro is responding to the requests and problems. Hopefully we will see lots of Wave 2 and 3 this summer.

So, according to Hasbro, Wave 2 "sold out" quickly. To me, that says that they sold what they anticipated was the demand and it was bought up by retailers ready to sell it. I wonder how much of Wave 2 got snatched up by Toys 'R' Us right before they decided to completely go out of business? There could be a LOT of Power of the Primes product sitting in their old warehouses and distribution centers. Even though some product go pushed out to the local stores during liquidation, there wasn't that much coming in for any Transformers products, period. I'm wondering if TRU made a deal with Hasbro to sell back their stock, or if perhaps they're looking to sell what they have to other retailers to make up some more cost. If that's in the works, then maybe that's how Wave 2 will get a resurgence "this summer." We might also consider that Walgreens are sitting on a fair number of Wave 2 deluxe figures as well. Titans Return Wave 2 was a big seller for them the year before last. Walgreens puts out very few Generations deluxe figures at a time, so they could have a bunch at their distribution centers, waiting to trickle out as needed over the coming year or so.

Wolfman Jake wrote:So, according to Hasbro, Wave 2 "sold out" quickly. To me, that says that they sold what they anticipated was the demand and it was bought up by retailers ready to sell it. I wonder how much of Wave 2 got snatched up by Toys 'R' Us right before they decided to completely go out of business? There could be a LOT of Power of the Primes product sitting in their old warehouses and distribution centers. Even though some product go pushed out to the local stores during liquidation, there wasn't that much coming in for any Transformers products, period. I'm wondering if TRU made a deal with Hasbro to sell back their stock, or if perhaps they're looking to sell what they have to other retailers to make up some more cost. If that's in the works, then maybe that's how Wave 2 will get a resurgence "this summer." We might also consider that Walgreens are sitting on a fair number of Wave 2 deluxe figures as well. Titans Return Wave 2 was a big seller for them the year before last. Walgreens puts out very few Generations deluxe figures at a time, so they could have a bunch at their distribution centers, waiting to trickle out as needed over the coming year or so.

Thats a thought, however there is an interesting post from Orson @ Captured Prey on the same Facebook post where he says his Distributor that Hasbro didnt fill the Distributors order... So from that, I think there might be more at play

o.supreme wrote:There is not enough product for repack waves in PotP, besides wave 3 has assorted figures (Jazz, Grimlock etc...) that are 2nd releases, and all wave 4 deluxes will be rereleases except for Novastar.

In Titans Return they did a wave 3 Titan Masters revision bumping Clobber and Skytread out in favor of wave 1 Nightbeat and Loudmouth. I could see them easily doing an all-Dinobots or all-Terrorcons wave and screwing people out of a wave 4 Novastar in the process.

Flashwave wrote:Thats a thought, however there is an interesting post from Orson @ Captured Prey on the same Facebook post where he says his Distributor that Hasbro didnt fill the Distributors order... So from that, I think there might be more at play

See, this is what I've been saying all along. Hasbro keeps saying it's not us it's the retailers and people keep defending them saying it isn't Hasbro's fault some figures are harder to get than others. Now we have retailers publicly complaining that Hasbro isn't filling their orders with distributors, proving that it is in fact and has always been a Hasbro problem. It's amazing that Hasbro can even say stuff like that with a straight face when they can't even get this stuff into THEIR OWN STORE.

Emerje

Yeah, I wish Hasbro would just populate these toys in HasbroToyShop so we could order there. I'm itching for Novastar... well, her AND two more limbs to complete an all girl set. It gives me a little more hope knowing the next series is Cybertronian (and so are all these femmebots.) I wouldn't be surprised to see the remainder of the gestalt limbs straddling the two series.

Emerje wrote:

o.supreme wrote:There is not enough product for repack waves in PotP, besides wave 3 has assorted figures (Jazz, Grimlock etc...) that are 2nd releases, and all wave 4 deluxes will be rereleases except for Novastar.

In Titans Return they did a wave 3 Titan Masters revision bumping Clobber and Skytread out in favor of wave 1 Nightbeat and Loudmouth. I could see them easily doing an all-Dinobots or all-Terrorcons wave and screwing people out of a wave 4 Novastar in the process.

Flashwave wrote:Thats a thought, however there is an interesting post from Orson @ Captured Prey on the same Facebook post where he says his Distributor that Hasbro didnt fill the Distributors order... So from that, I think there might be more at play

See, this is what I've been saying all along. Hasbro keeps saying it's not us it's the retailers and people keep defending them saying it isn't Hasbro's fault some figures are harder to get than others. Now we have retailers publicly complaining that Hasbro isn't filling their orders with distributors, proving that it is in fact and has always been a Hasbro problem. It's amazing that Hasbro can even say stuff like that with a straight face when they can't even get this stuff into THEIR OWN STORE.

Emerje

It also proves that suppliers can ask to order waves as opposed to just a SKU. Though I am still confused with taht since if Hasbro could differentiate waves, then they wouldnt need to keep changing subline names since a new wave (properly defined) would be enough to give indication to retailers that this is new product different from what they already have on the shelves.

Also, about the terrorcons and dinobots repacks, I can totally see that. Though I am not sure that its a bad idea if it means no Novastar. Of course, fans want Novastar (and I plan on getting her too) but think there are more people out there that would like a complete team fo dinobots and terrorcons over getting Novastar. This is only in a scenario of not being able to get them all of course.

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

o.supreme wrote:There is not enough product for repack waves in PotP, besides wave 3 has assorted figures (Jazz, Grimlock etc...) that are 2nd releases, and all wave 4 deluxes will be rereleases except for Novastar.

In Titans Return they did a wave 3 Titan Masters revision bumping Clobber and Skytread out in favor of wave 1 Nightbeat and Loudmouth. I could see them easily doing an all-Dinobots or all-Terrorcons wave and screwing people out of a wave 4 Novastar in the process.

Flashwave wrote:Thats a thought, however there is an interesting post from Orson @ Captured Prey on the same Facebook post where he says his Distributor that Hasbro didnt fill the Distributors order... So from that, I think there might be more at play

See, this is what I've been saying all along. Hasbro keeps saying it's not us it's the retailers and people keep defending them saying it isn't Hasbro's fault some figures are harder to get than others. Now we have retailers publicly complaining that Hasbro isn't filling their orders with distributors, proving that it is in fact and has always been a Hasbro problem. It's amazing that Hasbro can even say stuff like that with a straight face when they can't even get this stuff into THEIR OWN STORE.

Emerje

It also proves that suppliers can ask to order waves as opposed to just a SKU. Though I am still confused with taht since if Hasbro could differentiate waves, then they wouldnt need to keep changing subline names since a new wave (properly defined) would be enough to give indication to retailers that this is new product different from what they already have on the shelves.

Also, about the terrorcons and dinobots repacks, I can totally see that. Though I am not sure that its a bad idea if it means no Novastar. Of course, fans want Novastar (and I plan on getting her too) but think there are more people out there that would like a complete team fo dinobots and terrorcons over getting Novastar. This is only in a scenario of not being able to get them all of course.

I always rhought Subline xhanges were more a branding/marketing thing. Like Prime season 3 was "Beast Hunters"

I'd much rather have Novastar (one limb closer to completing Elita-1), than Inferno, a torso nobody asked for, but it's already out...cant really change that.

o.supreme wrote:I'd much rather have Novastar (one limb closer to completing Elita-1), than Inferno, a torso nobody asked for, but it's already out...cant really change that.

How would them not making a Voyager make a Deluxe easier to get?

Emerje

I do think they are working to slip us a G2 Defensor of sorts. We will see for sure as the year plays out.

Saw this on Twitter, had to share:

So in other words people who already have Wave 2's and are looking for Wave 3's will have to put up with Wave 2's shelf-warming since wave 2's still won't go to the places that missed them back in Feb. and the same will happen with wave 3's now which is why at this point I'm almost glad this line was short since, between the poor quality of Voyagers, Leaders and Titan's caused by stupid gimmicks no one asked for and that annoying Studio Series crap taking up Generations space (Shelf Warming of course), I'm just about done with TF collecting this year anyway....

I wonder if distributors have all these guys in a warehouse, and about the time Hasbro sends a new batch... they'll ALL show up on shelves en masse.

Nice "gerwalk" modes there! Love that backward leg on Primal. Really sells that one as a mech suit.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Saw this on Twitter, had to share:

Skipping both of these but the Orion Pax one could possible be inspiration for making DJD's "Helex" with the right engineering or if Hasbro ever gave a crap.

ok, well, finally found Wave 2 Prime masters (like others are) . Of course, it was new product, but this particular walmart did not know the difference, and had marked down the previous wave to $3.00, and so these were the same. yay! Now if only I can cancel my BBTS before it ships.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Saw this on Twitter, had to share:

Warhammer 40 000 fans may or may not be having flashbacks:

See? I knew Hasbro was holding out on us with wave 2! It's not just PotP. Hasbro has been really iffy with almost all their lines that are under the Generations umbrella. Most folks never did see Twin Twist in stores from Titans Return. But to be fair, they seem really on the ball with the lines we DON'T want, like RiD and the movie toys. There are always plenty of those....