Over the years, there has been collaborations between Hasbro or Takara with Toys R Us (TRU) whereby there would be exclusive TRU releases ie. only found/sold in Toys R Us stores.
I'm glad to have the luxury of owning a few of them, pretty cheap in their haydays during their initial release but as I only started this collection hobby few years back, just imagine the amount of dough I had to cough up as TRU releases are never reissued. Hence, if you miss it, the only way to purchase is via the secondary market.
Anyhow, a quick review of my TRU Japan collections :
Takara TRU Nucleon Quest Superconvoy
1. basically a redeco of the Godginrai / Powermaster Prime, this time in black
2. limited to only 1000 (or 3000) pieces worldwide
Takara TRU Sonic Convoy EX02
1. basically, consists of a clear redeco of Galaxy Force Optimus Prime, metallic red Sonic Bomber with an exclusive Coby
2. I got my set relatively cheap as it was missing Coby but it makes no difference to me. I'm not into Coby or Ramble whatsoever..
Takara TRU Magna Convoy DX
1. redecoed Powerlinx Optimus Prime with a clear Ultra Magnus/Overload and exclusive X-Dimension minicon
The one still on my wishlist (more like a wishing list ie. can only wish..haha) is the Takara TRU God Fire Convoy. It's a clear redecoed version of the Fire Convoy and God Magnus. Apparently, it is the most expensive of the TRU releases (not too sure about its original retail price though...). The only downside of this giftset is the quality of God Magnus, it tends to 'yellow' especially on the clear areas. Understandable if it's in a BIB condition but in most cases, it happens even in a MISB condition which makes it even hard to swallow as you have no way to ascertain the condition of Magnus and when you purchase, it's close to purchasing a lottery ticket ie. you are not certain of 'winning'...
During the hype of Transformers, this giftset could even fetch up to RM2000. Nowadays, it's hovering around RM1500 or so which is a substantial discount but not alot of takers though...
Then, lately, there has been new TRU releases such as TFA Arcee and Masterpiece Grimlock, just to name a few. As I'm not really a avid fan of the Animated series, I'm giving Arcee a pass. Similarly with Grimlock, not into Dinobots.. however, I'm getting quite good review for this Hasbro version as it includes Grimlock's crown (King Grimlock) and better representation of the colors. A fraction of the Takara's release which is a plus point to our wallets!
