Shoryuken! Thanks to 2005 Boards member ProtectronPrime we can report that the Transformers Collaborative: Street Fighter II Mash-Up Ken/Hot Rod vs. Chun Li/Arcee has been found at US Retail.
Following our sighting of the Street Fighter II Mash-Up Optimus Prime/Ryu vs. Megatron/M. Bison 2-pack, now the second Target exclusive 2-pack with Ken/Hot Rod vs. Chun Li/Arcee (redecos of the Power Of The Primes molds, released in Japan in 2018) was found at a Target in Grand Canyon Target, Nevada. You can still pre-order both sets via Target website.
Update: Thanks to the detective work of our very own Nevermore we can confirm that these toys are from a brand new production run for the US market and not the ones originally released by Takara Tomy in 2018.
Happy hunting!
Alpha Omega Trion Supreme
Use Hot Rod for Akuma to keep the clone meme and maybe add an accessory to put on top of the head to replicate the hair-do. For Bison, probably deluxe Hard Head to stick with the military aspects.
Vector Oracle
Who would you redeco into Akuma and Bison?
Obnimaz
The work iPad loves auto incorrecting words
Vector Oracle
My favorite kind of burrito. Mind passing the microchips and salsa?
Alpha Omega Trion Supreme
Now that I have this in hand, they really should have done Ryu as another Hot Rod repaint just to keep the clone meme(would have given them opportunity for Akuma too) and either picked some other deluxe mold for Bison or repainted Arcee as Cammy.
That TR Prime mold repainted as Ryu just doesn't work. I dunno. Just feels like the Ken Rod vs Chun-Cee set hit the crossover note properly.
Obnimaz
Target in my area doesn’t sell non earthspark/cyber verde, good luck!
Vector Oracle
*wishes that I could find either set in my area to take advantage of said discount*
linkinparkirony
Oh shit, nice. I've been meaning to get the Ken/Chun-Li set, this is nice.
Alpha Omega Trion Supreme
Thread Expecto Necronus!
Was at Target today and these sets are now discounted half off. I picked up the Ken vs Chun Li set. Original price 74.99, now 37.49. I couldn't pull the trigger on the Ryu vs Bison set. It's just not immediately identifiable to me as a Street Fighter reference at a glance like the Ken vs Chun Li set is.
galvatran
Thanks Edgar.
Nevermore
Oh hey, it gets better!
As someone in the TFWiki Discord pointed out, the inner Takara packaging isn't just recycled from the original release either!
The original Takara release (above) had the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary logo, but the inner Takara box of the new Hasbro release has the new Street Fighter 35th Anniversary logo that's also on the Hasbro box!
View attachment 29712413
prfctcellrulz
Be it new stock or not, I STILL say wait until these hit DEEP clearance before pulling the trigger on them
T-Hybrid
I'm saying if people thought these were just old Japanese figures in a new box that'd likely have cost *more* because they'd have to reclaim all of that, toss the old box, print new boxes, rebox them, and then ship them back out.
So yeah, it's new product. Because if they were just sending the JP stuff back out in the wild it'd be cheaper to print the sleeve to slide over the existing Takara stuff.
Nevermore
Well, it is Takara packaging inside a Hasbro box (rather than a Hasbro sleeve).
T-Hybrid
If it hadn't been, wouldn't that mean HasTak took all of the existing stock and reboxed it? Seems like a wasted expense compared to just putting it out in stores with a new sleeve.
Black Convoy
Mystery solved. I will add that to our previous story for the record.
Nevermore
All right, it seems like this mystery has been solved.
This comes from the TFWiki Discord.
View attachment 29707020
That's not only a Hasbro product code etched (not stamped) into the figure, but also a manufacturing date code.
I don't remember how I am supposed to read those, but I'm pretty sure this indicates that this figure was made in either 2021 or 2022. The Takara figures were released in 2018.
It would appear that this is, indeed, a brand new production run.
signals3
Wow…look at those ridiculously high prices! I\'d have to be high to buy them…and the kind folks at Hasbro have got to be exceedingly high to think I would.
NormanB
I wouldn't pay half that price. And I'm a 35 year TF and 30 year SF fan. Shit molds, terrible set.
Nevermore
Hasbro Pulse's stock of TakaraTomy Selects, Masterpiece and Premium Finish features an extra Hasbro sleeve over the Takara packaging, but it's not just "Takara overstock in Hasbro packaging", it's a separate production run specifically for Hasbro with date stamps the Takara versions don't have.
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