Zobovor brought this up recently (as of my posting of this) but Masterpiece Cliffjumper was leaked 2 years ago and we haven't seen anything about him since, then I brought up other figures that were leaked but haven't been seen yet Like Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hound and Studio series Hatchet, there might be other examples (share them if you know of them) but those are the ones I specifically have noticed recently.

So I have to ask, where are these figures?

If I had to guess I would say they were either cancelled or shelved.
we got the recolour of Hound, before Hound, I think Hasbro might have gotten cold feet at the leaks for Hound and Hatchet and cancelled them in response (though I don't think they ever did this before) Cliffjumper is tricky though, maybe it was just some random custom that somebody lied about on the internet who knows?

Swivelbot (watch them all get revealed the day after I post this)

On Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 7:02:02 PM UTC-4, Swivelbot wrote:
> Zobovor brought this up recently (as of my posting of this) but Masterpiece Cliffjumper was leaked 2 years ago and we haven't seen anything about him since, then I brought up other figures that were leaked but haven't been seen yet Like Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hound and Studio series Hatchet, there might be other examples (share them if you know of them) but those are the ones I specifically have noticed recently.
>
> So I have to ask, where are these figures?
>
> If I had to guess I would say they were either cancelled or shelved.
> we got the recolour of Hound, before Hound, I think Hasbro might have gotten cold feet at the leaks for Hound and Hatchet and cancelled them in response (though I don't think they ever did this before) Cliffjumper is tricky though, maybe it was just some random custom that somebody lied about on the internet who knows?
>
> Swivelbot (watch them all get revealed the day after I post this)

Hasbro isn't likely to just cancel a release due to leaks. They aren't Stephenie Meyer. I suspect that Target might well have changed its mind about releasing Hound, and Hasbro's seeking out an alternative venue.

I look forward to being proven wrong, however.

On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 7:23:23 AM UTC-4, William A. Rendfeld wrote:
> On Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 7:02:02 PM UTC-4, Swivelbot wrote:
> > Zobovor brought this up recently (as of my posting of this) but Masterpiece Cliffjumper was leaked 2 years ago and we haven't seen anything about him since, then I brought up other figures that were leaked but haven't been seen yet Like Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hound and Studio series Hatchet, there might be other examples (share them if you know of them) but those are the ones I specifically have noticed recently.
> >
> > So I have to ask, where are these figures?
> >
> > If I had to guess I would say they were either cancelled or shelved.
> > we got the recolour of Hound, before Hound, I think Hasbro might have gotten cold feet at the leaks for Hound and Hatchet and cancelled them in response (though I don't think they ever did this before) Cliffjumper is tricky though, maybe it was just some random custom that somebody lied about on the internet who knows?
> >
> > Swivelbot (watch them all get revealed the day after I post this)
> Hasbro isn't likely to just cancel a release due to leaks. They aren't Stephenie Meyer. I suspect that Target might well have changed its mind about releasing Hound, and Hasbro's seeking out an alternative venue.
>
> I look forward to being proven wrong, however.

I do think they're smart to release Detritus first; we're much more likely to buy this random no-name recolor just to experience the mold, then buy the actual A-lister (Hound) afterwards; doing the releases in reverse could lead to a lot of unsold Detrituses on shelves and in warehouses.

Frankly, Hasbro would make more money with that strategy. Imagine if they'd released the Studio Series 86 Dinobots but only as G2 versions. We would all snap them up both for the new molds and for the G2 nostalgia, and then we'd come back all over again once they released them in G1 colors.

On Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 5:02:02 PM UTC-6, Swivelbot wrote:

> other figures that were leaked but haven't been seen yet Like Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hound and Studio series Hatchet, there might be other examples (share them if you know of them)

Unless I'm wrong, Houndworthy Hound hasn't even been officially announced yet, has he? We all assumed he was coming because Detritus exists, and it's very likely that we're all right. And I think there might have been one image of Hound that leaked. But, Detritus was just *barely* released in October. Like, this month. So if he was intended as the predeco for Hound, then it's probable we will get Hound several months from now.

I haven't been following the Michael Bay toys closely so I can't speak towards Hatchet.

> Cliffjumper is tricky though, maybe it was just some random custom that somebody lied about on the internet who knows?

We saw several versions of Cliffjumper that seemed to follow the expected production method—we saw a test shot in funky colors (green and clear), and then a little while later we got a later version in what looked like the final production colors and paint scheme. So it's extremely unlikely it was a custom, because we saw at least two versions of the toy.

So either it's a Takara toy that borrows engineering from MP-45 Bumblebee, or it's a third-party toy that borrows ideas from MP-45 Bumblebee. My instincts say it's a Takara product.

I know Hasbro has expressed dismay when people leak upcoming toys, because it sucks all the wind out of their sails... especially when they're gearing up to reveal something they're really excited about (like during the annual "1027" event) and somebody comes along and blows the surprise only a few days before the planned reveal. That's got to be heartbreaking for them. I'm not saying they would turn around and deliberately hold back a toy's release out of spite, but I think it's at least possible that, once the cat is out of the bag, they don't see much point in hurrying to feed it right away or scoop its litter box. Or something.

With that said, I've seen other people online on other forums already saying that they think Houndworthy Hound has been cancelled, which seems kind of preposterous to me. Like, why would you design a toy that looks like Hound and not release it as Hound? Especially since he's the ONLY one of the original Diaclone cars whose Earth form is conspicuopusly absent in the neo-G1 line? Hasbro knows we want complete sets. There's no way they'll not release Hound eventually.

Cliffjumper might just be on the back burner while they work on other projects. Like, if the tooling on him is mostly done, then he's an easy sell. But maybe they wanted to space him out so he can launch in-between projects they're still working on. Like, something they can sell to us while they figure out Jazz or Mirage or the Dinobots or the Constructicons or somebody..

Zob (will need a second Detolf shelf for Masterpiece toys if they do the Dinobots or Constructicons)

On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 1:01:25 PM UTC-6, Codigo Postal wrote:

> I do think they're smart to release Detritus first; we're much more likely to buy this random no-name recolor just to experience the mold, then buy the actual A-lister (Hound) afterwards; doing the releases in reverse could lead to a lot of unsold Detrituses on shelves and in warehouses.

Agreed. The predeco strategy has served them well in the past (orange Astrotrain, Alpha Bravo, etc.) and it makes sense to continue, for the reasons you indicated above.

It's one thing when they pour time and resources into a mold, and then look for other ways they can sell the toy to us for a second or third or seventh time. That's just good business savvy. But it's even more important for them to utilize the obvious use of a mold, and to sell us the character that everybody is expecting and waiting for. It would be insane to develop a Hound mold, sell it as Detritus, and then never sell it again as anybody else.

Zob (is a little bit insane, I suspect, but then aren't we all?)

On Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 6:02:02 PM UTC-5, Swivelbot wrote:
> Zobovor brought this up recently (as of my posting of this) but Masterpiece Cliffjumper was leaked 2 years ago and we haven't seen anything about him since, then I brought up other figures that were leaked but haven't been seen yet Like Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hound and Studio series Hatchet, there might be other examples (share them if you know of them) but those are the ones I specifically have noticed recently.
>
> So I have to ask, where are these figures?
>
> If I had to guess I would say they were either cancelled or shelved.
> we got the recolour of Hound, before Hound, I think Hasbro might have gotten cold feet at the leaks for Hound and Hatchet and cancelled them in response (though I don't think they ever did this before) Cliffjumper is tricky though, maybe it was just some random custom that somebody lied about on the internet who knows?
>
> Swivelbot (watch them all get revealed the day after I post this)
It's weird, this thread came up here yesterday and today a youtube video popped up 20 minutes ago saying the same thing about these 2 missing.

On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 9:51:00 PM UTC-4, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> It's weird, this thread came up here yesterday and today a youtube video popped up 20 minutes ago saying the same thing about these 2 missing.

I think I might be a prophet.

Swivelbot

On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 9:40:59 PM UTC-5, Swivelbot wrote:
> On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 9:51:00 PM UTC-4, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:
>
> > It's weird, this thread came up here yesterday and today a youtube video popped up 20 minutes ago saying the same thing about these 2 missing.
> I think I might be a prophet.
>
>
> Swivelbot
Someone made a video that October 13th 2022 was the original "leak" meaning these are missing for a year

On Monday, October 16, 2023 at 8:30:40 AM UTC-6, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:

> Someone made a video that October 13th 2022 was the original "leak" meaning these are missing for a year

Okay, but we learned a while back that the lead time from concept to finished production was about two years. So, really, we've got another year to go, at least.

Really, though, we can't be starting the countdown from the moment a toy leaks through unofficial sources. I mean, *usually* a leak means we're going to see a toy in stores fairly soon-ish, assuming the leak was soembody stealing an unpackaged toy from the factory during final production. That's how it usually goes. But the fact that Houndworthy Hound leaked as a render could mean they weren't even planning to sell him for a year after Detritus. He could be on the slab for 2024, but who knows?

I say there's no reason to think he's been cancelled or anything. We only know about a few toys planned for next year, but we haven't seen the entire line-up yet.

Zob (finally got a light box to take pictures of my projects, so now I have literally no excuses not to do them)