Transformers Figure Subscription Service
From Transformers Wiki
In2012,Fun Publicationsrevealed theTransformers Figure Subscription Service.With this, a greater number and variety ofexclusivetoys from theTimelinestoylinecould be made and sent out to members of theTransformers Collectors' Club.
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Subscription details
The Subscription Service was an optional add-on to Fan Club membership. Each year's lineup consisted of sixexclusiveTransformers. As they were not part of a themed box set likeBotContoys, they could pull from a variety of universes and styles. Toys were shipped out one per month for six months, though the order the toys were shipped in was kept a secret.
Payment for each year could be made in one lump sum, or split into three smaller payments on a regular schedule. Obviously, missing a payment deadline meant no more toys get shipped to the delinquent until things are caught up.
Any toys left over from each shipment were subsequently put up on the Fan Club's store (except for the 2014 "bonus" figure) for individual purchase by anyone with a Fan Club membership, though at a slightly higher price tag than the per-unit cost of the full subscription.
Toys
Series 1.0 (2013)
The initial year had some hiccups in its delivery. Meant to start shipping in early 2013, the toys did not actually get shipped from the factory until summer, under the mistaken notion that they were part of theBotCon 2013toy assortment. Thus, they ended up shipping in the latter half of the year.
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Series 2.0 (2014)
For 2014, the Service changed things up quite a bit. First, by offering a seventh "bonus" figure for subscribers that wasnotmade available for individual purchase. And then by addingMini-Conpartners to three of the toys by making use of theArms Micronmolds which had previously not been available in the US. Another manufacturer's delay occurred, causing the initial shipment to be scheduled to arrive in Dallas in the final week of May 2014 and start shipping to customers in the first week of June 2014.
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Series 3.0 (2015)
Not much new going on here. More Arms Microns, more obscure characters.
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Series 4.0 (2016)
In a change from the previous lineups, the fourth edition of the service features a unifying theme based onCombiner Wars,with individual figures derived from theMayhem Attack Squad,a then-underrepresented-in-toy-formWrecker,anda long-beloved misconception.Five of the figures combine intoThunder Mayhem.
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Series 5.0 (2017)
Yup. The fifth series featurestwoPretenders!
Meanwhile, Toxitron, Counterpunch, and Fractyl can combine intoWreckage,with the two missing spots being filled by either last series' Impactor and Bluestreak, orCombiner WarsAlpha BravoandOffroad.
2016 was the last year Fun Publications had the license to run the Fan Club from Hasbro. Because of this, the TFSS 5.0 was moved forward, with intent to be released in the second half of 2016. However, manufacturer delays pushed the final figures to a late February/early March 2017 release. Additionally, due to the delay, the figures were shipped in "combination" boxes, with the first four originally-separate figures now coming in packs of two, and the final shipment with the final three figures (a Voyager and two Deluxes). Which led to some pretty dang big boxes, given the first four also all had "partner" toys included.
Set 1
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Set 2 | Set 3 |
Notes
- The Transformers Subscription Service was preceded a year earlier by a similar service for theG.I. JoeFan Club, also run by Fun Publications. That Service though had 12 toys a year, due to the much lower cost per figure to manufacture.
