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I asked them and they said “They will start shipping end of October in batches”Zafiro said:
I asked them and they said “They will start shipping end of October in batches”Zafiro said:
Update: I asked them when they were likely to make the transaction and they replied with “late October, early November”.Zafiro said:
Bearing in mind I ordered mine and paid in full a while ago, timescales seem to be slipping.
Also, their customer service seems a bit lacking. Their replies are always very curt and offer no further information or explaination. Anyone had a similar experience? I’d only emailed them to get an update, I haven’t been inundating them.
How and why would you pay in full? When I ordered, they only asked for $100 down payment, the rest to be paid when it's ready to ship.Grub said:
Sorry, that was my poor phrasing. I meant that I had paid the deposit and was going to be paying the remainder in full (as opposed to a payment plan scheme) and was waiting for them to complete the transaction.Zafiro said:
Does HCG have a good track record with delivering the Tomens? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous waiting for mine...
My first one came through fine.Jedisushi said:
cratercritter
HCG replied to you with an estimated shipping date of Oct to Early Nov. That is a reasonable response.Grub said:
The time scale looks OK and is close to being consistent with their advertisement for this Blaster on their website.
Hopefully I can clarify things a bit here, as I think many people are getting confused on the item and the pre-order status.Grub said:
First, this was a pre-order item... meaning they were not in hand and were not ready to ship. When they launched, it was clearly stated on the website that these were for pre-order and that they were expected to be delivered to us in October. No mention of late September, the first week or October, or by the second week of October, just October. That means depending on the factory and shipping, it can get here by the last week of the month, and that in no way shape or form was a "slipping of the timescale". It is exactly as stated on the website. We are seeing an inundation of calls from people saying they paid in September and do not understand why they have not shipped. Again, as stated on the website, they will be here to us by October. It is mid month and people are freaking out as if these are months late, lol.
The second thing to note, is that we are expecting the first wave of 50 blasters in October. This too is clearly stated on the website. If you didn't place an order back in September and you were not one of the first 50 orders, you will not be getting anything from the first wave. We see people calling and expecting that their order will ship in October/early November, when they placed an order much later. Depending on your order number, these will ship in order of order placement and order payment. So please do not expect that placing an order at this point means your item will ship this month, it is just not possible as Tomenosuke has not provided enough guns at this time. You can call customer service at HCG and the first thing they will request is your order number which will give them an idea of where you fall on the list.
As for the customer service answers being short... I apologize if they come across that way. I know they have been answering 100's of the same question about the release of these everyday. They are probably just answering short and sweet because there is no further explanation needed. The website said October.... and it is mid October... and we cannot for the life of us figure out why people are flipping out as if the gun has been delayed for a year, lol.
Thanks for taking the time to update us with this. Please don’t think I’m trying to spread discontent. I think it’s been an issue of managing expectations, perhaps. I completely understand that shipping and processing takes time and that the timescales were never concrete or promised. It was just the apparent subtle changing of wording in responses (from “shipping at the end of October” to money being charged “late October or early November”) in conjunction with an apparent lack of update that started to cause a slight discomfort. However, I now fully understand and appreciate you taking the time to explain. I also do understand that your customer service team may be inundated and perhaps have less time to reply more fully to queries. Maybe a generic reply with an update if this sort would prevent uncertainty in future?Moviefreak said:
Thanks
Isn't this limited to 100 blasters, so 100 orders? They probably wouldn't have to worry about all the questions if they let you know if you're one of the first 50 orders shipping in October, or not.Moviefreak said:
Customer service can let you know the edition number as I believe Tomenosuke is not keeping it at that number.Zafiro said:
As for letting people know where they fall in the list, that gets complicated as that list can constantly evolve. I hope you can understand that this is not the place for me to discuss logistics or the business side of things (not something I am directly involved in and not my business to divulge), but I will say that payment plans as opposed to paying in full as well as people ignoring PayPal payment requests for the past month all can alter the list of 50. So it is just not feesable to let everyone know that they are definitely in the first wave. I only can suggest that if you are curious where you might fall on the list, call customer service and have your order number ready as soon as you call so they can look up your order and tell you where you stand.
Last edited by Moviefreak; Oct 18, 2017 at 3:49 PM.
Not currently in the US, so I sent an email. I ordered Sept 7, paying in full option.Moviefreak said:
I only can suggest that if you are curious where you might fall on the list, call customer service and have your order number ready as soon as you call so they can look up your order and tell you where you stand.
Payed my 100$ deposit yesterday and I hope I get it before X-Mass...if not, well as its one of the best Finished Replicas out there I guess it will be worth the wait even if I get it early 2018.
Got me one of the Water Pistols for like 30 Bucks of eBay, so I can run around the flat an pretend that the Mrs is a Skinjob and go pew pew...that will keep me happy until the real thing arrives.
cratercritter
These Blasters are not limited to 50 or 100. If you miss out on the HCG lot for this year, there will likely be more next year.Zafiro said:
Also, Tomenosuke are going to release more of these blasters via the Hollywood-Japan Store / website later this year, so
you can order a blaster from Japan later this year. That is what the Japan web store tells me.
I pre-ordered mine yesterday, so after reading this thread I realize that obviously I’m not going to see a Blaster this year.... But in my honest opinion it’s well worth the wait! Next year is fine, just as long as I can eventually get one of these spectacular works of Prop Art!
I placed an order few days ago as well. I've always wanted one of these and the timing was right. Just hoping it's packaged a little classier this time. I could be wrong but I believe the previous release was simply in a cardboard box and the gun itself was wrapped in bubble wrap. Bit of a downgrade from the foam inserts and included white gloves.
Not if it's like this oneEnigmatic said:
https://youtu.be/our29mLf86Y
cratercritter
I have been told by a reliable source at the Japan Distributor that the new packaging for the Blaster 2049 will be a two piece box like the earlier TomPRO blasters had....removable lid and with a foam insert. Don't know about whether there are going to be white cotton gloves, but one can easily buy a pair of gloves if need to.Enigmatic said:
Which issues came with white gloves? I have four different versions, and have seen none of the ones I've made artwork for, come with gloves. Just curious.Enigmatic said:
I can't reveal the actual numbers in this run, but the limit is higher than those numbers.Zafiro said:
Right, that's what I mean about a downgrade in packaging.Grub said:
That would be great. I hope your source is right. I don't need gloves to be included. Was just noting the difference in presentation from the first 2049 blaster to previous Tomenosule releases. At this price point I would prefer it were more than bubble wrap.cratercritter said:
Not sure which release included the gloves, but I saw a YouTube video last year and their box included a pair of white gloves.staermose said:
cratercritter
From memory, only one issue came with white gloves.....the 'World Con' Tomenosuke PRO version, I think.
The cardboard box with bubble wrap packaging for the July 2017 released Blaster 2049 was cheaper
to produce than the previous foam lined packaging.
Tomenosuke priced the July released Blaster 2049 cheaper than previous models.
Blaster 2049 was 75,600 Yen or US$660 plus shipping cost from Japan.
Tomenosuke did some cost cutting for the Blaster 2049 issue July 2017 via cheaper packaging.
The Dummy bullet caps are blank (i.e. no Magnum 44 SPL stamping).
The "fade on" effect of the red LEDS was removed.
The actual metal and plastic pieces that make up the blaster, including the high quality finish haven't changed though.
HCG (USA) were selling them at their usual price of US$899, not at a lower cost. Not sure why HCG did not do some discounting
for the Blaster 2049 version, issued July 2017. Japan sellers sold them at the reduced price, passed on some savings onto the buyer.
I am not sure of the spec's for the October-November Blaster 2049. I understand that the box packaging will be foam lined.
Plus, it is now licenced Blade Runner product which is reflected on the new packaging, and hence this would likely increase the price
of the 2049 series Blasters, especially from HCG.
As I said previously, Sellers say these are limited edition 50 to 100 etc. is likely just a marketing tool, since Tomenosuke
will continue to release these blasters. The packaging is usually what changes with the 2049 series blaster,
so I guess from that respect...limited edition packaging so far.
So, if you miss out this October-November, there will be more of these 2049 blasters.
I also envisage that Tomenosuke will release some special editions with very limited numbers....like their
all black "police version" which was pretty cool.
Maybe there will be a change in the 2049 blaster's paint finish and spec's in the next few years.....time will tell.
Last edited by cratercritter; Oct 21, 2017 at 4:36 PM.
Well that seems to clarify that. Thanks, cratercritter.
Wouldn't they want to promote number of the limited editions aspect?staermose said:
Also, isn't this piece stainless steel and resin? Why would you need gloves?
cratercritter
Tomenosuke's marketing with the Edition numbers I have found to be a little confusing and sometimes misleading.Zafiro said:
Although, one can certainly say that they do release these in batches of 50 to 100 at a time, sometimes only to the Japanese
market and sometimes editions are HCG exclusives.
Unless these blasters are individually numbered, which generally they are not, it is hard to say the exact edition size sometimes.
I remember the all black Police Version back in about 2011 (?) were limited to 300 and were individually numbered. The number
was affixed inside the steyr ammo casing.
The WORLD-CON TomPRO version was also limited to 300 (which Tomenosuke stipulated in their advertising)...not sure if they were individually
numbered though.
MOST of the Tomenosuke Blade Runner Blaster releases and associated accessories are summarized here at this Tomenosuke webpage:
LINK >>> http://www.tomenosuke.com/blaster/#
Handling the blaster with gloves is sometimes useful I guess, for those who don't want to leave grubby finger prints on the blaster's painted finish.
I'm new enough here that the level of comprehensiveness in some of the replies is still impressive to me, thanks for all the answers.
