2012 Voltron® Club Lion Force Subscription Info Released (UPDATED with VIDEO)
I will be adding images as soon as some become available and updating this post.
Classic 23" Voltron With Pilot Figures
This week at SDCC 2011 Mattel will be unveiling images of their 2012 Voltron® Club Lion Force Subscription Voltron later this week and I will be updating this post as soon as that happens. Details released are copy and pasted below. Be sure to read ALL the small print!!! You are commiting to spend over $300 to complete Voltron. You can read it all below and at Matty Collector.
- Subscriptions Available 7/22/11 2 p.m. PT through 8/5/11 2 p.m. PT.
- Club-exclusive for 2012 is Sven, the original pilot of Blue Lion.
- 1 Lion will be released every 2 to 3 months and each will come with a 3 3/4 scale Pilot
- Assembled Voltron will be 23" inches tall!!!
- Each Lion/figure set comes with a piece of a light-up Build and Collect Blazing Sword!
Based on Voltron®, the fanboy-favorite 1980s series, Club Lion Force mega-thrusts into the Matty atmosphere for the first time ever! For 2012, the Mattel Voltron line includes five Lions (black, green, yellow, blue, red) that form robot Voltron plus five Pilots in 3 ¾" scale (Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Allura, Keith). Collect all five Lions and you'll have everything you need to build an enormous 23" tall Voltron figure. Collect all the Pilots and each one will come with a piece that creates a Voltron Collect and Connect™ light-up sword!
How Club Lion Force Works
- When you buy a membership to 2012 Club Lion Force, you’re guaranteed to get all the official club figures released during the year – a total of 5 pilot figures in 3 ¾" scale and 5 Lion figures. That means you'll own all 5 lions needed to build the colossal 23" Voltron robot and all 5 pilots needed to complete the Voltron Collect and Connect™ light-up sword.
- You’ll also receive the club-exclusive for 2012, Sven, the original pilot of the Blue Lion!
- Approximately every 2-3 months in 2012 (starting in early 2012), you’re automatically shipped a Lion figure and its corresponding Pilot Figure. Figures are not billed until they are shipped.
- Figures begin shipping approximately two (2) business days prior to the official on-sale date. Along with guaranteed figures and the club-exclusive, this is one of our members’ favorite benefits because they usually start getting their figures sooner than non-members!
- Exact figures are announced approximately one to two months before each on-sale date.
- The special club-exclusive figure will be shipped sometime around summer 2012. The figure is included in the cost of the membership ($15), however applicable shipping and taxes/fees will be charged at the time of shipment.
- Please note that special convention items, reissues and other accessories are not included. Mattel reserves the right to offer those and any other Voltron® items. Subscriptions will not include any additional items beyond those listed here.
- All figures EXCEPT the club-exclusive figure will also be available at MattyCollector.com around the 15th of the on-sale month without the membership. You will have the option to buy additional figures, but availability isn’t guaranteed and the purchase limit is ten (10) per person.
- The only way to purchase the club-exclusive figure through Mattel is to buy a membership to Club Lion Force! This item will not be sold separately on MattyCollector.com.
- For 2012, subscriptions are available for DC Universe,Ghostbusters™, Masters of the Universe Classics andVoltron®. You may buy as many subscriptions of any kind and in any combination you like and they'll all ship together when purchased in the same transaction!
About Club Lion Force Memberships
- Memberships are available for purchase from 7/22 at 2 p.m. PT through 8/5 at 2 p.m. PT here on MattyCollector.com.
- Once the enrollment period has ended, memberships cannot be purchased until the following year.
- Memberships are $15 each, plus the cost of the club figures, shipping, and applicable taxes/fees. The club-exclusive figure is included in this $15 membership fee, however shipping/taxes/fees are additional.
- The total commitment for 2012 is $290, plus applicable fees/taxes and shipping (varies depending on your location and the shipping method you choose). You will be shipped 5 Lions (Red Lion and Green Lion, each @ $35 each = $70, Blue Lion and Yellow Lion @ $40 each = $80 and Black Lion = $50) plus 5 Pilots (5 @ $15 each = $75) and the Club-exclusive item (included in sign-up fee = $15) for a total of $290 plus shipping/taxes/fees.
- You may purchase as many memberships as you want during the on-sale period. There are no limits.
- Once purchased, memberships may not be cancelled.
- When you purchase a membership, your credit card will bepre-authorized for $65, which is the cost of the membership plus the first month’s Lion and Pilot ($15 membership, $35 Lion, $15 Pilot). Pre-authorization means that the money is reserved from your available credit card balance, but you are not actually charged until the first figure ships. For more information about pre-authorizations, please visit the Shop FAQs.
- Beginning with the first shipment, your credit card will then be automatically charged approximately five (5) calendar days prior to the official on-sale date of each figure. For more information about how subscription renewals work, please visit our Fan Forums.
- Applicable taxes and fees may apply depending on your location and are billed with products. Please visit the Shop FAQs for more information about domestic and international taxes and fees.
- Shipping costs apply and will vary depending on the destination, weight of the package and the shipping method chosen. These costs are billed with products.
- All subscriptions purchased in a single transaction will ship together when shipped to the same "ship to" address.
- Should your card expire during the membership period, you’ll be able to update any credit card information. You can also change your billing and/or shipping address.
- Other figures purchased outside the membership are charged and shipped separately.
Club Lion Force subscriptions are only available for a short time each year. The 2012 membership subscription purchase period ends on August 5th at 2 p.m. PT, so get yours now!
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Comments
23 comments posted[ Insert very girly scream here ]
I'm guessing we're never getting an SoC Go Lion since all of the rights to it belong to World Event Productions, so I'm done waiting for it. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime toys that I think I just have to get. Besides, the pilots fit in and transform the lions with their keys (okay, not really at the same time, but that's what it pans out to). That's freaking incredible.
I don't know if having a license here necessarily negates the possibility of a company (Bandai) in Japan having a license for it. So I wouldn't necessarily give up hope. I'm sure Bandai already has Golion planned.
Yeah, after seeing the transformation video, I'm sort of turned off. And if they're going to do a Voltron Force toy with all of the new combinations, I might spring for that instead.
I may end up just getting the Black Lion and Keith from the MattyCollector store.
I know a lot of you guys are just collectors of anime/robot toys,so you may want to google and check forums and stuff to see people's reaction to the Masters of the Universe online-only toyline that this is based off of.
I'm not telling you what to do,but many MANY fans are not happy with what they're getting.
I haven't used the online ordering myself (28 dollars for a 6 inch plastic figure) but I do have one MOTU figure and several of Matty's similar DC Comics figures and they are NOT worth the money. I feel like a 6 inch Mattel figure is "worth" maybe 10 bucks. They're made from a wierd cheap-feeling plastic,they have very little unique tooling per fig,a chintzy,"toyish" looking paintjob,and many joints are either floppy or frozen.
Again,do what you want,and if you love Voltron you love Voltron,but I really seriously reccomend thinking it over first. I think for 300 bucks you could get a pretty good Japanese diecast mecha you'd be happier with. Those of you used to collecting the cool expensive import chogokin will probably be very disappointed with what Matty peddles,again just in my opinion.
While I can't comment on the work of this company, just looking at that Red Lion fills me with horror. It doesn't even seem to be capable of the same articulation as the Masterpeice Voltron lions from a few years ago, the legs are hollow... and not that it really upsets me, but why are they selling the old voltron instead of the one from the new cartoon? You know... the one called 'Voltron Force'?
From what I understand,they will be selling the new Voltron toys for kids at TRU,Target,Wally's,etc.
These online exclusives are based on the original designs and aimed at us adults.
I joined the club. Yeah, it will cost close to $400 when shipping and tax are factored in, but it will be in the course of one year, so it won't hurt as much. Besides, better to have it and ending up not liking it, than to end up wanting it and not be able to get it (for a reasonable price). When everything is said and done, it will still be a 23 inch combining Voltron...
}D
Well put my friend, well put. I like your thinking...yeah it will still be a 23" combining Voltron at the end
Wow, but OW. I mean OW. OW. OW. OW.
I know Mattel knows there's a collectors' market out there, but "total commitment is $290"
Yikes. and I thought I was getting the Toynami (all plastic version) Voltron for $50 USD was okay.
I know its pricy and alot of people are sayits not as good as the toynomi ver but its 2 foot with auto-transform cokpits and still has a good range of motion,. that is imo make tottly awesome.
Not to pimp out my flickr, but I got some photos from SDCC for the new lion prototype and the big character driven Voltron. Just take a look
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unit78/5976063717/in/set-72157627156620471
I'm a huge Voltron fan myself, and the video totally wowed me. Problem is, ever since i became a collector i've been more concerned with 2 things: 1- my robots being made of high quality materials. 2- being able to strike a good pose. I've always been very skeptical as to how much articulation any combining Voltron can have. I think the lions can either have good possibility as lions or as Voltron, pulling off good poses in both forms would be quiet interesting to see.
im going out on a limb as i may be in the extreme minority here, but i was underwhelmed by the video. that thing is ug-ly!
Ugly as sin. Cheap, hollow construction. Key-driven transformations. It's as if they're trying to drive me away with a pitchfork.
The Masterpeice Voltron was only... what, $60 on the all-plastic release? I don't care that it's smaller, there's no way this thing is worth $240 more.
I'm also a huge Voltron fan but I did not put in my subscription yet. I have the Toynami Masterpiece Die cast Voltron which I love and I have the all plastic re-release. Toynami did a great job with these and I'm sad they did not release the base. I already had it on pre-order :(
http://www.figures.com/databases/action.cgi?setup_file=fignews2.setup&category=actionfigures&topic=125&show_article=123
What Mattel does well in is making action figures and the Voltron Force pilots are the best versions of the characters I have seen in toy form but as a collector, I like my toys to be in scale and these pilots are not. I don't understand why Mattel did not keep these pilots the same but make little fixed pilots like in the Yamato Macross or Toynami Robotech toys to fit in the heads of the lions. This would help give an appreciation of how big the lions and Voltron really are but as someone said, I'm afraid of missing out it I wanted these later.
I'm still on the fence. I am a MOTU subscriber and I for one love the details and sculpts put in those action figures and I think they are worth the money but I just don't know about this Voltron line and money is not easy to come by now a days.
Help me decide :)
I will keep my point short and direct: Clearly you are a somewhat experienced collector with a deep affection for Voltron/GoLion. I can respect that. I want you to get up for a moment and really LOOK at your robots. At the colors and engineering, think of the transformations and the legacy of one-upsmanship that took us from those old fist-launching vinyls to modern Chogokin that make seemingly impossible combination work!
Now... how many of your current figures require you to stick a key up their butt to get the legs down?
Just consider. :P
LOOOOOL@ stick a key up their butt. Good 1. I have to agree with you. To SDFcommander, After looking at the pic in your link i have to say, your Voltron looks gorgeous. As intriguing as it would be to see this new version up close do it's magic, i think all the points you mentioned are very valid, its not made of any kind of high end materials, the fact that the the pilots don't fit in the head is a bit weird (especially since the cockpits in the show were clearly in the heads). Personally, id say stick with the one you have. I'm very tempted to start looking online for the version you have for my own collection.
You make some good points and thinking about those points it actually gets me upset that Mattel would mess up on the scale of the pilots to Lions. As kids we would not care as much but as adults, which I assume the line is catered too, this is a huge let down especially in the advancements in toy designs that have happened over the years as you mentioned.
@Mazinkaizer
The MPC Voltron is a great display piece and it is heavy. All the Lions are die cast so posing it can be a little tough plus with painted metal comes the possibility of paint chips. Toynami did use some quality paints so I have had no chips but that is where their plastic re-release is so great. You have the great sculpt, great articulation and no paint chipping.
I went ahead and bit the bullet and I bought a Voltron Club Lion Force Subscription.
For accuracy, diecast content and all around cool factor I always have my MPC Toynami Voltron but I never had the pilots and these figures are really well done. Sure the lions could have been better but they growing on me and they are a heck of a lot better than the old Panosh Place Voltron Lions with the pilots and they are HUGE!
Having an almost 2 foot tall Voltron at the end would be very cool. I can also add some personal customizing touches to the Lions to bring out some details.
If anyone else is on the fence, Mattel has extended the deadline of the subscription to Sunday Aug 14, 2011.
These things look pretty cheap. There's a lot of places that look like they should have metal pins at least, but don't. The gimmicks seem like they're geared toward kids, but it doesn't look durable to survive any play wear. But maybe it had to be hollowed out to pass the drop test or whatever. It always bums me out when articulation is sacrificed for gimmicks. Would've been nice if any of the lions or Voltron could turn their heads for instance... least he has elbows.
That key appears to be going into an uncomfortable place on the red and green lions...