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The first thing thats on my nerves isn't anything new but its been bothering me more and more lately. I really hate, I mean REALLY hate, the silver faction logos that Hasbro paints on seemingly all of their figures. Nearly all of the animated line and quite a few of the generations line have silver logos. And don't forget about the RTS line that have the rub symbols instead of any visible faction logos. It bothers me so much that I'm considering getting an order from Reprolabels and putting fact stickers over the silver logos on all of my figures where this problem occurs. the only reason I haven't done it yet is because I like to keep my figures in a original, unaltered condition. I do open the boxes and display the figures but I still like to keep them original. However, I'm feeling that my need to have appropriate faction symbols is going to win out over my want to keep them unaltered. Has anybody been done this road before and covered/changed their faction symbols with stickers? Did you regret the decision? Were you satisfied with the way the figures looked with the stickers?

My second issue isn't really anything new either but I'm more curious how badly people are experiencing it. I'm talking about the general lack of availability of the new figures. There have been a couple of threads lately about "where is this figure" and "why is this figure so hard to get". But for me, in my neck of the woods they are all hard to get. Walmarts, TRUs, Targets, Kohls, there is not a new transformer to be found anywhere. The newest wave of figures I've seen around here is the Generations wave with Dirge. the only RTS figures I've seen for months have been the Roddy/Cyclonus two pack. And thats it. No Jazz, Tracks, Perceptor, Kup, Scourge, Wheeljack, Thundercracker. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some. I have yet to see any of these figures out in the wild ANYWHERE, for months. And its really starting to steam my clams a little bit. I like to save money. TRU's prices might be high but they are better than paying full price plus shipping on every figure. I hate getting new figs shipped to me. I prefer to use the online ordering for figs that are out of production that I missed. How bad has this issue been in your area? Post your thoughts below.

The first thing doesn't bother me in the slightest. I repaint and mod figures and that often means they have no faction symbol anywhere. They know what side they're on and that is what counts!

As for the distribution problem: I live in England. It's been a problem for 27 years. Yes I'm annoyed, but I've lived with it since the 80s so it's nothing new. I've pestered Hasbro about it several times and so have other Brits. Try doing the same yourself. You'll need to send an email several times before you stop getting the copied and pasted reply about 'passing your views on to the marketing team'. Pester the local stores as well.

1) I prefer the red and purple faction logos, too. I can't go so far as to say hate, though. Can't give you any feedback on Reprolabels. Never used them, although I'm tempted to try.

2) I'm extraordinarily frustrated with the distribution problems with Transformers. I'm not sure what genius decided to put two Windcharger figures in a case with 8 shelfwarmers.

I've been fortunate to snag every figure I'm looking for except Grapple, Windcharger, Rumble and Heavytread. I'm not confident on getting any of those, though. I never did find the last wave of Universe Legends. I had to buy the Henkei pack, plus shell out on eBay for a properly-colored Wheelie.

You will probably need to rethink your opinion on buying online. Probably over half the figures from the most recent toy lines I got online. With gas prices, shipping costs may be a wash. Sometimes, online retailers don't charge tax, so you might save there. Also, Hasbro Toy Shop often has special codes for discounts which pretty much pay for taxes or shipping. BBTS's Pile of Loot cuts down on shipping costs.

I once read some great advice on this board. I forget who said it, but it was, "When you see a figure for a price you are willing to pay for it, buy it." You might kick yourself for it when it goes on sale or on clearance later. Or you might be thankful when you see others scrambling to pay double or triple for the figure on eBay. Heck, it doesn't matter how much I'd be willing to pay for Legends Rodimus, I never could find him.

Another question for those who know more: How much of this problem is due to distribution and how much is due to production numbers? Did Hasbro produce five Backfires for every one Windcharger? Why does it seem that way? If he's produced in less quantities because he's in the last wave, why release popular characters in that wave? What's the reasoning here?

I like the silver faction symbols.

Yes, it's difficult to find the figures I want, but I always manage to get them eventually. You just have to have a lot of patience. I guess it helps that I have a TRU that I literally drive past twice a day, so I stop in a few times a week. Between TRU, Target, Walmart, and HTS.com, I eventually find every figure I want. And if worse comes to worst, there's always eBay. Like the person above said, you need to get over your refusal to buy online. HTS.com usually has promo codes that will almost cancel out the shipping cost if you buy a few figures. I recently bought Wheeljack and Lugnut from HTS.com, and I paid $35.56 including tax and shipping. If I had bought those same figures at TRU, I would have paid about the same amount, maybe more!

Bully, thank you. Grapple was one that I missed in my first post. Never seen him in the wild either. I wasn't really looking for feedback on Reprolabels. As Myk mentioned his repaints (which are fantastic) I have a few re-paints of my own. Unlike Myk though, I don't consider the job done until the proper faction symbols are in place. I have experience with Reprolabels. They put out a great product. The feedback I was looking for was if anybody regretted putting the stickers on there that were not supposed to be there. You know, taking that original figure and altering it to an un-original atate.

Think the collector who keeps all of his figs MIB. But on a whim one day, he opens a figure because he wants to transform it just one time. Did he regret opening the box? Immediately or somewhere down the road?

I don't know why the symbols bother me so much. I don't mind the silver and black symbols on any of the movie figs. I guess my G1 preference just comes out in the other lines. If a G1 inspired Optimus Prime is release, it needs to have a red autobot logo on his shoulder. If he doesn't, they might as well have painted his head red because it just wouldn't look right to me.

Guy, getting to the stores isn't the problem. Same as you, I drive by a walmart and a TRU everyday. Plus, there are literally a dozen Walmart in a 20 square mile radius of my house. Getting to the stores isn't the problem. Seeing the figures in the stores is the problem. Gen Dirge and Cybertron Megs and Soundwave are still on the shelves here. Plus remnants of the ROTF line. Human Alliance Skids was on clearance at TRU for 19.99 yesterday.

Seeing these figs on the shelf makes me think that the stores here just haven't turned their inventory over yet. But it also worries me that I might not see them at all with DOTM looming. And I know for a fact that those junk figures will dominate the shelves over the remnants of the Gen/RTS line.

The silver symbols bother the hell out of me too.

It's a left over bad taste from the movie franchise that should have stayed with it.

As for distribution... Literally NOWHERE here in Memphis has gotten ANYTHING since the batch of Deluxes that included Blurr and Dirge, and THAT was about a month and a half late. The only exception is the DOTM Preview Cyberverse Prime, which is clogging the shelves of every single retailer.

Now THAT is frustrating.

Not a fan of the silver symbols either. I don't really experience the distribution issue since I've pretty much gone completey online with TF purchases. I can see how it would be frustrating for those who don't have that luxury though.

I don't mind the silver logos to much.

Local retailers haven't gotten ANYTHING new in stock since August. I hardly even bother to stop in and check anymore. It's unreal...

I hate the silver logos. The logos should be the appropriate colors.

I live within 15 minutes drive of 3 Targets, 2 TRU's, and 2 Walmarts. The most recent thing I've seen on any of those shelves is the Rodimus/Cyclonus two pack and Generations Dirge and Skullgrin and Thunderwing. The rest is movie shelf warmers.

I used to try to avoid ordering online, but now I find it much more convenient, and it costs about the same as driving around looking for them individually. I ordered a 4-pack of Wheeljack, Kup, Scourge, and Thundercracker for $59.18, with shipping. It works out to $14.79 per figure. Considering deluxe figures are now $13.77 (w/tax), that's a pretty good price. I am willing to sacrifice $1.02 for all that convenience.