Dagon wrote:JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Breakdown 2099 wrote:Stormrider wrote:Is it possible for Takara to reisusse either as an Encore set? Are all the molds still in good condition?
With todays technology, they could do anything. If these KO companies can reissue Sunstreaker, Menasor etc, then Takara could too. And don't tell me they can't, it's amazing what you can do with computers these days.
They just choose not to and blame it on "mold degradation". Yeah, sure... Some piss-poor backyard Chinese operation can pump out all 5 of the Dinobots, but you can't?
Nope, not without some fans crying "New molds for reissues? Why not make them so they have more articulation? More show-accurate?" Besides, bootleggers easily ignore R&D, filing patents, copyrights and other legal fees. And TakaraTomy would actually have to
locate the lost/stolen molds to base the designs on. Those costs easily add up.
Yeah, ok, but aren't we aware by now that "fans will complain about everything"? You know, that thing that happens whenever anything TF related is released and the fandom cries itself catatonic?
And, if costs are so prohibitive that TT/Hasbro/whoever wouldn't want to try reissuing these because of costs, then why ever bother putting out any newly designed toys?
Simple: cost-effectiveness. The kids are more likely to yield a positive return on the investment, than we adult collectors are. Kids will buy anything that's cool (that's their theory at least), while we, the more informed collectors, are more reserved (again, their theory). In short, we pose more of a risk, especially when it comes to stuff kids normally wouldn't buy, in this case "old-fashioned, sucky" toys.
Surely, R&D for a brand new, ground-up toy must be costly, so wouldn't it be more cost effective to design a toy once and then just constantly re-release it? Wouldn't it then make more sense to hunt down old molds and reuse them rather than develop new things? Or, is this another one of those instances where we're supposed to feel sorry for a company making a pretty large annual profit by producing things that people happily buy?
That's Hasbro's current business practice: repainting to make the stores more likely to buy their stock, thus lengthening the financial viability of the mold. And hunting down old molds can be a fool's errand at times. With the constant relocation of production, some molds got left behind, only to be sold off as part of factory inventory when the new company moves in. Administrative nightmare ensues, toy mold CSI anyone?
Sure bootleggers can bypass R&D and blah&blah, but remind me, how many Classics Seekers figures have been released? TT/Hasbro hardly use a mold once and then throw it away. How many slight variations of Bumblebee were there for each of the three movies, and how many variations of Deluxe BB does the PRime line have? A new paint job doesn't require two years of CAD and grey prototypes to get into the stores. It's the same basic thing with copyrights: TT "couldn't" reissue Omega Supreme becuase the rights belonged to someone else; we'll never get an Encore Omega Supreme becuase of copyrights; and when did we get him? 2008? If TT thought there could be a profit or an incentive, they will pursue it.
That I readily agree with. I still consider Encore Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx "happy accidents", as with the merger with Tomy, those molds were suddenly available. Both toys were designed by ToyBox I believe, but it was Tomy who gave the order, thus the copyright befalls to that company.
Not trying to make this an anti-business rant, but I'm just saying. If TT/Hasbro/anyone wanted to reissue *-cons or *-bots or anything, they could and would. The proof behind the viability of that hypothesis is that KO companies can/have/are doing it. Ok, it's not going to be easy for TT, they may have to find/repair molds, but last time I heard, business isn't something easy that other people just give you....it requires some effort.
But whether or not the effort pays off in the end, who knows? All in all, there are a lot of factors in play that determine Hasbro's/TakaraTomy's decisions to pursue a reissue project, the least of which overall are fan demand and character popularity. But if TakaraTomy has the means, they *will* pull through.