The Energon Pub

It's a money grab, pure and simple. There is no 'Let's Screw With the Fans/Collectors' mentality.

They re-use a mold already made and repaint it to make money, to make it available for those who missed it the first time.

Cliffjumper could still be in the movie, and in a new form. He can be reformatted in any way, any number of times...haven't you seen the movie?

The exclusivity of the Best Buy Metallics is simply to create buzz and keep the market interested. It is not meant for the average joe, but meant for the collector to give them some hope that HASBRO is listening. They're not, but they want you to think they are by offering you a chance at one of those rare cool exclusives that we read about overseas all the time. The only thing they are thinking is, "Got 'em hook, line, and sinker..."

"Short supply you say? High demand?? Maybe the other movie toys are this valuable. I better go buy some before they are all gone. Surely __________ will be in short supply in a month!"

The repaints are not for collectors. They are for product refreshing, so that the exact same thing is not seen on shelves for the duration. They ensure a variety, but at a low cost to produce.

skywarp-2 wrote:? Bumblebee & Optimus Prime Bumblebee (Deluxe '08 Camaro) & Optimus Prime (Voyager) 8???? $? Out in the UK (August 2007) Repackaged Deluxe '08 Camaro Bumblebee & Voyager Optimus Prime (no repaints)

That one and Nightwatch Prime are Argos exclusives in the UK just incase you want to update that list. I don't see the 'movie scene' packs with the little human figures listed, do we know whether they'll be exclusives or general release (not been paying that much attention to the movie line)?

With a lot of those packs being straight reissues of the individually packaged figures I really don't see there being too much of a problem, especially when they work out a touch cheaper than buying them seperately. Movie toys seem to have been in short supply in the States all summer, now you can pick them up relatively easily and in money saving combos if you missed them first time around. Only folks that I can see that being a real problem for are the MISBers that go after packaging variations, otherwise if you've already got the toys I think that those can be safely ignored.

As far as the repaints go, we get this with every line to a greater or lesser extent. If you don't mind having multiples of a mould and you like the repaint then pick it up. If you're not so keen then don't. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy repaints or to approach their collection with a completist attitude.

I had no idea there were that many movie-related exclusives. Something tells me that's not even a complete list. I think it odd that collectors keep saying the repaint business is a money grab when so many of the repaints or repackages are exclusives, which inherently are sought by collectors.

Dagon wrote:I had no idea there were that many movie-related exclusives. Something tells me that's not even a complete list. I think it odd that collectors keep saying the repaint business is a money grab when so many of the repaints or repackages are exclusives, which inherently are sought by collectors.

Sought for collective rarity, not because they are awesome repaints, in many cases. Some cases are for that reason--cool repaints-- like the Botcon set of seekers, Metallic Movie Megatron.

The battle damage Bumblebee evolution set, not so much because it is cool, as it is exclusive. Metallic Ratchet, not so much because it is cool, but because it is rare.

And exclusives and repaints are still a money grab. Take existing molds (CHECK), repaint slightly (in some cases heavily) (CHECK), Mark up price EXTREMELY for exclusives (CHECK)...

Regular repaints that refresh shelves are a money grab though. Changing colors is not very expensive when compared to changing molds, or actually remolding them.

Counterpunch wrote:

It Is Him wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

It Is Him wrote:Also, completely off-topic, is that a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure sig? It looks like one, though I can't tell because I've only read half the series

New guy ftw with the 2-hit combo!

Indeed it is. I hardly ever actually have anything Transformers related in my sigs.

Good call though. It's early Falcoon art. Of course he got rid of all that stuff online when SNK hired him.

That's awesome! I never got to see Falcoon's original work. He does such a great job with the new KOFs, I'm curious what he did to get SNK's attention.

I can put it all in a zip file for you if you're interested.

I'm sending you a PM

I only read the initial post in the thread, but I'll just drop my personal thoughts down on the issue... First off, I am not a 'completeist'. I will purchase whichever figures I like, and which ever ones I can afford! Example: while I really like the look of Ultimate Bumblebee, I will not purchase one until I can find one at least half off, as I can't afford to spend $80 on a figure!

If I know a 'better' version of a figure is going to come out, then I will wait on picking up that character/mold until that one comes out, LIke I did with Voyager Megatron (I waited until the Best Buy metallic repaint came out to get him!). Now, I will admit that I have also picked up the Best Buy repaint of Ratchet (he was sitting there on top of the shipper the day after they came out, all alone! ), even though I already had the original movie version. I just liked the metallic paint job so much more than the regular one that'd come out. -and I also gave the original figure to a friend's son, who also likes the Transformers and doesn't have too many figures to play with!

As for 'all the repaints' that come out... As I said, unless the figure really catches my attention, I'll pass on it. Menasaur/Rodimus Repaint didn't do anything for me, since in my opinion it didn't look anything like his namesake. The white Prime repaints as Ultra Magnus are a bit 'iffy' for me, I really liked the Classics line of figures, and picked up the Ultra Magnus/Skywarp set, but I passed on the 6" Titanium repaint of WWI Prime as Ultra Magnus. Sometimes a few of the 'official' repaints look pretty sweet (the E-hobby ones specifically), but are usually a bit too expensive IMO for me to pick up!

So, it basically comes down to, "I'll pick up whatever ones I really, really want to buy, but I'll pass on whatever ones I don't like... I know that it's all a way for Hasbro/Takara to make a few more bucks off an existing mold, and every so often I'll oblige them by buying something I like!

Hopefully that post makes sense and still fits in with the conversation taking place now, but there you go... My two cents!

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Dagon wrote:I had no idea there were that many movie-related exclusives. Something tells me that's not even a complete list. I think it odd that collectors keep saying the repaint business is a money grab when so many of the repaints or repackages are exclusives, which inherently are sought by collectors.

Sought for collective rarity, not because they are awesome repaints, in many cases. Some cases are for that reason--cool repaints-- like the Botcon set of seekers, Metallic Movie Megatron.

The battle damage Bumblebee evolution set, not so much because it is cool, as it is exclusive. Metallic Ratchet, not so much because it is cool, but because it is rare.

And exclusives and repaints are still a money grab. Take existing molds (CHECK), repaint slightly (in some cases heavily) (CHECK), Mark up price EXTREMELY for exclusives (CHECK)...

Regular repaints that refresh shelves are a money grab though. Changing colors is not very expensive when compared to changing molds, or actually remolding them.

But I think the general idea of 'exclusive' releases like these for the movie, even if they're just repaints or repackages, are targeted at collectors. No Botcon stuff, just movie related exclusives here. My thought here is that if the movie brought all these new people into Transformers or Transformers collecting, who are now getting on the boards or whatnot and are building a collection are going to snap up the 'exclusive' movie issued stuff becuase it is 'exclusive'. Like a portion of these repaints are perpetually meant for those who are just getting into the hobby. Maybe, just a thought, I'm just thinking here.

Personally I dig repaints.

In a lot of cases the repaints of a character are often better IMO than the original color scheme. I'll often trade out a character if a better repaint of that mold comes along.

Some figures, like Energon Arcee, are great for repaints. As a less expensive character it can be a way to flesh out and personalize a collection. I have several repaints of her sitting with my Alts and MP stuff because the bikes are about the right scale. It makes for a few female autobots to hang out with the rest.

But I really don't understand the complaint. If you don't like a particular repaint, don't buy it. But by having repaints come along, it gives people who may have missed it the first time a chance to pick up a mold they like, and people who like the mold another chance to get it with a different take on the character. And it's not lie repaints haven't been a part of TF world since the beginning, G1 seekers anyone? Hoist & Grapple? All the Datsuns?

With the movie it is a bit different from a normal TF run because there are so few characters to work with. In everything from G1 through Cybertron there were lots of individual characters to work with and each repaint got a personality. With the movie there is only a limited roster, so you're bound to see a lot of both character reuse as well as mold reuse.

But again, as a collector, I like it. I've been able to pick up reissues of stuff I thought I'd long missed.