The Energon Pub

buddha-con wrote:

Flint wrote:

Emperor Primacron the 1st wrote:

Kaiser Convoy wrote:

Leonardo wrote:

Vile MK III wrote:

Redimus' Ego +1 wrote:

Vile MK III wrote:ummm...Isn't Energon Downshift good e-nuf for a classic Wheeljack?

Hell


NO


That guy has Energon Autobots desease BAD.

...okie dokie...Speaking of molds, How can Takara re-use the Diaclone Convoy mold over and over w/ out it getting damaged? Come one, they used it's like a million times. (I know, a million is a big stretch but still)

I've been wondering that for a while.

I think I can provide the answer to your question young grasshoppa...

...the answer is in 3D scanning...

[For those who do not know]

3D scanning is where they take a revolving scanner in the shape of a two pronged clamp (or its single sided) and set it to scan the shape and dimensions of the subject matter into a computer.

The subject matter is then transferred from the computer program to the mould maker programme where a 3D representation of the subject then takes place before making a preliminary master figurine before sending the scanned information to the mould makers, who then make the die-cast IP (injection Plastic) brick for manufacturing the figurine.

and et voila you have a (some say perfect others say 99.9%) accurate mould of the subject matter

Did not Mattel do that in early 2001, when they re-released the original He-Man figures?

That is exactly whay Mattel did, they actually bought up old figures and such from ebay.

As for Convoy, something tells me they tok extra care in preserving that mold.

I believe for Convoy they either made a new mold or are using the G2 one (I can't remember), if they made a new mold I think they figured they would be using it a lot so that would make it profitable. On the other hand, they feel that no other character is as popular as Optimus so no other character is deserving of an entirely new mold (there are some exceptions I'm guessing though), which I think is lame on their part.

It's the G2 Mold

Are you saying the G2 mold is different from the G1 mold, or that they actually bothered to make a new mold of the same G1 mold for G2? As far as I was aware, both G1 and G2 Optimus cabs were identical.

I mean the recent releases havd the G2 dates.

If Sideswipe's mold is intact (which it clearly is), Sunstreaker's mold could easily be retooled from it.

I find it likely that if the film succeeds, the original G1 versions of the film characters will likely be reissued- possibly why Ironhide and Ratchet have yet to be re-released by Hasbro. If those succeed, more will follow until interest drops.

Incidentally, two of the characters whose molds are stated to be damaged are those most clearly associated with advertising- Mirage is inextricably associated with Ligier, and Wheeljack is with Lancia (not to mention Marlboro in Japan). While I assume good faith in Hasbro, this would certainly be an impediment to a reissue.

Basketball Jones wrote:If Sideswipe's mold is intact (which it clearly is), Sunstreaker's mold could easily be retooled from it.

The Sideswipe mold is very different from the Sunstraker mold. The car mode looks a little similar, especially the front of the cars, but there are still several details that vary from figure to figure in this mode. The big issue is that in bot mode they look nothing alike and transform completely different.

Basketball Jones wrote:If Sideswipe's mold is intact (which it clearly is), Sunstreaker's mold could easily be retooled from it.

I find it likely that if the film succeeds, the original G1 versions of the film characters will likely be reissued- possibly why Ironhide and Ratchet have yet to be re-released by Hasbro. If those succeed, more will follow until interest drops.

Incidentally, two of the characters whose molds are stated to be damaged are those most clearly associated with advertising- Mirage is inextricably associated with Ligier, and Wheeljack is with Lancia (not to mention Marlboro in Japan). While I assume good faith in Hasbro, this would certainly be an impediment to a reissue.

I could only hope for that to happen but that seems unlikely. I will be asking a lot of questions at Botcon. Also want to inquire about a job!!!!

Swerve wrote:

Basketball Jones wrote:If Sideswipe's mold is intact (which it clearly is), Sunstreaker's mold could easily be retooled from it.

The Sideswipe mold is very different from the Sunstraker mold. The car mode looks a little similar, especially the front of the cars, but there are still several details that vary from figure to figure in this mode. The big issue is that in bot mode they look nothing alike and transform completely different.

That is totally true!! Way different!!!

They're lazy and cheap. That's all it comes down to. Remember the Masters of the Universe reissues from a few years ago? Most of the original molds are part of the artifical land extention for runways at Hong Kong International! They made entirely new molds for that line from (**** you not) fan collection donations! But the MOTU were a hell of a lot simpler then your average Transformer. And the line tanked anyway because they came out like 2 months before the new MOTU figures and nobody wants to buy a ugly Scotish Monkey when they can get a cool Scot Monkey next month! Serious, the local "hidden" toy shop still has Stratos clogging up 6 pegs.

Oh and the Ratchet & Ironhide toys sucked 9 types of ass. I had them. They sucked. I don't miss them.

Godmodule wrote:There's also reverse molding as well. Where you take a fig and make a mold around it, then convert it to a standard mold. That's how they brought G1 Soundwave back from the dead. However, "Lower" characters like Mirage, Wheeljack and others just don't seem to be worth the effort. The only reason Hound, Skids, Prowl, etc. got remolds is because the molds were still capable of being used. As for Shockwave and Omega Supreme (as I believe someone mentioned), Takara was never in ownership of those molds. The toys were manufactured by smaller asian toy companies then sent to Takara/Hasbro for packaging. Just read about the Jetfire fiasco in the 80's. Jetfire's the only fig Takara will NEVER re-release even if they wanted to, because Bandai owns that mold and they're a way bigger company than Hastak. That's what you get for stealing from Macross!

Plus the toy lost its arms if you sneeze.

ummm, I was just wondering. What happened to the G1 molds of Beachcomber and Seaspray? They're like the only minibots that didn't get a reissue from "Fight! Super Robot Life". Also, speaking of minibots, does the Cliffjumper mold count as damaged? He did get a new head mold for the keychain reissue.

It seems that the Jazz mold is noticeably damaged- observe how the expression on his face changes from a smile in G1 to a mildly concerned look in G2 to a Starscream-esque smirk for the Commemorative Series reissue.

Basketball Jones wrote:It seems that the Jazz mold is noticeably damaged- observe how the expression on his face changes from a smile in G1 to a mildly concerned look in G2 to a Starscream-esque smirk for the Commemorative Series reissue.

That's cuase Hasbro used the G2 version of the mold...

I beleive Takara used the (none smirk) G1 version, though I may be wrong.

The face on G2 Jazz and G1 Reissue Jazz seem to be different, if photos from tfu.info are reliable.

Godmodule wrote:There's also reverse molding as well. Where you take a fig and make a mold around it, then convert it to a standard mold. That's how they brought G1 Soundwave back from the dead.

The Soundwave re-issue is from the Soundblaster mold, it has the bigger chest/tape door to allow for two tapes.

I thought i'd jump in on this.

As people have said before, i know that G1 Omega Supreme, Shockwave, and Jetfire are all supposedly originally owned by other companies, so legally speaking, there is no legal way to reproduce them without buying a sublicense or whatever in order to have permission to make those items again. That is if the molds are even still in existance.

Once upon a time, before the great boards deletetion, i read a thread about this sort of thing. In that thread, a fellow seibertronian spoke of how he worked with resin, and it turns out that the stuff is really expensive. he spoke of how it was bought by the gallon, and i want to say that 5 or 10 gallons of the stuff was like 5 or 10 thousand dollars or something ridiculous like that.

I also recall reading something about how doing remolds is a very costly process.

Furthermore, i also recall reading about how energon Wingsabre was one of the few, if not the only energon figure that was untouched by hasbro in the manufacturing process. As i understand it, Hasbro is/was a sublicensee of Takara/Tomy?, and Takara would give them figures essentially. Takara is responsible for the engineering process of the the majority of the toys. If hasbro has an idea or concept for a figure, they will draw up the alt mode and tell Takara "We want it to look like this, now make it." Like with Wingsabre for example, Hasbro supposedly said something to the tune of "We want something that will combine with optimus prime." Takara responded that that was the reason that certain sacrifices were made with Wingsabre in order to meet that goal, such as his teeny tiny arms/hands and general brickishness. But! He combined with Optimus Prime!

In the end, most of everything we discuss is speculation, but we can recap the facts which attribute to why we don't see some figures being reissued.

1. Takara/tomy/hasbro do not own some of the licenses or whatever for use of some of the names.

2. Resin costs a buttload per gallon.

3. Molds are prone to degredation through use, elemental exposure, and consipracy theories involving theft and such.

4. Remolds are costly to do and are usually only done when large amounts of a figure are going to re-made

We should all write to that program "How It's Made" on the discovery channel and have them do an episode on tf's. maybe they'd do it if enough of us asked them to?

http://community.discovery.com/eve/foru ... 6941947648

Or maybe making tf's is a dirty business? Maybe we could write to Mike Rowe of the dirty jobs show and ask him to show us how it's done? http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirty ... yjobs.html

DeathAura wrote:
As people have said before, i know that G1 Omega Supreme, Shockwave, and Jetfire are all supposedly originally owned by other companies, so legally speaking, there is no legal way to reproduce them without buying a sublicense or whatever in order to have permission to make those items again. That is if the molds are even still in existance.

Good, maybe we can get a toon accurate Skyfire figure instead of a Macross figure