The Energon Pub

[Emerje]

I wonder how much that Retro Optimus reissue would cost since the last Walmart version cost nearly more than it deserved without a trailer.

I'm thinking somewhere near the $75 mark

Kinda funny that they are putting this thing out at the same time as Missing link

Not only that, but there's also that Commander class SS86 Optimus Prime we're getting, too. So that's FOUR expensive G1 Optimus Primes we're getting this year.

What are the odds Takara decides to re-release MP-44 for the anniversary in addition to Missing Link?

They are, MP-44S comes out in February in toy colors. That's 5 and I bet that isn't all.

Emerje

[Overcracker]

What are the odds Takara decides to re-release MP-44 for the anniversary in addition to Missing Link?

They are, MP-44S comes out in February in toy colors. That's 5 and I bet that isn't all.

Emerje

Thanks. Should have known.

[Sabrblade]

What are the odds Takara decides to re-release MP-44 for the anniversary in addition to Missing Link?

They are, MP-44S comes out in February in toy colors. That's 5 and I bet that isn't all.

Emerje

Thanks. Should have known.

I guess we should have expected G1 Optimus to be the face of the 40th anniversary.

[Overcracker]

What are the odds Takara decides to re-release MP-44 for the anniversary in addition to Missing Link?

They are, MP-44S comes out in February in toy colors. That's 5 and I bet that isn't all.

Emerje

Thanks. Should have known.

I guess we should have expected G1 Optimus to be the face of the 40th anniversary.

Yup.

[Emerje]

What are the odds Takara decides to re-release MP-44 for the anniversary in addition to Missing Link?

They are, MP-44S comes out in February in toy colors. That's 5 and I bet that isn't all.

Emerje

Thanks. Should have known.

I guess we should have expected G1 Optimus to be the face of the 40th anniversary.

I still don't know if the one I brought up before is the same as this new retro reissue since they have two different product numbers.

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

[Sabrblade]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

All of my Target stores haven't carried any Commander class figures since Sky Lynx.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

All of my Target stores haven't carried any Commander class figures since Sky Lynx.

Wow, really? Yikes. Mine carried them at least through Motormaster.

[Sabrblade]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

All of my Target stores haven't carried any Commander class figures since Sky Lynx.

Wow, really? Yikes. Mine carried them at least through Motormaster.

Not even Jetfire before Sky Lynx. No Walmarts had him either. Sky Lynx is the only Commander I've ever seen at brick-and-mortar retail. All of my stores just don't carry Commanders.

[-Kanrabat-]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

All of my Target stores haven't carried any Commander class figures since Sky Lynx.

Wow, really? Yikes. Mine carried them at least through Motormaster.

Not even Jetfire before Sky Lynx. No Walmarts had him either. Sky Lynx is the only Commander I've ever seen at brick-and-mortar retail. All of my stores just don't carry Commanders.

The only place I constantly saw Commanders live in store are at my local geek store, or at Toys R Us. Walmart never bothered and it's a rare sight at GameStop.

[Emerje]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

Well that's specifically why I think disconnecting it from a current lines would be in its favor. If they go to retailers and say "This is our big anniversary figure of Optimus Prime, you love Optimus Prime. He isn't attached to any existing sku so you can stick him anywhere in the store and people will buy him!"

Emerje

[D-Maximal_Primal]

But this is why I say it was a waste to use the Studio Series Commander slot on him, he could have been a stand alone figure and everyone would sell it.

Emerje

Would they though? I don't know that Target would pick him up as a standalone. And I don't think there was anything else immediately in the pipe for that slot.

All of my Target stores haven't carried any Commander class figures since Sky Lynx.

Wow, really? Yikes. Mine carried them at least through Motormaster.

Not even Jetfire before Sky Lynx. No Walmarts had him either. Sky Lynx is the only Commander I've ever seen at brick-and-mortar retail. All of my stores just don't carry Commanders.

Sky Lynx is the only commander I have seen in stores, and that was target. I never even saw a slot for the others

[Sowndwave76]

I was relieved when my reissued Soundwave showed up today, shipped in a box and not an envelope.
Is there some roadblock preventing the Dinobots from being reissued? I’m assuming there’s reason, but I would love to have those 5 in the simplified, ‘86 movie-styled deco.

[chuckdawg1999]

Alas, the molds were lost.

[Sabrblade]

Is there some roadblock preventing the Dinobots from being reissued? I’m assuming there’s reason, but I would love to have those 5 in the simplified, ‘86 movie-styled deco.

Sadly, the original molds for the Dinobots were lost a long time ago. Same with the molds for Sunstreaker, Mirage, and Wheeljack.

[Sowndwave76]

I probably should have known that…. But if I read it somewhere here on the forums (if ever), that had to have been well over a decade ago, because I don remember that these molds were lost.

At this point is there some sort of design rights issue?
Because interestingly enough, there’s this process called reverse engineeriing…
Has anyone at Hastak ever been asked about creating new molds for all of those that were lost?


Also, sidenote: The copy that was delivered today was my second order of this figure, made roughly a week ago when Walmart received more stock. My first, which was a preorder months ago, is still “delayed” and has no updates…
???

[Emerje]

I probably should have known that…. But if I read it somewhere here on the forums (if ever), that had to have been well over a decade ago, because I don remember that these molds were lost.

At this point is there some sort of design rights issue?
Because interestingly enough, there’s this process called reverse engineeriing…
Has anyone at Hastak ever been asked about creating new molds for all of those that were lost?

They've been gone for at least the last 20 years, hence why they weren't reissued in the early 2000s with all the other stuff at Toys R Us at the time. Last time those molds were used was G2 in the early 90s.

Hasbro has done mold refreshes, rebuilds and remakes in the past. Reissue Soundwave was cobbled together from what they could find of his and Soundblaster's hold molds which is why early reissues had the double chest. The dinosaur tape combiners released for the Bumblebee movie and at Walmart are entirely new molds. Why they wont at least remake the Grimlock mold, a sure seller that they could go back to for years, is anyone's guess. People have asked, but they've never given a clear answer I'm aware of aside from the old ones being lost.

Also, sidenote: The copy that was delivered today was my second order of this figure, made roughly a week ago when Walmart received more stock. My first, which was a preorder months ago, is still “delayed” and has no updates…
???

That "delayed" one is never going to ship. It's known glitch in their system that has screwed an endless number of people trying to get hard to find figures. This happened to me with the entire first two waves of Netflix Deluxe figures, I was lucky to find the rare ones (like Bumblebee) in stores. Customer service will tell you to cancel it and order again, they have no interest in fixing it. It's not even unique to pre-orders, I've had other in stock things, even non-toys, get "delayed".

Emerje

[Sowndwave76]

I probably should have known that…. But if I read it somewhere here on the forums (if ever), that had to have been well over a decade ago, because I don remember that these molds were lost.

At this point is there some sort of design rights issue?
Because interestingly enough, there’s this process called reverse engineeriing…
Has anyone at Hastak ever been asked about creating new molds for all of those that were lost?

They've been gone for at least the last 20 years, hence why they weren't reissued in the early 2000s with all the other stuff at Toys R Us at the time. Last time those molds were used was G2 in the early 90s.

Hasbro has done mold refreshes, rebuilds and remakes in the past. Reissue Soundwave was cobbled together from what they could find of his and Soundblaster's hold molds which is why early reissues had the double chest. The dinosaur tape combiners released for the Bumblebee movie and at Walmart are entirely new molds. Why they wont at least remake the Grimlock mold, a sure seller that they could go back to for years, is anyone's guess. People have asked, but they've never given a clear answer I'm aware of aside from the old ones being lost.

That's both surprising and a shame they haven't re-made these older molds. This 40th anniversary reissue, the ToysRUs reissue (where Soundwave was put in the packaging backwards), and the TRU reissued 3-pack of the Insecticons are the only G1 figures I have. Going back for any others has obviously never been a priority in my collecting. Until getting this new Soundwave yesterday, I literally hadn't put anything close to serious thought about getting any other G1 figures... It's just a door I was never planning to open. But now I would totally pay for reissues of the Dinobots, especially redone with '86 movie decos.

Also, sidenote: The copy that was delivered today was my second order of this figure, made roughly a week ago when Walmart received more stock. My first, which was a preorder months ago, is still “delayed” and has no updates…
???

That "delayed" one is never going to ship. It's known glitch in their system that has screwed an endless number of people trying to get hard to find figures. This happened to me with the entire first two waves of Netflix Deluxe figures, I was lucky to find the rare ones (like Bumblebee) in stores. Customer service will tell you to cancel it and order again, they have no interest in fixing it. It's not even unique to pre-orders, I've had other in stock things, even non-toys, get "delayed".

Emerje

This has never happened before. Thankfully this is one where I don't want two copies.

[Sowndwave76]

This could be a one-off situation, but my preorder for the reissue Soundwave that was delayed…
Showed up today…. Definitely don’t need a second copy, but it does look nice all sealed-up in that retro packaging.

[trailbreaker]

Stupid question …. Those Chinese KO’s of the G1 Dinobots, aside from using cheap plastic and suspect parts, seem to be the same molds as the originals. Couldn’t Hasbro just take one and modify / reverse engineer it and use it to make more?

[Emerje]

Stupid question …. Those Chinese KO’s of the G1 Dinobots, aside from using cheap plastic and suspect parts, seem to be the same molds as the originals. Couldn’t Hasbro just take one and modify / reverse engineer it and use it to make more?

They could, but wouldn't it make more sense to just grab a few vintage ones off eBay? These days it's really easy, too, technology has come a really long way. All they have to do is disassemble one, make a 3D scan (something anyone can do these days), turn it into a render and carry on like any other Transformer they make. They can do this with literally any figure they want to reproduce.

Emerje

[trailbreaker]

Stupid question …. Those Chinese KO’s of the G1 Dinobots, aside from using cheap plastic and suspect parts, seem to be the same molds as the originals. Couldn’t Hasbro just take one and modify / reverse engineer it and use it to make more?

They could, but wouldn't it make more sense to just grab a few vintage ones off eBay? These days it's really easy, too, technology has come a really long way. All they have to do is disassemble one, make a 3D scan (something anyone can do these days), turn it into a render and carry on like any other Transformer they make. They can do this with literally any figure they want to reproduce.

Emerje

Even better idea !

[Sabrblade]

The question then becomes, why hasn't Hasbro or Takara ever done that in all these 40 years?

[Overcracker]

The question then becomes, why hasn't Hasbro or Takara ever done that in all these 40 years?

Right Question

IMG_0095.gif (2.49 MiB) Viewed 581693 times

[chuckdawg1999]

Stupid question …. Those Chinese KO’s of the G1 Dinobots, aside from using cheap plastic and suspect parts, seem to be the same molds as the originals. Couldn’t Hasbro just take one and modify / reverse engineer it and use it to make more?

Yes and no. It costs a HUGE amount of money to do what you're suggesting, the last and as far as I know only time Hasbro has done something like that was during the Pursuit of Cobra line for the Skystriker. They had to pay a collector for one and they only went through the expense because they knew they were going to release the jet enough to cover the costs. If I remember correctly the retail for the Skystriker was around $100 the same as the last reissue of G1 Prime.

Knowing all that, and what the current reissues go for, would you be willing to pay probably closer to $100 for ONE Dinobot? Keep in mind you have to buy it within the first month of release and not use any kind of gift or discount card for the retailer and Hasbro to see it as a success.