by Sowndwave76 » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:49 am
- Motto: "They wanna play my emotions, but I'm like the ocean-- too calm to get upset by somebody's notion."
- Weapon: Concussion Blaster Gun
I do have a thought about this sub-line continuing...
It wouldn't matter if they kept the "86" even after the year of the Anniversary is over; the point would be to help distinguish the G1 movie characters from the live action movie characters.
Either way, this subline will end because they'll simply run out of characters to add to it.
Now, no one should be surprised if it resurfaces at some point, because I think it's fair and realistic to say that SS86 figures are selling.
They may not be record-breaking profits, but I'd still bet they're doing quite a good job of bringing in money.
Does anyone else think there's a chance that Coronation Starscream could have a re-tooled mold beyond the shoulders for the gear?
If you despise when people speculate, you'll want to stop reading now...
Being the SS86 line, I think there's a chance part of the retooling may involve a "smoothed", sans Siege/ER greebling mold. Here's why:
-Cost effective; it's a "different version" that costs very little to make happen
-People like me will only buy this figure if it's got more to offer than the gear... I don't want to have 2 ER Starscreams just for the add-in's.
-Although it would drive some people crazy, it's not exactly like the same characters haven't been retooled within a short amount of time of one another. I haven't done an actual count, but between Siege, ER and Kingdom, this surely happened more than a lot of people thought it would.
Here's where some real speculating begins...
A more G1 look, more similar to Cyclonus, Scourge, Hot Rod, etc., first makes Hastak look less lazy for releasing another ER mold, especially in the SS86 line.
Second, I could see this newly retooled mold showing up again in the next year or so.
Why? Because of where I predict the next Generations line heading...
IF Hastak really starts branching-out, and continuing with BW, and adding in updated figures from series such as Cybertron and Armada, you know (it's already rumored) that G1 will still be included.
There's already a limited number of Decepticon characters, and think about what we have received in the last couple years-ish. I doubt we'll get a new Reflector, Soundwave, or even Shockwave any time soon.
Because we're most likely not going to see combiners for a long while, literally over 2 dozen Decepticon characters won't make the cut.
We're looking at Blitzwing, the 3 main Insecticons... And... ????
My point is knowing Hastak will need to have some old reliable, *profitable* characters/figures to add to new line, a retooled SS86 seeker mold gives them 5 voyager class figures to work with and make regular retail releases.
And the original is actually from Earthrise!
They'd essentially be getting 14+ figures from one mold!
On top of that, consider this--
ER TC and SW may not have been difficult for people to get, but it was still an exclusive (and it may have been difficult to get overseas). There were certainly issues in getting the Amazon conehead 2 pk, and I don't think it was super easy for everyone to find Thrust at Target (again, especially overseas).
So while some of us (me included) will be at least slightly annoyed that an improved seeker mold is released, there are plenty who would welcome these guys, because for one reason or another, they missed out on them. Which could mean their seeker team is only half-ish complete.
Will I be shocked if Coronation SS is the exact ER figure version? No, not at all.
But that mold just doesn't fit-in aesthetically with the others I mentioned above. Not to mention, I find the whole "Coronation" idea a bit of a tough sell right off the bat. I get it makes sense, but that doesn't mean it'll sell well.
Speaking only for myself, a retooled SS is the only way I'd consider getting this SS86 version...
The crown, cape, and shoulder pieces mean nothing to me. I have my shelf of seekers looking just like I've always wanted... Imo it would look dumb if SS was standing there in the coronation garb.
I enjoyed that scene from the movie, but I'll get a Ghost of SS figure before a "Coronation" one.