o.supreme wrote:I am not a SS collector, so I may be off a bit, but wasn't the original intent to have representations of characters as close to their on screen appearance as possible? I mean I know there have been deviations both as characters that never appeared in film, or color/design variants that didn't as well. It seems each time this happens there's pushback from fans for good or ill. If Hasbro I think would just state publicly what we all know they are doing, even if that changes the original intent of the SS line, I think it would at least subside most of the negative chatter that comes from quick repaints. You may lose some collectors, but at least the same argument won't happen endlessly.
I actually don't think the intent of Studio Series has changed all that much, aside from the obvious partial takeover of SS86 and the very odd re-use of AoE Bee. There have always been some repaints/remolds within the line, but they have mainly been used on characters that have been in multiple movies and had their decos changed between films (Starscream, Ratchet, Sideswipe OP, Bee). Most of the redecos had the benefit of another film to tie to. The exclusives have been the oddballs and all repaints, so NEST Bee being a Universal release re-routed to the main line makes sense.
Since SS has always had a mix of redecos over the course of a year, I think we are seeing now is that because almost all the SS86 bots are by definition new molds, regular SS gets stuck with the repaint/remold slots needed to make the overall line fit Hasbro's budget/plan. However, they have pretty much run out of deluxes to redeco from previous SS deluxes that were actually in the films. The rumored re-release of TLK Crosshairs like AoE Bee would also fit my theory. I have absolutely no proof, but it does sort of fit what we are seeing. That could also be why none of these are being revealed on a Fan First Friday. The comments would not be kind.
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