G1 Reissues.

[superchook692006]

What i want Hasbro to do, is re-release all the Original G1 Transformers like they've done with Soundwave.
I have 4 of the Stunticons, 4 of the Terrorcons.
I just need the missing transformers to complete the set.

Maybe also release weapons and accessories for transformers that are missing or broken.

Who thinks remolding a broken part of a transformer for a fee, is a good idea?
Imagine how fast G1 Constructicons would sell, if they re-design them to look cooler, like they did with Universe and Classics.

[Burnout]

Imagine how fast G1 Constructicons would sell, if they re-design them to look cooler, like they did with Universe and Classics.

I'm currently in the process of designing these in hopes that someone will make a custom... or hopefully a good enough design that Hasbro might notice and actually do it (I doubt but you never know....)

[ganon578]

What i want Hasbro to do, is re-release all the Original G1 Transformers like they've done with Soundwave.
I have 4 of the Stunticons, 4 of the Terrorcons.
I just need the missing transformers to complete the set.

Maybe also release weapons and accessories for transformers that are missing or broken.

Who thinks remolding a broken part of a transformer for a fee, is a good idea?
Imagine how fast G1 Constructicons would sell, if they re-design them to look cooler, like they did with Universe and Classics.

Not sure if Hasbro would do that, considering how much it would cost them to run the production again. Especially with all G1 TFs. I don't see that being a mass retail release, considering the consumer base on that type of release would be incredibly small. Whilst it would be very cool to see that type of release, I can't imagine it would happen in any large capacity, especially with individually releasing combiner figures like the Terrorcons.

Cool idea though!

[inflatable dalek]

What i want Hasbro to do, is re-release all the Original G1 Transformers like they've done with Soundwave.

Who thinks remolding a broken part of a transformer for a fee, is a good idea?
Imagine how fast G1 Constructicons would sell, if they re-design them to look cooler, like they did with Universe and Classics.

I'm confused, do you want the original toys reissued or funky new versions? Or both?

[SenahBirdR]

I would prefer new Classics figures over reissues. Though I still DEMAND a US reissue Blaster. My demands unfortunately go unheeded. New moulds or remoulds are acceptable. Simple redecos seem a bit lacking for most Classics figures and should just be part of the other Universe sub-lines.

[Savannahtron]

I would like to see a US reissue of Metroplex. What is really weird is that back when TRU had the G1 reissues, I seem to remember a lot of shelf warming.

I would love to see more G1 reissues, but make the packaging smaller or make the price points a little less expensive. Problem is that using metal for the figures raises the cost to produce the figures, but if they were to start releasing the 86 and later ones, they could do a production run at lower costs.

I think Hasbro is using the Classic series as a way to bridge the G1 gap to the younger generations. Who knows, maybe Hasbro will re-release a G1 series and bring the young ones into the mix. I'd also like to see a run on BW again

[SenahBirdR]

Reissues generally do not interest me as much as new moulds. Exceptions arise however. I am very stoked about the Insecticons. I hope there is no damage in that release as with the Encore Bruticus. Some reissues are just... unique in various ways or iconic. A complete set of any year of G1 is rather expensive and extremely limited to who is willing to purchase. Keeping the metal bits pleases a few fans but discourages others. Replacing the metal parts with plastic does the same but at a lower price point. Prime can always be counted on to sell decently well but from there it tends to go downhill.

[Warcry]

I would like to see a US reissue of Metroplex. What is really weird is that back when TRU had the G1 reissues, I seem to remember a lot of shelf warming.

Considering the cost, lack of kid-appeal, the obscurity of most of the characters in the later waves and how many of them they did at once, I would have been more surprised if they handn't warmed shelves.

The current thinking seems to be something along the lines of releasing one or two reissues per year (Perceptor and the Insecticons this year, Prime last year, Soundwave two years ago...), which seems to be working out a lot better for them.

[Clay]

Considering the cost, lack of kid-appeal, the obscurity of most of the characters in the later waves and how many of them they did at once, I would have been more surprised if they handn't warmed shelves.

Cost more than anything. I remember when they canceled the domestic reissue line and all the existing stock was put on steep clearance (67% or so) to about $10.

I want to say they all gone within two or three days, aside from Ricochet/Stepper, because he was new and wasn't on clearance. I out-waited Toys R Us though and picked him up on clearance two years later. I'm proud of that

[Cliffjumper]

The problem is most buyers only want a quick nostalgia shot from a reissue - basically Prime, Starscream, Soundwave, Hot Rod or Jazz (once, obviously, we've ignored the unviable Megatron and the lost Dinobots). After that, you're really struggling for characters many non-fans remember, and a sizeable chunk of children of the eighties are still very much of the (knee-jerk) opinion that everything after the very start sucked beyond words. Sure, there'll always be a handful of people who had Inferno or whoever for their first TF and will pick him up, but not enough to make a line truly viable. I wouldn't be surprised if Encore starts winding down and/or being made in much smaller numbers over the next year or so either.

The price was an issue, of course, manly because the reissues were alongside better toys that were about half the cost. Any kid who did somehow end up buying reissue Prowl or someone is going to have a small, fragile figure that doesn't really do much compared to a cheaper contemporary Deluxe.

Plus Takara nibble away at the small but significant fan market - with online shopping it's often not much more expensive, the figures tend to be closer to the original and Japanese figures still have that allure to them. With the Commemorative Series, it was a big mistake for Hasbro to reissue the like of Ginrai, Jazz, Prowl and Tracks just as the Japanese releases were really dropping in price...

[Clay]

The problem is most buyers only want a quick nostalgia shot from a reissue - basically Prime, Starscream, Soundwave, Hot Rod or Jazz (once, obviously, we've ignored the unviable Megatron and the lost Dinobots). After that, you're really struggling for characters many non-fans remember, and a sizeable chunk of children of the eighties are still very much of the (knee-jerk) opinion that everything after the very start sucked beyond words. Sure, there'll always be a handful of people who had Inferno or whoever for their first TF and will pick him up, but not enough to make a line truly viable. I wouldn't be surprised if Encore starts winding down and/or being made in much smaller numbers over the next year or so either.

This, I don't know. Transformers were more than just a flash-in-the-pan in 1984, followed by legions of cynical children in 1985 saying that they were old news. At least from my memory, the toys were popular with the kids at my school until the line really started dwindling around 88/89.

I think a fairer representation would be something like a breakdown. 100% of people that remember Transformers remember the toys Optimus Prime, Starscream, and Grimlock. 90% remember Jazz. 50% remember Omega Supreme. 30% remember Metroplex. 66% remember Rodimus Prime. 10% remember the Terrorcons. And so on...

If that holds any water, I think a reissue line could have some longevity, but guaranteed sellout reissues would be limited to a half-dozen or so, given on how they price them.

I do think that was the chief problem with the Hasbro 25th year reissue of Optimus Prime. At $70 and in the relative advertising vacuum last December, no one bit. I think that, given the inclusion of the first issue of the comic and a dvd of the pilot episodes, had it been priced around $50 and released now alongside all the movie stuff, it would have done fine.

[SenahBirdR]

I think Cliffjumper just nailed the confluence of problems right there.

The CE Soundwave released a few years ago was probably one of the better reissue releases I've been witness to. It is voyager sized, especially considering the extra Cassette figures, was priced in the same range as modern Voyagers, is a decent toy by itself, and had a very modern eye catching box that might even interest the younger buyers. The thing kept selling out but even so Toys R Us dropped its price in half to clear out their warehouses. I had a friend who worked at Toys R Us at the time, and he kept an eye out for when a new box of product came in so another friend and I had a chance at actually picking it up. Apparently a lot of adult and teenaged collectors kept coming in and asking for it. The closer time came for the Movie release the sooner the shelf space would become a blank beacon of its popularity.

[Cliffjumper]

This, I don't know. Transformers were more than just a flash-in-the-pan in 1984, followed by legions of cynical children in 1985 saying that they were old news. At least from my memory, the toys were popular with the kids at my school until the line really started dwindling around 88/89.

Oh, for sure - for a toyline of the time, Transformers had a very long life, and over here remained fairly 'in' for most of its' first 'life'. But I'm thinking more of what people remember now... I watched MotU a lot as a kid, but haven't paid much attention to anything since, and I doubt I could name more than half-a-dozen characters - the biggies and a couple whose toys really stick in the mind.

If that holds any water, I think a reissue line could have some longevity, but guaranteed sellout reissues would be limited to a half-dozen or so, given on how they price them.

The Classics/Universe tie-ins seem to be the way forward - as Senah says they're picking some smart figures. Soundwave and Perceptor are a) very dynamic and sturdy for the time and b) have an extra feature that can make them do something more than just transform. They're also both a decent size. The Insecticons are a bit harder to see, but then at the right price could clean up a bit on nostalgia, as they do seem to be well-remembered.

I do think making Prime all-plastic made the figure look very cheap, which might not have helped - I suspect a lot of 20-somethings think he was solid diecast anyway...

[Warcry]

Cost more than anything. I remember when they canceled the domestic reissue line and all the existing stock was put on steep clearance (67% or so) to about $10.

I want to say they all gone within two or three days, aside from Ricochet/Stepper, because he was new and wasn't on clearance. I out-waited Toys R Us though and picked him up on clearance two years later. I'm proud of that

At around a quarter of the original price, yes (although even then, no one seemed to want Bluestreak where I live). I raided the Reissue section when they had discounts and went on clearance too. I tend to think, though, that most of those deeply-discounted figures fell into the hands of people like you and me, rather than casual fans or people who grew up with the brand but don't buy TFs otherwise.

The thing of it is, though, how low can the retail prices go before it's no longer profitable to make the reissues at all? Selling at $10, I'm pretty sure they're in the red.

Also, with Japanese reissues and Classics-esque stuff eating up chunks of the nostalgia market, I would expect a lot of the impulse-buy crowd to gravitate to other stuff.

Oh, for sure - for a toyline of the time, Transformers had a very long life, and over here remained fairly 'in' for most of its' first 'life'. But I'm thinking more of what people remember now... I watched MotU a lot as a kid, but haven't paid much attention to anything since, and I doubt I could name more than half-a-dozen characters - the biggies and a couple whose toys really stick in the mind.

Totally agree. I had a huge box of He-Man toys as a kid and I knew who all of them were. Now I can remember He-Man, Skeletor, Hordak, Clawful the Snake-men and Stinkor, out of probably a couple dozen toys I owned and a whole bunch more that I knew of.

And for most of the non-fans who try to strike up conversations with me about Transformers, that's about how much they remember.

[Savannahtron]

As a kid, I was into Transformers a couple of years after my friends. In fact, one of my childhood friends traded me his Optimus Prime for a Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck rookie card. (1989)

By then, I had been into Transformers for 5 years, but in 1990 I shifted gears into collecting baseball cards and sold most of my Transformers at a yard sale to buy more baseball cards. I kept a few of my favorites, but when I entered high school, I donated the toys to Goodwill and that was that.

Some of my most enjoyable and vivid childhood memories revolve around Tranformers. When the cartoon came out, the second day I came home ready to watch it and my dad and mom bought me Brawn and Cliffjumper and had it waiting on the dining room table for me. My first two Transformers (and two of my favorite characters to this day).

Another one was when my folks bought me the Devastator gift set where I had to choose either him or Skyfire (Jetfire). I remember saying to my dad "Hey, he is supposed to be called Skyfire!" I chose Devastator because my Decepticon force was restricted to Skywarp and I needed more Cons!

Another vivid memory is when the movie came out, we had just recently moved and my friend Eric lost his sister to tuberculosis. He called me on the phone to let me know Tiffany had passed away. A week later my mom and dad took us to the Transformers movie and then out to eat. Of course I wanted the movie toys, but I had to wait until Christmas where I got Ultra Magnus.

How this ties into the re-releases for me is that if I have nostalgic memories of the Transformers, and I collect the toys because because I fell in love with the toy as a child, then I know there are a lot of other people who feel the same way.

Hasbro has tapped into a huge market of adult collectors that our generation has basically created. There have always been doll collectors and car collectors, but to say that an action figure series has such a following that a new product line can be recreated every few years and make profit to create the need for another remake of the toy line gives Hasbro and the Transformers a unique place in history like Barbie or GI Joe (which has been around a lot longer than the 1980s toy figures). Gundam Wing has been around a really long time as well, and I am sure there are many others that I have not listed.

The Classic series has been one of the best additions to the toy line considering the price points are very similar to the deluxe and voyager class items in the ongoing normal series. Great examples that come to mind are Hound (with Ravage), Cyclonus, and Smokescreen are some of my favorites. The toys' price points are more in line with what parents are willing to pay for a toy and the product is made of the same materials as the normal line. The complexity of some figures transformations are a tribute the the G1 series mixed with Binaltech and seem a bit more involved that most of the deluxe.

The G1 series classic release of Comic-Con 25th anniversary Soundwave may be a way to integrate the strength of the Classic toys with the G1 reissues to the new generation. If Hasbro can produce figures and pricepoint the toys to fit within the normal line, I could see the Classic series being a way to integrate the younger generation with some of the older toys.

The post movie toys were bricks too, but all plastic figures would be a great way to integrate.

[The Doctor]

I was tempted to buy more of the TRU reissues a few years ago put the prices were a stumbling block. I did manage to snag some once they went on clearance though.