I believe the consensus is they redid the mold for the release of Gen Thundercracker. I have both Gen Thundercracker and Botcon AM Thundercracker (I believe that was the last time the seeker mold was used prior to this release) and both of mine have nice tight joints, details and none of the problems seen with Univ 2.0 Starscream.
...well that'll bring the price of the Seekers as a whole soon won't it... I have Skywarp and Thundercracker... best be trading/selling them soon! >_<
Anybody who expected this to be anything less than about $120 hasn't been paying attention to the pricing of Ultra Magnus, or just walked in. People want to be treated like 'serious collectors' but they want to pay kids toys prices.
WTF does that even mean? "Treated" like a serious collector? What, do I get discounts at restaurants? How do I sign up for this special treatment? Oh right, apparently I don't spend enough of my money on stupid shit to rate it. Importing stuff is expensive, we all know that. So is nice packaging. So are a lot of international prices for various reasons. However, that's not a very compelling reason for three redecos of an old Deluxe figure should cost much more than, well, three Deluxe class figures individually from the same market. If this is true, what it really amounts to is profiting extra because people have Seeker OCD. But let's justify it for them, with this "serious collector" business. If these guys are relying on imports (note: if) and they fail to make it an attractive proposition for importers (for god's sake we JUST GOT Thundercracker for pocket change) then I will deride THEM for their failure to market a worthwhile product, not fans for sensibility. Of course I kind of think they could set any damn price they wanted and still sell out. Good for them, I guess, least they arent getting my money. Anyway, if being treated like a serious collector means "being hawked literal kids toys in marginally better deco" then I don't really need to be treated that way at all, thanks. Boxsets of Seekers should actually be readily accessible for reasonable prices, not exclusive and pricey. Sometimes maybe I do want to buy the same toy several times, but them selling me that same toy several times is not a freaking privilege I ought to be thanking them for.
Stuff on TransformersAsia.com = TakaraTomy. Most everything else is Hasbro China/Asia. One easy thing to remember too is most of the Transformers Asia stuff is stuff that is / was exclusive to TakaraTomy (reissues and other things Hasbro didn't release). Most of the Hasbro Asia stuff is unreleased retools, new tooled heads, and redecos under the Generations moniker. IIRC it goes like this. Version 1 mold: Classics Starscream Version 1B mold (some changes): Classics Skywarp Wave 2 Classics Starscream Classics Ramjet BotCon Thundercracker BotCon Dirge BotCon Thrust Henkei Starscream Henkei Ramjet Universe Acidstorm Version 2 Mold Universe Starscream Gentei Thundercracker Gentei Skywarp Gentei Thrust Gentei Dirge Version 1B Mold (they began reusing this one) Ghost Starscream Generations Thrust Generations Dirge G2 Ramjet SG Thundercracker Generations Thundercracker SG and Generations Thundercracker had some new copyright info added to them to. But the version 2 mold, as I call it for our purposes here, (that had a lot of changes) was the version of the mold that had the most issues. Of the releases only 2 weren't reported to have widespread issues. So it seems there are multiple versions of the mold out there at one point or another. Randy
Unless you subscribe to the idea that economies of scale do play a part in pricing, and that beyond a certain amount of units, the demand for re-re-re(?)issues of a 6 year old mold isn't that high.
I'm glad to see a reissue of Skywarp for those who missed them the first time. It feels really good to complete the trio once you do.
The upsides are 3 matching decos available in one go, with equal availability... none of Hasbro's flip flopping on toy/cartoon/reimagined deco, and none of Takara's some are harder to get than others routine either.
This is totally WRONG to categorize this set into the 3.0 ... they don't look much difference other than minor paint apps. ...
And yet they made up a substantial fraction of the Generations and United lines. TT made back their investment on this mold. Agreed? Good. Anything else might as well be gravy, compared to their retail-prices 2006-2008 releases. If TT can't find the sweet spot on pricing on this release (and I'm not saying they haven't) then the only reasonable response is to point and laugh, not bemoan the personal failings of the individuals making up the target market. Usually I could give a crap for pricing and other idiosyncrasies for international releases due to differing cultures, currencies, etc. but a pair of Seeker box sets is so clearly designed to tempt the global collector community that we can and will judge it on that basis. Plus really, buy or don't buy, but this "man up and get sold stuff for higher prices cause its in a box" is what catches my attention.
I can't wait to order them! I feel a bit sad for my old Starscream and Thundercracker, but this set is really cool!
Maybe Starscream, as the only one i have of him is the first one without a painted face. I like my versions of the other 2, esp Skywarp-He broke once, and I fixed him. Attached. But Screamer... maybe. maybe.
my boy is only 4 so I missed the whole classics thing. Now he is watching the g1 cartoon and he wants the toys. Id love to buy these seekers for him but if its going to be more than 80 dollars then Ill just have to skip it. No reason for it to be so expensive.
I don't think any other Classics mold has gotten near the rotation that the seekers did. 5 of the standard? Another 3 coneheads? They must have made their money back on the mold, and then some, but if they don't believe it's going to sell as a mass release Hasbro product, then they're not going to spend the time and money making them either way... and at 8 uses in some four years, they can't be blamed for being sceptical. How much do Hasbro DXs cost in markets like Malaysia, Singapore? $25? and that's for mass release toys that make it to the US, maybe it's $30? So multiply that by 3 and you have $75-90. Based on that the difference between that and the discussed $120 price doesn't seem so big..... maybe they're not overcharing to the extent that some people think they are?
