This past year, I've been collecting G1 stuff and trying to pick between originals, official reissues and KOs.

In cases where there are official reissues, it comes down to which reissue (Takara TFC, Hasbro, Takara)?

My criteria are cartoon accuracy and face sculpts.

So far I've found:

1) Jazz ->Takara. Don't go with Hasbro or TFC since the face has suffered from mold degradation. Takara Jazz has a new face and blue visor.

2) Prowl ->Original. All reissues suffer from mold degradation so the facial features are not well defined.

See:
1984 Prowl - Prowl (1984) - Autobot Military Strategist - www.tfu.info
2003 Prowl - Prowl (2003) - Autobot Military Strategist - www.tfu.info

3) BlueStreak ->Original. Same reasons as Prowl. Sadly, I believe the e-hobby anime BluStreak also suffers from the facial mold degradation

4) Bumblebee -> Takara reissue. New cartoon accurate head and blue eyes and other extra painted features.

5) Inferno/Grapple -> Either TFC or Hasbro. They have toon accurate blue eyes and no obvious mold degradation. TFC has the nicer packaging.

6) Sideswipe -> Either TFC or Hasbro. They have toon accurate blue eyes and no obvious mold degradation. TFC has the nicer packaging.

7) Hound->TFC. I find the reissue's mold degradation somehow makes the face look better? Take a look here : Hound - Toy Gallery - Photo #78.

8) Slag and Swoop ->KO. The KO red faced Slag and KO Blue chested Swoop are toon accurate and well made.

9) Astrotrain-> e-hobby but expensive.

Have you guys found any different?

 

Forgot to mention CliffJumper. I'd go with original. The key chain version's face is different (mold degradation?) and not as cool looking.

 

I've been actively collecting G1 figures for about two months now. I try to buy original as much as possible because I want that historic feel to the figure. However, I'll buy reissues when I feel it's for the best. Figures such as Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx are figures I'll be the Encore version of to avoid battery damage or electronics failure. I'll also buy reissues if there are more figure-for-the-dollar, such as a Soundwave or Blaster reissue. I will not buy KO's though.

 

Reissues are nice (I own some myself) but given the choice between the two, I prefer to own the originals.

 

All choices are sound. I totally disagree on hound though. The original is much better to me, that picture is not great.

 

I buy reissues whenever they're available. The only ones I don't own are Ramjet, Thrust (come on Takara, Encore them already) and Sixshot (is that still coming out again or not?).

Originals for everything else, though with the Dinobots I'll wait and see if the much-rumored reissues finally see the light of day.

 

All original for me.

But I can understand why some would rather go for re-issues.

 

A mixture, because I really don't care which. As long as I have the character I am happy. I blame the TFC collection from making me own multiples of some characters though, Iam a sucker for that packaging.

 

QFT.

The TFC figures are amazing. I wish I owned more than just one  

 

Agreed. I spent $110 on a MISB TFC Sideswipe instead of $47.99 on the Hasbro Reissue.

 

I am about to say F it and buy KO Sunstreaker. Finding that guy is good shape has been the hardest thing for me to do as a collector up to this point!

 

I mix and match re-issues, originals, and KO's too. Sometimes its for screen accuracy, sometimes its for price/quality.

I bought KO Springer, Cyclonus, and Scourge for the value VS originals (they were worth it except for cyclonus).

I Bought KO Swoop for screen accuracy.

Reissue red alert so I wouldn't feel bad swapping heads with a G2 Sideswipe.

Music Label Optimus Prime for the head.

I still want the Encore Bumblebee for that head.

With all that said, the majority of my G1's are original. Theres some un-tangible value to a toy thats 28 years old, and still looks good on the shelf.

 

I've got my Encore Seekers next to my original Coneheads & I can't even tell the difference between old & new. Half of my S1 & S2 Autobot cars are reissues & they fit in perfectly fine with the originals. I got a Commemorative reissue Ultra Magnus, replaced the long, gaudy missles with some original missiles/launchers & he's taken his rightful place on my G1 shelf. What's wrong with mixing reissues in with originals? As long as you get the best version of the reissue, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Hell, I'd much rather go for a minty reissue over a beaten-up & broken original any day of the week.

 

I will rather buy originals also but the climate of my country means that the rate of degeneration of my collection, especially G1 originals can be quite rapid. For example, the flawless (IMO) MIB Sunstreaker is already having spots on his chrome.

In fact, I would recommend reissues becoz other that the issues mentioned, the engineering should be improved and the toy is in a better condition. They also don't look out of place with the originals either.

 

Whatever is complete and cheapest way to get a figure complete.

I have my originals from when I was little, vintage I have picked up over the years and reissues as they become available. I only need 1 version of each character so I fill in the pieces as I go, makes my life a lot simpler.

I eventually open them all and sticker them anyhow, whether vintage or reissue

I hear u Alucard, I bought a collection recently and I have a nice Sunstreaker body only lol. I need to find all the parts for him now.........

 

I always go original and pre rubsign if I have the chance.

 

I guess I am in the minority here, but I almost always prefer the reissues. My reason - I love a minty fresh toy that has not been played with before. Reissues have given me the chance to collect figures I never had back in the day, and it has been a lot of fun.

I've grown tired of paying top dollar for loose G1 figures. It feels to me as if I'm paying for sloppy seconds. Someone else has already played with the toy, and who knows what the toy has gone through. I'm not knocking other people for going this route - I understand it, but it just isn't for me.

So I go with fresh reissues, and when there are no reissues i'll dip into the vintage pool to get the figure. I've had to go vintage on guys like Sandstorm, Sunstreaker, and some others. But where possible I go the reissue route, and I generally prefer the Takara reissues as well, since I love chrome shininess, and the Hasbro reissues generally don't have chrome, ie. Prowl, Jazz, Silverstreak, etc. I also like the little improvements we get in the reissues, Encore Devastator stays together a little better than the vintage version, I like the little gimmicks of the cardboard heads for Ratchet/Ironhide, Omega Supreme's head, etc. Good stuff.

 

I'm cool with both, just not with the Knockoff versions of the toys (Cheap, Chinese Pieces of Slag, You're cannon fodder)

 

Collecting Encore would be the most cost effective way to have a more or less complete G1 collection. TFC prices have gone up and sometimes are near the vintage ones in pricing. I'm thinking, it would really be cool to have all versions, vintage, TFC, Commemorative, Encore, etc, but that would be very expensive.

 

Funny story - I started my whole collecting by getting the reissues, but after realizing I couldn't get all of the figures I wanted in the reissues, I switched to originals...and subsequently became hooked. I don't know what it is, but the nostalgia factor for originals is just through the roof. It just wasn't quite the same with the reissues.