HUH? Did you ever think about all the OTHER examples and how your theory just doesn't stand aside from random chance? Case, closed.
You know what? You're right! Three seekers Three coneheads Three reflectors Three vehicons Triple-changers Minicon teams Botcon three-packs! It's evil I tell you! Evil!!!!!!! Seriously though, all you are seeing is the fact that Hasbro would like to squeeze as many repaints out as they can but usually the market gets saturated at around the three-point mark. The pattern roughly follows so with the first two being the easiest to get out and then a third and/or fourth figure squeezing in pionts 3-5. 1) Initial release in main line 2) Repaint in main line 3) Store exclusive 4) Repaint in secondary line 5) Convention exclusive EDIT: Please also noticed that due to their price class, larger leader sizes follow this trend less.
The alternators are a good example of what I'm talking about. The first four molds ended with 3 uses. The second four molds ended up with 2 uses and the last five molds ended up with one mass retail and a mix of store and convention exclusives. Of the four molds that got three uses, three of them were straight repaints with the fourth being just a head swap. # Alternators Mold Reuse Release 1 Smokescreen New 3 Mass 2 Sideswipe New 3 Mass 3 Hound New 3 Mass 4 Silverstreak Retool n/a Mass 5 Tracks New 3 Mass 6 Dead End Retool n/a Mass 7 Jazz New 2 Mass 8 Swindle Retool n/a Mass 9 Grimlock New 2 Mass 10 Windcharger New 2 Mass 11 Battle Ravage Retool n/a Mass 12 Shockwave Retool n/a Mass 13 Wheeljack Retool n/a Mass 14 Decepticharge Retool n/a Mass 15 Swerve Retool n/a Mass 16 Prowl New 2 Mass 17 Skids New 1 Mass 18 Sunstreaker Repaint n/a Mass 19 Rollbar Repaint n/a Mass 20 Ricochet Repaint n/a Mass 21 Optimus Prime New 1+1 Mass 22 Mirage New 1+1 Mass 23 Camshaft Retool n/a Mass 24 Nemesis Prime Repaint n/a SDCC 25 Rumble New 1 Walmart 26 Ravage New 1 Walmart 27 Hot Rod Retool n/a SDCC
Three's a nice even number. Once you release a mold a fourth time, the crowd starts chanting "same old shit." Like watching John Cena wrestle.
The Autobot Brother were original created by Takara for their Car Robot line. It was then brought over to the US in 2001 as a filler between Beast Machines and Armada due to Hasbro scrapping the planned Transtech line. The RID Predacons were sold in a three pack under the Mega price point since it helps flesh out that size class. Also when you compare one of the basics in the line (the limbs of Ruination) to one of the beast basics, you could see the vast differences between the engineering. So group the three of them together and then sell them at a higher price point.
Cyberetron Hot Shot- Hot Shot, Excellion, Breakaway Cybertron Red Alert- Red Alert, Crankcase, Canonball Universe Prowl- Prowl, Silverstreak, Smokescreen Cybertron Crosswise- Crosswise, Jolt/Dead End, Smokescreen TFTM Deluxe Barricade- Barricade, Recon Barricade and The Target two pack version
Original Barricade, Premium Barricade, Bumblebee vs Barricade: First Encounter, Recon Barricade, Allspark Barricade, Interrogator Barricade & Hunters Rumble Barricade. I make that 7 uses of the Deluxe Movie Barricade mold just by Hasbro alone.
