No, as in: if dropped from a reasonable child-toy-dropping height (3 or 4 feet, IIRC), he can break in a way that results in jagged edges, thus having the potential to cause cutting injuries.

 

Tampalicious, Don't give up all hope. Prime's, Soundwave's & Rumble/Frenzy's molds were all broken at one point and have all since been repaired/recasted. Look at some of the more unexpected reissues in recent years - Star Convoy, Galvatron, Predaking, Sixshot, Omega, Metroplex, Sky Lynx etc. As I said, Don't give up all hope of getting that rare/expensive figure reissued - You just never know...  

 

it's okay to believe we can get figures from "lost molds", i just keep my optimism in check with simple realistic expectations.

it's all about practicality and pragmatism.

but did someone have to yank my crank with this Trypticon talk?
it's hard to keep sane and sensible with the idea of it coming in a nice shiny box like that Omega Supreme.

 

The first post, is the best post  

 

All I want to know is do they still have the moulds for Guzzle?????

Every Transformer needs to be as simple as "moving his waste slightly". Poor old Guzzle, he made the Jumpstarters look like a Masterpiece.

 

So... is there a list of 'lost' molds? This could be helpful information as well as satisfy my curiosity. And can any that would be on the list be confrimed? Has Hasbro/Takara offically said ' molds x y and z are lost?

 

here is a start Tampalicious .
Some good info here don't know what the sources are though. Can any one else on this board add anything to this?
Mold - Teletraan I: the Transformers Wiki - Transformers 2, Revenge of The Fallen, Animated, Toys

 

^Hmm, maybe I had the wrong impression...
Are the moulds for the Raiden Trains still available?!

 

Thanks for the link, it pretty much told me what I assumed to be true:

Mirage, Streaker, Wheeljack, Dinobots (though I didnt really think about them), Shockwave.....

But then it was cool to see them reissue Trailbreaker and whatnot

I didnt know the Constructicons were "deteriorating", always figured since they had them in G2, they would be reissued pretty easily.


Basically, I hate to say this, but as 1980 as I am, I am starting to warm up to the classics,as long as they look good. For example, Streaker was awesome. But the Sideswipe head IMO looks nothing like him. Oh and no tire-shoulders, the best part! Gotta have those. There's just something off about it, where Streaker was spot on.

But I'm afraid of selling or trading if there is a chance I could never aquire the G1s later in life again, once I become famous and marry Miley  

I have a vision of being like some of you guys:
Great Job
Great Home
Great Female
Glass case full of every single G1 I ever wanted, in pretty good condition.
(But now Im feeling like I need that MP Megatron, seekers, etc, all that AWESOME stuff  ..............)

I had a very sexy, kind girlfriend. But as she was OK with my collecting, she would make comments.....

Dont know how some of you do it, but its my dream


Sorry for the ramble

 

*sigh.*

Old stories and... wiki entries without sources? These are not reliable, people.

Chosen has paraphrased BotCon panel coverage. I can accept that, but I'm not going to indulge in believing that X Transformer won't be re-released because the mold was lost in a dramatic explosion in Taiwan years ago. That old rag has become a ubiquitous element in Transformers fandom.

We are assuming both the mold and the moldmaker are in the same location. Wouldn't it make sense for the toy company to create the prototype from proper drafting schematics, then send COPIES of those to the moldmakers? Worse case scenario is that the molds are lost but the paperwork, designs and schematics still exist somewhere. And that's where the lion's share of the work goes into actually plotting the mold, not forging it.

The Fort Max situation notwithstanding... interesting they haven't found a legal loophole to re-release him. Outsourcing him overseas where the American law isn't in effect... releasing him in separate pieces... anything? It seems Hasbro could essentially "print money" with a Fort Max re-release. I don't want him but he seems to be the Holy Grail of many a fan's collection.

As far as reverse-engineering the molds... if the Chinese KO people can do it why not everyone else? Maybe we'll see some pirate G1's coming out of the Netherlands next.

I guess if I were the president of Hasbro I wouldn't want collectors knowing molds I did and didn't have... I'm just suggesting maybe there is a reason they aren't forthcoming with this kind of information.

 

Well technically Omega and Skylynx arent really true "re-issues".

 

The KO people use cheaper molds, that could never survive the large production runs needed for hasbro or takara to do even a small-run re-issue given their consumer base.

 

Maybe the reason Hasbro isn't forthcoming with such information is because they're not the one looking to regularly release reissues for a variety of reasons. Takara might have better answers, since they release reissues and would probably have a better idea of what's available to them and why, along with who they think would or wouldn't be worth recreating/reverse-engineering for potential profit. You really think the president of Hasbro is concerned about concealing the "dirty little secret" that Toy X can't be reissued because the mold's gone so they can't reissue a toy that may not really be very profitable for them anyways, no matter how much us fans clamor for Toy X to be reissued, profitability and current toy laws be damned???

 

Companies have been making Knock-off's of "lost molds" for years now by reverse engineering the particular item. And they seem to be making pretty decent profit from it since they have done a good number of them and don't seem to have any intention of quitting down the road. Takara/Hasbro can re-create the lost figures if they so desired. Figures like G1 Mirage, Wheeljack, and Sunstreaker would be hot sellers for a massive amount of collectors who are dying for a minty new run of them. Making a profit is virtually a guarantee from those three molds alone.

Toy companies make molds for toys all the time. And molds can be re-used over and over. Knowing Hasbro, you know they will make the most of them. So I see no excuse of cost of mosts being an issue here.

From Hasbro, it seems like they are only interested in moving forward with new stuff, and occaisionally repainting or even mildly re-tooling older figures for some kind of special release like Botcon. And once in a while they'll take what Takara has done and sell it in the States. Otherwise, that's it.

For Takara, I think it's lazyness. For the Encores, it's just a good way for them to make a quick buck with what they have. As far as what they don't have, they're the ones who simply are not interested in re-creating them. It's more like lack of motivation than lack of funds, really.

If they repainted G1 Sideswipe yellow and called him Sunstreaker, I'd be content with that. I'd buy it. But they won't even do that. So that's why I feel they are really not all that motivated to put in any kind of real effort.

 

Does anyone think that Hasbro HAS the mold to Fortress Maximus cause I remeber when the commerative figures came out back in 04' that I read somewhere on the Hasbro TF site that IT WAS GOING to be made but then Hasbro came up with some excuse and said that they couldn't do it so it got axed. So my question is " Do you think Hasbro has that mold still" and WHY do you think they axed it back in 04" when it was suppose to come out supposely. Plus, do you think that it COULD still be made 1 day from Hasbro. I mean look at the Unicron figure that they made awhile back and it sold pretty good which I missed the first round but got it around when it was reissued. I think Hasbro could do anything they wanted meaning they could MAKE anything from the G1 line cause they have the computers and the know how to do it.

 

See below.

 

I agree that the paperwork needed to fabricate new molds is probably still around. It would be nice to have a formal answer from either Hasbro or Takara on the molds and plates though, if for nothing esle than to stop all the speculation and running around in circles. I've noticed none of the big guns on this site have wieghed in on this (no offense to anyone who posted who thinks of themselves as a 'big gun' lol). Maybe it is hopeless to expect rock solid answer on this subjesct, but has this board tried asking has/tak in the past?

 

I dont mean to sound rude but have you even been reading the thread???

This has been cover several time already.

The Fort-Max mold wont pass the safety laws in the U.S. and the U.K.

So even if Hasbro could get the mold from Takara, which should be possible, Hasbro cant release it.

 

guess no one has any news to add to this?