Not to get too far off topic but I have been chasing a Kotobukiya Mass Effect: Liara T'Soni Bishoujo Statue for a while. $700 is way out of my league though. New they were about $250-300. With collectibles like these G1 figures you have to get them when they are out because years later the prices are sky high.

 

Yeah that was WAY out of my league too. I was pretty uncomfortable with it but I completely missed this one when it came out so it was Ebay only at that point and I just don't like used toys. Especially if they're transform or something. You never know how abused they got or if somethings broken or whatever.

My wife gave me the go ahead though because it's one of the last things my collection was missing and she thinks Voltron is pretty cool (We had just finished watching the Netflix series). It was way too much but I'm glad to have it in my collection to round it all out.

 

I caved and bought the Hot Rod reissue when I saw it at my local Walmart. Comparing him with my CS1 Rodimus Major from 2002 (wow, that's almost vintage in its own right!), I found a couple more differences that I don't think were discussed.

1. The fists and engine block have the larger, targetmaster-sized holes, and the guns are the two-tiered handle guns that came with TFC #13 TM Hot Rod. That means that the new reissue can hold Firebolt in either mode. He cannot hold the vintage or CS1 guns though. Any previous iteration of Hot Rod can use the Walmart reissue's guns though.

2. The Autobot logo on the hood/chest is bigger than in previous reissues. Maybe it's the movie logo?

 

So dose anyone know what size spring fits into Devastators arms and mixmasters head? It's not difficult to open those parts up so I would like to add that feature back into the figures.

 

Just saw Hot Rod, Starscream, and Devastator at my local west Texas Walmart. They packaged Hot Rod backwards, but oh well.

 

My Walmarts have gotten or will be getting new shipments. The first one I went to yesterday had sold out but said they were getting a shipment next week. The second one I went to had a case in the back that hadn't been put out because that store had a policy of putting security wire on toys over $50.

 

That's a bargain for a Jetfire!

 

Picked up another Starscream this morning, as I wanted to keep one MISB and have one to fiddle/play around with. They had two Starscream, no Devastator, and a big pile of Hot Rod. How many darn Hot Rods did they make? The demand for the figure is obviously not there like it is for other figures, so why not make more of the other figures or make another figure?

 

I've also seen the vintage TIE Fighters in stores...and they don't seem to be budging. Interesting...

 

The HotRod is not as fun of a figure IMO. It's a post-movie toy. So much more of a brick and lacking metal or chrome pieces. The robot modes aren't as cool IMO. They lack that cool 70s/80s feel.

 

Of the 3 reissues Hot Rod, IMO, has the most fun transformation. I noticed quite a few at my Walmart and those will be gone soon enough once Christmas season is in full effect. It warms my heart to think that kids may actually be receiving these figures for Christmas .
Here’s a Hot Rod transformation video I did a few years ago:

 

Haven't done it yet (I can't have my sets till Christmas said Mrs. BoomerClaus). Anyhow, someone said to get a clicky pen with a spring and cut it in half and it worked like a champ. One half of that spring for one arm and one half for the other. That's what I'm going to try....someday.

 

i showed these to my 5 year old at walmart, and he wasn't interested at all. broke my heart, but my wallet rejoiced.

 

As a kid, Hot Rod always bothered me because he has so little articulation. It's basically just his elbows that have a hinge so his lower arms can raise and lower. But the auto mode made up for a lot because I liked it so much.

 

I know there are collectors on a budget. I was there, too. But there's Transformers pricing for everyone. If $5 a week is all you can afford, there's the smaller movie toys - or head to Family Dollar for the Evergreen stuff. There's plenty of nostalgia to be had from a very good $10 Grimlock from Family Dollar - he's really pretty awesome for the price!

I think the only time I ever complained about reissue pricing, though, was when they did the Optimus Prime gift set in Universe 2.0. That's the one with the DVD of MTMTE, the Marvel comic #1 reprint, the electronic base and the anime-style colored trailer. IIRC, the Hasbro was asking $99.99 for that! Talk about bending us over...


That said, I expect an Optimus reissue to come in around $60-65 next year, if it sees a release. Here's to hoping Hasbro commits to the long stacks again...or even new tooling for retractable stacks.

 

Oh damn. I bought that on clearance for like $30 in early 2010 at Fred Meyer store in Oregon out of impulse, nostalgia, and curiosity...

Little did I know that purchase on a whim would be the can of worms that got me collecting Transformers.  

Now I 'memba when deluxes were 10 bucks, Voyagers 20, Leader 35, scout class 5, and legion 3, walmart style. edit: Masterpiece: $60  

The good ol days... 8 years ago.  

 

Hasbro did their best to suppress inflation costs between 2009 and 2014 - during the "Great Recession". Now that the economy has returned, Hasbro has brought pricing back to where it should be. I guess folks are still experiencing the sticker shock from that...but dang, suck it up, buttercups!  

 

I used the spring to a normal "clicky" type of pen, as was mentioned by others. I cut it about 2/3rds of the way and used the larger part for Mixmaster's head. This worked great for him. For the arms/hands, I did the same thing, but the missiles get stuck and still do not shoot out (they did like twice and then stopped). I have not had the time to trouble shoot the situation, but I think I need to shave down areas inside the arms that is too tight and previously holding the fists in with just pressure/friction.

 

Luckiest man alive.

 

I agree that $100.00 for that is ridiculous. Thing is, it sold. So somebody was opening their wallets. Gotta pay to play. (I didn't. I wouldn't.)

Suck it up, indeed. These current prices are on par with inflation. Honestly, some of them are lower than they should be.
If you use an inflation calculator... $19.99 today was $8.32 in 1984, which was roughly what an Autobot car was, on sale. So, really, we haven't gone out of bounds, here.

If people don't want to swing it, they shouldn't pick up the bat.