TFW2005 member Autobot_82 has let us know that the Platinum Edition reissue set of the Generation 1 Insecticons has arrived at US retail at a Kmart in Commerce, CA. The set rereleases the three original Insecticons, Shrapnel, Bombshell and Kickback in a giftbox with some excellent artwork on the front.
The bad news though is that K-Mart is selling these at $79.99 – which is a little more than double what the trio went for the last time they were reissued in 2009. Granted, costs have also risen since then, but probably not to double that baseline.
Happy hunting, one and all!
Skyclaw
I bought these guys back a few years at TRU and still have the price tag on them……..$34.99 for all 3!!! And nabbed Perceptor as well for the same price!! $35.00 is worth it, not $75.00!! Just wait and Kmart will clearance them out
IamRoller
I am New to the Insecticons and really like them but i gotta say TFsource listed this earlier book edition much higher then 70.00 o.o -Reissue – Transformers Collection – TFC #16 Insecticonshttp://tfsource.com/products/view/product_id/923/
BenjaminXavier
Yeah, the pricing on these guys was insane. $40 would have been good, $50 acceptable, $60 was creeping right up to absolute max I'd ever pay, since you can get the KO G1 set for that on eBay… $80 is just insane.
That said, I got my platinum set off eBay for $60 shipped, no tax.
I just wish more places would get the wrongly colored triple changers in so the eBay price will get driven down.
Nevermore
"You're not the majority, I am!"
MpCollector81
These little guys look great, as a G1 fan I can appreciate them, and while I also understand that toy costs are not what they were back in the 80s… there is just no way to justify this.
$80 for 3 little robots?
Clearly the person in charge of Hasbro's TF lines has an ear to the 'adult collector' market, and is trying to cash in on what the 3rd party companies are doing. What they don't realize is, 3rd party fans are not a majority. The average TF fan seems to feel that this price is insane, and the 3rd party bots are far superior in every way to these. In TRU Canada, these little energon sucking arthropods are $109.99
It's a little bit of bot, and a whole lot of pretty wrapping. Gotta pass on these Hasbro. Just insane.
Afterburner
They want collectors money tied up in these and not 3rd parties. At the end of the day we may not get more reissues, but there comes a time you have to draw a line of value, and at this price you are not getting value. You could get vintage for this price. There have been multiple reissues of this set along with high-end KO's.
If you are willing to pay anything just to have something, you will end up paying much more than it is worth and price yourself right out of collecting anyway. They sold these for $35 just a few years ago and if that was profitable, this is obviously more than inflation.
Ultimately they have to produce product to make money. So they would rather lower prices and make less profit than make nothing at all. But the market has to make it clear that they sell way less units when they price unfarily. The TF market has been fairly bad at sending this message to them, hence the current situation.
3.8TransAM
Blame Hasbro.
Platinum edition abortions are their creation, so is the price tag.
Everyone so far has been a shelf warmer and double the price of the same thing released in a different package within the last 5 years.
Hasbro=dumb ass idea on this one
I can see the meetings now about how shitty sales are for Platinum editions………………
Blitz.
to me their is just no logical reason for them to have ever been that high. They have simply shot themselves in the foot and Kmart was maybe the worst store to sell such a line in.
Shin-Gouki
Same problem with the new Masterpieces.
Cheebs
No, this is definitely message sending time. They know they are being loony.
T-Logicon
That sucks.
danny boy
It's a lose/lose situation. They price them so high, nobody buys, they don't make anymore reissues.
Afterburner
Good. We need to reject that price.
G.B. Blackrock
The Insecticons are currently warming the shelves at the Temple City, CA K-Mart.
Probably lots of other places, too, but that's a SoCal store I can verify having seen it at several times.
Kenchanayoh
i have never seen these in stores. has anyone seen it in southern california?
Dark Skull
And buy it for $20
Electro Rush
BBTS put up a pre-order… for $90.
Transformers Platinum Edition Insecticons Three Pack – Transformers 2010 – 2015 Transformers Exclusives
Shin-Gouki
Just wait for them to show up at Ross
3.8TransAM
Local K-mart had a dozen a few weeks ago.
Local K-mart still has a dozen.
Good shelf warmers wait for a sale or something.