I have a few questions. Perhaps some of you can answer them.

What technological advances would allow for cost-effective restoration of the damaged or lost molds?

What determined the previous reissues? Weren't some of them released to coincide with knock-offs? Do figures generating activity on eBay stand a greater chance of being reissued?

What happened to the other combiner molds that appeared in G2? They seem like sensible releases. Maybe CW would generate interest in the originals.

Any thought? Thanks! Here's to more reissues in the near future!

 

Very much this. I loved having those combiner tapes from years gone by.

 

As for me, I would still want G1 re-issues. My preference is either the Dreamwave boxes, which look great and have some awesome info (even if it's in Japanese) inside the box, or a G1-homage box with the only change being the Encore stamp on it (and including a trading card with the original Japanese C/D-## on it. I'm finding myself needing to pare down my own collection (Sorry, Binaltech, Beast Wars), and so G1 and Masterpiece have won out due to nostalgia. I might keep the variant Optimus Primes (RiD, etc) but overall I'm only going to have space for some of my collection and Generation 1 and Masterpiece have won the day.

 

Though I appreciate what the Anime Constructicon set did, I'd gladly go back in time and trade it for a Diaclone set coming out instead.

I'm not immediately familiar enough with the technology to provide anything like details, but with things like Shapeways already in existence and if things inch closer over time to items being purchasable by downloading designs and printing them out ourselves, I would think the technology is there or close to there to allow toy companies to go back & scan existing vintage releases of "lost/damaged" molds and recreate them from there.

Whether there's any interest is, to me, a bigger hang up.

As for your other questions, we have no idea. Aside from older statements about a few molds from a decade ago, we don't know the status of most molds (then or now) and any idea as to what determines what got reissued is anyone's guess, just as it is what gets released in any other line.

It'd be nice if Takara took a look at secondary market prices for G1 stuff (as a member here indicated they supposedly do with MPs and what gets re-released) and used that as a determining factor, but if that were the case with reissues Black Zarak and a bunch of other G1 Japanese stuff would've already happened by now.

 

He was reissued in 2014, actually. Probably just had a warehouse find. Might have to order myself one soon.

 

History shows that Hasbro and Takara would rather create brand new, improved tooling rather than fix old tooling, especially if molds are completely broken. Case in point is the original Millennium Falcon. After years of reissues, the tooling actually broke and was the reason we ended up with the new 2-foot version.

1. Character demand and mold availability are the two largest factors, historically. And remember that what's popular in America isn't the same as what is popular in Japan, so what you might want is not necessarily what Japan's market is currently interested in.

2. No, they never coincided with KO's. Hasbro/TT largely ignored those, believing them to be inferior products (in which they mostly are).

3. Ebay is pretty much a non-factor.

The only post-G2 combiners to be re-released are the Combaticons, the Seacons and the Constructicons. Not much is known about what happened to the other Scramble City molds, although it seems likely that, if the molds were available, they would have seen a reissue since 1993. Chances are, they were left behind at a factory during a transition and the molds were either destroyed, sold to a KO company or used by the factory itself illegally for KOs.

 

Hit the nail on the head here. The Encore line is dead and buried. Takara would normally start a new G1 reissue line under a new name with Optimus Prime kicking it off, but the success of the MP line has put a stop to that. Takara will be releasing and reissuing MP's for the next 5-10 years with no sign of G1. The best bet for reissues is Hasbro with the odd release, but with heavily discounted sales on the platinum sets I don't like the chances of more reissues.

I hope I'm wrong I love G1 reissues but keeping my expectations in check.

 

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said this, only for a new Encore to then be announced out of nowhere.

 

Predictions on the next G1 reissue then? I'll predict Scorponok.

I know that people are mixing terms and lines when talking about "Encore" and "Platinum," etc. But it all gets us to the same place: they are G1 reissues.

 

IF Takara goes back to reissues?

I'd say either Scorponok/Black Zarak as well (if it continues under Encore or something else using vintage packaging) or Optimus (if another reissue line starts all over again).

As for Hasbro/Platinum, my guess is a combiner team or some other gift set that touches on the '86 movie cast.

 

The G1 reissue line is as lively as the pre MP-10 line, you ain't getting anything from Takara. Hasbro you'll get the odd release, but the Encore line is absolutely dead and buried. No two ways about it.

"BOZO?"
"No"
"B-O-Z-O?"
"No what is he some kind of clown?"
"Yes he's a clown, alright forget it"
"Me forget it? You should forget it! You're living in the past man! You're hung up on some clown from the 60's man"

 

The Bozo Show is where I first saw MtMtE and the first GIJoe episodes. Bozo was alive and well and still doing his schtick in the mid-80's.

 

GRANDUS

plz

 

Fort Max was not that long ago. From Takara.

 

Me too! As a very young child. I remember him giving away Transformers in the Grand Prize Game as well.

 

I will echo Afterburner's idea earlier in the thread, that there should be a dedicated "club" producing reissues. It could prove useful in determining which molds are available, and then let people choose which to do through a vote or kickstarter-like funding effort. Put up the whole G1 checklist and see who wins!

If a mold is not available, the club could work with Takara and Hasbro to reverse engineer it...just be up front about the extra cost required.

When the TFCC reissued the Seacons, they made 1500 units at $119 each (according to G.B. Blackrock's data sheets). That makes it seem like one would not need very many orders to make the prices reasonable.

This would open up chances for some fun redeco opportunities, too. If people vote for Pretender Starscream, how about Thundercracker and Skywarp too? Or how about and electric green Optimus Lime? The nice thing about reissues is the product already exists, you are just trying to determine demand through preorders. No one is going to complain that the G1 toys lack articulation, it's already baked into the cake.

 

It's been nearly three years.

 

I had no idea there was a Bozo show in the 80's that aired Transformers and gave away Transformers prizes, I was only quoting George Costanza. I wouldn't have seen it here in Australia anyway, but very interesting to know. I just watched a few youtube clips of him giving away prizes.

Three years is a long time. At this stage if Takara were to reissue G1's they'd start with Optimus Prime under a new line.

 

There were nearly two years between Encore 19 and 20, a brief flurry of releases, and then another 11 month gap between the next release (anime Devs) with Fort Max two months after that.

In terms of starting a new line or picking up where they left off, eh, I think it could go either way, especially if they just want to do one random thing.

 

I used to get so mad that those idiots would miss, and only end up with Archway cookies.....dopes. I also got irritated when they just kept re-running "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthurs Court" over and over!