C'mon, man. Now I just feel uncomfortable. Commenting on whether or not you think a toy will be valuable in the future or if you understand meta terms is not me making a commentary or any assumption about your entire life.

 

It was always a collectors item. The value may go up a little in time, but not enough to retire on or anything.

The difference here is that God Fire Convoy had unintended quality issues, while MPM4's issues while annoying are the result of a poor quality of design (In other words, it can do what it's supposed to do just not particularly well).

And how would they possibly know that? Dinobot is still two months out from release and most likely still in production.

 

As I said I am happy with my purchase. I didn't have the original ones anymore, and the Clear Good Fire Convoy which includes the sword is even more, and I mean MORE expensive than this set.

The details, and sounds are a total plus for me. Not only as a collector but a Car Robot fan. If you don't like this series, or they don't mean so much for you, this set is an easy pass. On my side it was the best opportunity to grab figures I wanted. I don't "justify" since I am a grown man, not a kid to justify anything. Some people is happy with 3P, MP and other options. I don't collect any of those. You should be glad we have so many options to choose and collect. It's not that this is a "collectable" item or not, if the price is going up or down, it's what this set means to me. A long time ago, I had to sell almost all of my collection to pay family expenses. I tried years to recover these figures, but it was so hard and expensive, I took the chance to grab and finally have the figures I do really love in a new and fresh condition.

Be happy, let others be happy. Collect, share and enjoy. Peace out.

 

Dude, I am now even happier that you got a good one!

In fact I'm happier for you than I am for myself!

 

No, but with it's problems like the back half left unpainted and it's seemingly impossible ability to actually tab and stay together in truck mode, I think some people wish there really was.

I honestly don't think a recall has ever happened for a Transformer before now, so I hope people understand just how rare and unusual this whole situation really is (and I also hope we don't get endless comments of "this toy sucks, why hasn't Hasbro recalled it and given me a refund?" every time a bad Transformer is released from now on).

 

Actually, if enough of these are recalled (and destroyed), then their rarity and defects might actually make it a collectors' item.

 

Dude, please stop. Encore reissues with QC issues are NOT COLLECTORS' ITEMS, PERIOD.

Fucking awesome figures. But NOT collectors' items.

That's a waste. They might just end up keeping them or fixing their issues if they're not bad enough.

Rarity due to defects doesn't make a figure special. Need we bring up GPS Megatron?

 

To be fair you can make the argument that mass produced toys are not collector pieces...

So an MISB G1 toy is not a collector piece?

Definition of collector's item
: an item whose rarity or excellence makes it especially worth collecting.

So if let's say, I collect encore editions or all versions of RID Prime. Would not the scarcity of this specific version due to a recall (and remember, it is different to all other releases) make it a collector item to some?

I think your beliefs are true to you, just as my wife considers nothing I own as a collector item but given the qc issues, the product recall and the fact that this is a unique representation of this figure I have to say it meets the dictionary definition of a collector item.

 

Except for the fact that it's not rare. While there is a recall, a lot of people have already bought it (in fact, weren't all preorders sold out?) and not everyone has or will send their copies back. There's going to be a lot of people offloading this toy BECAUSE of the QC issues and judging from mandarake sales it's already dropped massively in value (its actual retail price before the usual online discounts was 30,000 yen and it's selling now for 21,000 yen).

And that's the basic crux of the argument. I'd be EXTREMELY surprised if later down the line there are a bunch of collectors looking for "The overpriced reissue of Fire Convoy with such bad QC that it was rendered into a useless POS and was recalled post-release."

Like, there is SO MUCH going against it that suggest it won't be desirable in the future. The fact that it's a reissue, the terrible QC, the ridiculously expensive original price. The only thing I can see it being valued for is as a historical piece representing "the time Takara REALLY dropped the ball". It's certainly not going to be sought out as the definitive version of the characters.

And before anyone goes "but my copy is perfect"... save it. We're talking about what's going to be this toy's legacy, which is obviously going to be the QC issues and the recall. Nobody buying this figure from now on will be expecting a magical unicorn perfect edition of the toy.

 

But the terrible QC job, the recall the number of people passing on it is why a QC issue free one seems like it could become rare. If 10000 were made but 70% are junk then an item has suddenly seen a shrink in supply for good ones. Also why would this one not be sought after as one of the definitive. Removing current selling price and QC, what is wrong with this figure that stops it from being good? I say QC issues aside because, yeah, a crap one isn't going to become anything except an expensive doorstop.

this is one of the very few times that I think an open box one may be worth more than sealed one. Price is dropping because nobody is wanting to play the QC roulette game.

So back to what makes a collectible. Now bare in mind I'm not saying this is a must have or a collectors item right now this minute but that it is likely to become one due to

Scarcity - ok this was mass produced but a very large percentage can be removed instantly. We don't know numbers so all I could go off were the number of bad reviews on Amazon vs good and number of bad copies here vs good. An item having bad QC doesn't negatively affect mine which doesn't have QC issues. Even if every single other person in the world had bad QC but mine was fine that wouldn't affect my copy, it would just make it rarer.

Uniqueness - this is a different version of the mold to all of the others. Admittedly not a new mold but sufficiently different enough to appeal to collectors. Maybe not you but that's subjective and I'm not trying to sell you on this. Certainly not on mine. He's mine. I'm keeping him  

Current selling price is irrelevant. If anything a higher price tag supports an eventual increase in value that as fewer would purchase. There is a recall out. Once they drop the price where they would have to sell for less than purchase price they can just return them to Takara. Then they get destroyed. Again increasing scarcity.

It's a reissue. On this I agree but not 100% as it is not a simple reprint. There are differences.

 

I believe it was said in the original recall notice that fixing the electronics would require breaking the toy, which is why they weren't offering an option to return it once they were fixed.

But maybe they will at least be able to recycle the plastic? Would be better than thinking about a bunch of smashed Fire Convoys at the landfill in a pile of broken dreams.

 

The truth of the matter is that people are going to be very skeptical if you put one of these toys on ebay claiming that it has no QC issues. Apparently there are some that are OK but it's always going to have the reputation that Takara's screwup has caused... so I very much doubt anyone will ever pay over the 30,000 yen pricepoint for an opened toy even if the seller claims that it is free of the QC issues. Besides which, isn't the sound effect QC problems universal anyway? So a 100% perfect copy doesn't even exist.

Again, this toy's legacy will be the QC issues. The new colourscheme is always going to be a footnote because that's not what this release will be remembered for. Honestly this release was always going to have trouble ever turning a profit on the secondary market given how expensive it was in the first place. Most expensive toys have the same problem.... I've personally been burnt before.

If people got one of those elusive QC-free Fire Convoys they should be happy... but I still say they're kidding themself if they think one day they'll potentially make bank on the secondary market.

 

I may be tardy to the party, but can somebody give me the Reader\'s Digest version of what\'s up?

 

Basically the Encore Fire Convoy has the worst QC we've seen by Takara ever. Every example has the sound effects of God Magnus accidentally swapped, but beyond that individual copies may have a combinatiin of misprints on the actual box, defects in the ankles that prevent standing, defects in the combining ports that prevent combination, defects in the panels that prevents the vehicle modes aligning correctly and the same parts being accidentally used for right and left sides of the body. In response Takara has recalled the toy, providing full refunds for those who return their purchases and handing out letters of apology.

What's being discussed now is whether or not the toy will increase, decrease or plateau in value.

 

Well resumed! A total sh*t show of a release for most.

 

If I didn't have the RID releases from 2001 I would've just bought them on the aftermarket or the Sonokong releases or the Takara Car Robots releases. Buying Encore would've been a high gamble no matter how good it looks.

Takara qc became questionable on some releases last year and culminated into the recent Encore release. AFAIK it is very rare for them to do a recall on Transformers so I hope they finally ditched whatever factory produced these. Maybe it's the same factory that botched MPM04, made the fragile LG Overlord parts and various other qc issues from last year.

I don't have all the details but I know for sure something definitely went wrong. A recall on this scale with this many screw ups is downright embarrassing especially since these are reissues of old toys that were done right the first time around nearly 20 years ago. Takara higher ups are probably pissed and rightfully so.

If I were them I would recycle all the plastic from all the recalled figures to eradicate them from history and cross fingers no one ruins the next batch if 1 is ever made again.

 

You are stretching this shit so bad that it's pathetic, and I'm not even trying to be mean. This is nothing to do with beliefs, and continue to have yours as facts (which they aren't, but to each their own).

QC issues do not make it a collector's item. It will be laughed in your face if, or when, Takara does a reissue of these figures again with no QC issues. We're not talking a figure that's a dying commedity, Takara has these molds ready to go just like the G1 molds.

G1 figures are rare due to age and availability, not because of QC issues.

Now we're going to reach the point where you're going to make up some dumb bullshit that says G1 Reissues/Encore figures are collectors' items.