If they've been released in Encore, they're fine. The '86 molds are not re-tooled figures, BTW. Those are new molds with shared engineering and have their own molds. Outback is quite different from Brawn despite having similar alt modes and transformations.

It was in the early 90's when car manufacturers began realizing that toy companies were making toys with their logos and styling. In turn, they began sending out cease and desist letters and asking for license contracts. But product that was manufactured prior to the cease and desist letters was created prior to anyone saying anything - essentially, a case of statute of limitations in terms of timing. No judge is going to bother with a lawsuit regarding a toy made 10 years ago based on a car design from 15 years ago, essentially - it'll get thrown out. So, since the early 90's, anything produced prior to that point is free from litigation - that includes all forms of reissues of the toy.

That said, not all Transformers were free from litigation. Hasbro had a lawsuit brought against it regarding Mirage, although I think most of that was regarding the "sponsorship" decals. But this might be a special case where the mold isn't actually "lost" or "broken" but is under wraps because A. the toy fell under litigation in the 80's and therefore is susceptible to licensing and B. the toy is notorious for snapping at the waist joint and no longer meets today's safety standards. But Hasbro perhaps just SAYS it's lost because it might as well be so. Note that there is art for Mirage to have been reissued in G2...so they should have had the mold at least at that point still.

Wheeljack and Sunstreaker seem to be legitimately lost - which is a shame because Sunstreaker, IIRC, is officially "The First Transformer" to be produced. Hasbro needs to send a Rainbow 6 team back to those old Chinese factories that have the molds and airlift them out in the dead of night.

 

I already have Soundwave, but I hope we get some G1 cassettes too.

 

WOW! What memories! Loved this site when I started collecting again in the late 90s!

Drove me insane as a completionist, but still. Was an amazing resource!

 

Can’t wait!

 

Perfect nerd movie plot

 

He does have a point in all this - it IS a significant difference in an item that is aimed at nostalgia. The biggest reason though, is that cost-cutting and being "cheap" is far more important now than it was back in the 80s. So yes, they're not going to spend the money to make different boxes. They have the same thing going on with the mainline figures too, so we can't say it's just because of the smaller run this would be.

FYI, there's no more (or less) "persecution" crossing the border with Canada as there is with Mexico - no politics at play, period. As someone who lives along the border (Canada is across the river, two blocks away) and crosses into Canada frequently, it's crazy the changes in (northern) border security made here since the mid-90s, and crossing the Canada/U.S. border is no less intrusive than crossing the U.S./Mexico border.
Any perception of "persecution" would be the much-higher public focus on the southern border, due to the fact that there are FAR, FAR more illegal crossings of the southern border than the northern.

 

Questions...

On the Canadian tech spec bios and the supposed law that all products must have French to be sold in Canada...why does one French speaking city (Quebec) hold so much weight on the rest of a huge country of mostly English speaking people ? Im curious...

On the Northern border...isnt there a bar or resturaunt literally on the border where u have to cross the border to get to the other side of the room ? I heard about it once...

 

A French-speaking city?!? Oh wow. In a nutshell:

1- Canada has two official languages. English and French. 9 million people speak French in Canada.
2- Quebec is the name of a city, but also the name of a province -- similar to the state of New-York and New York City. 93% of Quebec's population speak French. In total, 8 million Quebecers speak French and another 1 million are spread out in French communities in other provinces. So it's not just a city, it's a province and several out-of-provice communities.

French language in Canada - Wikipedia

 

By the way, here are some packaging comparisons:

Original 1984 US Hasbro release:


1984 Canadian Hasbro release:


1985 European MB release:


1986 European Hasbro release:


1986 European Ceji release:


1985 Mexican IGA release:


2019 Walmart exclusive Hasbro reissue:


So basically, the original version was "Soundwave and Condor Cassette: Buzzsaw", whereas the reissue is a more language-neutral "Soundwave & Condor Cassette: Buzzsaw".

 

I know we've had people look at the new KO G1 dinobots reissues and declare that its pretty clear the molds are the G1 molds that have just been tweaked (maybe to correct minor problems?), has anyone compared the KO reissue Mirage, Sunstreaker, and Wheeljack to see how close they are to the originals?

 

Man, that OG Canadian release is a complete mess on the front. At least the newer reissue doesn't have that much clutter.

 

Also, the original had "Transforms from cassette recorder to..." and the reissue has "Converts from cassette recorder to...". I wonder why they changed that. Legal reason?

 

I have both KO and real Sunstreaker. Purchased the KO for display as my original is shall I say "floppy" from years of play and transformation. The KO is near identical. Under the window is a different color (yellow instead of the brownish of my original) and when the shoulders flip out on the KO it clicks. The original does not do that. Otherwise, identical. It would be a hard task for someone not completely in the know to tell the difference.

 

...yes, trademark protection: using transform as a descriptive verb on the packaging, rather than as trademark branding, dilutes hasbro's claims against other manufacturers doing likewise...

 

I'm no fan of the G1 toys, but Soundwave's reissue is one of the ones that I'll pick up.
There's just something about him. I don't know what it is.

Anybody got an idea for the price point though?

 

Damn ampersand ruins everything

 

At least $40 to $50 based on Starscream and Optimus reissue price points

 

I was going to guess $49.99 if you can find him at retail. He'll immediately be on ePAY for $69.99 however  

I will scour the Walmarts for this one at MSRP myself. I own a Takara TFC release that is sealed and if I can keep him that way that is a plus. This toy is definitely my favorite G1 Transformer next to G1 Optimus. I skipped the reissue with the remolded chest because that is just not the way I remember him. If this release has the normal chest that holds Buzzsaw it is just a fantastic thing (to me)

 

I wasn't aware that the Universe version of SW with the five cassettes had a different chest...is that really the case?

 

Yep. It uses Soundblasters double cassette door.