Of course there's precedent. But wouldn't you want a Thunderclash that actually looks like Thunderclash instead of Optimus Prime with a Thunderclash cosplay? I see no harm in the two molds sharing parts, but I'd rather advocate for more unique molds between characters that are originally not mold mates. Maybe that's just me. =/

 

I look at my CHUG Pincher as an example:



Okay, so what we establish is that having ANY figure is better than having NO figure. The first Skullgrin wasn't the best fit for the character, but it beat the hell out of how well they did Pincher. SPOILER ALERT: They've NEVER done a CHUG Pincher at all.

 

I'd advocate for that too, but we live under capitalism, so we've got to look at what's realistic, not what's ideal.

 

I don't really know the official story, but it's my understanding the G1 Thunderclash is the original toy, and its the Machine Wars Optimus that is the retool. That's exactly what I'd want in WFC; a Leader class Thunderclash from a mold intended to be Thunderclash, who looks like Thunderclash, which is then retooled into Machine Wars Prime, or whatever they wanna call it. Just like the original.

 

But even under capitalism, sometimes the most money to be earned is from giving the consumer what they want. Hasbro didn't go from '06 Classics and Universe 1.0 repaints to where we are in Generations by avoiding what the fans want. They browse these forums for market research, and if they see us wanting more and more mold reuse, that's what they'll give us. That's why I think we shouldn't settle, or even post something that we think is all we'd get. Because if the Hasbro research team sees our posts wanting all these mold reuses, that might be the very cause of why we'd get them.

^ so much this. I agree 100%.

 

All I know is when we get Thunderclash, I want him to share a mold with a MW Optimus Prime, just like the original. I’ll buy them both.

 

I thought Machine Wars Optimus Prime was pretty great aside from not having the right face. I would actually buy that toy all over again if they fixed that in a reissue.

 

"Machine Armor Optimus Prime" has a nice ring to it.

 

Back then, it bugged me that the package art had a Prime head but the toy didn’t. Years later, I appreciate that toy head more as it was different than pretty much any other Primes, so I wouldn’t mind the, keeping the Thunderclash head. I’m really glad the MMC one didn’t have a traditional Optimus head.

 

Same, and same. My local store is going into clearance right now, closing mid-December. Hell, out of the 11 Kmart stores left in MI (where Kmart was originally headquartered) 8 of them are closing.
SMH