In it till the bloody end. Both BT and Alt. And yeah, I'm also getting tired of the repaints but sigh, what can you do. This is the only line I'm completely collecting. I'm almost completely skipping Cybertron.

This might be my last TF line unless we do get a Neo G1 line. This is all I ever wanted and that's that.

I think folks are just frustrated by the lack of new molds. Its not really Hasbro's fault if you feel frustrated about "buying them all." No one is putting a gun to your head to do that. Hasbro does have crappy distribution but that's also a problem we have because of the way mass retail works in the United States. (New product doesn't arrive till old product is gone. And retailers are not smart enough to select individual figures so we have the "case assortment system" instead.)

So here are two solutions...
-Pre order EVERYTHING if you are going to be a completionist. Otherwise get ready to pony up to ebay later on.
-Buy only what you want.

That's it. I feel frustrated too, but only because the new molds are slow in coming. Bring on the repaints. I don't care. I also pre-order everything, even though it means paying a mark up online because I'm tired of stressing out over not finding my figures on store shelves. No more worry.

 

I've stopped being a BT-completionist since that hideous blue Prowl. I haven't bought any BTA's either.
But I don't get people who say, OMG too many repaints!! I'm not gonna buy ANY BT or alt any more!!!
And then they miss out on the beautiful mold that is Skids...

Just don't buy the repaints people, it can be that simple.

 

Me 2

 

I guess the good thing is they'll soon run out of colors , especially at this rate.
I'll stop buying once they start doing pink.

 

Say that, and you might end up with an Arcee Dodge Viper.

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I'll only pick up the Alternators that are worth it....no Rollbar and no Ricochet. Absolutely NO thought went into those two characters. No Swerve or Decepticharge at full price for me, either. I saw them both and gladly passed them up

 

To kids it wouldn't much matter. To older fans and collectors, a large part of the line's appeal is that it brings back the G1 characters. I'm guessing that would be a big turn off for many.

Shin makes a fair point. It's not merely the repaints of repaints, but the choice of third string characters that is off putting.

Fans may pay for a black Trailbreaker repaint of Swindle, but not Rollbar.

The first sets of repaints, by and large, used familiar characters, many of whom fans were glad to see - Swindle, Shockwave, Ravage, Bluestreak, Wheeljack. Dead End was the only questionable choice, partly because the character was ever as popular as the others, partly because he clearly should have been Sunstreaker (which everyone would have loved). As we start breaking out more obscure (Rollbar, Swerve) or new (Decepticharge) characters, there is little desire to get that repaint.

If they stick with familar characters (Sunstreaker), I think the griping will be minimal. If they continue to stray too far into the obscure, they'll find sales dramatically reduced.

 

I agree that shin makes a valled point, if we had better character choices for the repaints... it probably wouldn't be so bad.

However, straight repaints are kind of stupid... the only one I wanted was Sunstreaker... and only because the figure in question obviously should have been him instead of Dead End.

If Rollbar were Trailbreaker... I might be a little less irritated with the release, but I'll probably get the repaint anyways, because it helps generate revenue fot the line... same with Ricochet (whom is only a complaint for me because they didn't try to do anything more than upsize the G1 versions stickers). I like Ricochet, because he's obscure, however, I understand that alot of people probably won't want him.

Of course, I figure that Rollbar and Ricochet are probably going to be alot like Swerve... only show up in one case assortment as filler figures.

Still, as flustered as I get with the line sometimes, I'm going to keep going with alts until the bitter end. I love the line and can simply ignore the BT side of things... as I've been doing even with the Takara only straight repaints going on.

One thing I think that troubles alot of the fans is that they're mad completionists about this line. They lump alts and bts together and than become upset when they have to import expensive BT version of a figure to get a yellow, red or blue version of a toy that we already have a mold of. I wonder if the Japanese fans are that nutty to import Swerve and Decepticharge? Or if they'll import Rollbar or Ricochet? I'm willing to say that some of them will.

My only real complaint about the repaints and remolds is that I'd like to see repaints kept to a minimum and I'd like to see less of the repaints/remolds being used for obscure or new characters. I'm just hoping that straight repaints don't replace the remolds of every figure in the line as that would certainly turn me off from the series... well, not entirely... I'd just stop getting any of the repaints after that.

I am, however, looking forward to Prime and Mirage... both look to be nice new molds. Also, didn't Hasbro say at Botcon that they were releasing something around six new mold this year?

 

I just don't understand how hard is it for them to just make a new head for the 2 newer remolds? I mean they did t for Swerve? That's all I ask, I mean if you have to take another head from another Alt. atleast do that. Just repainting it and adding a new name is silly. Please just make a new head sculpt.

 

if meister wasnt so damn rare, I'd do a head swap on one of those with ricochet, paint the helmet white, and the face gold, and be extremely happy with it.

maybe transrepro will reproduce meisters head for that. they did wheeljack's, after all.

 

j/k  

 

i said the same thing when i saw ultra magnus repaint....lol

 

That's because Prowl ... well, Prowl sees 4 Lights!

 

 

There’s still hope, I just re-read one of the botcon threads. There’s supposed to be 6 new molds and 4 redecos for 2006. Out of the 6 new, I assume Prime and Mirage count as two so that still leaves 4 new ones. Out of the 4 redecos, I also assume Ricochet and Rollbar count as two so that’s 2 redecos left.

Now on to the redecos (for Alternators) I’m going to assume Hasbro is NOT going to do 4 characters per mold. I hope the limit is three. Going by this theory, Hasbro could do some combination of the following:
1 more Mustang
2 more RSX
1 more S2000
1 more RX-8
2 more Scions

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good showing for Alternators in 2006.  

 

Like they hit on I have no issues with Repaints that are not bottem barrel characters, Trailbreaker would have been a sure fire sale with me, Rollbar will not. However if they were to go the crappy character route, give us some minor remolding to go with it atleast, new effects and/or spoiler in car mode, new head something that is not a waste of shelf space.

 

Ordinarily I don't mind repaints in a line, especially when they show more than 30 seconds worth of effort on Hasbro's behalf, but this time around I think they've gone too far. It's not just the whole "lets paint it red and pick a similarly coloured character to match" lazy mentality behind it all, it's that they're now trying to push waves of third iteration toys into a line made up of only a handful molds. I'm not collecting Battlebeasts, I don't want to have the exact same toy in every colour of the rainbow, I want a collection of varied and interesting figures that won't kill my interest by being nothing more than the same thing replicated over and over and over again.

 

well, it's not simply a matter of not buying these cheap re-repaints.

don't forget that sales on ebay and TF boards don't add a cent to HAs/Tak. (besides retail sellers on ebay)
When a line begins to introduce poorly done and uncreative repaints, the other figures in the line are cheapened and the line becomes bland. (with 3 repaints now, you can see how Streak is not so special anymore) Overall excitement decreases (like we're seeing) and many stop collecting the line and even re-sell off their collection. Others buy those cheap on ebay and boards - and HasTak loses out.

Instead, if they kept it fresh with new paint decos and accurate head molds (even for unpopular characters), excitement in the line would persist and more retail sales would = continual generation of profits for Has/Tak.

 

THey should've just put Meister's head on the ricochet repaint   hahah People would buy that for sure!

 

Honestly I would consider it, however Silverstreak painted Plack with some stickers slapped on it, F that!

 

While I am not a fan of repaints. I am however the bitch of the jeep wrangler, as such I will get Rollbar and any recolor they do of that mold. I only wish they would have done some remolding instead of doing a straight up repaint of a current mold.

 

yeah switch it up a bit.........let that jeep have a bike on top. add kc fog lamps.....maybe a boat on top shit like that