Did anyone else assume Encore Bruticus would clog store inventories? I bought one, but I wanted two. I figured Bruticus would go the way of SkyLynx or worse, seeing that the mold had been re-used for so many recent derivations.

Now it's impossible to find, and if I do find it, it's well over original MSRP.

 

Yeah, i'm right there with you, i traded mine away when you could get it everywhere (even amazon), now...not so easy to find, oh well, win some lose some.

 

how many years can an item sit on a shelf waiting for a customer, when wave after wave of new stock keeps coming?

it isn't impossible to find, but be reasonable, you are paying for the demand that the FP add-ons created.
i paid nearly $40 for mine- and it was from the Target website.

 

Encore Bruticus is not the same as RotF Bruticus...

 

I realize you're mixed up on the particular Bruticus. But in terms of the 'how many years' bit, Encore SkyLynx can be readily had for half of it's MSRP, and it came out a year before Encore Bruticus. Encore Omega Supreme also can be found for less than MSRP, and was out a year before Encore Bruticus. And SL and OS were first time reissues.

Bruticus had been done about 5 times already, so it's a bit of a shocker to me that it sold out so fast.

 

I'm in the same boat. With reports of bad QC and all, I was waiting for the price to drop and then poof... disappeared. Now I regret not buying him when online stores had him for $75.  

I get the feeling that some of the later Encore releases were made in much smaller quantities due to lackluster sales of the bigger bots and Autobot cars.

 

That's probably the case. My guess is that vendor bookings were lackluster, as they were sitting on SkyLynx and Omega inventory, and Takara ended up making less.

I'm glad I got one though. I'd like to have a sealed one too. Maybe they'll re-release it ala Metroplex.

 

Hearing all this I'm now glad I picked him up from the get-go, despite the QC issues*. Sure I could've waited a few weeks/months to when the price dropped a bit, but the gamble as a collector is always there: score one for sure and risk a price drop, or wait it out and risk it selling out/higher price on the secondary market.

*had the same visible mold degradation issues as everyone, but Swindle was the real turd. His legs don't stay extended in bot mod, so basically I'm stuck with a potato  

 

I was on the fence about this one too since most of the Encore Re-issues up to that point stuck around and got price dropped. Especially since I think at one point I saw some of the Encore Re-Issues I preorder go later for about 50% of what I paid and I was okay with my RID version of the mold. But I caved and got one unfortunately not sure if it has the QC issues. Ordered it, sat in a POL at BBTS, shipped it around the same time I was moving, and packed away somewhere in a box.

 

I think all the hoopla surrounding the FP figures has raised the profile of the charcater of Bruticus in general.
That might have contributed to the sudden demand for the encore set.

I saw a load at Auto Assembly last year for around £60 IIRC, but I didn't have the cash left over at the time so I passed.

Now I've got Universe Bruticus Maximus with 2 sets of the FP add-ons pre-ordered and I don't regret not picking up the encores.

 

So was it just the Encore that had so many problems or did the Ruinations and the other remolds from the 90's have these issues as well?

 

I think there were some complaints with Tiger Ruination, the last previous use, though I think Valdigus, Ruination, and Arctic/Urban Ruination were fine.

I'd guess less were produced and probably US import stores ordered less too since the other large Encores weren't 'hotcakes' and there had been plenty of Ruinations a couple years back.

Sky Lynx & Omega got cheaper, and occasionally some other things go cheaper, but cheap, clearance prices are often the 'exception', not the 'rule'. If there's something I know I want, I buy it right when I can. Waiting for a clearance price is a gamble, and it, what, pays off maybe 50%? That's not worth the gamble to me if I know I want it.

 

I think a lot of the demand for the Encore Bruticus set, despite the mold degradation issues, is just the general popularity of the Combaticons and Bruticus in general. Onslaught and Brawl were a couple of my favorites when I was a kid and of most of the G1 combiners, Bruticus is definitely one of the coolest looking.
Haven't gotten this set yet but definitely planning on doing so after I get my Seacons. I'm just hoping for a Terrorcons reissue next.....

 

Even though the mold has been used a lot recently, it has not bee painted in it's original colors since the last time it was release during G1. A lot of people wanted the G1 colored reissue. I guess they just took their time buying it.

 

Agree somewhat, but you can find complete G1's for about the price of the reissue, which further perplexes me on how it sold so fast!

Personally I prefer reissues to originals, which as I understand it, makes me insane.

 

I'm of the opinion that reissues of the original G1 combiners will just always sell. It is so hard to get the original G1 versions complete and in good shape by piecemeal (on ebay, etc.). Plus, the toys were well conceived (with their combining mode and individual modes and all), compared with a dumpster fire of a toy design like Skylinx.

I was shocked, shocked that people were complaining about the Seacons being $59.99 (instead of the $49.99 listed MSRP at Botcon), given how people clamor for the G1 combiners so much.

 

I'm not surprised by the demand as the Combaticons are extremely popular and it's the first time the molds have been released in the original colors in almost 20 years (25 if you don't count the European ones).

I'm glad I bought one to open and one to keep sealed (with zero intentions of ever selling the second one).  

Randy

 

I'm with you on reissues vs. originals.

The G1 colors probably were desirable, but they're also not to expensive to get vintage... I wonder if part of it was getting it in a giftset box. I bought Encore Bruticus because:
1.) The Combaticons are among my favorites from G1, but also because
2.) It was a giftset box
3.) I wanted to 'vote with dollars' to support more Encore combiner releases
4.) Swindle was the plastic, gray chest version. I had never had that before.
5.) Onslaught has his launcher for ramp mode.

 

I still want to get this set but finding the extra cash to pick him up tough.

 

I'm lucky to still have my G2 Bruticus in near perfect shape. Sure he's neon colors, but I love'em.