So, in your mind, what are the specifically different definitions of a repaint, retool, remold, and reshell? What do they have in common? Are any of them the same? Which can intersect and which are mutually exclusive? Do you have any vocabulary suggestions for better accuracy, like a different word for a straight repaint and a repaint with different amounts of paint in different shapes in different places (PRID Wheeljack and Dead End)? What would you call the three Beast Hunters characters with new spikes and weapons? How about FOC Jazz and Sideswipe?
Repaint is a new paint scheme with no new parts. Retool, remold and reshell are pretty much all the same, meaning that it's a previous mold with some new parts or remolded parts. (the beast hunters figures are remolds). I suppose a reshell could be one step further than a remold/retool being that is a completely new shell on an older figure. FOC Jazz and Sideswipe would be a good example of this.
Repaint = nothing is changed on a second release other than colors. Think Generations FOC Soundwave & Soundblaster. Same figure, just different colors. Retool = minor mold modifications, including new head, etc. Think Universe 2.0 Sideswipe & Sunstreaker. Same overall figure, different heads. Remold = major mold modifications or size differences. Think MW Smokejumper & Energon Starscream. Same overall design, major difference in size, etc. requiring all new parts. Reshell = same overall figure transformation-wise, but entirely different outwards appearance. Think Generations FOC Jazz & Sideswipe. Same overall design, but entirely different appearance.
Jazz-Sideswipe and the BH deluxes are remoulds. Movie 2007 Concept Camaro Bumblebee was retooled in later waves so that the yellow\orange hip pieces could clip in to the back end of the car more securely. United Frenzy is a straight up repaint of United Rumble [or vice versa]. They both have the same amount of paint applications and plastic colours, just in different colours. NYCC FE Bumblebee is a redeco of FE Bumblebee as the stripe lines and PAINTED detail on the car mode is different in shapes [and lettering] than the regular version. RID Dead End is a redeco of Wheeljack with a remoulded head. That's my take, with examples, on most words you're inquiring. I'm never sure about reshell though.
Your example on this is way off...using this example, Alternators Jazz should be considered a remould of Alternators Smokescreen?
Here are my current thoughts. Remold: One or more parts of the central figure have been altered in their sculpt. Head-only could perhaps be a soft remold? Retool: New accessories. Maybe new head, but that is still sort of a part of the central figure, no? (PRID Skyquake and Dreadwing would be retools, as well as repaints) Repaint: New colors of paint and/or plastic. Maybe Redeco (thanks to Knightdramon for bringing that term into the conversation) refers to the paint being applied in different ways, and not just different colors. Reshell: ??? I think of FOC Sideswipe as a reshell of Jazz, but I can't parse why he isn't just a remold. Maybe a reshell is heavier than a remold? Maybe a reshell affects both modes.
More or less. Very simplistic example, but a totally red transformers car, if released again in yellow, is a repaint. If released in yellow but with stripes\flames\whatnot on the, say, hood, is a redeco. Re-paint is different paint [also applies to plastic colours]. Re-deco is different deco on the figure [has more to do with paint application than the colour of paint itself]
Technically, a repaint is a toy that has the same plastic colors but different paint apps (people misuse this incredibly often). A redeco is a toy with different plastic colors, and may also include different paint apps. Retool has different mold toolings. Remold is basically the same thing. Reshell is the same basic mold/transformation but the outer design is different (see: FOC Sideswipe to FOC Jazz). A reshell is a type of retool.
Like all forms of communication, as long as you know what each other is talking about, it don't matter how you say it. But I say 'repaint' and 'remold' to cover 'redeco' and 'retool' as well as themselves.
repaint: no changes other than color retool and remold: they are the same thing: something was was changed on the mold, a new head or other changes. reshell: same basic internal structure but the exterior has been changed, this is perhaps the least often thing done in transformers in reuse of a mold as cost savings are much less or non existent due to the heavy changes to the molds for the new parts.
To me, as far as how they are used in the community, "repaint" and "redeco" are the same thing... though "redeco" is the more accurate of the two, since so-called "repaints" usually involve changes in plastic color as well as paint. "Retool" and "remold" also seem to be used interchangeably. To complicate matters, though, a lot of the current figures with "remolded" parts are actually just using alternate parts that were included in their design (and presumably mold) all along. So there's nothing "re-" about it. Classics Wheeljack (I assume) isn't exactly a RE-mold of Tracks, he's just a figure that uses alternate parts from the same mold. Nevertheless, chances are people will never agree on, remember, or abide by any "rules" for all these terms. So as long as the meaning is clear there's no harm in a bit of sloppy usage.
I think that one of the things to consider here is that reshell is a term used by kitbashers. Companies that produce toys are not "reshelling" anything.
I'm not quite an expert on this, but my opinion is that a repaint/redeco is the exact same mold with different paint/plastic color applied, like classics Prowl into Smokescreen. A retool/remold would be something with the same alt form but a different transformation process to get from bot to alt than it's predecessor, BW Hellscream (and whoever he was remolded/retooled from) comes to mind (sort of). A reshell is a figure that shares the exact same transformation as another figure, just with a different car shell, like FoC Jazz & FoC Sideswipe. At least that's my opinion.
This basically. Though, I consider remolds to be heavier retools. In my book a retool is stuff like a new head or weapon.
Those two are examples of completely different molds, similar designs. Don't buy into the myth that they're a retool/remold of one another.
Required reading: Redeco - Transformers Wiki Repaint - Transformers Wiki Retool - Transformers Wiki A "reshell" tends to be a term from the world of Customs, which gained notable popularity from the Alternators line. The term refers to taking an existing Transformer, removing the alt mode parts (typically a "shell" of parts, hence the term), and replacing them with a new alt mode. Since model kits come disassembled, this makes it much easier for an artist to replace the alt mode. Since Alternators is an officially scaled line at 1:24 scale, there is a wide variety of model kits available at this scale, and the alt mode shells are relatively easy to remove, this is why "reshelling" Alternators became a popular practice among custom artists who enjoy working with the line. From an official manufacturer's perspective, this would typically be a retool since the parts are all gang molded (no actual "reshelling" is taking place from the production standpoint other than perhaps the conceptual stage where a kitbashed mockup is probably made). Having posted this, I think people should try to exercise the thinking of what they "think" or "want" things to mean and what things actually objectively mean. For instance, just because I see a figure that shares a mold with a previously released figure and I want to call it a "repaint" doesn't therefore make it so. The same holds true for the Generation One Rumble and Frenzy toys, with the Rumble toy being red and the Frenzy being blue. Debate what you want to think of the characters all day long, but the indisputable fact is that the toys were released named as particular characters from Hasbro. Also, note that the preceding comments are specifically referring to the Generation One toys, as both Hasbro and Takara[Tomy] have released both characters as both colors.
