does anyone have an answer to this?

 

Mold availability is the general consensus.

 

It is an elusive answer as to why they haven't reissued these very popular figures. It has to be because of the molds...which is sad if they no longer have them.

 

Damn.

 

lost them through the year? lost the rights to those molds? either way, damn!

 

Hasbro/Takara OWN(ED) the molds, they can't "lose the rights" to something they own completely.

The ASSUMED issue is that the molds themselves have simply degraded to the point of no longer being usable (something that has effected both Transformers and GI Joe in recent years).

I'm not entirely convinced as Takara/Hasbro used the G2 revision molds for Optimus Prime and Jazz (and effectively all the other G1 figures redone in G2 were seen at some point) on the reissues in the early 2000s.

At the very least, Grimlock, Slag and Snarl were used in G2 and thus the molds should be restorable, if not usable. Grimlock, if no one else, I think would be as worth their time to restore as Kup.

I mean seriously, Grimlock got a MP figure before Soundwave, Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Galvatron and several other prominent G1 characters!

 

They can't re-issue all 5 with their proper names, since "Slag" is technicaly a term to refer to a prostitute in the U.K. I believe (hence why the triceratops in Animated was Snarl and not Slag, Scrapper even makes a joke about it when he "adopts" Snarl, saying "I would have called him slag, but he might have taken it as an insult")

On top of that, there might be issues relating to the actual alt. modes. Grimlock's old dino mode is based off of the innacurate original conception of the T-rex, and I don't think Sludge's alt. mode even is considered to have existed anymore.

Or perhaps they're just saving them for later Encores (even though the best time would have been during IDW's "Maximum Dinobots" comic run, since the comic obviously was focused on the five Dinobots, plus Scorponok)

 

can't we just move past reissuing G1 figures.... Make the fans happy and give us articulated versions of our beloved dinosaurs.

 

As much as I'd love a classics redo of Grimlock in Ultra class size with the other Dinobots being voyager...  

Really though, the name thing's been mentioned, there's the possibility of mold degredation, and while it likely wouldn't be an obstacle, an Encore Dinobot set would probably go for around $150 (noting that similar-sized figures are $30 and I think most fans would want all five re-issued at once). Again; that's not an obstacle for some, but it would make such a release the most expensive encore reissue yet (aside from Omega Bluepreme).

 

For some reason I thought the Dinobot molds were lost along with some of the G1 cars like Sunstreaker and Wheeljack?

 

Ummmmm...no.

 

I have often wondered that myself. Good question as I'd liked to know as well.

 

I didn't think Dinobots were as popular in Japan as they were in the USA?

 

Mold is lost/destroyed

 

Because they dont want to.

 

From what we know, the molds have been lost. Probably in the fire they had at one point, which also destroyed several other molds. Or they could have been lost like the Transtech Starscream mold was, while being transported from one place to another.

 

No litterally they are gone. Destroyed either by time or accidents, or simply lost. And the cost of reverse engineering the mold would not be born out in sales. Look at the price of the KO's on Ebay. Grimlock might have enough fan base to warrant it, but the fanboy's would moan.

 

Brontosaurus exists! Sure, the name Brontosaurus is now a junior synonym of Apatosaurus, and the head associated with the popular portrayal of Brontosaurus was incorrect, but the dinosaur Sludge is based on does exist.

I, for one, think it is a good thing the Dinobots haven't been re-issued. The alt modes on all of them are horribly out of date. Major anatomical issues with most of them, though Swoop's not that bad.

 

I think that has/tak just need to put updated dinobots in a classics run.

 

simple/

some hasbro executive along with michael bay believe that kids do not like or would buy robot dinosaurs....

in short...they are freaking idiots...