And after a few hours:
http://www.otca.com.au/1004b.jpg
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And after a few hours:
http://www.otca.com.au/1004b.jpg
Verrry pleased with this latest acquisition: complete G1 Octopunch. I wish I could have taken a photo but the 'rechargable' batts for my gf's DSLR are all but fubar'd. Damn good toy though, and a great time to hit the ol' collection whilst playin Bioshock 2 on PS3. :D
Granted he's lesser known. But he's not totally unwanted. I once saw an original Stepper sell for $US900 (this is when the dollar was at $0.50) - from a seller in Melbourne. I'm not surprised that he's in lesser demand, but he just seems unwanted, which surprises me.
Pre reissue I think the fuss was regarding the rarity. Once the figure itself became more commonplace the interest died because he was never a popular character, and thus without the draw of rarity or being a popular character demand plummeted.
Don't forget that Stepper was (re)issued in Hasbro markets as Ricochet, which would possibly drive down demand for Stepper even further - unlike other reissues of Japanese-exclusive toys like say Star Convoy, Landcross etc.
They should reissue Artfire as well, The mold is there anyways just a difference in color scheme.. that'll drive down that "rare price tag" it has in ebay et al...
I think that everyone who wanted a Stepper now has one. There has been both a Hasbro and Takara mass releases of the toy in recent years. TFC Stepper is so common that several can be found at any given time.
I suspect that it was over produced as well as being bought by everyone who wanted one.