From the Fortress Maximus Appreciation thread:

Quote Originally Posted by theshape View Post
With collectables, most people want the original. A re print of action comics one may be superior in every way but it's not an action one, you couldn't fairly say you own one. If it's what you want and the price is right, that's the main thing. People will continue to pay stupid money for original things (like me )
For me personally, if I want a toy I'll buy it from the shops while it's current rather than buying it off the secondary market at inflated prices. It's always been the way that I've collected Transformers... I don't see any reason to change my collecting habit.

Quote Originally Posted by Sinnertwin View Post
Quality wise, ive had quite a few problems with reissues. Take Hoist for instance, he's stuck in vehicle mode permanently because his wrist sockets are too small to fit anything. Grapple feels brittle compared to my '85 Inferno.
And the list goes on...
Odd... I never had that issue with my reissue Hoist (did you consider bringing it back for a refund/exchange at the time?). He's pretty much the same quality as my G1 Hoist, except for the chromeless hook (I have the Hasbro reissue - the Takara reissue has a chromed hook, but is much rarer).

The vast majority of my reissues have been of top quality. The only issues I've experienced have been:
+ TFC Meister - the rear car windows drop low in vehicle mode. Hasbro later fixed this with their Commemorative Series reissue. Both reissues feature Jazz's G2 "sh!t-eating grin" face. This was corrected by TakaraTOMY in the Encore reissue.
+ Encore Bruticus - the mould has clearly been overused and wasn't repaired sufficiently for the Encore reissue.
+ Encore Devastator - mould appears to have deteriorated and again, insufficient restoration was done. Inferior plastic quality also added to making this set feel KOish.
Other than that, every reissue I've seen has been just as good or better than the original in terms of core quality. I'm not including "cosmetic" issues like chrome lackage or overlengthened missiles on some Hasbro reissues. I'm also not including some Hasbro reissues where the missile launchers have been rendered inoperable for child safety reasons. These are intentional design changes (even if they're not ideal - I personally can't stand it) rather than actual production flaws.

Quote Originally Posted by Sinnertwin View Post
The reissue Fort isnt made to the exact specifications of the original. Most of the reissues aren't, be it screws that they use, assembly or paint apps etc. As close as they may appear to be, they're not the Real McCoy. i still collect reissues though to fill any gaps in my collection that i may not be able to afford otherwise.
Yeah, but let's face it -- the differences are pretty negligible and in no way affects the performance or quality of the toy itself. So a toy has a different copyright stamp... so what? What I first saw the Classic reissues come out in 1990, I thought they were the same as the original G1 toys but in new current style packaging. At that time (and young age) I didn't think to even look at the copyright stamp. And most of my friends whom I used to play TFs with in the 80s had decided to give up on Transformers and had gotten rid of their toys (either by selling off or giving away)... so I didn't even know any other collectors for me to go and make side by side comparisons with. It wasn't until 1998 that I started making comparisons and realised that they were actually reissues.

But so what? One of the first toys I compared was my Classic Prowl with someone else's G1 Prowl. The only real difference we spotted was the copyright stampage on the bottom of his feet. Other than that, the toys are the same as far as we could tell. I personally don't feel the compulsion to go hunt down an original G1 Prowl and pay a fortune for a variation of the same toy that I already own purely for the novelty that it's an original.

A person who doesn't currently own a Fortress Maximus but would like one has two choices:
+ Pay approx. $300 for a MISB reissue
+ Pay over $1000 for a loose original
...in short, paying an additional $700+ for the novelty of having an original. I don't mean for this to sound derisive or anything like that -- clearly for some people the novelty is a big deal and they're willing to shell out a lot more for it. I guess it all comes down to what's more important for the individual collector; some insist on owning an original and see reissues as "authorised duplicates" (for lack of a better term), whereas I just get what I like from the current market.