Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I don't find the colors that bad. What kills it is the short smoke staks and the elongated missiles.
I am a bit dissapointed as I wanted to get this Prime to support the franchise, its 25th anniversary afterall . However these modifications are not surprising and they really do damage the look of the toy so I will be giving it a miss.
Rank 1 - New or Inactive
exactly, you want to support the franchise, but then they give you a toy that could be alot better, simply by a few centimetres of smokestacks.Originally Posted by kup
And, the issue of toy safety, well if the toy turns out to be something like $100 do you really think that a child will want to possess a toy that is in a way 25years old? How many kids today know of G1 optimus that they would want the toy? The answer is so low it doesn't register on the Count Von counts radar.
Its a toy aimed at 20-30 year olds, not kiddies
Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
I've been saying several times, it's the commemorative version in a new box. Why is this such a revelation now? Didn't anyone actually look at the SDCC news pictures of this thing?I think the over-sized missiles look even worse than the shortened smoke stacks. It's overall just a very ugly reissue.'sif you'd get this over Encore! 'SIF!
Hasbro reissues are usually Toys R Us exclusive. I would expect it to sell for at least $80.
Encore Convoy meanwhile retailed for 5250JPY (approx. 55AUD) when it came out a year ago. This Encore Convoy on eBay is selling for 17.99GBP (38.65AUD)
IMO Takara's reissue offers far superior value for money over Hasbro's.
And $80? Yea right, it's going to be US$70, so here I expect nothing less than $100, probably even $120. But TRU did surprise me on the soundwave reissue, so it is possible it will be $80, highly unlikely though.
EDIT: Notice they've now cheap skated the packaging?
This is what it should have been.
Now look at what we get.
Last edited by MV75; 16th August 2008 at 02:25 PM.
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Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Even then, at almost the same price, why not get the Encore?
That was my beef with Hasbro reissues when they first came out 7 years ago... for nearly the same price we could just get Takara reissues. Little wonder they shelf-warmed at TRUs for ages. (-_-)
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
The version on AcToys doesn't appear to have the DVD either....
EDIT: Notice they've now cheap skated the packaging?
This is what it should have been.
Now look at what we get.
Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
Yea, I noticed that too.
Now it will be interesting to see if it will be a market variance or not, but I suspect it's just cheap skating.
And the link I put in well, as a consumer/collector, I'd be more willing to purchase that one, not this new one at all.
EDIT: I just read some comments on tfw2005, apparently the US will get that better version with the DVD, the rest of the world won't.
But either way, I'm still just going to get an encore.
Last edited by MV75; 16th August 2008 at 02:55 PM.
Code:O o _ / -------------------------------- | IMMA FIRIN MA LAZAR!!! \_--------------------------------
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
The thing with the smoke stacks & missiles is that they are required by law to have these 'safety' measures. If they didn't, they would have to market them for an older market.
The problem is that TRU & Wal-Mart aren't going to want 15+ toys cluttering up the shelves. And remember, its these big retailers who tell Hasbro want they want / don't want. So its probably unfair to blame Hasbro for these things.
Personally, I'll probably skip this as well. My 25 year old Prime is fine & dandy. :P
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
...which is what Takara does.
They wouldn't. You make them:
1/ Targetted at an older audience
2/ Limited production run
As for retailers, they could do what DC Direct does and distribute them via Diamond Select straight to collectible outlets like comic book stores etc.
Takara marketed their reissues at older collectors, manufactured in smaller production numbers and even sold them at regular retail outlets like TRU and they mostly flew off shelves there.
Also, they could reproduce regular G1-accurate sized missiles and just neuter the launchers as they have with some of their other reissues. I think most fans would much prefer that over the oversized missiles. Would it also be possible to manufacture the smokestacks from rubber rather than plastic like with movie Prime?
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
They COULD do that, but that would drastically alter the profit margin on the toys, and I don't think the shareholders want any of that!
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I agree with Demonac in what he said. Hasbro like most other American corporations have only one group of people to please and that's their share holders. Of course this causes a drastic loss of quality in products by production cost cutting and expanding their consumer horizons as more profits give way to the increase of share values. The result is that toys such as this Prime are to be marketed to a 'wider audience' even though it is likely only to be bought by collectors.
Its not just Hasbro but the whole corporate world, that is why in the past decade or so we have seen a lot of 'quantity over quality' attitude with most American Corporations.
I have seen the above when it comes to things that I enjoy such as toys, video games and movies although the latter two have been slowly improving in the past year specially when compared to the abysmal overall quality of the last 5 years.
However does this excuse Hasbro and other corporations from producing bland products and justify us buying their stuff? No. I will only buy from Hasbro if I consider their product to be reasonably well produced and will ignore their mediocre stuff.
Last edited by kup; 16th August 2008 at 04:47 PM.
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