Quote Originally Posted by dirge View Post
...Takara then took up the same idea, and with the benefit of hindsight, made some improvements. Keep in mind that Takara didn't need to sink any money into R&D - Hasbro had already paid for the mould's development...
A very good point. Keep in mind that Classic "1.0" was originally a one-off filler line for the period before the movie. As it wasn't intended to last, Hasbro had to "optimise" the amount of paint application to pay for the R&D and moulding. Hasbro was bringing something nice and new to the fans. Most of us would have been perfectly happy with Classic, and there weren't really many complaints. But then Henkei came along, and all of a sudden things became very different.

Same for the movie premiums. The success of the movie and demand for the toys far exceeded Hasbro and the retailers' expectations. My guess is that the premiums were not in the initial plan. After the success and good sale they could afford to improve on Leader OP and Deluxe BB to make them better or more movie accurate. (The toys were developed while the CG for the movie was still being worked on.) At the end of the day it is business and they want our money, but at least they did more than simple repaints by offering us new heads and the new sword. And while most fans praise TakaraTomy for Henkei, I actually found TT to be relatively lazy and boring for their movie line. Their toys were identical to Hasbro's, with the exceptions of Deluxe 74 BB, Premium OP, and the two Trans-Scanning figures.