Looks like more reissues for Walmart in America (which will show up in Asia as well), as the Triplechanger Astrotrain was just found at Walmart in America (and on their website), for US$50.
Looks like more reissues for Walmart in America (which will show up in Asia as well), as the Triplechanger Astrotrain was just found at Walmart in America (and on their website), for US$50.
I'm so glad it's in the original Hasbro deco this time. I'll definitely be grabbing one.
For those wondering what the differences between vintage and reissue Astrotrain are, I've noticed:
- Much more rounded corners on the box flap
- "converts" instead of "transforms"
- The angle of the figure in the box
- 8+ instead of 6 & up
- The sunburst around the artwork is smaller on the reissue
Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.
Would it kill HasTak to reissue the E-Hobby Astrotrain?
That is one of the few G1 figures I still would like to buy.
Was this Walmart Astrotrain reissue previously announced, or its appearance on Walmart shelves the first time we've heard of this?
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I totally forgot about that... probably because of how rushed they did it (three rounds of voting in one week).
And I also forgot about the second reissue fan-vote they did a few months later, which was done even quicker, with just a single day of voting and I think there was no advance warning either.
A quick recap for those like me who forgot about these...
December 2018 (just over a year ago), we had a "2020 reissue fan-vote" on the official Transformers Facebook page, that had two semi-final rounds of Astrotrain Vs Perceptor and Skywarp Vs Thundercracker.... followed very quickly by a final round of the two winners - Astrotrain vs Skywarp.
Astrotrain won, and it was noted that it would be then be released in the first quarter of 2020 (it ended up appearing in stores in America just a few days before 2020).
Then in May 2019 we had a snap poll on the official Transformers facebook page, of just one day, with Blaster Vs Skywarp, resulting in a very narrow win for Blaster at just 56%. It was said to be released in 2020, but no month or quarter noted.
Poor SKywarp... always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
I can't see why Skywarp didn't win.
They've recently released Starscream in the line, so changing the paint and giving him the trophy couldn't have been that hard?
I would expect Hasbro to release Skywarp and Thundercracker at some point, even if they didn't win the fan-votes, Hasbro could just claim that Astrotrain and Blaster were released first because the fans wanted them first.
The same happened with the Generations fan-vote in February 2018... Impactor and Mirage won, but we've already had two of the other four released/announced.
Impactor vs Mirage (released in Siege as a 3 pack, and in the main line)
Spinister vs Wheeljack (Spinister released in Siege, Wheeljack in Earthrise)
Needlenose vs Tracks (both claimed to be in Earthrise)
I'd say there would be some demand for Astrotrain in his original deco, since none of his previous reissues have used it. We've had the black and white Takara deco, cartoon/prototype accurate Ehobby and the vomit-- I mean Platinum edition. I told you privately today that I've been through 3 vintage Astrotrains and I'm still not satisfied, so I'd be more than happy to have a brand new reissue in the original deco to complete my Astrotrain variants display (aside from the Platinum which I refuse to get).
On the other hand, there have been plenty of Skywarp reissues that are more or less the same as the original G1 toy.
Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.