No more Encore bashing!!!!

[roller]

take that encore!!! Smack smack!!!!

theres a commemorative Ratchet?

[jaydisc]

Fantastic tests. It's always better to see facts used to support allegations. We need more of that around here.

[Paulbot]

Seems like Ratchet and Skywarp need to lay off the Energon Goodies. Maybe it's a little holiday weight?

[kup]

I was comparing my Hasbro reissue Thundercracker with Encore the other day, the Hasbro reissue one (same as the book reissue one aside from giant missiles) does have a better looking 'shine' on its surface and looks notably nicer when placed side by side. The nosecone is also much better shaped in the Hasbro reissue and more 'solid' and pointier than the Encore one which looks a bit like a rubber condom.

They may be of around the same weight but the Hasbro reissue despite the modifications seems a bit better made than the Encores. The Encores are not bad by any means and are still done very well but I can't say that they are better than past reissues including Hasbro's as far as the look and feel of the plastic/metal goes.

[GoktimusPrime]

Subsequent reissues often suffer from a decline in quality due to mould degradation - it's what happens when you re-use the same cast over and over again. Sometimes HasTak will retool moulds to "repair" the degradation, although this is of course costly.

TakaraTOMY recently did this with Encore Jazz. The Jazz reissue mould was made from the G2 Jazz mould. The G2 Jazz mould already had degradation of the mouth (afaik the Classic Jazz reissue (which predates G2) didn't have this). The TFC and Commemorative reissues had further degradation of the mouth, giving Jazz his "sh*t-eating grin". The mould has since been retooled for Encore Jazz so that he no longer has that grin and has a more G1-accurate looking mouth.

And um... yeah... Commemorative Ratchet?! Are you talking about Collector's Edition Ratchet? (the e-Hobby exclusive reissue that came with Ironhide)

(1, 2)

[kup]

Subsequent reissues often suffer from a decline in quality due to mould degradation - it's what happens when you re-use the same cast over and over again. Sometimes HasTak will retool moulds to "repair" the degradation, although this is of course costly.

TakaraTOMY recently did this with Encore Jazz. The Jazz reissue mould was made from the G2 Jazz mould. The G2 Jazz mould already had degradation of the mouth (afaik the Classic Jazz reissue (which predates G2) didn't have this). The TFC and Commemorative reissues had further degradation of the mouth, giving Jazz his "sh*t-eating grin". The mould has since been retooled for Encore Jazz so that he no longer has that grin and has a more G1-accurate looking mouth.

To be fair, the issues with the Encore jets are more to do with the type of paint used and a certainly cheaper rubber for the nosecone. I don't think that mold degradation have anything to do with that. However it does account for weight discrepancies that were mentioned by Sideswipe's Brother.

The Jet bodies of the Hasbro reissue releases are much nicer. I even played a game in which with my eyes closed I begun to mix them up randomly. When I opened my eyes I was always able to tell the Hasbro jet body from the Encore because of the much nicer shiny paint and the more 'straight' nosecone.

[GoktimusPrime]

I imagine the Collector's Edition Seekers would've been nice.. but of course, they're obscenely rare.

[sideswipes brother]

Subsequent reissues often suffer from a decline in quality due to mould degradation - it's what happens when you re-use the same cast over and over again. Sometimes HasTak will retool moulds to "repair" the degradation, although this is of course costly.

TakaraTOMY recently did this with Encore Jazz. The Jazz reissue mould was made from the G2 Jazz mould. The G2 Jazz mould already had degradation of the mouth (afaik the Classic Jazz reissue (which predates G2) didn't have this). The TFC and Commemorative reissues had further degradation of the mouth, giving Jazz his "sh*t-eating grin". The mould has since been retooled for Encore Jazz so that he no longer has that grin and has a more G1-accurate looking mouth.

And um... yeah... Commemorative Ratchet?! Are you talking about Collector's Edition Ratchet? (the e-Hobby exclusive reissue that came with Ironhide)

(1, 2)

Yep, collectors edition Ratchet that's the one. Knew they were called something different but couldn't remember. Just went off memory.

[STL]

Appreciate the effort there. It's much better than the rambling about Hasbro didn't do this or Takara failed to do that. I personally already had the molds and only got Skywarp/TC for the tech spec cards mainly.