Encore Comments / Reviews

[snaketales]

Flash photography is near useless for closeups. As a matter of fact, many cameras will not even allow you use macro mode and flash simultaneously. Regardless, I did take some (albeit crappy) photos.

Well I think those photos are good and made the review a good read.
Thumbs up!

[TF76]

Nice job Jay.

If I ever get any time I'll try to take some pics of mine. I think I got lucky but it has a few problems (different to yours)

I think it isn't perfect but it is not garbage either. l see more issues with my encore autobot tapes and minibots and the club seacons.

I expected it not to be perfect and was just happy to get it as a whole package.

I think I get annoyed about it because a lot of people were shi$$ng all over the toy befor they even got one. A lot more attention has been made towards it's flaws than any other encore I have noticed.

All my encores alt modes are 'wonky' all have different (usually more transparent) plastic, differences to the original. The list could go on, i just don't get why people hate this set so much.

[Autocon]

mine seem better than that though my vortex was hard to transform with the nose piece aswell

my brawl doesnt quite clip together in alt mode

everything else seems fine and sturdy

[GoktimusPrime]

Comparison pics between my original G1 and Encore Combaticons. Apologies for my crappy photography and poor focus in some pics. And yes, I know my G1 Combaticons are missing all accessories and I've substituted Bruticus gestalt parts with Ruination parts - as noted in other threads the main reason why I got the Encore Combaticons was really for the accessories.

G1 Onslaught (top) & Encore Onslaught (bottom)

No erectile problem with mine.

G1 Blast Off (left) & Encore Breast Off

The two halves of Encore Breast Off's arms indeed do not clip together as well as the original leaving a noticeable gap that bisects the window. Although it doesn't look so bad IRL as it does in photos.

G1 Brawl (left) & Encore Onslaught (right)


G1 Swindle (left) & Encore Swindle (right)

Most noticeable difference is the colour; Encore Swindle has a much lighter shade of tan, which I don't like as much as the original colours on the G1 toy. The legs on my Encore are also really loose when sliding in and out; the legs on my G1 toy which I purchased back in 1986 are still _much_ stiffer than on the Encore version which I only got today! The little tab underneath Encore Swindle's window is also a bit too big which makes it difficult for the window to swing across it.

G1 Vortex (left & left inset) & Encore Volter (right & right inset)

The most substantial difference is the little blue parts on the nose of the chopper; on the Encore version it doesn't sit flush as with the G1 toy. This effects the transformation to robot mode making it more cumbersome - you need to nudge the leg over to one side to compensate. (-_-)

Combaticon limb robots (G1s on left, Encores on right)

One noteworthy difference is the eyes on Blast Off - the G1 version has one visor-eye whereas the Encore is painted so he has two eyes, like the cartoon/comic model.

Onslaught (Left: G1 metal chest, Middle: Encore, Right: G1 plastic chest)

One interesting thing to note is the cannon on G1 Onslaught has plastic grooves on the "inside" whereas they're filled out on the Encore version. As far as I can tell it seems that this mould variation occured in 2001 with Mega-Octane as can be seen when comparing with Dolrailer:
Dolrailer (2000): http://www.tfu.info/2001/Decepticon/...jrobotmode.jpg
Mega-Octane (2001): http://www.tfu.info/2001/Decepticon/.../robotmode.jpg

G1 Bruticus (left w/ Ruination gestalt parts) & Encore Bruticus (right)


Except for Onslaught none of the Encore Combaticons rub sign indents. Overall the flaws are pretty minor and not surprising considering how overused this mould has been.

[liegeprime]

So far the diecast reissues are the ones with minimal nuances as far as ive seen . Ive only bought the seekers, ratchet, ironhide, Omega Supreme encores. All of them uses a different composition with regards now to the plastic - as jay has mentioned is more resin type. There was a discussion re: plastic "feeling thin mixed", less gloss, lighter feel back when its the seeker 2 pack was the latest , just couldnt find it. although the lighter weight was disproved by some here as they actually weighed the figures VS the G1s. Though it does still feel lighter for me. NO problem with encore ratchet/ironhide, as good as the original with a slight thinner feel to the plastic bits. Encore Omega has thinner plastics than the original. Color matching wise - they seem to use brighter colors. Not really much of a difference. Encore bruticus from all these pics is as mentioned is a downgrade in quality. hmmm Mold degradation has indeed taken its toll on this reissue. As far as i can see the sharpness of the edges aint there, kinda KOey looking for me.

[GoktimusPrime]

Encore Sky Lynx was really well done and I'm happy with Encore Soundwave too. Encore Ratchet and Ironhide did have a problem with holding the long gun underneath the vehicle mode though, they don't clip in as well as on the original G1 figures. I agree that the plastic on the Encore Combaticons and latest cassettes do feel 'inferior' to the original G1s. They also "look" thinner too; this is most noticeable with Encore Omega Supreme whose entire head illuminates instead of just the window, although Encore Omega Supreme is using an LED whereas G1 Omega Supreme just has a lamp.

Now here's a comparison between G1 and Encore Ramhorn and Steeljaw:


The differences is noticeable, but overall Encore Ramhorn is a pretty good reproduction. I have no major issues with it.


Aaahh... Steeljaw. The decos on the cassette mode are in improvement over TFC Steeljaw. They've added in decos on the feet and overall you can see it's a much better looking cassette mode in terms of the decos (the words "metal position" are actually readable!) For some reason the metal parts are _really_ shiny. Not chrome, just shiny metal. It doesn't do anything for me personally. However the main criticism I have on this toy would have to be the mismatching yellow!! Wow... usually Hasbro's the one who routinely screws up their yellows (e.g.: Animated Bumblebee, Universe Sunstreaker etc.), but here TakaraTOMY's done the same thing. Arguably worse because unlike ANI Bumblebee and UNI Sunstreaker, the mismatching yellow bits are _not_ painted over transparent plastic. They're actually yellow plastic parts, but for no particular reason, are a much brighter shade of plastic than the rest of the body! You can see clearly the hips, feet and tail are a lot brighter than the rest of the toy! It's noticeable in cassette mode too. It's noticeable from an altitude of 300m! So yeah, Encore Steeljaw wins in terms of his awesome cassette decos, but fails in terms of the mismatched yellows. :/

[kup]

Wow, that color mismatch in Steeljaw is a real killer.

[Wheel-J]

Wow, that color mismatch in Steeljaw is a real killer.

+1! Wish our custom experts had anything to say about this.

On the happy side, Ramhorn looks snappy based on Gok's pics! Glad they did a good job on that one - my first and only cassette I owned and lost decades ago.

[loophole]

G1 Swindle (left) & Encore Swindle (right)

Most noticeable difference is the colour; Encore Swindle has a much lighter shade of tan, which I don't like as much as the original colours on the G1 toy.

i noticed the same colour differences between G1 Swindle and the "classics" reissue of him so maybe thats where they got the colour from for the encore release

[bruticus]

However the main criticism I have on this toy would have to be the mismatching yellow!! ...They're actually ...a much brighter shade of plastic than the rest of the body! You can see clearly the hips, feet and tail are a lot brighter than the rest of the toy! It's noticeable in cassette mode too.

Hey mate, i just checked this out for myself and was hoping you can explain whats going on.
-Top is G1 (Hasbro 1986, Takara 1986, Macau)
-Bottom is Encore
Attachment 1049
I always thought that the G1 had bright yellow legs and the encore version was pretty much spot on up until i saw your comparison pics. Do you know whats the difference between my G1 steeljaw and your G1 steeljaw?

I can't believe that they've reissued Steeljaw twice and still haven't fixed up the lion's mane (being on his ass instead of on his head).

Are you referring to how the lion's mane has always been on the ass since g1 and they havent corrected this mistake with this second reissue or are you saying that G1's had it correct back then and the encore stuffed it up?
I'm guessing you mean the former? cos my G1 has the decals for the lions mane on the ass parts.
-Top is G1 (Hasbro 1986, Takara 1986, Macau)
-Bottom is Encore
Attachment 1050