Why is Targetmaster Scourge so expensive

[heroic_decepticon]

I been searching for Targetmasters around eBay lately and I noticed that Targetmaster Scourges, even the loose ones, are ungodly expensive. I saw loose ones going for US$200 to $300.

I'm not understanding why that is so because a the only difference between a loose standard Scrouge and a Targetmaster one is Fracas, which is meh.

[jaydisc]

I guess for the same reason most things are expensive: rarity.

[SOUNDBLASTER]

The targetmaster Scourge also has bigger holes in the hands to hold Fracas..

Targetmaster Scourge is the rarest Targetmaster of the Transformer series. Most people don't know this, but Scourge was packed with only one per case, while other targetmasters were packed 2 per case..

Thats as much as I know but thats why he's so expensive because there's simply not alot of them around..

[heroic_decepticon]

hmmm... is it that rare?

I don't look out for TM Scourge because I've had one since I was young... maybe that's why I'm out of touch in terms of how rare it is...

[heroic_decepticon]

The targetmaster Scourge also has bigger holes in the hands to hold Fracas..

so that means the only way to prove a genuine Targetmaster Scourge is to also have Fracas and for Fracas to fit snug into his hand pegs (but by that logic, Fracas wouldnt fit into a normal Scourge's fist).

I'll test that the next time I'm back home in SG...

[canofwhoopass_87]

I think with a reissue-ing, the fracas wielding scourge would quite possibly see a significant price drop, much like young targetmaster hot rod. But yeh currently he is ridiculously expensive - though I don't see him being that much rarer than misfire, who only sells for a fraction of scourge.

[Sky Shadow]

I suppose the reason for the general rarity of Targetmaster Cyclonus and Scourge was that they were shortpacked to start with and not released in Japan. In fact, as a kid, I would have said they weren't released in Australia (actually, I still would have thought that until I read on Cliffbee right now that they were in fact available in Australia. Personally, I never saw either of them despite seeing mountainloads of Triggerhappy, Misfire and Slugslinger.)

Secondly, I think the reason that a complete Targetmaster Scourge is more expensive than a Cyclonus is the reissue of Stepper/Ricochet. Reissue Nebulon/Nightstick is abundant (and in fact one can still buy a MISB one for less than $30), while Fracas is not. I suspect that if they ever did release Artfire with his partner (confusingly also called Nightstick, but an identical reissue of Fracas), the value of Targetmaster Scourges would drop steadily. (As would the cost of Artfire for that matter.)

[kup]

Cyclonus is also worth a lot. I have all the '86' autobot characters as 87 targetmasters. They are no where near as expensive as their Decepticon counterparts. The same goes with the 'new' 87 target master characters too, the Autobots like Pointblank or Sureshot are not too prohibitively expensive but their Decepticon counterparts (like Triggerhappy) are well over double the cost.

[liegeprime]

Which is why Im satisfied of not getting the TM versions.....I know my G1 collection will never be "complete" to others but for me, forking out that much though on what I consider a"double" figure is just not acceptable.... I do have an alternative plan, Ill just find a loose TM partner and let them hang around with my non TM Scourge, Cyclonus, Kup, Hotrod, Blurr and Kup for display purposes since they wont fit any of the peg holes. They can independently function anyways and float in midair while in gun mode when they were shown in the G1 series ... though looking at the G1 prices for the TM partner alone, sheesh they're expensive little buggers...

[heroic_decepticon]

I do understand why TM Cyclonus and Scourge is expensive because of rarity, but its still counterintuitive to me because if a standard Scourge costs say US$70 complete and TM Scourge costs $300 complete, wouldnt that mean that Fracas effectively costs US$230?

That and the fact that the TM versions of the 1986 characters were hardly canonical just makes their prices more absurd.

(I guess, I'm asking as if confused because there were loads of TM Cyclonus and Scourge around when I was young in Singapore, so much so that when I bought my TM Scourge, my brother, who is entitled to an equivalent, opted for the standard issue Cyclonus instead)