What are your standards when it comes to the "perfect" reissue?

[5FDP]

Oh absolutely. We all have different standards which determine what we think is good, bad, perfect etc. I don't mind if people want to claim that a toy is "perfect," but I'm curious to know what criteria they used to determine their rating of "perfect." My criteria is based on comparison with the originals, but of course this is just my own personal standards.

I think the word 'perfect' in some cases may just be a throwaway term and not meant to be taken literally or measured against varying degrees of perfection. It's quite possible that when someone refers to a reissue as being perfect, they are just merely expressing their love / joy in owning a character that they have been longing for. This is the first time we've seen Devastator reissued in 18 years so I can understand why someone would be overjoyed (myself included )

[sideswipes brother]

I think the word 'perfect' in some cases may just be a throwaway term and not meant to be taken literally or measured against varying degrees of perfection. It's quite possible that when someone refers to a reissue as being perfect, they are just merely expressing their love / joy in owning a character that they have been longing for. This is the first time we've seen Devastator reissued in 18 years so I can understand why someone would be overjoyed (myself included )

This. When i made that comment i was just so pleased that i had a brand new Devs in my hand, and finally had one full stop, that i could have used any word to describe my pleasure and 'perfect' is what was typed at the time.

Of course its not 'perfect', my Scavengers feet keep popping off during transformation! But, im not the kind of person who is affected by something so small. Im just disappointed as to all the hate for this figure when i am over the moon about having a new one which displays beautifully!!!

[kup]

I don't think there is hate for this figure. People are just observing and reporting it's defects which is a reasonable thing to do.

Overall people seem excited about it and I am happy it has actually been reissued!

[5FDP]

This may be it's own topic, but does anyone know the reasons behind the 18 year wait for Devastator? We've all heard in the past that the mould may have been damaged beyond repair and the cost of rebuilding it was not an option.

The reason I ask is that most would know that many of the KO's produced actually used official moulds left behind when the factories were vacated by Takara.

I've heard a rumour that Takara reacquired some of these moulds, one of which was Devastator, and this was used to make reissue Devastator. This would also explain some of the reported QC issues because the mould was actually being used and would have suffered from the same degradation as the mould used for the Combaticons.

[liegeprime]

This may be it's own topic, but does anyone know the reasons behind the 18 year wait for Devastator? We've all heard in the past that the mould may have been damaged beyond repair and the cost of rebuilding it was not an option.

The reason I ask is that most would know that many of the KO's produced actually used official moulds left behind when the factories were vacated by Takara.

I've heard a rumour that Takara reacquired some of these moulds, one of which was Devastator, and this was used to make reissue Devastator. This would also explain some of the reported QC issues because the mould was actually being used and would have suffered from the same degradation as the mould used for the Combaticons.

see if that were the case, wouldnt/ shouldnt they have run a few test figures first to see all the bugs then fix the faulty moulds? After all it isnt good business sense to release faulty merchandise but then QC is something that has been slipping nowadays ei in TakTom ever since the merger.... could be a lax in the managements "interference" with the production end...

[GoktimusPrime]

AFAIK the mould was never lost/damaged. In 2000-2001 Takara got lots of requests for Devastator, but the KOs were already really popular and Takara released a statement saying that they did not want to reissue Devastator as they didn't want to compete with bootleggers. They never cited mould loss or damage as the reason for not reissuing it sooner.

[5FDP]

AFAIK the mould was never lost/damaged.

http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Mold

Rumored lost molds:

Original Rattrap
Sunstreaker
G1 Constructicons

In 2000-2001 Takara got lots of requests for Devastator, but the KOs were already really popular and Takara released a statement saying that they did not want to reissue Devastator as they didn't want to compete with bootleggers. They never cited mould loss or damage as the reason for not reissuing it sooner.

I remember reading this somewhere as well but I have never a source specified, Takara or other.

[GoktimusPrime]

From the Fortress Maximus Appreciation thread:

With collectables, most people want the original. A re print of action comics one may be superior in every way but it's not an action one, you couldn't fairly say you own one. If it's what you want and the price is right, that's the main thing. People will continue to pay stupid money for original things (like me )

For me personally, if I want a toy I'll buy it from the shops while it's current rather than buying it off the secondary market at inflated prices. It's always been the way that I've collected Transformers... I don't see any reason to change my collecting habit.

Quality wise, ive had quite a few problems with reissues. Take Hoist for instance, he's stuck in vehicle mode permanently because his wrist sockets are too small to fit anything. Grapple feels brittle compared to my '85 Inferno.
And the list goes on...

Odd... I never had that issue with my reissue Hoist (did you consider bringing it back for a refund/exchange at the time?). He's pretty much the same quality as my G1 Hoist, except for the chromeless hook (I have the Hasbro reissue - the Takara reissue has a chromed hook, but is much rarer).

The vast majority of my reissues have been of top quality. The only issues I've experienced have been:
+ TFC Meister - the rear car windows drop low in vehicle mode. Hasbro later fixed this with their Commemorative Series reissue. Both reissues feature Jazz's G2 "sh!t-eating grin" face. This was corrected by TakaraTOMY in the Encore reissue.
+ Encore Bruticus - the mould has clearly been overused and wasn't repaired sufficiently for the Encore reissue.
+ Encore Devastator - mould appears to have deteriorated and again, insufficient restoration was done. Inferior plastic quality also added to making this set feel KOish.
Other than that, every reissue I've seen has been just as good or better than the original in terms of core quality. I'm not including "cosmetic" issues like chrome lackage or overlengthened missiles on some Hasbro reissues. I'm also not including some Hasbro reissues where the missile launchers have been rendered inoperable for child safety reasons. These are intentional design changes (even if they're not ideal - I personally can't stand it) rather than actual production flaws.

The reissue Fort isnt made to the exact specifications of the original. Most of the reissues aren't, be it screws that they use, assembly or paint apps etc. As close as they may appear to be, they're not the Real McCoy. i still collect reissues though to fill any gaps in my collection that i may not be able to afford otherwise.

Yeah, but let's face it -- the differences are pretty negligible and in no way affects the performance or quality of the toy itself. So a toy has a different copyright stamp... so what? What I first saw the Classic reissues come out in 1990, I thought they were the same as the original G1 toys but in new current style packaging. At that time (and young age) I didn't think to even look at the copyright stamp. And most of my friends whom I used to play TFs with in the 80s had decided to give up on Transformers and had gotten rid of their toys (either by selling off or giving away)... so I didn't even know any other collectors for me to go and make side by side comparisons with. It wasn't until 1998 that I started making comparisons and realised that they were actually reissues.

But so what? One of the first toys I compared was my Classic Prowl with someone else's G1 Prowl. The only real difference we spotted was the copyright stampage on the bottom of his feet. Other than that, the toys are the same as far as we could tell. I personally don't feel the compulsion to go hunt down an original G1 Prowl and pay a fortune for a variation of the same toy that I already own purely for the novelty that it's an original.

A person who doesn't currently own a Fortress Maximus but would like one has two choices:
+ Pay approx. $300 for a MISB reissue
+ Pay over $1000 for a loose original
...in short, paying an additional $700+ for the novelty of having an original. I don't mean for this to sound derisive or anything like that -- clearly for some people the novelty is a big deal and they're willing to shell out a lot more for it. I guess it all comes down to what's more important for the individual collector; some insist on owning an original and see reissues as "authorised duplicates" (for lack of a better term), whereas I just get what I like from the current market.