Quote Originally Posted by kup View Post
1%, 2%? It doesn't matter, the point is that 3rd party upgrade kits do appear to promote increased demand and awareness for Hasbro products, some which would have otherwise had a long shelf life like the Universe/ROTF Bruticus Maximus repaints.
Those percentages might well be negligible for a general release item, even if the add-on was released during Hasbro's product's release... but I'd like to see the add-ons targeting items that shelfwarm, otherwise it's not going to be of any benefit to us & Hasbro, as stores still still be stuck with the same stock that prevents them reordering anyway. And the add-ons sometimes target limited-edition items - making it impossible for collectors of "untouched/pure" toys, to be able to afford them.
I really wanted the Henkei Wildrider, as it's the only Gen1 Henkei that I'm missing - but when the redeco Rodimus trailer add-on was released, the price jumped from a "standard" $200 to $600 overnight, and has never come back down. I was willing to allow for a desperate splurge at $200 (at a future BotCon to at least save on shipping), but not at $600.

The same happened with Classics Ultra Magnus, making it more expensive for new fans of TFs or even Classicverse, of that toy to complete the Gen1 set, which was already a hard enough toy to find due to its limited release.
I'm guessing the same probably happened with the Hardhead toy and Aerialbots, but at least with those ones and the latest "Headmaster" add-ons, less newbies were likely to come back to them, as the Movie toys aren't as popular as Classicverse. Most of those who will be fighting over those toys on the secondary market will be those wanting to modify them with these add-ons.

Some fans will indeed benefit from the add-ons enhancing their toys, but others will suffer from paying out more for those toys, especially if they don't intend to get the add-ons.