Of course I'm factoring in price. And I take your point about regular consumer toy vs collector grade, but this factor cuts both ways. e.g. Considering that the original Ultra Optimus Primal toy was a general mass release kids' toy it is really an exceptionally fantastic figure. This is why I consider it to be on par with MP Beast Convoy. Yes, MP Beast Convoy is a much more advanced toy, but it's also quadruple the price. MP Beast Convoy is like a luxury sports car whereas the original is like a really nice regular car. You can say that both are just as good as each other given their relative price, and yes, target market etc. Price is the easiest factor for me as it also indicates how much money was allocated to the toy's R&D budget and it gives you a direct indication of dollar value. It's not the sole indicator of a toy's value, but it's a pretty obvious one to see.

And I also agree with what you said about G1 v MP Soundwave, and it also does show just how well made G1 Soundwave was. In relative terms I would absolutely say that G1 and MP Soundwave are on par with each other. Shockwave's another one that's like that too (although unlike G1 Shockwave, I don't have to worry about MP Laserwave's legs getting loose and being unable to support his own body weight, or his hose crumbling). But for the most part, I find that the average G1 CHUG/MP are a marked improvement over their originals. And it's not necessarily to say that the originals were bad but as I said, it was because they were made before the Beast Wars Renaissance.

...and I personally quite like the original Cheetor toy. I thought it was good, even for its time. Reading back the review I wrote about it way back then, the only nitpick I had was that his legs could swing up forwards all the way (i.e. he can't do a King Leonidas "THIS IS SPARTAAAA!" style kick ). Really he can, you just have to swing the groin plate up which you do with toys like Powermaster Optimus Prime. It's a total non-issue to me now, but believe it or not I used to be even nitpickier than I am now! Way to go, 90s me.