Up until Sideswipe, the reissues after the first few waves were pretty low-key characters... Of course Prime, Hot Rod, Jazz and Prowl are going to sell more than Grapple and Inferno.

 

The ones I (and a lot of people I know) remember as a kid are the ones I'm most likely to buy (although I've got all the reissues so far, except Powermaster Prime), like Hound, Sunstreaker and Mirage, not to mention Soundwave, the Seekers, Insecticons and Shockwave.

 

That goes for ones like Blaster, the Dinobots, and Galvatron as well. They were just more popular characters. If Hasbro decided to release some of these, it would breathe new life into the TRU reissues line.

 

Another factor is that 40 bucks (Canadian) was A LOT of money to spend on 'em... and any parent who might have picked them up for their kids would definitely be turned off, seeing as how they could have gotten a much bigger Energon toy instead.

 

Other than the rumoured TRU trouble, these are the two key reasons why there are so many on the shelves. They've already stepped into the right direction by lowering the price (somewhat), but once we see some of the more popular characters on the shelf the profits will increase.

 

And we fans will be happier, too.

I'd have no problem with the US line dropping off the face of the Earth either. Firstly, they're just as expensive as the import Takara releases. Secondly, the box art and additional goodies that Takara throws in are superior to Hasbro's. And thirdly, the toys just seem to be made with a bit more care.

 

Now, I'll buy the Hasbro ones when that particular character seems not to be on Takara's radar - like Dirge, for example.

They are close in price, not the same. Sorry, people are always going to prefer to drive 5 minutes to a TRU and pick a reissue up immediately and without having to pay a ridiculous shipping fee to an ebay seller/online retailer, only to wait 2 weeks to receive it. This is the only thing that has prevented Takara from being the most preferred supplier of reissues to US residents (which may still be debateable). The extras and box-work point I cannot disagree with, however, I actually preferred the first couple series' that paid homage to the original G1 boxes over the current dreamwave artwork.

 

The line will not die out because there is still a demand for it. The good figures are not on the shelves that long. Don't confuse over-produced releases that nobody wanted to begin with (i.e. grapple, hoist, etc) that linger on shelves as a sign of disinterest by the target market. It's just a message to Hasbeen that we won't buy any piece of crap that they slap in a reissue box and that we demand fan-favorite figures....

They are close in price, not the same. Sorry, people are always going to prefer to drive 5 minutes to a TRU and pick a reissue up immediately and without having to pay a ridiculous shipping fee to an ebay seller/online retailer, only to wait 2 weeks to receive it. This is the only thing that has prevented Takara from being the most preferred supplier of reissues to US residents (which may still be debateable). The extras and box-work point I cannot disagree with, however, I actually preferred the first couple series' that paid homage to the original G1 boxes over the current dreamwave artwork.

 

The line will not die out because there is still a demand for it. The good figures are not on the shelves that long. Don't confuse over-produced releases that nobody wanted to begin with (i.e. grapple, hoist, etc) that linger on shelves as a sign of disinterest by the target market. It's just a message to Hasbeen that we won't buy any piece of crap that they slap in a reissue box and that we demand fan-favorite figures....

Actually, I don't bother with Ebay for these. BBTS always has these for pre-order and their shipping, at least in the USA, is $5.00 even. I'm not the least bit disatisfied with the cost of what is, in my opinion, a superior product (for those into the whole Takara vs. Hasbro thing, I'm speaking here ONLY on the subject of the G1 reissues).

 

As far as Hoist goes, he may not have been a popular character, but that's one figure I never had as a kid. So, it's an instant buy for me. Of course, if I knew there was going to be a Takara release and I had to choose, I'd choose Takara.

 

PLEASE someone tell me that we're going to see Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, or Mirage sometime in the near future. For god's sake we've already gotten two Targetmaster reissues before we've even seen the majority of the initial G1 releases...

PLEASE someone tell me that we're going to see Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, or Mirage sometime in the near future. For god's sake we've already gotten two Targetmaster reissues before we've even seen the majority of the initial G1 releases...

Nobody really knows. Neither of the companies are exactly forthcoming with information about what molds they have, or don't have. We would all like to know one way or another, but untill they show up at TRU or at your favorite online retailer, who knows.