Universe Repaint Ideas

I love repaints, in general, but as a fan of G1, I think a repainted toy should represent a new character. I just can't get into it otherwise as a fan or a collector.

The only exception to this in recent years for me was Powerlinx Hot Shot from Armada and that was for his Rodimus look. However, now that we know Rodimus is a separate character in the Armada/Energon storyline, it seems weird that Hot Shot looked so much like him for awhile. I doubt we'll see any explanation for their similar appearances.

Personally, I think for the Universe line that the designers should look at a figure in terms of its altmode and look and assign a new character to the mold. A great example of this was the Inferno repaint of Prowl. It stands on its own as a new character and the fire chief repaint works because the figure so close resembles G1 Red alert. It would have been twice as sweet if they'd named him Red alert but I digress.

I want to see figures redone as Autobots, Decepticons --- whatever suits the mold when you look at it as long as it has a different name and look than it did when it was released before.

I'd be all for Armada Hot Shot or RiD Prowl being released as a Rodimus with minor reworking, BW Waspinator as Autobot Bumblebee or Goldbug, Armada Predacon being released as Grimlock with a minicon team, Energon Skyblast being released as a seeker-jet three pack as Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet.

Heck, since they've got the 'alternate universe' stuff in play, I'd love some real shaking up of the established boundries. If they're willing to do a resculpt of Sideways for the Battle-in-a-Box to make him a Decepticon, lets see a Decepticon 'Dark Magnus' or something based on the Overload toy. Maybe give us an Autobot Starscream.

Hmmm... They're releasing the microman Kicker in the Energon line in the states now, from what I hear...

Why not do something totally crazy and repaint him as Spike for Universe (based on the headmaster mech suit colors) or offer up a Universe three pack using GIJOE parts that gives us Spike, Daniel and Sparkplug with a Megatron gun accessory and a matrix or something wild like that.

Heck... Here's a wild idea! Those Action Master molds aren't making Hasbro any money and nobody's nostalgiac enough to ask for a reissue so why not repaint and package the really cool ones under the Universe line with an economical CD. I imagine you could sell 'em at a $4 pricepoint ala the single-pack GIJOE figures with the DVDs. If they stuck to the really cool character designs and the CD-ROM content was cool, you'd have people after those. Maybe toss 'em with Target-master partners as accessories to keep the transformation feature intact.