It seems like everytime Hasbro releases a tf that transforms into a truck, people fantasize about kitbashing it into Trailbreaker. AFAIK, he was pretty much a second-string character on the cartoon so why is he so popular?

I forget he exists at times.

I was happy to get him but then again he was the last of the original 18 Autobots for me to get

He was my first Transformer and will always have a special place in my collection.

 

And why hasn't Hasbro reissued him anyway? We got Hoist, give us Trailbreaker.

Trailbreaker was also my first TF so I have special memories of him. I think that if there is a reason for his popularity it is because Hasbro has not released any thing that has the name TRAILBREAKER in 20 years.

 

How many times have the other core G1 group names been recycled, yet no love for Trailbreaker? Personally I think he needs all the love he can get from fans since Hasbro does not seem to want to give him any!

Trailbreaker was also my first TF so I have special memories of him. I think that if there is a reason for his popularity it is because Hasbro has not released any thing that has the name TRAILBREAKER in 20 years.

 

How many times have the other core G1 group names been recycled, yet no love for Trailbreaker? Personally I think he needs all the love he can get from fans since Hasbro does not seem to want to give him any!

 

He's not the only one who's name hasn't been recycled since G1. I don't know of any characters other than the G1 character that goes by the name Huffer, Bumblebee (Classics is G1 Redux, so it doesn't count), Windcharger, Jazz, or Brawn (X-Brawn is NOT Brawn). So he's not alone.

 

But I do remember him.

trailbreaker is popular because like mirage, he actually had a definable ability. ie the force field thing.

Trailbreaker was also my first TF so I have special memories of him. I think that if there is a reason for his popularity it is because Hasbro has not released any thing that has the name TRAILBREAKER in 20 years.

 

How many times have the other core G1 group names been recycled, yet no love for Trailbreaker? Personally I think he needs all the love he can get from fans since Hasbro does not seem to want to give him any!

 

He's not the only one who's name hasn't been recycled since G1. I don't know of any characters other than the G1 character that goes by the name Huffer, Bumblebee (Classics is G1 Redux, so it doesn't count), Windcharger, Jazz, or Brawn (X-Brawn is NOT Brawn). So he's not alone.

 

But I do remember him.

 

I did not say that Trailbreaker was the only one. :) Huffer has not been reused since 1984. If you don't want to count Classics Bumblebee for some reason, he was released in 1989 as a Pretenders Classics, 1989 K-Mart Legends, 1990 Action Masters, 1993 G2, 1995 Go-Bot. Windcharger: 2004 Alternator. Jazz: 1989 Pretenders Classics, 1989 K-Mart Legends, 1990 Action Masters, 1992 G2, 2003 Toy R Us Reissue, and 2004 as Meister (the Japanese name for Jazz) in the Alternators line. Brawn was released as a Key Chain a couple of years ago.

 

This info is from the Hasbro Complete Transformers Action Figure Checklist (hasbro.com), so I am sure that there are other figures like statues and Hereos of Cybertron that are not included.

 

The only toy released under the Trailbreaker name is the 1984 version. Interestingly Trailbreaker and Ironhide are both listed as 2004 Toys R Us Exclusives. What might have been! :D

Trailbreaker was cool because he had a cool personality. He knew how to side step questions with bunk answers like the time Spike asked him why they transform. He gives the smart arse response of "disguise" and "it beats walking." Further more, he led Spike to Mirage and Hound. Obviously Trailbreaker liked jokes too because Mirage and Hound didn't explain squat.

 

There was also the time during Triple Takeover when Trailbreaker was getting a tan sitting ontop of the building before he decided to do something.

 

And speaking of Hoist, Hoist goes Hollywood.

 

Skids got more love than Trailbreaker and Hoist combined because of the comics and Reissues.

He was one of the original wave way back when. That's why I want one, anyway.

I am so in need of a trailbreaker fix that I bashed my own for Classics.

 

linky:

Trailbreaker, Ironhide and Wheeljack Kitbashes