Okay, as all of us know, Takara is doing a wonderful thing by reissuing Predaking, later this year.

 

These Takara reissues - do they come stamped with new dates on the copyrights?

 

I ask because one of my goals is to get one of each G1 combiner that was released in the US. I have Superion, Bruticus, Computron, Abominus, Devastator and Menasor. Obviously, I still need the Seacon one, Predaking and Defensor. (Did I miss any?)

 

I would LOVE to be able to pick up an original Predaking, and hopefully AFTER Takara reissues him - reason being, I'm hoping that the original falls through the floor price wise when that happens. $200 and up is a lot for a transformer, especially now when I have car registration, payment and insurance due within 6 weeks!

 

BUT, I'll be severely pissed if someone rips me off on an auction for an original one, by sending me the reissues!

 

Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

EDITS: For fixing dumb typos/mistakes on my part

I would think that given the age of the mold (and the fact it has not been used since 1987/1988) that Takara should have a newer copyright stamp on the toys.

 

As far as I know, reissues are stamped with the newest copyright date for the mold (ie, Optimus Prime has 1992 stamped, meaning he is the same mold used for G2, same with Jazz), again, with a mold that is 15 years old, he should have a new copyright date. But I would suggest waiting until it is released and ask someone who has it, or go ahead and get a classic Predaking (he has started to go down in price)

You are missing Monstructor on your list

P.S. whats wrong with Raidion, Landcross(trainbots), Dinoking(Dinoforce), Road Ceaser(Brainmasters), Lio Kaiser(Breastforce), Gard City(Protectobots repaint), and Battle Gia(Cambaticons repaint)?

or go ahead and get a classic Predaking (he has started to go down in price)

That's PROBABLY what I will end up doing - I don't particurally care whether he's all metal version predacons, and doing some searching on Fleabay, he can be had for a much more reasonable price than I was expecting.

 

As long as he has his fists, wings, head and footplates, I'll be happy.

 

Perhaps I should sell off a few of my headmasters to help.........:)

You are missing Monstructor on your list

P.S. whats wrong with Raidion, Landcross(trainbots), Dinoking(Dinoforce), Road Ceaser(Brainmasters), Lio Kaiser(Breastforce), Gard City(Protectobots repaint), and Battle Gia(Cambaticons repaint)?

Well, I'm not going after any that are of the same type as the recent KB Toys Defensor exclusive - I just don't like how a large part of the gestalt is just a plastic piece, and isn't an actual robot. Personal preference, more or less. (And yes, I'm aware of Devastator being held together by two non transformer pieces - but they are not nearly as obvious! :) )

 

As for the others, I did not know of their existence - were they just Japanese issues?

 

Thanks for the Monstructor pickup - forgot about him.

The earlier reissues had odd copyrights on them-- they seemed to be the last use of the molds, or whatever version of the mold was availible. Like stated above, Prime was 92 for his G2 release, 80-83 for the first version of Starscream. Later ones seem to vary.. I actually credit Hasbro to this. The copyrights have to be updated for American trademark reasons I suspect.. and thus the Seeker mold now reads 2002 across the board (both on the US ones and Anime Starscream/Sunstorm). Soundwave still reads 74, 83, the Autobot cars vary-- the DW reissues still have their old copyrights, the American ones read more modern dates, so any time that mold gets reused from now it'll likely have the new date on it. So.. it's something of a crapshoot still, unfortunately. Seems like if the mold isn't gonna get a US release any time soon.... they don't bother changing the copyright stamp. As there's "no plans" to release Predaking stateside... I suspect he'll remain with his old stamp.

The earlier reissues had odd copyrights on them-- they seemed to be the last use of the molds, or whatever version of the mold was availible. Like stated above, Prime was 92 for his G2 release, 80-83 for the first version of Starscream. Later ones seem to vary.. I actually credit Hasbro to this. The copyrights have to be updated for American trademark reasons I suspect.. and thus the Seeker mold now reads 2002 across the board (both on the US ones and Anime Starscream/Sunstorm). Soundwave still reads 74, 83, the Autobot cars vary-- the DW reissues still have their old copyrights, the American ones read more modern dates, so any time that mold gets reused from now it'll likely have the new date on it. So.. it's something of a crapshoot still, unfortunately. Seems like if the mold isn't gonna get a US release any time soon.... they don't bother changing the copyright stamp. As there's "no plans" to release Predaking stateside... I suspect he'll remain with his old stamp.

Crap. Not the answer I was hoping for, but at least I'm better informed now.

 

I can probably squeeze an original Predaking out of my budget in October or November, before he's reissued.

You are missing Monstructor on your list

P.S. whats wrong with Raidion, Landcross(trainbots), Dinoking(Dinoforce), Road Ceaser(Brainmasters), Lio Kaiser(Breastforce), Gard City(Protectobots repaint), and Battle Gia(Cambaticons repaint)?

Well, I'm not going after any that are of the same type as the recent KB Toys Defensor exclusive - I just don't like how a large part of the gestalt is just a plastic piece, and isn't an actual robot. Personal preference, more or less. (And yes, I'm aware of Devastator being held together by two non transformer pieces - but they are not nearly as obvious! :) )

 

As for the others, I did not know of their existence - were they just Japanese issues?

 

Thanks for the Monstructor pickup - forgot about him.

 

Raidion

Landcross

Dinoking

Dinoforce

Road Ceasier

Lio Kaiser

Battle Gia

Gard City

The earlier reissues had odd copyrights on them-- they seemed to be the last use of the molds, or whatever version of the mold was availible. Like stated above, Prime was 92 for his G2 release, 80-83 for the first version of Starscream. Later ones seem to vary.. I actually credit Hasbro to this. The copyrights have to be updated for American trademark reasons I suspect.. and thus the Seeker mold now reads 2002 across the board (both on the US ones and Anime Starscream/Sunstorm). Soundwave still reads 74, 83, the Autobot cars vary-- the DW reissues still have their old copyrights, the American ones read more modern dates, so any time that mold gets reused from now it'll likely have the new date on it. So.. it's something of a crapshoot still, unfortunately. Seems like if the mold isn't gonna get a US release any time soon.... they don't bother changing the copyright stamp. As there's "no plans" to release Predaking stateside... I suspect he'll remain with his old stamp.

Crap. Not the answer I was hoping for, but at least I'm better informed now.

 

I can probably squeeze an original Predaking out of my budget in October or November, before he's reissued.

Yeah, I hate being the bearer of bad news, but at least you've got the info you need to make your decison now. Personally... I'd wait for the reissue- I honestly don't see a C9 level loose Predaking falling below the 150 mark (though I'll stand corrected if it happens).. so to know you're getting everything minty fresh for that price seems a good reason to wait to me.

Try to get a receipt if you buy it before the reissue hits, just so you can prove to naysayers he's an original!