Classics Thundercracker May Get a Second Run After All

[slugpitcher]

none of the classics were shelfwarmers... at least not to the point mudflap and energon ironhide were... the only ones that even came close were the classic minicons... none of the rest made it to the clearance aisle

[Stormtrooper53]

*Saw Cliffjumper, Mirage, Ramjet and Grimlock on clearance at Wal-Mart as recently as September, 2007.*

 

Hell, for that matter, I bought a second Mirage and Cliffjumper (to Classic-ize them even more) on sale at HTS.

[ReverendNash]

There is another dude on TFW2005 boards selling these for less than $140 shipped. Goes by bodhar2000, anyone bought from him before?

I've had some wonderful transactions with Bodhar in the past. I'd say go for it, he's a good guy.

[Firebrandx]

I'm going to get the Encore version of Thundercracker when it comes out (in a 2-pack with Skywarp). Actually, the only two lines I'm focusing on are the Encore and Masterpiece lines. The Encore line because its basically the originals I grew up on in the 80's, and the Masterpiece line because they look pretty cool.

[shajaki]

coming from someone who was almost going to buy that botcon set at its current ridiculous ebay price, this is fantastic news. though now theyre available for pre-order or whatever.. does anyone know how id go about this from a japanese site that i cant understand?

[Megatron]

only thing i dont like are the stripes on the wrists... too MP

[madman1366]

I've heard a lot of talk about certain Classics figures being "shelf warmers" and while there were some that stuck around longer than others I think we need to put things in a bit of a better perspective.

 

Just because every figure doesn't evaporate from shelves within hours or days of it's release doesn't mean it wasn't a liked figure or was by any means a failure.

 

By the time the Classics line was winding down there was still plenty of Cybertron around and the movie figures coming just around the corner. Actually they were still around when the movie line hit.

 

But the final wave of Classics didn't have a huge window to work with and they got restocked A LOT. So it stands to reason it would take some time to sell them out completely. And just because the last of them had to be clearanced out doesn't mean anything. Stores routinely clearance out older stock that's no longer available to order or to make room for a new line.

 

I think just because people see the same selection they automatically assume they are shelf warming and don't consider the possibility that they were simply restocked a lot until the sales eventually did slow.

 

Overall the Classics line sold VERY WELL. If it didn't, we wouldn't be looking at the return of Universe/Classics.

 

When Classics resurfaced last July when movie figures were delayed, they flew every bit as much as the movie figures did.

 

Again though, some places might have had them around a bit longer, but that has to be expected.

 

 

Look at some of the recent shelf warmers from past lines on ebay right now and you'll see that even some of the shelf warmers have found a new demand.

 

Just off the top of my head I can think of a bunch of figures that sat around everywhere for the longest time, some even clearanced out at some point that are now selling for more than the original retail prices, some a LOT more.

 

The point is, don't go off what you see on the shelves and pegs when trying to determine if a line sells well or not. Hasbro puts out quarterly reports and for the past several years Transformers have always been one of their strongest selling brands. That's all that matters!

[sertile]

Note: For those complaining of the two-pack, these are available individually on BBTS for $75 a pop.

[Liege Evilmus]

I have no problem with Takara releassing these, it's good busness sence.

 

Although it may be subtle, they are different than the BotCon set, which any buyer or collector willing to drop coin on these would be abile to tell right away. In reality, I can see these making the BotCon figure even more desierable as it is the first edition.

 

I have the Target SkyWarp, so I'm skipping Henkie, who's only figure I bought to date was AstroTrain x2. I have 2 ThunderCrackers on order, and I look forward to them.

 

However to the BotCon people who feeel it's somewhat of a shaft, all I can say is this figure will be a colorful stand in on my shelf. While still ThunderCracker, it's not the good one that I'd realy like to have.

 

The same would go for Thrust and Dirge. I'd buy them, I'd enjoy them, but it'd be the same as having a MSIB reissue Prime on the shelf as apose to an actual factual G1 version.

 

Henkie is a crowd pleaser, BotCon has bragging rights!