Looks like cartoon versions of Starscream and Hot Rod won't be the last ones we get:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/first-look-at-2023-g1-hound-reissue-in-cartoon-colors/47427/

He's honestly not bad-looking at all. Also, Hound was one of the G1 reissues that Takara sold but which Hasbro never brought over, so this will be the first time his original toy will be commercially available in the USA since the 1980's.

I honestly love it when they create a greater synergy between the old toys and the cartoon look. Some of my earliest custom projects were attempts at making the G1 toys match the show, because I wanted so badly for the physical representations to look like the media appearances. To me, at least, cartoon color schemes always, always improve the look of a toy.

If Hound does well (and there's no reason to think he won't—there hasn't been a reissue of Hound since 2004) I think it's at least possible we may see additional toon-inspired reissues. Optimus Prime seems like an obvious one—with a trailer this time, hopefully! I could see Astrotrain and Blitzwing as a possibility, especially since the eHobby anime Astrotrain has historically been such a highly-coveted piece. Soundwave would be a cool choice, especially if he came with a redeco version of Rumble that was actually purple instead of the dark blue/light blue G1 Frenzy toy colors.

There are a lot of other toys I can think of that would benefit enormously from cartoon colors release. I'm super shocked that Takara never did Kup, for example. We never got the G1 toy in grey. Ever. What about a light blue Thundercracker? That would be awesome! I'd buy Red Alert again if we could get one that was light grey with a red helmet. The Dinobots would also be great candidates, but Takara never did official reissues so the possibility seems extremely remote.

Also, I'm holding out for the faintest of possibilities that we might get other background Decepticon jets besides just Sunstorm. I mean, there are SO MANY of them. Dozens. At the very least, I'd love to see some of the more prominent ones, like the purple guys who attacked Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in "More Than Meets the Eye" part 2, or the rest of the Welcoming Committee that blocked the route to Iacon.

But, yes. First, Hound.

Zob (saw a half-pallet display at Walmart yesterday with Wolfang and Retrax reissues on it)

On Friday, December 16, 2022 at 8:44:14 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> Looks like cartoon versions of Starscream and Hot Rod won't be the last ones we get:

I really question the point of doing cartoon decos on G1 molds in an era where the mainline is pumping out the definitive versions of these same characters. And Masterpiece has been there, done that, too. The Sunbow models have been the blueprint for legacy characters over the last few lines. The time for these was 30 years ago when there were no other mold choices, not now.

Takara and E-Hobby got me to bite on Anime Starscream and Sunstorm and the alternate Astrotrains and the black hooded Streak but that was the TF Collection reissue era when the current golden age of G1sploitation hadn't kicked in. The likenesses and engineering are so on point nowadays. We don't need the G1 molds cosplaying their completely physically different cartoon selves. This Hound reminds me of that Steve Buschemi meme where he's dressed up as a high school kid asking, "How do you do, fellow kids?" It's an old toy trying desperately to do the new toy thing.

Anime colors on G1 molds < Diaclone or prototype colors on G1 molds. That magenta Hot Rod is fantastic because of its toy catalog heritage so yeah I love that one. I would kill for a blue Bluestreak. But Hound in cartoon colors with today's Gummi Bear plastic quality just doesn't do it for me. It's a travesty to see Hound's glorious chrome weapons reduced to that dull grey..

But had they done this sort of thing in 1986 I would have been overjoyed.

I'll probably get this as long as it's not too hard to get a hold of.
But I would rather see the other 1986 movie toys get this cartoon
recolor treatment, as they need it the most.

On Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 5:08:07 PM UTC-7, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> I really question the point of doing cartoon decos on G1 molds in an era where the mainline is pumping out the definitive versions of these same characters.

I mean... yeah. This would have made a lot more sense back in 2000 or so.

> We don't need the G1 molds cosplaying their completely physically different cartoon selves.

I think probably what we're seeing is that Hasbro wants to keep milking the G1 reissues as long as they're still viable, but after several rounds of reissues, there just isn't a lot they can offer that's new, unless they want to invent characters out of whole cloth like Tonkanator.
But, it's something a little different. It's something they haven't done yet. I wouldn't have double-dipped if they had just done a regular G1 toy colors reissue of Hound, because I own one already. I don't need another one. But the cartoon version is spiffy. They're thinking outside the box a bit, and I think that's cool.

Zob (there were way too many people shopping at Walmart today)

On Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 3:17:07 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> On Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 5:08:07 PM UTC-7, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I really question the point of doing cartoon decos on G1 molds in an era where the mainline is pumping out the definitive versions of these same characters.
> I mean... yeah. This would have made a lot more sense back in 2000 or so.
> > We don't need the G1 molds cosplaying their completely physically different cartoon selves.
> I think probably what we're seeing is that Hasbro wants to keep milking the G1 reissues as long as they're still viable, but after several rounds of reissues, there just isn't a lot they can offer that's new, unless they want to invent characters out of whole cloth like Tonkanator.
>
> But, it's something a little different. It's something they haven't done yet. I wouldn't have double-dipped if they had just done a regular G1 toy colors reissue of Hound, because I own one already. I don't need another one.. But the cartoon version is spiffy. They're thinking outside the box a bit, and I think that's cool.
>
>
> Zob (there were way too many people shopping at Walmart today)

For what it's worth, I think he looks beautiful.

I wonder how reissue mold degradation has impacted these toys over time? I'm almost scared to open my TF Collection recolour Starscream....

JB

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 10:53:21 PM UTC-5, Joseph Bardsley wrote:
> On Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 3:17:07 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> > On Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 5:08:07 PM UTC-7, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > > I really question the point of doing cartoon decos on G1 molds in an era where the mainline is pumping out the definitive versions of these same characters.
> > I mean... yeah. This would have made a lot more sense back in 2000 or so.
> > > We don't need the G1 molds cosplaying their completely physically different cartoon selves.
> > I think probably what we're seeing is that Hasbro wants to keep milking the G1 reissues as long as they're still viable, but after several rounds of reissues, there just isn't a lot they can offer that's new, unless they want to invent characters out of whole cloth like Tonkanator.
> >
> > But, it's something a little different. It's something they haven't done yet. I wouldn't have double-dipped if they had just done a regular G1 toy colors reissue of Hound, because I own one already. I don't need another one. But the cartoon version is spiffy. They're thinking outside the box a bit, and I think that's cool.
> >
> >
> > Zob (there were way too many people shopping at Walmart today)
> For what it's worth, I think he looks beautiful.
>
> I wonder how reissue mold degradation has impacted these toys over time? I'm almost scared to open my TF Collection recolour Starscream....
>
> JB

I'm encouraged by the fact that Hasbro saw fit to recreate the mold for Rattrap; maybe they'll start redoing the molds for G1 figures whose original molds have been lost to time.

I'll support this release of Hound and any other Vintage G1's they see fit to release into the wild. G1 was the backbone and the foundation of the franchise, and it would be great to have them available at retail for the casual fan. I'm sure there are younger fans who would be interested in the original molds. I missed the 2001 Commemorative Series releases, and I'd be thrilled to see Powermaster Prime and others make their way back to stores. If a new paintjob is what it takes to get folks in the door, then I'm all for it. Plus, I've heard great things about the new Movie-deco G1 Hot Rod, and I'm looking forward to picking him up.

On Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 3:17:07 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:

> But, it's something a little different. It's something they haven't done yet. I wouldn't have double-dipped if they had just done a regular G1 toy colors reissue of Hound, because I own one already. I don't need another one.. But the cartoon version is spiffy. They're thinking outside the box a bit, and I think that's cool.

If this leaked upcoming Hound is real, I wonder if/why they're going to have multiple versions of the same character on the shelves simultaneously:

https://www.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/zqp7ke/anyone_know_what_happened_to_these_two/

It would be weird and out of left field to pay massive tribute to Hound of all characters. So of course that's exactly what they're planning.

On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 9:15:01 PM UTC-7, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> It would be weird and out of left field to pay massive tribute to Hound of all characters.

I think the G1 reissue and the Houndworthy version serve different needs for somewhat different markets. But, yeah, he's not exactly a top-tier character.

Zob (it's my last day off before I'm back to work and I plan on doing a whole lot of nothin')