Just got Encore Bruticus, Love! And a little concerned. Options

[Shockwave 75]

While I have a full set of the CR Combatrons, I've never had a proper Bruticus so I decided to order one from Automaton Toys, they gave a great "damaged box" discount.

Anyways.

I love them, they're great, but as the topic title says, I'm a little concerned. Someone either here or on another board said that they suffer from mold degradation, now I see what they mean. They still look great, but the details don't seem to be as sharp as they should be, and this isn't helped by the plastic that Takara/Tomy chose to use. They feel like knock-offs!

I keep comparing them to my Combatrons, but then I remember that the Combatrons are 10 years old and 4 castings away (including this one). Since CR we've had the RID Ruination version, then the urban cammo version, "desert" cammo version, and now the Encore version.

While I'm glad that they retained the mold changes that were made for CR which are mostly just the weapons combining, but even here the degradation shows. My Swindle's large gun fits very loosely in his hand, to the point of falling out, his small gun won't sit flush against the side when attached to the large gun, and Blast Off's gun doesn't fit securely into Onslaught's gun when combined.
And again I must voice my displeasure at the quality, or lack there-of, of the plastic they chose to use.

My concern is for the molds themselves. Since it would seem that only the Combatacons and the Seacons have survived the years I think Hasbro and Takara/Tomy should do all that they can to save them so that we don't loose these ones as well. I'd hate to have one day read the announcment that they can't ever reissue the Combatacons again because the mold is no longer usable.

[Destron D-69]

I hear your pain, but honestly I HOPE to PRIMUS we're at the point already when we wont need any more Combaticon Reissues

[RYNO]

Gosh yeah just how many times have we seen this set.

G1 Combaticons (US)
G1 Combaticons (JP)
G2 Combaticons
CR Combaticons
RID Combaticons
Universe Combaticons (Gray Camo)
Universe Combaticons (Urban/Desert Camo)
Reissue Combaticons.

Not to meantion the Number of Knockoffs created over the years.

I'm sure I'm missing one... This set has been used more times than the Matrix as a MacGuffin! LOL.

This post has been edited by RYNO: Nov 4 2009, 08:20 AM

[Bass X0]

I hear your pain, but honestly I HOPE to PRIMUS we're at the point already when we wont need any more Combaticon Reissues

But we need a Battle Gaia reissue!

[Shockwave 75]

On the upside, since they're reissues I have no qualms customizing them a bit. So I've used all the anime upgrade stickers from Reprolabels, as well as the "battle damage" ones too. They look pretty good.

[Vestras]

I'm glad I got confirmation of the degradation of the molds before I considered ordering these. Sigh. It's sad since really, all I want is a G1 Onslaught really. Oh well, back to e-bay