'Transformers' G1 Reissues to Include Optimus Prime, Soundwave, and More

Transformers fans may have spotted a pretty true-to-the-original reissue of Hot Rod hitting [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Transformers fans may have spotted a pretty true-to-the-original reissue of Hot Rod hitting Wal-Mart stores recently -- and it looks like, on the heels of Bumblebee bringing back the Generation One look and feel of a lot of the classic Transformers characters, more recreations are making their way to the retailer soon.

Toy Wizards have been watching the Transformers fan message board community, and folks have spotted some receations, including Soundwave and Optimus Prime, that are remarkably similar to their original G1 builds.

The downside? It appears as though much of the metal of the originals has been replaced by plastic, leading to a more fragile overall piece and something that is not a perfect recreation of the original.

Of course, there have been several collector-quality lines of Transformers in recent years, including the Transformers Universe Masterpiece and Legends Series lines, which are great for shelf porn but a poor choice for casual collectors, or for parents who want to share something like their old toys with kids.

If the upcoming wave -- which includes Optimus and Soundwave as well as Gears and Warpath -- is priced relatively in line with the Hot Rod reissue, that would make the toys significantly less expensive than those lines.

(The Hot Rod retailed for around $30, but if you can still find it at Walmart stores, it seems to be on clearance for $21.)

Toy Wizard lists the retail for Optimus Prime at around $50, which would be fairly high for this kind of line, particularly since it does not come with the character's familiar trailer, and is only the figure itself. The packaging looks like a convincing replica of the original toy packaging, which makes the omission kind of comical when you look at the big empty space in the box.

Soundwave, meanwhile, looks like he comes with at least one transforming cassette tape. With Bumblebee bringing the franchise back to the '80s, the idea of Soundwave as a boombox with a tape deck has re-emerged, and while this is the most accurate recreation of the original toy you are likely to find at an affordable price point, Target did recently have a Bumblebee box set that came with a boombox version of Soundwave and some tapes.

After cassette tapes stopped being contemporary technology, Soundwave was altered to make him a vehicle rather than a boombox, and his cassettes began to take other forms. There have been MP3 player Transformers in the years since that played on the music theme, though.

Word has it that some fans have already started to see the Optimus toys in the wild at Walmart, so if you are in the market for a convincing fake or just something to play with your kids with, keep your eyes peeled.

Are you excited to see more recreations of the classic Transformers designs or would you rather they keep reinventing? Sound off in the comments below or hit up @russburlingame on Twitter.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of