Mold
A mold is the pre-cut metal shape into which plastic is injected to manufacture the parts for a given Transformers toy. Since the very beginning of the Transformers brand, many pairs (or even groups) of toys have been variations on a single mold. (Indeed, many pre-Transformer Diaclone and Microchange toys were also available in multiple officially sanctioned color schemes.)
Redecos
In most relevant cases, a mold will be used as the basis for two or more individual toys distinguished mainly by their color schemes, and sometimes also by a permanently attached accessory such as an emergency-vehicle light bar. Such toys are called redecos.
Retools
In the case of retools, the basic shape of the original mold is used, but with physical changes to certain parts. In extreme but rare cases, a mold will be retooled so thoroughly as to change the toy's transformation mechanics, as happened with Pipes and Dark Crumplezone.
No more reissues?
Some figures might or will never see reissues. This can have following reasons:
- mold is broken
- mold is lost
- mold has been spent/ worn out
- Unpopular and may not make enough money
In this chapter we will look into the first 3 arguments.
Lost Molds
Molds can be lost when Hasbro or TakaraTomy 8or any other toy company) ether sells, abandons or closes down one of its plants or factories. Sometimes the molds are sold as "inventory" as part of the deal wen a factory is sold to a new owner. But mostly they are forgotten in the stress of the move. sometimes however they are also just plain and simply stolen. Known lost/stolen molds are:
Rumored lost molds:
Broken Molds
A mold can brake and thus is rendered useless. Known broken molds are:
Deterioration
Molds can only be used so much before they begin to wear down and deteriorate. The mold is then unable to supply products of the same quality of the original release. This may result in toys where parts no longer fit together properly, joints are overly tight or overly loose, and sculpted detail appears "washed-out."
Molds specifically said to be worn out include:
- Essentially all of the mass-released Armada Mini-Con teams.
- The Robots in Disguise Autobot brothers; Prowl, Side Burn, and X-Brawn.
Molds that seem to be on their way out include:
- [|Alternators Impreza]
- G1 Combaticons
- The G2 Cyberjets
It is unclear exactly how many uses a mold can take; some of the various Mini-Con teams were released over a half-dozen different times in the space of four years.
Resurrection
Sometimes, molds can be recut and repaired - compare the Japanese reissue of Jazz, which suffered from severe mold deterioration in the face, to the later U.S. reissue. The process is presumably very expensive, however, and as such seems uncommon.
Legal issues
Several Generation 1 Transformers toys were produced under license from companies other than Takara, including Shockwave, Jetfire, Omega Supreme, Sky Lynx and the Deluxe Autobots and Deluxe Insecticons. While Hasbro still owns the characters represented by those toys, the rights to these molds eventually reverted to their original owners, some of whom have since gone bankrupt or been absorbed into other companies. Similarly, while Hasbro owns the intellectual property pursuant to Tonka's Gobots line, the actual toy molds themselves still belong to Bandai, making any sort of reissue series extremely unlikely.
See also
