Mold
A mold is a pre-cut metal shape into which plastic (or, sometimes, die-cast metal) is injected to manufacture the parts for a given Transformers toy. Although Transformers toys are usually created from several molds for the various parts of their body (which is the reason why their parts are cast in more than one single plastic color), many fans also commonly use the term "mold" to refer to a toy's sculpt, i.e. the entire body shape which can be redecoed or retooled into a new toy that is still based on the same sculpt. Fans also commonly refer to retools as "remolds".
Types of molds
Plastic injection molds
As part of the creation process of a new Transformers toy, [Hasbro]] and Takara create one or more hand-sculpted hardcopy prototypes (also referred to as "gray models"). Once these prototypes have served their function (ie. proving that the transformation works as intended, all the individual parts have the necessary clearance and the sculpt looks visually as intended in both modes), the hardcopy (or, if there are multiples, at least one of them) will be disassembled. From all the individual parts, Hasbro and Takara will then cast a plastic injection mold made out of steel, basically a "negative" counterpart to the toy parts. This mold consists of two or more parts, so it can be opened and the cast plastic parts removed.
To minimize development costs (the steel molds are reported to be by far the most expensive part of the development process of a new toy), Hasbro and Takara will try to include as many of the toy's parts in the same mold as possible. This, however, means that all the parts in one mold will end up in the same plastic color, which puts limits on the plastic coloration. In other words, if a toy's hands, feet and head are cast from the same mold, the toy can't have black hands, blue feet and a red head—unless they are painted over, that is. This is especially important to consider in the case of redecos, since Hasbro has a maximum number of allowed paint operations to stay on budget. The larger a toy, the more plastic injection molds are used to create all the parts needed for assembling the toy. If the toy in question is very small, Hasbro and Takara will occasionally create parts of several simultaneously released toys (such as Micromasters, Spychangers or Mini-Cons) from the same mold, which is referred to as gang-molding. This means, however, that creating parts of one toy will also create the corresponding parts for the other toy(s).
The liquid plastic enters the mold through a large sprue, is distributed to the mold cavities through smaller runners, and enters individual cavities through gates. Once the plastic has cooled down, the mold halves will be opened and the plastic parts removed. At this point, the parts are still connected by the plastic residue in the sprues, runners and gates, and have to trimmed off. If you see excess plastic on a parts of Transformers toy that looks like it was connected to something at one point, this is the explanation. The excess plastic will then be recycled. The entire connected system of the toy parts, sprues, runenrs and gates is referred to as a "tree" (or, alternatively, as a "sprue" as well).
Die-cast metal molds
Multiple uses of a mold
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.
Issues with Reissues
Toy molds are mysterious things - a Basic-sized Transformers figure often requires two or three separate molds, one for each plastic color. If some ill fate should befall one or all of those molds, the toy may be lost forever.
Lost Molds
Molds can be lost when Hasbro or TakaraTomy (or any other toy company) sells, closes down, or otherwise abandons a plant or factory. The molds may be sold as excess inventory as part of a warehouse deal. Sometimes, they simply get misplaced in the supply chain between factory and warehouse. Occasionally, molds are outright destroyed in order to prevent piracy. Whatever cruel fate befalls a set of molds, once they're gone, they're gone for good.
Known lost/stolen molds are:
Rumored lost molds:
Broken Molds
Despite their impressive size and heft, molds can break and thereby be rendered useless. Known broken molds are:
- Soundwave (G1) (later reissued using a different/repaired version of the mold)[citation needed]
- Wheeljack (G1)
As an aside, Fun Publications faced some consternation from G.I. Joe fans after the molds for a promised convention exclusive were accidentally broken before production of the toys was complete.
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
- Classics Voyager Optimus Prime
- Classics Starscream
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.
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. In the case of Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx, the molds actually ended up being unwittingly acquired by Takara.
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.
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.
Do not, however, confuse the recent trend towards high-quality bootlegs with reissues. Many of the current bootlegs of Generation 1 toys are reverse-engineered from existing toys; instead of stealing or copying the original toy's mold, the bootleggers cut new molds based on the toys themselves - creating a copy of a copy. The same practice also holds true for the ...less faithful bootlegs and knockoffs out there, generally speaking.
See also
