Zob's Thoughts on Retro Reissue Bombshell and Ramhorn

[Zobovor]

What do an Insecticon beetle from 1985 and an Autobot cassette from 1986
have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing, which is why they came
together in a two-pack!

Actually, the truth is probably something like this: Hasbro already knew
they were releasing Bombshell, and they wanted to make Ramhorn available
somehow without having to sell us some iteration of Blaster again. And
given that Bombshell is the same price the other reissue Insecticons
were, that means we're basically getting Ramhorn for free. (In
retrospect, I kind of wish they'd thrown a cartoon version of Rewind and
Eject in with Shrapnel and Kickback!)

I got this set super quick. I received it from walmart.com yesterday,
and I had just barely ordered it the day before that. As of this
writing, it's still available on the Walmart web site as well as Hasbro
Pulse.

Comically enough, the instructions misspell Bombshell's name as
"Bomshell." Moreover, they indicate that while his role is "Insecticon
Psychological Combat," Ramhorn has no such job, because he's just a
rhinoceros. He doesn't do much.

RAMHORN

Just like with Steeljaw, the metallic foil sticker for Ramhorn's obverse
side has been eliminated completely, replaced with deco approaching the
cartoon look. Ramhorn was not a highly detailed or colorful character,
though. His cassette spools have been painted grey, but the rest of him
is a plain maroon color. It's a slightly darker and less orangey shade
than the G1 release. His forelegs were originally unpainted die-cast
metal, but are now painted grey. The rivets for his legs are painted
maroon to match his body. His eyes are painted a metallic silver. So
many paint applications! He has an Autobot symbol on the upper corner
on both sides.

He transforms the same as the original G1 release, but this time his
weapons are decorated in a metallic sparkly gold color instead of the
vac-metal chrome from the vintage release. (There were weapon
variations and all the 1986 tapes could come with gold or silver guns,
but Ramhorn's guns were gold in the movie and cartoon show.)

Not much else to say about this little guy. I never would have put
Ramhorn on my list of G1 toys that desperately needed a cartoon deco,
but here we are.

BOMBSHELL

The last of the three original Insecticon retro releases, Bombshell is
my favorite of the three, and the one I was looking forward to the most.

In the original cartoon, his color model was based upon an early sample
with unpainted die-cast parts. So, that means he's the only Insecticon
who didn't have any purple to him, and his upper chest was colored grey.
His insect mode color model was more accurate, though, and the chest
parts changed color and became purple when he transformed. Obviously
there was no way to replicate this on a physical toy. The Legacy
version kept the purple, but this release keeps the grey. So, he's
accurate to the cartoon as a robot, but less accurate in bug mode.

His black plastic parts have changed to an off-black. Parts that were
once chrome, like his upper legs and handheld gun and insect stinger,
are now metallic silver. The entire stinger assembly is painted silver
now. There is also silver deco on his pelvis and the details on his
chest. His Diaclone cockpit is a solid opaque yellow, and the entire
back side of the robot mode is also painted bright yellow. It's not
accurate to the original G1 toy release at all, but it's consistent with
the way he was colored in the cartoon during most scenes. The rivets
for the wheels on his insect legs have been painted a glossy black to
help hide them a bit better. His eyes are painted red, of course.

Transformation is the same. This is the version of the mold without the
recessed area for the stinger to fold up, so it doesn't quite swing down
all the way and point forward in robot mode. He still has evidence of a
spot where the rub symbol was originally meant to go, even though this
release has no rub symbol (no stickers of any kind at all, for that
matter).

This toy still seems too small to be paying $35 for, though adding
Ramhorn as a pack-in toy (which realistically would retail for $10 on
his own) does lessen the strain a bit. However, the appeal of
properly-colored cartoon Insecticons is undeniable. I honestly wouldn't
hate it if they did this with the Constructicons at some point down the
road. (I just hope they wouldn't all have Voyager-class price tags!)


Zob (that's the trouble with pines... you eat a forest of 'em, and an
hour later you're out of energy again)

[JosephBardsley]

Great review, Zob - thank you!

This set has been hitting retail here in Vancouver, too, and I continue
to mull it over. I already have both G1 toys, and wonder if I really
NEED either one again. As you say, the cartoon-colored appeal is
undeniable, and - to me - it's also simply really cool that Hasbro still
has access to molds this old for use like this.

Joseph, wondering who will be next in this very particular kind of G1
line...

[Zobovor]

It's also simply really cool that Hasbro still has access to molds this
old for use like this.

My understanding is that they have essentially exhausted the available
molds at this point. Evan Brooks said in a recent interview that they
are aware of the existence of partial molds, but not enough to do a
complete toy. I think the example he gave is that he knows where
Ironhide's windshield mold is, but not the rest of him.

But, they are looking into the possibility of recreating the G1 molds
from scratch so that they can continue to offer the toys. The retro
reissues have sold very well, it seems, and they want to continue to
sell them if possible.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's inauthentic
on some level to recreate the molds, because at that point it's no
longer a true reissue of the G1 toy from the 1980's, but rather a
facsimile. But, they have in fact been recreating parts of the G1 toys
since the earliest reissues. Takara had to redo all of Optimus Prime's
die-cast parts for his first reissue, for example. And they had to
recreate the Constructicons as well.

Joseph, wondering who will be next in this very particular kind of G1
line...

If they do manage to recreate the older G1 molds, I think some of the
first toys they should go after are the Dinobots. The fake Chinese
reproductions have been quite prolific on the secondary market, but
there have never been official G1 Dinobot reissues and I think there is
still a market for them. Especially if they were to mix it up and
produce them in a cartoon-inspired color scheme.

But, that's only the beginning. I think there would be a market for
lots of other characters who are, I think, more popular and memorable
than Bombshell or Ramhorn. Kup, Blurr, Galvatron, Wreck-Gar, Cyclonus,
and Scourge would be somewhere near the top of my list, but also Jazz,
Bluestreak, Red Alert, and the Constructicons.

Which is funny, because I was at a point when I was pretty much done
buying the same G1 reissues over and over. There wasn't a lot of point
to it. But cartoon colored reissues are a different animal entirely!
(You know, like how a leopard is a different animal than a jaguar; i.e.,
sort of, but not really.)


Zob (just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in...)