Fortress Maximus Encore

[Rhymus]

Screw the collectors; power to the fans!

Just kidding. Sort of. i dunno. It gets tricky when some (but not all) of the fans are collectors, and some (but not all) of the collectors are fans. i just wish people's happiness (Example A, the happiness of people who own a G1 Fort Max; Example B, the happiness of people who like unpackaged toys to play with) didn't require the unhappiness of other people (Example A, people who don't own a G1 Fort Max and can't get a reissue; Example B, people who like to collect mint/unopened toys). i don't know what the solution is (although i still say people who like to play with their toys could/should turn a profit by selling each mint/unopened toy they have to a minty collector, and using the money to buy the same toy without the packaging--or with it, but not in it).

As for Fort Max in particular... There's a part of me that still looks at the G1 base-bots (Max, Scorp, Metroplex, Metrotitan, Trypticon, Omega Supreme) and thinks, "Wow, cool!"--but at the same time, my rational mind is thinking of Tom Hanks in the movie "Big" and saying the same thing he did--"I don't get it." More than that, at least the "Big" transforming building looked like a building--the TF cities have to sacrifice actually looking like any kind of city (not to mention any plausible sense of scale) in order to have any functionality as a playset/base to interact with other TF toys... not to mention an even remotely reachable pricetag.

As for the Fort Max reissue in particular, i thought i read somewhere that RiD never got a Fort Max toy because RiD Fort Max is just a G1 Fort Max redeco, and G1 Fort Max doesn't pass modern toy/safety tests. If the toy has been modified to pass those tests, maybe the differences will be evident enough for moderately savvy buyers to recognize reissues being sold as original (whether the sellers be scammers or merely uneducated)? At any rate, will they also be reissuing/selling the differently-colored (and sometimes differently-accessorized) Brave Maximus, Grand Maximus, RiD Maximus, and SG Maximus?

Aside: Would you want/buy a Fort Max redeco in Metroplex*, Metrotitan, or Omega Supreme color schemes? (i mean, in addition to or instead of Fort/Brave/Grand/RiD/SG.)

*((AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post was mostly written before Countdown posted the link showing the upcoming Generations Metroplex toy.))

Speaking of reissues in general, i'm not a purist about buying authentic originals. If i think a reissue is close enough to the original, i'll probably go for whichever is easier and/or less pricey to acquire--and if the reissue is in better condition, such as including all the accessories or the joints being tighter from less use, those qualities might even make me prefer the reissue. The same reasoning motivates me to buy knockoffs, although i feel guiltier about those because, you know, ILLEGAL--stolen intellectual property. How do they even make KO TFs? Might be physical theft of a toymaking mold, too, i don't know.

i'm also a bit conflicted about things like CHUGGERTS (Classics, Henkei, Universe, Gentei, Generations, Exclusives, Reveal The Shield)--in some ways, they're preferable to their authentic G1 counterparts (more poseable, better accessories and/or better accessory storage, less "Partsformer"y), but so many of them sacrifice their G1 altmodes for the sake of modernization (late model Lamborghinis instead of older models, a bullet train instead of a steam locomotive) and/or for the sake of sidestepping licensing laws (so Jazz isn't really a Porsche anymore, because Porsche won't let him be) and/or for the sake of mold sharing (like Tracks and Wheeljack--although those two are a strange case, because i don't think either of them gets a good likeness in their CHUGGERTS toys, but i like the way their toys look so different from each other with so little actually changed--i think i'd like CHUGGERTS Tracks and Wheeljack better if they were new characters instead of not-quite-GEEWUN characters).

In conclusion, this Fortress Maximus is an Encore toy we're talking about--and Encore is only in Japan, as i recall. i don't know how much it costs to buy an authentic G1 Fort Max, although i know it's pricey--but i've also heard horror stories about the cost of importing from overseas. Is an Encore still easier to attain than an actual G1?

[Countdown]

Can't everyone just be happy? Like you said. Collectors be happy to collect. And, fans be happy to be fans.

And, I'll be happy w/ my reissue Fort Max.... And, Generations Metroplex. And, Trailcutter, and Blitzwing... and Sandstorm.... and most likely... Blazemaster... But, no more... unless they add to the list. And then no more than that, unless they add to that list. Then I'll be firm and no more....

[JasonRain]

I know there will be some upset owners of the genuine original item.

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