DSC_9331
Most collectors love a good deal.
Around the November to Xmas 2018 time frame, Amazon starting clearing out some of their older Transformer items, presumably to make space for what was going to the upcoming line, Siege.
Of the greatest interest would be clearances that were on the three deluxe class Amazon exclusives. Of the three, one of them dipped to $10 and just kept dropping - Repugnus. This downward trend kept going until Boxing Day, after which all the figures returned to their normal (and insane) MSRPs, with some adjustment as demand called for.
So just why was Repugnus so unloved? I guess a bit of history for those who aren't familiar.
Repugnus is one of the three Monsterbots, an Autobot subfaction that consisted of three members - Twinferno (aka Doublecross back in the 80s), Grotesque, and Repugnus. Clearly created at a time when Takara might have been scraping the bottom of the barrel creatively, I can't say I remember them being particularly popular when I was a kid, especially when the competition was the Headmasters. Everything about them was just... odd.
As part of the G1 homages Hasbro, all three Monsterbots were released. Twinferno was released as a regular item during the Titans Return line, Grotesque was a Toys R Us exclusive in the US (right before they closed down), and Repugnus went to Amazon. Repugnus was particularly interesting because he was released as a Titan Master in the Hasbro lineup.
So the Amazon exclusive figure was released as a set which came with the figure, a Titan Master named "Dastard", who became the head of Repugnus, a Prime Master named "Solus Prime" (who, for the record, is a much prettier looking chick in the animated web series), and two swords as weapons. I have no idea which figure Repugnus is a remould of, but clearly Hasbro was stretching the limit of retooling, as you can see how tacked on the alt mode is.
The figure itself is fine, I suppose. It doesn't particularly wow me, but for the $10 I paid, it's not bad. While it came with an extra mini-figure, Repugnus somewhat fails as a figure due to the lack of a waist joint, as well as a face so cheaply painted that the Titan Master version destroys it. Actual paint apps on the body of Repugnus are sparse, but cleanly applied. The same can't be said for the mini-figures themselves. I will give credit to Hasbro for using more than two colours of plastic on this figure, however.
Of course, being a Titan Returns release, Hasbro came up with creative ways for you to use your mini figures with the main body, such as a built in cockpit, and of course, turning the weapons into a sled to accommodate said figure.
The Amazon exclusives were overpriced to begin with, and the rather dull final product of Repugnus, combined with the general awkwardness of the character itself, didn't do much to sell the figure. Much like myself, many simply bought the thing because it was cheap, and not because it was cool or amazing. The inability to complete the set probably didn't help matters either.
Ultimately, probably the weakest of the store exclusives that were available.
DSC_9331
Most collectors love a good deal.
Around the November to Xmas 2018 time frame, Amazon starting clearing out some of their older Transformer items, presumably to make space for what was going to the upcoming line, Siege.
Of the greatest interest would be clearances that were on the three deluxe class Amazon exclusives. Of the three, one of them dipped to $10 and just kept dropping - Repugnus. This downward trend kept going until Boxing Day, after which all the figures returned to their normal (and insane) MSRPs, with some adjustment as demand called for.
So just why was Repugnus so unloved? I guess a bit of history for those who aren't familiar.
Repugnus is one of the three Monsterbots, an Autobot subfaction that consisted of three members - Twinferno (aka Doublecross back in the 80s), Grotesque, and Repugnus. Clearly created at a time when Takara might have been scraping the bottom of the barrel creatively, I can't say I remember them being particularly popular when I was a kid, especially when the competition was the Headmasters. Everything about them was just... odd.
As part of the G1 homages Hasbro, all three Monsterbots were released. Twinferno was released as a regular item during the Titans Return line, Grotesque was a Toys R Us exclusive in the US (right before they closed down), and Repugnus went to Amazon. Repugnus was particularly interesting because he was released as a Titan Master in the Hasbro lineup.
So the Amazon exclusive figure was released as a set which came with the figure, a Titan Master named "Dastard", who became the head of Repugnus, a Prime Master named "Solus Prime" (who, for the record, is a much prettier looking chick in the animated web series), and two swords as weapons. I have no idea which figure Repugnus is a remould of, but clearly Hasbro was stretching the limit of retooling, as you can see how tacked on the alt mode is.
The figure itself is fine, I suppose. It doesn't particularly wow me, but for the $10 I paid, it's not bad. While it came with an extra mini-figure, Repugnus somewhat fails as a figure due to the lack of a waist joint, as well as a face so cheaply painted that the Titan Master version destroys it. Actual paint apps on the body of Repugnus are sparse, but cleanly applied. The same can't be said for the mini-figures themselves. I will give credit to Hasbro for using more than two colours of plastic on this figure, however.
Of course, being a Titan Returns release, Hasbro came up with creative ways for you to use your mini figures with the main body, such as a built in cockpit, and of course, turning the weapons into a sled to accommodate said figure.
The Amazon exclusives were overpriced to begin with, and the rather dull final product of Repugnus, combined with the general awkwardness of the character itself, didn't do much to sell the figure. Much like myself, many simply bought the thing because it was cheap, and not because it was cool or amazing. The inability to complete the set probably didn't help matters either.
Ultimately, probably the weakest of the store exclusives that were available.