1987, it seems like only yesterday right? If you, like me, were a child back then you got the chance to play with some of the best toys ever made like He-Man, G.I. Joe, & Thundercats. However one toy line seemed to stand head and shoulders above the rest, The Transformers. Those toys were my, and many others, favorites of The 80's. Sadly in 1987 the final season of The Transformers cartoon came to a conclusion in the U.S. with a 3 part episode that introduced The Headmasters. The Headmasters were Autobots and Decepticons whose heads transformed into robots while their body transformed into either vehicles or beast mode. During the finale we got to see the Autobots traveling through space in a huge floating base, but it true Transformers fashion it was more than just a base it was a Headmaster, Fortress Maximus the biggest Transformer ever. The Fortress Maximus action figure stood a whopping 2 feet tall and today is widely considered the be 'The Holy Grail' of Transformers toy collector-dom. I can only imagine being a kid and getting one for a birthday or Christmas gift as I never owned him.
Fast forward to the present. Toy maker Takara announced last week that they are re-issuing the Fortress Maximus toy under their 'Encore' line of Transformers action figures. Good news right? Now everyone that never got an FM as a kid can go out and buy one. Well not so fast. The MSRP for the re-issue FM is $350 and if you want it as soon as its released you'll need to pony up an extra $50. To give you a little background on the original Maximus and it's rareness an EMPTY BOX of the toy alone can fetch upwards of $300 in online auctions, even more if it still has the original styrofoam packing. FM came with so many separate parts that seeing a 100% complete one is extremely rare. That is why people tend to bid like crazy when they a see a piece they need. These days the hardest piece to find is the head which can fetch a rather hefty sum. Currently there is an auction for an original unused AFA 80 Graded Mint Fortress Maximus, and yes they even made a protective case for it. Current bid $2,950. That's more money than I currently have in my 401k for Pete's sake!
I guess my problem though currenly lies with Takara and Hasbro. They seem to think that all the kids who loved Transformers are grown up and making six figures, at least judging by the prices of their re-issues. In 1987 the sticker price for an FM was around $90, so I was expecting to pay around double that for the new offering. I understand that production costs have gone up since the 80's but $350 is just too much to spend on a toy, especially in today's economy. Now I will confess to my part in all this. I do have a lot of the TF re-issue line but I cannot justify buying buying them when the prices get into the hundreds of dollars. That is where I draw the line. The only bright spot in this whole thing is that the new FM will include The Master Sword, an extra that only came with the original Japanese version of the toy. September marked the 28th anniversary of the original Transformers cartoon, so in a way I guess we should be happy that there are still such die hard fans. Fans that petitioned Takara to re-issue Tranformers toys in the first place. And I should also be greatful that Takara listened. I guess this is just a case of different strokes for different folks. There are some people (like me) who will put their foot down and say no, and then there's people who will spend any amount of money as long as it says Transformers on the box. So if you have the money and the space for a Fortress Maximus, rejoice! If not don't fret, $350 can buy a slew of other Transformers. Until next time Cybertronians! 'Til All Are One.
Written by Juan "Mint-in-Box" Soria
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