The whole Masters of the Universe toyline could be seen as a bunch of repaint and redecos.

Same with the "Total Justice" line, since they all used the same hyper-muscled Rod Leifield style body mold, from Superman to GL to Flash, and well, that dud up there.

Jason, Jason, Jason...

Tomax and Xamot? "Repaints"? For shame. Since they dress exactly alike, the shared parts didn't have to be repainted at all. And even on the differently sculpted parts, the only paint change is Xamot's scar, which hardly qualifies. (I would also point out that they were released simultaneously, but I'm not sure when Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker came out in relation to one another, and they were a good call.)

Why not the blue Cobra Ninja? Or someone from the Tiger Force or Night Force? And I would have liked to have seen a Marvel Legend or two on here... Stealth Armor Iron Man?

I believe Megatron, Ultra Magnus and quite a few other Transformers were repaints of old Japanese Diaclone molds.

Something about Tomax and Xamot suggests uncomfortable sexual ambivalence.

Ugh, Total Justice figures ... notice how that Reverse Flash figure is pictured leaning against a box? That's because the damn thing wouldn't stand up on its own. Worst legs on an action figure ever. And why does he look like he's about to pop an invisible balloon?

I hope I'm not the first to point out that Tomax and Xamot do not specifically qualify as they could not have been made from the same mold.

I never knew which was which even when my mom was conned into buying it for me, but they are obviously inverted versions of each other. The collar higher and the sash sloping on different sides of each. The second mold was no doubt created from the first, but I would still assert that two molds were required. They didn't simply paint a scar on one and sell you the same figure twice.

It was an even more elaborate con than that!

Dave, Total Justice figures had the same style, but all bodies were unique sculpts (except for the JLA repaints of the same characters). Reverse Flash was the only repaint who became a "new" character.

As for Tomas/Xamot...everything on them is reversed from the other, so those details use all new molded parts. I don't think anything is a simple repaint (maybe the odd elbow, but that would save cost or time to do). So no actual repaint here at all!

Dave, Total Justice figures had the same style, but all bodies were unique sculpts (except for the JLA repaints of the same characters). Reverse Flash was the only repaint who became a "new" character.

As for Tomas/Xamot...everything on them is reversed from the other, so those details use all new molded parts. I don't think anything is a simple repaint (maybe the odd elbow, but that would save cost or time to do). So no actual repaint here at all!

I actually really liked the Total Justice figures. They were dynamic sculpts, to say the least, plus it offered a wide range of characters, maybe even the first Kyle Raynor sculpt!

The Autobot, Jetfire, was a repaint (re-decal?) of the Robotech Valkyries.
worst (best?) rip-off ever.

Since no one else had answered this yet, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp all came out at the same time, in the first wave of G1 in 1984.

Excellent list, btw. Stinkor was always a favorite of mine. I have two of him and they still stink to this day! Mer-Man finally got a more package-accurate toy in the early-2000s He-Man toyline. I only realized in recent years that the original Stinkor and Mer-Man toys were really the same toy. Duh! I hope to see both remade in the new Classics line, but I hope Mer-Man has a different head than Stinkor.

I had no idea Battle Cat was a repaint! My new fact of the day!

Tomax and Xamot were born at the exact same time via Cesarean section. Better question is this the cause for the mysterious facial scar.

Ultra-Magnus was just a white Optimus Prime with some clip-on armor.
Are we going for 'best' repaints or 'notorious' repaints in this thread? If you're going to do one for 'flat-out shittiest' repaints, please make Ratchet and Ironhide #1.

In the case of TransFormers vs. Diaclone, I'm not sure that should be counted as repaints, since the majority, so far as I know, were not available as Diaclone in America. Seems more like a localization job, what with different markets and all.

Ultra Magnus is unique in that regard, however; he's a repaint of Diaclone's Powered Convoy, which was a repaint (if I'm not mistaken) of Battle Convoy, aka Optimus Prime. So in a way, Ultra Magnus, his cab at least, is like a repaint of a repaint.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Hasbro is completely milking this repaint scheme with their current Iron Man movie line. I think they've made at least six different versions from the same mold now. Cha-ching.

Hasbro isn't alone in the repaint department.

In fact, almost all toy lines at some point or another have stopped and said "How can we do this more cheaply?" It's simply the nature of business to try and save a buck here and there.

That said, anyone remember the Ewok Village? Fast forward a few years, and behold, the movie "Willow" comes out (along with a suspiciously familiar looking forest playset) And THEN a year or two later the movie "Robin Hood, Prince of thieves comes out...I think you can see where this is going.

Nottingham forest/Nelwynn Village/Ewok tree house was foisted off onto children for a THIRD TIME!

V.R. Troopers had the same jet as the "Aliens" toyline from 1995...released in the same year, no less.

Batman and Iron man have been repainted a notorious amount of times. Although I would argue that it wasn't as malevolent as most would seem to think. I guess if you're making a successful toy line, then you need to keep it fresh. Well how many Black/grey or blue/grey batmans can you sell before someone says "No, billy you already have a batman". You need to get creative. So that way little Billy will say "But MoooOooooOOOOOoooom....I don't have ARCTIC ASSAULT Batman!" (And no, I'm not lying. There is an arctic assault batman. Google it.)

I could go on for DAYS pointing out all the scandalous stuff toy companies have done. It's been going on for decades.

Look closer at Tomax and Xamot...none of the parts look like they were reused for the other. Every part of the figure, from the forearms to the legs are mirror images of the other figure. Two molds for each figures body had to be made. What may look like a repaint is anything but.

"so novice players could whack a Fett stand-in without taking the real bounty hunter out of the SW universe before his scheduled date with doom in the Sarlacc."
Fett survived the sarlacc-pitt. =/

I don't know, but I love that explanation!

Crap, what does it say about me when I own both TC-14 and Jodo Cast?

Yeah but with Jodo Kast, you could totally fire the missile on his back.

I really wish they had used a better Boba Fett mold for Jodo Kast. Preferably one without the action feature that hinders the arm articulation.

The Transformer jets should have taken #1, if for no other reason than that there were 3 of them. At the same time.

Honorable mention: Panthor - best "flocked" re-use of a figure (tiger/Battle Cat)

skeletor had a cat that was a puma...just another cringer i think, and i remember seeing old exo-squad toys that had been repainted and called something else.

If i remember correctly the He-Man figure was orginally made for the Conan movie, but when the toy makers realised that the movie was for adults they had to find what to do with the molds or risk the fury of the parents.

Dammit, Jason! If Mattel and Hasbro see this, the entire toy industry is fucked. I hope you're happy.

I completely and utterly want #1 for reasons I do not fully understand...

I seem to agree with most everyone in saying that Masters of the Universe REALLY took this to the full extent.....until G.I. Joe started getting up there in years. I really disagree with Tomax and Xamot, they obviously didn't use the same mold, for the body anyway.

I don't remember the 'Big Jim' line but I had both Battle Cat and the purple fuzzy painted Skeletor Battle Panther or whatever it was called. Also gotta mention Beast Man/Moss Man, didn't even Zodiac have a strange repaint?

The Faker I had growing up was much more unique than the one above; half his head melted off after I left him laying on a heating vent in our apartment.

Now I will say that prior to this accident, it was entirely possible for people to think Faker was He-Man. Maybe He-Man went swimming in a lake that turned out to be a Smurf toilet, and the water/sewage left his skin with a blue tint. And while he was swimming some dick stole his shirt, so He-Man had to hoof it over to the nearest International Clothiers where the only thing He-Man could afford to buy was some knock-off Skeletor armor (taiwan made, natch).

See, totally possible. Until half his head melted off.

Would Iron Man's "hulk buster" armor toy be a horrid repaint/mod of a much prettier juggernaut one?
(Granted the drawings are also a cheap re usage of onslaught)

Um, Jetfire/Skyfire, was a total ripoff of Robotech

Um, Jetfire/Skyfire, was a total ripoff of Robotech
Prowl/Bluestreak, Sunstreaker/Red, Frenzy/Rumble

Blame the makers of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, who created Kast as a weaker version of Fett so novice players could whack a Fett stand-in without taking the real bounty hunter out of the SW universe before his scheduled date with doom in the Sarlacc.

"The sarlacc found me somewhat indigestible, fanboy".

I heard a story that a line of figures were made for the pending release of Conan the Barbarian. When the movie was rated R, the mold for a muscle body was already emplaced. The He-man line was created from this mold, and the cartoons followed - as a way to recoup losses. He-man was obviously more succesful than that, and the rest is history. Can anyone confirm this?

I think the Transformers seekers deserve another boost since not only were the three released at the same time, but then their wings were swapped out and THREE MORE were released as Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust in 85. Then, in the early 2000s, e-hobby released an exclusive orange/white repaint of the original F-15 mold called Sunstorm based on a nonentity background character in the cartoon's pilot. Sunstorm was then adopted and fleshed out by Dreamwave for a major role in their ongoing G1 comic. So, the repainted toy actually spawned the fictional character rather than the other way around. To boot, there was even a Sunstorm repaint of the TF Armada Thrust figure.

Transformers in general has elevated repaints to the level of beloved tradition. Megatrons into Galvatrons, Starscreams into the other five original seekers, Optimus Prime into some evil Nemesis Prime/Scourge black/teal scheme are all inescapable hallmarks of TF toys these days.

What about the ToyFare exclusive Iron Spider-Man, which was just a repaint of Marvel Select's Symbiote Spider-Man?

...or the entire Robin Hood line?

I find it weird that Stinkor appears on the list, but not Mossman. Mossman was a better "repaint" of Beastman, especially with the flocking.

Also, one rather unobvious "repaint" was the packaging of optimus prime, painted white as the cab of Ultra Magnus.

What about the Black Optimus repaints? RID had Scourge from Laser Optimus and Universe has Nemesis Prime from Classics Prime. Or the DCUC bodies or all those Wolverine variants

JesseMXGangl pretty much summed it up about the seekers...

they should be #1 by a loooong mark.

dont forget for every transformer series or toy line where there is one seeker (starscream) you can bet there will be at least 2 redecoes, if not of all 6 (or more)... for hasbro the seekers basically represent the heaven of toy cash: an unlimited eternal supply of repaints in every line (as seeker fans will buy all redecoes to own the 6+ seekers)

hasbro struck the gold mine of repaints...

The Decepticon planes were issues at the exact sime time in 1984. So they were not repaints as much as mold-mates. All three, however, were repaints of the Daiclone F-22 Robot, which looked closer to Starscream than the others, so you could argue that either Starscream is the original, or that they are all repaints.

Also, in 1985 the three jets were all remolded with new wings, repainted and released as Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet. So that's 6 uses of one mold in 2 years!

Yes, a couple Diaclones were released in the US - I had two of them a year before Transformers came out. They were in the original colors, not the Transforers colors. All the orignal Transformers were repackages or recolors of Diaclone and Microchange toys from Takara.

Tomax and Xamot are different molds. Sorta lazy of you to put them on this list. They are made to look like morror images of each other, but they are different molds.

Aero Strike Batman was a repaint of Arctic Batman. Arctic Batman was an original toy.