I think a lot of the chaos we see now is a result of a very uncertain direction for the line at the beginning. They were trying to do too much with too little, modern vs. retro, etc. Once the line got its footing and seems to be thriving, the line bosses officially broke it into modern and retro (though in a lot of cases they aren't entirely incompatible), and now they are trying to make up for previous mistakes (i.e. Falcon's head) in the process.
What ends up happening is that there is an aftermarket for the corrected pieces, so there are a fair number of Mercari and eBay sellers that are buying whole figs and vehicles just to part them out, hoping to overcome their investments. As for Falcon, I'd have to believe a full retro version of him might be well down the list, since the original is at least 90% retro already and a simple head swap makes him a lot better.
For me, and for a while now, it comes down to constantly being on the lookout for aftermarket items (or even items that come with new figures I plan to buy anyway) that I can incorporate into "ultimate" versions of the characters I have. Unless the new version is 100% superior and probably over 50% incompatible, I am much more likely to buy the parts I need to upgrade than to fully re-buy a character I already have.
Whether I end up spending more on upgrades than I would to buy the new version has been hit or miss. I'm about to do my second round of upgrades on Roadblock and Heavy Duty so I've probably surpassed what I spent on the original figures, but I suppose that's part of the fun anyway. And the likelihood of a character re-buy does increase with the current discounts on the new figures, especially when add-on fees and shipping inflate aftermarket costs.
What ends up happening is that there is an aftermarket for the corrected pieces, so there are a fair number of Mercari and eBay sellers that are buying whole figs and vehicles just to part them out, hoping to overcome their investments. As for Falcon, I'd have to believe a full retro version of him might be well down the list, since the original is at least 90% retro already and a simple head swap makes him a lot better.
For me, and for a while now, it comes down to constantly being on the lookout for aftermarket items (or even items that come with new figures I plan to buy anyway) that I can incorporate into "ultimate" versions of the characters I have. Unless the new version is 100% superior and probably over 50% incompatible, I am much more likely to buy the parts I need to upgrade than to fully re-buy a character I already have.
Whether I end up spending more on upgrades than I would to buy the new version has been hit or miss. I'm about to do my second round of upgrades on Roadblock and Heavy Duty so I've probably surpassed what I spent on the original figures, but I suppose that's part of the fun anyway. And the likelihood of a character re-buy does increase with the current discounts on the new figures, especially when add-on fees and shipping inflate aftermarket costs.
