Autobots Transformed?

Still digging in our old cabinet, I found my old-school Transformers robots. I said old-school because they were the original robot toys of the 80's. I got a Beachcomber mini Autobot as a gift when I was a kid. With last year's showing of the Transformers movie, toy stores were again flooded with these robots.

I'm a great Transformers fan but I was quite dissapointed on the build quality of the newer toys. I got a small Jazz of the new Transformers version and compared it with my Beachcomber 80's toy. There was a definitely a difference.

The plastic material of the newer Jazz puts it to shame compared with the 80's Beachcomber. The newer toy felt cheap and the color was dull. The plastic also breaks easily. The tires suck unlike the 80's toy who sport Dunlop branded tires. Heck, the newer toy does not even have the Autobot insignia hologram that changes color when you touch it.

I thought the not-so-good build quality were confined to the cheaper versions (priced around 250 pesos) but I have also observed this on the higher-end robots being displayed at the malls (priced around 1000-2000 pesos).

Where have all the good toys gone?...