I’ve seen them with my own eyes - JAKKS has indeed issues two different versions of the Art of Fusion 2-packs.

The original molds, as depicted in the promo photos, have thus far only been sighted at Wal-mart stores.

The Irwin/JAKKS reissue molds have been sighted at the Z-Store and Toys R Us.

If you’re interested in my take on the issue as a collector, click on the “continue reading” link.

I don’t like to weigh in with my own opinions in news items, but for this I’ll make an exception. JAKKS has really done a horrible thing here, for casual fans and collectors alike. I understand that there might have been some confusion involved, and that the reissues may have been released to get the figures to market quickly, but there’s no excuse for deceiving Dragonball fans by releasing old figures in the guise of original molds.

Since no explanation from JAKKS is forthcoming, you’ll have to draw your own conclusions from this. Once hopes this is an isolated incident, but this really knocks down the faith I had in JAKKS producing quality original Dragonball product.

Since I’ve personally verified the existance of both lines, I’ve added the reissues as a seperate line on the two-packs page. If anyone has the UPC numbers for each, leave a comment, as we’d all like to know whether or not they are the same for both sets.

Posted by Jess Horsley on October 13, 2003 12:19 PM