With the WoS figure choices getting more obscure, Playmates is rereleasing some of the core characters to help keep the WoS line fresh. Here is what Playmates had to say about their plans for the rereleases:

"We are planning on re-issuing the core figures in 2003. While we understand not everybody will be happy about our decision, we feel that for the longevity of the brand the core figures have to be made available to give new collectors the opportunity to purchase the core family members as they most commonly appear in the TV show. In March ’03 we are planning to re-release two of the original characters just as they were originally launched (no changes) in the newly revised ’03 package look along with the 6 new figures planned for the March release. We will short ship what we think are the 2 less popular new figures included in the series and include two of the original figures. The two original figures will be short, short shipped because if nobody is interested in the re-issues, we will not have flooded the market with these two figures. This being said, some case packs will not include an original figure and will just include 2 each of the 6 new figures. At the reset of the fall plan-o-gram in June, we will have a read to see how well these two original figures sold through at retail. If the sell through rate is successful, we will proceed to offer two packs of the original characters in the revised new look packaging for ’03, with newly sculpted heads and different facial expressions than the originals.

We are proceeding with the re-issue in this fashion for two reasons: 1) Some stores have set plan-o-grams which are already set for Spring ’03 and they will not support our coming out of the gate with a separate two pack sku. 2) By offering only two original figures we will not flood the market with the original characters. If we re-launched with many of the originals and they do not sell through many retailers will probably walk away from the brand immediately. By re-issuing with two figures, we will get a good read on how successful the re-launch will be, and how many of future re-issued two packs we should plan per wave."