Everyone brings up the idea of the sliding scale of nostalgia, but I'm starting to think it's not really gonna be a huge factor. We've been in the era of kids who grew up with Beast Wars being adults for a while now and yet G1 is still the primary focus across the collector lines. We've had Beast Wars stuff here and there, but it's nowhere near the saturation that G1 has. I'm not sure if that's really due to a lack of interest or just what Hasbro perceives as a lack of interest, but either way, it's clear to me that even as the kids who grew up with Beast Wars and the Unicron trilogy get to be collector age, Hasbro is still mainly interested in G1 as its avenue for collector toys, and that's troubling because, for lack of a better way to put it, the fans who grew up with G1 and are driving the growth of those lines aren't gonna be around for much longer.

 

So glad to hear the discussion of the retro pandering. It's been weighing on my mind for the past few weeks to the point of I was about to send in a listener question to hear your thoughts. While it is cool to see you older fans get your redux guys, speaking as a child of the Unicron trilogy, it troubles me to see new characters in Transformers dry up a little. Why, technically the movies are the most recent contributor of large amounts of new Transformers (characterless though they may have been). Maybe that's why I love new RID, it's so fresh and new and fun.

 

RiD's problem is that it's just...there. The Beast Era, Unicron Trilogy, and Bay films were/are long running franchises (relatively speaking) that were able to bring new, fresh aesthetics to Transformers and develop their own mythos to engage fans. You talk about being a child of the Unicron trilogy. I'm a child of G2/Beast Wars. Older fans were children of G1.
Is anyone going to say they were a child of RiD 2015? I doubt it.

Even Animated, which was relatively short-lived, managed to make an impact with a fresh take on the mythology and new, really interesting characters. Bulkhead, Lugnut, and Lockdown all managed to transcend just being "Animated" characters because their depiction, and the show as a whole, was just so memorable.
RiD 2015 on the other hand? It's tethered to a continuity family that's growing increasingly irrelevant, and the characters just don't have much of an opportunity to shine. It's a relatively directionless show that already seems to be dead to the fandom as a whole.
Which new character will be able to break out of RiD 2015? Strongarm probably, and that's just because the idea of her character (a female protagonist that doesn't pander to female stereotypes) is interesting. As a character? She's far less developed than Drift, Lockdown, Bulkhead, Knock Out, or Lugnut. Windblade is probably the more interesting female character, and she herself is a crossover from a G1 redux continuity.

Ultimately? Running out of nostalgia isn't that much of a problem. New series will always be able to contribute at least one new character that can "cross over" to the rest of the franchise, keeping stuff like Generations fresh. Not to mention stuff like IDW, which is able to reinvent G1 in fresh ways itself.
As for Generations itself? So what if they run out of G1 stuff? Beast Era figures haven't aged nearly as well as people like to think they have. Armada and Energon were both very limited lines their own ways. Even Cybertron has some figures that could stand a do-over (Soundwave, anyone?). So I don't see the quickly approaching end of do-able nostalgia.

Many fans seem to worry about the point where what's nostalgic can't be improved upon. G1? That was limited by 1980s toymaking technology, so it can be done better. What happens when Prime becomes the well to tap for nostalgia? So many of those figures were great the first time around!
Except it's all relative. Back in 2006? I thought Classics Starscream was THE perfect G1 Starscream design. Ten years later? It seems severely dated and limited.
So if you're worried about reaching a point where what's nostalgic can't be redone? Don't. It's either so far in the future that there's no point worrying about it or it's something we'll never get to. Even lines we think can't be improved on now will seem primitive in comparison to what will possible 10-20 years down the line once it does become nostalgic.

 

I wouldn't underestimate what a child will will cling to with their nostalgic feelings. I knew a kid whose favorite Transformers ever were the Real Gears, so I wouldn't put it out of the question that someone someday might say "I loved RID [2015] as a kid".
I don't see how the fandom's response is relevant when the objective is to draw in new younger viewers.
I think there are a few interesting character concepts to come out of RID at least. Springload and Thunderhoof being the most foremost in my mind. I wouldn't mind seeing them in later shows.
I don't doubt that it may be 20 years before we have to worry about truly running out of things with nostalgia. But that's a bit like saying we shouldn't care about the gas tank until it's empty. Transformers is fueled by its constant reinvention, and one new character folded into G1 per year isn't going to cut it. Worse yet, Hasbro doesn't even seem to be willing to move on to pandering to Beast era. That's dangerous. Remaining in G1, there's only so many characters you can do before you're trying to sell Genereations Doubleheader to retailers. (And still no Rodimus)

 

I'm not sure you can hinge your bets on what will be nostalgic with a Real Gears anecdote. I doubt we'll see Generations High Score 100 in 15-20 years.
And yeah, RiD will appeal to someone, but it's not going to have the staying power G1, the Beast Era, UT, or Bay films had/will have. It, like RiD 2001, will be a blip on the radar when you take the long view. Which means that, numerically speaking, it's only going to be that latch-on point for a small number of kids.
How many people say they're "I'm a child of of RiD 2001" vs "I'm a child of the Unicron Trilogy"? Both occupy roughly the same time period, and were aimed at the same audience, but one is a footnote and the other defined Transformers for a generation of fans. Same thing here. RiD 2015 needs to compete with the Bay films, Prime, the games, and whatever comes after RiD 2015. It's not a knock on the show's quality. It's just numbers. It won't be on long enough to garner that nostalgic following. Like it or not? The Bay films will probably be the referenced latch-on point for new fans post-UT.

Cartoon Network seems like it can't wait to end the show. Granted, going back to CN was a mistake in the first place but eh. The entire show feels like it's on life support. From the meandering plot to its timeslot to the behind the scenes stuff.
And younger viewers, again, are probably being brought in by the wildly successful live action blockbuster films.

Thunderhoof maybe. Just because, as Vangelus pointed out, he's got a fairly simple look/concept. Everyone else on the 'Con side just seems so...gimmicky.

Nor really. There's a finite amount of gas in your tank. There's a continuous stream of Transformers media. What's drawing in new fans today (Bay films, Prime, RiD 2015 to a lesser extent) will be what's nostalgic in, say, 15-20 years. Then whatever is current then will be nostalgic in an additional 15-20 years.

I never said it would cut it.

So Universe Hot Shot, Generations Armada Starscream, and Generations Armada Megatron didn't happen? Generations Sky-Byte, Rhinox, and Ratrap were figments of my imagination? Universe Cheetor and Dinobot?

They're still milking the G1 stuff for two reasons. The first is that there's still G1 stuff to do. Combiners and Headmasters never really had their time in the sun, and now the concept is being revisited properly.
Secondly? It's still what's relevant as far as nostalgia goes. The G1 fanbase is getting older, but it's still willing to open its wallets for these updated figures.
Not to mention people who like G1, even if they came after its run. Most of my formative years as a fan were shaped by Beast Wars, but I got my start with the G2 line and show. So the G1 stuff is still incredibly appealing.

We've seen that Hasbro isn't afraid to do Beast Wars and the UT in Generations. It's just going to take some time before those fans are at a point where they have the numbers and disposable income needed to change the direction of things through purchasing power. Once that happens (and it will, sooner rather than later)? You'll see Generations take on more Beast and UT era stuff.

I know it's hard to believe, but Beast Wars is still too recent to really be prime nostalgia fuel. It's only twenty years old at this point. What line coincided with the 20th anniversary of G1? Energon. Which, while homage-heavy, was still very much its own, unique thing entirely separate from G1. It wouldn't be until Energon's sequel series wrapped up that G1 nostalgia began to really be milked at mass retail.
So give it time. Beast Wars and the UT will be coming to the Generations line.

 

I don't mind Transformers that aren't pure reference. It brought some great characters. We're also running headlong into running out of old stuff to do better that hasn't been done before.

In a sense, transformers is already going around again. Generations grew out of Classics waaaay the way ago.

 

Yes! Enough G1! I've been saying this for years. The endless cycle of repeating the same characters is annoying. Newer, gookier, and out-there characters/molds/concepts/whatever is what kept Transformers going up until Energon. Since then it's been an endless parade of G1.

It's nice to hear people say they'd like fresh takes, but they don't mean it. For instance, Titans Return Sentinel Prime is a new mold, and it seems most people are waiting to purchase the Astrotrain repaint, even though Astrotrain has had at least two releases since 2005: Classics and the Armada Jetfire repaint. We're now redoing characters who've already been redone at least once in the past 10 years! Hasbro/Takara won't stop milking G1 because it's a license to print money since older fans can't see past G1.

Imagine if this nonsense was so prevalent in the 1980's. Transformers would never have gotten past the Movie because those new designs and concepts (the various masters) would've "ruined" Transformers.

 

Maybe it will be the first Optimus Prime TOY that can fly?!? Everyone, buy one and chuck it out of the second floor window!

<-----*Will not take responsibility for any toy breakage*