Remember when that Italian site depicted artwork of what appeared to be a Three-Step Changer version of RID Sideswipe, but listed under the "Warrior" segment? With the announcement of Warrior Class Sideswipe, this was considered a solved case. Well. I found this listing for Hyper Change Hero Sideswipe at the Toys"R"Us Iceland website. Don't let the images of Bumblebee, Grimlock and Optimus Prime fool you. The same images are also used for Steeljaw's listing, who we already know is coming.
IF a three step can look that good in both modes, I'll buy it. Something tells me the robot won't look anything close to that good, though.
His transformation scheme looks plausible. Granted, this is just design work, not the real toy. If that's his true robot mode, then I think he looks better than the warrior (which looks great). Nonetheless, Grimlock has me impressed.
I dont care what line figures come out in or how they transform or how complex they are. All i need is articulation, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and head swivel. minimum. its really not too much to ask...
but kids really dont care too much about that. We loved G1 and alot of them were static bricks. They make MPs and Generations for us..let them make cool kids toys for the kids, say I.
If the figure is super cartoon accurate I might pick it up. But no TF should have 'RIP' as an official part of the transformation.
i duno... i was in target about a week or so back looking for combiner wars and overheard a kid of the age they are targeting these simplified figures at, he may have even been a bit younger. boy was he mad that all the good stuff was sold out. he was actually complaining to him mom how the transformers didn't have the things i mentioned like his power rangers and other action figures he had did. At least about everything that was left on target's shelves anyway. wow they didnt have jack that day. it was all movie leftovers. so either this kid is just intelligent (probably this one), or hasbro doesn't know the little kids as well as they think they do.
i want a hyperchange underbite....a big giant beefy bot. i dont even care if he doesn't have good articulation that's the one guy that deserves the hyperchange scale.
Plus, if kids don't like gimmick changers, they can go for Warriors or Generations. There's no law prohibiting kids from buying higher age-ranged toys.
If it ends up looking that good and has some decent articulation, I'm all for it. The Warrior Class version looks okay, but I feel that they could have done a few extra things to make it look better. I love Sideswipe, so I want a good figure of him.
i cared about it when i was a kid.. a lot of people i've talked to cared about it as a kid.. hell, even the guys on my local morning radio show cared about it as kids. sure some G1 figures were bricks.. but once the figures started evolving and becoming more articulated, the happier i was, i'm sure i wasn't the only one. this entire brand has become over simplified (with the exception of masterpiece figures, which lets face it, hasbro doesn't put that much stock into) that's fine if they want to have 1 step and 3 step transformations.. but it's a shame that that simplification has bled so much into the generations figures. i've stated it plenty of times.. look at the figures that hasbro's other brands get, all of the marvel legends or star wars black figures, they're clearly meant for collectors. the only transformers product that hasbro releases for transformers collectors are the masterpiece figures which hasbro doesn't release until well after they're out in japan. not to mention the price for them is ridiculous. so, why can't generations be our legends line? i mean, the legends figures are fantastic. top notch articulation, cool molds, great paint jobs, a bunch of really nice accessories, and a Build-A-Figure piece. it'd be awesome if the generations figures mirrored the quality of the legends lines.
OR, a third option, is that this kid's tastes do not run towards that line in particular. Which is probably the most likely option (and, hey, it doesn't insult anyone's intelligence or doubt the business practices of a company that's been around longer than most of us). Some kids like these things, some kids don't. If they don't, as Split said, they can go for CW or other figures. There's nothing stopping kids from going to the collector-oriented lines, just like there's nothing stopping collectors from buying kid-focused toys, right? People like what they like, and don't like what they don't like. Isn't it great that there's lines to cater to a variety of tastes?
Amen. I'm sure Hasbro has done extensive play testing with focus groups to see what product is played with the most. My guess is that, while the more complex stuff LOOKS more appealing, the simplified stuff is what the kids keep going back to when choosing a toy. Add to the fact that parents were probably complaining that the toys were too complicated and that they'd be summoned on a regular basis to transform a toy that they themselves might find confusing and not worth the effort.
