With the popularity of Arms Microns 3rd party kits and candy toys I've began to change my view of model kits of transformers. In the past I had seen them as a throw away item good for a bit of fun but nothing to really see as having any worth in the long run.

But given the down sizing and corner cutting in the dlx class maybe an alternative for collectors are simple kits. The idea being that similar to the botcon custom classes you get a good quality toy but we have to put it together with screws replacing pins and other changes to make the toy easier to assemble

Now some people might not like the idea of putting their toys together but given the saving made by having to assemble the toy your self it might be worth it.

 

Yea, I think it'd be cool if Hasbro introduced a line similar to Kid Robot's Munny line (unpainted and totally customizable base figures). But I know some people just can't get into the idea of Do-It-Yourself stuff.

 

I would like it, but I have also done Gundam kits. If I remember correctly Gundam kits were available in the late 90's, early 2000's when Gundam Wing was on being aired. I don't think those ever really caught on. I think a mass American audience would be a tough sell.

 

Like Kabaya kits, but released by Hasbro? Yes please, Hasbro could release a few toys that has kids work for completion once in a while.

 

THIS. Model building used to be a staple of growing up a boy, There used to be a model section in every store, and dedicated model shops thrived. As kids become lazy and spoonfed with video games the idea of making something yourself and enjoying the process and final build has all but left our society. I have built model kits my whole life, including some Gundam kits. The mastergrade Gundam kits are a true marvel, and I SO would love to build the dual model kits of Prime and BB...I simply wont order them...I would buy them in a store if I seen them..So even me, a dedicated model builder am killing the market.

If Hasbro offered TFs, in a bag, where you had to assemble them yourself, unpainted from HTS, I would buy that...But the lofty prices of Pre painted dual model kits are just something I can justify in my head, when there are alot of other things I would rather spend that cash on.

Model kits are almost dead as it is now. sad...

 

But even for that time period the Gundam wing kits are really bad kits. Compared to other Gundam kits from the period I can't believe bandai released these.

Also. Model building is very big in Japan. A real decent Gundam kit costs no more than $6. Better or master grade quality kits are a bit more. But start at $20. I can totally see why the low grade kits of Wing didn't win the American public.

Point is that a model kit will never be as sturdy as a toy.

iDD

 

I'd be cool with this type of model as long as they're painted... I can't paint anything, but putting them together would be cheaper and fun!

 

I was going to add faces and some other parts would be pre-painted and maybe stickers.

I recall Energon had a Prime and Nemisis Prime kit but it just kinda flat lined as a line.

 

I think that stickers and no paint would be better. Don't like it? Do what other people do and paint it up, or apply the stickers and actually play with the the toy

 

All I can think of is the Mighty Muggs and how underwhelmingly they performed. Not that I didn't love them, but they didn't seem to sell well.

 

Were the blank Muggs made of vinyl like the Munnies, or were they made of the same recycled materials as regular Muggs?

 

yeah but then you have to buy the toy and have a steady hand and not everyone has that. And if you do you could still repaint it.

But I'd like to think that like with the gundam heads the eye light pipes and face could be different parts moulded in their own colour

 

This, entirely. It did catch on, a bit, but never was very popular and VERY quickly subsided.

Then again, Zoids did survive for a while. But I just don't think it would be a terribly effective sell in America right now.

 

speaking of zoids its crazy how cool some of the kits are right now from Kotobukiya they did away with the motor fuction and made them crazy articulated. Now if they could make kits with that detail that transformed and could take a bit more of a beating due to being able to transform (e.g) maybe have ratchet joints as modules that you put into the legs before screwing them down. I'd throw money at them

 

Depends on the quality of the kits. I used to make a lot of kits as a kid but many of them just wouldn't fit together right, even the expensive ones. And I was a pretty good modelmaker too. So considering how well a TF figure has to fit together to work for transformations and stuff a model kit would have to be decent quality too or it'll just be like buying the shittiest knock-off or dollar store toy. I could see a lot of kits returned half-made or even fully made because the end result figure was just too poor, either because of the kit quality or because the kid couldn't assemble it for shit.

I'm all for model kit TF, but somehow I don't think they'd sell for long before getting canned. Do kids in the Western world still make a lot of models? These days all I see them wanting to do with their hands is fiddle with iPhones and other techno shit gadgets.

 

thats why I was thinking about the custom class Botcon toys you basically get a normal toy just still on a sprew. So just take that and find a work around for using pins and your all good to go.

 

While I'd love to have Arms-Micron style DYI kit figures, they're not going to really work due to the fact that somehow, someway, a kid or the parent building it for the kid is going to screw something up and potentially sue them for making a product that can't be enjoyed, or something like that. This is mainly why they did away with the stickers from G1, too easy to screw them up and too hard for a kid to make them "perfect".

On the subject of Gundams, the market is absolutely thriving right now. It's a pity those shitty Wing series kits essentially spelled the end of anything Gundam in the states, especially since the High Grade series from Universal Century and 00 are fantastic for builders at any level.

Considering many of the Prime line figures right now are coming out with those clip-rim wheels instead of actual pins, that may not be as hard as it sounds.

 

I'm not familiar with Kabaya kits (they never interested me much) but if HasTak made more model kits like the Arms Microns or even full fledged figures like Kotobukiya's glue-less snap-on stuff (similar to their Mega/Rockman kits), I'd be interested. I know they made a model kit for Bayverse Starscream and Bumblebee, but they were small and only featured their alt modes. Of course we have DMK Optimus Prime and Bumblebee but they seem to be really advanced for the casual fan. Get Kotobukiya to do the TF license model kits and it'd be perfect (they're making a Metal Gear Solid Rex model kit that looks pretty awesome).

 

I'd be ALLLL for it. Especially if it allowed Hasbro to economically produce more color variants etc.

That said, ain't going to happen. Hasbro really tried VERY hard with Zoids, and during a GREAT period for Zoids, and they couldn't keep them afloat for more than a year or two.

Now I suppose the media supporting TFs is better, and the models could be a cheaper supplimental line, but I just don't see it happening.

Sadly. Very sadly.
D/L

 

I honestly don't remember, but probably the same as the regular muggs I would think.