One thing in this series I'm hoping for is a genuine connection between the Autobots and the human cast. I know human characters in Transformers can be a contentious topic for some fans, but this series is still taking place on Earth, so like it or not, human characters are next to inevitable.

That being said, I feel that some of the best Transformers shows are the ones that that show a genuine bond between the Autobot and human characters, such as the Earthbound Autobots becoming something of a surrogate family for Sari in Animated (particularly Season 2), or each of the human kids in Prime developing a friendship with their respective guardian Autobots in Prime. Of course, this isn't a universal rule: Beast Wars got along fine without any humans most of the time, for example.

And it goes without saying that the human characters should be likeable and well-written. I suspect much of the hostility some have towards human characters in this franchise comes from bad human characters, since let's face it, for every Sari Sumdac and Agent Fowler we get, there's a Kicker Jones and Sam Witwicky lurking around somewhere.

 

It's important to note that it's very unlikely Hasbro has cameras in all retailers of the World to know who are buying the toys, so their "30% of fans" most likely refers to 30% of profit coming from the fan-aimed product like Titan Returns which IS something they can actualy physically gauge.

In other words, it's possible that gimmicks such as Combiner Wars and Titan Returns have simply managed to get kids and parents buying those toys more than they did before too. John Warden certainly likes to bring up the fact that now even kids show an interest in that line. We'll have to wait and see.

 

I hope it's not the same emotion i have towards Prime  

 

I need an agenda. I'd be far more productive. D'ah well. Enjoy yourself dude, I'll be trying to arrange an agenda.

 

Irrelevant? No. Disproportionate compared to your perceived value of collectors' money, opinions, and existence? Absolutely. EVERY collector centered line outside of Japan has failed. This is not a coincidence. GIJoe is a great example of how well an adult fan base can keep a line going. If it wasn't for kids/parents buying as much as they do, we wouldn't have ANYTHING TF to collect outside Japan.

 

I'm really tired of Optimus Prime having a mouth

 

Eh...I'd say Generations is a "budget" collectors line and I wouldn't call that a failure. Efforts have been made with Combiner Wars and Titans Return to draw in more of the 10-12 year old segment that is aging out of the main line (Prime, RiD)...but it's still a collectors line.

But Transformers seems to be the exception that often proves the rule as GIJoe is a horrible example of collectors trying to maintain a line that's been busted by lack of kid support. We get the occasional TRU anniversary line and a fan club serving up overpriced figures. That's not really a whole heck of a lot...although you could say Masters of the Universe fans have it even worse, which is ANOTHER collectors line coughing it's way around the decades.

Bandai is at least limping along the Legacy line for Power Rangers. We'll see how much muster it continues to generate...

 

I think Hasbro's trying to hit two birds with one stone with their Generations line. Keep homaging canon characters for collectors and keep it relevant as toys for slightly older kids with different gimmicks.

 

Warden actualy pointed out that Combiner Wars did better than past Classics iterations and Titan Returns kept that growth spurt going doing better than CW, they believe due to the "all toys in the line interact among themselves" factor that pushes people towards buying more toys, so don't be surprised if the next cartoon toyline also tries to push some kind of interactive line-wide gimmick.

 

I'm sure that there's an epic pile of focus group testing out there that supports it, but I hope the inevitable Cyberverse line doesn't have gimmicks that force simplification as drastically as some of the RID toys. As a kid, one of the best things about TFs was that you actually needed to sit there and think about what was going on with the toy, even with instructions. While I'm sure there's plenty of kids that get excited over one-step changers and stuff, I really think that the deep novelty of puzzle play is why we remember these toys so well, as it gave fans time to 'bond' with the figure.

 

Emotion? Prime?  
There was no emotion in Prime.

 

Kids today want whats easy and quick. Electronics devices satisfy their short attention spans, so Hasbro has to look to a bit younger of an age group, which cant handle as complex transformations that require thinking. So One-steps are also what they are because of that.

 

Yeah, I get that. Like I said, I'm sure there's a pile of focus group testing supporting the 1 steps. A guy can hope.  

 

  I'm sorry, the way you phrased that made me just...  

In my opinion, Optimus has ALWAYS had a mouth... it's just that he's been removing the mouthplate that's been covering it since 2007.


jD0011

 

2004 Actually. He had a mouth in the Cybertron cartoon(and figure) that only came up in battle. There was also a variant of the Energon Optimus figure that had a mouth similar to Primal's.

Then theres also this horrifying image of 5 serial killers before they set off on a rampage.

 

Or, he's Always had a plate and since 2007 he's been sticking a fake mouth on top of it to placate the humanisation lobbyists  

 

It's not so much that. Under 5 kids who are into Transformers lack the motoric skills to transform a toy, that's who the one steps are aimed at.
And they are a good way to get that age group into the franchise. But imo the three steps should dissapear and there should be something in between the simplicity of one steps and the more complex generations toys for the 4-7 years.
Something with a more complex visual aesthetic but with a less complex transformation that is fun and chalenging yet not too hard for that age group.

 

Honestly, they should just go back to what they did in Animated for activators, I loved that line as a kid, and I still want to find some of those figures again because they were so fun.

 

Like your false generalizations?