I've already gotten my favorite autobots as alts so I'm all set. Although I wouldn't mind seeing these as new molds to help re-energize this line from the same old stuff.

 

Personally, If Dodge Ram Optimus will be released as a 20 dollar Alternator, then I don't see why something like an H2 or H3 Ironhide couldn't be done, or even some breeds of van. Ratchet is a little tougher, especially if an Ambulance form is a given.

 

When has Toyfare ever acted like uppity dicks?

 

I have yet to see Toyfare as a reliable source. They have been discredited time and time again

It's filled with juvenile humor, slow, poor coverage on lines unless they are considered "hot" - while poking fun at all the rest. Comparing Toyfare to any legitimate industry trade is like comparing Magic The Gathering to D&D, or HeroClix to Warhammer.

I wouldn't consider this even a "rumor", let alone posting it in this section.

 

   



About the size thing:

The Ram was probably considered viable because althought it's larger, much of the toy is just flatbed.

Alternators are about real vehicles. There aren't too many (if any) vehicles in the same size range as current Alts that make a convincing ambulance. They can't just slap some lights on an XB for instance and call it an ambulance.

If they don't have solid plans for Ratchet yet it's becasue they have yet to find a solution that is a convincing vehicle mode and financially viable.


Ironhide will appear in one form or annother eventually.

 

maybe we'll get lucky and MP-04 Ironhide is on the way  

 

nah, MP-4 will be a repaint  


Andy

 

We've heard rumbleings in the past about slightly larger scaled Alts before. And I think we may still get them. The fact that we got the Ram at the normal price is amazing. But if they do the rumored humvee, they will have to raise the price to keep it in scale.

And it's seven price points as LoC and the Mini-con 2-packs are roughly the same. (ie, an LoC is a Mini scaled toy and the Mini-cons are micros. Two Micros = 1 Mini)

 

The WalMart theory of putting products on shelves doesn't really allow for one-off price points.

See, WalMart tends to tell manufacturers (a la Hasbro) what size and price of widget they are willing to sell (allegedly based on consumer research). The flip side is that WalMart will not negotiate on their preferred size/price, and thus, will not sell that widget. Depending on circumstances, WalMart may cease doing business with that manufacturuer. For instance, Rubbermaid, which was dropped over this same issue.

Manufacturers are, of course, free to manufacture whatever they think they can sell, but when a client the size of WalMart threatens not to carry the widget, or cease dealings altogether, even Hasbro has to notice that.

So, yeah, we might see more price points, if WalMart wants them.

 

This is all true and is partly why Walmart is evil. Maybe they could come up with a size which they could make a number of characters in that Walmart would accept. They would have to include characters other than Ratchet and Ironhide. The only others that come to mind that could be similarly sized are Trailbreaker/Hoist and the Hummer Megatron that many of us want to see happen. Maybe they could even squeeze Grapple and Inferno into the same size, just as a smaller vehicle than the originals.

Another option is to have store exclusives. Some larger Toys R Us exclusive figures would work, but many TRU exclusive commemorative figures were shelf warmers so they might not look at TFs as a hot commodity now.