My crazy person theory is because someone at Hasbro hates me. Yes it's an insane theory but then I always have a reason handy for why it took so long to get something like a deluxe sized Classics Jazz.

The more sane theory is that waves really make it a nightmare to do. With only four figures per Generations wave that means it would take forever to release all the members of a combiner team. Until someone in the toy business can convince the pants on head ******ed retailers about why the current system is so bad and leaves them with so much that has to be clearanced then we are all stuck in a bad boat.

Also for some really insane reason Hasbro just doesn't like sub-teams they way they used to. It's not just things like Dinobots and Constucticons, even the Marvel Universe line can't get out teams that should be a no brainer. Sort of like only releasing 3 of the Fantastic Four. Or Arctic Destro but no Arctic Baroness even though the two characters are show together so often in most of the fiction.

I'm sure the Revenge of the Fallen Devastator didn't leave Hasbro or the retailers with a good feeling about jumping in with more Constructicons. Which is kind of sad that they all have to suffer because of it and now even the movie line that had the best shot at a full team can't even get them all with a robot mode.

 

I'd rather have six decently sized Constructicons with robot and vehicle modes that didn't combine into Devestator for Generations. Sure, the idea of a combiner is cool and all, but if compromises have to be made and all you get is a sucky component part instead of a transforming vehicle, I'd rather just have a good toy that can't combine, because then I'd enjoy the figure for what it is than lament over why it sucks without the other robots or worry about getting the others.

Buildron was the Japanese name for Constructicon/Construction Maximus, here in the States the WM exclusive redeco was named Devestator. And unlike the other two Combiners, it looks like he can be rigged to have decent enough "claw" hands that are open-and-close-able and solid feet. It may not be a "proper" Devestator to some, but it's decent enough in my book.

 

Couldn't agree more. I managed 4/5 Combaticons new as a kid but had to wait a full year to get Vortex from a car boot sale. Still loved his 2nd hand ass for completing the set. Took me another 20 years to get his blades and guns...

IMO Hasbro is done with Devestator for a while. Classics and ROTF show he's not exactly out of their thinking - it's just us collectors that want "teh awsomesause" version.

Anyway, it seems this discussion is ignoring Legends Devestator? I know it's not articulated or big, but damn little guy holds his own and has arguably the most inventive combination of all the gestalt figures.

 

Frankly, it seems that with all the fanwank we get ( and we get a lot), I expect us to get a Devastator more akin (or very near) to G1 in the next few years (apart from the tfclub version). It might be some iteration of CHUG, as a masterpiece, or through some new line. He is too iconic to not get redone at some point

 

Is there a reason they dont produce a wanted figure (like classic constructicons) and put them on HTS? Is it because they worry about the sales? They could always do a preorder to get an idea of how many to produce. I wonder if there are other reasons not to do this.

 

The best way to get a "proper" Devastator would be through a MP release.

 

I think it would be great if hasbro actually teamed up with the third party tfers and made theyre figures official selling them through the club so we got exclusive licensed figures that cost a little more but would be cheaper than regular third part transformers as they could use has/tak's resources

 

It's pretty much up to the bottom line on that one. It's just not worth their resources. They're not going to be able to do much better than the 3rd party companies like FansProject, and the profit margins for such endeavors would be extremely low.

In addition, it ties up designers and engineers needed for the mainlines, that make them a boatload more money.

I'm surprised that things like the Collectors Edition Classics figures haven't been made for HTS. But expecting entirely new toys is unreasonable.

 

If a compromise had to be made to get something like a Generations release of the Constucticons then I agree I could live without them combining. I'd just really love to have a good deluxe sized representation of Scrapper, Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Mixmaster, Hook, and Long Haul on my Classics shelf. Given that individual bot modes sometimes suffer on combiners I'd take really good individual robot modes over only having a good combined mode.

In a way it would solve the problem of how to display them or wondering if I needed to buy two sets so I could display them both individually and combined.

 

judging by the amount of rotf superions still on the shelves and the release of the power ranger.... I mean CORE things. we wont be seeing 'traditional' combiners any time soon.

personally I would rather see energon versions done properly, like 1 leader and 4 different bots rather than repaints. say terrorcons protectobots technobots and menasor, and all the limb bots would have been interchangabe like the powercore gimmic

 

I thought this thread was going to be about the 3 Animated Constructicons.  

 

Can I quote this post every time someone posts a whiny hatefest over how Hasbro isn't catering to their wants? That would be awesome.  

 

How come Constructicons in general aren't getting much representation? They only did 4 out of 7 of the ROTF ones (not counting Legends), and the Animated trio didn't get anything.

 

Oh, and as for why they don't tie up their staff and money on the Internet collector market, that's simply not what their business model is geared for. They get nothing out of embarking on such an endeavor. Ever wonder why Hasbro doesn't crack down on the fan companies? I guarantee you they would try if Hasbro were actually competing with them. They aren't. They're not even in the same business.

Hasbro, and more specifically their Transformers team, is in the business of making big-kid money.

 

Easy.

1) You are artificially declaring Legends "don't count." The designer of the Masterpiece series gave you a fantastically engineered combiner and seven Constructicons at an affordable price, and you don't think it is "much representation." Uh, sorry.

2) The RotF Voyagers are nearly all Decepticons. Stuffing in three or so more with similar themed altmodes (well, they could have been Deluxes like Rampage, but people would have bitched) would have been pants-on-head stupid from the perspective of the marketing department. Plus, the four they did make got all the screen time.

The movie Constructicons were also hindered by having no distinguishable personalities. Frankly, I can't tell the G1 guys apart either. Bludgeon and Mindwipe are much more interesting IMO than more Constructicons, so I wouldn't have traded them for the others.

3) The Animated trio didn't get anything because the line ended. Their designs probably weren't finalized because Dirt Boss' presence and design hinted at a future combiner, but this would have incorporated Constructicons who were never designed. They didn't know how to design the toys to combine with other toys that didn't exist yet.

So no, there is no anti-Constructicon sentiment at Hasbro, I'm sure.

Someone else made a good point...subteams are pretty much dead. Nowadays, subteams are only likely to exist as homages to G1. The television shows switched over to a character-based formula long ago, as opposed to a "make toys that are cool, then cram them into the show by any means necessary" formula. Their entire business model is different.

 

Well, they didn't do any of the animated constructicons because they were waiting to introduce enough of them to create an animated Devastator.

 

Reasons why we don't have proper Constructicons =/= why we don't have a proper combined form Devastator.

As others have said, classics Devastator had a shit combined mode but I think 3 of the 5 individual bots are tight. In my sig you can see how I display them with some figures from RID Devastator. The photo doesn't do them justice though... I'll be taking better ones soon with my updated Mixmaster.

Although they don't exactly combine properly, I often think the Constructicons due to their color matching, look great as a group of individuals.

If that sexed-up awesome Chinese Devy ever comes out, I'll display that combined and keep the Classics/RID on display as well. They are certainly good enough... for now.

 

 

Do as you wish. It might save me the trouble of articulating the same thoughts all over again.

 

Pretty much what I tried to say on my first post, only that this is very well written. Thank you.

 

Legends size never counts unless it's G1 Wheelie, he's small enough to count but anyone else doesn't count. Thus we still need a deluxe class Cosmos and Warpath.

I mean if you don't come up with some sort of cut off point about what is going to count then Hasbro could say they never need to release a Classics Blitzwing because they released a Classics Robot Heroes Blitzwing.