Ok i am confused Hasbro made The Movie a perfect excuse to sell new toys, and they gave the writers a OK KILL OFF LIST. So if they started writting The Movie at the end of Season 1 and begining of Season 2 did they toys were already discontinued? I mean they knew which characters to kill off and which to keep and which new characters are going to be introduced? It's a little confusing. Do you guys know?

Thanks

 

Yes. Hasbro plans far in advance, you see.

 

Back then the idea to reissue certain character's or rerelease them in future waves wasn't really around. So they knew those toys would not be on shelves when the movie came out, hence they killed 'em off to make way for the new ones.

That's also why some of the combiners and whatnot weren't in the movie, they didn't exist during it's production.

 

Well, the 1984 toys were still shipping in the 1985 assortments, which is a pretty long shelf life by today's standards.

What was different back then, however, was the perception that "characters" were just a gimmick to sell the main product, toys. Innovation was the priority, entirely new toys that would be entirely new characters had to be created because characters were perceived as easily replaceable. It wasn't until after the audience's backlash following the death of Optimus Prime that Hasbro realized that they had created characters that people actually cared for. Mind you that this wasn't Hasbro being "stupid", it was the attitude of the entire toy industry back in the day. The entire concept of "recognizable core characters" came in part as a consequence to the reactions to TF:TM.

 

Very interesting. I guess it was a good thing Prime died.

 

Nevermore, your point is extremely right. Everything you said in that post explained the TF origin of what the franchise is today. Bravo

 

*Applauds*

Well said.

 

Those were the days!

The days gone by that if I fell out of a tree, it was my own stupid fault and I didn't sue everyone and their dog!

 

Well, you see, they really needed a way to kill of Wheeljack, as they totally hated that guy, so they had to think of a couple other poor saps to join him so it wouldn't look suspicious.

 

It wasn't like it is today, where Hasbro realizes the importance of the characters and the attachments people have to them. They just figured kids would buy into whoever they told them to.

 

And also, by continuing to sell the same characters, they diluted their own market every year. Yes, they might save money on design costs and be able to ride on marketing momentum of last year, but when the kids they've hooked into the brand want a new transformer, they're unlikely to be as interested in getting a second Ironhide, compared to a new character they don't already have, and those new characters tend to sell better when they have established stories and characterizations added to them, as in the movie and season 3. A new character can be sold to new customers AND old customers, while the same toy as last year will likely only appeal to a new customer who doesn't already have it.

 

I loved that back then most of a line would be on the shelf for 2 years. Unlike today where you have like a 3 month window much of the time -if you're lucky. Excluding say the first few waves of a main line.

It was great in the 80's, you could go out at any time and buy a whole years line up. Sure you'd have to hit a few stores -and have a butt load of money. Honestly I don't know how a kid today would even stand a chance at getting a complete collection. We hunt for them and still find it difficult.

 

While this seems right for Hasbro, I don't think it was an industry standard. Mattel had released 3 versions of He-Man and Skeletor by 1985, for instance. They may have been considered front runners in the industry at the time but also consider Hordak had been released by then too. He could have been a replacement for Skeletor, indeed it seems he was meant to be but they continued with new versions of Skeletor at the same time.

Somebody, somewhere, recognized the signifigance of core charactors and the need to update them long before Hasbro caught on.

 

By necessity Kenner had to update core Star Wars characters/figures as early as '79.... with X-Wing Pilot Luke. With each film having various incarnations of the main characters, with Kenner making figures for many of them. As to if they were aware of the conceptual signifigance.... who knows.

Transformers didn't even really attempt to have a central cast until the '86 movie.

Hotrod
Daniel
Kup
Arcee
Blurr
Magnus
Perceptor
Springer
Grimlock
Galvatron

Prior to that, TF seasons one and two were ensemble casts.

 

Si if i understand correctly no way that the movie could of been written in the end of Season 1 when in The Movie characters like: Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge, Blaster, Perceptor, Tracks, Smokescrean, Red Alert and Grapple were already in it so to me they could of started written The Movie mid way Season 2 and Spike having a kid how did they knew that Carly would of been Spike's wife?

 

Because that's where the writer of the movie decided to take it. The writing wasn't a democracy of historians trying to establish a coherent universe and continuity, it was guys writing stories that they wanted to tell, the way they wanted to tell them, subject to final approvals.

And yes, if I recall correctly the movie began production sometime soon after the start of the second season, but it likely took a long time to develop.

 

Keep in mind ALL of those toys were stuff already "done". Hasbro (and most toy companies, even today) plan anywhere from 12-24 months ahead of what we see/know about. Hasbro KNEW before the line had even launched they needed to have a "second series" of toys ready to go (after all, they needed to made and shipped across the Pacific). Like the first "series" of Transformers toys, the 1985 stuff was primarily material Hasbro licensed from Japan, so the turnaround for those toys were a LOT lower than the movie characters- all of which were all new designs Hasbro and Takara had to adapt to toys.

Also bear in mind that season 2 of the cartoon was ALREADY being written before season 1 had even finished airing. Between writing the scripts, recording the episode, production (overseas mind you) and approvals along the way, it would take MONTHS to get a completed product. By which point new toys would be on shelves.

Besides, Carly is never mentioned as Spike's wife in the movie. More than likely, it was a decision made AFTER the film had been completed, to tie into the spunky new female character introduced in the second season.

 

I believe its an established fact the the first draft for the film was written near the end of season 1.

Yes,characters like Ramjet and the others werent in the toon yet, but they were already on the drawing board at that time and the films writers would have had access to the information.

Same goes for Carly.

And keep in mind, Carly was never mention in the film.So we had no proof she was Dannys mother till 5 faces of darkness in season 3.

 

Yes, yes, yes, but WHAT WAS SNARL DOING THAT DAY THAT WAS SO IMPORTANT?

 

Snarl stopped Mensaor, Predaking, Bruticus, and Reflector ALL BY HIMSELF.