I got my BIS cyclonus v roddy pack today, and protector should be in tomorrow or the next day. Anyway, I started thinking about the bots that get 3rd party love...Arcee (delicate warrior), Ultra Magnus (city commander), springer (warbot), Rodimus (protector).Quints, Spike even got an exo suit, right? I like these characters, but why does it seem like the concentration on this core group? Coincidence??? I know there are other 3rd party ones, but these seem prominent..


I mean, maybe a 3rd party Deathsaurus, Beast Wars Ravage, Cryotek.... the list, again...endless....

 

it's nice for characters to get nice G1-esque toys as the 1986 movie crew/same season 3 toys generally get looked over.

 

86 movie was set in 2005.

Season 3 was 2010.

 

I was just about to correct myself.

Damn you Valkysas  

 

To address the initial question, I'd think that primarily its because Arcee, Springer, Quintesons, Danny boy, and even Rodimus Prime never really got any figure love. I know Springer has had like 2-3 lame attempts at repaints, and Arcee has been COUNTLESS motorcycles, but no car toy until animated... come on hasbro? Hell, if you wanna get technical, I remember when everyone was going crazy to get G1 Titanium Ultra Magnus, cuz aside from the actual G1 figure that was the last time we got that figure looking like his '86 movie self. As to why we don't see Deathsaurus, etc... no large market per cost to make the molds maybe?

 

Going by the narration in season 3, it took place in 2006.

As for the original question, I'm going to toss a guess out and say it's because there isn't too much first-party love for the characters. They get some minor focus for the fans they do have but are pushed aside for the biggest names that everyone knows. But that's total, 1:14 AM, speculation.

 

I think the reason Season 3 gets the 3rd party love is because of the '86 movie.

That movie was a landmark moment in the franchise, it induces much nostalgia, and introduced a lot of the mythos of the series.

Many of the characters from it haven't been given a proper official toy treatment in the eyes of the fandom (if any toy treatment at all)...and I have to suspect that most of the 3rd party guys are fans.

 

only in Japan

 

Perhaps the third party companies figure if Star Wars fans will buy figures of characters with no lines and three seconds of screen time then Transformers fans would likely buy stuff related to the movies that Hasbro doesn't seem interested in doing.

 

Right, but who designs most of these figures? Japan has a market for Transformers as well. And they're big on homage and celebrating milestones. America not so much. Just look at what we got from Transformers in 2005 and 2006, Cybertron and Classics. And Classics was just something thrown out there to fill space. None of it really having anything to do with the '86 movie (unless you really want to count Classics Rodimus release, though it wasn't treated as anything special by Hasbro).

 

I also think it has something to do with the movie cast's official toys being so lackluster. Springer and Hot Rod look so awesome in the movie and their G1 toys leave a lot to be desired.

 

Hasbro and Takara in very close cooperation.

 

Since all the third parties are in China, weren't their first experience with transformers the 86 movie in the early 90s? I'd think that would be their ground zero for tf nostalgia.

 

This! and this is why all the special promos this year from Taktomy.

Remember this was 25 years ago and toy engineering was much more limited then than now. That said they did well for what they had to work with at the time and laid a firm foundation for all that has come after.

 

Fuss over 86 movie bots is because the 86 movie is da bomb. That cast is my personal favorite.

 

In Japan.

The US season 3 was set in 2006.

 

 

"Close cooperation." They're bound by contracts to work together, so no shit. Hasbro feeds them ideas and often concept sketches, but it's Takara's designers that design the figure, from it's final look down to it's transformation engineering. Is that always the case? No. But I never threw that absolute in my initial post.

Like I said, Hasbro does not make all the calls when it comes to Transformers. Takara has their own market for them, and it's a pretty big one. And the large majority of this 2010 celebration of the Season 3 cast comes from Japanese market products.

 

86 movie bots are some of the more famous Transformers, Honestly people know more about Rodimus, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus, Arcee and Springer way more than they would remeber Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet., Hound, Gears and Windcharger

 

Two reasons (which are actually the same reason):

Nostalgia, and because me and a lot of other nostalgic fans will buy them.