I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I would much rather have wst sold along the mainlines then minicons. I only have a few of these but would like to get more of them. Problem is I don't want to pay more for a wst than a voyager class figure costs(after shipping etc.). Besides these things look far more impressive next the my Metroplex or Trypiticon than any minicon would. wst figures owned - Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, Red Alert, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, Megatron, Thrust. wst figures I still want - so many more.
That's kinda what I mean. Instead of selling the minicons they are now. It would be cool if hasbro packaged wst as minicons. I know it won't happen, but I would be all over it if they did.
I agree 200%, I only own the latest two WSTF Dinorobots, Grim-lock ans Sllag, but I would kill for the official ones.
WST figures are a lot more fragile than minicons. I wouldnt want to see WST Megatron after a kid tried transforming it.
A small amount of Minicons work well with the regular toys but I think that most of them are crap since smaller versions of full size vehicles don't make sense together with the larger ones. WST do make sense and work well with the larger ones. So, I agree with you BAH Now if the minicons would have alt modes of appropriate sized items, then they would be great. Like make one of Roller, for optimus Prime, that transformed into a bot. The recent minicon from the Dirt Digger team, Dirt Rocket, makes for a motorcycle that could work with the deluxe vehicles. As far as Dirt Rockets size goes, he doesn't fit in with the other minicons. IMO I don't own any WST yet.
Just to be fair to minicon fans, As you may have noticed, I'm a G1 fan. That's why I like these things so much next the city transformers.
I see where your coming from. But my 6 year old nephew manages to find a way to destroy every toy he has ever gotten. The problem is, that kid gets more toys in a year than I got during my entire childhood. So he doesn't apprcieate them. .....hmmm....I'm getting off topic.
...what? How on *Earth* do WSTs "make sense" and "work well" with larger toys if Mini-Cons do not? What, like, work well with Metroplex and Trypticon? Citybots like those are the only instances where the scale of WSTs work. But the thing about Mini-Cons is that scale is irrelevant for them - they're *supposed* to be little tiny cars and jets and whatever. Take the Armada cartoon, for example, where the kids rode around on top of Spiral's car mode, rather than actually sit in the driver's seat. That's the way Mini-Cons work, and they work that way for ALL the larger figures. Anyway, to factor in on the debate... I would much rather have new Mini-Cons with varied alt-modes and innovative transformations than small versions of toys I already own.
Valkysas is right, WST's are too fragile to fill the same role as minicons. I like WST's MUCH better, and have all of the official ones that have been released, but they're kind of a different animal. But you're right, they would look GREAT with a G1 citybot. Now I just need to get a citybot. I also agree with Manyoufactsure regarding the scale of minicons. While I know making them tiny vehicles makes better business sense (so kids can have cheap, small robots that still transform to vehicles) it would be great if they also did a line of minicons that turned into everyday objects that were to scale with Deluxe-sized figures. Boomboxes, microscopes, engines, weapons.... you know, all the classics.
It would've been interesting if Hasbro would've taken the WST's and placed them into the Classics Line as "Minicons" or somesuch instead of those abominable things they produced. I agree with the fragility issues those things have but I'd also like to add the concern that, being as tiny as WSTs are, would they even pass our safety laws here in the states?
I was really hoping Hasbro would sell the WSTs, because I know Hasbro doesnt do chase pieces and blind packs, plus they'd probably sell them in 3-packs, making the whole series easy to find. The Japanese ones cost WAY more than they're worth. As it stands, I dont own a single one of them, but I love the concept. as for the "are they better than mini-cons" argument, frankly I like them both. I like the WSTs because I think the G1 toys are outdated. The articulation, size, and price dont add up in my opinion. However, something as small as a WST doesnt NEED to be articulate, so I'm willing to forgive them. Plus, they're a much better scale for playing with Fort Max (which is the main reason I'd want them). However, since I dont own the WSTs, I have just as much fun with the mini-cons on Max I like the "Classic" Mini-cons quite a bit. Every single one of them has a great alt mode, most of them have fun transformations that have never been tried before, and I have no problem with the quirky bot modes. They're the result of the weird transformations, but even without that excuse, I just think they're neat looking.
Look, I know this may not come off politely, but I want to point something very fundamental out: TRANSFORMERS ARE MADE FOR KIDS. I always hate hearing people talk about how a kid doesn't "appreciate his toy/toys" on these boards because I think it's absolutely ridiculous. A child, at age 6 no less, has not yet learned a value system for damn near ANYTHING and is still gaining an appreciation of what is worth appreciating and what is not. Claiming that a young child doesn't "appreciate his toys" is an impressively harsh judgment for any child under approximately 11-12 years old, because those first 10-11 years are spent learning an AWFUL LOT of stuff, values included. That being said, nearly all of the Transformers sold on the US market are designed by Hasbro to endure some (and/or a LOT) of wear and tear from the average kid. Now, granted, there's a spectrum of children out there who, as trained by their parents and family, will treat their toys in a variety of different ways. However, faulting a young child for playing with a toy the way he wants to - and possibly breaking it - is kinda ridiculous. Maybe he wants to take them apart and/or break them, to see what's inside? Maybe he's having fun tossing them around, to see how they respond? Maybe he's not even interested in those toys at all, and would rather enjoy the outdoors or sports instead? All of these are possibilities that contribute to why a toy would get abused...and Hasbro factors them in when they're designing these things. They know that toys get mishandled, abused, thrown across the room, etc. ...On top of that, every "breaking" activity I listed above could easily be a reason or basis for the child's interest in something later on in life - forensics, physics, sports, respectively. I'm not just calling you out; I'm kinda passing this on to everyone who groans and whines about their younger family members or siblings - instead of complaining like a grumpy old man about the fact that so-and-so child breaks stuff, why not proactively get involved in the kid's life and teach him the value of a toy? Even if it's for such a short period of time like a family gathering or a day out together, demonstrating and positively reinforcing that "See? It's okay to treat your toys nicely; I did, and look how they're still okay and in one piece!" Is MUCH more effective for the child than logging onto TFW2005 and making a post along the lines of "Jerkwad kid broke a toy."
The WST I have come apart too easily. Would be way too easy for a young child to swallow a piece that come off the toy. Transformers sold by Hasbro don't have small pieces that can easily be detached for that reason (as far as I know). Just put it down to different laws for different countries. I would rather Hasbro create Mini-Cons or Legends toys that closely resemble G1 toys.
The only WSTFs I'm ever getting are the Dinobots. They're bigger than the others which gives them more room for detail and accuracy. Personally, I think the WSTFs are ugly blobs of plastic with very few details...a VERY cool idea I just never quite got into the hype. I likes my Minicons But to each their own of course!
For their size, I wouldn't call them ugly or under-detailed. In some cases, they are closer in appearance to the larger G1 toy than Legends toys are to the larger Cybertron toys.
Is the WST Prime Trailer any good? I have 2 Primes and have been pondering if I should get a trailer.