Just an idea in my head that I wanted to see what collectors think?

Lets say a 3rd Party is gonna tackle FortMax at classics scale. They do so by selling it in "parts" like a combiner.

For example, part 1: left leg. transforms into leg, and mobile base, and comes with accessories, etc to compensate...

Something like that. Would that kinda model work? I think its really crazy if someone would pay one lump sum for it, but if its say, bits and pieces of say, 150$ each ending in a HUGE 3P robot that can turn into a city on classics scale?

Or would it be "too long a commitment" to do something like that?

 

The danger in that is not enough interest to fund the project. buying Bovis has me excited for Feral Rex. Can't say as regular leg would make me as thrilled for a Fort Max

 

I think it would work if each part were a base in itself, like the kabaya kit. If Warden sells well, maybe that's what PE might be cooking  

 

@Torque, very true. but I can't think of another way. Like someone would just drop 1k on one 3P product or something. I really think a classics fort max would be the toy to end all toys though lol

 

I think a Kabaya-style release would help more people buy one, especially if the full cost was going to exceed $500.

 

Classics scale would mean Fort Max would be large enough for, say, Classics Optimus to get inside him with room for other figures elsewhere. The city would have to be the size of a coffee table. It would be like a small person in robot mode.

In other words, WAY too huge.

If they wanted to put one out in the neighborhood of the original's size (Which I THINK is still bigger than Herc and the other 3P combiners), doing it piecemeal might work, but there would have to be a small 'star' in each package to make it worth while. Some really awesome micormasters to inhabit him, new hidden features, stuff like that.

Would it work out? I have no idea. Their first release would have to be a near-perfect slamdunk to get people to stay with a project that can't shine until you get all six or seven installments. Even combiners at least give you a complete Transformer on each purchase as you build up to the eventual gestalt...

 

Sounds like the perfect sca......... I mean scheme for I-gear.

 

I was actually thinking about this the other day, more so Unicron but same concept. Going back to the comment about fort max having a city mode the size of a table? Yes please!

 

I could support a buildable Fort Max. so long as each part had some degree of playbility in and of itself. maybe give the individual parts a rudimentary vehicle mode. and between Gasket, Grommet, Spike, and Cerebros you'd have plenty of pilots to man it.

 

A release like Kabaya could work, but it's tough to beat the value of the original Fort Max.

 

I remember people expressing their wishes for TFC Toys to offer Omega Supreme in this way soon after Hercules release, but alas it wasn't meant to be.

I don't know if this would work really. With a combiner, you have something to play with even without the other components. What in the world do you do with Fortress Maximus' leg while you wait to acquire everything else?

 

This.

I imagine a piecemeal release (Fort Max, Omega Supreme) would have a much larger percentage of people waiting for the "box release" at the end than wait for a combiner set. Perhaps to a ruinous level for the company in question.

 

I think a one-shot like Genesis would work better. A lot of people are scared now at how 3P companies manage their budget. Splitting it up leaves too much uncertainty for people to commit.

 

Not sure if it would be widely accepted. Selling an arm first, then leg, then other arm, etc, etc, etc can appear less appealing than selling a smaller bot that can transform into an arm or leg. The later being that you can at least enjoy the smaller bot waiting for the rest of the team to release vs. an arm or leg sitting there doing nothing.

Mind you, the cost breakdown perspective on selling them fig piece by piece can be appealing especially for individuals that do not have the readily means to drop "X" number of hundred of $$ at once, but one still faces the dilemma described above.

 

Considering there has been zero evidence of a 3rd Party company being unable to complete a combiner (no matter how many people seem to find themselves consumed with ths notion) I actually think a piecemeal Fort Max can and will work. In fact, I am hoping this is something that PE are going to pursue.

Now, I don't think a combiner in the sense that everyone is used to, a leg or arm piece, is what this should be but more based on sections that are self sustaining and also compatible as an "add on" to Warden. So instead of it just being a limb it is more a torso and arms that also transform to an attack station. The lower section (waist, legs) can be released as a repair bay (or vice versa). It doesn't have to be a traditional combiner but instead take advantage of the concept but use it with some creativity.

I personally think PE have a plan to take the Warden idea further, at least I hope so because of the holes in his shin which are in desperate need of leg guns.

 

Still think you run into the same problem: lack of fun.

A combiner is fun because every single component is a stand alone figure--you have a fully function triple changer even though you only have 1/5 of the actual product.

There's not much fun playing with a man-less bastion 

 

Isn't a base mode transformer a lack of fun anyway?

I never see anyone saying "I have so much fun playing with Fort Max" I only seem to see people referring to his size.

 

They could put out little transformers to go with it. Little G1 guys with updated articulation. So it's like you're buying a play set that can combine with another playset to make your fort max

 

I don't know how others play with him, and I never had Fortress Maximus (I did have Metroplex, however). Sure, size was a talking point, but how does one not marvel over the whole figure?

I used all of his modes and thought they were pretty fun, but I never really stuck to one mode with him.

The problem with piecing the guy out is this: no robot mode.

I think we are all here because we love robots. Alternate modes offer a whole new level of play to these awesome toys, but if you take away their robot mode, you're left with a lifeless playset which now requires additional action figures to make it worthwhile.

If I were going to purchase a 3PC Fortress Maximus, I think I'd rather get it in one go 

I agree that having the price broken down sounds attractive, but I don't see how pieces of much fuller set get me excited enough to want to order them the moment orders go live:/

 

gee that exactly what i did made other robots comine w fort max