Neato.

 

No sh*t.
'Bout bloody time it's been recognized.

 

Wonder if they'll confirm that the TF movies will be part of the Hasbro Cinematic universe eventually? After all TF has done crossovers with G I Joe so it makes perfect sense to have them be in the same universe.

 

If Hasbro's going with a full cinematic universe they really need to just wipe the slate clean and reboot Transformers without Bay. It'll provide more creative freedom and I just don't see the Bayverse working in a HCU. While I have hopes that TLK will be at least alright, the Bayverse is still in my opinion damaged beyond repair.

 

While I honestly don't see the TF movies being damaged beyond repair quite the opposite,the idea of a rebooted TF movie series inside the planned HCU does make sense along with a rebooted G I Joe series which will make the two fit in better into it.

 

"The first Hasbro Cinematic Universe movie featuring G. I. Joe, Micronauts, ROM, Visionaries and M.A.S.K will be out 2018/2019."

Is this right, are they really going to have all those properties in one movie?

 

I imagined the Bumblebee movie would be standalone rather then follow on from The Last Knight - which I guess it's maybe somewhat sad in a sense.

The Hasbro Cinematic Universe - Am I concerned? I guess since I really don't like Retaliation(2013) - no wonder it underperformed. But you know what? Like the future of the TF Movie-Verse, I'm optimistic. Hopefully the HCU G.I. Joe will kick ass!

 

Mr. Goldner stated that Transformers Franchise going through a transition period.

This is the most intriguing part of the article to me. I wonder what that means? I'm curious to see what direction the brand will take after the current trilogy (Combiner Wars, Titans Return and Phase 3) is over. This seems to be giving me everything I want so I'm not sure what will be left for me to collect except for MPs.

 

Brian stated that the Fan Community is now a major factor in revenue. Majority of Hasbro Products are purchased by or for people who are 16 years or older. There will be Fan Specific Products in the future.

Wow. That's quite the revelation.

From what I recall, Hasbro's "Party Line" on Transformers sales has been that they are around 15% of total. But I think that given Hasbro's recent re-alignment of its TF brand strategy (dividing product lines between simpler figures aimed at young kids, more complex figures aimed at older kids and then 2 lines aimed at the collector/fandom market in Generations and Masterpiece and on top of that the upcoming animated series targeted at adults) I think that they pretty much telegraphed this statement by their actions in the marketplace. Also, among their other brands, I believe Nerf enjoys healthy sales in the teen market as many indoor paintball places now offer Nerf gun games as well. MLP has the Bronies fandom which is composed primarily of adults.

I wish that someone had asked the question as to what they define as a "major factor". If they previously told TF fans that 15% was not major, then what has it increased to globally to cause Mr. Goldner to make that statement? 20%, 25%, more...?

I'm not sure though about the statement that the majority of Hasbro's products are purchased by or for people over age 16. Hasbro is still a toy company after all and the largest customer base for their products must still be children under 12, no? Perhaps a transcribing error or a different statement that got lost in translation...?

Regardless, thank you SilverOptimus for taking the time to provide us with this info. After having typed this response, I am still dumbfounded by that statement.

 

I guess their doing a crossover movie right of the bat.

 

I think what he meant was there'll be the first movie that's set in the planned universe which has those characters around those years. I doubt they're planning on doing a movie that has all of the characters in it because that's even more overkill then BvS with it's characters.

 

I had the same thoughts; it doesn't make much sense on its face.

Given the meeting's context and how he's been playing up adult interest lately, my guess is that he meant that the majority of Hasbro's product lines have significant adult interest.

 

Just as long as it's high quality products. If they make the same kind of cuts deco-wise etc. as they have done the last two or three years, it will defeat the purpose of delivering a collectible product for fans.

I loved Visionaries, so looking forward to that. Yes it does sound like too many properties to have in one film, though I suspect they mean the first film to feature any one of them in this new universe.

Yeah, that's what I took from it.

 

Unsurprising given it's a non-movie period and RID's not had a lot of support like most series.

You mean the thing already in play with the QR code faction symbols which you can scan in the store and not even need to buy the toys in the first place?

Fancy way of saying it's currently not pushing a movie because, really, you can't call it a 'transition' when the end point is exactly the same as the start point.

So long as those fans fall within specific boundaries because the BW 20th Anniversary sure has been ignored despite being often named the best TF series of all time.

Saying they won't be integrating violence into a video game based on a franchise entirely themed around a multi-million year long civil war is probably the funniest thing I've read in a long while. I get it probably means the super violent stuff but after DOTM had a scene where people were vaporized down to their bones, the franchise already is pushing the idea it isn't there yet.

Oh boy, a new alien mcguffin! And then a film literally nobody actually wants because Hasbro learned nothing from the Bumblebee toy cloged shelves back in 2011/12!

Yeah, totally a transition period.

I hope this doesn't actually mean they're ALL getting shoved into one film, because that will just reduce screentime for all of those things.

 

Hooray, more divide between toys aimed at kids and toys aimed at adults. I'm so glad that increasingly uninspired rehashes designed to milk nostalgia of people many decades older than me will continue to be the only well made TF toys. I do like a lot of Generations, but I hate that it's my only option. But hey, at least we have new fiction tied into these toys, now that Hasbro and IDW are derailing Roberts' stories to advertise these toys and crossover shittier writers...

Activision seemingly being a thing of the past for this franchise isn't encouraging. I'm guessing that means we're only getting mobile games from now on. Oh well, I guess Activision's games were never that great anyway, but they were a bit fun, usually.

Finally, if the Bumblebee movie isn't directly following TF5, then why the hell is it counted as TF6!?!? Seriously, why have the people who've been naming stuff in TF for the past few years not been fired yet? Also, are all those Hasbro properties really going to be in a single movie, or was that just bad wording?

 

Your interpretation might be right. I was going to ask if it included people over 16 buying a toy for someone under sixteen, which I'm guessing is the case with many toy purchases (adults buying toys for their kids/grandkids, etc.). Either way, it was kind of ambiguous.

 

Most of the time I find this information pretty uninteresting, but I'm actually fairly intrigued with quite a bit of what was said here.

The one that caught my attention first, and foremost was "There will be Fan-Specific Products in the future". I've always had this idea in my head that wished Hasbro would open a collector focused division under the Kenner name, and while I doubt that will happen. I'm interested to see where this idea will go. Hopefully this will affect not only Transformers, but their Star Wars/Marvel licenses as well! To me Hasbro's Marvel Legends line has always looked like nothing more than a slight bump above a Happy Meal toy, and the Star Wars Black Series has been devolving as well. I'd like to see them create something in the vain of what DC Collectibles is going to do with their DC Films line. Making figures for the domestic market that rival imports like Figuarts. I'd also like to see a Transformers line based solely on the IDW comics. I love the design of Prime in the comics, and I'd be glad to finally get a figure of that!

Another thing that really caught my attention was "Lots of new brand names will enter the market in the near future". I'm excited to see what they're going to do with ROM/Micronauts! A new figure of Baron Karza would be pretty darn cool!

Lastly the "Transformers Franchise is going through a transition period" really has me wondering what that's going to lead into? Hopefully something positive, because I want to see Transformers become even bigger than it already is. It's a great franchise, and I want nothing but success for it!

 

Am I the only one interested in the “Frustration-Free Packaging”?