TFW2005 Exclusive - Hasbro Answers the Fans - 10/2008

ROKETOPUNCH · 10-13-2008, 05:42 PM

Why??? So that they can make more crummy Animated toys. Hold up,
people I know some of you like them but you can't deny Alts are superior.

Alts are the best next to Masterpiece in the last 8 years.

Grimlocka go-go · 10-13-2008, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent_Magnus

There's also Dinobot.
and We still probably don't know all of their 2009 25th anniversary plans.

Whoops, forgot bout him.

I just hope those exclusives they metioned for the fall of 09 are new molds, or at least new characters, and not those combiners they're putting out.

Thundershot · 10-13-2008, 05:43 PM

Well..... While on one hand, it's disappointing that Universe is going on hiatus, on the other it means I can take a little break since I don't buy movie or animated figures. I wonder what exclusives are gonna be out there?

What doesn't make sense is that they're putting on hiatus the 25th anniversary line... DURING the 25th anniversary???

Hopefully Universe Ratchet will be out before the Universe line fades...

Chris

drill · 10-13-2008, 05:44 PM

Cooltoyreview has a Q and A up.

http://cooltoyreview.com/story/front...ers_118376.asp

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cool Toy Review

Cool Toy Review: Aside from them being solid and enjoyable figures, many fans were surprised to see the core Autobot and Decepticon teams of the Animated figures had a fair amount of accurate scaling between themselves and other characters. The only exception to this though is Lugnut! In the series he towers over Megatron but in the figures Bumblebee looks like he's ready to take his lunch money. He may not be the most liked character in the series, but surely he's "toyetic" enough to warrant a Supreme class figure. Between "The Punch", his missile salvo attack, a head design that easily lends itself to basic animatronics and a neat vehicle mode, he pratically sells himself. Short version of the question: Will you please make an Animated Lugnut that's (a lot) bigger than his Voyager figure?

Hasbro: Glad to hear you like ole' Luggie! We actually put more evaluation into who goes into the Leader Class other than scale in the show. And unfortunately for Lugnut, there were other characters that we felt had more face-time in the show or would have a broader appeal (ie: kid appeal). So we felt that the Voyager scale would be the best fit for Lugnut.

Cool Toy Review: I was late joining the bandwagon on collecting the Alternators and or Binaltech from Takara. As a result I have slowly been amassing a collection but since the movie came out, the secondary market has caused the prices on these to skyrocket and thus making it economically unfeasible to continue collecting these. Is there any chance Hasbro may re-release Alternators again in some repackaged format down the road? I think given the demand we see in the secondary market that many collectors still need these, especially those who started to collect since the movie. I would especially love to see Wheeljack or Mirage done with more classic paint schemes.

Hasbro: The Alternators line has been a fan favorite since it's launch, but unfortunately there wasn't enough mainstream interest to keep it viable. As of right now, there are no plans to re-launch the Alternators line as we have turned our attention to supporting the Universe line from a collector standpoint. However, as I like to say, "never say never".

Cool Toy Review: Being a Star Wars collector for many years I have come to a love/hate relationship in regards to repaints and remolds, most notoriously with clone troopers. It seems like with the new Universe/Classics line we are seeing almost equal parts repaint/remolds vs. new molds whereas with the first Classics line we were spoiled with all new molds. Is there any type of quota, official or un-, Hasbro trys to meet with regards to repaints/remolds vs. new molds released?

Hasbro: There is not any magic number that we try to use. When we launched Classics, the concept was brand new so we had to use all new molds. As lines get successful, many times we need to utilze more repaints than originally planned to help keep up with the demand. So that's what you have been seeing in Universe this fall - in Deluxe and Ultra classes we were able to bring in a lot of new molds. And the Universe concept was so well received that we added the Voyager scale later but needed to use re-paints to hit the same timing. You will eventually see new molds in Voyager scale in Universe.

Cool Toy Review: Whatever the reason to justify their existence, the Big Millennium Falcon and AT-TE playset/vehicles have changed things. With 2009 being another Transformers movie year and Season 3 of Animated green-lighted, can fans dare to dream of seeing an Animated Omega Supreme in the same beastly scale as the Falcon?

Hasbro: No matter what the scale is, I think most of us would like to see a large-scale Animated Omega Supreme. However, with the movie coming next summer our higher priced items will be in support of the movie. Also in order to do a toy at that size, we would need to get more exposure to the character in the TV series to ensure that the kids know the character too. So I wouldn't expect to see it in the next year, but we would like to do it at some point.

Cool Toy Review: Any chances of seeing newer moulds of Beast Wars characters? Alot of characters that were made originally were never done justice. If not at least a reissue here and there in the modern Universe packaging?

Hasbro: You're in luck! We have a couple of Beast Wars characters slotted for the 25th Anniversary Universe Deluxe assortment with all-new molds! The first character will be Cheetor. There will be one other new mold, but as of the time I am typing this I'm not sure if it's been announced... so what the heck - it's Dinobot!

Ravenxl7 · 10-13-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROKETOPUNCH

Why??? So that they can make more crummy Animated toys. Hold up,
people I know some of you like them but you can't deny Alts are superior.

Alts are the best next to Masterpiece in the last 8 years.

Honestly, I think the Alternators line was one of the worse lines we've had in recent years, and only superior to G1 due to some actual articulation. I understand why the line was canceled to begin with (too costly to produce), and honestly don't really care if the line ever comes back again. I also understand why there are so many fans that like it, but to me they'll always just be expensive model cars.

citcgn · 10-13-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Bailey

Oh yeah, that too! Seems ever since Movie toys came out we've had to fix/mod areas of our toys, deal with the worst paint jobs I think we've ever seen, and I still find a lot of my purchases have gummy black spots on them.

Yeah, when I got my Animated Ultra Magnus, he had a big swipe of green/yellow glue that ran from his nose along his cheek. Made him look like he'd picked a big booger and it got stuck to his face.
As far as the news goes, the only thing I'm really a sad panda for is the lack of Alternators and Alternity. The Animated toys have been much better than the cartoon and have far exceeded my expectations but it's still hard for me to get really excited about them.. Universe has some great character choices and overall designs but its engineering and scales are just a mess. Renewed Alternator-style figures were my big hope for getting pumped for the franchise again. Without them there is no big pull until the new movie comes out. So, not too worried about no Omega or Universe on hold but I'd love to get some Alts of either type on shelves.

webz · 10-13-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZacWilliam

Sigh. I'm really bummed out.

I would much rather Animated go on hiatus than Universe. Don't get me wrong, I understand that having a Cartoon is why one is staying and the other is on hold, and I like Animated fine, I just am not NEARLY as interested in it as I am in Universe/Classics. It's a rare Animated toy I'm interested in enough to buy, where as *ALL* the Classics/Universe have been MUST purchases for me.

I wonder how many waves of Classics/Universe/25th coolness they'll squeeze in before the movie junk takes over?

Interesting, because I am the exact opposite. I find the TFA toys to be far more faithful to the original G1 toys than Classics, because of the simple transformations and the kid-friendly emphasis. Most of the Classics look nice, and all, but don't have the same spirit or attitude the TFA toys have. The smirk of Bumblebee, the scowl of Ratchet, the grin of Starscream... I just LOVE the TFA toys as a brilliant extention of an established universe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torque

kool stuff, though i was REEEEEEEEEEEEALLY hopinh for Omega Supreme... =[

I not only was hopinh for Omega, but I was also hoping for him too. He was an awesome, but short-lived character... Would love him to double as a "playset" for the Activators sized characters. That would be awesome beyond comprehension.

SmokescreenSWE · 10-13-2008, 05:49 PM

I'm quite happy with Universe taking a break. It's seriously expensive to keep up. Right now, I need to get Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Silverstreak, Smokescreen, Inferno, Hound and Cyclonus, and if possible Breakaway, Ratbat and Springer. Dragstrip and Wildrider would be cool too.

noblekale · 10-13-2008, 05:54 PM

Might have missed something, but here's what I've gotten out of what they said:

Universe was on hiatus but Animated would continue. There's several Animated figures listed in Universe, so in a way they can have Animated Universe out. Ok, so it's mostly Legends figures, but still.

Store exclusive Universe, I see these as the combiners. Possibly Bruticus for Walmart and Superion for Target, seems to make sense to me.

I'm looking forward to some of the movie figures, but don't plan on buying any new molds of the movie 1 guys unless need be (Optimus maybe for combining).

Hate Animated, but what can you do?

Johnator · 10-13-2008, 05:55 PM

Are you kidding me!? Universe put on hiatus but Animated continues?! I can't find a Acid Storm to save my life in stores five minutes after they are stocked (I finally got him online) but 8 trillion Animated Ratchets clogg the shelves. Grrrrr. I guess there are some silver linings since I know Universe will come back and at least I am going to save money. When the movie hits I probably won't buy most of the movie line (but then again who knows?) and I know I won't be buying Animated so I will have time to recuperate financially. Thanks for asking the questions TFW2005 and congrats to those who got good news out of it.