It looks like CW will have a run of about 18 months...and at this point, with almost a year left, we only have a small number of entirely new molds coming our way.

The CW era has brought us a totally new paradigm for maximizing engineering budget which may have first showed up in Universe 2.0 (Sideswipe/Sunstreaker) or in Generations 2013 (Springer/Sandstromthurmond). It seems that at first, people were impressed with how a properly retooled figure can feel like an entirely new toy but at this point, there is an ever growing groan as these retooled figures are starting to wear thin, with some of these guys getting as many as 6 versions (as seeb with Deadend and Alphonse Braveaux).

Assuming that we will be getting CW figures straight through mid 2016 how does this line tecnhically stack up to previous lines in terms of totally unique molds? Are we really getting over all fewer entirely new toys?

 

I agree. I'll be getting very little things from retail stores until bruticus and the fembots come out!

 

I think it's probably too early to say with any certainty that deluxe wave 6 is the end of the line for CW. It's quite possible we get (A) at least one new wave with some new molds for the Technobots (B) another repaint wave to fill out more of the S1 Autobots (Ratchet, Bluestreak, Hoist, and Sideswipe are all pretty easy repaints of other molds with only new heads technically necessary) and/or (C) another online exclusive with the Takara Groove* mold. Whether any of those happen, and which combination, will certainly affect the math here.

Titan Wars has teased Titan, Legend, and either Voyager or Leader molds (can't tell for sure w/Blaster), but no deluxe yet, so it's quite possible the two lines run concurrently next summer and we get 1-2 more waves of CW deluxes.

All that having been said, CW is going to be a bit heavy on repaints/remolds compared to more recent lines, but it also has some of the more impressive uses of remolds we've seen**. I'm a CW optimist and think we'll see all three of (A), (B), and (C) that I listed above. I also think the Autobot waves are much more of a fun after thought than the main point of CW, so I'm much less chuffed about the repaints than most people.

*And a Takara Blast Off mold, if that happens.

**That can either be a positive or negative for you, but it's certainly true that the remolds are substantial

 

I don't think its the worst thing ever. I'm just glad we finally have actual updated Combiners.

 

I think it does stack up well, but the quality depends on the viewer but I don't care I'll finally have an Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Hound, & Smokescreen with the Combaticons & Sky Lynx so I don't care.

 

Just counting molds introduced for CW (not guys that have been repainted into the line):

1) Leader Megatron/Armada Megatron
2)Leader Ultra Magnus
3) Silverbolt/G2/Cyclonus/Sacttershot
4) Optimus Prime/Motormaster/G2/Ultra Prime (white)
5) Hotspot/Onslaught (aka Hotslaught)/ Victorian torso(?)
6) Skylynx
7) Firefly/Skydive/G2/Blastoff
8) Alphonse Braveaux/Blades/Vortex/Victorian copters
9) Skydive/G2/Airraid/G2
10) Offroad/Firstaid/Ironhide
11) Deadend/G2/Breakneck/G2/Streetwise/Prowl/Victorian limb
12) Breakdown/G2/Sunstreaker/Wheeljack/Victorian limb
13) Dragstrip/Mirage
14) Rook/Swindle/Hound
15) Powergilde/G2/Viper
16) Blackjack/Rodimus
17) Bombshell
18) Scout Groove/Victorian chest plate/Wrekgar
19) ???/
Can anyone correct/finish this list?

 

You missed Legends Shockwave, Deluxe Brawl, and well, Devastator (either one Titan or 6 voyagers, depending on your choice of accounting system)

 

Says who?

I saw the first half of 2015, and nothing beyond that. The only rumors we have for Titan Wars are a few legends class figures (mixed in with CW-compatible legends) and images of Titans and Voyagers (which could still be leaders as well).

So for all we know, CW will continue to mix in with Titan Wars. The goal being to leverage the popularity of pricepoint compatibility across *all* levels beyond just Deluxe and Voyager.

So we could see CW continue with new Legends/Deluxes/Voyagers while Titan Wars mixes in it's own figures at Legends/Voyager/Leader (and Fort Max).

I'm not going to count out Combiner Wars just yet. We've still got at least the rest of the Technobots, and likely a repaint/tooling of Sky Lynx to go through before I'd start wondering if that's that.

Just because the tagline switches from Combiner Wars to Titan Wars doesn't mean they'll stop making combiners. Especially since Combiners are Titans in their own right.

 

If you take away the obvious quality difference...

I do like CW Wheeljack better than the older one.

Other than that, the rest look like shit.

Then if you add quality back into the equation, no the the older version is clearly the better version.

 

Another thing to consider. Last year the wave structure went thusly
Deluxe
Wave 1-4 new figures
Wave 2- 2 new figures
Wave 3- 4 new figures
Wave 4- 2 new figures
Wave 5- 3 new figures

This year we're getting 4 new figures in each wave. So the redeco/retools need to spread further. Now granted there are some choices i dont agree with (like making SkY Reign before the Technobots, not giving Cyclonus a team) but overall i think the line's doing well. Just needs better distribution

 

yeah, i think it's more how they've gone about it that has begun to Rankle:

I mean, i think some of what they've done like Offroad to First Aid, Rook to Swindle, Dead End to Stakeout, Silverbolt to Cyclonus have been pretty amazing, levels of retooling that makes me nearly consider them all new molds.

That said, 2 waves of Autobot cars is just a bridge too far for me when you think, "hey these could be Technobots or Terrorcons"

Not even a new head for Blast off or new forearms for Blades on a mold that's getting MILKED.

I realize Victorion and the G2 exclusives are what they are, but that feels like where it was stretched to the absolute breaking point. Plus the uninspired reveal of Scattershot who seems like he could have been A LOT better with just A LITTLE effort (new gun, combiner head and chest please!)

But as always, i buy what i want and heartily ignore the rest.

 

Also, instead of waves, it would be cool if someone did a calculate for new molds per month? per year? CW is churning the repaint oil but a lot of it is giftsets and will be completed within the said 18 months.

 

Ditto! Oh well! Time to buy some Super Robots!!

 

I did a reuse analysis recently, though I can't seem to dig it up to post.

The gist was the amount of new molds isn't that low, even compared with the other 3 major "phases" of generations, it's just that we've had more toys in general. Most mold reuses weren't anything other than a new head and maybe 3-4 new parts; while here every other reuse is a Springer/Sandstorm level of retooling. And previous incarnations of the maxi-line were roughly 8 waves of two new toys each while this is 4 waves of 4 new toys each.

 

Doesn't really bother me as I'm not a "completionist", so the Autobot Car waves don't affect me...nor do I collect G2 versions of characters that already have G1 CHUG representation in my collection...seems like the retools would only bother a "completionist" IMO...everybody that has certain characters in mind for their collection will pick and choose as needed...and...its a good opportunity with the easy retools or redeco for those that missed out on earlier versions of those characters...

 

Eh... a wave of repaints/retools (Autobot cars) could not just "be" a wave of completely new molds (Terrorcons)

 

Looking at Deluxes from previous lines....

Generations:

Even split.

Fall of Cybertron:

New molds lead by a nose.

Thrilling 30:

New molds have a healthy advantage. (this isn't even counting all the Mini-Cons)

Combiner Wars:

And then the old molds pull a surprise upset.

That's not including Wildrider, Slingshot, Victorion, G2 Superion or G2 Menasor, which nearly doubles the number of reuses. After 4 waves of nearly-solid reuses, too...

 

^I feel like clumping redecoes, minor retools, and the total-reshelling into one lump category is misleading. (and even then, CW isn't far from the average at all, despite rising production costs) Plus, notice how it has more figures overall as a result.

CW has more retooling, but it's extensive and dramatically changes the looks of some of the moulds. I hardly think Swindle is the same as Skywarp as far as mould-reuse, for example. And Air Raid shares only the fronts of his legs and middle arms with Skydive.

Off-topic: the existing thread on this same subject wasn't good enough? Hell, the many threads on the same subject?

 

It's possible to run TW and CW together. There are 8 deluxe toys in a case so that could be a team of limbs and some non-combiner bots. Voyager come in cases of 4 os we could get one torso-bot (x2) and one TW base (x2) Leaders don't combine so there's no need to change that, other that maybe making them more diverse, like not shipping two Megatrons at once. Then we get Fort Max at some point in the Titan class.

 

Looking at deluxes are all fine and dandy. But Hasbro's tooling budget surely covers ALL figures within a line. How are we handling voyagers, leader class (new this year) and titans (6 voyagers packed together)?