If you were trying to sell the concept and qualities of the Transformers Animated toy line to a non-collector, or an enthusiast who doesn’t collect Animated, which one toy would you pick to represent and ‘sell’ the line? What about Generation 1 1984 to 1986? And Masterpiece? DOTM? These are the questions we put to our contributors, and their responses demonstrate the kind of insight – and surprises – that we hoped an article series like this would produce. The question they were asked was as follows: “What toy would you choose to represent an entire toy line, if you had ONE choice, one toy you could pitch to a non-collector in order to sell the line?”. Ambassadors – Part 2 | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ I added my own choices for last week's Part 1 categories on my new blog Square One: Square One: Ambassadors Part 2 - and my picks for Part 1 With thanks to: - Genetic - Puffmarko - IronhicHide - Scubaboy31 - The Last Autobot Part 1 can be found here: Ambassadors – Part 1 | Source Blog All the best Maz
The trouble with the "ambassadors" approach is that one or a couple of great figures can give a misleading impression about an entire line - anyone lucky enough to pick up a G1 Jetfire may form the impression that the line must have been a well articulated gold mine of awesome engineering, not the brick-fest it really is. Simplistic perhaps, but you get the point. Otherwise a nice read as usual. Animated continues to elude me, perhaps if I stop trying it'll click?
Fantastic choices once again guys, totally agree on MP-1, despite preferring MP-10 in my collection. I've had (not collector) friends blown away by MP-1 while MP-10 is just cool. Definitely a great ambassador for the line. My reasoning for picking the original Prowl over the Samurai version is basically one of straightforward simplicity. Samurai Prowl may add more to the figure in terms of value, but the armour gimmick hampers the playability of the figure once you take it off the shelf. The basic, core figure is what's so impressive so I gave the nod to the original. The added thigh swivels and (kinda) light piping to the Samurai Prowl is a nice touch. The removal of the ninja stars not so much.
I want to disagree so hard with The Last Autobot's choice for Leader Ironhide as an "ambassador" choice, but damn was that a well written paragraph of reasoning. Absolute fun read.
I only have Samurai version but can see why the other would get preference as the armour does restrict things quite a bit, I really should pick up a vanilla version sometime. I would've been tempted to say Rodimus though
Ahhh Rodimus, I love that figure. The reason I didn't pick him is that, rather than be the perfect introduction to the line, he acts as the perfect conclusion to end the line with. He's fantastic. He sums up everything wonderful about Animated, but at the end of the day he doesn't impress like Prowl initially does.
Cheers guys Credit definitely all goes to the contributors this week. I don't think there was ever any chance of it appealing to everyone, and as much as I would have said that if you don't get it straight away, you won't, the others in the UK thread upon which it's grown gradually would prove me wrong. Is it just the toon or toys that don't appeal? Or both? Thanks for your contribution, Dan. I too could not find fault with Morgan's argument for MP-1 even though he says himself that I disagree with him! Haha thanks Matt, I've been really bowled over by people's arguments for figures I would not have chosen myself. I was really impressed by the lengths Marco went to in order to justify Devastator as well. All the best Maz
Animated is wonderful due to the fantastic characterization. One may not like the character designs at first (and it's true that they simply do not fit in with any other Transformers toy line aesthetic), but the toys are stellar representations of some of the best characters on any Transformers series ever.
^that's basically it. Watching the premier and every episode when they came out was a feeling I've only gotten with a couple shows. Prime, I went weeks before even bothering to watch the episodes, a few times over a month. It just didn't grab me the same way. Devastator was a great pick. That would have been a hard decision. There are a lot of great figures in there to choose from.
Props to Genetic for sticking with MP1. Devastator is a brave choice, too. I can't comment, I've never owned one. Re: Leader Ironhide, should we praise this man for arguing the impossible, or fear he may be the devil's lawyer? And, to echo Scuba about TFA Prowl: Sometimes crumpets don't need butter.
Considering I now mostly collect G1, I can heartily agree with Puffmarko's choice: Devastator is a superb ambassador for the G1 line. Well articulated and argued excellent choices by everyone, though! You guys make even the Transformers I wouldn't regularly be interested in look good.
Ah, I would have said MP-01 for Masterpiece too. He's got shock absorbers in his feet. Beat that ankle tilts! (Oh and he has those too). Animated choices were interesting, I would have gone for either Prowl or Samurai Prowl, but if Samurai had those... glaives? Spinny knife things too he would be top for me. You can always do a little partswapping for the 'ultimate' Prowl, but then that's out of the box so it's cheating. G1 Devastator... ooof, don't envy having to make that choice, so many to choose from. Having said that, I can agree with it, I have a G1 Devastator and there is something magical about him, his unique combination (despite supposedly using 'older tech' that the 'Special Teams' use) and unified colours make him a joy to behold. CAn't say much about LEader Ironhide, never owned one... kinda regret it now though. Curses.
I found Leader Ironhide shelf warming in a branch of Wilkinsons, not long after I started buying TFs. I already knew that I was not a fan of the Bay-verse figures, but he looked so impressive in the box, with his weaponry out. The alt mode is not that easy to get the panels aligned, and too much kibble is visible under the vehicle, but the value for the price is undeniable. The size, gimmicks, licenced alt mode and relatively simple transformation do indeed make him a good figure to show non-collectors. And he has a knife in his leg. Unfortunately, it led me to buy his shelf buddy Leader Sentinel Prime, which I loathe!
I can accept and agree with all of that....but at the end of the day what would be on my shelf is a toy that may well be a wonderfully engineered representation of a TV presence but it's still beyond goofy looking to my sense of aesthetics......I can't get past that. The show may very well be all that's claimed for it but I can't get more than a few minutes into any given episode before the gag-reflex kicks in and I want to watch something else. It may be the most shallow of responses and not something I'm waving about as if proud of it but it is how I feel. Prime and the Movies do the same. There's sometimes no rationalising taste.
Thanks for your nice comments on my choice, guys. Mine was a brave choice, indeed. The early Transformers toy line is in my opinion strictly linked to the pre-1984 Takara toy production. So I decided to not pick robots as Omega Supreme and Jetfire as they are not originally Takara-made and even because they were never released in Japan under G1 line in 80s for licensing conflicts. In fact, another criteria I used was related to the distribution of a toy. Devastator was released in every Country where The Transformers toyline was officially launched: USA, Canada, Australia (Hasbro), Mexico (IGA), Japan and Far East (Takara), Italy (GiG), France (Ceji), UK and mid-Europe (Milton Bradley), Greece (ElGreco)... all these Countries had Devastator, in six cards, in six boxes or in giftset. So potentially every kid from Eastern and Western emisphere known this toy. Another thing is about the innovation of this mold. We shouldn't never forget the historical context in which this toy line has been released. It is always an error to express an opinion about something from past, without having at least a little bit of knowledge of the topic. What were the features of most of robots before 1984/1985? Two main features, transforming and assembling robots. Correct me please if I am wrong. We had from Japan many transforming toys, vehicles and robots (from Takara, Popy/Bandai, Takatoku and Clover, too many examples)... and many assembling robots (doing some name, God Sigma, Daltanious, Gordian, Kotetsu no Jeeg and so on), but I think Devastator was one of the first robots to have both features in only one toy. Six transforming robots that can assemble themselves in one bigger robot. Nose-bleeding-stuff for kids in 80s, especially for the not-Japanese ones, and still today we should be aware of the innovation this mold brought into the market. Third parties, ko makers and Takara itself are still reissuing and modifing the same mold or toy strongly ispired from this unique concept. Among this specific time lapse, even Soundwave, Reflector, Trypticon and Megatron could have been good choices in my opinion, but they were never have been released and distributed so widely as Devastator. Just my two cents.
Yes! G1 Devastator. I beat the crap out of matchbox cars and small toy trucks and such, digging in the dirt and building tracks in the yard for them. The Constructicons made transitioning from these simple toys to G1 figures smooth due to size and functionality. Not to mention the 1st combiner! An underdog for sure, but my choice as well for G1, Iconic in every sense of the word.
