The State of Transformers 2016

rherk · Aug 10, 2016

knoted said: ↑

I understand you guys - and indeed, we all have our own preferences on so many levels.

However, if we were to discuss 'the state of Transformers', I think we should acknowledge there are two distinct perspectives on this matter:

1. Point of view of the single individual consumer; be it a kid, an adult collector or otherwise.

2. The state of Transformers as a mass consumer product brand.

Now what I notice in this fandom, we 30-something aged collectors tend to look at things purely from individual consumer perspective.

In this matter, I always suggest people to look at the bigger picture ; the state of Transformers as a brand. One of the main gauges for this, is of course the mainline CHUG / Generations.

Let's be honest to ourselves and look at the past 10 years of mainline Transformers - because the vocal sentiment of collectors has been lamenting about mainline since Combiner Wars. But is that really justified ?

If we take a more objective look at mainline years such as 2010 ; it was in fact very narrow, even entirely lacking voyager and leader class figures.

In the following years the mainlines featured a handful of standout mainline figures, but these lines were padded with WFC, FOC and movie mold repaints. A total lack of cohesion in terms of styling, play pattern and scaling.

By the time mainlines hit thrilling 30's, they manage to gel things together a bit more under the IDW monnicker, but in fact the mainline was still filler padded with molds from other Transformers continuities and repaints which end up as really loose homages ( RTS Blurr from the Drift mold for example )

And... each and every of those years, mainlines had to share production budget and shelf space with Bayformers.

Finally, with Combiner Wars we got all those combiner teams ; something we could have only dreamt of in previous years ; all in proper scaling in relation to each other and a sense of cohesion in terms of styling and play pattern. Simply, the width of character line up hadn't been done in mainline to that extent before, despite a certain percentage being repaints/retools ; they still all shared a level of cohesion and equal value of play pattern.

Now Titans Return, takes the line up width even further and it addresses some of Combiner Wars' shortcomings ; now with more refined transformations, more refined sculpts and a return of some articulation points such as wrist swivels.
Finally getting all those Headmasters in proper scaling to eachother. A fan favorite such as Brainstorm ; we get him in Walgreens G1-toy deco, SDCC exclusive deco and Takara Headmaster deco.

So yeah... the 'collector of premium TF collectibles' within us might complain about a few hollow bits here and there, but the overal merits and width of these CW and TR lines is quite the accomplishment in these economic times.

HasTak might feel a bit of heat from 3P collectibles, premium Star Wars and Marvel content and even digital media, but I think the state of Transformers as a brand in the context of mass market product, is stronger than ever.
Click to expand...

Very well said! Thanks! I much prefer a response and interaction like yours over the more common sophisticated response such as "you guys are stupid!" LOL.

mAk · Aug 10, 2016

People like this make me embarrassed to be a collector.

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The State of Transformers 2016

rherk KNERDOUT

mAk Well-Known Member

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The State of Transformers 2016

rherk KNERDOUT

mAk Well-Known Member

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