It was voiced during the Panel during BotCon discussing TF: Animated, and there is no more "full line gimmicks." What exactly does this mean?
A 'full line gimmick' is a gimmick that is extended to every figure in a line... Think minicons and cyber keys
armada was the minicon key energon was the combining of autobot figures + the power chip thingy cybertron was the cyber planet key movie toys was auto morph etc
Actually I'm kind of glad its gone because it may "limit" the design of the toys in question. It would be better if a toy has its own individual gimmick IMO.
Your right. It will be nice to have a figure with their own unique gimmick, whether it be missle launchers or hidden weapons.
Well, the gimmick has been always that the figures transorm. I think last lines overused the gimmick factor, that wasn't presented in Classics that have really ggod figures.
G1 was famous not for having no gimmicks, but tons of them. Everybody was in a group with a universal gimmick. You had Jumpstarters, Triplechangers, Minibots, Cassette-bots, Turbochargers, Sparkabots, *-masters, I could go on. That's good.
The Animated bots *will* have gimmicks, they'll just be different for each one. I see things like Blitzwing having a face changing button, Bulkhead having a retractable mace or whatever weapon he was mentioned to have, Prime with his big ass Axe etc. Each one will be character specific, but still gimmicky. So while it may actually make sense for the character to have it, it still may be a toy ruiner. But even so, can't go wrong with a Big Ass Axe, as long as he can hold it proper.
The only gimmick that should be implemented line-wide is light piping, though not really a gimick, it makes a HUGE difference! Especially the little real gears...those bad boys look awesome with glowing eyes!
If there's an ANimated Mirage, they should include photon-bending technology, so he turns invisible and you can't find him. Till you step on him. Ouch. heheh animated huffer has 16 pre-recorded gripes animated wheeljack tries to pimp your toaster and blows up your kitchen animated starscream tips animated megatron off the shelf and declares supremacy. animated hound eventually becomes a g.i. joe figure
I'm glad that the only gimmicks will be character based. I hate gimmicks, that is one reason I didn't like the whole minicon (but there is more to that story) and cyber planet key things... The only line gimmick I have ever liked (so far) has been automorph, and I really would like to see it return in the future.
as has been said,i think tf's transforming is enough of a gimmick in & of itself. the only thing i really hate about keys/powerlinx/minicons/automorph is the "full line" thing--the "rule" that says that every figure in the line has to have it...
I look forward to character based gimmicks. It's kind of like a return to G1. I mean, everyone Transformers, but they also have something else to them ... like Prime's freakin' axe!
The thing about the Armada and Cybertron gimmicks is that they could have done the exact same things with a mere button. Frankly I always hated the idea of the TFs having to drag a minicon along with them, lo and behold in the cartoon they always just seemed to pop out of nowhere when needed like cyberkeys before their time. And the powerlinking of Energon was horrifically stupid and made for ugly combinations. At least the basic scale figures escaped with only having to have "energon" weapons and the Decepticons escapes with only having to have a "hyper mode" i.e. something extra that folded out with no need for minicon or key. Automorph is awesome but I can see how it complicates things for the designers. Would be cool if they used it in the future on a limited basis without feeling obliged to put it in as many toys as possible.
I like the idea of multiple gimmicks being spread amongst sub-groups. Like doing Headmasters, but only release ten of them in the particular line. Or have the Dinobots share a gimmick(chomping, lets say). And hey, why not play up the sub-faction/group a little more? With Hasbro releasing 3-packs of movie figures, I could easily see that leading into them doing themed releses, like spy teams(Mirage, Bumblebee & Cliffjumper), Insecticon Infestation (the various Insecticons), or something really cool, like a Wreckers team. (split into 2 three packs, it could be ULTRA Magnus,Springer and Twin Twist in one, and Roadbuster, Broadside and Top Spin in the other. Man, I'd love to see ALL those figures updated.)
