Aaron Archer at TFNation 2018

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by Sol Fury, May 4, 2018.

  1. GizmoTron

    GizmoTron Roobaticon Commander

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2010
    Posts:
    6,562
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +9,329
    Ebay:
    Articulation is nice, but arguably I like that they got away from robots that transform by shoving all of their parts inside giant puzzle pieces of beast/car kibble.

    Also technically I believe it was Steven Spielberg who brought Michael Bay into your life, stuff like that among the many other decisions regarding the movies were out of Archer's hands (plus the toy line for those first few movies was pretty darn good and brought back quite a bit of that articulation that you missed during the Unicron Trilogy).
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. darwin

    darwin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2013
    Posts:
    1,671
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +4,188
    Twitter:
    Instagram:
    agreed on every. Single. Word.
    But you know, we have a lot of rude pricks here, ehm, i meant "experts" that sell their opinions as holy thruth, especially if they can have a rant about something ....
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. jamarmiller

    jamarmiller S.K.A.R. LEADER

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Posts:
    7,766
    News Credits:
    13
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +5,473
    Ebay:
    was it ever revealed why he quit Hasbro ?
     
  4. ZapRowsdower

    ZapRowsdower Selling oddities in a shack. In the woods.

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2014
    Posts:
    4,915
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +4,924
    I don't think his ideas stuck.

    The mini-con thing is pretty dead (*RID did revive it, but to a minor extent, imo, and the toys did not sell well enough to release all the different waves in the USA). The combination gimmick (duo-con's) never went anywhere. The horrible/bizarre anime story was among the worst in TF fiction.

    I don't know if he quit or was fired, but.... ehhh... I hated what he did "for" the franchise. When Takara was considering a G1/G2 revisit, Archer rejected the idea to create.... that Unicron trilogy. :puke:  I don't mind new ideas in TFs (I loved TF Prime!), but if his Unicron trilogy was SUPPOSED to be good, we can at least agree he did an awful job stewarding this ship. Or bad circumstances?

    Either way, I'm not fond of his efforts - especially when he explains the communication/execution problems he had with the animation group in charge of creating that abominable Unicron trilogy!
     
  5. pnova

    pnova Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2016
    Posts:
    123
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    67
    Likes:
    +21
    Unicron arc is good - but only when you see the toys that where never released, it did seem we got the poor designs released & the good stuff never made & only in sketches
     
  6. lordcryotek

    lordcryotek M'Hael

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2003
    Posts:
    9,705
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Location:
    Dumai's Wells
    Likes:
    +38,754
    From the wiki: "In 2013, he resigned from Hasbro for initially undisclosed reasons.[2] He later confirmed that his main reason was the increasing difficulty of developing "fun" toys while dealing with rising plastic prices and the constant pressure for cost efficiency."

    While we have gotten some interesting figures post-Archer (especially in TR), my interest in the main line has declined since his departure and I personally accredit that to a decline in the figures' overall quality in the name of cost-efficiency. I miss Archer's passion for the product, but I'm happy for the many amazing figures released under his leadership at Hasbro that helped invigorate the brand after a dead period.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    • Like Like x 2
  7. Greylight

    Greylight Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Posts:
    145
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    132
    Likes:
    +162
    Yes, the fact that there is more than one creator is exactly my point. I'm not part of the Anti-Aaron mindset in this thread, yet it somehow seems I got lumped into that. I am not downplaying Aaron's contributions, or trying to discredit him. I am all for fair credit. My concern is that the wording "Transformers Creator Aaron Archer" could mislead casual fans and any general public that may visit this site into thinking that Aaron Archer is the one and only, original creator of all things Transformers. Which indirectly affects the fair credit to all other Transformers creators.

    My personal opinion is that "Transformers: Armada creator" or "creator of the Unicron Trilogy" or anything more specific or less general would have been clearer to non-fans. I was only offering a suggestion.
     
  8. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2003
    Posts:
    52,165
    News Credits:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    442
    Likes:
    +52,695
    He left at a time when Hasbro had started to go cheap substantially compared to years prior. I felt like their zenith in mainline Transformers was around 2010 or early 2011. The Prime 1st Edition figures were the last ones Archer designed and the difference between those and figures since can be striking. Hell the difference between 1st edition Prime and Prime mainline voyager Optimus is pretty striking.

    These days we get leader figures and can only hope they're just as solid as the Ultra figures of 2008. Sometimes I sit here and wonder how Combiner Wars Megatron and T30 Jetfire would've turned out if designed/released before 2010 during the Archer days. Maybe they would be revered nearly 10 years later as much as ROTF leader Optimus.

    Hasbro proved they could nail a transforming line with highly styalized designs with Transformers Animated and Archer was around for that. Credit where it's due, it was a fun time to be a fan when he was at Hasbro.

    Hopefully he gets to work on an MP Armada Prime with Takaratomy in the future.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. lordcryotek

    lordcryotek M'Hael

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2003
    Posts:
    9,705
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Location:
    Dumai's Wells
    Likes:
    +38,754
    I would say that 90% of my favorite Hasbro figures were produced during Archer's run, the Cybertron, Classics, and Movie/G1 hybrid (RTS, HFTD) lines being particular highlights. Even for all it's shortcomings, people forget that the reason why Armada figures had limited articulation was often the complete opposite of cost-cutting...they were huge and packed full of gimmicks, they squeezed as much as they possibly could into each toy. The perfect example: Armada Tidal Wave. This figure retailed for $25-30 and he's head and shoulders taller than a modern Leader figure. While he may not have knees or a proper neck swivel, he has a working aircraft ramp, transformed into a super-ship and then into three smaller ships, and he even had a wee little mini-con.
    My complaints with modern-day Hasbro never have to do with the designs of the figures, but the execution. It's like seeing a master painter decide to just paint on construction paper, the talent is clearly there but the painting could have been so much better if they had used a proper canvas.
     
  10. General Tekno

    General Tekno Lugnut Supremor & Arkivist

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    Posts:
    11,757
    News Credits:
    242
    Trophy Points:
    382
    Location:
    The Teknodrome
    Likes:
    +5,533
    Yeah; people whining about no articulation on Armada miss the point of that - namely, they were targeting a new incoming audience of fans with simple toys laden with fun play patterns, which could then go up in complexity as the line went on. I wasn't collecting at the time (having fallen out after the Beast era due to typical attrition) but some of the concepts in that line were pretty neat.

    For that matter, it was also the beginning of the Hasbro/Takara close integration we see today where they design in tandem - sure TakaraTomy was doing Beast Wars toys but Armada was when they actually started co-planning the entire toyline/media together. Which in of itself was a monumental thing. (One that we've kinda moved away from, that said - Takara doesn't feel nearly as involved these days from a creative standpoint, but then by the same token they're kinda putting a lot of focus into stuff like the MP figures, given the children's market isn't exactly massive)
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. kaijuguy19

    kaijuguy19 Keyblade Wielder

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2011
    Posts:
    32,506
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +15,985
    That doesn't excuse the way Armada handled the gimmicks so flawed though. The BW and RID lines before it managed to included both gimmicks and articulation that wasn't that badly hindered most of the time so what was Armada's excuse? I would feel more ticked off if I was collecting in those days because it just felt like the brand was insulting the younger fan's intelligence. I know Archer and the old team were trying to work with what they got at the time and I don't blame them for that but it feels like a double standard that we bash current lines for not being complex,articulated and solid enough yet we pass over the flaws of older lines that did them even worse like Armada just because they had more plastic and gimmicks.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
    • Like Like x 1
  12. MegaMoonMan

    MegaMoonMan OFFICIAL MMM REP

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2004
    Posts:
    21,074
    News Credits:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    452
    Likes:
    +7,909
    Ebay:
    YouTube (Legacy):
    Totally. If you want to blame someone for the lack of stuff you wanted, blame the cost cutting bean counters that didn't see the need for things like articulation, and were only interested in lowering part counts.

    If the man was ever given full reign to make whatever he wanted, it would probably have turned into some of the best figures we ever saw.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
    • Like Like x 3
  13. lordcryotek

    lordcryotek M'Hael

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2003
    Posts:
    9,705
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Location:
    Dumai's Wells
    Likes:
    +38,754
    To be clear, I am referring to Archer's entire run (which ended in 2013...so over ten years, not just Armada) with my praise, and I would happily admit that Armada and Energon were the definite low-points of his time at Hasbro, though I have very fond memories of both as I was a younger teen and a rabid fan during those years. Armada had the bad luck of coming after BM and RID, one of which had off-putting art design that didn't resonate with older G1-loving fans (I mean, I liked some of them), while RID figures were so complex that many children (and even their parents) couldn't transform them (RID Magnus seen on the TV show Yes, Dear in his natural resting state of a lump of legs. I loved RID though). Hasbro decided to simplify their figures and bring them back to vehicles almost exclusively, and it worked for sales. The fans survived the gimmicky Armada years and then Hasbro moved on to allow more articulation as Takara and Hasbro began to work together on the designs. After those two lines, we got Cybertron...I have nothing bad to say about Cybertron, or much else of what followed.

    To reiterate: I think modern TF designs are often an aesthetic improvement over the older ones. I also think modern, post 2013 TF figures are objectively worse built than the older ones, with obvious exceptions in both cases. For instance, my Energon Megatron's ratchets are, to this day, strong enough to balance a TR Sky Shadow on just his forearm and stay that way overnight, no problem. I played with Energon Megatron as a literal child and he has taken multiple shelf-falls from more than a couple of feet with absolutely no damage. Energon Megatron has better ratchets than every single one of my $100+ third party figures, with maybe Carnifex for competition, who cost more than quadruple Megatron's $40 retail price. TR Sky Shadow (who cost me $50 something), while a decent figure, can not even balance a scout sized figure on his left arm without his arm immediately drooping though the right is better than the left on my copy, to be fair. Also to be fair...I've barely picked him up at all, the looseness was straight out of the box, which makes me worry about what a bit of time will do to his joints. Energon Megatron is twice his size, has electronics, no hollow parts, comparable articulation, and he cost me less money (also, he still goes for that price on Ebay). Now, imagine TR Sky Shadow with the same ratchets as Megatron and no hollow parts...it's a better figure than Megatron without a doubt, but it sadly does not exist. The funny part is that people were clamoring for that cancelled Botcon repaint of Sky Shadow into E Megatron...

    I guess this is just a short way of saying thanks to Aaron Archer and all of the people on his team who made Transformers the fun (it's still fun, though) and formerly affordable hobby it used to be before retail died, I'm not a person who often has heroes as an adult, but Archer was one of mine as a kid. Obviously, things have changed and there's not much to be done about that, but I can appreciate the past and be glad for the fans who are happier with the way things are now.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Ryan F

    Ryan F Transform and Roll Out!

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2009
    Posts:
    3,059
    News Credits:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    292
    Likes:
    +6,913
    Whatever one’s opinions of the quality of his work, I think I can say without fear of contradiction that the guy is a FAN, he’s one of us. We’ve had more interaction with Archer than with any Hasbro employee before or since, he loved hanging out on the forums, and it’s great that he’s finally coming to the UK.

    He’s part of the TF collective. He’s not some hired hack doing it just for the cash - whatever else you may think of him, you can’t deny he has a deep care for the franchise and a bond with the fandom that goes beyond the normal creator/fan relationship.

    He has enthusiasm, stories to tell, insider knowledge and a desire to remain connected to the fan base.

    Someone said upthread that it doesn’t really matter if he’s a nice guy or not, the only thing that matters is how good he was at his job. I fundamentally disagree with that premise.

    For example, Matthew Waterhouse is one of the all-time worst actors to be a regular cast member of Doctor Who, yet he’s a absolute hoot on the convention circuit. I’d much rather hear him gossip about his time on the show that meet a ‘better’ actor but one who’s more reserved and cagey.

    I mean, it’s quite weird how some people just make for darn good guests, regardless of actual contribution. Peter Spellos (the guy who voiced Sky Byte) had the TFNation crowd in absolute raptures despite being a ‘lesser’ name in fandom than Bob Budiansky, who (bless him) has a stage presence akin to a middle manager giving a PowerPoint presentation.

    If Archer is friendly, engaging, and has intersting stories to tell, I don’t care what the ‘quality’ of his contribution to the franchise was.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. General Tekno

    General Tekno Lugnut Supremor & Arkivist

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    Posts:
    11,757
    News Credits:
    242
    Trophy Points:
    382
    Location:
    The Teknodrome
    Likes:
    +5,533
    And Archer very much is all of those things. Very nice person who is great to talk to and full of stories. Should make for a great guest to hang with in the bar.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  16. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2003
    Posts:
    52,165
    News Credits:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    442
    Likes:
    +52,695
    Actually specifically for the combining Armada Prime, the legs were never designed to be fully articulated. They were always static since the base mode took priority. Emphasis on the toy was always playability.

    Oddly enough, back then on the boards(before I got an Armada Prime for myself), I strongly felt that Energon Prime was better due to articulation alone. However after getting a combining Armada Prime, I felt that Armada Prime was the stronger figure.