Simply put. Nobody cared enough about the G2 repaints to pay $100 for them, or at least, not enough people did. Computron was highly sought after, but he was already a popular character fans had wanted since the start of the line.

If Hasbro has done boxsets consisting of more highly popular characters, like Hoist, Bluestreak, Sideswipe, ETC. I would imagine they would have sold just fine even as repaints. The two TR boxsets sold rather well, especially the first one, as it included characters people wanted. I remember there being a high demand for it, however the rumors of a smaller production run in light of poor sales of some of the CW boxsets could have attributed to that, and the demand could have simply been those who did want one not being able to find them. You can’t really tell.

Regardless, I wish Hasbro had decided to push onwards with the boxsets a little more, as they were more or less like an answer to the Botcon boxsets in my opinion. Repaints we would have never gotten otherwise. But it seems now that Generations Selects may be trying to tap into that market a little bit.

 

Exactly my thoughts

 

There's already an Infinitus, the headmaster partner of Sentinel Prime.
Infinitus - Transformers Wiki

 

That's more true for the Titans sets, but the CW sets were billed as complete teams. So someone would either want all of them or none of them. (Yes, I'm including Computron because that lone Scattershot at retail stagnated without his fellow Technobots)

What makes Orthia different is she specifically would be only two new figures in the set. You *may* be able to get away with a PotP Seeker set because there's potential for four entirely new limbs to go with a barely different Starscream torso.

Hell, most of us (I think correctly) assume Inferno was a G2 Defensor broken up as new stuff to help fill out PotP.

Look at Devy and Predaking. People paid $100-150 for those because it was an all new set of figures that logically fit together.

 

But those two were also titans and as such the only figures in that size class for the year, plus they were unique molds

 

You have a good point there.

Orthia being the same limb bot four times kills momentum for a boxed set. Similar to how the likely Seeker combiner would be the same one or two jets repeated.

 

Which deluxes do you mean? Arcee and Grotusque, who came with the other metal Titanmasters? I thought there was some doubt they were from the boxsets due to the extensive retooling

 

There was doubt, but I feel there is stronger evidence that they would have been in the boxsets. Arcees artwork shows another unidentified bot, presumably the would be voyager, and both her and grotesque were both released with the metal titanmasters which would’ve been in the box sets.

 

Didn't they also include the last two Tech Spec symbols in their packaging?

As to "unidentified bot..." I wouldn't assume that was an unreleased figure. A lot of artwork we've seen getting thrown around was also used in stuff like Transformers: Legends. And that art would often include throwaway bots to be used as cannon fodder for the actual character.

Keep in mind Grotusque was shown transforming in his art (not done in previous sets) and both Titanmasters used the same art with different colors. It's possible the individual art was commissioned separately and used for the standalone figures rather than being something repurposed from the original boxart.

See also: Titans like Predaking and Trypticon who're shown blasting non-descript bots.

 

Yeah, I agree with Tigatron with the boxed sets issue. CW sets sorta worked cause they were complete teams. Hasbro thought fans “loved” boxed sets in general but that was not the case.

I mean, I think all of the TR boxes had cool figures but most fans simply don’t want everything in the box.

I know I’d be seriously unhappy if Siege did TR style box sets for their Selects stuff. Again, cool repaints but I don’t want most of them.

 

Hell people are already complaining that you can’t get g2 sideswipe without slamdance or Skywarp without the battlemasters

 

Which is funny because the claim is also that the G2 repaints of CW weren't big sellers.

EDIT: I should add, it's likely more people would be on board with Slamdance if the compromise to make this particular version of him didn't lead to him having the "wrong colors" in his combined form.

 

That is fairly humorous, but sideswipes deco is also very subdued compared to the likes of g2 menasor and superion (of the two superion looks much better). G2 menasor is just ugly

 

Which is true but also the colors are a big part of G2's reputation. He's simultaneously ugly but also a perfect representation of what defined G2.

And, full disclosure, I say this while absolutely adoring the colors on both Victorion and (god willing) Piranacon.

 

No. That logic doesn’t hold up. Saying that you can’t like 1 G2 repaint and not like the others, is like saying you can’t like one G1 character without liking the others. G2 Sideswipe seems to be the most popular G2 repaint of them all, but of course G2 Sideswipe actually did something. He was memorable. Thus people want him, and not a $100 set of repaints of characters/molds they already several copies in colorschemes that don’t hold a candle to G2 Sideswipe’s.

 

Yet it was the initial CW sets that killed them. We know from the leaks - Transmissions Podcast Titan Wars leaks/rumors - that the TR boxsets were being thought about at the time the initial CW boxsets were released. The change of plan for TR appears to take place just as the leaks dry up and sales data on the early CW boxsets become available.

I loved the box sets and would have happily bought more

 

I have no data on whether the CW boxsets were simply over-produced or wouldn't have sold well at any production level, but I do think another contributing factor was that there were so many different boxsets produced in a short time frame.

We got:
G2 Superion
G2 Menasor
G2 Bruticus
Victorion
Computron
Leozack

And that's just off of the top of my head. That's a LOT of boxsets. Each at about $100 a pop. I'm not surprised that not all of them sold....

 

Yep, a number of those got discounts at various times. I was able to snag Victorion via ThinkGeek for a mere $37. The G2 boxes were regularly 1/3 off on sale.

 

And yet, they missed the biggest mark - g2 defensor.