Ouch, right in the nostalgia. I had over half of these beauties.

So we need the 36-year-long running Transformers TV series to have a season or two dedicated to Pretenders.

...let's get a 36-year-long running TF series first though. =/ Well maybe not that long. But yeah, Pretenders aren't something to feature in the first few seasons of any series, I feel. It seems like something deep within lore that is brought out to the spotlight after a few years.

 

...you mean like the Powerdashers?


I say they should bring out any fool thing and use the opportunity to fix it. This is the time to innovate and revive things formerly considered ill advised and stupid and use today's tech to really wow us. I'm pretty sick of the same 84-86 cast year after year. Give me something weird and wonderful.

I'd be okay with Action Masters coming back if they did something fun with it - i.e. non-transforming figures that dock with interchangeable ride armors that can convert to a new vehicle or a powered up robot mode with the addition of the figure.

 

- Armored car
- Previous toy was divisive, could be considered an "injustice" to the character
- As far as Catz knows, no 3p has attempted the character

I think that's it.

 

...isn't this basically every toy ever since the fandom started?

 

Thanks! I feel like this probably rules out Bulkhead, but I could totally be wrong about his most recent toy being an injustice to the character.

Edit: he also has a 3P toy apparently? Never knew about that.

 

Could be Clench, who was an armored riot vehicle Botcon exclusive retooled from the Universe Onslaught toy except gutted of all electronics. There's never been a 3P Clench, either.

 

Totally and completely agreed. I don't know how many times I've said that I want a Commander class Pretender Grimlock. I would think that it could work with today's tech. And the inner bot could even scale with Siege. Imagine a 25cm-tall human barbarian with a giant bludgeoning tool and a backpack that looks suspiciously Grimlock-shaped. Would be amazing with today's level of sculpting!

 

Right? I know some people think Pretenders are dumb, but I frankly thought the concept was cool, especially when they got more complex with the ultra and mega pretenders. I'd be even OK with them foregoing stuff like Titan class for super complex play pieces for kids like a ridiculous outsize Roadblock:


I'd have given my left eye for a Roadblock toy with modern engineering and articulation. This thing is a Micromaster-compatible rolling fortress waiting to happen.

 

Bulkheads most recent toy was technically the beast hunters deluxe, which was definitely a step down, and his 3p toy was cancelled

 

True. Looking at the releases, it might be him - we've got two bots and one con with the last one releasing being Astrotrain. So we're probably due a bot again.
I want to know who the next commander class will be.

 

Exactly! What a beautiful thing an updated Roadblock would be.

I imagine the Pretender shell could deploy from the vehicle's back like some heavy-duty super robot from an anime.

And Roadgrabber's shell/vehicle is just asking for an update in a modern Siege Leader class style. Would love to see an armor-up gimmick with this fellow.

 

I always thought a clever way to do Action Masters would be to make them like the Halo/Mega Contrux figures. Full of articulation and vehicles scaled to them. And then add in the other Hasbro properties at that scale and have a good sized shared universe.

(For reference, the Mega Construx figures are about the size of the POTP pretender armor and have more articulation than most of the Prime Wars figures)

 

I believe the leading theories at this point are Lugnut and Sky Lynx.

 

That's a cool thought, but I'd figure they'd have to properly interact with the toy ecosystem concept Hasbro's been pushing since Combiner Wars. Making them some kind of departure from that doesn't seem to be in the cards. I was more considering them to be kid-friendly Frame Arms toys or the Mega Construx toys - where the base robot is more or less a delivery/play system for pack-in or a separately sold armor packs system that's cross compatible with every other Siege-line toy. The inner robots can all have generic transformation articulation that allows kids to come up with their own creative altmodes using the different armor bits. That way you have the best of both worlds - super articulated Transformer figures that, with the help of armor plates, can become cars, planes, tanks or whatever the kid likes.

 

I'm sure it is feasible, but I think the hang-ups Hasbro is having goes beyond just the technical with Pretenders, and it probably has a lot to do with nostalgia, inconsistencies of that fan consciousness.

But, I think what they're really looking for is an opportunity to work them into the theme of the line before they go all out. To really give them a reason to come back, like Titans Return did for Headmasters, and a way to sell it to fans that these figures are essential part of the line that deserves larger attention. Since they kind of tested the waters with Prime Masters (which homaged the Pretenders, but they made sure you knew that it was the Primes inside and wasn't really those classic characters), so at the very least you know these ideas are on their mind. It's going to happen sometime, but only when the time is right.

 

I think the time is RIGHT, as they're basically all that's LEFT.

Wocka wocka wocka.

 

They’re not doing pretenders. They might do pretender characters, but they’re not doing pretenders. The first time was a disaster. Why would they repeat it?

You can quote that back at me if it happens.

 

Why do you think that...?

 

The Pretenders had really fun designs but they were not a good idea for TFs to evolve into. I think as a side thing it would be fun for regular TFs to fight these characters in some side story. The Pretenders would simple be fantasy/sci-fi characters.

I just want Octopunch to make a full fledge comeback. That fool still makes me uncomfortable.

 

I'd rather the Battle Beasts be part of the Transformers line than the Pretenders.