Did TF series and characters influences your choice of purchase?

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by YellowCorvette, Sep 18, 2019.

  1. YellowCorvette

    YellowCorvette Average Core Gundam enjoyer

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    This is just a question I have in mind. I just wonder if the TF series or character influences whenever or not would you buy a figure, or you just simply buy a figure you want without association of the series or characters it originates from.

    Would you still buy a figure if:
    - You dislikes or have no attachment to the series it originates from?
    - You think the design is ugly, unappealing or underused?
    - You hated the series or the character associated with that figure?

    For me, that's how I kinda feel about the TF: Prime and Movieverse toys that I currently own. The Bayverse movies are tolerable at best in a "so bad it's good" way for me and I have the uncommon opinion of not being the biggest fan of the TF: Prime cartoon, and yet I still buy them since I just think they're good toys and could be something interesting in my expanding collection.
     
  2. DecepticusPrime

    DecepticusPrime "Essential" Personnel

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    I didnt love Prime the series So i sold off most of my prime collection save a few figures i planned for repurpose into my main CHUG collection. I had more buyers remorse overall with that series than ever before.
     
  3. Dachande

    Dachande MULTI-QUOTE- USE IT. Super Mod

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    I would speculate that a massive chunk of the fandom buys figures based off of at least one of the many media offerings, be it movies, cartoons or comics.
    This is a nostalgia driven franchise, so somewhere along the line people will buy a figure because they remember the character from a show/comic they remember from their early days.
    There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part I believe a majority buy figures of characters and not just because the toy looks good.
     
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  4. Soundwavelover2004

    Soundwavelover2004 Well-Known Member

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    If its a charecter i like then yes but if its a tf i dont know about nah
     
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  5. EarthGBilly

    EarthGBilly Sucker for a GERWALK Mode

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    If I have an actual dislike of the character, I am probably not buying it. I'm a recovering completionist, and I'm okay with not having a figure just because it's part of a series. It's the same way with movies - I only pick up the good sequels and skip the crummy ones.

    If the design is ugly or unappealing, I generally skip it. Love of character can trump that, but seldomly.

    I can hate the series and still enjoy a good figure. I own a few movie figures, but I am not a fan of the films. I'm not their audience, and that's fine. That makes it easier, because, for the most part, I barely know the characters from the films, so I can enjoy the figures without any real bias. Like Studio Series Nitro Zeus and Thundercracker. I couldn't tell you anything about the characters in the film, but those figures are finnicky and phenomenal. Love that design.

    Of course, if the character makes a negative impact, then I have problems with purchasing. Cogman comes to mind. A while back, that figure was down to $12, and despite my love of Titans Return, I could not bring myself to buy the figure. Why? One of the few things I remember from... Age of Extinction? No, that was Last Knight, right? Anyway, hated the character in whichever movie it was in. I'm not saying I'll never buy it, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Just have to disassociate that character from the figure.
     
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  6. WishfulThinking

    WishfulThinking The world has moved on...we've always said.

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    Cyberverse has grown on me to the point that I'm interested in at least one version of each character. But I'm restricting myself to a scale chart. So, no giant stomping Grimlock for me. I'm only looking at Warrior Class scale, although a case could be made for the 'voyager' sized figure. Autobot cars are mostly limited to one-steps and most Decepticons are Warrior Class, making the Seekers slightly larger than the Autobots aside from Prime and Windblade.
     
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  7. Windsweeper II

    Windsweeper II Banned

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    I bought lots of toys because I like the characters in fiction or because I like their on screen designs.
    And I bought lots of toys because I liked how the toys look.
    I don't have a high opinion of Prime or the movies either (but I don't scream the movies are the worst ever on every occasion or think the Bee movie is the second coming just because Bay wasn't behind it) but I came to appreciate the movie aesthetic and I like some of the Prime toys.
     
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  8. Roger Semerad

    Roger Semerad Well-Known Member

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    I collect primarily because of the engineering involved in transformation, so my feelings on a character or show has little impact on what I collect. Where those feelings do influence me is when I feel a toy is only borderline worth it. In that case being a well liked character or from a show I really like can act like a tie breaker. I do have feelings for G1, Animated, and IDW, but those feelings are far less important to me than the art of transforming toys themselves. I actually have a lot of toys that I have no knowledge of the media they're from.
     
  9. Ikkstakk

    Ikkstakk Well-Known Member

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    In some cases, yes. I never watched RID 2015 but I really enjoyed a lot of the Decepticon designs, and bought a fair amount of them.
     
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  10. popcorn

    popcorn Well-Known Member

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    I don't like the Bay movies but did buy SS Blackout and MPM Barricade because I think they're a good design.
     
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  11. DashCourageous

    DashCourageous Greetings Programs!

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    If I like the design I will. Bulk of my collection are variations of G1, but I'd buy a MPM if the heads and hands weren't visually sh*t most of the time.
     
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  12. Prime Noble

    Prime Noble Well-Known Member

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    I have bought toys of characters I despise. I never liked G1 Wheeljack but he was one of my favourite childhood toys.

    Same with Kup. Hate the character but liked the G1 and Titans Return toys.

    I did give Alpha Trion to my nephew. He and Rattrap are the characters I hate most in the franchise.

    I have bought quite a few characters I hate but the toy was good. Plus I try to have some version of every character from G1 and it's offshoots.

    ROTF Nightbeat was the opposite. I wanted a scout size version of Nightbeat for years so I picked it up. I hated the alien head but the car mode is fantastic and one of the best repaints of all time.

    As a kid I remember buying Stranglehold to complete his gang with Bludgeon and Octopunch but that shell was awful.

    G1 had one thing most modern lines don't have. The compelling characterisations of the Tech Specs. I loved Kick Off's portrayal as a vengeful ex gladiator. He was a great looking toy anyway but that bio really sold me. Plus the mention of Polyhex on it was the first time the Tech Specs referenced the comic books which I loved.

    It really is a case by case basis though I stylised tech specs too different from the traditional G1/Unicron Trilogy such as Animated and Bot Bots have no appeal to me.

    Though the likes of Chug Lugnut ported over from those lines are welcome. Especially since he's one of my favourite characters in the Animated show.

    But character does play a big part at times. I really liked Scorponok's portrayal in RID and the toy is cool so I did pick him up.

    G1 Hoist and Encore Swerve were definitely character buys. The painted face really breathed life into Swerve. That smirk just captures his MTMTE self.

    Hoist though limited in articulation is a great looking toy. The head sculpt really captures his likeable character from the G1 cartoon and the truck mode is a work of art. The chrome parts and the green and orange colours are vibrant without ever seeming garish.

    So sometimes it's character and sometimes it's the toy.
     
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  13. Dragga

    Dragga Well-Known Member

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    I'm in an odd boat, where I often ignore the character just for the sake of "Ooh, cool robot toy!"

    Several of the G1 characters are ones I have no attachment to as characters. I just like the toys and want to experience them. I do sometimes want a toy of a design/character I like, such as wanting Studio Series 44 Optimus due to wanting a good, long-nosed movie Prime with a trailer. In contrast, TLK Megatron I got purely because his design is 100% up my alley as a big, evil looking robo-knight demon-man. Often, I look at colors, alt modes, and just the design in a vacuum, though I obviously have my favorites, like Wheeljack, Warpath, and Grimlock. I'm not too terribly interested in many Optimus Prime molds, but a good Nemesis Prime/Scourge colorscheme and I am so down for it.
     
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  14. Deltron Magnus

    Deltron Magnus TFW's Prettiest Princess

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    Sure, to a degree. I definitely want to acquire figures of characters I like from the shows. However, that only goes so far. I'm not going to buy a bad figure just because I like the character. I'm willing to overlook certain flaws if I have a strong attachment to the character in question, but if the figure just plain sucks forget it. I'd either wait for a better one to be released or search for an acceptable 3rd party version.

    I don't have to have an attachment to a character to get their figure if I feel it's good enough though. For example, Siege Redwing and Galaxy Upgrade Siege Optimus. I didn't know anything about Red Wing - even the name - prior to the Siege figure. The moment I saw him though, he was a must buy. Those colors are superb for that mold, and he's one of my favorites. As for GU Optimus, well, I've seen a bit of Cybertron on YouTube but not enough have a strong opinion on it (though I mostly like what I've seen so far) so that version of Optimus has zero nostalgia for me. It's a great looking figure though, and I'm thinking I'll buy it when I see a good sale price.

    If I hated a character but the toy was cool? I don't know. Honestly, I've never hated any of the Transformers from the shows I've seen (mind you, I haven't seen them all). There are some I'm not too fond of, but if the figure was good and would go well with my collection, yeah, I'd get it. I can always come up with some Headcannon to justify it somehow. :) 
     
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  15. Thatsjustkreo67

    Thatsjustkreo67 Well-Known Member

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    I buy toys of characters I like and cool looking figures. Which usually results in me getting all of them anyways... :oops: 
     
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  16. BelnadesPistol

    BelnadesPistol Banned

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    I have no toys from the Unicron Trilogy or Animated because of the designs from those respective series. Animated also has those weird silver faces. I buy most of the Movie toys because I see the cars, trucks, etc. IRL and I think that's cool.
     
  17. RagaBM

    RagaBM Sqweeks is the Last Knight

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    Short answer: Yes.

    Long answer: I bought Animated Ratchet because I like the character. I bought TR Chromedome and T30 Whirl because I liked them in MTMTE comics. One similarity between them is that they're decent toys to have. If a character I like only have flawed figures (i.e. Galvatron) then I skip.
     
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  18. Thundershot

    Thundershot Ratchet Fanatic

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    I TRY to stick to my guns. In order to save money, I only buy:

    Optimus Prime
    Megatron
    Bumblebee
    Jazz
    Grimlock
    Starscream
    Ratchet

    Then I expanded it a little...

    Combiners
    *Masters
    Seekers

    And I wanted a little more wiggle room..

    Obscure characters
    G1 versions of other continuity characters
     
  19. Xaxis

    Xaxis Multi-dimensional Traveler

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    I’ve found that my TF collecting is influenced by my connection with the characters or series, though sometimes I make exceptions.

    The Energon and Cybertron shows didn’t hold my interest and the toys didn’t appeal to me for what they were. If the media had been more to my liking I may have more strongly felt a desire to have toys if the characters.

    I’ve lost interest in the live action movies and despite enjoying some of the character designs, the awful characterization detached me enough that by the time the Studio Series and MPM toys came out I had no interest in spending money on them.

    On the other hand, it’s not always the characters or show that win me over.

    G1 was where it all started for me, and the cartoon was a huge influence. I still have a fondness for those characters. My collecting nowadays is strictly the Masterpiece line. While I love seeing what’s been done in the Generations line since Combiner Wars, those toys haven’t interested me enough to spend money on them. The Masterpiece line is giving me highly detailed, articulated, cartoon-accurate versions of the characters to which I have the strongest attachment. I grew tired of modernized/reimagined G1 toys and with MP delivering what I’ve wanted since 1984 that’s what wins me over.






    That’s nice speculation, but what about you? :) 
     
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  20. Maximus Danz

    Maximus Danz Trying to achieve something

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    Damn right, animated was my show along with G1, I have my G1 shelf but always get more animated homage stuff. Like my plan is to display siege ratchet with Omega for obvious reasons
     
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