As I reported here: BotBots Appreciation Thread Character bios and the new series four roster sheet, all available for dissemination! https://transformers.hasbro.com/en-us/brands/botbots
Some of these names, lol. You can tell this line has been doing well because they've gotten really crazy and inventive with some of these. A couch becomes a crab? Gimme!
So Loudoutsky isn't some type of fax machine or copier like we thought she was....shes a retro game console? And the weird thing is on the pic on the site, what people thought was a "stapler" is clearly missing from her chest.
Its a shame that some of these are too America-centric and/or obscure to be popular/understood outside of America. The small size and stylised design makes it harder to also figure out what some of them are meant to be, in either mode.
yeah I noticed that too...I wonder if a game cartridge was supposed to fit into that slot but for whatever reasons the plan was abandoned and they permanently attached it... still doesn't look much like a game console though...
Yes granted I'm not an expert on consoles that came before the NES/SNES age....but what console had that many buttons on it? Also does the "cartridge/stapler" even come out like how its absent in the bio pic? I'm afraid to try with mine.
I ..love these little things. I had no idea I'd love them as much as I do, but I do. They're so stupid and cute at the same time.
Which ones are you referring to? SD cards, flashlights, bananas, etc seem to be pretty universally understood. I'm not knocking your statement. I'm just curious.
Some of the tech ones. I couldn't make out if they were glasses or a games console. I had to look up the "pinata" and "smores" ones too, amongst others, for example. It's the tiny size, abstract designs and sometimes "cultural-specific" (for want of a term that I've forgotten) imagery that have often left me scratching my head. Add to this the sometimes abstract "not really a robot" bot modes, and I'm baffled. These are probably just more reasons why I'm not a fan of them. To me, they're like Animorphs; they're not really or "proper" transformers, but rather riding the coattails of the main brand for relevancy and sales.
I can’t speak to the proliferation of VR goggles globally, but piñatas aren’t an American creation. Their origin traces back to a time hundreds of years before America was even an idea. They don’t really strike me as riding coat tails or trying to be “proper” Transformers so much as offering a little variety in the line? The big, expensive stuff is great, but one advantage that Botbots offer is value. When I was a kid, I usually gravitated towards the packs (like Micromasters) that offered several toys at once. Essentially the same concept here, albeit with a lot more personality thrown in. My kid loves them and I’ve had a blast with the line, but to each their own. There’s plenty out there for all tastes, and that’s one of the strengths of the brand.
Is VR not a thing outside of America? Granted, it's not all that popular in the US, but it's gaining momentum. I understand smores as they're fairly American. Pinatas on the other hand aren't American, they're Mexican, though due to cultural meshing here, most people would know what it is and have used it. Honestly, you can create so many things before you start going outside of the box. I'm sure they'll cater to other cultures eventually. Based on these images, they already started making a Mexican/Latin American food pack. They're fun little Transformers that can cater to all kinds of people. You're not supposed to think too hard about it.
I am not sure if they were even VR. One looked kind of like the old Tomy "3D" goggle games that came out in the 80s. As for the Mexican/US stuff, they're not that popular in the UK, or other places outside the US, Mexico or associated cultures, IMO. However, like I mentioned, it's the lack of instant awareness, coupled with the tiny size and/or abstract designs that sometimes confuse me. If I saw a real pinata ( or any other "culturally specific" item as a placeholder for my point), I would probably recognise it somewhat, but the Botbots version wasn't so apparent. Its a bit like if Botbots started in the UK, and it was full of things like super-deformed, miniscule robotic black puddings, sherbet dib-dabs, Christmas crackers, Sindy dolls, etc.
We’ve seen a bowl of ramen Botbot in one of the promotional videos and solicitations exist on Entertainment Earth for “Asian Food” eight packs, so maybe the intent is to start going global with some of these.
