So... after 35+ years of as-cheap-as-possible cartoons made by people who aren't paid enough to care, with recycled cliches instead of ideas, designed solely to flog plastic to kids, you think we're likely to get some work of art from Hasbro somehow?

 

You guys are beating this up without actually seeing it.

 

Not at all, I'm quite looking forward to the new cartoon, and I'll be taking it as it comes, not demanding it be insert-my-own-vision-here.

I just hope the people working on it have taken some notes from season 3 of Cyberverse.

 

I'm happy Jason Marnocha and Frank Todaro are back as Megatron and Starscream, they were among the better voices of Prime Wars.

also Todd Haberkorn's debut in Transformers, hell yeah. Red Alert I can definitely see him pulling off well. Shockwave is a huge stretch but if done right could be genuinely amazing. I could see him doing a colder version of his Ebony Maw voice from MUA 3. Shame Drift's not in this, Todd could make for an amazing Drift based on his voice for Fake Assassin in the Fate franchise.

Keith Silverstein's return is nice, I'm curious how he'll do Jetfire. He's one of the best dub VAs currently working so his inclusion adds some merit. Brook Chalmers is another excellent newer VA too.

 

If Hasbro wants to save their precious cash cow from dying like it is right now, yes ideally they would actually try this time.

 

I’ve been watching transformers prime on Netflix recently, those were the good days...
I have hope for this series especially since the story has a lot of potential but I really hope Hasbro gives us a new show like prime or animated soon that doesn’t just copy G1 like Cyberverse or acts too goofy like NuRID. (My own opinions, sorry if you like those shows but for me they never compared to the previous shows I mentioned)

 

Controversial thought...Transformers Prime was the best series to date...I would've liked for them to keep that going.  
Carry on...

 

for me, its by far the best NON G1 cartoon continuity series, ( I am bias , I know ) I actually almost cried a few times .Very good series I was not a fan of some of the art style but it was a very good series

 

What makes you think it is dying? I can't find a proper breakdown, but their latest financial statement for 2019 had Transformers revenue increasing.

 

Some fans think that if Hasbro, Takara, or Paramount aren't doing EXACTLY what caters to them that the brand is dying. It's a thing on these boards for some reason...

 

Yeah i really was excited when they announced NuRID was gonna be a sequel to Prime but then when i saw the show i didn't really feel like it had the same quality to it as prime did. If they do revisit the aligned continuity again other than rescue bots, i don't really know what they could explore other than a sequel to RID because we already have the wfc games that tell the story of the fall of cybertron and i feel like the gap between prime and rid isn't a very exciting time to explore...

Even though i know the brand obviously isn't dying, i would love to see Hasbro revisit animated or prime again in a way that keeps the spirit and quality of those two shows. At the very least I would love to get homages/new versions of the chatacters from those series' akin to studio series/generations.

 

Bumblebee grossing a low amount of money at the box office. Its success was on a mere technicality. Likely due to the past 2 films not being recieved well even by the general public that ate up the first 3. Cheap, low budget and forgettable cartoons.

God forbid we ask for quality.
Theres plenty of great shows out there that, while not perfect, do much better justice to their franchise than most of everything after TFP has done.
Cyberverse is a dry sparknotes version of the overall franchise that people eat up because at this point Hasbro has desensitized alot of people to bad media.
Siege looks like the Machinima series with an extra $50 added to the budget.

People aren't talking or into this franchise like they are into other better ones.
Seriously, I cant even go into a comic book store or any nerdy place without being overwhelmed by franchises who do shit better and have tons of merchandise while I'm lucky if I find anything beyond a generic decepticon t-shirt or a shelfwarmer.

 

Toys are still selling in the millions. I don't think Transformers are in any danger at all.

Oh I'd like quality too, but I recognise the purpose of the cartoons, and that's to sell the toys. Hasbro has no concern beyond that, and we (adults, who are going to collect the toys regardless) are not the target market for the cartoons.

Or I simply enjoy it because I find it enjoyable. Or are you calling me too stupid to know better? Bear in mind that I've seen almost no Transformers cartoons between the original and Cyberverse (I watched about a season, maybe a season and a half of Prime), so I'm not going to be "desensitised" as you put it.

Doesn't bother me. The less merchandise the better. Don't care about people talking either.

People are buying toys, so I'm going to continue to have the opportunity to buy toys. People are buying the comics, so I'm going to continue to have the opportunity to read them.

I suspect we have very different priorities here.

 

You're not looking for quality. You're looking for a children's franchise to be written at a level that caters to you, an adult collector. They aren't mutually exclusive, but CW proved that just because something was written with the adult fan in mind does NOT guarantee it will be of good quality.

You're comparing our franchise, of course, to OTHER franchises whose sole purpose on this planet is to shill toys to children, right? Name your franchises.

Or people legitimately like the storyline and production. Not everything has to be humping legs and taking faces.

OMG, you're from the FUTURE, aren't you? That's the only way I can explain your inherent knowledge of the quality of an entire series that HAS YET TO FUCKING AIR.

OR you're looking in the wrong spots. Maybe by "this franchise" you mean "this one little part of the franchise that I prefer." What, are you limiting your exposure to comic shops, some place that isn't really a hotbed for much of ANYTHING other than superhero comics and the odd CCG?

...

Got my question answered.

 

The Last Knight put the franchise in danger, not Bumblebee which actually made money past the break even point. TLK lost paramount about 100 mil after budget, marketing, backend deals and China's cut of ticket sales (75%). Bee made a profit of 183mil, I don't know how you can see Bee as a failure just because some tabloids said it had a small box office comparatively with the rest of the films, all that matters is the gross.

 

The brand is in a good place now but there's going to be a point where it's going to have to shift gears one way or another in the future if it wants to stay alive such as them starting to give more attention to the other TF eras since just using G1 only will only take it to a certain point for example, and/or start taking risks into giving us new content. A smart company should also plan ahead for certain things to come along with finding out what's a great seller. right now cause what may be a great seller now could end up being yesterday's news the next day.

As for the whole quality argument no one's asking for a bad product. If anything a lot of people were demanding nothing BUT quality to the point of being vocal about it. However there's a difference of wanting a good product, and then there's being a demanding d-bag about it. Throwing a hissy fit's not going to make any argument of wanting more look good.

 

1)
2) Hasbro has aknowledged that older fans are also a major audience for them, hence the whole idea behind Studio Series, The Machinima Series, and WFC so the argument that "iTs JsT 4 KiDz" isn't really valid. Unfortunately a lot of those, not all, but most, have failed to do what they set out to do.
3) You said it, not me. Also, if you haven't seen any shows beyond G1 and Cyberverse I don't feel as if you can really have a say in this considering that one is cheese blinded with 80's nostalgia and the other caters to people with low attention spans and dont mind low-quality. No offense to those who enjoy it, but I mean..
Come on.
4) Agreed. I just want a good show.

 

1) No, I just know that a show or movie can cater all ages and not suck.
2) Yes, because other franchises, like Marvel or DC, can pull it off, then so can we. We have no legitimate excuse. Its not impossible to cater to all ages and actually have good media.
3) You know what, you're right! I think that as franchise we should continue this thread of depicting shows with a lazy rushed sparknotes feel to the way they tell their stories, talentless VA's, and little depth in story and character. Who tf said anything about humping legs? Is that what you pass off as high quality?
4) Yes, I am from the future. But thats irrelevant because in the past when I saw the trailers I saw a bunch of red flags. Like damn, if the trailer shows off poor quality then it shows off poor quality. Now, grant it, at the end of the day I do believe one has to watch most or all of something to form a concrete and valid opinion of it, but so far based off of enough things from the trailer, this show doesn't look promising.
5) Mainstream stores, comicbook shops, nerdy shops in general. Transformers almost always gets looked over. Heck, Ive met people who didnt even know that there was a franchise beyond the Bay films. This franchise does not get the attention it should be getting and honestly I blame it on Hasbro (and Paramount) for not doing any better.

Damn, I don't know why the idea that a series can cater to all ages and doesn't have to suck seems like such an impossible thing to achieve for some y'all.
Some of y'all all just take whatever Hasbro throws at you.

 

Yes, thats what I was talking about when I said the previous films put Bumblebee in a bad spot, even though it was actually good.
But a technicality is a technicality. Bumblebee should have earned a lot more considering its from a major blockbuster franchise.

Its like getting a C in school.
Sure, you passed, but barely.

 

Yes, I've seen shows that cater to all ages. Some even have toys sold as a byproduct of their being an entertainment property. Transformers is the inverse.

Marvel and DC are in a unique position where their entire media push is NOT to sell toys implicitly, but to raise exposure to their comics. They get some royalties from the toys but they don't have any motivating drive to make them marketable through their media. We're also looking at a media source that's consistently PG-13, which Transformers series' can NOT be.

Okay, I'm going to need you to define "sparknotes" as you've used it repeatedly now and there's no context to pull from other than it's somehow bad.

As you've touted the Movieverse repeatedly in this thread, the "leg humping" is in reference to that. In a kids' franchise. You should poll how many parents were thrilled with that part of the "quality", but I'd say the drop in ticket sales speaks volumes there.

Remember this fan favorite show called Transformers: Animated? Remember how the choppy and poorly executed animation was picked up on by the fandom at large and brought up in threads before the episodes had even aired? Remember how the storyline came through and, while still divisive, managed to sway people with the quality of writing behind the show? You know, things you can't pick up from a 2 minute or less long trailer? Yeah, we all remember that...

First off, I'm positive you've met uber nerds with access to the internet that are completely unaware of the franchise outside of Bay's movies.

Second, if that IS true, wouldn't the onus for lack of quality be on the Bay films since they didn't motivate those people to seek out any other information? Or it could be a strawman argument attempting to somehow hammer the point home that only a PG-13 minimum franchise can garner any sort of attention in your circles. Either/or.

OR

5-10 year old kids like what Hasbro is doing. You know, the target demographic. Never forget that you are participating in a kids' franchise, period. Any money off of neckbeards is added graft, but we don't carry lines. The entertainment is reflective of that since it exists SOLELY to move said toy lines.

Gravity Falls was great, for example, but it wasn't tied to shilling plastic which gave it the freedom to BE great. A Transformers show is explicitly a marketing campaign, nothing more, and its... safeness? Yeah, safeness... is its predominant quality for Hasbro's investment.