Star Convoy and Super Megatron were both Japanese figures that Pulse imported. Titans Return had both Overlord and Sixshot, who had releases elsewhere but were predominately Japanese characters. But we don't need to stick to JG1, what about Euro G1? Generations Thunderclash anyone?

Not abandoned. They mentioned during last Wonderfest that they showed it off to gauge interest but have no idea where to put the mold

 

For me, it's the sense that we're never going to get new redesigns from now on. Armada, Prime, Movieverse, Animated, etc. look nothing like each other and so stand out on their own. Meanwhile Cyberverse and the Bumblebee Movie intro are fairly G1, as are the comics and Netflix show and "Evergreen" style, and obviously the WfC toys and Masterpieces, and so on.

 

Part of me likes to jokingly think takara has to put their foot down with Hasbro sometimes, like "yes, we know you need the factory space for your movie toys, but dangit our Japanese and south asian demographic wants super Megatron and star Convoy, and by golly they're getting them!"

That is until someone actually informs me as to how their factory setup loosely works. I assume they share factories to save money, but until siege (or maybe hasbro got tired of everyone saying takara quality was better) takara had extra steps for paint apps and such.

Of course I would appreciate some legit education on this, feel free to hmu.

 

It's funny, but I'm been collecting for more than a decade too and I feel the opposite. We do get tons of rehashes of the same character but to be fair, I've never not seen an Optimus Prime sell well (or at the very least, not be desirable). I like getting new characters such as Windblade (when she was new that is, haha), and I like redos of characters who never saw a second mold such as Snaptrap, but I also don't mind having a new Optimus every year mainly because despite it being the same character, it isn't the same toy. I understand why you feel that way though, but for every grouping of Optimus, Megatron, and Starscream, there is also a Quintesson snuck in. We are getting new stuff, it's just we aren't getting a whole line of new stuff. It's natural to get burnt out but something you're looking for is always coming out, even if it doesn't come out as quickly or consistently as you'd like.

Last note: sometimes the feelings we have are amplified if all we talk to are the same people who already agree with us. Maybe try talking to the people who you don't regularly interact with for a different perspective. It may not change your mind (and it doesn't have to), but at least it'll be a breath of fresh air. ...Assuming of course you don't end up in a conversation with a crazy person (it'd be more hot air than fresh air, haha).

 

Just to be THAT GUY , Combiners Wars Optimus was a shelf warming wallflower bot until the upgrade kits for him came out. THEN he was gone everywhere.

 

Haha, he did hang around for a bit when he was initially released didn't he? However, he did become desirable when the limbs for the white Optimus came out and everyone then wanted the red version. Then when they couldn't get the red version, they all got the white version instead (or the Takara release). I can't account for every variable as there is always an exception to the rule, but generally he does well.

 

Extrapolation follicy. Current trends rarely extend indefinitely into the future. When I got into collecting, every fan cried about wanting more G1 stuff. They hungrily gobbled up whatever small morsels were given out. I remember the jubilation that existed when Alternators/BinalTech was announced. We were thrilled at the prospects of combiners in Energon, and bought them up regardless of merit. I walked away for 9 years because I couldn't buy one more Prime.

WFC seems to be living up to the old maxim "the people know what they want, and they deserve to get it good and hard." We're hearing rumblings of fans unhappy about the lack of fresh characters. They're griping about the new stylings of the masterpiece figures. It is debatable how long they can keep Studio Series going without films to support it (yes, in theory, they are coming). G1 fans like myself are getting older (I imagine I'm on the older end), probably more than a few have kids getting ready for college, and the Beast Wars/Unicron Trilogy generation are coming up and feeling nostalgic.

Change will come, and probably sooner than you expect.

 

Because 6 year olds were surfing the forums looking for 3P news before making purchases...


Maybe it has more to do with Optimus being in multiple waves

 

It's not even "too much G1" for me, just that they won't do anything interesting with it. Up through POTP new figure announcements excited me. After those IGN Siege reveals of Sideswipe and Prime the most I can muster is "what will it look like?" Even things I was hoping for back in Titans Return like Apeface and Snapdragon just seem so lackluster.

It goes beyond what characters they do to how they do them as well. Everything looks the same, everything does the same things. Even ignoring things like parts count, paint, build quality, whatever, I just prefer Classics Hound and Mirage to Siege Hound and Mirage because the old ones look different from each other. The designs are creative. The transformations are memorable. Above all they are fun Transformers. If everything is going to be about the same characters forever, I would at least hope for them to NOT hammer out all the fun from the designs. I'm not a super fan of movie toys but the SS Constructicons are my most anticipated figures right now, not because I'm sick of G1 but because the Constructicons are at least interesting and creative toys.

In short, the way I see it, ten years ago you were just as likely to find someone like Skullgrin or Thunderwing as you were a Prime or Bumblebee. Additionally, every toy had its own flavor in terms of design and transformation. Even up through T30 this was true. Now there is a much stronger focus on a certain subset of characters. Okay, they found their footing, fine. But they also lost what made the toys interesting, regardless of what character it was, so there's really nothing left for me anymore. The only reason there are 3 molds for Mirage is because Hasbro made 3, not because the demand for him is that high. Only the first one, Classics, is a fun, exciting toy. The other two are lifeless and homogenized. They've willfully chosen to just stop being interesting, which is a greater sin than "wahh too much G1" which isn't even my issue.

 

This. I'm not a Studio Series or Movie guy, but I've picked up all of the Constructicons because the designs are interesting and creative.

Admittedly I am a different type of collector than most, I focus on characters, so I like to see different interpretations of the design. Take Shockwave for example: the Animated, Prime, and movie versions all brought some interesting and unique takes to the character's design. While I do like the Cyberverse design, it's not too far off from the original G1, and in my opinion, doesn't really represent a unique take as much as a slight reinterpretation. It would be a shame if from here on out all the Shockwaves were some variant of the G1 design.

I'm not saying "no more G1", I received G1 Megatron for Christmas in 84, I've been with the brand since the beginning. I'm just saying there is nothing wrong with thinking outside the box and bringing fresh ideas to the franchise on occasion to shake things up. It's what has kept the brand going all these years in my opinion.

 

Great point. I don't know how many other TF boards/sites people here frequent, but while TFW2005 is a great site, it represents a minority of those who are buying and collecting the toys, and we have no reason to believe we are a representative sample of the community.

 

The plastic hole on my Generations Selects Lobclaw where you plug in the foot or hand parts is really/scary thin and probably on everyone else's.

There's no stress marks or breakage on it, but there's no way I will ever let him be a foot for King Poseidon. Woe is me.

Hey, if I can't keep myself busy with trivial rage, and/or laugh in general, what can I do in this new world.  

 

^^^^^This! Thunderclash, the Turbomasters, Clench, etc., all of the G1 Eurobots would be wonderful to see updated in the WFC line. I’m all for the JG1 figures as well. I’ve always wanted to see more of these versions of the characters and toys in the U.S. It’d be nice if they would release English-dubbed versions of the Japanese cartoons as well.

 

Man let Japan spearhead a new anime series from the ground up. Give them more to work with than Go and more budget than the UT (I love the series despite its flaws but I'm not blind tp them)

 

People who still complain about siege battle damage are man babies

 

I've sorta discovered that my tastes in figures is..really weird? Like I could care less if a figure lacks articulation, paint, limbs, being small, etc, Quality for some reason doesn't matter to me, I mean I enjoy when a figure is good But I fucking love the garbage that hastak puts out from time to time, Beast machines supreme cheetor is one of my holy grails and I want several copies of him because I hate myself. Stupid terrible shit is as great as like a masterpiece figure in my mind. Enjoyment is what I care about in my figures, I appreciate the garbage to appreciate the good stuff, Maybe that's why I raise my eyebrow when people complain about things about the lack of a waist swivel or a figure being a brick or figure being small/hollow or whatever. So Yea, send me your supreme cheetors, I want my cat army

 

There is one that has been sitting at a local toy store here in Vegas on clearance for the last year and a half. If you really want one, I'm sure they'd ship it to you.

 

I've seen one go for 14 mint in box but I'm worried about these mint in box cheetors having a chest caked in 2 decades worth of battery acid from the pre installed batteries for the electronics

 

There's a cheat commandos (homestar runner) bit I wish were already clipped for just this occasion. They're sneaking into a "fortress playset" from its battery compartment, and when they open it up they find caked batteries from the 80's.

I can't say that I'm much for lights and sounds. They take up good space, and that can weaken an otherwise decent figure. Now, if the figure had an rfid chip somewhere that activated lights and sounds on a stand, that'd be pretty primo. Guess it depends how they apply it.

 

I have realized that if there is ever an earthquake in my state, and i'm sleeping, the 2 massive fucking bookshelves will fall ontop of me and probably kill me, or just maybe hurt,
I just have to live with this knowledge and hope that never happens.

Another thing, I realized that eventually I'm gonna run out of room to display everything in my collection, and I don't like that idea, I could sell some shit off but I'd rather not end up cutting out shit I actually enjoy or just keeping stuff in a box in my closet for the rest of my life, for some reason I project some sort of sentience onto my figures and I worry this means I'm abandoning them. I still have plenty of space but that dread of running out of room is a looming threat.
so yea, hopefully my botcon figures won't kill me because they are on the top shelf of those two massive bookcases that will fall over someday