That's fascinating! Do you know what parts would've been changed out? I assume a new gun at the very least, probably an entire torso, like the targetmasters

 

Without giving too much away, do you know what kind of form generations will be taking after this trilogy ends next year?

 

Yeah, unless there’s a way to rectify the partsforming like with Cliffjumper, I’m sadly going to pass on Kingdom Warpath. Shame, since I think the G1 design has a lot of charm.

 

I admire your efforts in keeping our hopes up! But from what we know is coming I just can't see any Targetmasters, Headmasters or Triggerbots coming. Maybe we get Snarler, Carnivac and Catilla maybe.

 

No idea sorry, this was just v1 of the planned mainline list my friend told me about, followed 5 months later with the fact he didn't make the cut.

No clue, not a peep out of my friend, likely due to 2022 currently being finalised, and it's potentially a movie year.

Anything could be on the table after BW, I'm amped to learn more  

 

What would be your response to Rattrap's rat stomach becoming a shield?

Should he be able to stand on his hind legs in beast-mode like the T30 version, it would cover his robot legs and arms, helping to complete the look. In bot-mode, it's a fun accessory. Not strictly screen accurate of course, but then neither are the shields of Cliffjumper and Bumblebee.

 

Fair enough, cheers for the all hints.  

 

If it won't reveal too much about your friend, may I ask if the Beast bot retain their mutant mask?
Or Scorponok's Drone at the very least  

 

I don't think they do, but I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised when we get official pictures/marketing copy.

 

Beast Wars pretty much started the whole "random chunk of alt mode becomes an accessory in alt mode" idea, so I'd personally be fine with this.

 

Hey @Apollux, would you be able to share wheether Primal is cast in the traditional toy black, or in a more show accurate dark grey? ^_^

 

I like the idea, but it does take us quite a bit further down the shellformer road. Once the chest comes off, it becomes real easy to just make the robot fully formed with his arms crossed in front of him and the rat mode back his backpack.

 

Unsure - as the pictures I've seen were of a digitally coloured prototype.

Looks darker/more black to me but would make sense to wait til we see official renders.

 

Even official renders aren't final. I hope they go somewhat toy for -atleast some of - the bw figures (love my black Primal and lilac Megatron).

 

I was thinking they could do something similar with the spiders, but then remembered they don't have the most suitable of hands for gripping accessories.

Rattrap has always had a bit of a backback. The T30 version did its best to minimise it, even incorporating it into the robot legs which I thought was very clever. Despite being a smaller Core figure in Kingdom, hopefully they still try to bring some of that creativity to his transformation.

 

You just described every BW Rattrap figure  

 

I just fear that tenth-level shellforming, where you pick it up and turn it over and there's a robot underneath, like Earthrise Arcee, or a horseshoe crab.

 

Organic Transformers: If not now, when?​

By the time Kingdom ends, most of the figures from '84, '85, '86 and '87 (plus large chunks of '88 and '89) will all have been covered in the last 6 years. G1 in the Generations line has been fortunate to have something of a "no bot left behind" approach.

Going forward, should we expect a similar approach to other Transformers franchises that get included in the Generations line?

Through a mix of factors (fan demand, anniversary celebrations, future plans etc), Beast Wars will be coming back next year in a big way. We know from John Warden's comments that this has been a long time in the works and that the story behind the toyline was very important:

"Story is really important for us on Transformers. It's one of those things that, especially with the War For Cybertron Trilogy, we put a lot of thought early on. What are we going to do for three years? We try to figure the story out."​

Unlike an episode of G1 where new characters just turn up one day and no one bats an eyelid, the War For Cybertron story supports the inclusion and (re)introduction of these characters. From the little we know but can muse upon, this has been done using a pre-existing mutual point of reference, allowing the story to bring these disparate eras and styles together. Organic beasts next to '86 characters? I certainly believe John when he said:

"And to be honest, there was a point, several years ago now, where if you walked into my office, it was, like, crazy. They had like string and stuff all over my wall and I'd bring people into my office to convince them."​

It would have been a hard sell, but sold it he did.

Unlike G1, Beast Wars wasn't just 20-minute toy commercials. The focus on a smaller cast allowed for, funnily enough, a greater emphasis on story, giving scope for characters to grow and change; but it came at a cost -- one paid by the characters that didn't appear in the TV show.

Looking at '96 and '97, there were 40 characters available to utilise, of which 14 graced our screens. For every one that made it, there were two others that didn't.

If Hasbro are, in a storytelling sense, bending time and space in Kingdom in order to bring this all together, what chance do these missing organic beasts have of receiving new figures going forward should they not appear now? And that's just those in the Western canon. We also have Big Convoy, Lio Convoy and their respective crews to draw from.

Conditions are perfect at the moment (manufactured to be so) for organic beasts, but will they remain as conducive in the future? Does the "no bot left behind" approach apply? Or do we need to say goodbye to characters like Snapper, Bonecrusher and Magnaboss?

For the other organic Beast Wars characters, if not now, when?

 

It will depend on how kids, not adult fans, react to the Beasts. The Netflix show is getting a lot more attention than any TF cartoon has since the movies started. If they learn from Siege and we get a really good season with Kingdom, we will stand a much better chance of getting a Beast Wars movie. If we get the movie, I fully expect to see a lot of side characters like Snapper and Stampy and more, just like we did with the Bay movies. Can you imagine a ROTF level toyline, but with Beast Wars?

 

Odd how they haven’t updated his trademark.