The recycled names over distinct characters on half the box set is the only bummer, everything else seems aces.

 

I'm actually okay with the shuttle dudes having the same name; Ironworks bugs me though. I'm calling him Astroworks.

 

Honestly... I think it was purely power of suggestion after hearing it so many times. I forgot that he wasn't a race car. That does put a little hole in my layout, because we don't have another Autobot Targetmaster they could make. Unless they want to move the Ricochet release forward.

 

Was Hasbro too lazy(?)/(save a few bucks?) to copyright new (re-new?) names so they just recycled old ones?

I'm definitely calling/renaming that Ironworks to Astroworks.

 

It was very much slapped together at the last minute. COVID screwed up a lot of things, and it seems the only ER figure that was actually cancelled was Earth Sideswipe (due to return in 2021). I suspect a lot of the exclusives we have seen would have made up Wave 4. Anyway... these were the leftovers of the line and they lacked an outlet. Hasbro worked out a deal with Amazon and the creatives very quickly threw together the GO theme, but the figures already existed. The writers had to find some way to fit the existing planets into the existing sets, not the other way around. So for example they needed to find a home for the Autobot Clones, and since they pair well with the Decepticlones, they chose to send them to Biosfera.

 

That makes a lot of sense. It's definitely less baffling in that context.

 

Yeah I imagine if they had the ability to plan things out they would have flipped the clones so that Pounce and Wingspan were in GO and the red Cloudraker and Fastlane were the Target exclusives (though Target was into the whole villain thing last year because "2020").

 

I wonder what the original plans for things like the Micromaster set and the P/CP redeco were going to be.

 

I hope these don't show up three weeks early without notice and actually show up around the stated date this time. Amazon was killing me with that shit last year.

 

I haven't seen the Micromaster set show up and that's due 2/1 so you should be safe there. If it's early it probably won't be by much.

Botropolis Rescue is due 2/15, a little more than a month away. We are just getting the first images, so those are closer to getting released, but unless I'm mistaken there's usually at least 2 weeks between the first in hand copies and HP shipping out. I think the odds are good it will beat the 2/15 date but probably not by much.

I saw PvP had the Dominus Criminal Pursuit set in early December but he's usually crazy early.

 

I'm just wondering if the Kingdom and SS86 stuff is really as far out from release as all the preorders say. Hot Rod and Scourge are on shelves now, but all the websites are saying April. I keep hoping to get that email saying release dates have been moved up.

 

thechosenprime has their dates as january, though that could just be a placeholder

 

I think all of this makes sense except the part where Hasbro still got to choose which planets to put on the side quest. Paradron and Micron are fine, but why not Autobot Clones -> Velocitron; Modulators -> Goo; and one of Lanarq or Xetaxxis for P/CP/Barricade? Obviously, one can pick different planets, but it's a bit odd to pick, say, Botropolis specifically and then not use the Go-Bots

 

Ironworks is Comettor, and the shuttles are Jet and Storm. Was that so hard hasbro?

 

Then Disney steps in with a "Not So Fast" for Storm (X-Men)

 

Yes, it absolutely was.

 

I mean there are 2 Warpaths as it is:

 

Naw. “Jet” and “Autobot Storm”  

Notice it is “Marvel’s Warpath”  

 

Maybe the names were chosen to defend certain copyrights/trademarks they're going to want later?

If the leaks about the UT getting some love in the next few years are true, maybe they want those names out there as a reminder they exist while they're cooking up the lore for the next trilogy. Similar to how Cheetor was made a prominent part of Cyberverse around the time of the BW anniversary and as we were getting info that a BW revival was coming to Generations. Gotta prime the pump...

Then call them that. Perhaps they weren't able to get the trademarks.

 

Like @HunterGreen2005 said they could've just added the Autobot pronoun to anything trademarked like they usually do or just came up with some brand new names like they did with the Micron set having 4 new names added. Also "Autobot Comettor" for the Ironworks repaint would've been especially perfect if the UT rumors are true.