I think you're misinterpreting my cynicism as heated criticism, in regards to the repaints in particular, I don't mind them--I've bought several of them. My real issue is that I feel the Netflix show is all around extremely half-assed. Voice acting, story, dialogue, haphazard character model reuse, cherry-picked shreds of homage to the Sunbow show ... it all feels like they either did it on a shoestring budget and in a very short amount of time, or that they really just gave zero shits, and decided to make the most minimal effort show they could just to "show retailers there's a show to support the line". Based on Goldner's comments, I have a feeling it's the latter, may be a bit of both. At any rate, I only offered RID2015 as an example, because while it was one of the more flawed and criticized shows of recent years, you could tell they put a lot of effort into trying to design something unique and new, even diverging pretty far in a different direction from PRIME despite being a sequel.

I have no issues with WFC as a toyline, it's fantastic of course, and I don't have an issue with the idea that Hasbro would want to make a series based on said line, but I think they could sure as hell have put a lot more effort into making the final product look more polished.

 

Mandalorian and ESB 40th really helped sales for Hasbro. The finale for Lone Mando and Cub has been the highlight of Disney's years of making SW by a galactic mile. If they can build that momentum with the spin-off shows sales of merchandise will be restored to previous levels.

That will allow Hasbro to be bold enough to experiment with house brands like Transformers more. They won't need to depend on G1 and Bayverse nostalgia to keep Boys Toys afloat if they can stabilize their former too dog in that office.

 

I see an awful lot of "this is how I feel about show and toyline and this is how you can interpret the remarks to support that." Which is fine, it's the internet, argue and speculate away.

There are very few facts in the report even at the franchise level, let alone the toyline level. IMHO, as a fan, the most use you can get out of these things is to see what the company wants to market, and based on their top line priorities, why they're emphasizing these things.

For example, the biggest conclusion I draw is that Hasbro does not want investors to view them as a toy company: they're an entertainment conglomerate with original media and consumer products based on owned and licensed IP. But we don't need an investor report to know that, because they just spent billions to buy a media company. A single toyline isn't a critical item to emphasize at this level, they're just name-dropping their big brands to show their breadth. Consider that they don't even mention G.I. Joe, only Snake Eyes, because it's a major media property.

Transformers is an afterthought even in their franchise brands segments. Note how many times the deck references MTG, Monopoly, and Nerf. That's not to say it's not an important business or a revenue driver, it just doesn't matter as much when there isn't a feature film.

I honestly don't know what I'm annoyed about or trying to prove. It's basically the same thing as whenever IDW announces earnings: the main conclusion to draw isn't whether Transformers is successful for them or not, but that it's a comparatively insignificant factor relative to everything else in their bucket.

The thing I found most interesting was this non-TF note: "PARTNER BRANDS growth in Lucasfilm's Star Wars more than offset by declines in Disney's Frozen." Q4 2020 underperformed Q4 2019 because Elsa beats Grogu.

 

I bought more mainline figures than I would have if I didn't watch SIEGE. And I was acutely AWARE that that's what was happening.

The cartoon absolutely contributed to toy sales, even if there wasn't a direct correlation between what was on the screen and what was on the shelves.

But to that point, I was able to find almost all of the SIEGE figures after the cartoon aired.

 

Regardless of whether the Netflix show was a success or not (I don't see any reason to doubt that it was), I just hope Hasbro steps up their game for their next attempt at an adult-oriented Transformers show. I think an adult-oriented show has the potential to do some really fun and new stuff with the brand...stuff that the kids' cartoons can't do because they have to play it relatively safe and sell toys. Give the next one a proper voice cast, and do something other than a violent and gritty version of the Transformers origin story with toy CAD models that swear. Do something that's actually challenging and fresh, with some real creativity and innovation in the storytelling and designs.

I remember being super excited for the idea of an adult-oriented Transformers show back in 2015 or '16, when they announced Combiner Wars. Half-a-decade later, Siege feels like a slightly better version of the same approach. Change it up for the next one, hire a different creative team and find a different approach. I'd really like to see an "adult-oriented" Transformers show that adults can appreciate for reasons beyond just "it's the thing I like, but dark and with swear words." I'd like some interesting themes or commentary or something.

 

I bought Omega Supreme because of his appearance in the show. The show was super mediocre but his part of it was visually really impressive.