You know there’s an entire wave of ROTF figures slated for SS this year right? Not to mention BB Starscream and several redeco ones? They didn’t “kill” it, they took it on a detour for the 35th anniversary of the OG movie + spreading out Bayverse releases because whatever’s next for the live action movie franchise was delayed a year or two. (not to mention getting into the utter dregs of Movieverse characters.... how much combined screen time do Dino, Sideways and Grindor have? 4 minutes maybe??)

 

G1 sells because for the most part, that's all there was. Know what else sells? Bayverse, given Studio Series has been the longest running CHUG series going on its.. either 4th or 5th year. Kingdom is selling in spades, with a lot of those sales being the beasts.

 

Sure does sell well when it's the only thing available.

 

I'm just happy that despite G1 and movie figures making bank loads of money for them, Hasbro is beginning to show willingness to give the other TF eras to finally have a chance to shine again as opposed to just leaving them off to the side to rot and be forgotten. Really when you think about how Hasbro loves playing it safe nowadays they could've just dropped doing the 25th anniversary of BW entirely and focused only on the 25th anniversary of the 86 movie but they didn't. So at this point we should focus on letting Hasbro know that more people want more BW and non G1 stuff in general by buying many Kingdom BW and 2022 figures as much as possible.

 

Let's be honest. G1 sells because it is what a lot of people grew up with. It's nostalgia. G1 will always be popular and sell well because it has nostalgia going for it. I bought most of the Autobots from Siege, all from Earthrise....but I am picking and choosing what I buy from Kingdom because Beast Wars was after my time. I personally could care less about an ape turning to a robot or whatever because I don't have sentimental attachment to that series the way I do with G1 while a guy that is a bit younger might have grown up with Beast Wars doesn't give a squirt of piss about G1. The coolest thing for me (and ultimately what got me into collecting recently) is how far they have come.....to see how crap the original figures I played with in the 80's were, and now seeing a figure that looks almost spot on to what I saw in the cartoon AND transforms.

 

I think we’ll see the rest of BW S1 and most of S2.

 

It looks like, and I'm hoping this is true, that Hasbro is finally accepting the G1 designs as what the characters look like. Look at other properties. Superheroes have go-to designs that everyone recognizes. Most Star Wars characters do as well. Ninja Turtles? You betcha. I could go on. My point being that Hasbro's insistance on rebooting the characters every few years in some gimmick-laden form or another has hurt its brand identity. And as a poster pointed out earlier, companies are all about brand identity now. And had the Bay movies gotten real traction instead of fizzling, our 'Evergreen' designs would probably be a lot different.

There's nothing wrong with shaking things up, mind you, but Hasbro has had quite a few versions of Transformers (and Transformers characters) that completely failed to get any traction. Look at what we have on the shelves today. G1, BW, and Bay. Those are argueably the biggest ones in the eyes of the public. Things like AEC, RiD, Prime, Animated, ect are considered riskier properties and will be slower to get love.They'll probably come back to us in slow trickles until Hasbro's confidence in them is restored.

 

The problem that I have with that mindset (Not directed at you or anyone else.) is that not only does it close off many potential nostalgic markets to dip into just to pander to G1 purists (again not directly talking about anyone here.) but it also flat out ignores the fact that not everyone grew up and/or even cares about G1 or for that matter both BW and the movies and that the series they grew up with be they be the, RID01, Unicron Trilogy, Animated and Prime are just as important to the brand's lifeblood as G1 so to just sweep them under the rug to focus on only what makes them money sends off a message that they and the series they grew up with don't matter at all and that they should just get lost. Sure there's no ill intentions behind it but it all the same rubs certain people the wrong way and for good reason.

I can also make the argument that it's because of the rebooting and gimmick themes is a big reason why the brand was able to survive all these years. Yeah G1 started the brand and is the most famous but it's the rest that came after it was what helped kept it alive and how it shaped a lot of modern concepts and character takes it has today, and to dismiss all of that is the same as to dismiss the importance of G1. I mean as much as I'm happy about seeing Beast Wars get so much love and having it be recognized by people I don't want to have it come at the expense of new takes and directions that can be just as good if not better then the original. There's room for both.

Brand identity is ultimately a double edged sword. Sure it allows people to recognize the characters more and make profits but it can also risk putting the brand to stagnation because of how unwilling it is to try risks and to also acknowledge the other parts of the franchise which is why people like me feel Transformers is heading towards the latter. With a rich history and lore the brand has in general not just in G1 there's no reason why Hasbro can't find a balance to make everyone happy. I mean the Godzilla franchise for example is a good example of this. Toho makes sure the core identity and soul of the character is retained while also allowing different takes on him to keep things fresh and explore different sides to him. Even brands like Batman and TMNT funny enough does similar things. They keep brand identity intact yes but never at the expense of leaving out new takes as well as potential future nostalgic markets to tap into.

 

Make generations select a mainline for two or three waves. Do a variety of comic versions of main characters.

 

Sorry I meant Nemesis not Ark corrected my mistake

 

Hasbro seems to be confused as to what makes Transformers successful, that's a large part of the problem. Riding a nostalgia wave only gets you so far.

The stories told with characters we love.. seeing them grow, teaching us about ourselves and our world.. Artists tell lies to reveal the truth. That quote has always stuck with me. Some Transformers stories have been afraid to present quality content because some idiot thinks complex themes alienate younger viewers. But when I was a kid, complex themes were really interesting to me. And though I didn't always get them, going through my old stories when I grew up and realizing what was being said... Well, that's a big reason why I'm still a Transformers fan today.

Having a huge cast to pull from allows them to potentially tell sooo many different stories. Going forward, I'd like to see them use more of these guys to tell stories for a new Generation. Transformers isn't just about giant robots shooting each other. It's about change, and trust, and finding a place to belong. And occupying the same space as someone you don't get along with. XD These are universal themes that every generation can relate to. Don't tiptoe, Hasbro. Strut. Because Transformers can be so much more than you let it be sometimes.

 

This is why Bandai of America probably failed the most. They rode the MMPR wave for years to the point of over saturation. Like I've seen bandai’s legacy mmpr figures on shelves next to the lightning collection figures.

 

I'm the same way. I got back into collecting a few years ago when I saw Siege Megatron on the shelf, followed by IRONHIDE and now a horde. We are the age bracket they are aiming for as consumers because....

1. We are in the general age group of people that possess disposable income.

2. Are at an age where we reflect on and wish to reconnect with something from a simpler time in our lives I.E. our childhood.

3. Following that business model the Beast Wars era fans will fill our place in that market in the next few years when the general number of them are our age. Then the cycle continues for the series that come after.

Eventually everyone will get what they want but with Hasbro following this target age group its going to take awhile. I'm glad the BW fans are getting their due finally, also let's off the bank account damage for me since I'm not at all interested in them  

I hope to just get the few holes filled in like rest of Dinobots which are coming, Insecticons, Tracks (who is coming) Skids, proper sized Brawn, a good Gears, rerelease of Dirge and Ramjet so the rest of us can get them, new combiners Stunticons, Combaticons, Arielbots. I can live with CW Devastator he's the same size as Omega so that works for me. Only other thing I would be down for is Pointblank and Sureshot.

Honestly I'd like to see them put out like this

1. Combiners Box sets, instead of making the Ark (and you know Nemisis is coming) into Titans which they never were just give us all the best combiner teams you can that look the part! This would also leave lots of room in the deluxe and voyager Class spots in the main lines for non G1 fans to get figures they are pining for!

2. Plop out Insecticons with BW figures in mainline, they are bug bots and would fit in fairly well.

3. Toss Brawn and Gears in a two pack NOT EXCLUSIVE AMAZON BS just go selects!

4. Skids, Pointblank and Sureshot are the odd ones, they aren't huge characters and require their own moulds or extensive remoulding so going selects might not be best avenue and there's not a lot of possibilities for milking the mould which is Hasbro main play.

But then again what do I know, I just want my missing bots and a chance for everyone else to see what they've been waiting for happen for them!  

 

The Fallen? The Liege Maximo?

 

This actually looks way better than I'd imagined, and it's without any remolding (looks like the shoulders are just switched?). With new parts for the head, chest, lower legs, shoulder kibble, and swords I think I'd be sold as long as the car mode looks good and at least slightly reminiscent of Drift's IDW Cybertronian form.

 

Brawn and Gears would each need a new mold. Not going to do those as exclusives.

 

Damn! YES TO ALL THE ABOVE! And also a re-release of Earthrise Prowl and Ironhide so we don't have to pay scalpers prices for a couple figures. Freaking Skids man...PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY! Maybe an Omnibot thrown in for good measure.....

 

I think we will for sure get Skids in 2022. He completes the season 2 car bots and has plenty of easy repaints for selects.

Sureshot and point blank are trickier and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them get a real figure and the other just be a repaint like we saw with Crosshairs.
Brawn and Gears would be mainline releases.

 

I feel like a transforming Titan Nemesis' robot mode would be how Hasbro finally homages IDW Tarn in a toy line.

... And that's based entirely on dudes face being a Decepticon badge - like how the Ark homages The Last Autobot, whose face was basically the Autobot badge.

 

Honestly, i had hoped cyberverse would have at least given us tarn as he was in the cyberverse cartoon. Sure it was used in the vehicon way but hey its something.