"Dad, I'm not smart enough to change something that has more than 5 steps. I don't wanna use my brain."

"Not to worry, little Ricky, just throw this truck on the floor and it will become a robot for you!"

*Smash*

"Yay!"

 

wait, the Character art shows.....more human like faces! Does this mean that the days of alien heads are ending?

 

When I was 4, I got my first transformer, Quickmix. I painstakingly applied the stickers, figured out the transformation, and immediately started asking for more. (needlenose was next). Those toys were simple, they didn't really have much articulation, but they looked good, they still look good, they were solid, they had great detailing in the mold, and they had paint applications. My $5 toy had more detail than this new $80 dollar toy....

These....things....look like they're being marketed to the learning-to-walk set. Kids are NOT stupid, they are very good at figuring things out. Hasbro has seriously lost its way here, and it's gonna eat into the "real" transformers toys' shelf space and success.

 

Maybe it's an area thing.

Walmart where I live...no longer has a Transformers section. They had 2 generations toys, sitting at the bottom under the pegs, with no transformers stuff above it. That's how things stand where I am. Target was the same story.

Shelves where I live are as devoid of Transformers as in the early 90s, right b4 Generation 2 launched.

 

The sub lines are just cheaply made product. Nothing more. Probably higher margin.

 

Is it just me or does Stinger look terrifyingly similar to the guy in the trailer presumed to be Bumblebee getting picked up by the two-headed bot

 

Thank you, good sir. My sentiments exactly.

 

I cant fathom how that grimlock is worth $86 or more with tax.
Wasnt the masterpiece $60?

 

Lol, I'm not saying I like it. But my 1 1/2 year old will love the 1 step TFs. And when he's 4 or 5, he will get upgraded and challenged. I'm so happy you are so worried for the mental learning and structure of my sons well being.

I don't see why you are complaining. I'm not sure how old you are, and I'm not being an ass, but if you are an adult and don't like "these particular" toys, how about wait and see what else Hasbro might have that is for your young ones "if" you have kids. Otherwise, why don't you just wait for the more complicated toys that you want for you or your kids? It's not the end of the world really.

 

See that's the thing.....

These WILL be great for your toddler. And that's good.

But they don't look like they're being marketed for toddlers. They look like they're being marketed for 5+. So all the other parents are going to go to the little kids section to grab some toys, and the only people who are going to touch these are Transformers fans who have very small children (because they're the only ones who know to look in the normal child-age section), an even smaller sub-set than before. They're not gonna be in the right place in the store, they're gonna be right next to all the other Transformers stuff....eating into shelf space...sitting there looking like trash next to all the other toys meant for 5+

 

Those figures look ok, I hope kids enjoy them (I know I would if I was still a child)

Also,   at all of the negative doomsayers comments, your paranoia is always a good source of laughs. It also further strengthens my belief that fans of a series should never be the head of the company that creates the said series.

 

You deserve a well-thought out reply and I am tired, so I will wait til tomorrow, when all are one.  

 

Four? Seriously four?

Dude, y'know all about Lego, right? The ultimate toy that you can disassemble and reassemble to your imagination's limit over and over again, yeah?

Not the right "toy" for a four-year-old, right? Because it's kind of an advanced toy, for advanced kids maybe. Something interesting in that neat 8-13 range maybe?

Know what's right for four-year-olds? Duplo. Big blocks that can be stacked on themselves like... bricks. You can use those to make... bigger bricks. "Look mommy, my stuff didn't tumble over because... I don't know why." That's four-year-old realm. Back when we're still eating teddy bears, remember?

Well, Transformers that "transform" because you turn them upside down... that's just not a Transformer. Transformers are toys for advanced kids. That some adults may still find them "cool" doesn't change that.

Kind of like intricate video games. "Watch the ball bounce and press the button to make a beep noise" is a great video game for a four-year old. SimCity is one that's good for a ten-year-old but a 50-year-old might find that playable as well without there being something wrong with said 50-year-old.

But you knew that.

 

Hasbro has not lost its way friend. Think about what you just said. Everything back in the day was made of better material. Stronger, thicker, more color, for less money. EVERYTHING these days is made cheaper for more money. It's not Hasbro, it's the world we live in. I still have my first car stored away that my father got me. A 86 Chevy impala. I ran that car into lots of shit, had someone sideswipe me and it still runs like a champ and only has a quarter sized dent in its "real steel" all American made bumper and a few minor scratches on the sides. That car is a tank compared to cars being made these days.

Most everything these days is made to look better, doesn't mean its made better. Nothing we can do about it.

 

Don't take everything I say so serious. Just making my point is all. My point may not be right in "your eyes" but my point is right to "me". Because as a parent, these particular toys are just right for my sons first transformers. And that's all that matters to me. I'm sure lots of parents feel like I do.

 

Well, your 86 impala would miserably fail any modern crash test, but ok...

And sorry, but I disagree. There's lots of other quality stuff in the toy aisle. Action figures, like Marvel and DC based stuff, have pretty much stayed consistent or improved over the last 10 years.

 

This. My kids liked the Gravity Bots, Battle Chargers and Bumper Battlers when they were younger, then my daughter lost interest but my son eventually upgraded to Rescue Bots, the easier Legions and V-Tech Switch 'N Go Dinos.

 

What you just described is a 2 year old, not a 4 year old. Ask somebody with kids. 4 year old are pretty clever.

I was playing with transformers and putting together train sets at 4. Hell, I learned to read because I was frustrated that I didn't know what it said on the back of the TF cards.

 

The figures look alright. I like that red car one. he has a pretty cool Bumblebee like face mold.

 

Have fun kiddies.

$80 for that Grimlock is pretty ridiculous.

To mirror what others have said, I don't have much hope for this line. Unless the toys start to look more like the box art and less like plastic turds.