I started collecting over 4 years ago by getting a few used MPs. Mp03 to 05. Fell in love with 3P when there were only slim pickings and a handful of companies. Soon enough, my collection was 3p dominated. We are super lucky now, so many choices and quality products yet I find my current appetite for 3rd party starting to fade.


I'll leave my thoughts out untill a the poll closes. Hoping to get a sense of the general opinion of the state on 3P collecting March/April 2018.

 

I just don’t know what people who manufacture and make cartoons or comics (I like idw but it definitely could do better) for tf’s don’t get.


They find success with g1 characters....... Then they move away from g1 and shit falls apart. Evolve and update g1. Give me the g1 cast in modern day cars. I’m more interested in a new g1 inspired character then the stuff they’ve been Putting out. Personally I’d much prefer to buy a Nissan Maxima that turns into a cool robot then some monkey they call prime

Headmasters, targetmasters, pretenders, bayverse, beasst are cancer. I’m sorry if this offends but it seems to be the case in this reality

 

Sooner or later 3p is going to be a lot more like square enix and fp los exo realm. Companies will have their own interpretations of certain characters. I think it's all for the best though. Just look at thunder manus and striker manus.

 

Don’t think the market will fade.

People are growing up/dying. Younger generation is getting into Transformers via the movies and IDW.

I want G1 to ****ing end. I like my nostalgia, and that’s all well and good, but enough is enough.

I am so happy seeing all the IDW and non G1 stuff keep popping up. I hope this trend continues.

 

I’m not advocating continuation of actual g1.

Just modernizing it with a proper reboot. Maintaining the spirit.

I want robots. In disguise. Raging their war.

 

That’s the other thing though. I just can’t keep interest in characters that were written for small children.

It had charm, and was cute — and still is! But it’s just not for me anymore. I don’t need that universe/“story” (lack there of) anymore.

Most of IDW have kept key traits of their G1 selves (cocky/full of himself Rodimus and a paranoid Red Alert) while building on top of that; as well as giving us much needed diversity.

These beings are aliens/robots. They should not be held to the same “sexual” standards and beliefs as human beings. So for me, I love seeing the “gay” relationships, adult story telling, and the extreme shake-ups (Megatron being an Autobot is the greatest thing I’ve ever witnessed in TF lore).

I also much much prefer all their IDW/cybertron designs compared to G1. I like G1 Hot Rod okay, don’t like his alt mode, and I don’t like any other iteration of Hot Rod save for his IDW Rodimus self.

Lastly, IDW gave us a spectacular Overlord. Oh dear Darwin. A look and personality like that would have never happened without them.

 

I think cybertron politics and cybertronian designs are also a major ingredient I’d bake into my reboot.

I’m also in no way saying my g1 reboot would be simplified. I totally agree about the updated mature characters. I don’t think childish characters work for kids themselves anymore. My 11 year old prefers idw universe to g1.


I think the key concepts are

1. The two factions are crashed on earth. Depowered and thus humans are a threat to them.

2. Trying to hide from humans by disguising themselfs as our modern stuff.

3. Continuing their war as they try to secure Energon and a means off earth and back to the real battle.

4. A few select humans helping each side. Not a full disclosure to earths population

5. Flash backs to war on cybertron. In cybertronian alt modes and aesthetics showing full power levels. Also showing mature cybertronian character interactions from the past that then give weight to what we are seeing now on earth

6. Keep basic g1 character models personality, role, etc but update and mature. When hound is standing there, I want to see a pile of parts that are recognizable as a modern 4 door jeep.

7. Profit.

 

We need more chug less masterpiece

 

This is also something I agree with.

I’m much more likely to try something new if it’s smaller. Space is more restrictive then my taste or budget

 

I second this

 

@Friendross -

I haven’t kept up with IDW since season 2 ended (I haven’t yet jumped into Lost Light and beyond), but they’ll probably reboot it some day, and I wouldn’t say no to what you suggested.

The politics for sure. I think that was a big attraction for a lot of people.

 

Seems that Roberts was hinting that when season 3 ends late this year. Then the idw reboot

I’m sure season 3 reads better in trades then single issue. A lot of new characters

 

I’m convinced that there will not be an official combiners and I’m waiting for FT superion and a Toyworld Defensor. So 3P has a place for me still.
That being said, the reveals and the must have items seem to be fading a bit

 

This post is correct.

 

For me personally, as only a masterpiece g1 collector, its yellow hot. I’m looking forward to the combiners and skylynx, plus a few others over the next couple years. After that, I’m probably out of the market. I don’t have room for other stuff, especially if it doesn’t hit the nostalgia buttons. If I do have room, then I would goto another childhood line like gi joe and collect that.

As for the market as a whole I think it will shrink a bit, but with g1 being mostly over it will probably bring about innovation and companies will get more creative keeping it alive.

 

I think we all experience (or will experience) a moment when the infatuation with 3P fades. But objectively speaking, I tink we're still very much in the golden era of 3P. Especially for fans of IDW and the Beast Era these are great times.

@Nighthawkblack, any reason in particular your interest in waning? For me, the last two years in particular have produced some of the best figures in my collection.

Yes, right now we only have the Cross Dimension line. I don't see that changing anytime soon (and releases such as X2toys' Skycrusher are an exeption I think).

 

To wit, there’s all these late Gen X/ early millenials who grew up with G2, Beast Wars, Machine Wars, Car Robots/ RiD, Beast Machines, and Armada and might’ve given some of the later shows a shot, which for me was Animated, and enjoyed those occasionally, too.

And that’s a lot to give a premium feel to now that people are aging up into, and also out of, 3rd Party Transformers.

As for the comics...

Back in high school, and leery for the most part of Energon after Starscream’s massive, hardcore anime arc was retconned into scrap, I read through the Dreamwave Era and I recall also reading All Hail Megatron and Hearts Of Steels, but I don’t have any memory of the main IDW series.

So, I look forward to getting to that, since it seems to have made a lot of the revisions I would’ve wanted, much the same as Honesty.

Though, I would honestly prefer no involvement with earth at all, and more involvement with alien creatures and robots, since I find squishy humans to mostly be a liability in most stories.

Finally, I’m into legends class with some exceptional, larger CHUGs having my eye, like Vulcan, Striker Noir, Erebus, Chaos Paladin.

 

It does feel like the 3P market has slowed a lot as we enter 2018, but then surely it had to after the mad rush of the last couple of years. Hopefully it'll end up in an even better place.

 

For me I'm perfectly happy with Hasbro's Generations offerings over the past 4 years. I don't really feel the need to replace anything with $100 figures.

If anything, like Honesty said, more niche/IDW and MP is all I'm interested in. Kind of refreshing to not feel like I have to fill holes anymore.

 

I’m not talking replacing hasbro stuff with 3party. I’m saying how about a windbreaker, some legends scale vw bumblebee repaints, Spinister, micromasters, and some of the actionmaster that can transform like mainframe.