Do you think we'll ever get more of these nontoy characters like we got galvatron and thundercracker this time? Particularly ironhide and ratchet?
You mean this guy? He was already produced, although I don't know if that was intentional or not: I owned the Black Soundblaster version a little while back. It's a really good figure!
I'm talking about his earth mode based on the classics Ironhide mold http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/8/8a/DH_Soundwave_SG.jpg
I for one would like to see more SG figures. It's a pretty good series, and it certainly looks like fandom cares enough for it to receive follow up releases for 3 (going on 4) years already. If the rumors of a Diaclone themed Botcon hold up, we might see a black Ironhide that could double as SG Ironhide (same as Action Master Thundercracker doubles as SG Thundercracker). Personally I'm hoping we'll see an SG Nemesis Prime! The first one who won't be a dark re-color of Optimus Even an SG Ultra Magnus would be interesting, he won't be a light recolor of Prime
Except I don't want them to have the SG symbols, though I imagine this woudl be the easiest way to get the Diaclone repaints out and make them desirable to collectors
The creators decided to repurpose existing toys into SG versions of the characters. It made for some good nods to existing figures and allowed fans to make groups or teams with existing figures to accompany the limited number of Botcon characters produced for the SG universe.