So this have been on my mind lately after see how transformers one is doing In box office with it maybe flopping but I have a question.

Are people or kids just don't care about Transformers anymore with how many flops with earthspark,botbots, ONE.

It is the brand dying or Franchise fatigue, the bayverse, kids not buying toys. I feel worried as what will happen to transformers In the future.

Also transformers was alway the underdog with people not really taking about ot care with out mentioning the shows, comics, i would say the video games but i see a lot of Casual fans talking about them to the Discussion of media and stuff.

The only other thing that is not flopping is the Skybound comics with it having high sale that out run DC and won two awards due to being successful well written, brilliant comics. I feel transformers was alway strong with comic and this show that.

But what is your opinions and takes on this

 

It's a mix of everything.

1.) The movies aren't doing well because of the economy, the brand's reputation (as films go), and Bay's mistreatment of the property as a whole. (I can't tell you how many of us walked out of the theater hating on it, I was so pissed I couldn't sleep that night.)

2.) I don't think there's brand fatigue, perse', more likely film brand fatigue, which can indeed affect our end of things quite a bit. Hasbro invests a lot of money into these films and when they all tank as they have for the last four movies...it's not a great sign.

3.) Kids don't really play with toys, much at all, these days. That's the fault of screens. Video games, YouTube, Tik Tok, Twitch, all of it's just consuming our children, non-stop. They don't have time to do anything else because it's easier to shut off their brains and turn on the screen. It's really kind of nefarious, we're basically turning them into drones and that's what people want, worker drones instead of human beings.

Put all of that together and it looks like Transformers is dying/failing/whatever you wish to call it, but I don't think so. Adult collectors, some older kids, and the rare ones not on a tablet/phone/PC/console are still collecting and buying. Yes, Hasbro is licensing out the rights for certain products, but it's generally their bread and butter as a Hasbro-owned property. (Most of Hasbro's successes come from licensed deals with Disney under the Marvel and Lucasfilm (ILM/Star Wars/Indiana Jones) properties.)

I do think it could very well die, however. We're getting older and tired and tired of spending money, kids are rapidly leaving toys behind, the economy isn't going to get better for some time, and people find time more precious than they did before and they don't want to waste it on trinkets, etc. All brands are suffering because of this.

It also didn't help that One was mislabeled and promoted incorrectly. It came across as a really stupid buddy comedy with a handful of action scenes in it, when in reality it was anything but. It was serious, it was fun but thought-provoking, it was gorgeous without being too cartoony, and the shame is so many people are *refusing* to go see it because they don't want to be burned again and they're getting burned by not seeing it.

If you want kids to get back into Transformers (or toys of any kind) take away the screens. Set strict limits. A friend of mine has 3, all of them turned into monsters when they had access to a screen. (Even the TV.) His wife and he both banned them from screens completely and the kids are back to normal and actually playing and are in good moods and having a good time. Look at how adults are sickly tethered to them, imagine what that does to the brain receptors on a child. Egads.

 

I think the solution to this is making transformers from a mostly toy brand to video game franchise as people are still talking about the cybertron games and that iPad, phone, social media will have it concerning effect with children. But if the brand will not change or at least get with the times than transformers will shut off forever.

 

The problem with that though isn't a case of they dont' want to get with the times. The problem is a lot of the transformer games that came out were poor sellars or were shut down in development due to company issues so they're hesitant.

I would love some more WFC/FOC and Devastation type games but they're hestiant

 

It is not as popular as it used to be. However, the main reason is timing. It has nothing to do with any of the Bay films or the Netflix series.

I also think that most stuff from the last five or six years has been, frankly speaking, kind of repetitive and mundane. Transformers needs 1) a break and 2) a Beast Wars or Bayformers moment where that poop catches fire and Shrexplodes into something huge.

 

Yeah, we need a beast war or something very different that blow up in popularity like how transformers prime did In the 2010s.

 

anything than the g1 remakes we've had mostly in the past few years would certainly be refreshing and put new blood into the franchise.

This is coming from someone that also really loves G1 as well.

Just thinking about this too. Another thing that doenst' help is stores dont carry transformers figures like they used too. Idk who they put in charge of releasing and distribution but my area rarely gets any new transformers in and when they do it's like 20 of the same figure in a package. It's why I've taken to buying my figures online and not in stores.


The price increase of figures probably doesn't help either especially when in some ways we're getting less than what we pay for. Deluxes are smaller than what they used to be, etc etc

 

Maybe, maybe not... I don't really pay attention to what's 'popular' or not.

Admittedly I can't really say I care too much either way, in fact I think popularity and mainstream attention is overrated at best and at worst detrimental to the hobby / series in question.

 

The franchise lacks direction and I'm quite frankly sick of it.

I don't think the franchise needs a hard reset but I do think Hasbro really needs to clean things up and dial back on a lot of things.

The partnership with McFarlane is a neat collab but it should be focused on the current Skybound issues, not the old IDW stuff that has long come and gone. If not that, I wouldn't mind them giving McFarlane license to make proper non-transforming figures in the style of DC Multiverse. There clearly is a market for non-transforming Transformers, it just needs to be priced correctly and without overlap on what Hasbro is currently selling unlike R.E.D or Super7.

Cull the number of Transformers toylines on shelves right now. Keep it focused to Studio Series and Generations. If new fiction comes along, just add those new versions of characters to Generations.

Get back to talking with Takara on a new collaborative effort. It doesn't have to be on the same scale as the Unicron Trilogy but you can't deny Transformers was at a very high peak during that time. I may be in the minority but damn do I kinda wish we had something as stupidly fun as Cybertron/Galaxy Force again.

Price drops. All across the board. At very minimum $5.

 

Unfortunately action cartoons and figures are pretty much non existent to kids. This leaves the movies and video games. The movies just don't seem to draw all that much interest. And the best that the video games seem to be able to do is feature some sort of "skin" in Fortnite.

 

I mean I’m not going to get into the whole technology thing I’m the generation that grew up as the tech evolved. To me, I’ve never seen Transformers as a mega huge or popular brand. It’s been way more niche then I think a lot of people care to admit. Growing up I wished the brand could of reach the highs that stuff like the MCU did but it never could. As much as I love the Bay films I know they were hated and treated as brain rot trash. Until Bee, ROTB, & One, we never got films that respected the source material like Marvel does.

The shows aren’t getting better. I liked RiD15 but it was a step down from Prime. The WFC Trilogy tried way to hard to be edgy and adult. Cyberverse was a step forward in the right direction but then Earthspark took things two steps back. We need a new BW, a new 2007 film, a new Prime, a new spark essentially. At this point the brand relies on the hands of the fans. We’re the ones investing our time & money. As many grow older they’ll introduce the brand to their own kids and hopefully the cycle continues.

But hey at least we’re doing better then GI Joe. I love the brand and Classified is the best toyline out there currently. But god Hasbro can’t seem to understand how to make GI Joe a powerhouse brand anymore. We need a new cartoon, decent movies, and I’d say give us a CoD style shooter video game.

 

I mean no offense when I say this but you're ideas make you sound like stereotypical video game/technology hating Moral Guardians from the 90s-2000s.

 

Spoiler

Sorry, not to call you out on this in particular, but the key difference between, say, Earthspark and One and most previous toylines, other than material factors like plastic quality and the size of various classes, is that adult fans didn't grow up with Earthspark and One.

There is maybe a case to be made here for lines like RiD, Cyberverse and RotB being so low on traditional offerings in relation to the gimmicks, but a lot of that hinges on people not considering Warrior Class or equivalents the Basic Classes of their modern lines (just featuring smaller versions of core cast members rather than original ones a la Beast Wars, etc.). Rattrap and Armordillo are the height of austere toy design for the sensible collector, but a fully fledged Optimus Prime and Wheeljack utilizing unique molds that come with animal targetmasters are gimmicks. Several first-year Beast Wars characters didn't even have two functioning arms. (This is not a bad thing, but then neither are recent toylines without the cloud of competitive nostalgia.)

I think literally BBM alone, which never got a traditional main line (potentially due to its small cast, and also maybe due to experimenting with Studio Series just occupying that space) might be a fair application of this somewhat dubious truism.

 

*shrugs* For once, it's actually true. Screens are ruining playtime for kids. They don't quite have the hand/eye coordination they used to.

They don't have imaginative play as much as often, either.

 

I this the peek of Transformers revisiting was already 10-15 years ago.
Bay-formers and Bay-formers: Revenge of the Fallen was not a peek but already a throw back, most people were happy to throw money at and forget

I don't know about limiting screen time? I think Hasbro actually need toys focus less on toy's (sad) and push more video games. If they want this brand to keep going. Cause it's not making many new fans. It's just losing the older ones when they lose interest or get kids.

 

Well, kids are peoples it just that they are more important to the brand astney are the targets Audience.

 

I disagree and it's still semi ironic at the very least.

 

I agree with every point except the economy. Movies still perform well if they're good and people actually want to see them. The problem with the TF films is that they're not. Popular perception is that they're just plain bad, and nobody has interest in a film series with no identity or consistency. Even One, which is generally liked form the looks of it, isn't blowing away the casual audience who did enjoy it. To quote my girlfriend who saw it with me: "It was good, but I'm still not a [Transformers] fan."

I don't think there's fatigue so much as people just don't care. The media side of Transformers is wholly unremarkable. The cartoons are failing because they're not only niche in availability, but not especially bold or distinct. Transformers is in this weird noncommittal rut where it is neither a truly consistent, connected brand across its properties, nor are those individual properties so distinct and different as to garner attention. It's all homogenized on a surface level that to casual observers there's nothing of substance.

I don't think you can put the blame squarely on screens. Kids still buy toys, they just have to be toys kids want. Hell, once upon a time it was screens that made the kids want to buy the toys.

Plus, Hasbro could use that if they were smart. Create a media property, a game or an online show or something of quality, and place it where the audience is. Earthspark was hidden on a streaming service nobody cared about, and I don't know what happened to Reactivate/Rise, but that didn't exactly look like it was going to be anything special even if it was produced.

Transformers is losing popularity because Transformers isn't very good. I hate to say that as a fan, but it's the truth. Every time I see a discussion like this pop up I'm reminded of when a game or movie fails and people look for every excuse why except for the actual quality of the product. Yet there's plenty of games and movies and other properties that are thriving simply because they produce a quality product. When I look at the last five years of Transformers absolutely nothing stands out to me as deserving of popularity. It's all half measures or terrible corporate-level decision making.