There wasn't any big surprises. I got the impression that he felt uncertain about transformers' future as a toyline at Hasbro, and that may have factored in his departure. He talked about his responsibilities and it sure sounded like a ton rested on his shoulders. In my opinion, he did agree that the quality of the toys is on the decline, and he felt in 20 years, action figures will be completely customizable thanks to 3D printers and just be fore collectors.

 

They by far had the most things on display to show off.

 

Thank you Darkprime for sharing your incites into Aaron Archers' thoughts at TFcon this year.

I have been waiting for quite some time to hear his side of this tory and wondered why he left (or was let go) and what he felt was the future (or lack there of it) for the future of Transformers.

Sounds pretty glum.   Kinda' hopping he might still show up in a local bar, toss a few back with a few of the fans, and open up a bit more and tell his personal tale. There still so much more I'd like to know...

 

He didn't say why he left, but he gives the impression he's happy doing freelance work now. Oh, and he mentioned that he's still doing some work with Hasbro (I assume as a freelancer), but he didn't say what it is.

 

Everyone Be prepared to spend about $400 to $500 on that scorponok

 

Is it racist if I say all third-party robots look alike?

 

Thanks for sharing. It's tough to find out anything about some of the panels and events at TFCon. It seems like all I can find is pictures of the 3rd party stuff and that's about it. I appreciate it!

 

Yes. Feel bad.

 

Wow, that Maketoys scorpion thing looks good. I need one of these 500 $ side/3rd party company figures in my collection. That thing looks CRAZY, in a good way. Sheess, Talk about imposing. That thing looks like the king of all transformers or a king.

 

My impression is that Archer was getting killed at Hasbro in terms of workload. He made it up to VP, which is a big deal, and one of the first things he mentioned when he talked about his freelancing was spending time with his family. (Other guys have done the same thing, like Bruce Timm, where they're super-successful at a big company but then leave to freelance.) Think about it: they made three TF movies in six years, and Archer mentioned that this is usually only done when they are all made at once, which these weren't. They were designing and producing like crazy the entire time. He and his teams didn't just have to worry about the designs themselves, but things like plastics, paints, packaging type, shipping costs, coordinating with Bay, coordinating with Takara, balance of colours and alt modes in stores, distribution, dealing with management execs, and all the other stuff you have to do at a big company.

I also found it interesting that, while Hasbro has a lot of influence in initial design, he gave the impression that Takara basically does all the production design and engineering; he mentioned rivets, joints, measuring tolerances, etc., are all finalized by Takara.

 

Scor...po...nok.........looks...... *faints*

 

Another tidbit from Archer about 3rd Parties (there was only 1 question asked about them) - he said that by the time they left, they had 2 big binders full of pictures of stuff the competition (3rd parties), but didn't look at it all to influence how they were making toys. He said they didn't want to be accused to stealing from those that are stealing from them.

Another question he was asked about was his thought on designs he worked on before being updated, such as the new Armada Starscream. He said for it to be remade already makes him feel old, but he's very happy that these updates occur.

He was asked about his thoughts on Lebron James coming back to Ohio and he said as far as he's concerned, Lebron gets a clean slate. Aaron is from Akron, Ohio.

 

If only they did take ideas from the 3rd parties - Fx Headmaster transformations & decent combiners for example...

 

More questions I remember.... Someone asked about color choices for characters and pressure from retailers or license holders to change them. He said he was fortunate not to have those problems, but did recall having to make changes twice
One of them was armada tidal wave because the line already had too much grey/purple. Personnaly I disagree. He also said he likes to pair nontraditional colors together. He said he is a g2 colorist.

Another person asked about show accuracy coloring. He said they try to at Hasbro, but acknowledge they do occasionally stray. He said with Takara, show accuracy is a big deal in japan, and not just for transformers.

Another person asked about the flooding of bumblebee during the ROTF error. Aaron said they wanted to get one of the favorite characters out there in different ways, but there is only so much they could do with a character (a bumblebee) that must be yellow. He said a purple bumblebee just wouldn't work. He said Hasbro learned a lesson when the team was shown an aisle at a store having a wall of bumblebee. He didn't remember who showed them or found the picture.

 

Hi,just wondering did you all see anyone selling Powermaster figures like Double Dealer,Slapdash,Getaway,Joyride etc?

 

Agreed! Thanks!

 

Gotta admit that FansProject Columpio is one sweet as heck toy design for a new modern looking G1 Sludge. Add to that and the Diaclone-esque mini fig also is a nice bonus to an already impressive looking bot and dino mode. Man, i actually want this. Im sure the other non-Dinobots would look just as awesome. Gonna be the first 3rd party FansProject owned stuff in ages.

 

Uber awesome update guys plus that tidbit of info regarding Aaron Archer was great too.

Uber!

 

Thanks for the link. Much appreciated!