I was trying to scope out a Walmart toy aisle today hoping there might be some cool deluxe figures on sale, but I was thwarted by a boy and his mother. The kid was maybe five years old. He was going absolutely nuts for the Mini-con Assault team. He wasn't even entirely sure what it was. He was looking at the package trying to determine if the giant robot really was the three separate robots, and if the separate robots really turned into three separate vehicles. He seemed to think this was the neatest concept ever, and couldn't believe it. He and his mother were standing there trying to match the body parts of Centuritron with the vehicle part on the mini-cons on the back of the blister pack. When they finally deduced that it was in fact a complete set of three figures, he went ballistic. I had to leave the aisle to keep myself from laughing out loud and giving away the fact that I was eavesdropping. (I was tempted to just explain to them how the toy worked...but I try to avoid intervening. It's had some very bad experiences with playing the neighborly toy expert. Besides, they seemed to be on the right track.) Anyway, for those of us who think that the IDW figures are really only attracting the adult collectors, this is anecdotal evidence that some kids really dig them even if they don't know the backstory on the characters.
In the end, most kids just want toys that they think are cool and/or fun. That's also the attitude I've tried to maintain in myself. When you start nitpicking over scale or complexity, you take away the innate magic of a robot that turns into a vehicle or a dinosaur or what have you. Back when I was a kid, I thought Beast Wars Megatron was the coolest freaking thing ever. Both the regular and Transmetal. And it wasn't because of the show or the character. It was because he was an awesome looking T rex that turned into an awesome looking robot. He satisfied my childhood love of dinosaurs and robots. Backstory is cool and all, but it's hardly necessary to enjoy a toy.
to be honest, i hated the minicon team so much that it's one of the few figures i've ever returned. lol. but it's better that someone else likes it and enjoys it.. and hopefully lets hasbro know that adults and kids alike enjoy combiners. i mean. when i was a kid there was absolutely NOTHING better than a toy that combined.. even the mmpr megazord.. i LOVED it. i remember having defensor, it was the coolest. it's a shame that hasbro has lost that magic these days. personally, i think it's because they've gotten rid of a formula that worked in G1.. the limbs should be smaller robots and the core body should be a larger one, and it should have extra fists and feet rather than them being built in. that formula just works.. and third parties have shown us that with all of their combiners, and even their sets that improve hasbro's combiners (FOC bruticus specifically) anyways, i love when i see kids go nuts for transformers.. especially one from the generations line. plus, that thing comes with a comic so the child (hopefully reads it) will be able to learn about what he just got.
Admittedly the FoC Bruticus wasn't as good as it could have been. But I admire Hasbro's attempt to innovate. I'd much rather see them try new things that don't quite work than stick with the same old methods year after year. I'm impressed that they were able to engineer the limb modes and integrated hands and feet as well as they did. The attempt to make all five figures the same size, however, I can absolutely agree with you on. Onslaught should have been a voyager. On the bright side, people buying the figure on the secondary market down the line won't have to worry about missing combiner kibble.
When I met the other second grade teacher at the beginning of this school year, I learned that he is huge into football (his entire classroom is decorated in University of Oregon's green/yellow/black deco) and couldn't tell Oprimus Prime from a Gundam. He's been teaching me about football in exchange for information about Transformers, and he's actually stoked for the movie. I brought in the Mini-Con Assault Team to show him, due to it's sheer awesomeness (but mostly its U of O green/yellow/black coloration), and within minutes he had me order one for him through Hasbro Toy Shop, haha. He has it proudly displayed in combined mode on his U of O shrine shelf. His daughter had me turn it into a tank mode that combined all three members. She named it "Bob the JetTankiCopter"
I think that The Minicons like Rhinox or Armada Starscream serve a multiple purpose to some extent - Takara Tomy would see them as modern version of the the originals Hasbro is trying to have it's cake and eat it a bit - but it's perfectly reasonable to look on the character as a modern Armada toy. and it's quite possible in markets where it's sold without a comic that is exactly how some will see it. Personally I see they way the Comic and Toys are so close means they have the use a crowbar to make them fit into the overall line as in isolation of that comic the selection seems like a modern version of Universe - with thing from all over the place randomly thrown together from different lines and series. Heck knows what the parts of the world that does not get a comic with them thinks they are being sold.
Probably that they are figures of characters from different "Generations" of Transformers. Which is how I choose to look at them. Like Armada Starscream is the Starscream from Armada. I really do love the way Hasbro is trying to tie the toys more closely into the comics (FINALLY. This is something they have not been properly exploiting for years). But sometimes they can take it too far. Things like "Armada" Starscream and the beasts do not need to be shoehorned into the comics. It feels way too artificial and out of place.
Yes that I how a fan who does not real the comics would potentially feel about it - but they removed some much info from the international packaging sometimes... it can leave you a bit puzzled - why there is a fuzzy Rattap and a minicon combiner in the same line. Heck they didn't even make it super clear that one of the Minicons is a girl. I would be interested to see how little kids see the Generations Brand. (if anyone has overheard any comments worth repeating or has young relatives they can ask) [ones that have not been groomed from birth to be Transformers fans I mean].
Did this happen in the US? Makes me wonder if the discovery of the included comic gave the kid a seizure. Ah to be young, and the joy naivety brings.
Yeah, this was Stateside. I wondered if the kid liked the idea of getting three figures in one pack. It looked like his mom scanned the bar code, so the idea of getting three legion-class figures for a little over three bucks a pop must have seemed like a deal. (Imagine what he would have done if he found Abominus for seven bucks...)
I feel the same way. I always thought FOC Thundercracker, when he first came out, was supposed to be a toy for the Thundercracker in the video game's isolated universe (Aligned be damned). I loved the game and I love the toy, they (Hasbro and High Moon) should pat themselves on the back. But now they saying that's what G1 Thundercracker looks like now. Okay... How about no?
Makes me wonder how someone overhearing me at a Sears in 1985 might have felt, 'cause I remember going batcrap nuts discovering the Superion giftset. "OMG ITS AUTOBOT COMBINER GUYS! - and they're PLANES!!!" (Bear in mind the Aerialbots had not appeared on the cartoon yet at this point)
This is a pretty awesome story. I really love hearing of things like this. They just seem so few and far between these days.
