What era of TFs has 3P yet to fully dive into?

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Discussion' started by ErickCruz, Aug 4, 2021.

  1. Scourgatron

    Scourgatron 4D Smart-ass

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    We have barely gone past s02 of G1. Still waiting on my Decepticon Targetmaster jets.
     
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  2. Spark

    Spark General Electric

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    Armada, Beast Machines. I'd just want to see what absurd transformations 3P companies come up with to make Beast Machines show models work.
     
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  3. ProtectronPrime

    ProtectronPrime Subjectively Objective

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    To be fair, IDW only really landed with one 3P company - MMC, and only their reformatted line. Planet X followed up years after MMC cleaned out most of the major characters. There are a few one offs here and there (G.O.D Garatron Thunderwing, Mech Ideas Fisitron, or KFC's very early Perceptor for example) but those are relative rarities.

    IDW's story decisions are controversial among fans (what isn't?), but for a while it was the closest thing some fans got to more "mature" TF storytelling. As a result, there was a built in adult fanbase for the characters and designs, but no real high-grade merchandise to go with it.

    Mostly, it was a handful of official homages to the comic designs. Homages, because the transformations were kind of hard to approximate with the constraints placed on mass produced toys. At best, the official T30 line is all we ever got, and this limited subline is likely the cause of T30 Skids - which is kind of a lame toy in my opinion - going for $50 today.

    So in a sense the only ones that could do a fuller IDW cast was a 3P company, i.e. a company that doesn't have to worry about stuff like safety testing, remoldability, budget/parts count the same way Hasbro does.

    In short: you had a built in niche adult audience for merch that Hasbro probably couldn't deliver on and that's probably why MMC rules that particular roost.
     
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  4. bellpeppers

    bellpeppers A Meat Popsicle

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    I wonder if 3P would ever attempt Beast Machines?
     
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  5. ProtectronPrime

    ProtectronPrime Subjectively Objective

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    If there was an audience for it, I bet they would. I'd love show accurate Vehicons.
     
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  6. Snaku

    Snaku Primes Don't Party

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    Which era? I dunno'. Maybe Mesozoic. I mean we've got a decent amount of 3P dinobots but I wanna' see what else...

    oh, that's not really what you meant. I'ma go with TF Prime. I used to say I'd buy every character if they did MP versions of them but I think I'd have to tone that down - I'm kinda' tired of masterpiece figures and I'm much more enthusiastic about Legends now. If they did Legends TFP figures and they were as well done as MST or NA, I'd be all over those.
     
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  7. Easterburn

    Easterburn Your friendly neighborhood Digibasher

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    Well APC toys delve into improved voyager and Deluxes class so it's not entirely forgotten.
     
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  8. Snaku

    Snaku Primes Don't Party

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    True and I'm buying them but I'd love to see actual 3P versions with their better engineering and articulation.
     
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  9. Ramjet555

    Ramjet555 Well-Known Member

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    Unicron Trilogy. I know FansHobby did Armada Prime, and is doing Energon Prime/Armada Megs, but man I -really- wanna see them lean into it.

    Give me the OG crews, Red Alert/Hot Shot for the bots, Cyclonus, Demolisher, and Starscream for the cons because DAMN those figures would be sick. Scavenger, Smokescreen, Sideways, Tidal Wave (EMPHASIS HERE), Jetfire, etc.

    The possibilities for an Armada MP Line are insane, and the people that grew up with it are old enough to have the cash to buy them now. It's a pipe dream but one I would support fully.
     
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  10. KFGatri

    KFGatri Madman with a Blue Box

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    Basically, anything that isn't G1, just like official.

    OH wait ... BW Neo! Imagine a Big Convoy where the mammoth kibble is actually integrated into the robot rather than kind of "floating" around him!

    I'd rather someone reanimate the series so the animation models are accurate to the toy designs.
     
  11. Nemesis Compactor

    Nemesis Compactor Well-Known Member

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    Heck, only the first three years of G1 have really been delved and even then there's still more.

    Where's my 24 inch Halonix Maximus, dangnabbit!
     
  12. Bumblemus Prime

    Bumblemus Prime Cracked in the head

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    MMC's reps have kind of implied that they have to pay homage to the Great G1 to be able to support sales on the original characters. That's why you have Megatron, Prime, Rodimus, Thunderclash, Whirl, Drift... but they've also dug pretty deep into IDW's original characters with the DJD, Roller, the upcoming Rung, and some of the C-list bots that got big stories in IDW like Chromedome, Rewind & Getaway.

    IDW1 ended up in a really unique position. Because it started before the Classics line did, the artists were pretty much always given a free hand to reimagine the cast. Sometimes it paid forward, like EJ Su's Prime design being a big influence on MP-10 and Nick Roche's design becoming Generations Springer. I think at one point Hasbro asked IDW if they would ditch their original continuity and join with the Aligned, and IDW essentially said no. James Roberts had a shit-ton of original characters/interesting takes on very obscure characters that he'd already created for the UK fanclub stories, and Alex Milne had been an artist at IDW from the beginning, thus always redesigning.

    Combine that with the series starting in 2012, almost 30 years after the franchise started and right when a lot of us poor saps came into some disposable income, and you had a ton of new designs. Some of them are just cool takes on classic characters that appeal to fans in general, some are original characters that look really cool like Tarn, and then the sales on the MTMTE-specific characters seem to scrape by.

    I wonder how long IDW1 can sustain MMC. Planet X appears to be shifting gears from the 2010 WFC/FoC renditions to IDW1 as well. The Phase II period ran for six years, so there's a lot more goodwill remaining even now than there is from 2010 WFC/FoC, but I can't help wondering how far we'll get on IDW1 goodwill before MMC shifts gears a bit.

    I'd love to see Planet X tackle TF: Prime with the same detail they put into the 2010 WFC/FoC toys.
     
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  13. bignick1693

    bignick1693 Maximal

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    I collect legends scale but I would like to see companies like MS and NA to tackle other continuities besides G1.
    I know TE is doing BW legends but I think their scale is a bit to big. It’s to close to CHUG scale.
    IF has made some cool stuff within BW but it seems like they are heading into a different direction.

    But I would love legends in other continuities. If they would do mini MP style BW and Animated I would probably drop G1 legends.
     
  14. BIOMEC

    BIOMEC Terrorcon, aka "Ratchetman"

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    Because those designs look cool
     
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  15. Nemesis Compactor

    Nemesis Compactor Well-Known Member

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    It's true, GCreation made a beautiful Prowl
    PXL_20210805_151411373.MP.jpg

    I think it's also a timing thing too. The IDW seems have been the most celebrated area of the franchise in the early 2010's, when a lot of 3p companies started up. Seems natural to latch onto that.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2021
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  16. Alph

    Alph Well-Known Member

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    I have to admit, I recently saw the Planet X IDW Grimlock figure and I was really impressed by how awesome it looks.


    It's just kind of surprising because I literally never saw that Grimlock design in my life but then suddenly I see this 3rd party figure and it's like "whaaaat?!"

    But I guess it makes sense when you consider all the different factors. Though I'm still curious about how popular the IDW comic actually was in Asia, and China in particular.
     
  17. BIOMEC

    BIOMEC Terrorcon, aka "Ratchetman"

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    Another reason may be that "printed friction" (manga, etc) is more popular there.
     
  18. Moos Crew

    Moos Crew I make stuff

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    Really want some true MP figures
     
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  19. Conran

    Conran A Kurt Cobain haircut?

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    Kiss players.

    Someone had to suggest it.

    1623449430390.jpg
     
  20. solarstorm

    solarstorm Well-Known Member

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    Animated has pretty much nothing. Beast wars is limited. Unicorn trilogy is more limited. RID has some scourge and ruination reprints, but that’s it. Beast machines has absolutely nothing.

    a lot of generations have been left out BUT keep in mind that the part most 3rd party designers struggle most with is face designs and smoother/organic designs. That’s why so many of the early 3P toys were blocky messes with almost unrecognizable generic Robo faces. So some of these generations are likely struggling from that. Organic season 1 Beast Wars will be harder for an amateur/part time designer to create than a transmetal. Even then, you have a beast and a robot face to nail. Transformers animated was so stylized that They’re entire bodies should be a pain to design.

    Plus, the guaranteed money is in G1 and movie bots. Widest audiences/better sales. Half of the G1 crowd wants nothing to do with BW. The movie attracts some people not into the cartoons and older stuff.
     
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