Gimmicks has been the Transformers' thing since the 80s. We have the obvious changing to vehicle and back which is the biggest gimmick of all, then we got rubsigns, powermasters and headmasters then micromasters and battlemasters and combiners and prime masters and 1/2/3/4/5 steps and mechtech and whatnot. Siege/Earthrise's deal are battlemasters, micromasters and weaponizers. And it seems that it might carry on to the final installment: WFC: Part Three. So sadly when the trilogy is over and we possibly get another one with different gimmicks, what do you think should be the new gimmick? Interchangable armor? Bring back lights and sound? For me, I'd like to see them incorporate the mechtech gimmick once again in Generations, but with a locking feature this time.

 

Part of the reason the gimmicks have been so well received this time is that they have been unobtrusive. While I loved Titans Return & Power of the Primes, having all characters always be Headmasters or always Combiners hurt some of them badly, like Galvatron & Starscream.

The blast effect parts & weaponisers / modulators have been great because you can use them if you want, but if you take them off it doesn’t effect the other toys at all. I think blast effects will continue & become more elaborate, but some sort of modular armour line you say would be great. I think that’d be the perfect way to revive & expand the Pretender concept!

I think Micromasters will continue as well, with us getting the other half of the patrols we’ve already got, Micromaster combiners that become the same size as a Deluxe figure & robot modes for the bigger Micromaster bases, like Skystalker & Groundshaker.

 

Blast effects and weaponizors

 

I do hope the blast effects continue. Heck, even the MPs are getting in on that.

 

Combining Powerheadtargetmaster Pretender shells with Action Masters inside.  

Or those gimmicks spread out among the next line. I wouldn't mind blast effects becoming a permanent fixture in future lines, either.

 

Very true, I hated the fact that nearly every figure was headmasters.

Yes, I'd like those gimmicks, but as for the armor, it'd be best as a cross between the siege leader class armors and the pretender shell. (Personally IMO)

 

How about mini-cons. Micromasters aren’t that far off and would be a neat gimmick to revisit.

 

Headmasters. Taking that gimmick away was more erroneous than taking away any of the main articulations we come to accept as the norm (wrist, waist, etc).

 

Beast modes.

 

I would like to see something like Mech Alive comeback. Don't know if anyone liked that gimmick but I thought it was pretty neat​

 

I'd love to see the return of drivers/pilots even if they don't turn into the robots' heads. I always wanted Hasbro to extend Human Alliance beyond Bayverse. Bumblebee with Spike, Wheelie with Daniel, Arcee with Jack Darby, Ironhide with Kicker, Bulkhead with Sari. Megatron with Cobra Commander (whose gun would resemble G1 Megatron), Starscream with Dr. Arkeville.

 

I wouldn't be opposed at seeing Pretenders get another shot but this time taking cues from Siege Ultra Magnus and making them more like super robot armor that covers almost all of the core robot up. Also when not using the armor gimmick you can make the armor parts a figure unto itself if you wish like a ML BAF styled feature. It would be a good feature to include in a potential Generations BW line too as a way to not only bring in the PRetender beasts and Monstructor from G1 into the line but to also reference the BW mutant head gimmick from the season 1 toyline and build upon the mutant feature if they wanted to.

 

Someone finally said it. I like the idea of pilots without having to be incorporated in the robot's head. Hasbro should really do something like the Diaclone Reboot. I also still like Titan masters, but for characters who were actually headmasters. But I'd really like to see more detail in those figures like how takara did in their LG line.

 

The kids lines feel like a testbed to me.

RiD2015 made heavy use of minicons and Powerlinx style combinations and Cyberverse is big on armor.

Right now we're seeing some armor and Battlemasters/Micromasters that act as weapons.

I feel like Powerlinx (or some kind of two robot combiner system) and some armor system that echoes Pretenders are the big candidates.

I think whatever they do will emphasize crossplay more than vintage figures did.

I could see Micromaster combiners being more of a thing with Monster Pretenders/Dinoforce at Deluxe price with articulated shells.

I'm guessing how you handle that is to develop a MM combiner system for the lowest pricepoint and have Deluxes that are MM in a budget articulation ball jointed shell on par with maybe Ben Ten.

I feel like the shell system could be interesting and we'd probably get the shells and interior figures independently transforming and combining in some way.

Maybe Pretenders would BE Powerlinx combos with robots forming legs while the upper torsos are sold separately?

Or maybe Pretender shells are like Marvel Legends/Lightning Series/Black Series figures covered in 5mm pegs and the inner robots split into weaponizers to armor them up? Reverse the originals so the shells wear the robots. There's some potential in THAT to have synergy with other Hasbro toylines and maybe do human characters like Spike, Marissa, Kicker, and Doctor Arkeville. Now... How do you do that without making them swiss cheese Hero Mashers? Maybe it's a CYBERNETIC thing and you remove parts of the human to reveal 5mm pegs for the robots and you have backpacks for storing the removed human bits. Would that freak parents out too much? If you could, say, take off Spike's arms and have Bumblebee form new arms while his severed arm is in a backpack?

I know people are hungry for the original Pretenders but I feel like a part of what makes it viable is probably revisiting the Funpub Optimus and Megatron and doing the Classic Pretenders alongside it.

A move to 1:12ish (ignoring some scale for vehicles unless Optimus becomes a chariot or Bumblebee is a skateboard) would be good for Pretenders and Beast Wars and human TF characters. Maybe BW Megatron for example could be Commander or even Titan.

I really do see part of the future of the line being 1:12-ish scale and it might explain both the interest in scale by Hasbro and why we're getting a G1 fire sale of characters in classic forms since the next Bumblebee or Prowl would have to be very different (skateboard, motorcycle or lion) or very much bigger (Titan Optimus, Commander Bumblebee or 1-2 sizes down from that perhaps with a focus on G1 robot scale).

Integrating TFs with 1:12 scale has great synergy with everything else Hasbro does in the action figure aisle so maybe WFC is a final hurrah for the 1:35-1:60 scale for awhile in terms of adult collectors.

 

Actually, I'd prefer getting all/mostly Headmasters. Even the original Headmasters became HM in the course of the story, whether we're talking Rebirth, Marvel or the Headmasters anime. There's no reason why more can't be added, especially anime-style where the head is the character and the body is just a transtector. That's actually the way I treat all the HM in my collection.

A Human Alliance-style line would simply be a good compromise - it'd give us the pilots while quieting the complaints from those who feel only certain characters should be Headmasters. But to my mind since they're robots and be rebuilt, there's no reason why a character can't become a Headmaster or a combiner, or gain an armored supermode.

 

Hmm, a move to 1:12 would be as big as MAS toys wouldn't that be too expensive?

 

Optimus himself would be around 3 feet tall. Starscream would be about 30 inches. Prowl would be around 25 inches. Bumblebee would be 18 inches. Scaling off comics Marvel Legends anyway.

That probably is about twice the size that would be viable going that way.

But Optimus Primal would be around 10 inches in beast mode. A T-Rex would be about twice that. That positions Beast Wars in a viable range for the upper size classes.

And then maybe you get ML/Black Series style humanoid figures with out of scale robots who turn into weapons, armor, or vehicles up to the size of a large motorcycle for them.

So take Pretender Bumblebee. Imagine him de-armored. And Bumblee can turn into a skateboard or armor and, combined, they look like Pretender Bumblebee's shell.

Unarmored skeleton guy plus Weaponizer Bludgeon equals Samurai Bludgeon.

Maybe Optimus Prime becomes a chariot. That can attach as armor to a gorilla.

Starscream becomes a hovercraft. That can become a guy's armor or a robot.

 

Ab crunches.

 

i'd like to see a non g1-centric trilogy

 

The triumphant return of Fuzors.

Also, why are people asking for headmasters to come back. There are literally already headmasters in WFC. Apeface in Siege and Snapdragon in Earthrise. They never went away.