griftimus prime wrote:its a shame the hound toy looks nothing like that.
What, you mean a dumpy, moonshine guzzling red-neck with a 3rd grade education who raided a military base on his way out from the Appalachian mountains? 'Cause yeah, I really want the nod to one of my all time favorite G1 characters looking totally like that.
Three things should NOT...absolutely NOT come into mind when I see a Transformer, either the toy or the concept art, and those would be the lines "Boy, you sure got a 'purty mouth", "I'm gonna make ya squeal like a stuck pig" and "Paddle faster...I hear banjos!" Hound and the Wreckers, between their concept pics, movie appearances and their toys, look like the cast of Deliverance and that's a seriously f'd up impression to be given when you are dealing with kids toys.
The one other impression I'm getting from Hasbro which is messed up in an entirely different different way but still sucks, is the marketing push. Yes, it's been increasing in recent years due to the movie but rather than letting it take a slow and steady course (aka "The SMART way to do it") and keep things stable they are giving things one massive shove starting with the new movie. They are going to F up the whole franchise with this tactic. I guarantee you they will over-hype it, they will flood the market to the point of sensory overload, they will try to convince the world that over the next 6 to 8 years we should do nothing but eat, sleep and **** Transformers, so much so that even us loyal fans will be so sick of the brand that we want nothing to do with it...EVER! Transformers has been around for 30 years now and it's held up that long not by being over-hyped and flooding the market but by the strength of the name and the freshness of the product line. It's been, for the most part, slow and steady but at least it has BEEN THERE. In ten years time, after Hasbro has finished bloating it and then bleeding it out, it will be a dead husk on the side of the road, abused and stagnant with the stench of corporate greed still fresh on it and the sweet, familiar smell of loyalty, originality and excitement long since gone from it as Hasbro finds some other brand to exploit.
You all see new products through 2017 in this outline that Hasbro has and you squee like fangirls at a Twilight release party... I step back and see the bigger picture. don't look at the last 30 years and think to yourself that the same cycle will happen again. for the next 30. It won't. It's different this time around, the rules have changed since my generation grew up with this brand.
ANYONE ELSE SEEING IT?
And I own a figure with the prototype Predacon symbol: EU 2-pack Predaking.
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