JelZe, yes and no on the shelf-life thing, because of differences in distribution practices. From what I've read, for at least the first three years, the same products would continue to ship to stores - meaning continual shelf presence was just as likely to indicate a popular toy as it was an unpopular one.
I think if anything killed the line it was the lack of cartoon support for new product after 1987 combined with creators, marketers, and retailers losing steam, and the "Gimmick of the year" rut the designers fell into.
I don't think the Action Masters killed it and they seem to have sold okay, but they
were certainly divisive - older fans who
already had the transforming versions were generally appreciative of the articulation and playset-friendly size, but younger fans who had only just got into Transformers were disappointed and frustrated.
MGrotusque wrote:But i reckon that dark period from 88 or so till Beast Wars had come along is the time that most folks(target market i.e children) had lost interest and had succumbed to those throbbing biological urges brought on by puberty and had left the franchise in the "dark ages" (that i surmise) known as G2.
So in conclusion. I hypothesize that G2 is the worst selling line.
Except that, you know, A. That's not really the target market losing interest, that's people losing interest as they
exit the target market, and B.
new kids come along every year to
replenish the target market.
And in 1993 (when G2 started), plenty of those new kids would have been quite "wow!"ed by G2 and its flashy repackaging of toys and cartoon, and the KEWL colors that were all the rage in the '90s. Not to mention the glorious cheesy commercial rap songs. Plenty of people obviously bought the toys.
If anything hurt G2 sales it was competition from Power Rangers combined with parental dismissal of the redecoes.
Also, G2 is more of a refresh than a mere subline.
My guess for worst-selling subline? Pretenders in Japan, despite initial high hopes for them (hopes evidenced by Grand's suit and the existence of Metalhawk). They only had the first wave of 1988 Pretenders, none of the 1989 standard Pretenders, and the Mega Pretenders were retooled to remove the Pretender aspect.