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Burn wrote:

RAcast wrote:I pose an interesting question, now that the original has been effectively answered.

WHICH G1 line/sub-line did the most poorly? I'm basically talking by year, which group did the worst. And by group, I mean the likes of: Throttlebots, Scramble city combiners, micro masters, etc.

Action Masters ... seriously. Transformers that don't transform? Who would want to buy that crap?

More people than you'd realize. And Action Masters did not kill G1 per se, it was dying a slow death over the previous years, at least in the US. Europe still had some more releases in store.

I agree with Burn, that it was the Action Masters.

Yeah, IMO, Action Masters should be the worst....as stated, Transformers that didn't transform....just not logical, if you ask me..

I think the only reason G1 sold so well was the fact that it was the ONLY line available at the time. My biggest problem with the line is the fact that I'd watch the show and see a new character I wanted to get, and when I got it I'd ask "were they on drugs? this looks nothing like the character on the show!"

These days characters are very recognizable when it comes to the toy vs show comparison.I think if G1 ran at the same time these other lines ran, sure the G1 line would have failed miserably.

This is why I collect masterpiece. While it's not perfect, it's SOOOO much closer to the cartoon model than the G1 line!

monstergrotusque wrote:If i may be so bold as to imply that "G2" could be the worst selling line?

This is coming from a dude who was there in front of the T.V in 84 watching the original series air at the ripe age of 6 years old. Be present to witness and experience the global phenomenon called Transformers take the world by storm and carry out too become a feature length major motion picture two years later. Than continue to stick around till around 88 or so but by then had split the "scene" to pursue other interests. Kids do have a short attention span.

Then puberty had begun to take control and I had switched gears to join in the hot pursuit of sex,drugs and rock'n'roll.

With that being said and in the context of my personal experience. I had lost ALL interest in the franchise till Beast Wars arrived in the mid 90's. It had resurrected a forgotten childhood passion with an unexpected reboot of the TF concept but with a competent story line that was worth tuning into bi-weekly and was worthy of respect.

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.

Still don't understand the hatred towards G2. G2 brought back toys that I had broke in my childhood and toys I didn't get and improved upon (in my opinion) Megatron.

I think the fact that people still want to buy these toys today shows how popular they are. Will people get misty eyed over the Energon line in 25 years?

Doubtful, and we also lived in very different times back in the 80's.

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.

You know you just replied to comments that were made 7 years ago because someone thought it'd be a great idea to resurrect the thread...

Burn wrote:You know you just replied to comments that were made 7 years ago because someone thought it'd be a great idea to resurrect the thread...

Is that dedication or what?

Now, I don't know much about the exact money making of the lines, but considering that G1 lasted 6-7 years is an indication that it was popular and very marketable.

The worst selling lines (and I could be wrong here) are probably G2, Beast Machines, and Power Core Combiners.

Burn wrote:You know you just replied to comments that were made 7 years ago because someone thought it'd be a great idea to resurrect the thread...

No, I didn't notice that until now

Sorry, I've been away for a while

In regards to sub lines I genuinely don't know. I think we all have our own views on certain lines which cloud our judgement and I feel it's just a guessing game when it comes down to it. I really loved pretenders, target/head master s and so on, action masters less so. I own some Actionmaster s but I'm selling them as they don't really do it for me even though the UK comic storyline arc was pretty interesting

Blasphemous Prime wrote:I think the only reason G1 sold so well was the fact that it was the ONLY line available at the time.

No, there were all sorts of lines g1 was in direct competition with the first few years. From Gobots, to Convertors, to bootlegged diaclone/microchange figures being sold directly on actual store shelves/pegs in real stores like KB and K-Mart, for a while you couldn't swing a dead Ravage around by his tail without hitting something g1 was up against (even a brown knockoff Ravage at K-Mart!)

Optimum Supreme wrote:

Blasphemous Prime wrote:I think the only reason G1 sold so well was the fact that it was the ONLY line available at the time.

No, there were all sorts of lines g1 was in direct competition with the first few years. From Gobots, to Convertors, to bootlegged diaclone/microchange figures being sold directly on actual store shelves/pegs in real stores like KB and K-Mart, for a while you couldn't swing a dead Ravage around by his tail without hitting something g1 was up against (even a brown knockoff Ravage at K-Mart!)

I think he means the only Transformers line. Splitting up into differently-named sub-lines wasn't that big a thing back then, and even then hardly acknowledged overall. The Pretenders, Micromasters and Action Masters come to mind as called out on the packaging, but were never meant to be part of the line's name.

Lord_Onslaught wrote:I agree with Burn, that it was the Action Masters.

Except Burn isn't correct. But sure, whatevs.

sol magnus wrote:

Lord_Onslaught wrote:I agree with Burn, that it was the Action Masters.

Except Burn isn't correct. But sure, whatevs.

All it can be accused of is putting the final nail in the coffin.

Action Masters, That was a big tail end mess.

Including the horrendus Omega Spreem, Pink Thundercracker ( in giant suit) and the the non transformable toys. I mean really most Action Masters don't even have knees or elbows which makes them more boring.

Follow up with G2 which started ok but hit several bad gimmicks like water guns and spinners and many gold plastic syndrome cases (Electro and Slingshot) and cancelled figures (yellow constructicons) and ugly repaints such as blue grimlock and it's no wonder they tried to let it die before creating Beast Wars.

But now Classics and Generations lines have really helped updating and keeping the G1 characters updated and fun.

1. G2 is not G1 even if it used G1 molds and characters It was a brand refresh.
2. The wacky colors of G2 were trendy at the time and actually helped revive kids' interest. Same for those gimmicks.
3. HasTak were not aware at the time that the gold plastic would break down, although Takara should have been because the dodgy metallic swirl plastic dates back to a Diaclone exclusive.
4. Do some homework on what was actually released and canceled, please.

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:G2Devastator_toy.jpg

I feel my 2 cents with no sense is that Machine Wars is one of the worst TFs lines. With most of the figures being Brick-formers like their G1 predecessors it's clear why the line was lame. The smaller scout class figures (autos and jets) were just okay but not enough to say that it was a "great" TFs line or even a "good" one.

So Machine Wars is right behind Action Masters...'nuff said!

Nemesis Destron wrote:With most of the figures being Brick-formers like their G1 predecessors it's clear why the line was lame.

That's because they were G1 figures, just redecoed

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:1. G2 is not G1 even if it used G1 molds and characters It was a brand refresh.
2. The wacky colors of G2 were trendy at the time and actually helped revive kids' interest. Same for those gimmicks.
3. HasTak were not aware at the time that the gold plastic would break down, although Takara should have been because the dodgy metallic swirl plastic dates back to a Diaclone exclusive.
4. Do some homework on what was actually released and canceled, please.

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:G2Devastator_toy.jpg

A point to #4: Rogue-Primal is from Iceland, a remote part of Europe so it may have gotten even less than the mainland did compared to the US. If memory serves me right, it only got the new molds from the last 2 years of the line, plus repackaged EU-only figures from the year before:

- Aquaspeeders & Stormtroopers (but not the US Color Changer redecos)
- Axelerators & Skyscorchers
- Obliterators
- Lightformers & Trakkons
- Rotor Force
- Heroes (renamed)
- Laser Rods
- Dreadwing & Smokescreen
- Cyberjets
- Laser Cycles

Well, specifically they were G1 figures that had previously been released only in Europe

I loved Action masters when they came out, they matched the cartoon way better than the original toys, i would argue micromasters killed the line, the shelves were overloaded with small generic toys that were essentially the same thing.

Additions to my list of EU G2 releases:

- Power Masters
- G2 Sparkabots
- Go-Bots
- Autorollers?

The European lines are strange animals...

ausbot wrote:I loved Action masters when they came out, they matched the cartoon way better than the original toys, i would argue micromasters killed the line, the shelves were overloaded with small generic toys that were essentially the same thing.

I think you may be right. Micromasters actually transformed, sure, but not into anything super impressive. The minimal paint and the inability to hold accessories probably didn't do them any favors either. And the whole reason they even came to be was because Hasbro's marketers were all "ZOMG Micromachines are outperforming Transformers, we must make Transformers tiny to compete!"

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:And the whole reason they even came to be was because Hasbro's marketers were all "ZOMG Micromachines are outperforming Transformers, we must make Transformers tiny to compete!"

The G2 GoBots also seemed to be a Hasbro response to Mattels Hot Wheels. My first G2 and overall 1st TF toy was Motormouth.
But i actually lived in Denmark during the era i started collecting. My 2nd two toys were original Nautilator and Seawing at a flea market... though i never knew those were G1 back then.
After that when i got back to iceland in 2000 ny Transformers interest was waning as i was following lego bionicle so it wasnt until 2006 so i hardly noticed any transformers in stores



This Thundercracker is a example of bad Action Master colors before G2