ScottyP wrote:Ok, hold up. I've got this. Light bulbs everywhere.
Let's grab hold of a couple of assumptions first.
1. This is tied to the main thematic element for next year's toys.
2. This follows in some logical way (pun not intended) from Combiner Wars and Titans Return.
So we've got Combiner Wars which focused on a huge portion of G1 Season 2 characters that didn't have a "classics" incarnation. Additionally, it closed some toy gaps in G1 Season 1 "Classics" with Devastator, Bombshell, Huffer, and gave some second chances with stuff like Jetfire and a G1-ish Megatron.
Titans Return is covering Season 3 and The Rebirth. Or S3 and the Japan G1 Headmasters series. Along the way, hey, awesome, some more gaps are getting closed like Soundwave. But Blaster and Soundwave also had repaints in what series? Headmasters. It's also starting to grab on to Powermasters and/or Super God Masterforce with Ginrai and (presumably) Overlord.
However we're already seeing some weird stretch in from Victory and elsewhere, with Black Shadow, Lione, and Shuffler.
However, it's got to be said that I don't think Hasbro would pursue a Japanese G1 path too briskly. It wouldn't make sense for them. Japan's G1 continuity is awesome, but is there money in it? Sure, yes, but money that a huge megacorp like Hasbro would care about? Nope. At the same time, you don't want to alienate those fans, do you?
So let's say you're Ben Montano or someone else on the Hasbro crew and you're looking at Generations and wondering, "what's next?" Sure, there are more combiners that could be done, but they're mostly Decepticons which are a harder sell to your bosses at the focus of the line. On top of that, the big centerpiece Titan figure voted on by fans is a Decepticon - Trypticon.
Couldn't the line move on to Pretenders? Micromasters? Even go into the 90s with Beast Wars? You know what that screams to my business side? Risk. Big risk. Beast Wars was never the bona fide phenomenon that G1 was in the 80s, and the way this anniversary year went is, I think, more evidence in support of this. At the same time, you don't want to alienate those fans, do you?
IDW has a pretty popular "Neo G1" going on, but look at the monthly sales. That tells me if I'm Hasbro that a niche IDW toy could move 10,000 units in the worst case. Do you know what has runs around 10,000 units? Not much is that low. That gets you Primal Prime levels of low units. At the same time, you don't want to alienate those fans, do you?
Suddenly, the CW cartoon comes out, and I looked at some of those comments Sabrblade linked to on Facebook for the TR show announcement. There's a lot of "Moar G1 plz", for better or worse.
But not "new G1". G1. Just that. Just the U.S. cartoon which can be sold in a boardroom, for better or worse.
Remember our assumptions? Go check because here comes my punchline.
Could this be for an imaginary G1 Season 5's toyline?But wait, Megatron is dead! Dude, Optimus Primal's there right?
Who do you think that Megatron is? Look at his forehead. See a familiar shape?
But wait, Japan G1! Hasbro probably wouldn't have any qualms about ignoring that fictionally, but co-opt some of those characters that America didn't get, allowing some sweet Takara synergy? There's a win.
Oh, and hey, Thunderwing. One of the most popular G1 comic characters, but one that was never in the show. What if he was?
Throw in some fan favorites from earlier seasons (the left hand side of the poster) like the other lines, and that's not only some risk management, they help Trypticon fit in more.
Plot? Galvatron is defeated, but Rodimus Prime is dead. Let the fans decide what's up with the Matrix and let's go for this ride. Maybe the Thirteen will like it, maybe they won't. Maybe some lost colony of Cybertronians bridges us a gap between The Rebirth and Beast Wars. Maybe you eat some of those distinctive Milano cookies?
Alternately, knowing what something turns into isn't the same as knowing what it's for, so that plot piece could be way off base.
That's all. I'm out.