Rodimus is talking out his arse (big surprise) by not counting CHUG+ as part of the attention paid to collectors. While that does have kid appeal factors and wouldn't have gotten big without kids also buying it, the character selection and prioritization of articulation over gimmicks is definitely collector-focused. And it gets a pretty hefty chunk of the space at retailers... as does Studio Series.
Also, in almost all cases (at least with shared characters) the G1 cartoon and the G1 comics used the same model sheets with the only difference being color scheme (and that's when the D-list presses the Transformers comic was relegated to were allowed to color things fully lol).
And the comics could be just as bad as the cartoon about misinterpreting Menasor's model.
Wrt the original post:
* I don't mind G1 getting a lot of attention, but I think that should stay in its lane: the neo-G1 CHUG+ lines. It certainly shouldn't be infecting and dominating NEW universes and stuff to the degree it does now. I'm thankful Earthspark is mixing things up.
* Agree that the assimilation of Prime and Animated in Legacy is awful; Bulkhead definitely got the worst of it. I'm glad they seem to have taken the criticism to heart for Animated Bumblebee and especially Animated Optimus.
* About articulation vs. fun factor... I mean, articulation is something of a fun factor in itself - it brings a good bit to the table in playing with the toys battling it out, and it's also fun to photograph them posed in battles and other scenes (which articulation helps a lot with). But it's certainly not the
only fun factor of value. Which is why SS86 Ultra Magnus lacking the cab robot bugs me, why I resent SS86 Ironhide being "Earthrise with integrated roof" (instead of going for the battle platform), why I didn't feel inclined to replace my Titans Return Hot Rod, Blurr, and Galvatron (I like the added fun factor of the Titan Master heads), and why I've always been leery of people moaning "where muh Beast Wars" and "where muh Unicron Trilogy" etc. wrt CHUG+. That stuff has more to lose and less to gain. There are cases where the tradeoff has been worth it, but also cases where the remake feels like a pathetic shadow of the original.
** That being said, some CHUG+ lines
have brought other fun factors. Like the Weaponizer stuff introduced in SIEGE.
** I wish the Micromaster play pattern resurrected for SIEGE and Earthrise had been better-promoted by Hasbro. Either the WFC comics or the WFC cartoon should have leaned more into being a toy commercial.
** RiD2015, Rescue Bots, Cyberverse, and now Earthspark have at least been bringing some gimmick fun to the table.
* I think you're right to complain about lack of affordability and frankly Hasbro are hurting their profits with the prices they charge now. They should roll prices back to TR/PotP levels. They've jumped down the idiotic rabbithole of "raise prices to make up for low sales", which might pick up the profits slack for a quarter or two but over a longer term just causes a destructive feedback loop.
* Aftermarket pricing for older figures is definitely awful, yes. It's not simply "supply and demand". That's
part of it, but I think collectorflation and an increasing number of people trying to sell them for a serious profit (instead of simply pawning old toys they don't want anymore) are bigger factors.
* STC?
Gauntlet101010 wrote:Agree with some disagree with others.
Personally, I'm tired of the same old faces all the time and I'm tired of the quickly updated toys we've gotten lately. I remember touching on this when Commander Magnus was revealed and not getting much sympathy, but I feel burned out on a lot of these characters. And it kinda sucks because this is my era; it's the one I'm most invested in. But they way they've handled it has really gotten my goat. And it's not just him, but a LOT is pointed to by him.
So Siege came out and replaced CW Magnus. Fair enough, it was a very different take on the character. Not ... quite what I was looking for, but who knows how long it'll be until we get a new one, right?
Not long at all! Kingdom comes out replacing Siege. Better bot mode, but vehicle mode is kinda meh. But it's a leader class and seems to be the last we'll hear from Magnus. Right?
Nope! Commander class, baby! At last, it seems they can't do any better. We're done. But, instead of a triumph, I feel like Kingdom was just a waste. A waste among a sea of waste.
I agree that Kingdom was a waste. A frivolous "We need a Magnus toy out on the anniversary... but don't have a spare Commander slot to do an actual improved version so we'll just do a dodgy retool of SIEGE". Having got SIEGE, I eschewed Kingdom in favor of waiting for a Commander-class toy, and my patience has been rewarded.
Gauntlet101010 wrote:But it isn't just Ultra Magnus. Ironhide, Arcee, Rumble, Soundwave, Starscream, Galvatron. Just off the top of my head. How many people bought Siege because those guys were "Earth mode enough"? I remember that being tossed around a lot until they were remolded.
Uh... 1. Galvatron and Arcee weren't in SIEGE, and 2. Ironhide and Soundwave are the only two mentioned there where "Earth Mode enough" is applicable.
Gauntlet101010 wrote:Like we don't need to see Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, or Arcee all the time. If these characters couldn't be done right, then leave them on the shelf. Don't release them. Make something well thought out and release that! It would have been okay if Ironhide was skipped in Earthrise.
Indeed (he was an exclusive, but still). Especially since SS86 Ironhide was just "Earthrise with an integrated roof" (which itself feels kinda wasteful, but still).
Gauntlet101010 wrote:We did not need Studio, Kingdom, and Cyberverse Arcee all released at the same time.
Dunno that Cyberverse is a valid inclusion in that list. What are you, the Hasbro exec who said "No Animated Cyclonus because Universe Cyclonus is close enough"?
But I agree that the Earthrise reissue in Kingdom wasn't needed and arguably ER Arcee herself probably wasn't either.
Although, there
is something kinda funny about us getting so much Arcee after it took TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS for Hasbro to get over the "Ew girl cooties in our toyline for boys" and make a proper G1 Arcee toy.
Gauntlet101010 wrote:Anyway, I'm glad we'll be seeing new characters in Legacy. Let some other characters and designs get some love.
Eh... Only if they're not done dirty.
Gauntlet101010 wrote:I agree wholeheartedly on not matching Prime aesthetic for Prime characters. They G1-ified those guys way too much.
Case in point.
Aladar The Outmode wrote:I've been irked by the assimilation game since siege with galaxy upgrade prime and hot shot
Given that Unicron Trilogy stuff harmonizes aesthetically with G1 aesthetically I don't know that I'd call those two "assimilation", any more than you could say that of TR Sky Shadow (quasi-right figure made to get more mileage out of a mold) or Timelines Breakdown (headswap redeco that doesn't really match the character aside from head and colors). They're definitely crappy representations though.
Aladar The Outmode wrote:of course by my own admission I'm an aesthetic purist but it doesn't change if you gonna give me animated Prowl he WILL match animated without the dumbass blocky bullshit we've had since oh I dunno off the top of my head classics
Mind you, Classics was a B-list or even C-list filler line at the time; it didn't dominate the shelves. Agreed about wanting him to match, though. How much do you think a new head would help the Legacy figure?
Aladar The Outmode wrote:when it comes to the oh so precious collector focused generation line (again not dunking on you if you enjoy it just sick and tired of it myself) the more I see of the stupid g1 stuff and the assimilations the less I'm willing to take anything less than go back to how things were during armada where the collector focused stuff was high end exclusively and the fun actually good stuff was all on retail
G1 stuff in CHUG+ I don't mind, since that's what CHUG+ was created for, but I agree with you about hating the assimilations. And it would be nice if new-series lines got more space (especially Earthspark) and GEEWUN stopped infecting other lanes.