The Energon Pub

"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Nemesis Primal wrote:I still think that if this is meant as the kiddie line, the toys would bear more of a resemblance to what the kids would have seen recently, rather than G1, which matters more to the grown-ups. Since they'd have to pay licensing fees for the movie bots, that'd probably mean toys loosely based on the various offshoots of Aligned continuity. But I'm not a marketing expert, so what do I know?

I don't know Bumblebee looks quite modern. Parents are reminded of the fun they had with their transformers toys and naturally buy them for their kids. The Dollar General legion class figures are a good example of this.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:This is insulting towards children.

No it just makes you upset because you suffer from immense privilege.

BlueBefore wrote:"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Nemesis Primal wrote:I still think that if this is meant as the kiddie line, the toys would bear more of a resemblance to what the kids would have seen recently, rather than G1, which matters more to the grown-ups. Since they'd have to pay licensing fees for the movie bots, that'd probably mean toys loosely based on the various offshoots of Aligned continuity. But I'm not a marketing expert, so what do I know?

I don't know Bumblebee looks quite modern. Parents are reminded of the fun they had with their transformers toys and naturally buy them for their kids. The Dollar General legion class figures are a good example of this.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:This is insulting towards children.

No it just makes you upset because you suffer from immense privilege.

"Immense privilege" has nothing to do with this.

Immense greed is more like it. Look at most of the transformers.. The greed is sadly obvious.

TimothyR wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Nemesis Primal wrote:I still think that if this is meant as the kiddie line, the toys would bear more of a resemblance to what the kids would have seen recently, rather than G1, which matters more to the grown-ups. Since they'd have to pay licensing fees for the movie bots, that'd probably mean toys loosely based on the various offshoots of Aligned continuity. But I'm not a marketing expert, so what do I know?

I don't know Bumblebee looks quite modern. Parents are reminded of the fun they had with their transformers toys and naturally buy them for their kids. The Dollar General legion class figures are a good example of this.

MartianSpyGirl1996 wrote:This is insulting towards children.

No it just makes you upset because you suffer from immense privilege.

"Immense privilege" has nothing to do with this.

Immense greed is more like it. Look at most of the transformers.. The greed is sadly obvious.

Greed? You are aware hasbro is a business not a charity?

It's simply design and build a toy then sell it, if it's not wanted it won't sell, if it does sell then they have rightly released a line of toys in demand.

Greed?? What a strange way of looking at it...

Kids really don't care about articulation. They don't equate articulation with fun like adults do. Power Rangers Zords have always been big sellers in Japan and the US and those usually don't have much more than shoulder articulation. Prime and Bee are contortionists compared to a Zord. As long as they do something fun, like transform, kids don't care.

I don't understand why people keep saying these figures are too G1 for kids. The only ones that really look G1 are 7" Prime and Starscream. 11" Prime and Bee look way more like their recent animated incarnations. About the only thing Bee has in common with G1 is the color and horns.

Emerje

Also, we still dont know if these are even made for north american and eurasian markets since there is almost no evidence that ties them up to those markets. So speaking of voting with our wallets or that this is terrible for kids is kind of moot at this point since these might never make it to our shores anyway.

And I find that the more interesting angle with these. In recent years (we wont bring G1 into this), I am aware of Hasbro Asia exclusive releases (GDO, which did eventually find their way to the US), European exclusive releases (upscaled Prime cyberverse deluxes) and Canadian exclusives (Final wave of Beast Hunter Cyberverse Commanders and Predacon Rising Constructbot sets) as well as the First Edition Prime figures which had a super odd distribution pattern. But is there a precedent of Brazil exclusive lines? With the price of TFs there, it seems this is where Hasbro makes their biggest margins. The fact that it appeared at their toy show and none anywhere else is a pretty big red flag for me.

On another note, as far as simplified Transformers go, I think that Bumblebee is the best attempt so far. This is for the same market as that smash and change Optimus of last year and it is leagues better.

Side story: I was looking for some TFs at Toysrus and I saw a dad shopping for a 6 year old boy. He was totally clueless in the TF aisle. He had a budget of 20$ but wanted a nice big toy to give as a present. He was clearly baffled by what little 20$ could get him (good thing he wasnt in the Marvel aisle) and he didnt want a small deluxe since it makes an unimpressive present. I asked him if his kid cared for articulation and he said "of course not", so I pointed him towards the Hyperchange Grimlock figure which was on sale at 19.99$ (canadian). Big toy, not too expensive, easy to transform, it was a win for him. I would have much preffered to point him to one of these Cyber series figure if they were available.

I think figured out the appeal of this line:
It looks decent. But the big draw is the pseudo-secrecy. We don't know much about them, where to get them, or even if we'll get them. Whats the actual strategy of this onlt being released and distributed in one overseas country? Is it some kinda test run?

In terms of designing, engineering, manufacturing and marketing figures that are made specifically 'to appeal to children', can we agree that the movie4 toys were a total flop? If the shelves at walmart are any indication, then hardly any of the 'made to appeal to children' figures moved at all. If they thought splitting the figure line with some made for older collectors, and some for children, was going to translate into equal sales and profitability, then they were grossly mistaken. I'm not sure what the actual sales numbers were, but seeing all those dusty, battered and bent movie4 packages still on the shelf after all this time - it's just sad.

The movie is long over and done with, gone from theaters, the DVD release long past. But the shelves at Target, Wal-mart and all the major brick and mortar retailers are still choked with tons of Movie4 One-Steps, Power Punch, Sparkers, and all the other movie4 crap that was made to 'appeal to the kiddies'. That's not even to mention the 'Titan' class shampoo bottle figures. They're just wasting shelf space that could be used for more Generations/CW figures, which (unlike the movie line) are selling like hotcakes. I say send all the Movie4 'made for kiddies' garbage back to China, recycle them and reclaim the plastic for more Combiner Wars figures.

Shockwave7 wrote:In terms of designing, engineering, manufacturing and marketing figures that are made specifically 'to appeal to children', can we agree that the movie4 toys were a total flop? If the shelves at walmart are any indication, then hardly any of the 'made to appeal to children' figures moved at all. If they thought splitting the figure line with some made for older collectors, and some for children, was going to translate into equal sales and profitability, then they were grossly mistaken. I'm not sure what the actual sales numbers were, but seeing all those dusty, battered and bent movie4 packages still on the shelf after all this time - it's just sad.

The movie is long over and done with, gone from theaters, the DVD release long past. But the shelves at Target, Wal-mart and all the major brick and mortar retailers are still choked with tons of Movie4 One-Steps, Power Punch, Sparkers, and all the other movie4 crap that was made to 'appeal to the kiddies'. That's not even to mention the 'Titan' class shampoo bottle figures. They're just wasting shelf space that could be used for more Generations/CW figures, which (unlike the movie line) are selling like hotcakes. I say send all the Movie4 'made for kiddies' garbage back to China, recycle them and reclaim the plastic for more Combiner Wars figures.

I cannot agree since the basic movie toys; one-steps, power battlers, are far and away my most watched reviews. In fact they continue to get more views than anything from CW or RID. Just looking at those numbers CW and RID are failures not the simplified toys

chuckdawg1999 wrote:[

I cannot agree since the basic movie toys; one-steps, power battlers, are far and away my most watched reviews. In fact they continue to get more views than anything from CW or RID. Just looking at those numbers CW and RID are failures not the simplified toys

I will also add that while yes they are still present in stores, those are just remnants. Hasbro made a ton of these and they sold. I see the left overs no different than the leftover Beast Hunter Arcee figures my Toysrus still have. And I do not think this means in any way that the deluxe Prime toys were unwanted garbage.

Also, Smash and Change Optimus and Flip and Change Grimlock are sold out all across every store I go to. Does that make them a major hit to you or no?

I really wish the users in here without children, or little to no experience with children, would stop assuming they know what is good for children. Maybe kids ages 4 to 7 could handle slightly more complex transformers toys based on intellect, but you have to take more into consideration than that. There are all kinds of aspects to mental and physical development in children. And every child develops at a different rate. Other than intelligence, two more that come in to play with Transformers are motor skills and attention span.

These toys are perfect for that age group. I have a 3year old daughter. One of her best friends, a boy, is just nuts for transformers. We just went to his 4th birthday party last weekend. We got him 1 step Steeljaw. He flipped. Why? Because he has Warrior Steeljaw, and it drives him crazy that he can't TF it.
I have also seen him get bored with one steps and he always goes straight to his Rescue Bots that are slightly more complex than the one steppers. He also got Generations Springer. He had absolutely no interest in that toy.
This new line finds a perfect in between. They have an interesting TF that is challenging to their developmental level, and it will help them to develop and grow their motor skills, problem solving, and patience.

I really hope this line makes it here. I think it's perfect for the kids I know and who are into Transformers. IF they do, Uncle Cobotron is gonna make Santa Klaus look like a chump to my nephew.

Totally agree Cobotron. A lot of us here grew up on G1, G2 or Beast Wars and none of those were overly complex. Thats why we have such fond memories of transformers in our youth. While Transformer toys have gotten more complex over the years, we still need to have some simpler toys (like we had when we were younger) for kids to get into the brand and have fun with it. If I had it my way, I would give every 5 year old in the world a G2 Dreadwing so they could fall in love with the brand as I did. But thats just not possible right now. Maybe that 4 year old would also like those hyperchange transformers? Thats the one I recomended that father at the store, he was glad to have it as an option.

Thanks Will.
You know what TFs the little boy I mentioned and my nephew go straight for when there here in my house?
anything Legion class, and Cybertron. They lone Cybertron. Big, beefy, and easy to transform. Just like this new line.

I don't remember any toy I enjoyed in my childhood being as simplistic as the 1 step changers but many G1 toys had very simple transformations and I'm okay with that.

Cobotron wrote:Thanks Will.
You know what TFs the little boy I mentioned and my nephew go straight for when there here in my house?
anything Legion class, and Cybertron. They lone Cybertron. Big, beefy, and easy to transform. Just like this new line.

YES Cybertron! But you know, that toyline had some amazing designs. They might have been big and beefy but the style was through the roof and very Takara/Japanese. But you know, the combiner wars deluxes are as complex as that line, so they may be into those (the Stunticons have similar transformations to Hotshot, but Hotshot had feet so that's a plus for him).

I know I gave my 10 year old cousin Windblade for her birthday and she told me she'd rather keep it in robot mode after the painfully tried to transform her into a jet. Her favourite is Cybertron Leader Optimus. She loves how fun and easy he is to transform and yet how each mode is drastically different from one to the next. She feels a great sense of accomplishment while having no frustration. That is a really tough thing to pull off and Takara had done it.

NuclearConvoy wrote:I don't remember any toy I enjoyed in my childhood being as simplistic as the 1 step changers but many G1 toys had very simple transformations and I'm okay with that.

Good.
To clarify I'm not advocating for one steppers.
But to advocate for the devil...



My Dad brought these home from Toy Fair for me when I was 11 or 12. I loved them! But there is something cooler about these than today's one steppers. Motorized? Articulation? Shiny blasters? Why are these cooler?

I like how the front of the ship disappears behind the legs. I have fun with these and the motorized part is neat. But today's one steps are pretty fun too. I really liked one step Helicopter Drift. Its also the only original mold for Drift's mode in the whole AOE toyline.

Cobotron wrote:

NuclearConvoy wrote:I don't remember any toy I enjoyed in my childhood being as simplistic as the 1 step changers but many G1 toys had very simple transformations and I'm okay with that.

Good.
To clarify I'm not advocating for one steppers.
But to advocate for the devil...



My Dad brought these home from Toy Fair for me when I was 11 or 12. I loved them! But there is something cooler about these than today's one steppers. Motorized? Articulation? Shiny blasters? Why are these cooler?

Simple, characterization. You knew who they were, and why they did what they did from the bio cards on the back. Hasbro has really forgotten just how important fully fleshed out bios can be.

william-james88 wrote:I like how the front of the ship disappears behind the legs. I have fun with these and the motorized part is neat. But today's one steps are pretty fun too. I really liked one step Helicopter Drift. Its also the only original mold for Drift's mode in the whole AOE toyline.

I have to say that mold and Galvatron, are my favorite One-Step changers from the line. I hope we see that Helicopter re-used down the line.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I cannot agree since the basic movie toys; one-steps, power battlers, are far and away my most watched reviews. In fact they continue to get more views than anything from CW or RID. Just looking at those numbers CW and RID are failures not the simplified toys

As I said, I'm not sure what the actual sales numbers are on the 'for kiddies' movie4 toys. But I'm not sure that 'most viewed' reviews translates to 'cleaned up in actual sales'. It may be the viewers were just curious to see if it was worth it, saw the review, then said 'that's not for me'. Or it could be the reverse - we just don't know for sure unless we have the real numbers.

While the G1 figures were simpler - they were the most advanced for their time. Topspin and Twintwist didn't come out until after the G1 figures had been on the market for a couple of years. (I started collecting in 83 when I was just going into High School.) I suppose the 'one step' and other simplified movie4 stuff could be said to be the 2014/15 equivalent of Topspin and Twintwist.

I stopped collecting in 88 because the figures were becoming too blocky, too simple, and too garish. They moved from neat figures into gimmickry, with the target masters, headmasters and 'micro masters'. Possibly for the same reasons. Sales were down, and they wanted to rope in a new generation of younger buyers with flashier colors, simpler transformations, and neat-o gimmicks.

It didn't work then either. Sales continued to drop until the 90s, when they went to 'G2', which was mostly just the G1 figures with 90s day-glow paint jobs. The real Transformer renaissance didn't take place until the 'Classics' figures started coming out in the mid-2000s.

The CW line DOES actually have simpler transformations, at least compared to some of the movie 'advanced' figures. The deluxes and voyagers are comparatively simple and fun, compared to say, Evasion Mode Optimus. You don't get the impression that you're trying to solve a puzzle when you transform the CW figures. I'm not sure what the review view ratio is compared to the sales ratio, but the CW figures are really hard to get from HTS, and even harder to find in stores because they sell out so fast.

Whereas you have your pick of the movie4 simplified toys, which have tons left unsold.

Make of that what you will...

shajaki wrote:I think figured out the appeal of this line:
It looks decent. But the big draw is the pseudo-secrecy. We don't know much about them, where to get them, or even if we'll get them. Whats the actual strategy of this onlt being released and distributed in one overseas country? Is it some kinda test run?

I'm guessing that the draws are meant to be that they're simpler to transform and they're bigger than the other Transformers that you could get for the same price.

Emerje wrote:I don't understand why people keep saying these figures are too G1 for kids. The only ones that really look G1 are 7" Prime and Starscream. 11" Prime and Bee look way more like their recent animated incarnations. About the only thing Bee has in common with G1 is the color and horns.

Grimlock looks pretty G1 other than color, and Megatron looks like G1 Megs other than being a tank rather than a gun (for obvious reasons), carm cannon, color scheme, G1-style head.

I guess what I meant to say is that I'm just surprised they're drawing so heavily on G1 in a toyline meant for those who weren't born until after it ended. I did not in any way mean to imply children wouldn't enjoy these, just that I'm surprised they're not also drawing on more recent sources for characters.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

shajaki wrote:I think figured out the appeal of this line:
It looks decent. But the big draw is the pseudo-secrecy. We don't know much about them, where to get them, or even if we'll get them. Whats the actual strategy of this only being released and distributed in one overseas country? Is it some kinda test run?

I'm guessing that the draws are meant to be that they're simpler to transform and they're bigger than the other Transformers that you could get for the same price.

I meant the draw for US. I understand these are meant for kids, but as I mentioned earlier there's a strange amount of attention being paid to this thread.

And by strategy, I meant why they're only being released in... what.. Brazil? And nowhere else?

BlueBefore wrote:"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Not too sure about the 4/9ths the price there. He said it cost him 120 Brazilian dollars or 50 Canadian dollars in the video, which is around 41 US dollars. That's only, what, 5 to 9 dollars cheaper than a leader class toy? I just paid 45ish for CW leader class Megatron, in a K-Mart no less, so we'll call it a 4 dollar difference. There's not enough of a price difference to explain the lack of features for these toys. No weapons. No knee articulation. The articulation in the elbows isn't even consistent between molds, as shown in this video. It's 11 inches of a Rescue Bot that the guy paid leader class money for.

This Cyber series would be a great kids line, just like Rescue Bots, and why you might ask? Because that's who Hasbro want's to sell these toys to, the kids, or more appropriately, the kid's parents, who don't want to sit there and transform the toy every time their child picks it up. But not at that price.

In Brazil, unless the thing is made locally, everything get hit with some heavy taxes. That's why the PS4 sell for like, 2000$US over there. It dosent mean it's worth that much for real.

-Kanrabat- wrote:In Brazil, unless the thing is made locally, everything get hit with some heavy taxes. That's why the PS4 sell for like, 2000$US over there. It dosent mean it's worth that much for real.

Huh, didn't know that. and judging by the fact that I got my PS4 for $400 US, that is a lot of tax. That sucks. Still not sure about these toys though. Oh well, to each their own...

Stryfe Convoy wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Not too sure about the 4/9ths the price there. He said it cost him 120 Brazilian dollars or 50 Canadian dollars in the video, which is around 41 US dollars. That's only, what, 5 to 9 dollars cheaper than a leader class toy? I just paid 45ish for CW leader class Megatron, in a K-Mart no less, so we'll call it a 4 dollar difference. There's not enough of a price difference to explain the lack of features for these toys. No weapons. No knee articulation. The articulation in the elbows isn't even consistent between molds, as shown in this video. It's 11 inches of a Rescue Bot that the guy paid leader class money for.

This Cyber series would be a great kids line, just like Rescue Bots, and why you might ask? Because that's who Hasbro want's to sell these toys to, the kids, or more appropriately, the kid's parents, who don't want to sit there and transform the toy every time their child picks it up. But not at that price.

Please do some actual research before commenting and stop wasting people's time. http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... med/32647/

BlueBefore wrote:

Stryfe Convoy wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:"Why couldn't it be just like a leader class figure!!!" because it is 4/9ths the price.

Not too sure about the 4/9ths the price there. He said it cost him 120 Brazilian dollars or 50 Canadian dollars in the video, which is around 41 US dollars. That's only, what, 5 to 9 dollars cheaper than a leader class toy? I just paid 45ish for CW leader class Megatron, in a K-Mart no less, so we'll call it a 4 dollar difference. There's not enough of a price difference to explain the lack of features for these toys. No weapons. No knee articulation. The articulation in the elbows isn't even consistent between molds, as shown in this video. It's 11 inches of a Rescue Bot that the guy paid leader class money for.

This Cyber series would be a great kids line, just like Rescue Bots, and why you might ask? Because that's who Hasbro want's to sell these toys to, the kids, or more appropriately, the kid's parents, who don't want to sit there and transform the toy every time their child picks it up. But not at that price.

Please do some actual research before commenting and stop wasting people's time. http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... med/32647/

Not wasting everyone's time, I just quoted the video. You know, the video that was the whole start of this thread? You should try watching it, while you make snide remarks about other people's opinions. We are allowed to share our opinions, right? This **** is why I don't like posting in the forums in the first place. I don't recall trying to attack you, Blue. I was just pointing out what was said in the video. Let's leave it at that.

Back on topic, I can see buying these for 20 dollars a piece for the nephews to play with. Assuming they are still coming to the states, as I've read earlier in this thread, that seems to be a concern. Either way... meh