The Energon Pub

News Credits: 9 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:40 pm

If I understand correctly, we're getting Transformers: Prime without a toyline and Powercore Combiners without an accompanying cartoon or comic. The purpose of a cartoon is normally to sell the toys, at least, that was the case with G1, and that was why they kept getting body upgrades in Beast Wars and why the Autobot Brothers in RiD had Power-Up colours. If this is correct, does this strike anyone else as bad marketing strategy?

News Credits: 14 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:44 pm

The Problem is Transformers Prime offers a definite movie vibe. So any toys made for it would undoubtedly end up looking like Movie toys.

No point in making a specific line, if you already have one going on.

Also they have Generations, and what's left of animated running concurrently with PCC. Another toy line that looks a lot like movie figures would only complicate things further.

News Credits: 9 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:16 pm

Overcracker wrote:The Problem is Transformers Prime offers a definite movie vibe. So any toys made for it would undoubtedly end up looking like Movie toys.

No point in making a specific line, if you already have one going on.

Also they have Generations, and what's left of animated running concurrently with PCC. Another toy line that looks a lot like movie figures would only complicate things further.

Possibly. This still sounds like bad marketing though. What's the point of making a cartoon with a movie vibe but no toys when they could do a movie spin-off with toys. Or do a totally different aesthetic with a toy line. Surely these are better strategies?

News Credits: 3 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:35 pm

I agree there is a movie-verse aesthetic going on here. Though the models look different, I see a G1-esque to it because I hardly see any of the vehicle parts in robot mode. So I see this as if you want the toys just pull out those 2007 or ROTF toys and imagine. This year they did the right thing by having a fw lines running concurrent until the next movie.

Animated wasn't their best toy line or show, although I think the show was pretty good, the toys imporved over time, all in all they are being cautious...and who know's there may be some toy down the line.

I'm very happy with Generations and PCC's.

Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:50 pm

Lets think about it like this: Prime is somewhere in the vein of a fusion of Animated and Movie, or Movie simplified to make more fluid and easier to animate and render. It's basically Movie, but less detailed and more 'cartoon'. Except for the backstory. That's apparently the 'new G1' of War for Cybertron. Go figure. I don't get it either. But anyway... Like was already mentioned above, its kind of a fusion of all those things... Which already have toys. Also, a quote which does nothing to alleviate your thoughts of poor marketing:

IT IS WAR FOR CYBERTRON continuity. Something happened (whatever) between the end of that game/book, and where Prime picks up. That could be "movie style" events, or not, but we pick up after events on earth, with Autobots hiding.

Whats with all these blurbs I'm typing? I have no idea. Bad marketing? Only if you follow the 'make show to sell toys' model. However, think about War for Cybertron. It has a very small amount of accompanying toys (for now at least), and it's not in existence to 'sell toys' per se. Bad marketing? I dunno, maybe just a different model. Maybe trying something new, maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. However, I would be willing to bet that a successful show could lead to toys that, if not a direct tie in, are at least homages of sorts to the designs we'll be seeing in Prime. Maybe, in a strange inverse way, Prime's marketing strategy is kind of a backwards form of the traditional.

I dunno. I'm rambling. Take from it what you will.

-TheSnackist

News Credits: 8 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:59 pm

Yeah because Hasbro has never had any bad marketing ideas....ever..... Who is to say that they won't sneek some kind of exclusive in with generatons :???:

News Credits: 1 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:25 pm

Did they say anywhere that Power Core Combiners WON'T be in Prime? I do agree they seem to be taking a pretty big risk with all the new characters in the toyline. After all, besides the "gee wow that's cool factor", a strong character sells a toy.

News Credits: 1452 · Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:56 pm

Has it even been confirmed that Transformers: Prime won't have a toyline?

News Credits: 36 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:15 am

I thought I read that in the coverage from one of the Botcon panels?

News Credits: 9 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:56 am

Blurrz wrote:Has it even been confirmed that Transformers: Prime won't have a toyline?

I haven't seen any mention, but as I suggested in my first post, I may be wrong.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:41 am

Blurrz wrote:Has it even been confirmed that Transformers: Prime won't have a toyline?

I believe Hasbro said something along the lines of: "We currently have no plans for a toyline." Not overly promising, but not an outright "no!". Clearly they are waiting to see how well the show fairs.

News Credits: 767 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:53 am

The thing is, Hasbro is no longer just out to make toys, they now have a own channel (the Hub) and an entertainment studio (Hasbro studios), thing is this is the first time where Hasbro makes money with shows while in the past cartoons only cost them money to produce since they where merely adverts for their toys which is where Hasbro's real money came from. But now Hasbro seems to be shifting gears, they had a big say in the creation of Animated and now they actually make their own shows.

And the other thing with Prime is that Hasbro has plans to make it the longest lasting TF show ever, somewhere between 7 - 10 years at least,they put a lot of work into the story bible.

Animated was killed due to the fact that the ROTF line needed to be as prominent as possible as Hasbro has to share it's profits of that line with Paramount and the same thing will happen with TF3.

Hasbro has put to much work into TF Prime to shove it in just before the next movie and let it all go to waist as stores will only stock up on that.

I'm pretty sure we'll see a few Prime figures in Generations, we already do with the WFC figs, and a full blown toyline next year after the TF3 rush has died out a little.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:09 am

Dead Metal wrote:And the other thing with Prime is that Hasbro has plans to make it the longest lasting TF show ever, somewhere between 7 - 10 years at least,they put a lot of work into the story bible.

I did not know that. I was thinking the other day how a LOT of shows barely get past season 3(or even 2) anymore. There's just so much you can do with a property when you don't reboot it every year. It could get convoluted, but dang if it isn't fun/great to have all sorts of nods to stories long past and events that have epic build ups.

I hope Prime does last that long.

News Credits: 2 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:06 am

Since next year will be BIG with TF3 movie items and toys coming out and im sure Hasbro will be gearing up soon for new and retooled molds that will be coming out as well, but it makes me wonder where will Hasbro go from the there? I mean, the Transformer live actions movie will be no more after 2011 and where does that leave Hasbro? Cause i know the Transformers movies is Hasbro's bread & butter since 2007.

Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:05 am

I believe it was said somewhere that after TF3 there will be no more TF movies directed by Michael Bay, not no possibility of additional movies. But I could be recalling that incorrectly.

-TheSnackist

News Credits: 14 · Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:49 am

I didn't know about TF:Prime lasting that long. But its a way of keeping movie-esque toys in stores in between films.

AFAIK TF3 will be Bay's last movie, which doesn't mean it will be THE last TF film.

Heck if Hasbro now has their own studios they may decide to develop their own films. every couple for years where they control the designs, and toy lines.

That would let them have a running toy line in TF:Prime, and just meld it into movie line as movie time comes along, and then fade it back out onto TV series line when the movie loses momentum. Its actually a fairly decent business plan if you think about it. and they can have other sublines, like Generations come and go as needed.

Also a longer series would help them produce more toys for the same line and come up with different concepts. Like G1 had through the years, and Beastwars attempted to follow. With Transmetals, and B-Machines where they tried several sub gimmicks for the figures.