Bounti76 wrote:Seibertron wrote:I just want them to do this set right. Frustrating to see poor or bad decisions being made.
What do you feel are the poor/bad decisions here, the Machine Wars theme, or the way the molds are done? What would you have done differently? Just wondering.
I've had a problem with the "mixed" theme sets such as G2 Redux and Machine Wars.
Here's what I'd do different with how this is presented to help avoid the public relations fiasco that happens each year with the Club and BotCon exclusive reveals ...
1. No more slow drip tease. Announce the location far in advance so people can plan their lives around the event. They actually accomplished this goal this year.
2. Announce the set's theme, reveal the pictures, and post the BotCon brochure at the same time. This gets rid of them announcing the theme far in advance which leads to massive fan speculation that never pans out and turns into a negative thing. Fan's discussing their ideas publicly or privately for months at a time turns into wild fan speculation which gets crushed when the actual products are revealed. This would help keep expectations in check and eliminate a lot of the negativity that resounds from fan's being disappointed.
Here's what I would've done different with the set (albeit not knowing all of the politics involved or the business side of all of this, though I'm sure I come pretty close to hitting the nail on the head about a lot of these decisions coming down to financial reasons).
1. Starscream or Megaplex should have been the star of a "Machine Wars" set. Megaplex should've been it, in my opinion, because he was the only "original" character to come out of a cheaply done KB Toys exclusive repaint/mold reuse set. If you go with Megaplex, he has to have a Megatron head and that mold has to also be used as Megatron in the same series to sell the idea that Mexaplex is a clone of Megatron. The reuse of the head should have helped pay for the costs for the new Megatron and Megaplex head.
(If Starscream was used instead to have a key anchor character in the set, I would have understand that need. As one of the core Transformers characters, Starscream should have a new head prior to other characters and to help sell the connection of it actually being Starscream since MW Starscream was basically just a name reuse and not an accurate depiction of the character.)
2. Strika and Obsidian ... if you want them, fine, but then don't call this Machine Wars. If you want to call this theme Machine Wars, save them for the Collector's Subscription line or something.
If you want to fit them into some master storyline that gives us some history about them, stays true to Beast Wars/Machines and gives us updated versions of them, then I guess we'll have to wait for the BotCon comic. But use the BotCon comic right and give us a reason to believe that these characters fit in with the rest. The fiction for BotCon and the Club has really gone down the tubes the more convoluted the stories have become. Whoever the convention exclusives are should be the primary focus of the comic to help "sell" the idea of these characters.
3. I'm all for Hoist and Hubcap getting updates. Easy BotCon mold reuses to save on costs ... same head. I would've been very happy with a MW colored Movie 2007 TRU exclusive Hoist. It probably would've doubled as a Trailbreaker or a Diaclone figure in some collections. Hoist has to be a tow truck (He's always a tow truck except for that Spychanger version).
4. Skywarp or Hoist should've been last on the list to get new head updates if Megaplex was a must in this year's set. I'm not a big fan of ROTF Dirge mold but whatever. If that's what they had to work with then so be it. Skywarp seems like a no brainer because you get an easy Thundercracker repaint and you could do something cool like a MW clone army set colored as G1 Seeker rainmakers or something alone those lines.
Things that I would like to see with the remaining attendee only exclusives ...
1. Classics Mirage as MW Mirage and MW Prowl. Kind of lame doing that mold again as a BotCon exclusive but that was 6 years ago so it could've worked with nice paint apps.
2. Dreadwing as Megatron with the most convincing Megatron paint apps you've ever seen to really sell that as Megatron. Complete with Megatron "eyebrows" and I'd love to see the G1 toy's chest design's swirlies and other design cues as paint apps to help sell it. They still haven't shown us his weapon. Maybe they went all out and gave us a new weapon instead of a new head. The only thing that could make a figure more of a nod to Megatron than a Megatron head is a cannon on his right arm.
3. Sandstorm and Soundwave have got to make an appearance. The Tomahawk mold would've worked nice for this but Spinister had first dibs on it last year.
My ideas aren't perfect either. I know not everyone would like what I've suggested. Admittedly, that's one of the biggest challenges that the Club has. However, poor decisions about head choices have plagued Fun Pub ever since they started back in 2005. I keep hoping that the pattern will end, but it just seems to continue unfortunately.