The Energon Pub

I agree. More simplistic on screen designs to match the simplified toys would work well.

paul053 wrote:

Va'al wrote:Cartoons will never make as much money as films, though. And that's what it's really about.

Yeah, quick money. That's what many companies are about now. But cartoon may be the one to keep kids going (and also the toy line), only if they make the cartoon easily available for most kids to watch. Movies may bring up the hype fast but at the same time, they cool down fast too. We have many movie (non TF) toys laying around in the house that my kids don't play with. They always turn back to play their usual stuffs. That's the reason now I tend not to impulse buy movie toys for them so fast since I know they will put them aside very soon.

Back to topic. Again, I don't mind Hasbro's decision. It's also fine if they are going Mattel's route on making simple, such as Batman, toys wide available in retail stores but some bigger and better collector oriented toys in some exclusive stores or online only. My concern is still the same. If your toys are simpler, your on screen design should be somewhat simpler, too. There is nothing wrong with the look of G1's Optimus Prime robot mode. Because when you see him, you can easily tell he is from a truck.

There have been cartoons pretty consistently since 2000.

njb902 wrote:There have been cartoons pretty consistently since 2000.

Yes, I remembered the fun time in G1, Beast Wars, Unicron Trilogy when I can easily catch them on weekly basis (even tape recorded them so I can watch them again and again. Well not RID and Energon though. Couldn't stand them). I'm more talking about Prime. Being only available on the Hub was really a let down for me. True, I can understand Hasbro's business decision and I can still catch up on Youtube before they were being removed but I don't like and enjoy that way. So Prime season 1 I had to wait all the way until DVD was released. Season 3 at least they put on Netflix faster.

paul053 wrote:

njb902 wrote:There have been cartoons pretty consistently since 2000.

Yes, I remembered the fun time in G1, Beast Wars, Unicron Trilogy when I can easily catch them on weekly basis (even tape recorded them so I can watch them again and again. Well not RID and Energon though. Couldn't stand them). I'm more talking about Prime. Being only available on the Hub was really a let down for me. True, I can understand Hasbro's business decision and I can still catch up on Youtube before they were being removed but I don't like and enjoy that way. So Prime season 1 I had to wait all the way until DVD was released. Season 3 at least they put on Netflix faster.

Season 1 of Prime also aired on Vortexx.

Sabrblade wrote:Season 1 of Prime also aired on Vortexx.

You know, I just know the existence of that website now. Okay, let's get back to topic.

paul053 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Season 1 of Prime also aired on Vortexx.

You know, I just know the existence of that website now. Okay, let's get back to topic.

Website? It's a Saturday morning programming block on the CW.

As for the topic, honestly, if Hasbro just reverted back the levels of difficulty, detail, and design that was had back during the Cybertron toyline (minus the Cyber Key gimmick), I bet we wouldn't have as many complaining over this as we do now.

Sabrblade wrote:I bet we wouldn't have as many complaining over this as we do now.

Just remember what fandom you're in ...

Burn wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I bet we wouldn't have as many complaining over this as we do now.

Just remember what fandom you're in ...

I hear ya, but I have seen far worse.

And, surprisingly, far better, as there are some folks on other sites who are taking this news quite well, understanding that complexity and fun aren't mutually exclusive and that toys with fairly easy transformations (like the Generations FOC toys) can still be fun.

Regarding Transformers complexity. I was about ten when I first started collecting TFs, and I started with ROTF toys. I've very rarely had problems Transforming very complex Transformers. I swear I can transform ROTF Optimus under a minute if I tried. So once I've memorized everything complexity is never an issue, what is an issue is design flaws and poorly though out Transformations. A good example is how long FOC Grimlock took me the first time despite his simplicity. His weak structure and strange shoulders left me way more stumped than I should have been. I also take large amounts of time to transform expensive/rare stuff, that should be fairly self-explanatory

CommanderHazar wrote:

Shadowstream wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Remember when playing with the toys as a child and trying to have a battle scene with lots of TFs? You and your friends would always have to pause the game to transform each toy each time that the battle or play pattern called for any of the toys to be transformed.

You speak as if all kids who grew up with TFs had this issue. Some of us didn't have friends who even liked Transformers, or moreso didn't have friends, period

Very true. I didn't have friends as a kid. I still don't. For me, playing by myself, transforming them was the best part. The more complex, the better.

And I agree with the "Simplified Transformers are for simpletons" remark. Our culture and society is getting ever more dumbed down. Perhaps challenging people, kids included, is the way to go, as opposed to the simplified instant gratification culture we have today.

I don't care if people are offended by this. It is how I see it. This is another step towards Transformers mediocrity. I'd rather see Transformers fade away than continue down that road.

wow thats very sad, i remember the fun time playing transformers with my friends the time changing the toys wasn't really an issue and it a very memorable time it was some of my best memories as a kid it was like when you had tfs you were in a special club and kids in school or around the neighborhood all found each other and had tf battles and showed off what we had. of course this was the 80s and not much else to do besides play atari or NES or ride bikes, great times!!!

welcometothedarksyde wrote:Regarding Transformers complexity. I was about ten when I first started collecting TFs, and I started with ROTF toys. I've very rarely had problems Transforming very complex Transformers. I swear I can transform ROTF Optimus under a minute if I tried. So once I've memorized everything complexity is never an issue, what is an issue is design flaws and poorly though out Transformations. A good example is how long FOC Grimlock took me the first time despite his simplicity. His weak structure and strange shoulders left me way more stumped than I should have been. I also take large amounts of time to transform expensive/rare stuff, that should be fairly self-explanatory

That's the thing, though. Hasbro's trying to avoid forcing people to take excess time to transform the toys, so they don't have to practice over and over to get faster. They want to let the toys be transformed quick and fast from the get go, without having to waste more time than what's desired to get the darn things from Mode A to Mode B so that each mode can be played with pronto.

Well, now that we're waxing nostalgic, I'm actually more okay with this. I didn't have very many friends either, but even if I had, there still wouldn't have been any getting together to have Transformers battles - they were too expensive.

I started playing with Transformers when G1 was on the shelf, but my parents couldn't afford them for the most part - I had lots of Micromasters, though, a couple Action Masters, and the pretender robots for Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Starscream (without the Pretender shells). My grandfather got me Wreck-Gar, and my parents managed one big stretch - they got me Powermaster Optimus Prime ... whose trailer hitch broke soon after.

My friends had fewer than I did - some Gobots and Rocklords, but I don't remember any of my friends owning Transformers. I was able to get a lot more G2 stuff when they came out, but by then most of my friends had outgrown playing with toys, at least outgrown admitting to it. :-/

So, to heck with complexity, if this is a cost-cutting maneuver, there's some kids out there that'll be the happier for it.

Caelus wrote:Well, now that we're waxing nostalgic, I'm actually more okay with this. I didn't have very many friends either, but even if I had, there still wouldn't have been any getting together to have Transformers battles - they were too expensive.

I started playing with Transformers when G1 was on the shelf, but my parents couldn't afford them for the most part - I had lots of Micromasters, though, a couple Action Masters, and the pretender robots for Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Starscream (without the Pretender shells). My grandfather got me Wreck-Gar, and my parents managed one big stretch - they got me Powermaster Optimus Prime ... whose trailer hitch broke soon after.

My friends had fewer than I did - some Gobots and Rocklords, but I don't remember any of my friends owning Transformers. I was able to get a lot more G2 stuff when they came out, but by then most of my friends had outgrown playing with toys, at least outgrown admitting to it. :-/

So, to heck with complexity, if this is a cost-cutting maneuver, there's some kids out there that'll be the happier for it.

The real issue here is that as much as they claim to be worried for the children over these simplified toys, it's really themselves that they are worried about. Honestly how many of us can really put ourselves in a kids shoes?

Sabrblade wrote:

Hammer wrote:Bragging about how fast you can transform a toy on the internet?

Transformation races are not unheard of.

Hey, I got a medal for that 2 years ago.

gavinfuzzy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Hammer wrote:Bragging about how fast you can transform a toy on the internet?

Transformation races are not unheard of.

Hey, I got a medal for that 2 years ago.

That's so? Cool. At what event did this occur? A con, perhaps? I could imagine one of those smaller, unofficial cons holding such an activity for fun.

Thank goodness for these new and improved simplified Transformers. My 5 year old would never have the brains to transform ROTF Optimus Prime, much less be able to read the newspaper. What he needs is a giant legends class knock-off. And hey, it's a total no brainer! One push of a button and bam! My 5 year old will be entertained and educated for years. Why wouldn't I buy this exciting and cutting edge product?

Sabrblade wrote:

gavinfuzzy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Hammer wrote:Bragging about how fast you can transform a toy on the internet?

Transformation races are not unheard of.

Hey, I got a medal for that 2 years ago.

That's so? Cool. At what event did this occur? A con, perhaps? I could imagine one of those smaller, unofficial cons holding such an activity for fun.

BotCon had them at least once with Movie 1 figures

njb902 wrote:The real issue here is that as much as they claim to be worried for the children over these simplified toys, it's really themselves that they are worried about. Honestly how many of us can really put ourselves in a kids shoes?

More than you think. My wife's extended family is rather big (we're counting second cousins and beyond), and even bigger on kids.

Hasbro will not get any of my money on this junk... thank god I only collect masterpieces, and the one of Generations figure here and there.

CommanderHazar wrote:

Shadowstream wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Remember when playing with the toys as a child and trying to have a battle scene with lots of TFs? You and your friends would always have to pause the game to transform each toy each time that the battle or play pattern called for any of the toys to be transformed.

You speak as if all kids who grew up with TFs had this issue. Some of us didn't have friends who even liked Transformers, or moreso didn't have friends, period

Very true. I didn't have friends as a kid. I still don't. For me, playing by myself, transforming them was the best part. The more complex, the better.

And I agree with the "Simplified Transformers are for simpletons" remark. Our culture and society is getting ever more dumbed down. Perhaps challenging people, kids included, is the way to go, as opposed to the simplified instant gratification culture we have today.

I don't care if people are offended by this. It is how I see it. This is another step towards Transformers mediocrity. I'd rather see Transformers fade away than continue down that road.

One thing to worry about regardless of everything that everyone else has said about this issue... it doesn't matter if the toys are simplified or not if the distribution is TERRIBLE. Say the hardcore collectors and we kids get the toys and figure from age of extinction that we do want; we can't go out and get them if they're not packed in stores properly, whether one overshadows the other. Honestly, I see more Construct bots in my area then actual deluxes and voyagers >:(

RhA wrote:

CommanderHazar wrote:

Shadowstream wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Remember when playing with the toys as a child and trying to have a battle scene with lots of TFs? You and your friends would always have to pause the game to transform each toy each time that the battle or play pattern called for any of the toys to be transformed.

You speak as if all kids who grew up with TFs had this issue. Some of us didn't have friends who even liked Transformers, or moreso didn't have friends, period

Very true. I didn't have friends as a kid. I still don't. For me, playing by myself, transforming them was the best part. The more complex, the better.

And I agree with the "Simplified Transformers are for simpletons" remark. Our culture and society is getting ever more dumbed down. Perhaps challenging people, kids included, is the way to go, as opposed to the simplified instant gratification culture we have today.

I don't care if people are offended by this. It is how I see it. This is another step towards Transformers mediocrity. I'd rather see Transformers fade away than continue down that road.

Why do you always have some tacky, non sequitur porno chick for yr profile? Last time I checked, this is a Transformers web site. And another thing. You obviously like to flame people and insult them. That picture of the Simpson's dude is a blatant insult to a member of this board!

thedistinctroom wrote:

RhA wrote:

CommanderHazar wrote:

Shadowstream wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Remember when playing with the toys as a child and trying to have a battle scene with lots of TFs? You and your friends would always have to pause the game to transform each toy each time that the battle or play pattern called for any of the toys to be transformed.

You speak as if all kids who grew up with TFs had this issue. Some of us didn't have friends who even liked Transformers, or moreso didn't have friends, period

Very true. I didn't have friends as a kid. I still don't. For me, playing by myself, transforming them was the best part. The more complex, the better.

And I agree with the "Simplified Transformers are for simpletons" remark. Our culture and society is getting ever more dumbed down. Perhaps challenging people, kids included, is the way to go, as opposed to the simplified instant gratification culture we have today.

I don't care if people are offended by this. It is how I see it. This is another step towards Transformers mediocrity. I'd rather see Transformers fade away than continue down that road.

Why do you always have some non sequitur porno chick for yr profile?

Jetfire wrote: I's an intensely personal choice.

Reading this really saddened me. ROTF Leader Prime was a beautiful feat of engineering and to this day is still my favorite Transformers toy. Simplifying them more than they are is bad news. Especially when you bring up the point that almost all the toys are already packaged in robot mode now. The fun of a Transformer was opening it up and figuring out how to reveal the robot from the alt mode.

Guess Rhinox will be my last one for a while again.

Sabrblade wrote:

welcometothedarksyde wrote:Regarding Transformers complexity. I was about ten when I first started collecting TFs, and I started with ROTF toys. I've very rarely had problems Transforming very complex Transformers. I swear I can transform ROTF Optimus under a minute if I tried. So once I've memorized everything complexity is never an issue, what is an issue is design flaws and poorly though out Transformations. A good example is how long FOC Grimlock took me the first time despite his simplicity. His weak structure and strange shoulders left me way more stumped than I should have been. I also take large amounts of time to transform expensive/rare stuff, that should be fairly self-explanatory

That's the thing, though. Hasbro's trying to avoid forcing people to take excess time to transform the toys, so they don't have to practice over and over to get faster. They want to let the toys be transformed quick and fast from the get go, without having to waste more time than what's desired to get the darn things from Mode A to Mode B so that each mode can be played with pronto.

That's what I loved about the PRiD toyline (and the few toys I genuinely play with from Beast Hunters). The figures weren't exorbitantly elementary, yet were enough of a challenge to be a fun puzzle. On top of that, a good deal of them had captivating transformation schemes (such as Vehicon for illustration).

And, if a kid cannot transform PRiD Bumblebee, either their particularly indolent or their downright stupid.

Whoops. Double post.