The Energon Pub

What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

Not sure on that. Personally, I'm sick of same ol same ol and want something completely different to refresh the brand. Consider that those toys were coming out at the end of the "Big Time" period of TFs and won't have the mainstream appeal of the previous lines of G1.

Well the Studio Series lines aren't meant to be new in general. The mainline, aka the line supported by media for kids is where change and new ideas will come. Speaking from experience, these later TF lines came when I was a little older and not as rough on my toys so I remember them more fondly as they were the ones that lasted. I wonder who else is in that boat too.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

Titans Return says hi.

I'd have to pass on all of that, was never into all those gimmicks. Truthfully the show was nebvre the same after the movie, not that it was "great" beforehand but it definitely went downhill a little for me. Maybe it's because all my favorite bots were gone and none of the new ones ever took hold.

Sabrblade wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

Titan Return says hi.

HELLO!

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

I like that idea!

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

This type of line, if any, is what I envision replacing SS86.
A subline that continues designs that are as close to characters’ animated appearances as possible.
For one, it’s another landing spot for re-uses of molds with altered decos, and possible slight retooling.
Second, it’s pretty clear these screen-accurate figures sell. I know SS86 Arcee was pegged as a shelf-warmer, but I personally can’t claim that was the case in my area. In fact, I can’t say that about any SS86 figure other than Coronation Starscream.
I remember there were a couple times I was about to start considering Blurr, and Buzzworthy Kup peg warmers, and looking back now, that wasn’t the case for either. And in the grand scheme, neither was even close.

The two SS86 Blasters and one Snarl I saw at my Target this past Sunday were all gone less than 12 hrs later. Now that I’m thinking about it, it was roughly less than 8 hrs.

Now, I’m not sure how important screen accuracy is to those fans of different series, but for G1, it’s a pretty big deal, & Hastak is well aware of this fact.

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

This type of line, if any, is what I envision replacing SS86.
A subline that continues designs that are as close to characters’ animated appearances as possible.
For one, it’s another landing spot for re-uses of molds with altered decos, and possible slight retooling.
Second, it’s pretty clear these screen-accurate figures sell. I know SS86 Arcee was pegged as a shelf-warmer, but I personally can’t claim that was the case in my area. In fact, I can’t say that about any SS86 figure other than Coronation Starscream.
I remember there were a couple times I was about to start considering Blurr, and Buzzworthy Kup peg warmers, and looking back now, that wasn’t the case for either. And in the grand scheme, neither was even close.

The two SS86 Blasters and one Snarl I saw at my Target this past Sunday were all gone less than 12 hrs later. Now that I’m thinking about it, it was roughly less than 8 hrs.

Now, I’m not sure how important screen accuracy is to those fans of different series, but for G1, it’s a pretty big deal, & Hastak is well aware of this fact.

And therein lies the issue. It's just too much. How many series now have they run? And we are already getting Cyberverse Legaxy figure...that was just like 2 years ago! How is that "Legacy"? I think they will continue with how they are doing it now and once SS86 ends, it will just end. The rabbit hole is just too big.

Once SS86 end, the rest of the G1 characters will continue in the Generations line, as they are currently being made.

SS Gamers will continue for a while but it too, will come to an end.

And after all that, maybe, just maybe, the rest of the AoE Dinobots will finally be made!

First-Aid wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:And therein lies the issue. It's just too much. How many series now have they run? And we are already getting Cyberverse Legaxy figure...that was just like 2 years ago! How is that "Legacy"? I think they will continue with how they are doing it now and once SS86 ends, it will just end. The rabbit hole is just too big.

A legacy is simply anything that's taken place in something's history, there isn't really a time limit. It's not like the line is called Transformers: Retro or Transformers: Nostalgia, right.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Once SS86 end, the rest of the G1 characters will continue in the Generations line, as they are currently being made.

SS Gamers will continue for a while but it too, will come to an end.

And after all that, maybe, just maybe, the rest of the AoE Dinobots will finally be made!

86 is pretty finite, yes, but as long as they keep making games then Gamer Edition, like the original movie line, can continue indefinitely.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

Isn't that what all these Generations lines are for?

They can totally make a sub line for Animation accurate repaints, but extending Studio series beyond the 1986 movie to include tv shows seems disingenuous at best.

I mean, how long before Legacy or whatever follows gives us a CC Energon Optimus Prime. It's the only one missing from the Unicorn Trilogy now and the trailer and Prime units definitely require the extra CC budget.

Overcracker wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

Isn't that what all these Generations lines are for?

The "main line" (people forget Studio Series is also Generations, it's on the top right of ever box) is for whatever narrative the Transformers team decides to put together and slap random figures into. It doesn't promise any kind of faithfulness to any designs, especially non-G1 lines. A SS line would is supposed to be the ones that is more cartoon faithful though not necessarily a slavish attention to detail (looking at you Hot Rod).

They can totally make a sub line for Animation accurate repaints, but extending Studio series beyond the 1986 movie to include tv shows seems disingenuous at best.

I think we went way past that when they started doing video games and hinted at the possibility of comic books. They've basically said if it can be produced in a studio then it can be in Studio Series which doesn't leave a whole lot off the table.

I mean, how long before Legacy or whatever follows gives us a CC Energon Optimus Prime. It's the only one missing from the Unicorn Trilogy now and the trailer and Prime units definitely require the extra CC budget.

I think Hasbro is still OK with some overlap between the main line and SS. With all the cartoon repaints we've seen of WFC figures we still haven't seen them try to do another Cyclonus for Studio Series, just like we're owed a Targetmaster Scourge to go with Targetmaster Cyclonus.

And we're technically still due a Cybertron Optimus Prime, too. The one from Siege was an upgraded G1 Optimus Prime and isn't all that faithful to the original figure, just shares some features.

Emerje

The main line's name pretty much describes it all inclusive nature doesn't it? "Legacy" to me means everything under the IP so I see no issue why most of the animated shows and games could just remain under that title. SS86 was created for a specific reason and we all know why, but I've yet to see a brand new sculpt released into that subline. Ironhide is basically a retool of the ER figure so technically not "new". Hence the "Generations" subline coming into play which consists of repaints ore retools. Right?

With a lot of the following animated shows much of those Bots would need extensive new tooling that would prevent them from having a home in a subline. To my memory the only exception was/is Cosmos.
If a mold doesn't show up in Legacy first then I don't foresee it being released into any subline at all. I mean look at how they did Hound Dirty, he's basically a repaint. lol

Till-all-R1 wrote:The main line's name pretty much describes it all inclusive nature doesn't it? "Legacy" to me means everything under the IP so I see no issue why most of the animated shows and games could just remain under that title.

But just like everything in the main line since Prime Wars, Legacy is a trilogy and will be gone for good when the next line starts a year from now (13 Primes or whatever they're calling it). And with that will come new character choices and varying degrees of design accuracy. Studio Series is the line that supposed to be accurate no matter what and so far they've

SS86 was created for a specific reason and we all know why, but I've yet to see a brand new sculpt released into that subline. Ironhide is basically a retool of the ER figure so technically not "new". Hence the "Generations" subline coming into play which consists of repaints ore retools. Right?

No, not at all, everything you said is wrong. The only non-exclusive SS86 figure that wasn't made for the line is Leader Starscream and even he was retooled. Ironhide is a 100% new mold. The series has been using Generations branding from day one, not just for SS86.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

Isn't that what all these Generations lines are for?

The "main line" (people forget Studio Series is also Generations, it's on the top right of ever box) is for whatever narrative the Transformers team decides to put together and slap random figures into. It doesn't promise any kind of faithfulness to any designs, especially non-G1 lines. A SS line would is supposed to be the ones that is more cartoon faithful though not necessarily a slavish attention to detail (looking at you Hot Rod).

They can totally make a sub line for Animation accurate repaints, but extending Studio series beyond the 1986 movie to include tv shows seems disingenuous at best.

I think we went way past that when they started doing video games and hinted at the possibility of comic books. They've basically said if it can be produced in a studio then it can be in Studio Series which doesn't leave a whole lot off the table.

But isn't that what they are already doing? They just took a bunch of Legacy and WFC molds gave them new animation paint jobs and released them in a gift set. Why does it need to be under the SS banner? If they just do the animation accurate repaints in the normal line.

Emerje wrote:

I mean, how long before Legacy or whatever follows gives us a CC Energon Optimus Prime. It's the only one missing from the Unicorn Trilogy now and the trailer and Prime units definitely require the extra CC budget.

I think Hasbro is still OK with some overlap between the main line and SS. With all the cartoon repaints we've seen of WFC figures we still haven't seen them try to do another Cyclonus for Studio Series, just like we're owed a Targetmaster Scourge to go with Targetmaster Cyclonus.

And we're technically still due a Cybertron Optimus Prime, too. The one from Siege was an upgraded G1 Optimus Prime and isn't all that faithful to the original figure, just shares some features.

Emerje

One can argue it's not quite the same level of involvement as Armada was, but in general it does most of what the original did and can still wait a bit before another update. Energon, seems to be Primed for a remake, considering outside of the Decepticons, there's no way for them to recreate the powerlinx gimmick today and no way to release designs from that line anyway. I mean I would kill for a leader class Cyb Megatron / Galvatron Batmobile .

I mean they could just create a SS-Animation sub-line if that's the direction they want to go in, but All I can see for a while there, are re-releases of the titan masters in more animation accurate decos. Don't see them doing Pretenders or Action Masters which would be the next lines to tackle in that vein.

but I've yet to see a brand new sculpt released into that subline. Ironhide is basically a retool of the ER figure so technically not "new". Hence the "Generations" subline coming into play which consists of repaints ore retools. Right?

We have seem many new sculpts for SS-86. Jazz, Kup, Blurr, Scourge, Hot Rod, the Dinobots, most recently CC Ultra Magnus and the upcoming Swoop. Ironhide is in fact a completely new "Voyager" mold. It shares nothing with the deluxe Earthrise / Siege Deluxe mold.

Overcracker wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Overcracker wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:What do we think about the possibility once SS86 ends that it rolls over into Studio Series 87 with new molds of the Headmasters and Targetmasters? The following year could be Studio Series 88 with Powermasters and Pretenders, so on and so forth.

SS87 would require Hasbro to incorporate TV shows into the line, at which point I would ask why they would need to do specific year branding anymore? Change the sub brand to Studio Series Animated and open it up to all cartoons. I'd personally love some updated Deluxe Predacons from RID.

Emerje

Isn't that what all these Generations lines are for?

The "main line" (people forget Studio Series is also Generations, it's on the top right of ever box) is for whatever narrative the Transformers team decides to put together and slap random figures into. It doesn't promise any kind of faithfulness to any designs, especially non-G1 lines. A SS line would is supposed to be the ones that is more cartoon faithful though not necessarily a slavish attention to detail (looking at you Hot Rod).

They can totally make a sub line for Animation accurate repaints, but extending Studio series beyond the 1986 movie to include tv shows seems disingenuous at best.

I think we went way past that when they started doing video games and hinted at the possibility of comic books. They've basically said if it can be produced in a studio then it can be in Studio Series which doesn't leave a whole lot off the table.

But isn't that what they are already doing? They just took a bunch of Legacy and WFC molds gave them new animation paint jobs and released them in a gift set. Why does it need to be under the SS banner? If they just do the animation accurate repaints in the normal line.

They only did that because they don't do Studio Series in Selects, but we know at least Hound and Sunstreaker were intended to be Buzzworthy Studio Series figures before Target canceled them. It's an anomaly. If they felt it really fit in with the main line they would have put them in it directly like how the also cancelled Studio Series Hatchet is coming to normal retail next year.

Emerje wrote:

I mean, how long before Legacy or whatever follows gives us a CC Energon Optimus Prime. It's the only one missing from the Unicorn Trilogy now and the trailer and Prime units definitely require the extra CC budget.

I think Hasbro is still OK with some overlap between the main line and SS. With all the cartoon repaints we've seen of WFC figures we still haven't seen them try to do another Cyclonus for Studio Series, just like we're owed a Targetmaster Scourge to go with Targetmaster Cyclonus.

And we're technically still due a Cybertron Optimus Prime, too. The one from Siege was an upgraded G1 Optimus Prime and isn't all that faithful to the original figure, just shares some features.

Emerje

One can argue it's not quite the same level of involvement as Armada was, but in general it does most of what the original did and can still wait a bit before another update. Energon, seems to be Primed for a remake, considering outside of the Decepticons, there's no way for them to recreate the powerlinx gimmick today and no way to release designs from that line anyway. I mean I would kill for a leader class Cyb Megatron / Galvatron Batmobile .

I definitely want Energon Prime first, but Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime is just a placeholder as far as I'm concerned. Here's my biggest issue:




Truck mode, not bad. Super mode, passable. Smaller bot mode, looks absolutely nothing like Cybertron Prime, not even a little bit.

I mean they could just create a SS-Animation sub-line if that's the direction they want to go in, but All I can see for a while there, are re-releases of the titan masters in more animation accurate decos. Don't see them doing Pretenders or Action Masters which would be the next lines to tackle in that vein.

That's why I used the RID Predacons as an example before. At the end of the day SS86 was made to compliment the Kingdom line when they decided to start doing Beast Wars characters leaving a bunch of 86 movie figures homeless. A SS Animated line would still compliment the main line at the time and could still include figures from a wide range of shows that are also getting figures in the main line. I don't think anyone actually expects the main line or Studio Series to complete anything on their own so the more lines working towards a goal the better.

Emerje

About that Seige Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, having the original I just couldn't stand that Siege version.
But as Legacy Sentinel Prime, it's perfect.

Cybertron Optimus Prime deserves a Commander update for real.

-Kanrabat- wrote:About that Seige Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, having the original I just couldn't stand that Siege version.
But as Legacy Sentinel Prime, it's perfect.

Cybertron Optimus Prime deserves a Commander update for real.

Or simply a reissue. That original mold was so brilliant any modern update couldn't hope to hold a candle to it.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:About that Seige Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, having the original I just couldn't stand that Siege version.
But as Legacy Sentinel Prime, it's perfect.

Cybertron Optimus Prime deserves a Commander update for real.

Or simply a reissue. That original mold was so brilliant any modern update couldn't hope to hold a candle to it.

A reissue of the original would cost WAY more than a Commander I bet.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:About that Seige Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, having the original I just couldn't stand that Siege version.
But as Legacy Sentinel Prime, it's perfect.

Cybertron Optimus Prime deserves a Commander update for real.

Or simply a reissue. That original mold was so brilliant any modern update couldn't hope to hold a candle to it.

But then he'd be pretty far out of scale with the rest of the line. That guy in his base bot mode would tower over everything else. I think the ideal thing to do is make him again, but have his regular bot mode the same size as the one from Armada, same with when they do an Energon version. The sizes were all over the place during the Unicron Trilogy and it would be nice to have all three at the same size.

Emerje

Even in his base robot mode, Optimus was one of the larger Autobots in the Cybertron cartoon.

And when he met RID Optimus in the Cybertron comics, the two were about the same in height in their respective base robot modes, and we can expect the base robot mode of HasLab RID Optimus to be a pretty big figure, so the original Cybertron Optimus would scale well to that figure.

Sabrblade wrote:Even in his base robot mode, Optimus was one of the larger Autobots in the Cybertron cartoon.

And when he met RID Optimus in the Cybertron comics, the two were about the same in height in their respective base robot modes, and we can expect the base robot mode of HasLab RID Optimus to be a pretty big figure, so the original Cybertron Optimus would scale well to that figure.

They never really gave a good excuse for making RID Prime taller when they've been such big sticklers on keeping all their Primes relatively close in height. I'm convinced, knowing what we know now, that they made him so big so they wouldn't have to do him again in MPG.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Even in his base robot mode, Optimus was one of the larger Autobots in the Cybertron cartoon.

And when he met RID Optimus in the Cybertron comics, the two were about the same in height in their respective base robot modes, and we can expect the base robot mode of HasLab RID Optimus to be a pretty big figure, so the original Cybertron Optimus would scale well to that figure.

They never really gave a good excuse for making RID Prime taller when they've been such big sticklers on keeping all their Primes relatively close in height. I'm convinced, knowing what we know now, that they made him so big so they wouldn't have to do him again in MPG.

Emerje

Either that, or the made him so big so that Ultra Magnus would also be large enough in vehicle mode to accommodate modern-day Deluxes in his car carrier.