The Energon Pub

While I won't deride the entire line, I do have to admit that so far the only Kingdom figure I want is Cyclonus. I mean, I'm not saying the others aren't good, but I just don't have the urge to get them at first chance like I did with Siege and even more so with Earthrise. Personal preference, I guess. Maybe having them in hand will change that.

Rodimus Prime wrote:..the only Kingdom figure I want is Cyclonus.

I agree 100%. I'm surprised he didn't go into the SS 86 figures though. It'd seem a better fit, unless there's something about Kingdom that I've missed

Why characters specifically from TF:TM are getting spread across two lines for the 35th anniversary is anybody's guess (Remember there is still Galvatron and an Earthmode UM coming in Kingdom). The prevailing fan theory is "not enough room" in one line or the other, which to me makes no sense, and I'm still not sold on. Of course while Hasbro does come up with some impressive ideas, they have had their share of headscratchers as well. I love TF:TM, but I'm not into collecting characters specifically from that movie. Still, I know hardcore fans are not going to be phased by the different look and aesthetic of the two lines (Kingdom vs SS86), after all, they've been piecemealing and upgrading their TF:TM cast together from whatever line releases a character since Classics/Generations began.

transformers_va wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:..the only Kingdom figure I want is Cyclonus.

I agree 100%. I'm surprised he didn't go into the SS 86 figures though. It'd seem a better fit, unless there's something about Kingdom that I've missed

Not that I know of. May be we'll find out in the Earthrise show from Netflix. And yeah I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

o.supreme wrote:Why characters specifically from TF:TM are getting spread across two lines for the 35th anniversary is anybody's guess

The answer was already given by one of the leakers. Hasbro wanted to celebrate both anniversaries (of TFTM and Beast Wars) at the same time.

Everything in both these articles looks great still...except the tiny Optimus, but I was never interested in tiny Optimus or any of the other leaked G1-but-tiny Cores from the beginning anyway, so that's entirely unsurprising to me.

The fact that we've now got people judging the quality of the entire line (despite having not seen the majority of it yet) off of just the first figures in the smallest size class does surprise me though, that's terribly flawed logic. If I were to base my entire opinions of the previous WFC installments on just the Micromasters, the only one of the 11 figures currently on my desk that would survive the subsequent purge would be SS Overload. They're $10 figures, of course they're not going to be the best the line has to offer, calm down.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

transformers_va wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:..the only Kingdom figure I want is Cyclonus.

I agree 100%. I'm surprised he didn't go into the SS 86 figures though. It'd seem a better fit, unless there's something about Kingdom that I've missed

Not that I know of. May be we'll find out in the Earthrise show from Netflix. And yeah I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

Honestly, I don't take issue with the smaller figures. Rattrap's good, Vertebreak looks fun, and Prime, while not ideal, is serviceable. He's not meant to be the definitive Optimus Prime, and is likely just meant to compliment the Ark. Besides, at least this batch of Legends class guys have weapons. Last time I think we had those was Thrilling 30, not inculding TR Brawn and Seaspray who went to the "Cliffjumper School of Shields and Weapons"

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Meh, I guess that's a result of marketing research. Honestly I don't think it's that effective, most fans buy specific figures, regardless of line. As I said previously, so far Cyclonus is the only Kingdom figure I want and getting him won't make me buy any others from that line.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Meh, I guess that's a result of marketing research. Honestly I don't think it's that effective, most fans buy specific figures, regardless of line. As I said previously, so far Cyclonus is the only Kingdom figure I want and getting him won't make me buy any others from that line.

Whether it's one or 100 purchases, they still got you to buy from Kingdom.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Meh, I guess that's a result of marketing research. Honestly I don't think it's that effective, most fans buy specific figures, regardless of line. As I said previously, so far Cyclonus is the only Kingdom figure I want and getting him won't make me buy any others from that line.

Whether it's one or 100 purchases, they still got you to buy from Kingdom.

yeah I guess. Had they kept Scourge and Cyclonus together, the line could have had return business. I doubt Hasbro *really* cares which line the purchases come from. It all goes to their bottom line.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Meh, I guess that's a result of marketing research. Honestly I don't think it's that effective, most fans buy specific figures, regardless of line. As I said previously, so far Cyclonus is the only Kingdom figure I want and getting him won't make me buy any others from that line.

Whether it's one or 100 purchases, they still got you to buy from Kingdom.

yeah I guess. Had they kept Scourge and Cyclonus together, the line could have had return business. I doubt Hasbro *really* cares which line the purchases come from. It all goes to their bottom line.

True, although I'm sure there are metric that affect things behind the scenes. Of course, to me it doesn't matter which line they're in, I'm pretty much getting all the 1986 characters anyway, regardless of "line."

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

To further encourage people to buy from both lines.

Meh, I guess that's a result of marketing research. Honestly I don't think it's that effective, most fans buy specific figures, regardless of line. As I said previously, so far Cyclonus is the only Kingdom figure I want and getting him won't make me buy any others from that line.

Whether it's one or 100 purchases, they still got you to buy from Kingdom.

yeah I guess. Had they kept Scourge and Cyclonus together, the line could have had return business. I doubt Hasbro *really* cares which line the purchases come from. It all goes to their bottom line.

I think they do care to some degree because it helps show them what gimmicks people do or dont want (reading the forums only shows the vocal percentage of their customer base). If suddenly Kingdom bombs for example, then thry know not to try the Fossilizers again. The problem I see is thar SS86 is piggybacking on Studio Series, this is not a seperate line or even a one year chapter so how do they define that statistic?

transformers_va wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

transformers_va wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

transformers_va wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

transformers_va wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

transformers_va wrote:Wow!! Wtf!! I feared that Kingdom was going to bring down the quality that we saw in Siege (especially) and Earthrise, but these things are awful!! Why did they have to ruin such a good line of toys?

Each to their own, i think these are fantastic and I'm eagerly awaiting the coming Beast Wars

Seriously?!?, you think that OP is "fantastic"? That looks cheap as ****!

You were expecting Masterpiece quality from a pint-sized $10 Scout class figure?

Straight to MP? That's quite a leap lol
No, but given that we've had some neat little designs in the Micromaster class, I was hoping for something better in the Core class than that junk. In the review, OP's head cover couldn't even stay closed

Sometimes it can, sometimes.

Sorry, but in 2020, I would hope HasTak could do better than "sometimes" lol

Shall we write off the entire line based off one bad apple?

One bad apple? No. However an entire line (Kingdom) of junk kiddified toys.. perhaps?
Seriously, Siege was fantastic, Earthrise was good, but these Kingdom characters look awful in comparison

I must say, you have some stones judging an entire toyline off of some images and early reviews, you should consider taking off those rose tinted glasses as quite frankly a lot of the Earthrise line was a swing and a miss plagued with QC issues.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:

I thought he would be in SS 86 as well, same with Scourge.

Scourge IS in SS86 though? Or did I misinterpret the end of your statement there?

No, if he is in SS 86, then disregard it. I didn't think he was. But why wouldn't he and Cyclonus be together, regardless of line of release?

I'd say it's probably so the Decepticons can have at least some representation in Kingdom. According to the leaked store listings Kingdom only has a tiny handful of Decepticons in the entire range, it's pretty much just Cyclonus, Core Class Megatron and Starscream (and possibly Soundwave), Leader Galvatron and another Voyager Starscream. It's certainly possibe that Cyclonus was intended for Studio Series 1986 at some point, but it makes no difference to me either way.

transformers_va wrote:One bad apple? No. However an entire line (Kingdom) of junk kiddified toys.. perhaps?
Seriously, Siege was fantastic, Earthrise was good, but these Kingdom characters look awful in comparison

To each their own, but you're definitely in the minority opinion on the Kingdom figures. They look great overall. These are not "junk" or "kiddified" toys. Just take a look at the elegance of Deluxe Class Warpath, of the effective simplicity of Deluxe Blackarachnia, or the nearly screen-perfect Voyager Class Cyclonus. The Core size class is its own thing, probably meant to give us some heavy hitting A-listers for the Ark playset/figure coming up in 2021. The only classic character of any import at this size class is Rattrap, for the sake of scaling properly with the Deluxe, Voyager, Leader, and Commander class characters in the line. The quality is definitely still there with Kingdom, whether it be for G1 characters or Beast Wars.

o.supreme wrote:Why characters specifically from TF:TM are getting spread across two lines for the 35th anniversary is anybody's guess (Remember there is still Galvatron and an Earthmode UM coming in Kingdom). The prevailing fan theory is "not enough room" in one line or the other, which to me makes no sense, and I'm still not sold on. Of course while Hasbro does come up with some impressive ideas, they have had their share of headscratchers as well. I love TF:TM, but I'm not into collecting characters specifically from that movie. Still, I know hardcore fans are not going to be phased by the different look and aesthetic of the two lines (Kingdom vs SS86), after all, they've been piecemealing and upgrading their TF:TM cast together from whatever line releases a character since Classics/Generations began.

It's not a fan theory. Hasbro has told us this is the case, period. There were not enough slots in Kingdom for all of the 1986 movie characters AND the Beast Wars characters. Both the original movie and Beast Wars have anniversaries in 2021. Instead of ignoring Beast Wars, like usual, Hasbro has instead embraced it with a year-long line. Putting figures from the first Transformers movie into a line called "Studio Series," which celebrates Transformers characters from the "big screen," seems a pretty natural fit. Nothing said Studio Series was for "Bayverse" or live-action only movies and characters. It's a line meant to give us screen-accurate representations of Transformers characters as featured in movies. Why should the G1 movie be excluded? Just because it was animated and made over 30 years ago?

These 1986 movie figures even have their own special numbering system, so you can skip them in your collection if you want. Plus, they're not even taking over the entire Studio Series line. We know of some upcoming live action movie figures for 2021 already, like Voyager Class Bumblebee Movie Starscream. The 1986 characters are going to share some space with the live action characters in 2021, not replace them entirely. The number of live action A-listers left to do in the Studio Series is also running pretty low. There are a few more characters with on-screen movie appearances to do, but not so many that it would fill out more than another solid year of product at most. We don't know when the next movie will come out for sure, and Hasbro has to keep retailer interest in the Studio Series line going until the next movie is ready to go. Pacing themselves seems like a smart move.

I also don't know why you think the G1 characters in Kingdom are so aesthetically different from those of the 1986 movie characters in the Studio Series line. They're definitely meant to compliment each other. Both the War for Cybertorn Trilogy and the Studio Series are striving for screen accurate characters, whether from the original cartoon (Siege, Earthrise, Kingdom) or the animated movie, both of which are using the same set of character models from Sunbow. Cyclonus and Scourge are going to look great together, and Jazz will be right at home amongst my season 1 characters from Siege and Earthrise. Have you seen 1986 Leader Grimlock yet? He's amazing! Definitely doesn't clash with Earthrise Optimus Prime. Everything about what is happening with Transformers right now makes perfect sense, but some people just seem to want to be upset over nothing.

Wolfman Jake wrote:To each their own, but you're definitely in the minority opinion on the Kingdom figures. They look great overall. These are not "junk" or "kiddified" toys. Just take a look at the elegance of Deluxe Class Warpath, of the effective simplicity of Deluxe Blackarachnia, or the nearly screen-perfect Voyager Class Cyclonus. The Core size class is its own thing, probably meant to give us some heavy hitting A-listers for the Ark playset/figure coming up in 2021. The only classic character of any import at this size class is Rattrap, for the sake of scaling properly with the Deluxe, Voyager, Leader, and Commander class characters in the line. The quality is definitely still there with Kingdom, whether it be for G1 characters or Beast Wars.

Very well said.

Wolfman Jake wrote:It's not a fan theory. Hasbro has told us this is the case, period. There were not enough slots in Kingdom for all of the 1986 movie characters AND the Beast Wars characters.

Source?

Wolfman Jake wrote:It's not a fan theory. Hasbro has told us this is the case, period. There were not enough slots in Kingdom for all of the 1986 movie characters AND the Beast Wars characters.

Which makes me wonder all the more why the even added BW to the WfC trilogy. They could easily have made a separate line for BW figures and then left SS to what it originally was, the live-action movies, and finished the G1-esque WfC with the '86 animated movie figures all in one line. I really feel like this third season/chapter whatever of WfC was sorta rushed and not thought out from a marketing standpoint.

Could we maybe not debate WfC vs. SS-86 again, it wasn't any more interesting in the SS and ER threads when we talked it to death weeks ago.

Lines are marketing constructs, who cares

AcademyofDrX wrote:Could we maybe not debate WfC vs. SS-86 again, it wasn't any more interesting in the SS and ER threads when we talked it to death weeks ago.

Lines are marketing constructs, who cares

I care. By that logic, they might as well put original Series Glavatron in Botbots, because , ya know, that line really needs a sales boost so they can justify the next wave...

It's about Truth, which I am a big fan of. When someone says "Hasbro said...". I just want to see proof that's all. Too many times the fans attribute things as fact, which are entirely made up. If I see the statement from Hasbro (which I could have totaly missed), basically saying "We stuck our excess Kingdom product is SS, because Kingdom had too many toys" then fine, I just want to see it is all.

AcademyofDrX wrote:Could we maybe not debate WfC vs. SS-86 again, it wasn't any more interesting in the SS and ER threads when we talked it to death weeks ago.

Lines are marketing constructs, who cares

Lmao, people care or those things wouldn't exist

aronjlove wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:It's not a fan theory. Hasbro has told us this is the case, period. There were not enough slots in Kingdom for all of the 1986 movie characters AND the Beast Wars characters.

Which makes me wonder all the more why the even added BW to the WfC trilogy. They could easily have made a separate line for BW figures and then left SS to what it originally was, the live-action movies, and finished the G1-esque WfC with the '86 animated movie figures all in one line. I really feel like this third season/chapter whatever of WfC was sorta rushed and not thought out from a marketing standpoint.

I can see where you're coming from on that one, but idk im a big fan of combining G1 with BW. I like the idea of optimus prime and optimus primal fighting side by side against the megatrons, and all the other potential team-ups and battles between characters. It does seem to be rushed though

Razorbeast88 wrote:

aronjlove wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:It's not a fan theory. Hasbro has told us this is the case, period. There were not enough slots in Kingdom for all of the 1986 movie characters AND the Beast Wars characters.

Which makes me wonder all the more why the even added BW to the WfC trilogy. They could easily have made a separate line for BW figures and then left SS to what it originally was, the live-action movies, and finished the G1-esque WfC with the '86 animated movie figures all in one line. I really feel like this third season/chapter whatever of WfC was sorta rushed and not thought out from a marketing standpoint.

I can see where you're coming from on that one, but idk im a big fan of combining G1 with BW. I like the idea of optimus prime and optimus primal fighting side by side against the megatrons, and all the other potential team-ups and battles between characters. It does seem to be rushed though

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong because I think this is pretty cool and I definitely love me some new Beast Wars figures. Just seems really weird from a Marketing standpoint and many products live and die by their Marketing. Transformers just has such a massive fan base it almost doesn't matter, at least for those that frequent sites like this. But I have to wonder how many purchases are by fans, scalpers, and then parents buying for their kids. That breakdown would tell a lot but I have no idea if even Hasbro has that info.

Any excuse for new Optimus Primal and BW Megatron is fine by me