Surely we can simply learn to put our heads under the covers?
Don't get me wrong, I have little interest in any of these toys.But they are fun gimmicks and merchandise for young'uns. Plenty of franchises have them. What bugs me is the cheapness of the 'real' (if I may say) TF toys of late. Like the upsized Beast hunters, and no doubt any mainline AoE toys will be cheap looking, cheaply made and won't satisfy my taste for good transformations. The cheapness is something I can't look past. A product can be simple and aim at it's target audience without being half assed and cheaply done. The simple transformations are a problem for movie figs due to the designs, but again the simplicity is not the problem in and of itself. Seriously, get a line like animated back and nobody will care about the lack of puzzle solving and complexity because it doesn't hinder the look of the toy or the character it portrays. And it satisfies both ends (at least I get the feeling animated did...)
I remember having a bump and go Voltron as a kid. Sure it was fun, but I always wanted a 'proper' Voltron as well, i.e one that separated and combined all it's parts. As long as Hasbro still provides that equivalent there really is no problem.
I fondly remember my G1 Megatron Pyjamas. Nobody can deny a kid of today that same feeling. Another 30 years from now all the kids loving this stuff here will look at the latest toy fair offerings and be like 'OMG this stuff is sh*t. Remember back in 2014 when we had REAL transformers?! Bring back Micheal Bay Hasblow!!'
Maybe Hasbro wouldn't need to cut costs if Transformers' Hollywood success hadn't gone to there heads and hadn't blown millions on a blockbuster version of
Noughts and crosses Battleship. But I digress bitterly. (and sarcastically)
I dunno. Most of this comes across as flash in the pan merch. But, business is business.
I am happy to see more TF t-shirts