The Energon Pub

So of course we recently saw many of the new Dark of the Moon toys from Toy Fair 2011. Some are mesmerized, others disappointed. I was personally excited about all the toys until I remembered something...uh...Megatron is only getting a downsized voyager? "Well it's too early to say he won't get a leader!" You might say. But, let's look at the past. In 2007-2008, we got three molds. In 2009-2010, we have four. For 2011-2012, we have three so far. What's weird is that two of those leaders are very much oversized compared to the rest of the standard MechTech line...a definitely different direction for Hasbro. We aren't even getting a leader Optimus it seems, but instead an Ultimate/Supreme class figure. So...the only Megatron we're getting is one that's too small to be in-scale with Optimus's voyager molds? The Ultimate Prime doesn't even get a suitable foil? I believe I've even heard rumors that the maximum amount of leader molds for DOTM will be three. Of course, ROTF had two Supreme/Ultimate figures (three if you count Battle Ops Bee), but I doubt Hasbro would make an Ultimate Megatron even though he would probably be in-scale with Ultimate Optimus.

Would anyone else be upset with no Leader or Supreme class Megatron? I'm afraid we'll get some other oversized figure if we get anything at all.

Yeah, I haven't bought a leader class Megs or Prime yet. And this line would be the on where a Leader Megs is one I'd like to get. Especially if there is any chance of a leader shockwave.

He should get one, especially since his whole truck mode turns into Megs and Prime is still just the cab, and then add his trailer.

Seriously, I just might boycott the DOTM line if Megs and Shockwave don't get leader classes.

The issues with the mechtech gimmick have already been testing me patience with the line, and if all we get of Megatron and Shockawave are dinky voyager classes that are out of scale with OP and pretty much everyone else, I'm washing my hands of DOTM.

Will still watch the movie, though.

What leader classes have been announced? I've only seen Sentinel Prime. I do really want a good leader Megatron though.

This is a load of crap. I better see a DOTM leader class Megatron sometime soon. Maybe Hasbro is trying to cover up Megatron's existence in the film like they did with ROTF Megatron, only this time they're doing a better job of concealing it.

We still don't know for sure that Megatron and/or Shockwave aren't getting Leader figures, but it does seem unlikely (however, I seem to remember there being some rumour about there being more Leader figures than normal this year). I sure do hope that we get more Leader figures, however. I was really looking forward to having a worthy Megatron to fight my ROTF Leader Prime. So far the DOTM line is looking to be the most disappointing line in quite a long time.

Mykltron wrote:What leader classes have been announced? I've only seen Sentinel Prime. I do really want a good leader Megatron though.

Sentinel Prime, Ironhide and *groan* Bumblebee.

It is going to be very disappointing if no DOTM Leader Class Megatron and Shocwave are released. I would like to see a Leader Megatron in scale in both modes to the new Leader OP. A Leader Shockwave some 2 inches taller than Leader OP (without battle armor) would be even nicer ...

And let's not forget Starscream. I would like to see the HFTD Leader mold released again, but added with Mechtech weaponry (like the new DOTM deluxe).

I'd love to see some kind of Decepticon Leader. Autobots get too much love as it is (but, damn, Sentinel looks good).


Though I don't really buy Leaders, anyway...

yeah well im sure there will be 14 releases of various bumble bee molds because of course he is the biggest TF...

what the f is all the frikken BB love? seriously BB must be catching up with Prime for number of molds...

aaanyway i wouldnt worry X im sure they will release a leader megatron for DOTM i would be really surprised if they didnt. in the mean time im sure they will release a DOTM megs in legends class to tide you over!

By looking at all of the DOTM toys i've seen so far, im washing my hands of 98% of it, and the reason i say that is i might get voyager Megatron cause he is a totally different mold altogether and Shockwave is most important to this line and he might be able to use him for a Neo G1 stand-in for my classics line, since we're unsure if HAS/TAK will be re-issuing any Shockwave mold, but i still need to seem both of them in hand to make a decision. The rest of the toy line is pure SLAG!!!!

I have a theory, but it's 100% speculation.

I think Megatron starts the movie as the beat-up truck we've seen as a Voyager. However, at some point during the movie he gets powered-up/repaired and gets a sweet-ass form. Hasbro hasn't shown us it yet because it'd be a giant spoiler.

Reasons:

1. I don't think they'd want to end the trilogy with Megatron having half a face.

2. The only reason we know what Megs looks like (besides the toy) is the pictures of the truck. If he gets a new, probably Cybertronian mode, it only exists as a CG model--which is much easier to keep quiet than a truck on set.

The movie is 5 months away. You can't be certain. Credibility is key. They said Skids and Mudflap wouldn't be in the movie. They are. Relax and wait a little bit. It IS too early to determine.

Gyrotron wrote:The movie is 5 months away. You can't be certain. Credibility is key. They said Skids and Mudflap wouldn't be in the movie. They are. Relax and wait a little bit. It IS too early to determine.

I sure hope it's too early. I just don't want wave 2 or 3 leaders to be something leader Skids, Ratchet, or Barricade.

I understand that they keep doing endless BB molds 'cause the kiddies love him and Mum & Dad buy him for that reason. But Hasbro need to remember that once the movies finish, they will dumps TF's like last night's dinner and move onto the next big thing the movie merchandise boffins regurgitate.

Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Cware_Law wrote:I understand that they keep doing endless BB molds 'cause the kiddies love him and Mum & Dad buy him for that reason. But Hasbro need to remember that once the movies finish, they will dumps TF's like last night's dinner and move onto the next big thing the movie merchandise boffins regurgitate.

Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Yes, because the kids have never bought Transformers until the movies, and they won't when they're gone. It's solely the collectors that have sustained the brand for twenty years.

Is that all true? NO!

C'mon people, these are TOYS. TOYS!!!! Hasbro is aiming these things solely at kids, but we just buy them now because we grew up playing with them as kids (well...I can't really say I'm not a kid). Hasbro isn't looking to make money off of teenagers to adults. They're a toy company. They figure that kids play with toys. That's where most of their money comes from. A lot of kids grow out of them when they reach a certain age, but most of us on here have continued to remember Transformers past our early childhood. The kids do buy the classic stuff. In reality, the classic lines are really just a good excuse for Hasbro to use 20+ year old ideas and sell them to kids that think they're a whole new thing. Yes, collector's are an influence on classics, but collectors aren't the backbone of Transformers. It's the kids that play with toys. Hasbro just figures we'll go with the flow and buy their new stuff along with those kids. They don't need to adapt to us. They don't owe us anything. Enjoyment of their product is really all we should get back from them. And that's what we did as young'ens. We enjoyed them. The kids from the 80's, 90's, and 2K onward have. And Transformers will continue to captivate the kids...they have a CGI tv show. Throw in some commericials in with it and those kids will be begging mommy to take them to Toys R Us. And when these kids grow out of them, a new generation follows. They will keep buying them as long as Hasbro promotes the brand.

And what the hell is a "true fan"? What makes a fan a true fan? I swear I want to shoot the next guy that says "true fan".

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Cware_Law wrote:I understand that they keep doing endless BB molds 'cause the kiddies love him and Mum & Dad buy him for that reason. But Hasbro need to remember that once the movies finish, they will dumps TF's like last night's dinner and move onto the next big thing the movie merchandise boffins regurgitate.

Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Yes, because the kids have never bought Transformers until the movies, and they won't when they're gone. It's solely the collectors that have sustained the brand for twenty years.

Is that all true? NO!

C'mon people, these are TOYS. TOYS!!!! Hasbro is aiming these things solely at kids, but we just buy them now because we grew up playing with them as kids (well...I can't really say I'm not a kid). Hasbro isn't looking to make money off of teenagers to adults. They're a toy company. They figure that kids play with toys. That's where most of their money comes from. A lot of kids grow out of them when they reach a certain age, but most of us on here have continued to remember Transformers past our early childhood. The kids do buy the classic stuff. In reality, the classic lines are really just a good excuse for Hasbro to use 20+ year old ideas and sell them to kids that think they're a whole new thing. Yes, collector's are an influence on classics, but collectors aren't the backbone of Transformers. It's the kids that play with toys. Hasbro just figures we'll go with the flow and buy their new stuff along with those kids. They don't need to adapt to us. They don't owe us anything. Enjoyment of their product is really all we should get back from them. And that's what we did as young'ens. We enjoyed them. The kids from the 80's, 90's, and 2K onward have. And Transformers will continue to captivate the kids...they have a CGI tv show. Throw in some commericials in with it and those kids will be begging mommy to take them to Toys R Us. And when these kids grow out of them, a new generation follows. They will keep buying them as long as Hasbro promotes the brand.

And what the hell is a "true fan"? What makes a fan a true fan? I swear I want to shoot the next guy that says "true fan".

Man... Do you ever need to take a chill pill!! Look at the figures. With all the marketing of Beast Wars and the like, TF's were stiil on the decline during the 90's. It was only when the live action movies come along that the brand took off again. That is because kids are so prone to go for the next flavour of the month, and Hasbro has forgotten this!

Optimus1138 wrote:I seem to remember there being some rumour about there being more Leader figures than normal this year

What is normal? We had two for the first film and four for the second.

...and another thing: let's not forget that we didn't know about leader Starscream until RotF was released on DVD, or close to that time. Maybe in another 10 months they'll announce leader Megatron

shadowynne wrote:yeah well im sure there will be 14 releases of various bumble bee molds because of course he is the biggest TF...

what the f is all the frikken BB love? seriously BB must be catching up with Prime for number of molds...

aaanyway i wouldnt worry X im sure they will release a leader megatron for DOTM i would be really surprised if they didnt. in the mean time im sure they will release a DOTM megs in legends class to tide you over!

Oh yes ! The DOTM toy line with "the Ark" play set and other complementary toys will be the apotheosis of the Legend Class. But you know what ? In that context the Legends don't look that bad at all. But it would be nice if the little toys were in the same scale reflecting different robot sizes, e.g. 3 different basic sizes: "Legends Deluxe", "Legends Voyager" and "Legends Leader"

[/quote]


Oh yes ! The DOTM toy line with "the Ark" play set and other complementary toys will be the apotheosis of the Legend Class. But you know what ? In that context the Legends don't look that bad at all. But it would be nice if the little toys were in the same scale reflecting different robot sizes, e.g. 3 different basic sizes: "Legends Deluxe", "Legends Voyager" and "Legends Leader" [/quote]

that my friend would be frikking cool.

Cware_Law wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Cware_Law wrote:I understand that they keep doing endless BB molds 'cause the kiddies love him and Mum & Dad buy him for that reason. But Hasbro need to remember that once the movies finish, they will dumps TF's like last night's dinner and move onto the next big thing the movie merchandise boffins regurgitate.

Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Yes, because the kids have never bought Transformers until the movies, and they won't when they're gone. It's solely the collectors that have sustained the brand for twenty years.

Is that all true? NO!

C'mon people, these are TOYS. TOYS!!!! Hasbro is aiming these things solely at kids, but we just buy them now because we grew up playing with them as kids (well...I can't really say I'm not a kid). Hasbro isn't looking to make money off of teenagers to adults. They're a toy company. They figure that kids play with toys. That's where most of their money comes from. A lot of kids grow out of them when they reach a certain age, but most of us on here have continued to remember Transformers past our early childhood. The kids do buy the classic stuff. In reality, the classic lines are really just a good excuse for Hasbro to use 20+ year old ideas and sell them to kids that think they're a whole new thing. Yes, collector's are an influence on classics, but collectors aren't the backbone of Transformers. It's the kids that play with toys. Hasbro just figures we'll go with the flow and buy their new stuff along with those kids. They don't need to adapt to us. They don't owe us anything. Enjoyment of their product is really all we should get back from them. And that's what we did as young'ens. We enjoyed them. The kids from the 80's, 90's, and 2K onward have. And Transformers will continue to captivate the kids...they have a CGI tv show. Throw in some commericials in with it and those kids will be begging mommy to take them to Toys R Us. And when these kids grow out of them, a new generation follows. They will keep buying them as long as Hasbro promotes the brand.

And what the hell is a "true fan"? What makes a fan a true fan? I swear I want to shoot the next guy that says "true fan".

Man... Do you ever need to take a chill pill!! Look at the figures. With all the marketing of Beast Wars and the like, TF's were stiil on the decline during the 90's. It was only when the live action movies come along that the brand took off again. That is because kids are so prone to go for the next flavour of the month, and Hasbro has forgotten this!

The Beast Era decline was merely a product of the length of the continuity. G1 suffered the same thing. Sometimes kids get bored with the same or similar thing for to long. That's why they have to keep rebooting th brand every few years. Heck, if they were to make two...or maybe even just one more movie after TF3, the kids will eventually get bored with the movie universe.

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Cware_Law wrote:Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Yes, because the kids have never bought Transformers until the movies, and they won't when they're gone. It's solely the collectors that have sustained the brand for twenty years.

Is that all true? NO!

C'mon people, these are TOYS. TOYS!!!! Hasbro is aiming these things solely at kids, but we just buy them now because we grew up playing with them as kids (well...I can't really say I'm not a kid). Hasbro isn't looking to make money off of teenagers to adults. They're a toy company. They figure that kids play with toys. That's where most of their money comes from. A lot of kids grow out of them when they reach a certain age, but most of us on here have continued to remember Transformers past our early childhood. The kids do buy the classic stuff. In reality, the classic lines are really just a good excuse for Hasbro to use 20+ year old ideas and sell them to kids that think they're a whole new thing. Yes, collector's are an influence on classics, but collectors aren't the backbone of Transformers. It's the kids that play with toys. Hasbro just figures we'll go with the flow and buy their new stuff along with those kids. They don't need to adapt to us. They don't owe us anything. Enjoyment of their product is really all we should get back from them. And that's what we did as young'ens. We enjoyed them. The kids from the 80's, 90's, and 2K onward have. And Transformers will continue to captivate the kids...they have a CGI tv show. Throw in some commericials in with it and those kids will be begging mommy to take them to Toys R Us. And when these kids grow out of them, a new generation follows. They will keep buying them as long as Hasbro promotes the brand.

And what the hell is a "true fan"? What makes a fan a true fan? I swear I want to shoot the next guy that says "true fan".

this.look the fact of the matter is that some of us can forget that todays bumblebee fans namely the little ones will become future collectors and unless we want to see the franchise die off we need to grow the fanbase.my nephew who is 8 absoulutely loves bb and has 9 of him from leader to scout.lately ive helped him aquire some larger figures like walmart ss and darkwind he now has about 40+ figures.if we want the franchise to continue we had better get used to that.todays movie figures will become their classics,universe, generations,and commemorative lines 20 years from now.
if we get leader megs great if not no big deal plain and simple. some may dislike the movie line or individual figures but we are in the minority. and years from now it wont matter.

I could see Hasbro not giving us another Leader class Prime since their reason for giving us the crappy voyager is that they wanted to make something "different" and more simple(for kids). Plus, we are getting the Ultimate figure with the trailer.

That being said, I'd be very surprised if we don't get another Megatron leader. He has a different alt. mode and a main character. I we do not get a leader Megs, I think it would be because of two reasons: His character i weak in the third film and/or they couldnt turn his tanker truck into a leader class succesfully. But, i think they should be able to do that considering how well Sentinel Prime looks.

Honestly, with the Leader Ironhide, I'd like a leader Ratchet to be in scale with HA figures.

alternator77 wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Cware_Law wrote:Hasbro needs to stop aiming the toy lines strictly at kids and start thinking of the collectors that will keep buying RTS and Generations lines once the movies are gone. That means keeping the complexity of the toys, like in the ROTF line, and keeping scale a bit more accurate. And more leader class toys.... Mum & Dad may not keep buying them, but the true fans and collectors will!!!!!

Yes, because the kids have never bought Transformers until the movies, and they won't when they're gone. It's solely the collectors that have sustained the brand for twenty years.

Is that all true? NO!

C'mon people, these are TOYS. TOYS!!!! Hasbro is aiming these things solely at kids, but we just buy them now because we grew up playing with them as kids (well...I can't really say I'm not a kid). Hasbro isn't looking to make money off of teenagers to adults. They're a toy company. They figure that kids play with toys. That's where most of their money comes from. A lot of kids grow out of them when they reach a certain age, but most of us on here have continued to remember Transformers past our early childhood. The kids do buy the classic stuff. In reality, the classic lines are really just a good excuse for Hasbro to use 20+ year old ideas and sell them to kids that think they're a whole new thing. Yes, collector's are an influence on classics, but collectors aren't the backbone of Transformers. It's the kids that play with toys. Hasbro just figures we'll go with the flow and buy their new stuff along with those kids. They don't need to adapt to us. They don't owe us anything. Enjoyment of their product is really all we should get back from them. And that's what we did as young'ens. We enjoyed them. The kids from the 80's, 90's, and 2K onward have. And Transformers will continue to captivate the kids...they have a CGI tv show. Throw in some commericials in with it and those kids will be begging mommy to take them to Toys R Us. And when these kids grow out of them, a new generation follows. They will keep buying them as long as Hasbro promotes the brand.

And what the hell is a "true fan"? What makes a fan a true fan? I swear I want to shoot the next guy that says "true fan".

this.look the fact of the matter is that some of us can forget that todays bumblebee fans namely the little ones will become future collectors and unless we want to see the franchise die off we need to grow the fanbase.my nephew who is 8 absoulutely loves bb and has 9 of him from leader to scout.lately ive helped him aquire some larger figures like walmart ss and darkwind he now has about 40+ figures.if we want the franchise to continue we had better get used to that.todays movie figures will become their classics,universe, generations,and commemorative lines 20 years from now.
if we get leader megs great if not no big deal plain and simple. some may dislike the movie line or individual figures but we are in the minority. and years from now it wont matter.

Yes! Someone gets me here. I'm glad you see the big picture. I still want a leader Megatron though.