The Energon Pub

Till-all-R1 wrote:I know they'd likely never do it but I'd be down for a revisit of the Titanium version of him as a Cybertronic Hover car from War Within Comic.
https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Titaniumtoy_ww_prowl.jpg

I mean, if the rumor is true about the War for Cybertron game getting figures in Studio Series then nothing is impossible.

Emerje

We should probably continue the Prowl talk in the Legacy thread since it's a Legacy figure, rather than SS86.

ZeroWolf wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Till-all-R1 wrote:Where was it that a new Prowl release was rumored?

More than a rumour, it's fact now:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... jet/47107/

While some kids may get these I don't Think it's to the extent everyone thinks, otherwise why bother with the other obvious kid lines? Such as Core Class, or for the Spark line etc. I also don't know that many kids getting $35 action figure type toys when most of them would rather get a smart device or video game. Maybe when a deluxe bot was $16. Heck even when I was a kid getting Transformers was a rare treat due to cost versus Joes or Star Wars figures.

Hasbro literally has kid focus groups for all these so called "collector" figures, they don't have focus groups involving fans. And they provide the numbers (70% of TF toys are bought for kids aged less than 10 years old), letting us know that kids/parents are the majority users/buyers. Older fans can't sustain the brand, and you can see this in any store you go to. Sure, the first batch of figures put up can sell out to fans who want the product NOW, but what about the restocks? Who's gonna buy all those fossilizers, Arcees and Shadow Panthers? Sure as hell aint fans. And the first big price jump we saw was in the TLK line when Hasbro rereleased that Bumblebee no fans asked for. And yet that Bumblebee sold out, even with a second factory run. It was the single best selling TF figure of the year and few fans bought it. Hasbro took note, the next film's entire toyline was made for kids and same goes for the Rise of the Beasts line, at least when initially planned before the date changed. So yeah, we have the numbers, TFs are made and bought for kids.

Will said it better then I did.

Hasbro do have focus groups for adult collectors, I have been to several. Years ago I had this argument, that adult collectors make the bulk of the sales. When kids are bought transformers it’s usualy due to a parent who is a fan.
Ask yourself when have you ever seen a child in the transformers isle screaming at there arent to get them the latest transformer. In fact when have you ever seen a kid in the transformers isle. And look how G1 orientated the line has become. Do you know why, it’s becuase of the adult fan base. Transformers was not a fad for many of us. Do you know how many girls have been back to mine and gone crazy over the collection I used to have. Transformers G1 made a big impression, but alot of it was in our inagination, so now that the toys are being produced that we were promised by the artwork on the box, it’s no surprise that so many adults are fullfilling there childhood dreams. And why are kids going to buy into michael bay amd the other vrap being offered when they have playstations. G2 was an insult and inunderstand nostalgia but anyone who actualy thought putting a sticker saying laser, akin to batman biff baff, well lets agree to dissagree. G1 had adult themed alt modes and we were presented with that, kids today are presented with michael bay, with designs that are disgusting, oh wow look how intractar the transformation is, Im not even going to debate with anyone who thinks michael bay transformers are aesthetically pleasing, But show me this kid fan base for transformers, if you can then id be worried

DeathReviews wrote:If it's 86 Movie Ironhide, shouldn't they engineer him with a big Fusion Cannon hole in his head?

Here's the vid review

https://youtu.be/wW2-V5sgcQk

Just watched the review of Ironhide. And this is the closest they've come to a good ironhide I think. They've almost nailed him. He's pretty okay and far better than previous Ironhides. I like the engineering and transformation a lot, I like his big forearms and fists. The robot mode is clean and looks good, the van is almost great. Just too plain of a paintjob on the van. And he's too short for my liking, I like to think of ironhide as a bigger bot, only slightly shorter than Optimus but more stocky. He's a brawler after all, and autobots have enough deluxe-sized bots in their ranks.

If there's an upgrade kit giving this guy an idw style head and a bunch of weapons I'll consider it, but otherwise I'll wait for when they really nail this guy who knows how many years from now. I'd say I'll wait on ratchet like most others, but I really like the prime and tf:animated designs of ratchet and would rather wait for one of them to get a figure to be my definitive ratchet

But for those that have been wanting a better ironhide and skipped ER, hopefully this one is pretty exciting

Just watched the review as well.
I'm completely sold on this figure.
And yes, I would've appreciated him being a little bigger (not even that much), but that is a small nitpick.
After I transform him a few times, he'll be in bot mode for a long, long, long time.

The hollow fists are kind of odd, but again, even a combination of a few things that I could wish were better don't begin to sink this ship.
I'm more than okay with him being a bit shorter than Grapple and Inferno, and even Hoist...
The more variety among my Autobot figures, the better.
Which is part of the reason I'm really wanting Cosmos.
And having such a clean, greeble-free, appearance... This is how I want all supposed-to-be-G1-styled figures to look.

And since this version is going to be widely available, I would definitely say it will be quite a while before we see another G1 Ironhide that's even as good as this one.
In terms of the bot mode, this one is going to be very difficult to top.

Bring on SS86 Ratchet!!

While I also like height diversity I feel he should at least be as tall as Hoist, I always associated Hide as Prime's lieutenant thus think he should be in that realm rather than the same height as the Datsun bros.

Interestingly enough I always found the heights of certain figures very odd, Blaster is a boombox but is considerably taller than Cosmos, a Spaceship! lol Or Preceptor for that matter, when's the last time you saw a microscope the same size as a Jeep. Also Powerglide is a very tiny Plane for an A-10. That's one of the biggest reasons I don't bother with displaying them in alt modes, other than potentially the cars that appear to be in scale to each other.

I get that the engineering bumps him up to Voyager, but size is just too far out of scale. Even the previous deluxe figures weren't really the right height, but they were still pretty tall for the price class. I don't think I could be happy with any excuse anyone could imagine up for making him this small at this price point. I don't think expecting him to be the same size as Grapple is wanting too much, not when they've already cut so many corners by giving him just one accessory and completely hollowing out his hands.

Between Ironhide and Override I'm not at all happy with the direction Voyagers are taking, not when they keep giving us less and less and asking us to pay more and more. At least with Override you can say they'll probably only get one use out of the mold so they have to offset the cost, but we know that wont be true with Ironhide.

Emerje

Till-all-R1 wrote:Interestingly enough I always found the heights of certain figures very odd, Blaster is a boombox but is considerably taller than Cosmos, a Spaceship! lol Or Preceptor for that matter, when's the last time you saw a microscope the same size as a Jeep. Also Powerglide is a very tiny Plane for an A-10. That's one of the biggest reasons I don't bother with displaying them in alt modes, other than potentially the cars that appear to be in scale to each other.

Blame it all on the sizes of their original G1 toys, specifically those originally from the Micro Change line.

Looking at the video now. Wow, he's short. It he the shortest voyager we've got so far? I wonder how his parts count compare to older TFs.

This is the last Ironhide I'll ever get. Vehicle mode has some flaws, but I can live with them.

I may have an unpopular opinion, but all that clear plastics everywhere worries me. Especially so many JOINTS are clear. Plus that clear plastic painted red over just won't color match anything.

There should have been NO clear parts at all with the windows painted a kind of blue instead. It would have been even more "cartoon accurate" and it would have been more solid.

Yeah, but then they'd have to shell out for more paint right? Can't have that

Maybe some clear plastics are okay? My Classics Bee and Prime are both still good.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Yeah, but then they'd have to shell out for more paint right? Can't have that

There is no excuses when they pulled "no clear plastics" SS86 Kup and Kingdom Cliffjumper for the Buzzworthy line.

So why not make it this way from the very start?

Gauntlet101010 wrote:This is the last Ironhide I'll ever get.

Unless Takara goes and makes a Premium Finish redeco.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I may have an unpopular opinion, but all that clear plastics everywhere worries me. Especially so many JOINTS are clear. Plus that clear plastic painted red over just won't color match anything.

There should have been NO clear parts at all with the windows painted a kind of blue instead. It would have been even more "cartoon accurate" and it would have been more solid.

Yeah, I feel like a lot of people who speak in favor of translucent windows wouldn't do so as much if the original Diaclone molds had had opaque windows from the get-go instead.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Yeah, but then they'd have to shell out for more paint right? Can't have that

There is no excuses when they pulled "no clear plastics" SS86 Kup and Kingdom Cliffjumper for the Buzzworthy line.

So why not make it this way from the very start?

Besides we'd really just be swapping one painted area for another on the same part. So instead of a clear blue part painted red it would be a solid red part painted blue and the the whole figure would have consistant red parts.

Emerje

william-james88 wrote:

Barricade.it wrote:Studio Series should be the high quality version line of figures for collectors

No. It's sold at retail in the kids toy aisle. It's just a retail toyline like anything else and the bulk of sales will come from kids/parents. Anyone expecting more will be disappointed.

No, it's aimed at collectors but adheres to laws and a logistics system (in the US, at least) that is geared towards children. There's a difference.

Also, in places like Japan, such figures are NOT always aimed at (young) children. The Japanese version of Titans Return had a recommended age of "15+" printed on the boxes. Most Japanese TFs, such as the current "collector targeted" ranges of Siege, etc are mainly sold in specialist hobby shops and online, which cater mainly for the older collectors' market (such as Takara Tomy Mall, etc). It's pretty rare to see them for sale in most toy aisles in Japanese department stores, or even in Toys R Us Japan these days.


The more you know, eh?

primalxconvoy wrote:Also, in places like Japan, such figures are NOT always aimed at (young) children

That might be true but studio series was definitely aimed at children over there when I went as it was one of the few ranges of Tfs non speciality stores stocked. Or maybe half of that is just toysRus Japan trying to be more American. Coca Cola. Wonderbra.

blackeyedprime wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:Also, in places like Japan, such figures are NOT always aimed at (young) children

That might be true but studio series was definitely aimed at children over there when I went as it was one of the few ranges of Tfs non speciality stores stocked. Or maybe half of that is just toysRus Japan trying to be more American. Coca Cola. Wonderbra.

The studio series, from my own limited observations, seems to have been sold in a handful of shops in Japan, just like most TFs, as they aren't that popular in Japan with kids (unless there's a dedicated Japanese release of a film or a TV show and associates marketing), they're pretty rare to see in most shops.

The main Takara Tomy "Transformers" styled toys for kids in Japan currently is this:

- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkan ... Shinkalion

However, was due diligence, TT's website lists SS86 Arcee as being aimed at/suitable for (depending upon the translation?) children who are 8 years old or above.



That said, this could still be sure to my original point of a toy company following the existing logistics, restrictions and laws to deliver collectibles to adults.

The only lines that exist purely for adults is the two Masterpiece lines. Generations is made with kids and adults in mind, as Hasbro as repeatedly said.

I'll never understand why adult collectors want to cut kids out from these things. These are toys for crying out loud. I want everyone to enjoy them.

ZeroWolf wrote:I'll never understand why adult collectors want to cut kids out from these things. These are toys for crying out loud. I want everyone to enjoy them.

Exactly that. People seem to forget Transformers in particular, wouldn't exist without kids.

ZeroWolf wrote:The only lines that exist purely for adults is the two Masterpiece lines.

Nope.




Even Masterpiece, which is arguably aimed at the oldest demographic, is still aimed at customers aged 15+. It is thus still arguably a toy, officially sold to/bound by the rules, etc of a kids' toy, regardless of the real intended group, which is obviously collectors.

Generations is made with kids and adults in mind, as Hasbro as repeatedly said.

Incorrect. Just like the above toys, although they're officially aimed at kids, they're arguably just as aimed at collectors as MPs are.

Basically, both of these toys are assumed at the (mainly) adult collector community, via a distribution model and rules connected to childrens' toys.

I'll never understand why adult collectors want to cut kids out from these things. These are toys for crying out loud. I want everyone to enjoy them.

By saying that the main target is adults doesn't mean that they're being "cut off".

The plus part of 15+, refers to all ages above that threshold. That's how rating systems work.

Also they are all toys, regardless of who they are aimed at.

I don't really get the point of this argument? It seems a very strange hill to die on.

The same can be said of "8+" too.