Mark Weber Discusses the Conception of Prime Wars Trilogy and His Ideas for a G3 Line
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:17 pmThe Full Force podcast, a GI Joe podcast, interviewed the previous Manager of Global Brand Development at Hasbro, Mark Webber.
While a great portion of the podcast focuses on GI Joe, we do get an insight on his time in the Transformers brand. His very first project that was all his was Bot Shots. He did also participate in the conception of the Prime Wars Trilogy and how they got an idea to bring yearly themes to the Generations line. We learn how Hasbro did indeed choose to extend the Combiner Wars line an additional six months because of how much of a hit it was.
We also learn that Titans Wars was the original name of the second part of the trilogy but that it was changed for legal issues.
There is also a short but awesome discussion on what Mark Webber wanted after the Prime Wars trilogy, which was to simply have a line made of mostly new characters, telling a new story, which would be akin to a G3 (his words). Hasbro often states that the toys are part of a narrative they are telling and the idea is carried forth here with totally new characters. He wanted new styles and new vehicles, like a snowplow and a black and grey hearse Decepticon called Tombstone.
What he really wants to stress out is how the brand (both Transformers and GI Joe) are in desperate need for new characters and fresh ideas. This is interesting since it is also a growing sentiment among fans. Afterall, G1 and Beast Wars have such a long lasting impact among fans and in the brand for the simple reason that it is there that so many characters were introduced while later shows and continuities simply used these existing characters in different ways.
While there is a lot of focus on GI Joe, the discussion of managing the brand is applicable to Transformers and we learn how Hasbro's waves and yearly output is decided. This helps us understand how the lines that come out look the way they do.
The Transformers Specific portion is found at the 6hr 19 mark and you can listen to it here.
While a great portion of the podcast focuses on GI Joe, we do get an insight on his time in the Transformers brand. His very first project that was all his was Bot Shots. He did also participate in the conception of the Prime Wars Trilogy and how they got an idea to bring yearly themes to the Generations line. We learn how Hasbro did indeed choose to extend the Combiner Wars line an additional six months because of how much of a hit it was.
We also learn that Titans Wars was the original name of the second part of the trilogy but that it was changed for legal issues.
There is also a short but awesome discussion on what Mark Webber wanted after the Prime Wars trilogy, which was to simply have a line made of mostly new characters, telling a new story, which would be akin to a G3 (his words). Hasbro often states that the toys are part of a narrative they are telling and the idea is carried forth here with totally new characters. He wanted new styles and new vehicles, like a snowplow and a black and grey hearse Decepticon called Tombstone.
What he really wants to stress out is how the brand (both Transformers and GI Joe) are in desperate need for new characters and fresh ideas. This is interesting since it is also a growing sentiment among fans. Afterall, G1 and Beast Wars have such a long lasting impact among fans and in the brand for the simple reason that it is there that so many characters were introduced while later shows and continuities simply used these existing characters in different ways.
While there is a lot of focus on GI Joe, the discussion of managing the brand is applicable to Transformers and we learn how Hasbro's waves and yearly output is decided. This helps us understand how the lines that come out look the way they do.
The Transformers Specific portion is found at the 6hr 19 mark and you can listen to it here.
