The Energon Pub

I wanna ask y'all a question; is there ANYONE who actually doesn't want Hasbro producing non-G1 transformers? I'm not asking if you prefer G1 and just ignore the other lines, I'm asking if there's anyone who's actively frustrated that Hasbro does stuff like Studio Series & Beast Wars. Is there actually anyone out there who wants Hasbro to focus 100% on g1 with no room for anything else?

Not looking for a 'yes or no' answer in particular. Honestly interested in the deeper reasons behind why people collect, and why on so many reveals we see such negative discourse because it doesn't represent the G1 source material. Just looking for deeper insight.

I'm okay with Generations being so G1-fixated. After all, remaking G1 characters to modern standards in one way or another is what CHUG was created for (although in cases where they've nailed it I think development investment should move on to characters who haven't been done yet or still need refinement. Sadly. Megatron and - despite how many times he's been done- Optimus Prime in their main bodies are in this latter category). I'm leery of post-G1 stuff getting remade in Generations, because the ratio of what they stand to gain versus what they risk losing is less favorable for them.

But I certainly wouldn't want to see neo-G1 stifle or supplant what are supposed to be the A-list lines. Those should be allowed to flourish and do their thing.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:But I certainly wouldn't want to see neo-G1 stifle or supplant what are supposed to be the A-list lines. Those should be allowed to flourish and do their thing.

When you say A-list lines, to what exactly are you referring?

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:But I certainly wouldn't want to see neo-G1 stifle or supplant what are supposed to be the A-list lines. Those should be allowed to flourish and do their thing.

When you say A-list lines, to what exactly are you referring?

Whatever the current movie line and current show line happen to be.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:But I certainly wouldn't want to see neo-G1 stifle or supplant what are supposed to be the A-list lines. Those should be allowed to flourish and do their thing.

When you say A-list lines, to what exactly are you referring?

Whatever the current movie line and current show line happen to be.

So that would be SS and WFC-ER right now. But isn't WFC a neo-G1 line? Even with the occasional nod to a different series?

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:But I certainly wouldn't want to see neo-G1 stifle or supplant what are supposed to be the A-list lines. Those should be allowed to flourish and do their thing.

When you say A-list lines, to what exactly are you referring?

Whatever the current movie line and current show line happen to be.

So that would be SS and WFC-ER right now.

Wrong on the second part. The current main show line is in fact Cyberverse. Super kiddy and gimmicky though it may be, it's the one that's actually had its own new cartoon series and all.

Rodimus Prime wrote:But isn't WFC a neo-G1 line? Even with the occasional nod to a different series?

Yes, but see above. It's getting a show, true (a bit of a landmark moment, that), but it didn't start with one and as far as Hasbro is concerned... that show will probably be a secondary attraction to whatever comes after Cyberverse.

Personal opinion. I don't think there is anyone who wants strictly only original Transformers based toys & media. I mean that is what I prefer...But occasionally there will be great offerings from later series that intrigue me.

Currently I only collect generations, and the fact that it does rely heavily on the original series is a definite draw, even as more obscure characters are given new life, we see there is much left to explore even from the first 7-8 years of the franchise, not ignoring everything that came after.

Studio series is a great line for fans of the live action film series, not me, but I do respect the effort taken here. And Cyberverse (or whatever line will take its place), is great for kids. It offers nothing for me, but a new line is always good to create new fans, so it seems like there is something for everyone.

If generations later decides to focus more on BW, Unicron Trilogy etc... that will be fine as I've received modern updates of most of the characters I liked growing up. But to have the original series ignored completely would conversely be frustrating.

Perhaps when the 3rd installment of the WFC trilogy is over, if Hasbro does move on, perhaps the selects series could be reserved and dedicated to any original series characters that have not received modern updates at that point.

I want the toys to be like the last quarter of the IDW v1 Transformer universe. By then you had all sorts of G1 characters plus you had completely new characters and even Beast Wars folks. Having Rat Trap with Starscream was good stuff. Just a massive universe of Transformers from different planets to explain the different forms, fully robotic or techno-organic. And I say screw scale, or come up with fiction that explain why a rat can be the size of a sedan or whatever. Just mash it all up with current engineering and articulation.

Mostly yes with me.

G1 was what I grew up with and is what I'm mainly interested in. In collecting I like the G1 stuff over non G1 stuff. Although I have to admit I'm pretty happy with what I have now over the new Hoist or Graple. Even saying that, however, I'm still mainly in this for new versions of the characters I like or new characters set in that universe or using those molds. Like Road Rage or Exhaust or Sunstorm. So, while I don't care about getting the new Graple, I would buy a Hauler repaint of him.

Of course I'll get something outside this, like Studio Barricade. And I know it's not really realistic to think this can go on forever. I'm just speaking for myself and what I want.

So since I wasn't alive during G1, I don't have the attachment to it a lot of people here have, so JUST G1 would be a hard pass for me. Generations right now is still getting my money because they keep making rarer G1 characters they haven't remade yet that I like on concept or from IDW, combined with more common ones that fill holes since they weren't around in the Unicron Trilogy and such when I was getting into the franchise (Hound and Ratchet, for example), and occasional non-G1 stuff like Galaxy Prime, Barricade, and such. If they keep doing the same characters over and over again though (like a third G1 Megatron and Screamer in a row), they'll lose me, and I would still much rather get characters I actually have attachment to than G1 Autobot Car Number 27.

Uncommon/later G1 is fine, but if I could get a new Lugnut, Knockout, Override, and BW Inferno at the cost of getting a new G1 Starscream, G1 Prowl, G1 Arcee, and G1 Inferno, for example, I'd absolutely take that deal.

Wasn't it only Classics (and Henkei) that was bothered about upgrading G1 characters? Afterall Classics successor line, Universe, had non-G1 characters in it, like Dinobot and Cheetor. I always took Generations to be a line that spanned the Generations of Transformers lore, giving us the old, the not so old, and the new. It's only with the change in design team that it became more G1 focused.

I don't care what Hasbro chooses to do with respect to lines that aren't G1 related, as long as they always have something G1 related.

I've been collecting since 1984. G1 is where I come from. Of course, I've collected from every line ever done outside of Power Core Combiners or whatever. There is very little that doesn't branch from "G1" or fit into "G1" in some way (outside of Bayverse). I like to call it "Geverything."

Why not have it all?

Personally, with very few exceptions, there's been something to like in every line they've done since the beginning. There have been some lines where I've pretty much loved everything (e.g. Animated), and there have been some where most of the line doesn't appeal to me (e.g. Beast Wars), but it's never been 100% either way. I might have at least one figure from every major line that sold in the U.S. which I would never want to part with for one reason or another.

Currently, even though there are very few new characters in it, I find myself fascinated with the engineering of most of the new Generations figures. Also, however, I jump at the chance to experience new characters in lines like Cyberverse (where my Thunderhowl at, Hasbro?). I don't think I'd want to do without either if it would bolster the selection of the other line.

As a collector, the one thing that frustrates me about figure selection is when a fiction introduces characters or ideas that the toyline ignores, like how very few of the new Decepticon figures in RiD15 got any toy representation. That was a line that I felt underused its own concept, or at least the concept of robot animals turning into vehicles.

Glarryg

I personally wish we'd get more non-G1 stuff in Generations. G1 is great and all, I grew up watching G1 on VHS (with a mishmash of RID and UT toys) but I do find myself longing for the G1 core roster to get definitive updates so we can consider the G1 cast "complete" and move on to getting updates for more obscure characters and post-G1 series. I feel we're closer to that than ever before; ER Optimus Prime is about as definitive a CHUG Prime as we've ever had, for example.

So to answer the question, no, I definitely don't want G1 and nothing else.

I like when the bring in other characters into a G1-esque setting.

Give me a Generations Lockdown and Bulkhead.

I loved that Siege Ultra Magnus' alt-mode was a nod to 2001's RiD/Car Robots.

Heck when my son gets older, he might appreciate bringing in Rescue Bots characters into an "older (demographic)" setting.