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[-Kanrabat-]

-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

I don't see why the Scramble City gimmick can't be used on the new combiner design. The deluxe "limbs" simply ride the torso's skeleton so like the original concept, the deluxes could ride any skeleton on any limbs.

In case of the arms, the deluxe would have to split apart.

Can legs bots split appart?
If yes, all limbs bots are "scramble city". If not, that's a weird design choice.

[TOO MUCH ENERGON!]

I’d love a new Armada Optimus. Back when I was 18 in 2003 I started collecting Transformers based simply on seeing the deluxe class version of him in store and thinking he looked dope.

[ZeroWolf]

-Evan mentioned that Menasor's lack of Scramble City compatibility/limbs being dedicated to just Menasor has been well-received and they are keeping that in mind for future potential combiners

I don't see why the Scramble City gimmick can't be used on the new combiner design. The deluxe "limbs" simply ride the torso's skeleton so like the original concept, the deluxes could ride any skeleton on any limbs.

In case of the arms, the deluxe would have to split apart.

Can legs bots split appart?
If yes, all limbs bots are "scramble city". If not, that's a weird design choice.

I don't think they can

[-Kanrabat-]

I don't think they can

This needs to be double-checked to make sure.

[Thanos]

Well I for 1 think it's a good idea for each combiner to be unique. I was never a big fan of the scramble concept, even if it was fun to mix up limbs.

I know the Combiner Wars combiners are somewhat polarizing, but that's what I really appreciated about the line. I've got six "custom" head-cannon combiners in my collection made from different limb and torso combinations. They're visually unique and add some variety to my collection.

[o.supreme]

I feel like I'm way past beating a dead horse at this point but...I don't see the point of revisiting combiners that were released in the last 6/7 years. While I don't agree with Menasor I get it. I'd even understand another shot at LioKaiser, but the rest are fine.

Until we get all the combiners in my wish list, and the rest from other eras, revisiting the ones that were already done is a waste.

[DeathReviews]

Any tribute to TF Animated is welcome - as long as they do it well. It was a toy line, and a TV show, that deserved a LOT better than it got.

And why should Cartoon Network be 'keeping the rights' to it anyway? It's not like they've DONE anything with it for the last 10 years. They're not even re-running the episodes anywhere for cryin' out loud...

[-Kanrabat-]

And why should Cartoon Network be 'keeping the rights' to it anyway? It's not like they've DONE anything with it for the last 10 years. They're not even re-running the episodes anywhere for cryin' out loud...

Copyrights holders sit on their rights like dragons sleep on their gold piles. They don't do anything with it, but they will ROAR if any hand that is not their own gets close to their treasure.

[ZeroWolf]

And why should Cartoon Network be 'keeping the rights' to it anyway? It's not like they've DONE anything with it for the last 10 years. They're not even re-running the episodes anywhere for cryin' out loud...

Copyrights holders sit on their rights like dragons sleep on their gold piles. They don't do anything with it, but they will ROAR if any hand that is not their own gets close to their treasure.

Harmony Gold springs to mind (though at least they've turned a corner now)

[william-james88]

I don't think they can

This needs to be double-checked to make sure.

They can't. Only the arms split

[Thannak]

Anyone else REALLY want a Gaea/Earth figure?

She’s Shattered Glass after all.

I’d buy the Armada Unicron mold a third time to complete the trinity.

[Sabrblade]

And why should Cartoon Network be 'keeping the rights' to it anyway? It's not like they've DONE anything with it for the last 10 years. They're not even re-running the episodes anywhere for cryin' out loud...

Copyrights holders sit on their rights like dragons sleep on their gold piles. They don't do anything with it, but they will ROAR if any hand that is not their own gets close to their treasure.

Harmony Gold springs to mind (though at least they've turned a corner now)

In this case, however, Cartoon Network does not have a horse in this race:

While not rooted in any specific source, there has been a longstanding misconception that because they produced the cartoon and collaborated with Hasbro on the toy designs, Cartoon Network maintains partial (if not complete) ownership over the character designs in Transformers Animated, and is thus the reason why no new toys of the characters have been released in years.

In truth, Hasbro owns Animated lock, stock, and barrel. A quick glance at the legal jargon on the back of any Animated toy packaging will show Hasbro as the sole copyright holder listed. In fact, the only legalese mentioning Cartoon Network is the trademark for their own name and logo, due to printing "AS SEEN ON CN!" on the box. A handful of Animated toys were also released after the show ended via Fun Publications, which also listed Hasbro as the sole copyright holder. Furthermore, toys of several Animated characters were also sold under different Transformers toylines concurrently with the Animated line itself, such as the Legends Class Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl and Starscream sold under the 2008 Universe line, or the Deluxe Class Bumblebee sold as part of the 2007 Transformers movie toyline's "The Legacy of Bumblebee" three-pack. Again, Cartoon Network is mentioned nowhere on the packaging. Similarly, Cartoon Network goes unmentioned in the copyrights for other merchandise like DVDs and tie-in comics. In Japan, the Animated Blackarachnia toy was even retooled years after Animated ended to create the Legends toy for Beast Wars Blackarachnia, again with no mention of Cartoon Network anywhere.

The only place you'll find a Cartoon Network copyright is in the credits of the episodes themselves, but Hasbro appears to have long since bought out whatever rights Cartoon Network retained, hence their ability to freely upload Animated clips to their YouTube channels and make it available for streaming alongside their other Transformers cartoons on services like Tubi (very much unlike the one show we know they don't have all the rights to). And in either case, as mentioned above, it wouldn't prevent them from making new toys using those characters or designs. A much more likely explanation is Hasbro simply wanting new toys to fit a certain aesthetic, one that Animated's designs don't quite fit. So instead, they simply choose to adapt the characters to fit the new medium, such as with Prime Bulkhead or Cyberverse Clobber. The most overt case of this is the 2015 Japanese release of the Legends Slipstream toy, retooled by TakaraTomy from the non-Animated Generations Windblade toy to be more Animated-like, and explicitly spelled out to be the Animated character via the accompanying issue of the Legends comic, which itself likewise featured multiple cameos by Animated characters.

Basically, there's nothing stopping them from making new toys based on Animated characters if they wanted to... they just didn't want to up until the 2020s: At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Hasbro designer Evan Brooks confirmed that any rumors that claim Animated characters are not available for use to Hasbro are incorrect, and Hasbro has all rights to all Transformers characters.

[-Kanrabat-]

I don't think they can

This needs to be double-checked to make sure.

They can't. Only the arms split

A missed opportunity but if it improves the leg-bots somewhat, it's alright.

[william-james88]

Which version of Prime Knockout is more show accurate to uou guys, the original ine or the Legacy one?

Original. It was only a little inaccurate, while the new one doesn't even try for accuracy at all in its robot mode.

Really?

I mean, its not as stylized and curvy, but they arms transform the same way, the wheels end up in the same places as the prime design, and the feet and lower leg kibble are all similar, I think it keeps the spirit of the original very well.

Is it the loving update the likes of which armada starscream is getting? no, am I upset? mildly do I care? no, the figure looks sick.

Will was asking about show-accuracy, not which is the better toy.

I still think Hellscream answered my question as I asked it. He was referring to show accuracy when bringing up the feet and lower leg kibble being similar to the show.

[Quantum Surge]

This is a very good read, and I'm interested in seeing the future of Legacy now that I'm almost done with my G1 crews.

[Munkky]

-No continuity is off the table for Legacy, Cyberverse is an option

There is that leaked store listing for a Shadowstriker in next year's Velocitron line-up, but even if she was the only Cyberverse thing in Legacy, I'd be satisfied with that. Even so, a Legacy Thunderhowl or Hammerbyte would be nice.

-Animated was given a flat-out confirmation by Evan, Animated characters/designs WILL be in Legacy, the theory of those characters/designs being held up by Cartoon Network rights is incorrect
-Evan cited Animated Lockdown, Ratchet, and Prime as characters/designs he specifically would like to work on
-Legacy Animated figures WILL be G1-ified, HOWEVER the team has also heard the feedback on Arcee/Bulkhead/Knock Out and are working to find a better G1-ification balance

This is good to hear, and it's nice that the designers have at least realised that the G1-ification of the Prime cast wasn't received well and are trying to fix it somewhat with future toys. Lockdown is pretty much a given, but Optimus and Ratchet would be great too if done right. I'm also hoping for a Prowl.

-Minicons are something they're intending to figure out "once they move more fully into Armada"

Mini-Cons would be fairly easy to do in the Core Class, I remember in one of these Q&As it was mentioned that Drill Bit was being considered for Core Class because they couldn't get him into Metroplex's budget. Though I keep hearing that the Siege Micromasters were bad sellers, so perhaps the team still have cold feet about doing anything similar to that.

-When asked about a new Cybertron OP & Wing Saber: "it would be totally doable to make a new Wing Saber connect to Siege GUOP" (implying Wing Saber is on the table but Optimus is considered done)

If this is the case, a package refresh (or even a slight retool to accomodate the combination) of Galaxy Upgrade Optimus will need to happen. It's been a few years since that toy came out and it's hard to get now, so I hope Hasbro doesn't just assume everyone that wants it will already have it. I for one missed out on it, so another opportunity to get one would be great.

-Mark and Evan talk about making figures of the 13 Primes "all the time", mentioned The Fallen's tank mode

I've been hoping for this since we saw that concept art for the unmade Power of the Primes Prima and Megatronus toys. While I probably wouldn't want all thirteen Primes, at the very least I'd like Vector, Onyx and Solus, possibly even Nexus done in a similar way to Menasor.

-Mention of potential Coneheads rerelease in Legacy

Now this is the most interesting thing in the Q&A for me. I already have the Coneheads, but they were a pain to get hold of like many of the other Earthrise sets. Re-releasing them in Legacy to give those who missed out on them another chance would be a Gigachad move on Hasbro's part, but of course there's always the chance they'll be just as hard to get as they were before.
I'm running a bit short on cash at the moment, and with TFNation 2022 and another comic-con in October on the horizon, I've thought about sticking the Earthrise Ironhise and Prowl, Ratchet and Lifeline, and Dirge and Ramjet sets on Ebay so I'm not completely wrecked financially by the end of the year, but I want to hang back until we get a good look at the Studio Series 1986 Ironhide and see if it's actually better or worse than the Earthrise version, and also to see if it gets a Ratchet retool (I mean it should, but you never know).

...and on top of all that semi-official stuff, JTPrime has said as of yesterday that Breakdown and Twincast's EAN numbers have been replaced with new ones that change what we thought the next few waves would be, indicating that Wave 4 will now include Needlenose, "Junkion 1", Hot Shot, Tarn, & Leo Prime (at least, don't think we know Leaders-per-specific-wave yet for 2023) in addition to Breakdown, while Twincast has been pushed back to the wave containing Metalhawk and the Wheeljack & Cheetor repacks have been possibly scrapped.

Ah nice, so we might be getting reveals of Hot Shot, Tarn and Lio Convoy earlier than I was expecting, just a couple more months on those. That's something to look forward to.

If you actually read to the end, I appreciate you

No worries bro any time.

[Flashwave]

Soo ... Rescue Bots when?

[Sentinel_Primal]

Didn't Mark say that Takara's prototype for Armada Prime wasn't finished and couldn't transform?

Also in regards to the Wing Saber and GUOP, if they do him, I'd hope that instead of doing a reissue, they instead make Wing Saber who's compatible with both GUOP and a new Cybertron Prime. Connection wise, it could be the same joint (the rail in the back) but the new one is closer to the original figure's design/transformation. Only issue would be stability for GUOP because... Well, despite the massive heel spurs, I do not trust that figure's joints to hold up a deluxe, let alone voyager or leader without falling over

[AcademyofDrX]

There is that leaked store listing for a Shadowstriker in next year's Velocitron line-up, but even if she was the only Cyberverse thing in Legacy, I'd be satisfied with that. Even so, a Legacy Thunderhowl or Hammerbyte would be nice.

I think you're forgetting someone.

Soo ... Rescue Bots when?

On that note ... BotBots when?

[chuckdawg1999]

Well I for 1 think it's a good idea for each combiner to be unique. I was never a big fan of the scramble concept, even if it was fun to mix up limbs.

I know the Combiner Wars combiners are somewhat polarizing, but that's what I really appreciated about the line. I've got six "custom" head-cannon combiners in my collection made from different limb and torso combinations. They're visually unique and add some variety to my collection.

Looking back at the toon, Only Menasor's animation design was so far removed from the toy. The other combiners looked close enough and didn't come with a trailer like Motormaster that could make a combiner skeleton like the Legacy version.

[bluecatcinema]

So maybe we'll be getting a show-accurate Bruticus after all?

[Sabrblade]

So maybe we'll be getting a show-accurate Bruticus after all?

What's wrong with the Unite Warriors one?

[RodimusPrimeUkraine1]

Still missing one though...

Custom based on Sludge anyone?

[RodimusPrimeUkraine1]

So maybe we'll be getting a show-accurate Bruticus after all?

What's wrong with the Unite Warriors one?

Honestly, the cw seems fine by me. Everyone whining that blast off wasn't a shuttle, but for once I dont care. Yes, Soundwave should be a cassette player, but who's ever heard of a ww2 space shuttle? As long as the transformation and robot mode look the same, I actually like that modernization.

[Rodimus Prime]

So maybe we'll be getting a show-accurate Bruticus after all?

What's wrong with the Unite Warriors one?

Honestly, the cw seems fine by me. Everyone whining that blast off wasn't a shuttle, but for once I dont care. Yes, Soundwave should be a cassette player, but who's ever heard of a ww2 space shuttle? As long as the transformation and robot mode look the same, I actually like that modernization.

The Combaticons didn't get their alt modes during WW2. They got them in 1985 from wrecked WW2 vehicles. We had space shuttles in 1985.

Having said that, I do agree that a fighter jet fits better in the team.