First in Hand Look at Studio Series 86 Kup, Hot Rod and Kingdom Paleotrex
Monday, September 14th, 2020 9:06AM CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Toy NewsPosted by: william-james88 Views: 70,835
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Images of Studio Series 86 Deluxe Kup and Voyager Hot Rod were posted on Vector Sigma. They shouldn't be too different in size since the "size class" price point isn't strictly based on the size of the figure, as anyone who bought "leader class" Doubledealer can attest. Hot Rod is said to come with a lot of accessories, hence the higher price point.
We also see the Fossilizer Paleotrex, whose body can be seperated into weapons. for instance, his robot head can become the mace for Optimusl Primal. You can see that in the previously shown images.
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Posted by Master Farr 1 on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:15am CDT
Posted by skycutter on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:22am CDT
Posted by Immortal Starscream on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:23am CDT
Master Farr 1 wrote:Does Hotrod have an Alternate head?
the image we had seen before didn't look to have the visor. idk if that's an alternate head as much as a deployable visor. even horribly miss-transformed as him and kup are... got to admit I am excited. I love my TR and PotP hotrod and kup. but I could easily swap them for these.
Posted by cruizerdave on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:23am CDT
They'll never get that chance to blow me away with awesomeness back. No matter how good the figures are, I'll always remember these mistransformed mistakes.
It's really too bad.
Posted by william-james88 on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:24am CDT
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:34am CDT
Posted by jtanimator on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:41am CDT
william-james88 wrote:That Kup shows that they aren't really making those figures accurate to sunbow ala MP style. They are adding details that were not present on the animation model (like all that chest detailing). Looks more like another place to put excess WFC figures rather than actually going with the theme of replicating what we see onscreen.
Interesting that this is your takeaway, since I just came away from these pics realizing that Hasbro seems to be much more focused on screen accuracy instead of addition detailing with these since both Kup and Hotrod have SIGNIFICANTLY less panel details and much more blank spaces across their design then anything we've seen from WFC. Disappointing to me, but maybe you like your dedicated G1 accuracy. To each their own!
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 14th, 2020 @ 9:49am CDT
Posted by Tuned Agent on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:03am CDT
william-james88 wrote:That Kup shows that they aren't really making those figures accurate to sunbow ala MP style. They are adding details that were not present on the animation model (like all that chest detailing). Looks more like another place to put excess WFC figures rather than actually going with the theme of replicating what we see onscreen.
I've never known why people were so sure it would be something different from WFC. The bizarre character choices like Jazz (who had at most 10 seconds of sceen time in the 86 movie) and the fact that at this point there's no character overlap between this and WFC were dead giveaways to me that SS86 was meant to compliment the WFC figures, not do something different.
D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Yep, overflow WFC figures. Had to release a certain high number of G1 figures, and wanted to finally get some Beast Wars into the mix since it's been hammered into them for a decade or so, so the other G1 figures go to/infect SS.
^This. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Posted by AcademyofDrX on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:10am CDT
I complained in the earlier thread about screen accuracy over transformation and the negative mini Masterpiece approach of other figures like ER Arcee, but the more I see of it, the more I want to give this Hot Rod a chance.
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:20am CDT
Kup looks a little less on point to me, unfortunately. I don't mind the added "tech" detailing under the windshield, as Kup is a Cybertronian pick-up truck, and that matches with other Cybertronian car forms we've seen in the War for Cybertron Trilogy so far, particularly in Siege. But, he is missing some paint apps, like some gray on his midriff, and I don't like that his back wheels are just in the middle of his shins in robot mode. Maybe something wraps around from the back of the legs to cover them up? Looking at Kup's character model, his shins do push out quite a ways further than the upper parts of his legs, and these lower leg panels seem to be flush from the knee down to the feet (which also look to be very mistransformed). It's easy to see how the shoulder and side torso assemblies are suppose to come together, so I'm not dinging the figure for that, but the "Huffer hoodie" behind the head is way too far up. It should really only come up to the top of the neck/base of the "skull."
Posted by ZeroWolf on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:35am CDT
Posted by JoeIsNotCool on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:44am CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:Well there goes the theory that they had put these in Studio Series because of the mission statement of the line, guess it was sadly just more G1. Ah well, what can you do?
I think the whole point of it is because of the original Transformers Movie, at least thats what I believe, so in a way it makes sense and it could be a way to get some versions of those characters without any weird gimmicks.
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:46am CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:Well there goes the theory that they had put these in Studio Series because of the mission statement of the line, guess it was sadly just more G1. Ah well, what can you do?
Isn't this what we expected all along, though? I'm not terribly disappointed. Going off the apparent mistransformations of both Hot Rod and Kup, I'm guessing these are still very screen accurate representations of the figures when all is said and done (correctly). Again, these look like potential "Mini Masterpieces" like other figures from the War for Cybertron Trilogy. These figures manage to fill TWO major boxes at once, being G1 screen accurate to the cartoon AND to the 1986 animated movie, which is essentially the original Sunbow cartoon with a bigger animation budget. Hence, these two look very close to how they looked on screen in The Transformers: The Movie, with the glaring exception that Hot Rod is deep red and not fuchsia.
Is it not the "mission statement" of the studio series to present figures from Transformers movies in as accurate of detail to the big screen as possible? It just happens to be that for the 1986 animated movie, that is the same thing as looking like the G1 cartoon.
Posted by sol magnus on September 14th, 2020 @ 10:52am CDT
D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Yep, overflow WFC figures. Had to release a certain high number of G1 figures, and wanted to finally get some Beast Wars into the mix since it's been hammered into them for a decade or so, so the other G1 figures go to/infect SS.
I'm okay with it.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 14th, 2020 @ 11:17am CDT
sol magnus wrote:D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Yep, overflow WFC figures. Had to release a certain high number of G1 figures, and wanted to finally get some Beast Wars into the mix since it's been hammered into them for a decade or so, so the other G1 figures go to/infect SS.
I'm okay with it.
When we get multiple consecutive years with fewer than a dozen G1 toys released in it, it would be OK.
WFC. WFC Netflix. Selects. Cyberverse (basically kiddy G1 with a hell of a lot better fiction and a little better grasp on varying source materials). RED. Even the dollar store releases in Evergreen style.
It's like you've already drowned and someone is still trying to get you to drink water.
Posted by sol magnus on September 14th, 2020 @ 11:20am CDT
D-Maximal_Primal wrote:sol magnus wrote:D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Yep, overflow WFC figures. Had to release a certain high number of G1 figures, and wanted to finally get some Beast Wars into the mix since it's been hammered into them for a decade or so, so the other G1 figures go to/infect SS.
I'm okay with it.
When we get multiple consecutive years with fewer than a dozen G1 toys released in it, it would be OK.
WFC. WFC Netflix. Selects. Cyberverse (basically kiddy G1 with a hell of a lot better fiction and a little better grasp on varying source materials). RED. Even the dollar store releases in Evergreen style.
It's like you've already drowned and someone is still trying to get you to drink water.
It's easy for me to be okay with it, since I have bought Bayverse characters since Hunt for the Decepticons. I do admit, it's a bit much in terms of sheer volume, but that's our choice as to how much and what we buy. It's going up, even for me, because I have a young son who has fallen in love with the characters, too.
Heck, my daughter has already asked me for Earthrise Arcee, and when she finds out there's a Hot Rod I'm going to end up needing THREE of them.
Posted by blackeyedprime on September 14th, 2020 @ 11:33am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on September 14th, 2020 @ 11:42am CDT
Posted by Gauntlet101010 on September 14th, 2020 @ 11:48am CDT
As much as I like Hot Rod more, Rodimus Prime is really the missing link in the animated movie cast. Still he looks fantastic!
Posted by cruizerdave on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:03pm CDT
Posted by william-james88 on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:03pm CDT
Wolfman Jake wrote: I'm not sure how those arms get turned around when you transform him the right way, but it's got to be at least a little more complicated than what we usually see in a Deluxe Class War for Cybertron Trilogy figure.
I remember us all debating the same thing with the previous MP, who also seemed to have an arm flip going on. And many of us (including me) thought they would do that 180 thing from the cartoon. But it turned out to just be a simple flip on the individual shoulders. I think in the end, it will be more streamlined than we think. And I too think that the car sides flip into his shins, it would just make sense as a design.
as Kup is a Cybertronian pic-kup truck
Fixed that for you
jtanimator wrote: Disappointing to me, but maybe you like your dedicated G1 accuracy.
I do not. I was just pointing out the facts.
My personal reaction to this is that I don't need this Hot Rod, at all. Nor do I need that Kup. But I am curious with the design (since Hot Rod is probably the most complicated car TF design to do well) and if I see enough of it, I will make sure to sell some of my toys before they are rendered worthless by these.
Posted by blackeyedprime on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:07pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:I don't remember there being that much of a price discrepancy with the UK price But admittedly I might not have noticed.
It's been more noticeable with the devy bots and especially bee Blitzwing at £30 for an unlicensed jet mode compared to er snap dragon is like wuuut. My ss collection is only stuff that has gone on sale and as much as I'd like Blitzwing, that is crazy money in comparison.
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:15pm CDT
blackeyedprime wrote:ZeroWolf wrote:I don't remember there being that much of a price discrepancy with the UK price But admittedly I might not have noticed.
It's been more noticeable with the devy bots and especially bee Blitzwing at £30 for an unlicensed jet mode compared to er snap dragon is like wuuut. My ss collection is only stuff that has gone on sale and as much as I'd like Blitzwing, that is crazy money in comparison.
Maybe this has more to do with how these toys are priced by various types of brick-and-mortor stores in the UK? In the U.S., there is no price difference between War for Cybertron and Studio Series at all. All Deluxes, Voyagers, and Leaders are at the same prices: $19.99, $29.99, and $49.99 respectively, regardless of whether they belong to Siege, Earthrise, or Studio Series (or even Generations Selects for the most part).
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:18pm CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:27pm CDT
There was only one in that movie and it never changed into its body part mode (for obvious reasons since doing so by itself without the others would be silly ).Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:Anyone else remember the Fossil Lords from the Gobots Battle Of The Rock Lords movie?
Posted by -WonkoTheSane- on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:33pm CDT
Paleotrex, Eh, My interest has been piqued.
Kup though.....
Kup looks awesome! Like the Titans Return one, But actually good!
Nah, I'm being unfair. The TR one was pretty good, But the deco...
This one nails it, However.
The kibble on the arm to torso connection concern me, But thats about it.
At the rate these leaks have been going on, I give it a minimum of two weeks, And a full review will probably be up somewhere anyway.
Posted by hausjam on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:37pm CDT
Posted by blackeyedprime on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:40pm CDT
Wolfman Jake wrote:
Maybe this has more to do with how these toys are priced by various types of brick-and-mortor stores in the UK?
Maybe but it has been around since Titan returns for price differences over here. Current prices below are from retail toy stores (equivalents to toys r us at least in the case of Smyths)
Ss deluxe £20-£21, Voyager £30-£31, Leader £50+
WFC deluxe £17, Voayager £24, Leader £47
Netflix deluxe £20, Voyagers with minis £40, Leader spoiler boxes £60
Pretty sure SS Voyagers like Starscream and Megatron in the early waves were cheaper than the current prices but same for non ss voyagers that were still a few £ cheaper back then.
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:43pm CDT
william-james88 wrote:Wolfman Jake wrote: I'm not sure how those arms get turned around when you transform him the right way, but it's got to be at least a little more complicated than what we usually see in a Deluxe Class War for Cybertron Trilogy figure.
I remember us all debating the same thing with the previous MP, who also seemed to have an arm flip going on. And many of us (including me) thought they would do that 180 thing from the cartoon. But it turned out to just be a simple flip on the individual shoulders. I think in the end, it will be more streamlined than we think. And I too think that the car sides flip into his shins, it would just make sense as a design.as Kup is a Cybertronian pic-kup truck
Fixed that for you
It's definitely going to be different from how MP-28 handled flipping the arms around. For one, they are completely backwards in this new image. If you turned the arms around like in the Masterpiece figure, Hot Rod's thumbs would be pointing outwards, not inwards (as is anatomically correct for Humans AND Super Robot Life Forms). Rotating the fists won't work, because then the thumbs would be below the other fingers, not above. The exhaust pipes would also be on the inside instead of the outside. The arms have to somehow rotate around the central, vertical axis of Hot Rod by 180 degrees to get everything looking right. Remember, we're now dealing with a fuax chest too, while MP-28 managed to use the actual car hood for the chest. That's a lot of room for some fancy engineering "under the hood," as it were.
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:45pm CDT
jtanimator wrote:william-james88 wrote:That Kup shows that they aren't really making those figures accurate to sunbow ala MP style. They are adding details that were not present on the animation model (like all that chest detailing). Looks more like another place to put excess WFC figures rather than actually going with the theme of replicating what we see onscreen.
Interesting that this is your takeaway, since I just came away from these pics realizing that Hasbro seems to be much more focused on screen accuracy instead of addition detailing with these since both Kup and Hotrod have SIGNIFICANTLY less panel details and much more blank spaces across their design then anything we've seen from WFC. Disappointing to me, but maybe you like your dedicated G1 accuracy. To each their own!
This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Posted by sol magnus on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:53pm CDT
Seibertron wrote:jtanimator wrote:william-james88 wrote:That Kup shows that they aren't really making those figures accurate to sunbow ala MP style. They are adding details that were not present on the animation model (like all that chest detailing). Looks more like another place to put excess WFC figures rather than actually going with the theme of replicating what we see onscreen.
Interesting that this is your takeaway, since I just came away from these pics realizing that Hasbro seems to be much more focused on screen accuracy instead of addition detailing with these since both Kup and Hotrod have SIGNIFICANTLY less panel details and much more blank spaces across their design then anything we've seen from WFC. Disappointing to me, but maybe you like your dedicated G1 accuracy. To each their own!
This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
That's just life, Ryan.
I think they are going for screen accuracy in the budget of what they're selling. I don't expect a 20 dollar toy to literally jump out of the screen, but it's definitely close. Plus, all mistransformed you aren't seeing them in the best light.
Posted by ZeroWolf on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:54pm CDT
blackeyedprime wrote:Wolfman Jake wrote:
Maybe this has more to do with how these toys are priced by various types of brick-and-mortor stores in the UK?
Maybe but it has been around since Titan returns for price differences over here. Current prices below are from retail toy stores (equivalents to toys r us at least in the case of Smyths)
Ss deluxe £20-£21, Voyager £30-£31, Leader £50+
WFC deluxe £17, Voayager £24, Leader £47
Netflix deluxe £20, Voyagers with minis £40, Leader spoiler boxes £60
Pretty sure SS Voyagers like Starscream and Megatron in the early waves were cheaper than the current prices but same for non ss voyagers that were still a few £ cheaper back then.
Is that just Entertainer prices or including Smyths? Sadly I've been buying less in b&m and sticking to mostly online for that reason
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 14th, 2020 @ 12:58pm CDT
Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
Posted by ZeroWolf on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:02pm CDT
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
Are you sure about that? I think there's still a fair contingent who would complain at no G1:lol:
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:06pm CDT
Posted by sol magnus on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:09pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
Are you sure about that? I think there's still a fair contingent who would complain at no G1:lol:
Count me in on that one. Sure, make new stuff. But I think they know alienating millions of fans with 'radically different' isn't going to go the way you think.
If I want something different, I've already found it - the new Diaclone line. I think I will be investing in that to some degree. But I won't ever abandon Transformers (unless they go the Power Core Combiner route again...and even then, I'd just abandon THAT).
Posted by Immortal Starscream on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:09pm CDT
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
History has proven this idea wrong sadly. In essence most fan-bases in general, not just TF fans, desperately want something new and original... as long as it is also the EXACT same as the original because if you don't you are raping my childhoods its not MY (enter fandom here) etc, etc. death threats, forum tirades.
as for these guys being studio series as opposed to kingdom versions, well studio series is running out of bayverse bots to make. No doubt Hasbro is going to want to keep the sudio series line alive until the release of the next movie, so filler is kind of inevitable. I think I would rather have these figures then repaints of bay bots. Particularly if said repaints are better then the ones I already shelled out cash for.
that ultimately is my only gripe here. I have limited shelf space, and I sold some figures to make room for siege, only for earthrise to kinda make me regret buying the siege figures. Though, imho some of the siege molds are better then the ER ones. And now these guys are looking to deathblow my remaining titans return non headmasters/masterforce line.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:09pm CDT
You kiddin'? The recent news of the Kingdom Cheetor and Blackarachnia toys brought a whole bunch of TrukkNotMunkyers out of the woodwork.AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yes, but we are nearly 40 years beyond G1 now. That voice should start to Naturally recede soon enough.
Posted by blackeyedprime on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:18pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:blackeyedprime wrote:Wolfman Jake wrote:
Maybe this has more to do with how these toys are priced by various types of brick-and-mortor stores in the UK?
Maybe but it has been around since Titan returns for price differences over here. Current prices below are from retail toy stores (equivalents to toys r us at least in the case of Smyths)
Ss deluxe £20-£21, Voyager £30-£31, Leader £50+
WFC deluxe £17, Voayager £24, Leader £47
Netflix deluxe £20, Voyagers with minis £40, Leader spoiler boxes £60
Pretty sure SS Voyagers like Starscream and Megatron in the early waves were cheaper than the current prices but same for non ss voyagers that were still a few £ cheaper back then.
Is that just Entertainer prices or including Smyths? Sadly I've been buying less in b&m and sticking to mostly online for that reason
Cobbled from both. When looking at the speciality online stores like kapow Blitzwing still at the £30 mark.
I'm doing more window shopping (hence more sightings postings) and penny pinching as much as I can at the moment, sold a few things to cover Scorponoks arrival. Not having enough money to bundle stuff together for free postage or having to preorder that must have and paying shipping just to not risk it going out of stock has been a killer with the fans firsts/selects. At least ss hasn't had that curse upon them yet... Not counting the red galvatron and universal megs.
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:28pm CDT
Immortal Starscream wrote:AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
History has proven this idea wrong sadly. In essence most fan-bases in general, not just TF fans, desperately want something new and original... as long as it is also the EXACT same as the original because if you don't you are raping my childhoods its not MY (enter fandom here) etc, etc. death threats, forum tirades.
I'm not talking about cutting off G1 altogether. Too many people within HasTak would never let that die out. Let alone the fans that refuse for any property to be more than nostalgia. But leave them as secondary/collectors lines. Shift away the media focus IE New show/comics/toyline onto a new iteration. At 36 years old, Transformers has legions of fans that have zero connection to G1. Or even the 20th Century itself. Their enjoyment of the franchise shouldn't be locked in an era that is meaningless to them.
That's where that complaint fails at a fundamental level. It's not "your childhood" anymore. It is theirs.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:36pm CDT
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I'm not talking about cutting off G1 altogether. Too many people within HasTak would never let that die out. Let alone the fans that refuse for any property to be more than nostalgia. But leave them as secondary/collectors lines. Shift away the media focus IE New show/comics/toyline onto a new iteration. At 36 years old, Transformers has legions of fans that have zero connection to G1. Or even the 20th Century itself. Their enjoyment of the franchise shouldn't be locked in an era that is meaningless to them.
That's where that complaint fails at a fundamental level. It's not "your childhood" anymore. It is theirs.
I've said it once, and I will repeat it until hasbro actually heeds the call:
Transformers should mimmick Marvel Legends. You can have whole waves from 1 part of the story. But mix it up, have a mix of characters from different shows accurate to their appearance (none of the half-assed "homages").
If they did that, honestly there would be no argument from me. If SS (under a new name) were to become the new Marvel Legends of Transformers, and become the mainline, I would OK with that. I am OK with variety, live up to your "Generations" title.
99% of your line coming from 1 source is not the answer
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:38pm CDT
D-Maximal_Primal wrote:99% of your line coming from 1 source is not the answer
Exactly. This is the biggest problem with Transformers as a franchise.
Posted by Immortal Starscream on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:46pm CDT
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Immortal Starscream wrote:AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
History has proven this idea wrong sadly. In essence most fan-bases in general, not just TF fans, desperately want something new and original... as long as it is also the EXACT same as the original because if you don't you are raping my childhoods its not MY (enter fandom here) etc, etc. death threats, forum tirades.
I'm not talking about cutting off G1 altogether. Too many people within HasTak would never let that die out. Let alone the fans that refuse for any property to be more than nostalgia. But leave them as secondary/collectors lines. Shift away the media focus IE New show/comics/toyline onto a new iteration. At 36 years old, Transformers has legions of fans that have zero connection to G1. Or even the 20th Century itself. Their enjoyment of the franchise shouldn't be locked in an era that is meaningless to them.
That's where that complaint fails at a fundamental level. It's not "your childhood" anymore. It is theirs.
Oh I don't disagree with the sentiment at all. I've been vocal in the past as saying it is time for some new leaders as opposed to always optimus and megs. (kinda also why I have always loved Star Saber so much) Just stating what I have seen time and time again on multiple fan boards, as in typical fan reaction. Fans want new, but they want it to be the same. Some take it very personally. When I said "my childhood" I was quoting fandoms in general, not myself.
I am a geewunner, but if you ask me what I think was the greatest transformers, I will tell you Beast Wars, with Animated and Prime following close behind. though Cyberverse did rock my world... past the first season anyway.
Me, I want new characters and new stories instead of the same old rehash. Not to say that re-imagined versions of my old faves isn't appreciated when done well. As for the generations line as a whole, I have also been vocal in my support of seeing not only beast wars figures, including neo and second, but also the unicron trilogy (despite me not liking most of that one personally) and 2000 R.I.D.
In fact, I am quite surprised we haven't seen more Armada, since that was a line that revitalized the franchise and has a huge fanbase. But then again, I am also surprised to see beastwars as well, since there were rumblings in the not to distant past that some Hasbro execs felt that Beast wars was a mistake. Bottom line though is Hasbro knows it's greater money maker is in G1, so they will feed us that until we collectively get sick from over consumption.
Posted by Wolfman Jake on September 14th, 2020 @ 1:53pm CDT
As for the 1986 Movie characters in the Studio Series line, I hope the packaging remains largely the same, except now we'll have nice artwork of these characters as seen on screen (maybe based on some original animation cells?) along with backdrops from The Transformers: The Movie to use as set pieces, like they've been doing for the live action movie releases so far. We're already getting a big cardboard "Quintesson Pit of Judgement," so why not some more?
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 14th, 2020 @ 2:00pm CDT
Wolfman Jake wrote:Hasbro is seemingly pushing more Transformers out than ever before. They are still selling like hotcakes even in this economic downturn. The bulk of what is coming out is G1 or G1-inspired. Correlation isn't causation...but there something to read into here. Nostalgia sells.
As for the 1986 Movie characters in the Studio Series line, I hope the packaging remains largely the same, except now we'll have nice artwork of these characters as seen on screen (maybe based on some original animation cells?) along with backdrops from The Transformers: The Movie to use as set pieces, like they've been doing for the live action movie releases so far. We're already getting a big cardboard "Quintesson Pit of Judgement," so why not some more?
Probably thanks to the fact that Cyberverse is actually a great show and providing some needed "good" fiction for transformers. Plus when you make half of the figures coming out limited online exclusives, it can help give that impression.
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 14th, 2020 @ 2:02pm CDT
D-Maximal_Primal wrote: Plus when you make half of the figures coming out limited online exclusives, it can help give that impression.
Confirmation bias, as they say.
Posted by joevill on September 14th, 2020 @ 2:41pm CDT
Posted by william-james88 on September 14th, 2020 @ 3:29pm CDT
sol magnus wrote:I think they are going for screen accuracy in the budget of what they're selling. I don't expect a 20 dollar toy to literally jump out of the screen, but it's definitely close.
I don't think they are going for strict cartoon accuracy like Takara's MP line is. Or else we wouldn't have the added details we see. This instead feels like just something similar to the Generations line, inching ever closer to the cartoon while still offering extra detail. I like this approach, reminds me of the MP line before Ultra Magnus (like Wheeljack).
If Hasbro is reading this, then I think the toys themselves look great, and I always did preffer this approach. The only thing that may stop me from buying them is that I already own decent toys of these characters.
ZeroWolf wrote:AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Seibertron wrote:This makes me feel bad for the hard working folks at Hasbro and Takara Tomy. No matter what they do ... there's no pleasing all fans. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. The differences in fan opinions is fascinating.
Indeed. I think the only thing that could garner them some more positive feedback is to make something fresh and new again. No nostalgia, no evergreen. Something radically different.
Are you sure about that? I think there's still a fair contingent who would complain at no G1:lol:
They'll live. We need new ideas and characters to keep the brand alive. So far, the only true novelty the brand has gotten since Beast Wars is Rescue Bots. It is a concurrent line with the other toys so I think we could do something similar. Keep generations line and make a new TF show for kids (like Cyberverse) but with lots of new characters. And slowly, those new characters will be part of the larger brand. Like what we saw with Lockdown, Lugnut, Bulkhead but more.
Posted by Rodimus Prime on September 14th, 2020 @ 4:32pm CDT