Hasbro Q&As, due Nov 30th

Down_Shift wrote:I got one that I always forget to ask.

What ever became of Transformers Universe Special Edition? We were rumored at one point to get an upgraded Cliffjumper, a red repaint of Mirage and a few other treats, but never heard anything after the release of Overkill and Drag Strip. Any chance we'll see something from this line or something like it with collectors packaging, exclusive figures, ect. in the future?

(just gonna toss my two cents in, but mail away Universe Omnibots, Red Cross Ratchet or Reflector would be an incredible treat to fans... especially Downshift )

Razorclaw0000 wrote:
Also, on a side note, whatever happened to the answers to the last round of questions, and what questions did we even submit?

The_Cybertronian_Emperor wrote:Wow, I'm the first one to comment? Oh, happy day.

I only have one question ...

With third party companies like FansProject making add-on and accessory kits that are actually pretty good in quality, is Hasbro going to follow this trend and start making Transformers that the fans want, or are we going to get another series of single molds recolored 4 to 5 times?

Orthobotrex wrote:I was just wondering who's in charge of quality control at your factories because I come across a lot of defects with some figures that are unforgivable and I think you would have a lot of happier customers if these were prevented from being shipped out in the first place?

And with the recession ending soon, will we still suffer from repaints for new products instead of new molds of new figures?

Thanks!

Carl wrote:What's the friggin point Meat-Man?

Counterpunch wrote:

Carl wrote:What's the friggin point Meat-Man?

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

Carl wrote:What's the friggin point Meat-Man?

What? Is this helpful?

Swiftknife24 wrote:Right *cracks knuckles*

*Fingers fall off*

Anyway, I asked a seibertron head about this, but I want an answer direct from Hasbro itself about the Sideswipe and Sideways RPMs; why is it that the cars look nothing like their film counterparts? Sideswipe looks NOTHING like his Corvette Stingray and Sideways' Audi looks really peculiar.

It's really disappointing, because the Stingray is such an integral part of Sideswipe's character.

I know that Mattel somehow seems to have the right to produce the Corvette in their 'Hot Wheels' line, so will Hasbro (get the rights and) produce these two characters in RPM cars that resemble the film counterparts in the near future?

(Okay, maybe I can understand why the Audi looks 'off', but even the Deluxe Sideways looks like an Audi. And as far as I can see, there is NO excuse for the Corvette when you consider the Deluxe and Human Alliance Sideswipe figures...)

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

Carl wrote:What's the friggin point Meat-Man?

What? Is this helpful?

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Swiftknife24 wrote:Right *cracks knuckles*

*Fingers fall off*

Anyway, I asked a seibertron head about this, but I want an answer direct from Hasbro itself about the Sideswipe and Sideways RPMs; why is it that the cars look nothing like their film counterparts? Sideswipe looks NOTHING like his Corvette Stingray and Sideways' Audi looks really peculiar.

It's really disappointing, because the Stingray is such an integral part of Sideswipe's character.

I know that Mattel somehow seems to have the right to produce the Corvette in their 'Hot Wheels' line, so will Hasbro (get the rights and) produce these two characters in RPM cars that resemble the film counterparts in the near future?

(Okay, maybe I can understand why the Audi looks 'off', but even the Deluxe Sideways looks like an Audi. And as far as I can see, there is NO excuse for the Corvette when you consider the Deluxe and Human Alliance Sideswipe figures...)

Diecast car licensing is different than, robot conversion to car licensing toy.

Hot Wheels makes no similar product to the normal or larger sized robots that transform. They do however make a car of the size in which Hot Wheels also makes that. If the RPM transformed they could probably do it. Since it doesn't, Hasbro cannot.

Down_Shift wrote:

Orthobotrex wrote:I was just wondering who's in charge of quality control at your factories because I come across a lot of defects with some figures that are unforgivable and I think you would have a lot of happier customers if these were prevented from being shipped out in the first place?

And with the recession ending soon, will we still suffer from repaints for new products instead of new molds of new figures?

Thanks!

Staff here can answer that.

Quality Control of the figures is still up to standard. Are they your standard because Lockdowns hands don't fold all the way out? Hasbro wouldn't waste money when something as small as that was a product of the mold. Remember they're still for kids, and kids couldn't care less if the little things we as fans notices are there. QC in a factory refers to many other things like drop tests, paint test, razor sharp corners ect.


As for repaints, there will always be repaints. Tons of them. It's an easy way to maximize profit from any particular mold.

autobot-jolt wrote:Only two questions here:

1) Are there any more plans for the Universe and Animated toylines past Hardehead, Powerglide, Skyfall, Arcee, Rodimus Electrostaic Soundwave, etc.?

2) Will the Constructicon Scrapper and Flareup/Elita-1 be out soon? (I don't know if I can ask this one; I tried to word as best as I can, it's ok if I can't ask it, my first question is the important one)

SnapTrap wrote:Will Transformers Animated Season 3 be out soon? What about a boxed set of all three seasons?

Mkall wrote:During the Investor's Podcast, Hasbro mentioned its theme; The Hunt for the Decepticons. Can hasbro please elaborate on the meaning of this phrase, and perhaps shed some light on what it means for future figures/toylines?

Mkall wrote:During the Investor's Podcast, Hasbro mentioned its theme; The Hunt for the Decepticons. Can hasbro please elaborate on the meaning of this phrase, and perhaps shed some light on what it means for future figures/toylines?

Mkall wrote:Questions have been submitted, and this time we will make sure we get an answer. In the meantime, feel free to ask other questions to Hasbro here. We don't know when the next Q&A session will be, but when we know, we'll let you know.

Down_Shift wrote:

Mkall wrote:Questions have been submitted, and this time we will make sure we get an answer. In the meantime, feel free to ask other questions to Hasbro here. We don't know when the next Q&A session will be, but when we know, we'll let you know.

Wait. Where & when did we decide? I've been looking through staff forums and couldn't find jack all!

Mkall wrote:Questions have been submitted, and this time we will make sure we get an answer. In the meantime, feel free to ask other questions to Hasbro here. We don't know when the next Q&A session will be, but when we know, we'll let you know.

stocky wrote:I know this is a couple of days late, but I'm hoping it will still get submitted. I wanted to know, with the popularity of the Human Alliance figures, are these types of figures being considered for continuation into the Universe line? We could get larger-scale, better-articulated classic figures, on par with the Alternators figures, but they could come with and "interact" with characters from the G1 TV and comic series, such as Spike, Circuit Breaker, Chip Chase, Sparkplug, Dr. Arkeville, Raul (Tracks' little pal), etc.

I think these would be an awesome addition to the Universe line, and still cross the lines to be compatible with the Human Alliance Movie figures...

Kibble wrote:

stocky wrote:I know this is a couple of days late, but I'm hoping it will still get submitted. I wanted to know, with the popularity of the Human Alliance figures, are these types of figures being considered for continuation into the Universe line? We could get larger-scale, better-articulated classic figures, on par with the Alternators figures, but they could come with and "interact" with characters from the G1 TV and comic series, such as Spike, Circuit Breaker, Chip Chase, Sparkplug, Dr. Arkeville, Raul (Tracks' little pal), etc.

I think these would be an awesome addition to the Universe line, and still cross the lines to be compatible with the Human Alliance Movie figures...

Do we really know the popularity of the HA line? I kinda get the impression they don't fly off the shelves... And while I'm all for anything on par with Alternators, feel free to leave the small, interactive "figures" out. IMO it takes away from the "real" figure as it causes the designers to have to force things and compromise.

IceWilly wrote:Ignore this if it hasn been asked, and it may go hand in hand with the inquiries about Classics 3.0.

What is the standard you hold for mass producing toys/molds that were previously convention exclusives, most notably Botcon? For some of the exclusives there are more than just repaints, (remolds, head tweaks) there would have to be unique tooling, and thus cost involved. Is it out of the question to think that these toys could ever see retail availability because it would be unfair to those who purchased them as an "exclusive"? The 6 Decepticon seekers are one of the big ones I am referring to.

IceWilly wrote:Would you considering the Henkei seekers to be the same toy as the BotCon exclusives? or because of the different market collectors' only choice was to let them off the hook?

Kibble wrote:Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I recall the answer to the seekers question being more up in the air, neither a yes or a definitive no, but that if they were ever to do them at retail they would certainly differ from the exclusives to keep their "exclusivity."

Down_Shift wrote:

IceWilly wrote:Ignore this if it hasn been asked, and it may go hand in hand with the inquiries about Classics 3.0.

What is the standard you hold for mass producing toys/molds that were previously convention exclusives, most notably Botcon? For some of the exclusives there are more than just repaints, (remolds, head tweaks) there would have to be unique tooling, and thus cost involved. Is it out of the question to think that these toys could ever see retail availability because it would be unfair to those who purchased them as an "exclusive"? The 6 Decepticon seekers are one of the big ones I am referring to.

No need to ignore the question when we can answer it for you!

In short, no, the exclusive remolds and repaints will never hit brick and mortar retail. This question has been asked in the past and is always answered in the same manner. "sorry, but no"

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
It wouldn't be possible anyway. Any head mold or other modification that's made exclusively for the convention is destroyed after the figures have been made.

Down_Shift wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
It wouldn't be possible anyway. Any head mold or other modification that's made exclusively for the convention is destroyed after the figures have been made.

Yes sir, how'd I forget about that? Good thing you're always lurking in the shadows JG

JazZeke wrote:Have you considered releasing Lio Convoy to the American market in the Universe line, perhaps labeled as a "Beast Era Optimus Prime?" Many fans have been wanting that mold for a while and eBay prices are ludicrous.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

JazZeke wrote:Have you considered releasing Lio Convoy to the American market in the Universe line, perhaps labeled as a "Beast Era Optimus Prime?" Many fans have been wanting that mold for a while and eBay prices are ludicrous.

The now defunct 3H Productions has actually tried to get Hasbro to acquire the Lio Convoy mold for one of their BotCon exclusives, as a new body for Alpha Trion. It was actually featured (a 3D outline at least) in the Wreckers comics. However, Takara either lost sight of or refused to license the mold. The fallback was Beast Machines Snarl, but that never got past a hand-painted prototype.In short, the chances of Hasbro or TakaraTomy using the mold are fairly slim, especially now the opportunities have past, like Beast Wars Anniversary and Universe.
Another something I've realised: it may not pass Toy Safety Laws! The launchers that you can plug into the manes could act as projectiles themselves, and since they're an inch or so long, they present a choking hazard. That's the same reason Armada Thrust has the launchers permanently attached to his legs.