Reveal the Shield Packaging Revealed!

So I thought that Reveal the Shield would entail rubsigns on the figures, so does that mean that Mindset and Fallback will have them too? That's fine by me if that's the case. It also looks like there are no factions indicated on the box, so I guess it's almost supposed to be a surprise as to what faction which character belongs to (at least to those who don't know very much about the more classic TF characters) when you 'rub' the signs.

That must've been why they didn't go with names like "Autobot" Jazz & "Autobot" Tracks...they were too obvious.

Looks great! Kind of Allspark Power-esque.

I am not liking what I am seeing.

On one hand, this looks like they are deciding to merge the Generations line into the main 2010 line instead of keeping them separate like they currently are.

On the other hand, this looks like an entirely new line born out of the above-mentioned line blending.

And both hands are unappealing. Why can't they just keep the two lines going as they already are? They've barely been out in the stores long enough to warrant such a radical change. It's like Hasbro can't go two months without decidign to revamp everything they've already established.

And how will this affect the Autobot Alliance line and the upcoming United line? Are the Japanese going to have to hand pick out each figure to divide them up, instead of just going in the same flow as the U.S. lines like normal? That's a little extra work for them on their part.

I get the feeling that select Classics-styled toys will appear in the Reveal the Shield promo, while others (Perceptor, Wreck-Gar) will still be in Generations packaging. I don't think they're fully merging the lines, just co-opting a few figures for the promo.

This lack of a "primary" parent line is going to kill my database. I was fine with "Generations" and "Hunt for the Decepticons" but now I'm not sure how this is going to work, especially with Movie characters in the same line with "Classics" characters. Everything for the past 26 years has fit perfectly in a series, but now ... ugh!

I'm refusing to call these the "Transformers 2010" and "Transformers 2011" lines for the time being.

Can't say I care too much about those rub stickers, but I'm just happy to see more classics Tfs. I personally couldn't care if it's one line or two, as long as there's of generations figures in there somewhere.

I also think that by combining the two lines they are probably going to save on shelf space at least. Which is great because my local TRU doesn't even have any space on the shelves for Generations atm because of HftD and other lines.

So, am I to assume that upcoming voyager figures Grapple and Lugnut, as well as scout figures like Windcharger and various announced repaints from ROTF/HFTD will also fall under this continuity-ambiguous packaging? I'm getting the sense that the first half of 2011 Transformers figures will follow this pattern:

After X-mas, when stores reset their toy ailses and reallocate shelf space, "Reveal the Shield" will indeed be a consolidation measure for Hasbro. They'll burn off the last few "Movie 2" figures in the pipeline and then let that branch of the franchise rest until Summer 2011 when the third movie and its specific line eventually launch. During that movie toy haitus, when sales are probably going to slide a bit and the need for supply will drop, the rest of the Generations figures that have been announced will fill the gap, probably counting on nostalgic fans to buy up a sizeable portion of the supply. Then Generations (AKA Classics) will go on haitus yet again while the "Movie 3" figures have a year to dominate the Transformers shelves once more, with expanded shelf space, end caps, and special displays to boast increased supply to meet the latest surge of movie-inspired demand.

It may be a logistical nightmare for those of us who are very detail oriented about exactly which character representations fit where, etc., but it's a very smooth strategy on Hasbro's part. Ultimately, the collectors probably win too, as the "Reveal the Shield" promo will likely get the product most of us want (more "Classics" figures) on the shelves faster than if they were competing for shelf space with the tail end of the HFTD toys. That means no filler refreshes of previously released HFTD toys would be needed to fill out a case assortment, and so there would be fewer peg warmers to clutter the shelves. Also, there would be no preferrential ordering of "Movie" figures over "Classics" figures for stores with limited shelf space.

Noideaforaname wrote:Wait, is Lugnut going to be in this? He'd be the last TF I'd expect to hide his (GLORIOUS) allegiance.

I'm assuming so, as there wouldn't be any other likely Decepticon wavemate to accompany Autobots Grapple and Strafe. I'm pretty sure that Highbrow and The Fallen comprise wave 3 of HFTD Voyager toys. The only other voyagers in the pipeline are Grapple, Strafe, and Lugnut.

I might just do a "Reveal The Shield" subline under the "Classics Universe" and a "Reveal The Shield" subline under the Movie Universe, and then have a separate parent "Reveal The Shield" line. A figure such as Classics Scout class Windcharger would have the parent "Reveal The Shield" category selected as well as the Classics subline "Reveal The Shield", that way you can find it either way on the site.

Hopefully, in due time, there will an all encompassing title for Generations, Hunt for the Decepticons, and Reveal The Shield ala "Unicron Trilogy" or "Beast Era" or "Generation One". Time will tell ...