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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 12, 2021 9:00:12 GMT
And I am dead positive that the $8 figures aren't Core class. That's way too cheap, and as has been said, the trend is rising prices. Ratchet really is the oddball though. Like I said, it sounds like Battlemaster or Legion class toys with a little bit more to them, and every one of those guys would fit that perfectly, except for Ratchet. Wondering wether it's a typo and Ratchet should be Ratbat. It would go with Rumble if these are a rerelease of the ER toys. Yeah, I was thinking similar. Which makes me wonder if the Laserbeak is correctly labelled too. Tapes are obviously being a thing AGAIN and that Blaster is a Voyager suggests a similar size to Siege/Earthrise which would be good as I would prefer not to be doing yet another scale of tapes so soon. I'm not a huge Prime fan, so won't be buying those. SOMEONE in Hasbro obviously likes Prime at the moment - reissues and new toys - but does it have the support amongst the fans for another go? And is it a bit soon? Armada stuff makes me wonder if the Op we saw - tmukhub.proboards.com/thread/10564/takara-select-armada-optimus-prime?page=1&scrollTo=354287 - is finally going to get an outing. Dragstrip..... we new Combiners were on the menu. This does rather suggest that the Commander Motormaster/Menasor is just Motormaster. Just Dragstrip listed here, are they thinking one per wave through the year ala Studio Series Devastator? |
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Aug 12, 2021 9:48:15 GMT
It's weird. In terms of plastics, articulation, size etc, Prime isn't far off Generations anyway. The toys were pretty cartoon accurate too. How can they do new ones now ten years down the line that aren't just going to be cheaper looking and inferior to the originals? I was fiddling with some the other day while sorting, it' easy to forget how even ten years ago the build quality was much more impressive than it is these days. I felt that about the Beast Wars figures, but there was at least an appreciable difference in terms of scale and aesthetic there. Redoing Prime now just feels... weird. Yeah, that's partly why I think it would be interesting if they did the Prime characters in a Generations style. Directly redoing Prime seems redundant (as you say, they are mostly good toys, and Arcee one of the best!) unless... The scary thought occurs that there may be collectors now who grew up with Prime and would be annoyed at a change in aesthetic... |
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 12, 2021 10:04:45 GMT
Prime was 10 years ago. Enough time has passed for remakes to be a thing. Also: the children who watched it will now be late teens/early 20's. That's the market for them. Not old farts like me.
-Ralpj
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The Huff
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Post by The Huff on Aug 12, 2021 10:30:15 GMT
Prime is also on Netflix so children watching it now will want toys from it.
They must wonder why they can only find toys in shops from the 'dull TV series'.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 12, 2021 11:14:15 GMT
I'd be really interested to see if this is the case. I could be wrong, but I don't think the TF lines of this century have had anywhere near the impact that the original or Beast Wars had with kids, not to the point they'd support a nostalgia kick now. A 7-10 year old in 2010 would be 18-21 now, too young to have a disposable income or interest. The relative that gave me the box of Armada toys, most of which I'd bought for him originally, is 29. No interest at all, infact the only figure in his collection he kept was a reissue G1 Jazz because it was a 'proper' Transformer. I've said before, I work with Primary age children and have for a long time. Transformers aren't even talked about, let alone bought. I think I've encountered one or two kids in over fifteen years of teaching who actually had Transformers toys (which I agree does beg the question, who is buying them when Smyths is still full of them).
There is a younger fandom for those lines, certainly, you only need to look at the ranges of interest and age brackets among people at TFN to see that - Prime, and the IDW MTMTE/RID era comics particularly are hugely popular with a fanbase who came to the toys in the last two decades, but is that enough to sell the numbers of toys needed at retail to be viable? If you've even got people like Phil, who usually buys everything Generations, saying 'I'm not sure I want these' I don't know if there's enough nostalgia fueled twenty year olds to fill the gap left.
This assortment of toys looks to me more like T30 - a greatest hits line for TF fans that Hasbro are doing because they've run out of 80s gimmicks to drive a line by itself like we've had for the last six years and they want to probe to see what's popular. I'm sure that's what T30 was - 'if these sell, we know what's popular', just like the reaction to FoC Bruticus and the 3P frenzy around combiners made Hasbro realise CW was a good idea. I don't think Prime Generations toys are aimed at the kid audience of ten years ago, I think Hasbro are trying to find ways to cling on to the buyers they already have and they know the last really popular cartoon among fans was Prime, so they're testing the waters.
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Aug 12, 2021 12:41:38 GMT
Prime is also on Netflix so children watching it now will want toys from it. They must wonder why they can only find toys in shops from the 'dull TV series'. One of those funny things about streaming, isn't it? There's less of a sense of what is "current". My daughter blitzed through Prime about 5 years ago on Netflix, and was glad I had a few Prime toys around as she loved it, especially Arcee. Last year she went through Rebels, and the kids toys were also long gone from the shops, but she was happy to get a couple of Black Series figures which happened to come out not long after - and I wonder if the choice to produce those was down to the emergence of Disney+? Makes me wonder if TFA were available on a streaming service, would we see some homages to that? |
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Post by Bogatan on Aug 12, 2021 13:26:08 GMT
It's weird. In terms of plastics, articulation, size etc, Prime isn't far off Generations anyway. The toys were pretty cartoon accurate too. How can they do new ones now ten years down the line that aren't just going to be cheaper looking and inferior to the originals? I was fiddling with some the other day while sorting, it' easy to forget how even ten years ago the build quality was much more impressive than it is these days. I felt that about the Beast Wars figures, but there was at least an appreciable difference in terms of scale and aesthetic there. Redoing Prime now just feels... weird. I'm more interested in the prospect of Unicron trilogy stuff. Those toys, Armada especially, were pretty chunky and in some cases awkward looking. There's scope there for Generations versions that could refine the original designs into something more Generations-ish. Starscream isn't really one of those, but when you think about figures like Super Op and Scavenger, there's scope there to produce a decent figure albeit without the play features. I'm not a huge Prime fan, so won't be buying those. SOMEONE in Hasbro obviously likes Prime at the moment - reissues and new toys - but does it have the support amongst the fans for another go? And is it a bit soon? They could be straight up reissues. Considering the price hikes of late and return to quite complex toys and savings on not having to design new toys its not crazy. As Matt said the show has been on Netflix for most of the past decade so its not just about reissue updates for old fans now in their late teens or early twenties. Its about the 8 year olds today. The current situation is no more sensible than the lack of She-Ra toys over the last 3 years. It would absolutely make sense for Prime to be the basis of or at least incorporated into the ever green line. As well as being the most easily available cartoon for the last decade theres a lot of episodes and a lot of characters. The average 8 year probably knows those versions as well as the G1 versions. It also shares a fair bit of looks with the movieverse and unless the next one bombs hard I think we can assume thats part of the franchise is going to keep going for a good few years yet. |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 13, 2021 15:50:42 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 6:53:06 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 8:39:45 GMT
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Post by Toph on Aug 15, 2021 8:56:03 GMT
I'm betting Inferno and Iguanus are BW, though my friend insists rumor says Iguanus is the pretender.
Which a ten dollar pretender can't end well. The last time we got pretenders that cheap, they turned out to be worse than having nothing.
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Post by Llama God on Aug 15, 2021 8:57:02 GMT
I really want to know who this "Energon Monster" is meant to be...
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 15, 2021 9:18:28 GMT
WE are the greatest Energon Monsters of all.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 15, 2021 11:54:38 GMT
Do we know for sure Inferno isn't just a repack?
Which way round does the titling go? Is it Legacy: Evolution, or Evolution: Legacy? The first makes more sense to me. Is it that this line is going to show us the evolution of characters, hence Armada Starscream and Laser Rod Prime? (Plus all the other stuff finishing off the previous trilogy).
And more importantly, is the shorthand for this line going to be 'Leg'?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 12:22:51 GMT
Do we know for sure Inferno isn't just a repack? Not for sure, but the word is it's the ant. Which way round does the titling go? Is it Legacy: Evolution, or Evolution: Legacy? The first makes more sense to me. Is it that this line is going to show us the evolution of characters, hence Armada Starscream and Laser Rod Prime? (Plus all the other stuff finishing off the previous trilogy). I think Legacy is the overall name (possibly replacing Generations or just a Trilogy name?) and Evolution is the line name (ala Siege, Earthrise, Kingdom) And more importantly, is the shorthand for this line going to be 'Leg'? Leg:Evo ? |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 12:52:30 GMT
Apologies, as I said rumours been circulating for a bit. Here's the current rumoured figure list. No firm confirmation of ANY yet, but the rumours people haven't been ba in recent years When I first read this I assumed the Breakdown listed was the Prime One going with the other three Prime figures tfwiki.net/wiki/Breakdown_(WFC)*NOW* I think it's more likely to be the Stunticon tfwiki.net/wiki/Breakdown_(G1) now we see Dragstrip and Wildrider listed. I can't see them doing two different Breakdowns in the same year. In turn that appears to confirm the Commander as Motormaster, not Menasor, and insinuate a "1 deluxe Stunticon per wave strategy" ala Studio Series Constructicons. We can very much infer Deadend's presence in the line too. As I said above most of those rumoured toys are now confirmed and several others are very much inferred by what we know. One of the outliers is Straxus/Darkmount rumoured to be a Galvatron retool: I can see that: tfwiki.net/wiki/Straxus_(G1)The others we're still looking for direct evidence for a Nightbeat, Hosehead & Knockout |
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Post by Benn on Aug 15, 2021 13:03:15 GMT
'EVO:LGY'
'LGY:EVO'
I prefer the first as a shorthand, but the second when said full.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 15, 2021 13:19:37 GMT
To be fair I suppose we didn't have one for Siege or Kingdom, but in the spirit of Pottop, Leg Over for Leg:Evo sounds alright.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 15, 2021 21:25:29 GMT
I think Legacy is the overall name (possibly replacing Generations or just a Trilogy name?) and Evolution is the line name (ala Siege, Earthrise, Kingdom) I don't think Generations will go because it didn't with the last two trilogies; Generations more defines the type of toy you're getting as opposed to the theme. I can see Legacy being the trilogy name although that kinda locks us into a three year version of a Thrilling 30. Gulp. But, if you think about it, Generations: Legacy: Evolution. Three words that in this context effectively mean the same thing! I do get it. Rather than having the balls to commit to reinterpreting one old line, like 'this year we're doing updates of Armada!' they're just cherry picking from lots of lines and rolling it together to minimise the chance of it bombing. Then over the course of three chapters we might get a reasonable representation for several lines. I reckon if the next Haslab is Victory based, one of these chapters is going to give us a selection of Japanese characters. I still think part of SS86 existing is to support Unicron. |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 22:05:26 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 15, 2021 22:10:37 GMT
It's all go!
-Ralph
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Post by Toph on Aug 15, 2021 22:28:48 GMT
I do get it. Rather than having the balls to commit to reinterpreting one old line, like 'this year we're doing updates of Armada!' they're just cherry picking from lots of lines and rolling it together to minimise the chance of it bombing. Then over the course of three chapters we might get a reasonable representation for several lines. I reckon if the next Haslab is Victory based, one of these chapters is going to give us a selection of Japanese characters. I still think part of SS86 existing is to support Unicron. I still think a 50%-20%-20%-10% ratio would be best. 50% is solid Armada, the remaining 40% is split up between G1 because we'll never let that rest for any length of time, and what was the core of the previous year's theme, and the remaining 10% are odds and ends. |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 15, 2021 22:36:55 GMT
I think we're nearly there for the Legacy dlx line up. 3 there, 12 early makes 15....
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Post by Toph on Aug 15, 2021 23:06:40 GMT
I'd like to take this time to wish Elita good luck in finally getting a decent mold. Third time's the charm! |
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Post by Llama God on Aug 16, 2021 7:11:29 GMT
I saw someone on Twitter theorise that Elita-1 could be a pre-tool of Minerva, which is interesting, and not entirely unlikely given her upcoming appearance in the new Wreckers comic. But that is just theorising, and it's a shame to see that none of them are actually listed here. Ah well, so much for that hope.
Whatever the case, I look forward to none of these being revealed at PulseCon!
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Post by Llama God on Aug 19, 2021 8:51:12 GMT
I saw someone on Twitter theorise that Elita-1 could be a pre-tool of Minerva, which is interesting, and not entirely unlikely given her upcoming appearance in the new Wreckers comic. I realised that past me is an idiot. Elita will of course be a retool of Prime Arcee, as a tribute to her movie appearance. And yes, movie Elita-1 is close in colour to Prime Arcee, but when has that ever stopped Hasbro before..? |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2021 6:28:17 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 22, 2021 6:32:48 GMT
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Post by Benn on Aug 25, 2021 20:49:50 GMT
I feel a similar anxiety to Shockprowl, but more due to the fact that I'm going to be away from my flat for at least two weeks in September and I don't want any expensive boxes to go AWOL.
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Post by Toph on Sept 2, 2021 14:26:24 GMT
Override/Blurr seems pretty obvious to me.
Road Rocket may be a name trademark reuse applied to someone else who lost theirs (Runabout/Over-Run), it may be a Wreck-Gar repaint, or maybe something new who's reuse isn't immediately obvious (CW Optimus was a retool of Motormaster, but we'd not have guessed that before Combiner Wars was announced).
Cosmos is worthy of a stand alone.
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