Hasbro: Transformers Toys to Be Simpler Going Forward
- Thread starter StewShearerOld
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Toys can be dumbed down to reach a wider audience!?
All my transformer toys were Beast Wars ones too. There was one spring loaded one that could transform on it's own at the press of a button, that was pretty cool.
All my transformer toys were Beast Wars ones too. There was one spring loaded one that could transform on it's own at the press of a button, that was pretty cool.
Are you kidding???AntiChri5 said:
Toys are like....1000% more advanced now.
Like holy crap, more advanced.
I have a 6" Spider-Man with 48 joints.
I have MegaMan figures that can perfectly replicate MegaMan artwork in every way.
I have an Optimus Prime that transforms from a perfect replica of his War For Cybertron truck form to an almost perfect replica of his War For Cybertron robot form. No big extra chunks or weird extra bits or unhidden robot parts in either form. It's crazy.
Granted, that might not be the case with all modern toys, but it's the case with Marvel and Transformers stuff, for sure.
Awesome! Even now when one of my younger brothers get a transformer it can be a pain in the ass to transform it. You should be able to transform them without looking at a manual or breaking a piece off because it was not supposed to bend that way.
I immediately went into this guns blazing and charging the orbital death cannons, but after reading an article on this in a dedicated Transformers website my tone has now changed a bit. (Not gonna say where, or link to the website because I'm not sure how the forum rules are on that)
On the article was a point saying:
"Hasbro will continue to make complex Transformers for adult fans who have collected the toys since their inception 30 years ago. But the new design is intended to re-engage parents and children, who found the transformations too challenging."
So maybe simplified figures will just go under a side-toyline like Activators or Fast-Action Battlers with standard Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class figures being still being available. Or maybe it means that this will only affect the toylines for the movies/cartoons but it won't affect the Generations and Masterpiece toylines (Which are aimed more at adult fans). Otherwise it would be weird to make a statement and a change like this after releasing a complex Metroplex figure that's over 2ft. tall. Just wish there was an easier way to find these toylines in the UK. Only place I can find them is by importing from the US!
Regardless, if 'Smash-To-Change' is to become the new norm, then that's really sad. I know the original G1 toys weren't exactly the height of complexity (owning several, I know this) but this goes beyond simplistic and almost into complete lazyness (not the mention the near complete lack of paint on Ultramus Magprime up there). It looks less like a robot that transforms into a vehicle but more like a robot that's wearing a vehicle as a massive, blocky cape.
On the article was a point saying:
"Hasbro will continue to make complex Transformers for adult fans who have collected the toys since their inception 30 years ago. But the new design is intended to re-engage parents and children, who found the transformations too challenging."
So maybe simplified figures will just go under a side-toyline like Activators or Fast-Action Battlers with standard Deluxe/Voyager/Leader class figures being still being available. Or maybe it means that this will only affect the toylines for the movies/cartoons but it won't affect the Generations and Masterpiece toylines (Which are aimed more at adult fans). Otherwise it would be weird to make a statement and a change like this after releasing a complex Metroplex figure that's over 2ft. tall. Just wish there was an easier way to find these toylines in the UK. Only place I can find them is by importing from the US!
Regardless, if 'Smash-To-Change' is to become the new norm, then that's really sad. I know the original G1 toys weren't exactly the height of complexity (owning several, I know this) but this goes beyond simplistic and almost into complete lazyness (not the mention the near complete lack of paint on Ultramus Magprime up there). It looks less like a robot that transforms into a vehicle but more like a robot that's wearing a vehicle as a massive, blocky cape.
This isn't news, this isn't wholly accurate, and this isn't a bad thing.
We found this out at BotCon in June last year. At that time, we were shown the less complicated stop-gap Beast Hunters toys, upscaled version of the little $5 and $10 Cyberverse toys. We were told that these were not wholly indicative of the future of the main lines, but meerely something that was knocked together for the tail-end of BH. We were also told that we'd still be getting more complicated toys aimed more at collectors, but they'd all be in the Generations line.
And this is all sorely needed. These toys are supposed to be for kids age 5. Some of the toys from the last few years - especially Revenge of the Fallen and Prime, but in general pretty much everything since the movie lines started - were very complicated. There's a lot of stuff that I, a grown adult with hundreds of Transformers, have problems with. Many times over the last few years I've just held a toy and thought 'kids must hate this'.
And simple isn't bad. Cybertron was mostly simple, but produced some awesome toys, including arguably best Optimus toy. Armada likewise, with Animated being closer to 50/50. Also, G1 toys weren't intricate or complicated in any way. Even those basic $5 Cyberverse toys are more complicated than most of G1 toys. Toy technology has come on so far as to be incomprehensible to someone who's not played with a toy since the 80s.
We found this out at BotCon in June last year. At that time, we were shown the less complicated stop-gap Beast Hunters toys, upscaled version of the little $5 and $10 Cyberverse toys. We were told that these were not wholly indicative of the future of the main lines, but meerely something that was knocked together for the tail-end of BH. We were also told that we'd still be getting more complicated toys aimed more at collectors, but they'd all be in the Generations line.
And this is all sorely needed. These toys are supposed to be for kids age 5. Some of the toys from the last few years - especially Revenge of the Fallen and Prime, but in general pretty much everything since the movie lines started - were very complicated. There's a lot of stuff that I, a grown adult with hundreds of Transformers, have problems with. Many times over the last few years I've just held a toy and thought 'kids must hate this'.
And simple isn't bad. Cybertron was mostly simple, but produced some awesome toys, including arguably best Optimus toy. Armada likewise, with Animated being closer to 50/50. Also, G1 toys weren't intricate or complicated in any way. Even those basic $5 Cyberverse toys are more complicated than most of G1 toys. Toy technology has come on so far as to be incomprehensible to someone who's not played with a toy since the 80s.
Sadly not in this case, I'm guessing this is the new Bayformers design for Optimus Prime... Only I'm guessing in the movie that he doesn't wear his alt-mode like a coat.Ieyke said:
It's the new design for Prime for Age of Extinction. He's bluer than he was before, although not this blue. He does look a lot like Aligned Ultra Magnus here. It's possible it's an early model that's not been detail painted. Or it's possible that those'll be the final colours. And, no, the CG model doesn't have kibble hanging off his back, because the CG model is allowed to defy physics, but the toy isn't.Baron von Blitztank said:
I feel the need to shake an aged fist and mumble about kids and lawns and how we used to have to transform our robots in the snow, up hills, both ways. I can't say I'm thrilled with the design, but I do think having some simpler toys would be good. G1 toys were not overly complicated, even if a few could give you fits (Skorponok). As has been mentioned already, these are just one of several productions they are doing, so there should be a product for almost everyone to enjoy. Also, I suddenly feel like getting my Omega Supreme out and setting him up.
All this nostalgia for the originals is slightly misplaced, they weren't that complex. Take G1 Optimus (the Optimus I started on as a kid back in the eighties). His legs swung down then his feet, his arms folded out and his head flipped out. That's it, and I loved it. Everybody loved it. However simple these new kid's lines are they're bound to be more complicated than that. I picked up the Prime from Bay's first movie to stick on my shelf and that thing was overly complicated. Yeah it looked great once posed but I dreaded trying to transform it and needed the instructions for the first few times. Dialing it back from there is not a bad thing.
Sure the G1 stuff got slightly more complicated as time went on but the more basic models were always there to get kids into it. If the gateway drug of Optimus (which chances are will be most kid's first Transformer) is straightforward to grasp then they'll put the time in for more complicated ones after as they'll be into it by then. Good move by Hasbro.
Sure the G1 stuff got slightly more complicated as time went on but the more basic models were always there to get kids into it. If the gateway drug of Optimus (which chances are will be most kid's first Transformer) is straightforward to grasp then they'll put the time in for more complicated ones after as they'll be into it by then. Good move by Hasbro.