If you could change something about the franchise what would it be?

[Goaliebot]

Originally Posted by brr-icy

Make all of the animators work in tandem with the toy designers.

This...

Originally Posted by Sun Swipe Prime

This is not a shot at anyone in particular, especially not the original poster. I have no problem with their post any of the posts so far.

But I would change the ungrateful fans. We're in a time were there are more good toys around than most have the ability to buy. Yet, for some, it still isn't good enough. Some think that every toy line has to be geared towards the collector. Simple transformations, WTF is Hasbro thinking. Hasbro sucks. It's like this every time a new line comes out.

Shellformer. Worst toy ever.
Kibble. Worst toy ever
Pars former. Worst toy ever.
No wrist swivel. Worst toy ever.
I don't like the aesthetic. Worst toy ever.

I mean look at all the Masterpiece and Generations stuff that's coming out. If I can get that all year long, I'm happy. I don't need the movie line to be geared towards me. Add to that look at all the 3rd party stuff. If Feral Rex was the only bot I could get all this year, I'd be pretty happy.

...and this...


And my own:

MORE FACTIONS.

Seriously, think about Earth. Can you imagine our whole planet being divided into just 2 political parties / armies?

And Cybertron is much bigger than Earth.

2 parties. Everyone is either good or bad. You follow Prime or Megs.

We've had a couple small forays into other factions, but it's usually a small group (minicons, Predacons in Beast Hunters, etc).

I want a crap-ton of other factions. I want mighty nations of TFs, guilds of TFs, rouge bands of TFs, organized criminal TFs, TF isolationist, extremists.

Seriously, take a page from Game of Thrones (the factions and geopolitical page, not the hanky-panky page). Armies from here, nations from there, species, tribes, clans.

Yes for kids toys and media it has to be kept simple, but for us older fans, this is what I'd like to see.

(I don't read the comics so I'm probably going to get told how it's like this in those, but in that case I'm looking for it to expand to more media and toys).

[Abraxys]

Originally Posted by Buhawi

I'm questioning and disagreeing their market research result on how kids today, not the kids previously, actively focus and seek... ack... instant gratification. A real mouthful.

Sounds like its a kind of high lol ie drugs.

Btw, love that P. M. pic. Is that real or photoshopped?

[Buhawi]

Not sure but it seems to fit me as my sig pic. Copied it somewhere online. It immediately popped up online after 3-0 Canada win.

I find it hilarious.

[FEZaid]

Originally Posted by Woundave

how many franchises that last 30 years dont go through a mess of reboots and continuity errors.

star wars, nope.

star trek, nope.

DC or Marvel, name any major character- nope.

um--- Doctor Who- maybe sort of, cause they keep on killing the Doctor

im just struggling for a real world example of what you are asking for.

Most of the examples you gave me did have reboots, and Star Wars had enough continuity errors to almost ruin the franchise :-/

Originally Posted by Woundave

i echo the more appreciative fans post-

I wasn't even being negative or unappreciative, its a thread where you can give your opinion and that is what I did.

[Team Jetfire]

I have been collecting since Beast Wars so I have seen my fair share of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Let’s start with the good:
- Over design. Hasbro has come a long way from the brick-formers of G1 and aside from the Armada and the new movie toys, the main line figures have kept on getting better in terms of engineering and design.
- Homage’s and Generations: This sub line has become a hardcore collector line that appeases most fans. The fact that they are re-visiting obscure Gen1 and Beast wars characters says a lot about Hasbro's commitment to the fans.
- BulkHead. I was happy to see that they kept the big lug around after Animated. I really appreciated that they were able to not only give us Homage’s, but also able to build up on new characters too. Other examples of this are Drift and Wingblade.

The Bad:
- The Movies and Michael Bay's involvement: yes, these movies are BLOCKBUSTERS and yes they have done a lot for the Transformers brand in the past few years; however I can't help but be disappointed by the way everything has played out. The movies taken everything I liked about the cartoons and disregarded it. Sure, the basics are there, but what is missing is the heart. These characters who I loved as a kid and later as an adult were marginalized by the need to force a human element to the story. Yes there has always been the focus on Human-transformer interaction, but never like this. The cool thing about the Transformers was that they had emotion and personalities. How much personality can you get from 1 or two lines of dialogue, or in some cases a car stereo??? I also hate that the movies seam to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Sex, crude humor and Nascar? Call me an ass, but I’d rather Transformers be equated to a movie line The Dark Knight Rises, not anything that Larry the Cable guy would be attached to.

- The Cartoon: This should be a no-brainer, but toys execs are greedy and stupid. IMO prime was not a bad Cartoon, but it was un-original. Same characters but in a slightly different scenario. By the time it aired I had already see 6 versions and 2 feature movies about the SAME thing. Give me something fresh and new. Earth can not be the only place a transformer can land, can it?

- Distribution and exclusives: I know I'm beating a dead horse but I feel that it has hit a fever pitch. I'm a bit of a completest when it comes to collecting toys. Before I collected Transformers I was a crazy Star Wars collector. I say crazy because I was driven mad by the constant exclusives that never showed up in Canada and the uncertainty that came from possibly not acquiring a great new figure. Transformers was different because I was able to get everything I wanted easily at Toys R Us. Then the Sub lines hit and then certain lines were cancelled in favor of movie lines and now there are so many scalpers that I had to pass on the new MP's that have come out. I get that it is not Hasbro's fault and this is a simple matter of economics, but it is very frustrating. The good thing it that there are a lot of online resources that take the uncertainty out of collecting, but the cost makes it prohibitive most of the time.

The Ugly:
- Pretty much everything at Toy Fair: This is where it gets tough. Aside from a handful of deluxe and the generations line, most stuff looks terrible. Yes I agree that the movie toys were complicated; too complicated for 7 year olds? Doubt it. I'll bet that the cost to produce the more complicated toys was eating into Hasbro's bottom line and they can save a butt load of money on the 5 step transformations. Look at the other offerings from other Hasbro properties: Star Wars & Marvel. All the main line stuff is super simplified with little articulation. Yes there is typically a sub line with more detail, but the cost is double what we are used too ($25 for a Star Wars Black Figure?). I suppose from a financial perspective I will save money, but I can't help but thinking that simple economics will come into play again. Main line will be picked up by the major retailers leaving only a few cases of the figures that collectors and scalpers actually want. This makes the hunt more and more difficult....

At the end of the day I'm happy that Transformers is still popular and did not fade away like GI Joe and as long as there are still cool toys to buy, I will still be a collector, it will just never bee the same for me as it once was....

[Woundave]

Fez- i was saying anything that lasts 30yrs is inevitably going to have reboots, thus the examples- as i said i struggle for areal world example of something without reboots.

and i was not trying to include you in the 'echo more appreciative fans' line, a separate point- thats y i dropped down like 7 lines .


Team Jetfire- just as a point of reference i know a family who has a leader class Brawl from the 2007 movie - the kids 8 and 6 cnt transform the thing to save their lives nd it takes the dad like 30 minutes to an hour-- so it stays in bot mode. he is not a collector, but think about that type of toy from that families perspective-- its sort of a killjoy for the kids and a bummer for the dad.

[Rev]

I would change:

1. Add a G1 Masterpiece cartoon
2. More MP figures.

I am loving where the franchise is right now. Amazing MP figures and toys for kids. We've come a long way.

[Pascal]

I would try something completely new, with completely new characters and a new backstory. No more Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Cybertron, Energon, Matrix, etc.

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Woundave

Team Jetfire- just as a point of reference i know a family who has a leader class Brawl from the 2007 movie - the kids 8 and 6 cnt transform the thing to save their lives nd it takes the dad like 30 minutes to an hour-- so it stays in bot mode. he is not a collector, but think about that type of toy from that families perspective-- its sort of a killjoy for the kids and a bummer for the dad.

Yes, I do agree that there was a level of complexity that was introduced during the movies that could be considered masochistic. I for one ALWAYS use the instructions and even rely on youtube at times. I feel like lines such as Animated, RID and Cybertron had the best of both worlds.

[Buhawi]

Originally Posted by Team Jetfire

Yes, I do agree that there was a level of complexity that was introduced during the movies that could be considered masochistic. I for one ALWAYS use the instructions and even rely on youtube at times. I feel like lines such as Animated, RID and Cybertron had the best of both worlds.

There you go. See?

Past lines before did fit the bill as kids toys. In the case of Animated I find it as the peak of Hasbro's top of the line kids toys and as a collector I love it as well.

What happened? Blame kids lack of attention span? Parents lack of interest in the toys they buy their kids?

I completely disagree how their market research results concluded and especially conveyed.

Throwing all that away on their 30th year? I call bs.

Don't get me wrong I do love the focus Hasbro is also pushing for collectors. It brought me 2/3 of my fave Transfromers of all time.

But to market their toys as such for kids in that kind of tone is an all time low in my books.

We already have the transformation rating for years. In this era of information, how can you not research that first before buying something for your kid? How many times have I wanted to tell that parents asking me or a TRU employee what to get their kids. Buying an ROTF leader class toy with that level of transformation, clearly marked on the box, will tell parents that they will have to spend more time playing with their and that particular toy. What did Lego dumb down their stuff too?