Transformers and the TMNT Effect..

[Blurrz]

I posted this over at Seibertron, and I'm pretty sure I would get some interesting responses over here too....

There's been an issue in the past few toylines that has begun to agonize me. It's extrapolated in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline, and now I just can't stand what's going on. I'm talking about how similar the Transformers Movie toylines are with TMNT toylines. Now it might seem a bit off to think that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could be related to Transformers, but with ROTF, it's become ill apparent that they are getting ever so closer together.

What I'm getting at is repaints. It happens in TMNT every single line, and no offense to TMNT collectors - their four favourite characters always get repainted or put into a new suit of equipment over and over again. That's cool and all, and there's not much that can be done seeing as Leo, Raph, Mike and Don are really the only four main characters. I don't mind the Deep Divin' Turtles, or the Fightin' Gear Turtles, or the Ninja Knight Turtles, or the Air Ninja Turtles; it doesn't get old because it's imaginative and it ties in with other figures being released. Now apply that to Transformers and....




... you get really bad results. Repainting is a staple in Transformers toylines. It's existed since it's creation. It's how Hasbro thrives. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING DOES IT HAVE TO BE BUMBLEBEE! What really ticked me off in N.E.S.T. Global Alliance toyline - which is the second half of the Revenge of the Fallen toylin - there are two Bumblebees being released in the first waves. One of them is practically unavoidable, Battlefield Bumblebee, which is included in a 2-pack and comes with a Certificate that is mandatory for Mail-Order Ravage. The second is N.E.S.T. Bumblebee, a repaint of RotF Bumblebee. Add the fact that there was Cannon Bumblebee previously, and RotF Preview Bumblebee... makes it 4 times we've seen the mold this year. Then add everything from the first movie and... well..yeah, you get my point.




Seriously! What justifies this? I know repainting is cheaper than making a new mold. I understand that. But for once, wouldn't it be nice to have the third Arcee bike? Another Constructicon? Perhaps even repainting something else that isn't Camaro Concept Bumblebee? I know Bumblebee's the face of the franchise, he's the kid-favourite, he's the star..... it would be nice for once in awhile, that we get something different. It started off with the 2007 Movie, didn't falter in Animated, and now in every class, every scale, there's Bumblebee.

And while I started off comparing it to TMNT, I think Hasbro's take on Bumblebee is even more excessive. Atleast the Turtles get cool Scuba masks, shining armor, or air kites. All we see, day in and day out, is a yellow turd car on the shelves.

Do we really need this? Do we want 30 versions of Bumblebee by the end of the Movie Trilogy? I don't. I'm sure some collectors, specifically Bumblebee collectors will disagree with me. But there's nothing more of a turnoff to someone like me, or any younger collector without much money, is the same character, being repainted over and over again. Hasbro's aim is for the younger generation right? Please... they don't want Bumblebee. I don't want Bumblebee. Stop this madness.

Someone save us...


~Blurrz

(As I write this, Hasbro is planning a repaint entitled Human Alliance Nightwatch Bumblebee w.....)
(Turtle Pictures Courtesy of http://ninjaturtles.com/)

[GMfan]

Bumblebee is popular, Bumblebee sales are high, More Bumblebees are made instead of third bike who dies and Constructodrone that you hardly see or never transforms.

Remember that rule number one for Hasbro is to make profits...should thy make a lot of that then they reward us with a obscure toy here or there but think about it, every constructicon with the exception of Long Haul is a shelf warmer, same with bike sisters out there so they have to put a more popular character in the wave to justify the potential loss to come.

But look what else is coming up in the same waves, new characters that weren't even in the film with cool looking molds. Dirge, Brawn, Lockdown, etc. In conclusion you don't have to get everything they throw at you, if however you are someone who has such a compulsion I feel sorry for your wallet but have SOME willpower...you take the good, you take the bad, you take'm all and there you have your standard Hasbro business model.

Nothing to get upset over really, just ignore it like any other toy you don't want. At the end of the day, those Bumblebees will be bought anyways.

[TFtoys]

TF is worst since we are forced to buy the 2-packs and 3-packs which we might only interest in one particular repaint for each.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

I get disappointed but GMfan101 sums up my take on things. It's going to happen, and if it means I'll get something good that I want down the road, I'm all for it. I do agree that they seem to be taking the number of repaints to a whole new level. And the two and three packs with only one figure everyone wants kind of stinks, but hasbro knows this, and is counting on it to sell you 2 figures instead of 1. Just a last thought. Eventually all these repaints and stuff will make it to thrift stores and that's where I'll be waiting. hahah.

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

Hey, at least it's not as bad as any given Batman toyline.

[justprime]

I understand the marketing behind the repaints and reissue of popular characters I agree in part with GMfan101 however I also look at this in another direction, and am siding more with Blurrz.
1)what about us the collectors?.. for me it has been since 84 and yes I am tired of repaints in paticular ones that are unmodified (at least change somthing in the mold to make it a new figure its not that hard,.. look at the G1 color mixmaster new head sculpt) I am selective and usally do not buy repaints by the way however....I would like to see pieces like the third arcee twin or the seventh constuctacon (at least they were on screen unlike some of the other pieces that have been released under the Movie banner) I also don't think that Hasbro needs to cut back on the more popular characters release as this is sales core,... why not support the collectors more though posibly with limited production release mail in's not just a recolor such as ravage... this serves everyones interest and the mold can always be reused down the line to recoup cost (hate to say repaint)
2) I relise as most that the market is geared towards Children and thats were sales are but I have to ask this how many of these kids are over 12? botcons around the world are not over run with 12 year olds the high dollars spent at conventions, Ebay etc are not from most 12 year olds(unless there going on 40 "LOL") they are from the collectors who have fallen for this line of toys and are passionate about there hobby (no different then classic cars or memrobelia)and have kept this alive for 25 years...I personaly would like to see more insentive for the collectors and would like to (respectfuly) see Hasbro address our input and hopefuly our needs which is the core of this letters response,.. this seems to no longer be "just a kids toy line" just ask most here on this site.justprime

[crimbot]

I used to collect TMNT and I was always a little miffed when the new guys that came out were just re dos of the original 4. At this point, I understand it more and its the same with the bumblebee issue. You always have to put your popular brand character with every wave. At least with the turtles they had new molds and gimmicks, where as in TFs, its usually just a recolor.
Unfortunately, somthing snapped inside of me, and I never bought any of the gimmicky turtles, but for some reason, I feel compelled to buy all the transformers I can get my hands on. I wish i had the willpower now that I did whne I was 11 haha.
I don't really think that anyone is upset over it per se, just a valid conversation point on a conversational board.

[Bruticus82]

Why do I remember hasbro saying that going forward they were going to plan more "remolds" as opposed to "repaints"? Was I imagining this? Something about how they would plan remolds ahead of time, like universe 2.0 sunstreaker/sideswipe, because it's cheaper than making that decision after the fact?

[Scrapper6]

Quite frankly I think Hasbro is taking this movie popularity thing a little too far. Back in the Beast Era they had repaints, repaints have always existed, however they have always existed in moderation.

Beast Wars:
Dinobot/Grimlock
Cheetor/Tigatron
Tarantulas/Black Arachnia
Waspinator/Buzzsaw
Terrorsaur/Lazorbeak

That's about five molds from the first assortment repainted. We also had a few others, but they were scattered throughout at least four to six years of Beast Wars toys.

Now, practically every single mold in the original Movie line has been painted not once, but twice in the span of only three years.

I'm all for making quality repaints with new characters, but why in the world do you need to repaint every single mold? I mean with the popularity the movie line has shown we could have another Beast Wars on our hands, meaning instead of only two and a half years of releases before the next line comes out we get a continuous possibly six year span of Transformers Movieverse toys.

True there will be new gimmicks and new ideas that seperate each film's toyline from one another, but in general these are all part of the same series ala Beast Wars. Not filler lines like RID or Classics, or even short run productions like The Unicron Trilogy or Animated.

So why in heavens name do they see fit to repaint every single mold in existence under the sun?

At least if they're going to make this N.E.S.T two pack they could have maybe given us a different character than Soundwave and Bumblebee, I don't mean new molds, but if they're so fired up for repaint mania why not make Soundwave, Soundblaster or somebody else. As for Bumblebee, we could have gotten an RotF version of Cliffjumper out of him for the two pack.

Repaints used to mean brand new characters, the new character to new paint scheme for the same old character ratio in the movie line is appalling.

Bumblebee
Premium Bumblebee
All-Spark Bumblebee
Stealth Bumblebee
Movie Scenes Bumblebee
Three-Pack Bumblebee
Two-Pack Bumblebee
Cliffjumper

See what I mean.

It's utterly insane and what's worse, they continue to follow this trend, have they learned nothing from Mattel's recent He-Man line?
Kids don't want a million Bumblebees/He-Mans they want a variety of different characters. And true Hasbro is one step ahead of Mattel by not short packing any of the newer chracters in favor for just one more Bumblebee, but come on, at least space them out a little more if they're going to insist on this utterly insane practice.

I mean, don't just wait three months and then push out another Bumblebee, wait six months, or nine if necessary. Would that be so hard?

Also I am deeply dissapointed that so far the Autobot Voyager ratio to Decepticon Voyager ratio as far as new molds is concerned is clearly lacking. They need to invest a little more in another Voyager class Autobot brand new mold that could serve double as two new characters with different paint schemes. A Movie Trailbreaker and Hound perhaps or something.

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

We have been getting quite a few remoulds in the RotF line. Quite a few of the redecos have new heads (Sideswipe/Swerve, Sideways/Dead End, Breakaway/Thrust, Mixmaster's two versions, etc.) Of course, there've also been a few that only differed in their colour schemes, but seeing as how past lines tended to have nothing but recolours when reusing an old mould (which happened quite a bit) we're still coming out ahead.

And really, Transformers is actually exceptional in that a good portion of its figures are entirely new. Look at, say, the 6" DCUC figures that Mattel's putting out; they have about half a dozen torsos that they spread across every male character in the DC universe, with two or three more to represent every female. And then there's Macross which has only had about a dozen different fighter designs in its entire 27 year history. Compared to that, a couple of reuses of a mould are practically nothing.