Was the movie the biggest thing to happen to TFs since Beast Wars?

[Pulse]

It did generate a lot of hoopla but Hasbro mismanaged it completly.

The first few waves of movie figures and first release of each movie mold was pretty successful and that includes non movie molds such as Swindle.

What is taking a lot of shelf space is the stuff nobody wanted such as senseless repaints, Cybertron repaints and other junk that for some reason Hasbro thought it would sell as good just because of the movie name attached.

Now this is costing them dearly (at least when it comes to Sydney) as it seems that nobody wants to restock on their newer and more expensively to develop toys until the movie remnants that are filled with stupid repaints.

What they should have done is either quit on the movie line while they were ahead or produced new molds if they were wanting the movie line to last this long.

It got me thinking - Was the movie the biggest thing to happen to Transformers since Beast Wars? I'm talking about the attention it garnered from non-tf people & all the additional interest it generated.

You've gotta admit, From RiD through to Cyb, I really don't think TFs grew by leaps & bounds. Sure the same customers/fans stuck with them through those years but the much wider exposure of the movie may have taken Hasbro by suprise. Maybe they just weren't prepared for just how much increased interest the figures would of had. Maybe Hasbro's Transformers' Reps were blown away by the massive demand & were essentially overwhelmed - they just weren't ready for it.

I'm not defending Hasbro's Transformers' Arm for being under-prepared but I'm positive a fair bit more background research prior to the movie figures being released would have done a world of good. :)

[kup]

It got me thinking - Was the movie the biggest thing to happen to Transformers since Beast Wars? I'm talking about the attention it garnered from non-tf people & all the additional interest it generated.

You've gotta admit, From RiD through to Cyb, I really don't think TFs grew by leaps & bounds. Sure the same customers/fans stuck with them through those years but the much wider exposure of the movie may have taken Hasbro by suprise. Maybe they just weren't prepared for just how much increased interest the figures would of had. Maybe Hasbro's Transformers' Reps were blown away by the massive demand & were essentially overwhelmed - they just weren't ready for it.

I'm not defending Hasbro's Transformers' Arm for being under-prepared but I'm positive a fair bit more background research prior to the movie figures being released would have done a world of good. :)

The movie line was the biggest thing to happen to Transformers since Beast Wars. Just like Beast Wars it got a huge section of the public aware of the line and got people who otherwise would have never bought a toy into collecting. The movie was possibly bigger than Beast Wars in this regard as it made the average Joe fully aware of the Transformer line, not just us kids and geeks :). There are many adults out there who thought the line had finished with G1 and once again became aware of it's existence through the movie.

However as mentioned, Hasbro mismanaged the success that the initial movie line brought so it didn't last no where near as long nor Hasbro exploited it's commercial success as much as they could have.

There has been a lot of stupid financial moves from Hasbro in the past year or two such as the Movie line and releasing Animated in full scale in the US a good six months after the cartoon premiered and the first season was over!

[GoktimusPrime]

One poignant difference though: Beast Wars came along at a time when Transformers was dying on its arse and breathed new life into the franchise. The movie happened because the franchise was becoming increasingly popular. Transformers was in danger of extinction at the end of G2 and may have been cancelled if it hadn't been for Beast Wars. The Transformers franchise was definitely not in such a dire position when the live action movie rolled along.

While I agree that the movie is comparable with Beast Wars in terms of drawing a lot of people into the fandom, I think that Beast Wars actually achieved more because it returned Transformers from the point of near obscurity to being popular and successful.

[Stompy]

I know a lot of you long-time collectors do not like previous line repaints on the current line (Energon & Cybertron repaints in the movie line) but for some of us new collectors who missed out on them the first time is a very welcome move. Althopugh I have to say some of the repaint choices are very questionable. Regardless, for me who sways more towards the engineering side, it's not so much a big deal to have an older mold that is readily (and cheaply) available.

I must admit that they need to just finish the movie line and move on. Even if they repaint a load of older molds in the Universe line as a consequence, much to woe of all your long-time collectors. Just know that it is great for us new to it.

[kup]

I know a lot of you long-time collectors do not like previous line repaints on the current line (Energon & Cybertron repaints in the movie line) but for some of us new collectors who missed out on them the first time is a very welcome move. Althopugh I have to say some of the repaint choices are very questionable. Regardless, for me who sways more towards the engineering side, it's not so much a big deal to have an older mold that is readily (and cheaply) available.

I must admit that they need to just finish the movie line and move on. Even if they repaint a load of older molds in the Universe line as a consequence, much to woe of all your long-time collectors. Just know that it is great for us new to it.

I am not against repaints if they are thoughtful and bring something to the new mold or are successful in representing another character (such as the seekers). I also like repaints that try something focused creatively that changes the feel and personality of a mold by a good color scheme (eg: Movie line packaged Crasher which is a repaint of Classics Mirage)

What I am against are repaints for the sake of repaints that bring nothing to the table and are usually composed of garish colors only there to stand out on a store shelf. A good example of these repaints are the latter Movie waves and much of the original Universe line.

[Sky Shadow]

It got me thinking - Was the movie the biggest thing to happen to Transformers since Beast Wars?

The movie was the biggest thing to happen to Transformers (full stop). Leagues bigger than Beast Wars - this is a movie that grossed 700 million dollars and sold thirteen million DVDs, not even counting the 'black' market. People of both genders and all ages watched it. The movie was bigger than 'G1'.

That doesn't mean it was better than Beast Wars (it wasn't) and a Transformers movie doesn't seem to have the sustained character development to sell toys the way the series do (e.g. Animated toys fly off the shelves while the movie's been keeping shelves warm all year.)

[loophole]

I would say the the movie was the biggest thing to happen since BW's the movie has drawn alot more people into Transfomers maybe not as full fledged collectors but just as a fan of Transformers in general. Most people who liked the movie probally wouldnt even know anything about BW or Armarda and Cybertron for that matter, what they do know is the G1 cartoon(probally not very well mind you) and Optimus Prime from 15+ years ago from when they were kids.

Since the movie how many more members have signed up here for that matter?? one thing i do know its know kinda cool to be a TF fan/collector nowadays, and you can actually buy TF t-shirts from your local department store and everything else is alot more accesible to get hold of because of it i think

[Pulse]

one thing i do know its know kinda cool to be a TF fan/collector nowadays, and you can actually buy TF t-shirts from your local department store and everything else is alot more accesible to get hold of because of it i think

Um, not where I live... :o

I still get funny looks on occasions from the checkout chicks but the family have kinda stopped complaining about new acquisitions
(But everytime my Bro walks into my room he exclaims "Not another one?!" :D

[GoktimusPrime]

I know a lot of you long-time collectors do not like previous line repaints on the current line (Energon & Cybertron repaints in the movie line) but for some of us new collectors who missed out on them the first time is a very welcome move. Althopugh I have to say some of the repaint choices are very questionable. Regardless, for me who sways more towards the engineering side, it's not so much a big deal to have an older mold that is readily (and cheaply) available. I must admit that they need to just finish the movie line and move on. Even if they repaint a load of older molds in the Universe line as a consequence, much to woe of all your long-time collectors. Just know that it is great for us new to it.
Isn't that purely a personal bias thing though? I mean, if you look at it objectively I think you might see that the Energon and Cybertron moulds do look kinda out of place compared to the movie designs. For me I've really started noticing it with The Reign of Starscream and Saga of the AllSpark. In The Reign of Starscream, they've drastically redesigned Energon/Cybertron repaint characters like Armourhide, Skyblast, Divebomb etc. to make them fit in with the movie-style... but of course, they look drastically different from their toys. In Saga of the AllSpark, Energon/Cybertron characters are drawn more toy-accurately and as a result he looks really badly out of place when next to movieverse characters.

Movie Divebomb toy http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/transformers/images/thumb/a/a8/Movie_Divebomb_toy.jpg/180px-Movie_Divebomb_toy.jpg Movie Divebomb http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/transformers/images/thumb/2/24/ROSDivebomb.jpg/100px-ROSDivebomb.jpg (The Reign of Starscream)

In other words, do you honestly think that the reuse of Energon/Cybertron moulds in the movie line is an inherently or fundamentally good idea under its own merit (i.e.: regardless of your own personal motives/bias) or are you merely glad because you happen to personally benefit from it (i.e. "happy accident")?

But how would you feel if you were in our position? For example, say if when the Revenge of the Fallen toys come out and Hasbro decides to flesh them out with repaints of Transformers Classics and Animated toys... for people who get into TF collecting next year after the 2nd movie it might be good news for them, but how do you think recent collectors of Classics and current collectors of Animated would feel about it?


I would say the the movie was the biggest thing to happen since BW's the movie has drawn alot more people into Transfomers maybe not as full fledged collectors but just as a fan of Transformers in general.
That's an excellent point. One thing which the Transformers movie has done which no other TF medium has ever done before is make Transformers mainstream and no longer just something for children or nerds... which is good and bad in some ways. It's good that the franchise has grown exponentially since and we've seen the fandom swell. But it's kinda bad in other ways because... well... to be blunt (and I can't think of a better way of saying this without sounding like a snobby geek, sorry :p) we have a lot of 'faux Transfans' - people who are into Transformers atm because it's currently cool and they want to be trendy.

Before the movie it was really rare to see someone else wearing Transformers clothing, and if you did, chances are they were a genuine TF fan. Nowadays a lot of people wear TF clothes and sport TF logos on their cars just as random ornaments - it doesn't necessarily mean that they're "real" Transformer fans.

But on the other hand, a lot of my non-Transfan friends have gained a deeper appreciation for my hobby. :) So yeah... there's good and bad with the current rising "fame" of the Transformers franchise. :)

[jacksplatt11]

in my opinion, the movie has been the biggest thing money wise for the transformers brand, ie $700+ million box office, dvds, toys, merchandise etc, also perhaps getting people interested enough to spend more on animated toys and the new universe toys, and even watch animated..

but overall i don't think it will have as large an impact as G1 did, and also when beast wars came out in the mid 90s.. after all it was a bay movie.. beast wars was huge in terms of reintroducing a stagnating brand in aus, usa etc where the last significant series was G1, i don't know how headmasters and the rest were going in japan so i cant comment on that..

i mean, all the shirts that are out nowadays have G1 prime and megatron etc, in 20 years time will we see movie prime and megatron on shirts? i doubt it..

in the end i guess my point is, overall beast wars was pretty huge.. whereas the movie, while re-invigorating a lot of interest in transformers, wont have the same lasting impact, in that i think most of the non-transfan movie fans will most likely move on to the next big movie/craze, depending of course unless they put out a sequel every 2 years or something crazy like that..

[loophole]

That's an excellent point. One thing which the Transformers movie has done which no other TF medium has ever done before is make Transformers mainstream and no longer just something for children or nerds... which is good and bad in some ways. It's good that the franchise has grown exponentially since and we've seen the fandom swell. But it's kinda bad in other ways because... well... to be blunt (and I can't think of a better way of saying this without sounding like a snobby geek, sorry :p) we have a lot of 'faux Transfans' - people who are into Transformers atm because it's currently cool and they want to be trendy.

Before the movie it was really rare to see someone else wearing Transformers clothing, and if you did, chances are they were a genuine TF fan. Nowadays a lot of people wear TF clothes and sport TF logos on their cars just as random ornaments - it doesn't necessarily mean that they're "real" Transformer fans.

But on the other hand, a lot of my non-Transfan friends have gained a deeper appreciation for my hobby. :) So yeah... there's good and bad with the current rising "fame" of the Transformers franchise. :)

totally and utterly agree with all of that

[Saintly]

The movie was the best thing since BW, yes! agreed! no doubt about it!

appreciation, awareness, no longer geeky

[Stompy]

In other words, do you honestly think that the reuse of Energon/Cybertron moulds in the movie line is an inherently or fundamentally good idea under its own merit (i.e.: regardless of your own personal motives/bias) or are you merely glad because you happen to personally benefit from it (i.e. "happy accident")?

In a business sense, it is a good idea to reuse the older molds. Realistically we all want new molds for everything, instead of repaints, but we all know that Hasbro had a cash cow with the movie line and just repainted a lot of older lines. I don't think it's a personally bias thing neither to be thankful for these repaints of old molds we missed out on as new collectors. Isn't it also personal bias to not like repaints? Fundamentally I do not think it is wrong to have these repaints in the movieline. If it represents characters in the universe involved, I don't really see the problem. Sure, as collectors, you probably wouldn't want the same mold again but in the end it's the company who produced these figures who needs to be approached and told we do not like it.


But how would you feel if you were in our position? For example, say if when the Revenge of the Fallen toys come out and Hasbro decides to flesh them out with repaints of Transformers Classics and Animated toys... for people who get into TF collecting next year after the 2nd movie it might be good news for them, but how do you think recent collectors of Classics and current collectors of Animated would feel about it?

Simple. I wouldn't buy the repaint of what I already have unless it's an attractive repaint that I would want. I guess if one is a completist and need that character represented. Fundamentally if the entire 2nd movie line is ALL repaints, then we have reason to be miffed. As annoying as repaints can get, we have the option to not buy them and let those who want to. In the end it's a business model that they follow and the "casual/mass" market is still bigger than the collectors/fans and is perhaps the only reason they do so, because it sells and the movieline was the perfect platform to milk as much profits as possible. I know as collectors it is highly frustrating but thats what we get for saturating our lives with our hobby and breaking down every single minutae of said hobby.

In the end, I think there is enough room for everything and everyone of various commitment to this hobby.

[GoktimusPrime]

I wouldn't buy the repaint of what I already have unless it's an attractive repaint that I would want. I guess if one is a completist and need that character represented.
^ that's how I feel about repaints. :)

[Stompy]

Aye Gok. We really can't do anything with the repaints. I guess it's a necesarry evil as it is just easy business/profit for Hasbro to repaint.

I didn't realize that Beast Wars was the first to really invigorate the franchise. Although looking back, it was the only TF series that I was aware of after the original G1. From what I recall of what I've seen of the BW series, it was pretty darn good. The movie certainly did a lot to make the public aware of the franchise and make it cool again.

[roller]

are you people all mad?

Machine wars was the biggest thing to happen to the entire franchise

Always has been always will be!!!

[STL]

The movie was the biggest thing to happen to Transformers (full stop). Leagues bigger than Beast Wars - this is a movie that grossed 700 million dollars and sold thirteen million DVDs, not even counting the 'black' market. People of both genders and all ages watched it. The movie was bigger than 'G1'.

That doesn't mean it was better than Beast Wars (it wasn't) and a Transformers movie doesn't seem to have the sustained character development to sell toys the way the series do (e.g. Animated toys fly off the shelves while the movie's been keeping shelves warm all year.)

Everything I wanted to say.

[dirge]

I do agree that the movie was the biggest thing since BW - but it isn't bigger than Beast Wars. The Transformers line was _dead_. Dead. Kenner took a chance with BW and brought Transformers back to life. While the film is a bigger medium, within the context of the franchise, it's not as big. Having said that nothing since BW comes close to matching the film.

I'm frustrated that Hasbro have thrown away a lot of the momentum from the film. From extremely tenuous "movie" themed repaints to some of the really poor merchandising which will clog shelves for a while, such as the turnarounds. I'm still amazed that Hasbro followed it up with Animated - which is so ridiculously different from the film that it can't really grasp the momentum the film generated.

I hope the lines following the future films are able to ride their momentum better, so that the films aren't a flash in the pan (:

[SilverDragon]

Well, as others said, Beast Wars revived the brand completely, while the movie was essentially capitalizing on the success of the brand. I think the movie was bigger, though-it got a lot of people into Transformers (including me).


I'm still amazed that Hasbro followed it up with Animated - which is so ridiculously different from the film that it can't really grasp the momentum the film generated.

Although ridiculously different appears to equal popular on toy shelves. I've given up trying to get Animated toys from non-Hobbyco shops because THERE ARE NONE (besides the spinoffs and the ultra-expensive Leaders).

[dirge]

I've noticed that many of the stores I've visited seem to have slowish sales of Animated. The Activators are flying off shelves, and deluxes are doing okay outside of Grace Brothers and their stupid $40 price tag. Activators _should_ do well - the smaller toys always sell too fast for Hasbro (who import too many boxed TFs every single time, and not enough of the cheaper stuff which parents _will_ buy on impulse). I've noticed those silly bumper battler things (the Cyberslammer-esque things, I think that's what they're called) aren't moving - which doesn't surprise me since they're not good value for toys aimed at 2 year olds.

At any rate, I would have thought Hasbro would want to embrace new found fans with a more realistic line to follow up the film. Yeah, we get Universe/Classics, but I mean as the main line (wich cartoon).

[kup]

I've noticed that many of the stores I've visited seem to have slowish sales of Animated. The Activators are flying off shelves, and deluxes are doing okay outside of Grace Brothers and their stupid $40 price tag. Activators _should_ do well - the smaller toys always sell too fast for Hasbro (who import too many boxed TFs every single time, and not enough of the cheaper stuff which parents _will_ buy on impulse). I've noticed those silly bumper battler things (the Cyberslammer-esque things, I think that's what they're called) aren't moving - which doesn't surprise me since they're not good value for toys aimed at 2 year olds.

At any rate, I would have thought Hasbro would want to embrace new found fans with a more realistic line to follow up the film. Yeah, we get Universe/Classics, but I mean as the main line (wich cartoon).

From what I have seen, Animated is either severely understocked with just a peg and a tiny under shelf corner (the same with Universe) while the rest is dominated by shelf warming movie toys which are largely repaints or junk like Slammers and merchandise.

Animated may seem to be moving fast because there there are so few been stocked, the same goes for Universe.

The only place where I have seen a decent amount of Animated and Universe is Target but they are all boxed toys and many of the Universe toys are the crap repaints like Blaster. A few Universe deluxes but that's all.

It seems that both Animated and Universe will suffer thanks to the stupidity of Hasbro's toy distribution when it comes to the movie repaints and merchandise. Stores will refuse to restock on newer stuff until the walls of movie toys moves and that will not happen in a hurry.

[roller]

i went into a K marche today

no Universe deluxes at all, last 2 weeks ago i saw 1 Sunstreaker

all they had was the Universe cement mixer

So here it goes, the BIG things in order :

1. Machine Wars- The ultimate battle between the surviving transformers after Cybetron was blown up.

2. Animorphs- Visser 3 gains access via a spacial rift, transformers technology, the yerks upgrade their evil technology with the fate of planet Earth hanging in the battle!

3. Star Wars transformers- After the cybernet space cube falls into a black hole the Jedi and Sith use its knowledge to upgrade their technology with the fate of planet Naboo hanging in the battle!



:D

[Pulse]

So here it goes, the BIG things in order :

1. Machine Wars- The ultimate battle between the surviving transformers after Cybetron was blown up.

2. Animorphs- Visser 3 gains access via a spacial rift, transformers technology, the yerks upgrade their evil technology with the fate of planet Earth hanging in the battle!

3. Star Wars transformers- After the cybernet space cube falls into a black hole the Jedi and Sith use its knowledge to upgrade their technology with the fate of planet Naboo hanging in the battle!



:D

How could you leave out Action Masters??? (http://www.toyhell.com/images/actionmasters.jpg) :D

[roller]

:rolleyes: the Actionmasters upgraded into the Generation 2 forms, DER!!!


:D;)

[STL]

I think a big part of the reality that all of us need to realise is that the movie hype is gone. It will stuck with some but not all. And that's the nature of all these blockbusters. Anyone remember the massive releases of Spider-Man toys when the first movie hit? The toys flew off the shelves? Not happenning any more. Same goes for Iron Man which was released this year. It had its spike for about 3 months. Now, they're not moving if at all.

Fact is, the business reality of many franchises is its seasonal. We should be glad that unlike X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Batman, our franchise continues to exist in non peak times. I don't think its all Hasbros fault but I do think that the longevity of the line was last years Christmas. And we should be very happy b/c I don;t think TF figures ever moved that fast that it was hell to get a BB08, a toy in virtually every wave yet still so elusive. The movie's success lasted longer than it should have.

It'll be interesting though to see if the 2nd movie has the same legs on the shelves. Since I start working full time next year, I won't be as lucky anymore to be going hunting everyday so part of me wonders how many hells i might have to endure to get new figures. :rolleyes:

[iceburn]

Since I start working full time next year, I won't be as lucky anymore to be going hunting everyday so part of me wonders how many hells i might have to endure to get new figures. :rolleyes:

you'll be alright..look at us working in the city???
moreover, we've still got jay and these new uni guys to help out and spot stuff, right ??? :D

[STL]

moreover, we've still got jay and these new uni guys to help out and spot stuff, right ??? :D

I dunno, that just doesn't sound right... :D

[jacksplatt11]

there's always late night shopping thurs and fri nights, and even some mon-tues-wed nights at certain places.. places stay open past 9-5 :D

[i_amtrunks]

Anyone remember the massive releases of Spider-Man toys when the first movie hit? The toys flew off the shelves? Not happenning any more.

Hey at least a few months of high sales is better than anything the Hulk movie merchandise managed! :p

Hasbro stuffed up with the movie, it was far far far more popular than they anticipated, and then they over-reacted too late.

If they learn from their mistakes with the next movie it'll be worth the momentous 18 months of stuff ups that we have been put through in the long run. However I doubt it.

And I agree with Dirge, Animated was probably not the best line to follow the movies/fill the gap between movies.

It's possible that Hasbro were expecting the movie to flop and thus wanted to distance their next line of toys from the movie, another mistake, but hindsight is always a wonderous thing!

[Hereticpoo]

It's possible that Hasbro were expecting the movie to flop and thus wanted to distance their next line of toys from the movie, another mistake, but hindsight is always a wonderous thing!

You have to wonder what the executives in Hasbro are smoking. I mean how could a movie with giant fighting robots flop!?

I agree BW was like a heart transplant for TF's, a whole new lease on life.

But the TF movie made TF's Pop Culture. The amount of faction symbols on cars has increased, everyone exposed to the media knows who Bumblebee is, car magazines can't wait for the 'Bumblebee' Camaro to roll off the assembly lines, TF T-shirts everywhere, Mobile phone games and Mobile phone TF covers, and so on. Its 'ok' to like Transformers now, not that it ever mattered to us, but for the franchise I thinks thats really cool.

[kup]

You have to wonder what the executives in Hasbro are smoking. I mean how could a movie with giant fighting robots flop!?

I agree BW was like a heart transplant for TF's, a whole new lease on life.

But the TF movie made TF's Pop Culture. The amount of faction symbols on cars has increased, everyone exposed to the media knows who Bumblebee is, car magazines can't wait for the 'Bumblebee' Camaro to roll off the assembly lines, TF T-shirts everywhere, Mobile phone games and Mobile phone TF covers, and so on. Its 'ok' to like Transformers now, not that it ever mattered to us, but for the franchise I thinks thats really cool.

That's nice but like we saw in the City fan meet, many of the people wearing those shirts and sporting logos on their cars weren't even aware they were from Transformers!

[Pulse]

That's nice but like we saw in the City fan meet, many of the people wearing those shirts and sporting logos on their cars weren't even aware they were from Transformers!

Maybe they see TFs as being "cool" & they wanna fit in with the in-crowd?

Damn "Pretenders"... :D

[GoktimusPrime]

I do agree that the movie was the biggest thing since BW - but it isn't bigger than Beast Wars. The Transformers line was _dead_. Dead. Kenner took a chance with BW and brought Transformers back to life. While the film is a bigger medium, within the context of the franchise, it's not as big.
I agree.
As far as Transformers is concerned, Beast Wars was our Rennaissance.


I'm frustrated that Hasbro have thrown away a lot of the momentum from the film. From extremely tenuous "movie" themed repaints to some of the really poor merchandising which will clog shelves for a while, such as the turnarounds. I'm still amazed that Hasbro followed it up with Animated - which is so ridiculously different from the film that it can't really grasp the momentum the film generated.

I hope the lines following the future films are able to ride their momentum better, so that the films aren't a flash in the pan (:
Yeah, the direction of Animated surprises me too. Usually when a movie comes out as part of a franchise, the franchise tends to follow up by importing elements of the movie back into it. For example, when the X-Men movie first came out, all of the sudden Wolverine stopped wearing yellow spandex! There was a new X-Men cartoon (X-Men: Evolution) where designs became a hybrid between the more traditional style and movie style for the characters (and I think "Marie" as the true name for Rogue has become officially canon now - her real name was never revealed before the movie).

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/AllyLeFey/Xmen.jpg

After the Batman movie came out we started seeing Batman media being darker are grittier (as was originally intended from the comics) and the old campiness from the 1960s-80s (e.g.: Adam West, Super Friends etc.) is now a thing of the past.

http://www.cartoon-secrets.com/Photos/Batman-Animated-Series-Logo.jpg

When the movie came out I was expecting Hasbro to follow up with a new toyline, cartoon and comic line which would be influenced by the movie. There are elements of Animated that are influenced from the movie, but they're more like "easter egg homages" rather than anything terribly substantial. The movie decided to make the Transformers look and behave very alien. Some people complain that they look ugly, but I like the fact that they look so otherworldly. And there are many other things which the movie writers put in to continually remind us that the Transformers are not of Earth (e.g.: social faux pas) - it's something I've rarely seen since Bob Budiansky's writing from G1. Animated has some elements of this, but it's inconsistent and kinda random... and more often than not the Transformers really do act far too human (especially Bumblebee). (-_-)

There were so many cool concepts that the movie introduced that could've been incorporated in a follow-up line but Hasbro has consciously chosen not to exploit that and go the "Disney path" instead. :/




How could you leave out Action Masters???the Actionmasters upgraded into the Generation 2 forms, DER!!!

Yeah Pulse... you might wanna get your facts straight before jumping in there. roller is correct, the Transformers were no longer Action Masters by time Generation 2 happened - that's why you don't see any Action Masters in G2! *DER*!


I think a big part of the reality that all of us need to realise is that the movie hype is gone.
Not completely. And as they say, "strike while the iron is hot."
Look at the Animated toys that are selling better than others atm. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Starscream are seem to be selling faster than Prowl, Blackarachnia and Bulkhead (at least in my observation). It seems that figures who carry the names of characters who appeared in the movie are more popular than those who weren't. A lot of following toy lines tend to sell because they ride on the coat-tails of the success of something before. Beast Machines sold pretty well despite the amount of controversy and criticism it copped from fans, and a significant part of that was because it was riding on the coat-tails of the success of Beast Wars.

[roller]

:/


Yeah Pulse... you might wanna get your facts straight before jumping in there. roller is correct, the Transformers were no longer Action Masters by time Generation 2 happened - that's why you don't see any Action Masters in G2! *DER*!


.

:o G2 Actionmaster Breakdown. I like to think he became an Actionmaster out of neccisity, maybe they couldnt save him in time and had to use Nucleon to save him. :D man thats so nerdy what i just wrote.

TRANSFORMERS!!!!

[SilverDragon]

At any rate, I would have thought Hasbro would want to embrace new found fans with a more realistic line to follow up the film. Yeah, we get Universe/Classics, but I mean as the main line (wich cartoon).

I think they wanted something that would appeal more to the kids, who are generally their biggest market. Plus, viva les difference.

[GoktimusPrime]

That doesn't excuse not exploiting the movie.

X-Men Evolution, Batman Animated et al. are primarily marketed at kids yet they still exploited their movie counterparts and also worked at appealing to adults too. I find that Animated has very few elements that are intended to appeal to adults other than Easter-Egg homages/tributes. They're nice... but they're the icing... and it's kinda like having icing with no cake.

Beast Wars and the movie gave us cake with our icing!