Hasbro Product Panel at BotCon

From 11-12 Saturday.
110 slides, which had to be done in less than 50 minutes.

Beast Hunters 2014 (out by December)

Legion W1
Divebomb - red/white/blue redeco of Windrazor (an Autobot Defector)
Rotgut - green redeco of Blight
Ace Vehicon - white jet Vehicon (toy in display case was grey)
Bluestreak - blue/white/green redeco of smokescreen

Cmdr W1
Unicron Megatron - purple/bronze redeco
Ultra Magnus - remould with hammer
Decpeticon Bludgeon - orange/green redeco of Shockwave, with sword and new head

Deluxe 2013 W5
Night Shadow Bumblebee - black redeco
Prowl - remould Smokescreen

Deluxe 2014 W1
(all new moulds - simpler, cheaper, BIGGER - more toy & more play)
Bumblebee
Windrazor
Smokescreen
Twinstrike

Voyager 2014 W1
Optimus Prime
Predaking


Construct-Bots - inspired by the BotCon Custom Class, which Hasbro people saw was very popular.
(they showed off the entire first series - which are already known)
A promo video was shown, making them look like Centurians (cartoon from the 80s).

Series 2 sneak peak...
Scout W1
BH Bumblebee
BH Starscream
BH Ripclaw

Elite W1
BH Skystalker
BH Shockwave
BH Optimus

Triple Team Class W1
Megatron w/ Ratbat & Barrage


Predacons Rising exclusives
(already known)


Generations 2014

Legion W1
Swerve w/ Flanker (blue/white Jet)
Cosmos w/ Payload (white/black shuttle)

Legion W2
Autobot Tailgate w/ Groundpounder (bulldozer)
Sharpshot (Shrapnel) w/ Reflector (camera)

Deluxe W1
Goldfire (lost the name to Goldbug) - gold/translucent blue redeco Bumblebee
Dreadwing - blue/translucent red redeco of Megatron
Autobot Skids - new
Waspinator - new (wings flap when pressing button on back)

Deluxe W2
Skywarp - FOC Starscream redeco
Scoop - new (with two Targetmasters)
Starscream - Armada

Voyager W1
Decepticon Doubledealer - redeco Blitzwing
Rhinox - new (2 Chainguns, mouth and ears move)

Voyager W2
Whirl - new (might have a sticker sheet to customise the toy)


SDCC exclusives
(already known)


Hall of Fame Voting

Hot Rod/Rodimus - 15%
Arcee - 16%
Prowl - 16%
Ultra Magnus - 19%
BW Megatron - 34%

Ultra Magnus and BW Megatron were the winners and inducted.


Finally, the Fan-Built Vote... winner will be announced at SDCC.
Told that it is an Autobot Jet though. Name and form will be revealed in two weeks.

Will the Black Bee redeco be the regular RID BB or the BH BB? ;)

DLX Night Shadow Bbee? It's the BH version.

Deluxe 2014 W1
(all new moulds - simpler, cheaper, BIGGER - more toy & more play)
Bumblebee
Windrazor
Smokescreen
Twinstrike

Can someone tell me that these new molds arent just legions uped to deluxe size. Because that as a concept would be a sad day for deluxes :confused:

They look like it... but maybe just the first wavel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by morg176

Deluxe 2014 W1
(all new moulds - simpler, cheaper, BIGGER - more toy & more play)
Bumblebee
Windrazor
Smokescreen
Twinstrike

Can someone tell me that these new molds arent just legions uped to deluxe size. Because that as a concept would be a sad day for deluxes :confused:

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I wonder if Smokescreen will be in his current blue colour

I just hope this stuff gets picked up by Australian retailers, I don't want to have to keep giving BBTS my money instead of the local chains.

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Originally Posted by MayzaPrime

I wonder if Smokescreen will be in his current blue colour

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If the images indicate anything then the new Legion is, but the Deluxe isn't.

I'm not often moved to comment on lines that I don't have any interest in, but seriously the new Prime Deluxes look like utter garbage.

No freaking combiner ports on the Terrorcons! :mad: What were they thinking?!?!? That's the only thing they'd have going for the, being what looks like upscaled legion figures. :mad::(

I hope Bee is in his BH show colours and Smokescreen his blue and yellow, or that line has forced me to turn and push it away. Turn and push. TURN. AND. PUSH. ;):mad:

http://media.tumblr.com/cf7cb0048830...fGZ1qz4rgp.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I just hope this stuff gets picked up by Australian retailers, I don't want to have to keep giving BBTS my money instead of the local chains.

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I agree, and not just these figures either. There's plenty on offer-if the majors can sort out their order quantities.

So there is a FOC Skywarp hasbro are releasing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I just hope this stuff gets picked up by Australian retailers, I don't want to have to keep giving BBTS my money instead of the local chains.

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I hope those god awful Beast Hunter deluxes do NOT get released here. I hope they fail completely, because if there is even a moderate chance that they are successful it may encourage Hasbro to make this the norm.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1

So there is a FOC Skywarp hasbro are releasing?

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Sounds like it. :cool:

Excited for Voyager Whirl!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by popculturepooka

I hope those god awful Beast Hunter deluxes do NOT get released here. I hope they fail completely, because if there is even a moderate chance that they are successful it may encourage Hasbro to make this the norm.

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I agree, although having said that there are really only about 6 or 7 figures I'm interested in from these reveals, none of them are beast hunters. Which means my wallet might actually get some breathing space until the TF4 figures are released (if they're any good). Unless the 3rd parties step up and bring out something fantastic again.

I really hope they reconsider the lack of combining ports on the uspcaled terrorcons. Even if they feel like horrid knockoffs I'd still love a large scale BH Abominus.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by popculturepooka

I hope those god awful Beast Hunter deluxes do NOT get released here. I hope they fail completely, because if there is even a moderate chance that they are successful it may encourage Hasbro to make this the norm.

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Knowing our market, how much ya wanna bet that we DO get those Beast Hunters but skip the awesome Generations figures? :rolleyes: :o :p

(please prove me wrong, Hasbro AU!)

So the Deluxes are being made bigger, just like the fans want, but less complex? Yeah, okay then.

Some of the Beast Hunters 2014 toys they showed off. (more to come later, for those who haven't looked on the foreign sites)

Legion & Cmdr redecos.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/z68.jpg

Deluxe - "new" upscaled moulds.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/z66.jpg

Voyagers
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/z67.jpg

Wow voy predaking got clear wings!! :eek:

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Originally Posted by lancalot

Wow voy predaking got clear wings!! :eek:

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Oh yeeeaaah :cool:

Not a fan of the upscale "deluxes" as they just look like knock-offs. Same goes for the voyagers.

Rhinox though......
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/jimme...es/n20krau.gif

Lovin the generations lineup. :D Did I just see a Generations Starscream based on Armada?

Just to put some perspective on those "upsized" toys...

Hasbro's idea is to create simpler toys for younger children, because feedback from their market research has indicated that some children find the current toys too complicated to transform. So the idea is to create easier toys at the Deluxe and Voyager scales, but that these Deluxes and Voyagers should be cheaper than their more complicated counterparts. So these upscaled figures are meant to be like a "test wave" to see how the market responds. The idea being that if they sell well, then subsequent waves will be new moulds that are more complex and articulated than the upscaled Cyberverses (but still simpler than current Deluxes and Voyagers); and supposedly at a cheaper price.

My thoughts:
I don't like the idea of doing a 'test run' with upscaled Cyberverses. They should've made a small number of new figures, maybe the more popular characters like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron etc., and see how they sell. I'm personally going to give these upscaled toys a wide berth. :( It's going to be worse if they sell at the SAME price as other Deluxe and Voyager figures, as they'll offer poorer value for money, and even most younger kids will opt for the more complex figures if given a choice. Hasbro may have their own manufacturer's recommended prices, but retailers may set them higher. The idea has merit, and in theory it could work if the prices are kept low, but if they end up costing the same as regular Deluxes and Voyagers then these toys are going to tank, just like the Fast Action Battlers did. Remember how they peg warmed while the regular toys sold better? Kids aren't stupid... even if another toy is more complex, they'll opt to get that if it's sold at the same price as the simpler one. :/ Even IF Hasbro's plan works and US retailers sell them at cheaper prices, how much you wanna bet it won't happen here?

Go on Hasbro and retailers... prove me wrong.

I get the idea of a simpler transformation, that was a great element when I was young and played with my g1 toys. I used to stage transfomations across the battle field that was my parents couch. it's a lot more time consuming to do that with many modern toys, just transforming them can take ten minutes or more.

something that the older simpler toys will have over these upscaled legends is articulation. Most G1 toys in the main line had shoulder, elbow and wrist joints of some description. cyberverse bumblebee has no elbows or wrists which makes the robot mode in a deluxe scale very unattractive.

If HasTak are planning on going down this path at least for some of their toys, they need to think about articulation beyond a simplistic transformation.

I have often thought that perhaps transformers are becoming too complex at times. Looking back when were were kids messing about with toys and you could transform Optimus in less than five seconds. Try doing that with Sideburn from RID or many other TFS. It just can't be done.

However upscalig the legion size is going about it the wrong way. UGH! just look at Bumblebee. It looks awful. Sure its fine as a legion, I am willing to make sacrifices on a small, cheap figure, but if they are the same size as deluxe, eeeeew.

Plus I very much doubt we'll see a drop in price over here. I'd expect to pay $15 at the most for one of those and since Hasbro charge us $20 for 3.75inch Marvel Universe figures, I very much doubt that will happen.

I think that the right level of complexity, for me, was around Energon and Cybertron. Armada swung too far back towards simplicity but they then reintroduced decent articulation whilst keeping the play value with these two lines. Admittedly, a lot was sacrificed for the sake of gimmicks but the better toys from those series worked. Also, when the gimmicks were done right they really added to the play value which is what Hasbro are talking about.

I'd like to see the line return to this level of complexity while retaining transformation as the main gimmick. The movie toys were too complex and this continued into Animated and Prime to sone extent, but you can't say Cybertron Hot Shot, for example, was too complex, and yet that toy has plenty of articulation. If Hasbro can get back to this then I'd say they've re-found the sweet spot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zommael

I'd like to see the line return to this level of complexity while retaining transformation as the main gimmick. The movie toys were too complex and this continued into Animated and Prime to sone extent, but you can't say Cybertron Hot Shot, for example, was too complex, and yet that toy has plenty of articulation. If Hasbro can get back to this then I'd say they've re-found the sweet spot.

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I was thinking Energon/Cybertron was the perfect middle point between articulation and simplicity. The movie figures were too fiddly and panel reliant, I have family and students who love the movies, but cannot for the life of them transform camaro Bumblebee. However, give them a few Beast Wars, animated or cybertron figures and they are right as rain.

Transformation should be the gimmick, firing missiles are a close second, the kidlets love firing missiles! :p

Hasbro might SAY that less complexity for the kids is the goal of this terrible idea, but given their current antics in dumbing down other lines as well (Iron Man 3, Spiderman, Wolverine, the new Star Wars figs that have 80's articulation) and the lack of decent paint jobs across all those lines, it seems obvious to me that this is all about cost cutting and penny pinching.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zommael

I think that the right level of complexity, for me, was around Energon and Cybertron. .

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Cybertron was just a great line all around, really. Design, construction, everything. Also got to give it props for seemingly being a huge success here considering it was practically toyline only (I certainly didn't see Cybertron on any channels).

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Originally Posted by Gouki

Cybertron was just a great line all around, really. Design, construction, everything. Also got to give it props for seemingly being a huge success here considering it was practically toyline only (I certainly didn't see Cybertron on any channels).

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Glad to see so much due appreciation for Cybertron toys from yourself and others. Everyone generally pans the Unicron trilogy: fiction AND toys.

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Originally Posted by popculturepooka

Hasbro might SAY that less complexity for the kids is the goal of this terrible idea, but given their current antics in dumbing down other lines as well (Iron Man 3, Spiderman, Wolverine, the new Star Wars figs that have 80's articulation) and the lack of decent paint jobs across all those lines, it seems obvious to me that this is all about cost cutting and penny pinching.

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You're onto something there. I would say that post-cybertron, even if the transformations were more complicated, most toys would have been cheaper to manufacture than a cybertron toy of the same size class. Less screws, more ball and socket joints, thinner plastic and fewer paint apps means less cost regardless of how long it takes to transform the toy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lint

Glad to see so much due appreciation for Cybertron toys from yourself and others. Everyone generally pans the Unicron trilogy: fiction AND toys.

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Cybertron gets criminally underrated because of the other two UT series lackluster reception. (To be polite.) It's really not fair. I kind of wish that it had been done as separate series like Galaxy force was going to be, just so it could get the props it deserves.

Though I totally hold it to blame (or at least the design style), for Classics Hot Rod being a really oddly scaled figure with a tiny head, and weird legs.

I've been playing with BH Cyberverse Bulkhead, and as much as I kinda hate the up scaled legions to deluxes, I kinda wish Hasbro WOULD upscale this toy to a Voyager. It'd be in better scale with the other Beast Hunters and have more of the feel of the line generally Han the deluxe - which, along with Smokescreen, I'm pretty sure was originally intended for the RID line.

Looking at shops around here BH appears to continue to sell reasonably well, so I expect we probably will see the new figures here - and likely NOT Generations. :(

Maybe they will. The Cyberverse BH prime is a fun small figure and I hope that this translates to the upscaled voyager version. Although I'm not too keen on the green on the figure.