Siege Micromasters - a misstep?

When it was announced that Siege would be Micromaster-only for its "Legends" pricepoint, more than a few fans were miffed that the Minibot team had yet to be completed. Depending on how you view them, Warpath, Huffer and Pipes HAD been done, but not "properly" (Pipes's colours are way off, the others much closer, but the moulds only loosely work for the characters) while Cliffjumper & Hubcap hadn't been done at all.

(Seriously - what the hell does Hasbro have against Cliffjumper - it's been what 15 years and there's not a single dedicated Classicsverse Cliffjumper mould?!?)

The initial reaction to the Micromasters was generally negative; the characters come from the less popular tail end of G1 and while some got fairly decent characterisation in comics (Roadhandler comes to mind), most were pretty obscure. On top of that, the four-member teams are now two member teams.

Fast forward to Siege being roughly a year old, and it seems the market has spoken with deafening silence. While wave 1 (with, arguably, the star of the show, Roadhandler) was elusive in Australia, wave 2 is still everywhere several months after release. There seems fairly little chance the major chains will be placing too many orders for more Micromasters when Stakeout, Red Hot & the tiny cassettes are pegwarming.

For me, the value for money is terrible for kids/parents/grandparents. A quick comparison with say Lego, you just get so much more for your $20. They do not fill their small packaging. The characters - while personally I love Micromasters - are also too obscure to really excite many adult collectors.

What's your take on the failure of the Siege Micromasters? Characters too obscure? Price too high? Poor value for money? Bad designs? Something else?

Discuss.

Well all we've seen of siege micromasters is the rescue patrol and the cassettes, Australian retail missed the 1st wave of these figures and the battlemasters and the 2nd wave is just shelf warming. Hasbro needs to fix it's broken distribution.

Now the rant is out of the way, I've still got my G1 micromasters so I've just been buying the new iterations that are missing from my collection, the combined weapon mode really doesn't work and they fumbled the ball giving them ball joints at the waist and some cases knees, when pinning them would've been better, so I think the price point was a misstep only because of the quality of the figures.

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Originally Posted by dirge

What's your take on the failure of the Siege Micromasters? Characters too obscure? Price too high? Poor value for money? Bad designs? Something else?

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Micromasters are the victim of lazy product and marketing strategy.

If there were more of them, and bases available to increase play value. The product would look more attractive. Instead their designs are used as a simple filler to meet the "Legends" price point which is a cheaper alternative to "Deluxes" and "Voyagers". While this long standing strategy has generally worked out for them in the past, for the micromasters it has been a failure both in sales and preventing a great product from taking off. Especially since their "Sub-legends" product the Battlemasters are almost direct price point competition: If you were a parent that had to choose between a $12 stocking filler and a $20 stocking filler both of whom transformed into an accessory for a larger toy, which would you choose?

The toys look too small for the price point compared to (sale) prices on deluxes or voyagers (or even Cyberverse Legion toys). The combined gun gimmick is poor (and Battlemasters fill that role)

For us older fans not having any complete team makes them less desirable.

Laserbeak and upcoming Ratbat are the only two I want but I’d rather Lasebeak had been an accessory with Soundwave (and Buzzsaw with Soundblaster).

I think the current line needs a Scout/Legend class figures. So much of the season one cast has been redone now in Siege that the gaps of Minibots and Insecticons are noticeable, particular with the Deceptixo s (although nearly all those characters have been done over the last decade). I’m hoping the next chapter of War for Cybertron brings them back and does a few of those (a new Gears, Shrapnel, others like Venom, Hupcap) and the remaining Throttlebots, Triggerbot/cons, Sparkabots and Firecons. I’d also not be opposed to a set of Constructicons or Trainbots at the scale.

I personally am very fond of my Siege Micromasters, especially since I lost some of my original ones and the replacements fit well into the collection, scale wise.

What annoys me is the difficulty in getting them, some kinds are overstocked and others not stocked enough.
If the Targetmasters count for this, for example, Firebolt is missing from every shelf, but there's still many many Calibursts and Lionizers.

Also, I wish they'd made them in complete sets, either as a four pack or two matched twin packs.
The four pack would be ideal.

The cassettes ones I am not interested in at this time, mostly because they didn't make a Ramhorn and Steeljaw.
Also, I'm uncertain if those ones are compatible with my original G1 Blaster and Soundwave (probably not).

I loved Micromasters as a kid. I was born in 84 so I missed basically the first few years of G1 toys and Micromasters were on store shelves when I was old enough.

When the new Micromasters were discovered listed on Amazon AU my first reaction was "awesome, I can't wait".

Then the reveal happened and we saw that they were two-character teams instead of four and that was a letdown.

Then I got them in hand and I honestly felt like they were terrible figures with build quality and design.

While I love these characters from owning many of them in G1, I honestly don't like the modern versions. I would have prefered to get a proper G1 inspired Legends scale Cliffjumper, Hubcap, Warpath, Pipes, Huffer and Deluxe Insecticons to complete the sets that have already been started in Legends scale. While we are at it I would have liked Reflector to be Legends scale also, though he's not far off from Legends scale anyway with how tiny of a Deluxe he is.

I had another thought: I wonder if since they couldn't budget to have four member teams and had to stick with two-packs, would VS packs have been appealing? Eg: Roadhandler vs Whisper, Red Heat vs Blackjack, Laserbeak vs Steeljaw etc

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

I had another thought: I wonder if since they couldn't budget to have four member teams and had to stick with two-packs, would VS packs have been appealing? Eg: Roadhandler vs Whisper, Red Heat vs Blackjack, Laserbeak vs Steeljaw etc

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I think that would have played better with the adult fandom, in truth.

I think they're too expensive and poor value. When adjusting for inflation these Siege Micromasters are about the same price as a G1 Micromaster Patrol. Only that G1 gave us TWICE as many robots per pack. The Siege Micromasters are literally giving us half the value of G1 Micromasters. One of the great appeal of the Micromasters in 89-90 was the phenomenal value for money. We all remember our collection counts suddenly taking leaps and bounds after Micromasters came out. And of course Micromasters was made for that explicit purpose as the economy slid into what Paul Keating described as "the recession that (we) had to have." Micromasters were born from the idea of value for money!

Having fewer characters per pack also means that we're getting fewer Micromasters being made as CHUGs. We're getting incomplete sets. I now have CHUG Roadhandler and Swindler, but no Freewheeler and Tailspin. I have Red Hot and Stakeout but no Fixit and Seawatch. I have Storm Cloud and Whisper but no Nightflight and Tailwind. And to make matters weirder they're going to release a CHUG Barricade that looks nothing like G1 Barricade but more like a "G1erised" Bayformers Barricade. We have CHUG Micromasters now - this is the perfect time to give us a G1-accurate CHUG Barricade (and Blackout)! And for lovers of Bayformers Barricade we just had MPM and Studio Series Barricade -- you've had your fill! Let us G1ers have ours! There are so many Bayformer Barricades out there that TFwiki has its own page just for Movie Barricade toys. How many G1 Barricades do we have? Just G1 Barricade. We've had scores of Bayformer Barricade toys since 2007 but we've had zero G1 Barricade toys since 1990.

I was pissed about the replacement of Legends class. Chances are we’re never going to see Eject from TR Rewind, which is just stupid. Same goes for the minibots that still need proper versions:

- Huffer
- Pipes
- Cliffjumper
- Gears
- Warpath
- Swerve (if IDW doesn’t do it for you)
- Hubcap

So close yet so far. I’m still holding out for a VW legends Bumblebee and Goldbug, but it isn’t looking likely, especially with Cybertronian modes (which I still want BB in). Can’t get into the micromasters, I wish they had got their own class/subline.

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

While I love these characters from owning many of them in G1, I honestly don't like the modern versions. I would have prefered to get a proper G1 inspired Legends scale Cliffjumper, Hubcap, Warpath, Pipes, Huffer and Deluxe Insecticons to complete the sets that have already been started in Legends scale. While we are at it I would have liked Reflector to be Legends scale also, though he's not far off from Legends scale anyway with how tiny of a Deluxe he is.

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Reflector is sized almost like a Cybertron Scout which suited him well (even though I paid $40 each for three of him).

I think the Siege Micromasters are brilliant, and the stars of the line. I was a big fan of them as a kid so nostalgia is a factor for me certainly. But I definitely don't mourn for the characters we might have seen in their place - I think the Micromasters are far more interesting.

My only problem with the Micromasters is the quality of some of the toys. The legs in particular come off waaay too easily :(

Also some of the combined weapons modes are crap. Look at the 3 wave 1 pairs. The Air Strike Patrol made a cool sword, the Battle Patrol made at least a half decent blaster. But the Race Car patrol had an absolutely shite weapons mode and most of the ones since haven't been much better.

I don't think its an obscurity thing since so many other obscure characters have been released, and done quite well, in recent years. Hasbro just needs to figure out how to make a toys legs stay on :rolleyes:

I was super excited when they were announced. I love Micromasters and my son and I really enjoy playing together with the G1 stuff I have.

But the Siege versions are absolute poo. The joints on all of mine are way too tight. Enough to make transformation impossible for my son.

I’d rather spend the money in G1 sets.

I was super excited initially, but only for the Battle and Air Strike Patrols. The other vehicles..... eh. I have the Battle Patrol but the Air Strike eludes me and the shelves all have Wave 2's with nary a Wave 1 to be seen (though after reading through these posts I can see why)

I've only got Ravage and Laserbeak to go with Soundwave, and as additions to him I think the little guys are really nice.
However, aside from that, I don't really enjoy them-they're too small and limited, and the weapon modes suck compared to the battle masters; I didn't pick up the titan masters/prime masters for the same reason.
As such, would have prefered proper legends class figures for sure.

I haven't felt compelled to get many micromasters, but here are my thoughts on the few I have.

I really liked Laserbeak and Ravage (yeah yeah cue the fat jokes :rolleyes: ), but they're fun for what they are. I've transformed them numerous times, which is a good indication I like a toy. I even went so far as to get a second set to display sealed. People have complained Ravage doesn't look enough like a jaguar, but he's not supposed to, so I don't count that as a fair criticism.

Storm Cloud and Visper I have to admit I didn't know who they were prior to Siege, but I really liked the look of the combined sword mode as it reminded me of Armada Star Saber so I picked them up. The combined mode is very nice and it's how I display them, but the transformation is quote annoying due to parts popping off. The bot and jet modes don't look bad, but switching between either one is unpleasant.

Beyond that the only other Micromasters I've felt compelled to get were Irontread and Wheel Blaze and that's ONLY because I had the original G1s as a kid. Objectively, I think they're pretty weak figures. Sure, they have knees now, but in a lot of other ways the G1 versions are just nicer. For example, something as simple as back kibble is done better on the original Ironworks toy than on Irontread, I know people are going to say I'm being nitpicky and who looks at figures from the back, but if the issue was already solved, why undo it?

On a side note, have to give a shout out to GoktimusPrime for splitting the Micromaster 10 pack with me!

I was a bit too old to get into G1 Micromasters (in other words was no longer getting toys for gifts and was spending my spare cash on uni life) but I did admire them from afar. They had amazing detail when compared to larger toys from the mid-80s and stood as a collection unto themselves, complete with combiners, transports and bases. They never looked like they should be displayed or played with other Transformers, and that's my problem with the new ones. They are just tacked onto a collection they don't really fit (spy patrols aside). I reckon a simple re-release of the original range would appeal to kids even today.

As an aside, one larger toy they would look good with is the proposed Unicron, if it ever happens.

I agree, it was a shame to lose the traditional legends line, especially as the last few waves were some of the best legends toys ever. There were many more figures I could see fitting in there and filling out the gaps.

That said, I was really excited to get the Micromasters. Then I saw them... two packs and leaving out some favourites like Mudslinger, Tailspin, Nightflight, Tailwind and Sunrunner. At least Flak was in the bunch.

But okay, I'm still on board. Then I got them... they were cheap fiddly and couldn't be transformed without falling apart in my hands. That's with me being one of the more gentle operators.

Since then apart from the cassettes (who aren't Micromasters), it's been mostly a bunch of repaints.

So I'm not impressed. I will likely keep buying any new characters if made but I'm not excited by them and may be selective.

Here's a comparison of G1 Micromasters to Siege Micromasters:
https://i.imgur.com/Ue0xrNAl.png
As I said before, a very nice scale matching.

However, with these guys, the weapon modes are particularly ludicrous:
https://i.imgur.com/e53eX20l.png
If I'd been designing these toys, I'd have added some extra stuff to make them more gunlike, vaguely akin to Targetmasters with detachable kibble.
Red Heat is the only one who comes close to being an actual gun, because his ladder extension looks almost like a gun barrel.

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Originally Posted by Dan

I was a bit too old to get into G1 Micromasters (in other words was no longer getting toys for gifts and was spending my spare cash on uni life) but I did admire them from afar. They had amazing detail when compared to larger toys from the mid-80s and stood as a collection unto themselves, complete with combiners, transports and bases. They never looked like they should be displayed or played with other Transformers, and that's my problem with the new ones. They are just tacked onto a collection they don't really fit (spy patrols aside). I reckon a simple re-release of the original range would appeal to kids even today.

As an aside, one larger toy they would look good with is the proposed Unicron, if it ever happens.

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The competition (gimmick they were aping) was Micro Machines. They had to look good to compete.

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Originally Posted by Tilarta

However, with these guys, the weapon modes are particularly ludicrous:
https://i.imgur.com/e53eX20l.png

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I like how you've matched the guns and gun-slingers according to alt mode (a fire engine wielding a fire engine etc). It's cool while also highlighting how silly the whole thing is. :)

So I have two versions of the Off Road Patrol moulds now. I have the 10 pack version and the standard wave 3 retail version. Honestly, the Off Road Patrol moulds are a massive improvement over previous Micromaster moulds. It seems like they might have gotten their act together in regards to Micromaster design and QC.

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

So I have two versions of the Off Road Patrol moulds now. I have the 10 pack version and the standard wave 3 retail version. Honestly, the Off Road Patrol moulds are a massive improvement over previous Micromaster moulds. It seems like they might have gotten their act together in regards to Micromaster design and QC.

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Where did ya score the 10-pack from?

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

Where did ya score the 10-pack from?

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Robot Kingdom. They sold out pretty quickly.

I just got the new wave of Micromasters (Ratbat, Rumble, Direct Hit and Power Punch). Once again these figures are much improved over the first 3 waves. I feel like HasTak has figured out how to make Micromasters that are good. Of course, if you've been a hater of Micromasters since the 80's this isn't going to change your mind, but if you're like me and love the old Micromasters these new moulds are welcome.