NY Toyfair 2018 investor preview presentation

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17th February 2018, 12:20 PM
griffin

NY Toyfair 2018 investor preview presentation
As a teaser to the main displays and presentations at the New York Toyfair this weekend, the Investor event was held yesterday, and it gave us a lot of new info about the next year of Transformers.
Quote:
A RESET for the Transformers Live Action Movie Series.
Transformers 6 (Sequel to Transformers: The Last Knight) is� not happening.
China Exclusive Transformers Animated Series in 2019: Nesha And The Transformers
New Transformers Digital Centers in the future.
Transformers: Trading Card Game
Bumblebee: The Movie Trailer
New look at Transformers: Cyberverse
Transformers Mighty Muggs (coming out in the Fall)
In the included slideshow images, we have announcements (or intentions) of things like themed interactive centres, licensed themed hotel rooms, "Quick Strike" team at Hasbro to develop and produce consumer demand products faster than normal retailer toylines, and their expansion into China continues with more original/exclusive Chinese content with a cartoon this time (called Nesha and the Transformers).

An early trailer "sizzle" was also shown to Investors, but not to media or fansites (or they also saw it but had to say that so that people didn't hound them for details).
17th February 2018, 04:54 PM
DELTAprime

Here's the first images out of Hasbro's Toy Fair stuff...

Mighty Muggs

http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/02/16/n...-images-358807
17th February 2018, 05:08 PM
BigTransformerTrev

Well considering my lack of interest in rewatching my TF5 Blu Ray I cant say I�m disappointed there will be a movie reboot, though I would have quite liked to see the Quintessa/Unicron storyline play out.

The new Mighty Muggs look cool but a shame that so far it only seems to be characters that already got the MM treatment last time round.

So welcome but for me somewhat bittersweet news all up
17th February 2018, 05:15 PM
griffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by DELTAprime

Here's the first images out of Hasbro's Toy Fair stuff...

Mighty Muggs

http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/02/16/n...-images-358807

So... US$10 each, and they are shiny with three different faces underneath the helmet. (images show Optimus, Bumblebee, Megatron and Starscream, but said to be more - maybe that's just the first wave)

I wonder why Optimus has two angry faces (even the masked face has angry eyes).
Megatron only has one angry face (one is a beaten face while the other is a stern unamused face)... surely Optimus, the most pure of pure heroes, shouldn't even have one angry face.
Hasbro used to be so protective of the wholesome image of Optimus Prime... but then the Movie version started callously killing defeated Decepticons in cold blood and wanting to kill humans.
17th February 2018, 05:36 PM
griffin

That Mighty Muggs news link says that they are coming out in (US) Spring, not Fall (the date listed on the Investor presentation in the first post).
If this new date is correct, these should be out around March-May.
17th February 2018, 06:33 PM
tinyJazz

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

I wonder why Optimus has two angry faces (even the masked face has angry eyes).
Megatron only has one angry face (one is a beaten face while the other is a stern unamused face)... surely Optimus, the most pure of pure heroes, shouldn't even have one angry face.

Maybe he�s just mad at evil-doers? It�s kind of his job.

Anyway, I love these, the expressions are great.
17th February 2018, 06:47 PM
DELTAprime

I feel like there are people within Hasbro that have forgotten what Optimus Prime stands for. They have watched angry, pissed off Bayverse Optimus too many times.

He's meant to be the "boy scout" Captain America architype.
17th February 2018, 07:19 PM
griffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I feel like there are people within Hasbro that have forgotten what Optimus Prime stands for. They have watched angry, pissed off Bayverse Optimus too many times.

He's meant to be the "boy scout" Captain America architype.

Exactly. Optimus Prime was like Superman - the iconic, "pure" hero that inspired kids to want to be like them. And it takes a good writer to be able to create a plausible plot device that maintains that purity, without weakness or loss of the public's faith in them.
Unfortunately, new age (lazy) writers and directors want to create flaws and doubt in the heroes of movies, as if giving facets of a personality make the story more interesting... when all it does is have everyone question the loyalty or integrity of that character from then on. Once you lose trust, you never fully regain it.
Movie Optimus didn't have to kill defeated and unarmed Decepticons, or humans if the script writers good enough to work around it or not have it at all (neither aided the overall plot), and the new Superman didn't have to kill Zod by his own hands if the writers were clever enough to create some other way of neutralising or killing off the evil Kryptonians. Movie/TV Superman was trusted by fans and to the characters in that universe, to not kill anyone directly or by his own hands. (I'd like to think that the comic universe Superman hasn't intentionally killed anyone either, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has in more recent times... just to make it more edgy and news-worthy.)

Even Peter Cullen was heartbroken about how Movie Optimus was portrayed after the 2007 movie, with more of a bloodlust enjoyment like a Decepticon, and killing unarmed prisoners. I remember how much pride Peter had in voicing Optimus when he was at the various BotCons I went to, but then the last couple of times I saw him (his last BotCon, and the Supanova in Brisbane 2014), he just didn't have the same heart... it sounded more like it was just a paycheck to him, when before, he'd probably have done it for free, just to be a part of a character that kids looked up to since the 1980s, and to also allow him to honour the spirit of his brother through Optimus.

(okay... that's enough of my ranting on that subject... for now :p )
17th February 2018, 08:41 PM
Jellico

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

As a teaser to the main displays and presentations at the New York Toyfair this weekend, [URL="http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/02/16/tfw2005-coverage-toy-fair-2018-hasbro-investor-preview-event-358628"] expansion into China continues with more original/exclusive Chinese content with a cartoon this time (called Nesha and the Transformers).

Innnntresting. Money to make. Is there a community there? Does this mean more Chinese archetypes? Could a pure Optimus exist there?
17th February 2018, 08:55 PM
bowspearer

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

Unfortunately, new age (lazy) writers and directors want to create flaws and doubt in the heroes of movies, as if giving facets of a personality make the story more interesting... when all it does is have everyone question the loyalty or integrity of that character from then on. Once you lose trust, you never fully regain it.

And yet the irony is that when Optimus is done properly he is flawed. His whole "boyscout" thing is the result of guilt over bringing the war to earth in the Marvel Comics, while the death of Ratchet for example, rocks him to the core.

In retrospect, one of the things that IDW really screwed up with is how little the death of Bumblebee seemed to affect Optimus Prime. In the Marvel Comic, the death of Ratchet temporarily broke him, but in IDW I didn't see any of that with the death of Bumblebee.

The problem is the director of the live action movies and always has been - Bay is little to no substance and all style. That's great if you're shooting a commercial or music video, or simply to dazzle audiences into seats to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, but it's never going to get you anything of artistic merit or critical acclaim.