New series of Generations toys coming this year?

[Gouki]

Why does it always have to be G1? Because it became first? Please. There plenty of Beast Wars and G2 characters I'd rather see than some more Autobot cars from 1984 - 86, and you know that's what they'll do.

Late run characters, G1.5 or G2 characters would be very awesome, though. something different, satisfies the G1 requests (even though in the end people say "oh its not the original, it has different colours, why no original weapons, bawk bawk" generally anyway.:P) and gives lesser known members of the Lost Light crew and it's enemies franchise a chance to shine.

[Bidoofdude]

Why does it always have to be G1? Because it became first? Please. There plenty of Beast Wars and G2 characters I'd rather see than some more Autobot cars from 1984 - 86, and you know that's what they'll do.

Late run characters, G1.5 or G2 characters would be very awesome, though. something different, satisfies the G1 requests (even though in the end people say "oh its not the original, it has different colours, why no original weapons, bawk bawk" generally anyway.:P) and gives lesser known members of the Lost Light crew and it's enemies franchise a chance to shine.

It is mainly G1 characters, so we can appreciate those characters, only with better engineering and in many Classicsverse toys case, show or comic accuracy.
Toys from lines such as Beast Wars had much better engineering and were not as much bricks.

G2, AFAIK, is not as popular or iconic as G1 and Hastak would prefer to take the more popular option.
Like I have said, G1 style figures in the classics/generations line are there to be more advanced (in toy engineering) than their bricky G1 counterparts.

Sure, more G2 or BW would be nice, but it simply wouldn't be a practical and efficient approach to the line, as younger kids (target audience) can easily recognise characters in G1 form, as they look much more like the latest characters in lines such as Prime or Bayformers.
If you would like more G2, just stick to that line and get them, as they don't seem to be as popular when compared to G1, as G1 (84-86 at least) had a comic and tv series to back it up.
However, lines such as Rid have proven this to not always be correct, as that line sold extremely well, way before a cartoon was ever produced to follow.

Also, many of the Classics/generations toys have been made to represent a character's form in appropriate fiction, such as FOC or the classics seeker mold being faithful to the cartoon, RATHER THAN the original toy.

Pretty much what I'm trying to say is that most classicsverse figures tend to be based on their counterpart in fiction, such as the G1 cartoon or comic series, rather than the original toy release.
I can see what you're saying and many characters in lines such as BW and G2 deserve their own classicsverse figure, but it would not be faithful to anything. Maybe a redeco of it's g1 counterpart to represent G2 would be good, but I don't think Hasbro would go out of their way to produce a character that isn't as popular as others, which are in their G1-style.

A better idea would be IDW-based Generations figures, or dreamwave or something, as the toy would be faithful to their appearance in the comic, rather than their toy.

Sorry for the LONG explanation but I'm not very good at speeches. Good day.

[Gouki]

It is mainly G1 characters, so we can appreciate those characters, only with better engineering and in many Classicsverse toys case, show or comic accuracy.

I absolutely love how my Perceptor and Kup look exactly like they did in the comics and cartoon. Oh, wait they didn't. Instead, Hasbro opted for toys that look familiar (at first) with modern engineering. I've never heard that the Classics toys were specifically modelled on the cartoon or comic. Because they weren't.

Toys from lines such as Beast Wars had much better engineering and were not as much bricks.

Oh yeah, so we totally don't need any new figures because of that? I guess that there shouldn't be any further Grimlock toys ever, once FOC comes out then. Probably shouldn't have been one after Classics or even MP then.

Beast Wars had some fantastic toys and engineering, but there are definitely some updates I'd like to see and we are going to be approaching the time in the next five years where the majority of fans grew up with Beast Wars rather than G1. well maybe not majority, but it is going to skew in the favour of the Beasts.

G2, AFAIK, is not as popular or iconic as G1 and Hastak would prefer to take the more popular option.

At general retail it doesn't really matter. The kids will by the cooler looking ones. But I suppose you do raise a good point. Thunderwing, Octane and Drift are insanely iconic.

Like I have said, G1 style figures in the classics/generations line are there to be more advanced (in toy engineering) than their bricky G1 counterparts.

No. The classics figures are there to present old characters in modern stylings. To children. If the bricky G1 counterparts sold off the shelves today, they would be what was getting released. The more varied characters Hasbro sell, the more characters they take risks on.

Sure, more G2 or BW would be nice, but it simply wouldn't be a practical and efficient approach to the line, as younger kids (target audience) can easily recognise characters in G1 form, as they look much more like the latest characters in lines such as Prime or Bayformers.

Okay. With Prime and the Bay movies (seriously saying Bayformers just makes you look like an idiot--and that's directed at everyone who uses it), they're not recognising the characters you grew up with in new forms, you are. They're recognising the characters that they grew up with. They just happen to reuse the names. It's kind of like how to many people Robin is Dick, and to many (with better taste :P) Robin is Tim.

If you would like more G2, just stick to that line and get them, as they don't seem to be as popular when compared to G1, as G1 (84-86 at least) had a comic and tv series to back it up.

Womp womp. G1 didn't end in 86, you can argue all you want but it didn't. And so if I don't fall in line with 'G1 is the best ever at everything', I should just buy the old bricky toys and accept that? Oh please. If you like G1 so much you should just stick to that line. See how reductive that reasoning is? G2 is a rich field for Hasbro to plow. Just like BW. And there's more than enough room for all the lines; because it's not about your childhood characters. It's about making characters for the childhoods of today; and only using G1 is restricting that, when really, they've already scraped the barrel for easily recogniseable, iconic G1 characters without breaking the (silly) no Voyager rule or risking a massive loss. I mean, yeah I would love a Chromedome or a Trailbreaker or a Skids myself, but would you really call them iconic?

(Though that said, if Bruticus and Ruination do well, I have a feeling we will see a Devastator and Defensor in the future).

However, lines such as Rid have proven this to not always be correct, as that line sold extremely well, way before a cartoon was ever produced to follow.

Yes, and outside of the Movie, Animated and Prime, the Transformers lines have lacked fiction and that hasn't stopped them from being successful.

Also, many of the Classics/generations toys have been made to represent a character's form in appropriate fiction, such as FOC or the classics seeker mold being faithful to the cartoon, RATHER THAN the original toy.

No they haven't. There was the Universe toys which had Cheetor, Dinobot and Hot Shot as "blah blah series" figures, but outside of FOC (which was just poor marketing to release the figures well after the game had left the publics conscious), they have just been old characters distilled into a modern engineered toy.

Pretty much what I'm trying to say is that most classicsverse figures tend to be based on their counterpart in fiction, such as the G1 cartoon or comic series, rather than the original toy release.

Remember the time in the cartoon Megatron turned into a Nerf gun? Bumblebee used the Wavecrasher? Grimlock was tiny? No neither do I. The classics figures are Aligned before there was even an Aligned continuity. They weren't based on one specific fictional appearance. They took everything and melted it down into a modern figure that would look catch the eyes of kids.

I can see what you're saying and many characters in lines such as BW and G2 deserve their own classicsverse figure, but it would not be faithful to anything. Maybe a redeco of it's g1 counterpart to represent G2 would be good, but I don't think Hasbro would go out of their way to produce a character that isn't as popular as others, which are in their G1-style.

How would it not be faithful to anything? So by your logic Cybertron, for example was an abject failure because it wasn't just G1 figures? So, looking at the list of Classics released you would really say Jetfire is iconic? Really? So lots of people other than Transformer fans would recognise him easily? Same for Ramjet? The minicon packs? Or (moving on to Universe) Onslaught or Acid Storm or Blades or Heavy Load? Think hard now.

A better idea would be IDW-based Generations figures, or dreamwave or something, as the toy would be faithful to their appearance in the comic, rather than their toy.

'Dreamwave' and 'better idea' are unmixy. Also, no they wouldn't be a better idea. You either have them loking boxy, awful and designs ten years old or you have them all based on comic appearances that change every single time there is a reboot (or in the case of certain artists, every time someone else takes over from them).

[Bidoofdude]

@ "I absolutely love how my Perceptor and Kup look exactly like they did in the comics and cartoon. Oh, wait they didn't. Instead, Hasbro opted for toys that look familiar (at first) with modern engineering. I've never heard that the Classics toys were specifically modelled on the cartoon or comic. Because they weren't."

I never said they were solely and completely based on their various forms. Like you said, they are new takes on older, recognisable characters, BUT (hehe I have a butt) they still utilise the toy making technology of today.

Oh yeah, so we totally don't need any new figures because of that? I guess that there shouldn't be any further Grimlock toys ever, once FOC comes out then. Probably shouldn't have been one after Classics or even MP then.
FOC Grimlock is based on a particular form of his, which of course is his game model. (close to it) What I was saying was that toys such as Beast Wars were much closer to their cartoon counterparts than 84-86 transformers toys, which makes them of lesser priority for an update.

"Beast Wars had some fantastic toys and engineering, but there are definitely some updates I'd like to see and we are going to be approaching the time in the next five years where the majority of fans grew up with Beast Wars rather than G1. well maybe not majority, but it is going to skew in the favour of the Beasts."
Yes, there are many who grew up with Beast Wars and [I]some[/I updates are in order, but I am sure most fans and kids alike would prefer vehicles over beasts, as there are many more basis' for them to grow up with, which kind of makes BW in the minority, seeing as there are many more shows featuring vehicles rather than beasts, which brings me to the point that fans are not all of one age group and the fanbase varies hugely, which makes it quite hard to reassure yourself of a certain majority. God that was a long sentence.
As has been stated in various threads about various topics, there are many fans who do not make themselves visible to anyone else and keep their collection/fandom to themselves. Sorry for my rant there.




No. The classics figures are there to present old characters in modern stylings. To children. If the bricky G1 counterparts sold off the shelves today, they would be what was getting released. The more varied characters Hasbro sell, the more characters they take risks on.

Yes, that is correct, as you and I have both stated.
However, children would rather, IMHO and others' opinions, take a character they have seen in a cartoon or comic, rather than a character featured in a game for those of a mature age, or an old cartoon/movie/comic.


Okay. With Prime and the Bay movies (seriously saying Bayformers just makes you look like an idiot--and that's directed at everyone who uses it), they're not recognising the characters you grew up with in new forms, you are. They're recognising the characters that they grew up with. They just happen to reuse the names. It's kind of like how to many people Robin is Dick, and to many (with better taste :P) Robin is Tim.

Yes, they reuse names to a large extent. Most of the time (though not all the time) the character with the reused name looks or acts similar to their older counterpart. And yes, why I am an idiot for saying that, but I'm not stupid.
Anyway, you just said Bayformers and I don't see why we shouldn't use it, as we said G1 before it was official and classicsverse. So it makes sense, as it is telling us the basis of the continuity it represents, like G1 or the Unicron Trilogy.

[quote]If you would like more G2, just stick to that line and get them, as they don't seem to be as popular when compared to G1, as G1 (84-86 at least) had a comic and tv series to back it up.[quote]

Womp womp. G1 didn't end in 86, you can argue all you want but it didn't. And so if I don't fall in line with 'G1 is the best ever at everything', I should just buy the old bricky toys and accept that? Oh please. If you like G1 so much you should just stick to that line. See how reductive that reasoning is? G2 is a rich field for Hasbro to plow. Just like BW. And there's more than enough room for all the lines; because it's not about your childhood characters. It's about making characters for the childhoods of today; and only using G1 is restricting that, when really, they've already scraped the barrel for easily recogniseable, iconic G1 characters without breaking the (silly) no Voyager rule or risking a massive loss. I mean, yeah I would love a Chromedome or a Trailbreaker or a Skids myself, but would you really call them iconic?
I explicitly stated at least 84-86, which means that I am only referring to a certain part, so go on and rant all you want. I see what you mean with the point that I made also applying to G1, but G2 or beast Wars aren't the main basis for the characters used today.
Look at Prime Ratchet. Extremely uncanny G1 Ratchet resemblance. So much resemblance that he could pass of as a classics ratchet if the cartoon never happened and the toy was still produced.

(Though that said, if Bruticus and Ruination do well, I have a feeling we will see a Devastator and Defensor in the future).
Hopefully, yes we will.


Yes, and outside of the Movie, Animated and Prime, the Transformers lines have lacked fiction and that hasn't stopped them from being successful.
Yes, as they mostly resemble an older form of a character. The thing is, kids, like teens and (crappy) music today, will lap up these toys regardless of any other factors, BW, G2 or not. Cartoons or comics are just boosters for sales.

No they haven't. There was the Universe toys which had Cheetor, Dinobot and Hot Shot as "blah blah series" figures, but outside of FOC (which was just poor marketing to release the figures well after the game had left the publics conscious), they have just been old characters distilled into a modern engineered toy.
Yes, but those were really just things to make people happy on the 25th anniversary, as most fans would rejoice that year. Most of those toys were pretty bad anyway, although Dinobot's not half bad. Foc went as fast as it could and most of its character models were heavily based off of their G1 forms. You don't see a huge metal bat grab hold of a tentacle-thingo and fly into space and hit another ship and rebuild a dinosaur, do you?


Remember the time in the cartoon Megatron turned into a Nerf gun?
YEAH! That was classics. -_- (kidding here)
Bumblebee used the Wavecrasher? Grimlock was tiny? No neither do I. The classics figures are Aligned before there was even an Aligned continuity. They weren't based on one specific fictional appearance. They took everything and melted it down into a modern figure that would look catch the eyes of kids.

These figures, IMO, were something on the side (always were) of all the Cybertron cartoon mish-mash. They were, I think, something to stop fans from complaining, or at least to keep them buying the brand, even if they were in the minority of people buying transformers, when compared to children. They were close enough to their G1 counterparts so that they would be bought by anyone, even the casual guy who remembers TFs from their childhood and may recognise a specific character. Sure, kids may buy them, but that doesn't mean that they resemble any less of their popular counterparts.
Like it or not, G1 is very popular, probably slightly more than BW and Has/tak, if they had half a brain (in this case they do- pretend at least)they would release toys based on the more popular line. Whether you like it or not, it's more popular, for a variety of weird and wacky reasons.

I can see what you're saying and many characters in lines such as BW and G2 deserve their own classicsverse figure, but it would not be faithful to anything. Maybe a redeco of it's g1 counterpart to represent G2 would be good, but I don't think Hasbro would go out of their way to produce a character that isn't as popular as others, which are in their G1-style.



[B]'Dreamwave' and 'better idea' are unmixy. Also, no they wouldn't be a better idea. You either have them loking boxy, awful and designs ten years old or you have them all based on comic appearances that change every single time there is a reboot (or in the case of certain artists, every time someone else takes over from them).
Yes, I shouldn't have said Dreamwave, I just wanted something else to add to make what I was saying better. But IDW is good.
And if there is a reboot, in a popular series like IDW, then it's time for a new figure!
Overall, ask yourself this. Would you rather have an Optimus Prime figure with the newest technology that looks like something you know and like, as an update, or would you like something you've never seen before. Sure, there's creativity in the unseen one, but that's what nostalgia does to you. Screws you up. It makes us buy pieces of plastic at inflated prices and we can't stop.
We may like it, but we have to live with it, whether we like it or not.
Sorry for the rant. Glad if you read it all.

[SuspectimusPrime]

While we're talking about potential Generations IDW character releases, I just found out that Takara has beaten Hasbro to the chase with Classics IDW Senator Ratbat (http://www.capturedprey.com/store/ta...ns_tg20_ratbat) in its shiny painted goodness, a la Classics Scourge mould!

Just look at that headsculpt and those paint apps! What a thing of beauty! Also - fingers crossed for Classics IDW Senator Shockwave

[Bidoofdude]

While we're talking about potential Generations IDW character releases, I just found out that Takara has beaten Hasbro to the chase with Classics IDW Senator Ratbat (http://www.capturedprey.com/store/ta...ns_tg20_ratbat) in its shiny painted goodness, a la Classics Scourge mould!

Just look at that headsculpt and those paint apps! What a thing of beauty! Also - fingers crossed for Classics IDW Senator Shockwave

That was in the news a couple days ago. -_-
Points for finding out though!

[SuspectimusPrime]

That was in the news a couple days ago. -_-
Points for finding out though!

Yes just realised TFW2005 had it first, but it's news to me! Was just thinking about Ratbat wallpapers for after getting a Ratbat-like cassette iPhone cover when I Googled that up

[Paulbot]

Why does it always have to be G1? Because it became first? Please. There plenty of Beast Wars and G2 characters I'd rather see than some more Autobot cars from 1984 - 86, and you know that's what they'll do.

Late run characters, G1.5 or G2 characters would be very awesome, though. something different, satisfies the G1 requests (even though in the end people say "oh its not the original, it has different colours, why no original weapons, bawk bawk" generally anyway.:P) and gives lesser known members of the Lost Light crew and it's enemies franchise a chance to shine.

I'm all for variety, heck I'd like to see a new BW Rhinox, BM Jetstorm, RID Sky-Byte, Armada Scavenger, Cybertron Overhaul (and many others from the 80s and 90s too) but see no reason to argue for leaving out the last few Autobot cars/minibots since there's only four needed to complete the set. (All of whom are aboard the Lost Light actually, one's even a major character.)

There's allegedly 40 toys, so if four of them are the remaining Autobots (and a fifth is Blitzwing) there's still 35 other figures that could be in the mix.

With Prime and the Bay movies (seriously saying Bayformers just makes you look like an idiot--and that's directed at everyone who uses it)

No it doesn't. I prefer Movieverse myself, but Bayformers is well established shorthand.

[Lord_Zed]

While we're talking about potential Generations IDW character releases, I just found out that Takara has beaten Hasbro to the chase with Classics IDW Senator Ratbat (http://www.capturedprey.com/store/ta...ns_tg20_ratbat) in its shiny painted goodness, a la Classics Scourge mould!

Just look at that headsculpt and those paint apps! What a thing of beauty! Also - fingers crossed for Classics IDW Senator Shockwave

He looks nice being a repaint of a mold that was created before The Great Cheapening, but I worry for the future Generations toys. The FOC toys with their smaller stature, decreased paint aps (locally at least) and lower part count and complexity feel really lacking.

[SuspectimusPrime]

He looks nice being a repaint of a mold that was created before The Great Cheapening, but I worry for the future Generations toys. The FOC toys with their smaller stature, decreased paint aps (locally at least) and lower part count and complexity feel really lacking.

I really hope the cheapening is confined to FOC/Prime toys and when HasTak eventually returns to G1 Classics/Generations (to supplement the next movie?) they would produce at their previous benchmarks again.