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

[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 Movie Divebomb (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 ) 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.

[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 ) 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!!!