Cyberverse - are the toys getting too simple or are people getting dumber?

[shockNwave]

Years ago the Animated line was released and it proved to be the most kiddie-friendly in appearance than any that came before it. It proved you can have a simplistic, comical looking Transformer that can also have a challenging and involved level of transformation, so as to appeal to both children and adults alike. The Animated series deserves praise for being so balanced.

Then began the devolution, starting with RID15. A series that is crap throughout most of it's classes due to it's simpler transformations but the warrior/deluxe class is it's strength with gems like Jazz, Scorponok/Paralon, Fracture, Bisk/Thermidor and Megatronus/Blastwave/Bludgeon among others.

Now we have Cyberverse, whose designs are worthy of a McDonalds outlet while being a rip off and disregards the adult collectors at the same time.

Conclusion: If RID15 is the poor man's Animated then Cyberverse is the rock bottom man's version.

[Paulbot]

I think that the reason these toys are getting this much negative response is the G1 style. There's a blind eye given to the Rescue Bot toys by a lot of the adult collectors because those "are for kids" (in other words "not me").

There's a blind eye given to the RID toys for the same reason (despite a good cartoon and some great Warrior class toys). This is evident by how little discussion on this board revolves around those lines (despite some of us collecting them).

If these new Cyberverse toys were based on a new season of the RID cartoon instead of the holy G1 cartoon people would surely be looking right past these.

The 6+ thing? These toys have packaging for multiple countries so probably the most restrictive country (which ever that is) sets the minimum.

I was going to make the same point as Galvatran, these toys are market tested and based on market research for the audience they see.

I agree the price tag on the warriors is too much for me. I saw Shockwave, the one I actually want to buy, for $32, $35, and $42 across three stores - but for $20 I would have got him.

Looking across other toy lines (outside collector aimed lines like Black Series and Marvel Legends) the Warrior class toys look on par with the other "boy toys" out there.

[i_amtrunks]

I actually think the rescue boys toys are awesome. They all have gimmicks to their transformations and are quick and easy for their age bracket. The colour schemes are nice and they toys themselves make it clear as to what parts are meant to do what in the 1-5 steps of transformation. As a bonus they feel tough and I’ve seen the rough play they can handle first hand.

From all reports of people holding these and using them, it really does seem like the quality and design aspects ate incredibly low, which is where I see the real loss of value for money. Why spend $40 on what looks like and reviews as a knock off toy when for the same money I can get a 300 piece LEGO set, 3 Star Wars figures, a nerf blaster bigger than my head or any number of 6+ month old console games?

[GoktimusPrime]

Rescue Bots are also no worse than pre-school targeted TF toys that have come before them
e.g. First Transformers, 1-2-3 Transformers, Go-Go-Go-Bots/TF Big Adventures etc.
And IMO Rescue Bots are actually the best of these lines (as someone who has collected from each of them ). So in that context I think they're great.

But in the context of toys aimed at school aged kids, which most Transformer lines are (including G1 etc. -- think about how old you were when you got your first Transformer) I find Cyberverse just indefensible. Even compared to more recent lines that have stylistically "kiddified" (for lack of a better term) such as Animated, Prime and RiD Ver 2, I find that Cyberverse still falls distinctively short.

Voyager TFPRiD Megatron was a toy that I gave quite a negative review on, and I still think is a lacklustre toy... but comparing him with Ultimate Class Megatron last night and suddenly Voyager TFPRiD Megatron looks good. Only that the Ultimate Megatron was about $15 dearer! These Cyberverse toys are making toys that I previously considered bad look good!

For those who haven't noticed yet, my reviews for the Cyberverse Ultimate leaders are here:
Optimus Prime
Megatron