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

[GoktimusPrime]

I saw the Ultra Class toys at Target today. These are "open packaged" in robot mode, so I could get a close look and touch.
Oh... my... flipping... god...
I couldn't even bring myself to impulse buy one of them like I have with the Warriors and Ultimates. Grimlock was the most tempting. I did scan him and was going to buy him, but my Voice of Reason(TM) came and kicked me in the janglies and forced me to put him back on the shelf.

The toys do NOT look like Ultras. They wouldn't even pass for very good Deluxes. I had a close look at Grimlock and Starscream and couldn't see any knee joints. I tried turning Grimlock's head and it wouldn't budge - so apparent lack of head articulation. All on a set of $40 figures.

My very first Beast Wars toy was an Ultra Class. Found it in 1996 sitting on a shelf at some obscure variety store (I didn't find BW toys at majors until 1997). It was Optimus Primal (below, left).

The Cyberverse Ultras are $40 which is about how much the BW Ultras cost.

"BUT---!"
Okay, okay, it's probably not fair for me to compare Cyberverse Ultras with previous Ultras (the most recent being the Universe Ultras like Silverbolt, Onslaught etc. which were at the $70 price point). So let's compare them with something of near equivalent value, which I would say is the Voyager Class (typical RRP $50, but it's not unusual to find them for $45 or less). And this was how my Voice of Reason(TM) delivered its swift kick. Because I was thinking about walking over the the counter to buy Ultra Grimlock thinking that this was "only a $40 toy" and that I can't really compare it with previous Ultras. But then my Voice of Reason(TM) told me that for an extra $5-10 I could just go and buy POTP Voyager Grimlock. And as much as POTP Voyager Grimlock doesn't personally appeal to me, it is much better value for money than blowing $40 on Cyberverse Ultra Grimlock!

Seriously. If I were a kid today looking to buy Grimlock, and let's say my parents agreed to spend $40... I'd most likely try to convince them to spend a few more dollars on POTP Grimlock instead. I would beg and even promise to be extra good or do additional chores or study harder at school etc. I know this because I used to do this a fair number of times when I was a kid in the 80s and my mum might've only been willing to spend enough money to by a cheaper Machine Man but I wanted a more expensive Transformer. Even if it meant buying fewer toys - like she might say, "You can have 2 Machine Men or 1 Transformer" -- I chose 1 Transformer. If I were a kid today with a limited budget (as children do with no disposable income) and I really wanted a Grimlock toy? Yeah, I'd take that 1 POTP Grimlock over the Cyberverse Grimlock plus another toy. And if I were doing birthday or Xmas shopping and my parents were feeling more generous? You bet your asteroid I'd be asking for the better and dearer toy. Quality over quantity. As Trev said, it really feels like these toys are assuming that kids have low standards.

[SharkyMcShark]

I just can't quite understand what this toyline is being done in service of. Are these figures really going to bring new collectors into the line?

I think that we're having a hard time adjusting as collectors purely on the basis that this is the toyline for the main ongoing television fiction of the series, and the toys are PreSkool level at best. Granted, RiD2015 was a step down, but the toylines for Prime and Animated were at the level of the simultaneously released movie/generations figures.

-snip-

The only part of those Ultras I've seen that even remotely tickles me is the faux macross style missile spam gimmick on Starscream.

[GoktimusPrime]

I have no idea who the target market for these Cyberverse toys are. They're being pitched at school-aged children but are clearly below their engagement level, yet the engineering is honestly still the level for most preschoolers. To put it bluntly, they're too simple for kids but too fiddly for infants (because they still require a level of fine motor dexterity that's beyond what your typical toddler can do. Infants typically hold a pencil or crayon with a palmer grip - either a simple cylindrical grasp or a primitive digital grasp. Preschoolers will be starting to use a simplified tripod grip but it's not really until school age that most kids have developed the dexterity to even begin learning how to hold a pencil with a proper tripod grip. And it's also more physically exhausting for smaller hands to manipulate smaller parts. This is why toys aimed at infants use larger parts - aside from preventing choking hazards, it's physically easier for smaller hands to manipulate them. Think about when you get a really tiny flat single stud Lego piece that's attached to another single stud piece and you want to separate those pieces. Sometimes it's not easy and you gotta use a strong grip to separate them. This is why Duplo uses larger pieces. It gives more more of a gripping surface that makes it easier for smaller hands to manipulate.

Similarly when we look at Rescue Bots we see that the parts that need to be manipulated for transformation are large and require less precise motor skills. Getting some of the Cyberverse pieces to tab into the slots can be just as tricky as on other Transformer toys. Watch any video review of Cyberverse Warrior Starscream and look at how the leg tabs slot into the chest when going to jet mode. Or Ultimate Optimus Prime's legs when transforming to truck mode. It's not simple! Buuuut it's not really challenging either in a fun way. It's just tricky because it's fiddly. Fiddly toys are not good toys for infants! Yet the toys are still too basic for children. What?!

And you're absolutely right. How are these toys going to bring new collectors into the line? Or how is it going to maintain current collectors to stay and not quit? Actually, the children who grew up with Transformers Prime are now teenagers. I wonder how many of them are still fans today?

Forget style for a moment. In terms of engineering I found that the early RiD toys weren't very strong, but the later figures got a lot better. By the time we got around to RiD Warrior Starscream, Blurr etc., the engineering had become actually very good. RiD Warrior Starscream is one of my favourite of the Aligned Warriors/Deluxes. He's a lot more solid than TFP Deluxe Starscream and he incorporates part of the cockpit into the chest (whereas on TFP it just sits above his butt as kibble). RiD Warrior Starscream turned out to be a better toy than I expected and engineering-wise, was a step up from TFP. Cyberverse Warrior Starscream is jump down.

[Bemblebuu]

Thank goodness for 3rd party TF toys!

[GoktimusPrime]

Thank goodness for 3rd party TF toys!

[SharkyMcShark]

*waves Planet X Vulcun in your face*

[griffin]

Unfortunately, if TakaraTomy are now just a clone of Hasbro (no more alternative versions of Hasbro toys) and Hasbro are producing less dedicated-collector toys, with the focus being on Cyberverse, Rescue Bots and Movie toys (being mostly aimed at under 10s), the unauthorised toy producers are going to get a lot more popular in the next few years as fans look for more homage toys or toys of characters that have never been produced officially.
I may not support or advocate unauthorised toys, but I understand and accept why they exist and why the demand is growing... because Hasbro are almost giving up on catering to the dedicated collectors, by eliminating the fan convention and cutting back on exclusive toys, which are getting harder to acquire (really limited release in very few countries).