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

[FatalityPitt]

While cartoons help, there have been numerous instances of Transformers managing fine or succeeding quite well without a cartoon....

... * 1996 = Beast Wars. History repeated itself. The TV series didn't properly begin until September 16, meaning that for most of this year the BW toys had to sell on their own power. By 1997 Beast Wars had become the third best selling action figure line after Toy Story and Star Wars....

...Heck, we never had any Lego shows or movies in the 80s, and those toys were immensely popular. Yet so many other toylines with cartoons ended up failing.

Oh yeah, I totally get that. That reminds me - When I was living in Malaysia in 1996, interest in Transformers had practically died by then, and all that was left on toy store pegs we're the less desirable G2 toys like Road Pig and Staxx. Suddenly these "Beast Wars" toys appeared. We had no idea what they were, except they looked like Transformers that turned into realistic animals. Without knowing a thing about Beast Wars (because the cartoon didn't air until the following year - 1997), I bought my first Beast Wars figure (Terrorsaur) and I thought the toy was amaaazzzing! It had more articulation than a Spider-man figure (thanks to the ball joints), it had weapon storage, and it looked good in both modes. I was instantly hooked, but because I was 10 at the time and my weekly allowance was limited; I bought mostly small basic figures like Iguanus, Rattrap, Razorbeast, etc. I never had the bigger figures like Optimus Primal, Megatron, Rhinox, etc. Even after the show aired, I still didn't have a strong desire to own those characters in toy form. From memory, my favourites (or the ones I played with the most) we're Razorbeast and Clawjaw, and neither we're on the show. I just found those figures to be really fun and they looked great.

I think while the cartoon might help sell toys to certain people, I don't think it's that strong a factor. It might be interesting to see Hasbro try something different where they release a new line of Transformers, but not invest heavily in commissioning a show around those toys. Instead they could try allocating the funds to making the toys better; so good that they sell themselves.

Thinking about it now, there's no shows or movies around Nerf Guns and Magic The Gathering, and yet those brands are still quite strong.

That’s because he’s an experimental young teen who has just discovered his new toy has a long fiery tongue that forcefully thrusts out and upwards.

Trust me - it’ll be Grimlock wearing the look of shock on his face after that kids parents go out for the day

At least the Grimlock toy won't break his heart. Girls can be quite cruel.