Next Commander Class?

[GoktimusPrime]

Monstructor

.....G1 Monstructor is in a really special spot in terms of getting an update. He's a combiner, albeit small because the components are all Micromasters.

Aside from the fact that they've never been classified as Micromasters, the Monster Pretenders are also larger than the Micromasters.
Your typical Micromaster is about 5cm tall whereas Monster Pretenders are about 6cm tall as robots, which is closer to the size of an Autobot Mini-Vehicle.

I think Commander class would work really well for a combiner Monstructor with 6 legends-sized bots. We have already received this kind of tech with POTP Battleslash and Battletrap done quite well, and the price point would probably accomodate for them nicely at a similar level of intricacy. I think most would not mind losing the Pretender shells if the alt modes were well done (unlike the originals), though I could see them being released in some kind of Selects or Pulse exclusive set later on for those that want them.

It would certainly match the size of Monstructor and Dino King as shown in canon.

And I think that the Pretender shells could be made as small accessories similar to the Prime Master "Decoys" seen in POTP. Or even just little solid unarticulated PVC figurines - you could call those Decoys too (in the same style as the G1 Decoys ). They don't have to be working Pretenders. And then you could make a new set of Decoys for Dinoking at little cost.

Star Saber

Star Saber is probably amongst the most popular and maybe more expected characters for the Commander class treatment, especially as the character was already featured in the Power of the Primes poll a little while back. I'd imagine in the current state of CHUG releases lately, that he'd pretty much be a budget version of the MP Star Saber. I'd say he is quite inevitable as one of the more well known Japanese-exclusive G1 characters.

Yeah, commercially speaking I'd say that Star Sabre is the most viable. Even for TakaraTOMY given that Star Sabre has been the [b]only[/i] non-Early G1 Transformer made as an MP (not including redecos), and that was a result of a fan poll too.

Deathsaurus/Dezarus

Deathsaurus is the counterpart to Star Sabre and one of the more well known Japanese G1 characters. Given that Hasbro and Takara have not been shying away from the goofy beast modes like the Decepticon Headmasters and Sky Lynx, I'd say there would be no issue there either. I am curious to see what Hasbro does with his name, seeing as "Death"-anything is generally off the cards for character names in Western markets. He was listed as "unknown evil" on the POTP poll, so maybe they didn't know yet what he should be called.

I would buy a CHUG Deathsaurus in a heartbeat! We already have RM and MP Star Sabre, but we don't have a post-G1 version of Deathsaurus (other than the redeco of Gigatron I think). They could easily work around the name thing like calling him "Darksaurus" or whatever (although Hasbro's gotten away with selling a toy called Death's Head, so... <shrug>).

Thunderwing

Though possibly better for leader class, Thunderwing is generally recognisable by fans and has a cool design. The Commander class could potentially let us see both his inner robot get a figure, as well as the larger more iconic Pretender shell. Also featured on the POTP poll. Repaint potential for Black Shadow.

I think this concept of the Commander class having both the inner robot and shell getting detailed full figures (albeit both smaller than a full commander like Jetfire obviously) could also work for Bludgeon, another recognisable late G1 character.

On one hand I'm surprised that Titans Return Black Shadow was never redecoed as Thunderwing, but on the other hand I'm not surprised at all given how that toy shelfwarmed. :/

Thunderclash

Thunderclash is another great option considering his (somewhat) recent IDW fame. His truck trailer base mode especially in the current Micromaster focus of WFC would be great for Commander class, along with a robot mode that isn't enormous- possibly voyager to leader-sized.

I wonder, again for commercial reasons, if it'd be more viable for Hasbro to sell this in the common market as Machine Wars Optimus Prime and then do Thunder Clash as something like a Pulse exclusive.

The purple griffin in all honesty wouldn't be a terrible idea for a relatively simple Selects figure. Slap a new head on there, make a Decepticon character profile and personality, it would be a cool little nod to the fans like some of the eHobby G1 repaints they did in the early 2000s. The berry purple would make for a nice funky shuttle mode too.

They could pre-tool it to be a shared design/mould with a CHUG BM Silverbolt.