Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[griffin]

I think the lack of story behind it was a factor that made it difficult for fans to embrace it, especially as they were essentially new characters. (would have been better to have them as existing characters who gained drones or Minicons, similar to the Headmaster or Actionmaster plot devices).
And since the drones were non-transforming, with minimal articulation, the combiners were a bit flimsy.

I thought the concept was great, but the small size prevented better engineering of the figures and drones.

[Trent]

Cheers Liege. Would eBay be my best bet for these you recon?

Yeah. Maybe look on amazon.

And that is an excellent comic series too. Easily my favourite.

[UltraMarginal]

So why do Power Core Combiners get so much crap? Sure, not every design is a winner but there's some good stuff in there (thought, arguably what they should have done was made it a Universe subline).

And, le gasp, the gimmicks are fun.

I am going to mostly echo Gok and Griffin but here goes...

The combined modes were a bit average, no articulation past shoulders and hips and most of that articulation was hard to use due to feet being awkward. once you got them to stand up in any stance, that was about it, for me anyway.

The use of similar names to classic characters or squads when there was very little representation otherwise rubbed my oldskool G1 ness the wrong way.

Bright blue connectors.

expensive, $40 for the 5 pack was ridiculous. I felt a bit gypped after spending $20 on a 5 pack.

primary robots were OK, but one of the two modes tended to be sacrificed in favour of the combined mode.

combined mode of the main robots was generally very sturdy and well designed.

clear plastic oddball minicon partner things haven't ever really appealed to me.

I think as a proof of concept for the connection technology they were fine but otherwise not a great toy.

Next to the High quality generations and some of the better movie toys being released at the time, they didn't fit in the money budget or the care factor budget.

I do hope that the positive elements of their combiner tech are built on for future toy lines though.

[SuspectimusPrime]

So why do Power Core Combiners get so much crap? Sure, not every design is a winner but there's some good stuff in there (thought, arguably what they should have done was made it a Universe subline).

And, le gasp, the gimmicks are fun.

I actually quite enjoyed the PCC line.

Granted they had no back stories, but a few of them used G1 names, of characters that would be quite down the line in the list of Hasbro's priorities to make into a Deluxe sized fig. I usually have them standing with Classics toys Their toyish colour schemes also appealed to me The toys on their own would never be worth the RRP, but I was luckily able to gt all of them through Woolies by chance. At $12-14(?) per 2-pack, I found them worth their price.

I agree with most of Goki's comments, however I actually prefer my minicons to be accessories for Deluxe+ sized toys Micromasters themselves never made sense to me story-wise - How is a tiny garishly coloured car suppose to be much of a disguise? Would have strongly preferred it for the minicon partners to not have been made of translucent plastic.

[GoktimusPrime]

Micromasters themselves never made sense to me story-wise - How is a tiny garishly coloured car suppose to be much of a disguise?

Micromasters were cheap and fun toys to collect and play with! Storywise they always used good old mass shifting -- their vehicle modes were regular sized, but then they transformed into slightly-taller than human robots. And this appeared to be the case in both Anglophone and Japanese continuities.

The reality was that there was a recession in the late 1980s/early 90s and a lot of people were downsizing toys. Galoob released the popular Micromachines, so Hasbro followed suit with Micromasters; fun and affordable. As for the garish colours... it was leading into the early 1990s man. Look at the toys that came after and in G2 (and G.I. Joe) -- MUCH more garish!

Would have strongly preferred it for the minicon partners to not have been made of translucent plastic.

Yeah, they did that with the Arms Micron repaints (e.g. Fracas, Aimless etc.) which did make them look a bit better, but they were still accessoryformers with not much play value. When I got Fracas, for ages I barely touched it until after I finally got Generations Scourge! But without Scourge, he's a really dull toy. I have Aimless, but there's no Classicsverse or Prime Misfire to go with him, so to me he's still a really dull toy! Just as well these toys were freebies (w/ TF purchases)... cos I wouldn't pay to have any of them on their own.

[kup]

I think the lack of story behind it was a factor that made it difficult for fans to embrace it, especially as they were essentially new characters. (would have been better to have them as existing characters who gained drones or Minicons, similar to the Headmaster or Actionmaster plot devices).
And since the drones were non-transforming, with minimal articulation, the combiners were a bit flimsy.

I thought the concept was great, but the small size prevented better engineering of the figures and drones.

I disagree. A good toy will sell regardless of fiction.

Look at FansProject Steelcore. That toy had a lot running against it by having an expensive price tag and an upstart online store that was unprepared for the demand volume. This toy is also not associated with any known fiction and a completely stand alone transforming robot that is not based on any known character with just a bit of unique Engrish fiction behind it.

However despite all that it sold well because it is a good and well crafted toy. There are even people who are demanding for more to be made.

A non-transforming robot example of good figures selling despite lack of fiction would be the Four Horse Men original designs such as their demons and Elephant warriors.

A good toy will sell itself. A 'not so good' toy requires more 'help' to move it along.

[Starscream77]

I don't mind some of the PCCs, agree the Dinobots one is below average but the rest happily sit in my collection and my like may be tainted by the fact I got them for $10 each at the toy sales

[Cat]

I think collector perception (and maybe that of some of the general parent factor) was a bit skewed with PCC: We're used to everything transforming into something else. If a drill-tank is there, it's an actual Transformer.

I think that if they'd have been actual Transformers, even the simplest conversion of standing them upright, we'd have viewed a 5-pack as containing 5 figures.

As it was, I think a lot of people viewed it as 1 figure and 4 accessories.

Thus making it less desirable and of less value to a buyer.

It became one overpriced scout, instead of one combiner.

[SuspectimusPrime]

The reality was that there was a recession in the late 1980s/early 90s and a lot of people were downsizing toys.

The sad reality of Transformers production I wonder if the FOC line would have been drastically different if it were released 2 years ago along with the WFC line.

Yeah, they did that with the Arms Micron repaints (e.g. Fracas, Aimless etc.) which did make them look a bit better, but they were still accessoryformers with not much play value. When I got Fracas, for ages I barely touched it until after I finally got Generations Scourge! But without Scourge, he's a really dull toy. I have Aimless, but there's no Classicsverse or Prime Misfire to go with him, so to me he's still a really dull toy! Just as well these toys were freebies (w/ TF purchases)... cos I wouldn't pay to have any of them on their own.

I paid a cheap Deluxe's price for Fracas and Haywire and considered myself lucky Am very happy with these accessoryformers, considering the cost that a 3rd party producer would ask for them. Still in the market for a United Caliburst for Energon Slugslinger I liked the Grey/Black colour scheme they were going with, but Aimless is a bit disappointing.

Look at FansProject Steelcore. That toy had a lot running against it by having an expensive price tag and an upstart online store that was unprepared for the demand volume. This toy is also not associated with any known fiction and a completely stand alone transforming robot that is not based on any known character with just a bit of unique Engrish fiction behind it.

I can only see three positive points in this paragraph

I don't mind some of the PCCs, agree the Dinobots one is below average but the rest happily sit in my collection and my like may be tainted by the fact I got them for $10 each at the toy sales

I'm sure paying RRP+ would not have improved their likability?

[Sky Shadow]

I disagree. A good toy will sell regardless of fiction.

Look at FansProject Steelcore. That toy had a lot running against it by having an expensive price tag and an upstart online store that was unprepared for the demand volume. This toy is also not associated with any known fiction and a completely stand alone transforming robot that is not based on any known character with just a bit of unique Engrish fiction behind it.

However despite all that it sold well because it is a good and well crafted toy. There are even people who are demanding for more to be made.

A non-transforming robot example of good figures selling despite lack of fiction would be the Four Horse Men original designs such as their demons and Elephant warriors.

Kup, your examples are terrible - 'Steelcore' and the Four Horsemen toys have production runs so small that they're not even a blip on the number of Power Core Combiners that sold at retail. If Hasbro had only sold that many of each PCC then they would have cancelled Transformers as a toyline altogether.