perhaps the coathanger antenna i just mentioned?
|Buy ALL my things!|Collection Thread|Current Collection Count: ~661|
|Wants|Galaxy Force Blue Rumble|
Where the slag are the Transformers Prime wave 2 deluxes?! Getting tired of checking the local TRU's (no point even bothering anywhere else) each week only to find the same crap on the shelves every time. Bah!
+10000000000000000000
I've watched half of Season 2 and still NO toys (above Cyberverse) for Ratchet, Breakdown, Knock Out and Airachnid -- GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHH HHHHHH!! This one reason why I do _NOT_ prefer media-based Transformer lines. Freakin' stoopid... make the toys first, THEN make the cartoon. That way by time we see the toys in the show, we already have them!! (or at least have seen them in stores) But the way these media-based lines work... we see them on screen first, then we have to wait until we see toys for them... and sometimes we NEVER see toys for some characters! (e.g. Animated Constructicons, Animated Omega Supreme, Dispensor, ROTF Alice, DOTM Mirage (the current toys don't really count) et al.)
I know in G1 we had a few characters that were made for the medium and not based on toys, but they were usually made because either:
+ The character is some background mook - most don't reappear or are even named. And when toys _are_ made for some of these obscure characters, they're usually limited exclusives because most people don't know who they are -- look at G1 Sunstorm. He appears for like a second in the G1 cartoon!
+ It's some kind of supporting role, like "Hey, we need some Autobot elder dude... cos every hero has a mentor like Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke..." <insert.Emirate.Xaaron&Alpha.Trion>
+ They needed to make a character that could be easily killed off without Hasbro's permission (e.g. Straxus, Impactor etc.)
+ Political correctness. e.g. Female Autobots.
...but for the most part the Transformers who usually appeared in G1 were based on the toys. And the toys were available well before we saw them in the comics or on TV.
Heck... part of the fun of collecting Transformers during G1 was you'd get this toy, then later on you'd see them in a comic book or cartoon and it gives you a whole new definition of that character that you didn't have before, and possibly alter your play pattern. For example...
+ I would make up my own voices for the toys when I got them, like I'm sure we all have an idea of how certain Transformers sound like to us who've never appeared in a show e.g. I make Longtooth sound like Patrick Stewart. But who knows what he's "meant to" sound like since he's never had a show appearance! But for every TF toy I would have different voices I'd give them, but then I'd see them in the show and it would forever change the way I'd voice that character. Warpath has Tourettes?! Seaspray gargles like Mer-man?! Wheelie has a really high pitched voice and always rhymes?! (I initially gave him a 'youthful' voice (kinda like Cheetor) and only had him make occasional rhymes (kinda like Sky-Byte with his haikus) - then I watched TFTM in the cinemas and from then on it was high pitched constant rhyming voice for him!). We don't get that with these media-based lines. It's frustrating... Transformers should be about the toys first, screen characters later. Gah. But then you get people who complain about the lack of "screen accuracy" even though usually the toy was first. Well... now you got your "screen accuracy" with these media-based lines. I just hope all the engineering issues, waiting and toy cancellations have been worth it.
Come to think of it, if I had to name one Transformers line that was the best in terms of toys-to-media, it would have to be Car Robot/Robots In Disguise. EVERY character that appeared in that show had a toy. Same with Beast Wars, although Ravage and Transmutate were originally show-only characters (but they've both since had toys made of them). The Unicron Trilogy would come third -- all the recurring main TF cast were based on toys, but it did have a few minor characters for which there were no toys like Signal Lancer.
Hasbro appears to be wanting to move away from being a just toy company and into being an Entertainment media provider. The overwhelming financial success of the Bayformer movies certainly has contributed to this agenda.
Now it seems that toys are no longer the driving force but merely 'merchandize' to the current TV show, game or movie. They no longer seem to get as much attention as they used to. You can see this as there is often a lot more promotion to the media side of things than the actual toy.
Hopefully the mediocre return from Battleship and their clearly panic driven decision to reschedule G.I. Joe 2 will force them to reconsider this approach but Hasbro has never been a quick learner but we shall see.
I just dropped my last biscuit on the floor...
And no Gok, the 3 second rule doesn't count with THIS floor.
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