what would be your ideal TF toy line

[morg176]

what would be your ideal TF toy line?

In my opinion, we have had some crap TF toy lines over the last decade. and we have had one or two very good ones too. But it would seem that the fans are not asked 'what is it you want in a tf?' and just as important, 'what do you NOT want in a tf'.

what have we had in the past?

gestalts, duocons, head/target/power/micro masters, pretenders, minicons and the whole armada thing... animated [very cool] and the movie lines [getting tired] and a bunch that i have missed.

what do we have now?

The death of animated [possible the best figures we have seen in a long time]. and the movie line [yawn]

what do we have to look forward to?

power core combiners [PCC] what ever they end up being... some sort of targetmaster multi combiner thing.

what do you want/NOT want in a tf? which sub lines do you think were understated as to their potential as toys, what do think really sucks in a tf?

please share your thoughts, but keep it on topic

[GoktimusPrime]

Something fun, innovative/clever and good value for money.

e.g.:
TF1 Deluxe Concept Camaro Bumblebee = Thumbs up
ROTF Combiner Class Devastator = Thumbs down (even when purchased at a discount)

[Gutsman Heavy]

More classics, I'm a sucker like that.

[kup]

The best toy line we had this decade was Classics with Some of the Universe 2.0 releases.

The first Movie line also wasn't bad but they lost focus too quickly.

Galaxy Force/Cybertron had some good toys but I didn't care much for its fictional universe and color schemes - The molds that I own from that line are actually Universe/Classics character focused repaints.

Personally I feel most Animated toys to be rather mediocre just the same as Armada and Energon toys and that's based on design and engineering not the aesthetics. The best thing that the Animated toy line gave us were Activators.

[5FDP]

More Classics gets my vote as well. I collected more of that line than any other in the last 8 years. Classics Jetfire is in my top 5 list of all time favs.

[optimus1]

My top modern lines are:
Alternators (Finally realistic vehicles!)
Masterpiece (The 2010 mystery figure should be good)
Classics/Universe (Modern G1 as it should be)
Animated (show accurate robot modes!)

My preferences are for realistic vehicles with a sturdy robot modes. The movieverse has realistic vehicles but many suffer from much weak robot modes. They dont feel as sturdy as similarly sized Classics/Universe and Animated figures.

The most impressive feature for me are details and realism, that why I love Alts and MPs. Gimmicks are only good if they add an extra touch onto a great figure, like the lightup Matrix chest of MP Prime. Great detail and transformation is THE gimmick for me. Anything else is a bonus, but should not be the main feature. Other great examples are Universe Cyclonus and Hound, both of whom I would have got by themselves anyway. Great figures with bonus partners (Nightstick and Ravage).

[kurdt_the_goat]

Since i have rediscovered TF's (around the time of Movie 1), i've been satisfied with all the lines. I don't particularly want every toy to be a "must have" - i don't want to buy every toy in the mainline! Especially considering Japan has some great exclusives that i want more than any of the mainline toys, i have plenty to buy as it is!

But overall, I think there are enough good toys for me in Movie 1&2, Classics and Animated that i'd be bound to find *something* i like in whatever they come up with next.

My ideal line(s) however already exist - Masterpiece and Alternity continuing from Binaltech!

[Verno]

I'm a BW fan, always will be, but I can see why Universe/Classic figures are so popular. I'm all about realism and having a connection to a character and those lines have brought what was possible in the 80's into the 21st century by retaining what those characters were and making them better.

[i_amtrunks]

The animated and Cybertron lines did some spectacular work regarding the toys looking like the characters from the television series, while personally I do not find it all that important, I think it is an important factor regarding sales.

After the QC drop during and after the first movie line, my ideal tf line would be one where QC issues are minimal (going back to the level of Cybertron toys)

[morg176]

thankyou for your responses, please keep them coming.

many want innovation. im all for this. and with the engineering available for toys [tf] today very little is impossible. I think that a main figure with a partner has often been popular [master series]

perhaps a main figure whos bullbar [or similar] pulls off and transforms into a animal or something. having a partner that integrates fully into the vehicle mode.

and poorly executes concepts such as the duocons [ive always loved the concept] where 2 vehicles join to form a robot. Two animals could do the same thing, or a vehicle animal mix. And having two components tf into a robot would be more appealing than Movie Devastator

Keep the ideas flowing