Is it just me or do you ever find yourself in a toy department looking at Transformers and wanting to give advice to parents who are woefully out of their depth? It happened to me yesterday and I observed just how confusing it all must be to the novice.

A kid was telling a parent they like 'Autobots' but it can be difficult to tell at a glance who fits what faction. And it just got worse from there. The parent was looking at Cyberverse, Siege and Studio Series toys as if they were interchangeable and asking a slightly flustered staff member whether any of them were likely to fall apart. A bit later the parent asked if their kid wanted 'Jetblast' because that gimmick descriptor features on the packaging more prominently than the name of Cyberverse Prowl. Designers of toy packaging should just snoop about the shelves now-and-then to see what problems they cause.

Tangentially, now that Hasbro have taken over Power Rangers, their packaging is markedly more enticing, and possibly even the toys look better than they did...