That was an interesting read, Gok!

My 2c:

As an adult collector, I like the Automorph/MechAlive gimmicks built into the Movieverse toys, since they're a good representation of the complexity of the CGI models. In my opinion, Automorph or some other form of autotransformation would replace the rolling wheels/through-axles as a top 10 gimmick.

I'm not a big fan of self-contained weapons, because I feel that the design of the weapon is compromised by making it fit into something, although it does yield some interesting design choices.

Lights and sounds are cool Perhaps there's an 'expectation' that larger toys have to be able to 'do something' in order to justify their increased cost, which is why Leaders and up tend to get light and sound boxes.