Do regular people even realise what they're buying into in terms of complexity? I mean even fans, unless you've watched a video review it's difficult to grasp the complexity of a (deluxe, voyager, leader) toy just from the package shot. The rating is a token inclusion at best since a person has no measure of comparison unless they've bought previous toys in the same range already.

Someone who bought ROTF toys and found them too complex... not only are they probably not converted into "fans" at this point, or entirely forgotten about the complexity, but they're also never going to realise that a new line is easier until they buy one.

Personally i don't think G1 was successful because of simple transformations. Apart from the massive influence of the cartoon, i think it was successful because simply because it spurred the imagination - "How does it get from that, to THAT!".

That's a factor of the original line having realistic alt modes, so it's something the movie line has in it's favour as well. But the robot modes...

I think the only way they're going to convert people to long term fans is to spur the imagination and work harder to make the toys not look cheap, even if they are.

Whilst i'm sure there's some kiddies out there who'll love that Smash & Change Prime as is, you can bet there's others out there that think it looks like he spent too long in the blue lagoon!