Transformers Venting thread!

[SkyWarp91]

This is a mild vent/observation but does any kid like a toy that isn't a faithful represensation to what is present on screen? This applies not only for TFs but for other toys in general too.

I remember growing up collecting Batman toys, I never could find the original standard animated figure at an affordable price (I grew up frugal) and my parents bought second-hand batmans that were in his 'special modes' and were of various colours which I still enjoyed playing with but wished I had the original grey and black Batman. Same goes for Transformers, especially as of late with the new AOE dinobots in the original release - I own them now and actually do enjoy playing with them but why the inaccurate screen paint job? I know it adds colour to the toyline but surely kids would enjoy playing with a toy as if it had come straight out of the screen/media they just watched as opposed to some made-up battle mode/colour scheme that never existed.

[Sky Shadow]

This is a mild vent/observation but does any kid like a toy that isn't a faithful represensation to what is present on screen?

As kids, we loved our toys that weren't screen-accurate from 1984 to 1987. Bumblebee in particular was the most-produced and most-sold toy over that period and didn't even have the same face.

[millhouse]

As kids, we loved our toys that weren't screen-accurate from 1984 to 1987. Bumblebee in particular was the most-produced and most-sold toy over that period and didn't even have the same face.

Yeah, but I'm with the previous poster; I had some Batman Returns figures, and the most prized ones for me and my cousin were the black Batman and the blue/grey Batman.

Least prized (but still played with) was the black/gold Batman/men his mum bought us at the end of a school term.

If there was a screen accurate Bumblebee, I'm betting he would be more highly prized.

[Sky Shadow]

If there was a screen accurate Bumblebee, I'm betting he would be more highly prized.

I still disagree though - as a kid, Battle-Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Thunder Punch He-Man, Flying Fists He-Man, Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Terror Claws Skeletor were all better than the boring screen-accurate original versions. Kids (particularly boys) generally like toys that do stuff over accuracy, while adult collectors will often metaphorically soil themselves over things that 'look right' even though they're bloody boring toys. Obviously the thing with the Batman toys is that they all have to look different, so Mums and Dads don't say "you already have that one" and refuse to buy it.

[millhouse]

I still disagree though - as a kid, Battle-Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Thunder Punch He-Man, Flying Fists He-Man, Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Terror Claws Skeletor were all better than the boring screen-accurate original versions. Kids (particularly boys) generally like toys that do stuff over accuracy, while adult collectors will often metaphorically soil themselves over things that 'look right' even though they're bloody boring toys. Obviously the thing with the Batman toys is that they all have to look different, so Mums and Dads don't say "you already have that one" and refuse to buy it.

Guess I was the other side of things, eh?

[griffin]

The thing Skywarp is highlighting is the wrong colours, which kids notice more than the sculpting, gimmicks or faces.
Gen1 Bumblebee was still a yellow car. The gimmick HeMan and Skelator toys were still brown and blue, respectively. Case in point, Faker is an expensive toy on the secondary market because it is hard to find due to most kids not wanting or keeping a toy that was the wrong colour. The red Bumblebee was often kept as a Cliffjumper, but if we had no Cliffjumper character, that toy wouldn't have been valued by kids for being a non-show character or wrongly coloured toy.
Kenner was criticised by fans and collectors for padding out the assortment cases with dozens of multi-coloured Batmans, instead of toys of other characters. They shelf-warmed, and rejected by people who wanted a Batman toy that was black or blue... just like we reject most weird redecos of characters that have nothing to do with comic or cartoon, but merely have a prefix to their name to sell them.
If they look good or appear to homage some other character, they might do okay, but in general it is the non-canonical redecos that shelf-warm.

The Movie Dinobots would have been chosen to be in bright colours to sell them to retailers, who have to sell them to parents. If they were screen accurate, they'd look closer to the Dinobot 5-pack, and be a wall of similar looking product, that wouldn't attract the attention of parents or impulse-buying kids.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I still disagree though - as a kid, Battle-Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Thunder Punch He-Man, Flying Fists He-Man, Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Terror Claws Skeletor were all better than the boring screen-accurate original versions.

I think these might be a bad comparison TBH. These figures looked different as they had new gimmicks over the original. If they were all just re-colours I bet that many kids of the day would have not liked them as much.

As an adult, I'd prefer the colours of whatever media they came from. Unless it's a really good recolour. The only recolours I've liked recently would be Shadow Blade Animated Megatron and G2 Bruticus.

As a kid I'd want the most fun toy. Space attack Batman with an awesome jetpack and extra bling would probably grab my eye more than Standard Batman

[Sky Shadow]

Case in point, Faker is an expensive toy on the secondary market because it is hard to find due to most kids not wanting or keeping a toy that was the wrong colour.

Griffin, your other points are sound, but this one isn't right. Faker was the only Masters of the Universe toy that Mattel deemed worthy of a direct 'reissue' during the line's original run other than He-Man and Skeletor. Are you actually saying that kids didn't like their Fakers to such an extent that they threw them in the bin, but not their other Masters toys, which means Fakers are now scarce?

I think these might be a bad comparison TBH. These figures looked different as they had new gimmicks over the original. If they were all just re-colours I bet that many kids of the day would have not liked them as much.

But isn't that the whole point of the Batman argument - that kids wouldn't want an unusually coloured gimmick Batman, just a vanilla Blue/grey/black one?