Transformers Venting thread!

[GoktimusPrime]

I got/get most of my Transformers before I see their media appearance, so my opinion of that toy is formed independent of how they look/act in that medium. I don't expect most of my Transformers toys to resemble a cartoon model that was created after the toy, any more than I expect say a Latin word to resemble its form in Modern English.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

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?

You were comparing standard characters to gimmick characters and saying that gimmick ones were better. This is like comparing 'Jetpack laser Batman' to 'Plain Batman.' Not Black/grey Batman to Red/Purple Batman.

That's why I thought it was not a good comparison.

And yes, my comment supports SW91's comment. Perhaps I should have put it in a separate paragraph.

[Sky Shadow]

You were comparing standard characters to gimmick characters and saying that gimmick ones were better. This is like comparing 'Jetpack laser Batman' to 'Plain Batman.' Not Black/grey Batman to Red/Purple Batman.

That's why I thought it was not a good comparison.

Skywarp said "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." The colourful Batmen are the gimmick ones. My point is that kids and - until relatively recently - toy fans didn't tend to care if colours were wrong if it's a good toy. For years and years and years, Laser Optimus Prime won best toy in the Trannies even though he wasn't at all 'accurate'. In the same polls, Jetfire was always the most popular G1 toy even though he's not 'accurate'. The obsession with show accuracy is something that has become dominant in toy fandoms gradually over the past decade or so.

[griffin]

My point was based on the perception of colour being the more important factor to kids (who don't have the same level of attention to accurate sculpting as us older finicky collectors), but toy companies are always marketing their toys to Retailers, who don't seem to care what kids (potential future collectors) and collectors are looking for. A gimmick Batman/HeMan/Optimus/etc will win out over an unusual colour version that doesn't match anything viewers and fans know or can relate to. But ultimately a non-gimmick, colour-accurate version beats out both of those... however, Retailers at Toyfair don't seem to know or care, because they continue to prefer a gimmick they can promote, or a colour that catches THEIR eye (and assumingly, the eye of gift-getting relatives who buy a bulk of their toy products based on the little they know about "this years" short-lived hit toyline).

A lot of us had Shackwave in the 80s and many were happy to use it as a Shockwave because it was a close enough representation to the cartoon/comic Shockwave.... and I think that if someone had to chose between a Shackwave and a pink redeco of Shockwave, more would choose the former... and explains the rise of 3rd party items and accessories that aim to create or modify toys to be more comic/cartoon accurate.

I only used the example of Faker because it is a stand-out rarity compared to the other MOTU toys in the first two years. But Gen2 redecos could be a more familiar example, in that they are hard to find compared to originals and reissues, not because they were limited editions, but because they weren't bought or kept by as many collectors who are the ones reselling them. The Gen2 Dinobots might be a good example, in that there were nine released (three versions of Grimlock, Snarl, Slag), but it was really hard for me to find the coloured ones on the various online sources that collectors use (ebay and stores like BBTS).
As a collector of just about everything by Hasbro, I also find that a lot of the gimmick toys in Transformers, regardless of how many more units Hasbro produced over the mainline toys, I have more trouble chasing them up (and non-canonical redecos) because less collectors bought them, and even less bother to list them later due to lack of demand by other collectors. They might show up cheap at flea-markets, collector fairs or charity shops, but for online sources that collectors use, gimmick and odd redecos are much harder for me to find.

[Deonasis]

The thought that retailers want gimmick lines so they can promote them is just bollocks. In their hearts they believe this but in practice they just slap some pics in a catalogue at best.

[rant]
What they reeally want is 1 or 2 (hopefully exclusive) "Wow! items" to draw attention to the catalogue and encourage visits to the shop. Be it Stomp 'n Chomp Grimlock, Metroplex, or playsets - just add some enticing details about the toy so the kids want to see it in person. Focus the gimmicks on those larger items where the size helps them shine. Everything else can logically interact with them and viola! you have just created Castle Greyskull, the Lego Deathstar, or the Turtles Sewer base - magnets that people have to see for themselves. Not a whole line of compromised 1-action wonders "cause i have one and now i want to by a whole line of transformers to be gimped with a power-punch action"no matter the sense of it!

-_-

[/rant]

[SkyWarp91]

I guess there are some kids then that enjoy the gimmick/redeco mode of a character based on the fact that it's a fun toy over whether or not it represents a character accurately on screen on not. Like Griffin pointed out it's more likely screen-accurate toys becomes more of a bother for older collectors while kids are more satisfied with the simpler toys - ROTF Leader Prime was notorious for some kids to transform while it was probably the best movie figure to come out to date. Look at Hot Toys as well, I doubt most kids are able to afford collecting them but generally speaking they have the most screen accurate toys ever.

[Sinnertwin]

As a kid, i couldn't stand the sight of something like Power Pimp Batman or some other crazy variant. Guess i was one of the boring ones

[SkyWarp91]

As a kid, i couldn't stand the sight of something like Power Pimp Batman or some other crazy variant. Guess i was one of the boring ones

Join the party Batsy

[griffin]

I was on the BBTS site on the weekend, and the 3rd wave of Power Battlers were in-stock, so I had a look to see if there was anything else new to buy at the same time. I found three other items and started carting them... but when I got to the Power Battlers set of 5, they were suddenly out of stock, and haven't been back in stock since.
I guess I should have carted them when I saw them and then went off to look for other new items.

Ah... snooze you lose.

[Megatran]

Got home yesterday evening to find out my copy of the Transformers Legacy book was sent to a neighbour's house a few blocks down the road. She handed the opened box to my wife. And politely admitted her kids had gone through the book. You can see dirty food stains on some of the pages. It's book rape I tell you. Managed to remove most of the food stain but tore two of the pages that were stuck together.

It probably also explains why I've been waiting for over a month for this parcel. * sad face *