Hasbro knows what it's doing.

[Deadzone]

I was holding a Unicron auction and a guy emailed me asking for bigger pictures because they were discussing it in a thread. I thought... great until I saw the thread. A third liked the color scheme, a third were indifferent, and a third thought the armada color scheme is better! I can understand the indifferent people, but the Armada scheme better? The purple colors make unicron look gaudy to me, and the clear plastic chest and waist pieces look terrible. But then it hit me, a lot of transformer fans thought Energon prime was great.

I used to be a big transformers fan. Personally, the color scheme for Skywarp, Thrust, and Ramjet were my favorites. Yeah, you won't see a F-15 painted in white and crimson, but the colors matched and accentuated each other. Now a days, I can't say much for the transformers line. In fact, besides the new Prime, smokescreen, and reissues, I think the transfomers line kind of blows. It all started when they began rereleasing the constructicons in this saftey bright orange color. Then it went down hill from there. I kept thinking, why don't they go back to the old color schemes that made the toys look classy and cool?

Well, after visiting a couple of transformers forums, I got my answer. Those guys like their transformers to have bright green, orange, and red colors. They like their prime to be a fat ass, and they like toys that appeal to little kids. Now you know why I spend most of my time in this forum. But, I have to give it to Hasbro. They know their audience. I'm not saying all transformer fans have bad taste. The new prime and smoke screen deserve praise. But as long as transformer fans continue to compliment toys that are almost flourescent in color, I'm going to have to keep repainting them.

I guess I'm just venting my frustrations with poor taste. When I first saw the Unicron by Hasbro I thought, "Great toy but what's with the awful colors?" Apparently, a lot of Trans fans thought, "Great toy but how come they didn't paint his arms flourescent green and put a rainbow on his chest?" It's like all these movie critics who give bad movies great reviews. If you keep praising something bad, that's what you'll get.

[JB0]

One quibble...

You cited the constructicons as an example. But they were originally a nasty shade of neon green.

The Gen2 versions, while tiny and lower quality, were also Tonka Yellow, the standard for construction equipment toys.

[GobotFool]

Yeah, transformers really suck today. there are a few gems. but thats it.

[Ali Sama]

url for debat.e btw. you r memebr #666. man where is a priest when we need one. lol j/k

Edited October 23, 2003 by Ali Sama

[GobotFool]

One quibble...

You cited the constructicons as an example. But they were originally a nasty shade of neon green.

The Gen2 versions, while tiny and lower quality, were also Tonka Yellow, the standard for construction equipment toys.

Alot of construction equipment was also of that same complexion. Hell I have seen purple catipiller scoopers. Still while today the green isn't to popular it was actually used.

[UN Spacy]

Yeah, transformers really suck today. there are a few gems. but thats it.

Exactly. The only saving graces are the Takara Masterpiece Prime and Alternator's line (both of which HasBLOW is getting thier hands on). I hate that they have to dumb down Takara's beauties these days.

[GobotFool]

Yeah, transformers really suck today. there are a few gems. but thats it.

Exactly. The only saving graces are the Takara Masterpiece Prime and Alternator's line (both of which HasBLOW is getting thier hands on). I hate that they have to dumb down Takara's beauties these days.

Well there were a few nice ones in armada (emphasis on few), I do like the unicron. and I enjoyed the prime, though I know alot of people dont. Probably my last armada purchase will be overload just to finish the combining gimmick.

[eriku]

You know, I really try not to get concerned with the crappy Transfomers that are out there (and yet to come). I think they're fun to pull a Nelson with (point and say Ha-Ha!) but other than that I don't care. Why? Because of the Binaltech line and the 20th Anni. Prime. It doesn't all have to be good when the few good things are really freakin' good.

[Myriad]

Transformers have always sucked! You even have to take the legs off some to get them to transform..... There are only a few good apples in the barrel. Alternators will probably have a bad apple or 2 too.

[skunkobot]

In defense of my brethren:

You obviously didn't read to much at TF forums. There are a few out there who like some of the kiddier TFs like Energon Prime, and lots of Armada - however they're considered to be... well, weird by the rest of the fandom. Most people hate the kiddiefication of the lines.

Unfortunately Hasbro does know their audience - and that audience is mostly made up of little kids. That's why Hasbro has created the Alternators line, so they can cater to both audiences. And for that there is much rejoicing.

And as much as I like the Valkyries/Veritechs, there's how many designs there? Like ten? Versus how many different designs for TFs? Plus, look at the price differences? Do you know how many transformers I could buy for the cost of one Valkyrie?

Oh, and if it's the Unicron I'm thinking of, the one that's been repainted to movie colors, I've noticed the biggest complaints are that the coloring is a bit flat. There's a lot of detail on that toy, and the grey doesn't bring much of it out. If you had some highlights on him, and maybe a bit of varience on his shells he'd be more popular. It's still really nice though. I especially like your photography of him.

[skunkobot]

Transformers have always sucked! You even have to take the legs off some to get them to transform..... There are only a few good apples in the barrel. Alternators will probably have a bad apple or 2 too.

Whose legs are you thinking of that you have to remove to tranform? There aren't that many partsformers with TFs. Sides, how can a macross fan be complaining about having to remove legs to transforma a toy?

[Deadzone]

In defense of my brethren:

You obviously didn't read to much at TF forums. There are a few out there who like some of the kiddier TFs like Energon Prime, and lots of Armada - however they're considered to be... well, weird by the rest of the fandom.

Well, I didn't go and read every TF Forum out there, but the ones that I did read expressed a lot of positive feedback for some of the kiddie like transformers. Your right in that there were still some sensible people that I found who disliked all the strange colors, but there were also a sizeable amount who thought the colors were great. Yeesh.

BTW: When I took pictures of the Unicron in planet mode, the light kind of washes out the details. However, when lit differently, more details start showing through. When I compared it to the old version, you can definitely see more detail in the light grey than in the see through purple. I guess I have to work on my photography skills.

[Myriad]

Transformers have always sucked! You even have to take the legs off some to get them to transform..... There are only a few good apples in the barrel. Alternators will probably have a bad apple or 2 too.

Whose legs are you thinking of that you have to remove to tranform? There aren't that many partsformers with TFs. Sides, how can a macross fan be complaining about having to remove legs to transforma a toy?

LOL! You caught me! I actually have almost 700 TF's. Legs that have to be removed.......Off the top of my head Omega Supreme. I own no Macross toys with removable legs.

[Deadzone]

Here's a picture that shows the detail of the Unicron a bit better in planet mode. The problem with small ebay pictures is that they really don't allow you to do much in terms of showing the intricacies of a custom.

[Mr.Sci-Fi]

heh heh, that was me who shot you the link about the discussion. I didn't realise that it was you who had already posted your costum here on this board before.

I know there are a lot of neon color lovers out there, I'm not one. It's amazing how hasbro can feed most of the fans crap and they like the taste. I'm a tf traditionalist, almost anyhting past g2 I hate but I still can't stop loving the transformer name. Stuff like the alternators and 20th prime are my salvation from all the kiddie stuff. Strange thing is my taste never changed from when I was kid till now. Even as a kid I kinda liked colors that matched, alternate modes that were semirealistic and no over gimmicked pieces of plastic. If hasbro gave that stuff a chance in the regular kid aimed line I think they would be surprised by the kids and what they really want.

[JB0]

As I understand it, one of the problems with modern Transformers is they CAN'T use real-world vehicles, at least in America.

If I recall, a few companies threatened lawsuits over Robots in Disguise if some details on the toys(like distinctive styles of headlights/taillights) weren't changed. The companies that make cars and trucks and things that go don't want to be associated with toys, and WILL sue over it.

Hence the whole Beast Wars thing.

I see Armada as a step forward. At least we HAVE vehicles again, even if they're silly vehicles.

Of course, I haven't bought a Transformer in ages. Early Gen2. The whole resurrection thing came as I was deciding I'd outgrown my toys, and I haven't really gotten back into them yet.

Little things like new He-Man's Battlecat(Guns on Battlecat? Errrr, no.) and PC Megatron(DAMMIT, HE'S A HANDGUN!) help me keep irate enough at them to avoid that money hole/trip down memory lane.

...

Maybe I should thank them instead of ranting.

[Mr.Sci-Fi]

As I understand it, one of the problems with modern Transformers is they CAN'T use real-world vehicles, at least in America.

That might have been tru for the original series and that's why they stopped but since RID (about a 1&1/2 years ago) the cars have been licensed for use. Viper, Lamborghini diablo and others were in that line.

The newest line Alternators also have fully licensed cars.

Hence the whole Beast Wars thing.

No the beast wars thing is due to dinosaurs being in the light of popularity again, at the time jurassic park and power rangers were big.

I see Armada as a step forward. At least we HAVE vehicles again, even if they're silly vehicles.

Armada is reminiscent of late G1, post movie molds.

Of course, I haven't bought a Transformer in ages. Early Gen2. The whole resurrection thing came as I was deciding I'd outgrown my toys, and I haven't really gotten back into them yet.

Little things like new He-Man's Battlecat(Guns on Battlecat? Errrr, no.) and PC Megatron(DAMMIT, HE'S A HANDGUN!) help me keep irate enough at them to avoid that money hole/trip down memory lane.

...

Maybe I should thank them instead of ranting.

You should really take a look at the alternator line and 20th optimus, I think they might spark your intrest.

[Shade]

Only the Viper was actually licensed in RiD, and that only happened after the series was released. It's why blue Sideburn doesn't have the Dodge logo on the hood while Super Sideburn does. Lamborghini never really said anything, and BMW gave Hasbro the Evil Eye, leading to Hasbro's paint mods on Wild Ride/X-Brawn. Not sure how Takara got away with things.

Beast Wars happened because G2 was dying off, and Hasbro decided to take a chance and let Kenner completely revamp the concept. The awesome show that accompanied the line certainly didn't hurt.

Armada was mostly ehn, and I'm rather glad for Energon, because I can spend my money on other things now.

On a side note, I've come to believe that G2 is when the European designers left their mark on Transformers, because that's when the Neon hell truly started in America, something that was already present in the European exclusive TFs. Just look at Thunderclash or the European Actionmasters. Worse colors than even Energon has.

[JB0]

You should really take a look at the alternator line and 20th optimus, I think they might spark your intrest.

I've seen Optimus.

I want Optimus.

Badly.

I may be an irate whiney ex-fan, but there's still a little kid inside me jumping on my liver screaming "I WANNA TWANSFOMER! GIMME!"

[Chuey]

As a volunteer staff at Comic-con 2003, I moderated a room where Hasbro talked about the Star Wars line and Bandai America talked about Gundam. The key speakers reminded of two important things.

The adult toy fan may add to sales of a toy line and may even bolster them. However, children are the ones who make or break toy sales.

I have cousins who have young children. Like a lot of you, I do not really like some of the new Transformers (I can't stand the Armada storyline), but my cousins' kids love them and buy the toys .

[Prowlus]

speaking of adult transfans I wonder what they'll make of this on ebay?

Energon megatron

[GobotFool]

speaking of adult transfans I wonder what they'll make of this on ebay?

Energon megatron

hmmmm suprising, it doesn't look as hidious as I thought it would be in jet, as long as you take that stupid tank off it.

[eriku]

So that settles it. Megatron turns into a freakin' seagull. How menacing.

[Commander McBride]

speaking of adult transfans I wonder what they'll make of this on ebay?

Energon megatron

hmmmm suprising, it doesn't look as hidious as I thought it would be in jet, as long as you take that stupid tank off it.

I agree. With some modification and paint (I'm thinking a brownie scheme, like was seen on some B1s, or even a white test scheme, it could look kinda cool.

[GobotFool]

So that settles it. Megatron turns into a freakin' seagull. How menacing.

No! it turns into a klingon bird of prey

[motley]

Only the Viper was actually licensed in RiD, and that only happened after the series was released. It's why blue Sideburn doesn't have the Dodge logo on the hood while Super Sideburn does. Lamborghini never really said anything, and BMW gave Hasbro the Evil Eye, leading to Hasbro's paint mods on Wild Ride/X-Brawn. Not sure how Takara got away with things.

as i recall, japanese law is a little less restrictive when it comes to images (and toys and such).

as for the energon unicron... i actually like the color scheme better. yeah the orange with the greenish circuitry is a little meh. but the overall presentation is much better. the original color scheme in grey with a little orange is boring and very remeniscent of a particular time in the 80's when everything was either pale, pastel or neon. energon unicron molded primarily in black just looks better. the transluscent chest and hands were tacky from the get go, but transluscency seems to be the gimmink of choice for energon, so we might as well be happy that more of him is transluscent.

i haven't seem a single figure in energon i have liked, nor do i expect to. i dislike all the armada figures, and really regret buying the ones i bought (unfortunately i opened them). i don't know, maybe i'm too picky, but the only transformers i really like after G1 are the beast machine line (mostly the vehicles). so maybe its less important to have a realistic alt mode than it is to have a relatively well done figure in all modes. (actually the same is true of any transforming toy)