Post any and all of your questions for Hasbro here. When the next round of questions are due, a voting thread will be created so that you can choose your favorite questions from this thread. The top three questions that receive the most votes will be the questions sent to Hasbro* So what are you waiting for? Post your questions!

Due to advice from persons at Hasbro, we would like to ask that our users refrain from "When will toy x come out?" and related questions. As we've found out, Hasbro won't be able to give the fans detailed or decisive answers. That's just the way the industry works. Such questions will not be given the same weight as other questions that Hasbro will be able to answer when the submissions go to the vote; meaning that they may not make the poll. We all would love to know when our favorite character will be getting a toy, but the questions will only bring complaints about the Q&A being useless or uninformative. So please be understanding and creative with your questions so that we can make the Q&A bare the fruits that it was meant to.

* The staff will reserve the right to veto any questions that it feels aren't appropriate to submit.

This topic has been trimmed of all prior submissions for the sake of streamlining discussion. Feel free to dive into our "Past Questions" thread and retrieve any that you would like to see resubmitted (they don't have to be your own).

May as well go with my questions from last time again.


Why do some figures get repainted multiple times while others don't get repainted at all?

Hasbro released a two-pack Skids and Mudflap that could transform into an ice cream truck. The molds were larger than a Legends figure but not quite Scouts. Is releasing two figures for the cost of a single deluxe something that Hasbro would be interested in doing for further toys whether the toys could or could not combine in vehicle mode?

Although Hasbro has shown an interest of Transformers with beast modes in the past, the Revenge of the Fallen toyline has had just two characters with beast modes; Ravage and Scorponok. Is there a reason why Hasbro has not produced another (off-screen) Transformer with a beast mode for ROTF?

Who is the best transformer?

What's Megatron's dessert of choice?

Will Megatron ever have a proper girlfriend? Optimus Prime had one.

He has a stalker, is that close enough?

That question is terrible.

Your question is bad and you should FEEL bad!

Acquiring rights and licenses for likenesses of products and characters seems to be complex. In the Revenge Of The Fallen franchise, the Audi R8 has been portrayed as an Audi R8 in both film and video game appearances, yet when toys were made, this vehicle was modified to legally not be an Audi R8. Can you shed any light onto the rights/licensing agreements which caused this situation to occur? If no, why not?

Has any consideration been given toward producing direct-to-video animated films, either to expand on some parts of the franchise (Transformers Animated, or the Movies), or to shed light on ones not fully realized (Hearts of Steel)?

Reposting all of my own:

*For those figures with military vehicle alt modes (tanks, jets, and whatnot), would it ever be a possibility to have the figure's alt mode color scheme be a replica of a real-life military unit's color scheme? Would the use of real-life unit emblems be a possibility? Owing to the close ties forged with the Department of Defense during the Transformers movies, one would think that doing so shouldn't be an issue.

*Even if only as a Hasbro Toy Shop or other exclusive, what is the prospect of seeing human characters from the different franchises released as figures a la the 25th-style G. I. Joe figures?

*Over in G. I. Joe circles, a minor urban legend is as follows. When DiC was given the rights to produce the cartoon series in 1987, that brought production of the third season of G. I. Joe to a crashing halt. This is why no new episodes were produced after the Movie. Is this indeed true? If so, was the deal with DiC also behind the decision to end new episodes of Transformers after The Rebirth?

*During Generation 2, missile launchers from at least two G. I. Joe figures - 1992's Barricade and 1991's Snow Serpent - were modified for use by the Transformers figures released during this series. Were the molds themselves permanently altered in order to allow for this, or are there still unaltered versions of the mold laying about?

*During Generation 2, the planned but canceled second wave of Go-Bots molds included a Land Rover, a hot rod, a police car, a Corvette, and two sports cars. Although the molds have since been used in Robots in Disguise / Car Robots and Universe, the Land Rover and hot rod have been absent despite all 12 Go-Bots making use of gang-molding. Have the molds for the Land Rover and hot rod Go-Bots been lost in some fashion, or was there another reason for their absence?

*Over the years, Takara has released a number of DVDs that have been packed with exclusive figure redecoes. For example, each of the Micron Legend (Armada) DVDs came with at least one exclusive mini-con redeco and a short comic. In the US, however, the closest we've gotten has been the pair of Best Buy-exclusive redeco Heroes figures that came with the 2007 movie release. Is the concept of DVD pack-in figure redecoes simply not a feasible strategy for release in the US? Or is this option still on the table?

*Under normal circumstances, how long does it take a figure to go from "concept" to "complete" ?

*Given that Takara acquired Tatsunoko Pro and merged with Tomy, what is the likelihood of seeing Transformers product based on TP or Tomy properties? For example, Zoids comes to mind as a fairly prominent property with no known outstanding legal ensnarements.

with toysrus exclusives such as arcee and cybertronian ratchet, along with mainline toys such as the ice cream twins, when will transformers have a wider female audience, or an audience who will pick up more female or bright pink toys?

OR, was it just that the ice cream twins appeared in a large blockbuster film that you felt it was safe to sell the kid appeal characters in such an odd choice of main color?

I have a question!

In IDW's Tales of the Fallen #4, the Fallen defeats all the Prime's save 1 - a Prime that looks much like the Cybertronian Protoform Optimus Prime Figure released for the first film. Is this Prime the descendant from which Optimus Prime came? Does he, perhaps, have a name?

Man, IDW needs a Q&A too

In what capacity will the War for Cybertron designs be used in a transformers toyline? Will they not appear at all, get their own toyline, or will a select few appear in Universe (like how many War Within toys appeared in the Titanium Series)?

Paramount pictures has recently been contacted concerning a DVD release of Transformers: Animated season 3, and indicated they do not have the rights to do so.

To whom will the rights for the DVD release of season 3 be transferred to?

Resubmitting:

Why do so many LEDs used in Transformers blink on and off instead of just staying on? While a flashing LED does make sense when used on a weapon, there's so many times that the part being lit by the LED (e.g. - eyes or headlights) would look so much cooler if when the button was pressed the light just glowed steadily for a few seconds instead of blinking on and off like Christmas lights. Is the steady glow more expensive to do? Are there technical limitations? Or do the designers just prefer it aesthetically?

I was thinking about that with regards to my Webdiver Galleon, Mickey.

IIRC, the person that asked Paramount got a reply telling them to ask CN. I don't remember if they actually got an answer, or just got thanked for "Enjoying the programming we at the Cartoon Network provide for our viewers"

And I have a similar question to that: why are the RPM Sideswipe and the radio control Bumblebee not a Corvette and Camaro respectively when both of these characters have multiple other toys that are licensed?

I asked this before, but why, after Armada, Energon, and Cybertron made them standard, have more recent lines had several figures that lacked standard 5mm pegholes in their hands for no apparent reason? For example, Universe Onslaught has round holes in his fists, but they're too small.

Are the "Power Core Combiners" for ROTF, Universe, or the toyline associated with the next cartoon, and if it's the last one, are they the whole line or a subgroup?

There is one. It's just done through Andy Schmidt and therefore pointless.



My question for this round:

1) Generally when G1 names are replaced or "-blastified", the answer is usually that the original name was just lost due to trademark reasons. However, in the last five or so years, it seems like names directly related to war, IE "Bombshell", "Shrapnel", etc have been conspicuously changed as well. Has Hasbro been consciously abandoning more obviously war-themed G1 names? Or can we expect names like "Pointblank" to be seen eventually?

If consciously, it hardly seems to be universally. Warpath has been released quite recently....

Warpath doesn't really quite fit what I'm talking about in this case. I'm talking about more directly weaponry-related and visceral things like "Gutcruncher" being "Sparkcrusher" now and the Insecticon name swaps. Names that they have all rights reserved on like Bonecrusher hang around, but anything else along those lines doesn't seem to stay.

I'd be curious to see Hasbro's answer, but I'm really not seeing how "Warpath" would less "visceral" than "Shrapnel" or "Bombshell" (from your actual question).

Like I said, if it IS conscious (I'm not sure it is, but that's what the question's for, isn't it?), it doesn't seem to be universal.

I think with Bombshell they just can't GET the name, because Bombstrike from GI Joe was pretty clearly supposed to be named Bombshell and I think she's actually referenced as such in someone's filecard (One of the Barrel Roll versions, I think)

Although that's just my theory on the matter. Remember we couldn't get Bumblebee for ages because someone else had the name

Alternatively, it's possible that the term has become so overly common that Hasbro simply can't secure a trademark anymore.

If that were the case, we'd get "Decepticon Bombshell" rather than "Bombstrike", no?

Mattel has the exclusive rights for the new Stingray concept car at a 1:64 scale. They recently released a Hot Wheels version.

I assume something similar applies to radio-controlled Camaros.


Here's a resubmitted question from me:

Fans have come up with unofficial terms to refer to certain properties of Transformers toys, such as:
a) "kibble" for parts of one form that serve no function in the other form and basically just hang off or stick out (such as the robot "backpack" on Human Alliance Autobot Skids, the "wings" on Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Class Sideswipe's back, or the visible hands on Revenge of the Fallen Voyager Class Starscream in his F-22 mode)
b) "faux-parts" for elements of the robot mode that are sculpted to resemble characteristic parts of the alternate mode which end up elsewhere on the robot mode due to the conversion scheme (such as the fake wheels on Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Sideswipe's feet, or the fake truck windows on Voyager Class Optimus Prime's chest)
c) "shellformer" for Transformers toys that basically convert by hiding the robot body inside a "shell" that makes up most of the alternate mode (such as Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Sideswipe, or Cybertron Deluxe Class Thunderblast)

Do these elements ever come up during the design process? And if yes, does the design team have its own terminology to refer to them?

Although Hasbro is in the business of constructing rather than deconstructing, perhaps there is still insight that can be shared regarding plastic deterioration. Even recent figures such as 2007 Movie Legends Scorponok and 2006 Classics Megatron have had rubber parts become brittle, or have had the color of the plastic fade (Classics Megatron's bright orange seems to fade to a pale orange and occasionally turn yellow as well). Fans know of the detriment that sunlight and heat have on the breakdown of plastics, and even with those avoided, these reports still are posted. While plastic deterioration ultimately cannot be avoided, have the minds at Hasbro found ways to slow down the fading/breaking/crumbling that fans with older (and sometimes newer) collections have to deal with?

In order to promote the Generation 2 toyline, episodes from the 1984 - 1986 seasons were redone and rebroadcast.

However, it has been noted that sixteen episodes from the 1984 and 1985 seasons were never redone in the G2 format, nor was "The Rebirth."

Is there any particular reason why these episodes were omitted from the G2 cartoon lineup, or would these episodes have been utilized in a third season for the show?

The recent 'Electrostatic Soundwave' figure in the Animated line had an unfortunately placed date stamp marring the leg of the figure. While statements from other companies have indicated that these dating brands are required by law, is there any section in said legislation that dictates where on the figure said date stamp must be placed, either in terms of location or visibility? Is it possible to locate the stamp in a less-visible location, such as inside a battery cavity, or behind some flap or panel? With the date stamp legislation in place, will newer figures have a space allotted for this stamp, in the same manner as the existing Hasbro/Takara/Tomy copyright information?

Were the tuning knobs on Animated Laserbeak intended to be just the right size to fit in the screwholes on Soundwave's arms, or was this just a very cool but unseen feature?

Does the Transformers team have any fun, humorous or heart-warming stories behind any of the Transformers names? Were any of the names chosen by a child who thought it was "a aweswome" name? Have they been any other "fan-inspired" names other than Dispensor? Did anyone in the Hasbro offices start a hunger strike after the name "Fearswoop" was chosen for the Walmart exclusive rather than "Hooligan"? That sort of thing.

How long is the average "lead time" between the information about upcoming products (names, assortments, SKUs, etc.) being given over to the various retailers and the expected street dates for when those products are slated to be released? It has happened before where searches of computer systems have yielded listings for products that were either canceled or renamed before seeing release, something that has served to confuse the fandom.

(One infamous example came in 2002 when, in the midst of agitation amongst both the Transformers and Joe fandom about the status of the trademark "Shockwave" [rumor had it that someone was holding the trademark for ransom], it was reported that a price scanner at a Wal-Mart identified a Joe figure named "Surefire" as Shockwave, suggesting that Shockwave was the working name for the product. )

At the last few GIJoeCons, the GI Joe brand designers have displayed custom figures that they have made. Are there any custom figures that the Transformers brand designers have made that they are particularly proud of and would like to share?

In a recent Q&A session, you (Hasbro) stated that if and when you revisit a universe/classics style line, that you have no plans to revisit any of the characters from Beast Wars or Beast Machines. Can you elaborate on any reason why these characters would be omitted?

Over the years, Arcee has become a sort of defacto female character for the autobots, where if a female character is to be used as an Autobot, it is almost always Arcee. However, there is as of yet, no character like this for the Decepticons. To use a GI Joe analogy, if Arcee is the Autobots' "Scarlett", then why is there no "Baroness" for the Decepticons? With Transformers moving towards being more fiction and character driven, do you have any plans for developing a reoccurring female Decepticon character for future iterations of the franchise?

Recently, there has been a lot of talk from you about "heritage" or "legacy" characters. What is you criteria for deciding if a character is one? Is it that they have had a lot of toys in the past, or have appeared in multiple continuities, or is any character from the past considered to be one.

Can you name any "beast" alt mode toys or toys of Beast Wars characters from recent years that weren't shelfwarmers?

Considering there were only two, and they were competing with both movie and animated figures...

edit: oh yeah, forgot the animated beasties. But TFA in general kept the shelves nice and snug around here, so I kinda glazed over them.

Dinobot. Waspinator.

Leaving only Cheetor, who didn't linger too long, and Blackarachnia, who was a girl villain.

So, yeah, out of four in recent years, only one was a pegwarmer, and she was a girl villain.

Cheetor
Dinobot
Blackarachnia
Waspinator
These were all shelf-warmers of one degree or another. Dinobot the least of the bunch, though, since he was the tail end of the Universe line and stores didn't see as many of him as the rest of them.

Grimlock
Swoop
Activator Grimlock
Activator Fire Blast Grimlock

These are all still on shelves around here. Granted some of them are through restocks, but they're still not moving all that quickly.

Leo Prime
Predacon Bruticus
These didn't do much shelf warming in the States, but in places that actually received sizable amounts, they stuck fast to those metal shelves.

Stalker Scorponok
Ravage
These were the only Deluxe figures on shelves at the local Target on December 23rd. Anyone that turned into a vehicle? Gone.

Leo Prime (White)
These fill not one, but TWO end caps at the local Target. The next nearest Target is fairing a little better, but not by much.


It's hard to tell if animals really do sell worse than vehicles or if the relatively few animals compared to vehicles make them stand out more in memory, but if there's any truth to it I can see why Hasbro would be hesitant to use more beasts.

Construction vehicles have shelfwarmed since the beginning of time, way worse than beasts. Remember Armada Smokescreen? Energon Landmine and Cybertron Mudflap? And now ROTF Rampage.

Animated didn't even try to sell its construction vehicle characters.

So we should dump construction vehicles way before we start dumping beasts.

I'm hoping they quickly overturn this no beast route. I'm hoping they have it constantly going in some format {even mecha-beasts like ROTF Ravage Scorponok etc}

I can understand the logic that the complete BW type format has not been done in some time and therefore not kept "fresh" in the minds of consumers...

Still, there's a lot to explore with it.

Hasbro could always go the "Sky Lynx" route, wherein they have a beast that turns into a vehicle.

Yeah, I figure that's probably part of the reason why, but I'd like to hear more about it and have an official reason from, you know, the source...

I don't expect Hasbro to admit that any toys didn't sell well. Expect a very fluffy PR-washed answer.

Since this debate has raged on within the fan community for almost 24 years, perhaps Hasbro can clarify their stance on the matter. What's the deal with the Little White Optimus Prime figure that came with the G1 Ultra Magnus toy? We all know the history of the figure and its Diaclone roots, so this is more of a fiction question. Little White Optimus didn't appear in the G1 fiction. At all. And later toys such as the Titanium Ultra Magnus and Animated Ultra Magnus ignore this mode completely, instead transforming from vehicle mode straight to the big blue and red Ultra Magnus robot. So what is Hasbro's stance on G1 Ultra Magnus? Does he have both smaller and larger robot modes? Or just the larger one?

I understand my question isn't terribly exciting, but I think it's important. If we vote, hopefully others might think so:

Dear Hasbro. I know packaging styles come and go and we appreciate your efforts in maintaining packaging that is dynamic and exciting while still being secure. The one draw-back is there is still a lot of plastic and the nature of the plastic makes it hard to recycle. Here in Houston there is only one recycling center in the greater Houston area that accepts #3-7 plastics, which is the category into which the packaging falls. Apparently, it's so costly to recycle that even they will probably stop accepting it soon. Is there any chance Hasbro, as a company, might look into changing the plastic packaging used for toys to a type 1? This is the type often used for things like 2 liter bottles; it seems to have about the same strength as the current type of plastic being used and could then be thrown into most neighborhood recycling bins. There are days that I come home with a giant bag full of Tfs, Joes and Star Wars toys, and by the time I have everything opened, it takes a bigger bag to hold the left over packaging.

I think this one was up for discussion a few months back.

Supposedly, Hasbro is aware of such concerns and is looking at matters already, but no other details were forthcoming.

Love this question! I would love to see some STV TF movies. I know the remaining G1 cast have almost all said that they'd be up for it too.


I like this too. I'd be very interested to know if they have their own terminology.

I'd like to know if we will be seeing anymore uses of the Classics/Universe Seeker mold. Either as more of the "generic" characters like Acidstorm, or maybe a mass release of the remaining G1 Seekers.

In a previous Q&A, Hasbro announced the end of the Robot Heroes line. Could Hasbro go into further detail about the reasons behind the ending? Did Robot Heroes not sell as well as it was hoped for? How did Robot Heroes fare compared to other similar figures from other brands by Hasbro? The other brands got vehicles and other accessories that Robot Heroes did not; were such items unsuitable for inclusion in the Transformers brand? And is there any possibility that Robot Heroes could return at some future point even if its just for store exclusive repaint sets?

This question begs for a generic PR-washed non-answer.

"Thank you for your interest in the TRANSFORMERS® brand! The ROBOT HEROES™ range has been an exciting feature for us here at Hasbro too. However, due to various considerations, we have decided to focus on other offerings for the future of the brand. We currently have no plans to continue the ROBOT HEROES™ range, but stay tuned for exciting news about other upcoming products for the new year."