How do you feel about non transforming Transformers and there riseing popularity?

[tec]

There has been an uptick in Non transforming Transformers of late (Blockies, yolopark, Auldey, Flame Toys)

And as one of the many who lived the Action Master crash of 1990 I'm kinda worried..
For a few reasons
First a flooded market with a bunch of non TFing Transformer Products cant be good right? Look at that failed RED line
Secondly Why? Ok I kinda know why A: there cheaper to engineer and easier to
Why are they succeeding Blockies are flying off the shelf's at an alarming rate
Also one store I went to just Blockies I asked if they had any Transformers and they pointed to the Blockies no actual TFs sad those cant replace real TFs and its a pattern I'm seeing repeated
The appeal of a Transformer is that they Transform if they don't even to that don't they lose part of there identity at that point?

 

[lastmaximal]

I've never minded non-transforming Transformers, even when they WERE the Transformers line. And certainly not now that they're all ancillary merchandise. The brand is slapped on a million things that don't convert.

They're not going to kill the main line -- if any tangible signs of danger appear, I think Hasbro would know to step in -- but my real concern is they're competing for shelf space. Already I've had a couple of mainstream retail locations cut down on the main lines and replace them on shelves with Yolopark stuff. ROTB and then One. But then I think those stores were always going to scale down on their mainline stuff so it's hard to tell.

 

[M. Virion]

Why are they succeeding Blockies are flying off the shelf's at an alarming rate

I'm going to share my opinion, from my unique experience.

They're well detailed, posable and very reasonably priced model kits.

The price on transforming figures is high In comparison. Money for a lot of people is incredibly tight in the current economy - what used to be an impulse buy for a deluxe now requires me to weigh it against other purchases I want or need to make more than I've ever had to before.

I haven't bought anything bigger than a Voyager in probably over a year because I can't justify spending that much.

My options are nicely detailed, fun to put together model kit of the characters I'd like to have representation of - or just not having them. Kind of a no brainer.

As to how I feel about them? I was 8 when Action Masters came out. I liked them then, I still like them now.

 

[Arazyr]

I don't mind non-transforming figures of Transformers characters, I'm just not (generally) interested in them. At least, when the character is "supposed to" be able to transform.

That said, the Blokees look really cute, well articulated, and fun to assemble. If they were to make versions of the new-character Action Masters, I would buy the whole batch. Are you listening, Blokees? 8^)

Outside of that, I get why people like them. They can capture the appearances of the characters in the shows/movies/comics/etc. frequently better than a transforming figure can. And a lot of people like that. (It's not a priority for me, but I'm fine with other people having different interests than me. On the Internet? Scandalous, I know. 8^)

 

[Undead Scottsman]

Action Masters didn't crash Transformers; they were already dying and Action Masters was just a last ditch attempt to cash in on the TMNT craze that had supplanted Transformers.

Gen2 popped up only a couple years later and despite being a return to transforming, it still floundered.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Note that these are licensed stuff. Their increased popularity is a good sign. Hasbro wants more licensing because it's easy money, and companies are biting.

Blokees in particular are succeeding because they're cheap. It's so important because outside Christmas and birthdays, most of what kids get are going to be cheap impulse buys, and Hasbro has struggled to have something in that price range. Legends/Cyberverse died. Legends/Core died. It is better to have licensed stuff in that price range than nothing at all.

 

[Princess Viola]

Well, for starters, trying to compare these things to Action Masters is nonsense because Action Masters were the big new thing pushed out by Hasbro in 1990 in their attempt to keep this franchise going (and, if I can be honest, saying 'Action Masters killed Transformers' - even if it were true - is such an Americentric thing because, y'know, the line kept going in Japan for another couple years and it just didn't end in Europe at all until it became Generation 2 in 1994 for them. It's like when people act as if the whole video game industry crashed in 1983 when it was primarily only in the US and Canada to a lesser extent, y'know?).

Meanwhile things like Blokees, Flame Toys, and Yolopark? Those are all spin-off licensed merchandise and most of what these companies put out are model kits. And y'know what's a massively popular line that's been around for decades and probably earned their parent company billions of dollars? Gunpla.

Is it any surprise that Hasbro, if indirectly and through licensed product, is wanting to get a piece of the pie of the huge popularity of plamo?

 

[lastmaximal]

Blokees is not my thing, and that's fine. I'm glad to see it catching on and continuing. The Galaxy Defender minis even push a few of the same buttons for me that Kre-O does, but aside from that general "tiny cute cool" charm I'm not really tempted to go all in. (The legit blindness of the boxing is also keeping me comfortably away.)

But I can see the appeal, and it's been fun to see people gravitate to it. (The bubble will burst, as they tend to, but not for a while yet I don't think.).

My only complaint is the way stores stock stuff here, displacing regular TFs for Yolopark (more than Blokees, which tend to occupy a different section). And that's not even a fault of Blokees OR Yolopark etc. It makes sense to have lots of them around, as they're cheaper and very appealing with a fun play pattern, especially versus the rising prices of mainline figures.

 

[LordGigaIce]

I just can't get into them. A few of these lines look interesting but I keep coming back to "they don't transform."

I'm happy people are enjoying these lines but it's not something I can get into.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I still think a non-transforming G1 Megatron that comes with the gun accessory for other characters to hold would be an adequate substitute for being unable to get an original flavor gun megatron.

Though if they can pull off a good looking '86 Megatron that turns into a tank, that'd be fine as well.

Also, at this point, you might as well just do Arcee as a non-transforming figure. Every version being saddled with a huge backpack because her character model never had to make real sense is kind of a bummer. I'd rather get an actionmaster of her G1 self and just let her get redesigned for future Generations figures to where she has more car kibble on her legs and what not, like in the Terminator crossover.

 

[Destron D-69]

I did have a moment in one of the trus I go to recently where there was an entire isle of blockies all brand new... and then I go to the actual tfs and it's just tone gimmick toys and 2 wave old generations deluxes sharing a row with star wars. Marvel and gijoe toys on clearance... we'll see how it goes, I can't be too negative... I have been buying the fembots from flametoys...

 

[Sabrblade]

Also, at this point, you might as well just do Arcee as a non-transforming figure. Every version being saddled with a huge backpack because her character model never had to make real sense is kind of a bummer. I'd rather get an actionmaster of her G1 self

Oh, what could have been...

(Concept sketch for the never-made Action Master Arcee toy)

 

[Exatron]

I suppose I could be wrong, but I really don't remember any other Action Masters having butt cheeks...

Anyway, for all the hatred thrown at Action Masters, I really liked them when I was a kid. They didn't transform, but they were by far the best representations of the robot characters themselves we got during G1. They were the one segment of G1 that I actually managed to nearly complete at the time. I loved getting versions of these characters I loved that actually looked mostly like what I saw on TV, had a decent range of movement, and were affordable even for a kid with just a bit of money here and there. I had a lot of fun playing with them. And unlike many of my other G1 toys, they were actually durable enough to survive all that play. They were also a great mix of some of my favorite existing characters and some fascinating new characters that have never gotten enough love since.

Stuff like Blokees hit a lot of the same notes. They certainly aren't going to replace transforming Generations toys, but quite a few of them definitely have a place in my collection. I also enjoy building models, so stuff like Blokees also scratch an itch that mainline Transformers never will. The fact that it's funneling more money into the brand in general is just a bonus.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

When I'm on the Transformers team but I'm not allowed to talk about it, one way you'll know it is you'll see nods to certain Action Master accessories. They're great and deserve love, and I'll make it happen.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Given that there's more of an adult collector market now, and I imagine a subset of that is only interested in displaying their favorite characters in robot mode... I can see why they're a more viable venture now than back in 1990.