Transformers: Age of the Primes Thread: ll First Post All Listings II Update : April 12th, 2027 Bonus Wave: Repaint fun, Beast Wars, G2, Machine Wars

[LordGigaIce]

Yeah I liked Mighty Max, but I don't $50 like Mighty Max.

Sometimes our parents didn't have a reason.

For all the speculation of why Hasbro so rarely makes hooded Cobra Commanders, a hooded Cobra Commander was one of the single packed GI Joe toys my mom straight up refused to get me.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

It's especially funny how the Optimus Prime-looking Japanese guy named Big Convoy is getting to be a shelfwarmer in the AOTP line.

Should've called him "Mammoth Prime."

 

[Sabrblade]

Should've called him "Mammoth Prime."

Still wouldn't have helped his street cred with the kids.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

That might even be enough to get me collect joes...

Same. I want this now.

Hasbro, give me a call. I will save G.I. Joe.

 

[Steamed Hams]

That would confuse people with Ultra Mammoth who was confused with Big Blue Convoy who...

Magmatron was also a shelfwarmer.

Maybe do something with the characters before you throw them in a toyline as leader and commander class. The thirteen might work because they've had some exposure but people won't remember these guys from Beast Wars that never came to the west.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Still wouldn't have helped his street cred with the kids.

"Prime" as a title is something kids in the west would associate with something positive because of Optimus Prime.

You see an Optimus looking robot with "Mammoth" in his name, his also a Prime like Optimus, he turns into a mammoth... that may be enough to make a kid want him. Even if they've never heard of Beast Wars Neo.

But "Big Convoy"? "Convoy" doesn't mean anything except its literal definition in the West outside of Transformers fans.

 

[lastmaximal]

"Big Convoy isn't selling because duh, stupid cutting corners lazy Hasbro didn't even make him BIG big."

/moron

I think the question of "familiarity for the kids" is a tricky one these days, now that this main line is pretty transparently not kid-aimed anymore. The delineation between the collector and kid lines is firmer now than ever (even considering both are made to kid-appropriate safety standards etc), and there's no ambiguity in how Cyberworld is going to be spins at most on evergreen characters while the collector lines are going to drop randos and comparative deep cuts, from Bumper to Jhiaxus to Deep Cover to Big Convoy. This could be just as much a matter of this being a higher price point as people not being familiar with the character.

Is there even any indication other than scattered anecdotal evidence that this is in fact not selling well?

 

[unluckiness]

They probably just overpacked Big Convoy and Leaders being expensive keeps them on shelves more compared to Deluxes and Voyagers.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

Let's be real here, EVERY character, outside of a handful of perennials and whoever happened to show up in a recent movie or cartoon, is an unknown character to kids. There's no character discoverability for Generations these days, because they haven't done a show for it in nearly five years, and there hasn't been a comic even tangentially related for four years. (not that many kids read comics these days)

How are kids supposed to form any attachments to these characters? There's no media, no bios... At this point they'll only get it if they (or their parents) think it looks cool and there's a million other toys, not to mention video games, to compete with on the "that looks cool" front. You can get like 3 fortnite skins for the cost of Big Convoy.

 

[lastmaximal]

They should start adding QR codes for the relevant episode of The Basics, kind of like the QR codes for profiles they used to have for Legacy. (And pay McFeely a nice little mcfee.)

I was about to say "or go back to just printing bios on the box", but alas, that ship, it has sailed.

 

[MrBlud]

But as much as I really like the IDW Swerve character and design, I don't know if I'd like that head on essentially another Swerve's body.

A simple cut-n-paste already looks loads better.



Even a regular G1 head would work too.

 

[lastmaximal]

That does look good. But they'd have to retool the truck hood as well to accommodate those shoulder shapes and to end up behind the head in robot mode.

Man, I'm still so surprised how pleasant the proportions and look of the Swerve retool are.

 

[NovaSaber]

Let's be real here, EVERY character, outside of a handful of perennials and whoever happened to show up in a recent movie or cartoon, is an unknown character to kids. There's no character discoverability for Generations these days, because they haven't done a show for it in nearly five years, and there hasn't been a comic even tangentially related for four years. (not that many kids read comics these days)

How are kids supposed to form any attachments to these characters? There's no media, no bios... At this point they'll only get it if they (or their parents) think it looks cool and there's a million other toys, not to mention video games, to compete with on the "that looks cool" front. You can get like 3 fortnite skins for the cost of Big Convoy.

A lot of the old English-language cartoons are up for free on YouTube (and I mean on TRANSFORMERS OFFICIAL or Hasbro Pulse, not unofficial uploads), at least; no idea how many kids watch them, though.

 

[Sabrblade]

Armada Red Alert had a whole 52-episode cartoon's worth of appearances, and he's still clogging all the shelves at every Walmart en masse. They just can't get rid of him. Or his mold-mate Flatline.

 

[Steamed Hams]

He did become a nanny to the kids in the series.

 

[lastmaximal]

People just aren't ready for a Robocop who doesn't skip leg day.

Alternatively, this would have flown off the shelves if they had given him his sound box.

I like the look of the mold and hope to get it in my preferred color scheme at some point. But even given that, and how it makes sense to include him, I wish the Mini-Con multipack had come with I Look Like Thundercracker instead, basically the Takara release but with a toy-based deeper red for the face to distinguish it. The Powerlinx colors are just not my thing, as Red Alert goes.

 

[Princess Viola]

i like how we're pretending that kids still buy toys and aren't just spending all day playing fortnite or roblox these days

 

[LordGigaIce]

i like how we're pretending that kids still buy toys and aren't just spending all day playing fortnite or roblox these days

Hasbro knows.
There's a reason the collector line went from being a once every other year thing to becoming the main line and the kids lines went from the main lines to being side offerings that don't even have enough budget for elbows.

 

[lastmaximal]

Bring Back Elbows!

Think Of The Man- Children