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
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
And then proceeded to release two combiners in the line whose point was having the Primes, with all-new Commander class molds for the torso/frame bots... neither of which was Nexus Prime.
It's almost like the entire idea is to keep cranking out new toys and figures for as long as they can.
Isn't it amazing how maximizing profits and sheer incompetence look almost identical?
Isn't it amazing how maximizing profits and sheer incompetence look almost identical?
It shows there's a disconnect between parts of those who are designing the toys and upper management, Nexus was likely a late edition when they already filled the slots for the year and likely a voyager they intended originally for this year, got bumped out in favour of Nexus
Hard to imagine Nexus being a late addition to the line who's primary objective (pardon the pun) is to make toys of all thirteen of the Thirteen, which includes Nexus.
"We're gonna make a toyline expressly designed to release toys for all of the Thirteen. Except Nexus. Screw Nexus!"
"..."
"Oh, wait, on second thought, we'll work him in at the last minute. See? We made toys of all thirteen, just like we promised all along!"
Highly implausible.
"We're gonna make a toyline expressly designed to release toys for all of the Thirteen. Except Nexus. Screw Nexus!"
"..."
"Oh, wait, on second thought, we'll work him in at the last minute. See? We made toys of all thirteen, just like we promised all along!"
Highly implausible.
Onslaught just hit my Pile of Loot. One more to go.
My guess is that the original plan was for the 13 Primes to come out across two years instead of one but that just speculation on my part and next year we'll likely see retools appearing of some of the deluxes and voyagers
He wasnt a late addition, they just didnt think the Prime of Combination needed to be a combiner, so now that everyone is upset with them they are scrambling to try and make him a combiner and not just "lol, he replaces Silverbolt, can't ya'll be happy with that?"
To say nothing of, even now, they're looking to make limbs for him, but still expect people to use Silverbolt's frame to combine them (thus meaning you can't have Superion combined if you want a combined Nexus without doubling up on Silverbolt). How is it that they think that's in any acceptable?
Tell that to the user who suggested it in the post right before mine.
None of this is precluded by doing Nexus Prime as one Commander and four Deluxes in AOTP (or three Deluxes, one Voyager, whatever) and putting the Aerialbots or Combaticons in the next line that is doubtlessly going to exist. Or, hell, to keep attention longer (and maybe entice purchases along the subsequent waves), split the Nexus and Aerialbot teams across two lines.
To add to this, we knew fairly early on that Nexus was slotted into a Voyager release, and I know this confused a lot of people; by that time, Hasbro was clearly committed to the frame system for combiners, and that frame doesn't fit in a Voyager price point. If they had made Nexus a self-contained combiner in the style of Gats Blocker (which is kinda like what Amalgamous also does at the Voyager scale), it would have disappointed people that wanted him to combine with other combiners, but would be true to the nature of the Prime of Combination in one package.
As it stands, though, what was released requires 4 and 1/2 additional Transformers to pull off its combination shtick. That seems...poorly thought out in a line intended to spotlight The Primes.
In short, I absolutely agree that including Nexus Prime in the Age of the Primes line was not an "afterthought", but it really does seem like the implementation of his combination features were, at best, a secondary consideration to budgeting in favor of other figures.
Nexus was not a late addition. The goal was the Thirteen Primes... and as @Sabrblade said making one of the Thirteen a last second addition makes zero sense.
I seem to recall a brand team interview where one them (I want to say Evan?) said that he was originally going to be a Leader but some stuff got shifted around and he ended up as a Voyager. This opened up a spare Leader slot which is how Unicron Soldier happened.
Anyway it seems like they were struggling to see how Nexus would work given the frame system modern Combiners have to adhere to.
In retrospect they should have just had Nexus and a frame be one of AotP's Commander releases with his four limbs spread across a year's waves. And just saved Onslaught for Age of Evolutions year one as a bridge between AotP and AoEv.
Still, they did what they did and are trying to fix it after the fact. The shame of it is that Nexus is a great figure in his own right and not nearly bad enough to deserve the hate. He's even accurate to some versions of the mythos (IDW, TFO) where he is just a normal sized dude.
All of this just highlights the big downside to the current Combiner system, however. Torsos were Voyagers back during Combiner Wars, so they could be pumped out pretty steadily and getting repaints for things like G2 releases or Baldigus/Ruination wasn't that big a deal.
But now Combiner torsos are pricy Commanders which only get one slot a year. It means they can't do more than one Combiner at once (being able to do two would have helped considerably with Nexus) and getting repaints are tricky because you need to find a "slot," ie a retailer willing to carry a pricy item that may take up inventory space for months on end. They still don't have a spot for G2 Motormaster.
The whole system just limits what you can do and it means either dedicating the slot to Combiner torsos for years on end or just not doing Combiners for a while and leaving gaps in peoples' collections.
And now they're stuck with a Voyager torso who will get limbs who can't combine without someone else's frame. The limbs aren't that huge a deal, you just need four Deluxe slots... but if they do ever want to complete the set... how will they manage it? What's the pitch to retailers going to be for something that's JUST a frame?
This whole thing has been kind of a clusterf**k. I'm quite relieved I like Nexus as he is... so I don't feel like I NEED to compete his combined mode... but still. Backing themselves into the corner of "our Combiner torsos can only be one a year $90+ releases" did no one any favours.
I seem to recall a brand team interview where one them (I want to say Evan?) said that he was originally going to be a Leader but some stuff got shifted around and he ended up as a Voyager. This opened up a spare Leader slot which is how Unicron Soldier happened.
Anyway it seems like they were struggling to see how Nexus would work given the frame system modern Combiners have to adhere to.
In retrospect they should have just had Nexus and a frame be one of AotP's Commander releases with his four limbs spread across a year's waves. And just saved Onslaught for Age of Evolutions year one as a bridge between AotP and AoEv.
Still, they did what they did and are trying to fix it after the fact. The shame of it is that Nexus is a great figure in his own right and not nearly bad enough to deserve the hate. He's even accurate to some versions of the mythos (IDW, TFO) where he is just a normal sized dude.
All of this just highlights the big downside to the current Combiner system, however. Torsos were Voyagers back during Combiner Wars, so they could be pumped out pretty steadily and getting repaints for things like G2 releases or Baldigus/Ruination wasn't that big a deal.
But now Combiner torsos are pricy Commanders which only get one slot a year. It means they can't do more than one Combiner at once (being able to do two would have helped considerably with Nexus) and getting repaints are tricky because you need to find a "slot," ie a retailer willing to carry a pricy item that may take up inventory space for months on end. They still don't have a spot for G2 Motormaster.
The whole system just limits what you can do and it means either dedicating the slot to Combiner torsos for years on end or just not doing Combiners for a while and leaving gaps in peoples' collections.
And now they're stuck with a Voyager torso who will get limbs who can't combine without someone else's frame. The limbs aren't that huge a deal, you just need four Deluxe slots... but if they do ever want to complete the set... how will they manage it? What's the pitch to retailers going to be for something that's JUST a frame?
This whole thing has been kind of a clusterf**k. I'm quite relieved I like Nexus as he is... so I don't feel like I NEED to compete his combined mode... but still. Backing themselves into the corner of "our Combiner torsos can only be one a year $90+ releases" did no one any favours.
AotP is a two year line.
I was referring to the fact they pretty much pumped out all of the Primes in one year instead of two and it would of been wiser to have Nexus be apart of the second year in terms of realising him and the bots that will make up his combined form, it would of saved them a lot of hassle if they simply did Nexus in the second year and used the voyager slot for some other character, for example Armada Starscream repaint as Thundercracker, so far they not done that in mainline for world wide markets
Eight of the Thirteen came out in 2025, five came out in 2026. I wouldn't call that spread "pretty much... all of the Primes in one year instead of two."
Nexus came out in 2026, the second year of the line. What is even your argument? Every point you've been making is just wrong.
Transformers Age Of The Primes Fan Stream – In-Hand Look At New Wave, Nexus Prime Limbs Confirmed!
The Hasbro Pulse YouTube Channel has just uploaded a new Transformers Age Of The Primes Fan Stream showing off our first in-hand look at the new wave. Nate, Evan, and Mark walk through close-up details, articulation, accessories, transformations, and character intent across all seven newly...
news.tfw2005.com
We misunderstood. He's not the Prime of Combination. He's the Prime of Unification. Common mistranslation from early Cybertronian. The toy incorporates this gimmick by unifying the whole fandom in saying they went about this all wrong.
It is a bit wild that we now get around two commanders a year, but didn't have room to make any of the Primes one, even though one of them is a titan.
That's because Primes outrank Commanders, I had to figure that out myself in the 80's trying to work out City Commanders and Rodimus Prime from a toy catalog without having seen the movie, the post movie seasons, or knowing why Rodimus and Hot Rod had such similar robot modes.
On a serious note, I am still a bit shocked at how close I am to getting Bruticus done, seeing as I gave up during the various messes and was so late ordering anything when things improved.
On a serious note, I am still a bit shocked at how close I am to getting Bruticus done, seeing as I gave up during the various messes and was so late ordering anything when things improved.
I'm wondering what the plan was for Leader class Nexus. Was he going to be a frame with some token bits for an individual altmode (sort of like he has now)? Are the frames justifiable sold by themselves as Leader class, based on parts count and complexity? Even in my head this seems odd, but at least stays true to the notion of him introducing or leading to combination.
Or, perhaps more likely, was this going to be a Leader class figure with five simple, even almost Machine Robot Rescue type, combiner parts?
Or, perhaps more likely, was this going to be a Leader class figure with five simple, even almost Machine Robot Rescue type, combiner parts?