Hasbro answers your Transformers Questions

[Super_Megatron]

Thanks to Hasbro for taking part in the first ever online Transformers Q&A with Cybertron.ca. Check back later this year for the next installment where they will answer more of your questions.

1. Why did Hasbro choose to drop the Ultra size Class for the Movie and Animated lines?

HASBRO: Ultra and Voyager scales are so close in size that we decided to focus on driving only 1 of the two - it is more efficinet for retailers that way too. When we initially set up the new UNIVERSE line we thought that was a good place to bring back Ultra to be at a different price point vs. ANIMATED and MOVIE. However, people liked the UNIVERSE line so much that we went back and added a Voyager scale (that's why all the new tools are Ultra in 2008 and all re-decos are Voyager in 2008.

2. Why has gold/silver faction symbols been used for the Animated line instead of the traditional red and purple as featured on the TV show?

HASBRO: We did it for a couple of reasons, but the biggest one is that you don't see the faction symbols on the vehicle modes in the show. We always like to have them on the toys, so we thought that by making them 1-color metallic it would blend in more that red/purple, and feel more like a metallic part of the vehicle.

3. Will Canadian retail be seeing the release of the Premium Movie Voyagers, the Universe Legend 5-packs, the Legacy of Bumblebee 3-pack or the Animated Leader class value packs?

HASBRO: Canadian fans can look forward to seeing the Premium movie voyagers on shelf this fall as well as the Universe Legends 5 packs (Zellers exclusive) and the Bumblebee 3 pack (Walmart exclusive).

4. Hasbro recently announced that toy prices will be rising effective September 1st. Will an increase also happen in Canada? And if so how much will it effect the retail price of Transformers, Star Wars, GIJoe, Marvel Legends etc?

HASBRO: All prices are ultimately set by individual retailers. However, costs associated with producing toys - including plastic costs, shipping costs, and labor costs - have all risen recently and the higher prices you might see on shelves can be attributed to this.

5. Will the trend of creating toys out of all the Transformers characters featured in Transformers Animated continue with Animated Season 3?

HASBRO: We will try to make toys of as many of the Transformers: ANIMATED characters as possible. Not all will become toys but many will.

[Magnus]

First off... Thanks to the folks at Hasbro for taking the time to do this. It shows us fans that are opinions and questions are at least worth their time.

Now, is there going to be a second part to this? Or did they just pick out 5 questions of the hundreds we submitted and just answered those and discarded the rest...

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that they took the time to answer, but with all the effort that everyone put forth asking pertinent questions... I'm a little underwhelmed.

[Poho]

as am i. i figured they'd spend more than 5-10 minutes on this.

[SPLIT LIP]

Originally Posted by Hasbro

2. Why has gold/silver faction symbols been used for the Animated line instead of the traditional red and purple as featured on the TV show?

HASBRO: We did it for a couple of reasons, but the biggest one is that you don't see the faction symbols on the vehicle modes in the show. We always like to have them on the toys, so we thought that by making them 1-color metallic it would blend in more that red/purple, and feel more like a metallic part of the vehicle.

But with most of the toys the faction symbols are hidden in vehicle mode anyway. Though this is a cool answer and it's nice that tehy finally gave an explanation.

[Super_Megatron]

We submitted the top 5 questions. Questions about will toy XYZ be released in line ABC will not be answered so were not considered.

[DecepticonsRule]

Very cool.

Will Cybertron.ca be hosting one of these again?

[Paradigm-Shift Prime]

Re: Question #4, all I have to say is that prices better not increase in Canada. Being where they are is already over the top (sans the occasional lowered price like Animated leaders for $50 @ Wal-Mart) and I haven't a good reason for our prices in a long time.

Whether from the retailer or elsewise, any increase to Cdn prices would just seem like an opportunistic cash grab, with 'raising oil, plastics prices' as an excuse.

[Super_Megatron]

Originally Posted by DecepticonsRule

Very cool.

Will Cybertron.ca be hosting one of these again?

Yes, please review the first paragraph. Thanks.

[down_shift]

I'm glad they answered those questions. I look forward to the next round.

[Paradigm-Shift Prime]

Oh and it is nice to see the general trend of store exclusives being released in Canada. If the hype builds back up again with next year's TFTM2, hopefully we'll keep getting almost all of them for a while!