|
My Google Hangout w/ Hasbro for Cybertron.ca
So tonight I got to do something amazing. I got to sit down and go over NEW PRODUCT with some of the Hasbro Transformers Team and take the information I have gathered from the experience and share it all with YOU!
This included Team Members:
Jerry Jivoin - Marketing Director of Transformers
John Warden - Designer for Generations
Sean Carmine Isabella - Designer
Ben Montano - Franchise Director
Ben starts off by thanking everyone for joining them for what will be mostly new reveals for both RID & Generations in 2016. They felt that it was unfair that fans had to wait until New York to get more information.
The presentation starts off by introducing some of the new RID figures. First up are some of the new Mini-cons from the 2016 Spring line up.
Introducing new Mini-con Cyclones!
Mini-Con Single Assortment
Wave 1:
- Blizzard Strike Slipstream
- Swelter
- Decepticon Back
- Decepticon Hammer
Wave 2:
- Scorch Strike Jetstorm
- Glacius
- Ransack
Mini-con 4 Pack Assortment
Wave 1:
- Blizzard Strike Backtrack
- Blizzard Strike Swelter
- Scorch Strike Undertone
- Scorch Strike Beastbox
-- really wanted a fire vs. ice theme
Mini-con Deployers Assortment
Wave 1:
- Overload w/ Backtrack - launches new Cyclones
- Blizzard Strike Drift w/ Jetstorm
-- showed a live demo of some of the Mini-cons and Overload. Someone asked of the head of Overload was inspired by Impactor. It was not.
Wave 2:
- Crazybolt w/ Hammer
-- lizard inspired character that turns into a drag racer. Shoots Cyclone Mini-cons out of his mouth.
Mini-con Battle Pack Assortment
Wave 1
- Optimus Prime w/ Lord Doomitron (Not making that up)
- Sideswipe w/ Decepticon Anvil.
-- translucent body armor becomes large hand weapon. Really wanted to amp up armor and weapons. Showed live demo of Optimus in armor. Actually looked kind of cool. They feel the "build a weapon" option gives a lot more accessories for fans to play with. Also showed Sideswipe. Has a kind of Rodimus vibe with the armor on. Sean joked that he was watching a lot of Bruce Lee/Enter The Dragon when he was designing these. ha ha.
Wave 2
- Bumblebee w/ Major Mayham
- Grimlock w/ Decepticon Back
-- interesting note on Grimlock. His armor makes him look a little like Movie Grimlock, while his build a weapon looks a lot like BW Megatrons Dinohead hand cannon. They said he looks very "Kingly"
That wraps up the RID reveals.
Next slide is a large banner for Titans Returns with a BIG ol' teaser for Fortress Maximus!
As was mentioned back at Comic-con Titans Returns is the "phase 2" of the Prime Wars Trilogy.
They will be working closely with IDW. Plays out through Comics and Digital content.
They wanted to reiterate that just because Titan Wars will be starting up it DOES NOT mean Combiner Wars will be going away. That leads into a teaser for another sweet, sweet Combiner Gift set...
G2 Bruticus! All of the crazy flavors of the original G2 set plus an Action Master inspired deco or Legends Shockwave. Really awesome box art as to go with the gift set. Looks like it includes a collectors card too, if that's your thing.
After a "technical glitch" they move onto something totally new. A kind of "cute" idea in:
Transformers Alt-Modes.
These are Chibi-style transformers that have oversized heads on top of a vehicle mode. What's really cool with this is that they transform be pulling on the bot or con badge on the top of their heads and the vehicle mode flips into the head while the body flips down. The little vehicle modes even have working wheels. They move to a live demo of Optimus and Megatron. The badge on the top of the head folds back to hide it away.
Wave 1 2016 - Blind Box
- Optimus Prime
- Nemesis Prime
- Megatron
- Starscream
- Thundercracker
- Skywarp
- More of these little guys to come!
Titans Returns Leader Class Assortment
Wave 1 2016
- Blaster
- Powermaster Optimus Prime w/ Autobot Apex
-- Heavy retool of CW Ultra Magnus. Apex has a very Ginrai look to him. NOT an actual Powermaster, he is a Headmaster (Titan Master) - Still, very cool looking. Has a truck and base mode. Had a hand painted prototype for the live demo. I can see this being a big favorite to a lot of fans. During the demo they mention that he has ramps in his battle station mode that will allow you to connect him to even BIGGER cities. Which was a clever segway into...
Titan Class 2016
- Fortress Maximus!
-- This is Hasbros official announcement for the figure. While no actual image of the figure was shown, they did show a teaser of the character art. They are saying that he has "so many cool features, that they can't even get into them right now" Sometimes you might take that as avoiding talking about it, but you can tell during the live feed that they are just genuinely PUMPED to be bringing this out.
Believe it or not, now it's time for the BIG news.
They go on to say that they are already looking towards the future of Titan Class figures. They want to reach out to fans, like they did with Windblade and Victorion to help decide what the next Titan Class figure will be! Now, it won't be like the previous fan build polls that determine faction, color, or super power - but rather they will give you the option to choose between three city bots.
Trypticon
Scorponok
Omega Supreme
This will be called the 2017 Fan Vote Titan.
This will be a GLOBAL vote. Not only will you be able to vote through the Transformers Facebook page but fans around the world will have different outlets to vote (as some don't have access to Facebook. Fans from China for example will be voting on WeChat)
Here are the official deets from Hasbro:
Starting November 24th on the official Transformers Facebook Page (Facebook.com/Transformers), fans will be able to cast a vote for which of the following fan-favorite characters should be added to the line:
Scorponok
Trypticon
Omega Supreme
Starting on 11/20, fans will be treated to campaign-style posts featuring each of the three characters, leading up to the official voting post, which will go up on 11/24 at 1 pm EST. The vote will be active from 1:00 PM EST to 3:00 AM EST. Fans will be able to vote in the comments section of the post.
Additionally, this will be the first Transformers Fan Vote that will include fans from China. Chinese fans will be voting on WeChat, and their vote totals will be joined with the Facebook vote totals to determine the winner, whose identity will be shared with fans in the near future.
At the end of it all we were allowed to ask a few questions. Big thanks to the Hasbro Team for taking the time to answer a few of our questions!
Down_Shift - Is there any reason you went with the term "Titan Master" over "Head Master"? Is it meant to be a generic term to be able to cover future Target Masters and Power Masters as well?
(WARDEN) - We decided to use the term "Titan Masters" for several reasons. First and foremost, the Titans Return line is filled with several small "master" figures and larger Transtector style Transformers which previously used the Targetmaster or Powermaster play pattern. To keep our new ecosystem of play more focused, we decided to rename this small race of Transformers "Titan Masters" to re-introduce the classic characters within our new Prime Wars Trilogy story universe.
Separately, we felt that the name "Titan Masters" help to reinforce the idea that the smallest Transformers hold the key to unlocking the tremendous power and mystery of the largest Transformers, the Titans.
The reintroduction of the Tech Specs in the Titans Return line gives fans a glimpse into the power that these Titan Master Transformers hold: the ability to augment a Transformers ability beyond the reaches of the previous Tech Specs, unlocking special power, and sometimes unexpected results.
It was a really amazing experience that I am very, VERY grateful for. It was my pleasure to relay what I was shown back to fellow fans.
D_S - How do you decide which characters outside of the original Headmaster characters becomes a Titan Master? Blaster and Galvatron are both good examples of this.
(WARDEN) - Like our previous chapter of the Prime Wars Trilogy (Combiner Wars), the team felt that the play-pattern should be universal across all characters. In Combiner Wars, Optimus Prime and Sky Lynx were given the power of combination, which reinforces the message of "Combination" and strengthens the fun and customizability of the line to fans, young and old.
Blaster and Galvatron becoming "Titan Master Compatible" is another example of how the ecosystem of play helps to inform our universe, these core characters were given the ability to power-up using Titan Masters, which allows for seamless play across all price points of Generations.
D_S - How popular are IDW comic characters compared to G1 or BW characters and how does that impact a character being brought to life as a figure?
(WARDEN) - Our IDW Comic Book universe is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, and we are very proud of the great partnership and awesome storytelling of IDW. We recognize the popularity of the "IDW-universe" characters and try (when it makes sense) to integrate their aesthetic into the modernized designs of Generations. However, Generations (like its name) serves to make fans of many eras of Transformers history happy. This is why we try to take a close look at characters from all of the universes when put together the line. As we unfold new content in the "Prime Wars Trilogy" storytelling universe, we hope to make fans of all generations excited!
If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will answer as best I can.
Cheers
Ian.
I mean Ryan... I'm Ryan
Last edited by down_shift; 11-20-2015 at 11:22 AM.
|
