Looking at 3rd Parties, what haven't Has/Tak caught on?

[joshimus]

By that I don't mean lawsuits and such, I mean with what 3rd parties are doing. I was looking at Uranos pics because I was curious what his combined form looked like and I am thinking I missed the boat on this guy. Then it hit me, 3rd parties are doing what I have always wanted. Not just G1 inspired bots with amazing articulation, but THAT is the gimmick.
Nevermind missile launchers or auto-transform, or shitty electronics that hinder what "could have been" on a large scale Leader figure. Take ROTF Megatron. Could have been an AMAZING figure but nope, let's throw in some electronics and muck him up. Just think of all the free space to re-work with if his entire torso wasn't what it was?! Or his one gun arm? And yet, he still gets that one gimp hand. The upper half of ROTF Megatron has so much waste that a 3rd party could have done properly.

3rd parties are making the transforming THE gimmick, without the hindering of articulation and aesthetics. Part of why I love Green Giant/Devestator is because it is designed to function the way it needs to rather than add gimmicks that really don't add to the figures.

So, why has Has/Tak not caught on to this? Fans obviously seem to like this yet it seems like Has/Tak wants the 3rd parties to succeed, which is fine with me but just odd that Has/Tak would allow their brand to be worse than some random fan who knows what fans want. Granted, we are a small niche market, but with that noted, why not make 3rd party style bots for mass release?

I'm sure they have their reasons.

[Super_Megatron]

Collectors are a very small percentage of their market. They sell toys for children.

[Woundave]

Children don't buy 100 deluxes, and 600 dollar combiners.

Also, they don't have to pass drop tests and other safety standard regulatory practices. how well do you think the third party combiners would hold up to drop tests.

Frankly I think Hasbro has been doing great of late, maybe they aren't really filling out people's classics collection, but hastak has a bunch of mastepiece figures out or on the way, great comics going on, and my kids love the beast hunter figs

[pandaprime]

the new masterpiece figures pass the safety standards, testing, regulations etc?

[johndclayton]

guys

i was gonna post this bit of nes in the news section here on the forums but for some reason it wont let me

either way this is seriously huge news as 3rd party transformers figures go


http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-...totype-176743/

they are actually bringing Overlord back asa 3rd party transformer figure made up of a battle ship a stealth bomboer jet and a tank that all combine to form the robot mode

one of the most powerful cons in generation 1 history if not THE most powerful

HO...LY.... GLITCH

OH HOLY SWEET JESUS FREAKING CHRIST SHIT ON A STICK

THOSE SONS OF GLITCHES ACTUALLY DID IT

looks like hexatron has got a fellow phase sixer to give him a run for my money lol

someone needs to give this guy a differant head and make nova lord a generation 1ified version of transformers animated triple changer megatron

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:MarauderMegatron.jpg

with the right paint juob and colors i actually think nova lord would look damn good asa g1 version of triple changer animated megatron

[Woundave]

Originally Posted by pandaprime

the new masterpiece figures pass the safety standards, testing, regulations etc?

well i would assume mp10 does, but the other new mps haven't been released on the north American market. IDK, maybe because they are collectors items have try exclusives they can bypass certain regulations? Like not having 'safety' plastic molded for pointy bits.

Regardless, deluxes are what makes hasbro most its money, 15-20 dollar toys not 100 dollars. As adult collectors we can think we know better, but as a corporate entity they've been at this for a long time, and have complied and crunched numbers to better their profit margins. Third party companies can do what they want, but hasbro is the goliath of the two, and parents arent going to start buying kids $100 figures that are part of a 6 figure combiner set.

[DamonL]

basically 3rd parties are giving us what we want.. just look at igear's MP ironhide and rachet.. Im pretty sure it's safe to say hasbro/takara will not releasr a mp ironhide and rachet because they've alrdy been released money lost.. fans' gain

[Msol]

Yeah, think of it like this: Hasbro has a limited number of designers, with a limited number of hours in a year to work on projects. Does it make sense to use those resources for $100 figures that will sell 10,000 units, or $10 figures that will sell 1,000,000 units?

Also, which of the 2 choices above has a higher risk associated with it? Even with MPs, only TRU seems willing to carry them. If they flop, they flop hard.

[johndclayton]

honestly i think the 3rd party groups have the better ideas over time

[Rev]

I agree with the spirit of the OP: the transformation should be the gimmick. Really do that well and forget about other stuff. There are thousands of 25+ year old toys still around that sold like hotcakes with no gimmick other than transformation. Granted, it was another time, but in the end it is the transformation that makes it a Transformer.


Second, in reply to some others, I don't think that Hasbro is embarrassed, or upset, or personally offended in any way. They aren't a 14 year old girl. They are a company that makes decisions based upon profit.