So, I love ...LOVE the Ultra Class figures but I think that Hasbro has laid waste to them by creating multiple repaints and not doing much for the most part of resculpting the heads when it came down to the Universe line. I can see Silverbolt and Darkwind...but did we need another Powerglide repaint like Stormcloud or Skyfall? And what was the deal with Hardhead? I have a thought that one maybe two repaints would be nice but sometimes I think that Hasbro can be a little self distructive by offering sooo many at the same time. They've unwittingly made Ultra Class something they themselves have to think twice about.

 

But as consumers and fans how do you think about them?

 

Love them or hate them? What do you think?

I think the only Ultra Class figure I have is Countdown and he's 15 different kinds of cool. My 6 year old has Onslaught and he's pretty awesome. I like the Class because it adds more variety and I love having options. I just don't recall them doing much with that Class here lately, but I wouldn't be against it.

Are Human Alliance considered Ultra Class?

Nah. I'm only gearing this thing to Classics/Universe/Energon/Cybertron...etc etc etc...

 

BT/ALt/Human Alliance/ Kiss Players are excluded this time around.

 

Gah! Countdown! Sigh. One of the guys I missed. He always looked like he was going to be all kinds of awesome. :)

Oh he is my friend. The reason I mention HA figs is mostly the similar price point. $30 is a little high for me to just casually pick it up. I have to really like the TF, and I think I'm a little more likely to buy a HATF at that price. I won't mention HA again though. We'll save it for another thread.

Ultra Class has been MIA since before RotF came out, but don't quote me on that. For me Ultra class is nice because you get more detail, articulation(for most part) and a larger figure to add more variety. If Hasbro ever decides to bring it back it better be more than repaints and have them be original characters.

I don't really mind if they're around or not, and some (looking at you Silverbolt) could really have just been voyagers and saved us some money. However, Onlsaught is the perfect at that size class; bigger than most other bots so he can tower over them with his badassery.

 

I'd say the ultras should stay in the past and keep their glory, when toys were bigger and beefier.

I'm not a fan of many of Hasbro's larger boxed figures of late...

 

Ultra Class used to be a lot better... back BEFORE Hasbro decided to become Wal-Mart's bitch and start cramming electronic bells and whistles "Try Me!" sound gimmicks into their larger boxed figures <shudder>.

 

Remember the old days when extra gimmicks, particularly electronic gimmicks, were used sparingly?? Let's look at G1... in the 9 years of G1 how many toys have electronic gimmicks? I'm in my collection room atm so... <looks around>

* Shockwave

* Omega Supreme

* Sky Lynx

* Galvatron

* Trypticon

* Star Convoy

...that's it! (in my collection anyway) Some of you with larger G1 collections might be able to name a few more figures, but overall they'd represent a fairly small percentage of G1 toys. Most boxed G1 Transformers didn't have electronic gimmicks - even fewer had sound gimmicks. In fact, out of the ones I've listed only Shockwave and Galvatron had sound gimmicks - the others use their electronics for lights and/or moving.

 

Sound gimmicks put a big constraint on toy engineering because you have the electronic sound block with speaker which is just chunky and you can't break it up or anything... unlike say the "laser rod" gimmick where you can have the batteries in one part of the toy, and wires leading to a different part connected to an LED (e.g. Masterpiece Grimlock). But any toy that has a sound gimmick, you inevitably have this big chunky block that you can't really do anything with, you just have to engineer a toy around that block. In some cases Hasbro can do a fairly good job with this, considering the constraint, e.g. Leader Class movie Optimus Primes, but sadly in many cases, the sound block just proves to be a big hinderance. So many of these larger toys could be better made if they didn't have to work aroudn the electronic sound gimmick - including Leader Movie Optimus Primes. Look at Leader Sentinel Prime... he's got this top-heavy sound block in his chest... so stupid. Does anyone seriously enjoy hearing these toys shout "I am Optimus Prime!" and "I am Sentinel Prime!" over and over again?!?! (especially when transforming the toys and you accidentally hit the buttons) -- how many of you have just ripped the batteries right out to make the toys shut the hell up!?

 

The sound gimmicks are really there to appease Wal*Mart... to make them think "Ooh! This will attract people's attention on the shelves! Kids will like this for a few seconds and bug their parents to buy it!" -- again, the Bells and Whistles Factor... less to do with adding value or quality to a toy, but more to do with grabbing people's attention while they're shopping. Make the toys sell, get them off the shelves... whether the consumer has long term satisfaction with the product or not, meh who cares.

 

I think the Universe Ultra Class figures were reasonably well designed given the constraint of having the sound gimmicks - including Silverbolt. I think people give him more crap than he really deserves... yes I know he's basically a robot carrying his alt mode on is back, but so was the G1 toy really! :P Okay, relatively speaking the Universe mould isn't as well designed as the G1 toy and it could have been a lot better... but I bet it could have been better designed if it didn't have this stupid sound gimmick in the way! But as a result, Ultras offer poor value for money (they retail here for about $70 each).

 

I miss the old days when Ultras didn't have sound gimmicks to hold them back... like the Beast Wars Ultras. And I dream of the day when they give us Leader Class or above toys without sound gimmicks in them either... like that's ever gonna happen. (>_>)

Ah YES!! A prime example of that is Energon Skorpinok!

 

Just a bad @$$ed robot in all three modes and he didn't have a gimmick unless you wanted to say that the missiles in his claws were the gimmick. You had Minicons which I never was too much of a fan of unless they changed into some sort of weapon but you really didn't even need it with Skorpy at all. He was just a tough Mofo that was ready to bring the house down!

 

In Universe...as much as I like Silverbolt myself I'd have to say that the voice gimmick shouldn't have comprimised the transformation too much. It's something I'd love to do without myself because I rather love engineering more than voice gimmicks (or any gimmick for that matter). Best one of the ultras that didn't suffer too much asw IMO, Powerglide. Say what you will, he's still one of my faves (even in the not too G-1 colors...coolest of all!) but I still want to see more like TM2 Megatron/Cryoteck or Debthcharge. Those that just made Transforming figures of this stature just ...amazingly fun!

I miss the ultra class, they gave a nice push to the shelves when they were at the back towering over the classics lines. I only have the Powerglide' now(The white and the G1 colored) and they are still among my fav's. I would like to get my others back since I had to sell them last year for bills(ouch).

As a size class they're pretty cool, as a price class I can live without them.

 

Keeping the majority of lines to more economically sized classes I think is the wave we're gonna see going forward for the near future. Ultra class is the most likely candidate to ax while the leader selections seem to be narrowed down to a very select few.

 

I think that the best sales come from figures that are around $20 and under. Especially until people start getting more disposable income, which won't be for quite some time I'm afraid.

 

I guess that's where I'm torn these days. I'm bummed that there isn't a wider selection of newer figures available, yet I'm kinda glad that I don't have the extra expense taking it's toll on my wallet like it usually does. I've even managed to hold off on other lines which I've been guilty of giving into temptations over in the past when TF's have been slow going. NO MARVEL!

 

 

When the time comes to open things back up for Ultra's then I'd like to see Hasbro continue dealing with electronic gimmicks as they have in DOTM. Make them separate optional accessories rather than jamming them into the bot and ruining an otherwise fantastic design. Leader BB is such a great figure due to the electronics being left on the side. Even Ultimate Optimus is better not having electronics jammed into the figure itself, that could have been a nightmare!

 

That way Hasbro gets the best of both worlds. They please the gadget loving execs and also the fans who hate seeing the designs gummed up by useless electronic features. If they can do that when ultra class makes a comeback, I'll be a very happy camper!