Why,The UGLY robot heads on Media TF toys.

[Shadowpanther]

Why,The UGLY robot heads on Media TF toys.

 

Does Hasbro think kids/parents/fans like to buy TF media toys with ugly robot heads?

 

Why the need to re-invent the wheel & not use the 1980's TF G-1 robot heads for homage characters appearing in the movie-verse & newer toy lines with cartoons.

 

Might as well call the characters by different names if their robot heads,bodies,alt modes look nothing like their 1980's TF G-1 forms.

 

it's really up setting to see/buy newer media starscream,megatron,soundwave,bumblebee,arcee,toys. with robot heads that look nothing like their 1980's TF G-1 Robot heads.

 

TF Prime's,Starscream robot head is so ugly & it ruins a beautiful sculpted voyager starscream robot toy body.

 

TF Prime's,Megatron's voyager toy robot head. has those weird long eye brows on the helmet. the inner robot face looks kinda beatly & just ugly.

 

TF Prime's,Arcee & soundwave's robot heads are kinda ugly & look ZERO like the 1980's TF G-1 arcee & soundwave robot heads. these might as well have been named different characters. because they have different robot heads,different bodies & different alt modes then their 1980's TF G-1 forms.

 

I'm simly not a fan of the super ugly robot head sculpts bumblebee is getting for the movie verse & the TF Prime media/toy lines. might as well just name this a different persona name. because the only thing kept from the G-1 1980's bumblebee was the color yellow.

 

It's just a pure shame how a super ugly robot head can ruin a beautifully designed TF robot toy body.

 

does hasbro think these ugly robot heads on these homage characters look great/awesome.

 

my guess is a ugly robot head attached to a decent looking robot body. will cause some buyers not to buy this toy.

 

if ugly robot heads are hurting toy sales. why does hasbro continue to make them.

 

It seems like hasbro goes thru never ending repeated cycles. ugly robot heads is what ruined the beastwars & beatmachines toy lines & caused poor sales. the first 2 years of beastwars toys had decent robot heads. then 1998,1999 & 2000 created super ugly robot heads for the TM1,TM2 & Beastmachines toys. now flash forward to 2012 & we've got the same repeated cycle.

AEC gave us beautiful designed robot heads,movie verse & some prime figures are giving us some ugly robot heads on homage characters.

 

repeat,rinse & wash. then let the cycle keep repeating itself. sadly hardly anyone at hasbro does the proper research,to see what worked & what didn't. it just seems like they grab any onld idea & don't research it.

 

Oddly enough the only two TF toy lines these days that get homaged G-1 1980'S styled robot heads is masterpiece & generations. sadly these have non media tie in's cartoons/movies. so hardly anyone knows they exist. as media TF stuff gets the most exposure.

[Fatherdeth]

I, am no fan of the Bayverse Transformers. I have quite a few reasons so I won't waste time and post them. Bay has systematically changed the Transfomers game by introducing "alien" faced robots. The fact that he introduced "hatchlings" was enough for me to cry blasephymy. But, I doubt that this will ever cross over into Generations or MP, with the exception of the repaint of a Bayverse toy for the Generations line, ie. Fallback. The Generations/Classics series doesn't need any media. If you think about it, they'd have to redo a Generation 1 cartoon, and that probably won't happen. These toys are fine as a stand alone series IMO.

[puma]

Barbie's are pretty and all have human faces. i hear they're pretty popular to collect too if you're really upset with ugly faces....

 

 

Its been 5 years since we've been introduced to the bayverse. i think we can quit whining about it now. These are robots from another galaxy and are not meant to look human at all....

 

TF Prime went back to "normal" looking faces. lets move on.

[Noisemaze75]

its not the 80s anymore. just because soundwaves head doesnt look like it does in the 80s cartoon doesnt mean its not soundwave..not everything can be G1 dude. move on man. same with there alt modes. i for one welcome the change. if transformers had stayed the same for the past almost 30 years and every character looked the same in every media tie in i think id have quite a long time ago. let it go man. G1 is long over.

[Fatherdeth]

I personally like Prime Soundwave's head. It reminds me a lot of Cobra Commander.

 

On another note, don't knock the OP for his opinion. Seriously, if you all are Bay fanboys, that's cool. Don't get upset, however at someone who is stuck in the past. If there was no G1, there'd be no Bayverse. Remember the roots.

[Lord_Onslaught]

I'm a huge fan of the bayverse and loves the designs because they are so refreshing, and brought Transformers. And that is the only real complaint people ever have, is because it isn't faithful to G1. screw that, that is what would have killed the movies. The realistic take is what was needed. It is not the 80's anymore so get your head out of the 80's and QUIT! Complaining about everything not being like the 80's

[Goktimus Prime]

I don't mind alien and other-worldly looking heads/faces -- it's cool from a scifi POV. In the first TF movie I thought this worked well. What I don't like is when Bay tried to take these alien looking robots and incorporate human-elements into their face/head designs. Come on... if you want to make them look alien then let them look alien. If you want them to look more humanlike, then do it that way. Trying to combine them just looks bad IMO.

 

e.g.

+ Jetfire - that stupid beard

+ Mudflap and Skids -- plain ugly with uneven bug eyes, big ears and buck teeth.

+ Quejack - overbite teeth and ... glasses??

+ The Wreckers -- Chav-bots in disguise

+ Sentinel Prime - braided beard? Oooookkkaaaaay.

 

With some exceptions (like those listed above), overall I don't think that media TF toys are necessarily ugly per se. The fact is that G1's aesthetics is based on Japanese Mecha designs, which of course is Transformers' original heritage with Diaclone, Microman, Macross, Dorvack etc etc. But non-Japanese Mecha looking designs are necessarily a bad thing - it's just different. The first TF line to break away from this was Beast Wars. Some people back then accused them of being ugly and went all "Trukk Not Munky," but in the end it didn't matter as Beast Wars proved to be a smashing success and saved the Transformers brand from oblivion.

 

With the live action movies, Michael Bay wanted to make the Transformers look very alien and otherworldly, which makes sense, because they're not from Earth! With Animated Hasbro went the complete other direction; instead of being highly detailed/realistic and alien looking, Animated Transformers looked far more human/organic and used the stylistically simplified aesthetics that's popular with contemporary American cartoons (e.g. Powerpuff Girls, Clone Wars, Ben 10 etc.). Remember that Animated was conceived before the first live action movie came out. At the time, Hasbro had no idea if that movie would be a success or if it would tank. As a back up, they decided to conceive a TF line that was the "opposite" of the live action movie -- just in case it proved unpopular. In fact, Bumblebee wasn't originally part of the original cast line up, it was Hot Shot. But when the movie did prove to be a success, they changed it to Bumblebee (but his personality is more like a hot shot). They of course then wrapped Animated up, concluding the story after Season 3 and leaving many characters with NO toys ever made (damn it!), because around the time when ROTF came out Hasbro decided that there was no need to continue the "back up plan" of Animated, and move forward with a new concept for a Transformers TV series and corresponding toy line. That's how they came up with TF Prime.

 

If you talk to most kids, it's the live action movies that is more popular than G1. So naturally the TF Prime aesthetics were allowed to be inspired by the films, but are themselves also a stylised and distinct departure from the Bay designs. I quite like the way Peter Cullen described TF Prime -- it's the real Generation 2. Forget the G2 stuff, TF Prime is where the 2nd Generation of Transformers is happening! Whereas the Transformers of the 1980s and early to mid 1990s was the Transformers of our childhoods (our G1), TF Prime is now the Transformers of today's kids' childhoods -- it's their G1. TF Prime allows a whole new generation of kids to access Transformers, because G1 is daunting when one doesn't have a head full of G1 lore like we do. I know a 17-18 year old who picked up #0 of Re-Generation One during FCBD and he said that he found that issue totally confusing and had NO idea what it was on about! I on the other hand, found it rather dull because it was just a big recap of everything I already know, but I figure that it's not for people like us, but for people who didn't grow up with G1 and may not know the history of the old Marvel comics. But Re-Generation One is a series for us oldies. TF Prime isn't. Yes, there are tidbits for us to enjoy, but the primary market is kids.

 

My daughter and I really enjoy watching TF Prime together, and I enjoy watching her get a buzz out of watching Transformers with a sense of wonder and excitement that I had when I watched G1 as a kid. And my daughter has seen G1 too, but she much prefers TF Prime. The same thing has happened with many other franchises -- look at the Avengers, Spider-Man, LotR etc. Most kids today will only know them from the recent franchises. When I talk to most kids, they don't know who Giant Man or the Wasp are (they also never complain that Kingpin and Nick Fury are black ;)), some of them can't imagine Spider-Man with artificial web shooters (they're more used to him being able to naturally shoot webs - though the new movie may change this perception, I don't know (I don't want to know -- I'll find out when I see the film, thanks)), and you mention Glorfindel or Tom Bombadil or the Hobbit uprising to most younger fans of Lord of the Rings? Except for the small minority who've bothered to read the books, they won't know what you're talking about. So except for the odd kid who's bothered to go back and read every G1 comic and every G1 cartoon (note: I have _never_ met such a kid), then they're not going to find G1 as accessible as say TF Prime. Yes, it's important to remember Transformers' roots, but it's also important to move on from it. And if anything, I don't think Transformers is moving away far enough... it's still too G1 for my tastes. One thing I really liked about Beast Wars was that it was a significant departure from G1, giving us something really new and fresh and not just a rehash of G1. Would it hurt to have a series that DOESN'T have Autobots and Decepticons or an Optimus or Megatron (or Bumblebee)?

 

Having said all that... they really need to bring CHUGUR/Classicsverse back!! :D

[FREEFALLL666]

Personally I LOVE the Bayverse heads, the Prime Series heads are cool but they are TOO HUMAN. If you want to create Human looking bots Hasbro take a look at the Postman Pat and Fireman Sam transforming toys..

[Fatherdeth]

Nah, I like my normal faces, like Classics Drift and Inferno for examples. There are a few Bayverse faces I like, ie Brawl. Soundwave was cool as well.

[ShellformerV1]

I don't mind alien and other-worldly looking heads/faces -- it's cool from a scifi POV. In the first TF movie I thought this worked well. What I don't like is when Bay tried to take these alien looking robots and incorporate human-elements into their face/head designs. Come on... if you want to make them look alien then let them look alien. If you want them to look more humanlike, then do it that way. Trying to combine them just looks bad IMO.

 

e.g.

+ Jetfire - that stupid beard

+ Mudflap and Skids -- plain ugly with uneven bug eyes, big ears and buck teeth.

+ Quejack - overbite teeth and ... glasses??

+ The Wreckers -- Chav-bots in disguise

+ Sentinel Prime - braided beard? Oooookkkaaaaay.

 

With some exceptions (like those listed above), overall I don't think that media TF toys are necessarily ugly per se. The fact is that G1's aesthetics is based on Japanese Mecha designs, which of course is Transformers' original heritage with Diaclone, Microman, Macross, Dorvack etc etc. But non-Japanese Mecha looking designs are necessarily a bad thing - it's just different. The first TF line to break away from this was Beast Wars. Some people back then accused them of being ugly and went all "Trukk Not Munky," but in the end it didn't matter as Beast Wars proved to be a smashing success and saved the Transformers brand from oblivion.

 

With the live action movies, Michael Bay wanted to make the Transformers look very alien and otherworldly, which makes sense, because they're not from Earth! With Animated Hasbro went the complete other direction; instead of being highly detailed/realistic and alien looking, Animated Transformers looked far more human/organic and used the stylistically simplified aesthetics that's popular with contemporary American cartoons (e.g. Powerpuff Girls, Clone Wars, Ben 10 etc.). Remember that Animated was conceived before the first live action movie came out. At the time, Hasbro had no idea if that movie would be a success or if it would tank. As a back up, they decided to conceive a TF line that was the "opposite" of the live action movie -- just in case it proved unpopular. In fact, Bumblebee wasn't originally part of the original cast line up, it was Hot Shot. But when the movie did prove to be a success, they changed it to Bumblebee (but his personality is more like a hot shot). They of course then wrapped Animated up, concluding the story after Season 3 and leaving many characters with NO toys ever made (damn it!), because around the time when ROTF came out Hasbro decided that there was no need to continue the "back up plan" of Animated, and move forward with a new concept for a Transformers TV series and corresponding toy line. That's how they came up with TF Prime.

 

If you talk to most kids, it's the live action movies that is more popular than G1. So naturally the TF Prime aesthetics were allowed to be inspired by the films, but are themselves also a stylised and distinct departure from the Bay designs. I quite like the way Peter Cullen described TF Prime -- it's the real Generation 2. Forget the G2 stuff, TF Prime is where the 2nd Generation of Transformers is happening! Whereas the Transformers of the 1980s and early to mid 1990s was the Transformers of our childhoods (our G1), TF Prime is now the Transformers of today's kids' childhoods -- it's their G1. TF Prime allows a whole new generation of kids to access Transformers, because G1 is daunting when one doesn't have a head full of G1 lore like we do. I know a 17-18 year old who picked up #0 of Re-Generation One during FCBD and he said that he found that issue totally confusing and had NO idea what it was on about! I on the other hand, found it rather dull because it was just a big recap of everything I already know, but I figure that it's not for people like us, but for people who didn't grow up with G1 and may not know the history of the old Marvel comics. But Re-Generation One is a series for us oldies. TF Prime isn't. Yes, there are tidbits for us to enjoy, but the primary market is kids.

 

My daughter and I really enjoy watching TF Prime together, and I enjoy watching her get a buzz out of watching Transformers with a sense of wonder and excitement that I had when I watched G1 as a kid. And my daughter has seen G1 too, but she much prefers TF Prime. The same thing has happened with many other franchises -- look at the Avengers, Spider-Man, LotR etc. Most kids today will only know them from the recent franchises. When I talk to most kids, they don't know who Giant Man or the Wasp are (they also never complain that Kingpin and Nick Fury are black ;)), some of them can't imagine Spider-Man with artificial web shooters (they're more used to him being able to naturally shoot webs - though the new movie may change this perception, I don't know (I don't want to know -- I'll find out when I see the film, thanks)), and you mention Glorfindel or Tom Bombadil or the Hobbit uprising to most younger fans of Lord of the Rings? Except for the small minority who've bothered to read the books, they won't know what you're talking about. So except for the odd kid who's bothered to go back and read every G1 comic and every G1 cartoon (note: I have _never_ met such a kid), then they're not going to find G1 as accessible as say TF Prime. Yes, it's important to remember Transformers' roots, but it's also important to move on from it. And if anything, I don't think Transformers is moving away far enough... it's still too G1 for my tastes. One thing I really liked about Beast Wars was that it was a significant departure from G1, giving us something really new and fresh and not just a rehash of G1. Would it hurt to have a series that DOESN'T have Autobots and Decepticons or an Optimus or Megatron (or Bumblebee)?

 

Having said all that... they really need to bring CHUGUR/Classicsverse back!! :D

 

Goktimus hit the nail pretty much on the head, except that all the other things the Bayverse mechs are doing that would ordinarily fall under the trappings of an organic, carbon-based life form (you know, The Spitting, The Bleeding & The Flatulence) tend to undercut the "realism" of the Bayverse mechs.