I don't mean a cartoon.  I mean TV ads.  Magazine ads.  Not just an article or two in Toyfare.

 

Where? Playboy? Boy's Life? Computer Gaming World? Maxim? CNN? Spike TV? The appropriate magazines that cater to this crowd have had the ads already. Will the cost of the ads really generate sales worth it? Probably not... Again, you seem to echo a sentiment that Hasbro doesn't have to worry about COST and there's just pure PROFIT involved. Everything has a cost/benefit analysis to them, and there just isn't the benefit there for the costs involved.

 

As for the cartoon ... putting the main advertising for your product on a cable channel at 6am is NOT what I would consider incredibly bright.

 

That's Cartoon Network's call. They bought the show, rightfully decided it sucked (ratings were abysmal), and buried it while letting the contract expire. Cartoon Network has yet to agree to pick up Cybertron - and may not, after two dismal failures of TV shows.

 

In that case, the show could have been effective (look at RID, for instance), but this is a case where Hasbro/Takara's money got a really bad result and went into a sink well.

Part of me believes this has to be a fake.

 

Because this is coming from the same person who also brought us obvious fakes such as

- Windcharger (near-finalk colors)

- Windcharger (in box, without barrel)

- Windcharger (in box, modified paint apps, still without barrel)

- Ravage (in box, with "BTL RVG")

- Ravage (in box, with "RVG")

- Shockblast (original test shot)

- Shockblast (in box)

- "G1" Spychangers on new "Universe" cards

- Drag Strip (or whatever they're gonna call him)

 

And so on...

 

I'm not attacking the veracity of the report. I'm just of the opinion that this seems very out of place, and makes me think it's some kind of kitbash/repaint/well-done fan remold. It makes no sense at all to me that Hastak would do a 3rd Vette and base it on a super-obscure G1 non-character (or Universe character); especially a repaint with nothing but the head and colors changed, when there are other characters out there that they can do the same thing with (Sunstreaker, Prowl, Trailbreaker) and that they KNOW will sell like hotcakes. The only reason I can come up with to justify another Vette, is maybe GM wanted more money than the other companies for the license, and now they're throwing this out there to improve their profit margins... Because as it's been pointed out, a lot of folks don't care who the character is (I do, btw) and will just buy it. Period. So maybe it's real Hastak. Maybe not. Just seems a little strange to me. :tfhuh

 

P.S. "Veracity" is today's secret word!

i loved the gen 1 transformers when i was little and im collecting alternators because they are cool robots that transform into something. i look at transformers like energon and armada.,and i see toys for kids. if they are going to make a swerve, fine. if you dont want a 3rd mold of a corvette, not a problem it's SWERVE!!! your not going to lose sleep by not having Swerve are you?

i also have to say i started collecting bc of my brother. he collects toys and picks up toyfare. he mainly collects action figures like marvel select or mcfarlane. you have to remember that alternators are the transformers that toy collectors in general have been wanting for a long time. they have nostalgia and a cool factor. i havent seen a marel select commercial but they sell pretty good. sometimes word of mouth is stronger.

I never said anything about canon, you did. If some people want to consider it canon or not, that's up to them, because that's what's been done with all the various iterations. That's not the question here, because there really isn't one. Binaltech, for better or worse is G1. Not Alternators, because I doubt Hasbro will ever give a story, so take it as you want.

Well, I wanted to clarify a little. Remember in Japan that all the Transformers stories are interconnected in one way or another - so having BW2 Thrust show up in Binaltech isn't too much of a stretch - particularly if you're already having Beast Wars era Time Travel. It's all connected, though in a very bizzare and convoluted way.

 

Here, of course, the stories aren't connected, so if were were to see Alternator Cheetor, Lucy's going to have a slight bit more explanin' to do, though it could be explained away pretty quickly as well.

 

I think when people say 'This can't be Swerve cause he was a minibot truck', they really lose track of the franchise. This could very easily be TFU Swerve, who may have been on Cybertron during Scramble City, etc.. to be replaced in 2006 (2011) by the Minibot who gets squished by Tryppy...

 

All that said, the story will flow from whatever toys are made, and there are a number of factors leading to what toys will be made first - legality being very high on the factor list. We've just got to accept that to a point, and realize that Swerve and 'Thrust' probably were chosen for reasons other that we can fully know.

Uhhh....are you ok? The stories aren't connected? When the writer himself said it takes place BETWEEN G1 and Matrix Forever. When the story is constructed with characters from ALL continuities? Ummm...yeah, not connected at all.

 

But then you say that having Thrust in the Binal Tech line isn't a stretch because he is part of BW2. BW (Japanese timeline) is intertwined with G1 as they are collecting Unicron's essense in the form of energy, and tied into the BW of the US since Optimus Primal shows up and that ties into America's G1. You have some very schizo arguments.

 

The repaint of Windcharger is definately going to be Drag Strip. Nevermind the giant number 4, which was his carded number in the Motormaster scheme, and he has the same color scheme, and the fake sponsor decals. Yup, that's pretty much him.

 

Yeah, somebody definately missed the past 20 years....

 

If this is Universe Swerve, that would be kind of odd, but hey. If this is G1 swerve, it's a pretty obscure character use. I can garauntee 95% of the people who saw the news had to look up who Swerve was, because I don't think he was ever mentioned by name on the cartoon, and the toy was probably very obscure.

 

Hastak makes some very strange decisions....

I don't mean a cartoon.  I mean TV ads.  Magazine ads.  Not just an article or two in Toyfare.

 

Where? Playboy? Boy's Life? Computer Gaming World? Maxim? CNN? Spike TV? The appropriate magazines that cater to this crowd have had the ads already. Will the cost of the ads really generate sales worth it? Probably not... Again, you seem to echo a sentiment that Hasbro doesn't have to worry about COST and there's just pure PROFIT involved. Everything has a cost/benefit analysis to them, and there just isn't the benefit there for the costs involved.

 

As for the cartoon ... putting the main advertising for your product on a cable channel at 6am is NOT what I would consider incredibly bright.

 

That's Cartoon Network's call. They bought the show, rightfully decided it sucked (ratings were abysmal), and buried it while letting the contract expire. Cartoon Network has yet to agree to pick up Cybertron - and may not, after two dismal failures of TV shows.

 

In that case, the show could have been effective (look at RID, for instance), but this is a case where Hasbro/Takara's money got a really bad result and went into a sink well.

Let's take this point by point shall we?

 

Where? Playboy? Boy's Life? Computer Gaming World? Maxim? CNN? Spike TV?

 

Sure. Why not? How about hobby magazines, car magazines, or music magazines? There's a lot of people out there that might be interested if they knew it was available. And they don't all read magazines devoted to toy cars or action figures. Exposure is the key here.

 

Again, you seem to echo a sentiment that Hasbro doesn't have to worry about COST and there's just pure PROFIT involved.

 

:wtf Where did I say that? Was it when I said investing heavily in a product and then not promoting it was dumb? No ... that doesn't sound like I don't think cost is a factor.

 

Everything has a cost/benefit analysis to them, and there just isn't the benefit there for the costs involved.

 

The fact is, advertising helps sell product. If it didn't, there wouldn't be any ads.

 

That's Cartoon Network's call. They bought the show, rightfully decided it sucked (ratings were abysmal), and buried it while letting the contract expire. Cartoon Network has yet to agree to pick up Cybertron - and may not, after two dismal failures of TV shows.

 

In that case, the show could have been effective (look at RID, for instance), but this is a case where Hasbro/Takara's money got a really bad result and went into a sink well.

 

First let me state that I have seriously disliked the last bunch of shows. RiD included.

 

That being said, is it not too much to assume that if you're spending millions on a new toy line and importing a cartoon to showcase said toyline, that you may want to check in and see what was being done as far as dubbing and story alterations? I know I would. Especially after Armada and RiD.

 

Out of curiosity, what time was Energon on when it first started?

Uhhh....are you ok? The stories aren't connected? When the writer himself said it takes place BETWEEN G1 and Matrix Forever. When the story is constructed with characters from ALL continuities? Ummm...yeah, not connected at all.

 

Again, you didn't read. In Japan, everything is tied together. In the US, they're not. In Japan, you can bring in BW2 Thrust on an already existing premise. In the US, it doesn't fit the 'theme' of Alternators in most fans' view.

 

In a nutshell. Japanese 'continuity' includes everything, so bringing in stuff from other lines is just fine and doesn't violate anything.

 

There is no American backstory for Alternators right now, so bringing in stuff from other lines is just fine and doesn't violate anything. Fan perceptions of Alternators notwithstanding.

 

Yeah, somebody definately missed the past 20 years....

 

I fargin' WORKED on this stuff, boyo.

 

Nevermind the giant number 4, which was his carded number in the Motormaster scheme, and he has the same color scheme, and the fake sponsor decals. Yup, that's pretty much him.

 

It's your guess. For all anyone knows, he could be 'Bob the Wonder Hamster'. Quit levelling your supposition as a documented hard fact - it's not. It's just your opinion on what he could be. As I said, it looks like Takara intended him as BW2 Thrust, and , if and when he shows up i nthe states, he could be anyone. He actually looks closer to RID Bludgeon than he does Drag Strip.

 

I have the figures and drawings for all three versions of Drag Strip over the years. Know what? This figure doesn't even remotely look like him in any of those cases.

 

I can garauntee 95% of the people who saw the news had to look up who Swerve was, because I don't think he was ever mentioned by name on the cartoon, and the toy was probably very obscure.

 

Which is why it may be more of a TFU Reference, and also a hint that the Japanese figure may be someone else entirely (like Road Rage), in much the same way Overdrive/Windcharger came abit. Again, we've got no official comment on this.. and no one - period - should be saying 'this is what's what' when they have no fargin' clue.

Sure.  Why not?  How about hobby magazines, car magazines, or music magazines?  There's a lot of people out there that might be interested if they knew it was available.  And they don't all read magazines devoted to toy cars or action figures.  Exposure is the key here. 

 

I've done some cost analysis of my own for other projects. Some of these mags are damn expensive, and others simply just will refuse ads of a certain type. The projected return, I can easily see, would be difficult to justify for the expendature.

 

The fact is, advertising helps sell product.  If it didn't, there wouldn't be any ads.  Now, different forms of advertising are more

 

It's how effective the ad can be, and what the expected return is. I just don't see much of an expected return for a major ad blitz in Maxim, et all. There just aren't a lot of avenues for this sort of thing, really, that makes a lot of sense to blitz within.

 

I do think Hasbro is playing too conservative in this point, but, like I said, figuring out where to target ads for a product that's a little unsure of where it's targeting in the first place, is problematic at best.

 

That being said, is it not too much to assume that if you're spending millions on a new toy line and importing a cartoon to showcase said toyline, that you may want to check in and see what was being done as far as dubbing and story alterations?

 

A lot of this was Takara and its very incestual business relationships. Takara's churned out dog after dog of shows through Aeon, but they wouldn't switch off studios until Hasbro finally laid down the law. Good money going after bad here, but the 'suits' at Hasbro really don't look at the cartoon as anything more than a glorified ad anyway - to them, there's no effective difference between G1, RID, BW, or Armada -- so long as the Brand is out there, and the toys are shown, they just don't usually care.

 

They obviously haven't yet learned from Star Wars or Star Trek yet. Perhaps they're beginning to, but I'm not holding out hope for Cybertron, either.

 

Out of curiosity, what time was Energon on when it first started?

 

Toonami prime spot for the first few episodes, with worse ratings than DBZ reruns of the Cell Saga. Energon is, more or less, the 'Enterprise' of the Transformers franchise.

Out of curiosity, what time was Energon on when it first started?

 

Toonami prime spot for the first few episodes, with worse ratings than DBZ reruns of the Cell Saga. Energon is, more or less, the 'Enterprise' of the Transformers franchise.

I don't get Cartoon Network. What time does that translate to?

I don't get Cartoon Network. What time does that translate to?

It would be like getting the slot after 'Friends' in its main run... pretty much the choice slot for Cartoon Network, only possibly superceded by Saturday nights. (Toonami's 'prime slot' was Friday afternoon just as school let out.)