There are, in my opinion, TWO reasons that Power Rangers typically beats Transformers on the market.

 

!.  The price range of the Power Rangers toys are WAY lower than the prices of Transformers.  Think about it, you want to buy a Transformer leader, you pay $40-$50, whereas a "red ranger" would be $5-$10, give or take.

 

2.  The timeslot and advertising for the television series.  Power Rangers shows are on almost 24/7 on several channels, INCLUDING network and cable channels, and is advertised constantly on EVERY channel.  Transformers is on early in the morning, and there is basically NO advertising.  The show is what makes kids by the toy.  The way the show is handled (at least in the U.S.) is the main reason for the Transformers' downfall.

 

That's just my opinion, though.

From my experiance with babysitting and such, the Kids like the Rangers better than there Zords.

And speaking of Alternators, those toys far surpass and outdo anything Bandai can come up with -- be it Veritechs, Gundams, or Zords.

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I assume you haven't seen the Perfect Grade Strike Gundam because that model kit surpasses Alternators by A LOT, IMO. I still love the Alts but that model kit is just a thing of beauty. If I ever get around to owning it, I'd probably like it as much as my MP Convoy.

I have lots of experience with Power Rangers, so hear me out.  I was working at an after school program watching "latchkey" kids when Power Rangers debuted here.  It was a huge event with PR came on.  The kids ate it up like candy.  I worked at a KMart a few years later and the PR toys for the PR movie were super hot sellers.

 

I have had a kid in my house watching the latest PR series since '97.  We have tons and tons of PR toys.  Both of my kids are addicted.  The 4 year old loves the rangers and the bikes, and the 10 year old drools over the Zords.  At last count we own 28 Megazords.  The smaller toys are almost too many to count.  The kids hop up every Saturday to watch, it's like a tradition or soemthing.

 

As Madhammer said, the appeal lies in the wide variety of stuff.  There are colorful costumes, fantastic fighting scenes (even by adult movie standards, imo), giant robots, lasers, magic swords, sweet weapons, the list goes on and on.  Its super appealing to kids on many levels.

 

My kids have watched Energon with me, and some old G1 stuff too, and they just aren't that impressed.  The fight scenes in Energon were pretty awful, IMO.  Plus there are so many characters to keep track of, and thus toys to collect, that things get confusing.  PR works BECAUSE it is simple and formulaic.  It's easy to identiy with the characters.  The Red Ranger is always cool, the Green Ranger is always wacky, the Yellow Ranger is usually a tomboy, etc.

 

I find the Megazords especially to be very cool, nice playability features, and unlike TFs, they are built like a BRICK.  These guys can take a LOT of punishment and keep on going.  Overall, the PR method is far more appealing to kids, IMO. 

Could not have said it better myself.

 

I also think part of the appeal is that the series is different every year with new heroes and villains. Keeps the show from getting stale. Part of me think it is a bit of a shame that Ninja Storm and DinoThunder ended after one season.

 

On another note, the older fans (such as myself  :tftongue ) really liked seeing Tommy back in DinoThunder. That is also a way of getting older fans "back" or giving them an added bonus if they were already watching.

 

The latest Transformers show have done neither. They either rehashed G1 story ideas (Starscream being a ghost) or came up with crappy new stories. The toys on the other hand were great. Sadly the show did not match that.

 

Plus the humans in Transformers are always annoying. No one likes that.  :tdown

Hey, season 1 (and at least some of season 2) of G1 had formulaic characters. You had the hero and villain, you had the second in command that was cool and confident (Jazz) and the whiny Starscream second who told the leader his plans (Starscream), you had the cocky but reserved one (Sideswipe), the ego freak (Sunstreaker...until Tracks came along anyway), and so on. Nowadays, the characters have much less personality. They're all generic and cardboard cutouts. The most personality any character had in, say, Armada probably came from characters like Cyclonus (who was mentally unstable) and Starscream (who, even though I don't like him being a semi-good guy, actually had the most personality of any character). I love the idea of robots with personalities more than human-piloted ones, and I'm OK with the idea that the humans pilot the Zords, too, since they are not at all sentient. Actually, I liked the idea of Headmasters/Targetmasters where they cooperated. If they brought that back, maybe that'd help out. It was a gimmick that could easily work today, if marketed the right way.

G1 had tons of great characters. Just read the More Than Meets The Eye comics.

 

You will come across dozens of Transformers you would like to own based on their profile. (Unless you own everyone of them) Ever since I read the profile of Ruckuss I have been wanting him and finally I won him on eBay. Sure the toy may suck but Ruckuss is bad ass.

 

I think he would not even back down if he saw Grimlock coming at him.  :tftongue  He would not win though.  :tfevil

 

But I was only a little kid and was (already) interested in a toy more for the personality than the quality of the Transformer itself.

 

That is what the new series indeed lack. Not one character from Energon has been that memorable. Not even Snow Cat whose yodeling is a bit silly. Ok Kicker is memorable as the Most annoying human ever!

 

But the rest is not all that special or cool So they do not really inspire kids to buy them. I just make up better personalities for them (like I did for the Combaticons). If you have not read them, you might want to do so. I tried to make them wacky.  :tflaugh 

 

The Headmaster/Targetmaster idea was cool but that is as far as I will go. Humans controlling Transformers like in the Japanese series, unthinkable. And it does not fit within the Transformers storyline either.

 

In the first G1 series Megatron speaks out his utter disgust for humans. Never would he (or any Decepticon) allow fleshlings to control a fellow Decepticon.

Indeed. Looking at Rebirth Part 2, Cyclonus says they'll only let Zarak's bunch be the heads of the ones with beast modes. And later on Galvatron gets pissed off at Cykes for having sided with flesh creatures. So maybe Headmasters for Autobots and Targetmasters for Decepticons or something like that.

Seen Rebirt plenty of times as it was a pretty memorable episode.

 

Cyclonus only made a deal because if he did not he would die. And he did indeed only surrender the heads of the animals. Galvatron was very displeased with this.

 

And this is only a partnership. Imagine how he would feel it humans were actually controlling Transformers. I doubt he would actually do it. For Decepticons humans are just pathetic germs.

 

And even then, humans are far too unpredicatable. They mostly have their self interest at hand which is not what you want in reliable troops.

 

I think the Decepticons would rather use smaller robots as Targetmasters. They work just as well (or better) as humans. That was what my option would be. I would not want to be in a fight while my weapon has to visit the bathroom.  :tflaugh

I think the Decepticons would rather use smaller robots as Targetmasters. They work just as well (or better) as humans. That was what my option would be. I would not want to be in a fight while my weapon has to visit the bathroom.  :tflaugh

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Like they did in Japan?

 

Humans never controled a TF. The Headmaster Jr's controled transecters, and the Godmasters had a Patnership with there Transecters.