I'm sure Hasbro/Takara/god knows who could introduce a NEW leader for the next transformers series, and still retain the optimus prime copyright by attaching optimus prime name to some crappy toy, or a repaint, thus cheesing off the worshippers, but they'll still buy it anyway. I'd rather see that!

 

The same with Galvatron... well not as a main character in the cartoon.

 

there's a better solution: Instead of putting a crappy Optimus Prime in the main line with a new leader, just release an Optimus Prime in Universe or Titanium or whatever.

first of all, defending fire convoy (as a toy) just for a little bit:

ya he's got fat legs but that was kinda compensated for his super mode, and plus as long as he stands fine in normal mode (and arguably he is more poseable compared to super mode) i think its fine. in addition, i think one aspect people seem to neglect or failed to appreciate is this (although it's just my opinion):

 

i think the beauty of the autobots in the car-robots line is the fact that the (japanese) designers made most of the NEW autobot molds (repaints dont factor into here) to represent extremely close to real-life alt modes much like the BT line (and as we all know car-robots is what led to the BT line). i think we can all tell from the car-brothers molds, but i think alot of peole didn't realize that fire convoy's fire truck is based off a japanese hino fire truck (prolly because they dont exist outside japan). JRX is also the same thing, and i think its the only transformer toy that is "approved" by JR-japan as an "official replica train toy".

 

so while not all molds are perfect i think you should still give some merit for some of the more overlooked aspects.

 

and as for the "de-throne" thing, i think that's kinda been done...well sort of. didn't hotshot tried to fight for leadership in armada? and i think in most of the older japanese series they tried not to use prime as the leader. they killed prime again in headmasters, jinrai has the body of prime but not the mind and he is de-throned in victory and only makes cameo appearances (and dies again). obviously part of it is to promote new toys to sell, but i dont think the "prime (or prime-ish) as leader for every series" thing didn't come up until beast wars...

 

anyways just my meaningless 2 cents

Yes, I am also thoroughly sick and tired of seeing Optimus Prime and Megatron as the main faction leaders year after year after year after year after year. Yawwwwwn. FFS bring in someone new! As Speedo ES said, hasbro can still maintain the name copyrights by releasing Optimus Prime and Megatron toys each year in one of the smaller "sub-lines" (e.g.: Titanium Series, Universe) as opposed to the mainstream line (e.g.: Cybertron).

 

We could do with a few more Rodimi... but what about all the other Prime names that haven't been touched? Prima, Primon and Prime Nova might not be terribly marketable names for toys, but what about Sentinel Prime?! We've never had a toy of Optimus Prime's predecessor - he was the supreme leader of the Autobots and guardian of the Matrix before Optimus Prime! I think Hasbro should follow Takara's suit - whereas Takara has created various kinds of "Convoy" (e.g.: Lio Convoy, Big Convoy, Fire Convoy etc), I think that Hasbro should experiment with various kinds of "Prime" names. Nemesis Prime was a good call - and much better than "Scourge." They should keep expanding it this concept, especially for the heroic leaders... Sentinel Prime is a name that would easily work for an Autobot leader figure. Maximus Prime could also work (Optimus and Maximus have similar meanings in Latin). And if they're going to do another heroic leader with a beast mode - why not Rodimus Primal? That's still never been done... there's a lot of other possible names they could come up with if they ever bothered to sit down and be a bit creative.

lalalala i can't hear you!!!

 

I want the same 3 characters EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! PLEASE DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING!!!

 

just kidding.

 

yknow, after classics and the movie, now would be a GREAT time for some brand new leader characters.

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

Actually, Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the sucky Autobot leader that got Cybertron conquered by the Decepticons by sitting around on his chrome plated ass and emo-ing about how nobody respects him. It’s a cartoon character and that itself is naturally amoral. Whatever you think he is derives purely from your own delusion. He’s a semi-truck because the Ark scanned him to have that alt-mode. FWIW, semis kill more than tanks or F-16 on a yearly basis – so does that make Optimus Prime a bloodthirsty douchebag? If we go by your logic, yes, yes it does.

Yeah, and Rodimus 'beat' Galvatron while inside Unicron. Yup, he sure did a great fight there where he just picked up Galvatron and threw him out of Unicron. Atleast Optimus kicked the Blot out of Megatron. BTW, Hot Rod is responsible for getting Optimus killed in the first place (and Prime is as well for not having the lugnuts to shoot Megs, so much for "no matter the cost"). Indeed, Rodimus Prime 'retook' Cybertron AFTER Unicron left his mark and allowed Galvatron to remain alive, thus keeping the Decepticon threat alive as well. The confusion of what happened allowed the Autobots to seize control of the planet. Rodimus failed to end the war. He may have stopped Unicron but he failed to end the war (which was posible, if they had pursued the Decepticons).

 

I'm just saying.

 

 

Yes, it would be nice to see a new set of leaders show up. Hasbro can use Optimus and Megatron in other side lines to keep the names in their control. Will it happen? Probably not.

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

Actually, Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the sucky Autobot leader that got Cybertron conquered by the Decepticons by sitting around on his chrome plated ass and emo-ing about how nobody respects him. It’s a cartoon character and that itself is naturally amoral. Whatever you think he is derives purely from your own delusion. He’s a semi-truck because the Ark scanned him to have that alt-mode. FWIW, semis kill more than tanks or F-16 on a yearly basis – so does that make Optimus Prime a bloodthirsty douchebag? If we go by your logic, yes, yes it does.

Yeah, and Rodimus 'beat' Galvatron while inside Unicron. Yup, he sure did a great fight there where he just picked up Galvatron and threw him out of Unicron. Atleast Optimus kicked the Blot out of Megatron. BTW, Hot Rod is responsible for getting Optimus killed in the first place (and Prime is as well for not having the lugnuts to shoot Megs, so much for "no matter the cost"). Indeed, Rodimus Prime 'retook' Cybertron AFTER Unicron left his mark and allowed Galvatron to remain alive, thus keeping the Decepticon threat alive as well. The confusion of what happened allowed the Autobots to seize control of the planet. Rodimus failed to end the war. He may have stopped Unicron but he failed to end the war (which was posible, if they had pursued the Decepticons).

 

I'm just saying.

 

 

Yes, it would be nice to see a new set of leaders show up. Hasbro can use Optimus and Megatron in other side lines to keep the names in their control. Will it happen? Probably not.

What's funnier is that under Rodimus Prime's leadership, 3 planets blew up (Unicron, Paradron, and Seibertron.)

 

How can you doubt a leader with a resume like that?

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

Actually, Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the sucky Autobot leader that got Cybertron conquered by the Decepticons by sitting around on his chrome plated ass and emo-ing about how nobody respects him. It’s a cartoon character and that itself is naturally amoral. Whatever you think he is derives purely from your own delusion. He’s a semi-truck because the Ark scanned him to have that alt-mode. FWIW, semis kill more than tanks or F-16 on a yearly basis – so does that make Optimus Prime a bloodthirsty douchebag? If we go by your logic, yes, yes it does.

Yeah, and Rodimus 'beat' Galvatron while inside Unicron. Yup, he sure did a great fight there where he just picked up Galvatron and threw him out of Unicron. Atleast Optimus kicked the shit out of Megatron. BTW, Hot Rod is responsible for getting Optimus killed in the first place (and Prime is as well for not having the lugnuts to shoot Megs, so much for "no matter the cost"). Indeed, Rodimus Prime 'retook' Cybertron AFTER Unicron left his mark and allowed Galvatron to remain alive, thus keeping the Decepticon threat alive as well. The confusion of what happened allowed the Autobots to seize control of the planet. Rodimus failed to end the war. He may have stopped Unicron but he failed to end the war (which was posible, if they had pursued the Decepticons).

 

I'm just saying.

 

 

Yes, it would be nice to see a new set of leaders show up. Hasbro can use Optimus and Megatron in other side lines to keep the names in their control. Will it happen? Probably not.

All this story stuff is probably irrelevant to Hasbro. Rodimus Prime killed Transformers back in the 80's. More specifically, killing off and replacing Optimus Prime killed Transformers. Hasbro isn't going to make that same mistake again -- at least that's pretty clearly been their thinking thus far. And now we've got more than 20 years of some version of Optimus Prime vs. some version of Megatron. It's like Batman and the Joker at this point; they *are* the hero and villain of the Transformers story. I seriously don't see that ever changing, not at this point anyway.

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

Actually, Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the sucky Autobot leader that got Cybertron conquered by the Decepticons by sitting around on his chrome plated ass and emo-ing about how nobody respects him. It’s a cartoon character and that itself is naturally amoral. Whatever you think he is derives purely from your own delusion. He’s a semi-truck because the Ark scanned him to have that alt-mode. FWIW, semis kill more than tanks or F-16 on a yearly basis – so does that make Optimus Prime a bloodthirsty douchebag? If we go by your logic, yes, yes it does.

Yeah, and Rodimus 'beat' Galvatron while inside Unicron. Yup, he sure did a great fight there where he just picked up Galvatron and threw him out of Unicron. Atleast Optimus kicked the Blot out of Megatron. BTW, Hot Rod is responsible for getting Optimus killed in the first place (and Prime is as well for not having the lugnuts to shoot Megs, so much for "no matter the cost"). Indeed, Rodimus Prime 'retook' Cybertron AFTER Unicron left his mark and allowed Galvatron to remain alive, thus keeping the Decepticon threat alive as well. The confusion of what happened allowed the Autobots to seize control of the planet. Rodimus failed to end the war. He may have stopped Unicron but he failed to end the war (which was posible, if they had pursued the Decepticons).

 

I'm just saying.

 

 

Yes, it would be nice to see a new set of leaders show up. Hasbro can use Optimus and Megatron in other side lines to keep the names in their control. Will it happen? Probably not.

All this story stuff is probably irrelevant to Hasbro. Rodimus Prime killed Transformers back in the 80's. More specifically, killing off and replacing Optimus Prime killed Transformers. Hasbro isn't going to make that same mistake again -- at least that's pretty clearly been their thinking thus far. And now we've got more than 20 years of some version of Optimus Prime vs. some version of Megatron. It's like Batman and the Joker at this point; they *are* the hero and villain of the Transformers story. I seriously don't see that ever changing, not at this point anyway.

 

 

 

I argue that it wasn’t the killing off of Optimus Prime that killed off Transformers back in G1, but rather, the replacement of Megatron with Galvatron that killed off G1. In fact, if I remember correctly, the movie era toys (G1, series 3) and the year after (series 4, the introduction of Nebulans) had some of the best toys ever made in the TF universe – examples: Predaking, the Stunticons, Cyclonus, Scourge, Hot Rod, Defensor, Fortress Maximus, Trypticon, Metroplex, the Autobot cassettes, Wheelie, et cetera. Plus, this was the true first TFs ever made (before series 3, all of the TF toys were “borrowed� from existing toylines, no exception) and the fact that Hasbro was the designer and manufacturer of all the Transformers from series 3 and beyond – with the exception of Ultra Magnus, Raiden, and Browning – had shown that it might have been the design department’s lack of notable pieces that attributed to the Transformers’s downfall in NorAm during the early 1990s.

 

And Optimus Prime was definitely not the engine that propelled the status of Transformers. There were 5 other Autobot leaders after Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime, Fortress Maximus, God Ginrai (a robot that “resembles Optimus Prime), Victory Saber, and Dai Atlas had all enjoy a 7 years tenure in Japan, with Victory Saber being the most popular successor.

 

Hasbro should take that chance to truly create a leader that’s as awesome as Victory Saber.

I've always blamed transformers failure with replacing the original cast with a bunch of boring/lame characters. Very few S3 characters seem to stand out has much has the S1 characters.

I'm talking about Hasbro, not Takara

 

and the fact of the matter is, the replacement of Optimus Prime was the major factor in the decline in the popularity of the Transformers post-1986. Sorry if you don't like that, but it's true. And I don't think anyone would argue that Rodimus Prime's toy was better than Galvatron's...