Observation: The movie supporters seem to generally agree that the FABs are the most pointless line. Whereas Prime-Collector isn't bothered by them, and I find them the most appealing of the various movie lines.

I think that's kind of an odd perspective. They're making different figure lines for the movie with different levels of complexity. The FABs are obviously intended for smaller children. As the father of three boys who all love playing with Transformers, I think it's a fantastic idea. I'm not going to want to buy Voyager Starscream for my two-year-old because he's not going to be able to transform it himself, at all. But I bet he could handle a FAB.

 

I mean, not everything is for us...

^

In answer to that. NO. The Happy well bots look more like poorly designed alts with ghey weapons.

 

The alts are more traditionally G1 than anything.

 

The movie designs are something completely otherwise & not traditional or simolar to other.

 

I think the reason the fabs are being more prefered by some collectors is because they follow the same asthetics/complexity of the Classcs line where as the deluxe/voyagers cater to a more grown up fanbase ho like to see change & see the line transcend into a completely different dirrection from what it was.

 

Though I will be the first to admit I don't see a point in collecting the fabs because the other lines accomplish it all that much better/accurately it's almost necessary for those young & old who prefer simpler more traditional TFs.

 

The line I really see no point in overall is the LOCs. Skipped em in Cybertron, didn't bother with Classics & really see no point in Starting with the movie lines. The fabs easily hold up more interest than these sad little representations.

 

Deluxe/voyager ise I'm really impressed with how well some of the movie designs effectively were translated into toys. Not too keen on both Bumblebee/Barricate but the rest look outstanding & fairly movie accurate.

 

I know the movie's supposed to be the prime attraction here & as excited as I am to see giant transforming robots blow the crap out of each other on the big screen this Summer the sad truth is the film could go either way with audiences. I personally am hoping it's pretty good, & worth the price of admission. If not TFans/collectors are at least getting a pretty awsome toy line. As secondary as that may be for some (CP for one) at least it's a sure thing from what's all been seen.

I think the Fabs are more meant to be played with. I think its funny that the movie has been very carful not to cater to the adult fanboy base but the toyline is trying to "grow up". Seems to me the money is in the kids. This time next year FABs will be all we have left to collect if hasbro's not careful. Cash speaking as loud as it does.

 

Faced with the adultish line I feel like I'd rather have somthing more astheicaly pleasing. I think the less complex this line gets the better it looks. They voyagers look better to me than the leaders. Why can't we have adult tfs that aren't ugly? As an adult collector I'd rather have seen the alternators expand out of cars and keep giving us that quality of asthetics.

 

As for automorphing, I'd like to see it for myself, but it sounds fragile.

I think the Fabs are more meant to be played with. I think its funny that the movie has been very carful not to cater to the adult fanboy base but the toyline is trying to "grow up". Seems to me the money is in the kids. This time next year FABs will be all we have left to collect if hasbro's not careful. Cash speaking as loud as it does.

 

Faced with the adultish line I feel like I'd rather have somthing more astheicaly pleasing. I think the less complex this line gets the better it looks. They voyagers look better to me than the leaders. Why can't we have adult tfs that aren't ugly? As an adult collector I'd rather have seen the alternators expand out of cars and keep giving us that quality of asthetics.

 

As for automorphing, I'd like to see it for myself, but it sounds fragile.

I don't see anything in the movie line that is targeted towards adults. And I would say that the movie is definitely catering to an adult audience, just not that segment of the adult audience who still wants Transformers to resemble a kids' cartoon. But maybe that's what you meant.

 

There's really nothing out of the ordinary with the way this movie is being merchandised. They made toys for the Spider-Man movies, Revenge of the Sith, Hulk, Lord of the Rings, etc... and those films were all PG-13 and were not necessarily very kid-friendly IMO.

 

And really, all of the toys are meant to be played with. Our own perspective is just skewed because we never stopped playing with toys, so the concept of "age-appropriateness" is a bit lost on us.

What I was getting at was that the FAB line is more of a Play friendly line and the fact that they felt the need to diversify shows that there is an age gap they're concerned about.

 

THe movie is not constructed just for adults... its for adults and teenagers. They want the kids to buy the toys but the big demographic for action movie starts around 13. Less toys bought for 13 year olds, though they'll clean up on the games.

 

If half the kids who usually buy tfs pick up the Fabs instead of the standard line because they are more kid friendly that will shift the way the toys are made. I mean, I'm sure they'll sell tons of both lines but they notice percentages and the like.

 

No more alternators, SW unleashed has been nuterd. Hasbro could be gettin sick of us. Our soon to be much larger audience could really marginalize us, and the kind of collecables we're used to. Thats if th movie does well, if it doesn't that could be a whole other disaster.

What I was getting at was that the FAB line is more of a Play friendly line and the fact that they felt the need to diversify shows that there is an age gap they're concerned about.

 

THe movie is not constructed just for adults... its for adults and teenagers. They want the kids to buy the toys but the big demographic for action movie starts around 13. Less toys bought for 13 year olds, though they'll clean up on the games.

 

If half the kids who usually buy tfs pick up the Fabs instead of the standard line because they are more kid friendly that will shift the way the toys are made. I mean, I'm sure they'll sell tons of both lines but they notice percentages and the like.

 

No more alternators, SW unleashed has been nuterd. Hasbro could be gettin sick of us. Our soon to be much larger audience could really marginalize us, and the kind of collecables we're used to. Thats if th movie does well, if it doesn't that could be a whole other disaster.

If the kind of collectibles I'm used to seeing from Hasbro were to go away, I'd be totally fine with that. The movie's success can only help the adult Transformers collector. There'll always be kid stuff on the shelves. But if the movie is a hit with an older demographic (which it is aimed at), then that could change things, and for the better IMO. It is only unfortunate that one toy company owns the rights to the brand. There's a lot that could be done by more collector-friendly companies.

 

And yes, when I say "adults" I don't really mean that Transformers is going to be a movie "for adults" in the way that something like "Children of Men" is for adults. I mean "adults" as in that moviegoing demographic that everyone wants to tap into - the 18-24 year old demographic. Yeah, the movie should be really big with adolescents and teens as well. But the primary toy-buying demographic has its upper end at 10 years of age. And by that point most boys are thinking about girls and video games and cell phones and stuff, not toys. Heck, my oldest son is eight and he's already losing interest.

 

And that's a problem that every toy company has to deal with... kids are stopping playing with toys at a younger and younger age. But that is a good thing for collectors. If the market splits into "young children" and "adult collectors" then that means more of a focus on stuff we would like to see. You can see Hasbro already attempting to fill the collector gap with some of their more recent offerings, albeit rather clumsily IMO. But it's a start.

What the hell is FAB?

Fast Action Battlers

 

 

Pete, Kids losing interest is not good for collectors. If the kid market drys up they won't make tfs for us. They'll just stop makeing them.

 

And if the movie is a hit with the older demographic they'll buy the DVD and maybe the games, probably not the toys.

Fast Action Battlers

 

 

Pete, Kids losing interest is not good for collectors. If the kid market drys up they won't make tfs for us. They'll just stop makeing them.

 

And if the movie is a hit with the older demographic they'll buy the DVD and maybe the games, probably not the toys.

That logic makes no sense. If one demographic loses interest, Hasbro will stop producing product for another demographic?

 

Hasbro is trying to get ahead of the curve here anyway, if you recall what they said a while back about transforming (lol) the company into more of an IP company that sells toys, not vice-versa as it has traditionally been. They know that the writing is on the wall in terms of "action figures" (a phenomenon whose success was created by the Star Wars generation). If they can generate sufficient revenue streams from other areas, they will be able to produce the more collector-friendly stuff that doesn't require stocking the shelves of every Wal-Mart in the country in order to turn a profit. They're definitely moving in that direction. The G1 reissues, the Alternators, the Titaniums, even the Classics display an awareness and a catering towards the adult collector market, but only the beginnings of it. They're going to be changing their business model in the coming years. Why? Because they know that a) kids are losing interest in toys, and b) the collector's market is expanding. Hasbro's not going to turn down the chance to make money off of us.

As an adult collector I'd rather have seen the alternators expand out of cars and keep giving us that quality of asthetics.

 

Also as an adult collector, I've had no interest in alternators since my initial disappointment with the line's offerings three or four years ago, and I don't desire to see any collectibles like that in the future.

 

I collect toys, which means I want them to be sturdy and durable, so that they can be played with. I want variety in size classes and alt. modes. And, occasionally I even want a gimmick in the toy if it doesn't get in the way of poseability or transformation.

 

Hasbro's been making toys from movies since the late seventies, and they've gotten a pretty solid business plan down. So, I'm not really sure where this concern that now somehow they'll kill the kid market, their primary market no less, comes from.