Here in the states, Swindle, Dreadwing, and Bonecrusher actually move. Albeit slowly, they are not the glacial things that is Payload.

Here in London Swindle, Camshift, and Payload are the peg warmers, with Payload being the worst offender. Of all the actual Transformers, he's the biggest flop. When that plunger is the least of that toy's worries....oy.

 

Still, even Payload sells better then the TransTech crap.

Do you mean London Ontario? I think that if you cite the name of a place that was named after another very famous city then it would be useful to clarify exactly where it is, because in all fairness if you just say London on its own, then we're gonna assume you mean England. :) There's a suburb in Sydney called Beverly Hills but if I were to ever cite it (especially on an international board) then I would definitely say "Beverly Hills Sydney" so people don't confuse it with the one in the United States. :) If you are in England, then maybe you need to change that flag on your profile? Yeah, I'm a nosy bastard, aren't I? :P

 

Okay, I was wrong...I'll admit that Robot Heroes were pretty neat. I guess it just gets me when I see "toy does not convert" on a Transformers toy package. I'd have rather seen more figures in the main movie line as oppsed to all the "specialty" stuff (a larger Bonecrusher, anyone?). Robot Replicas are still yucko! For toys that don't Transform, you gotta admit, they could've been a whole lot better quality.

To be fair, stuff like Robot Heroes and Robot Replicas are really marketed as being part of the "mainstream" line, but rather sub-lines. i.e.: they're just figurines that represent the main characters but aren't really the actual "toys" of said characters. If you want the actual toys, then you collect the Deluxes, Voyagers, Leaders et al.

 

What really sucked was Action Masters, who unlike Robot Heroes, Robot Replicas etc were actually intentionally marketed and presented as part of the mainstream line! For example, you look at Action Master Optimus Prime - that is not just some non-transformable piece of side-line merchandise, that's an actual Transformer action figure -- as in, it's meant to be the next incarnation of G1 Optimus Prime after Powermaster Prime (as was portrayed in toy and comic canons).

 

And to make matters worse Action Masters dominated the toy line! It was worse in North America were it was the most dominant amongst the Hasbro markets. In Australia, New Zealand, Europe etc. Action Masters weren't quite as dominant because we did get a lot of European/Australasian exclusive figures such as Motorvators and "G1.5" (Lightformers, Trakkons, Obliterators etc). But Action Masters did make up a very dominant proportion of the later G1 years... which is little wonder why G1 died shortly after.

 

Although G1 was already dwindling when Action Masters came out - I think it was Rob Jung who once described Action Masters as the nail that sealed the coffin for G1.

 

Love or hate Robot Heroes, Robot Replicas, Unleashed etc., I can forgive them a lot easier than Action Masters since they're not really meant to be part of the mainstream line nor are they too prominent that they overwhelm the rest of the line up.

Do you mean London Ontario? I think that if you cite the name of a place that was named after another very famous city then it would be useful to clarify exactly where it is, because in all fairness if you just say London on its own, then we're gonna assume you mean England. :) There's a suburb in Sydney called Beverly Hills but if I were to ever cite it (especially on an international board) then I would definitely say "Beverly Hills Sydney" so people don't confuse it with the one in the United States. :) If you are in England, then maybe you need to change that flag on your profile? Yeah, I'm a nosy bastard, aren't I? :P

Well if your looked just above the flag in my sig you would see that I have London, Ontario as my location :D

You are correct though, my mistake.

What really sucked was Action Masters, who unlike Robot Heroes, Robot Replicas etc were actually intentionally marketed and presented as part of the mainstream line! For example, you look at Action Master Optimus Prime - that is not just some non-transformable piece of side-line merchandise, that's an actual Transformer action figure -- as in, it's meant to be the next incarnation of G1 Optimus Prime after Powermaster Prime (as was portrayed in toy and comic canons).

 

I don't know why people are always ignoring the fact that Action Masters had transformable vehicles/accessories. Prime's cab and trailer were transforming (truck to jet, trailer to battle station), Megatron's tank was transforming (tank to battle station), and so on.

well for me i would have to say movie bonecrusher

he's just too small :tfsad

Well if your looked just above the flag in my sig you would see that I have London, Ontario as my location

D'oh! :P ;)

 

I don't know why people are always ignoring the fact that Action Masters had transformable vehicles/accessories. Prime's cab and trailer were transforming (truck to jet, trailer to battle station), Megatron's tank was transforming (tank to battle station), and so on.

Because it doesn't compensate for the fact that they (the actual Transformers themselves) don't transform! :) Having transforming weapons and vehicles isn't necessarily a bad idea, but not at the cost of making the actual Transformers themselves not transform. They were more like M.A.S.K. than Transformers... and sure, the concept works well with M.A.S.K., but just not with Transformers where the main characters themselves are meant to be able to transform. That's why they're called Transformers! :P

 

The fact that they overwhelmingly dominated the line turned off a lot of fans/collectors. Beast Machines did something similar with the technorganic Maximals. Transformers Animated Blackarachnia is technorganic, but I've noticed that none of the TFA fans really mind - and I'd say that it's because she's only one technorganic character where all the others aren't. So the technorganic thing is by no means dominating the line.

 

Mutant Beasts were a really weird concept, but again, being just a small part of the line it was okay. Battlechargers are also pretty lame, but they're a small sub-class (there were only two of them!). If Action Masters had also been a small sub-class, then I think most collectors wouldn't have minded. But unfortunately, they weren't. About half of the 1990 line was Action Masters (the rest were Micromasters, which were cool, but you can see that AMs were still very dominant).

 

In 1991 we still had Action Masters, but they were less dominant - about 1/3 of that year's line were Action Masters... about 40% if you include the Action Master Elites. But that's not including the G1 reissues that were out at the time - if you include the reissues then they constituted a significantly smaller portion of that year's line up.

 

But even then, G1 was definitely on a downward slope to oblivion after Action Masters came out - especially in North America where G1 just died after Action Masters. Those poor buggers totally missed out on the 1991-93 G1 figures. It wasn't until G2 that North America saw Transformers again.

Robot Heroes are crap.

You sir, are wrong. :tftongue

 

Robot Replicas are still yucko! For toys that don't Transform, you gotta admit, they could've been a whole lot better quality.

:pfx

 

I only bought Megatron, and I was disappointed.

I personally really like Blackout. In fact I bought another one today to replace the one I tried to "fix". His legs weren't going flush in alt mode and I tried, and failed, to fix them. The new one fits perfectly, and I discovered the landing gear behind his head.

 

um...wow. (just discovered the one on his thanks to you)

 

How did i miss that??

 

Ouch! You start soliciting opinions and things get ugly real quick around here real quick-like! ;)

 

Personally, there are lots of controversial figures I LIKED (Dropkick, Wreckage) and DIDN'T like (Ironhide, Starscream, and all of the Camera-head drones) but as for real flops? I honestly think only Deluxe Scorponok fits in that category. I mean, come on... he doesn't really even have a robot mode, it's just the "scorpion" mode standing on its hind legs. If it weren't for the fact that he's such an important aspect of the movie, I'd just as soon not given him a toy at all...especially not one that only half-assedly pretends to turn into a robot mode that was never actually even in the film. But then I guess he wouldn't be a "transformer."

 

It would've been neat if Blackout had been an Ultra, and Scorponok a Scout size that simply transformed into a part of Blackout. Then again, that would probably screw the accuracy in scorp mode the figure DID have. but he still would've had two modes (helicopter stuff into scorpion), and no lame robot mode.

 

But i'm still satisfied with the way they turned out. The scorpion mode is incredible, you must admit. :)

 

And as for making a Robot Replics version instead? I dunno, a couple gimmicks i can't even imagine what they'd be... he already has his rotor claws. and the inability to transform. Seems kinda pointless, the one we got has a gimmick, and all he needs to miss to be unable to transform is your two hands. Just pretend he doesn't have a robot mode...heh that's what i do. Love the scorp mode, love him attached to Blackout, don't bother with the robot mode (unless i'm bored :) )

Scorponok would've been better if they didn't bother engineering a robot mode into it and sold it at a cheaper price. The problem with the Scorponok toy is that the robot mode is just a joke and at a Deluxe price point (and remember that those of us outside North America pay about double what you Canucks and Yanks are forking out) it's a rip-off.

 

Even though one Australian Dollar is currently trading at about 0.94USD Hasbro Australia has stated that they're not going to be reducing prices for Transformers Animated when it comes out here later this year. :( And I imagine that Hasbro branches in other non North American countries would have similar (if not worse) policies. :( :(

 

A lot of Aussie fans are just opting to self-import in bulk with their mates and circumvent Hasbro Australia altogether, because even with the cost of shipping, it turns out to be the same (sometimes cheaper) than buying the toys locally. I know a lot of Australian fans who are planning on doing this to intentionally boycott Hasbro Australia - and who can blame them? If local prices aren't going to make it any cheaper than self-importing, then why not do it?