Transformers Legacy toyline

[lastmaximal]

I do like how it worked the other way around, when Hasbro made toys of a bunch of characters who'd become fan favorites through that era of IDW. Tailgate, Brainstorm, Swerve, Whirl (albeit less MTMTE and more G1)...

I just miss having regular fiction tying in with the toys and bringing things to life in a sense, especially when they get to a point where they influence each other.

 

[Glitch]

The whole Hasbroverse killed two comics and Unicron for me.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Yeah, and then there's things like Starscream dressing up like his Armada self just because and Jhiaxus copying it but in orange just because.

I did like how Starscream changing bodies got explained as him just being that vain and deciding he needed a glow up. It's the most Starscream way possible to handle it.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Yeah, and then there's things like Starscream dressing up like his Armada self just because and Jhiaxus copying it but in orange just because.

Even that was a miss because Jihaxus wore Starscream's Armada body in orange but... in the comics it was just Starscream's Armada body in orange, but the toy did some remoulding on the wings to change the silhouette of the whole thing.

Honestly it's a little silly but I miss the 80s Marvel Comic era of toy shilling. Where Transformers and GIJoe books had to near constantly introduce new toys while telling their story.

Honestly? I agree.
Like... it's Transformers. If you get the licence to do media... yeah you're gonna have to sell some toys. If you spent the money to get the licence and produce the media thinking you wouldn't have to then you're a bit of an idiot.

I'd rather the creative team embrace that and do their best to handle what is an intrinsic part of the brand than IDW's half hearted attempts that still woefully missed the mark on things.
Like... I get it, IDW had their creative vision and didn't want to compromise that too much to sell toys, but at the same time... look at the licence you're working on, bruv. Ya gonna have to sell some toys, least you can do is make it fun and not come off like you're only doing it because John Hasbro has a gun to your head.

The 80s were a bit heavy handed. I don't want two page spreads of every character just blurting out the Cole's Notes of their personality but I at least admire the spirit of what they tried to do.

I just miss having regular fiction tying in with the toys and bringing things to life in a sense, especially when they get to a point where they influence each other.

Another thing in TR's favour is that they put work in to flesh the fiction out. The packing had blurbs. Not much but it was something. And they had that PDF that gave expanded notes on everyone and even hinted at some stories.

I'm not someone who thinks Hasbro needs to go back to full bios on the packaging- I think there are viable reasons why this doesn't happen much anymore- but I do want some extra effort on their part. Put up a website with some bios. More PDFs. Stuff like that.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Honestly? I agree.
Like... it's Transformers. If you get the licence to do media... yeah you're gonna have to sell some toys. If you spent the money to get the licence and produce the media thinking you wouldn't have to then you're a bit of an idiot.

I think it's just harder than it used to be to get companies to cooperate. For whatever reason.

 

[Shadewing]

At least IDW2 kinda did it a little better. It was still trying to tell its own story, but it didn't feel like it completely ignored the toys that were being sold either. It felt like a fairly decent compromise between the two. It also ended up convincing me to buy some older toys, like tracking down a Cyberverse Flamewar to have a Micromaster sized one to fit with my decepticon Micromasters, until we got a regular one thanks the SG.

 

[lastmaximal]

I'd completely forgotten that Titans Return did that, or maybe I tuned them out entirely at the time because I thought they were just generic line promo rather than individual character blurbs. Damn.

I miss lore.

 

[Rhinox]

I do think that is one big thing toys have been missing for a while now. Both Transformers and GI Joe used to have their tech specs and bio blurb right there on the packaging. Give us a little bit of personality, some idea of the tactics they preferred to use, et al. Nowadays that's all outsourced to comics, cartoons, and online media. Things that may not be available to the kids.
I'd like to see these come back in some fashion. Give us some hint of the personality of the character we just bought. Some idea of who they are.

 

[Steadfast]

Nowadays that's all outsourced to comics, cartoons, and online media. Things that may not be available to the kids.

It's also outsourced in a sense to the *past*-- with legacy characters, you're just supposed to know who Optimus Prime and Megatron and Ferak and Wingblaster and Leader-B and Batman and Scarecrow and Mrs. King and whoever are.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

One thing to note about IDW is that when it started, there WAS no toyline. In 2005 we were still in the middle of Cybertron and Classics wouldn't be out for another year. When they had Simon Furman sit down and concept out a new take on G1, it was with the implicit idea that there was no toyline that needed to be promoted, so they were free to bring in whatever characters they wanted. (Which, imo, was a huge boone for early IDW).

Obviously that changed as C/H lead into U and then G and suddenly there were a million G1-inspired toys out.

 

[Sabrblade]

One thing to note about IDW is that when it started, there WAS no toyline.

Same thing with Dreamwave's G1 comics, too.

 

[LordGigaIce]

One thing to note about IDW is that when it started, there WAS no toyline.

Yes, but there very much was by the time T30 and TR came around, the instances we were talking about.

 

[Sabrblade]

Thrilling 30 was specifically made to be "IDW1: The Toyline", but only after the IDW1 comics had already long since established themselves. Many of the toys were based on comic-original designs, instead of the comic designs being based on toys. In Thrilling 30's case, it was made to advertise the comic, rather than the comic being made to advertise the toyline.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Thrilling 30 was specifically made to be "IDW1: The Toyline", but only after the IDW1 comics had already long since established themselves. Many of the toys were based on comic-original designs, instead of the comic designs being based on toys. In Thrilling 30's case, it was made to advertise the comic, rather than the comic being made to advertise the toyline.

But even that had its hiccups like Crosscut being a glorified nobody and the whole mess with Jihaxus and Starscream's body changes.

By the time the Prime Wars came along, however, the pattern of regular G1-inspired Generations figures was well established. And while IDW had benefited from a lot of leeway in the past, that also hadn't been the case for a good number of years by that point.

I just don't see the benefit to dragging your feet as a TF licence holder when Hasbro wants you to promote product. The half-assed take on TR couldn't have been better than either fully embracing it or just ignoring it entirely, and the latter was likely never a realistic option.