Contemporary trilogies: WFC v Legacy

[lastmaximal]

Just a thought exercise.

As we're in the wrapup phase for the last part of Legacy, it seems like a good time to reflect on the last two toyline trilogies we've gotten. (I thought about extending back to Prime Wars for a trinity of trilogies, but honestly that feels like an entirely different world in so many ways.)

WFC established a fairly new design ethos that has largely remained the same going forward, and literally in the middle of it got hit by a disruptive pandemic. Legacy is continuing in that direction by and large, but going from WFC's mostly G1 and BW focus to blowing the doors open to include a wider range of eras and storyverses, perfect for building to the franchise's 40th anniversary.

For the sake of discussion, let's assume that despite key differences and affecting factors, there's enough common ground for a comparison. We can cover the trilogy segments themselves -- Siege, Earthrise, Kingdom; Legacy, Legacy Evolution, Legacy United -- and associated Selects, sublines/capsules, and store exclusives.

Which trilogy is the stronger of the two overall?

Do you have any fond memories from the time frame covered by either trilogy (a toy announcement, something that helped you endure quarantine, and so on)?

What is your favorite toy from each part of each trilogy (mainline)?

Which trilogy had better accompanying exclusive sublines/capsules (Galactic Odyssey, Wreck N Rule, Velocitron, etc)?

What is your favorite toy from each subline/capsule?

The next line and/or trilogy notwithstanding, what approach would you like to see taken in a new toyline trilogy? Everything from play pattern to character selection.

 

[Echowarrior]

I'd argue that the WfC Trilogy has done better, if only because there's a story attached to it. A less than ideal story, yes, but that's better than nothing.

Both have given us some great toys, however.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Legacy all the way for me. I'm ready for the next trilogy to just be Legacy 2. Legacy can keep going forever.

I loved the idea of WFC. On paper it's a cohesive trilogy while Legacy largely blends together. It was ambitious, and a major game changer, and a lot of the toys are still fun as heck.

It was also an idea that didn't quite pan out in some ways. Quite a few of the Earth mode retools have been replaced already, and Origins has been filling gaps that were inexplicably left open by Siege in the first place. And as good as some WFC toys still are, I don't miss Siege greeble, and I am glad that Legacy finally finally finally ended the reign of Siege battle damage paint. For a while it would seem like it's going away, and just when we thought we were safe it would come back on some odd release. Legacy doesn't have the budget for that nonsense, and I'm glad for it.

WFC is still good. I don't dislike it. But I feel like things are just getting better. It walked so Legacy could run It ran so Legacy could sprint.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

WfC has the advantage of actually having fiction, though one was crappy (netflix show) and one basically used the character designs and that's it (IDW 2.0). I'm not sure if that stuff existed if it would have made Legacy better (possibly worse, as we may have gotten that wacky Straxus redesign instead of the one we getting)

That said, I feel like Legacy has a more cohesive theme (in that it's basically anything goes) while WfC lost the plot by part 2. To elaborate, War for Cybertron got announced and it was cool! A line (mostly) dedicated to cybertronian versions of the characters!

And then Earthrise happened and we've already moved away from the "War for Cybertron" to take things right back to Earth, with earth modes and, oh hey, look it's a big excuse to just retool a bunch of Siege figures! Then a year later we jump ahead to the jumbled mess that was Kingdom, where half of the line seemingly invaded Studio Series to make room for Beast Wars characters.

At least with Legacy it's basically been consistent. Had they had a stronger, more unified theme, I might rate WfC higher. Instead each new line feels like it just got tired of the one the year before.

Still an improvement over Prime Wars though.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Earthrise is my favourite single line out of both trilogies but I have to give it to Legacy overall.

Siege is the big thing holding WFC back. From the battle damage to the basically Earth alt modes that got retooled into actual Earth alt modes... Siege had a lot of great stuff. It's just that its best stuff was stuff ER did better.
Kingdom was an all around solid win.

Meanwhile each phase of Legacy I feel did its own thing and knocked it all out of the park.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

To elaborate, War for Cybertron got announced and it was cool! A line (mostly) dedicated to cybertronian versions of the characters!

And then Earthrise happened and we've already moved away from the "War for Cybertron" to take things right back to Earth, with earth modes and, oh hey, look it's a big excuse to just retool a bunch of Siege figures!

That's exactly the thing I liked! Call it lazy. Call it an excuse to sell basically the same toy twice. But having Cybertronian and Earth versions of the same molds could have been interesting in its own way. Or at least, they'd look neat in a display together. Siege on one half of the shelf. Earthrise on the other half. The same cast, mirrored. It had potential, and I was all for it.

But then they decided not to be so lazy about it, and the Earthrise versions were far more extensively retooled than expected, sharing very little with their Siege counterparts (and some shared nothing at all). Sounds like a good thing. They got more ambitious. But they made it retroactively pointless that the Siege molds were so Earthlike to begin with, and they still weren't remolded enough in some cases (Ironhide's blatant feet). The whole thing just got lost along the way.

 

[Exatron]

I kind of have a hard time making distinctions between the two. I feel like the only significant difference between them is that WfC is overwhelmingly G1, while Legacy is only significantly G1. Even then though, WfC peppered in enough new characters, BW characters, a few characters like Barricade or Hot Shot, and enough obscure G1 characters that never got any HasTak love before that I don't even really feel that distinction very much. Legacy just feels very much like WfC Vol. 2.

If I drill down into them, I guess the biggest thing that stands out to me is the number of repeat characters in WfC. I really liked Siege when it first came out. In retrospect though, I don't have any particular desire to have, say, two different Sideswipes. Or Ironhides. Or just about any of them, really. And while I think every relevant Siege character who ever had an Earth mode has now gotten an Earth-mode toy, I feel like any collection I could make of Cybertronian versions using Siege ends up with significant holes that just leave me disappointed. So as I'm working on paring down my collection, it feels like a lot of my Siege figures are getting the boot.

On the flip side though, as much as I love Legacy turning the spotlight to other parts of the franchise, I think it's natural that everyone's going to have their favorites, and their... not favorites. There are a lot more releases in Legacy that just never caught my attention, and quite a few that I've gotten, but later felt ambivalent about. So that's kinda feeling a bit like a wash too.

Regardless, both have had some fantastic high points. I really liked, and continue to really like, a lot of what we got in the PWT. I've always loved combiners, so having them feature so heavily in that trilogy absolutely scored high for me. But the overall approach that they took with WfC and Legacy has ultimately been even better IMO. I just hope that the upcoming lines continue to feel like a further continuation of what's been going on the last 6 years.

 

[Destron D-69]

I've been down for generations since it was Classics. so given the range covered in that time I've kinda just been bowled over by the breadth of it.

while the WFC trilogy hit a lot of the 'design eras' I like... Legacy has given me a character range not seen since universe

and I loved Universe... so I think I'm leaning toward Legacy.

 

[unluckiness]

I’d say legacy by default since Studio Series 86 basically took the WFC trilogy’s lunchmoney and stuck it in a locker.