Masterpiece Thread
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As much as he brand team is "in the know" these days, I think there's enough circumstantial evidence to suggest JG1 may be a blindspot.
And as for IDW1 and IDW2... I think Hasbro tends to view the comics as a positive, but not something that they keep up with, if that makes any sense? I donno... especially early IDW1 when it wasn't even pushing a toyline and they had free reign. I don't think Hasbro paid them much mind.
While I mostly agree, Personally I think its simpler then that; for toys why differentiate IDW1 and IDW2, espcially when IDW2 only lasted a few years? Its simpler and easier to just have "IDW Universe" for branding.
Yeah, that too. And IDW2 had a "everyone will be drawn as their most recent toy" mandate which meant that, unlike IDW1, there aren't many, if any, original designs to adapt.
Still, I knew someone would be mad the moment I saw them slapping symbols from separate continuities on their IDW universe capsule packaging
And I mean, I don't expect everyone on the team to know everything. That would be stupid.
But there's an entire damn wiki, and more, out there that can really fill you in on everything you need about a character you're interested in doing, all with just a little bit of research.
honestly we do know they do use the wiki but they probably just like...skim the article so they get a basic gist on who these japanese-original characters are.
but hey that's just a theory
A GAME THEORY
thanks for watching
but hey that's just a theory
A GAME THEORY
thanks for watching
Back when they were hyping Star Sabre's HasLab campaign they called it the first time Hasbro had done a Japanese-exclusive character.
Which... isn't even close to being right, however you want to qualify that.
My guess is Mark knew Minerva was a Headmaster from Masterforce, knew that in Japan Headmasters were smaller robots that controlled lifeless bodies, and just assumed she was one of those and tossed in the "lost the Headmaster ability" line to explain why the toy wasn't Titanmaster compatible.
He was probably totally in the dark that while the larger robot body was indeed lifeless the "Headmaster" that was Minerva was a human girl augmented with Cyberyronian tech.
Which is a fair mistake to make if you just know the broad strokes and not specifics about Masterforce. Should he have read the Wiki? Yes. Were there alternate explanations to explain the lack of Headmaster functionality the Wiki would have clued him into? Also yes.
At the same time, it was just him spouting off on IG, and thankfully not printed anywhere that would be deemed "official" canon so it's fine.
Truth be told I rather like the Legacy Minerva figure and I'm happy to just have her be the lifeless transector brought to life at the end of Masterforce.
It's also worth noting that while Hasbro seems generally fine with the way Japan handles Head/Titanmasters (robots that control lifeless bodies) they're not super into the Masterforce idea of those smaller robots piloting larger bodies actually being humans.
The whole "Magnus Prime" debacle was the result of Hasbro trying to give Ginrai a name as a separate character without using "Ginrai."
My personal theory is that Hasbro (or at least the brand team) considers humans piloting lifeless robots too close to mecha and not really what Transformers is about, and so they adapt the humans from Masterforce out whenever they can.
Which... isn't even close to being right, however you want to qualify that.
My guess is Mark knew Minerva was a Headmaster from Masterforce, knew that in Japan Headmasters were smaller robots that controlled lifeless bodies, and just assumed she was one of those and tossed in the "lost the Headmaster ability" line to explain why the toy wasn't Titanmaster compatible.
He was probably totally in the dark that while the larger robot body was indeed lifeless the "Headmaster" that was Minerva was a human girl augmented with Cyberyronian tech.
Which is a fair mistake to make if you just know the broad strokes and not specifics about Masterforce. Should he have read the Wiki? Yes. Were there alternate explanations to explain the lack of Headmaster functionality the Wiki would have clued him into? Also yes.
At the same time, it was just him spouting off on IG, and thankfully not printed anywhere that would be deemed "official" canon so it's fine.
Truth be told I rather like the Legacy Minerva figure and I'm happy to just have her be the lifeless transector brought to life at the end of Masterforce.
It's also worth noting that while Hasbro seems generally fine with the way Japan handles Head/Titanmasters (robots that control lifeless bodies) they're not super into the Masterforce idea of those smaller robots piloting larger bodies actually being humans.
The whole "Magnus Prime" debacle was the result of Hasbro trying to give Ginrai a name as a separate character without using "Ginrai."
My personal theory is that Hasbro (or at least the brand team) considers humans piloting lifeless robots too close to mecha and not really what Transformers is about, and so they adapt the humans from Masterforce out whenever they can.
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You know, I don't hate this. I am not going to drop the coin on it to get it, but it looks like a decent update to the original toy.
I have the FansHobby FireGuts version of Power Baser. That thing definitely owns the chunky aesthetic of the G1 packaging art, but the TT version looks perfectly fine and even seems to scale with Generations stuff. Meaning it'll be far more manageable than Power Baser.
Will be keeping an eye on this.
Will be keeping an eye on this.
Not just the humans from MF, if TR was any indication. "Spike" became "Emissary", and I think all the rest were little Transformers, too.
I can kinda understand it when the entire line is made up of those, but in the case of the one-offs like Minerva in Legacy, it's like... humans are always being tied to Transformers in some way, with rare exception. Heck, there's the whole Earthspark thing. And Noah with Mirage in Rise of the Beasts.
And those in MF are like a minority as well, with regular TFs comprising the Pretenders, Seacons, Grand Maximus, etc.
So, why not let humans fight back for their planet a little? I mean, it's better than them just standing around and getting underfoot. If they're going to be there, make them useful.
I'm a JG1 fan so I'm with you, I like the MF crew.
But like as recently as that Legacy United four pack at Target with Squeezeplay... they went with "Lokos" as his Headmaster instead of Cancer, even though they made a point to include a Browning-styled accessory, and Browning's whole thing in MF was hanging out with Cancer.
But like as recently as that Legacy United four pack at Target with Squeezeplay... they went with "Lokos" as his Headmaster instead of Cancer, even though they made a point to include a Browning-styled accessory, and Browning's whole thing in MF was hanging out with Cancer.
Well, gee, I sure couldn't think of any reason why Hasbro would decide to not name their children's toy "Cancer".
Kidding aside, they also made it a point to sculpt the little headmaster based on Cancer's Masterforce cartoon model, and have said in either the toy's reveal video or it's Instagram designer post that it is meant to serve double duty as a toy for both Squeezeplay and Cancer.
Ironhide walks into the base with Squeezeplay at gunpoint: "Prime! PRIME! I did it! I caught Cancer!"
Optimus: "Oh...I hadn't realized Ratchet already informed you. You're handling the news well. Who's the Decepticon?"
-And then things go downhill.
Optimus: "Oh...I hadn't realized Ratchet already informed you. You're handling the news well. Who's the Decepticon?"
-And then things go downhill.
The Titanmaster is specifically called out as Lokos though, the Nebulan partnered with Squeezeplay in Hasbro's version of the Headmaster mythos. So... aside from Browning (who isn't even called out on the packaging) nothing suggests the Masterforce character.Well, gee, I sure couldn't think of any reason why Hasbro would decide to not name their children's toy "Cancer".
Kidding aside, they also made it a point to sculpt the little headmaster based on Cancer's Masterforce cartoon model, and have said in either the toy's reveal video or it's Instagram designer post that it is meant to serve double duty as a toy for both Squeezeplay and Cancer.
And while "Cancer" is a hard name to work with in English language markers, I donno, there are ways to change the name if they wanted to honour the MF character. "Kyansa" as an example, the Japanese pronunciation.
My broader point is that there's very little on the actual packaging to reference MF, right down to the Headmaster being called by his Nebulan name. I'm not sure a comment on a livestream counts as "official"
Honestly? Legacy Squeezeplay is Cancer in all but name. Its not just "he comes with Browning"
Lokos vs Cancer vs Legacy "Lokos"
Cancer's transtector in MF cartoon:
Legacy Squeezeplay:
There is a lot of details that are clearly taken from the MF cartoon, the thin back legs, the way the sheild looks, the way the beast head looks, the "bars" on the beast arms even if they aren;t in blue.
It is very clear they were referencing how he looks in MF while making this version.
Lokos vs Cancer vs Legacy "Lokos"
Cancer's transtector in MF cartoon:
Legacy Squeezeplay:
There is a lot of details that are clearly taken from the MF cartoon, the thin back legs, the way the sheild looks, the way the beast head looks, the "bars" on the beast arms even if they aren;t in blue.
It is very clear they were referencing how he looks in MF while making this version.
Sure, but they're specifically naming him after the Hasbro version of the character(s)
And ultimately it doesn't matter, people can call figures whatever they want.
My point is that when it comes to what Hasbro officially puts down tends to marginalize or adapt out the MF human characters. Which that four pack's packaging absolutely does.
To me it feels like They specifically designed this to be MF Cancer, then either due to copyrights or as other say "not wanting to use Cancer" as a name, they used his american names. Or maybe like IDW1 vs IDW2, they just don't really see the difference between the characters, as either way its the same mold in the same colors, just with the Japanese version having a different name as was the style at the time as The majority of the Japanese headmasters never had more then one name becuase they were the same person in either form.