I wouldn't subject my boyfriend to the Netflix series anyway
Cool. That said, the comic design is clearly based on the then-upcoming toy. It really doesn't make any logical sense to assume Minerva is the pre-tool (vs. Elita-One) on this basis.
Just speaking for myselfā¦while Iām more than able to create my own fiction for the toysā¦sometimes you really need the āseedā of the idea. I strongly feel that ALL lines, but especially cross generation lines, need some sort of ānarrative hookā. A justification of not only getting the characters you recognize, but a reason to build a narrative with the OTHER toys/characters being offered.
And I donāt get Iām the only one, either. Changes in the market or not, itās still rare a toy āsell itselfā without either some kind of media support or TREMENDOUS cultural legacy. I find it telling that even Disney is still producing a narrative hooks for Hasbro to use in its kids Avengers toys, despite the relatively easy access to 40 years of Marvel content on one of the most popular streaming services on the planet. (Side bar: While I donāt think Hasbro will do much with it, the Mech Strike Monsters them is still pretty dang novel for a kids initiative and something that, truthfully, doesnāt even NEED to exist)
I feel, especially for Legacy, Hasbroās dropping the ball on the narrative hook. For all the stuff theyāve shownā¦I still donāt really āgetā the story arc going on. Yes, all these guys are from different universes, but why? Why does it matter if someone is from āPrime Universeā or āG2 Universeā? How will the next line (assuming Hasbro doesnāt extend Legacy due to all the timing disruptions) build upon this narrative? Thrilling 30 leveraged the IDW major event āDark Cybertronā as a hook, even the ORIGINAL Universe line from 2003 justified itself with the Unicron angle. So whatās the angle with Legacy?
Aside from a hodgepodge of characters to make collectors happy until we get to the brandās 40th, anyway?
But were it not for current situations with IDW, I argue such a series is practical. With Hasbro being more apt to carry over figures and/or characters, it ensures a modest cast of ācentral charactersā to which new characters can be introduced around. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave have all seen some sort of release across each theme since Siege (though, Starscream āskippedā kingdom, he WAS planned for a package refresh), not including exclusives. Hot Rod, Galvatron, Wheeljack, Arcee, Blaster, and Ultra Magnus have each been seen across two themes.
Those are some solid names to build a running series around.
And I donāt get Iām the only one, either. Changes in the market or not, itās still rare a toy āsell itselfā without either some kind of media support or TREMENDOUS cultural legacy. I find it telling that even Disney is still producing a narrative hooks for Hasbro to use in its kids Avengers toys, despite the relatively easy access to 40 years of Marvel content on one of the most popular streaming services on the planet. (Side bar: While I donāt think Hasbro will do much with it, the Mech Strike Monsters them is still pretty dang novel for a kids initiative and something that, truthfully, doesnāt even NEED to exist)
I feel, especially for Legacy, Hasbroās dropping the ball on the narrative hook. For all the stuff theyāve shownā¦I still donāt really āgetā the story arc going on. Yes, all these guys are from different universes, but why? Why does it matter if someone is from āPrime Universeā or āG2 Universeā? How will the next line (assuming Hasbro doesnāt extend Legacy due to all the timing disruptions) build upon this narrative? Thrilling 30 leveraged the IDW major event āDark Cybertronā as a hook, even the ORIGINAL Universe line from 2003 justified itself with the Unicron angle. So whatās the angle with Legacy?
Aside from a hodgepodge of characters to make collectors happy until we get to the brandās 40th, anyway?
And I think thatās completely possible. Going back to Disney, theyāve spent the time and money to do motion comic deal on their kid centric Marvel HQ site and even published a mini series in support of that initiative. I view it WELL within Hasbroās ability to do something similar with their own online presence. A few mini comics, some bios, nothing EXTREME, but something that would provide narrative hooks to consumers (of all stripes) visiting the official brand site. (Side bar: Though, given Hasbroās lackadaisical attitude on its official sites, that might be asking too much since few of their official sites appear to have had meaningful updates in years. Looking at you two-year-behind official GI Joe site!).
But were it not for current situations with IDW, I argue such a series is practical. With Hasbro being more apt to carry over figures and/or characters, it ensures a modest cast of ācentral charactersā to which new characters can be introduced around. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave have all seen some sort of release across each theme since Siege (though, Starscream āskippedā kingdom, he WAS planned for a package refresh), not including exclusives. Hot Rod, Galvatron, Wheeljack, Arcee, Blaster, and Ultra Magnus have each been seen across two themes.
Those are some solid names to build a running series around.
If nothing else, if these are the G1 versions of Bulkhead et al then who are they? What are they doing? Why weren't they on the Ark, and why are they on Earth now? What are their abilities?
These are interesting things to put in a bio, if it's longer than one sentence, and that's why the online techspecs are so boring.
These are interesting things to put in a bio, if it's longer than one sentence, and that's why the online techspecs are so boring.
In the Old Country his name was Bulkheidivitch, and he was Cybertron's finest custom furniture maker! The wide range of body types meant that the custom furniture industry was huge back in the Golden Age, but his entire business plan was ruined when solid-light holograms became the new standard and no one wanted old fashioned wrought iron anymore. He moved to Earth (not in the Ark's main hanger, but as a 3rd class passenger in the wheel well, not easy when the Ark had no wheels) and upon arrival, had a conversation with George Lucas that inspired him to become evil, giving entirely into the Dark Side, and he set out to spread furniture-related torment amongst the population of the planet. His horrible battle cry in untranslated Cybertronian still lingers in the subconscious of the species, which is why everyone shudders when you hear the word "Ikea".
-I have no idea what I am doing.
-I have no idea what I am doing.
Mattel is hitting their stride with He-Man. Quality fiction (and toy releases) for both older fans and newer ones.
This is in contrast to Hasbro paying YouTubers $5 for āvocal workā (I use the term exceedingly loosely) and cutting corners elsewhere to the point Netflix doesnāt even want a show.
The films *were* successful despite being almost bereft of quality before they reassessed things and got on the right track with Bumblebee. A simple story with essentially two factions and four characters only to follow that up with a Movie featuring 4+ factions and 10? 12? characters.
Transformers is really being criminally mismanaged.
This is in contrast to Hasbro paying YouTubers $5 for āvocal workā (I use the term exceedingly loosely) and cutting corners elsewhere to the point Netflix doesnāt even want a show.
The films *were* successful despite being almost bereft of quality before they reassessed things and got on the right track with Bumblebee. A simple story with essentially two factions and four characters only to follow that up with a Movie featuring 4+ factions and 10? 12? characters.
Transformers is really being criminally mismanaged.
Everyone saw what Marvel did with the MCU and went "Let's do that," like its the easiest thing in the world, and not a huge gamble that could have destroyed Marvel and required an enormous amount of hard work, luck and having people who give a damn about the property in charge.
EDIT: Also, Hasbro only wants to be known as an "IP Holder" because the price of oil and changing demographics makes being a toy manufacturer a dicey proposition these days.
EDIT: Also, Hasbro only wants to be known as an "IP Holder" because the price of oil and changing demographics makes being a toy manufacturer a dicey proposition these days.
At least the BotBots cartoon is wonderful.
Wasn't that more of the older Hasbro team who helmed the Aligned lore and media?
Yeah, "we're an IP company" was more an Alvarez/Archer line when they were pushing the Aligned/Binder stuff then anything the new team has said.
Do we know that's why Netflix said no? Or is it just speculation?
I don't think the actual reasons that Netflix turned down the Legacy cartoon pitch were given. Just that they did turn it down.
Not really, Hasbro corporate also made a number of similar statements when they acquired Entertainment One. The line is significantly wider than just the TF team.
Netflix also has a habit of killing stuff after only a few seasons.
At the same time, Mattel is thoroughly running Thomas & Friends down the tubes, having killed off the CGI series and replaced it with the abysmal 2D reboot.
EVERYONE saw Avengers make a ton of money, but no one seems to be intersted in putting in the hardwork to achive that goal, best example would be Warner & their DC characters, that is a big mess from the result of not having a basic plan and mismanagement, Universal was going to do a shared universe based upon their horror/monster characters but the first film flopped HARD that all of their plans went out the window and the shared universe never got to be!
The road map for a share universe is fairly simple to understand for a outsider, but in Hollywood, its like 2 + 2 = 8! So with Transformers, it was after the Bayverse got started that they suddenly wanted a shared universe with the various IPs of Hasbro's they were late to the game and by that time, every major villian outside of Unicron from G1 been in the movies in some form and most had died! So what needed for any shared universe, is a single person to be the guiding hand of the IPs, a shared universe of Mattel's IP could be possible with the right person to over see it, but as I said, it takes time, its like building a house, you need the foundations built first before you can add more layers!
I find it hard to disagree with that. The last decade has really felt like Hasbro wants the big pay off of being an āIP companyā but has been unwilling or unable to commit the time and resources of doing it, or willing to pay to do it WELL. With the broader direction of the action figure segment and the handling of prior house brandsā¦it makes me think of the mess over at Warner and DC. (Worth noting that under the new Discovery management, they are actively looking for a āKevin Fiegeā to unify and manage the myriad of DC projects)
There are too many chiefs in the tribe each calling for different focuses while you have aggressive bean counters who are strangling budgets to maximize shareholder return. Thereās a balance that isnāt being reached, and is probably one of the few things I can unequivocally say I agree with in the Alta Fox argument about spinning off Wizards of the Coast.
Regardless of industry and demographic changesā¦consumers DO pay attention to the product. Garbage like most of the Cyberverse line or increasingly apparently cuts to increasingly pricy products will reflect in the brandās overall performance eventually.
That kind of feels like what Hasbro was doing with Transformers, relying on the brandās existing legacy and momentum and trying to cut corners by producing a cheaper media. RiD was enjoyable, and Cyberverse somehow pulled out an amazingly fun third season out of its ass, but you canāt deny the relative ācostā invested in the series showed a downward trend since Animated and Prime.
Earthspark probably got a huge boost by the fact Paramount is co-financing/co-producing the deal.
It's almost like they're not an IP company. Whoever believes they are, or can be, needs to seriously re-evaluate themselves because there's no way they can be. They have viable IPs (and a lot that aren't viable) but they're always going to have to partner with a Nickelodeon, or a Cartoon Network, or a Paramount, etc... to get media out there.
Well that's dumb too. They're a toy company. That doesn't mean they don't have a role to play in creating lore, but they're never going to be a Marvel, DC, or anything like that.
So the assertion that Netflix turned them down because Hasbro cut costs/doesn't care/is poopy/isn't Mattel is unfounded then.
Yeah, IIRC, all that we were told about it is that a Legacy cartoon was pitched to Netflix, and that it was rejected.
Not that I disagree, but it might help that in Disney's case, they literally own a comic book company -- and the very same one that established the Transformers and GI Joe narratives back in the day, at that.
Nintendo started as a playing card company. Companies change industries often enough:
That said, stuff like this isn't really putting in the work needed to be successful on that front.