Transformers 4 Revealed – TFW2005 Coverage Of UBS Best Of Americas 2012 Conference

I guess they don't realize it doesn't matter if they make new characters if the toys never actually get to the stores.

I know hasbro sells to the stores then it's the stores distribution, but if they really worried about sales they could have reps that make sure the stores actually stock product.

agp

I want to be excited for TF4 because I generally like the movies for what they are. I even thought about all sorts of ways they could tweak and improve the designs to make better toys and onscreen visibility. The thing that brought me crashing back down is humans. Especially in DOTM the robots are just background and it's all about the humans. Does anyone know if it will kill the mass market appeal if there was more focus on the robots?

What I would really like to see is Hasbro start doing is straight to video movies like the animated ones Marvel and DC do. DC must be doing really well if the continue to pump them out like they do. Make them more mature like DC so they sell to non fans. Hasbro could also premiere them on the Hub before they go on sale.

I've been saying this same thing since the end of RoTF  ….

Autovolt 127

Except for The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Naruto, Pokemon…etc)

xD

Spunky

I don't think Beast Hunters is TFP season 3 per say. Season 3 may lead into or begin Beast Hunters at some point. And even if it is Beast Hunters completely, I still think the huge change in direction for TFP is because TF4 toys are coming out early 2014 and Hasbro doesn't want two similar toylines competing with eachother or one overshadowing the other. Hasbro doesn't want to end Prime per say, but wants to make it different enough from the TF4 toys so as to not compete with them or have kids and fans buy both.

if beast is a new show, again its not due to tf4. toyline wise, yes that could be, not cartoon wise no its not tf4.

i am pretty sure that beast formers was in theri ideas before TF4 was officialy annouced. i am sure season 3 was written before they announded tf4 (but who knows when they begun writting it)

heck, even if there was not a tf4, prime is still going to end, ALL shows must have to end

eagc7

TF4, had nothing to do with Prime ending, PLUS the Beast wars thing is the name of TFP Season 3, so if its true then Beast Hunters is actually the series finale of Prime, look DOTM didnt affected Prime at all, so TF4 is NOT the one to blame

I don't think Beast Hunters is TFP season 3 per say. Season 3 may lead into or begin Beast Hunters at some point. And even if it is Beast Hunters completely, I still think the huge change in direction for TFP is because TF4 toys are coming out early 2014 and Hasbro doesn't want two similar toylines competing with eachother or one overshadowing the other. Hasbro doesn't want to end Prime per say, but wants to make it different enough from the TF4 toys so as to not compete with them or have kids and fans buy both.

Spunky

I'm sorry, but I hate this movie already! Not because of what it is about. I hate it because it is to blame for why the current iteration of Transformers Prime is ending so early next year and turning into a beast-based series instead. Because Hasbro doesn't want two vehicle-based toylines to compete with eachother in 2014. It is so damn obvious! If it's bad, I don't care. What I do care about is that this movie is going to do to TF Prime what the other movies did to Animated!

TF4, had nothing to do with Prime ending, PLUS the Beast wars thing is the name of TFP Season 3, so if its true then Beast Hunters is actually the series finale of Prime, look DOTM didnt affected Prime at all, so TF4 is NOT the one to blame

Apriorion

The following argument is no good:
1. In TF: DOTM, there were many of the same characters as the previous movies.
2. If 1 is true, then the toys had to all be the same as the previous movies.
4. Thus, all of our toys for DOTM had to be largely the same as TF1 and ROTF.
5. If 4, then the customers didn't buy the toys because they were all the same.
6. Therefore, our toy sales dropped off because the customers had all the same toys already of all the same old characters.

There's so much wrong with this argument, but I'm only going to pick on two illegitimate steps. First, step 2 is false: there was a sizable minority of interesting characters in DOTM that deserved more toys. In fact, I hunted for them (I wasn't always in the loop on TFW2005 at the time): Soundwave, Que, and Dino, in particular. They never came. They certainly lost a lot of sales opportunities given that I'm certain I wasn't the only one looking for these. I even paid through the nose for the Human Alliance version of Soundwave, since I needed that to complete my ideal collection (actually, my wife got it for me for my birthday).

Second, step 5 is false: it relies on a dubious causal claim: the sameness of characters was the sole cause of our drop in toy sales. Here's a plausible alternative causal explanation: the general suckiness of the toy quality is the explanation. I was pretty disappointed with the quality of plastic and paint schemes. What ever happened to the chrome paint from the '80s? That kind of stuff would really make your toys attractive to collectors. I get that you are also interested in selling stuff to babies, and they don't need chrome details (well, then again, babies like shiny things), but there wasn't enough that was compelling about the toys to make be bust out the wallet. Whatever happened to quality over quantity, anyway? Shortsighted obsession with maximizing profits caused the decline in sales, not characters. Hate to break it to you.

Man, I think I see where you're coming from. ROTF Voyager Optimus was spot-on for his on screen counter-part. I was even interested in Dino, because had that figure been good – I'd have him on my shelf as Sideswipe(what was that Bay said about red not filming well). AS you stated – those toys were hardly found, and the ones that did sell, or at least people kind of wanted – did NOT show up in any of the films (ROTF Mindwipe and HFTD Bludgeon and Banzaitron and DOTM Skyhammer with cross look on their faces).

UltraAlanMagnus

Can Bumblebee now be voiced by Nolan North?

That I think has nothing to do with Bumblebee's toys. Though if Bee had a voice maybe it might make him more popular.

Optimus Prime, Hasbro needs.,

Bumblebee however they do not need. Plus Smokescreen in Prime is proving the kid appeal character doesn't have to be yellow.

NIBMRatchet

I'm happy to answer.

Yes, the question asked is in a short form so that I have more time to write Brian's answer. The question was directed at the Toy Sales and Brian's answer regarding characters was indeed on Robots. However since Michael Bay mentioned all new human cast, I added "[robots]" part to let our readers know that Brian was indeed referring to a new robot cast.

Brian did not mention removing old characters. If another website misinterpreted my article, I will not be held responsible for it; for major Entertainment Websites such as Empire and Collider grasped my article correctly and told the general public the news as it is. My responsibility is to serve the Transformers Fan Community. If my news article is interpreted as the way it should be I’m happy with it. It’s nice to see Entertainment Sites taking my article to the general public.

And now for my own opinion: I’m a Doctor Who fan too. While DW can’t be without The Doctor, same cannot be said for the Transformers Franchise. Transformers CAN exist without Optimus Prime (don’t get me wrong here, I’m a huge fan of the character). Optimus is an iconic (actually the most iconic) character of the franchise but the franchise can be without him or even Bumblebee. Heck, before the Bay movies Bumblebee was not a hugely popular character (he was popular but not this hyped). When it comes to reboots and/or sequels, prequels I observe the very famous “Keep Calm & Carry On” because not matter what we say there’s nothing we can do to change corporate decisions. I enjoy whatever thrown at me because what happens… happen and it couldn’t have happened any other way.

Have there ever been a US series without a version of Optimus?