Last week was full of all sorts of Transformers news. There was one news slightly overshadowed by the plethora of Transformers Live Action Movie news coming in (and who can forget the sneak peek of Transformers: Combiner Wars animated webseries).
Hasbro attended the Licensing Expo 2016 on June 21st and had multiple booths showcasing their franchise brands. One of then was Transformers.
Speaking to the press, Hasbro said “In the past toys and games were more of a category, but now we don’t start there…We start with insights, we start with the consumer, we start with a franchise. And then we sort of say, how can we best express this franchise through all the different mediums available to us.”
“Hasbro isn’t really a toy company anymore… They really are a content developer. And the content takes many forms,Part of the story involves physical products, part of the story involves web content, part of the story might involve theatrical content. But we’re dealing with an omnimedia universe, and one of those media is physical product.”
Our sister sites HISSTANK and TOYARK also covered the Hasbro Cinematic Universe content from the expo.
Gabe Ginsberg from Getty Images was also there to capture some pics. We’ve mirrored them on this news post. Check it out, after the jump.
2003 Megatron
Yea I love that game!
Psychoshi
Just be thankful that we got the TF Devastation videogame.
Shin-Gouki
Damn them and those skateboards.
Newholl
You can thank cynical fans for that.
Scioli?! But… dude… he's awful. Perhaps you meant Casey Coller? Dan Khanna?
G.I. Joe live action movies changed stuff as much as Bayformers did (prior to that, Extreme and even DIC cartoon made drastic changes as well). As for He-Man, Mattel is just simply incompetent when it comes to everything that isn't Barbie. Anyway, bottom line is that changing stuff drastically doesn't mean success will be achieved.
Zress Tayasu
"“Hasbro isn’t really a toy company anymore… They really are a content developer."
my experiences with "indie" game devs makes me hear that "content developer" remark and parse "con men". not sure how hasblo can manage that out of what they do. but mistaking their own field of business is a foolish thing regaldless of how they want to word it.
"transformers" wasn't willing to change things, kenner was willing to throw out everything except the "robots that turn into stuff" part to make beast wars and "save" the franchise.
as someone who hated the beastwars stuff even then, I'll forever question just how necessary the direction they took was.
also, you're probably about to have hordes of angry GIJOE and he-man fans pounding at your door. tch
Jalaguy
Did you not notice the bit where the original incarnation of Transformers proved completely untenable as a toyline any more and died? The only reason the brand still exists today for Michael Bay to make movies of is because Transformers was willing to change nearly everything about itself and be reborn as Beast Wars.
Transformers should never ever aspire to keep things the same forever because that's how you turn into a dead franchise like G.I. Joe or He-Man.
MegaDolrailer
Alex Milne not to your tastes?
RodimusZero
damn, I need me that Hot Rod skateboard… so dope
also wish whoever drew this mural could draw the comics, then maybe I'd read them
can't stand any of the idw artists, personally. except for Tom Scioli and Guido Guidi, of course.
backhawkdown
Hasbro, like any of the big studios, doesnt see new inquiries at licensing expo. It's simply an avenue to see all existing licensees at one time. They aren't there to drum up new business.
Dinobot Snarl
There were no drastic changes to those characters. Their colors, personalities, appearances were unchanged for decades yet have achieved great success. Their fans aren't called G1ers for the sake of downplaying the complaints of fans who've followed the hobby for 20+ years.
If the movies were good, maybe older fans would be okay with it. But to see everything about Transformers warped and twisted into nonsense is too much; so yes we complain. I'll spare you the full diatribe, but yes long time fans, continue to be insulted by the changes and the awful direction that Bay takes the franchise. Imagine if Marvel made Spiderman grow two more pairs of limbs and wear a green costume… and a whole new generation of kids only knows Spiderman as green with six limbs. It is unsettling.
Girl Pants
Exactly. This is the exact place to say "Hey everyone, license our IP and your stuff will sell!"
And beyond that, it's the right thing to say in general. Toys as a whole, particularly with kids, is a bit of a shrinking market. Investors will want to hear that you are diversifying outside of just that field into growing markets like video games, etc.
None of this is meant to say "we don't care about kids and collectors buying toys any more". We're getting loads of toys these days, it's not like they are stopping the toys to make other stuff instead.
haventgrownup
Yup.
Hasbro and Takara-Tomy currently are standing on the shoulders of past giants (while paying no royalties, nor giving credit to) and crying foul when the work done by those previous creators is utilized by third party companies.
Who the hell is that Autobot Scope-Head Greenie?!?
kaijuguy19
There are good and bad ways of respecting one routes and I'm sorry to say but sometimes staying too much into the roots can end up doing more harm then good. There's nothing wrong with going outside the box every now and then otherwise the TF brand wouldn't have evolved the way it did. As for those points you've brought up? Even they went through different evolutions and did some drastic changes in their own right in some manner.
Dinobot Snarl
I detest this argument see:
Spiderman
Batman
Punisher
Captain America
Ironman
Black panther
….
It is fair to expect Transformers to respect it's roots, if not you get stuff like:
Gi-joe EXTREME
griffn29
omnimedia is definitely an interesting way to put it.
BigRed
Uh. You already did. In the 80s. Those are nostalgia merch for old nerds that remember the old thing/like retro novelty. Why would a modern cartoon made to sell toys to young kids use design sensibilities and market limitations of the 80s instead of something suited for modern taste?
Faelon
You mean you didn't have an Autobot Creepshot figure growing up? I thought everybody had one of those?
Faelon
Keep in mind that a big part of the Licensing shows is to drum up not other toy makers or collectibles, but things like the people who make underdogs and bed sheets and stuff. T shirts. Children's clothing. Optimus Prime plushies. Etc.
Kyle Blues
Oh you know,
He's Camerabooty!
The Autobot that turns into a camera and shoots spiderman jizz from his eye!
How could you forget him? He's been around since the beginning!
jamarmiller
it always sort of surprises me , when we get so much G1 inspired art and merchandise ( shirts, hats, cups , ect ) but never get a cartoon featuring those designs,looks, feel.