HasLab Victory Saber – Tier 2 Revealed: Autobot Stand

WereDragon EX

I take the stance that if Hasbro wants to do something, it doesn't matter on what we theorize here. If they did want to make more characters that aren't traditionally combiners into such, so be it. I just seem the drop off in such figures as a symptom of changing priorities on Hasbro's part. If Hasbro wants to put aside combiners for a while, well, that's their prerogative. As for selling Transformers toys without certain features, you can absolutely sell non converting figures, which are exactly what the term implies.

There's nothing to "stop". Point is, I'm of the thought that if Hasbro wants to add or remove something, they are free to do so, and there's not too much that can be said other than to vote with your wallet. Whether or not a combiner gimmick (or any gimmick, for that matter) is "unnecessary" of not is a matter of perspective

A good Deathsaurus would be enough for everyone who cares, including me, though "good" is YMMV. Incidentally, I take a neutral stance towards the combiner gimmick. I figured it might be an interesting addition to such a figure, as the CW version was a combiner, though as mentioned, I have no particular strong feelings on that front.

I personally thought those were perfectly good figures, truth be told. The only one that maybe seemed iffy was Grimlock, but even then he seemed like a perfectly serviceable iteration of the character. The other Dinobots don't seem terribly affected by being combiner limbs and I daresay can stand on their own, even independently of the combiner gimmickry.

Interacting with "other figures" might be the wrong choice of words, "other releases" seems more apt. In this case, I count a release as a separate entity in the same line (so Netflix Laserbeak and Ravage are not separate from Netflix Soundwave since they all came in the same set/box). Point is, some figures do interact with other releases to incentivize the purchase of multiple items in a given line. As a business, Hasbro would be incentivized to make as many sales as possible, and one way to do that is give some figures interaction with other releases.

In the case of the example you gave, Netflix Soundwave is an example of such since the other tapes apart from Laserbeak and Ravage were separate releases and to get that interactivity, someone would need to purchase said tapes separately. If every single tape Soundwave is compatible with was included with him in the same release, then yes, he wouldn't count as interacting with other releases, since a singular purchase of one release is enough for all the available interactivity. Otherwise, Soundwave does count as interacting with other releases.

I personally would refrain from making definite statement on Hasbro's intent such as saying if Deathsaurus is a combiner or not unless there are very reliable leaks/rumors or there's already solid proof such as a convention appearance of the figure. In any case, I retain a neutral stance on the matter and won't be surprised either way on the presence or absence of such gimmickry.

Wasn't Ultra Magnus a faithful update? He has the inner robot and super robot form made from armor that forms his trailer in vehicle mode. What about him makes the Kingdom figure an "improper update"?

I guess some people just want their new figures to be exactly as they were in G1, just with modern articulation and engineering. But I think the point is, that this won't always necessarily happen.

Exactly. I simply came up with the notion that a Deathsaurus figure in Legacy might be a combiner based on two early hypotheses in the theories thread. 1) Hasbro was doing a new combiner each year, and 2) each commander figure would be a combiner torso. It seems highly likely that Deathsaurus would be a Commander or at least a Leader figure, hence where the postulations came in. Of course, those postulations might be proven wrong later on, but as mentioned, my stance on if he is a combiner or not is neutral.

What about every figure that doesn't have an inherrent gimmick other than transforming? Hasbro has moved away from line wide and forced gimmicks the last few years. The liklihood of Deathsaurus being a combiner when he traditionally isn't one, and it's debatable if the single instance of him being one is actually him or not since it doesn't actually share his name and there is no fiction behind it, is pretty slim

Tarn31

How they do updates now is different then how they did them in combiner wars. Giving skylynx a base mode isn’t the same as making him a combiner. I see what you mean in the sense of added okay value but it’s just not something Hasbro would do. All that was in CW was skylynx repaint. Also you can’t sell a transformer toy that doesn’t have a robot mode so of course a deluxe figure is going to have a robot mode in your examples about brunt. If that was the case why’d they not make any other characters since wfc combiners that weren’t one? Sure a figure could have new things and be faithful but something as major as making him a combiner isn’t what Hasbro is doing now

I take the stance that if Hasbro wants to do something, it doesn't matter on what we theorize here. If they did want to make more characters that aren't traditionally combiners into such, so be it. I just seem the drop off in such figures as a symptom of changing priorities on Hasbro's part. If Hasbro wants to put aside combiners for a while, well, that's their prerogative. As for selling Transformers toys without certain features, you can absolutely sell non converting figures, which are exactly what the term implies.

Pravus Prime

Stop. Just stop.

No, not every figure needs a ton of interaction with other figures for no reason. Most figures don't. Everything that gets added unnecessarily to a figure is a compromise somewhere else to make it work.

A good Deathsaurus will be enough for everyone who actually cares, except, it seems you.

There's nothing to "stop". Point is, I'm of the thought that if Hasbro wants to add or remove something, they are free to do so, and there's not too much that can be said other than to vote with your wallet. Whether or not a combiner gimmick (or any gimmick, for that matter) is "unnecessary" of not is a matter of perspective

A good Deathsaurus would be enough for everyone who cares, including me, though "good" is YMMV. Incidentally, I take a neutral stance towards the combiner gimmick. I figured it might be an interesting addition to such a figure, as the CW version was a combiner, though as mentioned, I have no particular strong feelings on that front.

Tarn31

1000% agreed. A perfect example of this is the POTP Dinobots. Made them combiners and we see how they turned out compared to the newer studio series ones

I personally thought those were perfectly good figures, truth be told. The only one that maybe seemed iffy was Grimlock, but even then he seemed like a perfectly serviceable iteration of the character. The other Dinobots don't seem terribly affected by being combiner limbs and I daresay can stand on their own, even independently of the combiner gimmickry.

Fenrys

Guess Netflix Soundwave doesn't count as interacting with other figures since he came with tapes. Deathsaurus won't be a combiner, this isn't combiner wars.

Interacting with "other figures" might be the wrong choice of words, "other releases" seems more apt. In this case, I count a release as a separate entity in the same line (so Netflix Laserbeak and Ravage are not separate from Netflix Soundwave since they all came in the same set/box). Point is, some figures do interact with other releases to incentivize the purchase of multiple items in a given line. As a business, Hasbro would be incentivized to make as many sales as possible, and one way to do that is give some figures interaction with other releases.

In the case of the example you gave, Netflix Soundwave is an example of such since the other tapes apart from Laserbeak and Ravage were separate releases and to get that interactivity, someone would need to purchase said tapes separately. If every single tape Soundwave is compatible with was included with him in the same release, then yes, he wouldn't count as interacting with other releases, since a singular purchase of one release is enough for all the available interactivity. Otherwise, Soundwave does count as interacting with other releases.

I personally would refrain from making definite statement on Hasbro's intent such as saying if Deathsaurus is a combiner or not unless there are very reliable leaks/rumors or there's already solid proof such as a convention appearance of the figure. In any case, I retain a neutral stance on the matter and won't be surprised either way on the presence or absence of such gimmickry.

Kaynowa

Spoiler: Improper Updates

Do I think they'll shoehorn in a combining gimmick? No, but let's not pretend every new figure lately has been an exact 1:1 show only functionality kinda thing. Some add features like transformations, some remove features, some are just wildly inaccurate.

Wasn't Ultra Magnus a faithful update? He has the inner robot and super robot form made from armor that forms his trailer in vehicle mode. What about him makes the Kingdom figure an "improper update"?

Kaynowa

Never said he was a bad toy, never judged any good or bad qualities on any of the toys (here at least), just that, if we're talking strictly recent releases, these are the least accurate updates that have been put out. I even agreed that DS likely won't be a combiner, and I agree that he shouldn't, just saying "we've got nothing but proper updates" is an incorrect statement.

I guess some people just want their new figures to be exactly as they were in G1, just with modern articulation and engineering. But I think the point is, that this won't always necessarily happen.

T-Hybrid

Had he been a Deluxe or Voyager during CW/PotP he would have been a combiner.

In fact, he was. See: CW Liokaiser.

Exactly. I simply came up with the notion that a Deathsaurus figure in Legacy might be a combiner based on two early hypotheses in the theories thread. 1) Hasbro was doing a new combiner each year, and 2) each commander figure would be a combiner torso. It seems highly likely that Deathsaurus would be a Commander or at least a Leader figure, hence where the postulations came in. Of course, those postulations might be proven wrong later on, but as mentioned, my stance on if he is a combiner or not is neutral.

TranslucentBag

I don't have the Ark and bought "Mainframe" second hand. But since this will always be Mainframe to me:

I've decided to rename him "Mentat." Thus he's completely a new character for me. 

Someone's been playing too much Fallout  

TranslucentBag

I don't have the Ark and bought "Mainframe" second hand. But since this will always be Mainframe to me:

I've decided to rename him "Mentat." Thus he's completely a new character for me. 

Kind of hard to stain a mouth plate. For how else will the others be warned.

Fenrys

Teletraan-1 has never had a toy prior to Kingdom though. An argument could be made that Mainframe is not an accurate update, but there's not really a previous Ark figure to update, so the Ark itself is more of a new character to the toyline

Agreed, I consider the Ark to be a new character within the toyline's story universe. The WFC cartoon is much murkier, but we can discount it anyway.

cynw32618

I’d argue the difference with the Ark is in the past (TT Metroplex / TR Fort Max notwithstanding) Titan toys have been designed for robot / combined mode first, with the other modes being secondary.

Whereas the Ark is the other way round, making the ship mode as accurate as possible this time, while making it as accurate to Mainframe / The Last Autobot where possible.

I'd argue the toy ark is a different and new character since Teletraan-1 is his own figure. Plus the cartoon and toyline are separate from each other in terms of story telling

WolverineDragon

Unless you want to count the Kingdom cartoon treating Teletraan-1 as the Ark transformed.

Can always treat it as a Transector with Teletraan-1 as the 'Compmaster'.

DubV

Awww c’mon, leave the Ark out of this. It’s a good toy! The last autobot homage is a bonus, the ark mode is a solid nod to G1 (I didn’t say slavish recreation, just a solid nod), and it’s a 19 inch tall bot, which is always awesome in itself. Is he perfect? No, nothing is, but he doesn’t deserve being chained to that gang of misfits he’s been lumped in with here.

Also, DS doesn’t need to be a combiner. He’s already combined with his “pectoral pals” and that’s good enough.

Personally, the ark really is more of a new character rather than an update

Kaynowa

Never said he was a bad toy, never judged any good or bad qualities on any of the toys (here at least), just that, if we're talking strictly recent releases, these are the least accurate updates that have been put out. I even agreed that DS likely won't be a combiner, and I agree that he shouldn't, just saying "we've got nothing but proper updates" is an incorrect statement.

Also I never said we got nothing but proper updates, just that updates nowadays have been proper , generally speaking of course.

DubV

Awww c’mon, leave the Ark out of this. It’s a good toy! The last autobot homage is a bonus, the ark mode is a solid nod to G1 (I didn’t say slavish recreation, just a solid nod), and it’s a 19 inch tall bot, which is always awesome in itself. Is he perfect? No, nothing is, but he doesn’t deserve being chained to that gang of misfits he’s been lumped in with here.

Also, DS doesn’t need to be a combiner. He’s already combined with his “pectoral pals” and that’s good enough.

Never said he was a bad toy, never judged any good or bad qualities on any of the toys (here at least), just that, if we're talking strictly recent releases, these are the least accurate updates that have been put out. I even agreed that DS likely won't be a combiner, and I agree that he shouldn't, just saying "we've got nothing but proper updates" is an incorrect statement.