Interview With Hasbro Transformers Team Ben “BMac” MacCrae

IronWaveJRG

I would agree too, it's the online chatter that they usually pay attention to, like "wouldn't it be nice if we got Generations updates to Beast Wars?", Or "will we get the rest of the Bumblebee opening characters in Studio Series?", "I hope for more IDW characters",
"Blitzwing was such a cool character in Bumblebee, I cannot wait for his Studio Series figure" that sort of talking

I'm primarily 87-89.

For a long time I thought my only shot at Needlenose would be an Armada Thrust repaint. And I thought we'd NEVER get Windsweeper. Now, come the end of the summer I will have both.

With Windsweeper you'd guess Ruckus is coming, and it's not far of a stretch to hope the Triggerbots follow.

I'm happy with Siege Crosshairs- so Sureshot completes that trio.

So if you give me one wish- I honestly don't know where to spend it. Pretenders are tough*. Nightbeat, Siren and Hosehead maybe? But they must be close too, surely?

My really out there wish right now would be to have the 1989 Micromasters all re-done as Core class (plenty of 84-86 redecos could be had of them).

* I think I might try to start a movement to get these guys done as Haslabs- deluxe inner bots with whatever it takes to put some sort of shell around them.

Q Prime

Oh, buzz off! Transparent plastic is the least of those figures’ problems.

Disagree.

drmick

Not everyone is making wishlists. Seriously dudes, you end up doing more harm than good. Half of us skip walls of text due to TLDR, and your one true want loses out to your 30th preference.

Thundershot

Yeah wishlists are useless. I skip the wall of texts as well.. I’m sure the designers do as well..

I would agree too, it's the online chatter that they usually pay attention to, like "wouldn't it be nice if we got Generations updates to Beast Wars?", Or "will we get the rest of the Bumblebee opening characters in Studio Series?", "I hope for more IDW characters",
"Blitzwing was such a cool character in Bumblebee, I cannot wait for his Studio Series figure" that sort of talking

Yeah wishlists are useless. I skip the wall of texts as well.. I’m sure the designers do as well..

Since everyone is making wishlists, in hopes Bmac will read them, here's mine:

Generations:
Deluxe Transmetal Rattrap
Deluxe Transmetal Cheetor
Deluxe Quickstrike
Deluxe Animated Ratchet
Deluxe Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia
Voyager Transmetal Optimus Primal
Voyager Transmetal Tarantulas
Voyager Transmetal 2 Dinobot
Voyager Transmetal 2 Cheetor
Voyager Animated Starscream
Voyager Animated Blitzwing
Leader Transmetal Megatron
Leader Animated Megatron
Leader Animated Bulkhead
Leader Animated Lugnut
Leader Animated Blackout
Commander Depth Charge
Commander Rampage

Studio Series
Deluxe ROTF Ice Cream Twins
Deluxe ROTF Skids
Deluxe ROTF Mudflap
Deluxe DOTM Que
Deluxe DOTM Crankcase 2.0
Deluxe AOE Camaro Bumblebee
Deluxe AOE Bugatti Drift
Deluxe AOE Crosshairs
Deluxe TLK Barricade
Deluxe TLK Dreadbot
Voyager GE ROTF Breakaway
Voyager AOE Optimus Prime
Voyager TLK Nemesis Prime
Voyager TLK Megatron
Voyager TLK Onslaught
Voyager TLK Nitro Zeus
Voyager BB Skywarp
Leader ROTF Demolishor
Leader GE 2007 Shockwave
Leader GE DOTM Warpath
Leader AOE Hound
Leader AOE Slug
Leader AOE Scorn
Leader AOE Strafe
Commander DOTM Devcon

Yeah, Machine Wars and more AEC updates are my most wanted… Machine Wars is getting more and more likely as new molds come about… We just need a Thunderclash for Prime and Energon Starscream for Megatron and Megaplex and I think all of the others will fall in place with existing molds.

omegafix

Well if they are listening to us

ENOUGH WITH THE CLEAR PLASTIC!

Hush you!  

omegafix

Well if they are listening to us

ENOUGH WITH THE CLEAR PLASTIC!

Never! You see how bad 86 Brawn’s alt-mode looks compared to almost every other figure from the last few years!

Wishlist guys:

View attachment 29954217

Just one

orangeitis

With that said, Hasbro, a wish list:

Titan:
-Rail Racer, with tall but thin component bots; possibly Siege Jetfire height each
-Grandus
-Cybertron Menasor
-Cybertron Quickmix
-Galaxy Shuttle
-Gigastorm(a retool of Titan's Return Trypticon would be perfect)
-Countdown(2in tall; see below) with G1 rocket base(main bulk of the budget here)

Commander:
-Animated Lugnut
-Broadside
-G1 Skyquake
-SSGE WFC Destroyer drone
-Thunderwing
-G2 Dreadwing

Leader
-G1 Roadbuster
-Any Strika
-Transmetal Tyrannosaurus Megatron, Optimus Primal, Depth Charge, Beast Wars Rampage
-Transmetal2 Dinobot
-Star Dasher; preferably Mercenary if you're not doing a pirate faction; will accept Siege Astrotrain redeco

Voyager:
-RID2k Tow-Line
-G1 Blast-Off; whenever you get around to reiterating G1 Bruticus, consider a Voyager Blast-Off which parts-forms the bulk of his wings into Bruticus' chest; also, 1:600 microfigures(like the Unicron ones) of the other Combaticons
-Transmetal Inferno, Rhinox, Tarantulas, Terrorsaur, Dinobot(the Happy Meal one), Tigatron
-G1 Predacons

Deluxe:
-RID2k Spychangers/G2 Go-Bots using Siege Sideswipe's engineering
-Throttlebots! Re-shells of each other is fine, but I'd really like the 2-wheels-per-foot designs
-Transmetal Rattrap, Airrazor, Waspinator, Blackarachnia(the Happy Meal one), Scorponok(the Happy Meal one)
-Transmetal2 Blackarachnia

All the human-sized Transformers you can possibly do up at Core budget 5cm/2in, SS86 Rumble-style. Micromasters, Targetmasters, Minicons, Actionmaster partners, etc. Oh, and please let their likenesses be accurate to their source material.
Micromaster Deluxe 3-packs, Deluxe Micromaster transports, etc.

Weaponizer gimmick expansion ideas:
-Pretender armor(with their own bot/alt modes…?) – with the inner bots being Core class
-Micromaster Sixteam combiner kibble – their original iterations turned into a vehicle; take it one step further and give them a bot mode, some blast effects ports/posts, and two Deluxe 3-packs of each of the Sixteams' rosters.

MORE BLAST EFFECTS!!!
-Toxic sludge effects to attach to the bodies of TFs
-Flame effects(like Dazzlestrike's and TM2 Megatron's)
-Water effects; splash, water cannon, etc. Clear plastic with blue inside for realistic looking water
-Ice crystals to attach to the bodies of TFs
-Huge "splash" blast effects for Titan stomp effects(could double as Commander Lugnut's P.O.K.E. attack)

And if you're weary about using large budgets for obscure characters, try dressing the mold up for a more known character first. Like, say, a Titan class Astrotrain that just happens to be shaped like Galaxy Shuttle.

These are just off the top of my head. Thanks for letting me Mall Santa you, Hasbro! <3

dont get me started on wishlists i got a whole 5 years planned out
*ahem* Hiiiii Hasbro~!
Wave 1
– Leader Predacon Rampage
– Voyager Slipstream (from ER Starscream)
– Voyager RID 2000 Universe Sky-Byte
– Deluxe Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia
– Deluxe Camshaft
– Deluxe Armada Universe Wheeljack (from gigawatt)
– Deluxe G2 Universe Powerdive
– Core Waverider
– Core RID 2000 Universe Ironhide
– Core Cybertron Universe Red Scrapmetal
Wave 2
– Titan RID 2000 Universe Rail Racer
– Commander European Universe Thunderclash
– Leader Octane
– Voyager Armada Universe Cyclonus
– Voyager Maximal Bigmos
– Deluxe Joyride w/Hotwire
– Deluxe Ruckus (from beachcomber)
– Deluxe Transmetal Cheetor
– Deluxe European Universe Rage (from sideswipe)
– Core Armada Universe Space Mini-Con Team
– Core Sideswipe
– Core Bugly
Wave 3
– Leader Armada Universe Jetfire
– Voyager Cybertron Universe Vector Prime
– Deluxe Guzzle
– Deluxe RID 2000 Universe X-Brawn
– Deluxe European Universe Talon
– Deluxe G2 Universe Sideswipe (from sideswipe)
– Core Cloudburst
– Core RID 2000 Universe REV
– Core Armada Universe Jolt vs Swindle
Wave 4
– Voyager Transmetal Tarantulas
– Deluxe G2 Universe Electro
– Deluxe Override
– Deluxe Armada Universe Side swipe
– Deluxe Prime Universe Smokescreen (from sideswipe)
– Core Wheeljack
– Core Armada Universe Sparkplug vs Leader-1
– Core Landmine
*next year*
Wave 1
– Leader Roadbuster
– Voyager Transmetal Optimus Primal
– Voyager Landfill w/Flintlocke & Silencer
– Deluxe G2 Universe Aero Raid (from talon)
– Deluxe Squeezeplay w/Lokos
– Deluxe Armada Universe Thrust
– Deluxe European Universe Boss
– Core Armada Universe Nightbeat vs Wind Sheer
– Core Groundbreaker
– Core RID 2000 Universe Crosswise
Wave 2
– Titan Grandus
– Commander Broadside
– Leader Cybertron Universe Scourge
– Voyager Armada Universe Demolisher
– Voyager European Universe Stalker
– Deluxe Overdrive
– Deluxe G2 Universe Space Case (from talon)
– Deluxe RID 2000 Universe Skid-Z
– Deluxe Prime Universe Jet Vehicon
– Core Submarauder
– Core Armada Universe Street Action Mini-Con Team
– Core Cybertron Universe Signal Lancer
Wave 3
– Leader Thunderwing (core thunderwing with hollow leader thunderwing)
– Voyager Whirl
– Deluxe European Universe Windbreaker
– Deluxe Cybertron Universe Thundercracker
– Deluxe Armada Universe Blurr
– Deluxe Dogfight (from needlenose)
– Core RID Universe WARS
– Core Cybertron Universe Backstop
– Core Armada Universe Air Defence Mini-Con Team
Wave 4
– Voyager Maximal Apache
– Deluxe Armada Universe Smokescreen
– Deluxe G2 Universe Hooligan (from talon)
– Deluxe RID Universe Sideburn
– Deluxe Chop shop
– Core Energon Universe Battle Ravage
– Core Armada Universe Comettor vs Crumplezone
– Core RID Universe Mirage