As to why Alpha Bravo is part of the set, here is the reasoning given by Hasbro TF head Jery Jivoin:
What was the thought process behind introducing new Combiner characters such as Offroad and Alpha Bravo instead of just sticking with new interpretations of classic characters?
We wanted to introduce some new characters. There is also names and which we have, which is trademarked and what we're allowed to release. You've seen that in the past where we've had to change the names of some characters. Also we wanted to make sure the scales of everything were what needed to be. Sometimes scales were a bit funky in the original releases, you have a motorcycle that's the same size as a helicopter. Some of those decisions came into play. We wanted to create the essence of what the original characters were originally with the colors and type of characters you can make in the big Combiner character.
I really like the product line. It turned out really fantastic and I think from what I want to keep pushing the brand is that Generations isn't just about looking in the past. It's also about creating new stories, new characters as we go forward. I tell this story to the design and marketing team, when we were kids, when I first came out and was playing with this brand, somebody was in our seat, in our job and they were creating new stories and new toys for us. That's our job, you know? And that's what makes this fun. There's a 5, 6, 7...10 year old kid out there, whatever age they are who's getting into this and they're experiencing Transformers for the first time. So it's our responsibility and what we get to give back now is that we are creating the next generation of fans with this new product line whether it's Generations product line, whether it's Robots in Disguise whether it's Rescue Bots. We're creating this new fun way to play.
The Combiner Wars gives us you know, a great way not only to look back with the characters that everyone loves but also say "What's new?". We have our fan app right now and you can go vote, we're letting the fans create the next Combiner from the Autobot or Decepticon allegiance, the colors, the limbs, everything even down to...we're going to let them choose the gender. For the first time ever, there could be a female Combiner, which would be amazing! You know, we've never seen that before! I love seeing what's new. I love the past. I grew up on G1, but I want to keep adding new. The stories we tell with IDW, the new characters they're creating. Let's keep pushing it and pushing the story forward.
Also, just for those who think that comics might influence what Hasbro decides to make as toys... um no, its always the other way around:
We saw the success of the Combaticons with Bruticus, then the story started...we wanted to celebrate the 30th anniversary in '14. We talked about putting Combiners in there, then this idea came out of the Combiner Wars. So I said let's save that for after the 30th anniversary, we start with Combiner Wars. We worked on the storyline with IDW and obviously the toys that we have and that's where it came from.
I love how he uses the word "obviously" as if everyone knows that at the end of the day, its all about the toys. That's what Hasbro (as a toy company) cares about, selling new toys to both new and old fans, and finding ways to promote them in the media. And there's nothing really wrong with that.
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