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o.supreme wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:Well, this'll be the first wave where I actually grab everything. Tigatron is a must, Pipes, Slammer, and Shadow Panther all look great, and Waspinator's beast mode and slight Animated influenced colors have won me over.

It is hilarious that Hasbro is showing these before Wave 3 is even fully out though and probably at least a month or two before they get revealed, and yet keep complaining about stuff getting leaked.

o.supreme wrote:Also, aside from box art, and a Slammer description, do we have WFC numbers yet for these wave 4 toys?

I believe the Amazon listings updated when the Draculus and Amazon Prime ones got updated, Jtprime posted screenshots on TFW at least, so we're looking at:
K1-K30: Waves 1-3 + Commander + Titan
K31: Shadow Panther
K32: Pipes
K33: Slammer
K34: Waspinator
K35: Tigatron
K36: ???
K37: T-Wrecks
K38: Red Alert
K39: Tricranius & Blast Effects
K40: Mirage & Grimlock
K41: ???
K42: Sideswipe & Skywarp
K43-K??: ???

Figures we know are coming with no number yet: Road Rage, Blaster, ER Starscream repack, Kingdom 4-pack, Golden Disc figures (which might not be numbered, since the Galactic Odyssey sets weren't)

Thank you. I'm fairly certain there will be some event in July (Transformers FFF?) where these will be revealed, possibly with more SS, and the SG Jetfire. Also I forgot about the ER Starscream repack, that will probably be 36. I was actually hoping for Inferno to get repacked with wave 4, as he is extremely hard to get. BBTS just got him in stock, so if you want Inferno, better get it now. I've seen Dinobot multiple times, but Never Inferno at retail. But with a *possible* 5th wave, maybe they can repack him in with Blaster?

They'll probably do most of that at the Hasbro Pulse Fan event they're doing soon.

Rtron wrote:I didn't even know they made online bios for these guys. If they write them up anyway, why not print them on the boxes?.

Because to make it easier for them, they standardized the packing to always have multiple languages per continent. That makes it so there isn't anymore room for a bio.

-Kanrabat- wrote:You know, I miss the good old days of well stocked shelves, so much that sales happened often. I have some Toys R Us coupons. 10$ off if you buy for 50$, 25$ off if you buy for 100$... BUT THERE'S NOTHING TO BUY. And the only things worth buying are excluded from the coupons.

Heck I miss TRU...I mean i know it had been going down hill for 10 years but...as an example. for me personally, I look at the "Toy Haul" thread. It is cool an all, but to have a "haul" IMHO, that means purchasing more than one TF at a time, which most pics do, but I don't fault anyone for posting pics of just one item however....I can't remember the last time I actually purchased two Transformers at once...I think it was early in 2020 when I got both Leader ER Prime and Astrotrain form Target on a BOGO 50% sale, but honestly that was the last time. Every other purchase has just been one...toy...at a time.

william-james88 wrote:

Rtron wrote:I didn't even know they made online bios for these guys. If they write them up anyway, why not print them on the boxes?.

Because to make it easier for them, they standardized the packing to always have multiple languages per continent. That makes it so there isn't anymore room for a bio.

Oh, right. Still, it's just a few words. It looks longer on the website because of how it's designed.

Man am I hoping and praying that they'll reissue Metroplex. With Slammer being compatible, they're teasing me hard.

CrillanK wrote:Man am I hoping and praying that they'll reissue Metroplex. With Slammer being compatible, they're teasing me hard.

I doubt they'll do that now, Metroplex was made with the 2013 budget (which was right before the budget got slashed). Granted Hasbro's budget for Transformers has slowly increased since then and they've learned to work with it better, but Metroplex feels like he's out of the question.

And even though it's annoying to say, but Metroplex is the Titan most likely to get a remake (especially since people are obsessed with animation accuracy) and is probably our next -and last- Titan. It'd obviously still be compatible with the deluxe guys since he'd be designed around them.

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once? Honestly, I wish Hasbro would put Generations on hold for a few years, give us a new series that can be the central franchise for a while, and move things forward.

Kingdom is my least favorite of the three WfC lines, but it's still great, and it's much better than PotP which was the last Prime Wars line.

I completely disagree about putting Generations on hold. I think the last thing that TF needs as a brand is a central franchise, if for no other reason than G1 would be dominant. We still have an animated kid-friendly line with Cyberverse, a movie line with Studio Series, and a retro and nerd media line with WfC--to say nothing of Rescue Bots or BotBots. I don't know think we need to give up any of that diversity in the name of a one true line. Classics and Animated could coexist, so could Prime and Generations, I don't think Generations is holding anything back.

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once?

Let's see, so concurrent lines we have:

Studio Series (and SS 86 within)
Cyberverse
Kingdom
Selects
Netflix
Buzzworthy
BotBots
RED
Masterpiece
MPM
Shaterred Glass
Retro Headmasters
Mash-Up line
Vintage Beast Wars
Authentics
Rescue Bots

Not sure if I am missing any. Most are just store or fan channel exclusives, next year will be way worse since there will be a 4th mainline for the new film and it will be HUGE with G1 characters, beast characters and terrorcons (the villains).

william-james88 wrote:

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once?

Let's see, so concurrent lines we have:

Studio Series (and SS 86 within)
Cyberverse
Kingdom
Selects
Netflix
Buzzworthy
BotBots
RED
Masterpiece
MPM
Shaterred Glass
Retro Headmasters
Mash-Up line
Vintage Beast Wars

Not sure if I am missing any. Most are just store or fan channel exclusives, next year will be way worse since there will be a 4th mainline for the new film and it will be HUGE with G1 characters, beast characters and terrorcons (the villains).

Is it confirmed that RotB will be a different line and not integrated into SS? I guess the more gimmick-heavy classes would be their own line.

Nuclearxpotato wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once?

Let's see, so concurrent lines we have:

Studio Series (and SS 86 within)
Cyberverse
Kingdom
Selects
Netflix
Buzzworthy
BotBots
RED
Masterpiece
MPM
Shaterred Glass
Retro Headmasters
Mash-Up line
Vintage Beast Wars

Not sure if I am missing any. Most are just store or fan channel exclusives, next year will be way worse since there will be a 4th mainline for the new film and it will be HUGE with G1 characters, beast characters and terrorcons (the villains).

Is it confirmed that RotB will be a different line and not integrated into SS? I guess the more gimmick-heavy classes would be their own line.

Yes, ROTB is getting it's own movie line, word from leakers.

In a similar vein to the Bumblebee movie's line of simpler toys while the normal figures are in Studio Series, or a normal line unto itself?

william-james88 wrote:

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once?

Let's see, so concurrent lines we have:

Studio Series (and SS 86 within)
Cyberverse
Kingdom
Selects
Netflix
Buzzworthy
BotBots
RED
Masterpiece
MPM
Shaterred Glass
Retro Headmasters
Mash-Up line
Vintage Beast Wars
Authentics
Rescue Bots

Not sure if I am missing any. Most are just store or fan channel exclusives, next year will be way worse since there will be a 4th mainline for the new film and it will be HUGE with G1 characters, beast characters and terrorcons (the villains).

I don't imagine Cyberverse and Rescue Bots have much longer to go, while Netflix and Retro Headmasters are probably done now, and I can't see Shattered Glass or Vintage Beast Wars continuing into next year. But even then, yeah that is still quite a lot, perhaps more than is really needed.
The focus next year will more than likely shift to Rise of the Beasts and the other lines won't get as much attention as they're getting now. It'll probably be a similar deal to Bumblebee, where the main ROTB line is simpler toys like One-Step Changers and gimmicky Power Battler type figures, while Deluxes, Voyagers and Leaders will be put in Studio Series.

Back on topic, Tigatron and Waspinator are still the only things from wave 4 I'm interested in getting, and while it's nice that they used the Mutant head for Shadow Panther, I don't think it's a figure I really need. I still think Shadow Panther and Pipes would've been better fits for Generations: Selects rather than the main product line. Something I also noticed when I went to the Kingdom website is that there are character bios for Ratchet, Bumblebee, Barricade, Nemesis Prime and Thundercracker as well. I'd like to think this means they'll all be getting toys in Kingdom at some point, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

Cyberverse will be continuing to support the TV Movies as we've already seen so it's likely the line has at, the very least, another year before it transitions into the line for the Nickelodeon cartoon series. The Vintage line will also co tinue in another form no doubt, can't see Walmart saying no to an exclusive line of their own

Sabrblade wrote:In a similar vein to the Bumblebee movie's line of simpler toys while the normal figures are in Studio Series, or a normal line unto itself?

All they said was that the ROTB line would be huge!
The Bumblebee movie only had a few toys in studio series which came out around the same time as the film. With so many more characters needing deluxes and voyagers for ROTB, it wouldn't surprise me if even those toys are outside Studio Series, but we'll see.

Munkky wrote:.

Back on topic, Tigatron and Waspinator are still the only things from wave 4 I'm interested in getting, and while it's nice that they used the Mutant head for Shadow Panther, I don't think it's a figure I really need. I still think Shadow Panther and Pipes would've been better fits for Generations: Selects rather than the main product line. Something I also noticed when I went to the Kingdom website is that there are character bios for Ratchet, Bumblebee, Barricade, Nemesis Prime and Thundercracker as well. I'd like to think this means they'll all be getting toys in Kingdom at some point, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

I only checked the Thundercracker art and that one is recycled from the Siege throne room art from a few years back so it doesnt represent a new toy.

Also, we newsed that both Rescue Bots and Cyberverse have a whole new Dinosaur centric subline coming out to restock the shelves with new product. So both those toylines have legs

william-james88 wrote:

TFfan1 wrote:I admit I'm also a little bitter at how spread thin I feel like the brand has gotten. We used to have just one line, and that line was where all the budget and effort went. Now, we have what, four lines going on at once?

Let's see, so concurrent lines we have:

Studio Series (and SS 86 within)
Cyberverse
Kingdom
Selects
Netflix
Buzzworthy
BotBots
RED
Masterpiece
MPM
Shaterred Glass
Retro Headmasters
Mash-Up line
Vintage Beast Wars
Authentics
Rescue Bots

Not sure if I am missing any. Most are just store or fan channel exclusives, next year will be way worse since there will be a 4th mainline for the new film and it will be HUGE with G1 characters, beast characters and terrorcons (the villains).

As WJ mentions, many of these are just channel exclusives, redecos and retools of WfC or even Prime Wars products. In the context of this conversation, it might make sense to think of these from a product development perspective rather than from a branding perspective. As we've seen from the ongoing SS86/Kingdom debates, that line can be fuzzy.

The point being, even if the half-dozen Generations lines above are grouped together, there's still a very wide range of toy types, target markets, play patterns, continuities, etc. By any measure, there's a bunch happening. To the original point, there's breadth, but the fact that the Generations line in particular is so robust challenges the "spread thin" criticism to me.

I think the core question is one that's been knocked around in this thread since the line was announced: is the split between G1 ('84-'86) and Beast Wars a good thing or a bad thing? As the line moves towards its close, I think it has been very solid. It's BW heavy, and it's great to get so much of the show cast in a single line. There are two major absences but they're sure to come sooner than later. Fossilizers aren't as fun as Weaponizers IMO, but they're still a cool play pattern that brings something new and flavorful to Generations.

I feel like G1 pollutes the line a little bit, but I'm getting figures I've wanted for years, and even though I was originally skeptical of the combo, I can't see any way that the crossover has been harmful. I didn't feel like there was much for me in PotP, but this line has something for ... well, not everyone necessarily, but a wide range of collectors. I can't see how that's a bad thing.

william-james88 wrote:Cyberverse have a whole new Dinosaur centric subline coming out to restock the shelves with new product.

The product will come out in the fall to support the Netflix films, and sit on shelves until clearanced next summer to make room for the Nickelodeon show, just like Cyberverse has done this whole time.

o.supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Cyberverse have a whole new Dinosaur centric subline coming out to restock the shelves with new product.

The product will come out in the fall to support the Netflix films, and sit on shelves until clearanced next summer to make room for the Nickelodeon show, just like Cyberverse has done this whole time.

Maybe in your area but reports else where tell a different story.

So is Pipes going to have a slightly different transformation from Huffer, like the G1 version?

On top of the news of the recently revealed artwork for wave 4 of Kingdom, if you scroll down the Transformers website and click on "Track Your Collection", it reveals artwork for the wave 3 Kingdom cards as well, (some of which I don't think have been fully revealed before).

Slashercon wrote:On top of the news of the recently revealed artwork for wave 4 of Kingdom, if you scroll down the Transformers website and click on "Track Your Collection", it reveals artwork for the wave 3 Kingdom cards as well, (some of which I don't think have been fully revealed before).

They're holding true to the 16 Destinies statement still. So who gets the extra destiny (five characters x tree destinies each = 15 in total)? I was expecting it from the Titan, but no one's mentioned the card being unique yet.

o.supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Cyberverse have a whole new Dinosaur centric subline coming out to restock the shelves with new product.

The product will come out in the fall to support the Netflix films, and sit on shelves until clearanced next summer to make room for the Nickelodeon show, just like Cyberverse has done this whole time.

2 things:
1. Rescue Bots sells well for the most part, also you sa8d yourself that you haven't been in that aisle year after year so how would you know anything about it?

2. It is said absolutely nowhere that this Rescue Bots line is to support a Cyberverse movie. Just fan assumptions.

So I'm curious because I looked it up on tfwiki and I was a little confused

Is Shadow Panther an alias of Ravage/Tripredacus Agent? Or are they considered two different characters?

Razorbeast88 wrote:So I'm curious because I looked it up on tfwiki and I was a little confused

Is Shadow Panther an alias of Ravage/Tripredacus Agent? Or are they considered two different characters?

Yes and no to both.

Originally, Takara conceived Shadow Panther to be his own unique character.

Then, well, per TFWiki:

Much later, in early 2000, this toy was offered through Hasbro's online collector service, HasbroCollectors.com. Initially, it was sold under toy's original name and identity, but months later, the site relisted it under the name of "Tripredacus Agent", repurposing the toy as the same character as Ravage (then called "Tripredacus Agent" due to trademark issues). Though the toy's online bio (a translation of the Japanese "Shadow Panther" bio) remained unchanged for the "Tripredacus Agent" listing, it was worded vaguely enough to enable it to also be used for the toy's repurposed identity. The bio for the Walmart exclusive Transmetals 2 Tripredacus Agent would mention how the "former saboteur" had taken on "several aliases while involved the Beast Wars," in an apparent attempt to further harmonize Shadow Panther with Ravage/Tripredacus Agent.

After that, the Beast Wars Sourcebook gave Shadow Panther his own profile that re-charactered him back into being his own separate person from Ravage, in accordance to his toy's original purpose.

And then again, when Shadow Panther appeared later in Beast Wars: Uprising, his past was left deliberately vague and mysterious, with rumors surrounding his origins intentionally hinting at a connection to Ravage, claiming he was a Builder rebuilt as a Predacon, while other rumors claim his spark was created or altered by aliens. But rumors are vile, nasty things that aren't necessarily true.

Then his MP came out and treated him like his original toy as a his own guy, which is all that he's ever been in Japan.


So, the long and short of it is, it depends. He was meant to be is own character, then Hasbro repurposed his toy as Ravage, but later fictions do with him whatever they please.

So, if I was into the Japanese Beast Wars continuity he would be a unique character but if all I've seen is the American show he can be used as Ravage from Season 2? Cool. I've not yet made it to Beast Wars II.