HASBRO Answers Seibertron's Questions

1) - The press release posted on Hasbro.com just prior to Toy Fair indicated that there would be 10 Deluxe figures for Universe in 2009. 8 of those figures have been made public (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet), leaving 2 unknown figures. Is there any chance that you can elaborate what these two figures are, or if one of them will be Red Alert, similar to Takara Tomy's release schedule with Henkei?

Hasbro: Unfortunately, the press release prior to Toy Fair regarding Universe Deluxe was incorrect. For 2009, there will only be 8 Deluxe figures (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet).

tigertracks 24 wrote:Allspark's Q/A Answers For Round 1 2009

-no more Universe deluxes this year past Ratchet!

1) - The press release posted on Hasbro.com just prior to Toy Fair indicated that there would be 10 Deluxe figures for Universe in 2009. 8 of those figures have been made public (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet), leaving 2 unknown figures. Is there any chance that you can elaborate what these two figures are, or if one of them will be Red Alert, similar to Takara Tomy's release schedule with Henkei?

Hasbro: Unfortunately, the press release prior to Toy Fair regarding Universe Deluxe was incorrect. For 2009, there will only be 8 Deluxe figures (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet).

Q1) Can we expect to see Universe Classics Jazz, Soundwave and especially Wheeljack? TFUC seems like the perfect line to debut a true Wheeljack figure since he hasn’t really been given the proper treatment since G1. It also seems like a tease getting Ravage with Hound without a Soundwave out there!

A1) These are three of the names that keep poping up on our radar. Soundwave is difficult because we can’t make his alt mode a cassette player - kids today just wouldn’t even know what that is. I can tell you that he is being discussed for future release but nothing is definite at this time. Jazz is a favorite as well but nothing has been discussed as of now. Wheeljack on the other hand, has been discussed more in-depth and we’re excited about prospects for his appearance in the near future.

Barrelass wrote:As far as Soundwave goes, maybe I am just out of it (don't have any kids myself), but kids today still know what a radio is. Yea cassettes may be a little outdated, but we still have radios. And I highly doubt kids would think "what's this foreign object that I am putting in my radio", and even if they really really don't know what a cassette tape is, will they really be that opposed to little square boxes that combine with their radio? For christ sakes, you gave us ravage already, it's not like the tapes would be major figures in the line, and I honestly don't think you would have that big of a problem selling a radio as a character, especially when he was one of the characters that their dad (who is probably making the purchase) grew up with, and a popular character at that. But I could be wrong. Can't be any worse than a three headed dragon or some of the other things they have slapped together in the last year.

Megatron_Wolf wrote:Please give us Animated Hot Rod.

Scaleface wrote:

Barrelass wrote:As far as Soundwave goes, maybe I am just out of it (don't have any kids myself), but kids today still know what a radio is. Yea cassettes may be a little outdated, but we still have radios. And I highly doubt kids would think "what's this foreign object that I am putting in my radio", and even if they really really don't know what a cassette tape is, will they really be that opposed to little square boxes that combine with their radio? For christ sakes, you gave us ravage already, it's not like the tapes would be major figures in the line, and I honestly don't think you would have that big of a problem selling a radio as a character, especially when he was one of the characters that their dad (who is probably making the purchase) grew up with, and a popular character at that. But I could be wrong. Can't be any worse than a three headed dragon or some of the other things they have slapped together in the last year.

My point exactly. If they made a CASSETTE, why not make a Soundwave that's a CASSETTE PLAYER? Their answer to this defeats their own logic.

You have it completely wrong. You see they made a toy of Ravage for Universe, so they must think kids know what a cassette is, but they won't make Soundwave because these kids won't recognize the strange alien device that plays the cassettes! Righto. Yet somehow biplanes to alien spaceships, because kids see those every day in real life.

While we can't provide exact details on any upcoming G1-based or Premium figures, rest assured that we will be making them whenever they make sense.

tigertracks 24 wrote:Allspark's Q/A Answers For Round 1 2009

-no more Universe deluxes this year past Ratchet!

1) - The press release posted on Hasbro.com just prior to Toy Fair indicated that there would be 10 Deluxe figures for Universe in 2009. 8 of those figures have been made public (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet), leaving 2 unknown figures. Is there any chance that you can elaborate what these two figures are, or if one of them will be Red Alert, similar to Takara Tomy's release schedule with Henkei?

Hasbro: Unfortunately, the press release prior to Toy Fair regarding Universe Deluxe was incorrect. For 2009, there will only be 8 Deluxe figures (Cheetor, Cyclonus, Hound, Starscream, Dinobot, Smokescreen, Hot Shot and Ratchet).

"
There will be new toys of season 3 characters throughout 2009. Unfortunately, we cannot speak to any rumors regarding the animated series at this time."

Stormrider wrote:Regarding the movie repaints - I am starting to get the feeling that the characters in the movie are dilebrately a different color than their G1 counterparts, just so that Hasbro can release a G1 repaint version later. Am I being too cynical?

1) Any plans for a 10th Anniversary line to celebrate ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, either repaints or reissues using ROBOTS IN DISGUISE figures? There is not a plan to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of RID at this time due to the many big events that are planned for the brand over the next few years. With that said, we will continue to look for opportunities to reoffer any great product lines from our past.

2) Will we see American versions of the Masterpiece Grimlock, Thundercracker, and Skywarp figures? We feel that the Masterpiece Series is a great offering that captures the timelessness of our brand for all fans of Transformers. As we continue to move forward with the brand we will look for the right opportunities to release these figures. With that said, I would certainly keep your eyes on the look out for one of these in the near future!

GuyIncognito wrote:Why do they ever offer to answer our questions if they're not actually going to answer them? Every answer is the same: "We will continue to look for opportunities to make figures when it makes sense to do so."

Stormrider wrote:Regarding the movie repaints - I am starting to get the feeling that the characters in the movie are dilebrately a different color than their G1 counterparts, just so that Hasbro can release a G1 repaint version later. Am I being too cynical?

Will the Transformers Animated show or toy line continue past season 3, even under a different name?

First, thank you for your interest in Transformers Animated! While we cannot discuss the long term vision for the Animated series, we are excited about the upcoming launch of Season 3 in a couple of weeks and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. As for plans post 2009, it is still a little too early to discuss get into specific details.

What were the hardest engineering problems in the Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen toys?

As with the Movie 1 product line, the Transformers styling creates unique challenges for the design of the transformation. The real challenge is to continue to raise the bar even further from in capturing realism in both robot and vehicle modes. We hope that you will agree with us that we have surpassed our goal when you see the entire Revenge of the Fallen line!

Besides Bludgeon, what other characters did you want to get into the Universe line that had to be shelved for whatever reasons?

Our design team certainly has favorite such as Perceptors, Soundwave and believe it or not Wheelie. We added Wheelie into the line as a Legend because we thought it was a good fit for his character. But moving forward we would love the opportunity to redo Wheelie (paying homage to the G1 character) in Deluxe and really making him a very cool robot with an extremely cool vehicle mode. I think that would be a great design challenge and it would be interesting to see people's reactions to an awesome Wheelie! Hopefully we will be able to get this figure into an upcoming release.

Our design team certainly has favorite such as Perceptors, Soundwave and believe it or not Wheelie. We added Wheelie into the line as a Legend because we thought it was a good fit for his character. But moving forward we would love the opportunity to redo Wheelie (paying homage to the G1 character) in Deluxe and really making him a very cool robot with an extremely cool vehicle mode. I think that would be a great design challenge and it would be interesting to see people's reactions to an awesome Wheelie! Hopefully we will be able to get this figure into an upcoming release.

Stormrider wrote:

Our design team certainly has favorite such as Perceptors, Soundwave and believe it or not Wheelie. We added Wheelie into the line as a Legend because we thought it was a good fit for his character. But moving forward we would love the opportunity to redo Wheelie (paying homage to the G1 character) in Deluxe and really making him a very cool robot with an extremely cool vehicle mode. I think that would be a great design challenge and it would be interesting to see people's reactions to an awesome Wheelie! Hopefully we will be able to get this figure into an upcoming release.

Hasbro, we'll give you a hint what our reaction would be: "What the....?!! Wheelie a second time!" Who is going to buy a second Wheelie?

Come on, give the fans what they want. I just read the translated interview with the Henkei designers and really seems like Hasbro is holding group back with characters and designs that the fans want (Ex - Voyager Galvatron).

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/general-articles-25/translated-version-of-the-takara-tomy-transformers-henkei--classics-staff-interview-167073/

Prime Riblet wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

Our design team certainly has favorite such as Perceptors, Soundwave and believe it or not Wheelie. We added Wheelie into the line as a Legend because we thought it was a good fit for his character. But moving forward we would love the opportunity to redo Wheelie (paying homage to the G1 character) in Deluxe and really making him a very cool robot with an extremely cool vehicle mode. I think that would be a great design challenge and it would be interesting to see people's reactions to an awesome Wheelie! Hopefully we will be able to get this figure into an upcoming release.

Hasbro, we'll give you a hint what our reaction would be: "What the....?!! Wheelie a second time!" Who is going to buy a second Wheelie?

Come on, give the fans what they want. I just read the translated interview with the Henkei designers and really seems like Hasbro is holding group back with characters and designs that the fans want (Ex - Voyager Galvatron).

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/general-articles-25/translated-version-of-the-takara-tomy-transformers-henkei--classics-staff-interview-167073/

You are totally right. There is a huge stock pile of awesome characters that EVERYONE wants, and they talk about making a "better/cooler" Wheelie. To say they want to see what the reaction will be just seems kind of stupid as far as marketing. Why would a company not make a figure of a character that they know for an absolute fact will sell, as opposed to second guessing the public. Maybe they think the Wheelie character will appeal with a new generation of TF buyers, even though older folks like me will likely pass on it since Wheelie is kind of a bozo. I just don't get it.

MagnusPrimal wrote:There aren't many Universe/Classics figures I feel compelled to pass on.

Wheelie would be an easy one though.

Stormrider wrote:

MagnusPrimal wrote:There aren't many Universe/Classics figures I feel compelled to pass on.

Wheelie would be an easy one though.

What, you don't want another Wheelie? He's an awesome character.

Diem wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

MagnusPrimal wrote:There aren't many Universe/Classics figures I feel compelled to pass on.

Wheelie would be an easy one though.

What, you don't want another Wheelie? He's an awesome character.

I take it you've not read the literary classic "Wild Boy of Quintessa" where it reveals that Wheelie is a nutbar hardcore survivalist orphan? If you can look past him rhyming gimmicks he's one of the most intense and interesting characters in the movie and season 3.

He's a dick in Headmasters though.

But moving forward we would love the opportunity to redo Wheelie (paying homage to the G1 character) in Deluxe and really making him a very cool robot with an extremely cool vehicle mode. I think that would be a great design challenge and it would be interesting to see people's reactions to an awesome Wheelie! Hopefully we will be able to get this figure into an upcoming release.

Diem wrote:He's a dick in Headmasters though.