Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Simplified Voyager Wave 1 Available for Pre-Order

Shouldn't they be cheaper than that? I thought the whole point of up-sizing these is to make it simpler and cheaper(then normal voyagers)?

That new Optimus Prime mold would have been mildly tempting had Hasbro not ruined it with that neon-green grill and back kibble. Yuck.

Cheaper production at the same retail price means a bigger profit margin.

mooncake623 wrote:Shouldn't they be cheaper than that? I thought the whole point of up-sizing these is to make it simpler and cheaper(then normal voyagers)?

Simpler, yes.

Cheaper? Nah, what That Bot said about more profit for lower production cost at the same retail price. It's just following a trend I've seen with, say, that ugly wave of 5-joint Avengers toys that's retailing for about the price super-articulated 3.75" Joe and Marvel Legend figures used to just a few years ago, while the good ones collectors want are going for +$10. The bulk of toy sales are parents who don't know the difference buying for little kids who wouldn't really appreciate intricate detail and articulation anyway, so it's a logical cost-cutting move to offset creeping plastic prices. As long as we can tell the difference, they'll still make enough of what we want.

I am a little confused about these being "new" molds; was someone jumping to conclusions about actual Cyberverse upscaling and retooling before? I was hoping that Commander-to-Voyager trends would give us proper Insecticons, but if these are genuinely new sculpts, I can probably abandon all legal hope and go back to waiting for KO companies to take the hint.

mooncake623 wrote:Shouldn't they be cheaper than that? I thought the whole point of up-sizing these is to make it simpler and cheaper(then normal voyagers)?

your actually surprised at this, this is hasbro afterall. The point of these is to make them more money while spending less not help us the consumer out by giving us a quality product for a reasonable price.

I would get these for customizing. i see a thunderclash coming out of that mold.

Megatron Wolf wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:Shouldn't they be cheaper than that? I thought the whole point of up-sizing these is to make it simpler and cheaper(then normal voyagers)?

your actually surprised at this, this is hasbro afterall. The point of these is to make them more money while spending less not help us the consumer out by giving us a quality product for a reasonable price.

The answer is simple. Don't buy any of this crap.

So we're basically getting Cyberverse Figures on Steroids? Nice Hasbro!

These toys make a mockery of why I buy Cyberverse toys

That Predaking looks alrit to me. It might even look better than the original voyager. It has more color cooler looking wings with the translucent plastic, more paint, and I don't see them twin dragon head gun things that were shadowing the main dragon head. But one thing I don't like is the simpling down part. Sounds like they might have took out that one of a kind of way that the first voyager legs transformed. Thats kind of a trade off for the additions . But overall not bad. Oh and I'm sure it is more articulate than the other one.

mooncake623 wrote:Shouldn't they be cheaper than that? I thought the whole point of up-sizing these is to make it simpler and cheaper(then normal voyagers)?

One needs only to compare same scale Megatrons and Optimuses to see that we don't pay for the amount of joints or the effort that goes into the design. Looking at TFA and ROTF toys suggests we don't even pay for size either but the NAME OF THE SIZE CLASS.

Want that Predaking but that's it

I guess Hasbro is taking cues from the KO companies now.

Bumblevivisector wrote:I am a little confused about these being "new" molds; was someone jumping to conclusions about actual Cyberverse upscaling and retooling before? I was hoping that Commander-to-Voyager trends would give us proper Insecticons, but if these are genuinely new sculpts, I can probably abandon all legal hope and go back to waiting for KO companies to take the hint.

Not quite. Optimus Prime is definitely an upsized Cyberverse design, with some joints replaced with swivels, or swivels added. Predaking, from what I can tell, is all new, but takes some cues from either Beast Fire or Commander Predaking.

Looks like this Predaking started out as an upsized Commander (the transformation scheme is identical), but somebody (wisely) went and retouched every detail and completely redid the tail weapon. Which is great since the Commander has feathery wings, practically slithers on it's belly, and has a really poorly detailed face that looks more like a rooster's than the King of Predacons'.

Now if only they did that amount of work for the other upscaled Cyberverse figures. And if only they didn't pick characters that are already done plenty of times over.

Personally I hope this line fails and fails miserably and those responsible for this idea are beheaded, or at the very least fired, as well as those that fully supported the idea. Less articulation for the same price... NOT!

If you want simpler transformations, then buy a preschool age Transformer Rescuebot. Don't go messing up my Deluxe and Voyager lines.

Now I do like the idea of possibly upsizing all five of the Cyberverse Terrorcons into Deluxe size just to get a decent sized Abominous. As it is right now, only Sinnertwin and Cutthroat are getting the upsizing treatment and I'll likely buy them just for the size factor and the possibility of creating Abominous. Of course if the line fails miserably as I hope, then we'll likely not see Blot, Hun-Grr, or Ripper Snapper upsized to Deluxe. But then, when has HasTak not beaten a dead horse.

As it stands now, if I want an amazing, humongous Abominous created from five Terrorcons, then I'll have to put my faith in the 3rd Party groups (preferably Mastermind Creations) to make one, regardless of the price. The 3rd party groups seem to be the only ones to get these Transformers right for us diehard fans while HasTak continues to fail us at every turn and these upsized Cyberverse figures are proof of that.

wolverinetodd wrote:Now I do like the idea of possibly upsizing all five of the Cyberverse Terrorcons into Deluxe size just to get a decent sized Abominous. As it is right now, only Sinnertwin and Cutthroat are getting the upsizing treatment and I'll likely buy them just for the size factor and the possibility of creating Abominous. Of course if the line fails miserably as I hope, then we'll likely not see Blot, Hun-Grr, or Ripper Snapper upsized to Deluxe. But then, when has HasTak not beaten a dead horse.

Hate to burst your bubble, but the upsized Terrorcons have the connectors removed: even if all 5 were to be released (which I doubt, I think we're only getting a single wave), you cannot form Abominus.

You know what I would like? That predaking to be down-scaled again to give us a decent commander class.
I really want to add predaking to my cyberverse lineup but the commander figure just doesn't begin to do him justice

These look... horrible.

wolverinetodd wrote:If you want simpler transformations, then buy a preschool age Transformer Rescuebot. Don't go messing up my Deluxe and Voyager lines.

They stated at SDCC that these figures are meant to bridge a gap between one-step transformers like Rescue Bots and the more complex deluxe stuff. In other words, they're targeted at a younger age group than normal.

Let's not forget how simple our G1 figures were. Simpler transformations are better for kids, and that will help draw more kids into Transformers. As long as this is a separate line and not replacing the "normal" figures, I'm fine with it. In fact, I LIKE the idea, a lot! If I had a kid who was into TFs, I'd rather buy them a simple version of Voyager BH OP than a RescueBot.

GuyIncognito wrote:As long as this is a separate line and not replacing the "normal" figures, I'm fine with it.

Well, these are gonna be the "normal" figures. After the waves with Prowl and Night Shadow Bumblebee and Sharkticon Megatron, these figures will be the next wave of the main BH line.

Sabrblade wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:As long as this is a separate line and not replacing the "normal" figures, I'm fine with it.

Well, these are gonna be the "normal" figures. After the waves with Prowl and Night Shadow Bumblebee and Sharkticon Megatron, these figures will be the next wave of the main BH line.

That's still OK because we already got the "normal" versions of these figures. These are like alternate versions. What I meant was that if ALL figures were like this from now on, I'd be upset. If the Generations figures were simplified, I'd be upset. But I have no problem with them upscaling figures we already have to make a new version for kids.

Courtesy of Entertainment Earth we have our first in-package images of Hasbro's upcoming Transformers Prime Beast Hunters simplified Voyagers Optimus Prime and Predaking. These new Voyagers will allow for speedier transformations during play. These were initially announced at BotCon 2013 along with a line of simplified Deluxes, which includes Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Twinstrike. Our gallery of these of images from the show floor can be found here.

Optimus Prime and Predaking are due to release in December.

I'm so glad they made a voyager out of that Prime. The Cyberverse figure is excellent and I love the look of him with those wheels on his shoulders. I'll definitely be buying this (preorder already in on BBTS).

These look completely horrible.

I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Wait for it.. it's Hasbro. That's why.

I'm glad that Prime comes with all of the cyberverse weapons from the various versions.

Armentitron wrote:I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Either too lazy or too stupid to come up with any actual new designs! Sure, let's just take toys we've already published and make them a bit bigger! People will still pay for them!

Try the fact that they can make a sh**-ton of money off of the ACTUAL target demographic for these toys instead of the piddly-ass amount of chump change they would get in comparison by keeping older/adult fans happy. This isn't about what WE think, this is about the children for whom these toys are intended and their parents who throw obscene quantities of money out there to keep their spawn happy and content.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense to us, it just has to make a 7 year old thrilled enough to pester Mom and Dad and I GUARANTEE you, the kids far outnumber us older fans/collectors.

T-Macksimus wrote:

Armentitron wrote:I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Either too lazy or too stupid to come up with any actual new designs! Sure, let's just take toys we've already published and make them a bit bigger! People will still pay for them!

Try the fact that they can make a sh**-ton of money off of the ACTUAL target demographic for these toys instead of the piddly-ass amount of chump change they would get in comparison by keeping older/adult fans happy. This isn't about what WE think, this is about the children for whom these toys are intended and their parents who throw obscene quantities of money out there to keep their spawn happy and content.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense to us, it just has to make a 7 year old thrilled enough to pester Mom and Dad and I GUARANTEE you, the kids far outnumber us older fans/collectors.

Nice speech, but think about it; HOW is this voyager Prime any faster or easier to transform than the current one?

HOW is this one more attractive to a 7 year old than the current one?

Please don't keep a stack of standard excuses in your utility belt ready for the cause. This has nothing to do with simpler, easier play. It's just cost cutting. Beast Fire Predaking has to be one of the simplest toys to date, yet achieves both modes well, looks like a quality product, and, whilst it doesn't please everyone, manages to bridge the gap between child and adult collector well enough.

Stop believing blatant rubbish. This is about being cheap, nothing more. Animated leader Megatron has no more than 5-6 steps, is chunky and easy to play with. So again, please tell me why THIS approach to TFs is suddenly so necessary?

And please, let's have some creative answers, not another old wive's tale from the 'we believe everything told to us at botcon' pot.

Predaking actually looks kinda alright. I know he's essentially a touched-up and oversized version of the Cyberverse toy, but he doesn't really look like it.

Shoot, I'm kinda wishing the Terrorcons all got that kind of treatment. I haven't bought any of the Mainline Preds because they weren't in scale with the more interesting Legion ones. A Blight and Twinstrike at the same size and quality as Ripclaw and Laserback would've been cool, even if Abominus was cut out. The Terrorcon transformation schemes could totally work as-is at Deluxe scale.

T-Macksimus wrote:

Armentitron wrote:I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Either too lazy or too stupid to come up with any actual new designs! Sure, let's just take toys we've already published and make them a bit bigger! People will still pay for them!

Try the fact that they can make a sh**-ton of money off of the ACTUAL target demographic for these toys instead of the piddly-ass amount of chump change they would get in comparison by keeping older/adult fans happy. This isn't about what WE think, this is about the children for whom these toys are intended and their parents who throw obscene quantities of money out there to keep their spawn happy and content.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense to us, it just has to make a 7 year old thrilled enough to pester Mom and Dad and I GUARANTEE you, the kids far outnumber us older fans/collectors.

how are these targeted towards kids other than hasbro telling us at botcon they are? The boxes are the same as normal voyagers, theres no mention of a "speedier" transformation or anything special about them & the price point is still high like the other voyagers. A kid looking at the transformer section isnt going to notice any of this he/she is just going to see its a new prime & predaking and might realize that its a bigger version of the commander figures. And that right there might put them off if they have the commanders already, most kids would rather have somethig new not something they already have just cause its bigger. Same with the parents most will tell their kids its the same as the one they have and should get something they dont have. These are going to be shelf warmers plan & simple, the only kids that will pester their parents are ones who really like optimus & predaking. this is just hasbro testing the waters to see if they can screw us over more in the future.

hinomars19 wrote:

T-Macksimus wrote:

Armentitron wrote:I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Either too lazy or too stupid to come up with any actual new designs! Sure, let's just take toys we've already published and make them a bit bigger! People will still pay for them!

Try the fact that they can make a sh**-ton of money off of the ACTUAL target demographic for these toys instead of the piddly-ass amount of chump change they would get in comparison by keeping older/adult fans happy. This isn't about what WE think, this is about the children for whom these toys are intended and their parents who throw obscene quantities of money out there to keep their spawn happy and content.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense to us, it just has to make a 7 year old thrilled enough to pester Mom and Dad and I GUARANTEE you, the kids far outnumber us older fans/collectors.

Nice speech, but think about it; HOW is this voyager Prime any faster or easier to transform than the current one?

HOW is this one more attractive to a 7 year old than the current one?

Please don't keep a stack of standard excuses in your utility belt ready for the cause. This has nothing to do with simpler, easier play. It's just cost cutting. Beast Fire Predaking has to be one of the simplest toys to date, yet achieves both modes well, looks like a quality product, and, whilst it doesn't please everyone, manages to bridge the gap between child and adult collector well enough.

Stop believing blatant rubbish. This is about being cheap, nothing more. Animated leader Megatron has no more than 5-6 steps, is chunky and easy to play with. So again, please tell me why THIS approach to TFs is suddenly so necessary?

And please, let's have some creative answers, not another old wive's tale from the 'we believe everything told to us at botcon' pot.

"Hasbro is cheap" is also a convenient cookie cutter comment. I challenge you to be creative, too.

I see this as an over-correction for movie figure complexity. I know this is an extreme example, but Leader Sentinel Prime is super complicated, and I know several other movie toys with non-intuitive transformations were getting negative reviews from parents. When the parents can't even do the transformations, they're not going to buy them for their kids.

And, since they probably started developing the TF: Prime figures back when they were getting these negative DOTM parent responses (most of those toys were crappy in their own right, independent of transformation complexity), I imagine the Hasbro brand managers were challenged to find a way to blend fully formed figures with those simple, Activator toys.

This looks to be their first fully formed attempt at this experiment, which may also be intended to get younger kids hooked on these simplified toys. We'll see how it goes.

Optimus looks kinda sad.

Dead Metal wrote:Optimus looks kinda sad.

Awwww

I want that Predaking.

hinomars19 wrote:

T-Macksimus wrote:

Armentitron wrote:I cannot possibly fathom why on Earth would do something like that. Oh, wait, actually I can! Either too lazy or too stupid to come up with any actual new designs! Sure, let's just take toys we've already published and make them a bit bigger! People will still pay for them!

Try the fact that they can make a sh**-ton of money off of the ACTUAL target demographic for these toys instead of the piddly-ass amount of chump change they would get in comparison by keeping older/adult fans happy. This isn't about what WE think, this is about the children for whom these toys are intended and their parents who throw obscene quantities of money out there to keep their spawn happy and content.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense to us, it just has to make a 7 year old thrilled enough to pester Mom and Dad and I GUARANTEE you, the kids far outnumber us older fans/collectors.

Nice speech, but think about it; HOW is this voyager Prime any faster or easier to transform than the current one?

HOW is this one more attractive to a 7 year old than the current one?

Please don't keep a stack of standard excuses in your utility belt ready for the cause. This has nothing to do with simpler, easier play. It's just cost cutting. Beast Fire Predaking has to be one of the simplest toys to date, yet achieves both modes well, looks like a quality product, and, whilst it doesn't please everyone, manages to bridge the gap between child and adult collector well enough.

Stop believing blatant rubbish. This is about being cheap, nothing more. Animated leader Megatron has no more than 5-6 steps, is chunky and easy to play with. So again, please tell me why THIS approach to TFs is suddenly so necessary?

And please, let's have some creative answers, not another old wive's tale from the 'we believe everything told to us at botcon' pot.

Hasbro has a reason to lie to us why exactly?

Reasoning behind it is that if a parent picks this up for their kid their kid will find it easier and therefore want more. They have no need to call it out on the package, as no kid is going to want to get something which says it is simpler because they will view it as the "baby" version. Also, it's chunky and therefore can be tossed around a bit more. If it was cost-cutting they would be the same size as the normal figures, and simple. If you look they barely fit in the standard voyager boxes- Prime is squished in in a massive A-Stance; the same amount of plastic has gone into this as a normal voyager- no cost-cutting there.

If you actually listened to what was said at Botcon, in multiple interviews they said they were trying out the simplified in a response to the movie figures as many complained they were over-complicated- even Bay himself. If parents find them over-complicated they won't buy them. Seeing though they need to see whether or not the simpler stuff sells before the movies come out and they commit to it, they needed to trial it before it. The quickest way to do that as Prime would be the only line between now and TF4 was to upscale the Cyberverse designs. If they carry this forward they will have individual simpler designs for the deluxes and voyagers in the non-Generations line rather than these "upscaled Cyberverse". Even upscaled is the wrong term because they have different jointing and the surface detail is also different- it hasn't been scaled up with the figure.

The reasoning behind this is that they want simpler jumping on points for kids so that in another 30 years time the children of today will be celebrating the Transformers 60TH Anniversary with Leader BH Optimus Prime and Voyager animated Bumblebee rather than the line being dead. It won't affect your precious Generations, worry not. Hasbro has said this will only affect the non-Generations lines.


And as somebody else said, the old HABLOWS DOING IT BECAUSE THEY'RE HASBLOW excuse is a really old one, you be more creative.

Wow, I hope these are shelf-warmers or show up through TJMaxx or something, because I'd love to see that Predaking hit $15 or so.

Predaking may have a cheaper design, but from the look of it, unless they're shrinking the packaging, lower complexity means more bulk, and for Predaking, size matters.

Bought. But I'll most likely take some paint to them.

Caelus wrote:Wow, I hope these are shelf-warmers or show up through TJMaxx or something, because I'd love to see that Predaking hit $15 or so.

Predaking may have a cheaper design, but from the look of it, unless they're shrinking the packaging, lower complexity means more bulk, and for Predaking, size matters.

They said one of the tradeoffs for the simpler transformation was a bigger figure so that should be accurate.

And I WAS excited about this figure for a few minutes. At Botcon he was in black and orange again, but later they changed him to the purple color scheme which is closer to the show version. Unfortunately they ruined that by making him completely translucent so he's a pass for me for that reason alone.

Emerje

The paint job on Predaking looks pretty good. To me the disappointing thing with Prime is no flight pack... also the only stopping me from buying the regular Cyberverse versions. Love to see the upscaled terrorcons in the flesh. So do we get upscaled Hardshell now? Please?

Already a great debate about Hasblow cheapness versus Hasbro Botcon honesty and "for-the-kids" approach!

Anyway, my vote is Hasblow is being cheap and "don't believe everything at Botcon". I understand the movie line was too complex... but that's proof of incompetence, not upcoming redemption. Think about it: the movie line was clearly for the kids, so why f*ck that up so royal??? Why make the toys so complex when Hasbro KNEW the kids were buying?

I'll tell you why: Hasbro is made up of some incompetent people. The engineers got overzealous and NO ONE on staff stopped the production (at any point, and presumably because the schedule was too tight to simply re-start the toy designs... presumably). Either way, they had kids' attention and blew it.

Hasbro DOES have an opportunity to correct that: but it's NOT with Prime; it's with the next movie.

As previously mentioned by other posters, the box doesn't even call to attention the changes or ease. The box looks identical to other boxes. They screwed up here. So the TV commercials better do the extra work, or some articles better be paid for in parenting magazines, as the point-of-sale marketing is going to fail dramatically.

I'm a little tired of the "we need a movie to move these BBs!" strategy by Hasbro. I'm just asking for some new ideas or some new executives. The young boys division of Hasbro is doing TERRIBLE. Now's the time for "wow", not "oops, I did it again".

For those of you trying to argue that these aren't targeted at kids, you do realize that the entire TF:Prime line is targeted at kids, right?

Generations is for collectors, as is MP. Rescue Bots is for little kids and Transformers: Prime is for older kids.

The fact that we older collectors (or some of us, anyway) collect TF: Prime (and in some cases, even Rescue Bots) is moot. Hasbro's trying to cater to their target audience by releasing easier to transform versions of the toys. And yeah, I'm sure it also saves them some money, which is generally the goal of every corporation on the planet.

Either way, I think this Prime looks great as I said before, and I'm buying him for sure. The normal voyager Prime is cool too, but I like this one much better. His vehicle mode looks better as does his bot mode. He'll definitely have a place on my shelf.

with sooo many different versions of one character and sooo many different toy lines its easier to pick and choose what to get than bitch about what hasbro has put out.
and i choose to pass on these ones.... but if they did all the terrorcons like that then
maybe

Well, I can take these off my list to collect. Seriously Fugly.

Well, I thought about it.

Why must cheap stuff be ugly as well? These things get designed by a team and we have to be lured in as a consumer to buy 'em... Why make them so awful looking? This isn't a bar on saturday night, this is a toystore.

Ultra Markus wrote:with sooo many different versions of one character and sooo many different toy lines its easier to pick and choose what to get than bitch about what hasbro has put out.
and i choose to pass on these ones.... but if they did all the terrorcons like that then
maybe

Methinks you have yourself a good point there .

Also, yeah, if they upsised the Terrorcons like this and maintained the combining gimmick, I'd be all in. I have the Cyberverse versions already and while nifty, they just aren't very impressive due to the size. The way they combine isn't that great, but I still think they'd be worth doing in the larger size class.

RhA wrote:Well, I thought about it.

Why must cheap stuff be ugly as well? These things get designed by a team and we have to be lured in as a consumer to buy 'em... Why make them so awful looking? This isn't a bar on saturday night, this is a toystore.

I actually like that version of Prime better than the original voyager Prime, although I could have done without the green. I'll be painting those bits silver as they should be most likely.

xyl360 wrote:

Ultra Markus wrote:with sooo many different versions of one character and sooo many different toy lines its easier to pick and choose what to get than bitch about what hasbro has put out.
and i choose to pass on these ones.... but if they did all the terrorcons like that then
maybe

Methinks you have yourself a good point there .

Also, yeah, if they upsised the Terrorcons like this and maintained the combining gimmick, I'd be all in. I have the Cyberverse versions already and while nifty, they just aren't very impressive due to the size. The way they combine isn't that great, but I still think they'd be worth doing in the larger size class.

The upsized Terrorcons we've seen still have the combining pegs and it was hinted at BotCon that they might release the entire team

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

Ultra Markus wrote:with sooo many different versions of one character and sooo many different toy lines its easier to pick and choose what to get than bitch about what hasbro has put out.
and i choose to pass on these ones.... but if they did all the terrorcons like that then
maybe

Methinks you have yourself a good point there .

Also, yeah, if they upsised the Terrorcons like this and maintained the combining gimmick, I'd be all in. I have the Cyberverse versions already and while nifty, they just aren't very impressive due to the size. The way they combine isn't that great, but I still think they'd be worth doing in the larger size class.

The upsized Terrorcons we've seen still have the combining pegs and it was hinted at BotCon that they might release the entire team

Wow, really? I'd heard they didn't have the combining pegs. I hope they do release them, I'll get em' for sure !