Ok, now that we've had the "Tigertrack isn't
Sunstreaker/Sunstreaker needs a separate mold" discussion again (and I say
that in jest, of course), I've been wanting to handle some speculation for the
ones I haven't covered. For the ones I have
already covered, see here if you're interested:
So, despite what I've already said in the previous posts and
thereafter, I'd like to preface everything by saying that I think at this point
anything can happen. I think we're in a
special time period of the TRANSFORMERS brand where all bets are off and
virtually anything can be made. With
that being said, I still think there's a way that we can see the things that
are simply more likely to happen or not.
A part of me feels like this is simply stating the obvious due to the
success of the live action movies and the many figures we'd otherwise not have
seen made. Also with figures like the
Encore Fortress Maximus and even the new Metroplex figures, these are things
that the most of us who have been around here for a number of years thought
we'd never see. I'd go so far as to give
that credit to the Revenge of the Fallen line.
That single line gave us toys that otherwise Hasbro would have never had
the budget to make.
Fight! Masterpiece
Robot Lifeform
I've already covered some of my thoughts of a few of these
characters in the previous two posts. Ultra
Magnus was pretty evident to most of us, and I also noted that here. I discussed Sprung (Springer) in part two already. As the many wishlists have stated, though, there's a lot of other
characters available. The question
remains, are they likely? I hate to
burst anyone's bubble, but my answer may surprise you with "probably not,
for the most part."
The 1986 movie totally changed the landscape of
TRANSFORMERS. Optimus Prime/Convoy was
killed, Megatron was reformatted, a new cast was introduced while violently
shoving the old cast out. It seems to
stand to reason that this new cast would be something very special and one
enough to resonate largely with fans.
I'll be fair, that in many cases they do.
We've already gotten both Hot Rod/Rodimus and the new
leader, Rodimus Prime/Rodimus Convoy.
TakaraTomy has made not one, but two versions of this toy (albeit one
attempting to fix some of the problems of the first only to introduce new
ones), and Hasbro has made theirs as well.
It would be really easy for TakaraTomy to rerelease this mold for
another run. That wouldn't surprise
me. It also wouldn't surprise me if we
saw a completely new toy as well. Post 1984/85,
Rodimus Convoy is arguably one of the most popular characters with the Japanese
fanbase. I submit this in conjunction
with my next major speculation:
Galvatron. If you've
kept up with this thread, Galvatron has been discussed quite a bit for some
time now. 2014 (30th anniversary) is
right around the corner. In addition,
Ultra Magnus is now in the cue.
Something I think some fans tend to forget is that Ultra Magnus was
originally the one pitted against Galvatron for the new market of toys, as they
were simply both "City Commander" in roles on their packaging and
Tech Specs. Now, I don't want to make
more of that than what it is, but in 1986 they were the two similarly sized
toys for that year. See also:
TFWiki.net: City Commander
(The "City Commanders"! Images courtesy of Transformerland.com)
Despite my "City Commander" rabbit trail,
Galvatron is one of the most important characters from the post movie
cast. From everything I can see, the
stage is set for Galvatron now. The
Masterpiece Decepticons since MP-10 now need a leader. I still think we'll see a Megatron redux, but
my gut says we'll see Galvatron first.
Hasbro can also release this one, as a cannon tank is a much easier sell
in the US than a Walther P-38. Honestly,
I don't see a good argument this character won't see a Masterpiece release.
So, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, and Galvatron are nearly 67%
covered at this point. What next? Well, let's go down the line:
Minibots:
Bumble - preorder solicited
Seaspray
Powerglide
Adams
Warpath
Wheelie
Hubcap
Outback
Pipes
Wave
Tailgate
Obviously here, a few of these seem like this is backing up
just a bit, as some of these were made in 1985 for us. However, the US 1984 was released in 1985 in
Japan, and so some of the characters that those of us fans in the US remember
from 1985 became part of the cast of 1986 for Japanese audiences. We've got Bumble well covered. I think the rest are dependent upon being
redecos/retools of the 1984 cast (Wave is a redeco/retool of Gears, for
example). Wheelie is quite iconic, as is
Adams (and I Want to Believe!). I'm just
going to lump the lot of these together and say that if we get their original
counterparts, we'll likely see these as well since some of them are an easy thing
for TakaraTomy to make. The original
molded characters could be funded by these redecos and some of the other things
TakaraTomy makes.
Before I go further, I think something needs to be said
here: I do think that one thing fans of
this line should realize is that the success of future releases can be directly
dependent upon what's currently being made.
The Alternators/Binaltech line saw sales decline simply because fans get
bored of redecos and retools - and understandably so. However, the Alternators Prime mold cost
substantially more and the cost was absorbed much by the other redecos/retools
that came before. Make no mistake that
Lambor has already been retooled once and redecoed twice (G2 Sideswipe is in
the pipeline of course). Ratbat is
coming with a Soundblaster for this reason as well.
I mentioned Blaster previously, and I think the Cassettbots are a
reasonable speculative bet as well. A Twincast
redeco is very likely as well.
Dinobots -
I've already discussed these, but this was also pre-movie 4 news. I still don't think these are likely, but if
these guys are to have their Masterpieces, the time is NOW.
Combiners:
We've already been teased about Bruticus, and virtuously in
the same breath as Ultra Magnus. Now,
I'm not going to say that Bruticus is a sure thing now, but it's obvious that
things aren't off the table. As with the
Dinobots, I think that if the Stunticons are featured in AoE/TF-4, their time
is now as well. These could pave the way
for Superion and Defensor both.
Predaking is a different animal (Zing!), but doesn't share the Scramble
City technology the others do.
Predaking's release would depend on the funding of the other Scramble
City combiners first, if not all of them.
After these, we'd only have Computron and Abominus left. I mean, sure, we have Piranacon and Monstructor,
but I dont' see those happening. More on
those guys later, though. If gestalts
don't get made, I wouldn't be surprised.
It takes a LOT to make a gestalt, especially ones of this size. Moreover, it takes a different marking
approach to these, as many of the individual characters aren't as memorable
(**cough, cough** the Airbots/Aerialbots **cough, cough**). The counterargument is the 3rd party
combiners. I'm really at 50/50 here with
the gestalts.
A part of me thinks that if we see Rodimus revisited, we may
get Chear/Kappu/Kup and Blurr. I just
don't think their odds are too likely.
In fact, I think that Arcee could be more likely given she's a bit more
iconic and different. I think the fact
that the character is a female has an appeal some of the others don't. That's as far as I'm going there with that
point, too. I also think Wreck-Gar falls
in line behind Chear/Kappu/Kup and Blurr.
Cassettrons - Ratbat is already in the pipeline. I really think Overkill, Slugfest, and the
two combiner Cassettbots/Cassettrons are a bit too obscure and even unnecessary
at this point. In other words, I think
we're done.
Coneheads - Woo boy, this one. Igear and rumors of TakaraTomy trying to
"squash" these have certainly been around for some time now. A part of me thinks at this point, TakaraTomy
just wants to move on to new territory.
I can certainly see these happening, but they'd depend on each other to
sell for the most part. Either we see
these relatively in tandem with each other or not at all. Other than that, I think these have been
discussed to death.
Metroplex and Trypicon - I think the closest we'll ever get
to these two is the Metroplex that's been released this year. I don't think we'll see Trypicon, in the
Masterpiece line or otherwise. People are already looking to Costco for a cheaper option for Metroplex. Metroplex cost a lot for Hasbro to produce,
and I don't think we'll see another like it for a long time, if ever. Sorry folks.
(This is probably your "Masterpiece"
Metroplex. It's probably good enough
anyways, unless you want one as big as an actual house. See also:
My Metroplex display cabinet; metroplex/shelving unit)
Battlechargers - I don't see these as popular enough to
stand on their own. Things like these
guys is where lines like Generations and even the Transformers Collector's Club
work best.
Sharkticons - One can probably only dream, right?
Scourge - The strength of this guy would be troop
building. Personally, I just don't see
the 1986 class being this strong with TakaraTomy to support this one. It can happen, but I just don't see it with
other, more prominent characters to make.
Like . . . .
Cyclonus - Ah, I beg your forgiveness, as the tease from
Scourge there isn't probably the best lead in here. Also, if you've made it this far reading,
congratulations as it's probably taken you much less time to read than for me
to write it all up. Anyways, given
Cyclonus' rivalry with Ultra Magnus and his recent depiction in the IDW books
(how much does comic book's influence even play into TakaraTomy's decisions
here? Let's just ask G2 Sideswipe for
that.) make him at least a better candidate than Scourge. I'd say that besides Galvatron, he's probably
one of the most iconic Decepticons from 1986.
So there you have it.
My thoughts on 1986. Time will
tell how right or wrong I am, I suppose.
Also, I really think all of this is subservient to TakaraTomy putting
that Ark cast out for us. Oh well, until
all are one!
Many thanks to all of the great work the guys at TFWiki.net do! Be sure to visit their site here: TFWiki.net: the Transformers Wiki - the unofficial Transformers knowledge database! Also, many thanks to Matt and Transformerland.com for his images! Be sure to check out his site here (and if you place an order, be sure to tell TFLand that "Allen Greenwood" sent ya!): Transformerland.com. Also, be sure to journey to my TRANSFORMERS home, TFW2005.COM, and my continued thanks to my "co-workers" who tolerate my musings!
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