Here is a list of other sites’ questions from the second round of Hasbro’s Q&A on December 9th, 2008. And if you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out our own Q&A here on TFviews as well.
16bit.com: Since the introduction of the Mini-Cons, we’ve seen little in the way of new factions. In the 1990s and 2000s, we had Maximals, Mutants, Predacons, and Vehicons. While it’s great to see Autobots and Decepticons after a few lean years, do you guys have any plans to introduce new groups in the coming years?
Hasbro: We are happy with how Mini-cons were received by kids and fans. When new factions are created they need to serve a purpose and fit into a story. Currently we are trying to find ways to bring older factions back into the main Autobot vs Decepticon battle. To that end you have seen Targetmasters, mini-cons, triple-changers, and constructicons across the recent TRANSFORMERS product line. But you never know if a new faction could come into the lore if it adds to the story.
16bit.com: At some Hasbro convention appearance a few years ago, I vaguely recall hearing about a proposed “Fan’s Choice” voting thing (it wasn’t specified) similar to what we’ve seen in Star Wars and G.I. Joe. Since it’s been ages, is it safe to assume this has been shelved– and if so, what are the chances of some sort of a vote-on-a-repaint or similar sort of thing to give fans a shot to directly pick another toy in the line?
Hasbro: We haven’t done an actual “fan’s choice” character promotion/contest for some time, but we always like to hear suggestions at conventions and on the boards for characters that people would like to see. A lot of this feedback was incorporated into the upcoming Spring 2009 Universe assortments.
16bit.com: With the recent Special Team Leaders exclusive boxed set at Target, we’re positively giddy to have new versions of Razorclaw and Hun-Gurr. We’re also very pleased to see the giant boxed sets of Energon combiner repaints. Since it seems most available combiner molds have been recently repainted, what are the chances of seeing a boxed “team” using various modern molds in a non-combining fashion? (i.e., 5 toys as Predacons, 5 toys as Technobots, various construction vehicles in Constructicon colors as a set, etc.)
Hasbro: It would be great to be able to release new sets of the many Special Teams after all these years, but sets of 5 or 6 figures would be expensive unless they were in the smaller size classes like Legends or Scouts, and then it becomes difficult to find enough molds to fit each character appropriately. Since one of the main appeals of the original Special Teams was their ability to combine into a larger robot, it would be preferable to retain that feature in some way in any future releases of those teams.
16bit.com: With the first movie, we saw Classics (and pretty much all non-movie toys) come to an end, only to come back this year as Universe. Will Universe be going away next year with the new film? If so, can we expect a Universe/Classics 3.0 in the distant future?
Hasbro: Universe and Animated may continue on a limited basis in 2009, but Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie product will clearly be the focal point of the Fall line. Based on the positive response we have received on Classics and Universe over the past 2 years, we anticipate that these style expressions will continue at some point in the future although we cannot say definitively at this time.
16bit.com: It’s really awesome to see little “bonus” toys in Universe like Ravage, Nightstick, and Jolt. (ESPECIALLY Ravage.) Is this something we can expect to see more of in the near-future of Transformers or was this, like the Mini-Cons of Armada, more or less a special event?
Hasbro: We want to celebrate a larger variety of eras for the 25th Anniversary of Transformers. Adding Minicons, cassettes, Powermasters, etc. were great ways to add more characters from our fantastic library. I would hope that we can continue to offer “bonus” characters in the line moving forward but cannot say definitively.
16bit.com: And this is a general one– we ask it because we don’t necessarily NEED an answer, but does Hasbro have a policy, stance, or comment on al the reproduction and/or original fan created pieces? Namely, the City Commander “Ultra Magnus” armor, the various reproduction heads, and so forth.
Hasbro: Hasbro vigorously protects its trademarks and copyrights. While I won’t comment on specific examples, I will say that we are extremely appreciative of the passion of our fans as long as there is no infringement or a blatant attempt to create a business off of our brand.
ActionFigs.com: You’ve stated that the Universe line is celebrating not only the original Generation One line, but the rich history of Transformers overall. Does this include characters from G1 media who haven’t appeared in toy form (at least not as they originally appeared)? Over the years, we’ve gotten several of these characters in other forms, like RID Jhiaxus and several motorcycle Arcee figures, as well as Unicron, who seems to transcend different incarnations. However, have you considered finally producing classic characters like Arcee, the “Allicons,” Scrounge, Alpha Trion, the Last Autobot, and maybe even non-transforming characters like Quintessons and Nightbird?
Hasbro: Many of our teammembers would love to do many of those things. Some classic characters do not always make sense to be designed as they once were, a good example is Soundwave. Kids today probably wouldn’t know what a tape player was! But where ever possible, the team will try and pay tribute to those classic characters from the past eras of our Transformers brand.
We have had great “non-transforming” items in the line such with Robot Heroes and Unleashes but those characters are not currently planned.
ActionFigs.com: We’ll be direct about this, with confirmation of TakaraTomy producing a Masterpiece Grimlock for 2009, and Hasbro hinting at importing a new Masterpiece character, will Hasbro be bringing this MP Grimlock figure to the US?
Hasbro: No confirmation at this time, but it is on the “to do” list. So we’re working on a plan to bring it here at some point in the relative near future, but can’t say “yes” officially.
ActionFigs.com: In the last few years, Transformers has enjoyed a few rather groundbreaking lines that suffered short runs: Alternators and Titanium Series 6″ figures. What factors do you think contributed to their downfalls? Hindsight being 20/20, what would you go back and do differently with each of those lines?
Hasbro: Always tough to pinpoint the make or break factors in the success of a new assortment. Some of our favorites internally are not necessarily those that enjoy the most commercial success. It is a combination of sales, potential character depth and particular need for a play pattern. Alternators as an example, allowed us to offer model scale and quality vehicles, but were limiting in terms of character variety and price point options. As you know, nothing is ever gone forever. There is always the possibility that we will revisit expressions from the past if they make sense within the current line.
Our design team has done an incredible job of constantly looking for the next breakthrough toy innovation for Transformers and we are excited to reveal some of the new concepts slated for the 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie line.
ActionFigs.com: Not to be indelicate about this, but General Motors’ financial status has been publicly revealed to be in dire straits, and the company has been asking the US government for financial assistance, which the current political climate leaves that in some doubt. With GM being the chief brand for both Transformers movies and the company possibly on the brink of bankruptcy, or perhaps forced to change production focus to a different “green” line of cars, has there been any thought on Hasbro’s part to how that may affect the TF2 movie toy line? Might there be a shift on marketing for the toys and the film because of this turn of events?
Hasbro: Hasbro has not yet released any official information about the Movie 2 product line, therefore I can’t really discuss specifics. But the movie has completed primary shooting and Hasbro will continue to market the product line with a strong focus on our characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as we always do regardless of any outside factors.
ActionFigs.com: The upcoming Universe Hound figure comes with an all-new cassette Ravage that looks amazing from all we’ve seen. Since this is one of the classic cassettes, we’ve got to know, will we be seeing more of them soon? Could we possibly dare to dream that one of them might come with cartoon-accurate piledrivers in some way?
Hasbro: Currently, we are not planning on adding any additional cassette characters. But there are so many great characters that were once cassettes that could still be redesigned, only the future will really tell if/when those characters will once again regain their place on toy shelves!
Allspark.com: Animated is a very character driven show with a strong core cast. As such, can we expect all of the main core characters to be getting upgrades and redesigns (ie new molds) on a fairly regular basis, as we saw with the Transmetal and Transmetal 2 figures in Beast Wars?
Hasbro: Primarily you will see the same characters with iconic accessory upgrades. The show/toyline is designed with familiarity as a primary focus and audience recognition is very important.
Allspark.com: What can you tell us about future plans for TFU character choices? There is a huge amount of interest in getting the rest of the early G1 characters (Wheeljack, Jazz), more Gobot homages, more Micromaster characters, more combiner leaders or actual combiner teams, and more representatives from other TF eras (Energon, Beast Machines, RiD, etc.).
Hasbro: First off, we are increadibly happy with the warm reception that our Universe line has received. It has been a pleasure working on the 25th Anniversary as we got to celebrate our vast and rich history of the brand. With that said, the bulk of our focus for 2009 will be on the upcoming movie. However, as we look to the future, the natural tendency would be to continue to celebrate more of our heritage characters from all the ages.
Allspark.com: In the previous Q&A Hasbro said they might consider releasing the remaining original “Seeker” characters Thrust and Dirge. Now that Takara has molded these toys with new wings, will Hasbro release the remolded toys so fans can complete their Seeker collection Stateside?
Hasbro: In short, we could release versions similar to TakaraTomy’s (TT) versions. In fact, we worked with TT to ensure that their versions were different enough from the BotCon versions to ensure their exclusivity. But we recognize that there have been some fan favorites that are hard to find since they have only appeared in BotCon sets so far. We work closely with FP to ensure they get good exclusivity but we also don’t want to miss good opportunities nationally. So there may be a chance that Hasbro releases different versions of those characters (including Thundercracker
as well), but it won’t be in 2009.
Allspark.com: Can you discuss mold availability? Specifically, are the following molds available/likely for future use: off-screen movie characters (Stockade, Incinerator, etc), Marvel Crossovers, and molds from previous TF lines that haven’t been used much (Energon, RiD, European G1/G2).
Hasbro: While nothing is ever concrete as to what molds we will and will not reuse, hopefully we can give you some insight into our selection process. As I am sure that you have seen, our design team has focused on bringing our characters to life in modern alt. modes. So as we look at reusing previous molds we make sure that the alternative mode could exist within today’s world.
As for Marvel Crossovers, these items were designed specifically for the Marvel line, so these molds will never be used within a Transformers line.
Allspark.com: With the revelation of the upcoming Cybertron Leobreaker retool Leo Prime, will we be seeing a trend of relatively dormant molds being remolded, or was Leo Prime an isolated instance?
Hasbro: Leo Prime was mostly an isolated instance.
Cybertron.ca: Is there any chance of the build a figure concept coming back to Transformers like the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line had?
Hasbro: The build-a-figure concepts can be a fun way to bring out characters we might not do in the mainline, and we really liked the Trans-Mutate figure from Beast Wars. However, there are no current plans for a build-a-figure in 2009.
Cybertron.ca: Are the Superion and Bruticus exclusives going to be released in Canada, and if so what store(s)?
Hasbro: Currently, there are plans to release these exclusives within the Canadian market. However, we are not able to release where these will be sold at this point in time. Please stay tuned to Transformers.com once we have made this information public.
Cybertron.ca: Why are the packages for Transformers so big? The total volume of the package seems large compared to the relatively small size of the toy inside.
Hasbro: There are many factors that go into the sizes of the package. One of the issues we deal with is that the package size within assortments must be the same size length, width, depth, blister, etc. due to some retailer constraints. So our package sizes are dictated in many cases by the widest figure, the deepest figure, and the longest figure. And it is never the same figure that is all 3. This becomes tough when we are dealing with many different vehicle shapes, so in many cases it may appear that there extra room in the package.
Cybertron.ca: Can you tell us anything about Hasbro’s mold protocols in regard to fun publications? Does Hasbro produce toys for fun publications using existing Hasbro molds, creating a small number of new molds for remolded pieces? Was the Seacons giftset created using the old G1 mold or were new, short-run molds created from blueprints or reverse engineering?
Hasbro: We work directly with Fun Publications and TakaraTomy to help FP get their exclusives. So yes, they use Hasbro molds but sometimes create new molds (heads, accessories). I believe the Seacon toys were from the G1 molds – there was no tooling specific to that FP release.
ParryGamePreserve.com: In the Gi Joe line, there was a recent figure homage to Matt Trakker from M.A.S.K.. Is there any chance of a homage to a classic M.A.S.K. vehicle in the Transformers line? Thunderhawk would make a great flying Autobot car…
Hasbro: One of our designers was a big M.A.S.K. fan as a kid and Matt Tracker teamed up with the Transformers in his toybox all the time. He thought the GI Joe figure was a great nod but nothing is currently planned for a T-Bob crossover though.
ParryGamePreserve.com: Target has had exclusive “Ultimate Battle Packs” of Gi Joe and Star Wars in recent years, which have been awesome. Is there any chance of a Transformers set of this size and quality?
Hasbro: Everything is certainly always on the table when we are discussing possible exclusives for our retail partners. Each exclusive needs to meet that specific retailers plans, so when the time is right we hope to be able to do some great things like that. Needless to say, I would keep your eyes open for some great exclusives next year.
ParryGamePreserve.com: With the 25th Anniversary figures announced so far, we have two of the seven classic Beast Wars Maximal crew coming. Any chance of seeing any more of them in the 25th line, or perhaps some of the Predacons? Note: we need a new, non-Transmetal Rattrap!
Hasbro: The 25th Anniversary is meant to celebrate the many eras and fantastic spectrum of characters that Transformers has had in the last 25 years. We were only able of pull a few Beast Wars characters from that era for the 25th Anniversary. Cheetor makes sense because he’s a popular character and our design team wanted to create a more realistic Cheetor. Dinobot was another good choice because kids love dinosaurs and fans seem to really like Dinobot as a character. But we currently have no plans on adding more Beast Wars to the line.
ParryGamePreserve.com: Why did Universe Sunstreaker and Sideswipe not get chromed spoilers and engines? Is it a cost issue or does Hasbro think kids don’t like chrome?
Hasbro: Overall, the decision to or not to vaccum metalize or “”chrome”” an item comes down to a couple of things. First, plastic does not take well to vacuum metalizing. When a piece of plastic begins to flex, the metalized pieces can begin to flake taking away from the aesthetic of the toy. Additionally, in certain cases the vacuum metalized process can actually weaken the plastic leading to higher breakage of certain pieces.
As a result, in those instances where we feel it makes sense to add the vacuum metalized pieces without compromising the aesthetic or safety of the product we will certainly do so.
ParryGamePreserve.com: There have been a number of updates already announced for the 25th line to concepts which have long been extinct – Targetmasters, cassette alt-modes. What are the chances of trying to make a cool Pretender figure in the 25th?
Hasbro: I would have to say not good for the Pretenders in the 25th Anniversary line. While Pretenders are certainly a cool part of the heritage of the brand, we felt that there were other eras that were better suited to celebrate in the 25th Anniversary.
Seibertron.com: Since the Universe toyline spans TF history, is there any chance of seeing a Transtech figure, or another “figure that never was”/”Lost Figure”? A “What Might Have Been” segment of the Timeline could be interesting to say the least.
Hasbro: It would definitely be interesting to see some of those concepts that didn’t make it off the drawing board as a real toy, and the Universe line would be a great place to showcase it. In the immediate future we’ve got a whole list of other characters that are a little higher on the priority list, but you never know. We like to revisit these old concepts from time to time and if there’s a great design we haven’t used there is a good chance it will see the light of day eventually.
Seibertron.com: Any more Universe Ultras in the works? Are there any particular character(s) that you have been thinking would be a great fit for that particular size?
Hasbro: The team is really concentrating on Transformers Revenge of the Fallen product right now. Because of that, we have not been developing any further Universe Ultra items. However, there are members of the design team who would like to find space for more tanks, but currently nothing is definite.
Seibertron.com: Most characters in the TF universe are male, but there were a few fem-bots in the 1980s cartoon as well. Will we be seeing any of them in the universe toy line?
Hasbro: For 2009, there are currently no “female” bots planned. However, we do have Arcee in the Animated line and you never know what could appear in Movie 2!
Seibertron.com: Can you explain the typical pipeline for a toy from concept to finished product, including time & constraints, how many are produced, planning for repaints, etc.? A book illustrating this subject (with many images ) would be a very sought after collectible in the community.
Hasbro: Most items take 12-14 months from concept to store shelf. Hasbro does not discuss numbers or processes, however you can be assured that Hasbro and Takara/Tomy put a lot of love in each design.
Seibertron.com: What is the hook for on Universe Galvatron’s shoulder (the piece is gray and unfolds from another purple folding piece) ? And the fold out shoulder ‘legs/feet’? Can you show us the conceptualized use of these features?
Hasbro: Initially, Galvatron was being designed as a triple changer and was actually going to be in a larger class. But once the decision was made to put Galvatron in Deluxe, his third “walker tank” mode was dropped. Because of molding reasons we had to leave some of those extra pieces in there. Here’s the initial sketch and idea for the third mode. (see attached)
TFormers.com: Given your focus on the kids’ toy market, what do you think about licensing the Transformers brand to specialty companies (e.g., Diamond Select, Sideshow Toys), who could create transformable Transformers figures for adult collectors?
Hasbro: Because of the technology and expertise involved in making Transformers toys, we would be worried about the quality that any other company would be able to achieve in making a Transformers figure.
Your idea is technically what the Transformers Collector Club is for, and the recent release of the Seacons is an example of how we find alternate ways to get out products that the fans enjoy.
TFormers.com: Are there any plans to develop figures of the Starscream clones, Constructicons, and.or humans for the Transformers: Animated toyline?
Hasbro: Constructicons – Not at this time.
If we do these characters, we want them to be fully realized and able to take advantage of their iconic abilities. Unfortunately, timing is prohibiting us from making these items anytime in the near future.
We would not want to force fit them into the line and make versions of these characters that don’t accurately reflect a Constructicon’s abilities.
Humans – Not likely at this time.
Clones – It’s likely that between Exclusives and the Mainline, you’ll see clones in the future.”
TFormers.com: Are there any plans to expand the Universe Robot Heroes line to other scales similar to Galactic Heroes and Super Hero Squad? An example being larger six inch tall figures for combiners and citybots.
Hasbro: Now if we answered every question with a direct yes or no question, where would the fun be in that!
All we can say is stay tuned as 2009 begins to unfold! There will surely be an item here or there that is a change from the past.
TFormers.com: The Autobot cassette characters are coming out as Universe Legends class figures and a new mold of Ravage will also be released with the Universe Autobot Hound figure. Is there currently any consideration being made to develop new molds of other cassettes?
Hasbro: There are currently no plans for Autobot cassettes in our Universe Legends class. niverse Deluxe Hound will come with Ravage who is a cassette minion of Soundwave. As of right now, we do not plan on adding any new molds for other cassettes.
TFormers.com: Would releasing the Henkei! Thrust and Dirge retooled molds in the United States violate your agreement with Fun Publications regarding not providing a main release for their Thrust/Dirge retool/remold figures?
Hasbro: In short, we could release versions similar to TakaraTomy’s (TT) versions. In fact, we worked with TT to ensure that their versions were different enough from the BotCon versions to ensure their exclusivity.
But we recognize that there have been some fan favorites that are hard to find since they have only appeared in BotCon sets so far. We work closely with FP to ensure they get good exclusivity but we also don’t want to miss good opportunities nationally.
So there may be a chance that Hasbro releases different versions of those characters (including Thundercracker as well), but it won’t be in 2009.
TFwiki.net: What are the official titles of all the Hasbro team members involved with the Transformers brand?
Hasbro: We do not wish to have a roster of the Transformers brand team published for public viewing. Thanks.
TFwiki.net: The Marvel Crossovers Transformers don’t feel like they use Takara engineering. Can you confirm who works on them?
Hasbro: Since the Marvel Transformers Crossovers and Star Wars Transformers Crossovers are dealing with character and vehicles from a 3rd party (Marvel and Lucasfilm), TakaraTomy is not involved in the design and production of these lines. However, TakaraTomy is an integral part of our main Transformers product lines.
TFwiki.net: How do you determine the demographic spread of past purchases? That is to say, how can you tell what percentage of sales were parents buying for their children versus adult collectors buying for themselves?
Hasbro: This is always a challenge as we evaluate sales and determine future direction of the line. While it is impossible to measure the exact split, we use a blend of market basket research coupled with our knowledge of collector preferred characters and assortments.
TFwiki.net: Acid Storm was a welcome addition to our collections. The use of older, “obscure” characters who have previously never had toys is very exciting for fans. Can we expect more nods towards non-toy characters as the 25th Anniversary continues? Perhaps in the Robot Heroes line, which gave us the awesome but otherwise Movie-only Dispensor?
Hasbro: Bill Rawley: Acid Storm was great fun to see develop into a real toy for the first time. It is very difficult to get “obscure” characters into our toy line. One of the benefits Transformers has over other brands in the market right now is the “I remember that guy!” factor. You have die hard fans as well as casual fans that remember certain toys from their youth or from the cartoons. It makes my job that much easier to stand up and propose an idea for a new design of a character that many people already know and love. Right now we are not planning any further obscure characters, that’s not to say we would never do them.
Finally, I agree with you, Robot Heroes is a great place to try and get a few more of these rarely seen characters out into the light.
Toymania.com: Any chance of a Masterpiece Arcee?
Hasbro: No current plans, but we are always discussing potential masterpiece characters with the Takara design team.
Toymania.com: Any chance we’ll see a Masterpiece Grimlock in animated colors show up in the states?
Hasbro: No confirmation at this time, but it is on the “to do” list. So we’re working on a plan to bring it here at some point in the relative near future, but can’t say “yes” officially. If we decide to bring it in, we will then evaluate if we want to make any paint changes, etc. at that time.
Toymania.com: Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise seem to be getting passed over leaving a gap between Beast Wars and Armada. Will we see all of the prominent Universes played out or will it be selective? Can we please finally have a Botanica figure?
Hasbro: First, we are going to have to say no to the Botanica figure in the immediate future.
The blessing and the curse of having such a successful line with 25 years of heritage behind it is that you have a lot of history. As a result, it has been difficult to incorporate every era into the core line. In those instances where we could not fit the traditional figure into the line, we tried to give that era a nod in our Robot Heroes line.
Toymania.com: Any chance of revisiting some of the unreleased in America Beast Wars toys at some point in Universe? Personally I’d love to see Break and Mach Kick over here.
Hasbro: While there are currently no plans to release these figures in 2009, we are always open to releasing figures that we know are fan favorites. With that said, we also need to balance that out to make sure that it fits in with the overall line and theme.
Toymania.com: When asked about the extra parts on the Universe Galvatron, your response confirmed that not only was a third mode planned, but the figure can still in fact transform into this mode. You had previously stated that there’s still a chance that Takara will include the directions to achieve this third mode, but is it possible now to at least see a picture of what this figure looks like in its third mode? There have already been a few attempts online at trying to figure out what it is, but at least one picture of it would become a great frame of reference for fans who actually do wish to make use of this third mode, especially if the instructions are not included in the Japanese release.
Hasbro: Initially, Galvatron was being designed as a triple changer and was actually going to be in a larger class. But once the decision was made to put Galvatron in Deluxe, his third “walker tank” mode was dropped. Because of molding reasons we had to leave some of those extra pieces in there. I was not sure if Takara would include instructions for this third mode or even if they were going to acknowledge that third mode. Here’s the initial sketch and idea for the third mode. (see attached)
Unicron.com: Since the Japanese-exclusive G1 cartoon series (The Headmasters, Chojin Masterforce, Victory, and Zone) were released on DVD in Europe and Australia, is there any hope of seeing them, and perhaps Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo, released on DVD in North America? Particularly the United States. From what we can tell, there is quite a demand!
Hasbro: Hasbro has the rights to the majority of the past Transformers entertainment now, and we are currently formalizing a distribution plan globally. This doesn’t mean that you will see everything at the same time – we are deciding when and where for the portfolio of entertainment.
Unicron.com: About a year before the 2007 Transformers Movie, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci hosted a “live chat” on Yahoo where they unveiled the names of Transformers characters that would appear in the film. Is any such event, (where all characters are unveiled) in the works to announce the characters that will be in Revenge of the Fallen? If so, where and when? If not, we would like to make a suggestion. How about letting the various Transformers Fan Sites unveil one character (each) *before* the toys show up on ebay or some Chinese auction site? You can’t let them have *all* the fun right?!
Hasbro: There are currently no plans to make an announcement that we know of, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. But that decision (and your spin on it) are studio-led decisions. We’ll bring it up with our friends at the studio (doesn’t hurt to ask)!
Unicron.com: In the Transformers: Animated shows, Optimus Prime has various trailers. It seems that the Animated Voyager Prime has a spot on his “Axe” and at the bottom of his heels for add ons. Is there any chance of getting different trailers made for him?
Hasbro: Yes, you will see different trailer/accessory combinations of Animated Optimus Prime. They will not all be built off of the existing Voyager cab, however.
Unicron.com: Other than characters we already know of (Blurr, Swindle, Shockwave, Jetfire/Jetstorm…), do you have any *new character molds* slated for the Animated line in 2009 during and after the release of Revenge of the Fallen? If so, would you be willing to release a name or two for this Q&A?
Incidentally, we’d really love to see Cybertron mode toys for Bumblebee/Wasp/Cliffjumper, Ratchet/Ironhide. Also, we really liked the matte finish on the earlier TFA toys and how it added to the ‘Animated’ aesthetic. We hope you bring it back!
Hasbro: Well, by the time you read this you’ll already know about characters like Arcee, Waspinator, Samurai Prowl, and Atomic Lugnut… as for some new things to expect – you’ll get to see a newer, smaller version of Bumblebee with a cool new accessory upgrade. Soundwave will also be returning complete with a new minion. Everyone’s favorite flamed Prime ‘wannabe’ will also be getting the Animated toy treatment. We’re also doing some exploration for some of the Cybertronian mode characters…
Unicron.com: Talking Universe/Classics, I love the Seekers and want more! Any chance we will get the other two Rainmakers, Sunstorm or those with remolded wings? What’s up with the non-G1 colors for obvious G1 homage molded toys like Powerglide and Leo Prime? (I would’ve preferred a gold and white in tribute to Lio Convoy from the Japanese series Beast Wars II.) Any chance we’ll ever get to see Universe/Classics characters featured in IDW comics stories? Please?
Hasbro: As of right now, there are no plans for additional Seekers. Colors are a tricky thing; our design team has been concentrating on realistic alternate modes for our robots as well as coloring. The team thought it was better to make Powerglide primarily silver with characteristic red highlights as a bright red plane would not be very realistic. Leo Prime’s coloring was under much debate early on and though the white and gold version did not make it out this time, you never know if and where it might show up in the future although nothing is currently planned.