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So yeah, this is a Transformers topic again. Those of you who don't give a crap, can skip this one. (Seriously. I'm gonna get really nerdy and picky here. It'll be somewhat embarrassing.) Normally, this would be something I'd post on a discussion board or something... But to be honest, outside of this one small private board I go to, I don't really go to many public discussion forums these days. I haven't really been part of any Transformers online community since the days of Transfandom.com. (Hey, remember that one!) So, from time to time, I actually have in-depth thoughts and considerations about the franchise as a whole, but I don't really dare go to a forum and discuss it with others. I've tried, and I ended up feeling the bitter sting of disappointment from the undereducated. I'm not expecting everyone to know as much or to read the TF Wiki for fun like I do. I'm not asking them to know what's the name of Devcon's partner, or the name of the planet that the Wreckers ran into Glyph and Tapout on. But it wouldn't be a bad thing to know that Beast Wars Megatron is a completely different Megatron from the silver mullet guy who turns into a gun. So I figured enough people who read this journal thingie are not only Transformers fans like me, but also knowledgeable enough that I can have a conversation about this stuff.
So I'm sure you're all mostly aware of the rising prices of the TF toys as of late. Now, for those of us who's been around for a while, we've seen our share of price increases. There used to be a time when a basic toy was five dollars and they went up in five dollar class size intervals. ($5 for Basics, $10 for Deluxes, $15 for Megas, $20 for Ultras, and $30 for the Super Optimal Optimus.) And over the years, the prices adjusted a bit more for the rising costs of productions. Some got a little more expensive, but they compensated by being bigger and better toys. I missed paying $10 for a deluxe guy, but I didn't mind paying $12, especially if the trade-off was going to be some of the really awesome Generation toys like Blurr, WfC Megatron, Kup and Scourge. And we know what happened. With the Prime line, the Deluxe toys recently jacked up to $16, but at a decrease in quality. (I'm CERTAIN this was a factor why we ended up not getting the First Edition guys like we did.) We were told this was due to rising oil costs and the decline of the US Dollar, and the like. This generally pissed a lot of us off, and there's not much we can do about it. (And from what I understand, in some countries like Australia, it's actually cheaper to just import the Japanese toys than to buy the domestic ones.)
But here's the thing that caught my eye.
The Cyberverse toys went up a dollar. Just one dollar. Toys that were $5 were now $6. The Cyberverse commander toys are currently at $9-10 where they were $8 before. And the quality got bigger and better on those guys. The vehicles they came with didn't go up in price either. Their qualities didn't diminish, they improved. Just look at a typical Commander class toy compared to a DotM Commander class guy. They made that extra dollar worth spending. But if rising oil costs were the reasons for the Deluxes to jump up 33% in price like they did, wouldn't that also have translated to the smaller Cyberverse toys as well? Shouldn't the smaller Cyberverse toys be costing $7? Shouldn't the Commanders be $11? And shouldn't the quality have been cut back? Seriously, I got Cyberverse Commander Bulkhead and the Voyager sized Bulkhead and the bigger toy is only superior in size. The paint applications, detail, and all that jazz... Is just as good, if not better on the smaller toy that costs $10 less. I've head similar arguments about Dreadwing and Ultra Magnus as well.
In short, the cost doesn't follow any set logic. Then I started hearing reviews of the Masterpiece Prime 2.0 toy and the reviews were very good. In comparison to the original Masterpiece Prime toy that was released eight years ago, many considered it superior. It was a little smaller in size, but it came with a trailer, Roller, a crapload of accessories, a little Spike to ride in him. And the cost of it was only $110. Compare that to the cost of the original Masterpiece Prime at $100... Especially considering the low quality control on some of the past Masterpiece toys. (I wanted Rodimus, but he just did NOT look good, and I heard way too many horror stories of fragility.) Once again, the math doesn't add up.
Then I read the little label: "Made in Vietnam". And I got curious and checked the label on the Cyberverse guys. Same place. Commanders as well. Even the Jackhammer. But not the deluxe toys. Those are still made in China. That makes every bit of sense. Think about it. Right now, China's having a lot of controversy over the quality control in their factories. The cost is manufacturing is increasing and the quality is slipping. I've heard many disturbing stories of poor quality control in other manufacturing venues over there. It's been said that Hasbro and Tomy-Takara is moving production to Vietnamese facilities. (Not just HasTak, but other toy companies too. I understand that Bandai has started shipping production to India.) Upcoming toys over the next year seems to be mostly redecos of already existing toys, with very few 'deluxe or larger' molds. However, we got tons of new Cyberverse guys coming out. Almost like the Deluxe guys are being phased out. The question of course is how will this affect domestic pricing? I think from the Masterpiece Prime toy and the Cyberverse guys, we've already seen that pricing in effect.
I mentioned before that we're probably on the verge of a drastic change in the toyline's foreseeable future. And I think it's started. I'm calling it now... The Cyberverse guys? This is probably going to be the future of the toyline. I wouldn't be surprised if by launch of the new toyline (post-Beast Hunters, probably the toyline for 'Marky Mark and the Funky Bots') we start seeing a total restructuring of that size class, to be compatible with the Cyberverse guys. It'll be different, but that's not a bad thing. Different can really work out. After all, for those of you who's been around long enough... Remember the hesitation you had switching from the more vehicular "boxy die-cast" toys of Generations One and Two, to the sleek and streamlined plastic animals of Beast Wars? It can also backfire on you too, like it did with Armada's restructuring. But it worked out in the end.
On the bright side of the news, it would mean no more "Wall of $15 Bumblebees".
So I'm sure you're all mostly aware of the rising prices of the TF toys as of late. Now, for those of us who's been around for a while, we've seen our share of price increases. There used to be a time when a basic toy was five dollars and they went up in five dollar class size intervals. ($5 for Basics, $10 for Deluxes, $15 for Megas, $20 for Ultras, and $30 for the Super Optimal Optimus.) And over the years, the prices adjusted a bit more for the rising costs of productions. Some got a little more expensive, but they compensated by being bigger and better toys. I missed paying $10 for a deluxe guy, but I didn't mind paying $12, especially if the trade-off was going to be some of the really awesome Generation toys like Blurr, WfC Megatron, Kup and Scourge. And we know what happened. With the Prime line, the Deluxe toys recently jacked up to $16, but at a decrease in quality. (I'm CERTAIN this was a factor why we ended up not getting the First Edition guys like we did.) We were told this was due to rising oil costs and the decline of the US Dollar, and the like. This generally pissed a lot of us off, and there's not much we can do about it. (And from what I understand, in some countries like Australia, it's actually cheaper to just import the Japanese toys than to buy the domestic ones.)
But here's the thing that caught my eye.
The Cyberverse toys went up a dollar. Just one dollar. Toys that were $5 were now $6. The Cyberverse commander toys are currently at $9-10 where they were $8 before. And the quality got bigger and better on those guys. The vehicles they came with didn't go up in price either. Their qualities didn't diminish, they improved. Just look at a typical Commander class toy compared to a DotM Commander class guy. They made that extra dollar worth spending. But if rising oil costs were the reasons for the Deluxes to jump up 33% in price like they did, wouldn't that also have translated to the smaller Cyberverse toys as well? Shouldn't the smaller Cyberverse toys be costing $7? Shouldn't the Commanders be $11? And shouldn't the quality have been cut back? Seriously, I got Cyberverse Commander Bulkhead and the Voyager sized Bulkhead and the bigger toy is only superior in size. The paint applications, detail, and all that jazz... Is just as good, if not better on the smaller toy that costs $10 less. I've head similar arguments about Dreadwing and Ultra Magnus as well.
In short, the cost doesn't follow any set logic. Then I started hearing reviews of the Masterpiece Prime 2.0 toy and the reviews were very good. In comparison to the original Masterpiece Prime toy that was released eight years ago, many considered it superior. It was a little smaller in size, but it came with a trailer, Roller, a crapload of accessories, a little Spike to ride in him. And the cost of it was only $110. Compare that to the cost of the original Masterpiece Prime at $100... Especially considering the low quality control on some of the past Masterpiece toys. (I wanted Rodimus, but he just did NOT look good, and I heard way too many horror stories of fragility.) Once again, the math doesn't add up.
Then I read the little label: "Made in Vietnam". And I got curious and checked the label on the Cyberverse guys. Same place. Commanders as well. Even the Jackhammer. But not the deluxe toys. Those are still made in China. That makes every bit of sense. Think about it. Right now, China's having a lot of controversy over the quality control in their factories. The cost is manufacturing is increasing and the quality is slipping. I've heard many disturbing stories of poor quality control in other manufacturing venues over there. It's been said that Hasbro and Tomy-Takara is moving production to Vietnamese facilities. (Not just HasTak, but other toy companies too. I understand that Bandai has started shipping production to India.) Upcoming toys over the next year seems to be mostly redecos of already existing toys, with very few 'deluxe or larger' molds. However, we got tons of new Cyberverse guys coming out. Almost like the Deluxe guys are being phased out. The question of course is how will this affect domestic pricing? I think from the Masterpiece Prime toy and the Cyberverse guys, we've already seen that pricing in effect.
I mentioned before that we're probably on the verge of a drastic change in the toyline's foreseeable future. And I think it's started. I'm calling it now... The Cyberverse guys? This is probably going to be the future of the toyline. I wouldn't be surprised if by launch of the new toyline (post-Beast Hunters, probably the toyline for 'Marky Mark and the Funky Bots') we start seeing a total restructuring of that size class, to be compatible with the Cyberverse guys. It'll be different, but that's not a bad thing. Different can really work out. After all, for those of you who's been around long enough... Remember the hesitation you had switching from the more vehicular "boxy die-cast" toys of Generations One and Two, to the sleek and streamlined plastic animals of Beast Wars? It can also backfire on you too, like it did with Armada's restructuring. But it worked out in the end.
On the bright side of the news, it would mean no more "Wall of $15 Bumblebees".
My thoughts on Avengers: Endgame/MCU future
Well, like I do with almost all these movies, I saw Endgame and I have some thoughts about it. But here's the thing: It's really hard to give a decent review about a 3 hour film epic... And to be fair, it IS an epic in the actual true sense of the word... Without spoiling some major stuff. I could tell you about this and that. I could mention how cool those things were and what bothered me about these things. But despite it making 1.2 billion opening weekend (GODDAMN!!), not everyone has seen it yet.
Is it a perfect movie? No. I still think Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was better. But that's become my favorite movie of all time. But it
Favorite MCU movies in order...
These are just the first 21 movies, not including Avengers: Endgame of Spider-Man: Far from Home. These are my opinions and mine alone.
First tier here are like the really excellent movies. Basically A+ through B+ movies.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy - Hit me right in the perfect nostalgia point.
2. Black Panther - I can't add anything. I thought it was near perfect.
3. Captain America: Winter Soldier - Same as Black Panther, just T'Challa was a bit more.
4. Thor: Ragnarok - I have too much fun with this movie. Just the sheer insanity was worth it for me.
5. Avengers - It was the original crossover that's never been done before so it nee
Bumblebee and the TF movies
I’ve been giving my thoughts on the Transformers movies on here ever since the first live action TF movie hit the screens in 2007.
With the animated movie from 1986, I can’t really properly give an opinion on it. I know structurally it’s a mess and not really that deep or great of a movie… But it was so influential on me as a kid, and even to this day, that I really can’t give a real opinion on the matter. But the live action ones? That’s not a problem. It wasn’t really my childhood, so I had no problem trying to be subjective about it… Or so I thought.
My opinion of them has changed over the
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
*deep breath*
Y'all, I absolutely loved it. It's easily the best Spider-Man movie ever made. I suspect it may be the best comic book movie ever made. (Or at least in the top five, up there with Winter Soldier, Black Panther and The Incredibles.) Seeing the style on the web doesn't do it justice. The "jerkiness" people talked about actually isn't as noticeable on the big screen, and even plays into the fun. he writing is clever, the animation is fun and inspiring. This is the movie that Spider-Man: Homecoming should have been. When it needs to be emotional, it's emotional. When it needs to be funny, it's hilarious. There's a moment in the mov
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Honestly I doubt that Cyberverse will be the primary toyline of the future. I mean from what I've heard Hasbro did something like this years ago and it didn't do well. Why attempt something like this again?
This new situation could be only temporary for a while until the economy grows back up then we'll have larger toys again. I mean it happened before with the BW line to the next decade so this is likely a repeat.
This new situation could be only temporary for a while until the economy grows back up then we'll have larger toys again. I mean it happened before with the BW line to the next decade so this is likely a repeat.