Hasbro (Round 9) Q and A

[JediTricks]

-Will we see more secondary characters from one aesthetic being translated to others? This questions is especially focused on new character-specific moulds (like movie Lockdown) rather than recolors (like movie Gears). What is the process behind deciding which characters get this treatment?

They touched a little on this at Botcon or SDCC last year, I don't remember which, but they chose based on the "story" that could be brought out into other characters. That doesn't negate this question, just a little insight.

-Ever since it was made known that the mold was originally intended for the "Battle for the Sparks" portion of the Beast Machines line, there's been much speculation as to what RiD Bruticus' "spark gimmick" was supposed to be. Was this gimmick ever established in development, before being scrapped, and if so, what was it meant to do?

I would need to change the wording on that a little, mentioning the abandonment of the gimmick before the final sentence.

-What is the thinking behind the design team making toys in reference to obscure characters such as RiD Bruticus (recolored from "Cybertron" Scourge)? Are these in-house favorites? Or, is it a question of using names for copyright reasons, and wanting to use characters consistently with certain names?

I don't understand the question, there seems to be a little ping-ponging back and forth that's confusing me. How can RID Bruticus be recolored FROM Cy Scourge? And are we talking about names or color schemes? Because color scheme homages can't have copyright issues on names.

-will let JT rephrase his sound chip question.

Oh, thanks for reminding me!
"Why is it that Leader-class figures in the ROTF line have just 1 voice actor clip per figure, yet the Animated line had 3 lines of dialogue per Leader figure? It can't just be about paying actors, since ROTF Jetfire uses a different voice actor altogether. And why is it that all of these Leader-class ROTF figures single voice line are just them introduce themselves rather than having interesting movie dialogue or at least in-character styled dialogue? Even some of the little kid-themed ROTF toys do more talking than these $50 figures."
(I'm pretending there's interesting movie dialogue to be had )

-Are there any plans to explore a "Shattered Glass" version of other lines?

Are you threatening us?

I support the latter two questions. The first one seems to be exactly what they said not to do with the "Will toy X get made" guideline.

I disagree, we're not asking for a specific character, but rather about their character choice philosophy. That would fit with the "Design Process/Development" suggestion they made.

[Dominic]

I don't understand the question, there seems to be a little ping-ponging back and forth that's confusing me. How can RID Bruticus be recolored FROM Cy Scourge? And are we talking about names or color schemes? Because color scheme homages can't have copyright issues on names.

This relates in concept to the first queston about character selection. "What is the process behind choosing which obscure character gets a call-back recolor, like Scourge being recolored as RiD Bruticus?"

I tend to think that RiD Bruticus is old enough that Hasbro will answer the question if they know the answer.

Here is a question:

Could Hasbro clarify what molds/character models are off limits for lines like Universe or BotCon? I am thinking about all of the "well, they can use these movie/animated moulds, but not those movie/animated moulds" talk we hear. This is not a question about trade secrets or anything. We are just asking for a basic fact.

Dom

[JediTricks]

I don't understand the question, there seems to be a little ping-ponging back and forth that's confusing me. How can RID Bruticus be recolored FROM Cy Scourge? And are we talking about names or color schemes? Because color scheme homages can't have copyright issues on names.

This relates in concept to the first queston about character selection. "What is the process behind choosing which obscure character gets a call-back recolor, like Scourge being recolored as RiD Bruticus?"

I tend to think that RiD Bruticus is old enough that Hasbro will answer the question if they know the answer.

What did that have to do with copyrights and names though?

Separately, if I use it, mind if I also use Sideburn/Speedbreaker's super mode colors homaging to Hot Rod as a second example? Or do you have other examples to call out that are fresher? Otherwise they'll just answer the specific.

Here is a question:

Could Hasbro clarify what molds/character models are off limits for lines like Universe or BotCon? I am thinking about all of the "well, they can use these movie/animated moulds, but not those movie/animated moulds" talk we hear. This is not a question about trade secrets or anything. We are just asking for a basic fact.

Where do you get the idea that molds or characters are off-limits to either? Can you cite examples to back it up?

[JediTricks]

Well damn, this is annoying. Once again, no final choices or rewrites come the deadline. I get to stay up late doing the work yet again. As punishment, I'm using my question.

So, here's what I sent out:

1) Will we see more secondary characters from one aesthetic being translated to others? This questions is especially focused on new character-specific molds (like movie Lockdown) rather than recolors (like movie Gears). We know it helps when the character has an interesting story to add to the lore, or interacts with a main character in their line. So beyond that, what is the process behind deciding which characters get that treatment?

2) Why is it that Leader-class figures in the ROTF line have just 1 voice clip per figure, yet the Animated line had 3 lines of dialogue per Leader figure? It can't just be about paying actors since ROTF Jetfire uses a different voice actor altogether. And why is it that all of these Leader-class ROTF figures single voice line are just them introduce themselves rather than having interesting movie lines or at least exciting, in-character dialogue? Even some of the little-kid-themed ROTF toys do more talking than these $40+ figures, doesn't that seem like a waste of a voice chip to use merely 1 line of dialogue?

[Onslaught Six]

-Ever since it was made known that the mold was originally intended for the "Battle for the Sparks" portion of the Beast Machines line, there's been much speculation as to what RiD Bruticus' "spark gimmick" was supposed to be. Was this gimmick ever established in development, before being scrapped, and if so, what was it meant to do?

This is related:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:RoverTheHellhound.jpg

Seems like his Spark was always going to be in his shoulder.

[Dominic]

Thanks O6. Sorry JT.

That question about obscure character recolors loses a bit when you take away the copyright component actually. (I was assuming Hasbro would not want to get into that.) The idea was to ask if/how Hasbro prioritizes for copyrights it wants to be careful about keeping.

Where do you get the idea that molds or characters are off-limits to either? Can you cite examples to back it up?

I have heard tell that the movie and "Animated" lines have molds based on character models that Hasbro cannot simply recolor at will, making their use for exclusives and such difficult. The question is more a request for clarification on the subject than anything else. (Are there in fact molds/characters that are off-limits for recoloring as exclusives at cons?)

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

Actually, I think that question was already asked once:

Seibertron.com: It is no secret that Paramount has quite a bit of pull and ownership when it comes to Transformers Movie figures. Can Hasbro please elaborate on who owns the molds. For example, would it be feasible to see the upcoming Voyager Bludgeon, ROTF Brawn, Mindwipe etc figures re-released (or re-deco'd) under a non-movie related line such as Universe? Or is that not possible because Hasbro doesn't actually own the molds?

Hasbro: While we certainly appreciate your concern over who owns what, what we can say is this: Hasbro owns all of our molds and can determine what we want to do with those molds.

Granted, the question doesn't address the convention, but I remember during the lead up to last year's big reveal there was question over whether or not they were "allowed" to use the Animated moulds, so maybe the question could still be asked on that end.

[JediTricks]

Thanks O6. Sorry JT.

That question about obscure character recolors loses a bit when you take away the copyright component actually. (I was assuming Hasbro would not want to get into that.) The idea was to ask if/how Hasbro prioritizes for copyrights it wants to be careful about keeping.

There's no copyright to keep with regards to colors though.

Actually, I think that question was already asked once:

Seibertron.com: It is no secret that Paramount has quite a bit of pull and ownership when it comes to Transformers Movie figures. Can Hasbro please elaborate on who owns the molds. For example, would it be feasible to see the upcoming Voyager Bludgeon, ROTF Brawn, Mindwipe etc figures re-released (or re-deco'd) under a non-movie related line such as Universe? Or is that not possible because Hasbro doesn't actually own the molds?

Hasbro: While we certainly appreciate your concern over who owns what, what we can say is this: Hasbro owns all of our molds and can determine what we want to do with those molds.

Granted, the question doesn't address the convention, but I remember during the lead up to last year's big reveal there was question over whether or not they were "allowed" to use the Animated moulds, so maybe the question could still be asked on that end.

I think Dom might be thinking of a less-out-there question though, the idea that Paramount owns the molds or characters is pretty far afield. That said, look at the 3 classics seeker exclusives, rumor had it that Hasbro couldn't touch THOSE molds. Clearly though, that was a load of fudge since we're getting one this year. I think what that stemmed from was that Hasbro didn't WANT to use those molds, they wanted to make them special, exclusive to the con; but demand overrided them. There might be a question in that.

[Onslaught Six]

Thanks O6. Sorry JT.

That question about obscure character recolors loses a bit when you take away the copyright component actually. (I was assuming Hasbro would not want to get into that.) The idea was to ask if/how Hasbro prioritizes for copyrights it wants to be careful about keeping.

There's no copyright to keep with regards to colors though.

I think what Dom is getting is that, for example, Hasbro wants to keep the copyright on Swerve. If Hasbro wants to use that copyright there, do they go through a process of, "Well, now we have to make a new mould/recolour that looks like Swerve," or is it more a matter of first creating the recolour and then applying a name afterward? I suspect the answer for something like this would be "It goes on a case-by-case basis," because, for example, ROTF Swerve could have been pretty much anybody, while ROTF Brawn was pretty specifically supposed to be Brawn.

That said, look at the 3 classics seeker exclusives, rumor had it that Hasbro couldn't touch THOSE molds.

That's not what the rumour is/was at all. Hasbro said it themselves: Retailers would have been pissy if they were whoring out the same jet mould three separate times as three different characters, two of them arguably not major characters in the overall canon. (We fans may go apeshit for Thundercracker and Skywarp, but nobody else does--just look at the release of Masterpiece Skywarp, who is littering shelves ~5 months after his release and dropped down to over half his original price.) The only reason we even got Ramjet was because he was majorly retooled. Classics was also pre-Movie explosion, so Hasbro would have a lot less pull. If Classics were made in 2008, I'm sure they would have been able to wedge Thundy in there if they needed to.

As a comparison, though, this same thing happened in Universe 2008: Red Alert! We got Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, and then...nothing. Though Henkei Alert came out right around the same time, so anyone who wanted Red Alert that bad likely just ordered it online.

[JediTricks]

The answers have come in:

http://www.tfviews.com/news/main/hasbro-q-and-a/837