Questions for Hasbro's Transformers team

[andersonh1]

Was Classics Galvatron was originally designed and intended to be an Ultra vehicle, and had to be scaled down? I know that Hasbro didn't want too many 'ultra, grey, armored vehicles' on the shelf at the same time, but does that mean that Galvatron was indeed intended to be Ultra at some point?

Ooh, good one! Let me pad it a little to round it out:

• Was the recent Universe Galvatron originally designed to be an Ultra vehicle, and was scaled down? There seems to be a strong belief by fans on this one that the complex nature of the figure's design and transformation, not to mention the stature of the character himself, suggest that this mold was originally destined for a larger scale and then dialed back. Any truth to that?

I like it. Nice rewording on the question.

[andersonh1]

If we get 5 questions, I'd be interested in answers for 1,4,5,7 and 8.

[Onslaught Six]

[*]- With the GI Joe and Star Wars line, they are now offering content pack-ins such as comic-books. The GI Joe line is even comissioning all-new comic books with some of their comic packs. Is there any chance of getting something along those lines as a pack-in for Transformers sets? If so, would it be reissued content, or possibly also all-new comics?

Don't bother with this one. We have our answer.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ic-165947/

[JediTricks]

[*]- With the GI Joe and Star Wars line, they are now offering content pack-ins such as comic-books. The GI Joe line is even comissioning all-new comic books with some of their comic packs. Is there any chance of getting something along those lines as a pack-in for Transformers sets? If so, would it be reissued content, or possibly also all-new comics?

Don't bother with this one. We have our answer.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ic-165947/

Interesting. How about we modify the question...

• - With the GI Joe and Star Wars line, they are now offering content pack-ins such as comic-books. The GI Joe line is even commissioning all-new comic books with some of their comic packs, and now it seems the TF: Animated Jetfire & Jetstorm set will be coming with its own new comic book. Is this a taste of what's to come for TF, will we be getting something along those lines as a pack-in for other Transformers sets? If so, would it be reissued content, or even more all-new comics?

Still worth asking or no?

Only a few hours to get your thoughts in on this round.

[JediTricks]

Ok, I sent off our questions, now we just have to wait a week and see what happens.

Here's what I sent in this round:

• 1) - Although this has been bandied about for a while, we're hoping to finally get a definitive answer for TF: Animated on this. With TF, it's generally assumed that the toys are designed first, and that those designs are then adopted for the other media (Cartoon, Comics, etc.; the movie not withstanding). With TF: Animated though, it seems that this might not be the case. How were the designs for Animated handled, were the toy designs worked out in tandem with the cartoon designers, did the cartoon artists take their lead from the toy designs, or was it some other process?
  
  2) - With the current TF:Universe packaging, we appreciate the return to character box art, but why is it that nearly all of the art for the characters share the same face? Some fans have said they felt the look was static, lifeless, even creepy; and they don't really match the faces of the figures within. So what's the story with this boxart?
  
  3) - With the TF Crossovers line, we know that those brands' teams (Star Wars and Marvel) design their Transformers themselves with input from the TF team. How much input does the TF team give those other brands teams in general, and what kinds of input is given there?
  
  4) - Was the recent Universe Galvatron originally designed to be an Ultra vehicle, and was scaled down? There seems to be a strong belief by fans on this one that the complex nature of the figure's design and transformation, not to mention the stature of the character himself, suggest that this mold was originally destined for a larger scale and then dialed back. Any truth to that?
  
  5) - Are there any surprising examples where ambitious design elements came close but didn't clear budget? There's always the loss of translucent parts, but there's also stuff like Cybertron Optimus Prime's spare tire weapons, and many have speculated that the Vector Prime figure's chest was supposed to contain an electronic light gimmick to shine through the Cyber Keys (any truth to that one?).

I decided to softball this round just a little, we are giving them guff on the Universe boxart and on Galvatron being too small, so I felt that was enough until we get our footing (should we be so lucky to actually get a response). I came very close to using the "do you read toy reviews" question but we never really fleshed it out and I want meatier questions than that, but I truly hope that (should we get to participate in the next round) we get to ask that question.

Fingers crossed!

[BWprowl]

Hey cool, you used my question. So, about what time would we be getting answers to these, should we receive any?

[JediTricks]

Hey cool, you used my question. So, about what time would we be getting answers to these, should we receive any?

The return date is next Monday. Since I'm running the Q&A for another site who is definitely participating, I'll know pretty much immediately if we don't get a response.

[JediTricks]

WE DID IT!!! We got answers gang!

http://www.tfviews.com/news/main/hasbro-q-and-a/128

Congratulations!

[JediTricks]

BTW, I haven't seen any other sites get their Q&A up yet, but ActionFigs.com has: http://www.actionfigs.com/index.php?cat ... cleid=2471
(not entirely surprising since I'm their Q&A editor )

I'll be compiling a list of other sites with Q&As once they start going up, so if you see any, please LMK.

EDIT 12:37pm:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... 008-a.html
http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... ons/14183/

EDIT 1:09pm:
http://cooltoyreview.com/story/front/Ha ... 118376.asp

That one mentions that we'll be getting an all new Beast Wars dlx Dinobot (the character, not the sub-faction) next year!

[Onslaught Six]

Who answered these, specifically? Archer, or that Bill Rawley guy? I'm just curious. His answers were really specific and to the point about it, and it seems like we got just about all the answers we needed.

Also, getting answered kinda 'puts us on the map' per se. At least to me.

That one mentions that we'll be getting an all new Beast Wars dlx Dinobot (the character, not the sub-faction) next year!

We knew this already, didn't we?

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... ons/14183/

Stupid Seibertron. Thunderwing was around before IDW!