Hasbro Question and Answer, round 5.

[JediTricks]

86 and I asked ourselves this question when Brawl was first announced. "Really? 'Brawl?' Why? He's not even that big. Why not Starscream or Blackout, especially since Blackout really needs it?"

What it came down to is Hasbro probably gave a group of playtest kids the existing Decepticon toys (or facsimiles of) and tried to determine which vehicle or toy would be received the best. And, given a choice between Jet, Helicopter or Tank, Huge Tank will probably win most of the time.

I think huge tank makes sense, but also, Brawl is the biggest battling Decepticon in the film after Megs, the rest are relatively small battles. My theory is it's about vehicle mode AND screentime.

Bruty's a toy we're never going to agree about, so I won't bother arguing--but the idea isn't so much that Bruty's extra arms are *surprising,* but the fact that he has them, and they're not documented anywhere. Regardless, the question has been asked, with a lot of other, better examples, so.

I don't think most of the design team has been on the line long enough to answer anyway, and Archer would probably not give us a straight answer. This would make a much more interesting convention question, where the answer is unedited.

I'm tempted to ask what the designers would like to tackle for TF3, since ROTF gave them such unorthodox robot designs. Suspect it'd just be a stock answer of "We hope to make even better crap in the future".

Damn, I like that question, keep it in mind for the next round, it's a TOTALLY fair question. It's not "what will you do" but "what would you LIKE to do if you could", and that's far more interesting.

[Onslaught Six]

I think huge tank makes sense, but also, Brawl is the biggest battling Decepticon in the film after Megs, the rest are relatively small battles. My theory is it's about vehicle mode AND screentime.

But even though Brawl is probably seen the most, he also wasn't very *prominent.* Oh, he was there, but all he really did was show up and get shot at. Barricade interrogated and chased after Sam, and Blackout was in the opening scene--who the hell wouldn't remember the Badass Helicopter Guy? Or the forklift guy that Prime killed? In comparison, Brawl just kind of has the wrong name and Is A Tank.

[donosaur]

I want to ask if the guys who designed the Sideways toy are depressed after watching the movie.

[andersonh1]

I want to ask if the guys who designed the Sideways toy are depressed after watching the movie.

I wonder if someone has asked if Sideways was originally meant to be Barricade? They brought Scorponok back briefly just to finish him off, and Starscream got some movie time... but Barricade just vanished and we haven't seen him since.

Maybe that's my question for the next round.

[138 Scourge]

So, in that sense, the Decepticons would be like campers at Camp Crystal Lake?

Even if Jason doesn't get 'em in the current movie, he'll get 'em at the beginning of the next one.

...could really see Sideswipe's move there as a "Jason" kinda thing, too.

[Dominic]

If somebody wants to compile a starting list for round 6, feel free.

I am expecting the same problem with round 6 that we had this time, with a short turn-around between getting the answers and the next dead-line. BotCon skewed things last time, and SDCC is likely to do the same here. In other words, lets not wait on Hasbro answering us before we get to work on round 6.

Dom
-very pleased with round 5.

[JediTricks]

But even though Brawl is probably seen the most, he also wasn't very *prominent.* Oh, he was there, but all he really did was show up and get shot at. Barricade interrogated and chased after Sam, and Blackout was in the opening scene--who the hell wouldn't remember the Badass Helicopter Guy? Or the forklift guy that Prime killed? In comparison, Brawl just kind of has the wrong name and Is A Tank.

See, now you're just trying to chase the movies with logic, and that's a losing battle. "Everybody was working to take him down but he was barely doing anything", I know, that's a writing failure, they had poorly-developed villains with minimal motivations. But he's still the big bad when it comes to over half the characters involved in the end battle, and he's the one who held out the longest.

We're getting a Human Alliance Barricade, that's as big as he should be.

Blackout, I know some folks want a leader-class version, but he's barely in the movie fighting other bots, he's a bit of a snore when it comes to play patterns.

The forklift guy Prime killed? You mean Bonecrusher? Again, he barely fought our heroes, just another blank menace for a few seconds that is then quickly and viciously dispatched by our "heroes".

I want to ask if the guys who designed the Sideways toy are depressed after watching the movie.

Good question, there's a ton of room to expand up on that idea too. Even Sideswipe was a disappointment in the final film with how little he did.

I am expecting the same problem with round 6 that we had this time, with a short turn-around between getting the answers and the next dead-line. BotCon skewed things last time, and SDCC is likely to do the same here. In other words, lets not wait on Hasbro answering us before we get to work on round 6.

Yes, that month and a half turn-around is a real back-breaker.

Then again, I just checked the sched, it seems to be due next Monday but we still haven't gotten our answers from this one. I'll email them.

[donosaur]

Good question, there's a ton of room to expand up on that idea too. Even Sideswipe was a disappointment in the final film with how little he did.

I would love to try and expand this, but I'm not good at structuring these questions. I just wonder how Hasbro chooses which toys to spend more time on. Besides say Prime and Megatron, are they given hints about which characters will feature the most in the movie? How far does the communication go? Clearly their are still issues when characters and scenes can get cut (or put in; see Jolt) at the last minutes, so how do they decide where to focus their attention?

[Dominic]

I disagree about Blackout being a snore when it comes to play patterns. He is a copter. Flying toys are always pretty good. And, he has a few moments in the movie.


That said, I will compile a list for Round 6. Even if the deadlines JT quotes are wrong, it could not hurt ot have Round 6 ready.

Dom
-can imagine a BBC report on this. "Round 6 of TFV's 'Correspondence with Hasbro' begins a bit earlier than planned...."

[JediTricks]

I disagree about Blackout being a snore when it comes to play patterns. He is a copter. Flying toys are always pretty good. And, he has a few moments in the movie.

That's what makes him a viable voyager-class, not a viable leader-class. Co-play is crucial to play patterns, "a few moments in the movie" isn't enough, especially when most aren't against other robots.

That said, I will compile a list for Round 6. Even if the deadlines JT quotes are wrong, it could not hurt ot have Round 6 ready.

Dom
-can imagine a BBC report on this. "Round 6 of TFV's 'Correspondence with Hasbro' begins a bit earlier than planned...."

The new date is August 10th, and I'm thrilled I asked.