BWprowl wrote:Anyway, my point is that the price on SDCC Bruticus might be a teensy bit more justified, being as the new MSRP for Deluxes, and the price the Combaticons will likely be sold for once they hit retail, is $14.99, making the price increase for the exclusive 25%, rather than ~35%. Still a hefty chunk of change, but the markup itself isn’t as bad.
I think what stings the most is just knowing that the full set of toys would’ve been only a little over $50 at retail like four years ago.
Yeah, I get you, but I don't know if Hasbro's changed the MSRP or if it's just Target. Anyway, that's going from 55% to 33% difference ($25, the difference between $75 and SDCC's price of $100, is 1/3rd of $75, not 1/4).
Not even 4 years ago, Target and WM and even TRU were doing $10 deluxes last year for extended periods.
I think he meant to be refer to that five-figure pack BBTS is selling of all the Combaticons, which is priced at $105, which if you ask me is a worse case of price-gouging on BBTS’s part than the price of the SDCC version is on Hasbro’s.
Basic economics, I guess. Hasbro and retailers like BBTS know fans really want this toy, so they know they can get away with charging us more for it.
There's no excuse except that they can charge whatever they like for the privilege because nobody is going to hold them to anything the way they do with WM and Target, so who can stop 'em? I have NEVER used them. Why would anybody get it from BBTS though when EE has the whole case for essentially retail? That's just foolish on anybody who orders from BBTS at that price.
I just think that if you don’t like the look of one thing, and think the price is too high on another thing, you could just not buy either thing and move on to something you did enjoy, rather than griping like Hasbro is out to get you. Hasbro’s made lots of toys I don’t like. Lots of toy companies have made lots of toys I don’t like, I don’t hold it against them (well, except for Mattel, but that’s because they’re clearly actually evil). Can you imagine if I got upset and complained about every toy in the toy aisle that didn’t appeal to me specifically?
Where your argument here falls apart is that I am not griping that they're "out to get me", where you decide my motives for me. Also, the second half of that ignores that I'm fairly invested in Transformers, the brand.
True, things bother me, annoy me about the hobby, I’m not denying that. Do you know how many threads I *could* start about how impossible it’s been for me to find a Vehicon, how stupid I think it is that Hasbro couldn’t find a place to release those cancelled Animated figures, or the unmade prototypes? My annoyance at the cancelled DOTM waves and how it gets me down that I’ll have to resort to eBay if I want to get Human Alliance Soundwave? The botched execution on Universe toys like Hot Shot and Cheetor, or the downright confounding color choices on the same line’s Dinobot? Yeah, I *could* complain at length about all those things, but who wants to read that, and how is it going to help me enjoy the hobby more? I’d much rather write about how kickass Masterforce is now that I finally get to watch it, or get excited about the fact that Hasbro’s actually attempting a Combiner again for the first time in a long time, or that they’re actually making a new Shockwave, or maybe go start a thread about that upcoming Thundertron figure, because holy crap bitchin’ third-faction space pirate lion guy!
Well, you could have a little balance, let some out instead of getting on the case of others who do.
Switch countries, maybe? With the exception of a couple holidays and pre-emptings (like three weeks out of the year), I get to watch brand new episodes of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai every single weekend!
They haven't aired anywhere, so that wouldn't help.
Holy hell, that’s an actual toy? Like, I knew that neon and camo and neon camo were common color setups on Batman figures back in the day, so I knew what you were referring to in general, but I had no idea there was an actual toy called ‘Neon-Camo Batman’. Oh man, that’s hilarious.
Yeah, that's why it's my go-to reference. Hasbro really made this thing, and they did it at a time when they were already getting lambasted on all sides for doing that sort of thing in both their Batman lines, so it's the one that sticks with me the best. It's a real thing! That's almost crazy enough a reason to buy it.
Still, it’s kind of apples and oranges, isn’t it? Neon Camo on Batman is goofy and out of place because he’s Batman, he’s supposed to be dark and blending into night-time shadows and all. With WfC/FoC-style Transformers though, where everything’s got neon lights pumped through it, where everyone’s some shade of glossy-shiny silver/black/gunmetal or bright red, yellow, or teal (lookin’ at you, Thundercracker), comprised of eXtreeeme pointy metal bits, then a couple of guys being bright yellow and green doesn’t seem too out of place.
Anyway, I just don’t see how the colors are ‘ugly’ just because they’re bright.
There's no justification for it, that's why they don't use it in the games, it's just color for the sake of attracting eyeballs. It's tits on a Toyota.
I think they're ugly because they're exceptionally loud, they're loud without any possible contextual justification, and they don't go together well at all. It's stuff they didn't use on purpose until they felt they had no other choice, and now it's somehow back to that point.
But by making a point of doing so, and getting so invested in the idea that your input is vital to Hasbro and they’re actually making decisions based on that input (which I personally am not so sure I believe), you’re just opening yourself up to be even more angry and disappointed when they inevitably do stuff that goes against those expressed views.
Oh, that's the only thing I could be doing? I couldn't be tempering my thoughts with a realistic view of the community in Hasbro's eyes, since I've been dealing with them actively for the past 17 years and know what to expect? This is what's bugging me, you're seeing me through your lens and blaming me for it, as if it's the only avenue I have at my command.
I dunno, you’re right when you say you have the right to follow/participate in the hobby however you want, it’s just that I can’t get my head around why you would want to set yourself up to get pissed off every time Hasbro makes something that you personally don’t like the look of, unless getting wound up and shitting all over Hasbro is a vital, enjoyable part of the fandom to you.
Again, I don't do that, so don't get mad at me for what you think I'm doing. I could nitpick every exposed screw boss, every exposed cavity, every dropped paint application, every over-enhanced promo pic, every loose connector, every QC fail, every design mistake, every little and big thing, but I don't freak out at all of them. So when I do make comment on them, it's usually to acknowledge and discuss and then move on or find a way to make better (see: Cybertron Ransack - who solved that back wheel problem? Me.)
You on the other hand, I can’t figure out. [...] you’ve consistently dumped on everything about the figure itself to the point that I can’t recall a single positive thing you’ve said about it
Those sounds like problems stemming from you.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1023&start=10 "that Bruticus looks indeed awesome"
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1023&start=50 "It's not bad, [...] the Combaticons they are doing look good..."
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1023&start=80 "Owning a 'new' Bruticus wasn't high on my personal priority list, that doesn't mean it's not important to the fan base - that's what I'm thinking about here, what matters to the hardcore fanbase - some things I want, some things I don't, but I recognize that I'm not an island in collecting."
I can't actually find other places where I've brought these up, those are the only 3 posts in that thread where I said anything about them at all, and each time I hardly did what you describe. The problem is you are viewing it through a personal lens, you think my posts FEEL like they're consistently dumping on everything about the figure so you rewrite your interpretation of history to match that. I barely talked about the figure in its own thread, I said the arms didn't look as great in the second shots, Onslaught too, and that's about it; mostly I was responding to the argument the OP put forward about it being better than Hercules-type 3rd party stuff. But to say that I've consistently dumped on it, that's obviously not true. Are you projecting onto me, or just misinterpretting perception of tone for actual content?
you’ve expressed that you find waiting in line to buy the figures at Comic-Con to be a miserable, trip-ruining experience.
I've waited in Hasbro's line 4 out of the last 5 Comic-Cons on preview night, and each time it was a brutal misery, they never have enough registers, they sell a ton of product to dealers early-on knowing they are going to be reselling it at the con for the next 4 days, the fire marshal closes the line and sometimes risks the whole booth, it's confusing and it's hot and it's a sea of people and it's miserable, and there's always the chance that if you don't get your stuff that night it's going to be gone the next day and you'll not find out until you've invested even more time in more lines. So to add on a new facet - being gouged, which was wildly out of practice for them in the past - you're damn right that'd suck donkey balls. Did I say it'd ruin my trip? No, that's again on you. But it'd suck a lot, no doubt.
So…why are you even talking like you still intend to buy the toy?
Because I'm going to buy the toy in 5 days.
You’ve pretty much made up your mind that you’re going to hate it
No, you've made up YOUR mind that I'm going to hate it.
Why not just skip the line altogether, enjoy the convention the way you want to, maybe drop less than $110 on another Transformer you don’t have that you actually like the look of from the dealer’s room where you won’t have to wait in an ungodly line, and have yourself a great weekend! Heck, you could do all that and just order Bruticus off of HTS after the con if you decide, against all odds, that you still want him, and that way at least you avoid the line you were talking about.
Because A) I'll do whatever I want, it's my life and I'm not going to let others determine how I live it; B) I am actually somewhat interested in the figure and will keep either this one or the Amazon one probably; and C) it's 5 days of convention, it's a lot of work to enjoy and even more when you're also trying to help bring coverage of it to readers, so I'd like to have something big under my arm to show for it. But mainly A.
I dunno, you seem pretty mad here.
Seriously though, I did re-check out the beginning of this topic, and it was originally just the subject of the Comic-Con exclusives being pricy, which I heartily agreed with you on in my first post (in fact, I didn’t even comment on it there specifically, but I feel it needs to be pointed out that the price on that Cliffjumper is absolutely absurd). The trouble mainly started up when Dom said that retail Bruticus sucked because the colors didn’t match the game version, and I countered that it was still a cool toy just for being a big, kickass, combining robot toy regardless of the colors, and Dom said I was wrong and that I just didn’t have any standards and that such a thing must be generational, and then you jumped in and claimed that not worrying about the colors of my robot toys was some sort of reverse-snobbery and that enjoying things for what they are is somehow a worse view than getting upset with a toy company now that the ‘Final colors and styles of product may vary’ printed on every Transformers box for years finally applied here.
What you're doing annoys me, and doubly so because you convince others to believe that I am saying and implying things which are not the case. You did the same thing on this same topic in the original thread about Bruticus, claiming I was all negative about it, btw.
BTW, you are the first one to say someone was wrong, not Dom. You started that when you quoted him and then said "Or they’ll buy it anyway because..." That is an argument. Maybe it's a right one or a maybe not, but you started in on it. It wasn't a mere statement that it was cool. And Dom didn't say you didn't have standards in that response post, read it again, all he said was...
"Maybe this is generational. I notice that you and O6 are generally more forgiving of, and willing to reward, half-assery that guys like JT and I are simply offended by. (For example, your argue that the new Asia market Swerve is a "good Swerve figure" despite it looking nothing like the comics that made you like Swerve in the first place.)
But, I am going to have to say you are wrong on this. Toys that do not look like the movies/show/game/comics/whatever do not sell as well as screen/page accurate figures. I see more non-movie colour Bumblebees or Optimus Primes than I do correctly coloured Bumblebees or Optimus Primes. And, how many of the kids who just want a big combining robot are going to opt for the more expensive Combaticon figures (sold as 5 separate figures) when they can likely find something cheaper (and easier to convince their parents to buy), likely as one boxed set? "
... So there you've painted him as saying you just don't have any standards when he did not. It's only your spin that he attacks you there, in fact the majority of his responses afterwards are about him, you just feel they're making comment on you.
And honestly, yeah, I do just get a lot of negativity about the hobby from you, JT.
Not my problem what you choose to read of mine and what you choose to ignore, but let's look at the facts of the matter by checking out my last dozen TF-themed posts outside this thread...
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1156&p=33709#p33709 (positive review of Jackhammer/Wheeljack)
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1148&p=33660#p33660 (informational comment about animation Skyfire, defending vehicle mode)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1049&p=33589#p33589 (opinion defending Knock Out's colors compared to Ratchet's lack of color)
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1148&p=33587#p33587 (mixed comments about Classics Jetfire)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1049&p=33586#p33586 (informational negative comment about deco problems on Knock Out and Ratchet, but I don't think anybody would argue that neither doesn't suffer deco problems)
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1131&p=33585#p33585 (informational and negative comment about MP Sideswipe being small, positive comment about MP Grimlock)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1124&p=33104#p33104 (agreeing with your negative sentiments about TFP characters, discussing character flaws of other TFP characters)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1124&p=33079#p33079 (mixed comments about TFP the show, lightly defending things getting better)
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1123&p=33078#p33078 (mixed reply comments defending and damning Hasbro in the IP matters, information, negative stuff, positive comment and information about Classics Galvatron, somewhat agreeing with one of your sentiments defending Hasbro, negative comments about Bruticus suffering compromises, more information, more of this SAME EXACT ARGUMENT, and the awesome use of the phrase "Rainbow Maximus")
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1124&p=33068#p33068 (my original point that TFP writers have made Wheeljack's actions turn him into a selfish character, seems to be agreed with)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1049&p=33053#p33053 (mixed comments, nothing terribly positive or negative)
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=999&p=33052#p33052 (ditto)
And a couple select direct comments:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1049&p=32985#p32985 (review of TFP Hot Shot, gave good marks for what works and bad marks for what didn't, resulting in a mixed review and a middle grade)
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1120&p=32986#p32986 (part of a warning about a figure - one I liked - having rust on many issuings)
So you see what you want to see. Everybody has good and bad things they feel about the line, you choose to only express the good, but I choose to express both, that doesn't mean I'm all negative just because I'm not all sunshine and lollipops in my posts.
Seems like a lot of posts from you concern how badly Hasbro’s screwing up the business side of things (I think there are at least two separate topics about how unhappy their release of the TFPrime line makes you)
Yeah, I am frustrated about that, and I'm sure I'm not alone, every fan should be concerned that there are a lot of issues lately.
how horrible they are at distribution which is clearly all their fault and has nothing to do with retailers over-ordering on initial cases and then giving Hasbro no chance to ship later waves
Which is Hasbro's responsibility to address at the outset, and I know this because I've talked to them for years about it, and I know that they know it because they talk about it at their panels. What a bastard I am for pointing out a problem that is a genuine problem.
just how much you hate the line of the moment for one reason or another (TFPrime, DOTM, PCC, what was the last TF line that you genuinely enjoyed?)
I'd like to see you back that claim up, there were a few I took issue with, one I refuted above and others I didn't bother with, but that one really takes the cake.
Maybe you coming across excessively angry about such things is just the way I read forum posts (when is the future going to arrive and we’ll be able to properly convey emotion and tone through prose messages?!), but I think a lot of it is just carried over from seeing other, genuinely angry/entitled posts on other forums from people who really do think Hasbro owes them better toys just because they complain the loudest about it. It also comes from seeing just how many people *hate* Transfans in general for this attitude (seriously, we are not a popular fandom out there. Some people equate our level of annoyance with furries, just stemming from different factors), this constant griping and complaining despite all the cool stuff we’re privileged to get anyway, and I can actually see where they’re coming from, and damn if I don’t want to be equated with that part of the group.
Everybody hates everybody for everything, every fangroup is hated for voicing their displeasure with something whether it be over the internet or in person or via letter-writing campaigns, nobody focuses on the other side of things because it's easy to only see things through someone else's limited self-filter.
Have they actually ever given Tycho any of the things that he asks for? Hasbro sends reps to these events to politely listen to what the fans have to say because that makes sense from a business-image perspective, but I don’t know that they’ve ever directly acted on ideas that the fans gave them, and I would never expect them to. I didn’t become a fan of Transformers so I could ask Hasbro to make stuff to appeal to me, I’m a fan of Transformers because the stuff Hasbro was making *already* appealed to me.
They did LC Ironhide, I remember he was on them about that. They brought back Human Alliance, he was big there. They did a few of his many suggestions, they have done a lot more, they have even pointed it out on more than one occasion that something they did was brought to their attention through a fan saying something to them at a con or something they read on a forum.
Wouldn't you be also a fan in part because of the stuff Takara made and Hasbro marketed (G1), or the stuff Kenner made when Hasbro owned them but they were still an outside firm (BW/BM)?
No? There’s nothing spoiled about choosing how to spend my own money, that’s just…what you do in a society that pays you money to spend on goods.
Ok, so you're not spoiled when you tell Hasbro you prefer 1 thing over another, then why are WE spoiled when we tell Hasbro when we prefer 1 thing over another, just through a different method?
Hell, if I buy a toy, don’t like it, and write a negative review of it, that’s not spoiled either.
Seems like that's what you were accusing the rest of us of doing.
It’s stuff like what went down with Bruticus that gets to me. Hasbro reveals a mold in one set of colors, then shows off the official retail version in a different set of colors (which has never happened ever, certainly not), and fans go ballistic, acting like they’re owed a darker-colored Bruticus simply because Hasbro’s aware of their existence, picking apart every element of the mold because they expect Hasbro’s first pass at a full-size gestalt in seven years to be absolutely perfect, and generally acting like entitled babies because they didn’t get exactly what they wanted instead of just going “Oh, that toy doesn’t really appeal to me, guess I won’t buy it” and shutting up there. Admittedly, JT, I’m referring more to other fans in other places in this, though you’ve been pretty vocal about how much you hate the toy too. It’s like, I get it, you don’t like it, how does hearing about this again help anyone’s enjoyment of the hobby? And if you hate it so much, why are you still talking like you’re going to buy it anyway just to hate it more?
Putting aside all the "you-filter" stuff mixed into there - spewed with your own passionate, somewhat misguided negativity - I don't see anybody here spontaneously shouting negative comments on that, it's usually a statement of their own opinion to something brought to their attention, or an argument they don't agree with.
That’s kind of a cop-out. There’s a billion established characters that Transfans ask for new toys of every day. You’re telling me they couldn’t throw Trailbreaker, Hoist, Blitzwing, Whirl, and Bombshell onto a poll to let fans pick who gets a new Generations toy?
No, I'm saying it's just not as easy for the TF line to do it the way the SW line does it. It takes about 18 months to develop a toy, there's a lot of concern over budget so often they will share development with Takara but Takara is only going to take on projects they think will sell to their own customers. In that 18 months, there's a good chance the Generations line will be put on hiatus, it has never lasted 2 years before, so it's difficult to plan out, an expression today may not be germane tomorrow - movie tomorrow, animation the next day, generations the third, Hasbro is always switching it up, never keeping an expression around too long - and that leads to another problem, how do you plan a figure 18 months in advance, PLUS the lead time needed to run the polls, without knowing if its expression will even exist down the line when it might come out, and market that way in advance to your retail partners? (Exclusives come out of a different budget, so the answer is not often to be found there.) It's vastly difficult and different.
I’m still kind of lost on what this ‘casual consumer’ thing is. Movies have casual consumers, video games have casual consumers, but toys? You’ve got the people who are actually fans of the brand who are the adults going out and buying these things; very few average joes are at the store randomly going “Hey, I’ll see if any children’s action figures catch my eye!”.
Luckily for you, I one of my example links above explained it (in a response tied to your previous question on the matter, I just realized):
"Casual consumers generally will be just-pre-teen and young-teen boys, casual consumer old-school fans in their 20s and 30s who are buying for themselves, and parents and gift-givers who have some level of understanding of the brand, that's the rest. Also, in this case you have to add gamers."
A lot of old-school G1 types in their late 20s and 30s check pegs and cherry-pick characters they remember from the old days without following the overall expression it's in. Those are often the "trukk not munky" types.
What you inferred is not about me, it's about you; I was pretty clear with what I said and that wasn't it. I said babies like things ONLY because they're bright and shiny and colorful, but as they grow up and learn to become people, that is no longer their solitary criteria for liking something.
Okay, I’ll admit, I’m utterly lost now. Are you saying that I’m immature for liking Sharkticon’s colors, or is it somehow okay to like the colors so long as I also appreciate that he turns into a badass shark spaceship and has bicep swivels in robot mode?
I honestly cannot tell if you're being intentionally obtuse or not there. The answer, however, is no. ONCE AGAIN: I was referring to ONLY BABIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN, whose SOLITARY criteria for something is its general shape and color. Since your tastes are not driven by the SOLITARY criteria, it still doesn't apply to you.
Maybe there aren’t a lot of big combiners/falafel to choose from, but there are still plenty of Transformers/Trader Joe’s foods available, and it’s senseless and exhausting to get overly butthurt about a lack of either.
The thrust of this conversation has been about big combiners for 3 separate threads now.
And "plenty of Transformers" right now available? I see TFP Bumblebee everywhere along with now 2 repaints of that, a handful of other Prime guys in Dlx across the last 6 months , Voyager Optimus, a few Legion and Commanders, and that's it. There aren't "plenty of Transformers" available right now... unless you're speaking of the clearance racks.
Well at least you’ve got a good sense of humor about the whole situation. I’ll be honest, every time I compose one of these posts, I get on afterwards concerned that this might be the one that gets me banned for insubordination or somesuch.
Damn dude, when has that EVER happened, or even been threatened? When have I even stepped in with a heavy Mod action here? That's a huge bummer to hear someone thinks of me.
I’m just going to laugh is Hasbro takes your purchase of G2 Bruticus not as “Make toys that are accurate to the media” but as “Make toys in ridiculous bright color schemes” and that’s all we get for the next two years.
What if I buy it and blow it up on youtube though?
Shockwave wrote:$15 certainly is close enough as you wouldn't walk out of the store with the toy for anything less than that. (and I will now revise that upwards to ~$17 now since it's 14.99 plus tax).
TAX IS OUT OF THE EQUATION BECAUSE SDCC BRUTICUS WILL ALSO HAVE TAX! You and Dom are going to drive me nuts on that issue.
Dom wrote:Wow, that free shipping expiration date just seems like insult added to injury, ya know? Objectively, it should not. But, in this case, it kinda feels that way...
I don't take it that way, I think they didn't really think about it at all and accidentally stepped onto that landmine. They saw 4th of July as a reason to put out a code and forgot that Comic-Con was moved up 2 friggin' weeks this year to right after 4th of July.
Given their performance since late '10, it almost feels like Hasbro is trying to see how hard they can push on things.
Honest mistakes and misteps are one thing. But, Hasbro has been so consistently screwing up basics for the last 18 months that part of me wonders if they are trying to see how much they can get away with.
The t-crotches on the new "Spider-Man" figures come to mind here. Hasbro was phasing out t-crotches ~10 years back, and with good reason. They are shit. In some ways, the new "Spider-Man" figures compare badly to SW figures from 15 years ago, due to the lack of a waist swivel.
For the most part, kids are not going to realize what a step back t-crotches are for the simple fact that they are not going to remember anything else. Kids who are between 10 and 14, (who are past the "play" stage, are buying figures on rote and might be in the first stages of becoming collectors), are going to notice that new "Spider-Man" toys compare badly to old Marvel figures. Ironically, this might push a few potential collectors out of the hobby before they are properly in. But, Hasbro is likely assuming that most kids will age out either way. As for adult collectors, Hasbro might well be guessing that most of us will keep with the hobby out of habit or a sense of obligation to support the hobby to keep the hobby alive. Sadly, I think that too many adult fans will do that.
I remember 1988/89. I know that I skipped more TFs and (to a lesser extent) Joes at that point. Part of it was that I was getting older. Part of it was that I was getting in to comics and other stuff. But, part of it was that the newer toys compared badly to the older toys. The first time I saw a commercial for Iron Grenadier Destro, I knew that he was taking the "named character with small vehicle" slot pervious occupied by Serpentor. Destro and his chariot compared well enough. But, Overlord and Dictator? I bought that set, and felt almost betrayed. BF2000? I was left wondering why the vehicles of the future felt cheaper than the vehicles of yesterday. And, have I ever told you how much I hated Bludgeon's toy?
I think Hasbro is letting outside forces like economy take too much control over what they are putting out, not realizing that cutting too much from the product hurts the brand overall and damages the company as a whole. Those mediocre new Spider-Man figures aren't flying off shelves, there's a mountain of them and they all look pretty crummy as products on their own, but coupled with their INSANELY high pricetags they're just bonkers.
All that said, to reiterate, I really don't think Hasbro is even capable of planning and executing a plot to see how far they can push us, I think it's just too much corporate overhead and management, not enough toy designers and vision from the brand manager (or enough clout to push that vision through - they wanted to do Bruticus in the right colors, they did discuss making Onslaught a Voyager, those just didn't happen because of factors outside the brand manager's control).
Well, if they want to see how far they can take this, good for them. Thus far, TF: Prime is on track to becoming the second TF line that I have skipped entirely. If they want to turn their brands in to the types of brands that kids buy and forget, then good for them. I am not going to stick around for it. Provided that the comics are good, I will be happy to save money by skipping toys.
I worry it'll be the 4th line in a row to have the tail end canceled because of distribution problems or just not enough solid product up front: Animated, RTS, DOTM, TFP.
It really is no less possible here. Hasbro could release a correctly coloured Bruticus at retail. Though it is much less likely, especially if the first retail release tanks anywhere nearly as badly as we are predicting that it will.
I am not actually predicting it'll fail at mass retail as-is, I have no idea if the market will bear this new price or those crazy colors, nor do I know if Hasbro will successfully manage the distribution so it doesn't overload or get bottlenecked. I do however know that the SDCC exclusivity coupled with the limited nature of the context's release will make it excessively difficult to re-release those colors into main line in the future.
That particular Batman almost makes sense. In the future, where (according to cartoons and movies) there are neon signs everywhere, Batman might have need for neon camoflage. On some level, it makes sense, though I doubt Mattel was thinking that when they released the toy. (Ski Batman on the other hand was a piece of shit through and through.) The real problem, as I am sure JT would agree, is the fact that shelves get choked with non-sensical (often obnoxious) recolours, often at the cost of legitimately coloured toys.
"Almost" makes sense yes, but in the show's context it really didn't work, and you just don't see a lot of signs with dark purple and green and bright orange together even there. You are spot on with the rest - although ski batman was all white, so if you're going to have Bats in the snow, at least that's a good camouflage.
Exactly. They could even, to a point, let fans choose aesthetic. (Trailbreaker ala UT or TFA?)
How the fuck are they supposed to market that in any main-line?!?
