So I got Prime Legacy Bulkhead last week and have been meaning to write a review of Prime Legacy toys

I'm not going to say Prime Legacy Bulkhead is terrible. He really is a good toy. The Prime Legacy Arcee is also not a bad toy. Skyquake is upcoming, and hr doesn't look bad at all.

The problem is that we are collectively comparing these toys to what were better toys. Toy that did a great job portraying a character, toys with detailed modes and complicated but not too complicated transformations. They had great functionality in both modes, with flexability and gimmicks you could choose to engage or ignore.

Now the new toys, Bulkhead is a G1ified version of Movieverse Hound with a Bulkhead head on him. He'd a truck, and his truck bed tarp comes off to reveal....a robot butt sticking up.

Arcee has a very flat chest and really looks like a low resolution copy of her former toy. I don't need my toys to have boobs, but it's like playing Link's Awakening on Switch then having Nintendo issue the 1987 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and telling you it's the superior game.

Skyquake was always designed as a Machine Wars/ EUG2 toy and it's obvious. Sure a Machine Wars upgrade would be welcome, but I'm a little underwhelmed by it being Skyquake, since Skyquake's original Prime toy was so incredibly good.

Legacy Knockut wasn't a terrible use of the Jazz mold, but it also wasn't great. The Knockout hood isn't exactly the same, but at least it holds together in robot mode better than the original Knockout.

Legacy Prowl looks really good and the face looks wrong at first glance, but it gets better by the minute. It's odd how many people (myself included) were so put off by Animated's art style that we didn't watch the show and missed most of the toys in stores, and scrambled after them on the secondary market, are now the ones complaining that a Legacy toy doesn't have the art style we didn't like at first. The fan base certainly is a fickle bunch. I just hope they don't release a samurai version later where we have to buy the same toy twice to get the kick ass accessory pack we didn't know was coming.

The Legacy Prime toys are interesting for those who mised the originals, but the prime toys had more playability and more features at a lower price point. Legacy as a series doesn't have a gimmick like Prime did, with the mechtech gears and the transforming weapons. They said Legacy Evolution has a gimmick, but so far the line wide gimmick is that you can plug Tarns 2 guns together to make a long gun.

I'm not saying Legacy is terrrible, but they're taking on what could be argued as a pinnacle of toy engineering with a constrained budget and it's showing.

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 6:48:05 PM UTC-7, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> The problem is that we are collectively comparing these toys to what were better toys. Toy that did a great job portraying a character, toys with detailed modes and complicated but not too complicated transformations. They had great functionality in both modes, with flexability and gimmicks you could choose to engage or ignore.

I've been saying for a while now that when you take a toy with early G1 engineering and give it ball joints and ankle tilts, that's a much more significant improvement than revisiting a character who has already gotten a modern-era toy. You're just not going to be able to squeeze as much of an improvement out of it. And, sometimes the new attempt is even worse (SEE: Waspinator; SEE ALSO: all attempts at G2 Laser Prime).

> Skyquake was always designed as a Machine Wars/ EUG2 toy and it's obvious.. Sure a Machine Wars upgrade would be welcome, but I'm a little underwhelmed by it being Skyquake, since Skyquake's original Prime toy was so incredibly good.

At least I know I can bide my time and wait until the Machine Wars remold comes out, and I can buy the toy then.

> Legacy Prowl looks really good and the face looks wrong at first glance, but it gets better by the minute. It's odd how many people (myself included) were so put off by Animated's art style that we didn't watch the show and missed most of the toys in stores, and scrambled after them on the secondary market, are now the ones complaining that a Legacy toy doesn't have the art style we didn't like at first. The fan base certainly is a fickle bunch..

I used to make a joke during the early days of Animated that the characters probably had gigantic chins to store extra processing circuitry or something. So, how is Prowl supposed to do all his ninja-ing now, without the advantage of all that extra processing power?!
> The Legacy Prime toys are interesting for those who mised the originals, but the prime toys had more playability and more features at a lower price point. Legacy as a series doesn't have a gimmick like Prime did, with the mechtech gears and the transforming weapons. They said Legacy Evolution has a gimmick, but so far the line wide gimmick is that you can plug Tarns 2 guns together to make a long gun.

I had thought, going into this, that the gimmick was going to be translucent energy weapons, similar to the Energon toy line. That seemed to be the case with Skids and Laser Optimus and a few others, but there have also been a bunch of characters who either didn't get the memo or didn't feel like participating (Pointblank, Skullgrin, Stunticons, etc.) So, now I'm less sure.

> I'm not saying Legacy is terrrible, but they're taking on what could be argued as a pinnacle of toy engineering with a constrained budget and it's showing.

Yeah, you're not wrong. It feels like we're entering a phase where the designers are getting more ambitious than ever before, but are grappling with increased costs and budgetary concerns. Transformers: Prime was in 2010, and they were able to do gimmicks and things that would be too expensive in today's market. It would almost be better to just revisit those older toys and market them as vintage reissues, and reissue them at a premium cost like they're doing with Beast Wars. (This is probably also the reason why we're never going to get neo-G1 toys with functional gimmicks like Triggerbots/Triggercons or Powermasters. Not without driving the prices up even more, anyway.)

Zob (Deluxe toys are slowly creeping towards $30—can you feel it?)

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 10:11:19 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 6:48:05 PM UTC-7, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
>
> > The problem is that we are collectively comparing these toys to what were better toys. Toy that did a great job portraying a character, toys with detailed modes and complicated but not too complicated transformations. They had great functionality in both modes, with flexability and gimmicks you could choose to engage or ignore.
> I've been saying for a while now that when you take a toy with early G1 engineering and give it ball joints and ankle tilts, that's a much more significant improvement than revisiting a character who has already gotten a modern-era toy. You're just not going to be able to squeeze as much of an improvement out of it. And, sometimes the new attempt is even worse (SEE: Waspinator; SEE ALSO: all attempts at G2 Laser Prime).
> > Skyquake was always designed as a Machine Wars/ EUG2 toy and it's obvious. Sure a Machine Wars upgrade would be welcome, but I'm a little underwhelmed by it being Skyquake, since Skyquake's original Prime toy was so incredibly good.
> At least I know I can bide my time and wait until the Machine Wars remold comes out, and I can buy the toy then.
> > Legacy Prowl looks really good and the face looks wrong at first glance, but it gets better by the minute. It's odd how many people (myself included) were so put off by Animated's art style that we didn't watch the show and missed most of the toys in stores, and scrambled after them on the secondary market, are now the ones complaining that a Legacy toy doesn't have the art style we didn't like at first. The fan base certainly is a fickle bunch.
> I used to make a joke during the early days of Animated that the characters probably had gigantic chins to store extra processing circuitry or something. So, how is Prowl supposed to do all his ninja-ing now, without the advantage of all that extra processing power?!
> > The Legacy Prime toys are interesting for those who mised the originals, but the prime toys had more playability and more features at a lower price point. Legacy as a series doesn't have a gimmick like Prime did, with the mechtech gears and the transforming weapons. They said Legacy Evolution has a gimmick, but so far the line wide gimmick is that you can plug Tarns 2 guns together to make a long gun.
> I had thought, going into this, that the gimmick was going to be translucent energy weapons, similar to the Energon toy line. That seemed to be the case with Skids and Laser Optimus and a few others, but there have also been a bunch of characters who either didn't get the memo or didn't feel like participating (Pointblank, Skullgrin, Stunticons, etc.) So, now I'm less sure.
> > I'm not saying Legacy is terrrible, but they're taking on what could be argued as a pinnacle of toy engineering with a constrained budget and it's showing.
> Yeah, you're not wrong. It feels like we're entering a phase where the designers are getting more ambitious than ever before, but are grappling with increased costs and budgetary concerns. Transformers: Prime was in 2010, and they were able to do gimmicks and things that would be too expensive in today's market. It would almost be better to just revisit those older toys and market them as vintage reissues, and reissue them at a premium cost like they're doing with Beast Wars. (This is probably also the reason why we're never going to get neo-G1 toys with functional gimmicks like Triggerbots/Triggercons or Powermasters. Not without driving the prices up even more, anyway.)
>
>
> Zob (Deluxe toys are slowly creeping towards $30—can you feel it?)

Hasbro, if you're listening, the trick is to do what the 3P/"4P" companies do - stick random diecast in everything. Sure, it may unbalance the figure and lead to loose joints and breakage down the line, but it will feel premium in hand.

If anyone remembers, Beats by Dre headphones used to be incredibly popular, often cited for its "premium" feel. Turns out they were just sticking random pieces of metal inside...

"Adding some heft...can give a consumer the impression that they’re holding something that’s sturdy and premium"

“One way to do this cheaply is to make some components out of metal in order to add weight.”

Other ways they save money?
"...the use of snaps and glue in place of screws..."and the almost exclusive use of injection molded plastic, “which is essentially free at high volumes”

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/beats-by-dre-headphones-teardown-finds-metal-parts-included-just-to-add-weight/

On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 1:10:06 PM UTC-6, Codigo Postal wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 10:11:19 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> > On Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 6:48:05 PM UTC-7, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
> >
> > > The problem is that we are collectively comparing these toys to what were better toys. Toy that did a great job portraying a character, toys with detailed modes and complicated but not too complicated transformations. They had great functionality in both modes, with flexability and gimmicks you could choose to engage or ignore.
> > I've been saying for a while now that when you take a toy with early G1 engineering and give it ball joints and ankle tilts, that's a much more significant improvement than revisiting a character who has already gotten a modern-era toy. You're just not going to be able to squeeze as much of an improvement out of it. And, sometimes the new attempt is even worse (SEE: Waspinator; SEE ALSO: all attempts at G2 Laser Prime).
> > > Skyquake was always designed as a Machine Wars/ EUG2 toy and it's obvious. Sure a Machine Wars upgrade would be welcome, but I'm a little underwhelmed by it being Skyquake, since Skyquake's original Prime toy was so incredibly good.
> > At least I know I can bide my time and wait until the Machine Wars remold comes out, and I can buy the toy then.
> > > Legacy Prowl looks really good and the face looks wrong at first glance, but it gets better by the minute. It's odd how many people (myself included) were so put off by Animated's art style that we didn't watch the show and missed most of the toys in stores, and scrambled after them on the secondary market, are now the ones complaining that a Legacy toy doesn't have the art style we didn't like at first. The fan base certainly is a fickle bunch.
> > I used to make a joke during the early days of Animated that the characters probably had gigantic chins to store extra processing circuitry or something. So, how is Prowl supposed to do all his ninja-ing now, without the advantage of all that extra processing power?!
> > > The Legacy Prime toys are interesting for those who mised the originals, but the prime toys had more playability and more features at a lower price point. Legacy as a series doesn't have a gimmick like Prime did, with the mechtech gears and the transforming weapons. They said Legacy Evolution has a gimmick, but so far the line wide gimmick is that you can plug Tarns 2 guns together to make a long gun.
> > I had thought, going into this, that the gimmick was going to be translucent energy weapons, similar to the Energon toy line. That seemed to be the case with Skids and Laser Optimus and a few others, but there have also been a bunch of characters who either didn't get the memo or didn't feel like participating (Pointblank, Skullgrin, Stunticons, etc.) So, now I'm less sure.
> > > I'm not saying Legacy is terrrible, but they're taking on what could be argued as a pinnacle of toy engineering with a constrained budget and it's showing.
> > Yeah, you're not wrong. It feels like we're entering a phase where the designers are getting more ambitious than ever before, but are grappling with increased costs and budgetary concerns. Transformers: Prime was in 2010, and they were able to do gimmicks and things that would be too expensive in today's market. It would almost be better to just revisit those older toys and market them as vintage reissues, and reissue them at a premium cost like they're doing with Beast Wars. (This is probably also the reason why we're never going to get neo-G1 toys with functional gimmicks like Triggerbots/Triggercons or Powermasters. Not without driving the prices up even more, anyway.)
> >
> >
> > Zob (Deluxe toys are slowly creeping towards $30—can you feel it?)
> Hasbro, if you're listening, the trick is to do what the 3P/"4P" companies do - stick random diecast in everything. Sure, it may unbalance the figure and lead to loose joints and breakage down the line, but it will feel premium in hand.
>
> If anyone remembers, Beats by Dre headphones used to be incredibly popular, often cited for its "premium" feel. Turns out they were just sticking random pieces of metal inside...
>
> "Adding some heft...can give a consumer the impression that they’re holding something that’s sturdy and premium"
>
> “One way to do this cheaply is to make some components out of metal in order to add weight.”
>
> Other ways they save money?
> "...the use of snaps and glue in place of screws..."and the almost exclusive use of injection molded plastic, “which is essentially free at high volumes”
>
> https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/beats-by-dre-headphones-teardown-finds-metal-parts-included-just-to-add-weight/
My work gave me a set of $300 Beats headphones to promote them, and the headband broke in the first 60 days. The sound wasn't that great either.