01834: Stop Riding Dinobots, Please?

All Hail Grimlock - Matt Frank / Thomas Deer Botcon 2014 Print

The irony is not lost on me that given 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the Transformers franchise, one that will always be very near and dear to my heart, and yet this is also a time when I'm feeling most annoyed by the decisions Hasbro has been making. Sure, they've maintained the Generations line of toys for us older collectors and Takara continues to release interesting figures for the Masterpiece line, but the core product that Hasbro is focused on is rater insulting.

The main movie-related toyline involves a lot of toys that are being "simplified" (Read: dumbed down) in order to appeal to younger audiences. This was announced some time back and now we're starting to see the results of this change in strategy and I feel bad for the kids who aren't being challenged to step up to the plate and learn how these toys work. That was always one of the most brilliant aspects of the Transformers as a toyline - the diversity but also the learning needed to get used to a new figure. Going through the manual and transforming a Transformer toy for the first time is practically a sacred ritual - a coming of age of childhood geekery. And Hasbro is taking that away from the kids of today.

And then there's the latest movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction. We're finally going to see the Dinobots in action, but we're going to see them through the filter that is Michael Bay. And it seems from all the trailers and the toys that have been released thus far, there's a bit emphasis on using the Dinobots as mounts. Instead of them being the embodiment of raw destructive power barely aligned with good, now they're being turned into horses - savage steeds to help the Autobots face the latest invasion from space.

And I really, really like Grimlock. He's my second-favorite Transformer next to Soundwave.

But we make the most of things, I suppose. At least the franchise is still alive and there's still something to celebrate an anniversary for. It may not be perfect, but I'm still having fun. And at least more movie-related toys means less Transformers spending for me. I wouldn't mind saving a bit more.