Transformers are actually pretty good toys...

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Cliffjumper
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Transformers are actually pretty good toys...

Post by Cliffjumper »

For all my bitching about the lack of a Deluxe Dino or MP Smokescreen's shit decals the past few months have been a bit of a perspective check in terms of how good the line is for kids... For those who don't know I have a two-year old and she latched onto a bunch of AoE Dinobots Denyer set me. Even though the transformations are beyond her she loves them in both modes and even as plain action figures they're so much better than so many toys out there... You'd be amazed how few other lines have the sort of things we take as granted on TF figures, like plain balance or even being able to do simple actions. And the things are crazy durable too - not a single breakage (even if she is pretty good with them for a toddler), even on the rubber bits.

Compared to a lot of branded Disney/Pixar/Peppa Pig/Paw Patrol/Barbie etc. stuff which can't move, can't stand, can't do basic stuff like sitting down, Transformers are pretty damn good.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Yeah, they're mostly decent designs. I'd be a bit iffy about Swoop, perhaps, but even a KO Slash (the only one that absence induced any fondness for, so I figured why not) survived an international trip stuffed into a jiffy bag with no other padding.

Plus the bright colours were a good choice by Hasbro, IMO.

What I'm curious about is who's buying the rubbish downsized Marvel 2.5" figures. They're basically pound shop toys with insane markup. Our generation's Happy Meal toys were substantially better than a lot of what's currently on shelves, and that's not just crotchety hyperbole.
Cliffjumper
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Yeh, the Bay nerd in me would love some gunmetal Dinobots but they made exactly the right choice (if nothing else they'd be a nightmare for parents with all the similar names).

Swoop actually seems to be a favourite, possibly because like most Swoops (and weirdly/fittingly Divebombs) his robot mode is a lanky version of his Dinobot mode so she can do half of him.

And yeh, Happy Meal toys is about right for a lot of her Frozen stuff, and for Despicable Me, but at ever-increasing prices. The toy industry just seems in a particular hurry to cash in as quickly as possible for anything that gets any sort of traction now. Some of it is basically cake decoration level.

This set is probably about the best of the Frozen ones - they're about 3-4 inches, the two female figures are effectively scaled-down cheap Barbies that don't really stand, all just have basic hip and shoulder rotation (except Sven the reindeer, who's a literal statuette and Olaf the snowman, whose head rotates), the blond chap (Kristoff) has leg articulation that's blocked by his rubber tunic and the other fella (Hans) has his arms in a weird pose. All with rubbery plastic that doesn't break but looses shape quickly and no ability to hold any sort of accessory. And that's what's meant to be a 'prestige' set for what, IIRC, is the most successful kids' film ever. They're actually objectively more primitive figures than the original Star Wars line.

I get that the toy industry is facing a losing battle with smartphones and oil prices but the low quality you get for the price really isn't helping matters. I'm guessing it's a music industry situation where everyone's gone "Well, we're ****ed, let's enjoy the ride!".
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Ryan F
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Post by Ryan F »

Back in the day, I was a bit of a movie-line completist (I even had a Vardia Starscream and clear legends Bumblebee), and although I moved most of it on (except Buster Prime, natch), I made a point of keeping all my Gravity Bots. My little nephew is only three, and he absolutely loves those things, more so than any Rescue Bot I've tried to foist on him at Christmas.

Also, I won't hear a bad word said about Paw Patrol. There are various levels of pup toys, from inarticulate bricks to the ones with the joints and the flip-out backpacks. The Paw Patroller truck play set is ace, too.
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Thunderwave
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Post by Thunderwave »

A good friend of ours has a young son that we foisted all my son's old Go-Bots (the toddler Transformers) onto a few years ago. They put up a video on Facebook of him getting them and I swear the kid about died from excitement.
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