Ongoing Transformers Rumors and Discussion

[THELEGOBATMAN]

If you needed any more proof, a retailer just confirmed this set's existence.

https://www.eugenetoyandhobby.com/products/leg10302?_pos=1&_sid=0dedd4769&_ss=r&variant=42491568390357

[BrickBob Studpants]

1 hour ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

If you needed any more proof, a retailer just confirmed this set's existence.

https://www.eugenetoyandhobby.com/products/leg10302?_pos=1&_sid=0dedd4769&_ss=r&variant=42491568390357

We knew that, because electricbricks had an unknown licensed set listed under that set number and price as well  This doesn’t confirm the rumour

[MatthewRC]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:32 AM, Eaglefan344 said:

I really hope this does well. I can't imagine them ever doing a g1 Megatron but Soundwave, Bumblebee and Starscream would be possible. 

I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Beast Wars characters get the LEGO treatment, specifically Optimus Primal, Megatron (T-rex), Dinobot, etc.

[Lady Bone Demon]

they do like one a year is my guess if this isnt just a one-off. i just dont really know how this partnership works at all, logistically in either company's favor. 

like according to the tfw2005 forums, and ill just copy and paste the quote from apollux here, the transformers team has done research into this specific thing before:

Quote

The TF team have commissioned a lot of market research into this over the years, and the outcome was that for kids at least it's a disastrous idea.

Kids love LEGO.
Once they know they can find your franchise in that ecosystem, you can pretty much say good bye to them purchasing from the mainline.

Be interested to see how this turns out, if Hasbro aren't careful and go all in on licensing to LEGO they could see significant cannibalisation.

E.g. Hasbro's share of Star Wars toys dropped from something like 70% pre LEGO to I think about 25-30% now....

maybe it's because it'll be an adult 18+ set thats way out of a average kid's price range maybe it's fine in this particular instance? im really curious on the technical aspects of this deal.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Lady Bone Demon
adding link

[VBBN]

6 hours ago, Lady Bone Demon said:

they do like one a year is my guess if this isnt just a one-off. i just dont really know how this partnership works at all, logistically in either company's favor. 

like according to the tfw2005 forums, and ill just copy and paste the quote from apollux here, the transformers team has done research into this specific thing before:

maybe it's because it'll be an adult 18+ set thats way out of a average kid's price range maybe it's fine in this particular instance? im really curious on the technical aspects of this deal.

Star Wars is a poor point of comparison because it is not a Hasbro property, it's Lucasfilms. The market may have been dominated by hasbro & their acquisition of Kenner at one time, but as SW has grown, so too have the massive number of companies that LF licenses with, Lego and even Mattel included, it is not really accurate to compare pre and post Lego SW as many other brands entered the marketplace around that time .

Assuming this post has a fragment of source to back it up, sure Hasbro may have come to the conclusion that partnering with Lego was detrimental previously, but there is a reason companies invest in continual research; things change. Hasbro has been heavily diversifying lately, especially in products that may not necessarily be competitors to their own. For example, Threezero makes high quality non-transformable figures with diecast, impressive paint and articulation, and higher price tags. If these figures could transform, then there would be an issue, as these would be in competition to Hasbro's masterpiece line of figures. However, by partnering with Threezero in this capacity, they suddenly attract the consumers such as myself who prefer high end collectibles like Hot Toys, Sideshow etc, that do not necessarily want the transformation hindered toys that Hasbro produces.

By comparison, brick built Transformers aren't going to cannibalize Hasbro's sales. Using the example above, the sale of a brick built Optimus prime is not likely to replace the potential sale of an assembled Optimus toy. Someone who has a TF Generations collection is not going to replace a figure with a brick built alternative that is visually completely different. Someone who enjoys buildable figures but not typical action figures, though, may enjoy the Lego figure more, gaining Hasbro a sale that they wouldn't have captured through their normal toylines. They themselves produced three different buildable series (BTR, Kreo, ConstructBots) that spanned 9 years, it is quite clear their research proved that there was untapped market potential in the buildable figures area. But Hasbro does not have the patents, the infrastructure, the engineering, and most importantly the marketing and branding (keep in mind what I am talking about here is within the buildable figures market, specifically, this is very important to distinguish.) Partnering with Lego provides a lot of advantages in these areas and if this relationship is real, it's likely that the savings Hasbro can realize from outsourcing buildable figures to Lego is worth the profits they are seeking from this market - meaning this: Would Hasbro make as much money on the sale of a Lego Optimus set as they would if they created their own in-house buildable Optimus? On the surface, the income of an in-house product goes directly to Hasbro. But how much did they have to spend on creating that product that is fundamentally different from anything else they create? How much do they have to spend to get people to search "KreO" over Lego? What about shelf space? I never saw Kreo in stores, and even Mega Construx is fighting to gain more space after many years. And while many people in the company are talented at making a figure convert from a car to a robot, it's not likely that Hasbro has the knowledgebase to engineer figures that could transform effectively, stay durable, and survive other playtesting that companies like Lego already invest heavily in within its workforce. 

[The Outsider]

On 2/14/2022 at 12:17 AM, TurnOffTheDark said:

they'd most likely do his G2 green and purple tank form

Actually, given LEGO's own track record with their in-house themes like Ninjago and Exo-Force, any tank form is plausible provided it's futuristic/not-realistic enough. Or they could go the Movie/Prime route and give him an alien jet mode.

On 2/15/2022 at 2:53 PM, MatthewRC said:

I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Beast Wars characters get the LEGO treatment, specifically Optimus Primal, Megatron (T-rex), Dinobot, etc.

As someone introduced to Transformers by Beast Wars, I second that. Might be a bit tricky, though - LEGO action figures tend to be better as mechanical or at least fully armored characters.

[TurinTheGreat]

I lurk a lot on tfw2005, and two super reliable, perhaps most reliable when it comes to toy leaks, Apollux and Catz, said the leak is legit, they heard about it at Hasbro and that it is happening, if they say it, and promobricks said it. I don't think Hasbro leakers would be wrong on this if it were a fake leak stunt from Lego. 

[MatthewRC]

3 hours ago, TurinTheGreat said:

I lurk a lot on tfw2005, and two super reliable, perhaps most reliable when it comes to toy leaks, Apollux and Catz, said the leak is legit, they heard about it at Hasbro and that it is happening, if they say it, and promobricks said it. I don't think Hasbro leakers would be wrong on this if it were a fake leak stunt from Lego. 

As Beast Wars Megatron would say, “Excellent, yeeesssssss!”

[Vindicare]

It seems to be based on the movie, given he comes with a jet pack...which I’m kinda happy about. If if were G1 it would be a for sure buy. I already have enough to buy this year, but still, it could be a maybe. I’m very excited to see him nonetheless. I know they’re going to kill it, they’ve been making some amazing mechs lately. 

[Scarilian]

I think its fairly logical honestly, the timing would have originally lined up near the planned release of Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts which is clearly trying to appeal with some level of nostalgia with the characters included and it's setting leads to the likelyhood of G1 inspired designs definitely along the lines of Bumblebee where they are trying to target a younger demographic also to start a new franchise.

In terms of what is needed for a Transformation, Optimus is probably the easiest so makes sense as the first and probably only Lego transformers figure, pretty much just needs to be able to have the legs bend 90 degrees and the arms bend backwards. It probably won't be overtly complicated and that could be a benefit as it'd allow people to modify the set more.

I expect it to lack a lot of detailing, this will definitely be built with the intent that a younger fan is going to want to Transform this over and over again. The piece count is fairly low considering it will include a jetpack and a weapon which will probably be his sword or axe (as Lego would want to avoid a gun). In terms of which version they base things off, it's probably going to be based on his appearance in Bumblebee and presumably Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts - which is effectively an updated G1 version of his design.

 

 

[TurinTheGreat]

I can see DnD to happen in 2023 if the Hasbro team up is real because they are making a movie, it wrapped filming long ago. 

[Lion King]

6 hours ago, TurinTheGreat said:

I can see DnD to happen in 2023 if the Hasbro team up is real because they are making a movie, it wrapped filming long ago. 

And I hope they do Power Rangers eventually.

[eldiano]

We got a Voltron, don’t know why an Optimus Prime figure wouldn’t be that far fetched, now the question is wether or not it will come with the trailer or just the Cab.  

[Nearlyheadlessbrick]

29 minutes ago, eldiano said:

We got a Voltron, don’t know why an Optimus Prime figure wouldn’t be that far fetched, now the question is wether or not it will come with the trailer or just the Cab.  

The far fetched part is that Hasbro, a rival toy company, is licensing Transformers to Lego, not the idea of a transforming Lego robot.

[MatthewRC]

 The preliminary packaging concept has been shared on TFW2005’s forums!

[NoOneOfImportance]

4 minutes ago, MatthewRC said:

 The preliminary packaging concept has been shared on TFW2005’s forums!

It's just the black box with a red 18+ border at this point, for those who are wondering. 

[MatthewRC]

1 minute ago, NoOneOfImportance said:

It's just the black box with a red 18+ border at this point, for those who are wondering. 

I know.

[Mattallica]

On 3/7/2022 at 10:46 AM, Nearlyheadlessbrick said:

The far fetched part is that Hasbro, a rival toy company, is licensing Transformers to Lego, not the idea of a transforming Lego robot.

for what its worth Hasbro has licensed transformers to rival toy company diamond select toys to produce minimates figures.

so its not at all far fetched that they may also license it out to the largest construction toy company just to get quality product of their property out to consumers, they(hasbro) tried their hand at construction toys themselves and they werent good at it, so maybe stick to what they are good at. and let lego do transformers?

 

[HatBricks]

Promobricks posted an update to their story saying the release will be June, which seems to originate from the same image as the preliminary package.

The bad news being it's a month later (not really that bad news, I'm happy to wait a month) and the good news being that thre is confirmation (or as close as a leak can be) that it is coming on this year and not postponed like the movie it might be based on.

[TurinTheGreat]

I cannot believe it is actually happening... 

Edited March 11, 2022 by TurinTheGreat

[Mattallica]

if you need any further proof as to why Hasbro might team with Lego check out what happened when Hasbro let Forever Clever make GI Joe building sets.

 

https://www.foreverclever.com/copy-of-my-little-pony

[RedHoodPug]

9 hours ago, Mattallica said:

if you need any further proof as to why Hasbro might team with Lego check out what happened when Hasbro let Forever Clever make GI Joe building sets.

 

https://www.foreverclever.com/copy-of-my-little-pony

 they’re terrible! Having the comparative image just makes it worse. It reminds me of the nailed it meme. Forever Clever. They need a talking to from Trade Descriptions.

[danth]

How am I just now seeing this?

I'm down for an Optimus Prime if it's G1 style.

As for Hasbro possibilities...buildable Snake Eyes? :)

[Kenobi-X-Grievous-Shipper]

 i have a friend who would love this!!!, i’m guessing from what people are saying that we don’t yet know which version of him it’ll be??? 

[HatBricks]

26 minutes ago, Kenobi-X-Grievous-Shipper said:

 i have a friend who would love this!!!, i’m guessing from what people are saying that we don’t yet know which version of him it’ll be??? 

The speculation is that he'll be based off the design from the new movie (since it was originally suppose to release this year), but the movie design is based on G1, so it seems likely it would look G1 inspired. Though that is merely speculation and no details are confirmed.