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SpikeMcclane posted:The majority of their games are rushed and crappy media tie ins, typically for cartoons. I think you just named all of their good games that weren't just ports/remakes of an existing good game. The point I was making wasn't that they're a bad developer, but that they aren't given enough time to make a good game when it's a tie in.
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Jun 4, 2014 04:04
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Wayforward is consistently one of the only active game developers that actually give a poo poo about making anything good, even if it is licensed, so seeing somebody say "Oh man it's Wayforward it's gotta suck" is honestly mind boggling.
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Jun 4, 2014 06:07
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I'm glad this thread exists. Age of extinction toy sales were mistakenly reported to be "50% lower" than dark of the moon sales at around this time of the year by the NY Post, but apparently the newspaper article didn't mention the reason being shelf-space. Never to miss an opportunity to show why mankind will destroy itself, the tfw geewuns threw an awesome fit at the thread RodimusZero posted:I hope this is a stiff lesson to Hasbro that putting the ship on cruise control and throwing out crap to save your own bacon that no one would possibly want is going to whip back and hit you in the face. If it's that big of a money issue for them cut back on the Titans and utter happy meal poo poo, at least make decent generations figures, raise the price, we'll still buy it, and then you'll get some shelf turnover. Monari posted:This whole "Hasbro can do no wrong" attitude is absolutely infuriating. What more do you need to realize that they just plain screwed up? Not only with TF's but seemingly with the majority of their brands. They're going down the path of quantity over quality, and, guess what? It's ok to call them out on it! Major newspapers are reporting on this for god's sake. If you want to put on blinders and join the Hasbro disciples then go to the Allspark. They have fun, games and lots of bronies. 03Mach1 posted:Speak with our dollars. If the toys are less than desirable, the sales will be down. Hopefully Hasbro/Takara will finally 'hear' our feedback and make appropriate changes. If not, rough waters are ahead.
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Jun 4, 2014 06:27
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These people think they're a consumer force of nature and have some sort of power or control in their lives. 
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Jun 4, 2014 07:08
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ForeverSmug posted:Wayforward is consistently one of the only active game developers that actually give a poo poo about making anything good, even if it is licensed, so seeing somebody say "Oh man it's Wayforward it's gotta suck" is honestly mind boggling. You should go read what I said again, because that's in no way what I said. e: actually, I reread it and I get the problem with what I said because of the order. To be extra clear: I expect it will be crappy because it is most likely horribly rushed. It being wayforward is why I said it had a chance to be good, however they have a track record of being assigned licensed games and not being allowed the necessary time (which is pretty much true of any developer, hence why movie tie ins have such a bad wrap in general). SpikeMcclane fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 07:15
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AOE toys are good. Most of them. Transformations should not be overcomplicated clusterfucks and they all have good to great robot modes that don't look like poo poo.
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Jun 4, 2014 07:17
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ForeverSmug posted:AOE toys are good. Most of them. Transformations should not be overcomplicated clusterfucks and they all have good to great robot modes that don't look like poo poo. "Good to great"? All of them? I'm all for putting the mock on the TFW twits but come on. Slug and Slash are borderline acceptable and I'd say Lockdown and Crosshairs fall more into the "nice try" file. Leader Prime is straight up the worst Leader class movie Prime ever, and the chrome ruins Leader Grimlock. The 8-step and "Smash N Change" stuff is not moving at all and is just going to clog shelves while the stuff both collectors and kids want, the Generations stuff, moves briskly (at this point the only Deluxes left on shelves around here are legions of Crosshairs, which is probably because nobody knows who he is yet since the movie's not out yet). It's becoming pretty clear that nobody, young or old, wants these simplified toys, and at best they're just confusing consumers who don't follow the line obsessively like we do. The Gen Deluxe and 8-stepper packages are so similar that I guarantee a bunch of kids are going to get the wrong Strafe on a regular basis, and just looking at a stocked display there are no less than five Grimlocks staring you in the face (Voyager, Leader, Flip N Change, Titan non-transforming, bigger Titan non-transforming), all of them in packaging almost indistinguishable from one another. Anecdata, but I've seen two kids reject the Flip N Change Grimlock for the Leader twice in the last week or so. This doesn't even include the dead-in-the-water one-step changers and the godawful dino-rider things. Every movie Hasbro tries this offshoot thing with stuff like the Robot Replicas, Cyber Slammers, Fast Action Battlers, Gravity Bots, Power Bots, Go-Bots, Robo Fighters, and on and on, and they sit there forever and never continue, with the exception of FAB continuing into RotF. If they're so short on budget and resources, I don't see why they don't just focus on the product that clearly moves with all segments of the audience. RotF Prime and Jetfire are clearly over the top, but I think most kids 6 and up can handle the typical Deluxe, and the Rescue Bots still exist for much younger kids (and I suspect that line does well in part because it's its own thing and not a "for babies" version of a larger line). While I definitely think it's far too early to be declaring the AoE line a disaster, considering the movie isn't even out yet and the Generations stuff is visibly moving off shelves very well, I certainly understand retailers' hesitation to devote too much shelf space to it. DotM was a tremendously flawed line, and AoE's initial offerings don't indicate that Hasbro learned much from that debacle. Well, they learned to ditch that loving MechTech bullshit, for which I thank them profusely, but beyond that I'm not sure. Keldroc fucked around with this message at 09:50 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 09:46
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Keldroc posted:"Good to great"? All of them? I'm all for putting the mock on the TFW twits but come on. Slug and Slash are borderline acceptable and I'd say Lockdown and Crosshairs fall more into the "nice try" file. Leader Prime is straight up the worst Leader class movie Prime ever, and the chrome ruins Leader Grimlock. The 8-step and "Smash N Change" stuff is not moving at all and is just going to clog shelves while the stuff both collectors and kids want, the Generations stuff, moves briskly (at this point the only Deluxes left on shelves around here are legions of Crosshairs, which is probably because nobody knows who he is yet since the movie's not out yet). I only read like a little bit of that but when I talked about the toys I meant the Generations ones. They're like, little-"t" transformers. The other stuff is Transformer character merchandise. All the Simmonds are good. Leader Prime may not have as many moving parts but he has a better character design than the others. Most of the cars and Galvatron aren't that great though. e: My phone autocorrects "dinobots" to "Simmomds." I'm leaving it.
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Jun 4, 2014 10:07
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It's just Hasbro forgetting that the number 1 gimmick of a Transformer should be that it Transforms.
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Jun 4, 2014 10:20
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ForeverSmug posted:All the Simmonds are good. The problem with Leader Prime isn't moving parts so much as the entire truck ending up as a backpack. Shellforming is not inherently bad, as any fan of the PRiD Vehicon knows, but they didn't even try on Prime. Even Galvatron, as plain bleh grey plastic as he is, shows more innovation in the way the truck cab collapses on his back, and he's a size smaller. I can't call Slash good with that robot mode. The other four are good, mostly, but should and could have been great with a little more effort put in. Or even just actual elbows and wrist swivels put in. It's hard to complain just because we're finally getting a full Dinobot team (plus two extra, even) after all these years, but some of these guys have issues that were solved in the drat Beast Era.
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Jun 4, 2014 12:10
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As far as why Hasbro doesn't focus exclusively on toys of the ilk of Generations (putting an umbrella around any decently complex and quality toy): um, it's a business? I don't want to be pedantic here, and I apologize if I'm coming off that way, but it's really that simple. It's a business. When you're running a successful business, the worst thing you can do is put all your eggs in one basket. What happens if you've dedicated your entire Transformers budget to collector's item toys that no one buys? Wouldn't it be better to spread that money around to lots of different types of audiences for the hopes of a wider range of money coming in? I mean, if you're going to move blame on anybody, put it on advertising. From a production standpoint, it's a very good idea. At the same time, I would imagine that the profits from those other non-collector type-merch are driving prices for the collector stuff down. So you would see maybe a 15-20% increase in the quality of the toys and then a HUGE mark-up on price, if that's the only thing they're selling. My guess would be sort of like what happens with Gundam, but I don't know. Edit: Also I think that it's important to understand that as collectors we are basically at their mercy, and never the other way around. Our fanaticism gives them the ability to experiment with new toy types, because they can count on our money no matter what. Captain Magic fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 15:39
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I think one of their bigger missteps is putting the punch action feature guys in drat near identical packaging to the Generations ones. Also I'm all for gimmicky simplified transformations. The ROTF fast action battlers were pretty neat (I got Ironhide and Starscream for cheap at Ross) and the Gravity Bots are a hoot. Watching videos for the new flip-change Grimlock, it's a pretty slick gimmick. Not enough to make me buy it at full retail, but it still makes me say "hah, that's neat". If I were a kid and I'd gotten that as a gift or whatever, I'd be messing with it non stop.
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Jun 4, 2014 17:19
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I almost grabbed Swoop twice because the packaging is all identical across all the gimmicks, it's kinda crazy that they don't use something like Cokes color branding - One step changers are mostly silver with some red. I'm usually pretty lucky finding retail masterpieces, this time I am going to have to get someone to buy it for me.
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Jun 4, 2014 17:30
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That thread was a pretty good source of transformers.txt, even after they corrected their interpretation of the article.quote:While I definitely think it's far too early to be declaring the AoE line a disaster, considering the movie isn't even out yet and the Generations stuff is visibly moving off shelves very well, I certainly understand retailers' hesitation to devote too much shelf space to it. DotM was a tremendously flawed line, and AoE's initial offerings don't indicate that Hasbro learned much from that debacle. Well, they learned to ditch that loving MechTech bullshit, for which I thank them profusely, but beyond that I'm not sure. While I don't hate DOTM since it still had a lot of cool toys despite its flaws, I totally agree that it wasn't what it could have been, let's say it was for economy reasons or whatever. But I'd say they definitely learned a couple of things, like -as you say- getting rid of the stupid mechtech weapons and including actually cool ones (except Grimlock's retard-o-mace), not using SO MUCH dull grey (Galvatron's the only major offender here), not oversaturating the first waves with yet the same characters again (other than BB and Prime we got new dudes), more color variety and -I think- better materials. I'm enjoying this toyline far better than DOTM and even Prime so far, there's a lot of creativity and the transformations have been interesting. Leader Prime looks like a fun toy actually (much better than the crappy First Edition, and I think you're forgetting the ugly first movie voyager prime), even if he has the base of the truck as a backpack, but I'm sure they'll release a better version down the way, possibly a voyager. Crosshairs I'll fully agree that it's a hate-it-or-love-it thing that depends on you accepting his clearly-car-kibble as a trenchcoat (which works for me). The dinobots are all good I think (sans Leader Grimlock's dino mode, they dropped the ball there). I haven't got Evasion yet. But all that stuff aside, the movie isn't even out yet, all that whine in the thread is completely unwarranted. strangehamster posted:I almost grabbed Swoop twice because the packaging is all identical across all the gimmicks, it's kinda crazy that they don't use something like Cokes color branding - One step changers are mostly silver with some red. This however is completely true. I couldn't believe how similar the boxes were unless you look really close, even if I overall like the new packaging. Another stupid thing is that, if you're gonna package your toys in robot mode, you shouldn't cram them in there mistransformed (or half-transformed in many cases) and in stupid poses! It only makes them look actually worse and ruins the whole point of putting a cool robot in a box!
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Jun 4, 2014 18:17
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http://www.etonline.com/movies/147057_hasbro_transformers_knights_of_unicron_action_figures_comic_con_preview/index.html I have a mighty need of this. Also, I found out round trip bus fare in october is only $30 (and a lifetime stuck on a bus). That's kind of tempting.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:35
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SpikeMcclane posted:http://www.etonline.com/movies/147057_hasbro_transformers_knights_of_unicron_action_figures_comic_con_preview/index.html I have a mighty need of this. Oh lordy, I missed comicon the year they did the exclusive Metroplex, but I'm probably going to go this year... drat. 200 bucks is pretty nuts tho.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:48
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SpikeMcclane posted:http://www.etonline.com/movies/147057_hasbro_transformers_knights_of_unicron_action_figures_comic_con_preview/index.html I have a mighty need of this. Comic Con set is a stand alone exclusive like the botcon ones, it's not part of any existing line for once. I could do without the fake hair though. Now will it sell out within minutes like Metroplex, or will it be up for a bit longer?
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Jun 4, 2014 18:51
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That is so incredibly insane, it's... kinda neat, honestly.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:53
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Blackheart posted:That is so incredibly insane, it's... kinda neat, honestly. Yeah but it looks like you have to remove the fabric bites and re-tie them when you want to transform them. I was kind of afraid the Comiccon set would have been G1 Dinobots using the movie generations molds or Thunderclash or something.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:55
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There's an actual record in that set (looks like it's a 7", so ~10-15 minutes runtime max). Are there actually songs on it? Are they that nuts? I hope so!
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Jun 4, 2014 19:16
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SpikeMcclane posted:There's an actual record in that set (looks like it's a 7", so ~10-15 minutes runtime max). Are there actually songs on it? Are they that nuts? I hope so! Be bitchin' if it was the Lion "Transformers" theme
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Jun 4, 2014 19:18
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It would be bitchin' if it was the 86 soundtrack. INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION  :grimlock101:
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Jun 4, 2014 19:27
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The Rage posted:Be bitchin' if it was the Lion "Transformers" theme I love that version
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Jun 4, 2014 19:50
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The_Doctor posted:I love that version It's great, but the best song on that soundtrack is "Dare" and you ALL KNOW IT!
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Jun 4, 2014 19:54
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SpikeMcclane posted:Also, I found out round trip bus fare in october is only $30 (and a lifetime stuck on a bus). That's kind of tempting. Do it! Is this Greyhound Bus or a MegaBus service?
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Jun 4, 2014 20:00
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I'm so happy I have this guy on preorder, I can't wait.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:01
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Blackheart posted:I'm so happy I have this guy on preorder, I can't wait. Any word on when/if he's due out in game accurate/SDCC colors?
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Jun 4, 2014 20:29
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I'd be interested to see how AoE numbers are once the movie is actually out. The marketing doesn't really emphasize the dinobots or other figures in the line besides the big three, so it's hard to see it cross-selling right now. I can't remember the DoTM marketing at all either.SpikeMcclane posted:Also, I found out round trip bus fare in october is only $30 (and a lifetime stuck on a bus). That's kind of tempting.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:30
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So how is it nobody's mentioned the Macau expo yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjDHAoz5uBo http://kotaku.com/now-this-is-how-you-celebrate-transformers-1585857869 (Yeah yeah I know, only good English link I could find.)
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Jun 4, 2014 20:34
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404GoonNotFound posted:Any word on when/if he's due out in game accurate/SDCC colors? This first version comes with blue Onslaught, but there are extra parts for the combiner feet that make him SDCC-compatible (included free if you preordered with early bird). This month they're supposed to announce their plans concerning repaints/remolds for the Takara, G2 or Wreckers versions. I think the dark blue body looks perfectly OK with the Plat/SDCC parts:  The set also gives Brawl much-needed new feet and hands, and enhances Swindle's torso. It's looking pretty great overall.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:36
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Is it just me or are the guys in the SDCC set have similar color schemes to the G2 Go-Bots? I think Go-Bot soundwave was lime green though so that probably shoots the hole in that, he looks like a Deluxe SoundBlaster with that purple.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:50
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strangehamster posted:Do it! Is this Greyhound Bus or a MegaBus service? MegaBus aka "Why have terminals when you can just stop at a gas station in the area of town that has the most murders?"
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Jun 4, 2014 20:55
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Looking at Scorn, Slug, Grimlock and Strafe, Slash looks like Hasbro let one of the interns design a dinobot. Boy this thing is hideous in 'bot mode.
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Jun 4, 2014 21:17
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Captain Magic posted:As far as why Hasbro doesn't focus exclusively on toys of the ilk of Generations (putting an umbrella around any decently complex and quality toy): um, it's a business? I am very much not ignorant of business, and I know why they do it, but I just wonder why, if they're just going to half-rear end the spinoff merch the way they've done for two movie lines now, why even bother? Why use such confusingly similar packaging? Who at Hasbro has the balls to try and sell those Dino-Rider things to kids for actual money? We've seen with the Rescue Bots line that simplified spinoff stuff can still be quality products that respect their younger audience. So where is that attitude when it comes to the simplified and spinoff stuff for the main line? If they want to diversify the line on the shelves, great, but how about matching the quality of the main line in the process? When you look at stuff like the One-Step Optimus' arms just jutting out the back of the truck cab and that blob of blue plastic with Bumblebee on top that's supposed to be Strafe, it's borderline insulting as a consumer expected to pay the prices they charge. They can do better, even if the toys in question are things I wouldn't buy for my collection. Kids aren't stupid when it comes to this kind of thing, which is one reason I think a lot of those simpler toys sit around, because no kid wants the "for babies" version of a "big kid" toy. In light of this, the confusing packaging almost looks like a planned method of getting the wrong toys in people's hands. I think it's inadvisable business practice. They already hurt the brand's reputation with retailers with DotM, which we felt later in the form of how long it took to get stores to jump on board the TFP train while they still had DotM merchandise to clear out. I was hoping the same thing wouldn't repeat with AOE, but I dunno. I think we're going to be seeing those Titan figures and 8-steppers on the shelf for a long, long time yet. Blackheart posted:Leader Prime looks like a fun toy actually (much better than the crappy First Edition, and I think you're forgetting the ugly first movie voyager prime), even if he has the base of the truck as a backpack, but I'm sure they'll release a better version down the way, possibly a voyager. Crosshairs I'll fully agree that it's a hate-it-or-love-it thing that depends on you accepting his clearly-car-kibble as a trenchcoat (which works for me). The dinobots are all good I think (sans Leader Grimlock's dino mode, they dropped the ball there). I haven't got Evasion yet. I don't think Crosshairs' problem is that he looks bad or people don't like him, it's that nobody knows who he is. If he has a couple of "I'm a laughing badass" scenes in the movie like that guns-akimbo parachute scene in the trailer seems to indicate he does, I expect his toy will stop pegwarming with a quickness. quote:But all that stuff aside, the movie isn't even out yet, all that whine in the thread is completely unwarranted. The most amazing part of that thread is how long it takes anyone to actually make the point that the movie backing the merchandise in question isn't due to be released for three more weeks.
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Jun 4, 2014 21:39
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SpikeMcclane posted:MegaBus aka "Why have terminals when you can just stop at a gas station in the area of town that has the most murders?" I rode Megabus back and forth to Chicago a couple times and it was pretty nice for the $30-60 price, they hardly ever crash* and usually have power sockets § and wi-fi ǂ * there was that one time my friend had a drunk bus driver that got pulled over along the interstate near Iowa city § the power sockets have worked 2/3 of the times ǂ the wi-fi worked about 1/2 the time, but you have a smartphone right?
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Jun 4, 2014 23:04
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Keldroc you have been on an absolute roll, your last 10+ posts have had me nodding the entire time. The panic about summer movie toys not selling well seems pretty silly to me. Rising plastic costs have inflated the cost of action figures. Also, kids today would rather have a bitchin video game than four deluxes or three voyagers. Even if the tie-in toys for AOE were incredible, I don't think they'd be moving as fast as they used to. I'm pretty sure we're going to see non-"adult collector" action figures continue to diminish, if not disappear, within 20 years. But then again, I've been famously wrong many times.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:20
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You have no idea how happy it makes me to see this new era of Keldroc and Nefud in perfect agreement.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:26
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SpikeMcclane posted:You have no idea how happy it makes me to see this new era of Keldroc and Nefud in perfect agreement. This thread is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:37
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I wish Hasbro had kept the Cyberverse line going. I like the little guys and their vehicles/playsets. 
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Jun 4, 2014 23:56
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Xenomrph posted:I wish Hasbro had kept the Cyberverse line going. I like the little guys and their vehicles/playsets. We have Metroplex and Legends class guys with more of both Titan Class and Legends class on the way. But yeah I wish there were more of them than just two legends guys per wave.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:59
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