June 2009 - Each month, Hasbro will answer several questions about their Transformers products. Here are the latest questions and answers:
1. After 25 years of Transformers figures, many are surprised (and a bit disappointed) that the Supreme Class Devestator's gestalt parts have no individual robot modes, and are only able to transform into the vehicles and the respective parts needed to create the combined form. Was there anything in particular that kept Devastator from being engineered like his predecessors before him?
Answer: While we do not share the disappointment that some fan's might feel for Devastator, we can appreciate the question. As a whole we are very excited about this item and feel it truly delivers on magic that Revenge of the Fallen creates.
Simply stated, the silhouette and stance of Devastator in the film required that we move away from traditional combination play in order to maintain the closest character accuracy possible in the toy. While this treatment was required to produce Devastator, this does not mean or dictate the future of how we will handle combiners.
2. Before facts were cemented about the Devastator figure, a lot of people were speculating what the hooks are for on the back of the voyager class Demolisher figure, helping to fuel the early impressions that the deluxe and voyager class versions would combine to create the final form. Now that it's not the case, what exactly are they for then???
Answer: While we are not quite sure what "hooks" you are referring to on Demolishor, we will take a stab at hopefully answering your question. In the back of Demolishor when he is in vehicle mode, he has two appendages that actually are part of the toy design for his robot mode. These appendages are used for the tread transformation in robot mode. Needless to say, without complete treads, the robot mode would not look aesthetically correct.
Additionally, for both Deluxe and Voyager items we did not design these toys to be able to combine together, so this hopefully clears up any confusion out there.
3. The days following the last Q&A found many TF fans reeling at the sudden cancellation notices posted by e-tailers for future Animated figures. While the fate of Soundwave(blaster) and Arcee have been somewhat addressed by the TF Club and early reports at the very least confirm some kind of existance of new figures like flashback Ratchet and Blackout, there hasn't seemed to be any indicator as to what the fate of Hydro Jet Bumblebee will be. It was the first of the new figures to be shown off, and even had some e-tailers list it for pre-order. With the status of the other figures, will we still be seeing this new Bumblebee figure released alongside the Grimlock repaint it was shown off with?
Answer: There are several unreleased Animated figures that have been shown at various events or in publications over the past few months. We realize there is a lot of excitement surrounding these characters and will try to bring as many to market as possible over the next year, either as part of the existing mainline assortments or as exclusives. We cannot offer details as to where or when, but they will find their way out.
