What if Hasbro kept up with their original policy?

[Professor Smooth]

Not to Hasbro bash, but the original TF line was made up entirely of molds bought from other companies. The idea was, "if it's a robot that turns into something, we'll give you a couple bucks for the rights to the mold." So we got figures that turned into cars, jets, penny-racer type cars, guns, tape recorders, jets that look like something out of a random anime series, a battery operated rocket base, and a set of construction vehicles that turn into a pretty big green guy.

The idea turned out to be profitable and Hasbro, rather than continue to buy up the rights to existing robots, turned to making their own figures.

The results were, arguably, less than stellar.

But what if Hasbro had not gotten the idea in their heads that they could make better figures than ones that were already out there? What if they just kept paying out cash to license other existing robot toys?

What robot toys that have come out since 1984 would have made decent (or excellent) Transformers?

I submit that the Wing Zero gundam would have made a pretty great Decepticon if the paint scheme were heavily modified.

[spiderfrommars]

You mean you didn't like all those plastic toys that transformed into something that looked vaguely like nothing? That was half the fun!

Can't blame Hasbro for forging ahead to give the line its own identity tho...


Weren't Robo Machines cool?