Are there too many toys, or are they poorly designed?

[Sage Shinigami]

This has been on my mind for a while now. The first Sentai series of the nineties was Fiveman, with one gattai robo, one solo robot, and one carrier, with the standard sword/gun, the Fivecannon, power-up armor, their individual weapons, and motorcycles.

GoGoV, though, had three gattai robo, one solo robot, the Fivelaser, V-Mode Brace, GoBlaster, the V-Lance, Lifebird, individual weapons, and a motorcycle.

There was a crapload of toys (and even more robots) then too, but people complained less. But the GrandLiner could do more than stand motionless and the Victory Mars didn't need a freaking platform to ride on.

Likewise, the Max Magma didn't have heads on its knees, shoulders, ankles, or whatever.

So is it REALLY that the there are too many toys...or do the toys just look ridiculous these days? I have to side squarely with the latter, myself.

I watch Super Sentai because it appeals to my inner child (also my Hero self), and my inner child LOVES toys. But when they look as ridiculous as HyperGoseiGreat, I'm disappointed.

 

[musashi03]

Same here, I never liked clusterfucks. I appreciated designs before where even though they are composed of all the existing mechas, they looked good. Now it's just too cartoony...

 

[Forever Knight]

There are too many toys if ur an adult watching the genre. If ur a kid, it's heaven.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

There are too many toys if ur an adult watching the genre. If ur a kid, it's heaven.

And even that's stupid. If you don't like the toys...there are plenty of martial arts flicks for you to watch.

 

[BoukenSilver83]

well i have to agree that they make too many toys, i mean g12 a pain to put together but fun after it's all combined, i wish they made it easier to combine but thats just the way it is.

 

[wyyc]

I'll be a nerd, but selling more toys increases profit margins from economies of scale. So it makes sense why Bandai/Toei's doing this.

Fans who appreciate good design suffer though. Not to mention the designers at Plex; life must suck for them.

Edit: I take back what I said. Gaoranger had many different toys and they were interchangeable, so it shows the designers can come up with good designs. They just got lazy after that. That, and promoting the toys as being able to combine into a clusterfuck might have made kids want to have the full collection more; in the past, most kids would be satisfied after one gattai robo, and Bandai/Toei doesn't want that.

 

[Wing Saber]

I'll be a nerd, but selling more toys increases profit margins from economies of scale. So it makes sense why Bandai/Toei's doing this.

Fans who appreciate good design suffer though. Not to mention the designers at Plex; life must suck for them.

Edit: I take back what I said. Gaoranger had many different toys and they were interchangeable, so it shows the designers can come up with good designs. They just got lazy after that. That, and promoting the toys as being able to combine into a clusterfuck might have made kids want to have the full collection more; in the past, most kids would be satisfied after one gattai robo, and Bandai/Toei doesn't want that.

Especially since they need the money to keep the show afloat. Not to mention that the story itself might not be strong enought to support it.

Before the recession they never had to do this.

 

[Smilodon]

I personally thought that GoGo V's mecha weren't bad. They also didn't have individual weapons. Did the LifeBird split up into the rescue tools?

 

[Pixelphile]

I have no problem with there being "too many toys", but yeah, I'm all about what they do and look like. The whole "clusterfuck gattai" thing used to be a one-off chuckleworthy bonus rather than mandatory.

Gaoranger is an excellent example. Yeah, there were a crapload of toys, but they all combined into really cool looking robots. You could also make crazy designs if you wanted to. Go-Onger has some really cool looking individual robo toys, but if I was a kid and was told to combine them together to look like G9, I'd be scared to cause I know I'd get laughed off the damn playground.

 

[Aoiblue]

I have no problem with there being "too many toys", but yeah, I'm all about what they do and look like. The whole "clusterfuck gattai" thing used to be a one-off chuckleworthy bonus rather than mandatory.

Gaoranger is an excellent example. Yeah, there were a crapload of toys, but they all combined into really cool looking robots. You could also make crazy designs if you wanted to. Go-Onger has some really cool looking individual robo toys, but if I was a kid and was told to combine them together to look like G9, I'd be scared to cause I know I'd get laughed off the damn playground.

^Good Example.