According to Rich Johnson’s Lying in the Gutters column on CBR, a sequel to this summer’s upcoming Transformers film is being planned for 2009…and there is a reason why the designs for the robots are so drastically different from their toy counterparts.

The reason given to licensors as to why the robots look so different in the film is so that hardcore fans will stay loyal and keep buying the old toys, which they’re relaunching, even if they hate the new movie.

Licensing has explicitly stated that companies doing merchandising have to avoid doing anything too similar to the original Transformers line, so as not to mix the two separate and profitable properties.

So they’re evidently planning on treating these like separate properties. I guess the movie is “Ultimate Transformers”.

Shifty…but at least we’ll still get toys that don’t look like crap.

Related posts:

Transformers Movie Toyline coming June 2nd
Transformers (2007) – Review
Transformers: Titanium
Transformers sequel toys incoming
First details of Cartoon Network’s “Transformers: Animated” surface

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