The New York Times have held an interview with Hasbro’s chief executive Brian D. Goldner regarding the Transformers line in which he described the toys have having "lost their magic". Mr Goldner made the statement whilst referring to the complexity of the toys these days compared to earlier incarnations.  “We’ve made incredibly sophisticated robots,” he said, “but it can be like a 1,000-piece puzzle.” he went on to say.

Goldner is quoted as having taking the decision that "the toys needed to return to their roots" and that he challenged the design team to relook at the figures to greatly simplify them.  The result is that some of the figures will now change simply from the push of a button or a "flick of the wrist".

The article also confirmed that the toys will be on show to retailer at the British Toy Fair which takes place this week and that part of the reasoning for the change in the toys was to grant the instant gratification that is sort by children these days who attention span simply does not keep them interested in a more complicated figure.

Joshua Lamb, the senior design director for the brand, is quoted as stating that " “As new designers and engineers continued to work on this brand, it got more complicated,” he said. Hasbro will continue to make complex Transformers for adult fans who have collected the toys since their inception 30 years ago. But the new design is intended to re-engage parents and children, who found the transformations too challenging."

The figures will also be repackaging in a standard brand theme rather than separate sub-brands for say Generations, RescueBots, the Movie figures etc.  According to the Jonathan Newkirk, the creative brand manager for Transformers, the new box design will leave "as much space as possible to celebrate the characters".

You can view an example of one of the new figure in the form of "Smash - Change" Optimus Prime below,