M'Kyuun

I actually own a G1 Jetfire that I bought at a second-hand toy store in Pittsburgh nigh twenty years ago before vintage Transformers really became sought after. I believe I paid $120 for it, still with its original box with styrofoam insert and all accessories. Unfortunately, the stickers were not well placed and in attempting to remove one of them from the inner leg, to my extreme horror and dismay, the paint came off with it. I had a set of Reprolabels that I was going to apply, but after that paint came off, I just put it back in its box and it's been in storage ever since. I also, roughly 20 years ago, bought an actual 1/55 rerelease VF-1A, IIRC. So, to answer your question, I like the Chunky Monkey; it's an anachronistic toy now, but when I bought the aforementioned toys, we still didn't have many good VF-1 options, and to Takatoku's credit, it was a solid toy with decent articulation even at that time, let alone in the 80s. Heck, I still treasure my G1 Soundwave and his cassettes, and I kept him with my CHUG collection until I bought Netflix Soundwave just a few years ago. I still keep my G1 cassettes on display, as I think they're still superior to the WFC/Legacy/SS86 cassettes. They may be flat, but they make for more convincing cassettes and the animal modes still have better articulation than the modern HasTak versions, not to mention looking the parts better, IMHO. I LOVE the cassette minions, be they Autobot or Decepticon, and IMHO, the new shrunken versions represent glaring failures among the otherwise overall well-done modern official G1 updates. I pin my hopes on Dr. Wu to hopefully remedy that situation. To clarify my stance, I don't hate the G1 toys; they were a new, cool idea, and the execution was a bit primitive. With Diaclone, it seems to me that the vehicle modes were the primary focus (making them look like real-world vehicles) and the robot modes, being the gimmick, were done as well as they felt they needed to be to get the point across. I doubt they thought we'd still be talking about them and collecting them 40+ years on. They were made for kids, and most toys have a pretty short shelf life in kids' attention span. It just so happens that we got hooked by the story that Marvel cooked up for them and the rest is history. I was thirteen when Transformers debuted, so already a little older than the target audience, but still in range. But I loved robots and sci-fi. the transformation concept was earth-shattering to me- robots were already the coolest thing on Earth, but robots that could change seamlessly into realistic looking vehicles and stuff like the Walkman and its cassettes, which also could transform!- I was enrapt from the get-go. Likewise with Gobots, but I found the cheesiness of the toon coupled with the lesser complex toys less appealing than the TF toys and more mature toned toon. (speaking of first season). However, even at thirteen and on into my later teens and early twenties, I was disenchanted with most TF toys due to their limited articulation, primarily, and simplicity. Like most TF fans today, I wanted my bots to look, mostly, like they did on tv, albeit in my case, with a little more surface and mechanical details carried over with or from the alt mode. Articulation has always been my sticking point, and while they're getting better, I'd still like to see stuff like wrist rotation, ankles that pitch fore and aft, and opening hands (like they did with SS86 prime and Megs) become standard points among all size classes. Doubt it'll happen, but I can hope. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with where we're at right now with the Hasbro mainline toys including SS86. We need better cassettes (can't foot stomp that enough), a new improved Astrotrain with complete and realistic looking alt modes, as well as a new Blitzwing that manages the kibble better for better tank and jet modes, especially the latter. Takara is notorious for making crappy jet modes, so that's a big ask and I hope eventually they'll actually come through.

As a Geewunner who was less than impressed with these toys back when they were new, I'm always at a loss to understand their appeal when we now have vastly improved versions of them at virtually every scale. I guess nostalgia is a primary driver, but from my POV, I'd rather have a modern version with full articulation over the old 80s bricks. Except for the cassettes, which remain pretty cool, for the most part. I haven't been too impressed with the WFC Siege/Kingdom, Legacy, SS86 scaled versions, except, ironically, Eject, the best of the smaller scaled cassettes. I keep hoping Dr. Wu will eventually produce improved versions of all the main character cassettes, as Takara's takes have been less than lackluster. Well, SS86 Rumble/Frenzy was almost excellent except for the lack of elbows- how hard would it have been to split the arm and give one half a ball joint and the other a socket? So close to good, but not. SS86 Steeljaw looks like a Pomeranian, Ravage is severely compromised, the WFC Condors are ok except for the oddly shaped weapon packs, all three of the SS86 Soundwave cassettes look like steps backward in design. If you're a cassette fan like me, there's much to be desired with Has/Tak's modern takes.

Yeah, the thing is shaky from the very start and the techs are hovering very closely to it, so yes, it does appear that they were expecting failure more than success. Given the brutal and face-saving nature of the Soviet govt, I do feel concern for the folks who worked on this, as it's a very public embarrassment, and they likely will pay heavy penalties for it. And while we've seen the maturation of this technology from Japan, China, and US companies, it's ultimately not easy and they are likely working with small budgets, stolen hardware/software, minimal resources, and lots of unwelcome oversight and pressure. That said, it was pretty funny on first viewing. I just showed it to my wife, but with these thoughts in mind, it was a bit more sobering.

The Boston Dynamics guys are all wiping huge beads of sweat from their foreheads-NOT! I like how the robot was still shambling after its faceplant- like an old wind-up toy. The sheet of shame came a bit too late. 🤣 Nice of the Russian censors to allow this bit of failure to go out unto the world.

Oh, totally agree. I'm neither a fan of partsforming nor faux parts for the sake of matching some idealized artistic rendition rife with liberties taken. For me, that was the main charm of the Gobots cartoon; however cheesy and kiddified, I loved the fact that the transformations mirrored the actual toys, and of course, the toys, as simple as they were, by and large utilized the alt mode bits to a great extent in informing the bot modes. Diaclone, and Transformers thereafter, did so to, to a large extent, although there were characters like Prowl and Jazz whose arms were simply tucked away and had no part of the alt mode. But I love that old simple approach of using what the alt mode gives you to inform the robot mode and the transformation. I think that principle, too, is what endears the Macross designs to me, as well as the vast majority of the designs being very realistic looking fighters. It's a winning twofer! In the right hands, with talent, passion for the old toys, and a desire to expand, I think it would be a fantastic line of toys with endless possibilities and also a great source of nostalgia. Additionally, as I mentioned, a nice coffee table book full of well-curated unused transforming robot/mecha concepts over the decades starting at least with the late 70s onwards would be the bee's knees and perhaps provide fuel for a fledgling Convertors II line as well. I can dream.

I've known about the Beetras art for some time now, but seeing it again always fills me with wonder at how much transforming robot art is really out there, as I'm sure, especially during the genre's heights in the 80s, there must have been numerous concepts with only a fraction of them ever leaving the sketchpad, easel, etc to be made into toys or models. All that unknown, unused art would make for a great book. More than Transformers, I love the very concept of transforming robots, especially when the alt modes are highly relatable in their realism (of course, I happily set aside this preference for such as the Dinobots, the Insecticons, or something like Skyfire). The dreamer in me would love to see so many of those unknown concepts come to light, and for some enterprising company(ies) to make toys or models out of them. The Convertors line was cool in that regard, as they took transforming robot designs from numerous sources, scaled them all to match, and made a fairly decent range of inexpensive toys. With the cost of everything now, replicating that would be far more challenging, but I'd happily welcome a Convertors II line that essentially updated all their old toys while adding new ones. That said, I can't say we're not spoiled for choice right now, especially with all the third party and independent companies churning out transforming robots at a good clip. I just think it'd be neat to see what could have been back in the day.

Not Silverbolt, but certainly empathetic to his cause. I was, in fact, thinking of Blackarachnia, although her alt is an arachnid, not an insect. Guess I'll amend my post to say "robo-arthropod" as a catch-all for our multilegged friends.

Hey now, labels are hurtful! Who's to say a bot who just so happens to have a robo-arthropod alt mode wouldn't or couldn't be good?

I'd love to see the whole lot get updates. Since they essentially copied the Takatoku Cicada design with nary a fuss from Bandai, I don't see what's keeping them from creating new molds of at least the other three Deluxe Insecticons, although I wouldn't complain if they went beyond that and made some new Deluxe Insecticons based on these designs including that ladybug. I'd be in for all of them.

As it should be, as much of the story is told from the creature's perspective, an uncharacteristically cynical and sympathetic POV that points out man's inhumanity towards others, especially those who are different regardless of their potentially intelligent and kind natures. The creature ironically becomes a monster by learning from his creator and those who would harm or kill him for being different. Joseph Merrick is a real-world example, although his intelligence and kindness were eventually recognized and he was treated kindly for a few years prior to his untimely death. Unlike Shelley's creature, Merrick, despite a life of adversity and mistreatment, seemed to bear no grudges.

I'd be the last to disagree; however, as in the case of the absolutely terrible Eragon film based on Chris Paolini's novel, all too often writers, directors, producers, studios, etc want to deviate from the good written sources and put their own spins, generally to the detriment of the resultant films/tv shows. Not always, but I'd say more often than not. I don't understand why you'd option a popular or award-winning book and then make serious changes to the narrative, to characters, etc such that the final film/show can only be considered as "loosely based" due to the myriad changes. When the source is well-regarded and recognized as such, I'd rather the production stick to it as much as possible when translating it into film or show. To your point, though, there are many, many pieces of literature across various genre which deserve translations into some other form of audio/visual media. It just takes the right people with the love of the material and the vision to carry out those translations.

TBF, it's a great story if writers/directors stick to Mary Shelley's narrative instead of interpolating their own ideas, changing endings, or otherwise change things that make the creature and his relationship to his creator so engaging in the first place. There's a reason the story has endured- Mary wrote a bestseller that continues to enthrall to this day. I may have to give my copy a reread, as it's been a while since I read it last. Anyway, I haven't watched it yet, but I've been anticipating it, as it looked to follow Shelley's story closely, at least judging by the trailers. I hope it doesn't disappoint on that front (haven't read any spoilers).

Regarding the last sentence, I couldn't disagree more. My copy finally arrived today, and I'm quite impressed with how well executed he is. If their aim was to shrink the OG toy while improving articulation, Takara understood the assignment and followed through admirably IMHO. Would it have objectively improved the figure's playability had they allowed the wings to swing back out of the way in bot mode? Absolutely, and I wish that had been their one main departure from the OG design. Additional joints to allow the wings to camber would have also been appreciated too, but the wings are serviceable as-is. As it stands, however, I think this is one of their best Insecticon releases, along with the legends scaled Titans Return Insecticons which had more realistic insect modes than their G1 toys. I love robotic insects, so the nearer they are to the source, the more pleasing I find them. I still find the OG Insecticons charming (coming from Diaclone, they were more insect shaped vehicles than actual robotic insects); however, originating in the short-lived Armored Insect Corps Beetras toyline, designed by Shinji Aramaki who also wanted bots with more realistic insect modes after seeing Takara's Diaclone toys, there were four toys realized which Hasbro used for its Deluxe Insecticons. Aramaki-sensei created seven additional designs, but according to the TF Wiki, none of them went beyond the prototype stage. Unfortunately, Takatoku folded, Bandai acquired their Beetras and Dorvack toylines, and Hasbro acquired the rights to use those toys in Transformers. A taste of what might've been. A planned second series included a hornet, spider, and dragonfly. Speaking to the shoulders: it takes a little tug, but they do click into place. I love how the arms compress and then the shoulders further compress into the body. If they can pull it off with a deluxe, I'm left wondering why they couldn't do the same thing with SS86 Swoop at a leader scale and price point, which would be accurate to the OG toy. I love that Venom (let's just agree to dispense with the official "Venin" name) has articulated legs on ball joints which look realistic and allow for some limited posing in his cicada mode. The wings can be positioned open or closed, another nice touch of realism. In short, I think they did a great job with him and it only makes me want the other Deluxe Insecticons to get their own deluxe scaled, articulation-improved OG-toy-faithful figures instead of the repainted and retooled regular Insecticons that we actually got. I can only hope that there's sufficient interest by the fandom and that Hasbro is aware and willing to turn them into plastic playthings.

I still prefer the greater detail on the Netflix figure. I dislike the leftover arm kibble from his Siege 'spaceship' mode, and I wish they'd retooled his arms for the Netflix release, but otherwise, I still think it's a decent take. I do wish however that the legs bent forward at the knees like the G1 toy to fill in his cassette player mode. Oddly enough, they followed suit with the SS86 mold, which makes no sense when the knee bumps are there precisely for that reason. It would have made more sense to follow the G1 toy's engineering in that regard than copy the Netflix's improper transformation and then make the knee bumps push flush into the legs on the outside edges of the cassette player mode. I think the cassettes for SS86 Soundwave leave a lot to be desired as well. I still haven't secured a PO for SS86 Soundwave, and oddly enough, despite Soundwave's being one of my favorite characters, I'm not really feeling like I'm missing out. I'm waiting patiently, hoping that perhaps they'll do a slight toyish retool with more surface details. Unfortunately, nothing's gonna fix those crappy cassettes. Hopefully, Dr Wu will give us something better.

POs are still available at Target.