M'Kyuun

18 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

The odd thing thing about TRON: Legacy was the Jeff Bridges de-aging. It looked terrible in the first scene in the real world for Flynn but looked fine in the digital world for CLU. Anybody feel the same way? I guess its because CLU was supposed to be a separate character from Flynn, or at least in my mind it was.

Agree. As good as CG has become, there's still an uncanniness when they render real people's faces as digital constructs. It's a tough hurdle to clear for CG artists, as we're innately attuned to faces and tend to notice when even the slightest thing is off.

11 hours ago, sh9000 said:

@M'Kyuun Thrust is still available to preorder on Target's site just in case you change your mind.

Thanks! I appreciate it, but as I stated in my previous post, I have nitpicks with the ER mold and given Hasbro's penchant for milking Seeker molds, I think I'll just wait for the eventual SS86 Seeker to get the Conehead treatment, b/c you know they're coming. How they come however, i.e. pesky exclusives and cumbersome box sets, is another story. I'm patient, though, so I'll wait. The coneheads were always more of a bonus to me anyway; I'm always more concerned with attaining Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp; any Seeker outside of that core three is just fluff for the shelf.

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Target's Geek Out site launched their Transformers stuff.  For me, it's a lot of nothing.  There's Earthrise Sunstreaker (the original release, not the one with painted windows from the box set), and there's Gigawatt if you missed him the first two times he was released.  Of more interested might be Earthrise Thrust, since he was a Target exclusive before and sold out pretty fast.  Still a Target exclusive, but here's your second chance...

Also did a little digging into Soundwave.  Can confirm he's still compatible with the previous Siege Micromaster/Studio Series Core-class/Dr Wu tapes, and he's got the room to store just one at a time.  Really hard to say for sure until I have him in hand, or until someone posts a clean direct comparison instead of guessing from shots with Alchemist or rulers, but it does look like SS86 Soundwave is about a quarter of an inch/0.6cm taller than the Siege/Earthrise/Netflix/Legacy version.

Man, my copy of Thrust was unceremoniously cancelled and I missed the window to reorder him, so he's the only one of the six main Seekers I don't have, and he also just so happens to be my favorite of the Conehead designs. However, with the SS86 Seeker on the horizon, it's not unrealistic to think that they'll milk that mold for all it's worth, and from what I've seen, while it's still not a completely accurate F-15, it' does appear to be somewhat better than the ER Seeker mold, partsforming stabs notwithstanding. I've lived without ER Thrust this long; I'm thinking I may just hold out for the inevitable SS86 variants.

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Nate from the Transformers team put out a pic of Soundwave with a tape measure.  I took a picture of Netflix Soundwave with a tape measure and tried to line it up.  Not exact, but it looks like Soundwave might be bigger-er than I first guessed.

If I didn't know that the one on the right is the Studio Series figure, I'd swear it was one of their lesser toys for younger collectors. Compared to all the surface detail and greater number of paint apps to represent both OG toy and toon, the SS86 figure looks drab, the milky white plastic looks cheap, I'm not too crazy about how the feet and their hinges look, and the overall toonish plainness doesn't appeal. I missed the PO on Pulse, and maybe that was for the best, as right now I'm liking how my Netflix Soundwave looks better, crappy holdover arm kibble notwithstanding. For $60, I want something better.

Once again, I wish Magic Square or New Age would release more of their figures in CHUG scale, as one or the other often creates a nigh perfect version of a character and I'd love to them available as options for my CHUG shelves.

@mikeszekely I appreciate your writeup of Micronus Prime. I'm neither a UT fan nor an ardent fan of the greater TF lore as it has been presented in comics and other media, but there's just something creatively charming about this guy and the armor they cooked up for him.  I concur that it's a cool play pattern and it elevates what could have been a relatively simplistic figure into something greater. My interest in the Primes has been tepid at best, as Alchemist is, to wit, the only one I've bought thus far, and I got him more for his resemblance to Prime Bulkhead than out of any interest in the character himself, mostly. He does have a neat look about him with his goofy steampunk goggles.  I'm digressing, but, yeah, Micronus struck a chord with me when they revealed him in the fanstream. I wish there was just a pinch more complexity to the bike mode's transformation but given that the bike was a totally made-up thing to accentuate the principal figure, and at a deluxe price point no less, I shan't criticize too harshly.  Kudos to Takara for thinking outside of the box, or three-dimensional disc as it were.

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A friend of mine had never seen any of the Tron movies, so I had him come down to watch the first two.  Personally, while I can see how the original film would have been really impressive back in 1982, but the pacing of the actual story felt really off.  This isn't to say that Legacy's plot was any better, and it's a less creative film overall, but it moved at a better pace and the sights and sounds were greatly improved.

As far as Ares goes, I don't have a lot of hope for it.  The plot seems a little dumb, and I'm really not a fan of Jared Leto.  But I caught previews for it in 3D, and when the Recognizer is flying through the city it looked pretty awesome.  So I think I'm going to make same buddy go see it in 3D with me.

I'm old enough to have seen Tron in the theater, one of only a few films I saw in the theater growing up, and it was impressive. Visually and narratively, it was absolutely unique. All the smart-ass comments landed, the characters were likeable, especially Flynn, who, much like Han Solo, outshone the eponymous main hero of the story. Even the CG was extraordinary, as it imparted an uncannily realistic look to the scenes in which it featured, and with CG being a relatively new phenomenon in film, it stood out as something special. We take it for granted now, but back then my 11-year-old self was left wondering what did I just see? There was truly an otherworldly, magical quality to it that was fresh and unique and cool. It's a shame we haven't really felt that about movie effects since '93's Jurassic Park, which amazed me all over again with its incredibly realistic CG effects. So much of Tron has become iconic today, but one must remember that it was all one big experiment dreamed up by Steven Lisberger and it didn't really gain traction with fans until years after its initial release. But thank goodness it attained a cult following which kept it relevant, as it's one of those landmark films that pushed boundaries and laid the groundwork for further innovation in visual effects. Incidentally, the Tron producers were cheated out of an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects b/c the Academy felt that CG was cheating, despite all the intense work that went into creating those effects on rather primitive super computers. In my mind, they won it deservedly.

Next to the original Tron, IMHO, the animated Tron: Uprising is the second-best entry in the franchise, if only b/c it builds on what came before. It was an excellent show, well-written with well-fleshed out characters, a handful of good baddies (Lance Henriksen always delivers), and cranky old Tron himself, reprised by Bruce Boxleitner, added a bit of grit and a tinge of darkness to the character. Disney, in its infinite wisdom, cancelled it after only one season, of course. I would have loved to have seen at least one or two more- it exemplified what I want to see in a Tron show or movie. That said, I'm lukewarm for Tron: Ares. I'm not the biggest Jared Leto fan either, and I'm not sure how I feel about the digital world coming into the real, as I think there are far more interesting things that can be done visually and narratively in the digital, and that was sort of the point with the first two films. Nearly anything is possible in the digital realm, and I think that's a far more interesting world to explore than our own with its many limitations. I'll very likely go see it, but with tempered enthusiasm. If nothing else, judging by the trailers, it'll at least be pretty. And Gillian Andersen, speaking in her native British accent, is in it. To quote Frohike, "Scully's hot". 😛

14 hours ago, JB0 said:

Oh man, I really like how Venom came out! I never owned the deluxe insecticons, but I sure wanted them. Wish the whole team could've gotten this treatment, though Venom's probably the one that we win most with. Chop Shop's gotten pretty close with a Shrapnel rework, and the other two ... their original designs aren't near as good.

I agree they should've found something better to do with the wings rather than being slavishly toy-accurate. The orange bit in his torso is a nice accent that I think improves the design. I probably would've updated the axe-head to a kukri knife if they'd asked me.I

I never had any of the OG Deluxe Insecticons (I only had Kickback and Shrapnel), but I do have a downscaled Convertors version of Barrage and I always thought it was a cool figure. I wish Takara/Hasbro had gone all-in on making new molds for Ransack, Barrage and Chop Shop to match their OG toys as well. Regarding Venom, I know there's some complaint about the wing attachments, but it follows the OG toy quite faithfully and IMHO that's a strength, mostly. It would have been nice had those attachments swiveled to his back to get them out of the way, but overall, I'm extremely happy with how he turned out. Still waiting for my copy. Since they've demonstrated the willingness and ability to back-engineer Venom, I hope they'll do the same eventually not only with Ransack, Barrage and Chop Shop, but also Whirl and Roadbuster. I really want a proper Mugen Calibur as my Roadbuster.

Missed the preorder today so I didn't get SS86 Soundwave. Got a little sticker shock from that $60 price tag. Just not seeing $60 worth of stuff there, and being a fan of the cassette-bots, the new molds with him aren't exactly inspiring. I'll likely get him eventually, but man these prices are becoming a bit off-putting, especially when 3P legends makers are, IMHO, crafting superior versions of these characters for around the same price and they're much more space-friendly, an appealing factor when I'm just about out of space for Hasbro's mainline/SS stuff.

1 hour ago, danth said:

Wow, nice. So they're doing much better than Lego on that front. 

I concur. I just put together the second of the Speed Champions Lamborghini two-pack (the blue one) and applying the decals was a pain. Moreover, there are, TBF, a fair number of printed parts included in the set as well, but as it turns out, one must exercise diligence in applying the stickers so that they match up with corresponding printed parts. I didn't realize until after I'd already applied the ones on the slopes of the hood and they misaligned with the printed complex slopes forming the edges of the front end. Thus I had to pull the one off and reapply it so that it lined up. The other one was close enough so I didn't bother, but it's stuff like that that sticks in the craw. I get why LEGO maintains the sticker option, but on livery or detail heavy sets like the SC line, I kinda wish they'd just print everything for a smoother frustration-free build process.

I'm looking at that Mattel Honda set and thinking how useful any number of those parts would be if LEGO made them too.

I like that Mega Skystriker/H.I.S.S. Tank set.

Speaking of Soundwave, while I applaud the LEGO designers for making their version as good as it is, I was disappointed that the hips couldn't bend fore or aft and the forearms were rather skinny, proportionally, and the hands couldn't retract into the arms. So I fixed mine.

39 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Need to see a few more angles. They did stuff like removing the spaceship kibble from his forearms and folding his knees so they don't bump out... But the way the waist still spins, the alt mode controls are a flap on his back, and the way his shins are in the sides of his alt mode instead of folded in are making it seem like like a proper new mold and more like a more modified Netflix Soundwave.

Agree. SS86 Soundwave shares a fair bit of the Netflix's engineering/transformation. The cassettes aren't much better than what's come before, either. I'm thinking Ravage's jet packs and tail are on a separate piece that has to be parts-formed onto him after he's transformed, much like Steeljaw. At least the G1 cassettes had complete robot/creature modes- only the accessories were parts-formed. The Condors' wings aren't the right shape, and while Ravage's legs are an improvement over the previous release, his No-Neck Ed head and block-o-accessory sticking up on his butt just detract from what should be a svelte cat-like form. Again, his flatness notwithstanding, the G1 toy still looks better. Ravage here makes for a better Steeljaw, IMHO, as that wide neck would make for a good mane. A little cassettte deco would go a long way towards selling the alt modes, too.

Funny that they still put out stock shots with mistransformation errors. It gives the impression they don't understand how to use their own products.

So, not really the "Wow" factor I was hoping for, but it does make some improvements over the Netflix version, which suffered the additional kibble from its WFC crappy spaceship alt mode. I'll get him, but I can't help but feel a bit letdown over some of the execution, especially, as usual, with the cassettes.

On 9/12/2025 at 12:27 PM, mikeszekely said:

Ok, time to put together Devastator!

Start with everyone in their alt modes.  For Scrapper, make sure the little clip on his shovel is in place and lift the shove up.  Pull out his arms, rotate them 180 degrees, then push them back in.  Bend the elbows to make the heel.  Now pull his right leg away from the left.  For Mixmaster, fold the heels down from the underside of the cab, then fold in the other flaps.  Unhook his hands from the cab.  Rather than shift the entire cab the way most Devastators do, just grab the front of the cab and double-hinge it into the top of the cab.  Open the mixing drum.

Get Long Haul's trailer and turn in into pants mode.  Slide the right thigh sideways into Scrapper's left leg, then close his right leg around it.  For Mixmaster, use the groove in back of the truck to slide him forward onto the left thigh, then close the mixing drum back up.

Speaking of Long Haul, fold his legs back, and fold the roof up.  Tab his heels into the roof.  Pull his arms out, rotate his forearms 180 degrees, and then curl his arms up.  His forearms will tab into the biceps, and then the entire arm will tab into the side of the truck.  On the underside you'll see a big gap with Long Haul's face peaking through it.  This gap fits over the purple block at the top of the pants.  Long Haul's knees will fit into grooves on the flap on the back of the pants.

On Hook, fold out the Devastator head part way, and pull out the feet/shin flaps.  Pull the to halves of the vehicle apart and fold them over, then lock them together by folding the head the rest of the way into place.  Fold his feet/shin flaps back into place.  Now the trick is to make sure everything you need to connect is oriented right.  Fold out the arm connector from the crane deck, and the torso connector from Hook's chest.  Open Hook's front cab, fold out the other connector, and close it up.  Bend Hook's right arm 90 degrees at the elbow, but leave the other one straight.  Now line everything up... the chest tab goes into Long Haul's cab, and Long Haul's smokestack goes into one of Hook's feet.  Tabs on Long Haul's arms go into Hook's other foot and a slot on his chest.  Hook's bent right arm plugs into a slot on Long Haul's roof flap.

For Scavenger and Bonecrusher, untab their leg treads.  Take the center block and fold it outward.  Now put the leg treads back.  They'll tab back into the combiner ports, but for extra stability there's a flap on the inside of one leg on each bot.  Fold it down, then bend the foot of the opposite leg up so that it pegs into the flap.

It should be pretty obvious that the ports on the arm bots slide down over the connectors we folded out of Long Haul- just make sure you push down until they click.  You're not quite done, though!  The rearward tread on each arm bot has a slot that fits into tabs on Long Haul's arms.  All of these connections make Studio Series Devastator feel much more solid than the Combiner Wars version.

Now we just gotta do the rest of the partsforming.  Fold out the fists, and spin them so the hollow side is the back of the forearm.  You'll notice a peg inside, and a tab on the lip near opposite the fist.  Line up the tab and peg with the slot and peg hole on the blocks dangling from Scavenger and Bonecrusher.  Note that it's obvious which side of Scavenger they plug into, but make sure you've got Bonecrusher's turned so the forearm pegs into the hollow side.

The easiest way to attach the chest armor is to first open the front of Long Haul and clip the shield onto the part you just opened.  Then close it back up, and the top of the shield tabs into Hook while the sides of the shield tab into the treads on Scavenger and Bonecrusher.

And there you have it, folks... the third official Devastator toy in 40 years.  Like his constituent parts I think it's very difficult to capture a truly Sunbow accurate Devastator... Bonecrusher's treads can't magically turn purple, Scrapper can't magically turn into a weird I-shaped block with a shovel and some scaffolding, and Mixmaster's grill can't magically vanish, after all.  But improvements have definitely been made.  His hands are now correctly purple, he's got the purple at the tops of his thighs and (subjectively) I think his overall proportions are better, even if he's much smaller than the Combiner Wars version.

Improved, but not without flaws.  Much has been made of how his lower legs don't really line up with his knees.  Officially, it was a design decision so he could stand straight up without Scrapper and Mixmaster banging into each other, but would it really have killed them to just make the hips slightly wider?  Or, so what if they bang a little?  Modders have already started whipping up knee parts that bring the legs back in line, and the slight A-stance doesn't look bad.  I think the next biggest complaint is the backpack.  I'm not sure why they didn't design Long Haul's legs to sit up a little higher, maybe hide some of those transformation joints on the back of Hook.  I also don't know why they didn't make the flaps on the pants part fold up a bit more.  It's not the prettiest, but ultimately not the worst thing ever.  It's not like Sunbow Devastator didn't have a (purple) backpack.

Of more minor complaints, there's a visible hole just above the shield where Hook's head is hiding.  Hook's head doesn't line up perfectly with the shoulder flaps, hence the gap.  I really don't know why a flap couldn't have been built into the shield, or onto Hook's shoulder flaps, to cover it.  I'm also not a fan of the way Mixmaster's forearms just kinda dangle off the back of Devastator's leg.

Unlike Menasor, who had a chunk of leftover trailer and Stunticon pistols, weapon storage was designed for Devastator.  Bonecrusher and Scavenger officially use their own alt mode storage for their own rifles, while Mixmaster and Scrapper's plug into the top of the backpack (just ignore that I mixed up Scavenger and Scrapper's rifles).  Hook's can plug into the side of his boom.  As for Long Haul, the reason part of his gun is green is because you're meant to plug it into Mixmaster's bumper, and you're supposed to the think it's the green toe seen in Sunbow art.  The problem I have doing thigs this way is that the toe is off-center, and Bonecrusher and Hook's guns are going to visible from the front (Scavenger's shovel kinda hides his).

Fortunately, there are more peg holes on the sides of Long Haul's legs, on Scrapper's feet, and on Hook's left arm.  It's possible to plug all of the Construticon's guns on the back of Devastator and out of sight.

Devastator's head swivels, no tilt.  His shoulders can swivel, and his right arm can move 90 degrees laterally (his left is just a little short).  His biceps swivel.  Both elbows can only bend about 45 degrees.  His wrists swivel, and his fingers (which are molded as a single, permanently curled part) can open.  His waist swivels, but only about 45 degrees in either direction before his back kibble hits his waist.  His hips ratchet forward 90 degrees, backward about 45 degrees before his butt flap gets in the way, and laterally (on a friction joint) just under 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel, and his knees ratchet 90 degrees.  Ratchets in Mixmaster and Scrapper's waists give him about 45 degrees of ankle pivot.  All-in-all, I don't think his articulation is that much different than the Combiner Wars toy, but because he's smaller and so much more solidly built I find that he's much easier to get into dynamic poses.  That being said, I think Scavenger and Bonecrusher also really needed ratchets in the shoulder swivels.

Devastator can hold his own gun by plugging the 5mm handle into ports built into his hands, though on my copy (and others, I'm hearing) the connection is pretty loose.

One last thing to discuss is scale.  I hate to open that can of worms, but I know a lot of people who are happy that Devastator is now closer in size to Legacy Menasor and the old four-Deluxes-and-a-Voyager combiners from Combiner Wars and Power of the Primes, but I know just as many people who think that the Combiner Wars toy scaled better with individual characters.  So, here's Devastator with a few Optimus Primes (SS86, Devastation, Dr. Wu, NewAge, and Hasbro's Core-class).

Now, here's the official scale chart copied right out of The Ark (so, not any of the various fan-made charts out there).  On the very bottom line we have Prime roughly crotch-height to Devastator, and wouldn't you know it SS86 Prime is roughly crotch height to Devastator.  But, on the first line, Megatron is only about knee-high to Devastator.  Assuming Prime is the same size as Megatron (though, if you compare Megatron to Shockwave on that same line then Prime to Shockwave on the third line you might expect that Prime is half a head taller than Megatron), then Devastation Optimus or a 3P Legends-scale figure might scale better.  When you actually played the Devastation game, though, Devastator seemed even bigger still.  Which makes me think of the episode "City of Steel," when Devastator was climbing the Empire State Building while clutching Prime in one hand.  I think you could make a case for the Core-class toy being the right size for that.  All of which leads me to a somewhat unorthodox conclusion... scale is whatever you want it to be.  Personally, I never liked Devastator being so much bigger than the other combiners, so much so that I actually bought a downsized KO of CW Devastator.  SS86 works better for me.  And if I want Devastator to loom larger over Prime than SS86 Devastator does over SS86 Optimus, then I have other options for Optimus.

So, yeah.  Ultimately the gestalt follows the same pattern as his constituent parts.  SS86 Devastator still has plenty of flaws, but enough improvements were made in aesthetics, scale, and especially stability that I think it's well worth replacing the older Combiner Wars version.  Just remember that it's ultimately still a mainline toy, not a mini-Masterpiece.

I'll add my kudos for your customary extensive writeup and pics.  I've made a few poor efforts towards doing minimal reviews, so I appreciate all the work you put into your elaborate efforts. As to the thing itself, I think we the fandom at large recognize that both the individual bots and the final gestalt are good, but certainly not perfect by any stretch, and as always, it leaves one hoping that the next installment, b/c there's always another installment, will be further improved. I skipped the CW team entirely b/c they left far too much to be desired. On this go round, the figs were markedly better, and I bit to my general satisfaction. Of course, I have the same complaints as everyone else, mostly, but on the whole I think it's a much better collection of figs. I'm still waiting on Mixmaster to complete my team and assemble Devastator, but thanks to this and other reviews, I'm well informed on what to expect and what to do, so a sincere thank you, Mike.

I do have to say that, with all the extra effort and higher price points for these guys, I'm a bit disappointed that Devy's elbows don't even achieve the standard 90 degrees. C'mon Takara, you can do better.  One more thing for third party add-on kit makers to fix, I guess.

My wife and I have been binging Orphan Black on Netflix this week and we finished it this evening. We enjoyed it immensely. Huge kudos to Tatania Maslany for pulling off one of the best multiple character portrayals I've ever seen, not to mention all the folks who made her concurrent appearances in scenes look seamless. Just a damn good show overall.

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

Mixmaster came in.  Time to complete Devastator.

Oh, lucky! Scavenger showed up yesterday, so Mixmaster is the only one I'm waiting on now. I ordered him from Pulse and all my Pos have been showing up recently, sometimes just a day apart, so shouldn't be long now.

I'm happy to finally be getting a full official Devastator after 40+ years of fandom and collecting, but I wish they'd done a better job with the individual Constructicons. They're not as bad as the CW team, which I skipped entirely, but stuff like Bonecrusher's too-short forearms, Scavenger's lack of a rotating deck in excavator mode, Hook's weird arm proportions, etc erode the joy I was anticipating when these guys were announced. They're good, but not great, and I was kinda hoping for great. I am, however, looking forward to getting them all assembled for the first time. Devy was, I'm sure, the primary focus and from what I've seen in reviews, huge superfluous butt-flap notwithstanding, they did a pretty good job with him.

7 hours ago, 26662 said:

😀 Phenomenological experience is my answer as well, but I think psychology outweighs stature here: in my memories, my 1980s TFs are magnified in scale simply because it reflects their relative importance to me. 

I think a lot of us can relate to that; toys were always important to me as we were not well off so I didn't have a large or complete collection of anything, and I cherished what I did have. Transformers and building blocks were my two favorite things (not much has changed over the last 40 years except for the volume of my acquisitions. 13-year-old me would absolutely piss himself if he could see what I have now).  Oddly enough, the scale thing often hits me more when I'm out on a walk and encounter the odd LEGO piece that a kid has dropped on the sidewalk. LEGO has been an integral part of my life for most of it; I handle it or see it every day and yet when I encounter a random piece it in the wild it always seems so small, like it's smaller than it really is. It's a weird perception, but in that analogous comparison I can completely understand @26662's amazement at how small the G1 toys were compared to today's main line and SS86 figures, and all the more diminutive compared to MP.

21 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

They don't; I have him and as near as I can tell, they don't have any. Watching the promo video for it, it looks like they may have modified the cab's  lower legs at the knee joint so it can travel forward (0:58):

The front of the knee (where the "sticker" would be) looks like a plate, and it may actually hinge outward/down to allow the thigh to bend forward.

Are the thighs on G1 OP and UM's core made of die cast?  It's been a very long time since I handled that figure and I don't recall. However, that would account for my mistaking them for being chromed, as they're pretty shiny in the pics. I was thinking, too, that there may be a moveable panel to allow for more forward knee travel, but I couldn't make it out if there is. There could also just be more clearance in the leg mold to allow for the thighs to swivel forward a bit.  Regardless, I'm thinking the pics show the extent, or very close to the full extent of thigh forward motion.  If it could kick up higher, I'm thinking they would've shown it for the 'ooh, ahh' factor.

Interesting, if simple, solution. As I surmised, the knees act as the armored form's hip joints. I wonder if the previous poses represent the limit of hip articulation forward or if the legs can kick higher. I don't have my reissue of G1 OP handy to see how much forward bend his knees have, but then the ML core's feet and calves have been modified so it's entirely possible the knees have as well to affect greater pose ability.

The armatures holding the core's thighs in place are concerning for the potential to scratch or rub off the chrome.

I was never into G.I. Joe anywhere near as much as Transformers, but I did watch the show, almost on a daily basis in fact, even as background noise, after school. I thought the Joe toys were incredible, but I only owned a handful of figs and the only vehicle I owned was the Dragonfly helicopter. I still have it, but my Wild Bill's rubber band dry rotted a long time ago and he rests in pieces somewhere in my collection. Anyway, I thought a crossover was a cool idea until Hasbro decided to do Megaron as the HISS Tank, a vehicle I dig, and the end result was far from spectacular. Bee was better. Kup's better executed than the others, but IMHO, the greatest hindering factor is making the vehicles become established TF characters instead of tailoring the transformations to suit bespoke characters. I've argued before that not everything related to Transformers needs to be Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Starscream, etc. I get why, but I point out how abysmally bad they turn out as a result whereas creating a new character to fit the vehicle and creating a more efficient transformation schema to fit the vehicle-to-robot conversion is the optimal solution. Anyway, while I like the concept of Joe/TF crossovers, the execution thus far has been less than appealing, alas, but my wallet and too-full shelves thank me.

I appreciate what they were going for, but I prefer the original spherical Death Star set that they released. I like the Imperial Shuttle they made for it, although the nose gives me bull terrier vibes. 😄 I made my own for the OG DS playset.

1 hour ago, Bolt said:

I see a serious lack of security on the island. Considering Prodigy is one of the 5. They should have a serious military program. This would obviously involve several very specialized platoons (or thereabouts) on the island itself as well as defensive installations . And , along those lines, i would've thought that security would have been amped up with the addition of Weyland -Yutani's exotic and very dangerous pets now in Prodigy's possession. A contentious issue, obviously. Are they really just telling us that this kid doesn't have a security commander , and is so arrogant he thinks no additional measures need to be taken. 

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It was a miracle he even kept humans out of the specimens zone, but every other thing he does or says is so blindingly arrogant, it's a miracle he's made it this far in life. 
I think Prodigy is going to die. Literally and figuratively.

 

I agree, and I think that's the point. Kavalier is inherently unlikable, purposely so, and his arrogance is ultimately going to be the downfall of his little fiefdom. His number two, Evil Daddy Warbucks, is also cruising for some karmic takedown. The male IT guy is one of the few truly decent people working for Prodigy. His wife the therapist, who seems old enough to be his mother, also seems like she has the hybrid kids' interests at heart, although she also seems to be more comfortable towing the company line.

The engineer's mate certainly seems like he's more than a bit on the slow side beggaring how he would have ever qualified for the job. 

This show, for all intents, is about monsters and I guess, rather than being creative, the production is falling back on the old 'people make dumb decisions in horror films' trope to ensure that said monsters get their chance to do what they do thus upping the body counts and the gore factor. I rather enjoy both in sci-fi and horror, but it's always more fun when, as @Seto Kaiba mentioned, the protagonists make smart decisions, do everything correctly within their power, and still fall prey to the monsters. Stupid or negligent protagonists offer easy prey and in turn erode the menace and cunning of the monsters hunting them thus lessening the whole experience.  

9 hours ago, J.T. Silversmith said:

Based on the shot of the Thigh and the cab lower leg in the last picture I think there is a spot in the "Box Art" pose that was cropped correctly.  Here is my corrected pic

I was wondering how the legs of the inner bot were going to line up with the armor, but it appears that the inner bot's knees will bend forward in line with the armor's hips. I'm curious what sort of attachment points they're using to keep the inner legs in place. I'm thinking they either limited the thigh movement to what we're seeing here to allow the inner bot's lower legs to remain somewhat in parallel with the armor's thighs or those thighs can continue moving forward leaving the inner bot's legs just kinda dangling behind them having reached their limits. Regardless, this is a challenging bot to approach with the ML methodology, and I give Takara mad props for accomplishing what we're seeing in the pics. If I was buying this, the armor's knee joints, pins connecting two relatively thin panels, would give me a bit of concern over long term durability given the top-heavy nature of the figure.

However, again, I have to tip my hat to Takara for imbuing this with the level of articulation they've achieved here and yet keeping both bot and alt modes looking virtually identical to the OG toy. It's an impressive bit of problem solving and the execution is quite well-done.

I'm assuming the buggy dude came with the OG Diaclone toy, as I'm not familiar with its coming with OG UM.

8 hours ago, danth said:

I also appreciate that they somehow captured the essence of the box art pose without him looking like he's squeezing one out:

 

 I didn't see it 'til you said it! 🤣

Honestly, not one of the better bits of box art.

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Pick her up if you've already got Prime, Bee, and Megatron and want to complete at least those four, but if you're not into the TFone figures Elita is definitely no the one to start with.

Ironically, she and deluxe Alpha Trion, who I picked up at Target on impulse, are the only two TFOne toys that I intend to get thus far. Elita One was the only TFOne fig that I purposely ordered b/c I liked the look of the design enough to plunk a few ducats down.  A3 was a little disappointing in his beast form, but I like the bot mode. For all these beast moded figs that use the back legs , at least from the knee down, to form the rear legs of the creature, I wish they'd add an additional joint that places the back leg to the animal's side allowing for complete 360 rotation of the hind quarter instead of just keeping them awkwardly in line with the rest of the robot leg.  As for Elita, I think the level of engineering is fine given the size of her alt mode and the fact that she's on a deluxe budget.  Could she be better, sure, but not unless they reinvent her on a higher budget with more complexity.

On 8/30/2025 at 11:17 PM, tekering said:

Ricky Mui posted this on Facebook:

A costume inspired by Sentinel's 1:12 Brough Superior toy.

Unbelieveable! 🤯

Wow, that's some next-level cosplay. I'm not even a fan of the Ride Armor, but I certainly appreciate the culmination of talent and craftsmanship that this represents- just extraordinary!

On 8/31/2025 at 2:24 PM, mikeszekely said:

You know, it's kinda weird, but I loved Bruticus, and when Streetwise, First Aid, and Groove came out I thought they were all better than even the Combaticons.  But I wasn't a fan of the fact that I had to go back and consult the instructions on Hot Spot; he just wasn't intuitive enough to go on memory alone, and Blades was kinda weak.  So by the time I was finished I was less in love and more like, "I'm glad that's done."  But Defensor's never been my favorite combiner.  I'm a lot more excited for their Devastator, which looks like it's going to have some pretty crazy articulation.

@M'Kyuunwill be glad to know they don't just have ankle pivots, looks like they've got at least 45 degrees of upward ankle tilt.  And they both have way beyond 90 degrees of knee bend; Scrapper's pulling a full 180!

Lest anyone thing I only care about the combined mode, though, here's the unpainted prototypes in bot mode.

Of course I'll want to see them painted, but Scrapper's looking at least as good as the competition to my eye.  As for alt modes...

...that also works for me.  I dare say that Scrapper's looking much better than Fans Toys, and while there's some details I like on XTB's I think I prefer MMC's.  Really looking forward to these.

You're not wrong, Mike. I've long been a fan of MMC's work, and with this being my first glimpse at their all-in-one Constructicons, my bias is rewarded. This most certainly has to be the most challenging of combiners to do as an all-in-one given the amount of partsforming required on the original set and pretty much every set thereafter regardless of scale. MMC takes on the all-in-one challenge and I applaud them for it. If I didn't have so many life expenditures, or potentially pending ones, I think I'd be inclined to go in on this set to replace my old Toy World Constructor. Right now, I'm just looking forward to completing my Hasbro Devastator and I'll likely look at add-on kits for it to make improvements, so that'll be the extent of my Devastator expenditure for the foreseeable future. I'll enjoy this set vicariously via reviews, though. Cheers to those of you who get it, as I think you'll have a banger on your hands.

2 hours ago, Axelay said:

I think one of my biggest WTFs about this show is that Morrow is supposed to be a cyborg apparently incorporating tech which is over 65 years old... but yet can still interface with modern tech like it's not an issue. That seems like a bit of a stretch to me. TVs from 65 years ago aren't exactly going to be able to interface (easily) with tech from 2025. Trying to imagine that level of future-proofing is very difficult for me to accept. I hope there's some bit of explanation for this. I honestly really want Kirsch to catch him.

I'm not so sure that Kirsch is interested in catching Morrow; I think Kirsch is playing on his own team, as I don't think he likes being condescended to by Boy Kavalier (Stupid name. It's more like a descriptive phrase than an actual name). I think on some level he cares about the hybrids, certainly more than Kavalier does, but being more analytical than sentimental, I think the Morrow-Slightly situation interests him from a point of gaining knowledge or perhaps some position of power or leverage over his maker. I'm just waiting for his Soundwave moment: "Kirsch superior, Kavalier inferior!" 😄

26 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

  Hide contents

Kirsh definitely seems to be aware that something is wrong with Slightly, though it is a bit odd that Prodigy's private island doesn't have secure communications that would detect a rogue transmission like that.  Neverland is supposedly Prodigy's most secure secret facility so you'd think infosec would be a priority.

 

 

 

Yep, but Kirsch is not telling anyone, which points to a probable agenda. And yeah, on an island that one would assume would have the absolute state of the art info security and monitoring systems in existence, created by the world's smartest douchebag, Morrow's ability to avoid detection by all but Kirsch, whose sole ability to detect it remains mysteriously unexplained, shoots a huge hole in the presumptive infallibility of said douchebag and his technological wizardry. But then again, so does psychologically unbalanced Nibs, as one would think the super-computer brain would be equipped to deal with errant thought patterns and such, but hybrids with flat affects wouldn't make for good tv, I guess.

26 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

In space, nobody can hear FX lazily rip off the original Alien in the hopes that that will make this mess less unwatchable?

LOL. I'm enjoying the show, but it requires tabling a lot of WTF issues. It's apparently getting great reviews now, but I wonder how it'll hold up under the microscope of time.

17 minutes ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Yeah, I keep seeing YouTube reviewers saying the same thing about how it’s a great time to be a Transformer collector now. I was really impressed with the Studio Series Optimus Prime for how anime accurate it is and the price point (at least compared to Macross toys). And I’ve always had a weakness for Devastator. My only regret is missing out on that Legacy Menasor set. I’m still a little on the fence about the Age of the Primes combiners using that frame system, but I guess for the sake of accuracy and stability it makes sense.

Well, to really appreciate the scope of toy options available to us, one needs to consider both official lines (Hasbro's main line, i.e. currently "Age of the Primes" under the Legacy umbrella, and Studio Series, which is a slightly more premium take, or supposed to be, on characters as they appeared in various media), Takara's Missing Link line which reengineers the G1 toys to feature full articulation and improved complexity all while retaining the look of the OG toys in both modes, Takara's own lines which recreate figs from the Japanese TF shows, the MPG line( formerly Masterpiece), their own releases of Studio Series and mainline toys, oft with better paint apps than their American versions, and other independent lines like their current Wild King show/toys aimed at younger kids. Additionally, there is Robosen, who's producing high-end, sophisticated, fully motorized, self-transforming, walking, talking Transformers. They currently represent the pinnacle of technology as its applied to our favorite Robots in Disguise, even featuring phrases recorded by the original voice actors. They come at a significant price tag, but they're astounding achievements and really cool additions to one's collection. They're a bit out of my price range, but they represent everything that I oft dreamed of in a "perfect' Transformers toy. Lastly, we get to third party companies who've been serving the fandom for about two decades now with figures both faithful to source and with a range of liberties taken in virtually every scale, from legends (slightly smaller than official main line) to Masterpiece, with varying levels of complexity, detail, 'animation accuracy', etc.  there are also companies like Blokees, who make non-transforming model kits of popular TF characters, companies like ThreeZero, formerly ThreeA, who make high-end incredibly detailed non-transforming TF figures. I'm likely forgetting a few, but these are the ones that occur off the top of my head. Lots of options for the intrepid Transformers fan. 

As for the combiner frame system, I'm of two minds: yes, it imbues the gestalt with much greater stability than the poor Combiner Wars figures, but at what point does it simply become an easy crutch to lean on in lieu of better engineering. They didn't use a frame for Devastator, which proves they can make a combiner without it. Granted, Devy has large partsforming bits to complete the gestalt, but aside from the mad all-in-one wizardry of MMC, the vast majority of combiners, official and non, have relied on partsforming bits to accomplish mashing a bunch of smaller robots into a big one. It's an acceptable concession, and one I think most of us, even the most ardent no-partsforming critics like myself, have come to accept, if grudgingly. It's simply the most practical and economical way to achieve the combining gimmick. Hasbro's frame system is a similar tactic, love it or hate it. I'd prefer they used it more sparingly, allowing the limb-bots to actually be the limbs instead of accoutrement on a frame, but I get the reasoning behind it.  If there's a cheap and easy solution, Hasbro will find it, although Takara does most of the heavy design work, so it's a good bet they're more to blame for the heavy use of the frame in lieu of more creative engineering solutions. 

Macross, alas, is such a niche franchise, especially on this side of the Pacific, largely due to Harmony Gold's litigious shenanigans over the last nigh-40 years, damn them.  The subsequent rarity of toys, especially high-end toys like Yamato/Arcadia's, cause availability and pricing to put them out of reach of many a fan. It's the sad reality of Macross fans everywhere, unfortunately. I was hoping that Big West's and Harmony Gold's agreement as well as Disney's airing of the majority of the various Macross Series would spark a renewed interest in the franchise in the West, especially a heightened desire for the toys, but that hasn't happened. Thus the anemic status quo remains.

34 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

From the resin prototype of ML Ultra Magnus I can see new joints in the hands, hips, knees, ankles, and Matrix Chamber.

Ultra Magnus can finally do its own G1 box art pose.

And I also want the G1 Datsun brothers to be released in ML along with the rest of the cars, Seekers, Dinobots, and as many other G1.

I'm thinking he will be able to pull off that pose and probably poses more dynamic than that. They're just teasing us right now.

I want to see that list done, too, especially the Datsuns (I want Prowl in the worst way), the cassettes, some of whom, like Ravage, are in desperate need of a good update. FWIW Fans Toys did a pretty good job with their version of Ravage for Acoustic Wave, both of which are pretty peak. I'm really curious how they'd approach the van brothers, as the Diaclone toys just never really fit in well with the rest of the Diaclone car bots, which makes their inclusion in the TF toyline, which seemed to cherry-pick the best looking of the bunch, oddly questionable in retrospect. We have Floro Dery to thank for the much-improved bot modes in the animation. However, Missing Link is all about improving the G1 toys as they were, warts and all, and it remains to be seen how or if they'll attempt to do something with them. We definitely need Soundwave, Megatron, and the Seekers as well. I'm most curious to see how they'll improve both of the latter. I want a fully poseable G1 Megatron.

4 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

I just started collecting Transformers again due to the recent tariff situation in the U.S. I've managed to gather a complete Studio Series Devastator, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Grimlock, and Sludge. I'm impressed by them considering they aren't $200+ Masterpiece figures. 

 

Welcome back to the fold! The toys have come a long way, and for the most part, the SS86 line has been delivering the toys that I think the majority of us have wanted from Hasbro/Takara since the 80s. I've been in the game since it all kicked off in Sept '84, and I'm thrilled that they're finally making figs of the G1 characters that are a balanced mix of toon and original toy, although they tend to skew more towards the animation aesthetic, which seems to be what most fans want. But yeah, we're eating well, as the saying goes, and while it took them about thirty years too long to get around to it, I'm glad they're doing it now while the G1 generation is still around to enjoy them. You picked a good time to come back to the hobby, as G1 fans have never been so well served. Cheers and enjoy!

20 hours ago, sh9000 said:

 

I was hoping for a showcase of the articulation, which is kinda the point of this line, but I guess they're milking the anticipation for all it's worth. Anyway, the hips are now separated from the rest of the red slab and that separation is cleverly hidden behind UM's WWE belt. Moreover, there's clearly a hinge visible behind his shin plate that corresponds nicely to a knee joint. Needless to say, I'm sure Takara succeeded in imbuing the fig with at least a modicum of leg articulation and they did an excellent job of hiding the changes necessary to pull it off. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought they'd tackle this fig, at least not yet given the number of first season bots that have yet to get the ML treatment. However, this is a nice flex of their problem-solving capabilities and talents, as this guy poses more problems to be solved than the average car-bot. While I'm not yet invested in the ML line, from both a G1 fan's POV and an engineering POV, I enjoy seeing how Takara approaches each toy to give it the articulation that so many of us, like me, wish they'd had originally. Many of those old toys are going to prove challenging, like UM here, and I'm excited to see how they solve the obstacles that each toy presents while maintaining the look of the OG toys.

I hope Megatron is on the to-do list. And Prowl. And Soundwave and his cassette minions, who could all do with some updated engineering since the MP fig.