M'Kyuun

On 9/17/2025 at 10:36 PM, M'Kyuun said:

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.

On 9/17/2025 at 12:33 PM, mikeszekely said:

 

 

On the one hand, Venom is basically the G1 toy with more articulation, and he completes the modern set of Deluxe Insecticons.  That's good!  But I think he mimics the G1 toy a little too well for my tastes.  Subjectively, I don't think he actually looks like he belongs with the other three.  But most of all, I think they should have taken the liberty to improve the original toy's engineering a bit.  Like, was their really no way to move the wing hinges between modes?  As it stands, he holds his arms permanently at 45 degree angles because his wings keep him from lowering his arms any further.  And the wings, which would look pretty cool if they were more vertical behind him, also kind of stick out behind him at a 45 degree angle.  His shoulders don't really lock into place, either, having a tendency to collapse when you're manipulating them in robot mode.  Frankly, I think he's kind of an annoying.  Get him if you got the previous three Deluxe Insecticons and you want to complete the set.  Otherwise sit this out.

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. 

30 minutes ago, danth said:

I like it. The head/helmet is so good.

Why do so many collab TFs look better than the mainline ones? I'm a little over Stranger Things and I kinda wish this was just a plain van.

A friend said this could use an A-Team repaint. 

I agree- it looks good. FWIW, I mostly collect G1 stuff with which they've been doing a good to great job overall. I've never been so fulfilled collecting the main line. Sorry to hear that you're not getting that same feeling.

I'm still all-in for the final season of Stranger Things. My wife and I have enjoyed every season thus far, and I'm actually sad to see it end, but y'know, all good things...  Moreover, the kids are all grown up now and barely pass for teenagers anymore, and I'm sure they all want to move on to other things. I guess it's time.

To that end, I was surprised to see one ST collab, so a second is, to my knowledge, unprecedented with any of their other crossover IPs except Star Wars. I'm not complaining; I'm just pointing out that a second collab, like the show itself, is an oddity. However, this one is far more a love letter to the 80s, so very apropos. Speaking of the 80s, I wouldn't for a second doubt that we'll see this mold again now that you mentioned A-Team. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the secondary use of the mold, as they probably already have BA's van planned and this seemed a good opportunity to get a little more mileage from it.

I so want an Airwolf collab. And, unlike jets, Takara has a great track record with making good to great helicopter alts. I'd wish for a Top Gun: Maverick Darkstar, but I don't wish to spoil my day contemplating the myriad ways in which Takara would F it up to hell and back.

16 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

New Stranger Things collab.

Well, that's new and unexpected. Nice to see they didn't just recolor the Surfer Boy Pizza van; this looks like a completely new mold, and not a bad looking one at all.

A few minutes later.... I ventured over to TFW2005 to see if I could glean more info, and of course they had a first-look article with pics and additional info. His name is Freakwency and the bird is In-Trax. SMH at those names. Anyway, he also comes with a rubber chicken that turns into his gun. Apparently, it'll be a thing in the final season. Anyway, In-Trax converts into, appropriately, an 8-track cassette which can plug into his abdomen, not unlike Soundwave and his chest gimmick. NGL, I'm totes diggin' it. 8-tracks were still relevant when I was a young lad (my uncle had a small collection in his big-ass car complete with curb feelers), so this resonates in positive way. Good vibes, man. Too, Soundwave and his cassette minions are still some of my all-time favorite Transformers, so this follows suit nicely, albeit with a more practical alt mode. I like how his abdomen's door looks like an old-school AM/FM radio complete with cassette slot. So much cheesy goodness! Def must-buy.😍

Reading all these concerns, I'm kinda glad I opted for the HMR Fire Valkyrie. Granted, there's more partsforming, but the engineering you do have to deal with is fairly straightforward if you've handled a Yamato/Arcadia YF-19/VF-19 over the past two decades. Seems, with this design at least, Bandai took a good hard look at Yamato's solutions to overcoming animation magic with creative engineering and applied them, for the most part, to their own takes. Shame the same couldn't be said for their YF-21. 😒 Anyway, while I used to collect 1/60 exclusively and all but ignored HMR, with prices ever soaring and my display space in the negative, I took a dip into HMR early this year with the VF-4 and now I have four of them: (VF-2SS - probably the best executed toy of this design ever. It's not perfect, but what is? It's still a gorgeous toy); the VF-0D, the aforementioned VF-4 (They followed the Yamato design to the letter, which isn't a bad thing per se; however, I would've been over the moon had they gone the extra mile and figured out how to articulate its shoulder pods, giving it both an edge over its parent design and far more utility as a combat machine.); and finally Basara's ride, a design I've avoided until now, but the HMR was done so well I felt the opportunity to add a small but well done version to my collection had arrived. No regrets on that front.

Anyway, regarding Bandai's approach to Macross, it's no secret that Gundam is foremost in their priorities and Macross is, well, not. That said, I've been mostly happy with their DX line from the VF-25 Renewal onwards, but I've only picked up a handful of them to be fair, so I can't judge the line as a whole. My foray into HMR has been one of surprise and delight. However, the long-anticipated DX YF-21 leaves somewhat to be desired, even if I love how the thing looks, unnecessarily HUGE backpack notwithstanding. For me, it's the epitome of Bandai's lack of care when dealing with Macross, but it wasn't the first Macross release with warts (the OG DX VF-25 with its chunky proportions and improper hip position haunts the line) and certainly other releases have had their foibles. All this is to say, I empathize with you guys dealing with your DX VF-19s and hope you can find workarounds to the issues as well as finding some modicum of joy in your shiny new valkyrie toy.

5 minutes ago, tekering said:

That's a shameless cash-grab, even for Hasbro... 🙄

And for what, honestly, is not that good a figure, especially when compared to either the ER mold or SS86. I assume these are deluxe scaled, but if they're smaller, I'll stick with my far superior Magic Square fig, thanks.

20 minutes ago, Dynaman said:

The difference an original fictional work is in NO WAY lessened by a future movie (or book or TV season, etc...).  A "good" person found to really be a despicable person is an entirely different thing.

I share your POV. While I can understand the others' POVs as well and can see how a bad movie or six can ruin a franchise for some, I tend to just block the offending entries out and concentrate on my enjoyment of those parts that I like. For some, I guess that's not possible, or at the very least, very difficult.

7 hours ago, Big s said:

I guess another example that predates the Mouse acquisitions would be the alien movies. I liked the first and second films, but the third movie kinda diminished my enjoyment of the second film. Knowing that everything was for nothing kinda made it less ent for me. I took a few years and try my best to pretend that they didn’t just ruin the ending to one of the greatest sequels of all time 

Regarding Alien 3, it wasn't a bad film, per se, just not a good follow up to the excellent Aliens. Aliens is still one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies and no matter who did the sequel, even Cameron himself, it would have proven to be a hard act to follow. That said, killing off Hicks and Newt right from the start after establishing them both as great characters who you care about, and whose importance to Ripley can't be overstated, was a gut punch that irrevocably tarnishes the film from the beginning. Both characters deserved a far, far better story, and certainly a better ending. The Alien franchise began its downward trajectory from there, unfortunately, which is why I don't watch post-Aliens films or give them much thought. I can compartmentalize Alien and Aliens into their own box of greatness and leave the chaff to float away on the winds of forgetfulness.

As to Star Wars, I'm still a fan of the OT- great films all, although I could have lived contentedly without Ewoks. IMHO, George f'd up the franchise with the terrible prequels [except for the fight with Maul, the awesome Duel of the Fates, the lovely Naboo N-1 fighter, the Vulture Droids (yay, official Star Wars transformers!), and the collective films' laying the groundwork for both Tartakovsky's and Filoni's Clone Wars cartoons, as well as Filoni's Rebels, Bad Batch, and The Mandalorian]. IMHO, while the prequels were trash, what they inspired colors my view of SW in a positive light. YMMV, of course, but I think those shows will stand the test of time and overshadow the films that inspired them. As to the post OT sequels, The Force Awakens is merely ok, but I'd rather they had stuck closer to Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire storyline. Rian Johnson threw a wrench in the whole works with his terrible The Last Jedi, and Abram's attempt to salvage the wreckage of the story he had planned for all three films culminated in the lackluster The Rise of Skywalker. It's hugely lamentable that Lucas didn't make the OT sequels throughout the 90s while the principal cast was still in their prime. Zahn had a good outline of events that would have complimented the OT well, IMHO, and it's a tragedy that Lucas didn't seize the opportunity and finish off his 9-part play back then with a far, far better story to give our heroes a better send off. Alas, what could've and should've been.

As to Tron, IMHO, the Tron: Uprising cartoon stands superior to both live action sequels. It was well-written, the VAs did an excellent job bringing the characters to life, the continued underdog-vs-evil governance story that started with Tron continued the OG film's legacy, Tron himself became a bit dark and gritty, which only elevated the show's maturity and appeal. So much goodness, so naturally Disney cancelled what was, and will likely remain, the best part of the Tron franchise besides the OG film itself, after only one season. It deserved at least another, and I would have loved to have seen a continuation into a third. It's just a damned good show. Alas, what could've and should've been.

11 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Watched the original TRON on D+ last night and for the first time it felt dated and kinda lost my nostalgia for it too. I think ARES is to blame for that loss of nostalgia.  

Responding, too, to @mechaninac and @Big s's posts, sequels generally don't erode the enjoyment I feel for the original films. Tron, of course, looks dated; that's an inescapable fact, but it's also part of its charm and I'm not bothered by it. Same goes for many 80s movies oozing with practical effects, many of which don't look so great to the modern eye. Perhaps I've a greater tolerance than most, but I can still enjoy a lot of pre-CG sci-fi and horror films (Tron takes the prize for being one of the first heavy-CG films from the 80s, along with The Last Starfighter). I have a great deal of respect for the practical effects artists that conjured up ways to make writers' and directors' words and visions come to fruition in a tangible fashion for filming. It's becoming a rarer art these days, but there are still directors who choose to use practical effects over CG whenever possible, and I think it makes a difference when seeing a real model as opposed to a CG creation, be it a ship, a creature, a miniature cityscape, what have you.

Anyway, I hope someday you'll find your way back to the OG films without the bitterness of whatever company, director, studio, etc has done to sour your view of them and simply enjoy them for their merits. 

19 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Ever since Dr Wu released his version of Cyclonus I've wanted him to do Scourge, too, to complete the trio of new '86 Decepticons.  Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long.  This is Star Shuttle, Dr Wu's take on Scourge.

Putting Star Shuttle with Destroy Emperor (Galvatron) and Wingman (Cyclonus) really show how far the good doctor has come along since starting the Extreme Warfare line.  Destroy Emperor looks positively primitive next to his henchmen!  But I personally think that Star Shuttle is a bit more sharply sculpted than even the relatively recent Wingman.

As good as he looks from the front, as we spin him around we do see quite a bit of alt mode.  You kind of expect that in the wings, but the outsides of his legs and his backpack almost completely hide his robot form when viewed from the back.  Once again, though, I'm inclined to cut some slack to a toy that's shorter than a tube of Chapstick and costs about as much as a Deluxe despite coming packed with a second figure.

This time he even comes with a weapon!  To be totally clear, I'm not sure if every copy of Star Shuttle will come with a gun.  The impression I got was that this is a first run/preorder bonus.

Star Shuttle's got pretty good articulation for his tiny size.  His head swivels, no tilt.  His shoulders are ball joints that swivel and move laterally 90 degrees.  His elbows are ball joints which bend 90 degrees and double as bicep swivels.  His wrists don't swivel, but his waist does.  Hips are ball joints that go 90 degrees forward and laterally, and nearly 90 degrees backward.  He has actual thigh swivels just above his knees, which are hinges that bend 90 degrees.  His toes have some up/down tilt, and his ankles can pivot 90 degrees.  His wings are attached via ball joints, so they can spread and flap for more dynamic poses.

Star Shuttle's tiny hands are too small to practically have peg holes, so instead the handle of his gun is sort of like a c-clip that clamps around his fists.

Star Shuttle's transformation borrows more from the G1 toy than the Studio Series one, with his legs turning inward and his heels folding down to make the front of the vehicle.  His backpack spins 180 and a flap folds out to fill in the gap around his thighs.  His shoulders shrug up and his forearms turn to plug into his cape, which then wraps around to tab in near his waist on the underside.  Then his head turns 180 degrees and flips up, collar and all, so his head crest plugs into the middle engine nacelle.

I think his alt mode came out pretty well, turning into a solid, swooshable little representation of the 3-engined, aerodynamic brick we all know and love (or hate, not judging).  I think the biggest knocks against it are the visible shoulders and ball sockets on the wing joints.  To a lesser extent, the hinges on the backpack flap and wings also seem relatively larger than they might on a Studio Series or Masterpiece figure, but it's the tradeoff necessary to make a figure this tiny that's also durable.

With no wheels to roll on, not alt mode weapon storage, and no moving parts the alt mode doesn't actually do much, though.  I guess it doesn't have to.

And if troop building is your thing (at this price, why not?), good news!  While the Scourge version of Star Shuttle comes packed with an entirely different fellow we'll talk about next time, you can also buy a two pack of Star Shuttle with a brighter blue plastic and a very pale blue in place of white, so Scourge can hang with his Sweeps.

And yeah, everything I keep saying in all my other Dr Wu reviews applies here.  They're not mini Masterpieces the way Newage or Magic Square make their figures.  They're relatively simple, relatively cheap Micromaster-sized figures that do a great job of making your Titans and Combiners look even bigger.  Their small size and small price also makes them easy to collect.  So once again, yes, I recommend Star Shuttle.

I don't collect these-yet-but I have to say the amount of articulation and the sheer detail that Dr. Wu accomplished with this tiny figure is extraordinary. I'm far more into his cassettes, of which I hope there are many more, especially the main characters like Rumble Ravage, Laserbeak, etc. However, as you pointed out, this shows improvement over earlier figs and hopefully he'll revisit some of those earlier attempts with refined versions.

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'll say this for Red Tank... he's not my favorite Dr Wu figure, but he's not the worst, either.  He's fine.  The fact that he's a main G1 cartoon character means you probably don't want to leave him out, and the fact that he comes with the quite good Star Shuttle means you're probably going to want the whole pack anyway.  So do it!  Do it with the knowledge that the Datsuns are coming...

Always a bit of a bummer when you're collecting a line and one toy really kinda stands out, like Star Shuttle, and your left feeling disappointed and wondering why the same attention and care isn't given to every single toy. That said, at that scale, a lot can be forgiven and I think Wu's still doing a good job on these guys overall.

Bring on the Datsuns! I preordered Prowl and Kickback tonight, as I'm a sucker for Prowl, and the thought of having a toy that tiny that still transforms and has a fair bit of articulation is worth picking up. I'm still enamored with Newage's take, which is pretty small, but it'll positively dwarf Dr. Wu's. 

My wife and I went to see Tron: Ares this past weekend. It was neither great nor terrible, but I found it an enjoyable escape. It told its own story within the Tron universe with some nice homages to the original film and the briefest of references to Legacy. The visuals were certainly beautiful, as one would expect following Legacy. The mid-credits scene makes me hope this does well enough to justify a sequel, as what it promises has more to do with legacy than Legacy.

1 minute ago, mikeszekely said:

 

I preordered everything but Razorclaw (wake me when it's G1 Razorclaw), Wreck-Gar, and Jalopy.  I wasn't a big fan of those fan-fic Junkions in the first place.  Though, I might buy Jalopy if I happen to see him in stores one day; with his more traditional colors and Decepticon badge he makes a better part of "Junkasaurus" than Axlegrease.

Brawl and Blast Off were my only two orders this time. I'm not a big fan of their homegrown Junkions either, and IMHO, they wasted what could have otherwise been a good fig by reusing a Junkion mold for Animated Wreck-Gar. I have the OG toy, which is far superior than this wannabe.

Missed the preorder window with Pulse again, so I managed to get Blast Off and Brawl through Amazon. at least I get free shipping as a Prime member.

On 10/25/2025 at 7:46 AM, mikeszekely said:

First look at Brawl's leg mode.

I'm not loving it... I prefer the toy look in combined mode, so a tank with the front noticeably folded over and a silver foot.  But it is sort of cartoon accurate, especially when you consider that Onslaught's frame will form the rest of the leg.

Speaking of Onslaught...

Prototype looking way better than Combiner Wars, eh?

And they're going the Warbotron/Iron Factory route, Onslaught himself is forming the cab of the truck, the combiner bits are forming a trailer that can double as a gun emplacement.  Sadly, it doesn't look like they're showing off the whole combined mode/frame.   Looks to me like Bruticus' chest is folded into the the waist, with the backpack guns folded down over them, and Bruticus' thighs are folded backward.  Then the flatbed portion of the trailer behind the guns is the back of Bruticus' leg and bottom of his feet, but the stuff under it with the rear wheels is his arms.

 

 

If that Brawl leg/foot transformation is legit, that's an interesting way to go, especially since they're using the frame system. I'm not complaining as it's all-in-one engineering, which is unexpected from Takara/Hasbro considering the methodology for Menasor and Superion where the vehicles are essentially accoutrements and the feet are part of the frame.

I don't mind their taking the Motormaster approach with Onslaught. Both depart from their G1 toys by splitting the trailers from their cabs, but Motormaster was well-executed, IMHO, and it makes sense to use the trailer as the frame for the combined mode. Thanks to a quick demo at the MCM London TF convention, there's confirmation that the trailer enjoys a bit of swivel which should be a requisite when it comes to Onslaught's long alt mode. So few companies work it in, so I'm glad Takara did it here, even if the arc of rotation is somewhat limited. With all of the Combaticons revealed, the team and Bruticus are shaping up to be some of the best AotP releases.

16 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I just don't care  for FT's entire MO anymore. Announce everything so that you don't buy the competition, only to eventually get an over-priced, overly-complicated figure that values paint and diecast over posability and playability.

Honestly, the only stuff coming out of TFCon that has my attention is MMC's stiff. Specifically their Constructicons. I looked at FT and XTB's Scrappers, but MMC'S looks to be the (G1) set for me.

There certainly does seem to be an unsettling trend of one-upmanship with Fans Toys, and I'm sure they're all too aware that they have a devoted following that they're all too happy to exploit. For my part, while I own a number of their figures, I'm not a star-struck fanboy. Actually, I'm not a devotee of any particular company, as I'm picky and patient, and I tend to fence-sit waiting for the version of a figure that most appeals to me. I will say, however, that I'm happy with the FT figs I own and I don't regret buying any of them. But their practice in light of other companies' releases is shady, especially when history tells us that a promise of a new figure often takes years to fulfill.

As my collecting is tending to wane, I'm watching most of these conventions with an air of vicariousness; while some things are interesting, the increasing prices and my lack of space conspire towards cultivating an attitude of more looking, less buying, alas. I too, favor MMC for their combiners, as I'm definitely a fan of the all-in-one engineering they've come to master. I would have loved to have had their Bruticus, and I like what they're doing with their Constructicons. I think XTB are doing a great job with theirs as well. I'm especially enamored with the fact that their Long Haul's dump bed can actually dump, an unfortunate rarity. I bemoan the lack of functionality with Hasbro's latest Constructicons' alt modes although they did a good job with Devastator. I thought the Combiner Wars version was a hot mess, but this one looks appropriately G1 and, what's more, unlike its predecessor, this one is solid once combined and lends itself admirably to posing. It speaks to lessons learned, so good job, Takara.

Returning to FT in regard to the above pics, once again the promise of a new Prowl figure incites my interest; however, their too-toon leanings and tendency towards over-engineering for its own sake leaves me cold. I'll be happy when the toon-slavish trend fades and toy designs favor surface details and more of the OG toys' features over the toon's plain and simplified forms. Unfortuantely, according to Evan Brooks at the MCM London Convention this past weekend, Has/Tak are adopting the toonish aesthetic more and more going forward with SS86 which doesn't inspire me. Fortunately, I already have the vast majority of G1 characters that I want from the last few years' releases, and I'm quite satisfied with them in the event they go fully toon and lose my interest completely.

On 10/25/2025 at 11:17 PM, mikeszekely said:

Mostly same, WfC Trilogy, Legacy, SS86, and AotP are giving me a lot of what I originally wanted like 10 years ago but felt the mainline wasn't delivering at the time.  

 

Agree, except I've been wanting it since 1984! 😄 Even as a kid when Transformers were shiny and new as a Western concept, I found the toys extremely lacking for their limitations, chief among them, articulation. When Classics was coming on the scene, I hoped for more G1 designs, but nope- just G1-ish with liberties. That said, I love Classics Mirage, Bumblebee, Hound and Ravage, all designed by Alex Kubalsky. They're still some of my absolute favorite TF figures. I think that was the early allure of MP- the designs skewed towards the toon look well before the main line stuff did and it took them a long, long time to realize maybe the main line should follow suit. I'm glad they arrived at the realization, and the toys have been good to excellent for the most part, but it's lamentable that they didn't come a couple decades ago when prices were cheaper and the toys enjoyed greater parts counts at smaller scales. Imagine had they done SS86 or the current main line in 2007.

On 10/25/2025 at 11:17 PM, mikeszekely said:

Nope, I meant DST.  He's going to be part of their Constructicon set.  You may or may not recall, when I reviewed their Hook, I showed that he had the standard upper torso mode, but also a leg mode.  In a nod to the IDW comics, you can make Hook a leg in place of Scrapper (who was killed by Spike), and Prowl can form the upper torso.  The head that came with Hook already has the crest for "Prowlestator."

Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm vaguely familiar with the Prowl as a part of Devastator storyline. I haven't seen or read it myself, but over the years, I remember its being mentioned in some fashion or other, likely here on this forum, the one I frequent most. As to DST's take, oh my, the liberties! I fear it's not for me, but in the interest of completing that story in toy form, it's cool that DST has you covered, in their singular fashion, of course.

On 10/23/2025 at 12:07 PM, mikeszekely said:

*hurries and fixes original post* I have no idea what you're talking about...🤫

S'all good. 😁

On 10/23/2025 at 12:07 PM, mikeszekely said:

I had three out of five of the FT Aerialbots and sold them.  I don't miss them.  If you like heavy blocks of robots with limited posability and unnecessarily complex engineering you might like them, but I didn't care for them, and I especially hated their Silverbolt.

As for DST's, I guess I thought about them they way you think about their Constructicons... kinda neat, but ultimately not G1 enough to hold my interest.  But I think that works out better for me, by most accounts the QC of the Aerialbots was much worse than their Constructicons.  It's funny, I actually though this set wasn't G1 enough, either, but I wanted Scrapper because he looked cool and he's my favorite Constructicon.  I liked him enough that when I saw Hook using his crane as a sickle I figured I'd try one more and liked that one enough to go in on the rest.  Long Haul was a bit of a bear, but Bonecrusher is a return to form.  Can't wait to see how Mixmaster, Scavenger, and Prowl turn out.

FWIW, The FT figs, and the two Dream Star figs I own, are a bit too fiddly for my liking. I've never transformed either back to its plane mode, and while I do like how they look in their bot modes, I honestly wouldn't miss them if I sold them off. Twenty or so years ago, I championed increasingly complex transformations; however, as I get older and my threshold for patience stretches ever the more taught, there never being much to begin with, I find my enjoyment of the fiddlier transforming toys wanes. I think the CHUG+ toys strike an excellent balance for me, and while I still enjoy picking up the odd third-party fig here and there, mostly legends but sometimes MP or thereabouts, or the odd Macross fig (I've only this year begun collecting a few HMR Macross figs and I very much enjoy them), I find I grow weary at times with some of their transformations. Thus said, I can certainly empathize with your frustration with oft over-complex engineering.

As much as I really like transforming toys in general, when it comes to Transformers, perhaps the tenacious lure of nostalgia has me in its grip more so than other properties, as I'm unabashedly a G1 fan, although I don't subscribe to the plain cartoon look as so many other fans do. I do applaud the artistic license employed by any number of artists and toy makers over the decades, as they keep the franchise fresh, and lines like Beast Wars, Prime, and Animated resonate with me. However, when it comes to stuff like what Cang Toys, Dream Star Toys, or Iron Factory are doing as opposed to the more faithful G1 takes by FT, XTB, Magic Square, New Age, etc, I'm generally moved by the latter over the former, even if I can appreciate what the former are doing. But, I do own two Dream Star Aerialbots and eight IF figs, so I'm not above dipping my toes into the pool of toys with liberties taken. Sometimes variety is nice for its own sake. Anyway, I hope you derive a goodly bit of joy from your DST Constructicons, as they definitely give the old designs a proper shake-up, and while I'm not compelled to have them myself, I can certainly appreciate the direction and outcome of their creativity. As to what I'm assuming is a reference to DX9's take on a MP scaled Prowl, while I was initially interested, I'm not wholly enamored by the toon-slavish elongated shin-dows or their lack of sublime mechanical details ensconced within, one of my favorite aspects of the original Fairlady Z TF design. Too, I'm not a fan of the toonish three-toes details nor the odd oddly zig-zag rear edges of the doors which lack the subtle upsweep on the rear upper tips. The rest of the design looks OK to me otherwise, but for my taste, I'm still over the moon for MP-17 Prowl, one of my top favorite TF toys of all time. It's a dated design at this point (2013- hard to believe!), but it delivers everything I ever wanted from a Prowl figure since I picked up my G1 copy when I was thirteen or so and it continues to enthrall. However, I get that many a fan likes the extreme toon look so, for those fans wanting that in a Prowl figure, this should be the toy they've been waiting for. I hope it turns out to be an excellent figure, as the milking will be epic, and that too is good all around. If it is indeed so, I may even succumb to FOMO and get a copy in spite of myself. I do love me a good Prowl figure. Cheers!

On 10/21/2025 at 2:41 PM, mikeszekely said:

With names like "Forklift Warrior," "Hook Warrior," and "Load Warrior," I thought this next guy would be something like "Bulldozer Warrior."  But maybe something was lost in translation, because Dream Star Toys' version of Bonecrusher wound up being called "Pushing Machine Warrior."

Pushing Machine Warrior is, broadly speaking, more of the same from DST.  Gorgeous metallic greens and purples, curves and facets that give the bot an almost organic shape, and minimal visual cues that really recall the G1 character.  No tread legs here... it's actually his arms that form the treads.  The almost entirely green color of the animation is broken up by purples on the chest and gray thighs.  But he's not totally unrecognizable.  The vertical green "straps" flanking the purple on his chest with the red details do a rather good job of recalling G1 Hook's shovel chest.

The shovel isn't his chest, though.  It's mostly folded into his calves.  The cab protrudes a bit, but it's far from the worse backpack we've seen on a toy.  A few flaps of tread adorn his arms, but the bulk of the mechanical bits can be passed off as shoulder pads.  All-in-all, Pushing Machine Warrior suffers from minimal kibble.

Forklift Warrior, with his sole gun, is starting to turn into something of an outlier.  Pushing Machine Warrior does have his gun, but he's also got a pair of translucent red-bladed shortswords.  Also a big honking leg for the Megatron build-a-figure (that we'll talk more about once he's complete).

Pushing Machine Warrior's head is on a ball joint with great up, down, and sideways tilt.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, but lateral movement is a ratchet in the chest, on the wrong side of the swivel (a common problem on these Warbotron offshoots, and one less easily overlooked on a more expensive "premium" figure than on the Mecha Invasion guys).  They're a bit limited to under 90 degrees, mostly due to the treads on top banging into his head.  His biceps swivel, and his double-jointed elbows bend nearly 180 degrees.  His wrists swivel, and his fingers are individually-articulated with three pinned knucklers on his fingers, while his thumb has a ball joint at the base and two pinned knuckles.  He's got a ratcheted waist swivel with a small ab crunch.  His hips use a soft ratchet to move 90 degrees forward or backward, and a stronger ratchet for 90 degrees of lateral movement.  His thighs swivel, and though his knees are double-jointed (both using ratchets) the kibble in his calves does stop his knee bend at just over 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down, and his toes have a separated up/down tilt, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees.  Aside from the shoulders, you should have no trouble getting this guy into some sweet poses.

Assuming you can get him to hold his weapons.  The thin handles on both the gun and the swords have small slots cut into them.  These slots should, in theory, fit around little tabs in his palms.  In practice he seems to hold the swords ok, but the gun just immediately comes off the tab, leaving the friction in his fingers to do all the work.

And, alas, there's no other storage for the gun in his robot mode.  The swords can go on his back, though.  There's little pegs on the hilts, and they fit into these little ports on the sides of the cab on his backpack.

Transforming this guy is, once again, not particularly hard when you know what you're doing, but made difficult the first time by confusing, unclear instructions.  There's some swiveling involved, but his arms turn entirely into the treads.  His torso opens up and his head folds into the cab, and the bulk of his upper torso.  His legs kind of explode, folding over his calves, but with a number of panels that have to be unfolded just right to make up the front end and shovel. while his feet lay over what's left of his torso to form the rear.  Then the cab kind of swings back in and plugs  on top.

From some angles I think he look like a pretty cool bulldozer, though from the rear his obvious robot toes and the ripper dangling off his robot chest are a bit obvious.  DST designed the swords to use their hilt pegs to plug in hear the front of the treads, then the handles unfold and attach to the shovel.  This would probably be a good idea, were it not for the obvious red blades, and the fact that they don't secure anywhere along said blades, making them extremely prone to simply popping off.

That said, the hinges in the sword handles do allow them to articulate with the shovel, which has a few joints and collapsing hydraulic pistons.  The treads don't work, and there's no wheels for him to roll on.

As for his gun, it folds up into a neat little package.  That package, you'll note, as some little pegs on it.  Those pegs can plug into a port on the inside/underside of his chest as part of the ripper.

The back of Megatron's leg can open up to reveal a fist inside.  Swing it out, close it back up, and fold in the heel and toe and you've got one of Devastator's forearms.  Untab the treads, rotate them, and tab them back, remove the gun and scrunch up the ripper (it doesn't actually lock into place as near as I can tell) and fold back the shovel on Pushing Machine Warrior.  You'll find a T-peg that slides into the top of the leg-turned-arm, and two clips will fold down to lock in into place.  And that's his arm mode.

I'm not sure why the DST Aerialbots never really did anything for me, but once again I'm digging the overall design and aesthetic of their Constructicons.  Pushing Machine Warrior is another win in my book, I just wish they'd work on their instructions.

Hey Mike, I noticed this in the last sentence of your second paragraph. I think you meant to say, " Bonecrusher's shovel chest".  "The vertical green "straps" flanking the purple on his chest with the red details do a rather good job of recalling G1 Hook's shovel chest." 

I appreciate the look at these guys, although I must confess that my interest is minimal. While I commend DST for their innovative takes, my inclination is heavily towards the G1 look. I will say, however, that objectively, I think this is a superior design over the G1 designs, as the bots tend to be cleaner, the alt modes more realistic, and I assume the full combined mode will likely be clean, highly pose able, and more visually interesting. I figure subjectivity and a heavy dose of nostalgia color my tendency towards the G1 look, but I'll give credit where it's due.

I went in on DST's takes on Slingshot and Skydive, as both had better than average Harrier and F-16 modes, an extreme rarity with Transformers figures. Granted, like their Constructicons, DST took a fair amount of liberty with the robot designs, but I like how they look. I stopped with those two, although I think DST did a good job with their takes on Air Raid and Fireflight which gave me hope for their Silverbolt. Unfortunately, the latter fared no better than the vast majority of other companies' takes on the character. To date, I think Fans Toys have made the best version and yet its Concorde mode had its share of flaws, too. However, at least it used the majority of fuselage to form the bot instead of concentrating it all into a giant cube underneath. In the end, I grew disenchanted with DST and once again abandoned any interest I may have had of owning a decent set of Aerialbots. Part of me regrets not going in on the FT Aerialbots, but with lack of space becoming my greatest hurdle in collecting, I'm hoping that either Magic Square or New Age will rise to the challenge. Honestly, I don't have much hope that either would take a different avenue with their Aerialbot designs, but I'd very much love to be proven wrong. 

7 hours ago, danth said:

I don't love the minifig design. I think if a non-Lego brand wants to take off, they have to have a minifig design that is somehow "better" than Lego. 

I've always been impressed with Mega(Blocks)'s minifigures. But they might almost be "too good", if that makes any sense. Closer to a small action figure than something compatible with bricks. 

I think they need something cute and blocky and charming to hit the sweet spot, but also ball-jointed to be "better" than Lego.

If a company could do that, and put out non-licensed sci-fi Space sets, I'd be tempted to jump ship. Lego's treatment of its legacy themes is f*cking disgraceful. 

 

I have long entertained the opinion that the Minifigure, iconic and beloved as it is, is an anachronism, nonetheless. Its limitations are manifest when compared to Mega Blok's stylized but highly articulated figures whose pose ability make them far more fun to play with, IMHO. I have long thought that LEGO should develop a new improved figure to enhance some of their action-oriented lines, at the least. I'm not saying get rid of the Minifig, but incorporate a new more pose-able fig to accentuate and compliment certain lines where a far more dynamic figure might enhance the playability of certain themes and sets. 

And, yeah, LEGO's unofficial retirement of Castle and Space, the latter my favorite theme, two of the three original Minifigure-based themes released in 1979 that drove LEGO to meteoric success is, I won't say disgraceful, but certainly dismaying and disappointing. It's analogous to Disney's retiring Mickey Mouse by just fading him out of existence except for an anniversary or the infrequent special occasion.

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'll probably get the Mugen Calibur.  Hoping an HMR version someday gets released.

This looks excellent and I'll likely get a copy when it releases. Yes to an HMR, although I wonder how much partsforming would be involved. I'm liking the chunky proportions of the Moderoid.

9 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

This is a new thing from Takara, Transformers Overgear.  No idea when or how much or what scale, but I can tell you 01 is Ironhide and 02 is Blackout.  I know @M'Kyuun loves a good helicopter...

Indeed I do. The heli dude is reminiscent of a couple figs released in the past, although I forget their names. I have the toys, though. I'm curious if this is going to be its own line disconnected from existing lines or if there's going to be some sort of tie-in. The former offers more freedom for Takara to explore ideas without having to conform to preexisting designs, and I like that approach. I believe the Takara designers are a very imaginative and capable bunch and it'd be cool to see, in an experimental line, just what they could cook up untethered from any previous notions or expectations. I do wish, however, that they'd create new identities for them instead of leaning on preexisting character references. I look forward to seeing how this line develops, however, I check my expectations if they decide to do a jet, as I fear their usual lackluster approach will spoil any attempts. I'm jaded, but not without decades of poorly executed reasons.

His art is a form of immortality, but it's folks like this that contribute something beautiful to the world that one wishes had an extended lease on life. RIP Mr. Struzan

14 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

After watching Legacy get progressively worse and worse over its three year run, I'm feeling like 2025's been a pretty great year for the brand.  Age of the Primes brought us Vortex and the Aerialbots, not to mention a number of the mythical Primes the line is named for, including a very excellent modern Star Convoy.  On the Studio Series side we got a whole new Devastator, a cool Deluxe-sized Optimus to fight him, and an impressively cartoon-accurate Megatron despite turning into a tank.  What more could we ask for?

Well, a new Deluxe Seapsray, for starters.

It's a little weird that third parties have dipped into the Seaspray well many times (iGear, Maketoys, ToyWorld, X-Transbots, Magic Square, NewAge, and Dr. Wu have all done a Seaspray, and Fans Toys has done him twice) but in the last 40 years we just had the original (and the G2 repaint) and Titans Returns (unless you count the Bayverse one).  Hasbro's finally giving our boy a proper Deluxe-class glow up... in a Walmart-exclusive line of decos based on the G1 toys.  *sigh* It's like Velocitron Cosmos all over again (though Cosmos did eventually get a re-release in Legacy, perhaps Seaspray will be more widely available later...).

The "retro" deco fortunately isn't all that far off from the cartoon, though.  I'd imagine a purely Sunbow deco would put an Autobot badge on his tummy while losing the painted "stickers" on the sides and the black windows.  Maybe use a slightly darker blue plastic.  And they'd likely do a different head without the vents and with blue eyes on gray instead of a blank black visor.  Those are the sorts of details that are just changed enough to get me to re-buy without making me feel like the retro deco isn't good enough for now.

Seaspray's sole accessory is a rather generic gun.  It's very hollowed out, but painted silver and does the job.

Seaspray's head is on a ball joint, though there's very little tilt available, and swiveling his head is awkward with the propellors in the way.  His shoulders swivel and move almost 90 degrees laterally.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend over 90 degrees.  His wrists can tilt up and down a little for some reason, but they don't swivel.  His waist does have a swivel, however, if you bend his hips it'll get caught on the white armor on his hips.  Speaking of hips, he can move them 90 degrees backward or laterally, but he's again limited to only about 45 degrees forward due to the collision of the white hip armor and his torso.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  Despite how you'd think he transforms, there's no up/down tilt on his feet, and his ankles only pivot about 30 degrees.

Seaspray holds his gun just fine in either hand.  He's also got 5mm ports on the outside of either forearm, on either bicep, under each foot, and on his back.  While these ports might work well with old Weaponizers or Junkions or whatever, the "magazine" on Seaspray's gun is longer than the 5mm peg, so in bot mode his gun can't really go anywhere but his hands.

Seaspray's transformation is weirdly complicated, sometimes unnecessarily so.  Like, ok, his spine has to bend backward to tuck his pelvis and shorten his legs, and parts of the floaty bits fold out from under his feet so that they're not too big in bot mode.  We're used to seeing stuff like that.  But, why do his arms have to swivel 180 degrees?  Why is all the yellow stuff around his head on multiple hinges that extend it out from his body before turning the propellors?

Regardless, the alt mode is mostly good.  His shins are properly visible on the top, and there's an Autobot badge where the G1 toy had a rubsign.  Things do get a little messy toward the rear, where the extended yellow bits don't even tuck his head in as well as the G1 toy did, stretching everything a bit too far behind the blue and capping it with a random white flap that half-heartedly covers his face.

Seaspray's propellors can spin.  He lacks any kind of wheels to roll on.  While Seaspray does have two 5mm ports on either side, again, the gun can't really plug into them.  Hasbro's solution is to put a small peg on one side of the propellors.  This mates with a port on the side of the gun.  Which is fine, but...

...there's a TON of empty space under his feet.  More than enough that his gun could have stored totally out of sight, if Hasbro had just has the presence of mind to design some way for it to have secured under there.  As I prefer hidden weapons to weapons randomly stuck to their Earth mode "disguises," this is a huge missed opportunity.

Seaspray is... well, if I'm being honest, a tad disappointing.  Don't get me wrong, he's the best Seaspray Hasbro's done (in a Sunbow style), and short a hypothetical but likely toonier repaint probably the one you want on your shelf.  But I can't shake the feeling that they tried to get a little too creative with the engineering while not leaving themselves enough time to polish it.  If they would have simplified a few things, refined a few other things, and made a way to store the gun under the feet, they would have been flirting with greatness here.  As it is, you'll have to make due with "pretty good."

I agree with your assessments. My copy's on its way, for some reason shipping with DHL.  Yesterday my copies of TFOne Arcee and AotP Alpha Trion arrived by FedEx and USPS respectively. I'm digressing, but I find it odd that they're using so many delivery services seemingly all of a sudden when USPS has sufficed for years. Regardless, I'm just happy that they're coming. As to the fig, just based on your review, the first I've seen, I think they did a pretty good job overall, although I'm with you regarding the lackluster disguising of the head and the missed opportunity for hidden gun storage, one of my greatest pet peeves in this hobby. It's not often that the design as--is yields up a nice space to stow a weapon out of sight, so the fact that this one does and they still didn't use it just boggles the mind. I'm thinking the care isn't there, although I give Takara huge props for the elegant weapon storage on Studio Series Concept Widow. More of that please. I still fancy my TR version, as it had to look like the character and accommodate a Titanmaster, and Takara understood the assignment. My TR copy came from Pulse missing a prop, so I'm happy to see that this new update has them pinned on. Too, I like the minimalist toy deco, often with molded and painted details to homage the OG toys' decals, that they do on these toy-based figs. It's a nice touch. Kind of a shame that there aren't any small wheels for him to roll about on, but given the dearth of good placement options on the underside where they wouldn't somehow compromise the bot mode, I think they made the right choice. Anyway, another minibot down, with only a handful to go. I hope they maintain this standard. Windcharger's legs are looking a bit hollow and somewhat unsightly, but I'm sure there'll be upgrade kits to address the issue. Otherwise, I opine that they've been doing a splendid job with the upgraded Minibots overall. Looking forward to the rest.

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

I want an official Speed Champions KITT next.

I knew this was coming and expected it to be good considering what the SC Team have thus far accomplished. I wasn't expecting the options to change the car's configuration nor the addition of an extra minifig, all at the usual price of $28. A great deal in every sense.

I hope they do KITT, the Mach 5 from Speed Racer, the OG Spinner from Blade Runner, the Asurada and Super Asurada from Future GPX Cyber Formula. Sadly, the era of futuristic or sci-fi cool cars died in the 90s and, lacking a revival, we continue to mine nostalgia. 

I much prefer the original chonky design. I'll stick with my Yamato.

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Hmm, wish that Titan Grimlock and that neat Timelines set went up today, too (and we're still waiting for AotP '26 wave 1 for that matter), but I got an order in for Nemesis Prime and preorders for Skybound Optimus, Thundercracker, and Windcharger.

I've no interest in the Timelines stuff thus far, but for a second, I entertained the thought of getting Armada Nemesis Prime, primarily for the articulated minicons, but $90 is far too steep a price for what you're getting. The way prices are rising on these things, I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue collecting, at least at my current level, which has already tapered over the last couple of years. I'm in for SS86 Starscream and Skywarp and for figs like Mirage that are in need of a good G1 mainline or SS figure, and any remaining minibots, but thanks to the main lines over the last few years, I have a pretty solid G1 collection with only a few holes to fill.  Once those are filled, I may just reluctantly and regrettably retire from collecting. It's just getting too expensive.

Too, I'm out of room for these things, so I also need to find some more storage/display solutions. Funny, when we moved from our two BR apartment, which itself seemed large to us initially, into our house, it felt like we had so much room. Our house is about 1600 sq ft, not huge by any stretch, but not small either, relative to many of the houses here in town. It took less than 20 years to fill much of that space, a great deal of it with my toy collections. So much plastic.