M'Kyuun

I wonder if LEGO's 10302 Optimus Prime, which was directly based on the G1 toy but with some minor additional articulation, was the inspiration for Takara to do this? As both a LEGO and Transformers fan, I think that'd be a great full-circle story. Given that Takara is unfettered by our draconian toy gun laws, I hope they give G1 Megs the same treatment. I've never owned a G1 Megs, but the prospect of owning a fully articulated version of that toy is honestly more appealing to me than Missing Link Prime. I definitely hope they move into doing the carbots and the Seeker jets, as I'd love to have G1 Prowl fully articulated as well as at least one of the jets with the same transformation minus the parts-forming fists. My interest in the G1 toys waned during the G1 period due to their lack of articulation, but this line sparks a bit of interest for me if only b/c I used to daydream about what it'd be like if those toys had at least minimal articulation in the legs. Curious to see where it goes.

I get your frustration with naysayers, but everyone's entitled to their opinion, whether or not we agree with them. Relax...it'll be ok. 😀 I'm on your side of the argument; I've been a fan of Bandai's design since it was first revealed back in 2019. I have a complaint or two, but nothing so dire as to turn me off to a purchase when and if it becomes available. I'm also open to Arcadia's revisiting the nigh-perfect Yamato YF-21, tweaking the legs to look more proportionally 'correct' relative to the rest of the valk and Kawamori's line art, which is The Canon, and always my go-to for reference. It's a tough valk to do, especially since Kawamori employed a greater than usual share of animation magic in its design, much, I'm sure, to the frustration of toy companies. That Yamato's, and now Bandai's, designs are as good as they are is a testament to the talent and ingenuity of said companies and garage kit designers who've also done the design justice in previous years. Anyway, fandoms are spoiled these days, even in a niche fandom like Macross where physical toys are a rarity. Plus, humans love to complain about everything. I take it in stride and judge for myself the merits of the offerings on-hand, as well as the merits of the complaints being levied, and try to arrive at a judicious decision. It has worked out pretty well so far. Cheers!

Second that recommendation. Mine came on Monday, and I remain impressed by both the engineering and the unparalleled realism in truck mode. While a cabover truck mode is my preference for Prime, I like the shorter nose of this truck over the longer nosed trucks from the Bay films. The transformation is mildly complex and clever. Truth be told, I didn't even notice the missing paint apps that Mike pointed out (I see them, now), but my negative observations are that the lower legs look too skinny (the blue section is the same width as the thighs, and just looks off to me) and it would have been cool had the top half of the cabin collapsed into the lower half so he doesn't look like he has massive cankles from the rear. Overall, though, a solid figure. The more I see of this guy, the more I start getting the itch. Very hopeful to see some of the other carbots, specifically Prowl, whose toy suffered irreparable damage when I attempted surgery to give him articulated hips when I was a kid. Prowl was my first Transformer toy, and to have that toy back again with the articulation I imagined and wanted to give him would be wonderful. This pic of Missing Link Prime striking the OG toy's box art pose is pretty cool. I'm glad TT are doing these on their own; I think they'd fall short under Hasbro and their extremely restrictive budget constraints.

Yep, it's a recent update. He also updated his Steeljaw, which I also have on order. I passed on his first iterations, as they just didn't look that great and allegedly had numerous quality issues. In hand, I'm pretty impressed with his new version of Ramhorn- joints are all pretty well toleranced, the transformation is unique and fairly complex for such a small fig, and I love how the rhino mode looks, prominent rivets notwithstanding. Looking forward to getting Ironpaw 2.0 in hand. I hope he updates his dino cassette designs, too. I have yet to own a single dino cassette and if he can update them as well as he did these two, I'm sold.

This guy showed up on Thursday, and being a cassette fan, I thought I'd do a little review. Being aware of KFC's spotty reputation for quality, I hesitated, but I thought his rhino mode was the best I've seen thus far and bit. I'll state my bias for this figure right up front; I think it's the best iteration of Ramhorn thus far, and I also think it features one of the most intricate yet elegant transformations of any cassette at this scale. I love it. Is it perfect? No, but it's still pretty darned cool. Rhinocerous. Other than a pointy posterior, he captures the look pretty well. I love the painted hooves. While he may be a little idealized, and perhaps a tad chibi due to his size, I quite like the overall proportions, which are very similar to the G1 toy. For whatever reason, my G1 Ramhorn has silver, rather than gold weapon accessories. Unlike the G1 toy, Rhinohorn's weapons are integrated into the transformation, and he benefits from some cool engineering giving him a rhino mold that's twice the width of his cassette mode, which looks much better than the wafer-thin G1 toy's rhino. Unlike the G1 toy, KFC did not imbue this guy with any cassette livery, which would have been nice, but I'm sure Toyhax will have us covered eventually. Articulation is virtually identical to the G1 toy- pinned joints at the shoulders/hips, forelegs, and feet. The tail can pivot up and down for transformation, and Rhinohorn's head can pivot ever so slightly up and down. His mouth is molded and doesn't open. His neck can pivot up and down, but that breaks the mold rather significantly. I wish KFC had picked out more of the tummy mechanical detail that the G1 toy sports; I love details of that nature and wish more of it carried over to other interpretations. Here are G1 Ramhorn, Fanstoys' Ramhorn, and KFC's Rhinohorn in cassette mode. Neither FT nor KFC applied any mini-cassette style livery a-la the G1 toys, although FT did at least paint the reels. In addition to similar leg and tail articulation as both the G1 and KFC's Ramhorns, FT's take's head is on what feels like a very limited ball joint allowing for about a degree of side-to side either way and a couple degrees up and down. Too, his mouth can open to a barely visible slit, at least on mine. At so slight a movement, I wonder that they didn't just mold it slightly open like KFC did. L-R: FT Ramhorn, KFC Rhinohorn Due to extreme differences in transformation mechanics, FT's pulls off the cassette aesthetic on both sides pretty well; not so much KFC's . However, often times only one side of the G1 and later MP cassettes had the livery painted on, or presented well as such, so the messy backside is easily forgivable. FT utilized a more G1-ish transformation, with the shoulders and hips on double hinges and sliders, respectively, to widen the rhino mode, with the head and tail flipping out like the G1 toy. KFC's iteration requires far more origami to go from one mode to the other. It's quite clever and I prefer the final result. The negative effect of so many joints, however, is the plethora of unpainted round-headed rivets that detract from the overall aesthetics. It doesn't bother me as much as others, but FT's painted rivets clearly show the benefit. Notably, due to the more straightforward G1-inspired transformation of FT's Ramhorn, the rhino form is larger than KFC's whose clever design uses more of the cassette mode's real-estate to close up the upper body of the rhino mode, which looks much better but results in a slightly smaller rhino mode. I prefer the KFC approach, personally. Again, I think Keith has crafted the best-looking rhino mode of any iteration of Ramhorn thus far. MMC may beat them if they ever get around to producing one of their full-scale cassette figs, but until then, Rhinohorn wins the prize IMHO. That said, he could stand some paint on those rivets and some decals to make hm more cassette-like. Edit: As to materials, KFC's is entirely plastic. the dark foreleg bits may be die-cast, but I can't tell. FT's Ramhorn's body core is die-cast, and the forelegs feel like metal, too. It's quite hefty for a such a small toy. As to fit, FT's Ramhorn is a few mm wider than KFC's which in turn is about a mm or so wider than a G1 cassette (I had Buzzsaw at hand before I remembered to grab my G1 Ramhorn). Both FT's and KFC's fail the G1 Soundwave fit test, although if I exerted a little undue force, I could probably get Soundwave's chest to close with Rhinohorn aboard. However, I'd rather not inflict damage to either to prove a point, so I took the photos at the closest point to closing as I could manage. FT's doesn't even fit in the tray; it's too wide on the thin side to fit within the little guides molded into the tray. KFC's fits in the tray, but it's just a little too high to allow it to close without force. Apologies for all the dust on my Soundwave; I took him out of storage and didn't bother cleaning him up before shooting. I'm a little bummed that neither work with the G1 toy; I haven't tried MP Soundwave yet, but given that MP uses the original RW micro-cassette scale, the tray is likely about the same dimensions and results will be similar. So that wraps up my review and comparison. I've resisted getting KFC products until now, as Keith's Ramhorn really appealed to me from the production pics. In-hand, my opinion is only strengthened. The joints are all pretty well toleranced on my copy, although the turning part of one of his side weapons could probably stand to be loosened a quarter turn of the screw. But, for my first KFC product, and a cassette no less. of which I'm rather fond, I'm exceedingly pleased with Rhinohorn and recommend him if you, too, are in the market for a G1/MP-scaled Ramhorn. Cheers!

Yeah, me too. That looks pretty darn cool.

You stated it more clearly than I did, but that's how I feel, too. As to the line in question, I feel like the Legacy Insecticons are already fulfilling the premise, as they're probably the closest interpretations of the G1 toys thus far, although Bombshell isn't quite as faithful as the other two. I'd be down for all the cassettes to be made with better articulation, and possibly Prowl, although I think the ER version is nigh perfect. I, too, get the nostalgic appeal; it just doesn't grip me as much as it does others, but I'm certainly not opposed to a "Missing Link' line. Chances are high, I'd get the bug, too, and start picking more of them up b/c G1. You can take the kid outta the 80s, but ya can't take the 80s outta the kid. 😁

Likewise. I just see it as the standard way of building toys- opposing molds that come together. Hopefully the final versions will be more refined; I mean, look at what they can accomplish with their Gundam models- nigh seamless, the molds are so precise. One would hope a high-end toy would be at least as well done, but then again, this is Macross, not Gundam. Different standards apply.

The original did in fact have above average articulation; however, IMHO, the OG toy looks a little wonky compared to the likes of ER Prime. I'm not sure I'd want to plunk down the cash for it now- 20 years ago, without a second thought. But my tastes have changed since growing old..er, and I prefer the finer things, or more accurately, the more refined things within the hobby. That is, is you consider the latest Hasbro/Takara-Tomy offerings to be a step up from G1, which I most emphatically, in most instances, do. For those who've pined for this as I once did, however, I hope it happens. Thanks for posting; I had no idea new stuff was going up today. Got everything I wanted, so thanks again!

Likewise. I think the tampo is a bit overdone, and it is a bit thick on top, but as long as the joints are tight (hopefully well-tempered ratchets throughout) and it can hold poses as well as its own weight, I'm sold. Astute observations, all. It's an interesting solution to shortening the legs in fighter, and FWIW I think you guys are right. I hope there are plenty more clever engineering surprises and solutions in this thing. That's always a major part of the joy of transforming toys- discovering ingenious new ways and methods of accomplishing the conversion or elements thereof. Nah, I think they could modify the Yamato design to accommodate thicker legs without resorting to parts-forming. Unless they came up with some leg-slimming solution, it would undoubtedly result in a thicker exhaust section, but that's a concession I'd happily accept for a battroid mode with proportional legs. The belly plates would likely need modding to account for the additional width, as well, but IMHO, it'd be worth it. Too, I would hope they'd swap out those floppy hip joints for some ratchets. The last one is probably an ask too many. Man, I hope it has strong ratchets that can easily bear the weight regardless of pose. If they are indeed releasing it, I really want it to be well-executed.

I would stick with a place like Bricklink where there's a level of accountability if there's something wrong with the set. Another avenue is second-hand mom & pop stores like Bricks & Minifigs. Prices are generally pretty high, but usually they're operated by LEGO fans who will work with you if there's something wrong with the set. Ebay and Craigslist are a huge gamble; I'd avoid them, especially on such a large set.

Sounds like QC is all over the place with this fig, which is unfortunate, being the only option at this point. I think Keith did a good job with presentation, but build quality is questionable at times, especially those thin linkages for the feet. Skullface broke one in his review; naturally he didn't have a positive view of the toy. However, if you go in knowing about it, you're at least forewarned before handling him, which hopefully will prevent more breakages. While I like die-cast, I also like the judicious use of it, preferably when the figure's base is substantial enough to bear it without issue. I don't think that's the case here, which is further reason why care need be exercised when handling him. He's a relatively heavy fig for his size, and I kinda wish everything had been plastic except for those linkages just to reduce weight and stress. I'm hoping the next two Omnis from XTB won't have similar issues, but KFC/ XTB don't exactly have a sterling record for quality. More's the pity.

Oooh, unexpected news indeed! Cautiously optimistic. Other than the ugly elbow joints and the arm guns sitting inaccurately in fighter, I didn't have too many gripes. At least the legs are proportional in battroid; that was always my beef with the Yamato. Hope not. Hope so.

Handsome fella, indeed. Overdrive, IMHO, is arguably the best looking of the three Omnibots, with his lovely Ferrari 512 alt mode and appealing bot mode featuring the iconic hood-cum-chest similar to Jazz and the Nissan RX-7 Fairlady bros. Regardless of your opinion of Xtransbots, you can't argue that they put in the effort to give this fig the best-looking car mode possible. They even put in a little seat detail (well, half a seat anyway) and a steering wheel). While the headlight gimmick is appreciated, like Tekering's copy, mine has the same issue where one side goes down flush but the other doesn't, and it looks to me like it was assembled incorrectly, or they made too many right light covers and just tried to use them for the left side as well. However, I'm able to push it down so that it sits mostly flush; it's the shape of the cover itself that's noticeably off. The defining feature of the Omnibots, besides their non-retail, mail-in only with $5 and 4 Robot points procurability, was their ability to assume a battle mode in vehicle form (kinda like M.A.S.K., which premiered in 1985, same as the Omnibots). I wish they, like Tracks, whose armed flying car mode sets him apart as a potential fourth Omnibot, would have all been available at retail and included in the tv series to cement their popularity. Alas, no. I think it's funny how XTB even included little flip panels on the car's roof with little slopes painted to match the OG toy's decals to represent the OG toy's toes. It's a superfluous detail that they could have simply left out since the transformation differs in that regard from the OG toy, but I appreciate the effort. For the benefit of the car mode, I'm glad they tuck away to present a flush roof, though. Can't say enough how beautiful the car mode is. Here's the underside of the car for those curious: Note the light grey bits just below the head are his folding double-barreled pistol and single-barreled pistol based on the OG toy's weapons. A third gun was also included, which you can see tabbed into the top of the car in the battle mode pic. Unfortunately, the third weapon doesn't have any official stowage in car mode, although it may fit in the cabin. I haven't tried it to verify. Regardless, I'm glad his two main weapons have well-integrated stowage in vehicle mode; I wish this was the standard instead of the exception, and I give XTB due props. Bot mode. From front or rear, he's a good-lookin' bot. Kibble is well-managed and virtually nil, unless you count the wings folded over the car doors on his arms, but that's how the OG toy did it, and XTB followed suit. In hand it compresses nicely, although neither the doors nor the wings tab into anything, so they may move about when manipulating the arms, but it's no trouble reorienting them. This fig has some heft due to the use of die-cast in the thighs and toes and possibly some of the plates and linkages in the rear lower legs. It's hard to tell the extent of what's die-cast and what isn't, but my hope is that the thin linkages to which the feet are attached are, as they bear the weight for the whole thing as well as swing themselves on an upper hinge for transformation and have a lower hinge for ankle rocker. That's a lot of stress on a very thin linkage, the likeliest beaking point for the toy IMHO. I've transformed it through at least two full cycles thus far, and haven't noted any malleability in that linkage, so my guess is that it's metal, but all the same, it warrants a cautious bit of handling. Poseability. Fioravanti's neck swivels at the base, although the hood plate to which it mounts doesn't tab into anything and can rotate a bit, too, annoyingly. The head has in internal swivel which allows the chin to dip a little bit, but he can cock it back a full 90 degrees due to transformation. There's no side-to-side for quizzical or attitudinal posing, but what you get is more than adequate, IMHO. The shoulders are made up of a series of hinges which function both for poseability and transformation. He has a little butterfly motion fore and aft which circumscribes an arc of about 20 degrees or so. Shoulders can rotate full 360 degrees and can abduct a little past 90 degrees. He has double jointed elbows which get you about 120-30 degrees. His biceps swivel 360. The hands have wrist swivel as well as an integrated joint allowing for the palm to rotate a full 180 degrees. The thumb rotates on a base pin to allow for clasping, and the independent index finger and conjoined remaining fingers rotate on a base pin. The palms each have an indent to fit the little tabs on the weapons, which has become standard practice. On my copy, the guns enjoy a more secure fit in the right hand; they tend to be a little looser in the left, prompting occasional corrections. While the hands are functional and serve the fig pretty well, the retractable plate to which they're mounted free-float on mine and constantly retract when handling the hands, as they seemingly have no detent to keep them in place in bot mode. It's mildly annoying. Too, there's a notable gap in the forearm, which is where the hands lie in vehicle mode, that let you see into the forearm in bot mode. It's a shame they couldn't have made a folding panel there to both cover that gap and lock the retractable plate in place. The waist can swivel 360, and he has about 3 degrees of ab crunch- it's there, but extremely minimal. The hips can rotate a little fore and aft within the skirt assembly, but the skirts can rotate to about 120 fore or aft- pretty impressive range. they can also abduct a smidge past 90. The knees are double-jointed and also bend to about 120-30 degrees. Surprisingly, the ankle rocker is a rather shallow 10 degrees or so, although that skinny linkage which I mentioned earlier can be employed if desired to allow for a deeper A-stance. The feet can rotate toe-up about 3 degrees, toe-down about 80 degrees, and the toes can bend up almost 90. The heel bits can rotate a full 180 for transformation. They don't have the greatest friction on my copy, but they could still be useful in helping stabilize more ambitious poses. As a long-time proponent for Omnibots, I was pleased to see these figs from XTB. My only previous experience with their products is Apollyon, which I got when it seemed that we'd never get an official G1 Megs in MP again. Apollyon is a fiddly, involved transformation and not very much fun; as such, I've only attempted it maybe twice and he has remained in bot mode since I bought him. Fioravanti is a breath of fresh air by comparison. He's relatively intuitive, and while there are a handful of small moving panels/parts, overall they're not as bad or unforgiving as other figs I've handled, including FT's Jive, although a spudger is highly recommended. Presentation in both, or should I say all three, modes is beautiful. Poseability is overall above standard. He's virtually kibble free. Going to battle mode is uncomplicated, as it should be for a major feature. His two primary weapons stow easily in vehicle mode. He's well painted and features a goodly amount of tampo consistent with the OG toy's decals. Alas, he's not without his flaws: the freely retractable hands, the single small thin linkage connecting the feet to the body, variances in tightness on some joints and looseness in others, cramped space when transforming the legs. Overall, the good outweighs the bad by a fair margin in this fan's opinion. Having outlined the good and bad, I feel confident in recommending him to anyone fence-sitting. As a fan who's been waiting 38 years for Omnibots in any shape or form to come to fruition, I'm pleased with what XTB have done with this fig in hand, and judging by prod shots of the remaining two, I'm very much looking forward to having them in hand as well. I hope these figs sell well, indicating a desire to have Omnibots as part of collections, and we see them appear in other 3P and official releases. They're cool figs and they're long-deserving some modern updates. I hope it happens. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

I've mostly limited my toy purchases to Transformers and LEGO, but that doesn't stop me from admiring good toys on their merits. This looks amazing and if I were into creating a dino collection (apart from Dinobots), this and the other JP dinos from Mattel would be must-buys for the quality of their sculpts and presence. It's a shame they're not more poseable, though.

The MCP is trying to suppress and eradicate belief in the Users among programs, so in that sense, Tron, a security program designed by Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) to monitor comms between the MCP and the User world, is fighting the MCP and its oppression of programs b/c he believes in the Users. That's my take, anyway. In TRON: Uprising, Beck, with Tron's guidance, fights Clu's and Clu's minions' oppression against programs. I think Leto's playing the film's protagonist, and Beck's character will likely not be a part of Ares. That's true for me, too, in the original film; despite the title, Flynn's journey was more of the focus. However, Tron got some much-deserved spotlight and character development in Uprising, and that focused, hard-nosed soldier is how I think of him now. He's damaged, inside and out, but still wants to fight Clu's oppression. He's still a hero, although sometimes his ethics are malleable, which just makes him more interesting. TRON is very niche, but in the best way possible. Steve Lisberger established a cool iconic look for TRON that's instantly recognizable. The visuals were cutting edge at the time, were extremely laborious to produce, and remain singularly notable to this day. To wit, the idea of programmers having themselves mirrored in the digital realm by virtue of the programs they wrote, with said programs having lives of their own within the Grid, remains unique in sci-fi. Toss in some Syd Mead designs, especially the iconic Lightcycle and Lightcycle races w/ 90 degree turns and light trails; the towering, floating, reconfigurable Recognizers; the Light Tanks; and the Solar Sailer, not to mention the disc fights, and it really is a wonder to this sci-fi fan that TRON doesn't share greater popularity with the likes of Star Wars or Star Trek. There's a ton of cool stuff in that universe that beggars for more development in tv, film, and games.

Well, they had a premise for just such a handover in Uprising, with Tron's taking on Beck as a protege and eventual successor using his name more as a title than an actual name. In that vein, Tron could be a fighter for programs' rights and freedom for infinity, with various programs taking on the mantle when the previous Tron was too old, incapacitated, or derezzed. It's a shame that Disney cancelled the show before fully realizing such a premise, but the seed is there. Leto had the lead in Morbius, but the movie met with poor reviews. I thought it was ok, and FWIW I thought Leto played it well. Maybe the new Tron film will be his comeuppance.

Yeah, a Tron-less Tron film loses its primary element. I'm guessing Bruce Boxleitner will show up in there somewhere in a brief cameo role, but I haven't seen his name listed anywhere among the main cast. But we're getting Jared Leto! 🤩 Yeah, I know. 😩

I haven't seen the YT series; may have to take a look. As to the rest, yep, especially your last observation. Taking it back to its original cinematic roots emphasizing the horror aspect over the military folks w/ big guns blazing would serve it well. The mystique and fear that the Xenomorph elicits is all but neutered when they are clearly shown being mowed down in droves in a matter of seconds. Too, I hope they actually portray people in a frightened and desperate state instead of the usual glib smart-assed style that so permeates a lot of young adult shows. I'm not sure Alien is best served on regular cable, as it poses a lot of limitations, especially gore (then again, the OG film had little gore beyond Ash's robo-innards), but we'll see. FWIW, I hope it turns out to be a well-written and acted show w/ at least a modicum of creepiness to it and an engaging storyline.

Finally did a little reading about this film, and my enthusiasm is ebbing. This is no longer a sequel to Legacy, but a standalone film set in the Tron universe, which in itself doesn't bother me. I though Tron: Uprising was excellent, Disney's best animated show after Gargoyles, and cancelled far too soon. At the level of animation, storytelling, and voice acting they were accomplishing, I would have welcomed two or three more seasons, easily. Alas, Disney has a habit of killing the best of their IPs in lieu of mediocre or less shows and movies. as to Ares, with Tron creator/director Steve Lisberger merely taking on an "Obi-Wan -like role" in this film, and no sign of the eponymous Tron (Bruce Boxleitner), Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), or Quorra (Olivia Wilde) returning as of this post. Instead of the sequel to Legacy to tie up loose ends and finish that core story, we're getting Jared Leto producing and starring as the eponymous Ares character. I fear Mr. Leto's involvement does not inspire confidence. Maybe it'll be ok, at least watchable, but it's certainly not the direct follow-up to Legacy that I think the majority of us Tron fans would have preferred. I wish Joe Kosinsky had just gone ahead and made the sequel to Legacy concurrently or directly after its release. At least the story would have been completed with the actors all the same age and the same effects people working everything to keep it all copacetic. Alas, that didn't happen and production for this film has been a bit of a quagmire over the last decade or so. While I welcome more Tron, I'm struggling even for cautious optimism here. I sincerely hope I'm wrong for doubting and it turns out good. Jared Leto, though.

Um...wow.🤨 So this thing gets a number of additional accessories and a fair bit of paint/tampo, but Ironhide, a major character from G1, didn't have his iconic yellow stripe nor his back cannon, and the upcoming Ratchet doesn't have his red stripe nor the large red cross on his van mode, nor any sort of mechanical tools, like say a welding torch. It bugs me when main characters get shorted and these exclusives seem to enjoy far more budget. It should be the other way around.

Thanks, Mike. I set a reminder for PulseCon. I hope Gears or Windcharger, or both will be announced, although I strenuously doubt they'll exhaust their supply of G1 minibots that quickly. Hasbro enjoys the slow troll b/c they know these waters are biting. Damn them for exploiting my addiction. 😁 Fear not; I've neither the internal fortitude nor the sense of grandiose self-delusion to really become excited for anything Animated from Hasbro. In the same breath, I like Legacy Prowl, but calling a spade a spade, it's not really Animated, is it? Inspired, yes, but that's not the same thing when so much liberty is taken with the design to make it homogeneous with G1. I like the Animated aesthetic, and that's what I want in an update- improved versions of the original toys. I'm not sure why they feel the need to make both Prime and Animated designs look like G1; I'm a G1 fan, but I don't want or expect every TF theme to fall into that aesthetic; I enjoy the variety in design directions, and it boggles my mind that Hasbro doesn't want to celebrate that in Legacy, the perfect forum for all these other themes that have come and gone. But Armada still looks like Armada. Bayverse still looks like Bayverse. BW still looks like BW. The game toys still look like they did in the games. So why are only Prime and Animated getting the G1 makeover? I conjecture that the designs were too complex for them to execute at the current price points per size class, so the only solution they could come up with to still do them but in an affordable way was to simplify them within a shared G1 aesthetic. I'd love to know the real answer as well as if there are any plans at all to ever do pure Prime and Animated figures again. Given how Animated has been ignored since it's cancellation, I'm thinking not. What a shame. An even greater shame is that no third party seems to want to touch it, either. I'd love to see what NA or MS could do with those designs, even if it means they'd only be legends scaled. I digressed a bit there. Titan class, for the most part, has never really interested me, outside of the Ark and the Nemesis. As I mentioned, I fence-sat on Omega Supreme; I never really cared for his character or his toy design in the 80s, but I freely admit to being rather impressed by the titan class fig, even if is a parts-former. I just think it was done well for what it is, and for the first time, I gave serious thought to buying a titan fig. I didn't then, but when the Ark was announced, that had my attention and ultimately my buy-in. Likewise, the Nemesis. The only other titan class toy I want is Animated Omega Supreme, and possibly a Lugnut variant. That's a bit of a grail toy for me now. Such a huge missed opportunity back in 2009, and still so to the present, IMHO. Concerning the possible upcoming Animated Bee and Prime releases, I can only assume that they, too, will be amalgamations of their Animated selves and G1. Not what I want at all, but I'll see how they turn out, regardless. I love Animated Prime's toy design, and I really want them to stay true to it. Fortunately, I have my excellent voyager fig on my shelf, and he looks awesome. All I can wish for is an update with improved articulation, but alas, I fear that's not what we're going to get. Circling back to the titan class conversation, I know there are likely a great many fans who want Broadside to occupy one of those slots. Personally, I've always felt he had two of the most egregiously mismatched alts of any of the triple changers. There's no way around the absurd amount of mass-shifting involved and IMHO, it just wouldn't translate well at titan scale, as there's no plane as big as an aircraft carrier, even if the aircraft carrier at titan scale would still be way under scaled itself. Questionable design decisions, but I guess practicality wasn't always at the forefront when designing these things. Too, these were aimed at 8–12-year-olds at a time when toy lines came and went in a season or two, so I doubt any thought was spared at the time that these things would still be popular and being made into modern toys some forty years on. That said, I look at Broadside's alts and just shake my head with incredulity.

Enjoyed the review, Mike. As it happens, my copy arrived today, and yeah, she's a big girl. I like the style they went for, as well as the juxtaposition between the Ark's bulkiness and Nemesis' lankiness. The snap-on rotating cannons are the way to do business and I still lament that they didn't do the same for the Ark. My copy's elbows are also weak, but I was able to get a half-arsed pose, although the gun is drooping. Given her size, I'll have to put a smaller Autobot in the line of fire so it looks purposeful. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I can't get the top part of her mask to budge- it's stuck tight. I looked to see if there was some sort of release mechanism, but I don't see one and the instructions appear to have you just manually push it up. Edit: So, I'm dumb. I watched a vid review and realized my mistake; I was trying to push the center part of her crest up not realizing it was stationary and only the bits underneath moved. Another humbling moment served to me by a toy. So far as more titan class figs go, the Ark and Nemesis are the only two I own, although I'll admit I was tempted by Omega Supreme. Honestly though, the only other titan fig I want is Animated Omega Supreme. We're long, long overdue a toy for that character, who played a rather significant part in third season. But, I want it to be good, which kinda makes me want to see a third party tackle it. I find it extremely odd that, given all this time, not one has done it, and like Hasbro themselves, interest in Animated seems off-scale low. So, moving on to SDCC. I guess we can put to rest the conjecture over whether Ultra Magnus will be an all-in-one or a white Prime with armor. He's all-in-one since that's how he was shown in the film. He looks excellent, certainly worlds better than the god-awful Siege and Kingdom versions. My concern, however, is that it doesn't appear as if the cab can rotate independently of the trailer, a feat that they managed to accomplish with Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus. If such is the case, it's more regression in engineering, and a lamentable loss of playability in a tractor trailer alt mode. However, in this pic it appears to be turned ever so slightly, and man do I hope I'm wrong and it does turn. I'll happily eat my words. I hope Gears is the next minibot made deluxe. I'm definitely down for SS86 Ratchet, Frenzy (still wish those elbows bent), and UM. Wish they'd revealed SS86 Swoop in that mess, but ya can't have everything.

At 52, I'm also a bit older than the intended demographic; however, I liked it as well. I was pleasantly surprised that they had Jor-El speaking Kryptonian rather than English, as is so very often the case in American shows where people who should have no familiarity with English speak it fluently and unaccented. My biggest gripe is with the unfavorable time slot; why is it on at midnight when the majority of its intended audience is likely sleeping? I swear, Cartoon Network is the place where good toons, especially DC shows, go to die b/c they always seem to sabotage them with poorly-timed airings. I'll never understand why Warner Bros continues to do business with them when other networks, be they cable or streaming, would give them more favorable showtimes. Anyway, I'm curious to see what direction they take with this show. Even if they do nothing really ground-breaking, I still dig it as a snapshot of Clark getting his bearings while becoming Superman.

Really interesting design. I hope they find success and translate its features over to commercial passenger purposes. The US is lagging, and to be the only producers/ operators of a supersonic transport would be a huge boon to the economy, not to mention world prestige. How long do you think it'll take the Soviets and the CCP to steal the idea and make their own copies? Honestly, I would have thought a plane like this would have been developed decades ago, but perhaps it's simply a function of using materials that didn't exist back then.