Official Transformers Super Thread 3

[Veritas]

WW Ops looks like a worthy addition to anyone's TF collection, but that Megatron is still an eye sore IMO.

[JB0]

Welcome to 'America has too many real guns and people can get shot or arrested for waving around a fake real-looking gun'.

Yay for politics.

And I'm surprised Australian cops don't react to a toy gun being pointed at them.

Given that there ARE illegally-owned guns in Australia, and likely more being smuggled in, I would think any responsible police organization would train it's officers on how to react when threatened with a firearm.

Assuming Hasbro wasn't forced to change the colours already - make a real looking gun and by US LAW they'd have to make it bright orange.

395169[/snapback]

Only in California. Most areas merely require an orange tip.

The US laws requiring toy guns to be easily identifiable, for the record, came about after some dimwit in California pretended to shoot a cop, who reacted as he was trained to do when someone pointed a gun at him. The time it takes to evaluate the whole situation when a gun is being pointed at you is enough to get you killed if it's a real gun. Adding neon orange helps a LOT, as it's a highly visible color that is used on very few real guns.

California, being California, decided to take things a step farther than everyone else.

I hate super threads, for the record. Too hard to keep track of all the diffrent topics, and not even the most noteworthy stuff makes it out of them.

I see something about Masterpiece Starscream pop up, peek in here for details, and find out that Starscream's getting the Kawamori and MEGATRON IS A GUN AGAIN.

[Fit For Natalie]

Welcome to 'America has too many real guns and people can get shot or arrested for waving around a fake real-looking gun'.

Yay for politics.

And I'm surprised Australian cops don't react to a toy gun being pointed at them.

Given that there ARE illegally-owned guns in Australia, and likely more being smuggled in, I would think any responsible police organization would train it's officers on how to react when threatened with a firearm.

Generally, they don't shoot people who are carrying what appears to be a gun, on sight. There's also much less of a gun culture here, so the occurance of weapons, real or not, appearing in public is much less.

Only in California. Most areas merely require an orange tip.

The US laws requiring toy guns to be easily identifiable, for the record, came about after some dimwit in California pretended to shoot a cop, who reacted as he was trained to do when someone pointed a gun at him. The time it takes to evaluate the whole situation when a gun is being pointed at you is enough to get you killed if it's a real gun. Adding neon orange helps a LOT, as it's a highly visible color that is used on very few real guns.

California, being California, decided to take things a step farther than everyone else.

Doesn't matter if its one state or 50 states that have the neon gun laws. One state is enough for an image and public-relations concious company to make their toy gun product bright colours, or in the case of Classics Megatron, fake looking.

I hate super threads, for the record. Too hard to keep track of all the diffrent topics, and not even the most noteworthy stuff makes it out of them.

I see something about Masterpiece Starscream pop up, peek in here for details, and find out that Starscream's getting the Kawamori and MEGATRON IS A GUN AGAIN.

397594[/snapback]

I wish Megatron wasn't a gun, since a gun generally means a pretty crap robot with a non-sensical alt mode. Megatron has been a tank more times than gun by now.

[Chewie]

If you read on that site about Stormbringer, it talks about Infiltration and Escalation. Infiltration is currently running right now and issue #4 is due out later this month. Escalation is out in September.

The website for them is idwpublishing.com

- C

[JB0]

Welcome to 'America has too many real guns and people can get shot or arrested for waving around a fake real-looking gun'.

Yay for politics.

And I'm surprised Australian cops don't react to a toy gun being pointed at them.

Given that there ARE illegally-owned guns in Australia, and likely more being smuggled in, I would think any responsible police organization would train it's officers on how to react when threatened with a firearm.

Generally, they don't shoot people who are carrying what appears to be a gun, on sight. There's also much less of a gun culture here, so the occurance of weapons, real or not, appearing in public is much less.

They don't here, either.

As you noted, we have a larger gun culture, so it's more likely someone will have a gun out for reasons other than blasting someone.

Overall, anyways. Things vary wildly from state to state(and even city to city in some cases).

Australia's lesser gun culture means a visible gun is more likely to be a threat.

Besides that, cops are by nature most likely to be where a gun IS a threat, regardless of geography. Which is why they're trained to assume a gun is real if they need to make a rapid decision.

Only in California. Most areas merely require an orange tip.

The US laws requiring toy guns to be easily identifiable, for the record, came about after some dimwit in California pretended to shoot a cop, who reacted as he was trained to do when someone pointed a gun at him. The time it takes to evaluate the whole situation when a gun is being pointed at you is enough to get you killed if it's a real gun. Adding neon orange helps a LOT, as it's a highly visible color that is used on very few real guns.

California, being California, decided to take things a step farther than everyone else.

Doesn't matter if its one state or 50 states that have the neon gun laws. One state is enough for an image and public-relations concious company to make their toy gun product bright colours, or in the case of Classics Megatron, fake looking.

Fair enough. Also lets them have one product nationwide instead of regular and California Special editions, which has obvious advantages in terms of production and distribution costs.

Though fake-looking doesn't always cover it. The NES Zapper was recolored from gray to gray+orange when the initial laws went through.

I think Cali changed the law recently, actually. I know the PS1 Time Crisis and Point Blank releases had big "not for sale in California" stickers slapped on them for a while. When the sticker disappeared, the GunCons had gone from gray with orange tip to orange all-over.

But mainly, I was just pointing out it wasn't US law, and they COULD do a release that just wasn't available in California.

But even if this DID seem like a good idea to someone, Megatron's one of the major players, so it'd be a bad idea to do it with him.

I hate super threads, for the record. Too hard to keep track of all the diffrent topics, and not even the most noteworthy stuff makes it out of them.

I see something about Masterpiece Starscream pop up, peek in here for details, and find out that Starscream's getting the Kawamori and MEGATRON IS A GUN AGAIN.

397594[/snapback]

I wish Megatron wasn't a gun, since a gun generally means a pretty crap robot with a non-sensical alt mode. Megatron has been a tank more times than gun by now.

397663[/snapback]

Sure it's non-sensical, but Transformers as a whole is farily nonsensical.

I've liked several of the modern Megatron designs, and admit they make a lot more sense than a handgun.

But I've got some nostalgia for this particular form of retardedness.

And a politically incorrect side that delights in seeing this sort of thing just because it annoys the people ranting about violent toys and trying to get Prime and Megatron to go into counseling and resolve their diffrences peacefully(Transformers: Therapy. Sounds exciting).

Besides, it's a gateway 'bot.

If gun Meggy works out, maybe they'll do a nostalgized version of the almighty Shockwave(with electronic light and sound!).

Shockwave was always a personal favorite, and he HASN'T made the transition to political correctness anywhere near as successfully as Meg(outside of the Alternators line, which surprised me with how well it worked).

[baronv]

Man I'm waiting for the Titanium WW Optimus Prime, does anyone know what stores of vendors in So. California will be carrying them and the price?

[Veritas]

Man I'm waiting for the Titanium WW Optimus Prime, does anyone know what stores of vendors in So. California will be carrying them and the price?

397866[/snapback]

I can't say for certain but i'd venture you can pick them up at any Wal-mart or Target once they start hitting store shelves en masse.

[Fit For Natalie]

Besides, it's a gateway 'bot.

If gun Meggy works out, maybe they'll do a nostalgized version of the almighty Shockwave(with electronic light and sound!).

Shockwave was always a personal favorite, and he HASN'T made the transition to political correctness anywhere near as successfully as Meg(outside of the Alternators line, which surprised me with how well it worked).

397821[/snapback]

Energon, aka Transformers: Homage Line, had Shockblast, though.

Anybody see Don Figueroa say he based Titanium Megatron as a suped-up Maus tank? THE MAUS! Biggest tank ever made

See his post here - see my insane history lesson on the Maus and Ratte

[Uxi]

They just need to make Megatron an artillery piece (like a primitive galvatron) or something and concentrate on his robot form. Transforming into the shrinking (man-sized) gun was even more ridiculous than shrinking into the Transformer-sized gun...

That Starscream looks VERY cool. Does it have removable/switchable faces or something? Or does the wry grin face slip on Zartan-style over the 'regular' face? That crown is a must, though.

[wolfx]

Coming soon...

397079[/snapback]

This is Starscream? I thought i was looking at Optimus Primal or something....

[JB0]

Besides, it's a gateway 'bot.

If gun Meggy works out, maybe they'll do a nostalgized version of the almighty Shockwave(with electronic light and sound!).

Shockwave was always a personal favorite, and he HASN'T made the transition to political correctness anywhere near as successfully as Meg(outside of the Alternators line, which surprised me with how well it worked).

397821[/snapback]

Energon, aka Transformers: Homage Line, had Shockblast, though.

Which is exactly what I was thinking about, sadly.

I wanted to like that one so badly. They had the head, the chest shape, the gun arm... they clearly drew VERY heavily from the original toy.

But something went horribly wrong along the way. His gun arm was WAY out of proportion to the rest of his body, and the transformation had a inescapable "crouched and looked sideways" feel to it. The neon green chest plate wasn't helping things either.

If his left arm had been half as long, I'd probably own one today. I could get over the chest, and rationalize alt mode because I'd keep him in 'bot mode anyways. But that one arm dropping all the way to the ground ruined it for me.

He's also got a Cybertron series micromaster/minicon out there. SR-71-inspired jet, it looks like.

Anybody see Don Figueroa say he based Titanium Megatron as a suped-up Maus tank? THE MAUS! Biggest tank ever made

See his post here - see my insane history lesson on the Maus and Ratte

397906[/snapback]

It's certainly a fitting Meggy alt. And supped-up means the sides wil have detail instead of being flat like the real thing.

...

They should've builte a Ratte. A landship would've been awesome, even if it was the only prototype.

[NERV]

so among the WW model and mpc starscream i may be bringing up a pretty insignificant figure but anyone bought 'scrapmetal'? this little thing is already one of my favorite transformers, no so much for his transformation or robot mode but his vehicle mode is just so cool and well executed http://tformers.net/i/a/cybertron/sm2.jpg the picture doesnt do his vehicle mode justice, it really makes me think of a spider-like tank that was made from salvaged parts, particularly the apache/cobra cockpit, if i can find me another one i may just modify it to make the tank mode look better and make it non transformable, if they hadnt used the design on a mere scout unit i tihnk an upsized model wouldve made a great incarnation for megatron

[JB0]

Oooh, that IS nifty. I hadn't seen that one before.

[Veritas]

Yes, Cybertron Scrapmetal is a nifty little scout and an awesome little mold. I remember seeing a page that had like 12 different fan made transformations for him that didn't require any custom or cutting work. I've gotta go look that up real quick. Only thing is it's too bad the Cybertron version only comes in Red. In the Galaxy Force release there were Blue and Yellow Variants.

They're still available, but i've only seen them on places like ebay and they command a hefty sum. I'm happy i picked mine up when they were selling for sane prices.

Also on a related note the Galaxy Force version Red Ramble is just a tad lighter in color than the Cybertron Scrapmetal, no real differences other than that.

Edited May 9, 2006 by Veritas

[NERV]

here's an odd paintscheme, apparently some kind of exclusive:

http://i8.ebayimg.com/01/i/07/1a/fe/30_1_b.JPG

[NERV]

btw, how much is a 'hefty price' ? cause i love those and would love to get them

[Southcross]

dang... I need to keep up with the news... from ANN.. never knew they were making a "new" transformers movie.

Bernie Mac Joins Transformers Movie (2006-05-09 16:59:09)

The BBC reports Bernie Mac and Josh Duhamel have signed onto Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie. Mac will reportedly play a salesman who gives star Shia LaBeouf his first Transformer. The $100 million film comes out July 2007. Source: Twitch [ discuss (1 posts) ]

Bernie Mac playing a character in the Movie?

[JB0]

Yes, Cybertron Scrapmetal is a nifty little scout and an awesome little mold.    I remember seeing a page that had like 12 different fan made transformations for him that didn't require any custom or cutting work.  I've gotta go look that up real quick.

They should release a version with those in the manual. The world's first dodeca-changer.

[Veritas]

here's an odd paintscheme, apparently some kind of exclusive:

http://i8.ebayimg.com/01/i/07/1a/fe/30_1_b.JPG

398169[/snapback]

Yeah i forgot to mention that one. It's Cody's Rumble it was bundled with the TRU Japan exclusive Galaxy Convoy + Sonice Bomber set. Believe it or not it's actually supposed to be an autobot heh. Also, it's not only a repaint but actually a slight retool, because the head has been resculpted to reflect the fact that he's an autobot.

btw, how much is a 'hefty price' ? cause i love those and would love to get them

398173[/snapback]

The hefty prices i've seen them going for the last time they were on ebay as a set of two (Yellow and Blue) they were fetching around 70 to 80 bucks not including shipping. Here's a link that might be of interest:

http://www.tfans.com/talk/index.php?showtopic=46775

Good Luck Man.

[Veritas]

Yes, Cybertron Scrapmetal is a nifty little scout and an awesome little mold.    I remember seeing a page that had like 12 different fan made transformations for him that didn't require any custom or cutting work.  I've gotta go look that up real quick.

They should release a version with those in the manual. The world's first dodeca-changer.

398183[/snapback]

Found it:

Credit to Tonyshotz of the Allspark forums.

Edited May 10, 2006 by Veritas

[JB0]

Some of those are pretty slick.

So... Scrapmetal is Perceptor's little brother, huh?

[Matt Random]

That is one versatile little toy. Many of the modes actually look like a unique and recognizable mode.

[wolfx]

I find his packaging's description funny. He's originally some kinda cybertronian vermin. Then he turned into an EVIL cybertronian vermin.

[Knight26]

I like the spidertank desing aspect, very cool

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

According to Sage2764 from the Visual Media boards, TRANSFORMERS CLASSICS Optimus Prime will ONLY be available in the VOYAGER assortment. He will NOT have a trailer. His blasters transform

into parts of his vehicle mode.

He also states that for TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON there will be a CROSSWISE redeco. There won't be a recolor for MUDFLAP now, as they recolored VECTOR PRIME instead. Here's a picture for what the redecco CROSSWISE will look like:

Can you say, SMOKESCREEN!?

from tfw2005

[Fit For Natalie]

The guys from the fansite TF Club ... oops link may be down (they have a rather slow server)

So I uploaded the pics... *phew*

Optimus Prime packaging, bio and instructions

Megatron packaging, bio and instructions

[Fit For Natalie]

Darn image limits

Optimus Prime robot and vehicle mode

[Fit For Natalie]

Megatron robot and vehicle mode

[Fit For Natalie]

Last bunch

Comparison

[Veritas]

Nice, thanks for the image uploads. WW Prime is still looking like a must buy. Megs is growing on me, but still i don't really think i'll be picking him up intially. They did a nice job with the detail on him but i just wish he was more poseable.

Edited May 11, 2006 by Veritas

[wolfx]

Why does the flavour text on the back of the packaging seem to be taking off from the GIJOE x Transformers cotinuity? I thought these were War Within figures?

[Metal_Massacre_79]

I may have missed this, but what the hell is Prime supposed to be? Looks similar to Kup.

[Fit For Natalie]

Why does the flavour text on the back of the packaging seem to be taking off from the GIJOE x Transformers cotinuity? I thought these were War Within figures?

398597[/snapback]

Because that's who Megatron is supposed to be - his WW2 GI Joe Vs Cobra incarnation. They couldn't do the Luger pistol, so Don Figueroa (who designed the comic characters, and also designed these toys) made him into a Maus tank (the world's biggest tank).

Titaniums don't really have a set theme. Next wave is War Within Jetfire and Thundercracker, but Wave 3 is Beast Wars Optimal Optimus and (apparently G1) Scourge

Edited May 11, 2006 by Fit For Natalie

[wolfx]

Oh ok...i thought that was the War Within Megatron.... since it was the WW Prime.

[Twoducks]

No new photos for MP Starscream yet?

Screw the VF-0S, this release IS the one that’s getting me all worked up. Very difficult to resist a high quality transforming toy of such an iconic bastard.

Don't get me wrong, the VF-0S is nice and all, but it doesn't have childhood magic around it like a 1/48 VF or this MP (which even has Kawamori involved).