Transformers Super Thread 7

[Vermillion21]

Thanks for posting the pics and links ... upcoming TFs look awesome!!!

I am loving the TF Universe line .... simply AWESOME.

[Twoducks]

Any news on the City Commander Trailer Set for classics Ultra Magnus? Been a while since I've sen anything.

[promethuem5]

BBTS claims their CC sets are arriving shortly... I can't wait.

[Vermillion21]

Any news on the City Commander Trailer Set for classics Ultra Magnus? Been a while since I've sen anything.

I think mine shipped from Lost & Found Toys this week .... will confirm when I get the package.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Vermillion21

[Fit For Natalie]

How the **** do you screw up Cyclonus' paint scheme?

People crazily thinking toy companies paint every inch of their toys, including the joints?

I think the tan is supposed to match is gold stomach grill and Nightstick's gold face. The white is actually silver plastic.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Fit For Natalie

[crasis]

I got Henkei Thundercracker today and it has a widespread QC issue - the missile launchers cannot fit into his arms. The holes are too big. There have also been reports from Japan, general asia and from western fans of both Thundercrackers and Skywarps with two left or two right thighs, so one ends up backwards. Generally joints are looser.

I just got back from the Post Office to pick up my Henkei Thundercracker, and I'm sad (and angry) to report that mine has the same missile launcher/arm issue. I don't even think clear nail polish can fix this one. The launchers just fall right out, as if they were never intended to go there. I placed them on my Starscream, Acid Storm, and (US Target) Skywarp, and they fit nice and snug. This thing is a defect. And to make matters worse, one of his arms is so loose that it feels like it's dangling by a thread. I tried to tighten the screws, but it had no effect. And one of his wings falls backwards in robot mode due to weak joints. But what really gets me is the sloppy/smeared paint on mine. I bought this thing (and paid 7x what he's worth) FOR the paintjob. I couldn't believe it when I found nasty silver smears on his legs and missing paint on his face. This toy looks gorgeous in the packaging, but that's all. Thundercracker is simply cursed.

[David Hingtgen]

People crazily thinking toy companies paint every inch of their toys, including the joints?

I think the tan is supposed to match is gold stomach grill and Nightstick's gold face. The white is actually silver plastic.

Done to match his stomach grill? That'd be like molding G1 Prime's legs in yellow to match his forearm markings. Cyclonus should not have gold/tan/beige. Like I said at TFW---that's like green on Prime. It's NOT one of their colors.

And as I also said at TFW---that's the worst "silver" plastic Hasbro's ever tried. Look at the G1 Dinobots--nice silvery plastic. The G2 Dinobots used it as well. And ever since, Hasbro's tried a bunch of different silvers, all of which are far inferior--they look like plain grey, or barely metallic. And Cylconus is the worst--that's "metallic off-white", not silver. Plain grey would have looked much better. Or you know, PURPLE, since Cyclonus is well-known for being very purple (or lavender, really), even among Decepticons.

Look at the digi-bash I found and posted--the only difference with the middle one is that the tan and white are molded in silver-grey plastic. Looks a million times better.

Cyclonus doesn't need any paint apps other than his eyes and abs. Just mold him in two shades of purple for animated appearance, or purple and silver for toy appearance. But tan and off-white do not make sense at all.

[crasis]

Cyclonus doesn't need any paint apps other than his eyes and abs. Just mold him in two shades of purple for animated appearance, or purple and silver for toy appearance. But tan and off-white do not make sense at all.

Agreed 100%. We can only hope the Henkei version actually looks even half as good as the third Cyclonus in the picture you posted.

[Alpha OTS]

Agreed 100%. We can only hope the Henkei version actually looks even half as good as the third Cyclonus in the picture you posted.

There's always hope for the Hanky...errr....Henkei version. heh. I have a feeling they'll chrome the wings though. I'm still bumming about how they ruined....errr, I mean, chromed Galvatron. Although I'm hoping it looks better in hand than it does in online pics.

I found the SWTF Tie Bomber today. Also saw Grievous, but passed. I only want the OT molds. He's surprisingly good. The tolerances and pegging on mine all work as intended(I've read elsewhere of people having problems). The transformation's a little more complicated than I expected too. After transforming him, I see the pilot chair, so I start looking for the little tie pilot. Can't find him. Check the plastic tray, and it doesn't look like there was a slot for him. Look at the instructions and packaging, and there's no pictures of him. Search through tfw2005, and unfortunately find out that the SWTF figures that come in CrossOvers packaging don't come with pilots. I think I might free one of the stormtroopers from the Darth Star so somebody can drive this thing.

Edit: btw, I shot myself in the face with the #&*^@!@# tie bomber gun at least three times now. The thing has a hair trigger.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Alpha OTS

[kensei]

I just got back from the Post Office to pick up my Henkei Thundercracker, and I'm sad (and angry) to report that mine has the same missile launcher/arm issue. I don't even think clear nail polish can fix this one. The launchers just fall right out, as if they were never intended to go there. I placed them on my Starscream, Acid Storm, and (US Target) Skywarp, and they fit nice and snug. This thing is a defect. And to make matters worse, one of his arms is so loose that it feels like it's dangling by a thread. I tried to tighten the screws, but it had no effect. And one of his wings falls backwards in robot mode due to weak joints. But what really gets me is the sloppy/smeared paint on mine. I bought this thing (and paid 7x what he's worth) FOR the paintjob. I couldn't believe it when I found nasty silver smears on his legs and missing paint on his face. This toy looks gorgeous in the packaging, but that's all. Thundercracker is simply cursed.

Looks like I won't be getting this one.

[Vermillion21]

I just got back from the Post Office to pick up my Henkei Thundercracker, and I'm sad (and angry) to report that mine has the same missile launcher/arm issue. I don't even think clear nail polish can fix this one. The launchers just fall right out, as if they were never intended to go there. I placed them on my Starscream, Acid Storm, and (US Target) Skywarp, and they fit nice and snug. This thing is a defect. And to make matters worse, one of his arms is so loose that it feels like it's dangling by a thread. I tried to tighten the screws, but it had no effect. And one of his wings falls backwards in robot mode due to weak joints. But what really gets me is the sloppy/smeared paint on mine. I bought this thing (and paid 7x what he's worth) FOR the paintjob. I couldn't believe it when I found nasty silver smears on his legs and missing paint on his face. This toy looks gorgeous in the packaging, but that's all. Thundercracker is simply cursed.

Sorry to hear about the bad QC ... I had planned on buying one of these. Now I dunno ....

[vermillion01]

Just came across this little gallery of customs.. quite nice.

Transformers customs

TF's start on page 2

[Alpha OTS]

Now that I've had the Tie Bomber for a couple of days, and have transformed him back and forth, I really like him. The ship mode on mine holds together pretty well. That #*&^@* gun that clips to the bottom of the ship has a hair trigger, and I've shot myself in the face with it at least three times so far. Pretty much the front of the ship is the back of the shoulders, the back of the ship is the legs(one leg to a pod), and the arms are pressed against the tie wings.

I like that they tried to make the bottom of the legs have more of a transformation than just the back of the ship pods extending downwards. However, the one leg clips together fine. The other I have a heck of a time getting to clip together. When you start, the bottom of the leg is a circular shell which you essentially break apart and then collapse down so it's all closer together to look more like a leg than the circular part of the ship it was. This also creates a support for the leg so it's a fixed length. I really don't like that the back of the pods(bottoms of the leg) pretty much flip up to the backside of the leg but without anything to clip it into place. I also don't like that the pilot section just rests against the back and doesn't have anything to clip it into place either. It's these little things that don't clip in and need to clip in that are the only things I don't like about the figure.

The tie wings don't transform at all and don't get enough out of the way. They're attached to the top of the forearm by a balljoint. I've found that swinging them around so the longer part of the wing is above the elbows sometimes looks a little better than the default. At least they're not completely fixed into place. I *just* found out that the fists do twist 360 degrees, but it took quite a bit of effort to get them to turn.

Bot mode looks undeniably like a Tie pilot. The detail I like best is the hoses on the chest going upwards to the head. They don't actually connect, but visually, if you look at him from straight on, it looks like the hoses are connected to the front of the head regardless of which way its turned. Apart from the aforementioned heels and pilot section that don't clip to anything, the bot mode's pretty solid otherwise.

[Vermillion21]

Wow, very impressive customs!!!

Tie Bomber TF looks cool ... I am getting him when I see him at retail.

Edited October 5, 2008 by Vermillion21

[mikeszekely]

Now that I've had the Tie Bomber for a couple of days, and have transformed him back and forth, I really like him. The ship mode on mine holds together pretty well. That #*&^@* gun that clips to the bottom of the ship has a hair trigger, and I've shot myself in the face with it at least three times so far. Pretty much the front of the ship is the back of the shoulders, the back of the ship is the legs(one leg to a pod), and the arms are pressed against the tie wings.

I like that they tried to make the bottom of the legs have more of a transformation than just the back of the ship pods extending downwards. However, the one leg clips together fine. The other I have a heck of a time getting to clip together. When you start, the bottom of the leg is a circular shell which you essentially break apart and then collapse down so it's all closer together to look more like a leg than the circular part of the ship it was. This also creates a support for the leg so it's a fixed length. I really don't like that the back of the pods(bottoms of the leg) pretty much flip up to the backside of the leg but without anything to clip it into place. I also don't like that the pilot section just rests against the back and doesn't have anything to clip it into place either. It's these little things that don't clip in and need to clip in that are the only things I don't like about the figure.

The tie wings don't transform at all and don't get enough out of the way. They're attached to the top of the forearm by a balljoint. I've found that swinging them around so the longer part of the wing is above the elbows sometimes looks a little better than the default. At least they're not completely fixed into place. I *just* found out that the fists do twist 360 degrees, but it took quite a bit of effort to get them to turn.

Bot mode looks undeniably like a Tie pilot. The detail I like best is the hoses on the chest going upwards to the head. They don't actually connect, but visually, if you look at him from straight on, it looks like the hoses are connected to the front of the head regardless of which way its turned. Apart from the aforementioned heels and pilot section that don't clip to anything, the bot mode's pretty solid otherwise.

Wow, that looks WAAAY better than the Vader TIE X1.

[mpchi]

Got lucky and found the last Animated Sentinel at the store the other night. Wasn't sure if its a keeper at the moment, but decided to open this guy after seeing the potential of improvement with some minor paint app. End up liking it quite a bit as the truck mode is solid (though a tad small) and the robot mode has a lot of personality. And like some mentioned before, its quite accurate to the show. His upper body is nice and big, pretty close to the mass of the Voyager Prime. If only Sentinel's legs are an inch longer, then he'll be just a nice match up with Voyager Prime, even if Sentinel is a Deluxe.

A couple gripes on this guy. The hip ball joint while nicely designed, is not tight enough to support the upper body. Need the superglue trick to get this fix. Also, Sentinel is begging for an upper arm swivel joint. His sword and shield need those to get any decent poses. As of now, his upper body poses are pretty static. His legs got good range of posing though. Lastly, Hasbro could have done a little better on the paint. Sentinel seriously need some more paint on the head, and better paint on the weapons (clear blue plastic even better). Can't believe the spikes on the shield only has paint on the front and not the back.

Overall, a good fun figure with a very interesting transformation. Truck mode is decent, and the bot has a lot of personality. Upper body articulation is quite limited though, and the legs could be a bit longer.

I'll give it a solid 8/10.

As you can see, Sentinel is almost in scale to Voyager Prime (except the short legs). Therefore, turning Voyager Prime into 'midget mode' helps to blend the 2 together side by side.

[Vermillion21]

Great pics!! I'm still on the hunt for this guy & Swoop. Thanks for posting ...

[mikeszekely]

I felt like heading out with a friend for a late snack. We stopped at the local Wal-Mart... this being the same Wal-Mart where I'd been as recently as Friday, and which never had Galvatron, Acid Storm, the Universe Ultras, Sentinel Prime, Swoop, Ultra Magnus, or Blitzwing. Lo and behold, they added a new endcap of Transformers toys. I didn't really look too much at the Animated toys, although I do still need Lugnut and Blitzwing to round out the main cast of characters, but I did snag Universe Sideswipe, Ironhide, Bluestreak (I refuse to call him Silverstreak any more than I'll call Octane Tankor), and a second Acid Storm (to become Thundercracker next time I'm at the hobby store for paints), each just $7.77.

[GobotFool]

I felt like heading out with a friend for a late snack. We stopped at the local Wal-Mart... this being the same Wal-Mart where I'd been as recently as Friday, and which never had Galvatron, Acid Storm, the Universe Ultras, Sentinel Prime, Swoop, Ultra Magnus, or Blitzwing. Lo and behold, they added a new endcap of Transformers toys. I didn't really look too much at the Animated toys, although I do still need Lugnut and Blitzwing to round out the main cast of characters, but I did snag Universe Sideswipe, Ironhide, Bluestreak (I refuse to call him Silverstreak any more than I'll call Octane Tankor), and a second Acid Storm (to become Thundercracker next time I'm at the hobby store for paints), each just $7.77.

Hey mikesyzekely, where are you in the world? Just curious because I have not seen any evidence of the latest waves of TFers in my region.

[David Hingtgen]

I still wonder why no clear blue plastic on Sentinel Prime---the one TF of the past few years that DOES need transparent plastic weapons--and he doesn't have it. Versus a hundred other toys with clear orange/red/green missiles etc that don't...

[mikeszekely]

Hey mikesyzekely, where are you in the world? Just curious because I have not seen any evidence of the latest waves of TFers in my region.

Greensburg, PA. About 45 minutes to an hour east of Pittsburgh (or, for fans of Rolling Rock beer, about 20-30 west of Latrobe).

You might want to check it again, because like I said, I was there Friday and they didn't have anything, then mysteriously an endcap (one of the sneaky back endcaps, at that) suddenly appears full of TFs.

Edited October 7, 2008 by mikeszekely

[RichterX]

Greensburg, PA. About 45 minutes to an hour east of Pittsburgh (or, for fans of Rolling Rock beer, about 20-30 west of Latrobe).

You might want to check it again, because like I said, I was there Friday and they didn't have anything, then mysteriously an endcap (one of the sneaky back endcaps, at that) suddenly appears full of TFs.

I caught a Sentinel Prime here in Texas at Walmart. Most of the new Transformers are leaving as fast as they arrive specially due to the price change Walmart did of 7.77 for the deluxe.

[mpchi]

Yeah, its nice to see Deluxes cost only $7.77, when everywhere else raising their prices. Even Target is asking for $10.99 for the Animated TFs, when they used to be $9.99 not long ago. Too bad non of the Walmarts I frequent has the latest stuff. But I did managed to pick up quite a few of the older TFA Deluxes at the sale price there, like Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ratchet.

[RichterX]

Yeah, its nice to see Deluxes cost only $7.77, when everywhere else raising their prices. Even Target is asking for $10.99 for the Animated TFs, when they used to be $9.99 not long ago. Too bad non of the Walmarts I frequent has the latest stuff. But I did managed to pick up quite a few of the older TFA Deluxes at the sale price there, like Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ratchet.

picked some Animated i had been holding on cause of the new price, like Blackarachnia i would have grab Ratchet and Lockdown but got Blitzwing instead.

[mpchi]

picked some Animated i had been holding on cause of the new price, like Blackarachnia i would have grab Ratchet and Lockdown but got Blitzwing instead.

I wouldn't worry about Lockdown and Ratchet too much. They tend to be shelf warmers, so pretty sure you'll get a second chance on them later. Blitzwings do get snatched off pretty quickly. So good call on picking that guy first.

[mpchi]

Like most people, I am not that happy with Sentinel Prime's height, specifically the length of his legs, and always wish his height matches up with Voyager Prime's. So with a night of experimenting, I finally figure out a way to solve that. Giving Sentinel new feet. Took me a while to figure out a good solution as there aren't much flat enough surfaces you can glue parts on to Sentinel's feet area. But eventually found a tight spots from the inside of the leg that has room for a small screw, and found a nice pair of usable feet from my scrap Alternator Roll Bar. So after some measuring, triming, and drilling, Sentinel got a lot taller, and more stability with added articulation on the feet, as well as an additional add-on to his truck mode.

As you can see, while Sentinel is still a tad shorter, its good enough for me. At least he no longer need Prime to get into 'midget mode (legs retracted)' just for Sentinel to feel better standing around. And gave Sentinel a nicer proportion overall. Pretty happy with the results.

[Dr. Z]

Got my City Commander upgrade kit. It is the awesome.

[Vermillion21]

Can you post some pics??

I got my CC upgrade kit too - but my wife is keeping it from me, since it will be a Christmas present.

So I have to wait a few more months before I get a chance to play with it.

[RichterX]

Can you post some pics??

I got my CC upgrade kit too - but my wife is keeping it from me, since it will be a Christmas present.

So I have to wait a few more months before I get a chance to play with it.

it is well known that keeping away Transformers upgrade accessories leads to divorce....

[Dangard Ace]

Pics of Inferno are on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=300264972542

[RichterX]

Pics of Inferno are on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=300264972542

interesting, don't like the boxy shaped torso but i will end up grabing it when i see it...

[mikeszekely]

interesting, don't like the boxy shaped torso but i will end up grabing it when i see it...

Hey, the boxy shaped torso is 'toon accurate. Personally, I'm really looking forward to him. I'm just not sure I'd like a Grapple repaint. Grapple was kind of lame.

[promethuem5]

Yes, Grapple was lame... they should release Artfire!

[mikeszekely]

Yes, Grapple was lame... they should release Artfire!

Aside from color, how is Artfire any better? A Japan-only character that barely rated an appearance in some manga, just to hawk another Inferno repaint?

[RichterX]

Aside from color, how is Artfire any better? A Japan-only character that barely rated an appearance in some manga, just to hawk another Inferno repaint?

repaint as Hotspot?