The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

Woo Liokaiser officially announced! I'm probably gonna wait to see how the Takara version looks before I bite but he still looks good. Speaking of bites Gnaw looks great, I could see myself buying a few of them.

I guess... if you're ok with Liokaiser replacing Liozack and Jallguar with Deathsaurus. And Deathsaurus being a repaint of Sky Lynx.

Yeah, I think I'm glad I'm five in on Hades.

Anyway, did you guys catch on the back of Voyager Megatron's box? Leader-class Six Shot!

[sh9000]

[Omega Prime]

Color pictures of God Ginrai from Seibertron.com:

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/takara-tomy-transformers-legends-news-ginrai-revealed-new-comic-and-hardhead-singing/35909/

Edited July 22, 2016 by Omega Prime

[Scyla]

The feet look weird. Love the new sculpt for the forearms. The new chest is so so. I dig the shape of the Power Master but the two pillars left and right of the center look out of place. I still hope for a nemesis recolor to buy though.

[lechuck]

Markedly better that the western version.

Negatives for me would be

- the feet ... maybe just transformed incorrectly?

- the still hollow upper tighs

- and the lack of a waist joint

But honestly why dip into Titans/Legends version in the first place?

Save the money and just wait for the proper MP version to come, it has practically been set in stone since that poll Takara did a while ago.

[Scyla]

Markedly better that the western version.

Negatives for me would be

- the feet ... maybe just transformed incorrectly?

- the still hollow upper tighs

- and the lack of a waist joint

But honestly why dip into Titans/Legends version in the first place?

Save the money and just wait for the proper MP version to come, it has practically been set in stone since that poll Takara did a while ago.

I don't think the feed are transformed incorrectly since they homage the G1 toy:

They look very odd on a modern transforming toy.

[Black Valkyrie]

Oh boy, impressive.

[technoblue]

Is it time for Transformers with whiskers? Yes. Yes, I think it is.

http://news.tfw2005.com/2016/07/23/masterpiece-cheetor-colored-images-320237

Whereas Primal had me feeling meh with the Beast Wars MPs, I think Cheetor is winning me over completely. Sometimes I find that all it takes is one figure to push me from "Hell no!" to "Why not?" But I didn't think I would cave this quickly. I wasn't one to stick with BW until the very end. Perhaps I should do like I did with Babylon 5 and revisit it?

Anyway, I can't wait to see what else Takara has in store for this line. (All credit goes to TFW2005 for both the link and the preview image.)

Edit: To add more rambling.

Edited July 24, 2016 by technoblue

[Kanedas Bike]

^ Yeah, Cheetor looks great! And I guess it does only take one figure to change your mind, I was feeling pretty meh about Primal - and almost cancelled my pre-order from him last night (went on a cancellation spree)

But now I think I will keep him, mostly because of how good Cheetor looks in Bot mode.

-b.

[sh9000]

[M'Kyuun]

I'm a BW fan- alt modes aside, I think it's one of the best TF shows in terms of writing and character development- from start to finish, it's a fun show to watch. That said, I'm with those who are 'meh' concerning MP Primal. For a MP figure, I didn't feel he was quite MP material, but a solid Voyager in the Generations line. I still think it'd have been cool had TT gone with faux fur and various other materials to make them feel more authentic as animals, but that ship has sailed. Anyway, Cheetor has me far more convinced, even at the gray-mold stage. This colored version really sells him, and he's a must-buy in my book, which also means that, sometime down the road, I'll likely cave and get 'Big Bot' for my little BW collection.

I'm curious how many of these guys TT are going to make; I imagine the challenges are far dreater to make these characters look like their animation models in both modes without greatly compromising one for the other. Dinobot, especially, comes to mind; he was a pivotal character in the show and needs a good revision, as all past figures have pretty much been crap.

Bought TR Wheelie yesterday; Cool little figure with two caveats: first, his arms don't lock very well, and rely solely on friction, both at the elbow ball joint and the forward silver painted area( basically a small tongue and groove joint), and a tab by the hand, to keep the arms in place in car mode. The tongue and groove joint on mine doesn't lock in flush very well and takes some fidgeting to compress it . Second, the rear of the car is just an open area where the head and shoulder joints are clearly visible. It would have been cool had they made a small cover plate, and there's room enough for a small panel, but I guess they didn't have enough budget for another piece or two. That bit of negativity aside, it's a great likeness in both modes to the G1 character, is decently poseable (shoulders are pretty limited), and the way the body folds to allow a Titan Master to sit in the car, and then the robot body to compress, is very well done. Glad I got him. For those eyeing the TT version, IMO, not worth the extra money. Oh, just thought of a third negative- he doesn't come with a weapon, specifically his iconic slingshot, even though his card art shows him with it. I'm sure third parties are already working on solutions.

Edited July 24, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

Beast Wars was a great show, but I'm not into rigors with organic any modes. Unless they make an MP BW character that can cook me breakfast they're all going to be huge passes for me.

On the other hand, RiD/Car Robots was pretty bad, but I'd be all over an MP Fire Convoy. Or Rail Racer.

[sh9000]

I'd still buy a RID Fortress Maximus.

[M'Kyuun]

The entire RiD and Unicron Trilogy, as well as the Bay films, are dead spots in my personal TF universe. I couldn't get into any of the Japanese toons, and the toys were so-so. I have a number of them, but ultimately, few of them have any value to me today. They remain boxed up and out of sight. As for Bay, the one positive that came from his involvement in the franchise was the increase in complexity of the toys, without which to pave the way, I doubt the TF:Animated toys would have turned out as well as they did. TT and Hasbro have simplified things a bit in the last few years, but every now and then, esp in the MP line, they surprise with a nice bit of ingenious engineering.

So far, Cheetor looks like he benefits from some of that ingenious engineering.

[Omega Prime]

Comparison of God Ginrai and Powermaster Optimus Prime (from Seibertron.com)

Comparison shot of the different Headmaster for God Ginrai (also from Seibertron.com)

[Black Valkyrie]

Pre-order done.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I am having trouble resisting the urge to preorder Super Ginrai.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[vlenhoff]

Ha, i had no idea Newegg sold Takara Tomy masterpieces

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100163991%2050015535&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&PageSize=90

[mikeszekely]

Ha, i had no idea Newegg sold Takara Tomy masterpieces

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100163991%2050015535&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&PageSize=90

I think Newegg is going the Amazon route and allowing 3rd party sellers.

[mikeszekely]

Went to Target for Diapers, came back with Titans Return Legend-class Rewind and Wheelie.

So Rewind... his bot mode isn't too bad, and it includes nods to More Than Meets the Eye like a tiny molded camera on the side of his head, blue visor, red mouth plate, etc. I don't see anyone else lining up to give us a IDW Rewind, so there you go. As a Legend-class toy, you know he's going to be cheap and limited in articulation, so my only real complaint with his bot mode is that his arms are freaking huge. Seriously, his hands are the size of his head. His alt modes are less good. His first alt mode is a data slug, which is, I suppose, accurate to the comics, has decals that look like a smartphone screen with an audio cassette for a wallpaper, and has a slot on the one side for storing his gun. This is the better of his modes, since everything fits together pretty well, but admittedly it doesn't do much (especially if you don't have Blaster). You might as well tell people you bought a robot that turns into a brick. Guessing that kids might not be satisfied with that, he has a second tank alt. Basically, he's got little wheels on one side and you rotate his shoulders so that his arms are laying on the other side, then fold* them back over like they are in bot mode. While his arms do tab into the his sides, the halves of his forearms don't peg or tab together and rely on friction from the joint to stay in place. When his arms are situated, you can take the back of his gun and pinch it around gaps on the front of the "turret" and you kind of sort of have a tank. The turret doesn't move (although the barrel can wiggle up and down), his faux-treads only run down two thirds the tank's length, and there's a huge gap in the front, but I guess it counts.

*The tolerances on the joint that closes the flap are way off. It's not as bad unfolding it, but when you fold it you'll notice that the edge of the joint is triangular, so that it follows the slope of the turret shape. When you fold it, you're basically digging the point of the triangle into his arm and pushing until it's forced to scrape the rest of the way into position.

Then there's Wheelie. His bot mode is a little so-so. The whitish plastic could have been darker, and the dark canopy that makes up most of his torso might have been better off clear, to show more orange. He also could have done with more paint, and he comes with no accessories. Aside from the lack of accessories, it looks like the Takara version addresses my aesthetic issues, but I'll get to why he's not worth spending the extra money in a minute. His alt mode doesn't have quite the same '80s-future curves, but it's pretty spot-on otherwise, and one really nice feature he has is that his cockpit opens up and a Titan-Master can sit inside.

What kills, really kills, Wheelie is that his alt mode is basically held together with wishes. His legs fold up and peg together to make the front ok, but his arms really don't. They try. There's a tab at the end of the arm that sits in a gap that's not really a slot behind the front wheel, and a slot on the side that grabs a tab under the silver part of his butt, but it'll slide off that tab if you so much as sneeze. I think it's a tolerance issue... the peg is a little wide for the slot, so the slot flexes around it and wants to push it back out. As the arms explode outward, they'll push apart the front end that you thought was neatly transformed. And there's no other places where the arm pegs or tabs in (aside from the ball-jointed shoulders). I can't help but think a little more supporting material under the car and getting him together might not be such a struggle. In any case, if he fit the way he was meant to I'd say that he's an ok figure, but with his extremely poor fit he's a shining example of the Hasbro trash that drives collectors to third parties.

I didn't try any of the other Legends from Titans Return, but if Rewind and Wheelie are any indication they're a definite step down from guys like Bombshell, Powerglide, and Cosmos in previous waves, and the fact that they're priced at what Deluxes went for not that long ago is just criminal.

[JB0]

Beast Wars was a great show, but I'm not into rigors with organic any modes. Unless they make an MP BW character that can cook me breakfast they're all going to be huge passes for me.

On the other hand, RiD/Car Robots was pretty bad, but I'd be all over an MP Fire Convoy. Or Rail Racer.

Pretty much, yeah. No matter how good the story is, for the most part I want plastic robots on my shelves and not plastic orangutans and deinonychuses.

And damn if that Ginrai isn't tickling my nostalgia bones somethin' fierce. Powermaster Prime was my first Prime, and I still have a soft spot for the ol' brick.

[technoblue]

I'm willing to cut BW a break. It wasn't my favorite Transformers show or line of toys, but due to what it was, I was introduced to some interesting new characters like Dinobot, Black Arachnia, and Waspinator. The last two which would get reprisals in later series.

Anywho...

Edit: Oops, meant for the 3P thread.

Edited July 27, 2016 by technoblue

[sh9000]

Edited July 27, 2016 by sh9000

[David Hingtgen]

A Trypticon that size would be so much cooler.

[mikeszekely]

Pics coming in from Cybercon. We're getting a better look at that sort of Laser Optimus-ish Voyager, and if Megatron is going to be a Blitzwing repaint then it's looking like we'll get Octane out of Prime...

We are getting a Legends-class Kickback after all!

That leaked Hot Rod? He does look like he might be an improvement from the now-ancient Classics version, but he's still a Deluxe.

And Leader-class Sixshot is confirmed, and he will have all six modes... robot, wolf, car, tank, jet, and submarine. Submarine? Yeah... as near as I can tell, "submarine" mode is basically gun mode upside-down, so maybe we don't need to bust out the pitchforks.

[Scyla]

Primes head looks terrible. Hopefully I get a Nemesis colored repaint out of it from Takara with an all black Headmaster. Hot Rod looks great!

[M'Kyuun]

That triple changing Prime/ Octane's alt modes both look heavily compromised and just really poor. The truck might look better from a different angle and with all the weapons removed, but there's little help for that stretch Harrier. After seeing Megatron/future Blitzwing, which looks pretty decent to me in all modes, I was anticipating a new Octane, having passed on the Classics version. I daresay, the Classics looked better to me than this thing. I don't think Prime's color scheme is helping it much, either. It looks gaudy, and more like a preschool toy. With all the experience they have between TT and Hasbro, I'd have thought they'd come up with a much better design.

Finally, Kickback. Kinda odd that they didn't make the thighs fold into the lower legs, as they look a bit odd, as do his wing connections, in locust mode. Weird design choices aside, they got the likeness to his G1 figure down pretty well, and I'm stoked that they finally made him.

Rodimus looks to be a worthy successor to his Classics figure. His arms look a bit large, or maybe too long- I get an apish vibe from it, but otherwise, in both modes, I think he looks pretty good. IMHO, his bot mode proportions are better than the MP.

So when, I wonder, are they going to make a new G1 inspired Dinobot team? I just don't want them as headmasters, but updated voyager scaled figures would be great.

[Hikuro]

So basically........the DVD transfer I guess was to bright of a color pallette and now they're going back to more of the original so it'll be darker and more "natural"? Hard to tell from a projector screen recorded on a camera....but I'll still get it.

Comparison of God Ginrai and Powermaster Optimus Prime (from Seibertron.com)

Comparison shot of the different Headmaster for God Ginrai (also from Seibertron.com)

For me, this is just no contest like Takara's version of Computron, they're just going in all the right directions for the figure that Hasbro yet again fails to do to try and be "inventive" and failing at. I'll just wait for Takara's version and save me the time and effort to finding the hasbro.

Pics coming in from Cybercon. We're getting a better look at that sort of Laser Optimus-ish Voyager, and if Megatron is going to be a Blitzwing repaint then it's looking like we'll get Octane out of Prime...

prime.jpg

We are getting a Legends-class Kickback after all!

kickback.jpg

That leaked Hot Rod? He does look like he might be an improvement from the now-ancient Classics version, but he's still a Deluxe.

HotRod.jpg

And Leader-class Sixshot is confirmed, and he will have all six modes... robot, wolf, car, tank, jet, and submarine. Submarine? Yeah... as near as I can tell, "submarine" mode is basically gun mode upside-down, so maybe we don't need to bust out the pitchforks.

Sixshot.jpg

Happy with my Hexatron so this nah I'm good. Hotrod though, if he's anywhere near as fun as Blurr then yes he's gonna be bought for sure. Now then......time for a Kup version 2

[mikeszekely]

Primes head looks terrible. Hopefully I get a Nemesis colored repaint out of it from Takara with an all black Headmaster. Hot Rod looks great!

Well, you could always wait and see how the Takara version turns out (I'm hoping they either color it more like Laser Convoy). Or use the head from the Takara God Ginrai.

That triple changing Prime/ Octane's alt modes both look heavily compromised and just really poor. The truck might look better from a different angle and with all the weapons removed, but there's little help for that stretch Harrier. After seeing Megatron/future Blitzwing, which looks pretty decent to me in all modes, I was anticipating a new Octane, having passed on the Classics version. I daresay, the Classics looked better to me than this thing. I don't think Prime's color scheme is helping it much, either. It looks gaudy, and more like a preschool toy. With all the experience they have between TT and Hasbro, I'd have thought they'd come up with a much better design.

Finally, Kickback. Kinda odd that they didn't make the thighs fold into the lower legs, as they look a bit odd, as do his wing connections, in locust mode. Weird design choices aside, they got the likeness to his G1 figure down pretty well, and I'm stoked that they finally made him.

Rodimus looks to be a worthy successor to his Classics figure. His arms look a bit large, or maybe too long- I get an apish vibe from it, but otherwise, in both modes, I think he looks pretty good. IMHO, his bot mode proportions are better than the MP.

So when, I wonder, are they going to make a new G1 inspired Dinobot team? I just don't want them as headmasters, but updated voyager scaled figures would be great.

Agree on Prime/Octane, especially what with the cab of the truck split in half and just chilling out under the plane's wings. Regarding Kickback, I think it's the sad realities of the cheaper Legends-class engineering. And regarding Hot Rod (whose name looks like it's actually Hot Rod and not Rodimus this time), I think the length is right, I think his shoulders are too tall and stuck out too far from his torso. But maybe they're trying to go for a more top-heavy IDW look?

So basically........the DVD transfer I guess was to bright of a color pallette and now they're going back to more of the original so it'll be darker and more "natural"? Hard to tell from a projector screen recorded on a camera....but I'll still get it.

For me, this is just no contest like Takara's version of Computron, they're just going in all the right directions for the figure that Hasbro yet again fails to do to try and be "inventive" and failing at. I'll just wait for Takara's version and save me the time and effort to finding the hasbro.

Happy with my Hexatron so this nah I'm good. Hotrod though, if he's anywhere near as fun as Blurr then yes he's gonna be bought for sure. Now then......time for a Kup version 2

I have the Blu-ray preordered already.

As far as PM Prime/God Ginrai goes, I don't feel like it's as clear cut as Computron. I like that the Titan Master isn't just a little Prime head stuffed into a bigger Prime head, and I like the feet and hands on the Hasbro version. I'm not crazy about that chunk of red square on the Takara version's trailer, either. I could go either way on the junk that covers the cab in robot mode, although I do like the Takara cab and weapons better. Ultimately, though, especially for what importing the Takara version is likely to cost, I think I'm going to go with lechuck and wait for a proper MP God Ginrai, or a 3P version.

I think Hexatron might be too big for my personal collection... but I think that's true for a Leader-class Sixshot, too. And something about him just looks doofy, so it's a pretty easy pass for me.

[Hikuro]

I kind of agree with ya, like the head and the feet. Hasbros is more Pax, while Takara's is a optimus head on top of another larger optimus head but so was the old g1 toy.

For me, Takara's feels less like a retool of Magnus and more of an individual on it's own toy....you can see that in the cab for certain. And the color separation is nicer whereas Hasbros feels more cheap. But yeah, price wise it's gonna be double from Hasbros I totally get that. Can really understand on that being also a huge decision making point.

[mikeszekely]

So when, I wonder, are they going to make a new G1 inspired Dinobot team? I just don't want them as headmasters, but updated voyager scaled figures would be great.

According to TFClub, a Chinese group on Weibo, word from TFCon is that the Dinobots are being considered. At what scale, I don't know. Also, there's some suggestion that it might happen under the Titans Return banner, so while you might get your wish for Dinobots, they may or may not be Voyagers, and they may be Headmasters.

Oh, and David...

[sh9000]

[JB0]

... you might get your wish for Dinobots ... they may be Headmasters.

Obligatory "Grimlock's New Brain" joke goes here.

[M'Kyuun]

Obligatory "Grimlock's New Brain" joke goes here.

Ha, no kidding. New brains, depending on what head you pop on there. I'll never get the allure of the Headmasters gimmick.

But, I like the current G1 inspired trend in both CW and TR- it feels like I'm getting the toys the way I wanted them to be 30 years ago. I like that they're very close homages, but not absolutely slavish to the old toys or animation. There's a nice amalgamation of the old and modern artistic license, and, HM gimmick aside, I've been pretty pleased with all the figs I've bought so far. I think they've struck a good balance.

Thanks for the TFClub rumor, Mike. At this point, if Has/Tak follow the current heavy G1 homage trend, I'd welcome a minty new set of Dinobots, Headmasters or not. I had hopes for the MP line when they did Grimlock, but they did him and quit. The CHUG/TR line would be the next best thing, and hopefully in voyager scale. Deluxe would be a bit small. Keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping they're not as poorly done as the individual Constructicons if they indeed make them.

Concerning Ginrai compared to Hasbro's PM Prime- Hikuro stated my thoughts above. However, since I have Ultra Magnus, I feel drawn to Ginrai because of the differences in the mold. Still in the air for now, but that's likely the way I'll go.

[Dio]

Hasbro, please give me a TR Voyager class Jetfire next, and name the headmaster "Hunter" just to twist the knife