The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[ErikElvis]

46 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just a quick interruption of the Galvatron talk to say I've gotten a shipping notice for a 14lb package from Hasbro due to land on my porch on Thursday, requiring a signature no less. Suffice it to say, it's Unicron. Thought I'd mention it for those of you who also bought a copy to be on the lookout. Given the size of this thing, it's probably good to have a space cleared for it before it arrives. I've got a corner of my man cave ready.  

 

Still waiting for mine to ship out. I was wondering if it was officially released as I’m seeing some arriving on Facebook. 

[tekering]

34 minutes ago, jenius said:

I didn't have a vehicle capable of grabbing it!

I may be able to help you with that.

[JB0]

4 hours ago, tekering said:

I may be able to help you with that.

When he's done, can I borrow your truck? I'm builoing a solar power tower, and that looks to be the vehicle I need.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, JB0 said:

When he's done, can I borrow your truck?

I can do you one better, dude...  I know the perfect crew to help you out with your solar tower.

These guys are master builders.  

They're highly-skilled, super-friendly, and they love to build things... and they've got no ulterior motives whatsoever.  Honest! 

[mikeszekely]

Peaugh has his review up. It's almost an hour long... I'll probably fast-forward And just get his impressions.

Well... I wish I could have got one, because it's a historic release, and I don't have the sort of informed opinion I'd use for a review, but nothing I've seen so far makes me regret having Zeta's instead.

Edited March 24, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

23 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Peaugh has his review up. It's almost an hour long... I'll probably fast-forward And just get his impressions.

Well... I wish I could have got one, because it's a historic release, and I don't have the sort of informed opinion I'd use for a review, but nothing I've seen so far makes me regret having Zeta's instead.

Honestly, Zeta's engineering is far, far more on point and what I would have considered ideal from HasTak, but as it is a one-of-a-kind figure, and one I could afford in dollars if not in space, I opted for official over Zeta's. I'll say up front that I'm not too thrilled with the massive amount of panel-fu involved and the dearth of actual robot involvement in the transformation. For $600+, Haslab Unicron should be a shining beacon of engineering prowess, but in that regard, it's an overwhelming failure. I would have happily traded all the gimmicks for a better transformation. Alas, it is what it is, and I've made my choice. I hope its presence will sway me once I have it in hand. Speaking of which, Fed Ex shows it being delivered today, but tracking shows it still in transit somewhere in California, so looks like it'll be few more days before I have him in hand. Typical Fed Ex.

I do, however, have a FE delivery today of Kingdom Dinobot, I believe, so it's still a good day when a toy arrives on the doorstep. I'm pretty happy with the Kingdom BW figs so far, especially Megatron, whose T-Rex mode is incredible, one of the most poseable animal alt modes I've seen thus far. I wish the whole line was to that standard.

[mikeszekely]

52 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I do, however, have a FE delivery today of Kingdom Dinobot

From Pulse? I've been preordering from Amazon, since we but a lot of stuff there and it's harder for my wife to know just how much I'm spending on toys, but they've been really slow getting their stock lately, so I may need to rethink future pre-orders. I wind up cancelling more than half my orders for SS86 and the first wave of Kingdom because I found the figures in stores before Amazon fulfilled my orders.  And now it seems like everyone but me is getting their second-wave stuff.

[mikeszekely]

New Galvatron pics, cannon mode.

And some magazine scans of Rodimus.  See, he's like Optimus size.  Not huge.

[lechuck]

New coloured images of Skids and new character Reboost (?)

More importantly though - it seems Takara has tweeted that MP Skyfire is on the way!

Really hope it is the actual him and not Jetfire or some other derivative of him.

[sh9000]

Other than the wheels, I like how Rodimus looks in robot mode and full vehicle mode.  I’m down for an official MP Skyfire and will still hold on to my FT Phoenix.

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

From Pulse? I've been preordering from Amazon, since we but a lot of stuff there and it's harder for my wife to know just how much I'm spending on toys, but they've been really slow getting their stock lately, so I may need to rethink future pre-orders. I wind up cancelling more than half my orders for SS86 and the first wave of Kingdom because I found the figures in stores before Amazon fulfilled my orders.  And now it seems like everyone but me is getting their second-wave stuff.

Yep, from Pulse. I've been ordering as much TF stuff as I can from them since I have a Pulse membership, and it all ships free.  They seem to be getting stuff out relatively timely, if sporadically; i.e., when a new wave of POs starts, I'll PO all the figs I want in a single order, but they ship individually at different times rather than as a one big shipment. I can't imagine what that costs non-members in S&H, so in my mind, that alone justifies the cost of membership. Getting first dibs on specialty figs is nice, too.

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

New Galvatron pics, cannon mode.

And some magazine scans of Rodimus.  See, he's like Optimus size.  Not huge.

Concerning Galvatron, not feeling that cannon mode at all, and the proportions of the bot mode aren't thrilling me, either.  The TR version looks better to me across the board. I wonder if the feet can rotate up to the back of the cannon, as it'd be an improvement, methinks. As for Rodimus, his Winnebago mode ain't the best, but I like the base robot mode enough to get him. The alt mode would have been spot-on with just a few tweeks. Oh well. Shrug.

50 minutes ago, lechuck said:

New coloured images of Skids and new character Reboost (?)

More importantly though - it seems Takara has tweeted that MP Skyfire is on the way!

Really hope it is the actual him and not Jetfire or some other derivative of him.

This is looking nice. It's the first MP that's grabbed my interest in a couple years, and in color, the feet don't bother me near as much as they did on the unpainted sample.  It's a nice feeling to be excited for MP again.  I never thought they'd do Skyfire, like ever.  I'm still quite pleased with my Fans Toys Phoenix, and Takara has their work cut out for them to better that figure, even with its having a few years on it. If they manage to nail the aesthetics, without venturing into a sh!t-ton of unnecessary panel-forming nonsense that breaks up the sculpt, and give their version crazy insane levels of articulation, I might be swayed. As it is, Phoenix is a great take on the character, and he already occupies a fair amount of real estate in my Detolf.  At this point, for my collection, I'm not sure there's room or a need for another Skyfire.  They're going to have to really wow me.

Skyfire's a brow raising choice, especially when there are any number of other more prominent characters still to do in the MP line. They really need to work on buttering up Porche so we can finally have Jazz. Too, there are still a bunch of G1 minibots who need toys, Insecticons, a full range of Dinobots (although I love my FT dinos), Blaster and his tapes, Trailbreaker, Mirage, the Constructicons, etc.   If it turns out well, though, hopefully that'll usher in more larger scale MPs down the road. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[Dangard Ace]

I was hoping for someone to KO and upsize WFC Jetfire so I could swap out FT Phoenix but I'm excited with an official MP Skyfire.  Hopefully better articulation, better  plastic.

[M'Kyuun]

3 minutes ago, Dangard Ace said:

I was hoping for someone to KO and upsize WFC Jetfire so I could swap out FT Phoenix but I'm excited with an official MP Skyfire.  Hopefully better articulation, better  plastic.

WFC Skyfire is a great figure, but I think he's great within the context of the main line; even upscaled with possible tweaks, he still wouldn't measure up to Phoenix, IMHO. FT did a truly incredible job on that figure, which has the look and feel of a MP toy that I don't believe the WFC figure could ever capture. Too, and more importantly, Phoenix's transformation is virtually seamless- great use of the arms to form the forward fuselage.  Just a beautiful alt mode.

But, YMMV. 

[Dangard Ace]

9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

WFC Skyfire is a great figure, but I think he's great within the context of the main line; even upscaled with possible tweaks, he still wouldn't measure up to Phoenix, IMHO. FT did a truly incredible job on that figure, which has the look and feel of a MP toy that I don't believe the WFC figure could ever capture. Too, and more importantly, Phoenix's transformation is virtually seamless- great use of the arms to form the forward fuselage.  Just a beautiful alt mode.

But, YMMV. 

FT Phoenix is the best MP Skyfire currently out there and I'm glad I have it.  BUT if I would change anything it would be the upper body and the head to be more inline with what it looks like in the lineart or the toon.   I expect TT to nail the toon bot and toon alt.  

[M'Kyuun]

After doing a comparison between the toon, WFC Skyfire, and Phoenix, the WFC definitely gets the head proportions better, as well as the chest design. Phoenix is by far the best MP scaled Skyfire out there, but after comparisons, there's room for improvement there that I hadn't really considered.  So, when MP Skyfire comes up for PO, and I'm shelling $400+ for it, I know who to blame.

 

On a completely different note, looking at my Generations Netflix Soundave on my desk, I so, so wish a third party would make some improved cassettes for him, as the official ones are, to put it kindly, sorely wanting.

Speaking of 3P cassettes, I got my MS tape set  last week, and those things are just incredible for the amount of articulation they imparted. The focus is definitely on the bot modes, though, as the cassette modes require squinty eyes and a bit of imagination to make them convincing, except Ratbat which actually does look convincing from one side in tape mode. At this extremely tiny scale, and given the poseability and the ability to still transform, it's easily forgivable for how much fun these little guys are. I recommend them just as fun little desk toys to tinker with. Quite an impressive little set, and of course, necessities if you own MS's Soundwave, which is also a pretty well done fig. The tape fit is very snug, though, necessitating a finger through a convenient hole in his back to eject them. Kind of a pain, but IIWII. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[Dangard Ace]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

After doing a comparison between the toon, WFC Skyfire, and Phoenix, the WFC definitely gets the head proportions better, as well as the chest design. Phoenix is by far the best MP scaled Skyfire out there, but after comparisons, there's room for improvement there that I hadn't really considered.  So, when MP Skyfire comes up for PO, and I'm shelling $400+ for it, I know who to blame.

 

[mikeszekely]

I don't know if I care about an MP Skyfire or not. Like a lot of you I already have (and am pretty happy with) Phoenix.  Takara's official MPs haven't impressed me since maybe Inferno (which I passed on because he was a little too toony for me, but I respect the heck out of the way they designed his ladder to hide away).  Weirdly, Skids is the probably their best-looking G1 MP figure in years (in my opinion), but that's like 90% because it looks a lot like XTB's with more solid shoulders.

[technoblue]

I'm one of the few who passed on FT Phoenix so I'm looking forward to what Takara is planning for the official MP. Hasbro did an okay job with WFC Jetfire, but it is a chunky bit of kit and I thought it was a bit unwieldy for posing with the stiff ratchet joints. I would be interested to see if an MP Skyfire improves on that so-so articulation in any way. If Takara comes through with some clever design choices, then the price will become the tough sell for me. I mean, FT Phoenix wasn't cheap, but Takara is aiming closer to Premium Arcadia prices. For now, I'm in a holding pattern. 

Skids looks fantastic, as does his mould partner. I wonder if the two releases are going to be spread out at all?.

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Concerning Galvatron, not feeling that cannon mode at all, and the proportions of the bot mode aren't thrilling me, either.  The TR version looks better to me across the board.

I agree that something looks off with the cannon mode, and the bot mode has some weird proportions, but I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that the TR version looks better.  The cannon mode especially is more accurate, even with its issues.

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I wonder if the feet can rotate up to the back of the cannon, as it'd be an improvement, methinks.

Like this?

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

I'm one of the few who passed on FT Phoenix so I'm looking forward to what Takara is planning for the official MP. Hasbro did an okay job with WFC Jetfire, but it is a chunky bit of kit and I thought it was a bit unwieldy for posing with the stiff ratchet joints. I would be interested to see if an MP Skyfire improves on that so-so articulation in any way. If Takara comes through with some clever design choices, then the price will become the tough sell for me. I mean, FT Phoenix wasn't cheap, but Takara is aiming closer to Premium Arcadia prices. For now, I'm in a holding pattern. 

Skids looks fantastic, as does his mould partner. I wonder if the two releases are going to be spread out at all?.

Given their bent towards greater articulation, which seems oddly not to be the case with Skids based on pure eyeball inspection, the assumption is that, should they hold true to their slavish toon and extreme articulation standards, MP Skyfire (man it seems odd typing that) will be an incredible figure in those regards. But they also have a bent towards very complicated transformations which oft result in a lot of layers of folded panels and such forming large sections of the bot modes, so there's that to be wary of, although Skyfire is, admittedly, a fairly straightforward design. The arms are really the only murky bit, and I absolutely love FT's solution which is better than WFC's Jetfire for how it integrates seamlessly into the alt mode without leaving large gaps or open areas. IMHO, it's going to be a difficult design to better, articulation and inaccurate chest sculpt notwithstanding.

The other side of that coin is pricing; MP Skyfire will likely run well over twice what Phoenix cost, so there's also that to be considered. If the new MP Prime's going for $400, a bot that dwarfs him will likely exceed that price by at least another $100, and likely upwards towards the $600 mark. Based on the Unicron crowdfunding price, there's already a precedent for what the fandom will pay for a highly sought but rarely made figure, and MP Skyfire will likely be a one and done sort of release. There are no recolors or slight remolds into other characters, as the character design itself was an artifact of Sunbow's legal inability to use the VF-1 design in the animation, so they're betting on the strength of our nostalgia to drive sales. I'm sure they're well aware of the previous third party releases, especially Phoenix, so they need to make a figure that's better in every way so we'll toss our third party doppelgangers aside in lieu of official Skyfire. It's a gamble on their part, and I'm surprised they're doing it, but also happy that they're doing it too. If it turns out to be a homerun- great sculpt, paint, articulation, transformation, accurate in both modes, gimmicks, no QC issues- more than likely I'll be one of those ardent fans plunking down his ducats.

[mikeszekely]

OK, so the one post I did comparing Kingdom Galvatron's alt mode with TR Galvatron with the back folded down to make "feet" for the cannon looks bad, I think we agree on it.  @M'Kyuun asked about if it could rotate, and I found a picture with it folded all the way up, which looks better but leaves the cannon without that base tail (and a tail is cartoon accurate).  But it seems like maybe both would be considered mistransformed, and that this is probably how it's intended to be:

Sure, the back of the cannon is still a hollow void, but on the while that looks way better.

Also, these are his confirmed accessories.  Personally, I'd have been cool if they ditched everything but his cannon, ditched the Siege-ish dirt paint on his chest, torso, and shins, and sold this guy as a Voyager.  Of course, that may not have been possible anyway due to a higher-than-Voyager parts count.

I'm a bit curious... while it's possible that the Matrix and chain are a solid accessory, given that the Matrices that came with Prime and Hot Rod (and Dead Optimus, and probably Rodimus Prime) are actually hollow, and 5mm-compatible on the back I wonder if it's actually the same Matrix sculpt as we've been getting since ER Optimus attached to the chain via a 5mm post?

[mikeszekely]

Per Amazon Australia, it seems Terrorsaur might be happening after all.

[mikeszekely]

OK, a lot of use have either ER Prime or the same-sized Siege version, so this is a great shot both for showing exactly how tall Galvatron is and for illustrating why his proportions are so off.

The top of Prime's head comes up to about Galvatron's eyes... but he's like half a head shorter, because Galvatron's head is so elongated.  From the waist down Prime and Galvatron have roughly the same size legs with joints about even, but his Galvatron's torso is a little taller.  Despite this, his shoulders are almost even with Prime's, but Galvatron's arms are way longer.  It's hard to say from this pic, but Galvatron looks wider at the shoulders, too, contributing to my initial impression that he looks like a large toy from the waist up and one size class lower from the waist down.

*sigh*  It's still the best official Galvatron ever, and I know even as I complain that I'm in for the regular and toy/Marvel decos.  I guess I'm just disappointed because Cyclonus and Scourge are both excellent, Hot Rod's only issue is his shoulder articulation, and even Kup came out better than I'd hoped, so Galvatron falling a bit short is a kick in the teeth.

[David Hingtgen]

A smidge off-topic, but it IS Takara-Tomy, so not 3P.  

Slowly acquiring my MP action-master Rail Racer.   (I'm kinda surprised they haven't done Midnight Express, that's a fairly common and popular type.  I expect it some day.  It's Rapid Run I fear may never get released in this line)

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/firstcarmuseum.html

[sh9000]

Target currently has discount offers on toys so I bought Scourge and Cyclonus.

[M'Kyuun]

So this little guy showed up today.

One caveat to potential recipients: when I attempted to mount my copy on the stand , I noted a long slender hinged panel covering the slot where the stand needs to go. The panel is designed to peg into the panels that straddle the stand hole on the bottom of the planet, and it can open externally, but not enough to really clear the stand without putting stress on both the slot cover panel and the panel to which it attaches. The slot cover looks like it can rotate up inside the planet, but not without dismantling the majority of the panels, which is unwieldy to say the least with a toy this size (about 14 lbs). In the future, when I transform him to planet mode, I'll be leaving that panel rotated inside the planet, if possible, to prevent further stressing. I'm not sure why he didn't come like that, or why they didn't design the hinge with more travel. Anyway, I made it through the transformation, which was a little more laborious than I expected - some of those panels require some effort to disengage/engage- without, so far as I can tell, any damage or overstressing of parts.

The ratchets on my copy, other than the lateral hip ratchets, are quite stiff and again require a bit of effort to move, which is a good thing. One should be able to put him in a pose over an extended period and not worry about sagging. He definitely has a sense of presence- he's big, granted, but the paint and sculpting are really sharp, and in person, he's just a really impressive thing to behold. Of course, it's not all butterflies and rainbows- he has a ton of kibble adorning his back and legs, and the unsightly equatorial spiky bands from his planet mode just dangling off of his shoulders. Engineering is just not this Transformer toy's strong suit, which is a shame for the price point, the experience of Takara, and the time in which they had to design him. I would have gladly waited another year, especially since Covid likely had an impact on development, to let them refine the design and perhaps make a more refined toy where more of the robot was involved in the alt mode and some that kibble could be eliminated. The hands, specifically the thumbs, are another headscratcher: for all the effort put forth to articulate the fingers individually, the thumbs are incapable of rotating to a grasping position. He can give a thumbs up, but he's just shy of having an opposable thumb.  I have yet to attempt transforming him back into planet mode, but by the instructions it seems that the head is to be removed. I don't recall Unicron's being a Headmaster, and looking inside his planet mode with one of the top side sections of panels opened, there appears to be enough room for his head, albeit with the horns rotated down, so I'm going to try and leave his head on. Hopefully it fits and I don't do any damage in the process.

Edit; It's Monday morning and looking at Twitter, I found some comments where others were also complaining about mounting him on his stand and the lack of detail in the instructions. Step 4 , and I imagine this is going to become an infamous thing, simply depicts Unicron in planet mode with a down arrow pointing at the stand without any additional instruction. Perfectly clear, right?  Until you realize there's a panel covering the slot where the stand goes and, as I mentioned above, it doesn't have enough travel to clear the stand without being stressed. Anyway, it was a bit of  unfortunate validation that it's an issue that's likely to be endemic with the figure. It's definitely an oversight on HasTak's part that should never have made it to the production stage. Seems I'm not the only one who struggled with manipulating the panels, either; there's definitely some effort required. On the plus side, the panels do seem to hold together firmly once you've put forth some exertion, issued a few choice words, held your mouth right, and prayed a little that you weren't breaking anything by applying so much force. Too, you're dealing with a sphere with little in the way of purchase to help you pull these panels together, so that too, was a source of frustration. Alas, misery adores company, and I felt vindicated in this regard as well by some Twitter users' difficulties in transforming him. There's certainly a feeling of satisfaction upon completing the transformation though. You feel you've accomplished something, and you'll likely have the traces of sweat, as I did, to prove it. Anyway, I want to bid good luck to all my fellow Unicron recipients; hopefully this will leave you a little forewarned what to expect, but I also hope you won't be afraid to tackle the transformation. The materials are pretty sturdy, and other than the thin sliding panel to which all of the backpack kibble is attached, it's a very sturdy toy, and when snapping apart the panels I never felt like I was going to break anything. Take care when transforming the shoulders, as along with snapping into place, there's a small spring-loaded catch on the armature to which the shoulder is mounted, and you need to ensure that its engaged. The shoulder ratchets are extremely stiff, and it's one area that I can foresee potential breakage issues if it's not assembled correctly.  That's about all I can think of at the moment. Cheers and enjoy.

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[sh9000]

[sh9000]

[David Hingtgen]

Imagine how much better Maverick will look after they paint that sample.  

[sh9000]

[mikeszekely]

@sh9000 I was just coming to post this very image! Beat me to it!

I think I'm going to take a pass, though. It looks good, the Scorponok mold is good, the price is good ($159.99), but I don't have much attachment to the character and I'm really running out of space for my collection.

[tekering]

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

It looks good, the Scorponok mold is good

Does it?  Is it?  Maybe I'm too used to my Sentinel Gigantic Action Scorponok, but I really don't like the elongated chest and skinny little legs on the HasTak...

...but I'm sure the Titans Return figure has a much better alt. mode. 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Does it?  Is it?

I mean, it's just my opinion, but quite so.

I think the face on the Sentinel one is closer to The Headmasters, and it definitely has different proportions.  But I think the Sentinel's proportions are a bit exaggerated in a way that gives the impression that you're looking up at it.  There's nothing wrong with that; it's how a lot of the Sunbow character models were drawn, and it's something Takara seems to be copying (hence MP-36 and MP-44 having long legs, big diaper pelvises, and shortened torsos).  Earthrise Scorponok is definitely a bit leaner than either the G1 toy, the Sunbow cartoon, or The Headmasters, but I don't think he's necessarily as off as you're thinking.

For reference, the Sunbow character model:

And a screenshot from The Headmasters.

[505thAirborne]

For those of you who purchased UNICRON and thought, could it look any cooler... this video says yes. Love this guys videos. 

 

[tekering]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't think he's necessarily as off as you're thinking.

Yeah, I suppose the Masterpiece ideal would be halfway between the lanky HasTak and the beefy Sentinel proportions.  Thanks for the reference pics.

38 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Love this guys videos. 

LEK exists on a higher plane of existence than us mere mortals.