sh9000 Posted March 31 Posted March 31 I'm really looking forward to finally completing the Dinobots. Quote
mikeszekely Posted March 31 Author Posted March 31 3 hours ago, sh9000 said: I'm really looking forward to finally completing the Dinobots. I think we all are! The TFWiki says Grimlock came out in 2021, but I'd swear it's been longer than that. I mean, it says Slag also came out in 2021, and did they really come out in the same year? Regardless, Hasbro managed to release SIX Core-class Dinobots in less time than it's taken to complete the Leaders. Can't help but notice that Swoop comes with a sword for Grimlock as well as his own, and that both of those swords are red. So... Slag and Sludge don't get swords, unless you bought a 3P upgrade kit? I mean, I did, I bought DNA's upgrade kits for Slag and Sludge. And they come with red swords, too... so I guess Snarl's the weird one with a silver sword. 4 hours ago, no3Ljm said: A little bit of clearer version of Ginrai/Super Ginrai. I think Ginrai looks pretty good, if a bit simple. In a way, he reminds me of Missing Link Convoy... better articulation, but the transformation looks like it's basically the same as the G1 toy. I'm not loving the trailer/Super Ginrai as much, though. I know it's supposed to be more anime-esque, but something about Super Ginrai's proportions seem weird. Could just be a bad picture, but the inside of his thighs look hollow, or at the very least full of gray plastic. His arms are too long for the trailer mode (really, they couldn't engineer a way to collapse them on an MP release?), and seem to lack mounting points for the shoulder guns. Which, irritatingly, might be anime accurate. Quote
JB0 Posted March 31 Posted March 31 I'm hoping that Super Ginrai in truck mode is mistransformed. Because even by the standards of Powermaster Prime(the original toy sets a fairly low bar to clear), that's dire. I'm totally shocked if that's the best a "masterpiece" can do with those arms, but the hollow thighs sure imply that MPG continues to set the target low and then miss it anyways. Quote
Scyla Posted March 31 Posted March 31 (edited) 1 hour ago, JB0 said: I'm hoping that Super Ginrai in truck mode is mistransformed. Because even by the standards of Powermaster Prime(the original toy sets a fairly low bar to clear), that's dire. I'm totally shocked if that's the best a "masterpiece" can do with those arms, but the hollow thighs sure imply that MPG continues to set the target low and then miss it anyways. I think the thighs are chromed or painted silver and that is why they look fairly dark (which could be read as shadows cast by hollow bits). I don’t have a good explanation for the arms sticking up in alt-mode tough. Edited March 31 by Scyla Quote
David Hingtgen Posted March 31 Posted March 31 Considering how many variations we've seen in the past couple years of how to fold up Magnus' arms into the top of a trailer, there's zero excuse for PM Prime's arms to be like that. It's GOT to be a mistransformation, otherwise Takara has somehow lost a ridiculous amount of engineering talent and skill recently. Making PM Prime's arms flush with the front of the trailer should be child's play compared to what we've seen both Takara and 3P companies do with Magnus' arms. Quote
Scyla Posted April 1 Posted April 1 8 hours ago, David Hingtgen said: Considering how many variations we've seen in the past couple years of how to fold up Magnus' arms into the top of a trailer, there's zero excuse for PM Prime's arms to be like that. It's GOT to be a mistransformation, otherwise Takara has somehow lost a ridiculous amount of engineering talent and skill recently. Making PM Prime's arms flush with the front of the trailer should be child's play compared to what we've seen both Takara and 3P companies do with Magnus' arms. Well, the first 6 six releases in the MPG line felt like someones first Transformer (engineering wise) so I don’t have a hard time believing that this is not mistransformed. However, I hope this is not the case. I guess we will find out on 04/10 when the toy is officially revealed. I wonder what the connection between MP-60 Ginrai and MPG-09 Super Ginrai is. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted April 1 Posted April 1 On 3/30/2024 at 7:33 PM, sh9000 said: I'm really looking forward to finally completing the Dinobots. A little disappointing. The arms don't compress to foreshorten, nor do they compress into the body to give him a thinner more streamlined body profile like the OG toy. The beak is a little too fat, there doesn't appear to be a tail, and the Pteranodon feet are barely there. Finally, the wings are quite short and have the wrong shape. This is supposed to be an update, but the all-important dino mode got the shaft (hmmm, similarly to most jet alt modes- Has/Tak just seem to have a thing against good flying alts). It boggles the mind how Takara produced a much better looking and accurate Pteranodon 40 years ago and then by way of 'update', produces this utter brick with inaccurate wings. The bot mode looks good, though. I'll still get him to finish the team but given how well the previous SS86 Dinobots have been done overall, this is a letdown. Hopefully, third parties can at least address the wings. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 1 Author Posted April 1 The arms compressing into the chest a bit might have been nice, but I think his biggest problem is that his legs are just too chunky. As for the wings, the physical toy at Wondercon was mistransformed. This is how it should look. Quote
Hikaru Ichijo SL Posted April 1 Posted April 1 53 minutes ago, shazam said: April Fools. Haha very funny. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted April 1 Posted April 1 (edited) 35 minutes ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said: April Fools. Haha very funny. Got me- I was scouring HP for it, but it wasn't there. However, I have a copy in storage, and at this point, I'd be inclined to wait for a potential Missing Link version if they could work out the details with Bandai. Of course, Harmony Gold would do their utmost to forbid sales in the US, but most of us are no strangers to Asian online stores. 1 hour ago, mikeszekely said: The arms compressing into the chest a bit might have been nice, but I think his biggest problem is that his legs are just too chunky. As for the wings, the physical toy at Wondercon was mistransformed. This is how it should look. He looks ok, like most jetformers, from the top-down, which seems to be their favored viewpoint on most aviation alts. However, he's very boxy in Pteranodon mode if stood upon his barely-there toes. Those wings are far too small and the wrong shape. Newage did it better and exemplifies what I was expecting from the SS86 toy. Newage even spread the bot legs in Ptero mode to widen the space between his jetpacks and allow the tail to be seen. I don't think SS86 has a tail at all, but the G1 toy did. Unfortunately, this figure skews close to the terrible animation model allowing for the least complex engineering of any of the SS86 Dinobots. It's a disappointing disservice to the line and a rather meh ending to collecting the team. Hasbro above, Newage below. Which one looks right to you? Edited April 1 by M'Kyuun Quote
Scyla Posted April 1 Posted April 1 30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: Got me- I was scouring HP for it, but it wasn't there. However, I have a copy in storage, and at this point, I'd be inclined to wait for a potential Missing Link version if they could work out the details with Bandai. Of course, Harmony Gold would do their utmost to forbid sales in the US, but most of us are no strangers to Asian online stores. He looks ok, like most jetformers, from the top-down, which seems to be their favored viewpoint on most aviation alts. However, he's very boxy in Pteranodon mode if stood upon his barely-there toes. Those wings are far too small and the wrong shape. Newage did it better and exemplifies what I was expecting from the SS86 toy. Newage even spread the bot legs in Ptero mode to widen the space between his jetpacks and allow the tail to be seen. I don't think SS86 has a tail at all, but the G1 toy did. Unfortunately, this figure skews close to the terrible animation model allowing for the least complex engineering of any of the SS86 Dinobots. It's a disappointing disservice to the line and a rather meh ending to collecting the team. Hasbro above, Newage below. Which one looks right to you? Clearly the Hasbro one, since it is official. It is disappointing to see, that even with Swoop being the smallest Dinobot, being a Leader Class toy in the Studio Series and doesn’t come with any slug figures his wingspan is so tiny. It is my understanding that the Dinobots have been great so far so it is sad to see that Swoop seems to be lacking. Oh well, there will surely be an add on set with bigger wings and better legs for alt-mode so you can have a good Swoop for merely $49 more. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted April 1 Posted April 1 12 minutes ago, Scyla said: Clearly the Hasbro one, since it is official. It is disappointing to see, that even with Swoop being the smallest Dinobot, being a Leader Class toy in the Studio Series and doesn’t come with any slug figures his wingspan is so tiny. It is my understanding that the Dinobots have been great so far so it is sad to see that Swoop seems to be lacking. Oh well, there will surely be an add on set with bigger wings and better legs for alt-mode so you can have a good Swoop for merely $49 more. QFT. The SS86 Dinobots have been, on the whole, really well done with some surprising engineering and departures from the traditional transformation schemas. When it comes to the Dinobots, I'm more in the, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" category, as other than adding additional articulation in both modes, I really don't need them to reinvent the wheel. However, reinvent they did, especially with Sludge. The result is an elongated body and a longer tail section, which is more accurate to the real animal than the OG toy. I wish they'd stuck more to the OG toy, which was my only Dinobot fig as a kid. I have nostalgia driving my bias there. But, as I said, the first four Dinos have been pretty good, enough to pique my interest and anticipation for Swoop. That this is how they realized him compared to the previous releases is disappointing. As you said, I'll have as much, if not more than the toy itself costs, invested in upgrades to try and hopefully bring him closer to how the OG toy's Pteranodon mode looked. Unfortunately, there probably won't be much of a fix for his arms so far as their partially retracting into the body to give him a slimmer profile. But if he has longer properly shaped wings, that'll go a long way towards making him look better. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 2 Author Posted April 2 (edited) OK, no arguments, the main body of the figure definitely looks better on the Newage. But... I'm going to be that guy and say I think the wings on the Hasbro figure are fine. The wings on Newage's are kinda too big. For a real pterosaur? Maybe not. But the animation model didn't have huge wings. EDIT: I do think Swoop is the weakest of the five, though. And I'm kind of not surprised. They pulled this same crap with the Stunticons; first four were good, totally dropped the ball on Breakdown. Edited April 2 by mikeszekely Quote
Alex GS Posted April 2 Posted April 2 New Transformers "Transformers New Age" line incoming by Tommy Tokara and Husbra .....and this is the real deal!!! 😱 Quote
sh9000 Posted April 2 Posted April 2 https://amzn.to/43M3uvI https://amzn.to/43KpmqZ SS Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 2 Author Posted April 2 (edited) 10 hours ago, sh9000 said: https://amzn.to/43M3uvI https://amzn.to/43KpmqZ SS Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Ordered. And Amazon estimates they'll arrive the same day UPS says Origin Wheeljack is coming. Now if Hasbro could just get off their lazy butts and actually ship the United Wave 2 stuff they charged me for I'll be good. Golden, even, if I can get my order for Swoop in on Thursday... gotta work it in around my kid getting a ton of dental work done that day. EDIT: Origins Wheeljack Wednesday or Thursday, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Shard, Gears, Starscream, and Silverbolt probably Thursday, and I've been charged for Sandstorm and the Autobot 5-pack so they should be shipped soon, too. While we haven't been able to order Shockwave or Swoop yet, I think they'll probably be in-hand before the end of the month, then it's just Tidal Wave, Magmatron, and the store-exclusives. That's probably why they Spacebridge mentioned the United Wave 3 stuff... I'm guessing there will be a fan stream later in April or early May with official reveals and preorders. Edited April 3 by mikeszekely Quote
JB0 Posted April 2 Posted April 2 On 4/1/2024 at 4:59 PM, M'Kyuun said: Which one looks right to you? Neither. There's not a single drop of chrome or smoked plastic to be seen. 0/10, garbage dinobots. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted April 3 Posted April 3 2 hours ago, JB0 said: Neither. There's not a single drop of chrome or smoked plastic to be seen. 0/10, garbage dinobots. Actually, they make a toy version with chromed wings and a clear (not smoked unfortunately) beak. NEWAGE H57EX FREYR TOY VERSION,New arrival (tf-direct.com) I would have preferred the toy version if it had the blue chest, however despite making a few other color variants, sadly they don't make that. Anyway, I was posting the pic just to show the differences between Hasbro's version and one that skews closer to the G1 toy in its sculpt and transformation. In other words, what the Hasbro leader class toy should have been. Sadly, Hasbro doesn't do chrome anymore, probably due to its tendency to chip and flake over time. I miss it. Quote
pengbuzz Posted April 3 Posted April 3 6 hours ago, mikeszekely said: Ordered. And Amazon estimates they'll arrive the same day UPS says Origin Wheeljack is coming. Now if Hasbro could just get off their lazy butts and actually ship the United Wave 2 stuff they charged me for I'll be good. Golden, even, if I can get my order for Swoop in on Thursday... gotta work it in around my kid getting a ton of dental work done that day. I'm just wishing BBTS would get the ML Prime preorder I signed up for back in August and they said it would be here in March. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 3 Author Posted April 3 28 minutes ago, pengbuzz said: I'm just wishing BBTS would get the ML Prime preorder I signed up for back in August and they said it would be here in March. If it makes you feel better, I ordered ML Convoy from Hasbro, and they haven't shipped it yet either. Best guess is that Hasbro (and likely BBTS) are getting large enough quantities in that they'll get it by sea freight instead of air. If that's the case, the late Feb/early March release in Japan will be more like May here. Quote
pengbuzz Posted April 3 Posted April 3 4 hours ago, mikeszekely said: If it makes you feel better, I ordered ML Convoy from Hasbro, and they haven't shipped it yet either. Best guess is that Hasbro (and likely BBTS) are getting large enough quantities in that they'll get it by sea freight instead of air. If that's the case, the late Feb/early March release in Japan will be more like May here. Thanks for that info; not happy about it, but at least I have a rough possible timeline. Quote
JB0 Posted April 3 Posted April 3 11 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: Sadly, Hasbro doesn't do chrome anymore, probably due to its tendency to chip and flake over time. I miss it. My understanding is chromed plastic breaks easier, and has a tendency to leave sharp edges when it does. Hasbro doesn't want broken toys drawing blood. Buncha babies, I swear. Scars build character! (My preferred dinobot representation is Gigapower's chromed releases, but they're in a very different price class than pretty much anything Hasbro makes, and I never could justify a full set.) Quote
sh9000 Posted April 3 Posted April 3 (edited) https://www.transformers40thcinemaevent.com Edited April 3 by sh9000 Quote
pengbuzz Posted April 3 Posted April 3 6 hours ago, JB0 said: My understanding is chromed plastic breaks easier, and has a tendency to leave sharp edges when it does. Hasbro doesn't want broken toys drawing blood. Buncha babies, I swear. Scars build character! That's because they need to degrease the plastic before the vacuum metalization process, which removes a lot of the plasticizers out of it. On that note: I found a very thin foil tape that I use to either repair worn chrome or chrome a piece if it needs it. It can be a little fragile (especially in transform areas), but it does the trick and I'm usually pretty good about where to place it. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 3 Author Posted April 3 Let the floodgates open! Today we've got Voyager-class Origins Wheeljack! One of the quirks of the G1 cartoon is that the robot modes were presented as sort of the Transformers' natural appearances, like it's some kind of coincidence that Bumblebee's feet would look like the front end of a Volkswagen millions of years before humans invented automobiles, but the animators still figured that actually turning into a Beetle before coming to Earth was a bridge too far and so designed futuristic alt modes with no thought of how they'd actually go from one mode to the other. It's almost like they didn't anticipate that 40 years later fans of the cartoon would be working at Hasbro and want to make toys based on those one-off Cybertronian modes. And so here we have Wheeljack, and sure enough he looks quite a bit like Wheeljack. To be really cartoon-accurate he should really have a green stripe on each of his shins (and there's no reason he couldn't have, as his shins are inside the vehicle in alt mode), but on the other hand since his feet don't have to turn into the front end of a Lancia Stratos they're actually more cartoon-accurate than the Earthrise figure. I'll note that he swaps the off-white and black of the Earthrise toy for cartoonier pure white and gray, and the translucent plastic that makes his chest window is tinted blue instead of smoked. So how does one go from a cartoon-accurate robot that was based on a sleek sports rally car and turn it into the boxy Cybertronian alt mode seen in the pilot episode? If you're thinking "shellforming," good guess! Wheeljack's got a pretty substantial backpack, as well as a lot of folded panels on his calves and the sides of his legs. He looks like the Sunbow animation model carrying a bunch of extra gear on his legs and back because he more or less is the Sunbow animation model carrying an entire alt mode on his legs and back. Wheeljack doesn't get to be a Voyager entirely by being a Deluxe-sized figure with enough extra plastic hanging off him to make another Deluxe-sized figure. He's got a bit more in the accessory department than his Earthrise counterpart. There's two silver bits that remind me of Lego flowers. There's a gun you may have noticed as his cartoon-style shoulder cannon. And there's this big translucent blue hinged piece. Wheeljack's head is on a ball joint that has minimal up/down/sideways tilt but swivels just fine. His shoulders rotate and move 90 degrees laterally. His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, and his wrists swivel. His waist swivels. His hips can go a little over 90 degrees forward, but his backpack limits him to about 45 degrees backward. There's really no reason for it, but his hips also fall just short of 90 degrees laterally. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend a little over 90 degrees. His feet are on ball joints, so they swivel, tilt down slightly, tilt up about 45 degrees, and pivot. The pivot is a bit less than I'd like, though. You may have already seen than I plugged his shoulder cannon into a 5mm port for it next to his head. He can also hold it like a pistol, and the silver bits can plug into the end of it. Wheeljack also has 5mm ports on the outside of each forearm, on the outside of each leg, in the middle of his back, and under each of his heels. Storage for the silver bits is a bit more limited. There's a peg on the back of each forearm you can use. Otherwise, there's just a pair of pegs in his backpack. Speaking of his backpack, the translucent blue part can tab into it as well, giving him big blue wings. Y'know, like that one time... ok, I don't think he ever had wings in the cartoon. It's more about finding a place somewhere on his bot mode for an accessory that's really for alt mode. The nice thing is that the silver bits still fit on his back under the translucent piece. You'll lose access to the 5mm port on his back, though. Transformation isn't really complicated. You need to shift his head and chest down, spin his waist, and unlock some special hinges in his knees. His arms tuck up over his head to form the front bumper. From there, it's really a matter of unfolding all the panels on his legs, lining them up right, and then unfolding his backpack to close it all up. Credit where credit is due, it's easier to buy Wheeljack as a Voyager in alt mode when you see how much larger he is than Jazz and Bumblebee. While, sure, it's largely shellforming, the end result is still happily cartoon-accurate. I mean, you've got the boxy shape with the sloped front end, the large gray bumper on the front that wraps around the trim, the sort of cassette-ish mechanical detail under the front windshield, the green stripe around the middle with the lighter green/blue suggestion of side windows, and the spoiler around the rear. If I'm nitpicking I might point out that the if the white shoulders peaking out were gray they'd blend into the bumper better, that the the sides should taper toward the roof a bit more, or that the spoiler should be smooth on the outer edge and stick out from the sides a bit more. He could also use a big Autobot insignia on the roof. But minor imperfections don't detract from the fact that it's definitely the alt mode you see in the cartoon. Besides, there's a reason for those bits on Wheejack's spoiler. If you have the fuel rods from Origins Bumblebee (which I do, but currently can't find), they'll clip into the spoiler. As for Wheeljack's own accessories, you can actually store his silver bits and gun inside the vehicle, on his backpack, if you just want them tucked away. Alternatively, there's a 5mm port on his roof you can plug the gun in. The silver bits fit into small pegs on his bumper, because, ah, they're "that thing from that episode". Specifically, they're the cutting blades that Wheeljack deploys when the Seekers had them surrounded by fire.... that he used to cut through the fire? I guess? I mean, after charging through the flames he rams into the Seekers, but the blades weren't deployed then, so... anyway, the translucent blue part plugs into one side, wraps over the front, then plugs into the other side. It's supposed to be the blast shield that Wheeljack raised when they first saw the Seekers ahead. At least Wheeljack kept that up for the rest of the scene. The translucent part has another use, too. You have to pull the hinges apart, then swap rotate the ends and swap them. The "V" shape will become a straighter shape, and you can set Wheeljack on top of it. It's supposed to be the road... I guess? Honestly, the translucent blue part is likely to get misplaced in a drawer with the fuel rods, as I don't really think I'll be using it all that much. But given how uncomfortable it feels to pull the hinges in it apart I'd recommend skipping the road configuration and leaving it as a blast shield/robot wings. Wheeljack doesn't just interact with Bumblebee's fuel rods. He can interact with Bumblebee himself! You can open the roof and fold down the tailgate on Wheeljack, and you'll notice that he's mostly hollow inside. If you take Bumblebee and fold his wings up, you should have just enough space to jam him into the back of Wheeljack while still being able to close him up again with Bee inside. And for those of you who maybe passed on Bumblebee because you thought it was a one-off thing, but now you're interesting in Wheeljack and kind of wish you'd bought Bumblebee to go with him, good news! I have it on authority that Origins Bumblebee will be getting a reissue. Origins Wheeljack is an interesting figure. On the one hand, due to his shellformery transformation that leaves most of his largely-empty alt mode folded up onto his back and legs, Wheeljack feels a bit more poorly-executed than Jazz or Bumblebee. On the other hand, he starts the same size as Earthrise Wheeljack and expands in alt mode specifically so that Origins Bumblebee can ride in the back like he did in the cartoon, and is therefore feels more ambitious than Jazz or Bumblebee. And ultimately, I think a lot of his value comes down to whether or not you own (or will own) Origins Bumblebee. If you do, Origins Wheeljack is a fantastic companion piece that I'd definitely recommend. On his own, though, he's just sort of ok, and not really a substitute for the Earthrise figure. Quote
Radioguy Posted April 3 Posted April 3 I wonder if they'll just do an origins set of reissues after this. Who else could they have in it? Quote
lechuck Posted April 3 Posted April 3 On 4/1/2024 at 12:23 AM, David Hingtgen said: Considering how many variations we've seen in the past couple years of how to fold up Magnus' arms into the top of a trailer, there's zero excuse for PM Prime's arms to be like that. It's GOT to be a mistransformation, otherwise Takara has somehow lost a ridiculous amount of engineering talent and skill recently. Making PM Prime's arms flush with the front of the trailer should be child's play compared to what we've seen both Takara and 3P companies do with Magnus' arms. On 4/1/2024 at 8:57 AM, Scyla said: Well, the first 6 six releases in the MPG line felt like someones first Transformer (engineering wise) so I don’t have a hard time believing that this is not mistransformed. However, I hope this is not the case. I guess we will find out on 04/10 when the toy is officially revealed. I wonder what the connection between MP-60 Ginrai and MPG-09 Super Ginrai is. I could be wrong, but from the tiny image it seems like the cab is not fully coupled to the trailer and maybe arms sticking so far up is a way to put in in stationary mode or something like that. Quote
JB0 Posted April 4 Posted April 4 10 hours ago, pengbuzz said: That's because they need to degrease the plastic before the vacuum metalization process, which removes a lot of the plasticizers out of it. On that note: I found a very thin foil tape that I use to either repair worn chrome or chrome a piece if it needs it. It can be a little fragile (especially in transform areas), but it does the trick and I'm usually pretty good about where to place it. So THAT'S why! Thanks, I had wondered about that for a long time. Quote
lechuck Posted April 4 Posted April 4 Clearer images of MPG Super Ginrai and MP Ginrai have surfaced. Thoughts... So my previous assumption about the arms is obsolete, them sticking far up seems to be by Takara's design/engineering, Not great but I can live with it, as alt-mode is always secondary to me. Articulation for Super Ginrai seems weaker compared to core Ginrai and I wish Takara had come up with a solution to have the rear trailer wheels recess along the the feet instead of leaving it jutting out unsightly like that and breaking sculpt cohesiveness. Quote
Alex GS Posted April 4 Posted April 4 Thanks for the high res pics, so excited for this one , after getting my hands on MP-44S it reignited my interest for the Masterpiece Line, love the quality and heft of the 44S, Im really thinking in trying to get both MP-60 and MPG as well, GoD Ginrai in Masterpiece Line is going to be effing awesome!!. Quote
mikeszekely Posted April 4 Author Posted April 4 Shockwave https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-studio-series-voyager-transformers-bumblebee-110-shockwave Swoop https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-studio-series-leader-the-transformers-the-movie-86-26-dinobot-swoop Go go go! Quote
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