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43 minutes ago, obakesan said:

Shattered Glass Masterpiece (MPG) Convoy (Prime) coming soon?

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Yeah, it, that IDW Rodimus, Bingo Optimus, and a reissue of MPM-03 are supposed to go up for pre-order next week.

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the fractured friendship set I'll pass on. I love my MMC variant, I think it's one of the best 3rd party Optimus's out there for pre-earth. Also just, very very tired of the Megatron mold. He's gotten milked so hard over the last few years. 

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Looks like stuff's starting to hit stores.  Got a few store exclusives in-hand, and according to Amazon Wave 3 of Legacy United should be shipping to me soon (side note, maybe they would't have had to stretch United into a fifth wave if Wave three wasn't three Deluxes and one Voyager plus a package refresh of Strongarm).

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Up first we have Target Optimus Prime, which is (naturally) a Target-exclusive.  As you can see, it's a redeco of Legacy Laser Optimus, and... well, I'm really not too sure about this one.  Like, black is not a color I associate with Target, and the mix of black with the red I do associate with Target, especially the black head with red eyes, gives him a sinister sort of look.  I think they'd have been better off complimenting the red with the usual Target white... or using a different mold entirely, like VNR Optimus.  More on that in a bit.

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Anyway, here's where things really start to go awry.  Target doesn't ship goods to their stores in tanker trucks, so Target Optimus comes with a redeco of the Earthrise trailer instead of Laser Op's.  So it's got the same detachable chunk of the trailer ramp, the same little drone thingy, the same lack of Roller... but something is missing.  Target Optimus does NOT get the Earthrise blaster.

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Moreover, while he's got the molded missiles in his shoulders and a removable Matrix like Laser Prime, he lacks the rest of Laser Prime's accessories.  No gun, no axe thingy, no sword.  That trailer drone is all he's got.

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Well, that and Bullseye.  Bullseye is a redeco of Siege Ravage.  Although, like Ravage and the other Siege Micromasters, he does have a flip out 5mm peg for Prime to hold, he doesn't really do much in his alt mode.  Like, what is even supposed to be, with that artwork?  A gift card?  Regardless, he transforms into a robot... well, I guess he's supposed to be a dog, even if the face is still more cat-like.  They painted his nose and the little bullseye around one of his eyes.  An interesting artifact of this redeco is that while you can't help but notice how much he sucks as Ravage, you don't have that preconceived notion of a lithe cat body for Bullseye and subsequently I don't mind the mold so much as Bullseye.

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In any case, here he is in truck mode.  The trailer definitely looks nice; it's the same deco Target uses on their real trailers as of writing.  The thing is, the Earthrise trailer was always a bit on the small size, and it's exacerbated by how large the Laser Op mold is in truck mode.  The red cab seems fine at first glance, but I found myself thinking that Target's trucks are usually white.  I got to looking for pictures of Target trucks, and you know what?  Yeah, some are white, but some are red, too.  But, whether white or red, you know what they seem to have in common?  They're Volvos.  Which brings me right around to one of my first thoughts, and that's that they should have used the VNR mold.  I'm thinking white where VNR Optimus's cab is red, and black where the blue parts are, and still mostly red in bot mode.

As it stands, while I have a soft spot for niche crap like this, and I do frequent Target, this almost feels like the sort of advertising someone should pay me to take, not the other way around.  A superior deco on the VNR mold might have sold it better, but this is what it is, and what it is is not recommended.

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Moving along, I also got the first of Amazon's Mayhem Attack Squad.  Well, the second, actually, because the I got a notification saying that I'd get the other set last Monday, and some people were even getting that set before then... only for Amazon to turn around and tell me my order would be delayed until sometime next week.  So glad I preordered right away so I wouldn't have to wait. 😒

Whatever.  This set contains two figures, and the first one is Windsweeper, and he's Needlenose with a new head.  Thing is, Needlenose with a new head actually kind of works for Windsweeper.  The new head is spot on, and the rest of Needlenose's body is sort of sufficiently generic enough that simply swapping the colors for Windsweeper's is mostly enough.  For bot mode, I think the only things he really needs are a different chest and his flip out guns (remember, he's a Triggercon), and I do believe Nonnef has a kit addressing those issues...

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Of course, it's a different story in jet mode.  I mean, you can see some elements like the extra molded lines in the canopy, the horizontal stabilizers on the vertical stab, and the little canards that suggest that Windsweeper was a planned repaint before Needlenose was even finished, but Windsweeper simply shouldn't have delta wings.

Oh, and since he's largely Needlenose with a new head, his weapons are Targetmasters, too, named Cleansweep and Ozone.  They're entirely painted silver, I guess to try to evoke the look of Windsweeper's built-in guns.  But, yeah, I'll probably look into upgrade kits.

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Also packaged with Windsweeper is Breakdown.  Like everything else we've looked at today, Breakdown is a minimal-effort new head and colors on an otherwise unchanged body, and from what I've been reading I guess a lot of people are kind of mad about it.  The thing is, I don't really mind it.  I mean, Bulkhead's gun always had that option to attach like a shoulder cannon, and Prime Breakdown did have a shoulder cannon in the show.  He comes with the Wrecker hammer that the Wreck-N-Rule version of Bulkhead had, and I remember remarking at the time just how much it looked like Breakdown's hammer.  (Not that he needs he, but he's got Bulkhead's wrecking ball, too.)  The colors are good, the new head is excellent.  The cab front for a torso is more of a Bulkhead thing, but the flat shape is pretty Breakdown-esque.  While I can see not wanting these rivals to be the same guy with different heads, I honestly do think that this mold does work for both characters.  Heck, I might even like it better as Breakdown.

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Well, in bot mode, at least.  The alt mode doesn't strike me as particularly Bulkhead or Breakdown (though if you squint I guess it's kind of like a realistic take on Animated Bulkhead's truck).  Prime Bulkhead should be more Hummer-esque, and Breakdown more of an armored truck.

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I guess what's really frustrating is that they honestly could have been a little more visually distinct, and all it would have taken is replacing Bulkhead's tarp/shield thing with something else.  Maybe something less faux tarp and more like armor.  Maybe make them fold differently, so Breakdown has a spare tire on his back but Bulkhead's came up over his shoulders like the "wings" on Animated Bulkhead.  I dunno.  What I do know is that while there are lots of ports you can stick the accessories, if you ditch the wrecking ball that Breakdown doesn't really need, anyway, you can fit everything under his tarp, same as Bulkhead.

So, yeah, Windsweeper and Breakdown are kind of minimal effort.  And yeah, a lot of people are kind of miffed about Breakdown being the same figure as his rival.  But like I said, Needlenose works pretty well as Windsweeper, and I think the Bulkhead mold still works for Breakdown.  Windsweeper alone is the kind of obscure character that you could live without, but I think this set's worth picking up to give Bulkhead his rival.

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I‘ve got the Prime Universe Cliffjumper against the rest of the world multipack.

Cliffjumper (which is the figure I bought the set for) is fine but he has color differences in the red plastic, an odd weapon and weird shoulders.

Squeezeplay is fine as a retool of TR Mindwipe but the pieces that suppose to look like the alt mode legs are hindering the handling of the toy a lot.

Tarantulas is probably the best toy in the set even if I‘m not a big fan of beast mode toys. Nothing to complain about. Super nice looking alt-mode.

Cyberverse Tarn: trash, trash trash. Probably one of the worst looking, worst engineered figures in recent years. Looks nothing like the character he supposed to be.

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6 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I‘ve got the Prime Universe Cliffjumper against the rest of the world multipack.

I don't think that's out in the wild here, yet.  Who's carrying it in Europe?  It's supposed to be a Target-exclusive in the US, and when I preordered it I used a $20 off $75 coupon, which I think makes the set a lot more palatable, but it's not due to arrive for another month yet.

8 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Cliffjumper (which is the figure I bought the set for) is fine but he has color differences in the red plastic, an odd weapon and weird shoulders.

Leftover from Chase, likely.  He's got "Hot Rod shoulders," that is, they used a transformation hinge for his lateral shoulder movement but it's on the wrong side of the rotation so he can't lift his arm and spread at the same time.  If I remember right, he's got pretty shallow ankle pivots, too, and wings that are kind of in the way.

20 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Squeezeplay is fine as a retool of TR Mindwipe but the pieces that suppose to look like the alt mode legs are hindering the handling of the toy a lot.

Hmm.  I thought it was impressive that they turned Mindwipe into Squeezeplay at all.  I guess I'll see what I think when I have him in hand.

21 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Tarantulas is probably the best toy in the set even if I‘m not a big fan of beast mode toys. Nothing to complain about. Super nice looking alt-mode.

Yeah, I mean, the regular release of Tarantulas was fine, just not super excited for a repaint based on a prototype.

22 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Cyberverse Tarn: trash, trash trash. Probably one of the worst looking, worst engineered figures in recent years. Looks nothing like the character he supposed to be.

Curious what you mean about this.  I mean, isn't the engineering the same as the regular Legacy release?  I thought that Tarn was fine... I mean, yeah, not as good as Kultur, but about as good as I'd expect from a figure that cost a fifth of that.  IIRC my only real complaints were the guns on his back popping off and the barrels of his double fusion cannon being hollow.

Aesthetically, I agree, he looks terrible with all that extra red.  He looks like he's wearing lipstick.  In Hasbro's defense, though, Cyberverse Tarn has a bunch of glowing pink lines that they were trying to mimic.

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@mikeszekelyI ordered it from Hasbro Pulse Europe directly.

Yes it is impressive that they retooled Mindwipe into Squeezeplay. To me he is ok.

With regards to Tarn he is the Legacy version which is even worse because the one from the multipack can actually hold up his arm.

Aesthetically he just looks like a thin cuboid, especially from the side lacking any body definition.

The transformation is unimaginative, not very smooth and boring. The exposed hands and jutting out kneecaps look unfinished.

The articulation of the arm has to work around the a cannon and feels clunky and not well thought out.

The proportions of his legs is super off to me with the long thighs.

And finally he has fake wheels on his treads that end up on the front of the toy which looks terrible and serve no purpose other than give the outside of the shoulder treads enough space so that the tank sits evenly on the ground.

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13 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'll just post the table read here.

 

 

I came here with the intent to post this myself. Just watched it last night, and it was so much fun to see some of the original actors reprise their roles. Kinchen and Todaro were pretty good replacements. I really hope they at least finish the first 3-episode miniseries.

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8 hours ago, ScrambledValkyrie said:

I came here with the intent to post this myself. Just watched it last night, and it was so much fun to see some of the original actors reprise their roles. Kinchen and Todaro were pretty good replacements. I really hope they at least finish the first 3-episode miniseries.

I've worked with Todaro in some Transformer projects and he's been a comparable Starscream next to Daniel Ross for some time and I liked how well he and Welker played off each other. I did kind of enjoy the table read, not as much as I thought I would had but still it was fun to watch. 
There were some odd times where the original voice tracks creep in for some odd reason, like it was forgotten by whoever was supposed to deliver that line. Pace tended to be off as well once in a while. Still though, I think the cast did well. 

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1 hour ago, Hikuro said:

I've worked with Todaro in some Transformer projects and he's been a comparable Starscream next to Daniel Ross for some time and I liked how well he and Welker played off each other. I did kind of enjoy the table read, not as much as I thought I would had but still it was fun to watch. 
There were some odd times where the original voice tracks creep in for some odd reason, like it was forgotten by whoever was supposed to deliver that line. Pace tended to be off as well once in a while. Still though, I think the cast did well. 

Yeah; considering how long ago MTME was and the age of the voice talent now, not bad at all in my book!

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Posted (edited)

Amazon's Mayhem Attack Squad has a second set on offer.  I didn't mention it yesterday because, A.) I think it warrants its own look, and B.) it hadn't arrived yet anyway.  But it's here now, so let's take a look at the one with the Deluxe Insecticons!

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We'll start with the less interesting of the two, Chop Shop.  Chop Shop is a retool of Shrapnel, with a new head and new mandibles.  He comes with the same gun and bug legs that Shrapnel does, but he also comes with a pair of remolded bug legs that better resemble his G1 toy.  As retools go it's decent; a step up from the Ransack that came with the Target "Creatures Collide" pack awhile pack, sure, but still one whose origins are a bit obvious still.  Like, they painted the silver stripes on his chest, but they're not on the big pecs of the G1 toy and actually sit lower than the definitely-not-a-vent translucent part that the G1 toy didn't have.  His shins still have Shrapnel's shape and details.  But still, the new legs and mandibles go a lot further than just the color toward selling the mold as Chop Shop.

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Likewise, we're still mostly looking at Shrapnel in alt mode.  His "eyes" bulge out the the side because they don't hide under his pecs and his arms don't tuck into his sides, they just hang out along the sides.  His abdomen is missing the rounded humps and is overall more square-ish.  But again, the new legs and mandibles lend to a silhouette that has at least more distinction than Ransack got from Kickback.

Oh, a note about his accessories... on Shrapnel, while his bug legs could always technically be used as guns, I was content to leave them plugged into his arms as bug legs.  But Chop Shop's arms are stuff with his new legs.  Technically, you could combine all three accessories to form a big rifle, but it's kind of unwieldy.  Personally, I think I'll use the Shrapnel legs as pistols for Chop Shop, and just ditch the Shrapnel gun.

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Of the two Deluxe Insecticons in this set, Barrage is the more interesting.  I mean, sure, at first blush he is, like Chop Shop, a retool with a new head and mandibles- in this case, Bombshell.  And just like Chop Shop, he comes with the gun and bug legs of his non-Deluxe counterpart, but also a set of new bug legs that better resemble his G1 toy's.  Heck, you might even be inclined to give Barrage a strike for being less color-accurate than Chop Shop- Legacy Barrage has lots of extra green on his legs, green hips that should be yellow, a yellow pelvis that should be green, and green shoulders that should be yellow.  He doesn't have the caped look that the G1 toy's wings gave him.  And, his chest is missing the white stripes of the G1 toy, too.

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His chest is what makes him so interesting, though.  Spin him around, and you'll see the curved shape and translucent panel that you'd find on Bombshell.  That's right, Bombshell's front is Barrage's back, and Bombshell's back is Barrage's front.  And, you may recall a small, useless part dangling from a hinge on the back of Bombshell's neck that I called out when I reviewed him?  Yeah, that part's gone, but the hinge is the attachment point for his new bug head/mandibles.  It's clever; it really helps Barrage look like more than Bombshell with a new head.  I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't do the same for Chop Shop- they could have used the bug Shrapnel bug legs in his shoulders to make the front legs instead of the legs on his back, maybe use the connection points for the legs on his back to attach new pec pieces... ah, what could have been.

As for as his gun goes, Bombshell's bug legs combined with his gun better than Shrapnel's did in the first place, so I'm pretty content to just do that.

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Unfortunately, Barrage's alt mode is still pretty obviously Bombshell.  He loses the roundness of his G1 self.  The new head and mandibles are pretty accurate, but they sit at the front of Bombshell's "head", which gives him an extra body section. 

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But here's the crazy part about his alt mode.  For his new legs to touch the ground properly, they have to be turned sideways compared to Bombshell.  That is, the peg holes Bombshell's legs go into need to point downward when he's in alt mode, but Barrage's arms need to be turned so those same holes are pointing out the side.  And yet, you'll find that his arms still have the right tabs and slots to lock together.  Going one step further, you'll notice that there's a cutout on the robot shin flap that makes up the side of the abdomen that's just right for the hexagonal shape of the peg hole to sit inside of.  In other words, it's very likely that these retools have been in the planning all the way back to when the mold originally debuted as Shrapnel.

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Oh, yeah, technically there's a third figure in the package.  See, you've got this hammer, here, and a pair of effect parts.

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The hammer turns into this guy, Malleous Minotaurus, a repaint of the Siege Battlemaster known as Smashdown.  He's pretty much an afterthought.  I mean, he's little, with massive blocks for forearms and legs.  And his articulation is pretty poor; ball joints at the shoulders and hips that allow for rotation and plenty of lateral movement, but no bicep, thigh, elbow, knee, waist, or foot articulation.  And even his head is wonky.  Yeah, it's a ball joint, but it doesn't go all the way up.  That gives him up/down tilt, which is necessary for his transformation, but swiveling the ball joint tilts his head sideways rather than turn his head.

In his alt mode, he's ok.  I mean, he's a big hammer, and he looks like a big hammer.  The effect parts are to make the hammer look like it's smashing into stuff, and... to cover the other side of the hammer in blue snot?  I guess?  Let's put it this way, you're definitely not buying this set for Malleous Minotaurus.

But you probably should buy it for Barrage and Chop Shop.  I mean, I've been a bit critical here, but o be clear, I'm nitpicking.  While I think it'd be cool to get four brand-new Deluxe Insecticon molds, I'd expect that even if an idea like that could get past Hasbro's bean counters that licensing issues with Bandai over the Beetras designs would likely leave such an endeavor dead in the water.  Retools of the non-Deluxe Insecticons will probably be the standard for a long time, and I'm genuinely very pleased that Chop Shop and Barrage got more love and attention than Ransack did.  I'd give this set a recommend.  I'd especially give recommend it if you picked up Ransack.  Now we just need Venom.

Discussion time- assume we will get Venom (I've already heard some rumors, and the design team has stated that they like to complete teams).  Assume it's a new mold- no promises, but Mark suggested that he'd want to do a new mold for him.  The question, then is, what else could the mold be used for, given Hasbro's propensity to milk the crap out of a mold?  If it were up to me, I'd want a black-and-purple redeco.  Give me an original character that looks like he was meant to be a one of the original Insecticons, so both groups are a balanced four.  But that's just me.

 

Edited by mikeszekely
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Posted (edited)

Since he was first announced, I'd often thought about what Legacy Animated Bumblebee would look like with a G1 head.

Well...

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I don't know if I'm going to keep him like that or not.  Honestly, I think it's kind of a cool look, but the head is slightly too large.  It's the one from the "Worlds Collide" Buzzworthy multipack, the one that's basically Bumblebee's head on Gen Selects Hubcap.

EDIT: Another idea I kind of liked is that Bumblebee "graduates" from his G1 minibot body to a regular carbot-sized Autobot, a form that amalgamates modern post-Bay takes on Bumblebee with G1.  I mean, I'm not the first to think of it.  Don Figueroa did a hybrid design during his time at IDW, and Guidi Guidi cleaned it up.

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Heck, it even got a figure back in the day... but it's pretty crappy.

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I basically want something like that, but modernized and less crappy.  So while I had WC Bee's head off, I figured I'd pop it on the Cyberverse Deluxe.

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I have to say, I rather like that.  But if I go this route I'll have to modify the ball joint, as Cyberverse Bee has a smaller ball joint than WC and Legacy Animated Bee.

Edited by mikeszekely
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Think I still got that IDW Bumblebee somewhere.

From all the reviews I've been seeing for the SS86 Bumblebee, I still think he's an absolute pass. I'm not really enjoying how Hasbro has been getting cheap on quality and esthetics by painting windows pale blue or completely blacked out. Nor does he even look VW anymore! I feel pretty damn lucky I was able to find a Netflix walmart version when I did, that's my favorite G1 iteration bee right now.  

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You ever wonder what kind of person goes to a Macross board to write extensive posts on the far-too-many Transformers toys he buys?  Here's a glimpse at how my mind works.  My wife does a nice thing and picks up an Asian-exclusive Crimsonflame for me... but I quickly realize Crimsonflame is a remold of an old The Last Knight figure.  So before I can write anything, I have a powerful urge to track down a frankly mediocre seven year old movie toy.  But hey, it made for a fun review, and I can stop there, right?

...right?

Yeah... no.  Because Steelbane is one of a group of Guardian Knights, an immediate question I found myself confronted with was, "how many Guardian Knights are there?"  The answer is twelve, but a follow up question then is, "how many got toys?"  I briefly touched on Skullitron, which I figured I could ignore since it's just Steelbane again with a different head.  Unfortunately, my brain was unwilling to ignore any toys that used a different mold, and that's how I wound up with Dragonicus and Stormreign.

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Dragonicus (left) and Stormreign (right) are much bigger than Steelbane, standing at about the same height as a modern Voyager.  That said, Stormreign has far less mass, weight less than some of the Deluxes I have laying on my desk.  I'll note that Dragonicus and Stormreign technically aren't Voyagers; they're came together in a single Leader package.

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You can see why, as you spin them around.  Dragonicus is a pretty chunky boy with a massive "caped" backpack.  Stormreign, though, is pretty hollow.  His torso is mostly a void that's barely covered by his backpack, and even then although his backpack looks fairly substantial from the side you can see from the back that it, too, is basically hollow.

Now, are they screen accurate?  Quite frankly, from what I remember of the film (a film I actively try not to remember) all the Guardians were sort of generic-looking armored knights.  That said, I can find the specific character models that these toys are supposed to be based on, and yeah, quite a lot of the molded details do match.  That said, Dragonicus should have a bit more blue and none of the black , and he shouldn't have a backpack.  Stormreign, likewise, shouldn't have a backpack, and he should actually be mostly red.  Aside from that it bugs me that Stormreign's left arm, which should look the same as the right, has a random gray flap.

(Note that I didn't receive instructions with these guys and they came in bot mode, with Dragonicus' feel as you see in the pictures.  I realized after the fact that they're mistransformed- they should be rotated 180 degrees, with the robot toes folded out from under the the claws.  I'm too lazy to reshoot all my pictures, though.)

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Dragonicus and Stormreign come with three weapons between them.  Ostensibly, the swords belong to Dragonicus, and the mace belongs to Stormreign.  That said, nothing's holding you to that.

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Dragonicus' head can swivel, no tilt.  His shoulders rotate on ball joints, and can move laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a little short of 90 degrees.  No wrist or waist articulation.  His hips swivel forward 90 degrees and backward about 60 before his backpack gets in the way.  Laterally, they move 90 degrees on a detented swivel.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet are on ball joints that swivel, tilt downward, and provide the slightest of pivots.

He can hold the swords or the mace just fine in either hand...

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And pegs on the weapons allow them to store in peg holes on his "cape."

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Stormreign's head seems to be on a ball joint.  It swivels, but it also has a slight downward and sideways tilt.  Shoulders are ball joints that swivel and move laterally a little under 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  No wrist swivel, but he does have a waist swivel.  His hips go forward and backward 90 degrees, and nearly 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His toes can bend downward, but he lacks any other articulation in his feet, unfortunately.

Once again, Stormreign can hold both the sword and the mace in either hand.

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Stormreign has just a single peg hole inside his backpack, but it has no trouble accommodating either a sword or the mace.  So as I said, while the swords are ostensibly Dragonicus' and the mace is Stormreign's, if you want all three Guardians to have a sword (since Steelbane comes with one) there's no real reason why you can't give Stormreign one sword and give Dragonicus a sword and a mace.

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Now, here's where things get weird.  Neither figure really has an alt mode on his own.  For Dragonicus, you split his pelvis and spread his hips, then crack open his torso.  His head tucks in, and his shoulders rotate so his arms are sticking straight up while beast arms fold out.  His hands tuck in, and dragon heads fold out.  His legs turn 180 degrees, and then collapse so that his knees tab into the backs of his hips, and you tuck in the robot toes (which I failed to do).  You can splay out his wings, but that's about it... a fileted two-head dragon without a butt and tail.  Meanwhile, Stormreign's waist swivels 90 degrees.  One of his legs turns and collapses over the thigh.  The other has a tail fold out of the calf, then the backpack folds down over that thigh.  In the void behind the backpack, his left shoulder first folds down on one hinge, then up next to his head on the another.  That arm will curl so his forearm is tucked under his head.  His head rotates 180 degrees, then his entire head and shoulders collectively spin so his lead and left arm are tucked into his torso and his right arm is extended where his head was.  That arm, like Dragonicus', has the hand fold in and a dragon head fold off the back, turning him into a sort of serpent.

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But then you stick Stormreign into Dragonicus' chest cavity, and close him back up.  Tabs on Dragonicus' hips will lock into slots on Stormreign's backpack, and the result is Dragonstorm, a three-headed Dragon that's a lot bigger than Steelbane but not impressively huge... he's kind of the size of a dragon you'd expect at as a Leader-class toy.

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Dragonstorm was a thing we that was in the movie.  However, in the movie he was supposed to be a conglomeration of all twelve Guardians, not just two.  And he kind of looked like what you'd get if you piled a bunch of gunmetal sticks into the shape of a three-headed dragon.  You can kind of see some of that intention in the numerous random crisscrossing lines molded onto his body, but the colors are by and large the blacks and grays that dominated the robot modes with some orange on the heads for some reason.

Dragonstorm's front arms at their most extended are shorter than his back legs.

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So, Dragonstorm's shoulders are ball joints and they can rotate and even move laterally up to 90 degrees.  His feet/hands have some up/down tilt.  And his elbows have nearly 180 degrees of curl.  You'll notice, though, that his elbows kind of lock into place in a nearly-straight position.  And this is necessary, because without that lock his elbows are too weak (at least on this copy) to support his weight.  Meanwhile, his back legs have the same hip joints as bot mode, but transformed for dragon mode he loses almost all of his knee articulation.  His feet do still have the ball joints, though, for the suggestion of a pivot and a little upward tilt.  His tail has enough hinges to bend downward plenty, a little bit up, and nothing sideways.  It's just enough articulation in his tail and hind legs that he can stand up and balance on those legs and tail.  As for his heads, the jaws open on all three.  The base joint in all three necks is a ball joint, then there's a hinge where the robot elbows are, a hinge where the dragon neck folds out from the forearm, and a hinge where the dragon head attaches to the neck.  The wings have hinges at the base plus two additional hinges for flapping poses.

The swords can plug into ports under Dragonstorm's wings, and there's a port on his back for storing the mace.

Dragonstorm is nothing if not an ambitious bit of engineering.  The movie had a bunch of knights that glommed into a dragon, and Hasbro figured out a way to make two knight dudes combine into one three-headed dragon.  There's a lack of more modern articulation, and a lack of accuracy in both bot and dragon modes, but the broad strokes are all there.  I might be curious to see what Hasbro could cook up if they decided to tackle Dragonstorm in the Studio Series.  I can't really recommend trying to track down a copy of this one, though.  I mean, for one thing, I don't think he's really good enough to justify the aftermarket markup.  I thought I was rather lucky to find one lose for around the original retail price in an advertised "like new" condition.  Turns out, not so much, because he suffered from an issue that is extremely common with this figure; one of his dragon heads was broken off.  This problem was apparently so common that you run the risk of having one or more heads broken right out of the box.

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Posted (edited)

I'll just leave this here.  It was briefly on Baidu, then deleted, made its way to a certain TF website where someone asked again for it to be deleted but was basically told that there was no way the cat's going back in the bag at this point.

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Edited by mikeszekely
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Oof that lil bit of silver pressed behind his back there look like the front bumper making me think he's got a false front end cab again and that's gonna disappoint me terribly. It's stuff like that I just never understood even as a little kid. Like when I got my PM Optimus Prime, who at the time was my ONLY Optimus Prime, why he looked the way he did....his front cab was his back, but he had windows on his chest. Also why I didn't wanna bother with the G2 figure when I was also a kid.....and didn't buy a RID Optimus Prime until my 20's. 
It's an incredibly chunky soup backpack right there.

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Well, not to distract from the still-not-officially-announced-but-definitely-real SS86 Optimus, but I've got Wave 3 of Legacy United in hand.  And I want to start by getting the remolds and repaints out of the way in a quick Repaint Roundup.  So, let's see... first there's Deluxe-class Strongarm, who's simply a package refresh from Evolution, despite being advertised on the front page of Pulse at the time of writing.

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Up next we have Deluxe-class Side Burn.  While Shadowstriker was labeled as Cyberverse-Universe, and had the Cyberverse head and colors, I don't think anyone saw that chest on her and figured they were homaging the Universe without eventually retooling it into Side Burn, the guy who was repainted into the Unvierse toy in the first place.  And in some ways stuff starts to make sense when it's Side Burn.  The fact that the gun can also be held as a knife?  The original Side Burn had a weapon like that.  The rear bumper plugs into the gun?  Side Burn's bumper was part of his other gun.  The top of the car partsforms into a shield?  Side Burn's roof was always stuck to his left shoulder.

When I reviewed Shadowstriker I felt like she was a poor representation of the Cyberverse character due to the added Side Burn elements, but after re-watching RiD '01 with my daughter and better familiarizing myself with Side Burn's design I'd argue that the reverse is also true- Sideburn is compromised because the designers tried to work in elements of Cyberverse Shadowstriker.  The wheels that should be under his forearms are on his back.  I presume what parts went on which sprues was based on Shadowstriker's colors, and that's how Side Burn wound up with blue forearms instead of white and black feet instead of blue.  His roof is plugged into his forearm rather than his shoulder, and his right shoulder is free from kibble when it should have his front bumper.

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I could almost let the robot mode issues slide, but the concessions to Shadowstriker are most egregious in alt mode.  Other figures have gotten away with just enough changes to avoid licensing the real-world car the original toy was based on, but I don't think anyone would mistake whatever this is for a Dodge Viper.  The molded headlights carried over from Shadowstriker, but they're not painted so it looks like he's missing the yellow headlights from the original toy, and without the outlines the original toy had you can barely make out the flames tampoed on the sides and hood.

Look, I know at the end of the day Hasbro loves to get their repaints in.  But they could have made a really good Side Burn, then sold the red Super Side Burn repaint, then done Shadowstriker in her Universe colors along with Roulette, then made a more accurate Cyberverse Shadowstriker that has nothing to do with Side Burn.  But instead Hasbro went in this direction (and to be clear, I blame the suits, not guys like Mark and Evan) and now nobody is happy.  I say pass, which I suspect most of you crusty ol' G1ers were going to anyway.  Unless you really liked RiD '01 and really want a new Side Burn.

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Up next we have Nucleous, the rock guy who didn't exist until now, yet somehow got more budget for retooling than Side Burn.  Nucleous is a retool of Magneous, and they share the same biceps, forearms, hands, back, removable spikey boards, waist, pelvis, and thighs.  However, he's got a new head, backpack, chest, shoulders, lower legs, feet, and weapon.  Heck, just because the bumps on the rocky surfaces don't line up right, you can't even swap legs between them.

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Transformation is the same, but you can see how new parts give Nucleous a slightly sleeker alt mode.  Plus, where Magneous' weapon just kind of chilled out on him, Nucleous' breaks into two halves that then attach to the back as big boosters.

I want to be against Nucleous.  I've been ranting for awhile about how G1 characters like Breakdown get shafted by having to be retooled while the budget for new molds keeps going to invented gimmick characters.  I think doing characters that turn into rocks to homage the Rock Lords is fine, but rocky dudes that turn into trucks made out of rock is kind of dumb.  But the thing is, I kind of like the Infernac guys.  As gimmicks go, the Armorizers have been my favorite since they took the Citybot pack-ins and turned them into Weaponizers.  So I actually kind of dig Nucleous.  Honestly, I think my biggest complaint is that he's a remold of Magneous instead of the superior Shard.

That brings us to the Voyagers.  I'm not clear on if there's another package refresh, or if for some reason there is only one Voyager in this wave, but...

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...the only one I'm sure we're getting in this wave is Vector Prime, and he's a retool of Legacy Jhiaxus.  And despite being a heavier retool he's in kind of the same boat as Side Burn in that he's still very compromised by reusing parts of Jhiaxus when a character this important probably should have been his own mold.  He's got a new head chest, shoulders, parts of his backpack, parts of his crotch, and wing bits, but he's re-using the rest of the arms, parts of the torso, parts of the hips, and all of the legs (minus the ankle wings, but with the vestigial hinge bits).  And while the new parts look pretty good, the bulk of the Jhiaxus parts are just wrong.  His forearms should be magenta with clockwork details, and he's missing his arm guards.  He's missing half his pelvis armor.  He's missing the molded thrusters in his thighs, and the guns on his toes.  His legs trade the armored knight look of the original for the exposed wires of Jhiaxus.

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Vector Prime doesn't have Jhiaxus' guns, but he does have a sword and a Cyber Planet Key.  Like Starscream, the key is smaller and doesn't actually activate any mechanisms.  Also like Starscream, the key can be plugged into a slot on Vector Prime's back, or it can combine with his weapon.  When not in use, the sword can also be stored on a 5mm port on Vector Prime's back, but the key has to be removed first.

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Again, like Side Burn, I think that the compromises are worse in alt mode.  He's super flat, with none of the details on the rear that came from the original's folded-up body.  Just a vertical stabilizer that carried over from Jihaxus that Vector Prime shouldn't have.  The long, sleek fuselage is shorter and kind of stumpy-looking.  At least the arms dangling from the underside can sort of be taken in place of the original's folded-up legs, although they're missing the toe guns.

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Without the mass of robot bits at the back, the Cyber Key plugs into a socket just behind the cockpit.  The sword, though, just pegs awkwardly into a 5mm port on the underside of either wing.  It can't fit into the nose of the jet like the original's did; what looks like a sword incorporated into it is just molded, painted detail.

Well, I still think it's kind of awesome that they went hard on old Marvel G2 when they did Jhiaxus.  And I suppose finding a repaint for Jhiaxus' mold would be tough.  But while Vector Prime does get some stuff right, he's not the clever retool that Metalhawk from Cyclonus was.  Vector Prime deserved better.  I kind of want to say you should pass.  I know, compared to the rest of the Unicron Trilogy, that Cybertron got a lot of love from the fandom, though.  If Cybertron's you're thing and you're just happy to have some kind of update, then I guess this is better than nothing.

And the planned Leader for this wave was supposed to be Armada Galvatron, but he got bumped to wave 4.  So... yeah, aside from one Deluxe this entire wave has been mediocre repaints and retools.  I guess tune in next time and we'll look at the lone new mold in Wave 3.  Plus I hope to have a big review for you guys before the week is out.

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13 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Well, not to distract from the still-not-officially-announced-but-definitely-real SS86 Optimus, but I've got Wave 3 of Legacy United in hand.  And I want to start by getting the remolds and repaints out of the way in a quick Repaint Roundup.  So, let's see... first there's Deluxe-class Strongarm, who's simply a package refresh from Evolution, despite being advertised on the front page of Pulse at the time of writing.

PXL_20240701_011455812.jpg.ff6a267bc560f7b21078ea3369ad6c37.jpg

Up next we have Deluxe-class Side Burn.  While Shadowstriker was labeled as Cyberverse-Universe, and had the Cyberverse head and colors, I don't think anyone saw that chest on her and figured they were homaging the Universe without eventually retooling it into Side Burn, the guy who was repainted into the Unvierse toy in the first place.  And in some ways stuff starts to make sense when it's Side Burn.  The fact that the gun can also be held as a knife?  The original Side Burn had a weapon like that.  The rear bumper plugs into the gun?  Side Burn's bumper was part of his other gun.  The top of the car partsforms into a shield?  Side Burn's roof was always stuck to his left shoulder.

When I reviewed Shadowstriker I felt like she was a poor representation of the Cyberverse character due to the added Side Burn elements, but after re-watching RiD '01 with my daughter and better familiarizing myself with Side Burn's design I'd argue that the reverse is also true- Sideburn is compromised because the designers tried to work in elements of Cyberverse Shadowstriker.  The wheels that should be under his forearms are on his back.  I presume what parts went on which sprues was based on Shadowstriker's colors, and that's how Side Burn wound up with blue forearms instead of white and black feet instead of blue.  His roof is plugged into his forearm rather than his shoulder, and his right shoulder is free from kibble when it should have his front bumper.

PXL_20240701_013733723.jpg.cee638fad35644b89c13cf32b64898b7.jpg

I could almost let the robot mode issues slide, but the concessions to Shadowstriker are most egregious in alt mode.  Other figures have gotten away with just enough changes to avoid licensing the real-world car the original toy was based on, but I don't think anyone would mistake whatever this is for a Dodge Viper.  The molded headlights carried over from Shadowstriker, but they're not painted so it looks like he's missing the yellow headlights from the original toy, and without the outlines the original toy had you can barely make out the flames tampoed on the sides and hood.

Look, I know at the end of the day Hasbro loves to get their repaints in.  But they could have made a really good Side Burn, then sold the red Super Side Burn repaint, then done Shadowstriker in her Universe colors along with Roulette, then made a more accurate Cyberverse Shadowstriker that has nothing to do with Side Burn.  But instead Hasbro went in this direction (and to be clear, I blame the suits, not guys like Mark and Evan) and now nobody is happy.  I say pass, which I suspect most of you crusty ol' G1ers were going to anyway.  Unless you really liked RiD '01 and really want a new Side Burn.

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Up next we have Nucleous, the rock guy who didn't exist until now, yet somehow got more budget for retooling than Side Burn.  Nucleous is a retool of Magneous, and they share the same biceps, forearms, hands, back, removable spikey boards, waist, pelvis, and thighs.  However, he's got a new head, backpack, chest, shoulders, lower legs, feet, and weapon.  Heck, just because the bumps on the rocky surfaces don't line up right, you can't even swap legs between them.

PXL_20240701_011224829.jpg.1fbb9a20fd0603bb1cea2a916f17d539.jpg

Transformation is the same, but you can see how new parts give Nucleous a slightly sleeker alt mode.  Plus, where Magneous' weapon just kind of chilled out on him, Nucleous' breaks into two halves that then attach to the back as big boosters.

I want to be against Nucleous.  I've been ranting for awhile about how G1 characters like Breakdown get shafted by having to be retooled while the budget for new molds keeps going to invented gimmick characters.  I think doing characters that turn into rocks to homage the Rock Lords is fine, but rocky dudes that turn into trucks made out of rock is kind of dumb.  But the thing is, I kind of like the Infernac guys.  As gimmicks go, the Armorizers have been my favorite since they took the Citybot pack-ins and turned them into Weaponizers.  So I actually kind of dig Nucleous.  Honestly, I think my biggest complaint is that he's a remold of Magneous instead of the superior Shard.

That brings us to the Voyagers.  I'm not clear on if there's another package refresh, or if for some reason there is only one Voyager in this wave, but...

PXL_20240703_180052607.jpg.cc22e1aed3d55b57bb9a0eebb0f269b8.jpg

...the only one I'm sure we're getting in this wave is Vector Prime, and he's a retool of Legacy Jhiaxus.  And despite being a heavier retool he's in kind of the same boat as Side Burn in that he's still very compromised by reusing parts of Jhiaxus when a character this important probably should have been his own mold.  He's got a new head chest, shoulders, parts of his backpack, parts of his crotch, and wing bits, but he's re-using the rest of the arms, parts of the torso, parts of the hips, and all of the legs (minus the ankle wings, but with the vestigial hinge bits).  And while the new parts look pretty good, the bulk of the Jhiaxus parts are just wrong.  His forearms should be magenta with clockwork details, and he's missing his arm guards.  He's missing half his pelvis armor.  He's missing the molded thrusters in his thighs, and the guns on his toes.  His legs trade the armored knight look of the original for the exposed wires of Jhiaxus.

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Vector Prime doesn't have Jhiaxus' guns, but he does have a sword and a Cyber Planet Key.  Like Starscream, the key is smaller and doesn't actually activate any mechanisms.  Also like Starscream, the key can be plugged into a slot on Vector Prime's back, or it can combine with his weapon.  When not in use, the sword can also be stored on a 5mm port on Vector Prime's back, but the key has to be removed first.

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Again, like Side Burn, I think that the compromises are worse in alt mode.  He's super flat, with none of the details on the rear that came from the original's folded-up body.  Just a vertical stabilizer that carried over from Jihaxus that Vector Prime shouldn't have.  The long, sleek fuselage is shorter and kind of stumpy-looking.  At least the arms dangling from the underside can sort of be taken in place of the original's folded-up legs, although they're missing the toe guns.

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Without the mass of robot bits at the back, the Cyber Key plugs into a socket just behind the cockpit.  The sword, though, just pegs awkwardly into a 5mm port on the underside of either wing.  It can't fit into the nose of the jet like the original's did; what looks like a sword incorporated into it is just molded, painted detail.

Well, I still think it's kind of awesome that they went hard on old Marvel G2 when they did Jhiaxus.  And I suppose finding a repaint for Jhiaxus' mold would be tough.  But while Vector Prime does get some stuff right, he's not the clever retool that Metalhawk from Cyclonus was.  Vector Prime deserved better.  I kind of want to say you should pass.  I know, compared to the rest of the Unicron Trilogy, that Cybertron got a lot of love from the fandom, though.  If Cybertron's you're thing and you're just happy to have some kind of update, then I guess this is better than nothing.

And the planned Leader for this wave was supposed to be Armada Galvatron, but he got bumped to wave 4.  So... yeah, aside from one Deluxe this entire wave has been mediocre repaints and retools.  I guess tune in next time and we'll look at the lone new mold in Wave 3.  Plus I hope to have a big review for you guys before the week is out.

Yeah, I personally believe Vector Prime should have had his own mold; it seems an insult to recycle Jihaxus just to save a buck here.

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25 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

... but rocky dudes that turn into trucks made out of rock is kind of dumb. 

You're not wrong, but they're somehow still cool as hell.

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17 minutes ago, JB0 said:

You're not wrong, but they're somehow still cool as hell.

Right?  I'm going to wind up buying a different, slightly brighter blue Thundertron (but with an eye patch and hook hand now!) just to get a third remold of Magneous.

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It was rumoured that Skyfire would also get a repaint in the MPG line, seems like that is going to be the case.

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And while we are at it, solicitation images for MPG-12 SG Prime...

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and AMT-01 Rodimus Prime

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Posted (edited)
On 7/3/2024 at 11:58 AM, Negotiator said:

Why can magic square do better at a smaller scale? Pretty disappointed at that back pack.

QFT.  Consider MS-02 Light of Victory. (Edited to insert right name of fig)

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Edited by M'Kyuun
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Yeah, it's a holiday, but stuff's starting to come in rapidly, and it's not like I'm actually doing anything today.  Might as well tell you guys about the sole new mold in this entire 3rd wave of Legacy United... Deluxe-class Cybertron Universe Hot Shot.

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I'm guessing that a lot of you are familiar with how, in Japan, only the shows that became Armada and Energon were related, and Galaxy Force was re-written in the West to make fit Cybertron a sequel.  So on that note, the guy on the left was actually a new character in Japan named Exillion, but he was changed to Hot Shot in Cybertron to maintain a sense of continuity.  Seems a bit weird that the guy who was primarily yellow in Armada and Energon is primarily blue now, and sure, when you put Cybertron Hot Shot next to the Legacy version of Armada Hot Shot they don't look super similar.  But if we had a Legacy Energon Hot Shot (please, Hasbro?) you can sort of see how elements of that design, especially the head, could be interpreted as a stepping stone between these two designs.

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Of course, it also helps a lot that Hot Shot's arc in Armada is basically G1 Hot Rod, and Exillion seemed to draw a lot of design cues from the '86 Autobot.  His shins have triangular patches with chevrons like the G1 toy, and his backpack is remarkably similar to the G1 toy's with the canopy dangling down his back and the part that isn't the canopy sporting a shape that's awfully similar to Hot Rod's spoiler wings.  His torso even sports some random yellow patches that are roughly analogous with the headlights on Hot Rod's torso.  Heck, he's even tall for a Deluxe, towering over his standard Deluxe carbot Armada self to stand eye-to-eye with SS86 Hot Rod.

That's actually where we start running into minor discrepancies on the Legacy version compared to the cartoon or the original toy.  They had pipes tucked between his doors and forearms that Legacy Hot Shot is missing.  Legacy Hot Shot is also missing silver paint on his rims, yellow on the triangular markings on his heels, and black on his hips.  The silver on his torso is more of a gunmetal, and the circular details near his shoulders are bare pin hinges.  The red on the inside of his backpack has been left unpainted blue, and the red details on his shoulders, including the Autobot insignia, have been reduced.

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Hot Shot comes with two accessories.  As was the case with the other Cybertron characters in Legacy United, we have a small Cyber Key that retains the design of the original toy's but lacks any paint.  He also comes with a mostly translucent yellow gun.  It's a single piece, unlike the original toy that fired its barrel as a missile, but it's colored in a way that's more cartoon accurate.

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Hot Shot's head is on a ball joint that can swivel, look up a bit, and tilt sideways some but can't really tilt downward.  His shoulders are a bit wonky.  They rotate fine, and he can get a little under 90 degrees of lateral movement (he could do more if his head wasn't in the way).  But a lot of that lateral movement comes from a transformation joint on the wrong side of his rotation, nearly giving him "Hot Rod Shoulders" (which seems kind of appropriate for a design that cribs so much else from Hot Rod).  However, he does have a limited about of lateral movement where his biceps connect to his shoulder pads.  Speaking of biceps, they swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  His wrists and waist swivel.  His hips can spread laterally 90 degrees and he can kick forward over that, but his backpack gets in the way and limits him to 45 degrees or so backward.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His toes tilt upward due to his transformation; I actually find that joint a tad loose for my tastes.  Nothing downward, but his ankles pivot far more than you'd realistically need at 180 degrees.

Hot Shot can hold his gun in either hand, and since this is legacy he sports a couple of extra 5mm ports I'm pretty sure the original toy didn't.  There's one on top of each shoulder, one on the outside of each forearm, one near his ankle on the side of each leg, one under each toe, and one on his backpack.  The backpack one makes for pretty good storage for his gun in bot mode.  As for the Cyber Key, it can't be combined with his weapon like Starscream and Vector Prime's can, which is a bummer.  There's a slot on top of his backpack it can plug into, but it's purely cosmetic.  Hot Shot does have wings like the original toy, but they fold out manually.  Curiously, they're red on the Legacy toy instead of yellow like the original or cartoon.

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Hot Shot's transformation is very similar to his original toy's.  His backpack still rotates 180 degrees.  His shoulders still swivel up to meet above his head to form the nose, and his arms still tuck into his sides to form the doors.  His toes still fold in, and his legs still collapse to form the rear.  The main differences are that his head now folds into his back, and legs now open up and collapse Combiner Wars-style instead of merely sliding up over his thighs.

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For the most part I think his car mode looks pretty good.  He's got the vents in the hood and sides, and he's sporting his yellow headlights, though they're painted on instead of using translucent plastic like the original.  The red shoulder joints from the original toy are blue, which better matches the cartoon.  His engine block is less detailed than the original toy, but again I think that's in keeping with the cartoon.  His rear end is a bit messy, though.  He's missing the Autobot badge on his hood.  And, as I touched on previously, no paint on his rims, and while he's got some yellow striping on the sides they didn't paint the rest of the yellow on the spoiler.  I'll also note that the only red on his rear comes from his wings and their hinges, when the wings should be yellow and the red on his alt mode was supposed to come from the inside of his backpack.

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In alt mode, Hot Shot has two 5mm ports on either side just behind his wheels, but the one you're most likely to use to attach his weapon is the one on his roof.  That is, I believe, where his weapon attached to the original toy.  And like the original toy, the Cyber Key plugs into the back of the engine block, though again you have to fold out the wings manually.

There's one other feature that I'm not sure is actually an intended feature, buy you can open his cockpit while he's in alt mode, where you'll find Hot Shot's face peeking out.  You could almost sit a Titan Master in there, if his head wasn't in the way.  There's enough room for his Cyber Key, though, if you're looking for a place to store it that isn't simply leaving it plugged into the back.

Cybertron used CGI based on the toys, and as such the original toys wound up being extremely cartoon-accurate in the first place.  As such, that means most of the changes from the original toy to Legacy are mostly tweaks in proportions, additional 5mm ports, and improved articulation.  However, he's a victim of Hasbro's penny-pinching, as his flaws seem largely to stem from budgetary decisions (missing paint apps, sticking his wings and hips on the same sprue as his other red parts, etc).  On the whole, I think Hot Shot's a pretty solid figure, well worth picking up if your a Cybertron fan, a Hot Shot fan, or simply like a cool-looking Autobot that turns into a car.  I think my biggest complaint isn't actually about the figure, but rather Hasbro's scattershot approach to releasing characters from all over the franchise's history, as Legacy United has now brought us two Cybertron versions of characters we recently got Armada versions of, but we're still missing some of what I'd call the main Armada cast (to say nothing of the fact that now I also want the Energon versions of these guys).

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On 7/4/2024 at 1:09 PM, M'Kyuun said:

QFT.  Consider MS-02 Light of Peace.

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I have ms-02 ex.   what is this one?  it's bigger than MS-B46 Light of Victory and smaller than ms-02.

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9 hours ago, Negotiator said:

I have ms-02 ex.   what is this one?  it's bigger than MS-B46 Light of Victory and smaller than ms-02.

This is B46 Light of Victory. I got the version wrong in my post- all these third-party names for stuff are difficult to keep track of. Sorry about that!

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