The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[sh9000]

 

Preorders are up.

Edited February 13 by sh9000

[sh9000]

https://www.target.com/p/transformers-optimus-prime-studio-series-action-figure/-/A-90011241

On sale for $62.99.

[mikeszekely]

Asking in the 3P thread, too.

I've been posting reviews for upgrade kits in the unofficial TF thread, on the logic that they are unlicensed kits made by various 3Ps.  I was thinking today, though, that a lot of collectors into unlicensed 3P figures may not be interested in upgrade kits for official figures because they're not into the mainline stuff.  Likewise, I know there are people who are into mainline figures and don't mind getting unlicensed upgrades, but are vehemently against 3P figures.  So what do you guys think/prefer?  Should upgrade reviews stay in the unlicensed 3P thread, because they're unofficial, or should they go in the here in the official thread because they're for official figures and not really relevant to 3P collectors?

[sh9000]

I think they should stay in the 3rd party thread.  Excellent reviews.

[davidwhangchoi]

No Way, (Kick!) Two Can Play!

Transformers Toys Retro 40th Anniversary Autobot Blaster & Steeljaw $24.97

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers-Retro-40th-Anniversary-Autobot-Blaster-Steeljaw-Kids-Toy-Action-Figure-for-Boys-and-Girls-Ages-4-5-6-7-8-and-Up-Only-At-Walmart/3736483657

Edited February 18 by davidwhangchoi

[Radioguy]

Seeing Jetfire on the box still instills hope.

[David Hingtgen]

Jetfire, and Shockwave?  Those are about the 2 most unlikely ones, after gun Megatron...

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

Jetfire, and Shockwave?  Those are about the 2 most unlikely ones, after gun Megatron...

I wonder if some kind of deal could be struck to allow that? I know HG had some bad blood with Hasbro, but since Jetfire is a recolor of the VF-1, perhaps BW could work something out with Hasbro/ TakaraTomy?

[Radioguy]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

I wonder if some kind of deal could be struck to allow that? I know HG had some bad blood with Hasbro, but since Jetfire is a recolor of the VF-1, perhaps BW could work something out with Hasbro/ TakaraTomy?

Well, having BW license to TT, with Takara kinda being old blood enemies of Bandai would probably provoke Bandai to respond to Toho some way.

If it happened, it would be region-restricted anyway, maybe a Tamashii Store-exclusive, and HG would still cry foul for it being something that would "obviously" be sought after in the west. They'd complain about the proxies and their agents going to the stores to buy them, etc.

[mikeszekely]

Heads up, Walmart's collector's con is March 13-14. I expect a few Transformers exclusives like the Excellion repaint of Hot Shot and Sideways, but I think most relevant to the people here will be Deluxe-class Seaspray.

[M'Kyuun]

On 2/19/2025 at 10:42 PM, Radioguy said:

Well, having BW license to TT, with Takara kinda being old blood enemies of Bandai would probably provoke Bandai to respond to Toho some way.

If it happened, it would be region-restricted anyway, maybe a Tamashii Store-exclusive, and HG would still cry foul for it being something that would "obviously" be sought after in the west. They'd complain about the proxies and their agents going to the stores to buy them, etc.

My hope is, that with the majority of the Macross series available on Hulu (I've been watching them w/ my wife), it'll begin to pick up in popularity and eclipse Robotech, as it should, leading to far more sales of Macross merch and an increased impetus for Bandai and Arcadia to pump out more valkyrie toys. I think they need to do more to promote Macross. As far as I'm concerned, the more F-yous Big West, Bandai, Disney, Hulu, and anyone else pushing actual Macross stuff can send Harmony Gold's way, the better. I long for the day when they are annihilated from existence. 

I'm warming to the upcoming Basara crossover- I just hope the VF-19 mode isn't totally blocky given that Optimus chest. Wasn't aware of Walmart Collector Con's date or the impending release of Legacy Seaspray, so thanks @mikeszekely!

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/02/28/new-takara-preorder-images-missing-link-arcees-full-look-more-533094

 

[Black Valkyrie]

On 2/18/2025 at 9:05 AM, Radioguy said:

Seeing Jetfire on the box still instills hope.

 

I wish it was true, the only thing in the pipeline is VF-19 Prime. 

 

[sh9000]

I'll get G1 Arcee and probably skip the prototype.

[Scyla]

I said if on TFW, I say it here again. This looks better than the Masterpiece Arcee figure to me.

[davidwhangchoi]

13 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/02/28/new-takara-preorder-images-missing-link-arcees-full-look-more-533094

 

wait a minute... how can there be a missing link arcee when there was never a g1 arcee to improve on

TF's being reconned in the lineup  

[sh9000]

Hot Wheels x Transformers Collaborative.

Vortex looks good.

[Hikuro]

yeah, Vortex looks pretty dang good. Man, I'm gonna need a really big storage tub to put away all my CW stuff and I got all of them. That kinda sucks lol. Now, I'm gonna be VERY curious how Onslaught will look. I expect that the whole lower half of his vehicle mode will be the appendages in some fashion that will just plug in when he transformers to combat truck. And we better get Blastoff as a shuttle, that disappointed me a bit that he ended up just being an Aerialbot retool. 

[mikeszekely]

Alchemist is... Eh. I mean, I'd have maybe added some yellow, but that's Alchemist alright. Thing is, if you're deep enough into the lore to care about the 13 then you're probably buying regardless. 

Vortex, on the other hand, *chef's kiss*.

The Hot Wheels collabs are pretty neat. I have Boneshaker in my garage in Forza Horizon, so seeing one that transforms into a robot is pretty cool with me.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

Hot Wheels x Transformers Collaborative.

Are these like Hot Wheels Optimus Prime(transforming Hot Wheels cars), or are they Transformers that have a Hot Wheels design for their vehicle mode?

 

One is much more interesting to me than the other.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

Are these like Hot Wheels Optimus Prime(transforming Hot Wheels cars), or are they Transformers that have a Hot Wheels design for their vehicle mode?

 

One is much more interesting to me than the other.

The second one.

 

Some other stuff from the fair...

Onyx Prime.  He's sort of a triple changer.

He's got this dragon mode.

But also a centaur mode.

Sideways and Excellion.  Walmart exclusives, I think.

Yeah, there's that Perceptor, too.  He's getting the Blaster treatment... replacing the clear plastic of the prior release with painted bits, swapping black parts for dark gray, etc.  But you'll probably buy him, because' he's coming with Ratbat and Ramhorn.  And sure, Ratbat also had a release prior... but this one has his boosters.  I think Percy and friends might be a Target exclusive.

...along with this two-pack of Devastation grunts.

Amazon exclusive Carnivac and Ironfist... er, Fisitron.  Bascially what I expected, though I'm surpised to see they actually put some new tooling on Ironfist.

There's Diaclone-colored Topspin and Spinister, too.  Spinister will basically be the same as the WfC version, but with darker colors inspired by the Marvel comics.

And it's not news, but there's another peep at the other Hearts of Steel pack.

Edited March 2 by mikeszekely

[JB0]

29 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

The second one.

Excellent! That's what I was hoping for.

[M'Kyuun]

My, that's a chunky Ramhorn, but I think both he and Ratbat look better than Steeljaw the Pomeranian. I'm not a huge fan of SS86 Perceptor's design; when the G1 toy has a more believable alt mode, there's something wrong, as the advancement in design should apply to both modes, IMHO. So, marrying the two new cassettes to a rerelease of an inferior figure does not make me happy. Moreover, while I understand it's b/c Perceptor was in the Movie scene with Blaster and the cassettes duking it out, I wish, like in the good ole G1 days, they'd simply sell the cassettes in multipacks making it easier for fans to collect them without the added baggage of a figure most of us already have.

The Combaticons are my favorite combiner team, and Vortex does not disappoint. Funny that Takara, and Hasbro by extension, can design a really good helicopter alt mode but struggle mightily with making a somewhat passable jet. Anyway, If this is a precursor to the level of design for the rest, I'm excited for these guys and perhaps I'll retire my CW figs to the dark recesses of my closet. I'll admit a soft spot for the CW figs and mine has held up well. I bought the Takara release of Blast Off instead of the Hasbro jetformer so that mine would have a proper shuttle for an arm. I have no illusions that the Legacy Prime Bruticus will be another robo-frame to which these guys simply peg on like so much flare, but I have little doubt it'll look good and be stable once completed. I do wish they could find a way to make these guys actually form the limbs themselves, though, as the whole frame system makes that aspect of the characters moot.

I've no knowledge of the 13 Primes and from what I've seen of the figs thus far, I don't feel like I'm missing out on much. However, Alchemist Prime is giving me Transformers: Prime Bulkhead vibes like crazy, as this fig has far more in common in both modes than Legacy Bulkhead, who I've contended from the beginning has far more in common in both modes with the Animated take. A future retool/repaint wouldn't surprise me.

So the Hot Wheels crossovers are unexpected, but welcome. Admittedly, I don't care for the car modes of either of these figs, but with the door open for potential future HW figs, it's an exciting prospect, as there are a LOT of HW designs from which to borrow, with more being produced all the time. Something like these would be awesome.

Sideways is an interesting addition, and I still have the OG toy somewhere in storage, but it leaves me wondering where are the Legacy takes on Windcharger, Powerglide, Warpath, Ravage, Laserbeak, a more faithful Mirage mold, the anticipated Seaspray and SS86 Megatron, and the Omnibots, who deserve some updates, especially when far more obscure characters are getting the toy treatment? G1 is the main base of my collection, and I'd really just like to finish it off as Hasbro moves on into Japanese Transformers, comics-based characters, video-game characters, and the Unicron Trilogy, the vast majority of which I have little familiarity nor interest. I'd be happy to see them do more Animated, but only if they continue to lower the dial on the G1 influence and keep them more faithful to the toon look, which is what set them apart from everything else. We really need a titan class Animated Omega Supreme, done with love so that it doesn't suck. I'd be willing to go in on a Haslab for that if necessary, again, so that it's done well and doesn't suck. That would be the hope, anyway.

 

[Hikuro]

Bone Shaker and Twin Mill sort of remind me of a couple of laser rod G2 characters, can't remember their names though.

 

 

[sh9000]

@mikeszekely Perceptor is a Target Exclusive.

[mikeszekely]

Man, I figured ordering from Hasbro Pulse would be the best way to get a Takara figure, because it's like "official" or something.  Pulse is official, alright.  Officially last, since I'm just now able to talk about a figure it seems like everyone else had months ago: MPG-09 Super Ginrai.

My initial thought is that it's kind of neat that Ginrai is similar in size and proportions to the original toy.  Of course, the deco is a bit different; he's got blue eyes (my original has blue eyes because it's a reissue, not the original 88 release), he's got some blue on his hips and upper thighs, no silver on his chest, no stickers on his knees, more yellow on his pelvis, etc (and that's not even touching on differences between the original Takara Ginrai vs the western Powermaster Optimus release).  These changes are largely to bring Ginrai in line with his appearance Super God Masterforce; that said, there's a release as MP-60 Ginrai that has a more toy-accurate deco.

A complaint I've heard from some, usually fans who think of this as Powermaster Optimus and not Ginrai, and who think that Powermaster Optimus should essentially be G1 Optimus with a new trailer and a combining gimmick, have bemoaned the fact that Ginrai's back the entire front of his cab.  That strikes me as kind of weird... it's ok for a toy to have a fake grill, maybe even fake windows, for the sake of animation accuracy but then the real parts have to be totally hidden?  Leaving them exposed, that's where they draw the line?  While it's quite possible that the G1 toy's cab back, fake front was actually an attempt at a more cartoon-accurate Optimus, the simple fact is that Takara leaned into the design and Ginrai having the front of a truck on his back is cartoon accurate.  Regardless, this is fine with me.  As someone who actually didn't own a original G1 Optimus as a kid, Powermaster Optimus was my first real Optimus toy and I've got a lot of nostalgia for it.  The fact that MP/MPG Ginrai is so similar to the original toy kind of makes him seem like a Missing Link version...

Which, maybe, is a good way to look at it.  Because, despite a version solicited as MP-60, Ginrai is NOT in-scale with with previous Masterpiece releases.  Of course, some of that depends on how big you think Ginrai should be.  I mean, if, as Powermaster Optimus, he's basically G1 Optimus with a new trailer, you could argue that he's Generation-scaled, standing almost exactly as tall as SS86 Optimus.  He's significantly shorter than the MP-10/MP-44-sized Power Baser.  Now, I've heard some people suggest that because Ginrai wasn't much taller than the Headmaster Juniors, and a scene with Minerva and Wheeljack at the same height means that Minerva is Wheeljack-sized and Ginrai only slightly bigger than that, so Ginrai should be smaller than Optimus.  Those people should remember that Wheeljack died in the 86 movie, though, because we don't have to go by the often wildly inconsistent sizes depicted in the cartoon.  We have official sizes from official production materials... Optimus Prime is six meters tall.  And Ginrai is supposed to be ten. That's right, Ginrai is actually supposed to be bigger than Optimus.

One more size comparison, here he is with the Perfect Effect and Maketoys versions.

You get quite a few accessories with MPG-09, and quite a bit fewer with MP-60.  Both versions come with a transformable Powermaster figure.  Both versions come with the two smaller black guns, and both versions come with the two yellow blast effects.  That's all you get with MP-60, though.  With MPG-09, you also get two larger rifles, a smaller, static Powermaster figure, a stand adapter, two chōkon effect parts, some shoulder parts, two alternate hands, two alternate heads, to gray guns, and a trailer, as well as a sheet of stickers. 

Here's the transformable and static Powermaster figures (middle) with Fans Hobby and G1 on the left and Perfect Effect and Maketoys on the right.  The static figure has no articulation.  The transformable one has ball joints in the shoulders and hips, hinged knees, and hinged ankles.  Not a ton of articulation, but to be fair, it's pretty similar to all the others versions.

Ginrai himself has pretty fantastic articulation, though.  His head swivels.  There's not really any downward or sideways tilt, but he can look almost 90 degrees up.  His shoulders swivel, and they move nearly 90 degrees on a soft ratchet, while another hinge on the other side of the swivel can bend another 90 degrees.  He's got dedicated butterfly hinges as well.  His biceps swivel, and despite being a single joint his elbows bend about 180 degrees.  His wrists swivel, plus they have some up/down tilt.  His fingers are a single part molded into a curl, but they are hinged at the base so his hands can open.  His waist swivels, and he's got not only a little forward ab crunch but a little sideways lean as well.  His hip joints are on swivels that lower them, allowing the actual ratcheted hips to go 90 degrees backward and over 90 degrees forward or sideways.  His thighs swivel.  His knees are double-jointed, though you might not realize it because the upper joint is locked in place.  Combined they get nearly 180 degrees of knee bend.  His feet tilt up around 60 degrees, and although they don't tilt down his toes can.  He's got about 60 degrees of ankle pivot.

As an ostensibly MP figure, the black guns have tabs on the handles that fit into slots in Ginrai's palms.  He can actually hold either the smaller or the larger ones, though the weight of the larger ones is a bit much for him  Both sizes are compatible with the yellow effect parts.

The other effect parts have tabs that plug into the slots on Ginrai's palms, for those times when he needs UNLIMTED POWER!!!  Er, wait, wrong franchise.

The Powermaster figure folds up and plugs into Ginrai's back, much like the original toy.  It seems to stay in via friction, as I see no other obvious connectors.  The grill is spring-loaded, like the original toy, and has the unfortunate tendence of releasing while you're manipulating the figure, launching the Powermaster into parts unknown.

Ginrai's transformation isn't quite as simple as the G1 toy, but it's surprisingly not that far off.  His waist swivels so the back of his legs become the hitch instead of the front, and his toes fold into his heels.  The actual trailer hitch folds out from his calves and tabs together with his legs.  The entire front of the cab hinges away, giving you room to fold in his head and ribs.  His forearms open so you can fold in his hands, then the arms sort of separate from the shoulder joints so that they can swing around in a matter similar the G1 toy.  However, instead of curling up over his chest his forearms use a hinge above the elbow to bend outward and tuck into the sides more like a G1 toy.  Honestly, it feels like something that could have easily been done with a regular Leader-class figure.

Once again, the result is almost exactly the same size as the G1 toy...

Which makes it smaller now than both Power Baser and SS86 Optimus.  It's similar in size to Perfect Effect, but still larger than Maketoys.

Takara seemed to try hard to match the G1 toy here.  The pattern of molded details and rivets are largely the same, and the silver tripe only runs partly along the sides like the original toy rather than all the way around like a G1 Optimus.  There are a few improvements, though, like the headlights being separate from the bumper, painted marker lights on the bumper, and a bit of filling in and reducing the visible hinges on the sides.  It's still not great from the back.  Note that the single wheel on each side of the rear is accurate to the G1 toy and the Masterforce cartoon.

If you have MP-60, pretty much all you can do with the truck mode is to fold the handles up to reveal some 5mm pegs.  These pegs fan plug into ports on either side of the hitch on the rear.  Technically, you can pull the front of the cab open and the smaller static Powermaster can fit inside like he's driving, but MP-60 doesn't come with the static figure.  The transforming Powermaster can't fit so he can't drive.

If you bought MPG-09, though, you got his trailer as well.  There's definitely a similarity with the G1 toy; some blue on the top, a big plug arm to connect the trailer to the cab, a front of the trailer that's clearly robot arms, and even blue panels and some red details that don't need to be that way, they're just mimic the G1 trailer that did.  There's some improvements, though.  The arm that connects the trailer to the cab has panels that hide the gap behind it and help secure the arms in place.  The rear has molded details that actually look like a trailer door.  And, near the middle on the underside, there are fold out feet that allow the trailer to stand on its own.

To complete the look, you can plug the larger black guns into ports on the top, and the gray guns into ports on the sides of the arms.  If you really want to store everything, well, you kind of can't (as there's no real storage for the effect parts, stand adapter, or alternate hands and faces).  But you can store the smaller guns, as there are slots in front of the handles that fit onto tabs on the backs of the bigger guns.  And the rear of the trailer can open, revealing small compartments that you can stuff the Powermaster figures into.

With the G1 toy.  The new trailer is a little larger, and his arms stick up a bit too high.

And a quick shot with SS86 Optimus, Fans Hobby Power Baser, Perfect Effect with the Legends Ginrai trailer, and Maketoys Thunder Manus.  Despite being a bit larger than the G1 trailer, I think the cab/trailer combo looks more proportional than Power Baser.

Speaking of Power Baser, his base mode was rather reimagined, as was the Takara Legends version.  So I really appreciate that MPG Ginrai's trailer not only has the base mode from the G1 toy, but that is practically identical.  There's even some similar molded details and some tampos that act like a simplified version of the G1 toy's stickers.

Of course, the real point of the trailer isn't a base mode, it's to combine with Ginrai to make Super Ginrai.  The differences in Super Ginrai mode between MPG-09 and the G1 toy are a bit more obvious.  MPG-09 is taller, with more heroic anime proportions than the squat, big-headed original (though it throws into doubt the idea that Ginrai only gains five meters of height in this mode.  He's also sporting the red fingers, red crotch, and blue eyes of the cartoon, and though there's molded details the blue on his chest and the sticker details on his knees and shins there's no color there. 

The tranformation, much like the base Ginrai, is similar too but slightly more complex than the G1 toy.  More of the sides of the trailer fold into the panels on the sides of his legs, while the backs of his legs are no longer made from the trailer.  Rather, the back half of the top of the trailer folds onto his back.  The back of the trailer swivels into his calves, giving him "feet" that are below the edges of the trailer panels on the sides of his legs.  His arms unfurl pretty much the same as the G1 toy, but his forearms open so the hands can fold out rather than slide out on the JG1 toy or molded lumps on the western G1 toy.

The extra height does make him bigger than both the Takara Legends Super Ginrai and Maketoys Thunder Manus...

He still falls well short of Power Baser, though.

Articulation isn't quite as good in Super Ginrai mode as Ginrai alone, but it's still pretty good.  His head still can't really look down or tilt sideways, but he can tilt his head up and swivel it.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets.  The round bits on the tops of his shoulders can open so he can move his arms nearly 90 degrees laterally, and though it's on the wrong side of the swivel joint an additional hinge can be used to get more lateral movement if you wish.  As with regular Ginrai, he's got dedicated butterfly joints as well.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a little over 90 degrees on a single hinge.  His hands swivel and bend in/out a little.  His fingers are now hinged at the base and the middle knuckles, and his index finger is separate from the other three, plus his thumb has a hinge at the base.  His waist swivels on a ratchet, and he's got 45 degrees of ab crunch.  His hips ratchet 90 degrees forward and laterally, and about 45 degrees backward.  His thighs swivel, and his single-jointed knee ratchets bend about 140 degrees.  Due to his transformation, his entire shin-foot thing can tilt up and down, and the sole of his foot can click inward on a ratchet a single 30-degree click to keep his feet flat despite not really having ankles.

The gray guns properly peg into his shoulders, and he's meant to hold the larger rifles with the same tabbed handle, slotted palm mechanism.  Note that there are four peg holes on his back, which can give you a place to store the smaller guns (for now).  There's also peg holes on the soles of his feet for Generations-style effect parts.  Speaking of effect parts, not only are the big rifles also compatible with the beams Ginrai comes with, but so are the gray shoulder guns.

Likewise, his palms still work with the chōkon effect parts, and for maximum anime accuracy you can remove the gray guns from his shoulders and plug in the extra shoulder bits which exaggerate the natural shape at the edges of his shoulders.

Swapping Super Ginrai's head is super easy, barely an inconvenience.  Just grab it and slide it forward.  Aside from the stock head (middle), you get a slightly more stylized head, and one that's identical to the stock head except it has red eyes like the G1 toy.  Likewise, you can open up his forearms like you're going to transform him and slide out his hands, swapping them with entirely blue ones.  Blue hands match the slide-out hands on the JG1 toy; all red hands to match the Powermaster Optimus toy would have been cool, but Takara technically only produced this for the Japanese market I get why there's no red option.  Oh, this is also where the stickers come in.  If you want a more toy-style Super Ginrai, you can use stickers to add the blue to his chest, give him a yellow crotch, add the stickers to his knees and shins, and replace the cartoon Autobot insignias on his shoulder and trailer with toy-style ones.  However, to truly have a toy style Super Ginrai you'd have to buy MPG-09, put the stickers on the trailer, AND buy MP-60 to replace the cab.  Honestly, I don't know why they didn't just skip MP-60 entirely.  They easily could have made the red-eyed head a swappable one and included stickers for the silver ribs and colored knees.

It's one of a few things that have kind of soured me a bit on this release.  Don't get me wrong, I think MPG-09 looks great in both modes, has tons of articulation, and is pretty easy to transform.  It's a good figure!  But, it's also a bit small for an MP.  The size and simplicity make me think that, with a few less accessories, plastic instead of diecast, and a little less paint, Hasbro could have sold this figure as a Commander-class.  If not Commander, then certainly the new smaller $150 Titan.  And at even $150 I'd have strongly recommended it; I think it's a pretty good fit with Generations.  It's not $150, though.  At $280, it's nearly double that (and even more if you want a toy-style one and replace the cab with MP-60).  Put another way, MPG-09 cost me $10 more than all six of the Mecha Invasion Constructicons.  And at that price, I'm looking at a few sprue marks.  I'm looking at one particular tab on his backpack that likes to pop open.  I'm looking at a Powermaster that pops out if you look at him funny (and one that the ball joint on one hip sheared off the second time I transformed it).  I'm looking at effect parts and a static Powermaster slug I don't need... heck, I don't really need the extra hands, heads, or shoulder bits, and one set of rifles for both figures would have been fine.  Ultimately, I think I'd have to give Super Ginrai a soft recommendation.  He's a good, maybe very good, but overpriced figure not-quite-MP figure.

[Scyla]

@mikeszekely, I can understand why Ginrai feels too small in hand compared to other MP offerings.

That’s why I thought the MPG line will have a unified, smaller scale, more in line with Raiden and Ginrai moving forward.

However, given that Liftticket and Black Ironhide are recolors of old MP toys and released under MPG makes me question that.

I guess we will know once we see images of the rumored MPG Convoy. Maybe it will be smaller than MP-44 and closer to Ginrai in size.

[JB0]

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A complaint I've heard from some, usually fans who think of this as Powermaster Optimus and not Ginrai, and who think that Powermaster Optimus should essentially be G1 Optimus with a new trailer and a combining gimmick, have bemoaned the fact that Ginrai's back the entire front of his cab.  That strikes me as kind of weird... it's ok for a toy to have a fake grill, maybe even fake windows, for the sake of animation accuracy but then the real parts have to be totally hidden?  Leaving them exposed, that's where they draw the line?  While it's quite possible that the G1 toy's cab back, fake front was actually an attempt at a more cartoon-accurate Optimus, the simple fact is that Takara leaned into the design and Ginrai having the front of a truck on his back is cartoon accurate.

I've had that problem with the toy since I got my Powermaster Optimus as a kid. Having a truck front on both sides of the robot bothered me then, and it bothers me now. It struck me as an extremely lazy design.  I admit that it is both toy- and toon-accurate and it would be a major deviation from any root of authenticity(which is why even the unlicensed Thunder Manus kept it, despite being a fairly radical revision of the concept), but only grudgingly. 
In fiction, I think I've only seen Powermaster Optimus as the combined super-robot. Which I guess means there shouldn't be a core robot and battlestation mode for that. 

 

I'm also on record as disliking fake parts in general. I think my horror at the original Powermaster toy was more for the fake truck parts than it was the backpack, but cannot swear to it this many years later. 

[Black Valkyrie]

 

I was planning to get Ginrai but I hold back  cuz of the price.   I have  Prime Tenseg base, transformation like Ginrai but simple, I`ve gotten to appreciate it more and more.

[M'Kyuun]

Between the MPG and the Takara Legends figs, I still prefer the Legends, which I have. I'm not really into the Ginrai design, honestly, but I liked that mold enough to get it, and in my unconsidered opinion, I still think it's pretty well-done. Some may not cotton to it due to the stylistic liberties taken, but compared to the MPG, it's those touches that make it preferable, at least to me. I still regret not getting the Perfect Effect Optimus for my Ginrai; it looked better than the stock cab and it could actually transform into a nice-looking bot. Regrets, alas. Anyway, it's also fair to remember that Legends Ginrai was a retool of Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus, so it wasn't a dedicated toy like the MPG, although I think Takara made it work rather well. YMMV, of course.

Great review, as always, @mikeszekely. I always appreciate the comparison shots with not only previous official offerings, but also third party as well for variety and flavor. I'm fascinated by how the designs vary depending on who's making them and as a reflection of the times when the figs were produced. 

[sh9000]

Preorders are up.

Edited March 4 by sh9000

[mikeszekely]

I preordered Vortex and Alchemist, as well as the Carnivac/Fisitron pack.

[sh9000]

Preorders are up.

[M'Kyuun]

Just popped in here, saw that POs were up and beat virtual feet over to Hasbro Pulse to get my Vortex PO in. Fortunately, he was still available. I'm somewhat tempted by Alchemist Prime, as he has, IMHO, the best vehicle mode out of all the new Prime figs, but I can't help but feel we're going to get a Bulkhead retool of him, and I'd rather have that instead. 

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Kinda expensive ;