The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Can anyone recommend a good transformers series of toys for like 5 year olds? The Rescue Bots are a bit too simple for my boy but I don't know enough about the other series to choose something that he wouldn't be making me transform for him. I think he needs something about as sophisticated as the old chunky monkeys... though I know they don't make anything so rugged any more.

Tobots ?

[dizman]

Yup I've never owned one but from what I've seen it seems Tobots are the modern G1 equivalent.

[M'Kyuun]

The Combiner Wars combining figures would have been good Transformer starting toys as well- most were pretty simple. The smaller legion class toys are pretty simple as well, but there's also the hazard of smaller parts, in the event your son likes to taste his toys before ordering them into combat.

I say this thinking of myself around four or five using my teeth as brick separators for LEGO, regular LEGO (I never had Duplo). I chewed the crap out of some of those parts, but, fortunately, never inhaled nor swallowed any of them.

[JB0]

I say this thinking of myself around four or five using my teeth as brick separators for LEGO, regular LEGO (I never had Duplo). I chewed the crap out of some of those parts, but, fortunately, never inhaled nor swallowed any of them.

You and me both. I mean, how else were we supposed to get those things apart?

[CoryHolmes]

Magic.

[M'Kyuun]

Heh, I'm just a poor muggle. LEGO can still be difficult to separate at times, even with the new narrow orange separator. The minifig crowbar comes in handy, but usually I end up mangling my fingernails trying to get them apart (no more tooth marks on my LEGO).

I had an appointment this morning near a Walmart that I know usually stocks new merch as soon as it comes out. Anyway, they had two copies of TM Alpha Trion, which is a character I've never owned in any of the previous TF lines (have they ever made him before?). Anyway, his bot mode looks pretty good, and both his uni-lion and spaceship modes look decent, so I picked him up. Out of the box, I like his bot mode best, which is how I display all my TFs, so that's good. His lion mode would have been better had his back legs been given some articulation. His front legs can be posed from the elbow down, so the front legs/paws can be adjusted for a number of poses. The back legs are pretty much stationary, although I made an attempt to adjust the robot thigh a little to try and give the back leg the appearance of posing, but it looks awkward and just doesn't really work, unfortunately. Uni-lion mode is pretty much a big purple and pink statue. His spaceship mode is reminiscent of an aircraft carrier; I'm not sure if that's what the designers were going for, but that's what it looks like to me, at least the forward fuselage. As with most of these TM figs, he comes with a weapon that's also a seat for the TM when he's not being a head. I think it would have served Alpha Trion's ship mode well had they made that weapon appear more like a small ship in its own right, which could park on and launch from AT's flight deck. Playability, Takara!

Anyway, those nitpicks aside, he has a lot of nice paint apps, and he's possessed of all the standard articulation usually seen on voyager class figs, in bot mode. The only real QC issue I found was in his lion mode, the TM figs cockpit, which sits above the front shoulders has two prongs which look like they are meant to slide into corresponding grooves in AT's crotch shield, which covers the robot thighs and forms the lion's lower back(the sword also slides into two grooves at the aft end to form the tail). I tried several times to get those prongs to lock into the grooves on that crotch shield, but they wouldn't do it on my copy. I believe they're intended to help hold the lion mode together, as there's a bit of linkage to swing the bot's waist to lock in front of the robot chest to form the lion torso. As is, it clicks, but it's not a real strong lock, and I can only assume that those parts on his back would help solidify the lion mode.

Overall, I think he's a decent figure, good but not great. I really had no interest in getting him based on previous pics; it was more an impulse buy, and a desire to add an Alpha Trion figure to the collection. My only familiarity with AT is from the 80's cartoon, and I don't recall his ever transforming, or even having the ability, so I'm hazarding a guess that this fig's alts are based on IDW or some other interpretation of the character. I'm too lazy to research. My feeling after messing with him for a bit was that my money most assuredly would have been better spent on one of the LEGO Batman Movie sets. Hindsight...

Edit: Followup to Alpha Trion- I finally got the TM cockpit and the crotch shield to connect in lion mode. It's a firm connection, and indeed, does hold the lion mode together very solidly. I'm thinking I had my mouth in the wrong configuration the first time around- holding your mouth right makes all the difference.

Edited December 4, 2016 by M'Kyuun

[Omega Prime]

Takara Tomy Transformers GOD BOMBER!

GOD GINRAI!

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/takara-tomy-transformers-legends-lg42-godbomber-revealed/36844/

MP-37 is Artfire and Nightstick!

From: Seibertron.com

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/takara-tomy-masterpiece-mp37-artfire-and-nightstick-revealed/36843/

Edited December 2, 2016 by Omega Prime

[JB0]

God Ginrai needs more chrome.

[CoryHolmes]

After lurking, snarking, and blatantly stealing other peoples' hard work, I'm finally here to contribute something:

From the cast-offs, the rejects, the outright despised, comes the Combiner that nobody wanted (literally). We have a torso that was released without a set (who's dumb idea was that???), a left arm that was utterly the wrong vehicle, wrong name, wrong colour scheme (wrong, wrong, wrong), a right arm that got neutered from a space shuttle into a plane (how's that for being cut down in size?!), a left leg that isn't just the wrong vehicle, it has two more tires than it should! (which was then subsequently replaced after the fact), and a right leg that that has the correct number of tires, but utterly the wrong team theme! (srsly, who thought it was a good idea to put an OFF-ROAD vehicle into a sports car team???)...

And yet, by their powers combined, they become much less than the sum of their parts. I present to you, UNWANTATRON!!

If you thought Menasor had troubles, hoo boy you ain't seen NUTHIN' yet. This guy has self-esteem issues for days!

Scattershot knows the calibre of troops he has to work with, so he has to set an internal timer whenever they combine lest their combined self-loathing overtakes Unwantatron's main personality matrix and leads to a mopey, despondent titan with army-shattering weaponry at the ready.

The individual limbs also know just how unwanted they really are, and how much their Beloved Leader would drop them in a circuit beat for his missing Technobots, which occasionally manifests itself as Unwantatron developing bouts of cyber-schizophrenia and becoming an uncoordinated mess on the battlefield.

Despite these drawbacks, Unwantatron is a stalwart warrior who stands tall in the face of the oncoming Decepticon armada, desperately fighting back the niggling thoughts that Superion or Defensor would be much better at, well, everything.

Abilies/Weapons: Unwantatron features all the standard abilities of the Combiner Wars special teams, incredible toughness and strong beyond measure. The technology that allows for the combination is smooth and without flaw, allowing the great mass to move with a surprising grace (that he will be the first to downplay) and astonishing speed. His main long-range weapon is formed from Scattershot, but increased with the added power from the team as a whole for vastly increased range and stopping power.

Weaknesses: All of Unwantatron's weaknesses are in his own mind, literally. The same technology that allows the physical melding of his component parts also allowed all their neuroses to meld and reinforce each other. Where each part may only worry or have the occasional doubt, these are all magnified to extremes in Unwantatron as crippling despair and an utter lack of self-confidence. The timer that Scattershot has to set limits Unwantatron's use in the field, and his occasional limb cyber-schizophrenia mean that even during the heat of battle Unwantatron sometimes simply cannot even move his limbs. Despite all this, he remains steadfast in his desire to protect the weak and defend the just.

[JB0]

Best robo-bio ever.

I mean, that is even better than Broadside's classic "Afraid of heights, afraid of water, so he turns into a jet and a boat" bio.

[Dio]

His spaceship mode is reminiscent of an aircraft carrier; I'm not sure if that's what the designers were going for, but that's what it looks like to me, at least the forward fuselage.

Alpha Trion is getting remolded into Broadside, that's where the carrier bits come into play. AT and Broadside are probably the least-guessable shared mold in the entire Titans Return line, while the others have been blatantly obvious.

I'm waiting on Gnaw before I ship my Hot Rod, those are two figures I've eagerly anticipated since I saw them.

[M'Kyuun]

Alpha Trion is getting remolded into Broadside, that's where the carrier bits come into play. AT and Broadside are probably the least-guessable shared mold in the entire Titans Return line, while the others have been blatantly obvious.

Y'know, I'm aware of the upcoming Broadside, but didn't even think that he and AT were a shared, albeit modified, mold. They did a good job of differentiating them- normally I pick up on mold reuses, but this one went right past my radar. Thanks for pointing it out.

2017 is a mixed bag for me. I think my biggest disappointments are the triple changer molds for Broadside (carrier is cool, jet mode abysmal), and the eventual Octane mold (both alts are compromised, neither one really looking very good to me.) I'm especially sad about the Octane mold, as I passed on the 2007 Classics toy, as he didn't really look that good to me either. After ten years, I'd have thought they'd do a better job. I'm also sad about the TM Astrotrain mold, as that thing is a trainwreck ( pun sorta unintended), and I was hoping for a well done G1 homage along the lines of Devilstar. It's odd how some of these TM figs are so close to their G1 toy/animation models, and others are just so very far off the mark, at least IMO. I think they missed a good opportunity to give us some nice updated cassette bots with the Blaster/Soundwave figs. I get that cassettes are an anachronism, but having those guys stored in the chests of their respective musical device bots and sent out as scouts is still an awesome play gimmick, and one that would make sense to the younger generation after a little explanation from mom or dad. Fortunately, I think HasTak hit it out of the park with the majority of deluxe and legion class figs.

[treatment]

Got the Takara LG-25 Blur a while back and he's really pretty awesome!

http://imgur.com/xRk59lP

Then I got these three today at the local Wally's, and aside from Hardhead, they're kinda meh coz of issues (loose Xort, facepaint on Hot Rod):

http://imgur.com/kdWg37z

[mickyg]

Cory, absolutely awesome on every level! Thank you for that, in all sincerity.

After lurking, snarking, and blatantly stealing other peoples' hard work, I'm finally here to contribute something:

From the cast-offs, the rejects, the outright despised, comes the Combiner that nobody wanted (literally). We have a torso that was released without a set (who's dumb idea was that???), a left arm that was utterly the wrong vehicle, wrong name, wrong colour scheme (wrong, wrong, wrong), a right arm that got neutered from a space shuttle into a plane (how's that for being cut down in size?!), a left leg that isn't just the wrong vehicle, it has two more tires than it should! (which was then subsequently replaced after the fact), and a right leg that that has the correct number of tires, but utterly the wrong team theme! (srsly, who thought it was a good idea to put an OFF-ROAD vehicle into a sports car team???)...

And yet, by their powers combined, they become much less than the sum of their parts. I present to you, UNWANTATRON!!

IMG_9069.JPG

If you thought Menasor had troubles, hoo boy you ain't seen NUTHIN' yet. This guy has self-esteem issues for days!

IMG_9070.JPG

Scattershot knows the calibre of troops he has to work with, so he has to set an internal timer whenever they combine lest their combined self-loathing overtakes Unwantatron's main personality matrix and leads to a mopey, despondent titan with army-shattering weaponry at the ready.

IMG_9071.JPG

The individual limbs also know just how unwanted they really are, and how much their Beloved Leader would drop them in a circuit beat for his missing Technobots, which occasionally manifests itself as Unwantatron developing bouts of cyber-schizophrenia and becoming an uncoordinated mess on the battlefield.

IMG_9072.JPG

Despite these drawbacks, Unwantatron is a stalwart warrior who stands tall in the face of the oncoming Decepticon armada, desperately fighting back the niggling thoughts that Superion or Defensor would be much better at, well, everything.

Abilies/Weapons: Unwantatron features all the standard abilities of the Combiner Wars special teams, incredible toughness and strong beyond measure. The technology that allows for the combination is smooth and without flaw, allowing the great mass to move with a surprising grace (that he will be the first to downplay) and astonishing speed. His main long-range weapon is formed from Scattershot, but increased with the added power from the team as a whole for vastly increased range and stopping power.

Weaknesses: All of Unwantatron's weaknesses are in his own mind, literally. The same technology that allows the physical melding of his component parts also allowed all their neuroses to meld and reinforce each other. Where each part may only worry or have the occasional doubt, these are all magnified to extremes in Unwantatron as crippling despair and an utter lack of self-confidence. The timer that Scattershot has to set limits Unwantatron's use in the field, and his occasional limb cyber-schizophrenia mean that even during the heat of battle Unwantatron sometimes simply cannot even move his limbs. Despite all this, he remains steadfast in his desire to protect the weak and defend the just.

techspecs.jpg

[CoryHolmes]

Best robo-bio ever.

I mean, that is even better than Broadside's classic "Afraid of heights, afraid of water, so he turns into a jet and a boat" bio.

Cory, absolutely awesome on every level! Thank you for that, in all sincerity.

Aw, thanks you guize *blushes and kicks dirt*.

I had a lot of fun coming up with this bio. I was just gonna post the pictures, but then I started writing... and then I realized I was doing a TF Universe bio, and then I looked up the formatting, which lead to more writing, which lead to finding some techspecs to post... This was much fun

[JB0]

It really has the feel of an authentic G1 bio, too.

Honestly, I first noticed it with Broadside, but it was kind of a running theme through a LOT of the G1 bios.

[sh9000]

[derex3592]

That looks suhhhweet. It'll be my first Megs, can't wait!!!

[M'Kyuun]

IMG_1783.JPG

"I've got something cool in my hand; take a look. Promise I won't punch you in the head."

I'm still a bit surprised, and perhaps a trifle dismayed, that TT went with a non-G1 transformation system. It's cool that you can swap the chest plate to give him his thrashed Movie look, but it really compromises the look of his upper torso, which is very iconic to Megs. Even non-gun Megatron figures often have their upper body shaped like the pistol slide, and yet this MP figure is lacking it. In all other regards, however, I think TT really cptured the animation aesthetic. Gotta admit, though, he would have looked cooler if he'd been silver, and had a bit of red in those inner legs.

My Apollyon does the job in all these respects, so I'll enjoy both for their individual merits.

[treatment]

MP-37 Artfire up on ami po early:

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-026548

11,270 yen

5/19/17 release-date

Edited December 6, 2016 by treatment

[jenius]

Maybe we can get Galvatron soon?

[technoblue]

I like Artfire's unconventional style. Hm. This is going to be hard to resist. I wonder how much of the detail shown on the legs and feet are Tampo or stickers?

[treatment]

MP-37 Artfire up on ami po early:

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-026548

11,270 yen

5/19/17 release-date

fyi.

now also up @ hlj :

https://hlj.com/product/TKT87716

12k-yen

[Dangard Ace]

IMG_1783.JPG

Megs: Woot! Check out my gigantic Boob plate!

Still getting one for the trashed Megatron look but Mightron is still my Decepticon Commander.

[mikeszekely]

I don't really collect MPs, but it seems like some MPs are about the right size for what I do collect. ToyWorld's Bii has been my Bumblebee for awhile, but some concerns over how well he'll hold up in the long run (the mirrors are already coming off) and a Cyber Monday sale prompted me to pick up MP-21G G2 Bumblebee.

Let me get this out of the way first... I get that MP Bumblebee is more cartoon-accurate, but I think Bii looks better anyway. MP Bumblebee is crappy Sunbow, Bii is Guido Guidi comic book. Bii's got a better headsculpt, no gaps in his wrists, ditches the yellow undies, and is wider at the chest so he looks more heroic. Bii is a cool Bumblebee, MP-21 is the crappy Autobot that was always driving Spike around.

Both toys have similar articulation and can strike similar poses.

Bii arguably cleans up better from behind, too.

Then there's the alt mode...

It's obvious that they're going for two different aesthetics. Bii has the chibi penny racer proportions of the G1 toy and the cartoon, while MP-21 presents itself as a realistic Volkswagen Beetle.

Which you prefer is perhaps even more subjective than the robot mode. MP-21 does look like a real Beetle, but as Bumblebee he looks oddly thin and stretched to me. So again I find myself preferring Bii, and Bii is staying in my display.

But MP-21 is going on my desk.

See, while I think Bii looks better, MP-21 plays better. Bii is a pain to transform; I don't think I've ever transformed him without something popping off, usually one of the windows or part of the rear. The windows come off because they're just not as snug as they need to be and there's no pin holding them in place. The rear pops off because the clearance just isn't there and it gets caught up when you're rotating it. MP-21, though, has probably the best transformation of any of the MPs I've handled (both Optimuses, Megatron, Soundwave, the first Hot Rod, Grimlock, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Prowl are the other ones). It's simple, it's intuitive, and it's clever. The flip panel on the roof to hide the Autobot symbol is clever, too. I highly recommend him if you don't have him.

[jenius]

Tobots ?

Awesome recommendation. Got my kid a couple and introduced him to the dubbed cartoon to whet his appetite. I haven't handled the toys yet since they'll be gifts but they look perfect.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

You're a cool dad. I don't own any myself, but they look like they can take a beating. I just might get a couple for my barbarians once they get old enough.

[M'Kyuun]

MP Inferno showed up today. Beefy fig with some nice ratchet joints throughout. I actually thought there might be a little die cast in him when pulling the plastic tray out of the box, such was the heft, but no. Just a lot of red plastic. It's a point of pride for me (I lead an extraordinarily dull and fruitless life) to transform my transforming toys without instructions, but I got a little hung up trying to determine how to peg the arms in, and consulted directions. The Sunbow love is readily apparent in the instruction manual, as there are several stills from the old cartoon to illustrate various accessories and features. Anyway, with the arms successfully tabbed, and the figure fully transformed, I had a nice bulky chunk of red robot in front of me, looking somewhat plain, but still kinda cool. Inferno was never really a character that stood out to me, but, having no Inferno toys in my collection, I figured this was the one to get.

His plainness owing to TT's slavish devotion to the Sunbow animation is well-known and discussed often, so I won't comment on it further except to point out that his alt mode is a real world fire truck. As such, I would think that tail lights are kinda important on an emergency response vehicle, and that those details would be required as per licensing. Guess not, to the detriment of the alt mode. Some other flaws I noticed on mine were paint not matching in some areas, and the left forearm on mine doesn't want to close flush very well, leaving a quite noticeable little gap. It's a first world problem to which I can adapt and overcome.

The good: he's big, beefy, with really nice solid ratchets, a lot of accessories and some nice features lifted straight from the cartoon. Lack of tail-lights and aft bumper aside, he makes a nice looking fire truck with a short extending ladder and extendable outriggers(nice realistic touch). The folding ladder design is pretty slick, and the final bot is very clean. Overall, I'm pretty happy with him. In the back of my mind, though, I think MMC's Backdraft scores more points overall for what I'd like to see in a MP figure. As with all these toys, however, YMMV.

[David Hingtgen]

Which is ironic, as altering the headlights and tailights is usually sufficient to AVOID the need to license a vehicle mode. RiD/2000 almost got away with Sideburn in the US.

And of course, I've yet to see any F-15 TF be licensed, yet the F-22's are...

[M'Kyuun]

Which is ironic, as altering the headlights and tailights is usually sufficient to AVOID the need to license a vehicle mode. RiD/2000 almost got away with Sideburn in the US.

And of course, I've yet to see any F-15 TF be licensed, yet the F-22's are...

Interesting that you mention that; I'd never really given much thought to aircraft, more specifically fighters, as requiring licenses. The F-14 and F-15 are nigh ubiquitous throughout many toy and model lines, as well as many other aircraft. These are, of course, proprietary designs to their respective manufacturers, but it seems as though their likenesses have been used for decades with impunity. I wasn't aware that Lockheed required licensing for the use of the F-22's, and most likely the F-35's, likeness. It makes sense, esp when film-makers want to use them, and the films are going to generate merchandise based on those designs- it's a nice double-dip for Lockheed. However, this is the first I've heard of an aircraft manufacturer seeking fees for licensing a design; I've only heard of car manufacturers requiring licensing, and having some hand in approving final designs, at least with TFs.

This conversation brings to mind the recent Action Toys Machine Robo figures of Eagle and Blackbird, the latter of which I've been, ah, testing flight parameters tonight while watching tv. Bet neither of those guys have licensing.

[David Hingtgen]

Movie Jetfire is licensed by Lockheed.

[JB0]

Not Transformers-related, really, but that's also alleged to be why Sega stopped selling After Burner Climax, their jet licenses were expiring.

Super Hornet, Strike Eagle, and Super Tomcat.

Trademark in the modern world extends a lot farther than it did in the 80s, in all markets.

[David Hingtgen]

Yes, but even brand-new F-15 molds, aren't licensed. That's the interesting thing.

[M'Kyuun]

Recently ran across RiD Windblade at the Wally down the road from my house, the first and only time I've seen the toy anywhere in my area (Spokane, WA). I've seen the reviews, mostly negative, but out of impulse or curiosity, I got her. I'll say up front that I've personally liked the overall aesthetic of her bot mode over the Generations toy ever since pics of her emerged (Toyfair or BotCon, I don't recall). Out of the package, I stand by my initial opinion; she has a nice Animated look about her that I really like, and she's just a fun little figure to pose and play around with. Her jet mode leaves a lot to be desired, primarily b/c they just don't do anything with her arms-they just lay along the jet's fuselage looking every bit like...arms. It's a lazy design that seems to have become a bit of a trend with jet TFs, but at least some of the other toys retract the hands and maybe recess the arms a little into the jet mode. Not Windblade. For some strange reason, they gave her a small set of canted flight controls which sit just before her primary horizontal stabs(mounted to two separate panels which fold in the center and serve to cover the gap between her legs in jet mode). The small set just seem superfluous to me. The biggest irritation, though, is the giant scabbard, which is fine in bot mode, but on a small jet, there's nowhere this enormous thing is going to integrate, and so it's just tabbed centerline onto the bottom of the plane, which only has retracting nose gear that subsequently can't extend b/c the scabbard is in the way. It's just a sh!tty design, and it makes me wonder why they can't find ways to integrate arms and weapons( and add retractable main landing gear to aircraft alts). They were doing a pretty good job of it several years ago with the Generations figures, but lazy design seems to prevail of late. RiD Starscream, while he makes an nice looking jet, depending on the viewing angle, again makes me wonder why they don't try to integrate arms. With SS, he has these enormous pauldrons that would have worked sublimely as intakes and served to cover most of the figure's arms in jet mode just by adding an additional hinge to each pauldron, but no. As such, the pauldrons stick out away from the fuselage directly under the wing leading edge, which kills the sleekness, and the arms just peg in on the sides. At least the hands fold out of sight on this figure, and the weapons are small enough to look complimentary in both modes.

The RiD line has been a mixed bag- the toys are simpler and targeted at a younger audience, but some of the characters and even some of the transformations are fun and interesting. Bisk stands out to me as being pretty unique (anthropomorphic lobster dude into a sporty car), as well as Thunderhoof, who becomes a farm tractor. In all my 30+ years of collecting TFs, I can't recall ever seeing another figure who transforms into that alt, and the Takara paintob looks lovely on him. I haven't watched the show, but many of the toys catch my attention for one reason or another.

[sh9000]