The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Mechapilot77]

3 hours ago, jenius said:

I don't know about reviewing it since so many people review transformers but I did buy one from HLJ but I'm thinking of hunting another down without the plug. 

i know amazon jp ships without plug in it FWIW and they do ship to US

Edited May 10, 2017 by Mechapilot77

[M'Kyuun]

As do Captured Prey. Mine was factory sealed when it arrived.

[vlenhoff]

NY had no plugs either. But it takes over a month to jump the pond.

[mikeszekely]

You guys catching any of the drama with TW?

For those that haven't followed, TW was working on a Constructor-sized Bruticus. All the sudden, they dumped their entire design team after implying that they're "robbers," and the first two TW Bruticus figures are up for preorder from a new company called Zeta Toys.

[Tking22]

8 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

You guys catching any of the drama with TW?

For those that haven't followed, TW was working on a Constructor-sized Bruticus. All the sudden, they dumped their entire design team after implying that they're "robbers," and the first two TW Bruticus figures are up for preorder from a new company called Zeta Toys.

I saw that too, very interesting, but I think you may have meant to post this in the Third Party TF thread. As long as he's coming still I'm happy, that Whirl looks really good IMO.

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I saw that too, very interesting, but I think you may have meant to post this in the Third Party TF thread. As long as he's coming still I'm happy, that Whirl looks really good IMO.

Whoops! Yeah, this was meant for the 3P thread. Better do something to get this thread back on track...

So... MP-36 sure is scratchy with its glue plugs, eh?

[JB0]

Panel lines and glue plugs and origami shellforming oh my!

[Sandman]

Finally got in my mp11 starscream reissue. Transformed him to fighter and i noticed the nose cone is grey not blue like the 2012 reissue. Is this a common thing or do i have a odd duck? Looks better with the grey nose cone by curious on reasoning behind this?

[jenius]

Got a pic?

[treatment]

2 hours ago, Sandman said:

Finally got in my mp11 starscream reissue. Transformed him to fighter and i noticed the nose cone is grey not blue like the 2012 reissue. Is this a common thing or do i have a odd duck? Looks better with the grey nose cone by curious on reasoning behind this?

 

Takara's MP-11 Starscream always had gray nosecone for toon accuracy.

Hasbro's US version is the only one with blue nosecone for toy accuracy.

Same thing with MP-13 Soundwave's visor colors between Takara (red) and Hasbro (yellow).

 

 

[Sandman]

1 hour ago, treatment said:

 

Takara's MP-11 Starscream always had gray nosecone for toon accuracy.

Hasbro's US version is the only one with blue nosecone for toy accuracy.

Same thing with MP-13 Soundwave's visor colors between Takara (red) and Hasbro (yellow).

 

 

Ah ok. That makes sense. Thanks.

I don't think i've ever noticed that the nose cone was grey instead of blue in the cartoon.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Sandman

[David Hingtgen]

I believe that at least of few of the releases, have the nosecone molded in blue, but painted over in grey.

[vlenhoff]

Megatron's [mp36] transformation is... Intense.

It is satisfying.

Edited May 15, 2017 by vlenhoff

[derex3592]

Still haven't tried it...maybe next year sometime...

[Ignacio Ocamica]

On 2017-5-15 at 9:04 PM, derex3592 said:

Still haven't tried it...maybe next year sometime...

Well I'll never transform him.

Transformed MP 05, Apollyon and have a real 9 mm Carl Walther P 38 so MP 36 Megs is staying forever in robot mode.

So awesome to pose  

Edited May 17, 2017 by Ignacio Ocamica

[treatment]

saw this posted over at TFW:

MP-39 is Sunstreaker...

more mag-scans jpgs in the tfw-thread: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/masterpiece-sunstreaker.1109135/

 

 

 

[jenius]

Woot!

[sh9000]

I'll buy it.

[Tking22]

Might be time to replace my BC Sunsurge, but I really need some alt/vehicle mode pics first. The bot mode looks nicer, but Sunsurge has a stunning alt/vehicle mode.

edit: Also a fake chest? I could have sworn people crap on the BC Sunsurge because of his fake chest, claiming TT could do better, and yet here we are, fake chest as well. I'm pretty bummed about certain things on this guy, the head looks really odd, worse then the 3P options somehow, which is odd because I thought the one thing TT always nailed was head sculpts. Also, the yellow spoiler is nasty. I'm just laughing at how similar he is to my BC Sunsurge, I mean, he's more toon accurate, but overall, he really doesn't look that much different. I may actually save a few bucks and pass, he just doesn't look that much better or superior.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Tking22

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Shoot, here I was about to mod my Spinout.  And after taking a closer look at Takara's Sunstreaker, I probably will continue to mod Spinout.

Still, I'm happy that an official Sunstreaker is gonna see the light of day.  I was sure as sh!t that a MP of him would never be made.

[dizman]

He comes with the stupid movie mask..... I'm sold!

[David Hingtgen]

He is, like Inferno (though not as badly)---uber toon-accurate.  To the point of looking like a "toy" Countach.  (you know what I mean!).   Sideswipe is far more realistically colored/painted---vents, intakes, framing, etc.    They may share alt-modes (more so than they should, really), but they're in two different "levels of realism".  

[sh9000]

Chip Chase FTW.

[mikeszekely]

If he were like Spinout, but improved, I'd be interested.  Unfortunately he looks more like Sunsurge, and not necessarily a huge improvement.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

If he were like Spinout, but improved, I'd be interested.  Unfortunately he looks more like Sunsurge, and not necessarily a huge improvement.

Yeah, thinking the same way. Wish they'd gone more with a Spinout styled design instead of the fake chest (the edge of his real windshield can be seen peeking out the side).  I'll still likely get him b/c I'm a sucker for official stuff, but there will always be a feeling of 'what if'. On the positive side, perhaps I can land a copy of Spinout on the cheap.  The other positive I like about the recent MPs is the attempt to make them more like action figures, with a focus on improved articulation. In my mind, they're robots first, vehicles second, and the brick-like nature of G1 and limits in articulation in many TF toys over the years, especially when it favors the alt mode, has always bugged me. I'm glad to see the bot mode getting more attention. Despite initial thoughts and reservations, I'll withhold final judgement until I've seen a few reviews, although I'll likely have it on pre-order while I'm watching those reviews. That's how I roll.

Edit: Just had a thought; I wonder if, like the car mode where the rear of the car can be changed to look like the animation or the real car, his chest can also be configured to use the real windshield or the fake one. Best of both worlds, if that's the case.  Also, yeah, what's up with the yellow spoiler? Toyhax to the rescue.

4 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Chip Chase FTW.

Courage!

Edited May 23, 2017 by M'Kyuun

[Golden Arms]

I have sunsurge and this is definitely an improvement.  The bot proportions look fantastic.  I also like how the neck/ head are attached to the body and the feet no longer suffer from the duck feet like sunsurge. 

[technoblue]

28 minutes ago, Golden Arms said:

I have sunsurge and this is definitely an improvement.  The bot proportions look fantastic.  I also like how the neck/ head are attached to the body and the feet no longer suffer from the duck feet like sunsurge. 

Yeah. This is going to be a tough decision with Takara adding all of those extra gimmicks.

What stands out to me is the face sculpt. It looks awkward on the Takara prototype when compared to my copy of Sunsurge. Usually, Takara is dead on with faces so this is a surprise.

[sh9000]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Courage!

  That made me think of that one Dr. Smoov TF video.

I skipped MP Grapple and Hot Rodimus.  I might need to get those two.

[Dangard Ace]

Tempted to buy.  Also not tempted to buy.

Already have Sunsurge and Spinout.  TT looks alot like BC so not feeling the need visually but TT transformations are usually more fun then BC.  Spinout needs a LOT of work to even be a decent figure.  Even with all the "fixes" it's only okay.  TT alt mode feels very Alternators-like with the lights and doors.  Argh ....decisions.  

[M'Kyuun]

Spinout was always more to my liking visually, although my understanding is that he had a lot of QC issues. Anyway, I skipped 3P offerings for Sunstreaker, so this is a no-thought-required purchase. Moreover, TT's engineering, along with greater attention to bot articulation, make the official product desirable, even when there is a quality 3P toy available (thinking of my Sphinx and Terraegis, and FT Dinobots). Also, unlike a lot folks here and over on the TFW boards, I don't feel the need to have one and only one definitive MP scaled figure of any particular character in my collection. I still like my Apollyon, even though I have Megs 2.0, and I'll hang to my 3P figures even after official versions are released simply b/c they're cool transformable toys.

As for all the working features on Sunstreaker, if everything tabs and holds together solidly in both modes and QC is good, this figure is going to be a nice addition. The engineering challenges the design team had to face were pretty steep (to please Lamborghini and also pay homage to the toon without part-swapping), not to mention the pop-up lights and opening doors. They went above and beyond what we've seen done in the line for an alt mode, indeed hearkening back to the Alternators. I hope that's a trend that continues so long as one mode or the other isn't compromised to achieve a feature. Sunstreaker's backpack was the compromise here, but at least the designers were able to keep it all compact in a boxlike shape rather than loose car parts hanging off randomly. Looking forward to initial reviews before having him in hand.

[Tking22]

The more time I've had to look at the photos, including the hi-res ones accompanying the interview with the designer on TFW2005, the more I realize I absolutely hate the head sculpt on TT Streaker. It's bad. Like unapologetically bad, it's easily the worst face/head sculpt TT has done. I'm a bit baffled by it, because once again, the thing I thought TT always nailed, inarguably moreso then any third party, is the face/head sculpts. But not here, I feel Sunsurge has him beaten in spades on that regard. I'm warming up to the alt mode a bit more, two modes is cool, and a neat way to get the okay from Lambo, I saw that he also includes his hidden rear end gun in alt mode. Definitely lots of bells and whistles included, but damn, that face/head is so bad it hurts.

[mikeszekely]

Here's the thing, though I hate to admit it... I passed on Spinout because of QC, but it's closer to what I wanted in Sunstreaker. I passed on BC because it just wasn't what I wanted in Sunstreaker. TT Streaker is very in-line with what BC offered, so I'm not really interested... but at some point there will be a $30 "Takasa Tony" KO of it, and at that price I'll probably bite just to have a Streaker on the shelf until someone like Maketoys comes along and does it better.

Edited May 23, 2017 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Here's the thing, though I hate to admit it... I passed on Spinout because of QC, but it's closer to what I wanted in Sunstreaker. I passed on BC because it just wasn't what I wanted in Sunstreaker. TT Streaker is very in-line with what BC offered, so I'm not really interested... but at some point there will be a $30 "Takasa Tony" KO of it, and at that price I'll probably bite just to have a Streaker on the shelf until someone like Maketoys comes along and does it better.

Don't feel bad for liking Spinout, or at least the aesthetics he represents. I'm partial to it, too. It favors the toy, but IMHO, they managed the width of his windshield proportionally well with the rest of the bot mode. I like it. Shame it had QC issues, as it offered something different from BC's and now TT's versions.

Since Streaker was never really a favorite character of mine, I never spent much time looking too hard at either third party version, although the Omnigonix version stood out to me over Badcube's. It's personal preference. Anyway, now that the official toy has been revealed, I've been doing more comparisons betwixt the three. I'll concur with those who favor the Badcube face sculpt- I think they got it closest, esp if you're looking at the animation model. Not sure what TT were thinking with that Jay Leno chin. Just the same, I'm not that picky, and had no one said anything, I likely wouldn't have paid it much attention. To that end, the internet can be a double edged sword. Since the most obvious comparisons are going to be with Sunsurge, aside from the big backpack, IMHO the TT has a greater refinement to it. I can't say exactly why- it's just an impression, even though I think proportionally BC's is closer to the cell animation model. All the additional features TT managed to cram in there are icing, but the bot itself and his alt look splendid to me. Thirteen year old me would have probably fainted in amazement to see something like this, like all the MPs for that matter. We TF fans, esp those of us old enough to remember the wonder of watching the show for the first time as a kid (it obviously made an impact on a lot of us) only dreamed of toys like this for 20+ years. I didn't think I'd ever get a Prowl toy that did justice to my memories of the cartoon, the G1 box art, and various other artistic renditions of his G1 likeness over the years. Alternators had me hopeful, esp when the Mazda and the Suburu figures came out- but BT/Alt Prowl was a huge letdown. Classics-letdown. MP-perfection. So, when the criticism starts to build over every new release, I like to take a moment and remember that not that long ago, these toys were still the stuff of dreams, and that we as a fandom are spoiled, not just with official toys, but with fanmade figures, many of which are pretty high quality and cool in their own right. Sure, there are some lemons, but even TT have had their share of those over the years, too. I'm just savoring the goodness of being able to own these figures within my lifetime. They are dreams come true for me, and I'm incredibly happy and thankful for them. You should be, too.

[jenius]

So now that a reissue of Megs has been announced, anybody have suggestions where I can buy one without the orange plug? I'd normally do robotkingdom but if anyone else has another suggestion, I'm all ears. 

[anime52k8]

well, I think he looks cool. I like that you can set up his alt mode as the cartoon car or as a more stock Countach.