The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Dangard Ace]

Masterpiece BW Megs is around $230usd shipped from Amazon JP Global Otaku Store.  Free shipping and, damn you Americans for no customs fees.  NY, HLJ, Amiami all have it up for PO as well.  Think CDJ too.

[M'Kyuun]

http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/07/13/transformers-generations-war-for-cybertron-figures-revealed-367323

So, they're not from the War for Cybertron game that came out a few years back, but sharing the name for some reason Hasbro-only-knows. I'm liking that Sideswipe; looks better than the CHUG version, at least in bot mode (very G1), but that car shot is at such a low angle it's hard to say yet; the back end may be a trainwreck, so creative photography to the rescue. Time will tell.

That Prime looks nice in bot mode, but not feeling that truck mode. Much prefer the Fall of Cybertron game version to this.

[JB0]

Yeah, that truck is kinda hilarious. Just takin' the over-cab lightbar off would do wonders for it.

[M'Kyuun]

Agree. Really, just undo the whole 'armored truck' thing. If you're going for a Cybertronian mode, then do that; don't make it look like an Earth truck with a bunch of sh1tty add-ons. Or better, make the sh1tty add-ons optional. Everyone wins.

So, been wanting a Punch/Counterpunch fig for some time, and with all the G1 homaging of late in TR and PotP, I thought it might come to pass, and it has. The caveat: Hasbro made it an Amazon exclusive with a $25 price tag, similar to Grotusque. I paid it, but I did so grudgingly. I vehemently hate these exclusives, as they are naught but money-grabs to fleece the fandom, and I don't appreciate it. A nice box shouldn't double the price of a deluxe figure, and I feel like I'm being taken advantage of for supporting my hobby, and ultimately, Hasbro. Granted, I'm an adult, and can freely choose to buy or not buy, but I still think it's a shady way to do business, and knowing that it'll most likely be adult fans familiar with the G1 character going for it, a cheap and opportunistic way to prey on their more ardent supporters. Those are my feelings about it, anyway. What kills me the most about this sort of thing is that some folks on the TFW boards are buying multiples of this thing, like 3 or 4 copies, so they can display him in all his modes and keep one MISB. I guess if you've got the funds, more power to ya, but it just seems like you're rewarding and encouraging bad practice to me. 

[JB0]

Man, I thought Counter/punch was a good idea for the Sunstreaker/Sideswipe mold, but they never realized it.

 

I've always liked the idea of a triplechanger "spy", and never for any good reason.

[M'Kyuun]

Punch/CP was, AFAIK, a one-off on the triple changer idea, only instead of two vehicle forms, he had two bot forms. It was a cool change-up from the usual transforming gimmick, and the spy story they created for him just added to his character. I never actually saw him in the animation, if in fact they ever used him in the toon, but the bio on his tech spec was enough for me. That and the original toy was pretty neat in how it accomplished the dual bot personas. They've mostly captured that with the new fig, except they gave him the same arms in both modes and only the hands change. Of all the design elements of the original, the double set of arms was the one I was most looking forward to seeing implemented, and they totally cheesed out. Ah well, guess at this point it's par for the course.  I still think it's a nice update, enough to PO from Amazon.

JBO, the old Sideswipe/Sunstreaker mold was made into Punch/ Counterpunch as a 2010 BotCon exclusive: 

 

[JB0]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Punch/CP was, AFAIK, a one-off on the triple changer idea, only instead of two vehicle forms, he had two bot forms. It was a cool change-up from the usual transforming gimmick, and the spy story they created for him just added to his character

Two-off. Powermaster Doubledealer was supposed to be his Decepticon counterpart.

 

I'm glad they did the obvious with that mold, but sad it was a con-exclusive.

[Wolf-1]

9 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Punch/CP was, AFAIK, a one-off on the triple changer idea, only instead of two vehicle forms, he had two bot forms. It was a cool change-up from the usual transforming gimmick, and the spy story they created for him just added to his character. I never actually saw him in the animation, if in fact they ever used him in the toon, but the bio on his tech spec was enough for me. That and the original toy was pretty neat in how it accomplished the dual bot personas. They've mostly captured that with the new fig, except they gave him the same arms in both modes and only the hands change. Of all the design elements of the original, the double set of arms was the one I was most looking forward to seeing implemented, and they totally cheesed out. Ah well, guess at this point it's par for the course.  I still think it's a nice update, enough to PO from Amazon.

JBO, the old Sideswipe/Sunstreaker mold was made into Punch/ Counterpunch as a 2010 BotCon exclusive: 

 

He only appears in part 1 of "The Rebirth"; or the very last shows of G1.  He shows up to the fight, tries to do some spying and then gets taken down by the wolf and bird twins from the Decepticons; maybe 60 secs of screen time total.  You do get to see all 3 modes, albeit briefly.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, Wolf-1 said:

maybe 60 secs of screen time total.

He's much more prominent in The Headmasters.

[Wolf-1]

6 hours ago, tekering said:

He's much more prominent in The Headmasters.

Oops; I forget sometimes that while my local area quit airing the show after "Rebirth", that wasn't the end of the show.  So after a quick search, I'm confused; is Headmasters part of G1 or not?  "Rebirth" appears to be the first 3 episodes of Headmasters; and again we sacrifice OP to bring back Rodimus, completely rebuild/rename both cassette bots.  Yeah, I didn't miss much!

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

1 hour ago, Wolf-1 said:

Oops; I forget sometimes that while my local area quit airing the show after "Rebirth", that wasn't the end of the show.  So after a quick search, I'm confused; is Headmasters part of G1 or not?  "Rebirth" appears to be the first 3 episodes of Headmasters; and again we sacrifice OP to bring back Rodimus, completely rebuild/rename both cassette bots.  Yeah, I didn't miss much!

Headmasters is a G1 Japan only sequel, rebirth did not happen in Japan. Then was Masterforce and then Victory, which ended G1 (unless your count Zone).

Edited July 18, 2018 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[David Hingtgen]

P/CP, and BlastOff, are both in the "if I saw them at retail, for normal/sale Deluxe prices, I wouldn't even have to think about it".  But $50 for two deluxes at Amazon, is just plain "no".   I'll just put the money towards Ox/MMC's BlastOff.  

PS---I loved my G1 P/CP, and really hope for a 3P version.  You could do so much more, if you actually, had, you know, a budget...

[Mechapilot77]

punch /counterpunch was alwasy a neat idea and pretty cool...i agree a 3P version with a budget would be nice...mp scale please!  lol.

as for that new prime and sideswipe those seem to be very obviously designed with future retools into earth modes....i can't see why else they look so much like warth modes and like nothing from cybertron ever.  lol.  still thats teh best looking chug g1 esque voayger prime....EVER?  more G1y than potp even.

[Kuma Style]

[tekering]

Man, that's a bad-ass figure... but what are you covering up at the bottom of the pic?  

[Kuma Style]

Random, but any word on the Ultimetal Megatron?

[JB0]

46 minutes ago, tekering said:

Man, that's a bad-ass figure... but what are you covering up at the bottom of the pic?  

That's where Peg hid his pocky stash.

[M'Kyuun]

14 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

punch /counterpunch was alwasy a neat idea and pretty cool...i agree a 3P version with a budget would be nice...mp scale please!  lol.

as for that new prime and sideswipe those seem to be very obviously designed with future retools into earth modes....i can't see why else they look so much like warth modes and like nothing from cybertron ever.  lol.  still thats teh best looking chug g1 esque voayger prime....EVER?  more G1y than potp even.

Third party Punch/CP would be interesting to see.  I bit the bullet and PO'd him from Amazon, as I like the update. It's not an exact update, but it looks nice and still does everything it needs to. Considering it may be another 20+ years before they make another, I got him. 

I can't imagine why, but I hadn't actually considered that these War for Cybertron: Seige figures might be repurposed, likely with slight retoolings, to become more G1esque for secondary releases. I'm down for that. That Prime looks great in bot mode- the armored Cybertronian truck mode ruins it. But remolded to become an Earth cabover- so bought. I was looking at some pre-SDCC Hasbro booth pics over at TFormers.com, and there's a very G1 looking Hound standing between Prime and Sideswipe. Starting to get a little excited for this line if, in fact, G1 Earth modes are coming in the line at some point. https://tformers.com/sdcc-2018-transformers-hasbro-display-booth-preview-night/33927/news.html

That said, I still hold Classics Hound on a pretty high pedestal, especially for the time when it came out. The Hound in the pic looks to be a step back, as like the majority of their deluxes now,  there appears to be no foot articulation.  Very much wish they'd apply their increased articulation philosophy to the mainline of Generations.

[Scyla]

I think the Punch/Counter Punch mold is a smart business decision by Hasbro.

This pretool can be used for so many releases. From the top of my head: Drift/Evil Drift, Tracks, Wheeljack, Nightbeat.

I‘m looking forward to the P/CP mold toy aisle invasion.

[mikeszekely]

An Ultra Magnus that's a white Optimus and combines with his trailer for a more traditional Ultra Magnus look?  Now that's what I'm talking about.

[sh9000]

I was wondering if the v3 MP Optimus was designed with that in mind.

[mikeszekely]

11 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I was wondering if the v3 MP Optimus was designed with that in mind.

That'd get to buy a V2 MP Ultra Magnus.

[technoblue]

Naysayers said it couldn't be done, but after 32 years here we are.

Siege Ultra Magnus is brilliant. Now, I wouldn't mind a v2 MP Magnus done up the same way either. 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

On 7/18/2018 at 8:24 PM, JB0 said:

That's where Peg hid his pocky stash.

I had to chortle at that.

[Mechapilot77]

On siege magnus i like that there is a white "prime" inside...its cool he is actually different from the actual new voyager siege optimus prime it seems (seems wholy different actually..i can';t tell if there is shared tooling but doubt it based on the cab alt modes looking so different).

i'm hoping they redo the MP with this concept (and of course his traditioanl earth alt mode) and give him a waist swivel (seems siege magnus lacks one too).  it would be the V3 MP magnus we need.   (mp-2 was magnus too!)

i generally don't buy main line TF anymore but i may pick up siege magnus because he's a really nice lookign magnus in bot mode.

[M'Kyuun]

Out of WfC Seige, so far only Sideswipe and Hound are definite buys for me. I may get Chromia (although I like her bike bot figure better) and Ironhide, as he's not too shabby as a Cybertronian van. Not digging this line's version of Prime or Ultra Magnus, both primarily for their nasty alt modes. Hoping they'll do Earth alt modes for Prime and Magnus, esp if they keep rocking the very G1 esque bot modes. It'd be nice to finally have a voyager G1 Prime that actually looks like G1 Prime in the CHUG line. (Not really counting PotP, as too many compromises for the combining gimmick with Orion Pax).

As for all the microbots, they're just like the toys we got over a decade ago- pretty much same articulation. Would it have killed them to give these little figs ball jointed elbows? I already have a ton of microbot TFs, and, unfortunately, these bring nothing new, other than crappy weapon modes. 

Just when I thought I was completely done with Bayverse, they throw Studio Series Dropkick in the mix. Not sure I can turn down a transforming AH-1 Cobra helicopter, or at least a close facsimile thereof.  Bee Movie Bee looks like a shell former-meh. Deluxe Shadow Raider looks pretty good, too. Love that alt mode. http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/07/19/sdcc-2018-transformers-studio-series-and-bumblebee-bee-vision-helmet-official-images-368554

Scroll down past the Bumblebee mask to see the new Studio Series figs.

 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just when I thought I was completely done with Bayverse, they throw Studio Series Dropkick in the mix. Not sure I can turn down a transforming AH-1 Cobra helicopter, or at least a close facsimile thereof.

Same here, it's probably the only one I'll get from that line. I only wish it was Voyager sized.

[M'Kyuun]

I'm kinda glad it's a deluxe- cheaper and less space, esp for a Bayformer.

[sh9000]

The vintage G1 reissues from Walmart are kind of cool in their original packaging.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

The vintage G1 reissues from Walmart are kind of cool in their original packaging.

WalMart picked up the reissues from the Toys R Us firesale?

Dammit!

 

My local WalMart has one column of deluxe pegs for Transformers. That's it. 

I will never see these things.

[mikeszekely]

I've checked a few local Walmarts and Targets, and it looks like they all restocked the Generations stuff with more wave 1 PotP figures and they haven't restocked the Studio Series stuff at all, so unless you want Crowbar you're SOL.

I was sort of surprised to see that Amazon got the second wave of Studio Series Voyagers in, though.  Well, technically you can buy the Deluxes, too, if you want to pay $45+ on the marketplace, but the Voyagers were shipped and sold by Amazon at the now-standard $29.99 price.  So here's Voyager-Class Studio Series Megatron.

I remember when the Revenge of the Fallen Voyager came out how much better it seemed over the movie 1 Voyager, even with the weird green color.  When it comes to robot mode, though, the new Studio Series figure is a big step up in screen accuracy.  Most of the detail is there, including the split tank treads for toes instead of the actual toes on the older toy.  The sculpting is pretty great, and they highlighted some bits with a copper paint.  That said, painting the gray plastic silver, or at least painting some parts gunmetal, would have helped further break up all the gray, especially in his face, and really given him a premium look.

He's not entirely screen accurate, though.  He's missing his collar, the guns peaking up over his shoulders weren't present in the CGI model, and he's got some extra kibble on the inside of his feet.

Small potatoes, though, since he doesn't have the huge, messy backpack that the earlier figure had.  Instead, he has a largely clean, largely CGI accurate back complete with thrusters.

If there's one major aesthetic problem with the robot mode, it's the big hollow gap in his torso.  That's Power of the Primes Rippersnapper peaking through it.  Your mileage may vary, but I've gotta say that it's not too big of a bother for me, since you really don't see it from the front or with his arms down.

Studio Series Megatron doesn't come with any accessories.  In lieu of an accessories pic, here he is with some other Voyager-class movie Megatrons, namely Dark of the Moon and The Last Knight Megatrons.  He's definitely a step up from DotM Megatron, and I liked that figure.  I think TLK Megatron holds his own, but to be fair TLK Megatron was a more recent figure, and the TLK line started the whole $20 Deluxe, $30 Voyager thing, so it should be on more equal footing.

Megatron's head is on a ball joint, but instead of simply sitting on a ball peg the base of the peg is hinged.  That hinge is itself on a flap that is connected to the front of his chest via another hinge.  So, megatron can look straight up or straight down, he can swivel his head 90 degrees to either side, plus he doesn't tilt his head sideways so much as swivel it around the ball joint like some kind of mecha owl.  He can also crane his neck forward.  Unfortunately, he used up most of his articulation in his neck, as the rest is nothing to write home about.  His shoulders can rotate.  His right should can extend laterally a little under 90 degrees while his left can extend a little over 90.  His biceps can swivel, and both elbows can bend a little over 90 degrees.  Neither wrist can swivel.  On his right can there's digit that can hinge in and out a little.  On his left he has three (four?) digits molded on part on a pin at the top of his wrist, then two more on a part pinned at the bottom of his wrist.  Moving all the fingers together makes it look like he's moving his wrist in and out, and moving them separately makes it look like he's opening and closing his hand.  No waist swivel, which is kind of a bummer because the older Voyager did even with that big honking backpack.  His hips can kick forward, backwards, or laterally about 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel.  He technically has double-jointed knees (or more technically, a knee and an ankle).  The upper joint has about 90 degrees or range fron straight to backward, and the lower joint has over 90 degrees from straight to forward.  However, due to his digitgrade posture I usually have him with the upper joint as far back as it can go and the lower joint as far forward as it can go without pushing the upper joint out of place.  Finally he does have a little bit of ankle pivots, although he's coming up with less than 45 degrees.

Megatron doesn't come with any accessories, but he does have the big claw blade.  Unlike the older Voyager-toy, there's no Mech Alive spring-loaded gimmickry.  It simply folds out on a hinge.

Megatron's tank mode is ok, I suppose.  Better than the old RotF Leader class, that's fure sure.  I'm not digging out the Blu-Ray to check, but from what I can tell from the concept art it's fairly accurate, but so was the old Voyager (the wings being deployed in flight mode).  Both tous have the same tread aligntment, and both toys have Megatron's head peaking from the front.  The newer Studio Series version has the two extra guns on top, but the main barrel seems kind of small and he's missing the big intakes over the rear treads.  And just like the robot mode I feel like some silver and some gunmetal paint would have made him pop more and helped some of the molded details staind out more.

For the most part, I'd say that Megatron pulls off the tank mode pretty well from top, front, and right side.  Passably well from the left side.  The back, though, feels unfinished.  Both of his hands are kind of poking out the back.  That's not a problem so much for his right arm; the cannon in it passes for a thruster, and the underside of his claw fills in the space between his turret and his leg.  The other arm, due to it's smaller size, leaves a gap, though, and has those long, skinny fingers hanging out.  But the my biggest complaint is that instead of having the two big boosters under the turret, something the older Voyager managed, you've just got the molded impression of them on some small, flat, gray parts.

The treads don't work, but he's got rolling wheels in them so he can still roll along.  All three guns can move up, although the main gun seems to need a little force to get it up, and the main gun can also aim down.  There's no turret rotation, but that's ultimately ok, I think.  I didn't get the impression from the CGI mode that Megatron has a turret so much as guns affixed to the top of the tank.

My absolute biggest complaint isn't paint, or the alt mode, or anything else I've mentioned, though.  No, my biggest complaint is actually the flaps on the backs of his legs.  They're clipped to the bottom of his thighs and cover over the back of the knee and calf, and they're screen accurate.  But they're super loose.  They will fall off at the slightest touch.  It's really annoying because you're guaranteed to pop them off while your posing him, and you're guaranteed to pop both of them off while you're transforming him (more than once, if you're foolish enough to try to stick them back on right after they pop off instead of finishing the transformation then putting htem back on at the end).

Flaws aside, though, I think he's got enough good going on that he's a worthy addtion to the Studio Series line.  He's not the best Studio Series figure, but he's not the worst either.  And he is probably the best toy reprepresenting Megatron from the first three movies.  Unless you're holding out for an MP version (MPM or 3P), I'd recommend picking him up.

[mikeszekely]

The other wave 2 Voyager in the Studio Series is this guy, Brawl.

I never picked up the Leader-class Brawl, but I do have the original Deluxe-class from the first movie.  Is the Studio Series version more screen-accurate?  I mean, I guess so.  He does have more sculpted detail on his thighs and shins, his chest doesn't look like the front of a tank, he's got the two tank barrels poking up from his back, the launchers and the arms they're sitting on look better, and even the goofy way his shoulders look like they're falling off is technically accurate.  And the movie model didn't have a big tank turret hanging out like a backpack, either.  Of course, the movie's CGI model also didnt' have large chunks fo that turret all over his forearms, either, nor did it have the other cannon barrel hanging from his back like a tail.  Likewise much of the rear of the tank is hanging off his calves.  Instead of folding neatly against his chest the mine plows stick out absurdly far from his body.  So while he does technically appear to be more screen-accurate than the Deluxe-class toy from 2007, I'm not sure if he actually looks better.

Here's the other thing... I get that the Decepticons were all pretty big.  But does Brawl seem kind of short to anyone else?  Remember, the Studio Series is supposed to be keeping these figures roughly in-scale in robot mode with each other, and he's shorter than Starscream, Blackout, and Megatron.  To the head he's roughly the same height as Studio Series Optimus.  And... well, I guess that's actually correct.  I guess I just remembered Brawl as being bigger.

Brawl comes with two accessories.  One's a kind of rocket launcher thing, the other is some extra armor with a gatling gun and some claws.  The claws are hinged and cam move up and down.  Aside from a lack of paint both accessories are fairly screen-accurate, although the launcher is a little off-centered.

Brawl's head is (I think) on a ball joint, with minimal downward tilt, no upward tilt, minimal lateral tilt, and 90 degrees of swivel to either the left or right.  His shoulders can rotate, and extend laterally almost 90 degrees, although you can cheat and get more if you use a transformation under the shoulder.  His biceps swivel.  His elbow can bend 90 degrees.  No articulation in the wrists, hands, or waist.  His hips can bend 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally.  He has swivels just above the knees, and his knees are actually soft-ratchets good for a little under 90 degrees.  If you have the kibble on his calves pegged in properly he doesn't have any ankle articulation.  If you untab the kibble, though, you can get some up and down ankle tilt.  No pivot, though.  The shoulder launchers are on ball joints so they can swivel left and right, but the cuts don't allow for much up/down tilt.

If you're so inclined you can plug either weapon into either hand.  It's more screen-accurate to plug the weapons onto his forearms, though; launcher on his right arm, claw on his left.  The claw plugs in tightly.  The launcher is a little loose until you push it down to the silver paint.

Brawl's tank mode didn't get a lot of screen time in the film.  I guess this toy is pretty accurate?  I think he did have a camo pattern in the movie, but the differentiation between greens on the toy is much greater than the movie.  It also really bugs me that no matter what you can't get the launchers to point foward.  Due to how the ball joints are arranged, they're always at an angle.

Fun fact, Brawl is often cited as an Abrams tank, but there aren't any actual Abrams tanks with the second turret like Brawl's.  Brawl's alt mode is actually a recycled movie prop from xXx: State of the Union.

Brawl's got wheels, so he can roll, and he looks ok from most abgles.  You can see his robot hands and a pretty big gap from behind, though.  The top of the tank has peg holes you can plug his weapons into, but I think it just makes him look busy.  Dissapointingly, only the top turret can rotate, and none of the cannons can tilt up or down.

Brawl's not the worst Studio Series figure to be released, but I'd say that he's probably the worst Voyager-class figure in the line.  In fact, there's stuff I like about the old Deluxe-class better.  The mine plows sticking so far off of his body is just the worst (and could have been easily fixed if they'd just put them on hinges so they could have folded flatter against his torso).  If you're just casually collecting from this line and just want the "good" ones I'd recommend skipping Brawl.  On the other hand, with Jazz in the Deluxes for this wave, Ironhide (and Prime again) as the third wave Voyagers, and a heavily-rumored Voyager Bonecrusher on the way we're a Barricade away from having all the movie 1 characters in the Studio Series line, and the completionist in me can't pass that up.

[David Hingtgen]

Despite multiple molds, both official and 3P, it baffles me why no one can come even CLOSE to simply having his mine-plow fold up against his chest properly.  And the new mold is the worst of them all.   

It makes his robot mode look so stupid to have “giant forks” sticking out of his chest, when all it’d take is another hinge with a simple ball joint to make it look so much better.  (Perfect accuracy would take a lot more, but you can get a lot of improvement with little effort) 

[M'Kyuun]

I was anticipating this guy, but earlier reviews had already put me off, and Mike's review just reaffirms. While they did get some stuff right (the placement of his treads in his torso), overall, things like the main turret being immobile are disappointing. Out of all the Studio Series, the only fig I'm interested in now is Dropkick, and I hope it's a decent figure.  From what I've read, the movie character is supposed to be a triple changer, a feature which obviously didn't make it into this design. I'm ok with it, as it looks pretty cool as an AH-1, and the bot mode seems to stray a bit from the Bayformer aesthetic moreso than the other Bumblebee movie figs, which is perfectly fine by me. I wish they'd abandon that aesthetic entirely going forward. Curious to see what the other 80's alt mode figs from the Bee Movie look like, especially aircraft. If they make that F-4, and it turns out well, I'll have to grab one of those, too. I'm digressing a bit, but I've known a number of old F-4 mechanics, and at least one of them always referred to it as "God's jet" with pride. Not sure why, exactly, as by all accounts it was an absolute bear to maintain, but thought I'd share a memory from my AF days.

 

Edited July 25, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Scyla]

New images of FlameToys StarSaber: 

I'm in love. 

They also planning on doing a Victory Leo (in alt-mode) as armor for Star Saber:

Craisis on twitter commented that this looks like GaoGaiGar. I can see where he comes from.

They also released a bunch of pictures of upcoming releases (model-kits and toys):

https://twitter.com/flametoys_staff