The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

I want the Walmart Vintage G1 Soundwave, Ravage & Rumble, Frenzy & Laserbeak, Warpath, and Gears when they start showing up.  Damn I wish there was a Walmart close by to frequently check.

I might pick up the tapes, because Rumble and Frenzy, but I still have Soundwave from the last time he got reissued at TRU.  I'm not really interested in the minibots, but if they reissue Powerglide I'll bite.

[mikeszekely]

Ok, so this one's technically not from my Power of the Primes clearance extravaganza.  I guess this would be someone else's clearance.  This would be Titans Return Leader-Class Overlord.

Ok, I watched Masterforce, and my impression of Overlord was that he was a huge dude... but not as big as King Poseidon.  There wasn't a Combiner Wars/PotP Piranacon, but I'd assume if there were he'd be about the same size as the other combiners (unless they made him a Titan class), so here you go.  Bigger than Megatron, smaller than Bruticus.  And although he's not shown here, Overlord is bigger than Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus.  I don't have him to compare with, but I'd guess that make him bigger than Titans Return Leader-class Optimus, too.  Not sure how much extra height Godbomber adds, but that sounds about right.  So I don't know how this would scale according to the almighty scale charts everyone references for MPs, but I think this looks just right for CHUG.

And he's pretty close to G1, too.  He's even got a fake molded wheel in the middle of his chest where the G1 toy had one, and the real wheel on his crotch is surrounded by a blue patch where the old toy had a sticker.  Other sticker details from the toy are replicated with silver paint on Overlord's chest and small stickers on his shins.  The colors are a little closer to the G1 toy than the Masterforce cartoon, which may or may not bug you.  Other than that, his biceps are gray instead of white, the sides of his legs are blue instead of white, and only his toes are purple while the G1 toy had whole purple feet.  That's about it, though.  I mean, he's even got molded Chokon Demon Blast cannons on his one side and a molded and gray-painted door for the Chokon Bolt Masher, although it sadly doesn't open.

He comes with a few accessories.  As a Titan Master, he comes with a little Head robot that the instructions refer to as Dreadnaut.  I'm gonna call him Giga, though, because that's who he really is.  The real bummer here is that he only comes with Giga, and not Mega (although the Takara release apparently did come with both).  Anyway, I've covered the articulation of Titan/Prime Master guys, and there's nothing new here, so I'll move on.  Overlord also comes with his "shield" (aka the nose of his jet mode) and his gun.  Notice the white on the handle.  That's because the gun isn't molded in purple plastic, surprise surprise.  It's molded in white and painted with a matte purple.  The paint wasn't really accounted for on the tolerances, though, so the fit was too tight until I scratched some of the paint off.

As a Titan Master Overlord's neck is actually Giga's head, which is on a tiny ball joint.  That gives him rotation but only very limited tilt.  His shoulders can rotate and extend laterally a little under 90 degrees.  He has bicep swivels, and his elbows bend slightly over 90 degrees.  No wrist swivel, no waist swivel.  His hips can bend almost 90 degrees forward... his knee actually flexes a bit so that his lower leg is 90 degrees to his body.  The hips also go laterally 90 degrees and backward just short of that.  His thighs swivel around the hip joint.  His knees can bend just a little short of 90 degrees, although you can get more if you pull the tank parts out of his shins.  His toes and his heels can bend down, but not up.  And I was pleasantly surprised to find that he's got hinges just to give him 90-degree ankle pivots, a rarity in the pre-Siege Hasbro world.

Of course, he can hold his gun by sticking the 5mm peg handle into his 5mm peg hole fists.  As mentioned, it's a little snug.  His shield also has a (thankfully unpainted) flip out peg to fit into the peg hole on the outside of either shoulder.

Just as the G1 toy's chest opened up to reveal the plug-in spots for Mega and Giga, this Overlord's chest can also open.  The spots inside are the right size to stick a Titan Master, a Prime Master, one of the Enigmas that came with with the PotP Voyagers or Predaking, or one of the Matrix cores that came with any of the PotP Leaders.  Hot Rod's gonna need his head back, but that Prime Master Megatronus I got with Prime Wars Trilogy Blast Off is going to be my Mega, I think.  I kind of wish that the doors could close with something plugged into those slots, but nope.

If a more casual, shieldless Overlord is what you want Titans Return Overlord has options for that.  You can have it on his back, simply by attaching it where it goes for jet mode, just upside down.  Or, for reasons I can't really fathom, there's a tab on the shield that fits into a slot on Overlord's chest.

I'm not sure that any official source has ever labeled him as such, but let's call a spade a spade- Overlord is a Duocon.  In fact, he's kind of ripping off Flywheels/Skytread's shtick, splitting at the waist with his upper half turning into a jet and his lower half turning into a tank.  Again, both halves are pretty G1-accurate.  The jet, known as the Mega-Jet, has the same canard wings, the same pair of fins in the middle, the same raised rear with intakes at the front, and nearly the same sticker layout (near as I can tell all the G1 stickers are there, it's just that the engine nacelles have extra stickered stripes).  Better care could have been taken with those stickers, though; I'll probably remove and replace the super crooked one on the nose.  The only real differences are the lack of a Powermaster engine port, the fact that the nacelles don't sit as flush against the body as the G1 toy, and the fact that it's got fold-out landing skids a little behind the cockpit instead of rolling wheels right under the nose.

The tank, called the Giga-Tank, also looks pretty similar to the G1 toy.  It uses Overlord's rifle instead of having its own barrel the way the G1 toy did, but that's fine.  The right side still has the orange hatch, and the left has a molded circular piece with a molded gun instead of a Powermaster engine port.  He's missing the stickers on the front of the turret, going for a simple Decepticon emblems.  I guess the other big difference from the G1 toy is that there are no leftover ramps.

The cockpit of the Mega-Jet opens, and a Titan/Prime Master can sit inside.  And if, for some reason, you're not using the gun on the Giga-Tank there is a peg hole near the back of the jet.  As for the Giga tank, it's got three wheels (one in the front, two in the rear) so it can roll, and the orange hatch can open so a Titan/Prime Master can sit inside.  As previously mentioned, Overlord's gun forms the tank barrel and it just fits into a 5mm peg hole on the tank, so the cannon can't move up or down.  Nor can the turret swivel.  I must say, though, that I'm rather enamored with the Giga-Tank.  It's fairly simple yet so much more solid and cohesive than Siege Skytread's, despite being made from the same half of the body.

Now, a thing from the Masterforce cartoon was the Mega-Jet and Giga-Tank combining into one vehicle.  This wasn't an intended function of the toy; it just happened someone on the Masterforce staff was messing with the toy and found that you could split the tank in half and reconnect it as you would for robot mode and it'd just be chilling on the back of the jet, so they stuck it in the cartoon.  That doesn't work on this version, though, since the tank is everything from the waist down instead of the legs detaching from the hips.  There are slots near the base of the turret, though, that don't seem to serve any purpose.  You can open the doors on Overlord's chest, and the tabs that hold them shut can fit into the slots on the tank turret.  The only thing keeping it from really working is that the connection is extremely loose.  If you pick up the jet, the tank won't come with it.  The weird thing is that Overlord was actually a remold of Sky Shadow (or Sky Shadow was a premold for Overlord, take your pick), and Sky Shadow had a flap that opened on his chest with a little connector piece under it.  That piece fit over notches on the tank turret.  The notches are still there on the Giga-Tank.  If Overlord had been designed with that connector piece on his chest instead of fake wheels then the Mega-Jet would have no problem carrying the Giga-Tank.

I should probably point out now that unlike the Deluxe and Voyager-classes it's not necessary to remove Overlord's head before transforming him, so you can leave it attached and no one has to sit in either vehicle.  Kind of makes me wish that Overlord would have come during Power of the Primes instead of Titans Return.  Then he could have had a regular, non-transforming head and Mega and Giga could have been Prime Masters instead.

Now, just like the G1 toy had a base mode, so too does Titans Return Overlord.  It's a bit more compact, mind you, with a decided lack of ramps.  Although you can leave the nose of the jet as you had it in jet mode, you're meant to pull it off, rotate it backward, then plug it back in.  The white underside of the nose has another translucent hatch that opens up, and with the landing skids flipped out under it the effect is pretty similar to the G1 toy.  The instructions indicate that you should leave the tank turret halves folded away, but nothing's stopping you from flipping out the side with the other hatch if you need a place for another Titan/Prime Master to sit.  Aside from plugging Overlord's rifle in between the legs there aren't any other guns, though.  There's also no repair claw and no little roller drone.

You can open up either foot, and under the front you'll find a flap you can fold out.  The flap has a notch, and is meant for connecting other bases.  Also, on the back of the base, there's what's ostensibly non-rolling landing gear for the jet mode, but the notch between them is the same as the notch on the foot flaps.

I can't comment on attaching Overlord to another Leader or Titan (which should be possible), but you can easily connect him to the purple notched flaps that sit on Trypticon's hips in robot mode and the edges of his bade mode.  Just my two cents, but I think it looks best if you use the connector on the back of the base, not Overlord's feet.  With the teal and purple I think Overlord matches Trypticon pretty well.  This works for me.

I passed on Overlord during his initial release.  While I think I liked Titans Return a little better than Combiner Wars I wasn't exactly wowed.  Even though I was heavily into third party by the time Titans Return came alone I believe it was during that run that I decided to get out of CHUG and focus on MP.  Plus, I was never super attached to Overlord, and didn't see the need to buy a $50 Leader-class of him only to be disappointed by the issues I'd come to associate with Hasbro, like loose joints and a lack of articulation.  But Siege has kind of rekindled my interest in mainline Hasbro figures, and Trypticon had me curious about the base-mode compatibility thing, so when I saw places marking Overlord down to $30 (I got him from Amazon, but I see BBTS has marked him down to the same) I decided to give him a go.  And I'm really glad I did!  He's not hindered in any way by the Titan Master gimmick, he's very G1 accurate, he's got good proportions and doesn't have a lot of kibble, he doesn't really have any loose joints, and although wrist and waist swivels would be nice he does have great ankle pivots and adequate articulation everywhere else.  Plus, even though his size is quite a bit taller than the Siege Leaders Overlord is a character that's supposed to be huge, so I think his size works even with the new Siege line.  On that note, even if you quit the old CHUGs and are just starting again with Siege, I think Overlord's worth picking up- especially at the price of a Siege Voyager.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2019/02/02/transformers-studio-series-ss-38-bumblebee-movie-optimus-prime-packaging-images-382081

 

[no3Ljm]

From TagHobby:

MP-45 Bumblebee Ver.2 announced(?) to be released on Sept 2019 with a price tag of Y13000. 

https://www.taghobby.com/archives/345162

 

[mikeszekely]

Since I liked Titans Return Overlord a lot I decided to grab another Leader-class that featured prominently in the Japanese post Season 3 continuity.  This time it's Leader-class Sixshot.

That's a fairly G1-looking Sixshot.  His chest has an especially G1 sculpt with the diagonal molded lines and black circles flanking the dark rectangle in the middle.  He's also got silver bits on his knee caps that do a good job standing in for sticker detail.  The little wings on his chest have lost their sticker detail, but the all-black is more reminiscent of The Headmasters, so all good there.  The car cockpit is on the sides of his legs and the jet nose is the front of his shins and feet... this is inverted from G1, but the silhouette is basically the same so again no real issue.  He's still got a cockpit crotch, but he acquired a band of black around his waist.  I don't mind it, it helps break up the green.  His tank treads are also black instead of white.  I have mixed feelings about that; it helps them stand out in tank mode, but it also makes them stand out in other modes.

There is some stuff I do mind, though.  Like the tires on the outside of his forearms instead of the back, something that I'll chalk up to lazy engineering on Hasbro's part.  I mind the black wolf paws in his wrists, which would have been much less noticeable and more correct if they'd used white instead.  And on the subject of things that are black instead of white, Hasbro really screwed up the thighs.  Finally, I think the head sculpt is mostly fine, but his brow is too large and it has a tendency to hide his eyes.

For size, he's a smidge shorter than Overlord and quite a bit taller than Siege Leader Magnus.  I think that's maybe a little too big.  The impression I got from The Headmasters is that he should be closer to Magnus is size.  Granted, he came out way before Siege and  would be similar in size to CW Magnus in size, but I kind of think CW Magnus is too big for CHUG, so... *shrugs*

Sixshot comes with a pair of guns that are similar to the G1 toy's, although the handles are set a little further back, and there's a hollow space.  You can plug the guns together and a Titan Master can stand in the space.  Speaking of Titan Masters, because this is a Titans Return figure the top of Sixshot's head opens and you can pull most of his head off.  Something neat here is that you can see part of his forehead normally covered by his helmet is molded to look like a ninja headband, with the Japanese kanji "roku," which means "six".  The head unfurls into a robot called Revolver that, based on the shape of his chest, is actually Chromedome's friend Jack.  Does this tie into Victory and Greatshot?  I don't know, I didn't make it very far into Victory.

Sixshot's articulation is a little underwhelming for a ninja.  His head can swivel, using not Revolver's little ball joint but his own dedicated mushroom swivel.  The chest wings can swing forward to give his arms clearance to rotate, but he can only move his shoulders about 45 degrees laterally.  He has bicep swivels and elbows that bend a little short of 90 degrees.  No wrist swivels, although he can bend his wrists down due to his transformation.  That'd be great for sword poses... if only he came with swords.  No waist swivel either.  The flaps on the front of his hips are hinged so he can move his hips a little under 90 degrees forward and a little under 45 degrees backward on a nice, hefty ratchet.  He can't quite get 90 degrees laterally on friction joints, plus one hip is a little loose.  His thighs can swivel.  His knees bend a little under 90 degrees.  Unfortunately, they also bend the other way for wolf mode.  His normal robot knee bend is ok, but both knees are way too loose in the other direction and he's prone to tipping over in more dynamic poses.  Finally, his toes can bend up and down, and he does have ankle pivots, but the pivots are designed in such a way that they like to be either straight up and down or at a 45 degree angle.  Trying to position them in between is a chore, as they keep wanting to drop back to those angles.

Sixshot has a lot of alt modes.  We'll start with wolf.  His rear legs don't get as straight as the G1 toy, his neck is weirdly long, and there are the aforementioned issues the wheels on the sides of the forearms instead of the back plus the black thighs, tank treads, and wolf paws.  Otherwise, it is again a very G1 wolf, just with more articulation.  He's still got access to his robot hips, knees, toes, ankles, shoulders, and elbows, plus his front paws can tilt up and down, the wolf head can look up, and the wolf jaw can open and close.

I don't know if the G1 toy did this or not, but TR Sixshot uses his combined rifles as a tail, and that's cool.

Now, the reason I wanted to cover wolf mode first is because there is a gap behind the wolf head.  You fill this gap by putting Revolver into head mode and inserting it so Sixshot's robot face is right behind the wolf head, like the wolf head is a mask.  That's kind of cool, although I wish they'd put a hinged door there or something so you weren't stuck with inserting the head or having the visible gap.  Because the thing is, while I'll show off places that you can put Revolver, fact is you can pretty much leave him attached inside Sixshot's helmet for every other mode.

Next up is tank mode.  Again, this is fairly G1 down to pegging the rifles onto the sides of his robot legs.  I do have a few problems with this mode, though.  They basically boil down to stuff not being secure.  His legs don't attach to each other, for starters.  That makes the weapon bits look a little messy. Nor do they lock in place in any other way.  Also, his arms don't lock to his sides.  You're essentially positioning his arms along his body and folding his legs around to his back and the tension in his joints to keep everything in place, which it doesn't always do.  Bottom line, he doesn't feel as cohesive as he should.

The cockpit on this mode does open up so Revolver can sit inside.  Also, while Sixshot doesn't have an official base mode, you'll note that the wings have those notches.  Those notches are most accessible when Sixshot is in tank mode.  You can use them to attach to another TR Leader or Titan class toy.

When a tank is too slow, Sixshot can always go for his car mode.  Although, honestly, we're kind of stretching the definition of car here, as Sixshot's car mode is obviously far larger than similarly-scaled carbot would be.  With the guns on the sides, the front end that hangs out far past the front wheels, and the painted windows TR Sixshot is still taking his cues from the G1 toy.  The front end is a bit tidier, though.  And the roof over his car cab is hollow.

This is so Titan Masters can sit in those spaces.  There's room enough that Revolver can bring a buddy!  Actually, if you open the tank cockpit behind them you even have room for a third Titan Master.  I think this is one of TR Sixshot's better modes.  Unlike tank mode, the legs lock into place, and the forearms tab into the silver bits that were on his robot knees, giving the car a solidity that wolf and tank were lacking.

Of course, if a car is too slow Sixshot can always go by plane.  Once again, this is an G1 jet mode.  His forearms are turned, so the wheels on his forearms are facing the ground and some red detail that was on the G1 toy is showing.  The other wheels are properly tucked into the gap between his shoulder and his hips.  The guns tab onto the wing tips, his chest wings are out, and the crotch cockpit is visible.  Only thing I can really nitpick is that the nodes doesn't really have the same taper as the G1 toy, but I can live with that.  His arms are unsecured again in this mode, but with the tires tucked against his body and his biceps resting on the wings they don't really feel like they're going anywhere, aside from his elbows being prone to bending.  The nose also splits apart fairly easily.  On the whole, it's a pretty decent mode, but I still prefer the car.

So, officially the instruction tell you that you should pull Sixshot's head back out of his chest, then Revolver can sit in the space the head just vacated.  He's obviously too big to sit in the crotch cockpit, after all.  Of course, if you follow the official instructions, you'll have an empty head sticking out the back of the jet.  You're better off sticking him in the tank cockpit on the underside of the jet if you want to keep Revolver in robot mode.  If you're ok having him in head mode, you can always stick him back into Sixshot's head before folding the head back into the chest, or in the wolf neck if you want slightly easier access.

Sixshot's final mode is a submarine.  A boat?  Or maybe a spaceship?  I don't know.  What I do know is that I've seen fan modes that are more boat-like than this mode.  In any case, the two seats from car mode are available.  Plus, with the guns in the official position Revolver could also stand there instead (not that there aren't other pegs for Titan Master feet scattered at various places on Sixshot's body).

How about we decide that this mode is whatever Siege Shockwave's alt mode is?  Oh, wait a second...

Yep, they're still guns.  Sixshot's heel spurs become the smaller barrels inside the main barrel, and the wolf head adds some solidity to the handle in addition to providing something for the wings to tab on to.  Because TR Sixshot's legs work more Combiner Wars-style than the G1 flip-over style the car cockpit is under the barrel near the back instead of on top and near the edge, and the jet nose is at the end of the barrel instead of along the sides near the back.  There's also no trigger.  Otherwise, it's a pretty G1 gun mode, although officially his rifles are meant to be tabbed together, then stuck onto tabs under the barrel (on top near the bow of the boat/sub/spaceship).  Looks pretty ridiculous, if you ask me.  Fortunately, there are small tabs on the side meant to hold the nose of the jet mode together.  If you open up his toes for clearance you can get the those tabs into the slots on the rifles that they use to connect to each other.  Because of how they're positioned that means one rifle will it just a little further forward than the other, but I think it looks better than having them hang from the bottom.  Too bad Hasbro is cheap; if they'd filled the very tip of the nose parts instead of leaving them hollow they could have put a peg hole for the guns there.

As with the other modes, solidity can be an issue.  His (somewhat loose) friction hip joints are all that's keeping the barrel straight, and the friction joints in his shoulders are all that keeps his arms in place.

And yes, the instructions don't mention it, it's not any more official now than it was during G1, but he can do the Wingwolf mode for killing Ultra Magnus.

If I'm being honest, I'm a little disappointed with Sixshot.  Maybe expectation has something to do with it.  I mean, I bought Overlord on clearance for $30 not expecting much and wound up really liking him.  And when I thought maybe Sixshot would be as good I paid full price for him and don't feel like he delivered that same pleasant surprise.  On the other hand, I think he's objectively worse than Overlord.  His joint tolerances aren't as good, and the range of his joints is more limited.  While he's pretty G1 accurate in all six modes the black thighs and wolf paws really bug me.  And too many of his alt modes just don't feel very solid, which Hasbro could have fixed with a few more tabs and/or ratchets in the shoulder rotation and lateral hip movement, and that ultimately strikes me as laziness and/or cheapness.  If you're a fan of the character and can find him at a discount he might be worth it, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend him.

[technoblue]

12 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

From TagHobby:

MP-45 Bumblebee Ver.2 announced(?) to be released on Sept 2019 with a price tag of Y13000. 

https://www.taghobby.com/archives/345162

Yeah. The TFW forums are melting down over this. 

I'm not sure what to make of it. I guess I'm a little stunned.  I do like the idea of having official MP-scale minibots. I'm just not sure if I need or even want Bumblebee first, because I've been enjoying MP-21 in yellow, red, and gold. It would have been more exciting for me to read about Takara making this change while giving us a brand new MP minibot announcement, and then teasing Bumblebee for later in the year or next year.

But that isn't to say that I'm not curious. I'm very curious and I'm looking forward to the images of the prototype that are released. Maybe we'll see some over the weekend? 

I also hope that this doesn't delay MP Hound too much (or put off any other nifty official MP announcements).

Third parties like MMC, Planet-X, MakeToys, and MasterMade are covering other aesthetic interests so I don't mind Takara's toon leanings these days.

Edited February 5, 2019 by technoblue

[Dangard Ace]

I’ve got ToyWorld Bii to cover the chibi “toon” look.  Not really that interested.    Now when’s MP Hound dropping?

[mikeszekely]

I think I'd have to see it before I can talk about whether I'm interested in MP-45 or not.

Which is more than I can say for Hound.

[derex3592]

I want to see a prototype pic of the new Bumblebee before I say anything. 

[Kuma Style]

ThreeA

[M'Kyuun]

Concerning MP Bee 2.0, I'd rather they proceed with producing the characters that haven't been done yet, especially since third parties have already released chibi versions of BB keeping with the toy and toon looks. I like the first version of MP Bee, even with its minor flaws. That said, I'm curious, if the rumor proves true (and I imagine it is given Bee's popularity and Takara's penchant for remaking characters ever more toon-worthy) what the new version will look like. I just got MMC's Hellion, so for consistency's sake, it'd be nice to have all the Minibot cars look their G1 selves. I just wish there were more official versions of them.

I think, and wish, that Takara should be wheeling and dealing with Porche to let them do Jazz and Cliffjumper. These are two big omissions from the current MP line, and it'd be fantastic to have official versions of both, rather than rehashing characters that have already been done (Prime, Bee, and the umpteen recolors of MP Megs). 

I've always had a soft spot for Hound, both as a character and for his design, so the MP announcement was bittersweet; I was initially excited until pics of the grayscale were shown. The face just looks wrong to me, not to mention the weird swingbar to which his head apparently attaches. Anyway, feeling rather disappointed, I turned to Maketoys to fill that particular gap in my collection, with no regrets- really nice figure.

[Kuma Style]

ThreeA

[mikeszekely]

Well, I decided that if I have Trypticon that I needed Metroplex, too.

Of course, by the time I decide to add Metroplex to my life it's long after he retailed in the States for, what, $100?  Instead I'm paying a small fortune for a reissue of the Takara Legends version.  There are some differences, and I'll try to note them as we go along.  And since this is where I talk about robot aesthetics, I'll get right to it.  Basically, whether you get the Hasbro or the Takara version, you're getting a figure that's definitely taking cues from the G1 toy, but is a tad more stylized than I'd like.  His arms and shoulders have lost a lot of their boxiness and now contain a lot of molded details.  The result is a bit more organic, and less "guy made out of buildings" than I'd like.  Also, perhaps taking cues from the Fall of Cybertron game, he's got a large red orb in the center of his chest and his usual thin white spires/guns on top of his shoulders are black and more compact.  But I think what's throwing him off the most (and will carry to all of his modes) is that his chest is too small top to bottom, and/or his midsection too tall.

As far as differences go, this version keeps the chrome face that the SDCC version did, but goes for silver-painted thighs with black and red accents instead of all chrome or all white.  The bottom of his feet are white with red accents (versus black bottoms and all white for the rest) he's got a little extra black accents on the knees (instead of all white), he's got additional red accents on his forearms, shoulders, and the top of his torso that were left white by Hasbro, he's got extra orange bits on his shoulders, and the circle around his red orb is white instead of black on either Hasbro version.  Do note that some of the details that are painted on the Takara version are replicated on the Hasbro version with stickers (although the Takara version still came with plenty of those).  Overall the aesthetic differences in robot mode aren't major and probably not worth picking on over another.

BTW, as the original Titan-class Metroplex as billed as the largest Transformer ever.  He certainly is a big boy!  He's bigger than Trypticon...

...and he's even bigger than ToyWord/Zeta combiners like Constructor.  He absolutely towers over other mainline Hasbro figures.  Even a Leader-class is barely knee-high.  But for a true sense of size I think that (like Trypticon) he'll work great with Legends-scale figures.

My Metroplex came with these accessories- two black guns for mounting on his shoulders, two large red guns for him to wield in his hands, a claw, a small red gun, and Scamper.  Not pictured is the sticker sheet, as I decided to sticker him up before doing the pictures this time, and a pair of gray missiles that can be fired from the big red guns.  As far as I know the Hasbro versions only came with one of the big red guns, and it had safety orange at the tip.  As long as we're taking a look at the guns, I'll note that they're molded as some kind of space battleships, with bridge towers near the rear surrounded by tiny turrets.  Metroplex is so big his guns are battleships, and that's awesome.

Although we technically have the guns that would make his arms and legs, we don't have any of the bits to make Sixgun's torso.  Oh well, we know that Sixgun is going to be a Deluxe-class in the Siege line.  But we're also missing Scamper, and dang it I want a Scamper!

As for Scamper, there's some odd choices going on.  Like, why is his head red?  I get that maybe they wanted to break up the black, but the G1 cartoon actually already did that by giving him blue eyes and a beige-ish face.  The shape of his head is weirdly round, too, and very unlikely either the G1 toy or the cartoon.  He's also got a tiny pelvis and freakishly long arms, which seems to be because they put the wheels that used to be on his legs on his forearms instead.  His alt mode is also kind of off, with a silver engine mounted on the rear that he didn't used to have.  His arms don't come off like the G1 toy's did, but they don't fold up either.  They just lay along the sides of the vehicle in a way that really spoils the car mode.  At least he has six wheels, right?  And to be fair, I do like that they molded guns onto his arms so they sit above the rear wheels, kind of like how the G1 version had his entire arms as guns mounted to the top of the car.

My other big complaint with Scamper is that he's just a Legends-class figure, and a smaller one at that.  Full-Tilt is so much bigger than he is!  And better built, too.  Scamper's head is a ball joint that can tilt sideways a bit and look up a fair amount, but not really down.  His shoulders are ball joints for rotation and just under 90 degrees of lateral movement.  He's got ball joints that act as bicep swivel and give him 90 degrees of elbow bend.  No wrists, no waist.  Ball-jointed hips can kick forward, backward, and laterally 90 degrees.  Even his knees are ball joints, which give him a swivel there in addition to bending 180 degrees.  He doesn't have any feet.  The little red gun (again, why red?) can be held in his hands or pegged onto the roof of his car mode.  Metroplex himself has a number of peg holes in spots where you can use the little red gun as well.

I'll note here that I've seen Scamper in reviews of the Hasbro version but also in pictures of the Takara version with gray plastic used for his shoulders, biceps, pelvis, thighs, wheels, and some of the stuff around his head.  I'm not sure what the deal is there, but under any light you can find mine uses the same black plastic for everything but his head.

Sadly, this is probably as good as it's ever going to get for Scamper.  Too bad, because I think the Siege Sideswipe mold would make a great Scamper with minimal retooling.

As for Metroplex himself, his head as a swivel but he can only look about 45 degrees in either direction, and he doesn't have any tilt.  His shoulders have ratchets for rotation as well as lateral movement, and he can get his arms out about 90 degrees.  He's got ratcheted bicep swivels, and ratcheted elbows that can bend nearly 180 degrees.  His wrists can swivel as well as bend down.  Each finger and thumb is a separate piece hinged at the base, but there's no additional finger articulation.  His waist has ratcheted swivel.  His hips have ratchets that move forward 90 degrees, backward one click past 90 degrees, and laterally about 60 degrees (due to kibble on his hip more than limitations of the joints).  His thigh swivels, located where the silver paint stops, are ratcheted.  His ratcheted knees bend 90 degrees.  And all of that could, in theory, make for some pretty dynamic poses, except his feet have no articulation.

I should also mention here that all of the ratchets are pretty strong with very little play in them between clicks.  He's quite stable... but I don't know how the joint tolerances are on the Hasbro version.

As far as weapons go, the "proper" thing is the put the black guns on his shoulders, like the G1 toy.  The red guns have fold down handles that with tabs that fit into Metroplex's palms.  However, the black guns also have fold down handles, and he can hold those as well as the red ones.

We've got a few more gimmicks to cover in robot mode.  First, Metroplex can be displayed with eyes like the G1 toy.  But, if you pull down either of his ear-tenna a visor will slide down over his eyes for the cartoon look.  Pushing the section of his chest above the red orb down will cause both the orb and his eyes to light up and play some sound clips.  As near as I can tell the sound clips are the same between the Hasbro and Takara versions, right down to English phrases like "Decepticon deactivation commencing!" and "Metroplex heeds the call of the last Prime."  Also, if we look around at the back of Metroplex's neck you'll see a clear red tab.  Moving it left and right causes the lights in Metroplex's eyes to move, basically giving him pupil articulation.

I've always dug Metroplex's vehicle mode.  It's like the weird offspring of a tank and an aircraft carrier.  Not a lot of surprises as the he follows the G1 pattern of sitting down, bending his arms backward, and unfolding his legs.  I guess the real difference is the lack of partsforming.  On a figure this big I think Hasbro could and should have designed the forearms to open and allow the fists to fold inside instead of just folding his palms down against his wrists.  The shoulder spires do extend into guns, although again I wish they were white and more like the G1 version.  The instructions tell you to stick the guns that were on his shoulders back onto his forearms instead, but I'm not a fan of the look.  It flips open forward instead of spinning around, but he does have a double-barreled gun to the side of his head still, with space behind it for Scamper or another Legends-class figure to sit.  A Legends-class figure can also stand at some molded controls behind Metroplex's head.  One of his legs has a hollowed-out space in it for the claw, and the claw can store inside that space while he's in other modes.  The claw can swivel where it's pegged into the base, it has a ball joint at the mid point to bend 90 degrees and swivel, a ball joint at the claw that bends 90 degrees and swivels, and a hinge that lets the claw open and close.  If you have the Hasbro version, the handle of the gun pegs into a hole in Metroplex's back and sits over his torso, which leaves the flight deck clear for stuff like an Aerialbot.  The Takara version has little ridge under the barrel that just fit around little notches on the edges of Metroplex's legs.  Kind of obstructs the flight deck, but that's more similar to the G1 toy.

The big differences between the Hasbro and the Takara versions in this mode is that the helipad on his left shoulder is yellow on black instead of yellow on white, and the flight deck is black on the Hasbro.  I prefer the white deck, as it's more G1 accurate, but YMMV.

Might just be me, but for this mode I prefer the put the black guns on top of the shoulder spires.  I also like to turn the hands so the fingers curl in toward each other instead of covering the little red details.  And for size, here he is with Trypticon's space ship mode.

Metroplex's city mode again borrows heavily from the G1 toy, but there are a few differences that mostly come down to missing a lot of the partsforming bits, including Scamper and Sixgun's torso, that the G1 toy used to make towers.  So instead of sticking straight up Metroplex's right arm is outstretched, and a panel on his forearm opens up to reveal a turret inside.  If you have the Hasbro version, the instructions will have you keep one of the black guns pegged on the forearm as well, while the Takara instructions have you peg it on the shoulder pointing up like a tower.  One of his big red guns pegs onto his back, standing in place of what I think was just a random partsforming tower on the G1 toy, and that's true regardless of which version you get.  His left arm swings around to his back, just like the G1 toy, and that half of his chest opens into a helipad, just like the G1 toy.  As with the vehicle mode, the helipad is yellow on white on the Takara version and yellow on black on the Hasbro.  The Hasbro version has the other black gun attached to that shoulder just as it would be for robot mode, only with the spire extended.  That leaves a free peg hole that you can stick the claw into on the helipad, if you want.  The Takara version instructs you to peg the other red gun to the underside of his torso, forming another tower, and the other black gun goes where I just told you to put the claw.  In place of the Sixgun torso tower you just have two extremely random red beams.  Was the designer originally going for something else that didn't get implemented?  A door under the beams can open to reveal what I guess in some kind of missile battery.  It's painted red and yellow on the Takara and left unpainted white on the Hasbro.  Then, like the G1 toy, Metroplex's legs split open.  The side of Metroplex's chest that isn't a helipad has a ramp in it (and Scamper can fit inside).  Unlike the G1 version, the ramp can't reach the ground.  That's probably why the instructions only have you swing one leg out at an angle instead of both, the way the G1 toy did.  The Takara version's ramp is white, except for the chest door, as are the inside of his legs, while Hasbro used black.  I think white is more accurate, but maybe black breaks up the color better and makes things a little more interesting visually.  There are some stickers you can put in there, but what I think would have really helped is if there were some molded detail inside the legs that made them look like more than the big empty spaces that they are.

The Takara city configuration mostly works for me, although I like the black gun on the front of the spire so you can use the claw on the helipad.  Other than that, not much to say except he's quite large.

Metroplex is a pretty good figure, and it's cool to have a Metroplex this big.  He's not as good as Trypticon, though.  He's a bit too stylized, Scamper suffers from being a Legends-class instead of a Deluxe, I really want a Slammer, and the lack of ankle pivots on a figure this size seriously hampers his articulation.  Plus, unlike Trypticon, Metroplex has serious competition in the form of Maketoys Utopia... assuming you can find one, don't mind paying a premium, and don't mind that he only comes up to the bottom of Metroplex's chest or Trypticon's chin.  And, if I'm being honest, if I could find Utopia at a reasonable price from a trusted seller I probably would still like to get my hands on him.  But until Utopia gets a reissue under $400, I think Metroplex will scratch the itch for most people, and I'll still give him a recommend.

[Dangard Ace]

New Siege incoming!!

 

https://comicbook.com/gear/2019/02/06/transformers-war-for-cybertron-toy-fair-figures-hasbro/#4

 

Im getting Skyfire for sure, and maybe Omega during the Christmas discount sale @amazon.     

 

Love Skyfires head more than my FT Phoenix default head.  My Dx9 Gabriel is easily safe from Siege OS.  

[technoblue]

Wow! Skyfire does look nice. I'm falling behind on Siege.

I should pick up a couple of the current wave and see how they feel in hand. I did like the look of Ultra Magnus.

Edited February 6, 2019 by technoblue
typo

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Yes, I'm definitely keeping my eye on Skyfire as well. The added helmet and armor parts are a nice touch.

[Tking22]

So from what I'm reading, MP-45 is supposedly MP Bumblebee 2.0? Not even MP Hound for MP-45? That's quite lame if true, but once again, I get it, it will sell, and Takara is absolutely NOT out to complete anyone's MP crew, just to make money. So now lots of folks are wondering if Takara will go chibi for the alt mode, fully leaving real world alt modes behind in favor of once again, toon accuracy.

If this is true it's a blatantly easy pass for me, MP Bee is fine as is, not the best MP and he has room for improvement, but not a rumored 130,000yen worth of improvement. I'm sure he'll have some neat engineering, and will be much cleaner and not have gaps in his forearms like the current MP Bee, but I'm not even bothering with the + repaints, so making even more 2.0 MPs is not something I would show the slightest amount of interest in.

I just want some new MP Beast Wars news at this point, Takara is spinning their wheels with the G1 MP stuff at this point.

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, Dangard Ace said:

New Siege incoming!!

Yep. So for those of you keeping score at home, we're waiting on wave 2 right now which will be Ironhide, Chromia, Prowl, and Sixgun for the Deluxes, plus Soundwave and Starscream for the Voyagers, and Leader-class Cybertron Optimus.

Newly announced are Titan-class Omega Supreme (who will come with Micromaster Countdown)

Like DA says, Gabe is safe... but Gabe's also mean to be an MP, and I'm sure this won't be.  I don't know why I'm still collecting CHUGs after I said I'm not going to (stupid Siege, had to actually be good...), but I can see myself grabbing this guy anyway.

Next up is the very first Commander-class toy, Jetfire.

Again, this isn't going to replace Phoenix on my MP shelf, but he's looking like a very cartoon-accurate Skyfire.  I wonder how big he'll actually be, and how much of his MSRP ($90) is going toward that drone armor weapon pack thingy.  I'd imagine that a Leader-class (at the old Leader-class size) would have been big enough that they didn't need to invent a whole new size class over it.  Anyway, I'm probably in.

Then there are Deluxes Mirage and Impactor. 

I most definitely will be picking up that Mirage.  Impactor... well, I like that he looks like he's getting his own unique mold.  But I don't have a huge attachment to him... even his appearances in IDW seemed to be a wink and a nod to Marvel UK stories I never read.  Like Skytread, I won't go out of my way to get him, but if I happen to see him while out shopping and nothing else is demanding my money it's not like a Deluxe is a major commitment.

Not sure where these guys fit into Hasbro's release schedule... especially because there are three other Deluxes that were previously announced that you guys may or may not be aware of.  The first is Red Alert, who will be the super obvious repaint of Sideswipe.  (On that note, they're not announced, but who wants to bet that we'll be seeing repaints of Ironhide, Prowl, and Starscream as Ratchet, Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Skywarp, and Thundercracker sooner rather than later?)

There's also Deluxe-class (and Weaponizer) Brunt.

Like I've been saying, I'm on a kick for the little robots that were pack-ins with the G1 citybots... in fact, if they really want to sell me on Impactor's mold, repaint him as Slammer to go with my Metroplex.  But I digress.  Brunt's robot mode is a new thing, but back in the G1 days he was a tank that you made from towers and bits of Trypticon.  Kind of like Slammer's counterpart.  So of course I'm super excited to get this guy.

But it's the last one that might be the most intriguing... Deluxe-class Refraktor.  Who is actually Reflector... or at least a part of him.

Ok, so the details aren't clear, but Refraktor may or may not come with swappable chest pieces so you can decide if he's Viewfinder or one of the other two.  Here's the thing, though... regardless of whether he comes with alternate chests or not, on paper he turns into a spaceship/brick and comes with one gun and one shield.  But, if you buy three of him, three guns makes a tripod, three shields makes a zoom lens, and three Refraktors makes a camera.  Between that and the fact that the Autobots are outnumbering the Decepticons by nearly two-to-one by the end of Wave 2, I'm thinking I'm in for three.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2019/02/06/transformers-studio-series-official-images-ss-46-dropkick-car-mode-and-ss-38-bumblebee-movie-optimus-prime-382275

 

[mikeszekely]

Anywhos, at this point I'd gotten two of the Titan-class citybots... why not complete the set with Titans Return Fortress Maximus?

Metroplex was the biggest (official) Transformers figure basically until this guy came out, as he's just a little taller.  Most of that extra height is in the head, though.  In fact, Max is a remold of Metroplex.  You can see at a glance that they have the same hands, forearms, elbows, and knees.  The red and black part of Max's left pec is part of Metroplex's back.  And while they have different shins and some feet parts, what with Metroplex having the unfolding runways and Max having the double-barreled cannons, behind that they have the same lower legs and the tops of their feet are the same.

You might think they have different crotches, but turn Metroplex around and you'll see that it's actually the same part after all, just turned around so that Metroplex's butt is Max's crotch and vice versa.

Oh, and since they have the same arms that does mean you can open Max's right arm.  Unfortunately, though, the gun they left out the gun that Metroplex hid there.

Despite the similarities, I honestly think HasTak did a pretty good job turning Metroplex into Fortress Maximus.  The new upper torso, the new shoulders complete with ramp kibble, and the shin guns go a long way toward selling the design as Max.  They even included that little chunk of whatever that hangs off the side of Max's left leg.  My biggest complaint isn't that they remolded Metroplex, it's that Hasrbo got the colors wrong (and of course I got the Hasbro version).  The translucent blue on the sides of his waist should be red, the center of his waist with the Autobot symbol is ok but the parts on either side should be white with red instead of blue with silver, he should have a little red on both arm instead of just his right, he shouldn't have red on his left pec, and much of the space between his pecs should be white.  Unlike Metroplex, whose differences were fairly minimal, and Trypticon, whose Hasbro release is more or less identical to the Takara, pretty much all of my aesthetic complaints are addressed by the Takara version.

Max doesn't come with much in the way of accessories.  Basically, you've got his head, his tinier Cerebros head, and a gun.  The gun is sort of similar to the double-barreled rifle that came with the G1 toy, but it's smaller relative to Max and designed with a 5mm peg, so Max can't hold it.  This essentially means that Fortress Maximus has no weapons; at least hte Takara version came with a sword. 

The Cerebros head is your standard Titan Master affair, and in the Hasbro set is Spike.  And speaking of Titan Masters, one can sit in the gun.  As for Max's head, it can turn into... whatever that is.  I think G1 Cerebros turned into something like it.

One the subject of Cerebros, he's an interesting size.  He's taller than a Titans Return Deluxe, but a shorter than a Voyager.  Aesthetically, with the use of black and the masked face, it's definitely US "The Rebirth" Cerebros.  If you buy the Takara version you'll get a grayer body and a face on the Titan Master that looks more like a mini Fortress Maximus face, because it's The Headmasters Fortress instead.  Which, if you prefer the G1 cartoon (which I usually do), might make the Hasbro version the more attractive package.  Me, despite preferring Brainstorm with a mouth plate and generally thinking that the Japanese post-G1 trilogy was pretty awful, did sort of prefer The Headmasters' vision of small robots piloting larger bodies a lot more than humans and Nebulans binary bonding with regular Transformers, and I kind of prefer the Japanese Fortress to Cerebros, so again I'm kind of kicking myself for not spending the extra cash and going for the Takara version.

(BTW, if you go the Takara route but kind of want the US Cerebros head, just track down a copy of Takara Legends Bumblebee.  He comes with a Titan Master that looks like Spike in his exosuit with Cerebros' head on his back.)

Regardless of which version you get, Cerebros/Fortress can swivel his head, although the swivel is limited a bit by his face not clearing the blue ridges on his collar, and tilt his head sideways a bit, but nothing really up/down.  His shoulders can rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees.  He's got ball joints that act as both his bicep swivel and an elbow bend just under 90 degrees.  No wrist or waist swivel.  His hips are universal joints that can go a little under 90 degrees forward or backward and 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs can swivel, and his knees can bend 90 degrees.  His toes and heels can both be bent up, but not down.  And sadly he has no ankle pivots.

The set doesn't come with a G1-style Cerebros rifle, but the double-barreled gun that Max can't hold fits fine in Cerebros' hands.

Those blue ridges on Cerebros' collar are actually what attach him to Max's body.  There's room in there so you can leave Spike attached, but Cerebros will attach to Max fine without Spike.

Neither the Hasbro nor the Takara version of Fortress Maximus comes with Cog.  But if you picked up Cog from the Siege line he looks great with Max.

Fortress Maximus has basically the same articulation as Metroplex, which shouldn't be a surprise given that they share most of the same joints.  The only difference is that the disc that Cerebros mounts onto can rotate a full 360 degrees.  Sadly, this means that Max is still missing ankle pivots, so you run into a lot of the same problems posing him.  Well, more, actually, because the hip joints on my Max aren't as robust and have more play between clicks than my Metroplex, and this causes him to want to lean back a little.  While this could be an individual results may vary sort of situation some internet research leads me to believe that it's a widespread Hasbro issue and that the joints are actually better on the Takara.

Max's shin guns can swivel up and down.  The swivel is basically a pair of mushroom caps, and it's pretty easy to pull the guns off of his legs.  Should you do so, you'll find that they actually have flip down handles that allow Max to hold them in his hands.

Like Metroplex, Max has battery powered lights and sounds.  The battery box and speaker is actually in Cerebros, and you get different sounds based on whether Cerebros is in robot or head mode.  The one downside to this, at least on the Hasbro version, is that the eyes are unpainted translucent plastic that just look dead unless they're lit up.

Max's vehicle mode was always sort of lazy.  You live his arms up, lay him down, and you're 90% there.  For this version, the waist section still folds up to make the bridge tower, although it's a little short and incomplete without Cerebros.  Again, despite being a remold of Metroplex this mode, which is probably his more popular alt mode due to serving as the battleship Maximus on The Headmasters, is still pretty G1 accurate.  I just think that making Cerebros all but necessary to completing the bridge tower kind of defeats the purpose.  Oh well.  Again, the shin guns can swivel up and down, and the little bit on the side of his left leg can be removed.  Due to the top of the bridge tower being made from Cerebros instead of being distinct, there's no little cockpit there for Spike to sit in.

You won't be swooshing Max around like Trypticon, though.  The hips on my are loose enough that his legs will droop if you pick him up.

Here's where reusing Metroplex's legs starts to come back to bite us.  This is Fortress Maximus' base mode.  It's basically his starship mode with a few doors opened and his legs splayed 90 degrees instead of pointed straight.  The translucent door on his chest has a peg hole for the small gun, and... well, that's about it.  It's the epitome of lazy design, but it's not actually unprecedented.  This look appears to be based on a mistransformation that was actually featured in a catalog way back in the day.

While reusing Metroplex's legs caused the problem for Max's alt mode, they can also (kind of) save the day.  Although the Takara version's legs are apparently glued shut, the Hasbro version's legs can still be opened like Metroplex's.  This allows you to fan mode him a bit.  Personally, I like to spin his thighs 180 degrees, open his legs halfway, and bend his knees up.  That kind of looks more like the G1 toy's base mode.

Be mindful of the center blue ramp.  The top part is held on pretty loosely and has a tendency to pop off if you try to move it at all.  The back part also moves a little on the pin.  Make sure everything is lined up properly when you fold it onto Max's back or the hinge won't bend and you'll cause stress marks on the plastic.

Since Max is part of the Titans Return line he has places where you can connect other bases (or even Trytpicon).  There's basically one on each robot shoulder, and one on the little red door on the front of the base mode.  The space behind that little red door is enough for a Titan Master or maybe a Legends figure, but nothing bigger.

Of the three Titan-class cities, I think Max is probably the worst.  By reusing a lot of Metroplex's parts he carries a lot of the same problems, like the lack of ankle articulation, plus newer problems are created like the lazy, inaccurate base mode.  The lack of accessories is kind of the icing on the cake.  However, while Metroplex has Utopia to compete with Fortress Maximus stands alone.  Sure, there's Infinitor, who by many accounts is a good figure, but Infinitor is only roughly Leader-class in size, and lacks the double-Headmaster gimmick.  That make make him a good stand in for a Marvel Comics Fortress Maximus, but it's not going to satisfy you if you want a citybot.  Without a better alternative, I'm reluctantly recommending Fortress Maximus.  Just consider springing for the Takara version.

[David Hingtgen]

I really hope there's a 3P "trans-orange with LED" replacement gun-barrel for Brunt.  Still annoyed that the TR Trypticon doesn't have any lights.  (and was so bummed when my G1's light burned out, so many years ago) 

[JB0]

The wider abs and thicker thighs of Fortress Maximus really do help a lot with the proportions.

That version of Metroplex is gangly as heck. It is not a design that screams "I judo-flipped a tyrannosaurus the size of a city", if you know what I mean.

[mikeszekely]

3 minutes ago, JB0 said:

The wider abs and thicker thighs of Fortress Maximus really do help a lot with the proportions.

That version of Metroplex is gangly as heck. It is not a design that screams "I judo-flipped a tyrannosaurus the size of a city", if you know what I mean.

The G1 Metroplex had a really tiny midsection, too.  Really, I think the problem is that the new one looks like the designers stretched him to be taller but didn't keep him proportionally wide enough.  Max gets away with it not so much because his thighs or midsection are bigger, but because Max isn't as chunky as Metroplex.

[Kuma Style]

 

[Old_Nash]

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Next up is the very first Commander-class toy, Jetfire.

 

When you cannot remove all Macross' Valkyrie refrence from a TF toy XD

[Mechapilot77]

On 1/31/2019 at 11:48 PM, mikeszekely said:

I might pick up the tapes, because Rumble and Frenzy, but I still have Soundwave from the last time he got reissued at TRU.  I'm not really interested in the minibots, but if they reissue Powerglide I'll bite.

i think they might actually be using the soundwave mold this time instead of the soundblaster mold if that matters to you.

[M'Kyuun]

I'd given up hope of ever getting a cartoon accurate Skyfire from Has/Tak; I figured CW Jetfire was probably the closest we'd ever get. Glad to be wrong on both counts. Really pleased to see that, contrary to their usual lazy 'arms at the sides' design, they actually have the arms tuck away. It's a thing of beauty, and a must. One niggle: I wish they'd given him proper FAST Packs, for lack of a better term, for his arms and legs instead of that sh!tty chest piece. It's frustrating when they come so close, and then take license with a part of the character that would have made him the definitive official version. Grrr

Had my first opportunity to see Siege Prime and Megs at a nearby Target yesterday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't monstrously tempted to get that Prime- looks so amazing in bot mode, but I just can't abide the truck mode. I put him back on the shelf, as I'm holding out high hope that we'll get an Earth version as the WFC line continues. I figure it'll be the same mold, albeit tweaked for his Earth truck mode. It'll be nice to finally have such an accurate G1 Prime on the CHUG shelf. Long overdue, for sure. 

While I kinda like the Siege Mirage, the feet are a bit off-putting. I think Classics Mirage is better, or at least the better toy. That thing has like 19 points of articulation, so in my mind, it's the toy to beat. Definitely still one of my all time favorite TF figures.

Fortunately for my wallet, G1 Omega Supreme never really appealed to me. I think the update looks great, but it's still basically the same thing, so I'll be happy to skip him and Impactor, with whom I have no familiarity at all. I'm totally down for Refracktor, which I was under the impression was going to sold as three distinctive toys. Alas, if I have to buy three of the same to make the camera, that's what I'll do. Still have my G1 Reflector, which cost me around $15 and several robot points back in '85 or so. He's my CHUG placeholder along with G1 Soundwave and some of his cassettes. I bought an unopened G1 card of Ravage and Rumble (red cassette dude, although in my mind, Rumble will always be the bluish purple guy to me as he was depicted in the toon) years ago on ebay for a lot of money, so it's a kick in the junk to see it being rereleased at retail. However, I hope to pick up both cassette rereleases to actually open and display. I hope all the other G1 cassettes get rereleases, as they've always been some of my favorite TF toys. Kind of a shame that cassettes are no longer relevant, as the chest storage gimmick for Soundwave was fantastic, and there really exists no modern analogy. Kids today just don't know what they're missing. That said, I hope we get a cassette player Soundwave for the WFC line, although it's a bit of a bummer that they shrunk the cassettes.

[Kuma Style]

[sh9000]

If anyone can get me a Walmart G1 Devastator, please let me know.  Thanks.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Transformers vs. Mazinger Z

[JB0]

11 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

Transformers vs. Mazinger Z

Headmasters vs the original Headmaster?

 

What's the link about, anyways? An awesome youtube fan video?

[mikeszekely]

33 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Headmasters vs the original Headmaster?

 

What's the link about, anyways? An awesome youtube fan video?

comic book

[Negotiator]

No thanks on new mp BB.

 

[Tking22]

Yeah it appears that leak about MP-45 I mentioned above was correct, Bumblebee 2.0. He looks really, really bad honestly, and 130,000yen confirmed, Takara is crazy. 

MP-46 Black Arachnia looks INCREDIBLE. Damn, Takara knocked her out of the park, she is a must buy, no matter the cost, she looks amazing. This works for me, my MP G1 collection is complete, so Takara can just keep the beautiful Beast Wars MPs coming.

Also, MP Hound was delayed, maybe he'll be MP-47?

[sh9000]

I think you put an extra zero.