The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

Heads up, the G1 reissue Optimus at Walmart is on clearance.  $35.00 at both your local store and Walmart.com.  Still a little pricey for what you get, but close enough that I bought one to have a less orange G1 Optimus with actual smokestacks.  Gave my older reissue, sans Roller and trailer, to my 4 year old daughter.

[Uxi]

On 7/15/2019 at 7:59 PM, David Hingtgen said:

I have a sneaking suspicion the back of the planet isn't all there, that it's flat/sliced off, kind of like the bottom of the old toy.  Would love to be proved wrong, but a few angles seem like "I should be able to see 'further around the bend' but I can't".

That was my fear since they seemed to avoiding the side or rear profile on the art (though they showed side on the profile), but that other pic. :wow:  

I'm seriously thinking about it.  

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, new pics show my fear was unfounded---it's a full sphere. 

[nightmareB4macross]

Looks good to me. 

The back kind of resembles a deluxe type oversized insecticon beetle.

But a definite must have.

[nightmareB4macross]

For comparison.

[tekering]

Oh, that's not fair.  Use a proper HD source, at least.

[mark-1s]

On 7/17/2019 at 9:40 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Yeah, I think the planet part is around 19" diameter, with the energy rings taking it to 30".  It's a pretty impressive piece.  

I hope it gets made, but they're just shy of 1200 backers on the third day of the campaign.  I'm thinking folks are put off by the price tag- not many people have $600 laying around to buy a toy, even if it is a 'dream toy'.  

I still think they should promote it better. Do a video detailing transformation, or at least stages of the transformation, and show off any other features to get fans excited. It looks cool, and they're doing a pretty good job with coloration, but if you want to move a transforming robot, the transformation is a big part of the selling point. Also, if there are electronics with Orson Welles doing some of his more notable lines, show that off too. Personally, I'd like to see a nice stop motion transformation, but I'd be content to see a Takara designer doing it.

Thinking about it, Hasbro should have debuted this thing at SDCC, and maybe put it on the Transformers convention circuit to try and drum up support. It's one thing to see it on a screen, but if fans could see it in front of them, being demoed, or in a big glass case they can walk around , it'd make a stronger impact.  

https://news.tfw2005.com/2019/07/17/san-diego-comic-con-2019-preview-night-hasbro-booth-unicron-391551#images

[M'Kyuun]

Hmm, well maybe I was Nostradamus in a former life.  Truthfully, I thought SDCC already happened, so I made my statement in ignorance. Anyway, I'm glad it's getting some exposure. I was reading down through the comments on TFW2005.  As usual, opinions are all over the place, but many are focused on the price or the fact that he's a ginormous shellformer.

In truth, I wish more of the bot had been integrated into the transformation; I've been looking at the legs to see if they open up to help form some of the planet, but there are so many plates stacked against the outside and calf areas of his lower legs that it's nigh impossible to tell. I'm not a big shellformer fan, either, but this is one case where I'll make an exception, as it's the most practical approach. It is what it is. I also wish that they'd done his abs in a clear red plastic to mirror the film. It would have been a nice touch, especially for the asking price. Like most, I could go on and on with my ideal wish list for this figure, but I'm also a pragmatist, and what it does offer is a large relatively accurate version of Unicron the likes of which we will probably not see again. The price is steep, but I was willing to pay it for something unique, cool, rare, and likely unrepeated, at least at this scale, for a long time.

I will confess, however, that I'd be tickled if there is in fact a voice chip in this thing with some of his lines. I'm not a big fan of electronics in toys, but I still love hearing Jeff Bennett's excellent Robert Stack impression coming from my Animated Ultra Magnus, and to hear this thing say, "Megatron….I have summoned you here for a purpose", or "For a time, I considered sparing your wretched little planet Cybertron, but now.. you shall witness...its dismemberment!" would be really cool.

Edited July 18, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[M'Kyuun]

So, along with Unicron, Hasbro's rolling out more upcoming Siege goodies, including a G1 toy accurate Refraktor set.  

 

I just recently bought three retail Refraktors , and now that this is revealed, I kinda want it too, as the changes are enough to make it a separate set of figs, and it reminds me of the G1 set, which I have. I'm curious to see if this will be available on Pulse. Part of me, however, wishes they'd led with this set instead of putting the individual bots on sale. The upside is that in the cartoon, there seemed to be endless clones of the middle guy with the green chest doing all the heavy labor, so my initial set of identical figs isn't exactly wasted. There's also a black recolor of Siege Soundwave, and a Bluestreak (Silver) coming, along with Mirage. 

 

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

So, along with Unicron, Hasbro's rolling out more upcoming Siege goodies, including a G1 toy accurate Refraktor set.

I was at Target the other day and saw one Refraktor and one Red Alert.  I didn't buy them because I was out with the wife, and didn't feel like having her complain about me buying toys again.  Went back today and there was nothing but wave 2 stuff.  So I saw this go up on Hasbro Pulse and decided to preorder.  Sucked it up and ordered Galactic Man Shockwave, too, except he's actually available right now.  Preorders are also up now for Spinister, Astrotrain, and Apeface, but I'm holding off of them I preordered them with Amazon.  

Now I have to decide if I want just one of the regular Refraktor, or if I still want three...

Edited July 19, 2019 by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-vintage-g1-mini-cassettes-3-pack-gurafi-noizu-decepticon-frenzy

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-generations-collaborative-ghostbusters-mash-up-ecto-1-ectotron

[JB0]

59 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-vintage-g1-mini-cassettes-3-pack-gurafi-noizu-decepticon-frenzy

Oh come ON, Hasbro. I'm fairly neutral in the great Frenzy/Rumble color scheme debate, but... this is just trolling.

That paint scheme is UNAMBIGUOUSLY Rumble, because you're using the cartoon's light purple instead of the original toy's dark blue and light blue.

...

This is why Ravage and Lazerbeak are cooler.

Edited July 19, 2019 by JB0

[Negotiator]

 

[jenius]

Unicron was a truly impressive piece. I was able to get an extra MP-10G that I'm going to list for trade when I get home.

[technoblue]

I didn't see links for the amazon siege exclusives, so I'm adding them to the thread in case anyone still needs them.

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P2JB241/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NZ86GJP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PZY481L/?coliid=IAUS9TZAMN42Y&colid=1IFPXV9M6WIWG&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

HaHa! Between this, HasbroPulse, and other store exclusives I think my budget for official Transformers is now overdrawn. 

[mikeszekely]

55 minutes ago, technoblue said:

I didn't see links for the amazon siege exclusives, so I'm adding them to the thread in case anyone still needs them.

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P2JB241/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NZ86GJP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PZY481L/?coliid=IAUS9TZAMN42Y&colid=1IFPXV9M6WIWG&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

HaHa! Between this, HasbroPulse, and other store exclusives I think my budget for official Transformers is now overdrawn. 

I hear you! I pre-ordered the Skywarp pack, but I decided I don't need the repaints in the other two packs. But I pre-ordered Spinister, Astrotrain, and Apeface at Amazon, the toy-style Refraktor at Hasbro Pulse, and Bluestreak at Walmart (where I guess he's an exclusive?). Add that to preorders I already have for Thundercracker, Red Alert, and Omega Supreme at Amazon, Smokescreen at Hasbro Pulse, the fact that I bought Galactic Man outright, and the fact that I'm in for Barricade, Mirage, and Impactor, Siege is eating up a ton of my toy budget.

EDIT: Almost forgot. Don't know when, but Walgreens is getting an exclusive Siege Ratchet.

Edited July 19, 2019 by mikeszekely

[technoblue]

28 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

EDIT: Almost forgot. Don't know when, but Walgreens is getting an exclusive Siege Ratchet.

Yes! I've been looking forward to Ratchet too. I really like how they reused the Ironhide sculpt in this case. 

https://tformers.com/sdcc-2019-walgreens-exclusive-siege-ratchet-product-images/35349/news.html

He has a few more add-ons to carry around with him as well, and an official 'med bay' mode. Not sure why Walgreens is holding back, but if I end up missing the online order, I'm hoping I can catch sight of him at a local store. I pass a few on the way back and forth to work.

[M'Kyuun]

19 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I was at Target the other day and saw one Refraktor and one Red Alert.  I didn't buy them because I was out with the wife, and didn't feel like having her complain about me buying toys again.  Went back today and there was nothing but wave 2 stuff.  So I saw this go up on Hasbro Pulse and decided to preorder.  Sucked it up and ordered Galactic Man Shockwave, too, except he's actually available right now.  Preorders are also up now for Spinister, Astrotrain, and Apeface, but I'm holding off of them I preordered them with Amazon.  

Now I have to decide if I want just one of the regular Refraktor, or if I still want three...

Honestly, for 10 more bucks more than you'd pay for the purple retail guys, I'd pony up to get the boxset in original toy colors if I was only getting one set of Refraktors to make the camera. Not only is the coloration more realistic for the camera mode, but it also has the wraparound panel and the flashcube to give it a nice finish in alt. If I'd known that this was coming for certain and this soon, I'd have skipped buying the three retails (prob would have bought one just for the different color) and gotten this set to make the camera. Alas, I've been spending a lot this month between Transformers and LEGO, so I need to chill a little. But they keep on rolling out new stuff...it's a never-ending conundrum in the life of a toy collector. 

Man, I want to like the new Astrotrain, as I've been waiting for them to finally make a G1 styled version of it, but this thing's shuttle mode looks incomplete, and I'm not crazy about the way the wheel panels stick out so far away from the rest of the train body. I daresay, the G1 toy looked much better in both alts, and that's not a good trend. I like the bot mode, but there were definitely a lot of concessions made to the alts with this figure. I'll likely cave, but again, I can't help but wish at least one third party would start making figs in CHUG scale. I foresee a third party add-on to fill in the aft cargo bay/OMS pod section.

Apeface and Spinister (what a fantastically apropos name) are pretty much bought.

15 hours ago, sh9000 said:

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-vintage-g1-mini-cassettes-3-pack-gurafi-noizu-decepticon-frenzy

On the fence for these guys. I love G1 cassettes, but I liked the American release colors better. Too, I'd rather they packaged the two dino cassettes with a third dino cassette instead of Rumble.  I'm hoping all the dino cassettes will eventually get rereleased, as I've never owned any of them, and this will be a great opportunity to get them at non-evil-bay prices.  

 

[treatment]

moar Siege-line Skyfire pictarz!

[sh9000]

14 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

On the fence for these guys. I love G1 cassettes, but I liked the American release colors better. Too, I'd rather they packaged the two dino cassettes with a third dino cassette instead of Rumble.  I'm hoping all the dino cassettes will eventually get rereleased, as I've never owned any of them, and this will be a great opportunity to get them at non-evil-bay prices.  

I hope that the second dino cassette set with Rumble is also easy to order from Hasbro Pulse.  I wish Hasbro Pulse would sell the Transformers Vintage G1 line instead of Walmart.

[mikeszekely]

17 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Honestly, for 10 more bucks more than you'd pay for the purple retail guys, I'd pony up to get the boxset in original toy colors if I was only getting one set of Refraktors to make the camera.

I already put in a pre-order for the toy set on Hasbro Pulse. But even though it might be more camera-colored three of the retail version is more cartoon-accurate.

Like yourself, though, I've spent a but on Transformers lately (with a lot more to come, looking at my preorders...). So I might cut back to just one of the retail.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I already put in a pre-order for the toy set on Hasbro Pulse. But even though it might be more camera-colored three of the retail version is more cartoon-accurate.

Like yourself, though, I've spent a but on Transformers lately (with a lot more to come, looking at my preorders...). So I might cut back to just one of the retail.

That's what I would do- get the more camera accurate boxset, and one retail for the toon colors and call it done for Refraktor. In my case, my anticipation for these guys won out, as I wasn't sure if the boxset was going to come to fruition or remain rumor, even though I would have preferred the boxset. So, I'm likely going to end up with two sets, but the differences between them are great enough that I'm not concerned. Spending $130 on them kinda hurts, though.

Between the new LEGO City Space sets, other LEGO, plus a number of Transformers, plus my backing of a certain planet munching menace, I've spent more than my fair share on toys this month. But, having been in the TF game long enough, Hasbro's distribution, while better than it was just a year ago, is still shaky. Pulse seems to be doing a much, much better job of keeping product available than the old Hasbro online shop, which is fantastic. They've become my go-to for Siege stuff. All that said, I want to get my preorders in for some of the new figs, especially anything voyager or bigger, as they seem to be harder to find around here, not to mention the exclusive stuff. It's the collector's conundrum- buy now and be poor, or wait for positive funds only to discover the thing is sold out... forever.

Edit:

Despite my bellyaching about the costs, I PO'd the Refraktor boxset (b/c after 30+ years of wishing, there's just no way I can pass it up) and Apeface. As much as I really, really want a G1 Astrotrain update, the pics I've seen of his shuttle mode don't give me the good feels. I'll wait for reviews, and hopefully, his little launchpad converts into the rest of his cargo bay doors and OMS pods, as the back half looks like shite as is. Either that, or some third party will make a filler, although they shouldn't need to if the thing was designed well to begin with. I think I'm going to pass on the G1 cassette set; these ones don't seem as well done as some of the others. I'm hoping MMC will get around to making full sized versions of all of them, or that some of these 3P companies doing the legends sized figs will tackle them, as they seem to have the mettle to make them well. FT's cassettes for their upcoming Soundwave are looking quite promising, too. I hope they release them separately.

Edit2

I was looking through the recap of events at SDCC, and curiously, the Hasbro reps had intended to transform Unicron before the crowd, but then demurred, doing it out of sight before presenting him in planet mode. That doesn't exactly build confidence in the product, and I don't know if Hasbro gave a reason. It's a resin proto, and the majority of the fanbase knows that resin isn't nearly as hardy as molded ABS. If the thing was fragile, or the joints less tight than optimal, they could have said as much, and I think the crowd would have been understanding when things get floppy. If they think we'll be upset b/c it's 90% shellformation- guess what, Hasbro, we already figured that out. So I'm curious what the real reason is for backing out; I think transforming him on video would have raised interest, especially if all those shell parts unfurl and snap together smoothly. Juggling a 19 lb jigsaw puzzle like this seems daunting, so it'd be cool to see the 'experts' putting it through the paces. Doing it live only speaks to the confidence they have in the thing.  Maybe they need a YouTube reviewer or someone from Takara to do it for them.

Edited July 20, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

Apparently Siege Ratchet has been spotted in Hong Kong stores.  Also, it's apparently super common for Walgreens exclusives to turn up in Asian stores in July, then American Walgreens in October.  So, I guess we wait patiently until October... or start trolling ebay.

[M'Kyuun]

While we have plenty of Walgreens around the Spokane area, I never go into any of them. I'm sure, like everybody these days, they have an online store; has anyone ever secured any exclusives there? While I think the Ironhide mold is decent, I like the add-ons with Ratchet enough to get him, too. I still think they should have made his feet rotate 180 deg so that the soles are inboard in his van mode. 

[mikeszekely]

The only Walgreens exclusive I've ever picked up was Titans Return Brainstorm, and I got it at my local store.  I don't think I've ever even been to Walgreens.com.

I don't shop there super often, but there's enough around and they're open at weird hours that I'll stop when I need something they carry and don't feel like running into a bigger store like Target.

[nhyone]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

So I'm curious what the real reason is for backing out; I think transforming him on video would have raised interest

To avoid giving their engineering secrets away before launch, especially to KO companies.

I imagine a smaller Unicorn will be quite popular.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, nhyone said:

I imagine a smaller Unicorn will be quite popular.

[mark-1s]

 

/\/\/\/\/\

Where the heck did you get this?!! Must have!

[anime52k8]

I think I must be really out of the loop because I just found out that there's a massive official Omega Supreme coming out next month. And it actually looks kind of good. and he's at least $100 cheaper than the next cheapest 3rd party figure in it's size range. I'm feeling very tempted.

Edited July 21, 2019 by anime52k8

[nhyone]

On 7/18/2019 at 2:25 AM, mikeszekely said:

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that the tooling for the Titan-class Metroplex was around $300,000.  That's before you account for plastic and actually paying the factory to make and assemble the parts.

Somehow, the 27" Lewin MP-01 is sold at US$190 on TaoBao.

This gives an idea the material and manufacturing cost -- since they can skip 99% of the design and engineering.

Also, I don't think it is a high volume product.

Edited July 21, 2019 by nhyone

[nhyone]

On 7/18/2019 at 12:18 PM, nightmareB4macross said:

The back kind of resembles a deluxe type oversized insecticon beetle.

The legs need more work.

Can the figure stand unassisted?

[ErikElvis]

I thought the thing on his back looked like a book bag. But I can see a beetle too. That did not dissuade me from preordering. 

[tekering]

4 hours ago, nhyone said:

The legs need more work.

3 hours ago, ErikElvis said:

I thought the thing on his back looked like a book bag.

Who cares about the legs, or the back, when his face is so depressingly off-model?  

This is how we remember Unicron.  The beard...

The cleft chin goatee...

...and absolutely no visible teeth.  

TakaraTomy nailed his face sculpt a decade ago...

How could they have screwed up so badly this time?

I mean, where's the Fu Manchu mustache?  Why replace the cleft chin goatee with a soul patch on a flat jawline?  And what the hell is up with those teeth?  

He looks like Christopher Walken in Sleepy Hollow.  

That's what dissuaded me from preordering. 

[M'Kyuun]

I didn't even realize how off the face was , which seems really odd given Takara's toon-centric design philosophy. Bit of an oversight, there. I'm not canceling my PO, but now that it's pointed out, it's always going to be in the back of my mind.

Going through all the comments concerning his panel-ly nature, it's a shame , with a figure this size, that they couldn't have folded more of that stuff into the body parts rather than just have them all accordion up on the exterior. or better, actually use the body parts  in the transformation. The forearms are the only part of him that help form his planet mode; everything else is unaccordioned Pringles. and a bookbag with a mouth.

[captain america]

4 hours ago, tekering said:

That's what dissuaded me from preordering. 

You also know me, and if Hasbro doesn't correct it I won't rule-out making my own proper face/chin sculpt. I'm also thinking they might want to consider changing the silver to light grey, as well as making the body parts a tad more orange. I think those are reasonable and realistically achieved tweaks.