The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

A leak/rumor going around is claiming to list some War for Cybertron figures (it's not clear if they're Siege, or whatever part two will be). Deluxe Hoist, Deluxe Wheeljack, Voyager Grapple, all well and good. Leader Optimus with trailer. Curious.

But the biggest revelation is actually "Voyager Starscream (Earth)". Looks like confirmation that the War for Cybertron is coming to Earth. 

[pengbuzz]

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A leak/rumor going around is claiming to list some War for Cybertron figures (it's not clear if they're Siege, or whatever part two will be). Deluxe Hoist, Deluxe Wheeljack, Voyager Grapple, all well and good. Leader Optimus with trailer. Curious.

But the biggest revelation is actually "Voyager Starscream (Earth)". Looks like confirmation that the War for Cybertron is coming to Earth. 

Do you think this could be a sideways-way of HasTakTomy re-doing the original G1 series?

[sh9000]

 

[tekering]

Looking a little prematurely gray there, "Dad..."  

I realize it's only 30 seconds of clips, but the lack of content from Animated or Prime is disappointing.  

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Looking a little prematurely gray there, "Dad..."  

I realize it's only 30 seconds of clips, but the lack of content from Animated or Prime is disappointing.  

There's also nothing from RiD (either one) or the Unicron Trilogy.  It's almost like we went straight from G1 and Beast Wars to Cyberverse and the Bayverse (with a little Fall of Cybertron on the way).

[treatment]

MP-44 with other Takara mechs...

 

[tekering]

The Scopedogs seem to be missing their parachute packs...

...but I see Prime has his.  

8 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

There's also nothing from RiD (either one) or the Unicron Trilogy.

Oh, that doesn't disappoint me at all.  

Like Japanese G1, they're best forgotten.

[mikeszekely]

4 minutes ago, tekering said:

Oh, that doesn't disappoint me at all.  

Like Japanese G1, they're best forgotten.

I mean, the cartoons were terrible, sure.  But RiD Prime/Fire Convoy and Armada Prime are two of my favorite non-G1 Primes.  Regarding the former I've been telling people for years that I'd love an MP version.  Regarding the latter, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Fans Hobby delivers.

Actually, speaking of Armada Prime, I wonder if the Leader-class Prime with Trailer from the rumor I mentioned earlier is something new, or maybe this guy?

[SMS007]

Nope, Armada Convoy is a TakaraTomy project. 

[mikeszekely]

Well, looks like part two of The War For Cybertron will be "Earthrise."  Nothing on that rumored Starscream (although I'm going to be mad if I have to buy all those Seekers again...), but here's a look at Leader-class Optimus Prime.  Looks like exactly what a lot of people here wanted... a heavy retool of the Voyager-class Siege Prime with a more Earthy alt mode.  Looks like he'll still have some of Siege Prime's backpack, but less arm kibble.  Interestingly, his pelvis is less G1 cartoon than Siege's, and his head looks like it's colored more like the G1 toy.  Oh, and he comes with the trailer, and it looks like it'll do some of the G1 trailer things.  Here's hoping for a Micromaster Roller.

Grapple (Voyager-class) is looking pretty great, too.  Can't wait for the Inferno repaint!

[Negotiator]

these look really good.   hope the seekers look clean in both modes

[M'Kyuun]

Just tuned in, and I'm pretty pleased to see Siege going all Earthy already, as I believe this is supposed to be a trilogy line like the previous. Anyway, if Prime and Grapple are the standard, I'm getting purdy excited to see what else they roll out, pun not really intended. Looking forward to seeing how well the new Seekers are designed- I'm hoping for something akin to a scaled down and simplified MP-11, with arms tucked in and not just hanging off the sides like they've been doing. I wonder how much they're going to change on Megatron, as his first version is pretty close to an Earth tank already. I hope for a gun mode, but know it'll never happen, more's the pity.

What I really want to see is a properly scaled Soundwave with G1 compatible cassettes- that would be excellent, and it's not like it hasn't already been done.

Anyway, bring on the G1 homages, HasTak. My wallet's ready!

My shelf space is another story...

[mikeszekely]

On 10/2/2019 at 9:22 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, bring on the G1 homages, HasTak. My wallet's ready!

They're obliging you at NYCC.

First up, another look at Leader-class Optimus.  Looks like he's going to have pinned knuckles!  Also, the more I look at him, the less I think he's going to be based on the previous Siege Voyager and the more he actually reminds me of Studio Series Bumblebee Prime.

Then we've got some reveals for Deluxe Wheeljack

Deluxe Cliffjumper

Deluxe (I think) Hoist

and Voyager Starscream in his Earth mode.  And as much as I'm complaining after already buying 9 Cybertron-mode Seekers, yes, I do want Thundercracker and Skywarp Earth-mode repaints...

Also, I can't recall if we already knew the next Titan after Omega Supreme would be Scorponok (although by process of elimination we're running out of huge characters to make Titans out of).  But what is definitely new is a look at the prototype for Zarak.  Interestingly enough, he's going to be a double Headmaster like Fortress Maximus.

EDIT: excluding Scorponok, the new reveals are available to preorder at Hasbro Pulse now.

Edited October 4, 2019 by mikeszekely

[technoblue]

I gotta say, I was hoping WFC-Siege would have a little more room to breathe before being put off to pasture. I'm not sure what to think of all the WFC-Earth announcements. I'm going to have to wait and see about Grapple and Hoist. Starscream looks disappointing to me. There are a lot of design cues taken from the old classics deluxe. I was hoping for more of an update. I guess I will hold off until people start sharing their in-hand reports. 

Prime is okay. I do like his yellow eyes and bendy hands. I'm also very much into Jacky, Cliffjumper, and that out-of-left-field addition of Ironworks.

Also, gotta give props to HasTak for Soundbarrier. A bot that transforms into a plank, which you can then use as a shield or a ramp or a bit of road.  

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by technoblue

[M'Kyuun]

23 minutes ago, technoblue said:

I gotta say, I was hoping WFC-Siege would have a little more room to breathe before being put off to pasture. I'm not sure what to think of all the WFC-Earth announcements. I'm going to have to wait and see about Grapple and Hoist. Starscream looks disappointing to me. There are a lot of design cues taken from the old classics deluxe. I was hoping for more of an update. I guess I will hold off until people start sharing their in-hand reports. 

Prime is okay. I do like his yellow eyes and bendy hands. I'm also very much into Jacky, Cliffjumper, and that out-of-left-field addition of Ironworks.

Also, gotta give props to HasTak for Soundbarrier. A bot that transforms into a plank, which you can then use as a shield or a ramp or a bit of road.  

 

I noticed the similarities to the Classics Seeker mold, too; was also hoping for something more streamlined and closer to the MP design. Oh well- at least the arms tuck in flush; that's already a monumental improvement over their latest spate of jet-formers, Jetfire notwithstanding. 

Agree with Mike that Prime looks to have some similarities to the Bumblebee Movie Prime toy. Not necessarily a bad thing, although I wish they could have incorporated the front wheels. Oh well, it still looks like a pretty good fig, and it's the most G1 take on Prime in both modes since the original. I don't even mind the trailer. And yeah, a Micromaster Roller would be cool. Should be included.

As for the rest of the G1 homages, IMHO, they're all looking pretty sweet to this old G1er's optical sensors. Nice to see a Cliffjumper who's not a BB repaint. Looks like HasTak took a cue from 3P and included his cannon and waterskis. 

I'm not at all familiar with Ironworks; is he from the comics, or just something Hasbro made up to make a toy? It's interesting, in concept. I'm not a big partsformer fan, in general, but the modularity of the alt mode lends a sense of practicality and fun factor to the alt mode.

Soundbarrier- scraping the bottom of the alt mode barrel! Reminds me of the old SNL skit where they mention the Women with Mattresses on Their Backs. They should have allocated the plastic from this thing into producing the aforementioned Roller fig.

[Mechapilot77]

the seeker looks like an updated, upsized classics seeker mold.  they gave it angle rockers but not waist swivel.  not a fan with what they did with teh tailplanes and fins though...the big blue onse should point backwards like the g1 toy and the masterpiece.  the smaller ones i actually prefer them flat and out ot side liek g1 toy but dont' object to eh masterpeice handling of them.  the foot design looks better than the mp btw (or maketoys for that matter).  anyway, i want to get the original 3 seekers in this new mold...and i'll probably pikc up the tetrajets in  SW and TC colors (we never saw SS in his tetrajet mode on screen or at least i only remember seeing TC adn SW).

the new prime has hips like the bumblebee prime and suprisingly is not a retool of siege prime...the trailer looks bad but i'll probably get it too.  wheeljack...best wheeljack aside from mp.  hoist looke great.  cliffjumpers looks good too. 

[technoblue]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'm not at all familiar with Ironworks; is he from the comics, or just something Hasbro made up to make a toy? It's interesting, in concept. I'm not a big partsformer fan, in general, but the modularity of the alt mode lends a sense of practicality and fun factor to the alt mode.

His tfwiki profile has two parts. The old G1 micromaster:

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ironworks

And the G1 micromaster base:

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ironworks_(base)

The new WFC-Earth toy looks like a homage to the ol' G1 base playset. The updated "truck" was included in Target's exclusive 10-pack of Siege micromasters, which I now need to buy.  Plus one Hasbro, minus one my wallet. 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I can't say most of these new toys tickle my fancy, but Cliffjumper and Wheeljack look rad.

[Firefox]

Starscream looks like a retool of an old mould.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Firefox

[mikeszekely]

Of all the early Classics molds the Seeker mold was arguably the most G1-ish.  Would it have been nice if they'd borrowed more liberally from the MP molds?  Maybe.  But let's be real, they could do a lot worse than taking the Classics version, improving the articulation, giving it more accurate null rays, and actually scaling it properly with the other figures in the line.

In any case, you guys do you.  Me, I preordered Prime already and I definitely plan on getting all the newly-announced Deluxes and Voyagers, too, except Ironworks.  I'm just not that interested in Micromasters.

[technoblue]

Ironworks' modular design is what piqued my interest, more so than the Micromaster gimmick.  

Hm. I wonder if Grapple will work with his pieces/parts? That could be clever.

Anyway, after doing more research on the Target Micromaster 10-pack, I'm going to wave off that purchase. The reviews I read are mixed. 

 

[Negotiator]

I was hoping they could have done something with that nose cone.  i think classic figure still looks better, it still had thrusters.  Probably pick up cliffjumper.

[mikeszekely]

Ok, here's one I think a lot of you have been waiting for.  This time we're looking at Siege Titan-class Omega Supreme.

Let's get this out of the way first... Omega is not as big as Metroplex or Fortress Maximus.  Which, I think, is fine.  If we're going by the Sunbow scale chart (I know, I know), Omega isn't supposed to be as tall as a citybot, he's supposed to be a little taller than Devastator.  And (without actually digging it out to compare) this Omega is a little taller than that Hasbro's Devastator.  Although, I suppose that does bring up the little point that Combiner Wars was before Hasbro decided to keep everything in scale, and you could fairly point out that both Devastator and Omega are arguably too large compared to the other Siege figures. 

And it's not just height, BTW.  Siege Omega weighs about 87 ounces (or about 2.47kg).  Metroplex, despite having largely hollow lower legs and a large hollow space on one side of his chest, is 98 ounces (2.78kg).  Trypticon, who also has a large hollow spaces in his torso and tail, is 96 ounces (2.74kg) without Full Tilt.

Given Omega's size, I think the comparison most people want to see is it and one of the MP-esque third party versions.  Could Titan Omega be a cheaper stand-in for an MP shelf?  Well, here he is with the only one I have, DX9's Gabriel.  And I think my answer is going to have to be no.  I can't speak for Fans Toys' or Wei Jiang's versions, but Gabriel's bigger, has better proportions, and is much more cartoon-accurate.  And, although this is super subjective, the translucent claw and light-piped eyes on the Hasbro version come across as cheap-looking to me.

Well, Omega does come with a few accessories.  You get three rubbery blast effect parts, the larger of which breaks down into five chunks.  You also get a Micromaster, Countdown.  But... well, Metroplex retailed for, what, $100?  And he came with a Legends-class figure.  I think Fortress Maximus and Trypticon retailed for $150 (although as recently as maybe a month ago I could still find Trypticon for $40 at Burlington), and Max came with a short Voyager and Trypticon came with a tall Deluxe.  I guess it's cool to see Countdown get a modern release, since I had the original as a kid, but I can't shake the feeling that at Omega's $160 price tag I'm paying more for less.

Countdown is very similar to his G1 counterpart.  The arms and lower legs have nearly identical molded details.  The newer version eschews the silver body of the original, opting to keep the white of the thighs, has a smaller, more proportional head, swaps the blue face for silver, and trades an Autobot insignia for a fold-out peg.  Gotta work in that Siege gimmick after all!  Articulation-wise, it's pretty poor.  His shoulders are on ball joints, but they don't have the clearance for much lateral movement.  He has no neck, waist, elbow, or wrist articulation.  His hips are on ball joints and can move forward and backward about 90 degrees, and laterally about 45 degrees.  His hinged knees can bend well over 90 degrees.  He's got no foot or ankle articulation.  In vehicle mode, Countdown is again very similar to the G1 version, except the seats aren't gray and instead of molded lines there's hollow gaps in them.  The radio dish is at least still hinged.

Fortunately, Omega himself has pretty decent articulation.  His head can swivel, and there's actually a double-hinge in the neck that lets him look up and down a little.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and extend laterally 90 degrees on a softer ratchet.  His biceps swivel just above his elbows, which are ratcheted and can bend 90 degrees.  The barrel of the gun hand can spin for whatever reason, as well as retract a bit.  The claw hand can spin, and each claw has a ratcheted joint at the base and a second friction hinge and the "knuckle".  His waist is on a ratcheted swivel.  His hips can go backward or laterally 90 degrees, and forward just a little short of 90.  His thighs swivel on ratchets.  His knees bend 90 degrees on a ratchet, and reveal some molded detail in the process.  And finally his feet have ratcheted ankle pivots that are good for about 45 degrees.

Although Omega doesn't come with any weapons, the blast effect parts can easily plug onto his gun hand, the center of his claw hand, or the little guns on his chest for some blasting action.

You can also lift the yellow chest panels to reveal some molded missiles.  And I like that they're asymmetric; eight little ones on his right, and four larger ones on his left.

Aside from that, it wouldn't be a Siege toy without a ton of 5mm ports to plug weapons into.  Omega has one on top of each shoulder, one on the front of each forearm, one on the back of each forearm, on on each shin, two on the outside of each leg, two on his backpack, and one on his butt (and technically the barrel of his gun arm and the center of his claw are 5mm ports, too).  The instructions suggest that you can use the peg on Countdown to stick him onto Omega's shoulder.  However, both of his shins open up, revealing cavities you can store him or another Micromaster in.  Or, in my case, the effects parts when you're not using them.

As you'd expect from Omega Supreme he comes apart to transform into his various components.  What's interesting, though, is that his arms don't come off at the forearm in two separate pieces.  Instead, his entire arm comes along with part of his back and backpack as one discreet chunk.

The backpack spreads out, wrapping around his shoulders and partially-collapsed forearms and elbows and linking with the chunk of his back to form a very tall rocket, standing significantly taller than DX9's.  And, sure, I guess the longer, thinner silhouette is closer to an actual rocket's proportions, but again it's less G1-accurate.

There's a hatch at the top that you can stick Countdown (or any other Micromaster) into.  You can also, in theory, use the blast effect parts to look like exhaust from the rocket, but there's no stand or anything to pose the rocket in flight.

Hasbro might have a big rocket, but the tank is noticeably smaller.  And again, not as cartoon-accurate.  The barrels on the side guns should be yellow, the sides where the guns come out should be white, and there shouldn't be any yellow on the tank turret.  Basically, DX9 got it right.  And a weird thing about it is that Omega's head is only part of the turret.  The cannon on back of his head is only for robot mode.  It folds down, and Omega stuffs his face into a half a turret with a new barrel that folds out of his tummy.  I guess that does make it seem a bit more proportional.

However, it means that his turret can't rotate.  The barrel does move up and down, though.  The side guns can go up, too.  Unlike DX9's, though, it's not just the barrels, it's the whole side of the tank.  The front of the tank can open to reveal a little space for Countdown.  In theory he can roll down the front like a ramp, but it is a bit bumpy.  In this mode you can make good use of the effect parts by sticking them in the three gun barrels the tank sports.

And, as always, what's left of Omega's body and wings turns into a base with a track.  Frankly, this part feels a little uninspired.  Most of the center gantry is dominated by a large, empty space.  It looks like, after ditching the stuff that makes the rocket and tank, his upper body does nothing to transform, because that's exactly the case.  And unlike even the G1 version the legs don't split; all you're doing is spreading the hips 90 degrees, bending the knees 90 degrees, and rotating the thigh swivel until his feet are pointed in the right direction.  That means they don't make for a gentle slope, so the wings have a trio of supports underneath to hold the track up so they can connect and form the rest of the track.  Ramps unwrap from his thighs to kind of mimic the ones normally formed from the yellow pieces on his shins, although being so close to the legs makes them sort of blend in and get lost.  You'll also note that there are small black flaps near his feet on either side.  The ends of the ramps and those black flaps are the base connections you'll find on the Titans Returns Leader and Titan Classes, so you can connect more bases to Omega if you like.  Technically the tracks connect to the legs using similar connections, which might make for even more interesting designs if I had the space and weren't too lazy to try it.

If you found yourself thinking, "well, yeah, but it's not that bad, it's not like Omega's base mode was ever all that," then you might not like this last comparison picture.  Here we have the base, rocket, and tank set up next to DX9's, and the difference is striking.  The torso and legs on DX9 actually look like they transformed instead of just sitting down, because they did.  The result is a huge, oval track and an overall appearance that's actually pretty close to the G1 toy and cartoon.  Meanwhile, Siege Omega makes a tiny "O" with barely enough room to set the rocket inside.

Now, I think I probably came across as kind of hard on Omega in this review.  So let me clear up a few things.  For starters, Omega isn't really a bad toy.  I think, based on overall aesthetic and articulation that he's actually better than Metroplex and Fort Max, although Trypticon is still my favorite Titan.  I think he's a perfectly acceptable toy to go with your other Siege/Generations figures (definitely a step up from the Platinum Edition repaint of Energon Omega Supreme).  The thing is, for something like $50 more you can get Wei Jiang's version, which to my taste is still a bit stylized for an MP Omega but a lot closer than this one, plus it comes with a stand to pose the rocket in flight and a motorized tank that actually drives around the track.  $100 more will get you Gabriel, who is bigger and just looks and feels so much better in both modes and obliterates the Hasbro version in shelf presence.  So while Titan-class Omega is fine for a Siege collection, you get what you pay for and I'd highly recommend springing for Gabriel for an MP collection.

[vlenhoff]

On 9/14/2019 at 7:52 PM, mikeszekely said:

I respect that, but I must confess that I don't really understand it.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely want some degree of cartoon accuracy (for example, one of my biggest complaints with MP-10 was that it didn't really hide the wheels on Prime's legs), but it seems like a lot of the people in the TF fandom want their toys to look like walking screencaps.  Personally, I don't think the animation was all that hot in the cartoon, and it was often riddled with errors.  I personally like toys that look like they could be the real robot that the cartoon was based on.  Kind of like how I prefer Gundam model kits that look like this:

not like this:

Regarding cabs, MP-10 has more molded rivets and what not, but I really like how much cleaner MS-01 is.  It's not just that there are more seems on MP-10, but MP-10 just didn't fit together right in alt mode, so the seems have wider gaps.

This is what is driving me away from the MP line. Yes i want the bots to look roughly similar to the animation, but with all the yummy details a robot would have in real life, if they existed.

I am not getting MP-44, i can't justify that price, plus I am not a fan of the white legs or its transformation. The only reason the legs/crutch were white in the cartoon, was because it would have been too difficult to animate chrome. We all know 2D animation was and is very difficult to produce, and it had to be oversimplified to be able to meet deadlines.. At this point, i am not sure i'll buy Hound and the new Bumblebee, is out of the question.

I have Sunstreaker but honestly, he is a pain in the scrotum to transform, and it kills the fun out of it IMHO. So i have two options, just quit the line altogether, or sell what i already got. Hasbro really let me down on this. This was such a fun line with their detailed car modes, and cool looking robots, but now it is turning into a super complicated, but badly detailed transformer.

TBH MP-44's transformation does not atract me at all. I'll keep my MP-10,MP-01 and the MPP-10 as "IT" for Optimus.

Maybe i'll go third party to finish off the ones i am missing, but honestly I've lost my drive for this line.

[technoblue]

I see Haslab's Unicron has passed the 8000 mark. Congrats to all backers. 

[mikeszekely]

I really wanted to back Unicron, but there was no chance I'd get my wife on board with that.

[David Hingtgen]

23 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

(although as recently as maybe a month ago I could still find Trypticon for $40 at Burlington),

 

I apparently live by the only Burlington that never got cheap Trypticons...  (I honestly don't want Trypticon itself much, but I *really* want a Full-Tilt) 

[mikeszekely]

7 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

I apparently live by the only Burlington that never got cheap Trypticons...  (I honestly don't want Trypticon itself much, but I *really* want a Full-Tilt) 

If you don't mind paying shipping I'll look if there's any left next time I'm out that way.

[David Hingtgen]

Let me know.  (though shipping something that big may cost as much as the figure itself, and I may have to pass) 

[mikeszekely]

20 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

Let me know.  (though shipping something that big may cost as much as the figure itself, and I may have to pass) 

Fair enough.  And if I don't find it (or you don't want to wait until the next time I'm out that way), BBTS has him for $70+ their $4 flat rate shipping.

[nhyone]

On 10/5/2019 at 1:00 PM, mikeszekely said:

Given Omega's size, I think the comparison most people want to see is it and one of the MP-esque third party versions.  Could Titan Omega be a cheaper stand-in for an MP shelf?  Well, here he is with the only one I have, DX9's Gabriel.

This review makes me want to buy DX9's Gabriel. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by nhyone

[technoblue]

9 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I really wanted to back Unicron, but there was no chance I'd get my wife on board with that.

I had to really think about it, and was happy for the extension which gave me more time to mull it over. I decided to pass too after so much procrastination, space being more of a concern than price in my situation. I’m happy to see it’s getting made, though, and look forward to the photos.

[Scyla]

16 hours ago, technoblue said:

I see Haslab's Unicron has passed the 8000 mark. Congrats to all backers. 

While it is not for me I'm happy for everyone who backed this project. If it turns out down the line that Hasbro employees where forced to order the last 2000 units and they shop up in the bargain bin in 2022 I'm picking one up. :P

 

[M'Kyuun]

Hasbro got their pound of flesh from me for Unicron, but honestly, I went in eyes wide open. It's not as well done as I think it could or should be, especially given that it's targeted more at an adult fanbase with plenty of disposable income, but I figured this would likely be the only opportunity to an official Unicron this well detailed. I do wish they'd made him less of a panel-former, or at least found a way to integrate or hide said panels better (the thing is huge, after all), and given that they have 30+ years experience making these toys, expectations are, like the price, pretty high. Anyway, the deal is sealed, as it were, and so I await my copy in a couple of years, which gives me plenty of time to make a shelf for him next to my CHUG shelves.

In the meantime, looking forward to the Earthrise Seige figs.

Lots of complaining on the TFW board about the upcoming Starscream having no waist rotation, but I'm more plussed that the waist skirt is one piece, and that it shares the same huge hollow area under the forward fuselage that its Classics inspiration had. I still think the Classics was a decent toy, but it was by no means perfect, and unfortunately they basically just upscaled that figure rather than taking the opportunity to improve it beyond just ankle articulation. Ah well. They could have done worse.

[mikeszekely]

On 10/6/2019 at 8:51 AM, nhyone said:

This review makes me want to buy DX9's Gabriel. 

I did a proper review for Gabriel here, but the short version is that I think it's the best Omega Supreme on the market today.

I don't have a full review for you guys tonight, but I'm doing another mini repaint review.  Over the weekend I got Siege Deluxe-class Bluestreak, Smokescreen, and Barricade.  They're all repaint/slight remolds of Siege Prowl, and you can get my full thoughts on the mold by reading my review of that figure here.

Alright, so of the three Barricade is the only one that is (or will be) available at regular retail everywhere.  His aesthetic is based on a drawing Guido Guidi did of Barricade as a Prowl repaint in the old G1 Marvel comics style down to the purple windows and gold face, and this is how Barricade appears in the current IDW ongoing series.  I don't hate it; black and purple are appropriate colors for Barricade, although I could do without the gray stripe on the hood and feet, and earlier prototype pics had him with black forearms and more black on his waist.  But I do think it's super lazy to say, "Barricade is a cop, so let's repaint Prowl."  Aside from a new deco Barricade sports a remolded head, so he's not totally the same as Prowl.

Bluestreak, who is a Walmart-exclusive, is a straight-up repaint of Prowl.  I've got no beef with that, though; that's accurate.

Smokescreen is part of the Generations Selects line, which traditionally has meant Hasbro Pulse-exclusive (although I hear Entertainment Earth is supposed to start officially carrying them, and officially or not I've seen Generations Selects pop up on BBTS, TFSource, Amazon, etc).  Since he's got Barricade's head, I guess he's technically a repaint of Barricade, not Prowl.  And yeah, that head is more G1 cartoon-accurate for Smokescreen.  He looks kind of weird without some racing livery, though, and I feel like he suffers more that the others do for not having the red on his shins frame the windows instead of just sitting at the bottom.  He's also the only one that strikes me as having the wrong deco; his thighs should be silver, and his biceps should be blue.  Finally, I think it's a shame they couldn't do a little more remolding.  I'd have liked if his tires could have been on top of his shoulders, and if they could have given him the racing bumper and rear spoiler that set him apart from the other Datsuns.

They have slightly different accessories, too.  Barricade doesn't get the rifle that Prowl comes with, trading it for a pair of smaller guns.  I'm not a fan of Hasbro using translucent purple for the light bar; there's red paint on the underside, but it comes across as kind of pink if you can see it at all.  Since Bluestreak and Smokescreen aren't cops they keep Prowl's rifle and trade the lightbar in for Barricades's smaller guns.

There are large tabs on the smaller guns fit into the grooves on the hood, and their shape makes them seem pretty obviously Smokescreen's shoulder guns.  Presumably Bluestreak's too, but they're just not cartoon-accurate or toy-accurate enough for my tastes.  However, there are smaller tabs and slots on the tops and half-pegs on the sides.  When you fit the tabs and slots together you'll get one whole peg, making a sort of double-barreled pistol.  This is how Barricade's instructions suggest arming him.  While it's not a perfect fit, the large tabs fit fairly securely into their fists if you'd rather have them dual-wielding single-barreled pistols.  And of course you have the other 5mm peg holes on their bodies, and compatibility with Micromasters, Battlemasters, and Weaponizers.  Personally I'm permanently giving Barricade Micromaster Stakeout, I just need to find a Decepticon sticker small enough to cover the tapoed Autobot emblem on his hood.

All three have Prowl's alt mode.  Like Prowl, they all have translucent tires with painted rims, but the darker translucent used for Bluestreak and Smokescreen looks reasonably like tires.  Not a huge fan of Barricade's purple tires, and as previously mentioned I don't care for the gray stripe or the translucent purple used on his lightbar.  Again, Smokescreen needs some racing livery, or at least a big ol' "38" on his doors and hood.  I guess that's what the little Cybertronian is supposed to say?  Speaking of Cybertronian, you'll note that Barricade's is the same as Prowl's.  I dig that consistency, but in all honesty I ordered the reprolabels for Prowl with the English "Highway Patrol".  Here's hoping they do a set with racing livery for Smokescreen and an English "Police" deco based on the Mustang's deco in the Bayverse films.

Smokescreen and Bluestreak don't seem to have any of the Siege "dirt" paint, which is nice.  Barricade has faux scratches on his front fenders.

The hood grooves are still available for the small guns in alt mode, but the second peg hole on the roof and the peg hole on the rifle give you other options.  Essentially you can have all four versions of this mold armed up slightly different, and that helps them from seeming too samey.

So, moment of truth, do I recommend these guys?  Well, as I noted in my Prowl review, some minor proportion issues aside I like this mold.  Whether or not you skip any really boils down to things like how much you like a given deco, how much you like a given character, or if you feel like you need a War for Cybertron version of these characters.  Honestly, I'm happy to have all of them, but if I were going to prioritize them I'd say Prowl, Barricade, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen.  Prowl's a major G1 character, so you have to have him.  I went with Barricade second because we need more Decepticons, Barricade is my favorite Bayverse Decepticon, and I 100% support making a retroactive G1 character out of him.  Bluestreak third because he was a less important G1 character than Prowl, but this is a good version of him.  Smokescreen last, partly because he was always my least favorite of the Datsun trio, and partly because I feel like I'm going to need to paint his thighs and get some Reprolabels before I'm satisfied with him.