The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[technoblue]

2 hours ago, tekering said:

Takara has been sacrificing the robot mode for the sake of the alt. mode since before they were called Transformers.  

HaHa! Touché. 

Yeah, I prefer the compromises MMC made with their Arcee to make the final figure fun, even though this alt mode is all spiffy and G1. I keep wondering if Takara will do something different with the movie bots but they seem to be of one mind and I'm not really interested in another MP Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus, or even Bee-type design where the alt mode is nice but bot mode looks good only from a few angles. Takara can do better—has done better—so I'll wait for those releases. or whatever comes after Masterpiece.

[M'Kyuun]

Quoting tekering: "Takara has been sacrificing the robot mode for the sake of the alt. mode since before they were called Transformers."

Kinda the nature of the beast with current technologies. If we ever develop shapeshifting materials at a cheap cost, I could see that revolutionizing this hobby. But as long as these are subject to practical mechanical transformations, there's always going to be a give and take relationship between modes. There's definitely a lack of consistency from figure to figure across lines, though- some are fantastic, some are good (they get the job done), and some are very poor. 

My observation is that when Takara was designing the Diaclone and Micro-change lines, the focus was on what we call an alt mode today, and to them the bot mode was the 'alt mode', as that was the gimmick. Over time, with better tech and techniques applied to these toys, our mindset has changed 180, where many of us feel the bot mode should be the primary, with concessions as necessary applied to the alt mode. That's been my mindset ever since I picked up Prowl, my first Transformer, back in '84 and discovered that the box art was a lie and the toy within was a brick. I'm a true believer in the "Robots in Disguise" catchphrase:  make the bot mode the primary focus, and then craft the best possible alt mode within that limitation.

As far as G1 Arcee goes, she's always going to be, at least in part, a shell-former. Her designers did her no favors so far as practicality is concerned (much like the Bayformers). However, we've already seen two arguably better translations, via MMC and Fans Toys, in terms of aesthetics and condensing her car mode into her shoulder pods. We know it can be done better, which makes Takara's attempt a bit disappointing. I've seen arguments concerning the toy's curviness compared to the boxier artwork, and to me, that's likely another artifact of simplification for repetition of cell drawings. Personally, I think she looks better curvy. It's subjective.  Those huge messy pods, though, are a little harder to alibi.  The cut of the chestplate is hard to ignore, too; had they given it a more gradual angle extending up to the shoulders, I think it would have made a markedly better difference. As it is, b/c of the abrupt cut, she looks saggy and unnatural. How Takara could look at this as a final mold against the current competition, I don't know.

Edited May 8, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

MP Arcee just isn't doing it for me.  Maybe if it gets KO'ed cheaply I'll pick up a copy just for the alt mode, but otherwise I'm more than happy with MMC's.

In other news, I got these guys in the mail today: Generations Selects War For Cybertron Soundwave Spy Patrol.  Or, as the box says, "Spy Patrol 3."

There's four figures in the box, and they're all repaints/slight remolds of the previous Spy Patrol pack.  Which is to say that you get "Frenzy" and Knok, who are repaints of "Rumble." That said, I don't care how much Hasbro doubles down on FIBRIR, nor do I care how Takara did it in Japan, I'm FIRRIB for life.  So for the rest of this review Frenzy is the black and red one previously released with Ratbat, and Rumble is the new blue one, ok?  Then, you also get Wingthing (orange) and Skar (purple), who are repaints of Ratbat.

I've already covered the articulation of these figures when I reviewed Frenzy and Ratbat a couple months ago, so I won't go into that now, and like previous set they don't have any accessories.  So this is going to be fairly short, and I guess I'm mostly going to talk about the character and design choices Hasbro did here.

So yeah, Rumble is a straight-up repaint of Frenzy, trading the black torso and head for a dark blue one and the other red bits with a lighter blue.  Although the feet on Rumble aren't painted, and he's got some new red accents on his knees, his legs and forearms are mostly the same black as Frenzy's, which means he's neither toy nor toon accurate, which is kind of a bummer.  That said, even if the color isn't totally right, it feels really good to have Soundwave nearly complete with his Season 1 and 2 minions.  We're still missing Buzzsaw, but he's kind of easy to overlook since he only appeared in maybe four episodes of the cartoon plus the battle of Autobot City in the movie.

Next up is Wingthing.  Now, with the Encore release of Wingthing as an orange repaint of G1 Ratbat and an MP Wingthing that was a TakaraTomy Mall-exclusive repaint of MP Ratbat, it makes some sense for Hasbro to pump out an orange repaint of Siege Ratbat and call it a day.  Wingthing wasn't originally some obscure repaint of Ratbat, though; in the G1 toys he was the transforming weapon that came with Action Master Soundwave.  Somehow that place in G1 history lends Wingthing a little more legitimacy in my eyes, making it easier for me to forgive the fact that we got him in this pack instead of a Buzzsaw repaint of Siege Laserbeak.  With the little fold-out peg on his back you can even attach him to the end of Soundwave's blaster.  See, he's a weapon, not a tape!

To be honest, I rather like the Ratbat mold and Wingthing's colors are kind of awesome.  So he wasn't actually my first pick to ditch for Buzzsaw.  Why not ditch Knok, with vaguely Autobot colors, or Skar, because who needs two purple bats?  And how many obscure tape repaints do we have to suffer before we get Buzzsaw, Slugfest, and Overkill?  Who even is Skar anyway?  Is Knok a new name for Enemy?

But you'll notice that Knock and Skar aren't straight repaints; they both have new heads.  The head on Skar looked super familiar to me, and then it hit me; these guys aren't tapebots at all!  Knok and Skar are the Powermasters that came with G1 Doubledealer.  I'd forgotten their names.  Although I had Doubledealer as a kid he didn't appear in any US G1 fiction and I had no attachment to him.  I was a fan of the Marvel comics, though, and Ratbat's stint as the leader of the Decepticons made an impact on me.  And since I didn't have G1 Ratbat I very clearly remember pretending that G1 Skar was Ratbat.

So, Skar and Knok aren't Soundwave's Spy Patrol, they're Doubledealer's Spy Patrol.  And, although I think it's still a few months out and can't confirm this, apparently Earthrise Doubledealer's chest opens up like Soundwave's so you can store one of these guys inside.

A quick look, should you need it, at their alt modes.  Really nothing we haven't seen already.

So, should you buy this?  I mean, it's $20, and when you look at some of the better Deluxes that came out at the same price it's hard to say that these guys are worth that much.  To be fair, though, that's the same price as two of the previous two-packs that a lot of us already bought so our Soundwaves would have Ravage, Laserbeak, and Frenzy.  On that note, this seems to be the only way to get Rumble (or whichever one you think is the blue one), and Knok and Skar have some value as Doubledealer's partners.  And Wingthing is fine, so if you have Soundwave and/or are planning to get Doubledealer then yes, I'd say you should think about picking it up.  The only real reservation I have is that I'd feel better about recommending this set if Hasbro had replaced Wingthing with Buzzsaw.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

We're still missing Buzzsaw, but he's kind of easy to overlook since he only appeared in maybe four episodes of the cartoon plus the battle of Autobot City in the movie.

Never forget that Buzzsaw one-shotted Omega Supreme in the comics. You underestimate him at your peril.

(Most ridiculous kill in the franchise, I think)

Edited May 9, 2020 by JB0

[David Hingtgen]

I'd REALLY like Skar, as it's perfect and I'm a huge Doubledealer fan and am definitely getting the new Leader, but Knok just doesn't remind me of the original much, and $20 for basically one cassette is too much.  (I don't own any Soundwave/Blaster mold that could use any tapes)

[mikeszekely]

27 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

I'd REALLY like Skar, as it's perfect and I'm a huge Doubledealer fan and am definitely getting the new Leader, but Knok just doesn't remind me of the original much, and $20 for basically one cassette is too much.  (I don't own any Soundwave/Blaster mold that could use any tapes)

You could probably sell Rumble/Frenzy for a decent price to someone who just wanted to complete Soundwave's tapes, though.

[mikeszekely]

We might still be on lockdown, but that doesn't mean that I can't look at the toy section while I happen to be getting my essentials (unless you live in Michigan or something where they were forcing Walmarts to close off some aisles).  Although, I can't say I actually saw much.  Lots of Earthrise Micromasters, Siege Shockwaves galore, some recent (but not super recent) Studio Series stuff... and this guy:  Earthrise Deluxe-class Ironworks.

Here's the thing about Ironworks... the G1 version was a Micromaster that turned into a truck and came packaged with a base.  We actually got a Micromaster that turned into a truck named Irontread in that Target 10-pack that was clearly meant to be a modern version of that Micromaster.  Meanwhile, Earthrise Ironworks doesn't bear a ton of resemblance to the G1 version.  He's got some yellow on his arms, ok, although the original had totally yellow arms.  He's got some black on his shins, ok, but the original had black legs the whole way up.  He does have a red face, but with a visor and mask, while as near as I can tell G1 Ironworks had an actual molded face.  He does have the red patch on just one one side of his chest, but it's on a gunmetal piece on a largely black torso, while the G1 version had a torso more similar in color to this one's thighs.  Ultimately Earthrise Ironworks is so different from G1 Ironworks that the similarities feel more like coincidences than callbacks.

Ironworks does come with two little guns.  Note that the the barrel of one is a 5mm port, and the butt of the other is a 5mm peg, so the two can be combined into one rifle.

Ironworks' head is on a ball joint, so he can look up a little, down just a taste, and turn his head (sideways tilt is minimal). His shoulders can rotate and extend 90 degrees laterally.  His biceps swivel.  His right arm has a single elbow hinge that bends 90 degrees.  His left arm is double-jointed and can technically bend a combined 180 degrees.  However, engaging the upper joint will cause his bicep to collide with the yellow panel on the outside of his arm, limiting the swivel.  If you want the full swivel you really have just 90 degrees at the lower joint.  His left wrist (the actual hand) is fixed, but the black hook he has for a right hand does swivel.  Due to how he's built he does have a waist swivel, but it's limited to about 20 degrees in either direction.  His hips can go forward 90 degrees, backward just a little, and laterally over 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel.  His knees can bend nearly 180 degrees.  His feet do not tilt up or down, but they can pivot up to 90 degrees.

Ironworks has a bit fewer 5mm ports than you're probably used to these days.  He does have his hand, of course.  Additionally there's one on his right shoulder (the pad itself moves around the joint, so it can be positioned either on top or on the outside), one at the end of his right forearm, one on the inside of his left forearm, one on each knee, and one under each foot.  Should they be of use to you there's a flip-out 5mm peg in the middle of his chest, and another poking out from under his left fist.

When we flip Ironworks to alt mode we see that he's not a truck.  Instead, he turns into the base that came with his G1 namesake.  The resemblance here, with the official transformation, is a bit better, with the largely raised rectangular base, the ramp leading up to it, and the crane atop a raised "building".  Of course the colors are quite different, with much less yellow, much more black, the addition of gunmetal, and no real red.  Although I don't have the G1 version to compare it to I suspect that ER Ironworks is smaller than the original, as the base is comparable in size to a Deluxe car.  The actual engineering is less transformation and more ripping him apart and sticking the pieces together in a different configuration, and the resulting alt mode doesn't hold together particularly well.

As a base it doesn't do much.  The ramp can hinge, and you can use the connection points to attach other ramps (like the trailer door/shield from Earthrise Prime).  You can also use those connection points to attach him to Siege Omega Supreme, or presumably other bases they'll make like the impending releases of Airwave and Scorponok (although I remind you again that these connectors are NOT compatible with the ones from Titans Return and Power of the Primes, which is beyond dumb).  The crane can swivel at the base and hinge up and down.  Technically it can swivel and hinge up where the middle yellow part connects to the black, and swivel again where the black hook connects to the yellow part due to those being arm joints, but the hook itself can't hinge or move on any sort of cable.  There's room for a Micromaster to sit on the deck.

Of course, as I mentioned, Ironworks actually comes apart, so you're not limited to the official alt mode.  The instructions suggest building a bridge, but you can find places to stick on the other parts.  I'll mention here that the G1 base could transform into something like a windmill with a gun and a basket on it, and although I didn't try it you can apparently get something tower-like, with something like a basket, and you can stick the gun on the crane and put it where the original had its gun, and get something approximating the G1 base's other mode, sans windmill.

What's more, Ironwork's various pieces have enough 5mm pegs on them that you can use him to armor up other Siege and Earthrise figures like a Weaponizer.  Here's how his instructions direct you to armor up ER Wheeljack.  Note that the scoop on his left arm, while looking kind of cool, is actually a tad heavy for that arm.

Ok, what I'm about to say will seem like a tangent, but I'm going somewhere with it.  The citybots were a big deal, even back at the time.  Enough so that if you had one you definitely remember it. You remember their appearances in the cartoon and possibly the old Marvel comics.  A lot of us bought the new Titan versions.  It was cool getting Scamper and Full Tilt with Metroplex and Trypticon, and Cog, Sixgun, and Brunt (and eventually Fasttrack) was cool because it helped complete those new citybots (although I'd actually kill for a newer Deluxe-class Scamper and a transforming Deluxe-class Slammer).  I think that desire to have with our Titan citybots what we had with the G1 versions helped us, or at least me, forgive some goofiness like Sixgun's "jet" mode.  The Weaponizer play pattern was kind of a bonus, but it was really their ties to the citybots that sold me on them.

Ironworks doesn't have that luxury.  The play pattern itself is not a strong selling point.  Coming as late as they did in G1 and without a ton of fiction behind them (nothing in the cartoon, some Marvel comics appearances) I don't think many of us have the same nostalgia for Micromaster bases as we do a lot of other stuff in the franchise.  What's more, two tiny figures with extremely simple engineering and limited articulation, coming it at half the price of a Deluxe for maybe quarter of the plastic, hasn't been what I'd consider to be a good value.  I've avoided buying most of the new Siege/Earthrise Micromaster sets, and I don't think I've really recommended any except for Soundwave's tapes.  Consequently I don't think that taking a Micromaster base and turning it into a Deluxe-class figure that doesn't resemble or come with actual Micromaster its named for is one of Hasbro's better moves.  While not necessarily a bad figure, Ironworks is simply the least-interesting regular Deluxe retail release to come out since the whole War for Cybertron reboot began.  You might enjoy this figure if you have some attachment to the G1 base, or if you're planning to get and link more bases together, but I think for the majority this is an easy pass.

[nhyone]

On 5/9/2020 at 12:51 AM, technoblue said:

I do like her alt mode. But alas, I think Arcee is turning out to be like Hot Rod where only that alt mode is looking to be accurate.

Other than her chest, is there any part of her bot mode that is used in car mode?

This is just like Haslab Unicron. The alt mode can look good cos it is single-purpose. (Just hang the whole thing off her back.)

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, nhyone said:

Other than her chest, is there any part of her bot mode that is used in car mode?

Not that I can see.

10 hours ago, nhyone said:

This is just like Haslab Unicron. The alt mode can look good cos it is single-purpose. (Just hang the whole thing off her back.)

True, but I do like that Unicron's arms fold and form a decent chunk of the equator on the planet's backside like in the movie. But that the remaining 90 percent of his transformation is shell-forming, especially after seeing Zeta's, is a bit disheartening. I'm not a fan of shell-forming b/c it's essentially a cheat, the result of which is usually large unsightly stuff hanging off the bot mode. Unicron and MP Arcee prove the point. 

That said, I don't know if we'll ever get a better official Unicron toy in my lifetime, so I bit the bullet. No regrets thus far, but, for the exuberant price, that thing better be completely free of issues, lazy shell-forming engineering notwithstanding. I own MMC's Azalea, and from what I'm seeing of MP Arcee, I already own the superior toy.

[mikeszekely]

On 3/26/2020 at 3:14 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Looks really nice, Mike, especially the trailer.  I didn't realize just how blah that thing looked until I saw it next to your 'after' pic. What a difference.

Still waiting for Sure Thing to ship my copy, but seeing the possibilities makes me think about, at the very least, painting some of the same areas on mine. I gotta wonder what HasTak were thinking putting all that grey plastic into Prime's legs.  I'm not crazy about putting that many stickers on the trailer, so I may forgo the stickers, but I may have to paint a few things.

Now all you need is Roller.

 

On 3/26/2020 at 10:28 AM, mikeszekely said:

I'm working on it. 

I'll be discussing this in the 3P thread... eventually.  See, the people that made it decided to follow up with a second upgrade, so I decided to order it as well and I'll talk about both of them at the same time.  For now, just know if you need a Roller for Earthrise Prime that this is the ZXB-01A upgrade kit, it is 3D printed in China, and that despite being 3D printed it's extremely well done.  I picked it up for $18 at TF Safari.

[Sildani]

Found War For Cybertron Hound and Chromia at my local WalMart, rare they get anything out on the shelf. 

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Sildani said:

Found War For Cybertron Hound and Chromia at my local WalMart, rare they get anything out on the shelf. 

At first I was like, "what, they've been out for like a year!"  Then I remembered that Walmart's got those exclusive Netflix ones.

Been a long time since I went to Walmart.  We're supposed to start relaxing restrictions here soon, maybe I'll swing by since the stuff I preordered from Walmart.com the day preorders went up got pushed to June.

[Sildani]

Yep, those. They’re not bad really. 

[mikeszekely]

@anime52k8

Are you the target audience for this?

This is apparently a real thing, a comic book miniseries coming this summer.

[anime52k8]

I'm not at all surprised by this.

[Sildani]

Surprised the Real Ghostbusters haven’t been wedged into this somehow. 

[mark-1s]

As long as the My Little Pony characters are the main antagonists, I'm in!

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Sildani said:

Surprised the Real Ghostbusters haven’t been wedged into this somehow. 

Wedged into which?  Transformers?  That happened.

Or MLP?  Because that's happening (although I don't know about a comic for it yet.

[Tking22]

I randomly saw a Siege Jetfire/Skyfire last night at Target, on clearance, for $35. For that price, I couldn't pass. He's a neat figure, the Siege mainline stuff has been very impressive IMO, the heavy G1 influence is right up my alley.

I'm done with my MP collection though and have no interest in starting another line, but it's definitely a cool figure, if I didn't have Phoenix or couldn't afford/find a FT Phoenix I'd probably be able to settle for him as an MP Skyfire/Jetfire, but I have Phoenix and he's the best MP Skyfire that may ever be made :). Saw Siege Prime too, on clearance, but like I said, I just can't start another line, Prime would lead to far more, then more, and I can't. 

[M'Kyuun]

I'm not a big crossover fan. The only one that ever made sense to me was Transformers and GI Joe, as that could have generated a cool toy line. Ponies or Ghostbusters? No thanks.

Got the Cassette Spy Patrol pack yesterday, and they're adorable. I wish they'd given the dude bots little ball socketed elbows, but as they are, they're fun little figs. I never found Frenzy/Ratbat, so these are the only versions of the two molds I own. I'm really hoping there'll be an Earthrise Soundwave, as I skipped the Siege version due to his crappy alt mode. Still on the fence over whether or not to get Doubledealer. I'm not too plussed about his alt modes, and I have no connection to him other than as a toy. If I see him in the store, I might snag him, but otherwise, probably not.

[mikeszekely]

I don't mind crossovers when they're good.  IDW did two TMNT/Ghostbusters crossovers and three TMNT/Batman crossovers, plus they're one issue from finishing a TMNT/Power Rangers crossover, and they've all been pretty good.

The Transformers ones they've done so far (Transformers/Star Trek and Transformers/Ghostbusters) were both pretty bad, though.  I did read the first issue of the Transformers/Terminator series and it's too early to tell, but let's say I don't have high hopes for the Transformers/My Little Pony crossover.

[Sildani]

6 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I randomly saw a Siege Jetfire/Skyfire last night at Target, on clearance, for $35. For that price, I couldn't pass. He's a neat figure, the Siege mainline stuff has been very impressive IMO, the heavy G1 influence is right up my alley.

I'm done with my MP collection though and have no interest in starting another line, but it's definitely a cool figure, if I didn't have Phoenix or couldn't afford/find a FT Phoenix I'd probably be able to settle for him as an MP Skyfire/Jetfire, but I have Phoenix and he's the best MP Skyfire that may ever be made :). Saw Siege Prime too, on clearance, but like I said, I just can't start another line, Prime would lead to far more, then more, and I can't. 

Wow! What a steal, well done. If you see another one for that money, please let me know!

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't mind crossovers when they're good.  IDW did two TMNT/Ghostbusters crossovers and three TMNT/Batman crossovers, plus they're one issue from finishing a TMNT/Power Rangers crossover, and they've all been pretty good.

The Transformers ones they've done so far (Transformers/Star Trek and Transformers/Ghostbusters) were both pretty bad, though.  I did read the first issue of the Transformers/Terminator series and it's too early to tell, but let's say I don't have high hopes for the Transformers/My Little Pony crossover.

Honestly, what's the point, especially when the there's little to no relationship between the properties being crossed? It sounds more like fanboy wish-fulfillment than something that makes practical sense. From your comments, it doesn't sound like they really work out well on the page, for the most part.

Earthrise reveals and releases seem to have slowed to a drip. I was hoping more figures would be revealed- Ironhide/Ratchet, the Datsun bros, Mirage, more minibots, Soundwave, etc with their Earth alt modes, but all's been quiet since NYTF. I wouldn't have minded a new Cyclonus mold, either, as the CW version was abysmal, and Universe Cyclonus wasn't very G1 accurate. I like that mold, but given the G1-centric bent of Siege/Earthrise, a new Geewunnier mold would be apropos and long overdue.

5 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Wow! What a steal, well done. If you see another one for that money, please let me know!

Indeed, good find. Even at full MSRP, which I paid, I still feel it was a good buy, but getting Jetfire at that price is a total win.

[mikeszekely]

I don't really know what's up with the Cybervese Delxues.  I was pretty interested when the first four came out around Christmas; while the toys that seemed to crowd the shelves were probably fine for the show's younger target audience the Warrior-class stuff was lacking in articulation and show-accuracy.  And, aside from lacking in some painted details, the first four Deluxes mostly delivered.  Then I thought the next four would be a second wave, and at some point they'd announce characters for a third wave (hopefully with more Decepticons, since Megatron and Shockwave are the only two in the first eight), but instead it looks like just two more have trickled out with the last two coming in the late summer or fall.

Well, I want to finish my build-a-figure, so I ordered the two available.  This is Cyberverse Deluxe Hot Rod.

I said that the other Cyberverse Deluxes could use a bit more painted detail, but Hot Rod is taking the lack thereof to an extreme.  Most of him is unpainted red plastic, and a lot of the details on his body are lost in all that red.  The lights and vents on his chest aren't painted, his lats and his pelvis details aren't painted, and his knees aren't painted.  His shoulders are painted, but just black with none of the blue or what.  The chevrons on his legs are all painted orange, but they should be different colors ranging from a dark red for the first ones to yellow for the bottom ones, plus they should be on silver stripe.  His feet are a grayish-silver plastic when they need to be darker, like his neck.  And while they did paint his legs orange they did a poor job of it, stopping before the edges and with noticeable scratches on my copy.  It really baffles me why they just didn't use orange plastic.  Then, worst of all, his wings are unpainted red plastic.  They should be yellow, of course, and as with his thighs I don't understand why they didn't just make them out of yellow plastic.

If you overlook the cheap, lazy deco he does otherwise have better proportions and greater show accuracy than previous Cyberverse Hot Rods, as long as you ignore the backpack.

Hot Rod comes with Maccadam's other leg (just two upper arms, one forearm, and a head to go!), and a pair of flame effect parts.  He doesn't get a weapon.

Hot Rod's head is on a ball joint, with a swivel and adequate sideways tilt but minimal up and no downward tilt.  His shoulders are on ball joints that allow for rotation but only a bit over 45 degrees of lateral movement.  He has a ball joint for an elbow, and that joint doubles as a bicep swivel.  His elbow can bend 90 degrees at the ball, but another hinge allows him to curl his elbow 180 degrees.  His wrists and waist can swivel.  His hips are ball joints that bend 90 degrees forward, 45 degrees backward, and 90 degrees laterally.  Despite having his hip on a ball he also has a cut thigh swivel.  His knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt down 90 degrees, up a little bit, and his ankles can pivot 45 degrees.

His flames have a pair of tabs on the sides.  These tabs fit around the end of the middle pipe on either arm and into slots nestled between them.  They do also have round ports for plugging onto the tips of other guns from Cyberverse and Siege, or the little blisters on Siege figures.

Hot Rod's engineering is extremely similar to the G1 toy.  The legs collapse, the arms pinch in, and the toes fold up.  The difference is that much of the hood and front end isn't his chest, it's unfolded from his backpack.  And only part of his backpack spins around to make the tail.

Hot Rod's alt mode has the same problem that he has in robot mode- right shape, missing colored detail.  His headlights and vents are painted, but he's missing the flames and Autobot insignia on his hood. The spoiler on his front bumper and his side mirrors should be yellow, and his missing some silver in the middle of his rear wing (which, as near as I can tell, actually should be mostly red).  The chevrons on his doors have the same problem as his legs; missing color variation, missing the silver behind them.  And it's a shame they couldn't have tucked his feet in a bit better.

He rolls, and the flames can still connect to the same spots while he's in alt mode to give the appearance of flames shooting out his exhausts.

Warrior-class figures might have been lacking in many ways, but I could excuse that.  I mean, they're cheaper, and I could say that I just wasn't the target audience.  But if you're going to call something a Deluxe and charge the same price as a Siege Deluxe then I'm going to expect a certain level of quality, and Hasbro can't hand wave that lack of quality by sahying I'm not the target audience.  Kids shouldn't have to put up with getting ripped off and Hasbro shouldn't be taking advantage of parents.  If I just limit my comparison to the other Cyberverse Deluxes Hot Rod has fewer accessories, simpler engineering, and the laziest deco, making him the worst of the five I've looked at.  But if I expand my comparison to include what Hasbro is doing at this price for Siege and Earthrise Deluxes the lack of really basic stuff like the flames on the hood of the car or the yellow on his wings becomes inexcusable.  If you're a Hot Rod fan and handy with the paints or you're committed to the whole line because you want to build Maccadam I wouldn't go so far as to say that Hot Rod is bad.  But he fails to justify his price tag, so if you're picking and choosing with this line then you should probably pass on this one.

[M'Kyuun]

I haven't bought any TFs aimed at the younger fans since the Robots in Disguise line, which had a number of innovative deluxe (warrior class) figures (Bisk, Thunderhoof, Grimlock, & Scorponok stand out in my mind). I liked the overall aesthetic to this line, and while I picked and chose the figs that appealed to me, I found them to be fun figures that sometimes had inspired transformations. I still regret that I never picked up Steeljaw despite having had many opportunities to do so. It took a while, but the animalistic overtones to the bot, and sometimes vehicle, modes grew on me, and I thought they were cleverly done.

The Cyberverse toys, which I assume are based off a cartoon continuation from RiD, have looked increasingly less refined, and honestly, looking at Hot Rod and Bee in Mike's review, I'm not crazy about the style, especially the vehicle modes.  As Mike said, these retail for the same, or roughly the same price as Earthrise deluxes, but there's a gulf in overall quality between one line and the other, and that's not cool, especially when we've received better in the past. C'mon Hasbro.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The new pics of MP Arcee leaves me hopeful that it's going to be a good one.  Serving as a foil for all this is remembering the stories of the fragility of MP Hound.

[mikeszekely]

Looks like MP Arcee will come with two pistols, a rifle, a pistol holster, three faces, three blast effects, that spiked probe she tripped up a Junkion with in the movie, and an entire car folded up onto her back.  MSRP $150.

Edited May 14, 2020 by mikeszekely

[tekering]

18 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

MSRP $150.

Wow, TakaraTomy.  You've really outdone yourself!  That's the easiest pass yet.  

[mark-1s]

Test shot of the upcoming Unicron: 

 

More new pics:  https://news.tfw2005.com/2020/05/08/haslab-war-for-cybertron-unicron-production-update-2-test-shot-packaging-411134

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Wow, TakaraTomy.  You've really outdone yourself!  That's the easiest pass yet.  

They've all been pretty easy for me.  I don't think I've bought an official MP since Ironhide, and the only ones that were ever even in the running were Inferno (but I decided to stick with MMC's) and Sunstreaker (I kept BadCube's).

I thought I already posted this, but I guess it didn't take or I wrote it but closed the browser before I actually posted.  But anyway... Generations Selects God Neptune.

I've always liked God Neptune's colors and I'd probably be in for this if it were cheaper.  But Siege and Earthrise have spoiled me with good joint tolerances and ankle tilts.  The Combiner Wars/Power of the Primes engineering just isn't worth dumping another almost $200 for a repaint.

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, mark-1s said:

Test shot of the upcoming Unicron: 

 

More new pics:  https://news.tfw2005.com/2020/05/08/haslab-war-for-cybertron-unicron-production-update-2-test-shot-packaging-411134

Wait is Zeta still moving forward with Core Star? I thought they had to kill it because it was blatantly better then the Haslab official Unicron and Hasbro actually came after them? If it's still happening I'm absolutely in for one still, that thing looked incredible in that transformation demo.

[jenius]

That is the HasLab Unicron.

[mikeszekely]

44 minutes ago, Tking22 said:

Wait is Zeta still moving forward with Core Star? I thought they had to kill it because it was blatantly better then the Haslab official Unicron and Hasbro actually came after them? If it's still happening I'm absolutely in for one still, that thing looked incredible in that transformation demo.

As @jenius said, that's the Haslab one.

That said, Zeta supposedly sold off the design or rebranded, and it is still coming this summer.  The brand is now 01-Studio, and they're calling the figure Cell.  ShowZ Store is taking preorders, supposedly I locked in my price it's been creeping up (it's currently $350, and I don't think shipping is free right now).  Ben over at Ben's Collectibles got to show off a headless, wingless sample on his Youtube channel.

[technoblue]

So HasTak is supposed to be releasing three different versions of Arcee this year. One in Cyberverse style, one in Earthrise style, and one in Masterpiece style. I thought I would make a quick and dirty cropped image comparing each. So, seeing them all together like this I have to admit that I'm not too fussed by the engineering on any of them. Large backpacks, parts-forming, and stylized features be damned!

What does stand out, though, is the odd choral colors on the Masterpiece figure. It's messing with my eyes.

[mikeszekely]

36 minutes ago, technoblue said:

So HasTak is supposed to be releasing three different versions of Arcee this year. One in Cyberverse style, one in Earthrise style, and one in Masterpiece style. I thought I would make a quick and dirty cropped image comparing each. So, seeing them all together like this I have to admit that I'm not too fussed by the engineering on any of them. Large backpacks, parts-forming, and stylized features be damned!

What does stand out, though, is the odd choral colors on the Masterpiece figure. It's messing with my eyes.

I'm planning on getting both the Cyberverse and Earthrise versions, but I'm afraid you'll have to go to one of the popular reviewers if you want to hear about the MP one since I'm taking a pass on it.