The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

In case you missed it, today's Generations Selects drop is a two-pack of Shattered Glass Optimus and Ratchet.

I'm not into Shattered Glass, but for some reason I am into different colors of Prime, so I preordered at Hasrbo Pulse.

[M'Kyuun]

Not feeling the Shattered Glass stuff. Incidentally, TonTon had some interesting commentary on his review of ER Ratchet. To put it succinctly, he's not a fan. He didn't care for Warpath, either, citing the uni-boob at one point. It looks great to me, but then I'm biased by nostalgia. As good as the Generations Warpath figure turned out, this one really captures the essence of the G1 character in both modes. As I've said before, ER is so hit and miss, but Warpath is a definite hit in my book.

[mikeszekely]

I'm reserving judgement until I have a figure in hand, but I've got preorders in for just about everything Earthrise/Gen Selects lately, and I intend on getting the Kingdom stuff leaked so far.

Speaking of judgement, I got a figure in the mail today I'd like to review, only to realize that I never actually reviewed the figure that's the best direct comparison.  So consider this a twofer- Takara Legends LG10 Arcee (left) and Earthrise Deluxe-class Arcee (right).

Well, the Takara has more paint, and it's more accurately placed.  She's got the fleshy-pink on her hands, biceps, and face, which ER Arcee left white.  She's got gray for the grill on her torso, which ER again left white.  Likewise, Takara's got gray around the ankles, ER is white, and Takara has white feet while ER has pink.  Both have pink for the pelvis and gray for the abs, but for ER it's just on the front half.  Her whole back is white.  ER's face is looking a bit gaunt, and she really needs some lipstick.  Now, while the Takara release has more accurate colors than ER, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the Hasbro release of the Legends mold, Thrilling 30 Arcee, had a much less accurate deco.

When judging the aesthetics I'm forced to consider that I can live with most of ER Arcee's deviations, and perhaps even fix some of them with a little paint.  What I can't fix is the weirdly organic-looking belly fat and extra-wide hips on the Takara/Thrilling 30 mold.

There's also the backpacks to consider.  Both have ginormous backpacks that contain the bulk of their alt modes.  I think Hasbro must have been paying attention when the older Arcee figure got KO'ed, though, because there's a latch on the side of ER Arcee's backpack that lets you detach a little over half of it.  Now, if you really hate partsforming know that at no point does the backpack have to be removed.  Unlike Cliffjumper's it's designed to stay attached during transformation.  If you want a cleaner robot, though, it's nice to at least have the option.

Hasbro at least cooked up a reason for removing it, even if it's a bit flimsy.  The sides can splay out, and there are a pair of the smaller pegs used for mounting blast effects on the white section.  Arcee has small holes under her toes that plug into those pegs, allowing her to ride her alt mode kibble like some kind of hoverboard.  Does that make the kibble an accessory?

Well, in terms of actual accessories the older Arcee has the newer one beat.  She's got a pair of guns plus a pair of translucent swords.  ER Arcee has one milky translucent pistol.

Both Arcees can hold all of their accessories.

Both Arcees can store all their accessories when their not holding them.

And, if it matters to you, even though Takara Arcee's hands are molded into kind of rectangular grips and ER's are molded into the usual 5mm peg hole shape, both Arcees are capable of holding the other's accessories.  I just can't guarantee that they can store each other's accessories.

Earthrise Arcee wins the articulation department.  Takara can look up, nothing really down, minimal sideways tilt, and can swivel at the neck.  ER can just swivel.  Takara has ball joints at the shoulders for rotation and under 90 degrees of lateral movement.  ER has universal joints at the shoulders so she can rotate and move laterally 180 degrees.  Both have bicep swivels.  Takara's elbows are detented and bend 160 degrees.  ER's elbows don't have the detents, and bend nearly as much.  Takara's wrists are fixed, ER's don't swivel but for some reason are hinged and can bend inward.  Takara's got nothing at the waist, ER does have a waist swivel.  Takara's hips can go forward 90 degrees, limited backward, and laterally about 60 degrees.  ER can do 90 degrees forward, 45 degrees backward, and 60 degrees laterally.  Takara has a thigh swivel just above the knee, ER has one mid-thigh.  Takara has a single knee joint that gets around 120 degrees of bend.  ER has a double-jointed knee that gets the full 180.  Takara's feet can tilt up and down, but she's got no ankle pivot.  ER's feet can tilt up and down, plus she's got 45 degrees of ankle pivot.  Note also that, at least on my copies, the up/down tilt hinges on their feet are much tighter on the ER figure, and combined with her larger heels she's much less prone to tipping over.

On to the alt modes.  Again, the newer figure could use a few more paint apps- the grill, the headlights, a little more white around the rear, and a gray section along the sides of her cockpit.  On the other hand, most of her rear is correctly pink because she doesn't have most of her thighs showing.  Both figures have some interior detailing, and both have translucent blue windows.  Oddly, ER also has translucent plastic for the fin on the back.  On the whole, I do think I prefer the older figure's alt mode, as it's got dramatic, sweeping curves while ER Arcee looks a bit blocky.  It's interesting to me, though, how close the shape of ER Arcee is to MMC's Azalea.

Both figures have places you can mount their accessories onto their exteriors.

ER Arcee can also store her gun under her front end.  Takara Arcee has room for gun storage underneath, too, with the littler one going between her arms and the bigger one attaching under her rear, but there doesn't seem to be a more hidden spot for storing her swords.

While you're looking at the underside, you might notice that the older figure looks a bit more transformed, while the newer ER figure just looks like she got run over and dragged by her alt mode.

Make no mistake, though, that doesn't mean that the older figure has more impressive engineering.  At the end of the day this is how much of their alt modes each is carrying in their backpack.  For Earthrise, yes, it's all of it.  But for Takara it's everything but the rear fenders and a bit of the nose.  Neither are impressive.  And by moving that last little bit of the alt mode to the backpack ER Arcee gained better proportions and articulation, plus the ability to remove part of her backpack can optionally make her cleaner overall.

At the end of the day I think it's hard to take a robot with a very feminine human figure and minimal kibble and turn it into anything resembling the sleek and curvy sports car alt mode G1 Arcee was given.  That's not to say that it can't be done- Fans Toys did a good job with both modes, at the cost of some of the worst engineering I've seen on a transforming toy, and MMC did a great job with their robot mode at the cost of a few sacrifices to vehicle mode.  But can it be done in a mass-market retail toy with a $20 price tag?  That seems a taller challenge.  Sacrifices are made, and while ER Arcee's design might seem lazier than LG10/Thrilling 30's the simple fact is that ER Arcee's robot mode is better off for it.  Is ER Arcee a great figure?  No.  But she's also not the worst figure in the War For Cybertron Trilogy, and I give her the nod over the earlier Arcee figure (or a weird repaint of Blurr).  I'll give her a recommend.

 

[M'Kyuun]

I've harshly criticized ER Arcee since she was first revealed, but I am glad that, unlike Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, and the ER vans, partsforming isn't a requisite to transformation. I think I would have liked her better, though if at least her chest formed the front of the car- it's a minimal but iconic part of her alt mode that can be seen in her bot mode, and I wish they'd just put that bit of engineering into her. To that end, I still favor the T30 over the ER. I like the transformation, regardless of the concessions to her bot mode.  MMC's Azalea is the perfect amalgamation of these two figs- better bot proportions and articulation, but with a similar transformation to the T30.

I get the sense that ER Arcee will be a more fun figure to mess with, due to the nearly non-existent transformation, impressive articulation, and ability to chuck 2/3 of her backpack. As an action figure, she's excellent. As a Transformer, she's just meh. 

I'll find out soon enough, as my copy should be showing up any day now.

[mikeszekely]

With last week's announcement of a Gen Selects Cordon I really needed a Clampdown.  Couldn't wait on Hasbro.

And since you can't get Cordon without taking Spinout, and since I'd already preordered Tigertrack, looks like I'll have both molds in red, yellow, and police.

[mikeszekely]

Runabout is definitely coming.  Question is when?

 

Also, this is interesting.  Some kind of two-pack to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Transformers Prime.  Looks to contain Breakdown and a Vehicon, but whether they're reissues or new molds or what I don't know.  Also curious to see if there will be more Prime anniversary sets.

[danth]

51 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Red on black is so much better than gold on white!

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Runabout is definitely coming.  Question is when?

 

Also, this is interesting.  Some kind of two-pack to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Transformers Prime.  Looks to contain Breakdown and a Vehicon, but whether they're reissues or new molds or what I don't know.  Also curious to see if there will be more Prime anniversary sets.

Runabout was a foregone conclusion, but I agree with Danth- much nicer color scheme. I already have Runamuck PO'd, but I prefer Runabout's colors, so looks like I'll be getting them both.

So they'll celebrate the tenth anniversary of Prime with a couple figs, but not Animated.  Anyway, the regular retail Vehicon was already one of the best figs in the line; the transformation mechanics made that figure stand out. It was one of the few retail figs that was better than its First Edition counterparts. I'm dubious that they could top it. Both of these seem odd choices for anniversary releases, which are usually prominent characters; Breakdown was second or third tier, and the Vehicon was the mass produced cannon fodder of the series. Oh well. I don't think I bought a Breakdown toy, so if this one turns out OK, I may just remedy that omission.

I had to make a Wally stop today, and was pleasantly surprised to see both ER Snapdragon and Starscream on the shelf. For the past several years, my local Wally seldom ever carries anything over deluxe scale. They had the Netflix deluxes as well, but none of the new figs, which I've got PO'd anyway. I just don't trust retail anymore to carry this stuff, at least not with any reliability. Anyway, I hope that voyagers will become a regularly stocked item again. I miss just going to the store and picking up the odd TF fig that I want like I used to. Poor distro, scalpers, and likely spotty ordering has made trying to find these things in store nigh impossible. I hope that's changing for the better.

Edited September 10, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

So they'll celebrate the tenth anniversary of Prime with a couple figs, but not Animated. 

I'd complain, but as much as I liked the story I never really liked the toys as I didn't think the art style translated well into 3D.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, the regular retail Vehicon was already one of the best figs in the line; the transformation mechanics made that figure stand out. It was one of the few retail figs that was better than its First Edition counterparts. I'm dubious that they could top it.

It may be a reissue of the RiD Vehicon.  I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for a white jet Vehicon, though.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Both of these seem odd choices for anniversary releases, which are usually prominent characters; Breakdown was second or third tier, and the Vehicon was the mass produced cannon fodder of the series. Oh well. I don't think I bought a Breakdown toy, so if this one turns out OK, I may just remedy that omission.

Actually, Breakdown will likely have a lot of people interested, because the only Breakdown released here in the States was a little Cyberverse toy.  In Japan he got a proper Voyager-class figure, but apparently the cost to manufacture it was higher than normal.  In Japan they just charged more, but in the States Hasbro couldn't afford to sell it at $20 or whatever a Voyager cost then.  I myself imported Silas Breakdown, a black repaint with a new grill, just to have any Breakdown, but even then the cost of importing the original was too high.  Today you're not likely to find a non-Silas Breakdown for under $500 on ebay.

Side note... the Japanese name for the original release was War Breakdown.  Like it says on this new box.  So if I had to guess, i'll be a reissue of that figure, plus a reissue of either the FE or RID Vehicon.

[derex3592]

https://tfsource.com/transformers-war-for-cybertron-siege/commander-jetfire/reissue/

 

Anyone here going for the reissue?  I think I am pulling the trigger on this 100%.  Does anyone here have the previous release?  I've seen only good things on my usual go to YouTube TF reviewers..I've ALWAYS wanted a Skyfire, I had the chunky  monkey "Jetfire" in the 80's, and played with it as a Robotech toy, but I never understood WHY they never came out with a Skyfire that looked like the G1 cartoon. I missed the Fantoys special metallic one they did a few years back, and honestly it's just to HUGE anyways, not to mention $$$ if you can even find one on Evilbay.  This one looks great in both modes to me, has good articulation, I LOVE the flippable logo, he comes with cool "Fast Pack" looking add on's and wont' break the bank. I think I'm all in unless you guys throw up a red flag! 

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'd complain, but as much as I liked the story I never really liked the toys as I didn't think the art style translated well into 3D.

We shall agree to disagree. IMHO, given the extremely stylistic nature of the art direction, I thought Takara did an amazing job translating that look into functional toys. The translation was lost on a few (Sentinel Prime is ,ahem, a prime example), but overall, I think, for what they had to work from, they did a pretty good job.  Animated is still one of my favorite TF shows and toylines, and most of my Animated collection is on permanent display on my desk.

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

It may be a reissue of the RiD Vehicon.  I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for a white jet Vehicon, though.

Yes and yes. The FE was crap compared to the lithe and compact RiD version. I always wanted the flying Vehicon, but never got one. Getting it, and getting it in commander colors, would be wonderful.

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Actually, Breakdown will likely have a lot of people interested, because the only Breakdown released here in the States was a little Cyberverse toy.  In Japan he got a proper Voyager-class figure, but apparently the cost to manufacture it was higher than normal.  In Japan they just charged more, but in the States Hasbro couldn't afford to sell it at $20 or whatever a Voyager cost then.  I myself imported Silas Breakdown, a black repaint with a new grill, just to have any Breakdown, but even then the cost of importing the original was too high.  Today you're not likely to find a non-Silas Breakdown for under $500 on ebay.

Side note... the Japanese name for the original release was War Breakdown.  Like it says on this new box.  So if I had to guess, i'll be a reissue of that figure, plus a reissue of either the FE or RID Vehicon.

That would explain why I never got Breakdown. At that time, I wasn't buying stuff online much, and the cost probably put me off. I recall being aware there was a voyager fig that fit with the rest of the line (so far as retail figs, I pretty much only collect main line), but I don't know if I was aware at the time that it was a Takara exclusive.  Anyway, if they do re-release that fig, I might be down for it, too. I liked the Prime show and toyline, and I still have many of them on the shelves in my cave.

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Anyone here going for the reissue?  I think I am pulling the trigger on this 100%.  Does anyone here have the previous release?  I've seen only good things on my usual go to YouTube TF reviewers..I've ALWAYS wanted a Skyfire, I had the chunky  monkey "Jetfire" in the 80's, and played with it as a Robotech toy, but I never understood WHY they never came out with a Skyfire that looked like the G1 cartoon. I missed the Fantoys special metallic one they did a few years back, and honestly it's just to HUGE anyways, not to mention $$$ if you can even find one on Evilbay.  This one looks great in both modes to me, has good articulation, I LOVE the flippable logo, he comes with cool "Fast Pack" looking add on's and wont' break the bank. I think I'm all in unless you guys throw up a red flag! 

For $80, it's an excellent figure, and probably the only opportunity we'll ever have of owning an official Skyfire. We've waited 35 years for this guy, and fortunately, they did a good job, even creating a new size class for him (he stands as tall as CW Bruticus).  I definitely recommend him, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Does anyone here have the previous release?

Yes. I reviewed it here, but the short answer is do it.

[Sildani]

I need one. Does TF Source or the others charge up front, or at delivery? I forget. 

[mikeszekely]

30 minutes ago, Sildani said:

I need one. Does TF Source or the others charge up front, or at delivery? I forget. 

If you use a credit card they'll charge it when the figure comes in. If you use PayPal they'll invoice you when it comes in.

[derex3592]

Good to know! Going to pre-order today. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by derex3592

[Mechapilot77]

4 hours ago, derex3592 said:

https://tfsource.com/transformers-war-for-cybertron-siege/commander-jetfire/reissue/

 

Anyone here going for the reissue?  I think I am pulling the trigger on this 100%.  Does anyone here have the previous release?  I've seen only good things on my usual go to YouTube TF reviewers..I've ALWAYS wanted a Skyfire, I had the chunky  monkey "Jetfire" in the 80's, and played with it as a Robotech toy, but I never understood WHY they never came out with a Skyfire that looked like the G1 cartoon. I missed the Fantoys special metallic one they did a few years back, and honestly it's just to HUGE anyways, not to mention $$$ if you can even find one on Evilbay.  This one looks great in both modes to me, has good articulation, I LOVE the flippable logo, he comes with cool "Fast Pack" looking add on's and wont' break the bank. I think I'm all in unless you guys throw up a red flag! 

 

 

do it.  probably the best mainline transformer i've handled in ages....  best $80 figure in this hobby maybe.

 

if you watch the netflix series jetfire is a standout in that and of course he is super accurate to that as they seemingly used the toy cad modes as reference material.  also interestingly enough his size in the series is large but not g1 skyfire large so if you were to place siege jetfire next to an MP scaled optimus prime...he's about the same proportion to that figure as he is to prime in the netflix series.  so do we have an "MP WFC jetfire" already?  lol.

Also i forgot to mention - i got the shockwave labs blades....they look much better than expected and i totally recommend them if you see this as WFC jetfire vs. a greebled up g1 skyfire. haha

Edited September 10, 2020 by Mechapilot77

[mikeszekely]

Stopped at Target to get a birthday card, but while I was there I figured I'd check out the Transformers aisle.  I wasn't really expecting anything, since I have most of what I want preordered at either Amazon or Hasbro Pulse, but I actually found some interesting items in stock, and ultimately I made three purchases.  I'll review them from smallest to largest, so we're starting with the Micromaster Astro Squad.

The one on our left, with the red torso, is Fuzer... probably due to trademark reasons, because he's an update of the G1 Micromaster Phaser.  The guy on our right, with the blue, is Blast Master, known in G1 as, well, Blast Master.

Fuzer is somewhat close to G1 Phaser.  Similar molded details on the head and torso.  His torso is correctly red, his arms are white with a little black, his face is silver, and he's got a shuttle nose behind his head.  All nice and G1.  They added some new molded details to his shins, because he actually has those now.  Then they made his pelvis a dark blue when it should be red, and his thighs are white instead of light blue.  What I find most interesting is that he appears to be holding blue pistols.  They're attached, but its an interesting detail that they didn't just mold, they painted.

Blast Master is a bit less recognizable.  The red helmet and blue face check out, as does the molded shape of his torso.  His arms are mostly the same, although they added some gray paint to his shoulders that they didn't need to.  But his torso is blue, instead of gray.  His thighs are white instead of a light blue closer to Fuzer's guns than Blast Master's torso.  and his lower legs are massive compared to the mostly-empty G1 toy.  Same goes for the wings folded onto his back.

Micromasters don't come with accessories, so we'll skip to articulation.

Neither Micromaster has any head, waist, bicep, elbow, or wrist articulation.  They have ball-jointed shoulders that rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees.  They both have ball-jointed hips that go a little under 90 degrees forward, only slightly backward, and maybe 30 degrees laterally.  Blast Master seems like he might have slightly more lateral range than Fuzer, but it's hard to say for sure because (at least on my copy) his legs like to pop off the ball joints.  They don't have dedicated thigh swivels, but you can move their legs a little around the ball joints at the hip (as long as they don't fall off).  Both can bend their knees over 90 degrees; again, Blast Master a bit more than Fuzer.  Neither have any foot articulation.

In addition to the above, Fuzer's shoulder ball joints are hinged for transformation, so he can kind of shrug.  He also technically has a waist swivel, but it's for transformation and mostly blocked by his back kibble in robot mode.

Also, and this is a big issue, the backs of Blast Master's legs are largely hollow and he has no heel spurs, despite his having a backpack and very large wings.  Getting him to stand at all without having him fall over backward is a challenge, let alone doing any kind of action poses.

Back at the end of Siege I reviewed a pair of Decepticon Micromasters, the Battle Squad consisting of Direct-Hit and Power Punch.  They were, if you recall, a pair of blue military vehicles that combined to form a larger truck.  The Astro Squad has sort of the same thing going on, except they're much less successful at passing as two smaller vehicles.  Fuzer, despite having molded detail on the back that could pass as thrusters or engines, looks like nothing but the front half of a space shuttle.  And Blast Master, despite the tiny molded cockpit over the massive gap on his front, looks like nothing but the back half of a space shuttle.

Well, they do at least both have flip-out 5mm pegs.  Despite not being mentioned at all in their instructions that does permit you to use them as weapons, as the older Siege instructions always pointed out.

But, of course, they're meant to combine into a single space shuttle.  Here you can see how tiny he is compared to Sky Lynx (btw, what a great two months it's been for shuttle fans, first Sky Lynx and MMC's Blast Off, now this guy... maybe we can get a Galaxy Shuttle in Kingdom).  Despite his diminutive size, I think his general proportions are a bit better than Sky Lynx, although from some angles he looks droopy, like his fuselage is gently curving downward.  The layout of his engines are weird, too; he has two big bells where OMS bells should be, and a smaller thruster slightly above and between them, but none of the three main engine bells.  I can mostly forgive it, though; the main engines would cover Blast Master's head and shoulders.  On a larger figure perhaps they could fold away into the backpack/torso, but these guys are just Micromasters.  And although he doesn't get a named shuttle like Sky Lynx's Magnificence, I do enjoy the fairly realistic colors and the old NASA logo on the OMS pods.

Comparing the Astro Squad to Sky Lynx got me thinking... could he work with the base you make from the Lynx?

Well, no.  Not really.  I have him perched there, but he's not locked in place.  And he looks too tiny to work with the ramps.

On the other hand, Micromasters are meant to play well with Deluxe-class "Modulator" figures, like Ironworks, which in turn can attach to a base like Sky Lynx or Omega Supreme.  And that actually works pretty well for me, like a larger aerospace complex as a gestalt.  I imagine it might work even better with Airwave (who I don't believe has been released yet), since Airwave looks more like an airport.

Y'know, I keep saying that I'm not a big fan of the Micromasters in the War for Cybertron Trilogy, as I'm not convinced a pair of tiny robots with minimal articulation and super-simple transformations are actually worth $10.  And I do manage to skip a lot of them especially the ones that turn into cars and trucks like the Hot Rod Patrol, the Roller Force, the Battle Patrol, or the Off Road Patrol.  But every so often they sneak a set in that grabs my attention, like a pair of dudes that turn into a little space shuttle.  Can I objectively recommend this set?  Probably not.  Fuzer's robot mode is ok, but Blast Master can barely stand.  Subjectively, though?  $10 is worth it for a tiny space shuttle.

[M'Kyuun]

Got my copies of ER Arcee and Smokescreen in the mail today.  My copy of Arcee's joints are rather loose throughout the figure. She can hold a pose, but if I pick her up by a single leg,  the hip immediately collapses, as neither by itself can support the weight of the figure. The lower knee joints are likewise. I'm also struck by how much she would , or could, have been streamlined had they made the rear half of her car mode just a couple mm wider (or created a mechanism whereby it splits), enabling it to accommodate the front half within. It's close as is, but it's just too narrow, thus preventing it from sliding over the front half of her car mode in its backpack form. Bit of a lost opportunity to slim it down and make it more compact. The rear of her car mode is molded with large openings instead of a nice finished bumper look, as well as a number of pegs within for which there appear no obvious uses. They're not used in either mode., and the legs don't fill in those large cutouts in the rear, but just sit there at odd angles. To my eye, it looks like there were maybe other intentions for the mold that were scrapped, but they didn't bother changing the mold itself. This is definitely the least complex figure I've handled in the line, and calling her transformation such is giving it too much credit. She's a nicely sculped action figure that lays inside her alt mode shell, bends her knees and rotates her thighs. No part of the robot tabs into the car shell- it just hangs there courtesy of friction. There's some folding and rotation involved with the car shells, but no part of the robot is involved in the car mode. You could separate the car shell from her and both could exist independently.  As a Transformers fan for whom the transformation is the raison d'etre for why I'm a Transformers fan and still collecting the toys, ER Arcee is anathema. I'm glad I own the T30 version; for its few flaws, as the very first official Arcee figure ever made by HasTak, it's still a commendable attempt of a challenging character, it has a transformation commensurate with the G1 characterization, and after handling this new incarnation, I find it preferable in nearly every regard. Incidentally, my T30 still has very tight joints throughout.

Smokescreen, OTOH, is a good update. The transformation is quite similar to the Siege toy, but as the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Having both figs in hand for comparison, I can attest that neither shares any parts with the other. For some odd reason, they tampoed 80 on ER Smoky's doors rather than the traditional 38. His paint apps in car mode are nice and smooth, but they didn't paint his tail lights or his exhausts, all of which are just left bare on his blue feet. They didn't print his number on his chest, either, which was part of his G1 toy deco, but oddly, not the G1 boxart. It did show up, somewhat, in Cybertronian characters on the Siege toy, although the part of his hood on which it's printed  is tucked away out of sight in bot mode. ER doesn't have his racing number on the hood at all. As with the Siege figure, the majority of the paint apps were applied to his car mode, with the heads of both being the only recipients of paint in bot mode.  The head sculpt for ER Smoky is new and  rather plain in comparison to the rather nicely detailed Siege. Too, the Siege has a nice silver paint app for his face, whereas the ER has a matte white that just doesn't look as sharp. As with the Siege, neither his arms nor his torso have any paint apps. A little red app to the triangular pattern on his groin would have been a nice call back to the G1 toy's sticker, just sayin'. I also wish they'd molded some of the sticker detail from the lower leg internals into the ER figures back windows. I always loved that bit of detail on the Datsun bros. Unlike the pic below, my copy's shoulder rockets came molded in blue rather than black. Again, it'd be nice if they'd painted the rocket portion silver to match the old chrome missiles that came with the G1 toys, but they didn't. His gun, which is also a new mold from the Siege, is cast in blue plastic, but hues a little closer to the G1 toy's gun design, especially the part of the shoulder stock that sticks up. Again, would have been nice if they'd given it a silver paint job, as the Siege version's gun was molded in blue but painted white, although its rocket launchers were molded in white. Go figure.  

As an update to the G1 toy/toon look, this is a nice mix, although the toning down of sculpted detail compared to the Siege indicates the toon influence.  However, compared to the Siege, the colorations of his body parts are far more faithful to his G1 appearance- white thighs, blue biceps as opposed to black for both on the Siege. One notable thing about this figure that I don't like is that the spoiler is part of the mold. Of the Datsun bros, only Smoky had a spoiler, but due to their all sharing a mold, Prowl and Silverstreak/Bluestreak will have spoilers too. It's a nitpick. Overall, sculpt and articulation are standard for the line, which in most cases, means good. Had you handed this to thirteen year old me back in '84, I likely would have fainted from the onslaught of pure plastic joy in my hands. I can definitely recommend ER Smokescreen. If you want a well sculpted highly articulated Arcee and don't really care about transformation, then ER Arcee will likely make you happy. As for the loose joints, I hope that's just my copy and the majority are better built. As an action figure, with the aft 2/3 of her car mode detached, she really does make for an excellent looking Arcee. She's just not a good Transformer toy in the traditional sense.

[mikeszekely]

18 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Got my copies of ER Arcee and Smokescreen in the mail today.

Where'd you order from?  I had him preordered with Amazon since way back in February, and my order just says "not yet shipped, we'll email you when we have an estimated delivery date."  And with Pulse showing as pre-sold out I have no idea when I'll get my copy.

[M'Kyuun]

I preordered mine through Target.  I got Snapdragon, which I also PO'd with Target, last week, and these two were my last orders to be fulfilled.  

 

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I preordered mine through Target.  I got Snapdragon, which I also PO'd with Target, last week, and these two were my last orders to be fulfilled.  

 

Hmm, I don't even see ER Smokescreen listed at Target now. Guess I'm stuck waiting to see if Amazon fulfills my preorder while I take my chances on finding one in-store.

[mikeszekely]

Well, back to my Target run.  The middle-sized find was the Target-exclusive Studio Series Deluxe-class Leadfoot.

You may recall from when I reviewed Studio Series Roadbuster that I wasn't really a fan of the Bayverse Wreckers and their brief and entirely forgettable role in Dark of the Moon.  I picked up Roadbuster at the time largely due to the fact that I found him in a store and hadn't bought any new Transformers in awhile.  I didn't have a preorder for nor a concrete plan to buy Studio Series Topspin.  But then I found out that Leadfoot was getting a Studio Series release, and I suddenly wanted both him and Topspin.  You see, all three DotM Wreckers have never really been released as a matching set.  They all got Cyberverse/Legends-class releases, but Roadbuster and Leadfoot had the guns out, half-transformed "Stealth Force" look while Topspin was just a regular NASCAR vehicle.  At the Deluxe-class scale it was Roadbuster who had the regular car look, Topspin in Stealth Force mode, and Leadfoot wasn't released in the States (his Japanese figure was Stealth Force style).  Leadfoot and Roadbuster were released in the Human Alliance line, but Leadfoot was a normal car, Roadbuster was doing the Stealth Force thing, and Topspin was nowhere to be seen.  The Studio Series is the first time all three are being released in the same scale all with matching Stealth Force-style alt modes.  Of course, with his prominent Target deco, Leadfoot was announced as an exclusive. And by the time I decided I wanted one he was sold out online, so finding him in stores was quite pleasing.

Like many of the Studio Series figures Leadfoot's sculpt is fairly on-point, with the most obvious exception being his shins which simply do not have the level of detail seen in the movie.  But, like many of the other Studio Series figures, the biggest strike against movie accuracy comes down to a lack of paint.  Sure, he's got the Target bullseye on his tummy, but that, the Impala brand, and the NASCAR logo on the outside of his lower legs is it for branding.  The doors that make up his pecs are missing the black stripe and the prominent '42's.  His legs don't have the Gillette branding.  Even skipping the branding, his arms are uniformly black and gunmetal, and his legs are entirely red save for his toes and knee joints.  In the movie, both sets of limbs were mostly gunmetal decorated with red panels from the car mode, and subsequently they'd all look better with more paint- red on spots on the arms, gunmetal on spots for the legs.

Leadfoot comes with a few accessories.  You get one gatling gun with a 5mm peg, two machine guns  with slots on one side, two sets of missiles with slots on one side, and his dog.  As near as I can tell, the dog's name was Steeljaw, which was was also the name of Lockdown's dogs in Age of Extinction.  Steeljaw's sculpt is movie accurate, but he's a solid lump of plastic with zero articulation.

Leadfoot's head seems to be on a ball joint that can look up a little and swivel, nothing really down or sideways.  Shoulders are also ball joints that rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend slightly over 90 degrees.  His wrists bend inward for transformation, but they don't swivel.  No waist swivel, either.  His hips are ball joints that can go a little under 90 degrees forward due to his big belly, and only a little bit backward due to his backpack, but laterally 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel, his knees bend 90 degrees, and he has no foot articulation.

The missiles are meant to latch onto tabs in his armpits, and the machine guns similarly tab onto his arms.  That matches promo artwork I've seen of Leadfoot.  With it's 5mm peg he can hold the gatling gun as a pistol, but the instructions indicate that it properly belongs in one of the two 5mm peg holes above his shoulder joints.  I find this interesting because I didn't see any art of Leadfoot with a shoulder gun, but Roadbuster has one in his artwork that the Studio Series toy didn't come with.  Maybe Leadfoot can share?

Steeljaw does nothing.  I kind of wish they'd made some sort of leash for him that Leadfoot could hold.

Leadfoot's alt mode is, as mentioned, a "Stealth Force"-style NASCAR Chevy Impala.  I'd have preferred real-world vehicles, but I guess these alt modes tooling around Chicago for a few seconds is the definitive scene of the Wreckers in alt mode.  Aesthetically it's a match with ol' Roadbuster here.  Interestingly enough, I'd say that Leafoot uses slightly more of his robot parts on the vehicle, and winds up being easier to transform because he doesn't have Roadbuster's clearance issues stuffing his arms behind the side panels of the car.

Like robot mode, Leadfoot's alt mode has a pretty good sculpt.  It's got the gap in the front bumper, the two rectangles under the Impala brand, the little guns in the vents next to them, the jet turbines in the rear, and the jagged mechanical bits all over the sides.  The missiles go on the sides of the hood, the machine guns on the sides of the roof, and the gatling gun on top of the roof, and that all checks out.  Again, the problem is mostly one of missing branding and colors.  The 42 on the side is right, but it's missing a ton of red behind hit.  The panel in front the the NASCAR logo should be the same black as that panel, and it should have Gillette branding.  Tums branding is missing from below it, on the red.  The exhaust pipes behind the tires are left unpainted.

The biggest problem I have, with both modes, is the red plastic.  It's kind of softer and more pliable, but as a result anything that tabs into them doesn't hold well.  The missiles in the armpits?  Constantly fall off at the slightest touch.  Same for their spot on the hood.  The machine guns fit tightly onto his gunmetal forearms, but are easily knocked off the the roof.  The red pec panels are what hold the front of his torso in place by receiving tabs from his shoulders, and you have to take care that they don't come loose when you're manipulating his arms.

Ultimately, I feel the same about Leadfoot as I do about Roadbuster.  They're mediocre figures of unessential, under-developed characters with minimal screen time.  You're not really missing anything if you pass on either of them.  But, I will say that between the two I like Leadfoot better than Roadbuster, and if you bought and liked Studio Series Roadbuster then you'll probably be happy with Leadfoot.

[JB0]

Turns out Steeljaw is the cybertronian equivalent of Spot or Rover, and is just the generic dog name for the uninspired pet owner.

[mikeszekely]

And the third, the biggest thing I bought at Target... Masterpiece Movie Series MPM-10 Starscream.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Bayformers and I fervently wish they'd have gone with something more like the Bumblebee designs from the start, I've admitted that  time has allowed me to grudgingly accept the Bayverse as part of Transformers history, and I've even warmed a bit to some of the designs, especially the 2007 movie's roster.  However, I've also said that I wasn't really interested in the MPM line, due to space constraints, and that the Studio Series was enough Bayverse for me.  I did pick up Prime, for my Prime detolf, Barricade because he wasn't particularly expensive and because he was my favorite movie Decepticon, and Bee because I got him for half off when TRU was going out of business.  I happily skipped Ironhide, Jazz, Megatron, and MPM-7 Bee, though, and if the only way to get Starscream was through online stores I'd have passed on Starscream, too.  The sheer novelty of picking up a Masterpiece Transformer (even if it is MPM and not regular MP) on my weekly Target* run was simply too much for me to pass up, so here we are.

*Turns out that in the States MPM-10 is actually a Target-exclusive.  Now, I abhor store-exclusives for mainline regular retail stuff, but if being a store-exclusive gets more official MP Transformers in stores then I hope MPM-11 Ratchet is a Target-exclusive, too.

Anyway... there's a surprising dearth of clean, clear images of Bayverse Starscream before his RotF tattoos, but the overall design of Starscream's robot mode is very good.  I might criticize that his toes aren't as thin and sharp as the CGI model, or that the very fine details of some of the mechanical bits in his ribs and limbs aren't as detailed as the Three-A version, but for a $150 transforming toy I've really got no complaints with the sculpt and proportions of this figure.

Paint, though... that's a different story.  In some places they uses some silver, gunmetal, and copper that looks really nice, along with a salmon color for the wires in his forearms.  Other parts are just bare grayish-khaki plastic.

The paint and lack thereof in spots is more jarring when you look at his back, because you can tell some bean counter was betting that the back wouldn't show in most people's displays and omitted it almost entirely.  I find it especially noticeable on his arms, because the back of his forearms have molded detail very similar to the front, and while the front has that silver paint and salmon wiring the back is bare.

But hey, he's got the thrusters on his back that he had in the films.  I think that's a first for an official movie Starscream toy.  The thrusters are painted and articulated with a swivel attached with three hinges and a swivel so you can pose them however you like.

Oh, and while I'm showing him off aesthetically with Studio Series Starscream, which is one of the better Starscream figures, I wanted to do a size comparison with MPM Prime and... well, Starscream is either a bit taller or a bit shorter than Prime.  Depends on a lot on how you pose his legs.  I guess that's accurate?  I don't pay a ton of attention to the Bayverse scale, but it's fairly similar to the Studio Series figures, and the Studio Series line is supposed to be in-scale.

So the accessories.  He comes with the spikey missile hand he used in the first movie, the saw blade hand that I can't recall which movie he used it in, and the gatling gun he definitely used in at least the first movie.  The saw has some paint on the blade, but that's it for paint on his accessories.  The missiles look extra bad to me, especially since the same accessory was painted on the Studio Series toy.  And as near as I can tell, the actual missiles were yellow in the film.  And sadly, while the spikey blades and missiles can swivel the blades on the sides do NOT rotate around the center the way they did in the film.

Starscream's head is on a hinged swivel.  He can turn his head and look up, but he can't tilt his head to the side or look down.  By design, the hinge is where the neck connects to the torso instead of where his neck connects to his head, and there's molded detail on his neck that you only see when his head is tilted up.  That's a nice touch.  Plus his mouth can open and close.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and can extend laterally 90 degrees, also on ratchets.  Also, perhaps due to transformation, he's got a bit of a butterfly joint as well.  He doesn't have a bicep swivel, which I hold as perhaps the biggest strike against this figure.  His ratcheted elbows bend 90 degrees, and he has a swivel below the elbow.  His wrists swivel, then can bend up and down, plus his hands can bend inward mid-palm.  Each of his three fingers is individually hinged at the base.  His thumbs have hinges that allow them to fold down toward his palms, and a second hinge that splays them out away from his hand.  He doesn't have a waist swivel.  His hips can move forward, backward, or laterally 90 degrees, all ratcheted.  His thighs swivel.  His upper knee joint is double-jointed with the ratchet on the lower end, and it ranges from straight to almost 180 degrees.  The lower knee (technically an ankle on digitigrade Earth animals) is also a ratchet, and it ranges from stock straight to about 90 degrees forward.  His feet, when properly tabbed in, do not tilt up or down, but simply untabbing them will allow for it.  They also have a hinge for ankle pivots.  Finally, his hinges have hinges and swivels so they can pose a bit, too.

Using his gatling gun is as simple as using the tab to plug it into either of his forearms.  The barrel on it can spin.

The other accessories can be attached to either arm by bending his thumbs back against his forearms, then folding his palm in half.  There's a hinged arm on the back of the accessories, the hinge should be opened and a tab on it goes into the same slot on Starscream's forearms that the gatling gun goes into, while a second tab goes into a slot on the inside of his hand.

All of his accessories can be stored in robot mode as well.  The gatling gun goes into a slot on the middle of his back, while the other accessories use angled slots on the wings.  Because of the angles, the saw always goes on his left, the missiles always go on his right.

Transforming this guy is both easy and confusing.  Easy because the parts that actually make up the F-22 are pretty easy to figure out and line up.  Confusing because none of his arms and very little of his torso make up the F-22, and it's a bit less obvious how those bits fold, unfold, and line up, and the instructions are hard to see.  I wound up mostly figuring it out on my own.

Right from the start, something I brought up when pictures of this figure first starting coming out months ago, is that the colors of the jet mode are wrong.  Starscream doesn't spend a lot of time in jet mode in the movie, and he's moving very fast when he is, so it can be hard to tell but he was a two-tone splotchy gray with white on the edges and nose.  In other words, more like the Studio Series toy.

And that's not the only way the Studio Series toy beats MPM Starscream.  While both have plenty of robot kibble on their undersides I do believe that MPM Starscream actually has more of it and winds up proportionally thicker.  The kibble in the back prevents him from having actual exhaust nozzles.

When you look down from the top the Studio Series figure manages to keep all of its kibble under the plane.  MPM Starscream has visible kibble peaking out from the front of the wings, and between the wings and the horizontal stabilizers.  From the underside, you can see how they both have their share of kibble but how the Studio Series figure keeps it as much in the middle as possible, while the MPM's is just all over the place.

While we're on that side, though, you can see that Starscream does have landing gear with rolling wheels, one between his intakes and one each on his robo-thighs at the back.  And all of his accessories can store on the jet.  The gatling gun plugs in under the nose, while his missiles and saw tab in under the wings.  As with robot mode the slots for those accessories are angled, so the saw is always on the right wing, and the missiles are always on the left.

MPM Starscream is kind of a mixed bag, because he's a Masterpiece figure that does some things very well but in some ways is still beaten by a $30 Voyager-class figure.  The jet mode is not great.  The colors are wrong, and there's a ton of kibble on the underside.  The lack of a waist swivel is frustrating, but I can see the engineering challenges in designing a transforming toy with this robot mode that would have one.  Less forgivable is the lack of a bicep swivel because, y'know, the Studio Series version has it.  And I definitely would have liked a bit more paint, especially on his back.  Despite a few articulation issues and a less-than-good alt mode his robot mode is fantastic, though, and I've often said I'd rather they make sacrifices to the alt mode to get the robot mode right.  This is far and away the most-accurate robot mode for Starscream I've seen on a toy that still transforms.  It's better than the Studio Series, and better than the RotF Leader/MPM-1.  At the end of the day MPM-10 isn't a perfect movie Starscream, but I think he is one worth the asking price.  I wouldn't go out of your way to track one down, but if you happen to see him at your local Target he's a worthy impulse purchase.

[mikeszekely]

A Weibo user has uploaded images of what's purported to be a Kingdom Fossilizer

and Studio Series Kup and Hot Rod

[mikeszekely]

Starscream was the last of my Target run figures, but I'm getting preorders in from Amazon now.  So today I've got Studio Series Voyager-class Blitzwing.

Ok, c'mon, this guy turned out to be Blitzwing but there's no way you can't tell me this wasn't Starscream at some point in development.

Blitzwing is fairly accurate to the CGI model.  The armor on his hips could be a little bigger, the fins on his shoulders should be taller, and the shape of his wings is a bit off.  Mostly, like all Studio Series figures, it comes down to a lack of paint.  Some of the gray used on his joints would have been better in white, some of the mechanical details, especially on his arms, could have been picked out, and the wheels on his toes should be black.  There's some red stripes and real-world markings that are missing.  Overall, though, I think the robot mode is fine for a $30 mass-retail figure.

Blitzwing comes with the two bombs on his wings, a gun, and a replacement hand with the blade he tried to stab Bumblebee with.  I wish the hand stood out more from the blade, but based on the 3A version the blade and his hand are about the same color, so what are you gonna do?

Bltizwing's head is on a ball-joint, and it can rotate, look up a fair amount, down a bit, but no sideways tilt.  His shoulders can rotate, and they can extend laterally a bit over 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel.  His elbows are double-jointed and he can bend them nearly 180 degrees.  His wrists swivel, and his right hand (and only his right hand) has a pin hinge so it can open.  No waist swivel.  His hip skirts are hinged and can move out to the sides.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward, 60 degrees laterally, but under 45 degrees backward.  His thighs can swivel.  His knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet can't tilt up or down, but his toes can bend down and he's got 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

His gun fits with a tab into his forearm and a 5mm peg into his hand.  To use the blade hand you have to pull off his hand, which is connected to his wrist via a 5mm peg.  Note that while the blade hand is molded to be his left hand both hands can be removed.

His accessories can be stored on his back when he's not using them.  The 5mm peg on the gun can fit into peg holes on either wing.  The blade hand has a smaller peg that fits into a peg hole on the middle of his back.  Or, if the blade hand is installed on his wrist you can technically store the regular hand by plugging it into the wings, but it'll be sticking straight out the back.

Um... that's not an F-4.  I thought it looks a bit like the fictional jet mode of Studio Series Thundercracker/Studio Series KSI Boss/TLK Nitro Zeus (which was supposed to be a Saab Gripen).  Hasbro is, at least, consistent, because Blitzwing's fictional jet mode is the same one they used for the Bumblebee movie Nitro-series toy.

I think the alt mode looks a bit better if you don't split the vertical stabs and pretend it's just got the one.  It's a typical jetformer, with robot kibble chilling on the underside, but it's not the worst example.  It'd have been nice if his robot feet hid a little better, though.

The canopy can open- indeed, it's necessary for transformation.  His rear landing gear, part of his robot heels, are always deployed but he's also got one under the nose that can fold out.

The bombs tab onto the underside of his wings (actually to his arms).  His gun fits into a hollow depression in the middle of the of the underside.  So far so good, everything fits well.  But then you get to the blade hand.  Despite having a tantalizing hollow at the tail, and despite having a a 5mm peg in the middle of the tail, the blade hand is meant to plug into either of the horizontal stabilizers via the smaller-than-5mm peg.

If you're a plane guy then you might find that Blitzwing isn't for you.  It's not an F-4, and aside from color not remotely movie-accurate.  If you're after a robot for a display, though, Blitzwing's actually pretty good, and I'd recommend him for robot mode.

[M'Kyuun]

21 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A Weibo user has uploaded images of what's purported to be a Kingdom Fossilizer

and Studio Series Kup and Hot Rod

Kup and Hot Rodimus look alright (except for HR's arms and hands- the arms look stiff, like there's no elbow, and  WTH is up with those hands?), but I've no idea how dinosaur bones are going to work as weapons and add-ons with robot figs without looking awkward. I'm assuming these are probably going to be meant for the Beast Wars figs, but it still just seems an odd choice,. IIRC, any time additional tech was used in the show, it was always mechanical rather than organic.

Kids like dinosaurs, so maybe that's the angle.  I like dinos, too, but in a show about robots, I prefer robot dinosaurs that turn into anthropomorphic robots, or as in the case of the cassettes, robo-dinos that turn into mechanical stuff.  Beast Wars is the only exception, but like a lot of folks, I wish they'd eschewed organic forms in lieu of mechanical animal forms. I was happy when Transmetals came along- it's how I wish they'd started out.  At least the show was fun, and had fun with the whole organic animal  setup.  Robotic animal skeletons is a new level of weird, though.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

is up with those hands?

They're upside-down and backwards is what's up. Left hand on right arm and vice-versa, then flipped so they open the right way around.

[tekering]

7 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Left hand on right arm and vice-versa, then flipped so they open the right way around.

It's not the hands that are flipped, it's the arms.  That's why the elbow joint isn't visible, but the wheels (and screw holes) on the shoulders are.

It's clearly been misassembled.

[M'Kyuun]

Ok, so it's not just me. I thought the hands looked like they were upside down- you can see what looks like thumbs on the inside lower parts of the hands, but their being on the wrong sides confused me. Too, and maybe its the perspective, but they look too big for the figure as well, like something from the 90's when oft times the hands were big chunky things.

I'm gonna go with Tekering's explanation-  this is all kinds of misassembled. I'm thinking things will look better when proper product shots come out. Then again.... Hasbro's history isn't the best in that arena either. I'll wait for the inevitable TonTon review.

While that shot of Kup doesn't do it fair justice either, it's hitting a lot of the right marks towards faithfulness to the animation model (I think we can all agree that the G1 toy was rather lackluster), certainly more so than even the TR fig, which I though was a decent G1 representation. Heck, I still dig the Generations/United figure, although I believe it was IDW inspired. Still, it's a cool toy, and a neat take on the character. I like that his alt mode is passable as an Earth truck instead of his original backwards palette jack mode. The face sculpt on this, even partially obscured, looks excellent.

Anyone know if this Hot Rod is supposed to come with his Space Winnebago trailer so he can Rodimize? I just wonder b/c of how high the knees are in that pic, like they're extended. Ugh, looks like a single piece groincloth- wish they'd just stop with that; it looks like shite in anything but a straight standing pose.

[JB0]

2 hours ago, tekering said:

It's not the hands that are flipped, it's the arms.  That's why the elbow joint isn't visible, but the wheels (and screw holes) on the shoulders are.

It's clearly been misassembled.

I suspected there was something wrong with the arms, but wasn't sure what. That'd do it.

[David Hingtgen]

No, I think the arms are fine.  They're just in car-mode, not robot mode.  The one elbow's bent a bit, and it's bending "backwards"---but that's his "canon, but generally not replicated" transformation:

 

"Do like he does in the movie" and everything's perfect. 

PS---never mind every other transformation in the movie.  I think I read that it was done different every time, maybe intentionally.  But IMHO this is "the best one we see" and looks like what they're going with for this figure.  

 

 

[tekering]

44 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

I think I read that it was done different every time, maybe intentionally.

It was not.  They simply had no guide to how the characters were supposed to transform, because the toys hadn't been designed yet!

It's ridiculous, but apart from Ultra Magnus (who was based on a Diaclone Convoy variant), the new movie characters were designed with only a vague idea of how they could be translated into toys... which is why G1 toys like Kup, Blurr, and Wheelie sucked so badly, why Galvatron, Springer and Wreck-Gar looked so little like their onscreen characters, and why Arcee and Unicron didn't get figures at all.  

What's even more ridiculous is how the same problem occurred 20 years later, when Hasbro approved the Bayverse designs (absent of any input from Takara's design team)... which is why the 2007 movie line sucked so badly.  In fact, the problem persisted for over a decade.

And now we've gone back to CGI cartoons that are so slavishly accurate to the toy designs, their articulation is limited to what the toys can achieve... and they carry around unsightly kibble as a result.  Like, didn't anyone learn from Energon?  

[danth]

1 hour ago, David Hingtgen said:

That is hypnotizing!

[David Hingtgen]

22 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Blitzwing comes with the two bombs on his wings,

Hasbro is, at least, consistent, because Blitzwing's fictional jet mode is the same one they used for the Bumblebee movie Nitro-series toy.

The bombs tab onto the underside of his wings (actually to his arms). 

1.  Fuel tanks.

2.  Nope.  Nitro Zeus is a faked-up F-5/F-20.  Blitzwing is an F-18/F-16 hybrid.  (the tailplanes are pure F-16, the tailfins are pure F-18, the spine and nose are F-16).  Nitro Zeus has the front half of an F-5 down to the retractable gun-vent-ports.   

3.  Fuel tanks.