The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

I'm all for early releases, too, so long as it doesn't mean QC issues from the factories,.

Rattrap was the only one of the Kingdoms beasts, barring the skellies, that I didn't order, as the T30 is a better overall fig IMHO. I like that the rat mode looks realistic, but its total lack of articulation in rat mode is a bit off-putting, as it's a step backwards. Regardless, I hope you like him, Mike, and look forward to your review.

Reading back my quote, apologies, as I usually read and edit my posts for clarity and grammar, but I think I was in a hurry when I posted that, and didn't give it the attention it obviously needed. It's embarrassing.

[mikeszekely]

Ok, so I guess Kingdom is here? I mean, none of my other preorders are due before February, but here's Core-class Rattrap.

I don't think I was prepared for how small Rattrap actually is.  "Core is like the new Legends-class," Hasbro says, but Rattrap is shorter than the old Legends figures (going off of one of the Clones, at least).  And it's not just that he's shorter, he's thinner, too, and less massive.  Fastlane is about 1.3 ounces (42 grams), Rattrap (with accessories) is only 0.7 ounces (26 grams).  At least according to my postal scale.

Aesthetically the shape and sculpt seem pretty good, but his colors are a bit bland.  In the cartoon he had a copper color for some parts and a shinier orange for other parts, but it's all just a pale peach color here.  Meanwhile, aside from the top of his head, there's no distinction between the gray of the mouse fur and what should properly be silver on his forearms and legs.  Plus some stuff, like his pelvis and torso behind the rat head, are gray instead of copper/orange.

(Bonus, for size, I tossed in Bugbite.  Bugbite isn't getting a review, since he's a white Cliffjumper with a new head and some metallic purple paint on his accessories.)

Rattrap comes with just this blaster.  Which is fine, I don't think he really needed any more accessories.

Rattrap's head can swivel, but there's no tilt.  His shoulders are on ball joints, but they're a bit weird.  The stems don't come from his chest, they come from his back kibble, so shoulder rotation works like the lateral motion on most other ball-jointed shoulders and he can't raise his arm more than 90 degrees.  Lateral movement is actually rotation, and therefore it's theoretically unlimited.  However, due to the cut of the joint, that means he can't raise his arm and move it laterally at the same time.  Elbows are also ball joints, bending a little over 90 degrees and pulling double-duty as a bicep swivel.  No wrist articulation.  No waist articulation, either.  Hips are ball joints that can go forward, backward, or laterally about 90 degrees.  Knees are ball joints that bend a little over 90 degrees and also serve as thigh swivels.  Due to transformation there's another ball joint below the knee that can be used as a second knee bend, if necessary.  Finally, his ankles are ball joint so they can swivel, plus he's got a little up/down tilt and ankle pivot.

He can hold his blaster fine, but don't lose it!  Unlike pretty much every other modern mainline Transformer Rattrap's hands are NOT 5mm ports, so he's not compatible with other accessories, weaponizers, Battle Masters, etc.  If it helps you to not lose it he doesn't have to hold it constantly.  Using a vertical tab on one side of the gun you can plug the blaster onto his backpack.

Rattrap's alt mode is similarly tiny.  Kudos, the sculpt is again really well done.  The rat's face might be the most animation-accurate one yet!  It's a shame they only used the pink on his ears and feet and not his tail, though.

While Rattrap certainly looks good he doesn't actually do much in this mode.  Technically he's got the ball joints on his back feet, and that's it for rat articulation.  If you don't mind undoing some stuff a bit you can get a bit more articulation on his back legs and some up/down waggle on at the base of his tail.  His blaster uses a horizontal tab on the opposite side of his gun to fit into a slot on his back leg.

I don't personally own the Thrilling 30 Rattrap, as I'm not a huge Beast Wars fan, but after watching other reviews of it it's hard to argue with @M'Kyuun's assertion that it's a better figure than this one.  I get that scale is suddenly important in the WFC trilogy, and some of the impetus behind creating this new Core class and using it for Rattrap is so that Rattrap scales properly with the other Kingdom figures (whereas I've heard that Takara used the size it did for MP Optimus Primal with the notion that it'd scale properly with T30 Rattrap, making that figure de facto MP-scale).  Still, I wonder if Hasbro could have made a better figure if they'd just made Rattrap a small Deluxe, like they did with Cliffjumper.  As it stands, Core-class Rattrap is just OK.  The sculpt is good, he'll scale properly with other Kingdom figures, and he's half the price of a Deluxe, so if scale matters I recommend him if and only if you're going to display him with other Kingdom figures.  On the other hand, he feels like less than half the cost of a Deluxe, and if scale isn't that important to you the Thrilling 30 figure seems like an all-around better toy.

(If you need an evil white Cliffjumper with Bumblebee's head then Bugbite's a recommend, otherwise you can probably live without him.  I'm personally disappointed they didn't repaint Bumblebee instead of just using the head on Cliffjumper's body.)

[JB0]

9 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm personally disappointed they didn't repaint Bumblebee instead of just using the head on Cliffjumper's body.

Meanwhile, I just want Bumblebee with a new head. Bug Bite's supposed to be yellow!

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

Meanwhile, I just want Bumblebee with a new head. Bug Bite's supposed to be yellow!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I'm down for a line of MP Gobots. (Y'know, beyond Action Toys awesome Bike Robo DX/Cy-Kill.)  But that evil yellow Beetle disguising himself as an evil white Bumblebee and crossing over from the Gobots universe to the Transformers is semi-canon.

But honestly, the whole G1 Gobots thing is weird.  Like, it was Takara's idea, but I didn't even think they had Gobots in Japan, just Bandai's Machine Robo.  But it was fleshed out by the old Transformers Collector's Club in the US four years later, then followed up with a sequel but back in Japan.

Speaking of the sequel, there actually is Gobot that's a white (and red) Hubcap repaint- Rest-Q.  Which makes Bugbite seem extra lazy, somehow.

And on that note... I guess the ship has sailed for Pathfinder and Bad Boy, probably Buggyman, Rest-Q, and Admiral Man-O-War.  And Small Foot seems unlikely since a Kingdom Gears never made it out of planning.  But with Warpath and Huffer on the way I suppose it's possible that Gen Selects Road Ranger and Treds could happen.  That said, Pipes seems like a more likely retool/repaint for Huffer, and the rumor is that Warpath is going to be redone as Slammer.

[sh9000]

[Scyla]

Looks like the best Hot Rod to date. Poor MP Hot Rodimus and FT Hoodlum.

[M'Kyuun]

That Jazz is so nigh perfect; I wish they'd expended a little more engineering oomph to hid his feet in car mode.

I see a number of people hating on Kup's face, but to my eye, it's pretty dead on to how he looked in the Movie. The light greenish shoulder bits look dodgy to me, as if they're not going to tab in well. That's really my only potential gripe.

@mikeszekely 'Preciate the look at core class Rattrap. As I own the T30, and do consider it a far superior toy, I passed on this based on pics and vid reviews that have popped up (well before they should). I would have been more inclined to double dip had this figure's rat mode sported a little more articulation instead of being a solid shell like the original toy.  Alas, money for something else. 

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I'm down for a line of MP Gobots. (Y'know, beyond Action Toys awesome Bike Robo DX/Cy-Kill.)  But that evil yellow Beetle disguising himself as an evil white Bumblebee and crossing over from the Gobots universe to the Transformers is semi-canon.

But honestly, the whole G1 Gobots thing is weird.  Like, it was Takara's idea, but I didn't even think they had Gobots in Japan, just Bandai's Machine Robo.  But it was fleshed out by the old Transformers Collector's Club in the US four years later, then followed up with a sequel but back in Japan.

Speaking of the sequel, there actually is Gobot that's a white (and red) Hubcap repaint- Rest-Q.  Which makes Bugbite seem extra lazy, somehow.

And on that note... I guess the ship has sailed for Pathfinder and Bad Boy, probably Buggyman, Rest-Q, and Admiral Man-O-War.  And Small Foot seems unlikely since a Kingdom Gears never made it out of planning.  But with Warpath and Huffer on the way I suppose it's possible that Gen Selects Road Ranger and Treds could happen.  That said, Pipes seems like a more likely retool/repaint for Huffer, and the rumor is that Warpath is going to be redone as Slammer.

While the line didn't appeal to everyone, I still felt a bit spoiled by Action Toy's Machine Robo line.  Many of them had some surprisingly clever transformation mechanics for essentially deluxe Transformer scaled figs. For the most part, I thought they were a neat collection of updated figs, with a stylistic flourish here and there. I never picked up the DX Bike Robo fig, but having seen reviews for it, I concur that it was a well done figure that beggared a whole line. I was waiting for the DX Eagle Robo that never came- totally would have thrown some ducats at that. I'm not sure why they didn't pursue a MP scaled line as DX Bike seemed to do well critically and sales-wise. I can't recall a single bad review. Moreover, given the popularity of MP, and the ability to infuse the larger figs with better engineering and accessories to homage the Gobots toys/toon, it seems like it would have been a surefire success, appealing to East and West. Perhaps instead of leading with the smaller figs, they should have charged out the gate with DX versions of Bike and Eagle to a greater success. We'll never know.

I wasn't aware that Gobots were being homaged in the TF line, aside from a Crasher fig that was made from Classics Mirage back in '07. I'm not sure about a Road Ranger from Huffer, (maybe from UM), but there almost certainly be a Pipes. This is Hasbro, king of the repaints, we're talking about.

5 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Looks like the best Hot Rod to date. Poor MP Hot Rodimus and FT Hoodlum.

Fo sho.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Scyla said:

Looks like the best Hot Rod to date. Poor MP Hot Rodimus and FT Hoodlum.

Right?  I opened @sh9000's post this morning on my phone and only Hot Rod was showing until I scrolled down.  Before I did I almost thought, "Oh, did Takara announce an MP Hot Rod 2.0?"  I think Hot Rod is probably the SS '86 figure I'm looking forward to the most, with Grimlock and Jazz being close seconds.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

That Jazz is so nigh perfect; I wish they'd expended a little more engineering oomph to hid his feet in car mode.

Agree, but I'll let it slide on a Deluxe.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

While the line didn't appeal to everyone, I still felt a bit spoiled by Action Toy's Machine Robo line.  Many of them had some surprisingly clever transformation mechanics for essentially deluxe Transformer scaled figs. For the most part, I thought they were a neat collection of updated figs, with a stylistic flourish here and there.

I agree, but with the caveat that they sometimes felt overpriced, and a lot of the engineering ideas they were using would have worked better on larger figures.  Bike Robo feels fiddly and loose after awhile; Bike Robo DX is nigh-perfect.  I rarely bought from the regular AT Machine Robo line, but if they announced another DX I'd preorder it.  I don't even care who it is.

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I wasn't aware that Gobots were being homaged in the TF line, aside from a Crasher fig that was made from Classics Mirage back in '07. I'm not sure about a Road Ranger from Huffer, (maybe from UM), but there almost certainly be a Pipes. This is Hasbro, king of the repaints, we're talking about.

Crasher was more of a "here's a crazy repaint idea for Mirage."  But the other G1 Gobots were a deliberate move by Takara in 2004 to sell repaints of G1 Bumblebee, Cosmos, Gears, Huffer, Powerglide, and Warpath as the Gobots Bug Bite, Path Finder, Small Foot, Road Ranger, Bad Boy, and Treds, respectively.  None of them looked much like the Gobot versions.

In 2008 Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop wrote a short fiction for the Transformers Collectors Club describing how a cataclysm was threating the Gobot's universe.  "Doctor B" (most likely Doctor Braxis) determined that the source of the threat was another universe (that of the Fun Publications "Classics" comics), and so four Guardians and two Renegades were sent to infiltrate that universe.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Right?  I opened @sh9000's post this morning on my phone and only Hot Rod was showing until I scrolled down.  Before I did I almost thought, "Oh, did Takara announce an MP Hot Rod 2.0?"  I think Hot Rod is probably the SS '86 figure I'm looking forward to the most, with Grimlock and Jazz being close seconds.

Agree, but I'll let it slide on a Deluxe.

I agree, but with the caveat that they sometimes felt overpriced, and a lot of the engineering ideas they were using would have worked better on larger figures.  Bike Robo feels fiddly and loose after awhile; Bike Robo DX is nigh-perfect.  I rarely bought from the regular AT Machine Robo line, but if they announced another DX I'd preorder it.  I don't even care who it is.

Crasher was more of a "here's a crazy repaint idea for Mirage."  But the other G1 Gobots were a deliberate move by Takara in 2004 to sell repaints of G1 Bumblebee, Cosmos, Gears, Huffer, Powerglide, and Warpath as the Gobots Bug Bite, Path Finder, Small Foot, Road Ranger, Bad Boy, and Treds, respectively.  None of them looked much like the Gobot versions.

In 2008 Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop wrote a short fiction for the Transformers Collectors Club describing how a cataclysm was threating the Gobot's universe.  "Doctor B" (most likely Doctor Braxis) determined that the source of the threat was another universe (that of the Fun Publications "Classics" comics), and so four Guardians and two Renegades were sent to infiltrate that universe.

Huh, I had no idea. It's interesting if futile, due, as you mentioned, to the obvious lack of resemblance to any known Gobot, living or otherwise. I assume the Collector's Club story was a fanfic trying to marry the two universes together, if only as a fun exercise for fans of both franchises.

It's a bit of a shame, in retrospect, that the licensing and ownership of Gobots became a tangled and dissolute mess, pretty much ensuring that it'll never be possible in toy form here in the West ever again. IIRC, Hasbro owns the name Gobots and ownership of the some of the Gobot names, but not the toys, or toy likenesses, which limits what they're able to do with the property. Knowing that, I was happy that Action Toys got a license, however limited, for Machine Robo, as it's the closest we're going to get to modern updates of the 80s toys. They weren't without their issues, but given that or nothing, I bought most of the AT deluxe scaled line. I agree they felt a bit expensive for what you're getting, but again, for lack of options, I bought them rather happily. I'm still waiting for Supercar (Turbo) and Blue Jet (Fitor) to release. Blue Jet is available for PO on most of the usual sites, along with Tough Trailer, who doesn't really appeal to me. I've got Blue jet PO'd, though. I have a feeling Supercar will be their swan song. Pity; I was really hoping Harrier Robo (Royal-T) would get a figure, as I believe he was also featured in Revenge of Cronos.

[JB0]

2 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I hate myself for laughing at that.

[Negotiator]

1 hour ago, JB0 said:

I hate myself for laughing at that.

lol me too

[mikeszekely]

Seems like, after stacking up preorders all year, that Hasbro is starting to get some Transformers product out there.  As a matter of fact, I finally got my hands on Gigawatt from their Back to the Future crossover.

As I noted before, Gigawatt is a remold of Siege Sideswipe.  They share the same arms from the biceps down, the same pelvis, same hips, same thighs, and same knee joints.  They also share the same shoulder joints, but Gigawatt has new shoulders.  The inside of his torso is the same, so he can technically mount Sideswipe's shoulder weapons.  But the actual car on his back, the front of his torso, his head, and everything below the knees is new.

Being made from Sideswipe means that he's the same size as him and the other Autobot cars.  That makes him a good fit with the current WFC stuff, compared to the too-tall Ectotron.

Aesthetically I don't have a lot to complain about, what with him being a new character.  I'll just note that his hood chest is much bigger and more prominent than Sideswipe's, and his doors are left hanging open instead of tucking in for robot mode, but neither of those things are terrible.

Gigawatt comes with the pole they used to get power from the lightning strike into the Delorean in the first movie, a gun that looks kind of like a smaller, grayer version of Prime's rifle, and a little Mr. Fusion.  The Mr. Fusion even has some nice tampoed details on it, and there's spots on the butt and on top of the rifle where you can plug it in.  I prefer on top.

Gigawatt's articulation should be the same as Sideswipe's, but I'll cover it again.  His head is on a ball joint.  It swivels and can look down, but nothing really up.  Plenty of sideways tilt, though.  His shoulders rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  No wrist articulation, unless you count bending inward for transformation.  His waist and thighs swivel.  His hips can go forward or backward 90 degrees, and he can spread them over 90 degrees.  His knees only bend around 45 degrees.  This is due to having chunks of thruster on them.  His feet have a little up/down wiggle but not really a tilt (the joint is loose enough that he'll look like he's always leaning slightly forward).  He does have ankle pivots, though.

Being so extensively remolded he doesn't have as many 5mm ports as Sideswipe.  He can hold his weapons in the ports on his hands, and he's got ports on his forearms and shoulders where you could plug in the hook, but the ones on his back and legs are gone.  He does have some on the inside of his doors, which you can kind of use for storage, and he does retail some on his feet.

Transformation from robot to car mode is almost the same as it is for Sideswipe.  The only differences are that you have to flip part of the hood around, you have to unfold the front wheels from inside his chest, and there are bits on the backs of his shoulders that spin around to fill out the space behind the front wheels.

Size-wise, again, he's a great fit with the other WfC cars, but the scale is definitely off if you're displaying him with Ectotron.

As for the Delorean itself, yeah, it's looking pretty good.  The windows have a nice tint.  Most of the car seems to be painted, with a texture to simulate the Delorean's bare metal appearance.  Additional details like the bumpers, rims, strips, various cables, and the taillights are also painted, plus the California "OUTATIME" license plate is tampoed on.  Is it perfect?  Not exactly... some of the squares on the edge of the lights should be amber, and the red should run under the thrusters.  More paint could have been used on the engine area, and I think some of the black parts running from the back of the roof over the rear fenders and under the rear bumper is actually silver on the real car.  But for a Deluxe-class, even one with a higher-than-normal price tag, it feels adequate.

The Delorean's gullwing doors do open, although there's nothing to see in there except robot kibble.  And his rifle can store under the hood, just behind the front bumper.  But only if you take the Mr. Fusion off.

As for the hooked rod, it pegs into a spot on the rear.  I mean, yeah, if you want to recreate that one scene in the first movie.  Me, I think I'm leaving this accessory in the box.

Instead of doing the clocktower scene, you can do the "where we're going, we don't need roads" scene instead.  The Mr. Fusion plugs onto the back (somewhat loosely), and the wheels can rotate so they're pointed rims down.  Most WfC figures actually have ports these days for flight stands, and Gigawatt is no exception.  Here I'm using the one that came with MP Tracks.

The cynical among us might see these Transformers crossover collaboratives as a way for Hasbro to combine its brands and leverage nostalgia to sell us novelties that don't truly belong to either franchise.  But hey, the being a kid in the '80s was awesome and 2020 sucks, so I love this figure.  Hasbro has taken another iconic '80s vehicle and turned it into a Transformer, but by starting with a much better base the overall figure is a marked improvement over Ectotron.  I don't know what licenses Hasbro has- Mattel having DC and Playmates having the Ninja turtles makes a Burton Batmobile or the Party Wagon unlikely, but maybe Airwolf, B. A. Baracus' van, or the General Lee are still up for grabs?  Because I have to admit that I'm a lot more into '80s nostalgia than '90s and "Ultimate X-Spanse" isn't really doing it for me.  But Gigawatt?  I love this guy, and he's a hearty recommend from me.

[Scyla]

I think I would buy a black Trans  Am that turns into a black K.I.T.T robot. Maybe they could engineer a Super Pursuit Mode into the car. 

[mikeszekely]

13 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I think I would buy a black Trans  Am that turns into a black K.I.T.T robot. Maybe they could engineer a Super Pursuit Mode into the car. 

Oh, I'd buy a Transforming KITT so hard.  I'd even buy a KARR repaint.

[derex3592]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Oh, I'd buy a Transforming KITT so hard.  I'd even buy a KARR repaint.

Yeh. Same here! Don't forget a Goliath transforming truck too!!! 

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Yeh. Same here! Don't forget a Goliath transforming truck too!!! 

I mentioned in an earlier post about reusing the ER Prime mold for Goliath, with a Garthe inspired head. I'd be down for a grey Optimus with a simulated hair helmet, moustache, and soul patch. So Evil!  His huge grill guard could detach and become a shield in bot mode, and his cab mounted rocket pods could become either shoulder cannons or his gun, or both. Both would be best.

And if they make KITT, they may as well get their money's worth and make KARR as well. No room for half measures when taking a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. 

 

[mikeszekely]

While a few Beast Wars characters have turned up from time to time in Classics/Universe/Generations I'd previously skipped all but Waspinator.  However, with Rattrap, Primal, and Cheetor in the first wave of Kingdom and Dinobot in the second I hate not having at least the core cast.  I decided to hedge my bets and I bought Thrilling 30 Rhinox.  I guess he could stand to be a little taller, but if we don't get a new one in Kingdom I'm good.

Now I just gotta hope they do Scorponok, Tarantulas, and Terrorsaur.  Maybe Inferno.

[Dobber]

Anyone know what’s going on with Maverick? Has anyone got theirs that ordered from Hasbro?

Chris

edit: should’ve checked Hasbropulse first. Says should be available today. We’ll see. 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Dobber

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, Dobber said:

Anyone know what’s going on with Maverick? Has anyone got theirs that ordered from Hasbro?

Chris

edit: should’ve checked Hasbropulse first. Says should be available today. We’ll see. 

Ooh, expensive week.  According to my preorder chart (because I have to make a chart to keep them all straight these days) I've got Maverick, Universal Studios Megatron, Super Megatron, Sandstorm, and the Ratchet & Lifeline pack due this week.  Plus Thrust next week (Runabout already shipped).

Edited December 1, 2020 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

I have Runabout enroute to me, but none of my other POs so far as I've received emails. I've had Runamuck in hand for over a week now. Cool fig, although I wish they'd given him a second set of lateral shoulder joints within the shoulder for better pose-ability. But, as is, it's a good toy for what were third tier characters, certainly better than the Vanette bros.

Just PO'd ER Soundwave from Wally, as it just became available again (yay for notifications). I was going to try and score it straight from the store, but that's always a crapshoot, and I'd rather just PO it to be sure. I got free shipping, so that's nice. Supposedly, it's due to arrive by the 22nd. Guess we'll see.

[Negotiator]

Ugh. Wally sent me a msg saying. Soundwave. BB. Elita1. Ashoka all backordered. Delayed..  Target is saying same thing for thrust.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just PO'd ER Soundwave from Wally, as it just became available again (yay for notifications).

 

1 hour ago, Negotiator said:

Ugh. Wally sent me a msg saying. Soundwave. BB. Elita1. Ashoka all backordered. Delayed..  Target is saying same thing for thrust.

Eh?  I'm curious how Walmart is putting Soundwave up for more preorders, but telling those of us who preordered him months ago that it's backordered.   Crap like that makes me want to do as little business with Walmart as possible.  I'd do none, but Hasbro keeps giving them exclusives.

At least I haven't had any messages about delays on Bee or Thrust.

[M'Kyuun]

I haven't received any delay messages either. The window for Soundwave was apparently brief today; shortly after I put in my order, they were showing out of stock again, so it was pure luck that I happened to be looking at my computer at the right time, a rarity.

[Mechapilot77]

so thrust delayed to 12/15 according to target email for everyone i guess?

[sh9000]

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

so thrust delayed to 12/15 according to target email for everyone i guess?

Yep- got the email at like 1 in the morning. No big.

Airazor and Dinobot look pretty good. UM looks good in bot mode with his armor; the unarmored white bot is so-so (not digging the enormous chunk of truck hanging off his butt), and his cab mode leaves a little to be desired (gappy and misshapen), although it is better than his Siege version. I wish they'd just gone full G1 toy and used ER prime as the base and tailored the trailer to become his armor. Sigh.

[technoblue]

Oh man! A swing and a miss on Kingdom UM, Hasbro.

And this right after our forum chat about MP Magnus. All I can do is laugh (and cry). We were this close to a better mini MP, using ER Prime as the core bot. The insiders over on tfw2005 confirmed it was in the cards and then abandoned as too costly. What a shame.

 

[M'Kyuun]

55 minutes ago, technoblue said:

Oh man! A swing and a miss on Kingdom UM, Hasbro.

And this right after our forum chat about MP Magnus. All I can do is laugh (and cry). We were this close to a better mini MP, using ER Prime as the core bot. The insiders over on tfw2005 confirmed it was in the cards and then abandoned as too costly. What a shame.

 

I think, had Takara still been the driving force behind the toys, they would have produced him as an old school UM with a white ER Prime and trailer. Takara tends to design the toy, and consider costs later, which, as we've seen in the past, generally results in a better toy. Even if Hasbro had to do him as a slightly overpriced leader, it would have been worth it to get an Ultra Magnus with all three modes looking good. This is one of those times when they should have solicited feedback from the fan community. I think the vast majority of us would have gone with an ER Prime core, given the option.

I still plan on getting this fig, but he'll always be combined with his armor, as that white bot mode looks like yuck.  Given my druthers, I prefer CW UM over this; even though it doesn't have a separate core bot, its truck and all-in-one bot modes look good- unmistakably Ultra Magnus, albeit with a touch of IDW styling. Unfortunately, Kingdom UM suffers many an unsightly concession.  Who at Hasbro looks at these things in their finalized form and says, "that looks great!" or even, "acceptable"?

[mikeszekely]

I'd hoped Ultra Magnus would be a totally new mold; I know Hasbro likes their repaints, but there's always Delta Magnus.  I never for a second thought that a white ER Prime with new armor was in the cards, and given Takara's love of cartoon accuracy even if they were still taking the lead on toy development it'd have wound up being an all-in-one design like CW Magnus.

Realistically, though, it was always going to be a remold of the Siege figure, just like Megatron and the Datsuns.  I think what really disappoints me, then, is how little they actually remolded.  For the core robot it looks like the only change was the front half of the cab (so I suspect that chunk of truck on his butt should actually slide up his spine onto his back, like the Siege figure).  Not ideal, but I can live with it.  And the armored robot looks pretty good, sure, with a new head that has the bigger aviator-style eyes, new shoulder parts, and a new more cartoon-style chest.  What I really dislike, though, is that the leg parts are the same and the resulting trailer looks like they strapped the Siege toy's onto a more Earth-like cab instead of his car carrier.

Oh well.  I'm complaining because it's not the upgrade I wanted, but I'll buy it because it is still an upgrade over Siege.  Although I hope DNA makes leg parts for it.

13 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

so thrust delayed to 12/15 according to target email for everyone i guess?

Yep.  I've waited this long, though, I can wait two more weeks.  As long as it comes.  Which is should; unlike Walmart, Target's never let me down.

Runabout came today, though.

Runabout is basically Runamuck, but black.  I guess that's the best we could expect.  If you want to know my thoughts on the mold just refer back to my Runamuck review.  When I first took him out of the package I actually thought he was just a straight-up recolor.

But no, on closer examination his head is a new mold.  So at least there's that.

Interestingly, Runabout comes with the same pistol that Runamuck did, but with red paint on most of it.  That's fair, the sculpt is closer to G1 Runabout's gun.  Interestingly, though, he comes with a second gun, also cast in black and painted red.  And this gun is molded more like G1 Runamuck's gun.

For whatever reason you can plug the barrel of the one gun into the hole in the back of the other (it seems to fit best if you put the Runamuck gun into the back of the Runabout one).

I'm tempted to strip the paint off of the Runamuck-molded gun and give it to him, then using the black Runabout-style gun that came with Runamuck on another figure.

With their heads tucked away Runabout's alt mode is exactly the same as Runamuck's, just in a cooler black-and-red.  Which I find disappointing.  As I commented when I reviewed Runamuck, this alt mode looks like a '70s-style Firebird instead of an '80s model, making in the wrong year but at least the right car.  But Runabout was Lotus Esprit, with a much more wedge-shaped nose and pop-up headlights.  I know that Hasbro isn't licensing real cars for War for Cybertron, but I'd rather they erred on making something more similar to the Lotus for both than giving them this almost muscle car style.  When all's said and done, though, I'm just glad to have both Battlechargers without them being TFCC-exclusive repaints of Wheeljack.

[Mechapilot77]

19 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yep- got the email at like 1 in the morning. No big.

Airazor and Dinobot look pretty good. UM looks good in bot mode with his armor; the unarmored white bot is so-so (not digging the enormous chunk of truck hanging off his butt), and his cab mode leaves a little to be desired (gappy and misshapen), although it is better than his Siege version. I wish they'd just gone full G1 toy and used ER prime as the base and tailored the trailer to become his armor. Sigh.

yeah the cab looks more g1 (but alas inferior to the g1 cab looks in every way) but the trailer is like basically the same as the siege.  i'm not sure the cab alone is worth the "upgrade" .  i've got and upgraded siege one and then i saw the OSKO BPF one (which is a tiny bit bigger than the upgraded thighs siege) that is free of "dirt dn grime damage" so i've got that too.  if it goes on discount or if i see it in person when i'm out somewhere i may pick it up ...or if bpf does a remold of theirs to match.

also the junk in teh trunk is mistransformed.  if you see the picture on the back of the box (not sure it was posted here), its not the way it is in the above badonkadonk butt photo.  lol.

 

[Mechapilot77]

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'd hoped Ultra Magnus would be a totally new mold; I know Hasbro likes their repaints, but there's always Delta Magnus.  I never for a second thought that a white ER Prime with new armor was in the cards, and given Takara's love of cartoon accuracy even if they were still taking the lead on toy development it'd have wound up being an all-in-one design like CW Magnus.

Realistically, though, it was always going to be a remold of the Siege figure, just like Megatron and the Datsuns.  I think what really disappoints me, then, is how little they actually remolded.  For the core robot it looks like the only change was the front half of the cab (so I suspect that chunk of truck on his butt should actually slide up his spine onto his back, like the Siege figure).  Not ideal, but I can live with it.  And the armored robot looks pretty good, sure, with a new head that has the bigger aviator-style eyes, new shoulder parts, and a new more cartoon-style chest.  What I really dislike, though, is that the leg parts are the same and the resulting trailer looks like they strapped the Siege toy's onto a more Earth-like cab instead of his car carrier.

Oh well.  I'm complaining because it's not the upgrade I wanted, but I'll buy it because it is still an upgrade over Siege.  Although I hope DNA makes leg parts for it.

Yep.  I've waited this long, though, I can wait two more weeks.  As long as it comes.  Which is should; unlike Walmart, Target's never let me down.

Runabout came today, though.

Runabout is basically Runamuck, but black.  I guess that's the best we could expect.  If you want to know my thoughts on the mold just refer back to my Runamuck review.  When I first took him out of the package I actually thought he was just a straight-up recolor.

But no, on closer examination his head is a new mold.  So at least there's that.

Interestingly, Runabout comes with the same pistol that Runamuck did, but with red paint on most of it.  That's fair, the sculpt is closer to G1 Runabout's gun.  Interestingly, though, he comes with a second gun, also cast in black and painted red.  And this gun is molded more like G1 Runamuck's gun.

For whatever reason you can plug the barrel of the one gun into the hole in the back of the other (it seems to fit best if you put the Runamuck gun into the back of the Runabout one).

I'm tempted to strip the paint off of the Runamuck-molded gun and give it to him, then using the black Runabout-style gun that came with Runamuck on another figure.

With their heads tucked away Runabout's alt mode is exactly the same as Runamuck's, just in a cooler black-and-red.  Which I find disappointing.  As I commented when I reviewed Runamuck, this alt mode looks like a '70s-style Firebird instead of an '80s model, making in the wrong year but at least the right car.  But Runabout was Lotus Esprit, with a much more wedge-shaped nose and pop-up headlights.  I know that Hasbro isn't licensing real cars for War for Cybertron, but I'd rather they erred on making something more similar to the Lotus for both than giving them this almost muscle car style.  When all's said and done, though, I'm just glad to have both Battlechargers without them being TFCC-exclusive repaints of Wheeljack.

great writeup as always mike.  Mine are apparently waiting for me at the office (i'm only 50% in the office).  i wish at least one of them was lotus espirit like too.  i have the old TFCC ones and i prefer runamuck's deco there but these look really good and way better overall.  i hope someone gives us an mp level runabout/runamuck someday.  i like to think of them as stunticon rejects/wannabes....and i think of exhaust in the same breadth now.

on another note...pulse has shipped my maverick! 

[mikeszekely]

In addition to Airazor, Ultra Magnus, and Dinobot that we saw yesterday here's the rest of the second wave of Kingdom.

Core-class Starscream and Megatron.  Not for me, but they look good for their size and, alone with Prime from the first wave, scale better with the Titans.

ER Arcee will be in the second Kingdom wave.  Then, with Airzor, the other Deluxes are Ractonite and Huffer.

And if you're curious, yes, Huffer can pull ER Prime's trailer.

Then Dinobot is one of the Voyagers.  The other is Inferno.

Magnus will be the only Leader-class in the wave.

Preorders will go up tomorrow.  I'll probably preorder everything but the Cores.

[Negotiator]

looks like its just huffer, inferno & dinobot for me.  was really hoping magnus would have been different like siege prime to ER prime.

[mikeszekely]

On 12/2/2020 at 10:09 AM, Mechapilot77 said:

on another note...pulse has shipped my maverick!

I kept checking all day after you posted that and nothing, but I woke up to a shipping notice.  Plus Amazon said Ratchet and Lifeline shipped, and all three should arrive Saturday.

EDIT: Super Megatron now, too.

Oh, and heads up, the new Kingdom preorders are supposed to go live at 1:00pm EST (10:00am PST).  But if you can't wait for the store of your choice Target has their preorders up now.  Interestingly the release date is showing April 1st, which is the same as SS '86 and just a month or two after the first Kingdom wave.  Makes me wonder if, like Rattrap, we might see a few more of the first wave get released early.  Maybe Studio Series, too, since Hasbro (or somebody) was already sending out review samples.  I wouldn't mind the first wave of Kingdom next month and SS '86 in February or March...

Edited December 4, 2020 by mikeszekely