The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, tekering said:

That defines Hasbro so succinctly, it ought to be on all their corporate branding.

Oh, man, you made my morning!

It's funny b/c it's true.

[danth]

7 hours ago, tekering said:

That defines Hasbro so succinctly, it ought to be on all their corporate branding.

He also nailed their strategy for selling more toys:

10 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I thought the TR fig was done well, but certainly not perfect. Hopefully, the new fig will fix the issues and give us the best Blitzwing yet.

No wonder they always leave a few glaring flaws!

Edited May 5, 2021 by danth

[Mechapilot77]

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Ok, from the more credible source this time...

Remember I said we're probably getting Blaster?  Apparently there's something floating around Hasbro under the name Project Jam, and it's going to be a repaint of said new Blaster in a collaboration with a band.

Leader-class Blitzwing will be making an appearance.  I'm not ruling out SS86, but I'm hearing that it's probably in the next mainline trilogy.

Hasbro is almost definitely taking a page from Newage's playbook and releasing a Galvatron retool as Straxus.  It'll probably carry the old Darkmount name, though.

The Insecticons are real, and will be late 2022 early 2023.

There are Target DCPIs for a new Leader-class Optimus and a new Leader-class Megatron, but nothing more than that.

 

any chance its an MP blaster (or MP enough stand in that will fit that lion tape they released)?  KFC's is just not good enough for me anymore.

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

 

any chance its an MP blaster (or MP enough stand in that will fit that lion tape they released)?  KFC's is just not good enough for me anymore.

No, it's either SS86 or whatever the next trilogy is. I've been told that it's going to be a Voyager-class.  But I do believe Fans Toys has a Blaster in the works.

Edited May 6, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

No, it's either SS86 or whatever the next trilogy is. But I do believe Fans Toys has a Blaster in the works.

Blaster's a character I can take or leave, but I'm very interested if FT make the cassettes.

Still waiting for MMC to get off the pot and release their upsized versions.

Edited May 6, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[Hikuro]

Personally I'm gettin tired of them rehashing the same characters again and again and again. If you're going to continue a line from Classics to I guess...WFC/ER/KD then make more characters. Don't just release Optimus, Soundwave and Megatron 3 or 4 different ways. 1) it confuses parents who buy these for their kids. 2) It ups the scalping ratio for the versions that fans want. I just would like to see a number of classic characters make their rounds....we really haven't gotten a proper Blaster, Brawn, Gears, Insecticons, gosh who else hasn't really shown up or gotten a good figure yet?

[M'Kyuun]

20 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

Personally I'm gettin tired of them rehashing the same characters again and again and again. If you're going to continue a line from Classics to I guess...WFC/ER/KD then make more characters. Don't just release Optimus, Soundwave and Megatron 3 or 4 different ways. 1) it confuses parents who buy these for their kids. 2) It ups the scalping ratio for the versions that fans want. I just would like to see a number of classic characters make their rounds....we really haven't gotten a proper Blaster, Brawn, Gears, Insecticons, gosh who else hasn't really shown up or gotten a good figure yet?

The Autobot cassettes, the Omnibots, the Constructicons (The CW version was crap, especially the Hasbro release. Takara at least tried a little harder and gave their bots more articulation where the American releases had none.), a decent Astrotrain with good looking alts, a proper G1 Megatron (never gonna happen, but Primus knows I wish), better Decepticon cassettes (it's lamentable when the 80s toys look better than a modern toy, and when third parties can create better looking and more articulate versions at about half the scale), and better Seekers (The Classics mold was good for its time 16 years ago; lamentable again that between Takara and Hasbro, the best they could come up with is essentially upscaling an old figure. All the creative folks must have been on holiday that week). There's a fairly reliable rumor that Insecticons are coming, new Dinobots are trickling out, and eventually, I assume, Gears and Brawn will get their updates. Brawn and Gears were far more prominent characters than Huffer, so if he got a new fig, it makes sense that those guys will get theirs as well.

Honestly, while I'm basking in all the G1 glory that the current line, and it would seem the next, is bringing us, I wouldn't mind seeing Transformers take another creative leap as they did with Animated, Prime, even Beast Wars, although, for my personal tastes, keep the alt modes as vehicles and mechanical things. And for Pete's sake, do a better job on the next toon production, especially the voice acting. Get Cullen and Welker in there while we still have them with us and they're able to do it. They're not getting any younger, and nobody owns the characters like they do, especially Peter.

[Scyla]

I liked the voice acting in Transformers Cyberverse which were also non union VAs.

I think the voice direction for the WfC show is to blame for the abysmal performance (I‘m not saying they should use non union workers though). That and I think they try to stretch out the runtime of the show by…

…talking…

…extra…

…slow…

 

[Negotiator]

Hate the way talk in netflix wfc

[Negotiator]

 

[M'Kyuun]

Slag (nice to have the proper name again) is looking pretty good. He's a little squarish, but it's not so egregious as to ruin the Triceratops mode. I appreciate the transformation engineering, especially the chest narrowing bit, and the way the robot head still goes into the Tri-C head, but with a more accurate lower jaw than we usually get if the chest plate is used. I don't mind the gun storage in the tail per-se, but the barrel is a little too long and white, which robs it a little of looking proper. As weapon storage, though, it's far better than we usually get with official TFs. It's better than Grimlock's solution (FWIW, I wish they'd allowed his gun to tab onto his back with the barrels pointing forward, but the stupid Wheelie thing ruined that possibility). The faux toes on his back bugs me a little, but honestly, I think the leg transformation works well, and the actual toes are pretty well hidden at the base of the Tri-C tail, so it's a diversion from the original design that still works well.  I'm just not a big fan of faux parts, but sometimes they work better than not, like Hot Rod's chest. The Daniel slug is garbage, and I wish fervently that Hasbro would eschew adding poorly done slug figs in favor of making a better core figure. In this case, Slag's horns are hollow, so a better mold, or hole fillers would have been a better use of plastic and the budget. Too, maybe some panel flaps to cover the hollow bits on his back legs, or maybe some fold out bits on the back feet to make them a little wider and not so odd looking.  Many folks are going to clamor for a sword, but I have a feeling Hasbro won't miss the opportunity to double dip on these figs and give us tv versions at some point down the road that'll come with swords. If they do and they have the trans-brown sheathing over various bits like the G1 toys had, I'm totally down for them.

[sh9000]

Slag looks good.  Looking forward to more Dinobots.

[ErikElvis]

Unicron showed up today. Prob keep him in planet mode. Don’t know if I feel like transforming for an hour. 

[tekering]

28 minutes ago, ErikElvis said:

Prob keep him in planet mode.

It's certainly the most accurate of the two... although in robot mode, you could always remove all the shellforming planet bits and basically display both at the same time...! 

[JB0]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

It's certainly the most accurate of the two... although in robot mode, you could always remove all the shellforming planet bits and basically display both at the same time...! 

Pro strategy there. Two toys for the price of one.

[technoblue]

Well now...this early review has revealed some fun surprises that I wasn't expecting to see. The ratchets are nice. The bottom half of Slag's dino head has a clever transformation. The rear dino feet make sense now that I'm seeing how it all works together--they also don't look as out of proportion as they did in the leaked photos (maybe I'm just getting used to it). I'm liking all that line detail too...I guess I can live with the blocky look? 

But I'm still not a fan of how the gun completes the Triceratops tail. I mean, it works and all; I'm just not a fan of it. The top half of Slag's dino head looks incomplete with the gold paint covering just the top side. It would have been cool if Hasbro had painted both sides or molded that piece in the same color. I'm also not a fan of another wasted add-on figure, even though I understand what Hasbro is doing with them. I still would have traded Wheelie and Daniel away for extra weapons or a couple more paint apps on Grimlock and Slag easily. Perhaps an alternative and swappable bot-mode head? That would have been fun and unexpected for the mainline. Anyway, I guess these are nitpicks now.

With any luck, Dinobot Slag will get a nice choice of third-party upgrade sets like Grimlock did.

[Negotiator]

https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-generations-war-for-cybertron-kingdom-battle-across-time-collection-deluxe-wfc-k40-autobot-mirage-maximal-grimlock

 

[mikeszekely]

@Negotiator beat me to it.  That's what I get for trying to get into shape and working out before getting online.

I do believe that this is one of the things my source leaked awhile back, yeah?  It's pretty much what I expected.  I preordered because I like the new head they made for Grimlock and I do like some of the tweaks they made for an Earth-mode Mirage.  But even though I knew it'd just be a Siege remold I am a bit disappointed that we didn't get a straight up better mold for him.

Now to see if the other one comes to fruition.  I think it was an Earth-mode Sideswipe and a Skywarp repaint from Airazor.

[Mechapilot77]

so they didn't at all address the worst part of the siege mirage figure.  the arms as an engine is still there.  they gave it an open cockpit, different spoilers and a slightly different treatment of teh shoulder side panels and called it a day.  i think i like the siege one better at the moment and i don't want that beast wars style grimlock at all so skipping at the moment.  glad i don't feel the need to get it again i guess but i wish they'd done a ground up redesign like the datsun bros got.  the siege is a good mold but could have definitely been improved upon.

[mikeszekely]

15 minutes ago, Mechapilot77 said:

so they didn't at all address the worst part of the siege mirage figure.  the arms as an engine is still there.  they gave it an open cockpit, different spoilers and a slightly different treatment of teh shoulder side panels and called it a day.  i think i like the siege one better at the moment and i don't want that beast wars style grimlock at all so skipping at the moment.  glad i don't feel the need to get it again i guess but i wish they'd done a ground up redesign like the datsun bros got.  the siege is a good mold but could have definitely been improved upon.

Which is why I'm a bit disappointed they didn't do a more extensive remold and design an entirely new mold. But the arms as an engine do work better on this remold- because of the way they sit now there's actually space under the rear spoiler.

[Negotiator]

I don't have siege mirage so I'm getting this one. I suppose the grimlock will go to the kids if it doesn't grow on me but yeah it's a shame mirage isn't a better mold.

[M'Kyuun]

Concur about Mirage: it should have been an all new mold.  I have the Siege, which is ok, but the Classics fig is still one of my all-time favorite TF toys.

As for the Grimlock repaint of Dinobot, I'm only just lukewarm on that mold as the original character, so a repaint holds no interest.

[Scyla]

First look at MP Skyfire.

https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/05/13/first-look-at-takara-tomy-masterpiece-skyfire-prototype-433269

I’m at a loss of words how bad that looks.
 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Scyla

[M'Kyuun]

I think it's still too early to judge, as this is just a prototype. Funny that they posed him with MP-10 instead of MP-44.

Anyway, not feeling any pressing need to retire my FT Phoenix just yet.

[Scyla]

58 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I think it's still too early to judge, as this is just a prototype. Funny that they posed him with MP-10 instead of MP-44.

Anyway, not feeling any pressing need to retire my FT Phoenix just yet.

At this stage I don’t think they will change anything about the sculpt or the engineering.

According to the tweet this is a block model so they are going to add additional details like the chest vents.

Interesting. I learned something new today. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

It looks full on Sunbow. And that's why I'm not a fan of full on Sunbow.

[lechuck]

For an early prototype the engineering looks promising.

Feet have room to move and pivot and the knees are separate pieces, so hopefully deep knee bend. Unlike Phoenix the thighs have the correct proportional length and the hip-joints are not constantly in plain sight, arms are closer to the body. Also some nice attention to details like the slanting shoulder line and the trapezoidal shaped forearms.

Hopefully the transformation is more intricate and not just sliding and swinging giant sections of the toy around.

[technoblue]

I'm intrigued by it.

I mean Takara is known for their naff prototypes, so I'm looking forward to see how they clean things up as MP Skyfire gets closer to retail.

That said, I completely understand why those who already have FansToys' release are reticent to welcome this announcement with open arms. Myself, I'm having flashbacks to MP Megatron 2.0 where I bought into the third-party releases first. It was hard making the switch and I held onto Maketoys and DX9 Megs hemming and hawing before selling them to cover the cost of MP-36 back in the day.

Really, the only companies I trust for MP scale now are Takara and MMC. For the rest, I take a wait and see approach.

Anyway, for me to be all in, Skyfire's painted prototype will need to show some improvement in the face sculpt and other areas. I would also like to see decent articulation. With the big bots, my fear is that we will get limited/basic MP Magnus articulation again. A bonus would be a nice price.

Edited May 13, 2021 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

35 minutes ago, technoblue said:

Myself, I'm having flashbacks to MP Megatron 2.0 where I bought into the third-party releases first. It was hard making the switch and I held onto Maketoys and DX9 Megs hemming and hawing before selling them to cover the cost of MP-36 back in the day.

I still have the Maketoys one. I get that people love MP-36, but he looks goofy to me. Like Skyfire he's too Sunbow for my tastes.

36 minutes ago, technoblue said:

Really, the only companies I trust for MP scale now are Takara and MMC. For the rest, I take a wait and see approach.

Agree on MMC. But especially after stuff like Hound and Bee 2.0 Takara's definitely a wait-and-see (and pass, more often than not) for me. I'm digging Tracks, though.

[technoblue]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Agree on MMC. But especially after stuff like Hound and Bee 2.0 Takara's definitely a wait-and-see (and pass, more often than not) for me. I'm digging Tracks, though.

I've been lucky with my copy of Hound. I should say, I'm not looking for cracks on it like I was with my older problematic Yamato Valkyries. The Valkyries had replacement parts, though, so there's that. I agree with you about Bee 2.0. I'm not anti-Sunbow but that release had paint problems and the panels were way over the top.  I would have given Takara a break on it if the mini VW alt fit together well. The fact that things were finicky in both modes turned me off.

[Alex GS]

somebody knew this Masterpiece was coming?, for me it appeared out of nowhere , really didn't expecting it. 

not sure if PO this one, the colors look very bland and definitely intentional they didn't put any promo images from the back , hmmm I wonder why?, still the convoy mode looks very good in my opinion, really surprising also that this Prime doesn't have an stratospheric price I wonder how big it is. 

 

found this: 

I think is a very good size judging by the size of the hand  

ok I will PO now! 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Alex GS

[Negotiator]

Damn..forearms are a deal breaker for me after 3rd party has already figured it out.

[Chronocidal]

You know, I feel slightly bad for this, but I really wish I could find any reason to like Skyfire as a design.  It might be mechanically interesting to transform, but it's literally a boxy robot wearing a jetpack with wings.. that turns into a long box, hanging under a jetpack with wings.  It could have potential if they did something with the back end, but it's just.. legs.  No fins, no tails, nothing spaceship-like. 

Really wish we could just go back to Jetfire forever.  

[M'Kyuun]

21 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

You know, I feel slightly bad for this, but I really wish I could find any reason to like Skyfire as a design.  It might be mechanically interesting to transform, but it's literally a boxy robot wearing a jetpack with wings.. that turns into a long box, hanging under a jetpack with wings.  It could have potential if they did something with the back end, but it's just.. legs.  No fins, no tails, nothing spaceship-like. 

Really wish we could just go back to Jetfire forever.  

I concede your points, but I dunno, there's always been something about Skyfire's design in both modes that I liked. He is boxy- no argument there, but I've always dug it. Truth be told, I prefer the Skyfire design over the Jetfire VF-1, as it was unique to Transformers, with design nods from the original VF-1 toy. Of course, he too benefitted from a great deal of mass shifting going from his bot mode to space transport- pretty commonplace in G1 toon.

[Chronocidal]

Hah, yeah, that's fair, I like there being a separate design from the VF-1.  I've just always wished it was a more creative spaceship design, something more like Cyclonus, or just more visibly ship-like.