The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Wolf-1]

Should of just named the set Tim and Liz; the kids trapped in the Exploder, I mean Explorer.  I like the shotgun reference, "Clever girl".  Should have used the Jeep instead of the Explorer as it would have truly meant an Earthrise Hound, easier paint app as well. I feel like the face of JP93 is supposed to be the Park Ranger/Security Lead.   While I like the Explorer, I'm not crazy on the Bot mode so this is a pass.  

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm sure I've talked about this before, but I'll do it again. 

A Datsun 280zx's height is just under a third it's length.

On paper, an F-15's height to length ratio is fairly similar... but keep in mind that the official height is to the top of the vertical stabilizers.  Through most of the fuselage it's going to be, if I'm generous, maybe half that height.  In other words, there's simply more room to stuff the robot into the car.  Case in point-

That doesn't mean that good jetformers are impossible, of course; Kawamori has done some impressive work, and Maverick turned out pretty good, but Transformers like Starscream are a bit hamstrung because the designers aren't just trying to turn an F-15 into a robot, they're trying to turn an F-15 into a robot that looks like the cartoon.

On that note, no, Starscream doesn't look like a perfect F-15.  I think he looks alright, though.

Mike, I think you and I are fated to have this dance for eternity. To prove my point, I will always turn to Kawamori's valk library. And now we have TFC Toys producing very streamlined transforming real-world Chinese aircraft in their Craft Series. The Machine Robo line in the 80's did a good job with their aircraft modes; it was the robot modes that suffered back then, ironically. Action Toys did a very good job with their take on Eagle and to a much lesser degree, Blackbird Robo, IMHO, and I hope they take a stab at Harrier Robo before they quit the line.  I'm sure there are more out there, but these are all examples of taking real world jets and making them work without egregiously compromising the aircraft mode for the benefit of the bot mode.

Kawamori, at least in part, designed the G1 Seeker, and oddly, it doesn't share the real world smoothness like most of his other jet designs. One wonders how the line may have gone had he done so from the beginning. I think what further compromised jet toys was a combination of the limitations of toy tech, incorporating jet-bots into combiners, necessitating squarish proportions for stability, and the need to simplify the bot designs for the animators. Since everything else was drawn in a very cubic manner, jetformers were no exception, and unfortunately, the practice was sustained despite the advancements made in toy tech and design over the years. While Kawamori's designs became more refined, Takara failed to evolve in their design approach, and so we have stuff like all the Bayformer jets, especially Jetfire, pretty much every Blitzwing toy, every Octane toy, the CW jets, every Silverbolt ever, MP-52, the Classics Seeker and the ER Seeker by extension, etc, etc ad nauseum. There are far, far more examples of poorly done jetformers than not. Funny that they can make a pretty decent helicopter, though.  Anyway, I think the line of demarcation in our thinking is with producing a streamlined jet and trying to get a blocky 80's robot out of it. That's a tougher nut, and one that requires a combination of compromise and good engineering to accomplish. I look no further than NewAge's Seeker- it presents a very streamlined profile that's fairly accurate in fighter, but transforms into a beautifully executed Sunbow bot mode with full articulation and no need for faux parts at legends scale. It's a little work of art.  However,  looking at third party attempts at Aerialbots and such, no-one seems able to make the transition from streamlined jet to blocky robot successfully, which is a shame with all the advancements that have been made with engineering and Panel-Fu. Maverick was done very well, but the design reeks of the VF-1, its obvious inspiration. But Maverick is a good case of a recent jetformer that was far better executed than most. It's a good direction, and one I hope they continue to follow. Heck, I'll even toss X-Spanse on the heap of goodies- he's certainly not accurate, as he still has a lump 'o robo on his lower fuselage, but at least its compact and streamlined to follow the lines of the wings. He would have made a better Concorde, XB-70, or B-1 Lancer, as they could have formed that undercarriage into his engines and it would have been apropos to those designs, but I do like how the engines were done and most of his robo undercarriage is succinctly packed into a complimentary shape, unlike the original RotF Jetfire toy from which he was retooled. That thing was a flaming hot mess.🤮 But as transforming SR-71 toys go, next to Action Toys' Blackbird Robo, I think he's probably the second best transforming Blackbird I've seen, even though he's blue, has different wings and cockpit, and a big  yet shapely tumor on his lower fuselage. I can forgive it, but I can't unsee it. 😉 

[mikeszekely]

4 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Mike, I think you and I are fated to have this dance for eternity. To prove my point, I will always turn to Kawamori's valk library. And now we have TFC Toys producing very streamlined transforming real-world Chinese aircraft in their Craft Series. The Machine Robo line in the 80's did a good job with their aircraft modes; it was the robot modes that suffered back then, ironically. Action Toys did a very good job with their take on Eagle and to a much lesser degree, Blackbird Robo, IMHO, and I hope they take a stab at Harrier Robo before they quit the line.  I'm sure there are more out there, but these are all examples of taking real world jets and making them work without egregiously compromising the aircraft mode for the benefit of the bot mode.

Perhaps.  But I'll remind you, I didn't say it's not possible to make a jet into a robot, just that it's extremely difficult to make an F-15 into the Sunbow Seekers (and probably even more difficult to wring Sunbow Aerialbots that turn into combiner limbs without a chunk of robot under those planes).

That said, I don't think Bayformers deserve the same amount of slack I'll afford G1.  They were starting with modern engineering and real-world alt modes, and they had every opportunity to design something that works.  The amount of undercarriage on MPM-10 is worse than the Studio Series version, and that's just insulting.

[treatment]

Got MP-52 delivered today.

AmJP box not crushed like some others here. Starcream's actual box is ok, with a very minor crease on top-right corner-edge.

Out of the box pictars, then.

No cracks, yet...



 

Chest has about 1mm ground clearance ...



Currently parked with others I have out already.

It's very nice, so far.

Hope it does not develop cracks when and while I tf it later...

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

On that note, no, Starscream doesn't look like a perfect F-15.  I think he looks alright, though.

Ok, after seeing @treatment's pics I think I have to walk this back a bit.  I edited one of them to illustrate...

Basically, I'm ok forgiving his robot torso and legs that definitely hang lower than an actual F-15's belly because, like I said, it has to look like the animation model in bot mode.  But that massive gray chunk of whatever covering the fake canopy in his torso is trash, and I'd have been happier if they'd simply left it exposed if they weren't going to turn it into an actual part of the nose.

Oh well, it is what it is.  Hopefully yours doesn't get the cracks, buddy, although at Takara's prices no one's should.

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Perhaps.  But I'll remind you, I didn't say it's not possible to make a jet into a robot, just that it's extremely difficult to make an F-15 into the Sunbow Seekers (and probably even more difficult to wring Sunbow Aerialbots that turn into combiner limbs without a chunk of robot under those planes).

That said, I don't think Bayformers deserve the same amount of slack I'll afford G1.  They were starting with modern engineering and real-world alt modes, and they had every opportunity to design something that works.  The amount of undercarriage on MPM-10 is worse than the Studio Series version, and that's just insulting.

Concede on both points. For the sake of the combining feature, the Aerialbots had chunky legs, and unfortunately, it seems no-one , even with current tech and engineering, has found a solution to minimize those legs in fighter.  If MMC take a stab at them, I'm curious to see what they'll come up with, or if they'll just roll with fat jets like everyone else.

Bayformers at the beginning were a huge learning curve for Takara; they struggled with the complexities, the lack of cubic shapes, the techno-organic natures of the things, and most importantly, the mechanically impossible transformations. I can forgive flaws amongst the early toys from '07, and actually, despite their various issues, I still thought the majority were fun toys. Come RotF, they were hitting their stride with advanced and complex transformations, odd shapes, and figuring out cheats to replicate the nonsensical CG models and transformations. Yet, despite all the progress they'd made in their engineering approach, they still foundered when it came to jets, and continue to do so, for the most part.  You'd think they'd reach out to their old pal Kawamori for guidance; there are few in the business more qualified.  Unless you count third parties, but we know they won't go there, so....

I think the amount of undercarriage on MP-52 vs MP-03/11 is even more insulting. They were able to craft a decent looking F-15, and while the bot mode was a bit blocky, it was still recognizable. Had they kept the rotating chest intakes (a brilliant idea), eschewed the need for a faux cockpit, done some unique engineering to collapse the lower legs to a more accurate shape befitting an F-15, I think the final result would have been a Starscream truly worth the Masterpiece mantle.  As their highest end toyline,  MP should reflect the best engineering and both modes should be balanced and accurate, especially when the alt mode is a licensed vehicle.  I'm not sure what they were using for reference material, but F-15s don't look like that. It's sad when then did it better fifteen years ago.

[mikeszekely]

2 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'm not sure what they were using for reference material, but F-15s don't look like that. It's sad when then did it better fifteen years ago.

Sure, MP-03/MP-11 had a better alt mode.  But, by modern standards, the bot mode was terrible.  Something had to give to get a better robot.  Not saying it couldn't have been done better- I personally think Meteor was already better, I like what Newage did with their Seekers, and I'm curious to see what this new 3P Starscream looks like in jet mode.  But, aside from that massive chonk of kibble covering the faux cockpit, I'm inclined to forgive a less-than-perfect underside to his jet mode, especially when the animation model had visible features from the toy, like the chest intakes and the folded-up feet- it's cartoon-accurate, like Astrotrain's uncircumcised shuttle, Cliffjumper looking more like a little kei car than a Porsche, and Blitzwing being more rocket biplane than MiG-31.

[M'Kyuun]

2 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Sure, MP-03/MP-11 had a better alt mode.  But, by modern standards, the bot mode was terrible.  Something had to give to get a better robot.  Not saying it couldn't have been done better- I personally think Meteor was already better, I like what Newage did with their Seekers, and I'm curious to see what this new 3P Starscream looks like in jet mode.  But, aside from that massive chonk of kibble covering the faux cockpit, I'm inclined to forgive a less-than-perfect underside to his jet mode, especially when the animation model had visible features from the toy, like the chest intakes and the folded-up feet- it's cartoon-accurate, like Astrotrain's uncircumcised shuttle, Cliffjumper looking more like a little kei car than a Porsche, and Blitzwing being more rocket biplane than MiG-31.

You make adequate arguments and I don't like it!  Fair points, all, Mike.  Even AT's shuttle mode, which should bother me to no end, but doesn't.

Right now, I think NewAge are the company to beat for achieving the best looking F-15 while maintaining the Sunbow proportions for their Seekers. I wish they, or a fourth party, were willing to upscale them to MP size- I could finish my first season MP Seeker collection.

[obakesan]

MP Starscream 2.0 just arrived for me from AJP. All in all looks fine  and box not crushed and no cracks etc. He seems pretty cool to me and pretty swooshible. I agree that under carriage kibble that hides canopy seems kinda out place but not big deal to me.

Quick top down pic to add to the other pics.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by obakesan

[M'Kyuun]

Hey, the one good angle of this thing in fighter. Ok, I'll stop now.

[Chronocidal]

What's actually more interesting to me from that angle is how many joints and individual panels are visible.  The way the upper spine looks like it's designed to collapse in on itself is pretty fascinating, whether I like the look or not.

 

[sh9000]

[M'Kyuun]

Nice to know. No dates announced yet beyond sometime this fall. 

Hopefully, there's an all voyager scaled set of Constructicons coming for Kingdom/Generations. 

[treatment]

 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Hopefully, there's an all voyager scaled set of Constructicons coming for Kingdom/Generations

I'm not expecting anything (besides a Menasor that we're a year or so out from), but I'd love if they redid all the combiners. Ditch the chunky connectors, the endless repaints, and Scramble City. Just give me more solid figures and better G1 accuracy

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm not expecting anything (besides a Menasor that we're a year or so out from), but I'd love if they redid all the combiners. Ditch the chunky connectors, the endless repaints, and Scramble City. Just give me more solid figures and better G1 accuracy

Honestly, I didn't mind the chunky connectors so much, although it pretty much forced the robot be designed around it which led to simpler transformations and other compromises. It was a matter of function over form.

Devastator and a new Bruticus at voyager scales, or more complex deluxes, would be nice. More solid figs and better G1 accuracy would be the ideal.

[Mechapilot77]

On 6/30/2021 at 6:13 AM, obakesan said:

MP Starscream 2.0 just arrived for me from AJP. All in all looks fine  and box not crushed and no cracks etc. He seems pretty cool to me and pretty swooshible. I agree that under carriage kibble that hides canopy seems kinda out place but not big deal to me.

Quick top down pic to add to the other pics.

 

 

is it me or are the wings WAY too small for the width of the fueselage?  just noticed it from this angle.

[sh9000]

The new Hallmark ornaments were on display yesterday and the G1 Shockwave ornament looks good in person.  Looking forward to getting it when it goes on sale in July.

[technoblue]

1 hour ago, Mechapilot77 said:

is it me or are the wings WAY too small for the width of the fueselage?  just noticed it from this angle.

I don’t see it, myself, but the panel lines do break up the curves and other surface features. That could be throwing off the perspective? 

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, technoblue said:

I don’t see it, myself, but the panel lines do break up the curves and other surface features. That could be throwing off the perspective? 

I think the fuselage may be a little thick for the size, but that doesn't surprise me much, since they had to cram so many mechanisms into it.

The most telling thing for me about this Starscream is that every review, and every comment on those reviews I see is heaping almost unanimous praise on it for being "so much cleaner" and "a perfect representation," "better in every way than MP-3/MP-11."  That's pretty much just proves two things to me..  First, Hastak knows what their audience wants, and second, I'm clearly not part of that audience.  

Oh well, maybe that just means now is a good time to go hunt down a secondhand MP-3.

[Dobber]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I think the fuselage may be a little thick for the size, but that doesn't surprise me much, since they had to cram so many mechanisms into it.

The most telling thing for me about this Starscream is that every review, and every comment on those reviews I see is heaping almost unanimous praise on it for being "so much cleaner" and "a perfect representation," "better in every way than MP-3/MP-11."  That's pretty much just proves two things to me..  First, Hastak knows what their audience wants, and second, I'm clearly not part of that audience.  

Oh well, maybe that just means now is a good time to go hunt down a secondhand MP-3.

Yuuuup, me too. When I see the comments about the fighter being “AMAZING” and “Near Perfect” and start to wonder if they have ever looked an aircraft other then from above. 
That being said, after looking at some of these reviews there are some things I do like about this….just I *Feel* like they could’ve gotten a far better fighter that wouldn’t have compromised the toon bot that so many seem to want with just a minor bit of more effort. I mean the planes canopy is literally right behind the faux canopy which is the cause of the biggest offense in Alt mode. Oh well, like you I’m clearly not the market they want either. I agree with what was said earlier in the thread. I always viewed or maybe would’ve preferred  MP as making realistic representations  of these characters…in both modes. 
 

Chris

[mikeszekely]

I mean, the plane is 100% less real-world accurate.  But, while a case can certainly be made for it being too Sunbow-accurate, I think the robot mode is undeniably an improvement over MP-03/MP-11.  I didn't think either of those assertions was in question.

In my mind, the question wasn't "is MP-52 a better Starscream?", it's "is MP-52 the best Starscream?" or "is MP-52 a Starscream worth $250?"  The answers are subjective, and I'm not telling anyone they're wrong for answering yes to either, but for me it's no.  I've got Maketoys', and I'm fine with it.

[treatment]

 

🤪

[mikeszekely]

Well, as is often the case, Walmart didn't fill my online preorder, but I stopped in a store today and found the Sparkless Seeker pack and the Optimus Primal/Rattrap pack.  I passed on Primal and Rattrap; the changes in Primal are minimal, and the changes in Rattrap seem to make him less accurate.  But I grabbed the Seeker.

Not a ton to say since I first reviewed this mold with Siege Starscream over two years ago, and this is my ninth time purchasing this mold.  Well, he does have the smirking face that Hasbro used on Redwing (but none of the other seven), that's kind of cool.  He's got a color scheme that's sort of a greenish brown, with redder brown spots.  The idea is that he's one of the sparkless zombies from the Netflix show, like the previous Deluxe-class based on Barricade, but while that one actually looked kind of rusty this one looks more like a he was supposed to be that color and got a few dirty spots on him.

Oh, and like the other Sparkless I prefer to think of him as an actual character.  I think I called the Barricade repaint "Rust Bucket."  And this guy... well, we've got Acid Storm, Nova Storm, and Ion Storm... I guess this guy is $#!*storm.

Like fellow Netflix alum Hotlink you don't just get the bot and his null rays.  $#!*storm comes with a pair of Battle Masters and some effects parts.  That said, where Hotlink came with two identical Battle Masters and two identical effect parts, at least $#!*storm has two different Battle Masters, Sparkless Singe and Sparkless Caliburst, and they have different effects parts based on the the ones that came with the non-Sparkless versions.  Much like the Siege Seeker mold, I'm starting to accumulate a lot of these two molds.  Oh well.  Despite being Sparkless they don't look particularly rusty and could probably be used fine with any WFC figure (or any Transformer with a 5mm port for a hand).

OK, nine copies of this mold might seem a bit excessive.  But really, this one extra addition pleases me because now my Siege Seeker Squadron can be divided evenly into three flights of three.  Although, I have Shattered Glass Starscream preordered... that'll make ten.  And I think you technically need at least twelve to make a whole squadron.  So I guess I have room for more.  Sunstorm and Bitstream when, Hasbro?

[mikeszekely]

Images have turned up of some new Studio Series figures in-package.  Jolt is, unsurprisingly, what @M'Kyuun showed us the other day.  Bumblebee, despite being reported on at least one site as "Dark of the Moon Bumblebee," is the same Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee and Sam I looked at not long ago, just in a regular Studio Series box (that does, BTW, say "Revenge of the Fallen" on it) instead of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee packaging that's already available.

The one I was the most excited to see was the 86 Sweep, and it's either really good or really disappointing, depending on your feelings on screen-accuracy and whether or not you already got Scourge.  As near as I can tell, it is 99.5% the exact same figure as Scourge.  The only difference I can see for sure is that, unlike their boss, the Sweeps are going to have two closed hands instead of one closed and one open.  I'm hoping that maybe in-hand the Sweeps will be a slightly different color; on my monitor the Sweep looks a bit bluer, but it'll be impossible to tell for sure until they're side-by-side with Scourge.  Well, I suppose identical Sweeps is movie-accurate, but I was definitely hoping for something- slightly tweaked colors, slightly tweaked markings, different weapons, a different face, anything- to better differentiate the Sweeps from Scourge.

...I'll still probably buy two Sweeps, though.  Because I'm a sucker.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Images have turned up of some new Studio Series figures in-package.  Jolt is, unsurprisingly, what @M'Kyuun showed us the other day.  Bumblebee, despite being reported on at least one site as "Dark of the Moon Bumblebee," is the same Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee and Sam I looked at not long ago, just in a regular Studio Series box (that does, BTW, say "Revenge of the Fallen" on it) instead of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee packaging that's already available.

The one I was the most excited to see was the 86 Sweep, and it's either really good or really disappointing, depending on your feelings on screen-accuracy and whether or not you already got Scourge.  As near as I can tell, it is 99.5% the exact same figure as Scourge.  The only difference I can see for sure is that, unlike their boss, the Sweeps are going to have two closed hands instead of one closed and one open.  I'm hoping that maybe in-hand the Sweeps will be a slightly different color; on my monitor the Sweep looks a bit bluer, but it'll be impossible to tell for sure until they're side-by-side with Scourge.  Well, I suppose identical Sweeps is movie-accurate, but I was definitely hoping for something- slightly tweaked colors, slightly tweaked markings, different weapons, a different face, anything- to better differentiate the Sweeps from Scourge.

...I'll still probably buy two Sweeps, though.  Because I'm a sucker.

Thanks for the shoutout, Mike.  I'm still messing with my old RotF Jolt fig.  I'm still impresed by the engineering of this thing, and just the sheer number of moving parts between the transformation mechanics and the articulation. The transformation itself is wonderfully unorthodox, relative to pre-Bayverse, and if I can give one tip of the hat to that universe, it's that it forced Takara to really step up their engineering and creativity to come up with ways to make these things mirror the look and complexity of their rather inventive CG counterparts, for better or worse. Out of that learning curve, we got Animated and Prime, both of which took departures from the old blocky robot looks of yesteryear, and had more complex toys to mirror those looks as well. After that, it seems HasTak took a reversal, really dumbing it down for the CW triliogy, although improving with TR and PotP, and pretty much staying the course with the WFC line. Not saying WFC isn't good, or even any number of the TR and PotP toys, but the engineering just isn't on the same level as it was for Bayverse, Animated, and Prime. Studio Series for the Bayverse stuff still comes closest, and MP is over the top with its engineering, at times, IMHO, to the detriment of the fig. YMMV.  Anyway, the new Jolt looks interesting to me, so I think I'll pick him up. I've kinda washed my hands of Bayverse, but every now and again something comes along that intrigues me.  If I like what I see in a review, I'll give old grey and black Jolt a blue doppelganger to hang out with.

Agree about changing up something on the Sweeps to differentiate them from Scourge beyond swapping an open hand with a fist. Lame. Some color change, even subtle, would be nice. I'm surprised marketing back in the day didn't pick up on the fact that they were essentially identical to Scourge and at minimum, have different faces on them or different color variants. Hasbro loves to milk a mold through repaints and variants, so given this was their army builder fig from the Movie (along with the Sharkticons), it should have been a no-brainer.

[obakesan]

On 7/2/2021 at 2:40 PM, Mechapilot77 said:

is it me or are the wings WAY too small for the width of the fueselage?  just noticed it from this angle.

hadn't noticed it might be the photo itself. I need check and compare with my MP11

[M'Kyuun]

Pretty cool fig, but not without its nitpicks.

Dem hands- not sure how they could look at those horrible things and high five on a job well done. They look like gardener's gloves. Shheesh! Hopefully, for the sake of Primus, some third party rescues us from the terrible design of these mediocre mitts and graces us with some proper mechanical fully articulated hands. Please third party, please.

How hard would it have been for them to just mold holes in the hull and give us a set of little cannons on a sprue so they could rotate? Seriously, those things just invite being played with, and Hasbro cheated us of what could have been a cheap and simply implemented play feature. For a toy company, the obvious eludes them.

I still think, with a little more thought and engineering, they could have devised some sort of folding panel system to cover those enormous leg holes. I seriously thought they left something out or mis-transformed it when it was first revealed, but no- just Hasbro at its most mediocre.

As to the good; I think there's more good to redeem this guy than bad. Sculpting is really nice and it looks like the G1 Ark, minus the two rear bulbous sections on the sides and the fifth engine bell. It has a mini flight deck courtesy of Mainframe, who also transforms into a rather well done, if slightly undersized (relative to voyager and larger deluxe class figs) Teletraan 1, complete with Sky Spy Drone (Explore, Explore!) and the two golden discs which were sent out famously in the Voyager Space Probes, and one of which later developed its own intelligence and captured the Starship Enterprise. Crossing the streams here; I digress. Mainframe also transforms into a decent looking robot mode that's actually pretty svelte, considering the level of panel-fu involved to achieve his Teletraan 1 mode. Anyway, the inclusion, and triple changing nature of this guy to give us more of the G1 experience is appreciated. While mileage may vary as to the effectiveness of it, I certainly appreciate the effort. I think they missed a golden opportunity to make the Ark's chest pop open purposefully to disgorge Mainframe similar to Soundwave's cassettes. You can still pop it open, but it's basically untransforming him to do so. Woulda been a nice additional touch, though.

This guy has strong ratchets throughout, like nearly every articulation joint. I love me some ratchets, so I'm profoundly heartened every time I here that staccato sound of pose holding goodness. The ankles and neck are both very limited, though, which is all the more notable considering the high range of articulation of nearly every other joint. At the very least, it would have been nice if the big guy could look up, and especially, down. Ah well...Hasbro. If it was too good, it'd become the expectation, so flaws are essential. Honestly, I would have preferred better head articulation over the extending ramp, which is a cool feature, BTW, but essentially useless, as nothing will really fit in there except perhaps one or two of the cassettes, and anything other than the crappy slug figures that have been coming with these large figs would be grossly out of scale. So the ramp is nice, but moot.  The ability to look down on friend or foe would be better, IMHO. Extending landing gear is always, always appreciated, and his do the job nicely, even if they're a bit chonky looking. But they give him admirable ground clearance allowing for the purposeful use of the purposeless ramp. The thought was nice, though, Hasbro.Filling in those knee slots woulda been nicer, though. Just sayin'.😏     

So, after watching PvP's fantastic review, which like most of his unapologetically effusive and positive reviews (still think he's on the Hasbro payroll), I'm inclined to think that One, PvP's vid reviews are prime fodder for a drinking game- just take a sip after the repetition of the adjective of the day, and Two, despite a few flaws, the overall toy continues to appeal to me greatly, and while his bot mode may or may not be for everyone, I love it, and I will keep him displayed next to Unicron once my copy arrives. Cheers all.

[mikeszekely]

Well, I try to avoid reviews for anything I'm planning on reviewing (hey, Hasbro/factory special guy, send some stuff my way!).  Don't want to inadvertently color my opinion with someone else's, y'know?  So I can't watch the video right now, and I'm kind of just skimming your post.  But...

5 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Dem hands- not sure how they could look at those horrible things and high five on a job well done. They look like gardener's gloves. Shheesh! Hopefully, for the sake of Primus, some third party rescues us from the terrible design of these mediocre mitts and graces us with some proper mechanical fully articulated hands. Please third party, please.

At this point, you know DNA will cook something up.  I think the only Titans they haven't done kits for were Trypticon and Omega Supreme, and I'm not sure what exactly you'd have done to upgrade those two in the first place.

Also, I heard Slag's been seen in the wild at a Target in North Carolina.  Of course, he won't be at my Target.  My Target seems content to leave their shelves empty, and I'm still waiting for Rhinox and Galvatron to show up.

[treatment]

Welp!

Thought my copy didn't have any, but i thought wrong.

Finally found a crack with my copy when I transformed him to bot-mode and I was wondering why the right-foot was a bit looser than the left-foot afterwards:

I had to really do some zooming to even get to see it, but there it is.

Quite a hairline, but doesn't really affect much of anything.  Decided to leave it alone for now, but I may fill it up with some cement or something.

Oh, well. Bonus pictar!

😝

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by treatment

[Scyla]

5 hours ago, treatment said:

Welp!

Thought my copy didn't have any, but i thought wrong.

Finally found a crack with my copy when I transformed him to bot-mode and I was wondering why the right-foot was a bit looser than the left-foot afterwards:

I had to really do some zooming to even get to see it, but there it is.

Quite a hairline, but doesn't really affect much of anything.  Decided to leave it alone for now, but I may fill it up with some cement or something.

Oh, well. Bonus pictar!

😝

 

I have MP-09B flashbacks. The lower legs and knees crumbled after transforming it once. 😬

[obakesan]

10 hours ago, treatment said:

Welp!

Thought my copy didn't have any, but i thought wrong.

Finally found a crack with my copy when I transformed him to bot-mode and I was wondering why the right-foot was a bit looser than the left-foot afterwards:

I had to really do some zooming to even get to see it, but there it is.

Quite a hairline, but doesn't really affect much of anything.  Decided to leave it alone for now, but I may fill it up with some cement or something.

Oh, well. Bonus pictar!

😝

 

damn sorry hear about the hairline crack. Hopefully it's OK, just checked mine and out the box I noticed some stress marks that area sigh. 

[obakesan]

Just for fun another top down top shot comparison with G1 (Encore) Starscream, MP-52, and MP-11 Starscream.

On a side note hearing about cracks I checked the same joint under the feet and I can see some stress marks on mine and I haven't even transformed it yet doh. In the middle the dark grey peg above the blue, can see bit stress white mark. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by obakesan

[derex3592]

2 hours ago, obakesan said:

Just for fun another top down top shot comparison with G1 (Encore) Starscream, MP-52, and MP-11 Starscream.

 

Well....that pic says it ALL doesn't it.  MP-11 for Alt Mode all day every day.  MP-52 for Robot mode does it for me. SADLY...they couldn't keep the same light grey color as MP-11, which for me is why I'm not plunking down $$$ for MP-52. To damn dark! 

[technoblue]

3 hours ago, obakesan said:

Just for fun another top down top shot comparison with G1 (Encore) Starscream, MP-52, and MP-11 Starscream.

Great photo. For me, part of the fun is seeing the progress from generation to generation. The G1/Diaclone release was so cool for its time (decades ago) but such a parts former with the wing pieces and other accessories.

Yeah, I still have mine. No, it’s not mint.😎

I like the darker grey on MP-52, myself. I also like the change Takara made to using more realistic RWR antenna on the vertical stabs. There are other things, but my copy should finally arrive today and I want to take an up close look before I go on. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by technoblue