The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Scyla]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

OK, I missed the stream because my wife took the day off so I got distracted and forgot about it.  But apparently the entire FFF stream was to announce a HasLab crowdfund for a WfC-scaled Victory Saber.  The set will include a 1" Brainmaster (slightly smaller than a Titan Master, I guess), a 5" Saber figure (about the size of a the Siege/ER Sideswipe mold), the V-Star to combine into Star Saber (not sure how big the combined mode will be, but the V-Star is listed as 8.5", similar to the length of Rodimus' trailer and a bit shorter than Sky Lynx's shuttle), a 7.5" Victory Leo (slightly taller than Kingdom Galvatron, close to the height or Kingdom Rodimus to the tip of his wings), and the Sword of Justice.  The set needs 11,000 backers to get made.  The Tier 1 unlock at 14,000 has been announced as the V-Lock Cannon and some blast effects, and there's unknown Tier 2 and Tier 3 unlocks 17,000 and 20,000 backers, respectively.

The set's going to $179, which seems pretty reasonable.  I mean, it's like a Titan price, and I don't know if you're getting exactly what you'd get with a Titan but I feel like Star Saber alone could be a Commander.  Toss in Victory Leo, who with the backer unlocks would easily be a Leader, and I think it's probably worth it.  You have until October 10th to decide, but I'm saying I think I'm in.

 

Cool, I wonder if this will be available for people outside the States and the UK. I‘d love to own that Star Saber.

[mikeszekely]

11 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Cool, I wonder if this will be available for people outside the States and the UK. I‘d love to own that Star Saber.

Lemme know if you don't find a better/cheaper option, but if nothing else I'd be willing to order an extra and send it to you at cost + shipping.

[Wolf-1]

4 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

unreleased G2 sandstorm was supposed to be a ramjet redeco is why.  agree would have been fine having him be a dirge reuse too but can see why for history's sake they went with ramjet.

see https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sandstorm_(G2)

Key word in that sentence, supposed. I can't possibly imagine the ratio of fans wanting a G2 recolor that never happened, until recently,  is larger than the fans who would simply like a complete set of the Seekers; even if they aren't colored correctly.  From what I can tell, both G2 versions of Ramjet will most likely end up going on sale below MSRP; whereas the mold could have sold easily twice as many units, by simply changing the wings.  As often as this Franchise is forced to backtrack and try and explain some techno-mumble-jumble, is changing a characters wings really that big a deal, particularly one who didn't actually come to fruition? 

[lechuck]

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

Cool, I wonder if this will be available for people outside the States and the UK. I‘d love to own that Star Saber.

If you are in the EU, then you would have to look up the Zavvi online shop for your country. They are selling Star Saber for 210€.

Edited August 27, 2021 by lechuck

[mikeszekely]

Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I backed Victory Saber. I'm hoping if he does well Hasbro will consider more Japanese characters, including Deathsaurus, Liokaiser, Raiden, Road Caesar, and improved versions of God Ginrai, Super Megatron, and Star Convoy.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I backed Victory Saber. I'm hoping if he does well Hasbro will consider more Japanese characters, including Deathsaurus, Liokaiser, Raiden, Road Caesar, and improved versions of God Ginrai, Super Megatron, and Star Convoy.

Not my cup, but I do hope it finds a plentiful audience willing to support it financially, as  this figure will open the doorway to more previously Japanese-only related Transformers toys. Best of luck to supporters, and to Haslab.

 

FYI for folks who've POed Kingdom/SS86 stuff from Pulse, my copy of Wreck-Gar is coming, but I got delayed notices for both Rodimus and Rhinox to October and December, respectively. I hope this doesn't become the trend with the rest of the stuff I have POed with them. I'm patient, but it still kinda sucks, especially when I see reviews and such popping up everywhere. 

[mikeszekely]

11 hours ago, Scyla said:

Cool, I wonder if this will be available for people outside the States and the UK. I‘d love to own that Star Saber.

 

6 hours ago, lechuck said:

If you are in the EU, then you would have to look up the Zavvi online shop for your country. They are selling Star Saber for 210€.

Here's the link for Zavvi France.

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 

Here's the link for Zavvi France.

Thanks for letting me know about Zavvi @lechuck and thanks for the offer to mule it @mikeszekely one day I will take you up on it. 

[no3Ljm]

From ThreeZero:

[M'Kyuun]

So, what is that design taken from? It looks like a mishmash of The Bumblebee Movie and G1 designs. I'm not a collector of non-transforming Transformers, but even if I was, this misses the mark for me. Cool for those who dig it, though.

[lechuck]

It's not taking from any design, it's inspired by previous iterations of Bumblebee but is essentially their own design.

I like how Threezero's MDLX line is shaping up. At 12cm this is similar in size as MP-45, so I am hoping that their Optimus scales the same with MP-44.

[Mechapilot77]

19 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

From ThreeZero:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 man that does look cool -especially the toy inspired head... but his legs "need" to be dark grey or black (and not look they they are part of a car exterior) and i wish this thing  actually changed into a beetle.  still very cool and i'm glad they are doing cool designs vs. giving us just non transforming premium siege figures for instance.  maybe someone else will take inspiration from this and make it actually TF.  hasbro/takara, you up for it?

[jenius]

While it's a cool looking bot, there's no way it could be the car. Only the chest, the feet, and the wheel in the back seem to even consider the car. Not for me.

[no3Ljm]

Takara Tomy Masterpiece
MP-55 Nightbird Shadow
February 2022
Y16000

[mikeszekely]

Seems like Pulse is starting to get some stuff out, so how about a quick weekend Repaint Roundup?

We'll open with Shattered Glass Blurr.  I'm not exactly sure what the thought was, here... there was a random SG Optimus and Ratchet 2-pack last year, then at some point IDW, Hasbro, or both decided to push hard on Shattered Glass.  So now IDW has a 5-issue mini-series coming out that you can get through the regular methods of comic book acquisition, but Hasbro is doing a 5-figure Pulse-exclusive SG line where each figure is packaged with a retail-exclusive cover of one of the comic books.  Now, for those of you unfamiliar, Shattered Glass goes back to Botcon 2008, a time when the Transformers Collector's club would put out Botcon-exclusive repaints that revolved around a theme.  The theme for that year was an homage to Star Trek's Mirror Universe, introducing an alternate universe where the Decepticons were heroic freedom fighters battling the tyranny of the evil Autobots.

Now, a part of me kind of wanted to ask, "why Blurr?"  Major characters like Bumblebee/Goldbug, Megatron, Optimus, Starscream, sure.  But one of my least-favorite season 3 characters?  I wasn't exactly jumping for joy, here, but to be fair Blurr was one of the first Shattered Glass figures, a recolor based on his Cybertron toy.  So... ok.  Well, as a toy, Hasbro went for a repaint of the Studio Series 86 figure, and from the neck down the differences are all just the deco, which tries to emulate the Botcon toy's.  Of course, being based on G1 instead of Cybertron means that, aside from colors, he doesn't really look anything like that toy.  That is, except for one critical area; SG Blurr has an entirely new head sculpt based on the original SG Blurr's.  I dig it.

Blurr comes with the exact same accessories as the SS86 toy, just in gray instead of white.

And the alt mode has the same basic issue the bot mode does- it's colored like the old SG toy orange window, darker blue and black, the blue "cracks", and the bits of silver.  But it's still G1 Blurr's alt mode, which is nothing like the Cybertron version.  Oh well.

Bottom line, unless you're going all-in on the Shattered Glass mini-series and figures I'd give this one a pass.

Next up we have Grimlock.  Like SG Blurr, Grimlock's Beast-era fiction seems to come from the Botcon story "Beast Wars Uprising," but his design in that comic was based on a 1997 repaint of Dinobot named Grimlock.  And like SG Blurr, for better or for worse Grimlock is Dinobot from the neck down, just in different colors.  I'm not totally clear if the 1997 toy had a very different head than the original Dinobot toy, but the head on this version is similar to both the Botcon comic and the original BW Grimlock toy.  It's not bad... there's shades of G1 Grimlock there, but on the whole I think it looks a bit Optimus-y.

Now, I had to cut Blurr some slack because Hasbro was taking the color scheme from a very different toy and adapting it work with SS86 Blurr.  Grimlock, though, is a repaint of Kingdom Dinobot trying to emulate his repaint of the original Dinobot, so I feel like I can better call out the discrepancies.  Namely, I don't like the gray hands and forearms (should be white, nor do I like the half-bronze on his feet and thighs (also should be white).  Plus there was no red on the original, and the faux eyes on his torso aren't green.

As was the case with Blurr, Grimlock comes with the same accessories as the figure he's a repaint of.

Dinosaur mode.  He's got the same problems as Dinobot- missing front teeth, bad limp dino hands, limited leg articulation, leg panels that don't want to stay closed, and visible robot kibble on his underside.  And he's got deco issues again; grays where the original was almost totally white.  Plus, the black on the original was like leopard spots.  Here we've got a few half-hearted spots on his back and an entire skullcap of black.  That said... while I'd prefer more accuracy, I don't actually hate it.  I think the colors look better on Grimlock than Dinobot.

Grimlock himself is probably another figure you could live without, but I do think he's a better toy than Blurr.  Which is good!  Because you can't buy Grimlock alone, and indeed you have to buy him if you want...

...Earth mode Mirage.  I'm guessing that he's the figure most of you are most interested in.  He is a surprisingly extensive retool of the Siege toy.  They have the same feet, thighs, hips, pelvis, hands, biceps, and heads, but pretty much everything else is new.  In robot mode, you're going to see a lot of those differences but you're probably not going to really see how they make for a better cartoon-accurate robot.  Indeed, in some ways he's worse; the cartoon didn't have the 26, nor did it say "orc" (a clever-ish replacement for "elf").  His white-painted forearms no longer match his gray biceps, and the black used on Siege's shoulders is more correct than the blue on this one.  Finally, he doesn't have the silver kneepads.  I don't think any of those things are major issues, though.

I have a bit more of an issue with his accessories.  He comes with the same gun and shoulder launcher that the Siege figure did, except all the pieces are gray.  If you want cartoon-accurate black for the shoulder launcher you'll have to swap with the Siege toy or paint it yourself.  Worse, this Mirage lacks the shoulder ports that the Siege toy has, so he actually can't put the shoulder launcher on his shoulder!  Here's hoping a third party comes up with a solution to fix that.  Instead, this Mirage has ports on the backs of his shoulders that the instructions helpfully point out can be used for weapon storage... but why?

On the flip side, though, differences in engineering mean that this version of Mirage has an ab crunch.  Get your pelvic thrust on, Mirage!

Mirage's legs transform the same as the Siege version, but the torso transformation is much different.  The result is a car that seems a bit longer and better-proportioned than the Siege version.  In reality, the cars are about the same length.  The difference is that, due to the different transformation, the rear spoiler sit all the way at the back instead of of leaving a big chunk of his robot chest sticking out behind it.  But some of those differences in engineering created a few new issues.  I'm having a harder time keeping the alt mode tabbed together- the seem in the middle of the cockpit seems bigger than I'd like, and the arms like to pop out of place if you look at them funny.

I'll also note that the racing livery they put on the robot-mode chest is absent here.  Perhaps you have a different thought on this than I, but to me this is a really backwards move on Hasbro's part.  They should have kept the robot chest clean and cartoon-accurate, and the racing livery would have been appreciated in alt mode.

Well... you can see that those nose is the same, but the wheel struts, the front spoiler, and pretty much the rest of the car is different.  Even the area behind the cockpit, made from Mirage's arms, is a different mold despite having a very similar shape.  Unfortunately, the robot-accurate white isn't so accurate for alt mode.  The new design gives him a more accurate open cockpit, and it chances the way his arms sit so that while there is still a bit of shoulder jamming up the space under the rear spoiler you can still imagine that some air could flow around it.  As I mentioned, there's no robot chest sticking out the back, which further sells the notion that this is a more-accurate earth mode.  The knee pads were probably left blue so they'd blend in better in car mode, but you can see they added new 5mm ports there instead of the spoiler for alt-mode weapon storage.  On the whole, it's definitely not perfect, but I think it does achieve the goal of being a better earth mode than the Siege toy.

But, maybe that's the frustrating thing.  Half the engineering is new.  Over half the parts are new.  They put so much effort into altering the Siege toy to get here... why didn't they just go that extra bit and just design a 100% new figure?  Surely Hasbro could have come up with something that kept the rear of the car as his legs and the front of the car as his actual chest and his arms the sides, and made something that's even more cartoon-accurate in both modes?

Anyway, I think most of the changes from the Siege mold are for the better, and I'd recommend Mirage on that note.  However, it does kind of suck that you have to take Grimlock with him, and that he still has so many problems.  So I wouldn't blame you if you figured the Siege version was good enough and wrote this one off.

That said... I think Hound is now the only Siege figure with a Cybertronian alt mode that had an earth mode in the cartoon.  I really hope he gets a retool, too, with a more accurate Willys mode.

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Seems like Pulse is starting to get some stuff out, so how about a quick weekend Repaint Roundup?

We'll open with Shattered Glass Blurr.  I'm not exactly sure what the thought was, here... there was a random SG Optimus and Ratchet 2-pack last year, then at some point IDW, Hasbro, or both decided to push hard on Shattered Glass.  So now IDW has a 5-issue mini-series coming out that you can get through the regular methods of comic book acquisition, but Hasbro is doing a 5-figure Pulse-exclusive SG line where each figure is packaged with a retail-exclusive cover of one of the comic books.  Now, for those of you unfamiliar, Shattered Glass goes back to Botcon 2008, a time when the Transformers Collector's club would put out Botcon-exclusive repaints that revolved around a theme.  The theme for that year was an homage to Star Trek's Mirror Universe, introducing an alternate universe where the Decepticons were heroic freedom fighters battling the tyranny of the evil Autobots.

Now, a part of me kind of wanted to ask, "why Blurr?"  Major characters like Bumblebee/Goldbug, Megatron, Optimus, Starscream, sure.  But one of my least-favorite season 3 characters?  I wasn't exactly jumping for joy, here, but to be fair Blurr was one of the first Shattered Glass figures, a recolor based on his Cybertron toy.  So... ok.  Well, as a toy, Hasbro went for a repaint of the Studio Series 86 figure, and from the neck down the differences are all just the deco, which tries to emulate the Botcon toy's.  Of course, being based on G1 instead of Cybertron means that, aside from colors, he doesn't really look anything like that toy.  That is, except for one critical area; SG Blurr has an entirely new head sculpt based on the original SG Blurr's.  I dig it.

Blurr comes with the exact same accessories as the SS86 toy, just in gray instead of white.

And the alt mode has the same basic issue the bot mode does- it's colored like the old SG toy orange window, darker blue and black, the blue "cracks", and the bits of silver.  But it's still G1 Blurr's alt mode, which is nothing like the Cybertron version.  Oh well.

Bottom line, unless you're going all-in on the Shattered Glass mini-series and figures I'd give this one a pass.

Next up we have Grimlock.  Like SG Blurr, Grimlock's Beast-era fiction seems to come from the Botcon story "Beast Wars Uprising," but his design in that comic was based on a 1997 repaint of Dinobot named Grimlock.  And like SG Blurr, for better or for worse Grimlock is Dinobot from the neck down, just in different colors.  I'm not totally clear if the 1997 toy had a very different head than the original Dinobot toy, but the head on this version is similar to both the Botcon comic and the original BW Grimlock toy.  It's not bad... there's shades of G1 Grimlock there, but on the whole I think it looks a bit Optimus-y.

Now, I had to cut Blurr some slack because Hasbro was taking the color scheme from a very different toy and adapting it work with SS86 Blurr.  Grimlock, though, is a repaint of Kingdom Dinobot trying to emulate his repaint of the original Dinobot, so I feel like I can better call out the discrepancies.  Namely, I don't like the gray hands and forearms (should be white, nor do I like the half-bronze on his feet and thighs (also should be white).  Plus there was no red on the original, and the faux eyes on his torso aren't green.

As was the case with Blurr, Grimlock comes with the same accessories as the figure he's a repaint of.

Dinosaur mode.  He's got the same problems as Dinobot- missing front teeth, bad limp dino hands, limited leg articulation, leg panels that don't want to stay closed, and visible robot kibble on his underside.  And he's got deco issues again; grays where the original was almost totally white.  Plus, the black on the original was like leopard spots.  Here we've got a few half-hearted spots on his back and an entire skullcap of black.  That said... while I'd prefer more accuracy, I don't actually hate it.  I think the colors look better on Grimlock than Dinobot.

Grimlock himself is probably another figure you could live without, but I do think he's a better toy than Blurr.  Which is good!  Because you can't buy Grimlock alone, and indeed you have to buy him if you want...

...Earth mode Mirage.  I'm guessing that he's the figure most of you are most interested in.  He is a surprisingly extensive retool of the Siege toy.  They have the same feet, thighs, hips, pelvis, hands, biceps, and heads, but pretty much everything else is new.  In robot mode, you're going to see a lot of those differences but you're probably not going to really see how they make for a better cartoon-accurate robot.  Indeed, in some ways he's worse; the cartoon didn't have the 26, nor did it say "orc" (a clever-ish replacement for "elf").  His white-painted forearms no longer match his gray biceps, and the black used on Siege's shoulders is more correct than the blue on this one.  Finally, he doesn't have the silver kneepads.  I don't think any of those things are major issues, though.

I have a bit more of an issue with his accessories.  He comes with the same gun and shoulder launcher that the Siege figure did, except all the pieces are gray.  If you want cartoon-accurate black for the shoulder launcher you'll have to swap with the Siege toy or paint it yourself.  Worse, this Mirage lacks the shoulder ports that the Siege toy has, so he actually can't put the shoulder launcher on his shoulder!  Here's hoping a third party comes up with a solution to fix that.  Instead, this Mirage has ports on the backs of his shoulders that the instructions helpfully point out can be used for weapon storage... but why?

On the flip side, though, differences in engineering mean that this version of Mirage has an ab crunch.  Get your pelvic thrust on, Mirage!

Mirage's legs transform the same as the Siege version, but the torso transformation is much different.  The result is a car that seems a bit longer and better-proportioned than the Siege version.  In reality, the cars are about the same length.  The difference is that, due to the different transformation, the rear spoiler sit all the way at the back instead of of leaving a big chunk of his robot chest sticking out behind it.  But some of those differences in engineering created a few new issues.  I'm having a harder time keeping the alt mode tabbed together- the seem in the middle of the cockpit seems bigger than I'd like, and the arms like to pop out of place if you look at them funny.

I'll also note that the racing livery they put on the robot-mode chest is absent here.  Perhaps you have a different thought on this than I, but to me this is a really backwards move on Hasbro's part.  They should have kept the robot chest clean and cartoon-accurate, and the racing livery would have been appreciated in alt mode.

Well... you can see that those nose is the same, but the wheel struts, the front spoiler, and pretty much the rest of the car is different.  Even the area behind the cockpit, made from Mirage's arms, is a different mold despite having a very similar shape.  Unfortunately, the robot-accurate white isn't so accurate for alt mode.  The new design gives him a more accurate open cockpit, and it chances the way his arms sit so that while there is still a bit of shoulder jamming up the space under the rear spoiler you can still imagine that some air could flow around it.  As I mentioned, there's no robot chest sticking out the back, which further sells the notion that this is a more-accurate earth mode.  The knee pads were probably left blue so they'd blend in better in car mode, but you can see they added new 5mm ports there instead of the spoiler for alt-mode weapon storage.  On the whole, it's definitely not perfect, but I think it does achieve the goal of being a better earth mode than the Siege toy.

But, maybe that's the frustrating thing.  Half the engineering is new.  Over half the parts are new.  They put so much effort into altering the Siege toy to get here... why didn't they just go that extra bit and just design a 100% new figure?  Surely Hasbro could have come up with something that kept the rear of the car as his legs and the front of the car as his actual chest and his arms the sides, and made something that's even more cartoon-accurate in both modes?

Anyway, I think most of the changes from the Siege mold are for the better, and I'd recommend Mirage on that note.  However, it does kind of suck that you have to take Grimlock with him, and that he still has so many problems.  So I wouldn't blame you if you figured the Siege version was good enough and wrote this one off.

That said... I think Hound is now the only Siege figure with a Cybertronian alt mode that had an earth mode in the cartoon.  I really hope he gets a retool, too, with a more accurate Willys mode.

Good review, Mike. I passed on this guy, as even with the extensive changes, there was still too much of the lackluster Siege toy evident. I'm with you:  Earth mode Mirage beggared a new mold where the legs become the back of the car, the front, his chest, and the sides, his arms, like the G1 toy, and toon incarnation by extension. This is a bit too ham-handed for my liking, and I still prefer Classics Mirage to this. I love that figure to death, anyway, but objectively, it's a more accurate G1 Mirage, minus the front wheels sticking out of his back. Anyway, this is another example of odd choices and decisions for who gets new molds, and who just gets reworked. The Siege mold was so off from the G1 toy's transformation that a whole new toy should have been made for his Earthy outing. Disappointing, but that's Hasbro for ya. As for an Earth mode Hound, it seems funny that one hasn't been announced, but they made his Siege mold so close to an Earth Jeep that they probably didn't have plans to go any further with it. I think the same for Mirage and Sideswipe; I get the inkling that the Siege versions were meant to do double duty, and that's why the Cybertronian alt modes were very close in appearance to their Earth modes. But, something convinced them to do Earth mode versions, and hey, it's more dollars in Hasbro's pocket for the lower expense of simply retooling a few parts. I have no evidence for my theory, but it feels correct to me. Anyway, Siege Hound was an ok mold, but no retool will better the excellent Classics Hound figure, which is one of my absolute favorite Transformer toys of all time.  Alex Kubalsky designed both Classics Hound and Mirage, as well as Bumblebee, and I will never stop lamenting his departure from Takara. He's still designing Transformers, but under the radar for third parties, like MMC.

Good news on my end; my copy of Wreck-gar has finally shipped and hopefully I'll have him in hand next week. It's Fed Ex, so that's a dicey proposition. I'm still waiting for Pulse to accept payment and ship a glut of Kingdom figs, including the Ark, which will be my first titan class figure. Kinda excited for that one. Anyway, the entire order was slated to ship on or about the first, and here we are on the fourth , and still no word. Sigh. I like using Pulse, and in the past, they've got stuff out in a timely fashion, sometimes ahead of other venues. But lately, they seem to be the last guest at the table, so to speak.  It strikes me odd that the source gets its own product later than mass retail, but I guess that's the cost of working under contract, and perhaps they're giving up their own stock to fulfill those obligations, leaving them, and us paying members, waiting, while all around us everyone else has their toys. I'm patient, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it sucked just a little.🤕

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Sigh. I like using Pulse, and in the past, they've got stuff out in a timely fashion, sometimes ahead of other venues. But lately, they seem to be the last guest at the table, so to speak

Well, at least they shipped your Wreck-Gar. Amazon doesn't seem to be in a hurry to send mine...

[mikeszekely]

Couple of things...

1. This month Target's doing a "Fall Geek Out" where they're revealing new toys for collectors every Friday.  AFAIK, tomorrow the 10th is for Transformers.  I'm expecting Road Rage will go on sale, since she's a Target-exclusive. I'm not sure if there will be anything else, but orders supposedly open at 8:00 Central.  Works for me, since that's 9:00 here and a little after I put my daughter on the bus, but I do feel sorry for all my West Coast friends that have to be up at 6:00...

2. Star Saber's at around 67% with a month to go.  I know they get a big boost near the end as retailers turn in their preorders, but I'm actually looking forward to this one and really want it to make it's goal so maybe go back it?  If not for yourself, for me.

2. The Ark is shipping from Pulse.  If they shipped from Philly like they used to I'd probably have it tomorrow, but lately my stuff's been shipping from Atlanta (perhaps they've been getting boat shipments at the port in Savannah, and that's their closest warehouse?), so with the weekend soon I probably won't have him in hand until early next week.

BTW, that order was supposed to also have Rodimus, Tracks, Wingfinger, Galvatron, Rhinox, and Scorponok, all of whom I'd managed to find elsewhere long before now.  But if you still had any of those preordered, I guess they'll be shipping soon, too.

3. So, those Walmart Retro Headmasters?  I'd previously picked up Highbrown and Chromedome for their more cartoon-accurate heads.  Then later I picked up Highbrow, Weirdwolf, and Skullcruncher, again mostly for the different heads that more closely resembled The Headmasters anime.  But I passed on Mindwipe, whom I didn't feel was a big change from the Titans Return version, and Brainstorm, because I prefer the Sunbow/G1 toy's mask to The Headmasters' mouthed face.  Well, I stopped at Walmart because I ran out of seemingly everything all at once, but I figured even though my local Walmart is the worst for toys I'd look for Transformers anyway, hoping to maybe find a Wreck-Gar.  Nope.  Just a few first-wave Kingdom Deluxes and two lone Retro Headmasters.  And by coincidence the very two I'd passed on, so I went ahead and bought both despite my earlier decision to pass.

I touched on this a bit when I go Highbrow, Weirdwolf, and Skullcruncher, but the most obvious difference between the Retro version and the Titans Return version is the head.  The Titans Return version has the toy-style head, and the Retro version has The Headmasters head.  It's an odd choice that seems to stem from the fact that all the Retro Headmasters used the Takara heads, and despite my preference for The Headmasters' fiction (where the heads are the actually robots, and the larger bodies are lifeless transtectors that they pilot vs organic aliens transforming into the heads of already living robots) that's a major strike against the Retro version for me.

Otherwise, the Retro version is actually more similar to the G1 toy.  The tampoed details on his shins and shoulders are more like the G1 stickers, and while the pale thighs are cartoon accurate the darker gray on the Retro version's thighs is toy-accurate.  Indeed the darker gray used almost everywhere on him is closer to the G1 toy.  He's just missing Autobot insignia's on his wings and some extra tampos on his chest above his cockpit.  Weirdly, there's no visible Autobot insignia on the Retro version's bot mode at all, including the space behind the canopy designed especially for it.  Oh, and he's still got the blue hands, which neither the toy nor cartoon had, but that's no worse than the blue hands on the TR version.  Speaking of, the Retro version comes with the same accessories; the same gun as Blurr, and the same detachable nose.  Of course, the reason he came with the same gun as Blurr is because he's a remold of TR Blurr in the first place, which just wasn't a smart decision.  Yeah, he doesn't have wrist or waist articulation, he's taller than the other Headmasters, and his head isn't compatible with the the Titan Masters, but Generations Brainstorm is simply a much better robot than both of these.

Speaking of Titan Masters, there's the difference in their little robot modes.  The yellow paint is a little lighter, the gray plastic a little darker, but that's about it.  Perhaps because TR Brainstorm was a store-exclusive and got a little extra paint.  Either way, I think the lighter gray is more G1-accurate, but given how much they reused the handful of Titan Master molds accuracy was never a priority here, as neither matches the G1 in overall sculpt.

Flipping them to "jet" mode and... you know, I thought (and still think) this mode was the Generations version's weak spot.  The robot mode took a lot of inspiration from Alex Milne's art in More Than Meets the Eye, and while it made for a great robot the alt mode is generally less cohesive than I'd like.  This is an area that the Retro/TR version should have been able to run away with it, but again Hasbro really hobbled themselves by choosing Blurr of all their molds to retool; I've seen a custom Brainstorm made from a TR Triggerhappy, and yeah, it's 1000x better.  The Blurr mold's proportions are all wrong; too long at the main fuselage, too much stuff behind the cockpit, a single vertical stabilizer, too-short wings.

So where does that leave us?  If you have Generations Brainstorm, you already have the best modern official toy.  If he's too big for you, consider Fansproject's Smart Robin for a much better Brainstorm at the Deluxe size.  If Titan Master compatibility is important to you, though, well, I prefer the TR version.  The Retro version is only the version to get if you really want this version of Brainstorm but missed your chance to get the TR version, of if you prefer The Headmasters-style head.

I originally passed on Mindwipe because I didn't think there was a huge difference between the Retro version and the TR version.  In-hand, I'm happy to see there's more differences than I'd originally thought.  Most notably, the purple is a bit more blue and a bit less red.  I think the redder purple is more cartoon accurate, but the bluer purple is more toy accurate and I prefer it.  The Retro version goes with black biceps and purple forearms instead of purple biceps and black forearms; all purple would be the most accurate, but between the two I prefer the Retro version.  The Retro version adds a G1 (toy and toon) accurate silver strip.  It also looses the unnecessary red from the bottom of the shin, and swaps the knees from silver to black.  While I think they could have gotten away with all-purple, the black is reminiscent of the knee joint on the G1 toy.

Again, there's also the different headsculpt.  This one I'm not entirely sure about.  Both have the weird lines on the face, albeit with slightly different expressions.  I kind of prefer the expression on the Retro version.  The more squarish head shape is more accurate to every version, too.  However, the separate eyes on the TR version conforms with Sunbow, The Headmasters, and the G1 toy (in shape, if not in color).

Accessories are exactly the same, just with the bluer plastic.

The Titan Master is basically the same.  However, the Retro version has some silver paint on his face with red eyes.  It's a small thing, but it makes a huge difference.

As badly as Hasbro botched Brainstorm's alt mode, somehow I feel like they did worse on Mindwipe despite creating a mold just for him.  The face is oddly organic, and the body is somewhat anemic without the arms and their speakers forming his sides.  I think they thought they were being clever unfurling his legs into wings, but I'd prefer something a lot closer to a more-articulated version of the G1 toy.

As bad as I think this mode is, the Retro version uses brown for the wings instead of purple, a shade of brown closer to the original for the head than the TR version, more accurate red eyes, and the black biceps turn into G1-accurate black bat feet.

None of the TR/Retro Headmasters are really up to WfC-levels of quality, and while I do like some of them these two especially make me hope that Hasbro will one day return to the Season 4 well and redo these guys with better, more G1-accurate, Voyager-class figures.  But between the Retro and the TR versions of Mindwipe the Retro version is a bit closer to G1 in overall colors, if not shape.

[M'Kyuun]

Hmm, I kinda liked the way they made Mindwipe's legs become the wings, but I agree that the head looked too organic, especially when compared to Weirdwolf or Skullcruncher. I have the retro version of Brainstorm, and while I like it, I have to agree with Mike in that, of the various TR molds they could have used, Blurr's really wasn't the best choice.

So, as has become the usual trend with Fed Ex, my Wreck-Gar was delayed today, and now I'm showing a delivery for tomorrow. It's not as bad a delay as I was expecting, but I just have to chuckle at how this situation has become the norm for pretty much all my Pulse deliveries from Fed Ex.  Speak of the devil, I received shipping notices for Kingdom Galvatron, the Autobot Ark, Tracks, and Scorponok today, due on the 15th, which means it won't actually get delivered until a day or three after that.  Rodimus Prime and Rhinox, who are part of the same preorder, were delayed to Oct 1 and Dec 1 respectively. I would rather have waited for Tracks and had Rodimus sooner, but I can wait a month.

I'm hoping we'll get some new Kingdom/Legacy reveals during PulseCon 2 next month.  Been kinda slow for main line news of late. I'm hoping the rest of the first season minibots will get their toys, along with more Dinobots, and deluxe scaled Insecticons.  Still hoping we'll get a full set of voyager scaled Constructicons, too. I passed on the CW Devastator as it didn't appeal to me, either the crappy Hasbro version, or the slightly less crappy Takara version. I think we'd be better off getting the Constructicons as individual releases, with  the appropriate budgets allotted to raise the quality of the figs. I just hope they don't make this fig or that a particular exclusive, making it nigh impossible in this era's market to try and get the whole team. If they do release new Constructicons, and some are sold as store exclusives, I should hope that Pulse would offer them to members as preorder-able items negating the frustration of trying to hunt them all down.

 

[sh9000]

I would have never known that Target was having another collector event.  Thanks for mentioning it in this thread.  Here is the other Transformers reveal that will be available later.

[mikeszekely]

Ugh. Draculus is a bad repaint of one of the worst TR molds. But it's also a concept so ridiculous that I kind of have to have it.

[tekering]

And I have a weak spot for those Diaclone homage color schemes...

[mikeszekely]

I wound up ordering both.  Road Rage was a given; like @tekering I like it when the Diaclone versions become new characters (although the whole thing IDW's been doing where they add female characters in pairs and make one of them the bodyguard for the other is getting tired- they did it with Windblade and Chromia in v1, and in v2 they've done it with Greenlight and Arcee AND Nautica and Road Rage).  Plus, I've enjoyed even the weaker WfC stuff like the Tracks mold more than most pre-WfC, and getting all the repaints is a lot cheaper in the mainline than MP.

As for Draculus... even the best TR molds often lack modern amenities like ankle articulation, and like I said, I think Mindwipe is one of the weaker TR molds, so I'm not thrilled that they're going back to that well.  That said, some of the beefs I have with the mold, like the lack of arm speakers on the sides of the bat or the too-organic head, don't really apply here.  The concept is so ridiculous that I have to love it... Dracula putting on a mech suit and turning into the head of a robot styled to look like him, down to the paint looking like a tuxedo.  And the giant Dracula robot turns into a giant bat robot that Dracula can sit inside and drive.  I mean... how can you not want that?  How about this, if you're still on the fence- he comes with a cape!  Because giant tuxedo-wearing robot Dracula who's head is a regular Dracula in a mech suit needs a cape.

[pengbuzz]

After I finish my G1 1984 collection, I'm done. I just left a transformers site and frankly, not going to bother with anything new for Transformers anymore.

 

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

After I finish my G1 1984 collection, I'm done. I just left a transformers site and frankly, not going to bother with anything new for Transformers anymore.

 

Sounds serious; whatever upset you, I hope it doesn't completely poison your enjoyment of the hobby. 

As for me, this is my primary forum for discussing all things Transformers. I visit TFW2005 from time to time, but things get out of hand over there a bit too much, with little in the way of moderation; essentially too many unchecked self-entitled man-children with anger management issues with opinions that matter more than anyone else's. I tend to steer clear, at least clear of the Transformer discussions. I generally visit the Toyark forums for 52Toys stuff, LEGO, some Macross, etc. Those forums tend to be far more civil in their exchanges and respect for one another.

At the end of the day, it's your collection, and whatever your reasons for wanting to be quit of Transformers once you've reached your stated goal, I hope you continue to find joy in that. Transformers are such a huge part of my life, and while I'm not as fervent in my fandom as some, it brings me joy, and I suspect always will, regardless of the community or other factors.  I'm just a bit saddened to see a fellow member put off to the hobby. In any case, I wish you every success in finishing your '84 collection. 

[technoblue]

5 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

After I finish my G1 1984 collection, I'm done. I just left a transformers site and frankly, not going to bother with anything new for Transformers anymore.

Finishing a G1 collection is a sweet goal.  But like @M'Kyuun notes, reading between the lines seems to indicate there's more going on, so yeah...do what you need to do to focus on yourself and your well-being first. 

For my part, I'm constantly re-evaluating the end goals for my own Transformers collection. I guess it's become something of a priority again now that I'm knee deep in third-party Legends. My mainline collection is done, more or less. I cut it back to a bare minimum of favorite characters and I now only have Selects Galvatron coming to complete WFC. That's about it. 

Oh! I am waiting on the rumors of the Transformers Prime redux releases. I'll give those a chance if they are done well. I've been enjoying the APC KO reissues. 

My Masterpiece collection is getting close, but I'm still waiting on a few things. For instance, I'm keeping tabs on official MP news like Cliffjumper and Jetfire. I'm hoping we also get word of an official MP Galvatron for next year. In the third-party space, I'm waiting on updates about MMC's Defensor. I don't know that I need anything after these because at that point I'll have MP versions of most of my old G1 toys (plus some Diaclone extras).

Edited September 10, 2021 by technoblue

[M'Kyuun]

My MP collection has become the backseat of my TF collecting. I'll pick up the odd fig if the character or the toy itself appeals, like the upcoming Skids, but I doubt I'll ever have a complete first season roster in MP scale, even though all those characters exist in some form now in MP scale. It's just not as much a priority to me as the main line, which has always been the focus of my TF collecting. I've bought a handful of legends figs, as well, but again, I cherry pick the figs I want to buy, and have no compunction towards having a complete set of figures. It gets too expensive, and I just don't really have the space.  Hasbro owns me, for better or worse, although if third party ever jumped back into the CHUG scale again, chances are high I'd be investing more heavily in what they have to offer over official, just like MP.

[tekering]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

if third party ever jumped back into the CHUG scale again, chances are high I'd be investing more heavily in what they have to offer over official, just like MP.

Oh, they definitely will.  They competed mercilessly over MP-scale offerings, until the combiners were the only Sunbow characters that remained; they're competing mercilessly over Legends-scale offerings, until the combiners are the only Sunbow characters that remain; they'll have to focus next on figures that complement our WFC/SS86 collections, 'cause that's where the biggest demand is now.  That's why I've held off on weaker Hasbro offerings like Siege Astrotrain, Earthrise Arcee or Kingdom Galvatron; better 3P offerings at that scale are imminent, I'm sure.

[technoblue]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

My MP collection has become the backseat of my TF collecting. I'll pick up the odd fig if the character or the toy itself appeals, like the upcoming Skids, but I doubt I'll ever have a complete first season roster in MP scale, even though all those characters exist in some form now in MP scale. It's just not as much a priority to me as the main line, which has always been the focus of my TF collecting. I've bought a handful of legends figs, as well, but again, I cherry pick the figs I want to buy, and have no compunction towards having a complete set of figures. It gets too expensive, and I just don't really have the space.  Hasbro owns me, for better or worse, although if third party ever jumped back into the CHUG scale again, chances are high I'd be investing more heavily in what they have to offer over official, just like MP.

Mm. The wheel keeps on turning. I figure third-party manufacturers will come around again...eventually...and I'll be keeping an eye out if they do. As much as I like the voyager releases from MMC and Planet X, I would be happy to see another company step up. More so if they decide to make their splash with Transformers designs post G1. 

With regard to collecting, I think you've mentioned before that the mainline gets the majority of your focus, @M'Kyuun. I do think it's cool that we each have a personalized approach to the hobby. Part of the fun is getting everyone else's unique spin. And I'll admit it, if I didn't start collecting Masterpiece when I did, the mainline WFC releases would be getting more of my attention too, especially since there are a good number that can fill in as mini MPs.

The reasonable prices are certainly a bonus. 

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

My MP collection has become the backseat of my TF collecting.

This is where I'm at.  In fact, the only reason I started collecting MP seriously was because, at the time, Generations was pretty stylized, Hasbro had distribution issues that prevented entire waves of figures from turning up at retail around here (I never saw Thrilling 30 Arcee on the shelves here, and wound up getting the Takara version, and there were several figures that I never found at TRU, Target, or Walmart but later turned up at outlets like Ross, Marshalls, and Gabe's), scale was all over the place, and it seemed like the only way I was ever going to complete the G1 TV cast would be to embrace 3P MPs.  I actually quit the official stuff after Combiner Wars, having bought most of the PotP and Titans Returns stuff I own after WfC started.  Fast-forward to today and, sure, there have been some less-than-stellar releases from Hasbro, but on the whole I've been quite happy with WfC, and frankly I think I'm closer now to having the G1 TV cast done in that scale than MP.  The price creep by Fans Toys and XTB, plus the death of competitors like Maketoys, DX9, and UT have cooled me on MP-scaled stuff, while the opposite is true for Hasbro- the relatively low cost has encouraged me to buy up a rainbow of repaints I'd never have been willing to drop MP prices on.  

[M'Kyuun]

It took Hasbro a long damned time to finally figure out that what the vast majority of TF fans want is faithful representations of the G1 characters despite the mountain of evidence to support that assumption. MP became highly sought b/c it was giving fans that G1 fix. Likewise third party, in various scales. I'm glad they finally came around, and I agree, the WfC series has delivered, I think, what most of us have been wanting from the main line since the original G1 toys: updated versions that capture the essence of both toon and toy in fairly well balanced figures with good to great articulation, and that still transform into a pretty close facsimiles of the original alt modes. While there've been a few missteps along the way, like Astrotrain, I think most of us are in agreement that most of the figs have been pretty well done.  I've been very happy with WfC, but with a caveat: the omission of a complete set of appropriate weapons and accessories for each figure analogous to their G1 toys. More complete paint work would be nice, too.  I really wish they could find a way to bend the rules and give us a proper G1 Walther P-38 Megatron in this line, as well. This is definitely third party territory, and though I'm aware there have been CHUG scaled Megatron figs in the past, I'm thinking more along the lines of Magic Square's legends Megs upscaled to voyager.  That fig is brilliant, and it would make for an excellent placeholder in a Generations collection until such a time, if ever, our govt relaxes its gun laws.  I hope @tekeringand @technoblue are right, and we see third party start making CHUG scaled figs again.  There's a need.

Price is definitely another side of the coin; MP scaled toy prices, both official and non continue to rise, with XTB becoming the notable exception of late (so glad, too, b/c I'm all over those sweet Omnibots). Legends are on the pricey side as well, with a legends car bot costing about $15-20 more than a Hasbro deluxe. Right now, it's much more cost effective to invest in Generations if you're looking to complete your G1 collection on a modest budget, and the toys have been , on the whole, really well done. We can all nitpick hollow areas, paint, loose joints, etc ad nauseum, but some of those same issues crop up in both the more expensive legends and MP scaled toys. Being smaller, lighter, less complex, and less expensive than MP, one is less apprehensive about applying some custom paint, tightening a loose pin, adding stickers, applying the joint stiffener of choice, and just picking the thing up and messing with it on a regular basis than I think most are with MP figs. Personally, I rarely ever touch my MP figs, but I'm constantly messing with my CHUG stuff. They're toys that can be handled like toys without becoming apprehensive about fragility or over complexity that kinda robs many of the MP figs of their fun factor. YMMV.

[pengbuzz]

  

21 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Sounds serious; whatever upset you, I hope it doesn't completely poison your enjoyment of the hobby. 

As for me, this is my primary forum for discussing all things Transformers. I visit TFW2005 from time to time, but things get out of hand over there a bit too much, with little in the way of moderation; essentially too many unchecked self-entitled man-children with anger management issues with opinions that matter more than anyone else's. I tend to steer clear, at least clear of the Transformer discussions. I generally visit the Toyark forums for 52Toys stuff, LEGO, some Macross, etc. Those forums tend to be far more civil in their exchanges and respect for one another.

At the end of the day, it's your collection, and whatever your reasons for wanting to be quit of Transformers once you've reached your stated goal, I hope you continue to find joy in that. Transformers are such a huge part of my life, and while I'm not as fervent in my fandom as some, it brings me joy, and I suspect always will, regardless of the community or other factors.  I'm just a bit saddened to see a fellow member put off to the hobby. In any case, I wish you every success in finishing your '84 collection. 

It nearly did, but I decided that I'd rather relieve myself of the drama there and focus on what counts. And yeah: it's TFW2005 I'm departing (for the reasons you just stated). As to my collection: I just need Huffer for the Autobots and Soundwave, his cassette troopers and Reflector for the Decepticons, and that's it. I count Shockwave as 1984 because he made his first appearance in MTME and the toy had originally been planned for the '84 series release, so he gets "grandfathered" in. lol

(speaking of which: Looking right now for the "metal plates" for my G1 Optimus Prime trailer, to change it into the "bloated" version , as Ican't afford a whole new trailer, so searching for plates to glue in)

Now, to its' credit, Macrossworld has been pretty civil (much thanks to Sean, Graham and the folks here, mods and members alike!), and folks here have been very kind to me for the most part. I count this as home really for my online endeavors and really don't have to worry about much here.

 

18 hours ago, technoblue said:

Finishing a G1 collection is a sweet goal.  But like @M'Kyuun notes, reading between the lines seems to indicate there's more going on, so yeah...do what you need to do to focus on yourself and your well-being first. 

For my part, I'm constantly re-evaluating the end goals for my own Transformers collection. I guess it's become something of a priority again now that I'm knee deep in third-party Legends. My mainline collection is done, more or less. I cut it back to a bare minimum of favorite characters and I now only have Selects Galvatron coming to complete WFC. That's about it. 

Oh! I am waiting on the rumors of the Transformers Prime redux releases. I'll give those a chance if they are done well. I've been enjoying the APC KO reissues. 

My Masterpiece collection is getting close, but I'm still waiting on a few things. For instance, I'm keeping tabs on official MP news like Cliffjumper and Jetfire. I'm hoping we also get word of an official MP Galvatron for next year. In the third-party space, I'm waiting on updates about MMC's Defensor. I don't know that I need anything after these because at that point I'll have MP versions of most of my old G1 toys (plus some Diaclone extras).

You read correctly: a lot of unneeded drama and unmoderated nonsense that I'd really not like to recount here (for many reasons).

As for the masterpieces: after MP Prime and Megatron (V1 versions), they got way too expensive for me.  I have those two, but really as icons of the series; I really prefer the G1 84 toys' look.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I just need Huffer for the Autobots and Soundwave, his cassette troopers and Reflector for the Decepticons, and that's it.

Huffer just came out not long ago. Heck, if you can't find him in your area I'm sure I saw a couple at Walgreens the other day.

For Reflector (or Refraktor now, because trademarks) GameStop is taking preorders for the toy-colored 3-pack Hasbro released two years back.

Soundwave will probably be a lot harder, though. The Siege version was ok, but the "spaceship" mode didn't really do it for me. I liked the Netflix version a lot better, but it seems like that one was pretty hard to get off you weren't lucky enough to get a preorder or find it in a local Walmart. Then, even if you found Soundwave you need the tapes, which were spread across multiple Micromaster packs and, frankly, kind of sucked. For my own display, even though I did get all the WfC tapes, I wound up getting a set of KO MP tapes. Although they don't fit in Soundwave I actually like the scale better for Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage.

[pengbuzz]

  

9 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Huffer just came out not long ago. Heck, if you can't find him in your area I'm sure I saw a couple at Walgreens the other day.

For Reflector (or Refraktor now, because trademarks) GameStop is taking preorders for the toy-colored 3-pack Hasbro released two years back.

Soundwave will probably be a lot harder, though. The Siege version was ok, but the "spaceship" mode didn't really do it for me. I liked the Netflix version a lot better, but it seems like that one was pretty hard to get off you weren't lucky enough to get a preorder or find it in a local Walmart. Then, even if you found Soundwave you need the tapes, which were spread across multiple Micromaster packs and, frankly, kind of sucked. For my own display, even though I did get all the WfC tapes, I wound up getting a set of KO MP tapes. Although they don't fit in Soundwave I actually like the scale better for Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage.

Thanks, but I mean the original 1984 collection, not Earthrise/Kingdom.

 

[mikeszekely]

21 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

  

Thanks, but I mean the original 1984 collection, not Earthrise/Kingdom.

 

Oh! I misunderstood, then.

I'm that case, I have an extra reissue Soundwave with Ravage and Laserbeak...