The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Wolf-1]

Paint brushes and I have never gotten along well, thankfully there are Gundam Markers with varying size tips and suddenly I'm coloring more than painting.  So far I've only painted on Sunstreaker; was bugging me that his rear vents hadn't been painted, same will occur with E.R. Sideswipe since they didn't paint that on him but did on R.A.  Can't keep track of all the Copic marker pens I've gone through panel lining these figures though, I need a softer touch as I can make them last years with my Gunpla.  

I like the Lambo mold, only skipped on the Netflix editions, the roughed up paint is just too much for me to try and clean up, though Siege Sideswipe's shins came clean very easily with just a q-tip and paint thinner. Gigawatt and E.R. Sideswipe are currently in transit, so only missing the 3 Netflix molds there.  I won't go into Seekers, other than to say I was a day late and far more than a dollar short on the Conehead two-pack; here's hoping for a re-release.  

If what I'm seeing online is any indication, I think we're about to hit repaint Wave.  Road Rage, Blue Bluestreak, and 3 Huffer repaints/remolds; Pipes, Puffer, and Road Ranger. 

[mikeszekely]

OK, I'm unfamiliar with the source, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but some of these do match what we've previously seen in Target's database (although others are completely out of the blue).  But apparently this is the planned case assortment for most (all?) of the post-Kingdom series (which will apparently be called Legacy).

*As near as I can tell, a listing with "Pr" at the end means it was previously released in a prior line, like Astrotrain was in Siege and Earthrise and Optimus, Arcee, and Wheeljack were in Earthrise and Kingdom.

CORE CLASS

Wave 1

Skywarp x2
Hot Rod x3
Iguanus x3

Wave 2

Iguanus x1
Optimus Prime Pr x1
G2 Megatron x2
Shockwave x2

Wave 3

Soundwave Pr x2
Energon Monster x3
Skullgrin x3

DELUXE CLASS

Wave 1

Skids x2
Dragstrip x2
Prime Arcee x2
Kickback x2

Wave 2

Prime Knockout x2
Elita-1 x2
Tarantulas x2
Wildrider x2

Wave 3

Pointblack x2
Crankcase x2
Energon Monster x2
Deadend x2

VOYAGER CLASS

Wave 1

Blaster x2
Bulkhead x2

Wave 2

Prime Soundwave x2
Jhiaxus x1

Wave 3

Armada Starscream x2
Beast Wars Inferno x1

LEADER CLASS

Wave 1

Lazer Optimus Prime x2

Wave 2

Galvatron Pr x1
Blitzwing x1

Wave 3

Dragon Megatron x2

COMMANDER CLASS

Motormaster

TITAN CLASS

Cybertron Metroplex

 

A couple notes I have about this list-

1. Where's Bombshell and Shrapnel?  I guess they could be coming in a fourth wave, or Hasbro could be weirdly splitting them up between Legacy and SS86 like they did with Season 3 characters and Kingdom.

2. Where's Breakdown?  The leak actually puts him in a fourth wave, but I left him off the list because he's the only figure mentioned for a fourth wave.

3. Lazer Optimus Prime?  HECK YES!  Honestly, the original was a fantastic figure that's held up pretty well; Hasbro could use almost the same engineering and transformation, just add a few swivels and ankles that the original lacked.  Reveal the Shield Optimus was ok but not quite there, and messing with TR Octone the other day reminded me that I really don't like that mold so the TR version of Laser Prime is out.

4. Crankcase is a new leak, I think.  Cool if true; I'm down for completing the Scavengers.

5. I'd heard that Armada would be included in Legacy, but this is, I think, the first time I'm hearing Starscream.  I'm not complaining, mind you.  While the cartoon was pretty bad and I have no interest in collecting a whole line of Armada toys, I liked some of the character designs and I'd probably be interested in picking up the main cast (Optimus, Hot Shot, Red Alert, Megatron, Starscream, Cyclonus, and Demolisher).

6. I really hope that "Cybertron Metroplex" is a misunderstanding, and it's actually an updated G1 Metroplex.  The original Titan Metroplex hasn't aged all that well, and frankly it always had these weird, stretched out proportions and stylized accessories.  I'd totally throw money at a better-proportioned, more G1-accurate Metroplex with a Deluxe-class Scamper (that little Legends one sucks).  But I really don't see myself dropping almost $200 on an updated version of this guy:

[tekering]

43 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I really hope that "Cybertron Metroplex" is a misunderstanding, and it's actually an updated G1 Metroplex.

I'm hoping for a Fall of Cybertron Metroplex, myself.

[mikeszekely]

OK... same source, but this is apparently the Studio Series release schedule for next year.

CORE CLASS

Wave 1

TF6 Ravage x4
TF6 Shockwave x4

Wave 2

TF6 Ravage x2
TF6 Shockwave x2
86 Spike x4

Wave 3

86 Wheelie x4
86 Ratchet x4

Wave 4

86 Wheelie x2
TF3 Laserbeak x 3
86 Rumble x3

DELXUE CLASS

Wave 1

86 Perceptor x2
TF6 Ratchet x2
TF6 Wheeljack x2
TF6 Brawn x2

Wave 2

TF6 Wheeljack x1
TF6 Ratchet x1
TF6 Arcee x3
TF6 Ironhide x3

Wave 3

86 Arcee x3
TF2 Sideways x3
TF3 Bumblebee x3

Wave 4

86 Perceptor x1
86 Arcee x1
TF5 Hot Rod x3
TF4 Crosshairs x3

VOYAGER CLASS

Wave 1

TF6 Soundwave x2
86 Hot Rod Variant x1

Wave 2

TF6 Soundwave x1
86 Junkyard x1

Wave 3

TF6 Thundercracker x1
TF4 Galvatron

LEADER CLASS

Wave 1

86 King Starscream x2

Wave 2

86 Sludge x2

Wave 3

TF2 The Fallen x2

Again, some notes:

1. Just looking at the numbers in each case I'd say this list, if true, is incomplete.  I've been told from a source I trust more that we should expect 86 Swoop, Ratchet, and Ironhide in the Voyager-class.

2. 86 Arcee?  The Earthrise/Kingdom mold isn't that old... hopefully they're not just repackaging it and we could get a better one.

3. I guess Shrapnel and Bombshell aren't in 86.  Perhaps they're with Breakdown in the missing Legacy wave?

4. They're going HARD on the Bumblebee movie.  I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that.  I mean, Bumblebee is distinct from G1 and possibly the first five TF movies... but they're kind of like Cybertronian G1.  And I already bought a ton of Cybertronian G1 toys in Siege, that I already replaced with Earth modes.

5. TF3 Bumblebee.  By my count, that leaves just the two designs from TF4 before we've gotten them all, unless they want to do a new TF5 Bee (the previous one was a repack of TLK Premiere Bee, and slightly taller than the rest) or 86 Bee.

6. Junkyard... I wonder how much Hasbro can milk Wreck-Gar's mold?  Because, if I'm being honest, I can't bring myself to shell out for all the KFC remolds, but at $30 a pop I'd probably buy a small army of Junkions.

7. I wonder what a Hot Rod variant would be?

8. SLUDGE!

9. I hope the Fallen has a better transformation and alt mode than the original, especially at a Leader price.

 

And for final good measure, here's what you can expect from Generations Selects

Titan Black Zarak (not a surprise, as it's been up for preorder).
Deluxe-class Clampdown (at last!)
Voyager-class Cyclonus' Armada
Deluxe-class Lift-Ticket (red Diaclone Hoist)
Deluxe-class DK-3 (blue Diaclone Trailbreaker)
Deluxe-class Guard (no idea, but if it's GS you can expect a repaint/remold of something from this list or WfC)

Edited September 22, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

Of those lists, I'm down for most of the G1 stuff, and curious about the Prime stuff, as the original toys, which I still have displayed on my shelf, were pretty well done the first time around. Notably, there's no love for Animated.  Unless they really wow me with something, I'm essentially done with Bayformers and Bumblebee Movie stuff. I have no virtually interest in Unicron Trilogy or RiD, but I'm happy for fans that have been craving updates; hopefully the toys that come will have been worth waiting for, as I feel the majority of WfC has been for G1 fans.

I hope Hasbro went back to the drawing board with 86 Arcee; along with the vanette bros, she was definitely wanting for a new dedicated figure with an actual transformation. I hope they don't disappoint, and that it looks better than the MP in bot mode.

Keep coming with the Dinobots; they've been doing a good job with them thus far, and Sludge has a soft spot in my heart, as he was the only Dinobot I owned as a kid.

It's odd that only Kickback is showing up here; it would have been nice to have all three Insecticons out simultaneously, but if they're spreading them out across waves, well, so much the easier on the wallet. I'm still happy we got the legends versions after years of waiting. They're pretty well done for their scale, too. However, since most smaller, formerly legends scaled characters appear to be getting the deluxe upscale treatment in the main line, I'm happy to see them get upscaled with, hopefully, the appropriate advancement in articulation and complexity.

No interest in the Selects. Clampdown is interesting, as I've always like the emergency versions of these characters, but I already have a tidy collection of Siege and Earth mode Sideswipe recolors, so I'll probably pass on him. Nice that they're making him and the other Diaclone recolors, though.  I appreciate gestures like that for fans, even if it's a cheap and easy way for Hasbro to milk the molds even further.

Lots to look forward to in the coming year. I need to build some shelves.

[mikeszekely]

So Hasbro did a livestream with Chris Sabat to promote the Victory Saber crowdfund. Sabat is a voice actor, arguably most famously known for his role as Vegeta in the various Dragon Ball shows, but one who had never worked on Transformers and who, by his own admission, wasn't even aware of the Japanese G1 stuff. So he seemed like a pretty odd choice, unless Hasbro was going to announce a dub of Victory with Sabat on the cast...

...nope. No such announcement. Turns out it was just a really random decision.

[M'Kyuun]

That's almost as bad as putting mistransformed pics of your products up to promote said products. Hasbro- forever making us shake our heads in wonder.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

That's almost as bad as putting mistransformed pics of your products up to promote said products. Hasbro- forever making us shake our heads in wonder.

Yeah, it just feels really weird.  It'd be like having an actor who's definitely not in Rise of the Beasts to talk about whatever toys might come out for that film.

I can't say I'm super bothered, though.  I usually prefer subs, and I already have the Shout Factory Japanese Collection box set.  I'm not in a rush to replace it.

And I'm loving how Star Saber's turning out.  Just under 2000 backers to go to get it funded- that livestream did give it a nice boost, as it picked up nearly 1000 backers since I last checked.  I'm guessing when retailers put their orders in, which always happens right at the end, that'll easily cover it.  Hopefully they can make some of the stretch goals, too.  I know it's not the most exciting thing in the word, but I'd love the stand for V-Star mode.

[M'Kyuun]

9 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Yeah, it just feels really weird.  It'd be like having an actor who's definitely not in Rise of the Beasts to talk about whatever toys might come out for that film.

Yeah, it's weird, and probably a bit awkward for the actor, too.  Nothing like being put on the spot to talk about something totally foreign to you.  

13 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

And I'm loving how Star Saber's turning out.  Just under 2000 backers to go to get it funded- that livestream did give it a nice boost, as it picked up nearly 1000 backers since I last checked.  I'm guessing when retailers put their orders in, which always happens right at the end, that'll easily cover it.  Hopefully they can make some of the stretch goals, too.  I know it's not the most exciting thing in the word, but I'd love the stand for V-Star mode.

I have no dog in this race, so to speak, but in my heart, I'm cheering it on for the fans who are this close to getting a Victory Saber here in the West.  I wish they hadn't chosen the crowdfunding platform, but given the relatively unknown status that VS and many other Japanese Transformers have here, it was a safe play to take a measure of interest. If, I should say 'when', VS gets made, hopefully it'll open the door to more Japanese TFs to get produced at standard retail. Hasbro would be wise to work out the licensing with Takara and whomever else necessary to import all those old shows over, get them dubbed, and put them on their Youtube to build an audience on this side of the Pacific. Most people only buy something if they have a context (I'm not one of those, but I'm eccentric), and getting those shows would provide it, and desire for those toys. C'mon Brian Goldner, that's basic marketing.

Meanwhile, although I'm loving all the G1 goodness coming our way, I hope Hasbro are working on the next new thing, whatever form it may take.  I don't want to disparage G1; it's what I grew up on, but we all know it had its quirks and flaws, and it's almost forty years old. Once they're done draining the teat with the tail end of Kingdom and on into Legacy,  I hope they have something new and original planned to breathe some new life into this old franchise.  I think they need to do that every few years to keep it fresh and relevant. 

[sh9000]

A lot of cool figures from those lists.  I’m in for some of them.

And I too would want a more G1 looking Metroplex to go with my Trypticon.

[Hikuro]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

So Hasbro did a livestream with Chris Sabat to promote the Victory Saber crowdfund. Sabat is a voice actor, arguably most famously known for his role as Vegeta in the various Dragon Ball shows, but one who had never worked on Transformers and who, by his own admission, wasn't even aware of the Japanese G1 stuff. So he seemed like a pretty odd choice, unless Hasbro was going to announce a dub of Victory with Sabat on the cast...

...nope. No such announcement. Turns out it was just a really random decision.

They don't like to admit this, at least Hasbro and Takara, But Brad Venable a voice actor who passed away back in the beginning of the year, at one point was the voice of Star Saber for the fan production version of Victory done by TFCog (I use to do stuff with them as well and even worked with Brad on a few other related TFer projects) and I know he and Chris Sabat have crossed paths several times working on the same shows. Maybe, though there is some relation to eachother. I dunno, that's the only thing that makes sense to me. 

The list of figures is sort of a hit and miss for me, no mention of an 86SS Ironhide, but if they're doing a Ratchet then it would make sense it'll come. The Hot Rod variant? It could be G1 figure colors or a Nemesis Hot Rod or maybe even a Shattered Glass version seeing how those have been popping around more and more.
Truthfully I didn't see much that got me excited....I'm sort of confused as to why we're getting Stunticon figures though.

 

In other things, I was at a local walmart, came across 86SS Wreckgar. His robot mode is fantastically done, but dear god I hate his alt mode and how he's practically a voyager class and it's so stinking simplistic. 

[mikeszekely]

19 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Meanwhile, although I'm loving all the G1 goodness coming our way, I hope Hasbro are working on the next new thing, whatever form it may take.  I don't want to disparage G1; it's what I grew up on, but we all know it had its quirks and flaws, and it's almost forty years old. Once they're done draining the teat with the tail end of Kingdom and on into Legacy,  I hope they have something new and original planned to breathe some new life into this old franchise.  I think they need to do that every few years to keep it fresh and relevant.

I'm not saying it won't happen at all, but I am saying it won't without a cartoon to back it up.  And to be fair, it's been that way since Animated; Classics/Universe/Generations is for capitalizing on the nostalgia of older fans, and Animated/Prime/RiD/Cyberverse came with newer cartoons.  While I think Cyberverse cartoon has ended, I haven't heard of anything in the works to replace it (although I could be wrong) and the Cyberverse toy line still seems to be going strong.

20 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

I'm sort of confused as to why we're getting Stunticon figures though.

Because, to be frank, the Combiner Wars ones sucked.  I mean, after enjoying the improved engineering since Siege I could argue that all of the CW combiners need a do-over where they're not poorly-articulated ball-jointed messes, where they're not trying to make five or six characters out of one mold, where they're not replacing characters at random just to get those extra repaints, where they're not saddling us with those crappy hand/foot/guns, etc.  But the Stunticons got it the worst, for sure.  Breakdown was one of the worst Deluxe molds in that line, and Motormaster definitely was the worst torso.  And that's just the engineering; Motormaster didn't look much like the G1 truck, the G1 robot, or the G1 Menasor torso.  I'm thinking that by making Motormaster a Commander-class we'll wind up with a setup similar to Magic Square, XTB, or DX9's where Motormaster's trailer makes up a lot of Meansor's body, and hopefully we can have better G1-accuracy, better articulation, and better proportions across the board.  And if it does well enough, maybe we'll get the other combiners, too (although a Leader Lazer Prime has me thinking Scourge repaint, and if we get a Scourge repaint then I kind of want a Leader or Commander RiD2001 Prime...)

28 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

In other things, I was at a local walmart, came across 86SS Wreckgar. His robot mode is fantastically done, but dear god I hate his alt mode and how he's practically a voyager class and it's so stinking simplistic.

I'm envious.  I've been scouring my local stores for him since I first heard sightings of him.  Nothing so far.

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm not saying it won't happen at all, but I am saying it won't without a cartoon to back it up.  

That was what I meant to say, but looking back at what I wrote, I wasn't clear. But yeah, a new toon, a new direction, new characters, no G1 except in references (b/c G1 should never be forgotten), and all new toys with a complexity akin to or greater than what we're getting with the Generations line currently.

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Because, to be frank, the Combiner Wars ones sucked.

I won't disagree. I appreciate the effort, but execution left a lot to be desired. Someone at Hasbro must have been listening, b/c  the toys have been improving since Titans Return. I still think they need to give them all rotating wrists and opening hands as further improvements to articulation across the line. Feet that can pivot up and down a little would be nice, too, but I don't want to ask for too much too soon.  And, yeah, a new approach to the Combiners is warranted, and I think Hasbro gets that, especially if they want to introduce them in the current main line at the same standard.

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm envious.  I've been scouring my local stores for him since I first heard sightings of him.  Nothing so far.

So am I. I've not seen a WfC fig in stores for some time now.  My local Wally, which until recently had a wall of blank pegs in the TF section, has a few Bumblebee Cyberverse figs, but nothing at all from the main line. I don't know if that's on Hasbro or Walmart, but it sucks. But my Walmart recently expanded their alcohol section by about double. I see a correlation there. 

12 hours ago, Hikuro said:

In other things, I was at a local walmart, came across 86SS Wreckgar. His robot mode is fantastically done, but dear god I hate his alt mode and how he's practically a voyager class and it's so stinking simplistic. 

Playing devil's advocate, I thought they did a good job on his motorcycle mode. It homages the G1 toy, while improving on it , as it should.  To be fair, Wreck-Gar's  bike mode was never shown in the '86 film, and I didn't watch enough of seasons 3 and 4 to remember if it was ever shown there. So, barring references, and using the G1 toy as a basis for his alt mode, and the animated likeness for bot mode, which I agree is superbly done, we got a nice hybrid in this figure. I especially love how his head tucks into the windshield and forms the instrument panel for his bike mode. His bot bits are pretty unmistakable as such, but the Junkions' bike modes weren't intended to be sleek, streamlined, or Earth-accurate, judging by the 'Dare to be Stupid' scene in the movie. Normally I'm the guy who complains about crappy alt modes and simplistic transformations, but in this case, I thought HasTak did a commendable job given the material. Alas, mileage varies.

Edited September 23, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[Mechapilot77]

heres my thoughts...

CORE CLASS - probably don't care about any of those, unless they do a good shockwave.

DELUXE CLASS - skids!  prime arcee was a great design, not sure how they'll impromce on the prime RID version much, yeah kickback!  stunticons!  lets hope they are way better and combine. there were A LOT of autobot cars in WFC so deluxe stunticons would be perfect sparring budddies!  also what the heck is energon monster? 

VOYAGER CLASS -  BLASTER FINALLY!  hope he doesn't suck.  prime soundwave....will have to see if he is actually good. kinda a cool creepy soundwave design.  i liked tf prime so i have  soft spot for their designs.  armada starscream!  never watched that trilogy (and people say it sucked so never gonna bother) but always thought a few of the robot designs were cool, especially starscream/seekers.  the deluxe one they released a few years back was ok but kinda lacking.  if they can make him up tot he standards of WFC era voyager toys i'll be happy. 

LEADER CLASS - never cared much for lazer optimus, i mean he is OK but he's not MY optimus.  that being said if they toy is good...we shall see.  also blitzwing!!  hopefully it will be a crapton better than astrotrain from WFC.  although if it is will i get it only to realize i whould pick up the wfc astrotrain i dn't like so much just to pair with him?  hmm..

COMMANDER CLASS - motormaster!  hell yeah!

TITAN CLASS

Cybertron Metroplex - REALLY hope this is Fall of cybertron metroplex and not the cybertron unicron triligoy one...which i suspect it is.  the unicron trilogy is old enough 30 somethings probably are nostalgic for it now.

2nd list

CORE CLASS - ravage might be cool but BBM (bumblebee movie) shockwave as a core class?  nah....too small unless he is really cool.  86 spike...they really gonna make a transforming mech suit spike?  cool.  the rest of the 86 movie core class is like.....why so small?  unless they are better than teh recent core class soundwave....gonna skip em.  86 rumble...we'll see! 

DELXUE CLASS - perceptor getting that.  al the TF6 (BBM) stuff gotta wait and see.  also 86 arcee?  retool of wfc or other?  don't are abo thet other stuff.
VOYAGER CLASS - 86 hot rod varaint?  colors or what?  don't understand.  86 junkyard?  yeah i'll get it.  TF6 soundwave/thundercracker is a wait and see.

LEADER CLASS - don't need a coronoation kit for ER starscream so skip the king.  sludge!!!!  heck yeah.  dn't care about the rest.

 

 

 

 

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

never cared much for lazer optimus, i mean he is OK but he's not MY optimus.

I dunno, I've always thought of G2 as a continuation of G1, so I've always thought of Laser Optimus as an upgraded G1 Optimus.  It makes even more sense to me if I overlook Powermaster Optimus (the comic book notion of fleshy aliens bonding with Transformers just so they don't get sick from their space fuel never jived with me, PMOP didn't appear in the Sunbow cartoon, and Japanese G1 actually has him as a separate character).  But I might have a soft spot for Laser Optimus...

Needless to say, the idea of having a good, modern, in-scale take thrills me, and he'll be one of my most-anticipated 2022 figures.

If I wasn't totally clear when I posted, here's how I'm feeling-

Core- I think the whole point was to have tiny versions of the bigger guys to scale with Titans.  I've picked up a few (Prime, Starscream, Megatron) and they're decent for what they are.  If I'm bored and I see them I grab some, but they're not necessary.  Well, with the exception of the smaller 86 characters (Spike, Wheelie, and Rumble).

Deluxe-Commander - if it's G1 I'm almost definitely in.  Skids, Blaster, Blitzwing, Kickback, Perceptor, Sludge, and the Stunticons are must-haves, and Crankcase puts us one away from having a complete set of Scavengers.  I'm curious to see how new Arcee might be, and curious to see what the Hot Rod variant even is.  I'm less excited about the Beast Wars stuff, but Tarantulas and Inferno do help round out the cast and Dragon Megatron could be cool (assuming it's definitely Transmetal 2 Megatron and not RiD 2001 Megatron... although actually I'd be cool with that, too).  Really need a Terrorsaur, though.  As for the non-G1 stuff, I don't know.  I mean, I'm obviously in for Laser Prime, and like @Mechapilot77 I'm not a fan of the Unicron Trilogy as a cartoon, but I liked some of the character designs and I'm probably in for Starscream.  I guess the real question is the Prime figures.  Bulkhead is probably better than RiD Bulkhead, but FE Bulkhead was cool.  Knockout could definitely use a better figure, but Arcee and Soundwave were fine (although I guess Soundwave could stand to be a bit bigger).  Before they worry too much about upgrading old figures, I'd kind of prefer they properly finished the line with a Voyager-class Hardshell.  But I don't know, I liked the Prime show, I liked the Prime toys, but I guess I feel like I've closed the book on that chapter of Transformers and don't feel a strong need to revisit it.

That just leaves the movie stuff.  Against my better judgement I've bought into most of the line, and I'm sure I'll be grabbing at least Sideways, TF3 Bumblebee, Crosshairs, and Galvatron.  I'm not sold on the idea of buying a bunch of pseudo-G1 Cybertronian TF6 figures, though.  Maybe I'll change my mind when I see them on the shelves.

[mikeszekely]

Adding the stuff I mentioned yesterday, retail exclusives are going to be a thing in 2022 again.  Pulse is going to do more Shattered Glass- Wheeljack, Blaster, Soundwave, and Ultra Magnus.  They're sure to be repaints of the WfC stuff, nothing to get too excited over.  You're either in or not.  They're also going to have multipacks under a "Shine" label (unless that's a placeholder name, or someone typing on their phone got autocorrected from something like Prime).  Soundwave vs Optimus and Bumblebee vs Starscream.

Target's stuff is just listed as "Red Card," as in "Red Card-exclusive".  I don't know what exactly they're going to be, just that there's going to be two of them.  Plus, Target will be carrying the next MPM, and it's Blackout.

Walgreen's (I really hate them having exclusives 😒) will have a Deluxe-class Minverva.  This one's interesting me; as far back as Brainstorm all of Walgreen's stuff has been remolds, but I have no idea what figure they'd remold to get Minerva.  Perhaps Nightbeat is in the missing fourth wave of Legacy?

Finally, Walmart (whom I also hate for exclusives) will have a whole line called "Velocitron."  Despite the name, I'm not sure that it actually relates to Transformers Cybertron, as some of the listings look like more Diaclone repaints.  Then again, others don't make much sense as repaints, unless they're borrowing very unrelated names for other Diaclone repaints.  In any case, the listings are for Deluxes Burnout (black Diaclone skids), Road Rocket (a G2 motorcycle, no idea what it'll turn out to be), Blurr (maybe SS Blurr in Armada colors?), Clampdown (blue Sideswipe Earth mode? I dunno), and Cosmos (absolutely no clue), and then Voyagers Override (presumably the Cybertron character, but what mold?), Road Hauler (aka Grapple in Constructicon green), and Black Convoy (I'm guessing Laser Optimus has a trailer to hit the Leader price, and Black Convoy is Scourge without the trailer, but we'll see).

[mikeszekely]

On 9/22/2021 at 9:02 AM, mikeszekely said:

TF3 Bumblebee.  By my count, that leaves just the two designs from TF4 before we've gotten them all, unless they want to do a new TF5 Bee (the previous one was a repack of TLK Premiere Bee, and slightly taller than the rest) or 86 Bee.

So, about those two Age of Extinction Bumblebees... I was at Target today looking for Wreck-Gar and/or Gnaw.  No dice, but I saw under the Buzzworthy line that there's a couple of Studio Series two packs.  One is 27 and 28, the dingy repaint of the '76 Camaro Bee with Barricade.  One is 18 and 46, the VW Bee from Bumblebee and the car-mode Dropkick.  Easy passes, since I'd bought Barricade, VW Bee, and Dropkick all on their own, and 27 is just a dirtier repaint of 01.  But the third pack contained something different, something I didn't have... it's SS02, Stinger, totally unaltered from the original release, but he's packed with 79.  And 79, it turns out, is the '67 Camaro from AoE.

My enthusiasm for SS79 is quite a bit diminished as I tell you that it is NOT a new mold, or even a remold of one of the other eight SS Bumblebees I own.  Instead, it's more or less a reissue of High Octane Bumblebee, a toy that's older than my kid.  Frankly, it shows.  For one, he's out of scale with the others, standing taller than even TLK Bee (who himself was a reissue of the TLK Premiere figure and taller than the rest).  His proportions are kind of weird, with arms that are about the same size as the smaller '76 Camaro Bee's, smaller hands, and longer legs.  Actually, from the hip to the bottom of the yellow on his shin his legs are pretty similar.  Where he really goes wrong is the thin black armature that connects his foot to his leg.  If it'd been hinged to bend backward more at the base of the shin then forward again at the foot the armature would collapse, his foot wouldn't be so detached from the rest of his leg, and his height would be more in keeping with the others.  It might have also helped fill in his gappy shin.  His right arm has a permanently-attached black chunk on it.  And there's next to no paint, and the base plastic colors are way off.  Most of the yellow on his feet, thighs, waist, and pelvis should be black (or gunmetal, if you really want to be accurate, but then so should parts of his forearms, biceps, and shoulders).  Even the stuff that has some yellow, like his shoulder armor, forearm armor, and shins are really more like yellow borders on black parts.

Speaking of yellow, that's one of the differences with this SS release vs the 2014 release- this one uses a yellow color very similar to most of the other Bumblebees, where the original had a more orange-ish color, like RotF Bee (far left).  You can't quite tell from this picture, but the eyes are different, too.  The original had light blue over clear light piping, this release uses a much darker plastic for the translucent part of his head and a metallic blue for his eyes.  As far as I can tell, these deco changes are not new, though.  In 2017 an "Evolutions 3-pack" was released with this figure in this deco, the original '07 toy of the '76 Camaro Bee, and the Premier Edition TLK Bee, but as that was still a year before the Studio Series line debuted, hence the high 79 number compared to the 25 TLK Bee got when it was stuffed into a pack with with a rusty repaint of 18.

Another difference would be his sole accessory, that being this missile.  The original had the same missile, but it was a black or gunmetal color on that version.  This time it's yellow.

Bee's head is on a ball joint, with a little bit of up/down tilt and nothing really sideways.  His shoulders rotate, and can extend laterally on a detented joint about 90 degrees (a little more if you use the transformation joint inside is chest).  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a 120-ish degrees on another detented joint; this one takes a bit of force to move.  No wrist, hand, or waist articulation.  His hips can move over 90 degrees forward, less than 90 degrees backward, and slightly over 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel.  His knees, which are oddly high up on his legs (just the yellow part of his shins are twice as long as his thighs), bend a bit under 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt down, but not up (although you can maybe fake it by bending him at the transformation joint, but I just think it looks weird).  Like many toys of that era he also lacks an ankle pivot.  All-in-all, I'm kind of used to getting Studio Series figures with less articulation than SS86 and WfC, but this guy's articulation is pretty poor even by those lowered standards.

The missile loads into that chunk on his arm by sliding the back through until the ball settles into the gap.  I was impressed to discover that, despite lacking any kind of spring-loaded gimmick, the missile does still fire.  What you do is brace a finger on the tab at the top, then push the back of the missile with your thumb.  Because you have to push hard enough to overcome the tension of the ball wedged into the gap it'll pop out like it was launched.

At least transforming '67 Camaro Bee is pretty painless, as the older figure lacks some of the more advanced engineering you'd find these days.  I noticed while transforming all these Bumblebees that even the easier ones, like WWII Bumblebee, often had clearance issues where it's easy enough to figure out what you're supposed to do but wheels or wings would get caught on backpacks or the like.  '67 Camaro Bee didn't have that; just unfurl the backpack, lift the chest over the head, stuff the arms under, fold up the feet while simultaneously folding down the rear of the car, line it all up, then shut the door wings.

This, right here, is why I've been wanting a good SS version of this Bumblebee.  It's interesting to me how Bee's first Camaro mode was selected specifically for being kind of crappy, then in AoE he gets to be a Camaro that's almost a decade older and it's quite possibly the coolest alt mode he's had in the live action films.  I mean, this was the original, Chevy's answer to Ford's Mustang and the beginning of a rivalry that continues to this day.  This mold did a pretty good job capturing the custom widebody seen in the film, too, with most of the right I only have a few notes.  I wish the hinges in the hood would have been painted or molded in black, as they unfortunately stand out a bit.  The big yellow Autobot insignia on the sides wasn't used in the film.  The yellow stripe wrapped around the nose should go under the bumper, too.  The SS badge on the rear actually should be an Autobot badge, and I'd have liked painted taillights.  Finally, and this might just be me, but what's with the vaguely exhaust-looking bits just in front of the rear wheels?  I'm not going to say that there aren't custom widebody '67 Camaros with something like that, but I've looked at as many pictures of the car used in the movie as I could dig up and none of them had that.

The missile can be stored under the car by plugging it into the launcher.  Indeed, you can leave it installed throughout the transformation.

So here's where I'm at... this toy was probably pretty decent in 2014, but it's not great compared to modern Transformers, even if we limit the comparison to Bayformers in the Studio Series.  Reissuing an old toy doesn't do the design justice, and I still hope that HasTak revisits it at some point (along with TLK Bee).  However, this is my favorite Bumblebee design from the Bayverse films, and the fact that they assigned it a number makes me think that even if HasTak comes back to this design with a new toy it won't be soon.  So, because of FOMO I spent $40 on a seven year old Bumblebee and a Stinger I already have, but I don't recommend anyone else doing that.

Now I just need the 2010 Camaro from Dark of the Moon, which was mentioned in the leak, and then the 2014 concept version used in AoE and the Council of Bumblebees will be done...

[mikeszekely]

Anyone else go?

[derex3592]

@mikeszekely  YES!!! I took my brother in law who is a few years older than I and HAD NEVER SEEN IT!!! He was a TFer's fan as a kid, but I guessed missed out somehow! He loved it! I will say as a sound and techy guy (it's what I do for a living), the film image looked great on a big screen,  but the theater we went to only had the 2.0 Stereo sound track going. BOOOoooo!!!!! My Blu-Ray has a great 5.1 mix, I don't know why they didn't have the surround system going, I have a feeling it was just some teenager running it on a Sunday that didn't know or care.  Still, good times!  About 20 people in the theater. Took me back to summer of 86! 

 

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I will say as a sound and techy guy (it's what I do for a living), the film image looked great on a big screen,  but the theater we went to only had the 2.0 Stereo sound track going. BOOOoooo!!!!! My Blu-Ray has a great 5.1 mix, I don't know why they didn't have the surround system going, I have a feeling it was just some teenager running it on a Sunday that didn't know or care.

Only 20?  Man, I thought I lived in kind of a small area, but our theater was packed!  And yeah, we only had the stereo mix, too.  Probably not something we can blame on the guys running the movie at the theaters, but the way the film was distributed to theaters.  It was still cool just to see it again in the theater, though.  I mean, I've seen the film so many times, having owned the VHS as a kid, the Kid Rhino DVD, the Sony BMB 20th anniversary DVD, the 30th anniversary Blu-ray steelbook, and now the 4k steelbook, but something about seeing the "The Transformers: The Movie" logo blasting onto the screen while Lion's version of the theme stars playing on the big screen took me right back to my childhood.  I couldn't stop thinking about playing with the movie toys I got in Christmas '86... while I'm loving Kingdom/SS86, I gotta get me a G1 Springer, Ultra Magnus, and Wheelie at least to go with my G1 Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, and Rodimus Prime.

I went with two of my buddies from my gaming group.  One had seen it before, but was pretty impressed with how well it's held up and how fast-paced it was.  I definitely agree; I'm not going to say it was a masterpiece of cinema or anything, but the story was definitely a step up from the "what hairbrained scheme is Megatron coming up with to steal Earth's energy this week?" of the show at the time.  The other had never seen it before, wasn't even into Transformers, and I think he was kind of shocked at the level of plot and the number of character deaths in a movie he knew I'd seen when I was six.  He really enjoyed it, though, which is kind of impressive because he has a tendency to pick apart movies we watch (like we had a half hour discussion followed by several late night texts after we saw Free Guy).

[pengbuzz]

25 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Only 20?  Man, I thought I lived in kind of a small area, but our theater was packed!  And yeah, we only had the stereo mix, too.  Probably not something we can blame on the guys running the movie at the theaters, but the way the film was distributed to theaters.  It was still cool just to see it again in the theater, though.  I mean, I've seen the film so many times, having owned the VHS as a kid, the Kid Rhino DVD, the Sony BMB 20th anniversary DVD, the 30th anniversary Blu-ray steelbook, and now the 4k steelbook, but something about seeing the "The Transformers: The Movie" logo blasting onto the screen while Lion's version of the theme stars playing on the big screen took me right back to my childhood.  I couldn't stop thinking about playing with the movie toys I got in Christmas '86... while I'm loving Kingdom/SS86, I gotta get me a G1 Springer, Ultra Magnus, and Wheelie at least to go with my G1 Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, and Rodimus Prime.

I went with two of my buddies from my gaming group.  One had seen it before, but was pretty impressed with how well it's held up and how fast-paced it was.  I definitely agree; I'm not going to say it was a masterpiece of cinema or anything, but the story was definitely a step up from the "what hairbrained scheme is Megatron coming up with to steal Earth's energy this week?" of the show at the time.  The other had never seen it before, wasn't even into Transformers, and I think he was kind of shocked at the level of plot and the number of character deaths in a movie he knew I'd seen when I was six.  He really enjoyed it, though, which is kind of impressive because he has a tendency to pick apart movies we watch (like we had a half hour discussion followed by several late night texts after we saw Free Guy).

Shame they never came out with Arcee back in '86 as a toy...

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Only 20?  Man, I thought I lived in kind of a small area, but our theater was packed!  And yeah, we only had the stereo mix, too.  Probably not something we can blame on the guys running the movie at the theaters, but the way the film was distributed to theaters.  It was still cool just to see it again in the theater, though.  I mean, I've seen the film so many times, having owned the VHS as a kid, the Kid Rhino DVD, the Sony BMB 20th anniversary DVD, the 30th anniversary Blu-ray steelbook, and now the 4k steelbook, but something about seeing the "The Transformers: The Movie" logo blasting onto the screen while Lion's version of the theme stars playing on the big screen took me right back to my childhood.  I couldn't stop thinking about playing with the movie toys I got in Christmas '86... while I'm loving Kingdom/SS86, I gotta get me a G1 Springer, Ultra Magnus, and Wheelie at least to go with my G1 Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, and Rodimus Prime.

I went with two of my buddies from my gaming group.  One had seen it before, but was pretty impressed with how well it's held up and how fast-paced it was.  I definitely agree; I'm not going to say it was a masterpiece of cinema or anything, but the story was definitely a step up from the "what hairbrained scheme is Megatron coming up with to steal Earth's energy this week?" of the show at the time.  The other had never seen it before, wasn't even into Transformers, and I think he was kind of shocked at the level of plot and the number of character deaths in a movie he knew I'd seen when I was six.  He really enjoyed it, though, which is kind of impressive because he has a tendency to pick apart movies we watch (like we had a half hour discussion followed by several late night texts after we saw Free Guy).

I wish I had a friend here that was into it. Alas, I'm going to see it alone on Tuesday. There were only four seats reserved, so I had a decent pick, although it's being shown in one of the smaller screening rooms, and with the recliners, there's probably only enough room for forty or so people, and with Covid, they're requesting folks sit a couple seats apart, so the seating will be even sparser. But, I'm just glad I'm finally going to get to see it on the big screen. I didn't get to see it in the theater as a kid, so this will probably be my only opportunity.

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

Shame they never came out with Arcee back in '86 as a toy...

C'mon man, they can't even get it right now, so an Arcee in the 80s would have been unmentionably bad.  I'm hoping the rumored '86 Studio Series Arcee will be a completely new mold that actually transforms, and not a repaint of the disappointingly lackluster Kingdom figure. At least the Thrilling 30 figure could transform into her car instead of making like Solid Snake and his cardboard box. I still think T30 Arcee, the first G1 version ever made by HasTak, is a really good representation, even if 2/3 of her car mode end up on her back- still better than Kingdom's entire car.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

Shame they never came out with Arcee back in '86 as a toy...

No arguments here.

And it might be a lack of sleep diminishing my impulse control... but I just bought a Springer on Ebay.

...and then an Ultra Magnus from Transformerland.

[derex3592]

Christmas 86 was great! I thiiiink I got Galvatron/Rodimus Prime and maybe Ultra Magnus either for Bday or something. I also got Cyclonus and a Scourge at some point. That was about it, ohh I had Kup. My interest was fizzling out after about season 3 and 4 of G1. Once the headmasters thing started I was OUT.

OHH!! Did you guys get the 3 little stop motion live/ animated funny's before the movie??? They were GREAT!

 

[derex3592]

2 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Christmas 86 was great! I thiiiink I got Galvatron/Rodimus Prime and maybe Ultra Magnus either for Bday or something. I also got Cyclonus and a Scourge at some point. That was about it, ohh I had Kup. My interest was fizzling out after about season 3 and 4 of G1. Once the headmasters thing started I was OUT.

OHH!! Did you guys get the 3 little stop motion live/ animated funny's before the movie??? They were GREAT!

@mikeszekely - How's the 4K version audio wise? Any better than the Blu-Ray? I don't have a 4K TV yet, but I will soon, and the TF86 4K disc is already in my Amazon cart! Haha! 

 

Crap, sorry, double post kinda

Edited September 27, 2021 by derex3592

[mikeszekely]

38 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

 

OHH!! Did you guys get the 3 little stop motion live/ animated funny's before the movie??? They were GREAT!

 

Yes! The one with Scourge and the Sweeps was my favorite, although I liked that they actually got Stan Bush in the Jazz one.

[Scyla]

Just backed the Haslab Star Saber. Now that smaller figures are a possibility I hope we will get an Overlord and God Ginrai. Maybe a Buster & Hydra two pack?

Edited September 27, 2021 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

Puffer and Road Ranger are being sold as a Golden Disk Collection 2-pack.  It's technically an Amazon-exclusive with a limited quantity on Pulse, but Pulse is already sold out.  Still available on Amazon.  Apparently it's the first of four Amazon-exclusive Golden disk collections, so I'm curious to see what the other three might be.  Earth-mode Tigertrack and Deep Cover?  Glyph and Tapout?  Blue Bluestreak and yellow Diaclone Trailbreaker?  Dang, I'm just spitballing but now I kind of want all of those...

2 hours ago, Scyla said:

Just backed the Haslab Star Saber. Now that smaller figures are a possibility I hope we will get an Overlord and God Ginrai. Maybe a Buster & Hydra two pack?

Nice.  I backed it right away, I'm really looking forward to it.  I've said this about the RiD and the Unicron Trilogy, but I think it applies to the Japan-only G1 stuff in Victory and Battlestars, too- don't care much for the fiction, but I love the designs.  Star Saber is like the love child of Optimus Prime and Zeta Gundam, what's not to like?  While I, too, wouldn't mind seeing improved versions of Overlord and God Ginrai, there's tons of Japanese characters I'd love to have. 

I read that Takara Tomy Mall will be selling Victory Saber in Japan.  Although there was like 1500 backers to go when I last looked that's before the retailers like BBTS and TFSource put theirs in, so there's no way this doesn't get funded.  The real question is whether or not they have enough to make the stretch goals.

[sh9000]

On 9/26/2021 at 12:44 PM, mikeszekely said:

Anyone else go?

 

On 9/26/2021 at 2:33 PM, derex3592 said:

@mikeszekely  YES!!! I took my brother in law who is a few years older than I and HAD NEVER SEEN IT!!! He was a TFer's fan as a kid, but I guessed missed out somehow! He loved it! I will say as a sound and techy guy (it's what I do for a living), the film image looked great on a big screen,  but the theater we went to only had the 2.0 Stereo sound track going. BOOOoooo!!!!! My Blu-Ray has a great 5.1 mix, I don't know why they didn't have the surround system going, I have a feeling it was just some teenager running it on a Sunday that didn't know or care.  Still, good times!  About 20 people in the theater. Took me back to summer of 86! 

 

Congrats guys.  That’s cool.

[mikeszekely]

22 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

And it might be a lack of sleep diminishing my impulse control... but I just bought a Springer on Ebay.

...and then an Ultra Magnus from Transformerland.

Why stop there?  Transformerland had Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and Wheelie.  Combined with the Springer and Magnus I ordered previously and the Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, and Rodiumus Prime I already own that'll complete my collection of G1 Transformers that meet the following very specific criteria:

1. Were in the '86 movie
2. Were not previously in Seasons 1 or 2 (or Blaster's tapes, which I think debuted in the movie but I'm not counting because Blaster himself was a Season 2 character)
3. Were Autobots or Decepticons.  That excludes Gnaw and Wreck-Gar, despite Gnaw's toy at least having a faction symbol.  And I'm excluding them because those two are kind of expensive for complete figures.
4. Actually had a G1 toy.  Sorry, Arcee and Unicron.

[mikeszekely]

The second Golden Disk Collection went up on Amazon already.  It's Jackpot and Sights, which is a weird one.  See, it's a repaint of SS86 Jazz, and you'd think the more obvious repaint would be Ricochet/Stepper, and that's one repaint that hasn't been announced or leaked yet that I'm aware of.  Jackpot, for those unfamiliar, was an Action Master.  He never appeared in any G1 fiction I'm aware of from back in the day, although he did turn up in the v1 IDW universe.

 

[mikeszekely]

Well, my kid decided the other day that playing outside while wearing a dress was a good idea, so today I ran to Target to get her new tights without holes in the knees.  I naturally went looking at Transformers, still hoping to find a Wreck-Gar (especially since Pulse has been sold out).  No such luck, but they did seem to have stocked a different Studio Series figure.... #75, Deluxe-class Jolt.

I'd heard a number of people remark that Jolt's never really had a screen accurate toy before, but this one's the one.  A huge part of me wants to ask, "how can you even tell?!"  Despite the writers assuring Bay that Jolt would be an important member of the Autobots he was only in the movie briefly and had no dialogue.  All I could make out from the signature "what the heck is even going on" Bayformers action scenes is that Jolt is mostly blue and seems to have some jagged edges.

Looking at artwork for him, though, and comparing it with this and past toys, I think it's fair to say that SS Jolt is more accurate.  He's got the digitigrade legs with the wheel wells on his ankles.  There's molded details in his knees that look like the tires on the CGI model, and he's got translucent bits over his thighs where the GGI model also had translucent parts.  His chest is full of little round bits, he's got blue panels on his chest with thin indents where the CGI model's fog lights seem to be, and the bulk of the front end sticks off his back like wings.  That said, I'm not sure I'd actually call this figure screen accurate.  The translucent parts on the CGI model's abdomen are just a flat gray piece of plastic here.  There's no blue on the insides of his thighs or on his pelvis.  Chunks of the car's rear dangle off his forearms where armguards with translucent parts should be.  But most egregious of all are the huge chunks of kibble hanging on his hips.  They're not on the CGI model, and they're never not in the way.

Here he is with his wave mate, RotF Bumblebee, and that looks fine for scale.

Jolt doesn't get any guns or anything.  But he does have his signature whip thingies.  Although the plastic is more pliable than most TF accessories, they're really more like spears than whips.

Jolt's head is on a ball joint.  He can look up a good deal, but not so much down, not much in the way of sideways tilt, and even turning his head is rather limited.  His ball-jointed shoulders rotate, as long as your mindful of all the kibble, and extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 120 degrees or so.  No wrist swivel, but his hands do bend inward for transformation.  His claws aren't articulated.  His waist swivels, again being mindful of all the kibble, and due to his transformation he kind of has an ab crunch.  His hips are on ball joints, and they can go a little under 90 degrees forward, about 90 degrees backward, but only 45 degrees laterally (and I'm probably being generous on that one).  His knees bend about 90 degrees.  There's no thigh swivel, but there is a rather useless swivel below his knees.  His feet can tilt up maybe 60 degrees and down about 90 degrees, but he lacks an ankle pivot.

To use his whips, first you have to yank his thumbs off.  A 5mm port on the back end of the whip plugs into the hole his thumb just vacated.

Worried about losing a thumb?  You'll notice the peg on it has a sort of tab.  That tab can fit into a slot on his hip kibble.  Likewise, if you want to store a whip it has a tab in the middle of it's length that also fits into the slot on his hip kibble.

And, since his whip connects to his hand via a 5mm peg, technically you can allow other characters with 5mm ports for hands to hold the whips.  Alternatively, you can yank off one of Jolt's thumbs than jam a weapon with a 5mm peg for a handle into the hole.

Jolt's transformation isn't too terribly difficult, but it's not exactly fun, either.  Like a lot of "screen accurate" Bayformers he winds up being a shellformer, stuffing a scrunched up mess of a robot into an alt mode he wears on his back.  Specifically in this case, most of the top and front of the car is made from his backpack and wings, and most of the sides including the rear tires are his obnoxious hip kibble.  That just leaves the rear, which is made from some shoulder kibble and the kibble on his forearms.

Vehicle mode isn't as in-scale as the robot mode; I have a friend with a Volt, and it should definitely be smaller next to a Camaro.

Size aside, though, Hasbro's taking advantage of the fact that very little robot makes up any of the alt mode and the Chevy license to make a pretty good looking little Chevy Volt.  The grill, rims, molded bumpers, and the shape of the lights are are spot on, and as out of place as it looks the side mirrors really were silver against all the blue.  He's missing some marking lights on the back, and the headlights and fog lights are just painted silver so they're missing the orange turn signals on the headlights and the blue lenses in the fog lights.  That said, these are largely just observations; for a $20 Deluxe I think the details are pretty good.

You're probably going to want to leave the thumbs on the hands for car mode, but you can tab the whips to the bottom of the doors the same way you attached them when those doors were hip kibble.  

Going from car to robot the first thing you do, pretty much, is lift the entire front and top of the car.  I don't know why, but I find this look very amusing, what with his little head peaking out.

Y'know, there's a subset of the fandom that believes that G1 gets too much attention and actively champions the Bayverse designs.  They were making a lot of noise when Studio Series 86 debuted, as they were concerned that G1 was going to take over "their" line.  But it's guys like Jolt that make me think that Studio Series is scraping the bottom of the barrel, as you can watch literally every scene Jolt was in in under a minute.  Seriously, a few more Bumblebees and the racist twins and they've pretty much covered the first three films (OK, Sideways and the convertible version of Sideswipe, both of whom I think were leaked to be coming, and maybe were missing some Dreads).  After that they're going to have to start pulling characters from AoE and TLK, which I've heard Hasbro is reluctant to do, or they go hard on Bumblebee (which leaks indicate is the plan).  So where exactly does that leave us with this figure?  Jolt is a mediocre figure of a mediocre character.  I think you can probably do without him, but if you've invested in the Wreckers or Dino then you've already bought worse figures.

[M'Kyuun]

So just got back from seeing The Movie. Spoiler: Prime Dies!  Honestly, it was kind of a sad turnout; the showtime was 7PM, whereas Sunday's showtime was a more kid and work friendly noon, so I assume the majority of folks who wanted to see it in the theater went then. Tonight only about 8 peeps showed up, myself included, and the douchebag in front of me who continually kept looking at his phone got up and left about half way through and never returned. Not sure I'd want to pay $16 and change to see a film and then walk out, but I certainly didn't miss that bright phone screen flashing me every five minutes. Anyway, I was hoping for a little camaraderie amongst Transfans, but everyone kept to themselves. I went alone, as my wife wasn't into it, and she still hadn't come home from work when I left anyway, so I didn't even have anyone to bounce lines off of, or help answer all the trivia questions that played before the movie started. Ah well, I finally got to see it on the big screen, and it was an enjoyable experience.

I appreciate the Jolt review. Initially, I was interested in getting this guy, but after reading through Mike's review, and having watched one or two vid reviews, I think I have a better figure in my DotM Jolt, even if he isn't blue. I have to say, I'm not at all crazy about the overlong hip kibble; it reminds me of the abhorrent belly plates on the YF-21, which is the only part of that Valk, besides the extraordinary overuse of animation magic, that I dislike.  Those hip panels give off a similar vibe that I know would bug me in hand.  I appreciate that it's blue, and bears a greater resemblance to the CG art than does the DotM, but the DotM version utilizes more of the car parts in the robot mode, has a more complex transformation , and is unhindered by hip and arm kibble.  In short, IMHO, it's a more interesting toy that does any number of things better than its modern counterpart. To that end, I think I'll save my ducats, and spend it on a fig that interests me more.

Til All are One!😊

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Going from car to robot the first thing you do, pretty much, is lift the entire front and top of the car.  I don't know why, but I find this look very amusing, what with his little head peaking out.

I do love how it makes it look kinda like he's driving himself around. Even makes a good case for why all the windows are transparent, which is usually a bad idea when there's robot crammed into the car cabin.

 

I'd be lying if I said there was much more to love about this, but let's see if we can't find something! The translucent panels on the legs are always a plus for me... I kinda like how the chainspears look attached to the car... ummm... yeah, I'm out. It's a pretty rough toy of a Bayformer design, and I never liked the aesthetic to start with.

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, JB0 said:

I'd be lying if I said there was much more to love about this, but let's see if we can't find something!

I like how he turns into a Chevy Volt. I mean, it's definitely not a cool car, but one of my close friends drives one. Now if I could just get a Transformer with a Nissan Maxima for an alt...