The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

So far Pulsecon has been about the Rise of the Beasts movie and some mostly mobile games.  I'll probably check out the Beyond Reality VR game (SteamVR, PlayStation VR), though.

 

EDIT: Unveiling Legacy now.

Dang it, "energon weapons" is a gimmick for Legacy.

Deluxes.  There's the Skids I posted two days ago.  As I said then, he looks good if a bit hollow in spots.  Basically what I'd expect these days

Dragstrip's looking much better than the Combiner Wars version, but definitely not totally Sunbow.  Transformation looks weird; like I'm not sure if the engine moves or if the cockpit around it moves.

They're confirming that Dragstrip is one of five, and that the rest of the team is coming.  Not that I didn't already tell you it was coming.

Prime Arcee.  Like Bulkhead, she's been G1-ified.  I'm fine with it, just not sure how Prime Arcee fits into a G1 where there's already an Arcee.

Kickback!  And he's looking good.  Really hope they get around to the other two Insecticons.

Onto Voyagers.  Bulkhead.  I've said my piece.

No other Voyagers right now?  I think Blaster is supposed to be coming in wave 1, but maybe it's not?  It's definitely coming at some point.

Leader Laser Prime!  Oh, it looks so good!  He's got the trailer!  This is instantly my most-anticipated figure.  That said, I wish they'd have taken the time to make a totally new mold.  The hips and thighs are Earthrise Prime's, and the lower legs and feet look like ER Prime with with a new part or slight remold to cover the vents.  Looks like his arms forearms are going to sit on the back of the cab instead of tucking in, and instead of having the gas tanks on his forearms they're going to fold out from his thighs again.  Oh, and I can already feel the Reprolabels team getting to work on labels of Prime burning down a forest for that trailer.

I don't care if it's a later Legacy figure or a Generations Selects, but I'd better get a Scourge repaint!

Pulsecon Ravage.  Nothing new there, but it goes on sale at 4:00pm EDT.

Props to Guido Guidi.  He's definitely one of my top five (four?) favorite Transformers artists.

Last reveal is the Galvatron Unicron pack.  It's a clear purple "reformatting" Kingdom Galvatron with some extra ships and minifigures similar to the ones that came with Unicron.  Between regular Galvatron and the toy version I'm good on Galvatrons, and I missed Unicron, so I don't need the extra pack-ins.

On last reminder, all preorders go live on Pulse at 4:00pm EDT for Pulse Premium members, then at 5:00 for everyone.  Other retails like Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc will also start at 5:00.

Edited October 22, 2021 by mikeszekely
pics

[M'Kyuun]

@mikeszekely bet you're getting excited for some new Stunticons. 🙂 Also Laser Prime.

[mikeszekely]

5 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

@mikeszekely bet you're getting excited for some new Stunticons. 🙂 Also Laser Prime.

The only figure they showed that I'm not in for is the Galvatron Unicron pack.  But if I could put myself into suspended animation until that Laser Prime comes out I totally would.

I'll update my Pulsecon post with pictures when Hasbro releases the official ones.

Edited October 22, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

I'm down for the Legacy stuff except Laser prime, and even that, from a toy perspective, has my interest. I was never into G2 at all, so my interest there in regards to new toys will be based purely on just how much the toy appeals to me. 

WTH happened to Kickback's legs in grasshopper mode? Pretty sure the thighs are supposed to collapse into the shins (that's how it looked on the boxart). Kinda embarrassing when they mis-transform their product in such a show designed to promote the same.

[mikeszekely]

45 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

WTH happened to Kickback's legs in grasshopper mode? Pretty sure the thighs are supposed to collapse into the shins (that's how it looked on the boxart). Kinda embarrassing when they mis-transform their product in such a show designed to promote the same.

I can't tell if they collapse, or if his legs are just straightened for the box art (like the promo pics I just posted).  But, they don't always get it right.  Look at Laser Prime.  Those gas tanks on his thighs should still be able to flip out.

The transformation that has me most curious, though, is Arcee.  I mean, look at her!  That's clearly her shins at the bottom of the bike, with her feet facing the front and the wheels folded from the outside of her legs to over silver knee spikes.  But her thighs are at the top of the bike!  Her knee joints are up by the handle bars!  Two parts of her legs that are touching in bot mode wind up almost as far from each other as they could be.

[sh9000]

I'll definitely be getting the new Stunticons.

[M'Kyuun]

51 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I can't tell if they collapse, or if his legs are just straightened for the box art (like the promo pics I just posted).  But, they don't always get it right.  Look at Laser Prime.  Those gas tanks on his thighs should still be able to flip out.

The transformation that has me most curious, though, is Arcee.  I mean, look at her!  That's clearly her shins at the bottom of the bike, with her feet facing the front and the wheels folded from the outside of her legs to over silver knee spikes.  But her thighs are at the top of the bike!  Her knee joints are up by the handle bars!  Two parts of her legs that are touching in bot mode wind up almost as far from each other as they could be.

I hadn't really taken a good look at her during the livestream; looking at some stills over on TFW, I see what you're saying. I'm thinking there's an armature within the lower legs that allows the lower legs to trapeze down and form the lower part of the bike while the thighs essentially form the fuel tank, or at least occupy that space. The arms clearly form the seat, and her bot chest can be made out sitting on top of the lower legs. It's a pretty interesting looking transformation. I was hoping they'd carry forward her little wings like the Prime design, but it doesn't appear so. Still, as a translation of the Prime figure, which I still consider in high regard, both retail and superior FE figs, to a WFC aesthetic, it looks alright.  Ironically, I'm not interested in motorcycles in the least, but I totally dig transforming motorcycles, especially if they're done well. I think it's kinda like the cassette appeal- turning a small compact real world object into a robot is challenging, but really satisfying when it's done well.

Conversely, I'm not really feeling what they've done with Bulkhead.  I love both the Animated and Prime designs, especially the First Edition toy.  I'm thinking Animated Bulkhead was the inspiration for this guy, as he bears no likeness at all to the Prime version, but he's even more simplified, to me anyway, than even the Animated figure. Alas, I'll still get him. But I kinda wish they'd gone more for the Prime design, although I know a Generations interpretation would never be as complex as the original Prime toy.

Nice to see a return to Combiners that look more complex than the simplified CW figures. I get what they were going for with that line, but I'd rather see more complex figures that can still transform and combine. Third parties have been knocking it out of the park for about a decade now, and neither Hasbro nor Takara-Tomy exist in a vacuum.  Even if there's no direct competition at CHUG scale going on right now, there's always that possibility, and as TF fans themselves, I'm sure the lackluster quality of the CW line makes them want better for their own collections, not to mention all the fan feedback. Anyway, it's good to see, and I'm hoping that a new Devastator and a new Bruticus are in the works at the same level of quality. I'd hope for new Aerialbots, but even with the uptick in quality, I still doubt that they be anything more than blocky bots with planes on their backs, and that just sours me on the prospect.

Back to Kickback- doesn't look like the thighs collapse, so yeah, I guess they just straighten out, b/c they look wonky as hell all bent at the knees in the livestream.  Kind of a bummer, as the grasshopper's hind legs are going to look disproportionately long. More than most, this fig really looks like a modified G1 toy, which is both good and bad. Nevertheless, bring on Shrapnel and Bombshell!

[mikeszekely]

As promised, I just preordered* everything except that Galvatron.  And the release date for Laser Prime isn't until July.😭

*I guess Ravage is actually an order that'll likely ship next week, not a preorder.  Anyway, like I was saying yesterday Ravage is the black panther I want in my Beast Wars collection.  Shadow Panther can pound sand.  I do still need to find a Tigatron, though, since the Pulse preorders sold out super quick and Amazon canceled the preorder I had from months ago.  Guess they're making more money on the scalpers jacking him up to $50+...

Actually, here's a question.  Tigatron, Shadow Panther, and Waspinator are part of the last wave of Kingdom... but so are Slammer and Pipes.  So where are they?  I got a preorder on Pipes using the old Amazon wishlist route, and they have a product page up for Slammer with "Currently unavailable."  Places like BBTS and TFSource have taken preorders.  But AFAIK Hasbro hasn't officially mentioned them despite unveiling the line that comes after, and they don't have listings on Pulse, Target, or Walmart that I'm aware of.

Edited October 22, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

Success! Po'd Kickback, Arcee, Bulkhead, Dragstrip, and Skids on Pulse.  I hmmed and hawed over Laser Prime, but none of the pics show his arms rotated at the shoulders and I got a bad feeling. They probably do rotate, but it seems funny that they wouldn't show off all the articulation possible in promo shots. Anyway, the overall design has never really grabbed me; I much prefer the G1 design. This guy had the faux chest thing going on back before it became the go-to design solution for compensating for proportional changes between bot and alt modes. Anyway, I hope I don't regret passing on him. I passed on POing  Kingdom Waspinator, and after reading your review, I'm feeling an ounce of regret, as I'll likely never see him at retail. Alas, I have the T30 toy, and it still holds its charm for me.

OT, but I did see not one, but two Kingdom Gnaws at my local Wally this past Tuesday, and dumbass me, I put both back on the peg since I have it POed with Pulse. But, I could have  saved myself a couple bucks at Wally, not to mention the instant gratification of having it earlier than anticipated.  Having thought about it all evening, I went back the next day and both were gone. If my leg could extend further upwards, I'd have kicked my backend from one side of the store to the other, and it's a big store.  I salved my huge regret with a small but cool new LEGO Spiderman set, but the regret still stings a bit. Sometimes, I don't understand my own thinking or reluctance. I've always been like this, though, which is why I have a mountain of non-buyer's remorse, especially where LEGO's concerned, but certainly with Transformers too.

I wasn't going to get Agent Ravage, but there are enough differences in the transformation from Cheetor, not to mention that sweet tampoed G1 Ravage mini-cassette, that I caved.  I wish they'd used the superior Tigatron mold, but it would have raised the price by another twenty bucks or so, so yeah. Guess it's cool that they made him at all, and getting another cassette is good.  Hasbro owns me.

[sh9000]

Ordered 2 Dragstrips at Dorkside.

[JB0]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm fine with it, just not sure how Prime Arcee fits into a G1 where there's already an Arcee.

Pink Arcee is 27 MHz, Blue Arcee is 49 MHz.

 

 

The only thing that's particularly compelling to me is Kickback. G1 Insecticon goodness always makes me weak.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

The more I look at Laser Prime the more I hate it.  I find I still prefer Carobots Black Convoy. The shoulders are just too big on the new one.

[mikeszekely]

20 minutes ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

The shoulders are just too big on the new one.

I don't think that's it.  The original has huge shoulders, too.  I think his head is too small.

But yeah, I'm hoping for a Scourge repaint, too.

Anyway, I wound up preordering the whole batch again at Amazon.  See, when I preorder at Amazon, Pulse gets them first and I'm stuck waiting.  But when I preorder at Pulse, Amazon gets their stock first.  So I figure I'd preorder at both, then cancel whoever comes in second.  (Or cancel them both if I'm still waiting when I walk into a Target and see them on a shelf.)

[lechuck]

Anybody else with the new MP Thundercracker? Got mine mid-week and finally had the time to mess around with it.

The French blue and light grey colour on TC is fantastic. No real quality issues with the toy itself to report, but my copy did end up without the stoic face and I have two smiling faces instead. Like Starscream the articulation is great, accessories are not as generous, but it is not as though you are really missing something. Although it would have been nice to give TC something specific to him, like maybe those mini-missiles he launches from his forearms, the existing slit there could have been used as an attachment point.

Basically if you like MP-52 Starscream, then you will also like TC.

 

[technoblue]

5 hours ago, lechuck said:

Anybody else with the new MP Thundercracker? Got mine mid-week and finally had the time to mess around with it.

The French blue and light grey colour on TC is fantastic. No real quality issues with the toy itself to report, but my copy did end up without the stoic face and I have two smiling faces instead. Like Starscream the articulation is great, accessories are not as generous, but it is not as though you are really missing something. Although it would have been nice to give TC something specific to him, like maybe those mini-missiles he launches from his forearms, the existing slit there could have been used as an attachment point.

Basically if you like MP-52 Starscream, then you will also like TC.

<snip>

Yes! I was lucky to pick up my copy using a coupon at the chosen prime, so MP TC cost less than Starscream.

No issues out of the box. I'm very happy with it. 

[mikeszekely]

Couple of repaints to roundup.

First up, we have the Target-exclusive Road Rage.  I've actually been sitting on this one for awhile, waiting for something else to come in because I wasn't going to do a post just for one repaint.  Anyway, yeah.  From the neck down she's the same mold as Tracks, but she does have a new head with a slightly different helmet and more feminine face that's a bit narrower with larger eyes.

Aesthetically, she's got a lot of the same issues as tracks, like missing stripes on her wings and molded but unpainted details on her shins.  Worse, she can't even get the details painted that Tracks did, the ones on her forearms.  Also, if the MP is the definitive version, her feet should actually be red with black on top, not all black, and her biceps should be white.

Articulation and accessories are the same as Tracks (although her head missile thing is dark blue instead of white).  Other issues from the Tracks mold, namely the loose leg connections, are again an issue here.

Alt mode is the same almost-a-Corvette-but-legally-distinct-enough-so-they-don't-get-sued car, but red instead of blue and with a slightly different flame pattern on the hood.  She retains the flight mode and alt-mode weapon storage.

Not a lot to say here... the missing details and leg issues made Tracks one of the weaker Kingdom releases, IMHO.  I can't say I regret getting Road Rage- I welcome more fembots, and her presence in the current IDW series as Nautica's body guard helps (it also makes me want a Nautica, something I've wanted since the previous IDW run).  But if you didn't like this mold on the guy who was in the cartoon, I don't think you're going to like it any better in red.

Next up, we have Shattered Glass Goldbug.  He came with part 4 for the mini series, which, y'know, what happened to 2 and 3 (Megatron and Starscream)?  Last I checked Pulse had them shipping November 1st and December 1st, but it also said Goldbug is supposed to come in December, so...?

Anyway, Goldbug's kind of weird, because where Shattered Glass Blurr was based on Armada Blurr but with a new G1-ish head, Goldbug was the result of slapping a G1 Goldbug head onto Cybertron Hot Shot, then inverting Bumblebee's colors.  For this toy (and comic), they went back to the ER Cliffjumper well (again).  Not so sporty or reminiscent of the original SG Bumblebee- I'd almost think the Siege Sideswipe mold a better choice (again).  Moreover, Hasbro seems to have ditched details from the original toy, like yellow forearms and thighs, yellow patterns on his chest, and more yellow on his pelvis.  He's really more of a Blackbug, but they did at least give us a new head based on the original SG Goldbug's.

In what continues to be a running theme, Goldbug has the same accessories as every other instance of this mold- a bazooka that splits into smaller weapons, with a bipod that can double as skis in the alt mode, and a shield made from the rear third of the car.

It's probably worth mentioning that this is my fifth time around with this mold, excluding the extensively-remolded Netflix Bee, and Goldbug has by far the worst tolerances.  The hinge that moves the waist toward his head for transformation is floppy, an the peg that puts the shield in his hand/on his back is especially loose.

So, I actually really dig the colors in alt mode.  Reminds me of the '67 Camaro they used in Age of Extinction.  The car itself isn't at all like the original SG Goldbug's toy, and the use of yellow is similar only in the fact that the original had yellow accents, too, but it's fine for what it is.

I don't really have a recommendation here; either your in on Shattered Glass or you're not.  I'll say it does kind of make me want a regular Goldbug, but please not another use of this mold.  At this point, if Goldbug can't get an original mold I'd rather they repainted the Runabout/Runamuck mold with this head.

My wife took our daughter to some Halloween thing, so I decided to spend my alone time hitting up local stores looking for a copy of Tigatron, since Amazon canceled my preorder.  I said I wasn't going to do it, but I also didn't want to drive around all afternoon and go home empty-handed, so I picked up Shadow Panther after all.  And, what can I say?  It's a deco that existed in the Takara Beast War's line, then in 2000 Hasbro's online collector's service started selling him as "Tripredicus Agent," implying that they were passing it off as Ravage (which was a weird call, since Takara had by then already released a retool of Transmetal Cheetor as a much more screen-accurate Ravage).

Despite being a black-and-silver Predacon that turns into a cat, Shadow Panther really isn't too similar to Ravage.  The coloring is inverted on the arms and legs, with Shadow Panther showing black where Ravage has silver and vice versa, plus he's got the bright yellow shoulders.  But also because the original toy was a straight repaint of Cheetor, with no remolded parts.  If I'm not mistaken, that exactly how the MP was, too.  Seems Hasbro decided to mix it up a bit this time, though.  Rather than having the same head as Cheetor, they gave Shadow Panther the original toy's mutant mask for a head.  It's... well, it does make him a tad more visually distinct from Cheetor, but I think I'd have preferred a straight redeco.

Shadow Panther comes with the same whip/tail and the same articulation as Cheetor.  Also the same lack of a gut-gun.  Oh, and that thin tab on the back of the cat neck that everyone broke on Cheetor?  Expect to break it the first time you transform Shadow Panther, too.  Honestly, it's just a bad design, but fortunately doesn't seem to be necessary in the first place.

Shadow Panther turns into a "panther", which is Cheetor but black with red eyes instead of yellow with black spots and green/orange eyes.  I supposed cheetahs and leopards are similar enough to get away with this, although a leopard has a slightly more leonine face and proportionally shorter limbs.

Yeah... I'm still going to suggest that you have more willpower than I and skip Shadow Panther.  The Cheetor mold is ok, but not really worth buying again for a character that was just a black repaint and didn't even enter fiction until a 2006 comic book.

Finally, we have Studio Series Sideswipe.  Now, you might be thinking, didn't Sideswipe come out like two and a half, maybe three years ago?  Indeed, I reviewed a Studio Series Sideswipe way back in February 2019- he's the one on your right.  But Hasbro seems quite content to release a version of a character for each film they were in, especially when it means a minimal remold or repaint.  And so that's what we have here; the older figure was Sideswipe in Dark of the Moon, the newer one (left) is Sideswipe in Revenge of the Fallen.

On the shelf, I didn't notice a huge difference, to the point where I almost didn't buy him because he really looked like the figure I already had.  But the number (78) insists that the figure was recent, so into the cart he went.  In hand, the differences are much more noticeable.  While they both have silver paint for the parts that make up the car, the newer figure uses a darker gray plastic for most of his robot bits.  This leads to situations where Hasbro was able to use light gray plastic for some parts that were silver on the robot with gunmetal paint for some accents the first time, but on the new version the accents are left unpainted dark gray and the lighter parts had to be painted silver.  The result is that the newer figure seems to have more paint overall, and comes across as a bit more "premium" because of it.  He also seems to have a slightly different head sculpt.

Spinning him around, you can see some small differences in his wings and totally different backpacks.  The wings are because the backpack elements don't rotate the way they did on the original figure.  And the backpack itself, which is unfortunately a bit larger this time around, comes down to the difference in the alt mode.

But let's take a minute to focus on some similarities, ok?  The articulation is the same, because the robot is the same, just with a different head and backpack.  And he comes with the same accessories- two double-barreled pistols, and two arm blades made from car parts.

OK, back to differences.  The big difference is, of course, the roof (or lack thereof).  The earlier toy, based on Dark of the Moon, was based on the C7 Corvette Stingray Convertible, while the new toy depicts the earlier C7 concept car, which had a roof.

Differences in the front facia are minor; really just the removal of the previous toy's hood scoops.  Coming around to the side, the new figure has larger front and side windows, which are entirely attached to the roof (where the older toy kept the front windshield with the roof but the sides were attached to his door wings).  The back gets the most remolding, as it's build around the rear window instead of the lack of one, and it lacks the spoiler.  To top it off, the four exhausts are on a separate, hinged piece on the new toy.

Of course, having a roof means that Hasbro didn't really have to give the interior the same attention... or any attention, really.  there's no seats, dashboard, or steering wheel on this version of Sideswipe.  That does mean that there's some remolding going on under the roof, not just on it.  Namely, there's a slot on one either side of one of the hinged armatures attaching the roof to Sideswipe's back.  It can be a little tricky, but there are tabs on the guns that fit into those slots before compacting everything into place, allowing the guns to be stored in vehicle mode (maybe robot mode, too- the backpack seemed to cover them in robot mode, but I didn't think to check if there's space there anyway).

If you only care to have one representation of a character and you already bought the first Sideswipe I wouldn't say that there's anything that's such an improvement that you should replace the DotM version with this one.  Of course, if you passed on the DotM release this version is mostly the same but with better bot-mode paint, and is therefore probably the version to go for.  As I said, though, Hasbro seems keen on releasing characters again for every movie they appeared in; Prime's been done for the first three films, Ratchet for 1 & 3, and I fully expect we see the 2007 Camaro Bee retooled again for DotM the way he was already slightly retooled for RotF.  Getting this Sideswipe to complement the earlier release and represent how he looked in both movies is certainly an option.

[mikeszekely]

Just a reminder, Hasbro is doing a 1027 event for Pulse Premium members in roughly 10 minutes.  Dunno if it'll have anything to do with Transformers, but hey, maybe they'll finally officially announce Slammer.

 

EDIT: Well, doesn't look like I'm going to get to see it.  Despite filling out the RSVP they never sent a link to the stream.  It's now 10 after, and I'm not sitting around all day on the off chance that they might still send it.

Edited October 27, 2021 by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

Dorkside has a promo through 2021 for free shipping after spending $39+.  Also no tax.

 

[mikeszekely]

Well, I guess the big 1027 news is the Ghostbusters proton pack crowdfund.  The only thing worth mentioning Transformers-related is that Lift-Ticket, basically Hoist in red Diaclone colors, is the first Legacy Generations Selects figure.

...I preordered one.🤷‍♂️

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

Dorkside has a promo through 2021 for free shipping after spending $39+.  Also no tax.

 

Ah, Dorkside... I saw over the weekend that they were advertising the toy-colored Gen Selects Gavaltron as in stock, and since Pulse is still listing it for mid-December I figured I could get it early.  No shipping email.  When I saw your post I went and saw my order as still pending, so I figured I'd just cancel it and re-order it with the free shipping, save myself $8.  Except it isn't listed anywhere on the site now.  Not "sold out," totally non-existent.  No big deal, given that it's been like four days I was starting to get the impression that they weren't going to fill that order before Pulse anyway. 

Speaking of Pulse, I got my Pulsecon-exclusive Decepticons Forever Ravage.

After having Ravage in hand, I decided that he should get a full review instead of just repaint coverage because he actually doesn't share a ton of parts with Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  Everything* above his thigh swivels are brand new, except for the cat legs on his back.  He winds up taller, with a broader chest than Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  And because it's mostly a new figure, Hasbro was able to make him very show-accurate, with a few constraints a new added details.  For the most part, the sculpt and coloring is all correct, even that annoying white lump on his head.  There's a new bit of gold trim above his abs, and some thigh details that were present but silver on the CGI model are highlighted in gold.  His belt is a tad off, the silver should just outline the red oval, but form a whole rectangle.  And then there's his feet.  I get that they're reusing parts from Cheetor, so he's not going to have his cat paw feet.  But painting them silver, and they are painted, is a weird choice since Ravage's feet were black in the show.

From the sides and back you can see that Ravage does carry a bit of backpack that isn't so show-accurate.  It's not really worse than the Cheetor mold, though.  Unlike that mold, his tail does not come off.  Presumably that's because Ravage had a tail in the show.

$52.99 is a lot for a tall deluxe/short Voyager, so I suppose a lot of the budget goes to his accessories.  You get two cartoon-accurate guns for him.  You get a G1 Ravage with the G1 hip weapons.  And you get a backdrop that depicts the bridge/cockpit of the ship Ravage uses in the show.  Now, you might have noticed from my Studio Series coverage that I tend not to discuss the packaging or backdrops, which I consider part of the packaging, but this one is special.  See, in the show there's a scene where this version of Ravage turns into his G1 cassette mode and slots into his ship to control it.  Hence, the included G1 Ravage isn't really meant to be a before-and-after thing, it's standing in for this Ravage's cassette mode since you're not going to get a bot that looks like this into a cassette on a Habsro budget.  And so the backdrop has a little pocket for the G1 Ravage to slide into in cassette mode.

About that Ravage... while it's the G1 mold, it's not G1 accurate.  It's not immediately obvious, but the center of the tampoed tape details doesn't match the original G1 or recent Walmart reissue (top right), and it's missing the "Metal Position" and "Microcassette" print.  It also doesn't match the one that came with the old Toys 'R' Us Soundwave reissue (bottom right), which means I now have three different G1 Ravages and none of them match.  You may also notice that this Ravage has silver eyes instead of gold, and the metal forelimbs aren't polished the way they are on the others.  What's really weird, though, is that the original G1 toy doesn't have any tape markings on the other side, just a rub sign and the other eye, but this new one has the tape details tampoed on again, just with a Decepticon insignia instead of a B-side label.

Odd deco choices aside, it's still very much the G1 toy.  Same transformation, same articulation, same method of mounting the chromed hip weapons.  Same difficulty standing due to their thinness.

As for the figure that probably prompted you to buy this set, his head is on a ball joint.  A little upward tilt, nothing really down or sideways.  He can swivel, but only about 45 degrees in either direction.  His mouth can open.  His shoulders rotate and can extend laterally 180 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-jointed and bend 180 degrees.  His wrists swivel.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward or laterally, but only a little bit backward.  His thighs swivel just above the knees, which bend just under 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down plenty, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees.

Ravage can hold his guns just fine using the 5mm handles.  They also have tabs on the sides that fit into slots on his thighs for storage.

Transforming Ravage was interesting, because while his legs turn into the rear legs the same as Cheetor/Shadow Panther that's about all the similarity you get.  His chest opens, allowing his head to lift up and to expose some extra cat chest, and his forearms tuck inside.  Now, his cat legs swing around from his back, which leaves a gap where the panels were sitting, but that gap is actually filled by the backs of his forearms and hands.  Neat!

A word of note, Ravage is misassembled out of the box.  It's not just my copy; to be sure I checked Youtube reviews by Benscollectibles and PrimeVsPrime, and neither of them mentioned it but I could see that both of their copies had the misassembly.  Basically, the front cat legs are on backward.  You'll notice it because when you try to pose the cat's legs it'll seem like the elbow doesn't bend very far; that's because the elbow will be facing the front and preventing you from bending too far.  Fortunately it's an easy fix, since the legs are on ball joints.  Just pop them off the ball joint, turn the front paws 180 degrees, then swap them to the other side.

Correctly assembled, you'll find that Ravage has a bigger head and broader chest than Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  His chest and stomach isn't as deep as theirs, though, becuase he doesn't have his robot arms filling it out the way they do.  Also, despite the fact that they share legs, they do not, in fact, share paws.  Ravage's paws are noticeably bigger.

Smallish nitpick, but jaguars are bigger and stockier than cheetahs and leopards.  While the broader and bigger head helps, his limbs seem thin and long.  I'd almost prefer if they'd made Ravage from Tigatron's mold instead, but I guess then he'd be too big.  I'm not a BW scale expert, but this Ravage is in a similar scale with Kingdom Megatron as Ravage appears with Megatron in the show (although Megatron was technically in is Transmetal form by then).

Ravage's more mechanical silver thighs do not blend into the cat body they way Cheetor/Shadow Panther's do.  This doesn't actually bother me, though.  It just reminds me of the hip weapons G1 Ravage carries.

Speaking of weapons, his pistols actually do mount on his "hips", by tabbing into his robot thighs just like you can for robot mode storage.  While I guess you can technically orient them barrel forward, the instructions have you point them barrel backward.  Perhaps G1 Ravages hip weapons weren't weapons at all, but something like boosters?  And having his guns pointed backward is orienting the barrels like boosters?  I dunno.  But the black on the guns does help hide some of the silver robot thighs.

Ravage's cat legs, insomuch as they're the same as Cheetor's, have the same articulation.  However, since his robot arms aren't locking in place to form his tummy, Ravage retains his waist swivel.  He also retains some of his head articulation.

I'm not the biggest Beast Wars fan.  Like I've said before, I didn't watch it until I was an adult and picked up the Shout Factory DVDs because I was in the "trukk not munky" crowd.  But my favorite episodes, the ones most memorable to me, where the ones that tied Beast Wars into G1 and cemented it as a sequel/prequel instead of a reboot.  I loved that unlike Optimus, Megatron, Inferno, Scorponok, and Silverbolt, who were just using the names of G1 characters, Ravage in Beast Wars was very clearly meant to be G1 Ravage.  Decepticons Forever Ravage might be a bit pricey, given that I could have lived without the backdrop or yet another G1 Ravage, but I love that it's a thing that exists, and that Hasbro took the care to make him an almost entirely new, show-accurate mold instead of just repainting Cheetor black.  I have no regrets with this purchase, and if "The Agenda" 1-3 were some of your favorite Beast Wars episodes like they were mine, I'd recommend picking him up.

[M'Kyuun]

On 10/27/2021 at 9:37 PM, mikeszekely said:

Well, I guess the big 1027 news is the Ghostbusters proton pack crowdfund.  The only thing worth mentioning Transformers-related is that Lift-Ticket, basically Hoist in red Diaclone colors, is the first Legacy Generations Selects figure.

...I preordered one.🤷‍♂️

Ah, Dorkside... I saw over the weekend that they were advertising the toy-colored Gen Selects Gavaltron as in stock, and since Pulse is still listing it for mid-December I figured I could get it early.  No shipping email.  When I saw your post I went and saw my order as still pending, so I figured I'd just cancel it and re-order it with the free shipping, save myself $8.  Except it isn't listed anywhere on the site now.  Not "sold out," totally non-existent.  No big deal, given that it's been like four days I was starting to get the impression that they weren't going to fill that order before Pulse anyway. 

Speaking of Pulse, I got my Pulsecon-exclusive Decepticons Forever Ravage.

After having Ravage in hand, I decided that he should get a full review instead of just repaint coverage because he actually doesn't share a ton of parts with Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  Everything* above his thigh swivels are brand new, except for the cat legs on his back.  He winds up taller, with a broader chest than Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  And because it's mostly a new figure, Hasbro was able to make him very show-accurate, with a few constraints a new added details.  For the most part, the sculpt and coloring is all correct, even that annoying white lump on his head.  There's a new bit of gold trim above his abs, and some thigh details that were present but silver on the CGI model are highlighted in gold.  His belt is a tad off, the silver should just outline the red oval, but form a whole rectangle.  And then there's his feet.  I get that they're reusing parts from Cheetor, so he's not going to have his cat paw feet.  But painting them silver, and they are painted, is a weird choice since Ravage's feet were black in the show.

From the sides and back you can see that Ravage does carry a bit of backpack that isn't so show-accurate.  It's not really worse than the Cheetor mold, though.  Unlike that mold, his tail does not come off.  Presumably that's because Ravage had a tail in the show.

$52.99 is a lot for a tall deluxe/short Voyager, so I suppose a lot of the budget goes to his accessories.  You get two cartoon-accurate guns for him.  You get a G1 Ravage with the G1 hip weapons.  And you get a backdrop that depicts the bridge/cockpit of the ship Ravage uses in the show.  Now, you might have noticed from my Studio Series coverage that I tend not to discuss the packaging or backdrops, which I consider part of the packaging, but this one is special.  See, in the show there's a scene where this version of Ravage turns into his G1 cassette mode and slots into his ship to control it.  Hence, the included G1 Ravage isn't really meant to be a before-and-after thing, it's standing in for this Ravage's cassette mode since you're not going to get a bot that looks like this into a cassette on a Habsro budget.  And so the backdrop has a little pocket for the G1 Ravage to slide into in cassette mode.

About that Ravage... while it's the G1 mold, it's not G1 accurate.  It's not immediately obvious, but the center of the tampoed tape details doesn't match the original G1 or recent Walmart reissue (top right), and it's missing the "Metal Position" and "Microcassette" print.  It also doesn't match the one that came with the old Toys 'R' Us Soundwave reissue (bottom right), which means I now have three different G1 Ravages and none of them match.  You may also notice that this Ravage has silver eyes instead of gold, and the metal forelimbs aren't polished the way they are on the others.  What's really weird, though, is that the original G1 toy doesn't have any tape markings on the other side, just a rub sign and the other eye, but this new one has the tape details tampoed on again, just with a Decepticon insignia instead of a B-side label.

Odd deco choices aside, it's still very much the G1 toy.  Same transformation, same articulation, same method of mounting the chromed hip weapons.  Same difficulty standing due to their thinness.

As for the figure that probably prompted you to buy this set, his head is on a ball joint.  A little upward tilt, nothing really down or sideways.  He can swivel, but only about 45 degrees in either direction.  His mouth can open.  His shoulders rotate and can extend laterally 180 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-jointed and bend 180 degrees.  His wrists swivel.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward or laterally, but only a little bit backward.  His thighs swivel just above the knees, which bend just under 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down plenty, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees.

Ravage can hold his guns just fine using the 5mm handles.  They also have tabs on the sides that fit into slots on his thighs for storage.

Transforming Ravage was interesting, because while his legs turn into the rear legs the same as Cheetor/Shadow Panther that's about all the similarity you get.  His chest opens, allowing his head to lift up and to expose some extra cat chest, and his forearms tuck inside.  Now, his cat legs swing around from his back, which leaves a gap where the panels were sitting, but that gap is actually filled by the backs of his forearms and hands.  Neat!

A word of note, Ravage is misassembled out of the box.  It's not just my copy; to be sure I checked Youtube reviews by Benscollectibles and PrimeVsPrime, and neither of them mentioned it but I could see that both of their copies had the misassembly.  Basically, the front cat legs are on backward.  You'll notice it because when you try to pose the cat's legs it'll seem like the elbow doesn't bend very far; that's because the elbow will be facing the front and preventing you from bending too far.  Fortunately it's an easy fix, since the legs are on ball joints.  Just pop them off the ball joint, turn the front paws 180 degrees, then swap them to the other side.

Correctly assembled, you'll find that Ravage has a bigger head and broader chest than Cheetor/Shadow Panther.  His chest and stomach isn't as deep as theirs, though, becuase he doesn't have his robot arms filling it out the way they do.  Also, despite the fact that they share legs, they do not, in fact, share paws.  Ravage's paws are noticeably bigger.

Smallish nitpick, but jaguars are bigger and stockier than cheetahs and leopards.  While the broader and bigger head helps, his limbs seem thin and long.  I'd almost prefer if they'd made Ravage from Tigatron's mold instead, but I guess then he'd be too big.  I'm not a BW scale expert, but this Ravage is in a similar scale with Kingdom Megatron as Ravage appears with Megatron in the show (although Megatron was technically in is Transmetal form by then).

Ravage's more mechanical silver thighs do not blend into the cat body they way Cheetor/Shadow Panther's do.  This doesn't actually bother me, though.  It just reminds me of the hip weapons G1 Ravage carries.

Speaking of weapons, his pistols actually do mount on his "hips", by tabbing into his robot thighs just like you can for robot mode storage.  While I guess you can technically orient them barrel forward, the instructions have you point them barrel backward.  Perhaps G1 Ravages hip weapons weren't weapons at all, but something like boosters?  And having his guns pointed backward is orienting the barrels like boosters?  I dunno.  But the black on the guns does help hide some of the silver robot thighs.

Ravage's cat legs, insomuch as they're the same as Cheetor's, have the same articulation.  However, since his robot arms aren't locking in place to form his tummy, Ravage retains his waist swivel.  He also retains some of his head articulation.

I'm not the biggest Beast Wars fan.  Like I've said before, I didn't watch it until I was an adult and picked up the Shout Factory DVDs because I was in the "trukk not munky" crowd.  But my favorite episodes, the ones most memorable to me, where the ones that tied Beast Wars into G1 and cemented it as a sequel/prequel instead of a reboot.  I loved that unlike Optimus, Megatron, Inferno, Scorponok, and Silverbolt, who were just using the names of G1 characters, Ravage in Beast Wars was very clearly meant to be G1 Ravage.  Decepticons Forever Ravage might be a bit pricey, given that I could have lived without the backdrop or yet another G1 Ravage, but I love that it's a thing that exists, and that Hasbro took the care to make him an almost entirely new, show-accurate mold instead of just repainting Cheetor black.  I have no regrets with this purchase, and if "The Agenda" 1-3 were some of your favorite Beast Wars episodes like they were mine, I'd recommend picking him up.

I appreciate the review, Mike. I didn't bother with Shadow Panther, but after I realized that the transformation was different on Agent Ravage, I decided to order him. He's way overpriced for what you get, but in this hobby, c'est la vie. Anyway, it's nice that they went to the bother of remolding him to more accurately reflect the character as he appeared in the show, and I love the G1 cassettes, especially Ravage, so that's just a nice bonus.

Got my copy of Kingdom Rodimus yesterday- a couple minuses, but overall, wow, what a well done fig. I wish they'd somehow been able to employ a similar shoulder hinge as they did with Cyclonus; the body hinged shoulder articulation, despite the limited butterfly joint, is lamentable on a commander class toy. Still, there's a lot of right with this figure, and it's simply impressive. I think it's safe to say it's the best version of him ever released, at least officially.

FYI, for those affected, I received notification from Amazon that my Jurassic Park Collab set delivery got bumped out to just before Christmas.  

[M'Kyuun]

Kingdom Wave 5 will feature Blaster and Eject.

Unfortunately, Eject is molded in clear plastic, which generally doesn't bode well for long term endurance. but the articulation is definitely improved over the previous cassettes. I wish they'd go back and redo them with improved articulation, although I'm secretly hoping Dr. Wu will just eventually do them all. Anyway, Blaster's looking pretty good. I'm a little surprised he's in the Kingdom line instead of 86SS, but either way, nice to have an update that actually holds regular cassettes unlike the CW Blaster.  On that note, I hope Ramhorn and Steeljaw get their updates, too, and that they fare better than poor Ravage.

Edited October 29, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

Weird that Kingdom is getting a 5th wave, but I'm not complaining about getting Blaster sooner rather than later.  Looks pretty good from what I can tell, can't wait.

I'm going to complain a little that he comes with Eject instead of Rewind, though.  I mean, I ultimately would want all of Blaster's tapes, and I technically still have the old... what was it... Titans Return? Rewind.  But Eject's still basically a nobody, while Rewind's portrayal in More Than Meets the Eye has made him a real character.

[M'Kyuun]

7 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Weird that Kingdom is getting a 5th wave, but I'm not complaining about getting Blaster sooner rather than later.  Looks pretty good from what I can tell, can't wait.

I'm going to complain a little that he comes with Eject instead of Rewind, though.  I mean, I ultimately would want all of Blaster's tapes, and I technically still have the old... what was it... Titans Return? Rewind.  But Eject's still basically a nobody, while Rewind's portrayal in More Than Meets the Eye has made him a real character.

I assume, as they did with Soundwave, that the other three cassettes are going to come in an exclusive pack. Crappy, but that seems to be their way of doing business.

Anyway, from a character standpoint, my only knowledge of any of Blaster's cassettes comes from the 86 Movie.  (I started reading the comics you sent, but slacked off; guess I need to recommit. I was enjoying them for so little far as I got into them.) My interest in them is totally based on their designs; cramming so much goodness into a small rectangular wafer has always appealed to me.

[mikeszekely]

42 minutes ago, M&#x27;Kyuun said:

I started reading the comics you sent, but slacked off; guess I need to recommit. I was enjoying them for so little far as I got into them.

IDW 1.0 started out pretty similar to other Transformers comics- Autobots good, Decepticons bad, they fight, humans get mixed up somehow.  After the Chaos story arc, though, it's almost as is the editorial team was tired of going back to the same old well and they massively upended the status quo.  This lead to two books, Robots In Disguise (later just Transformers), and More Than Meets the Eye. Robots In Disguise followed what happened on Cybertron after Chaos, and it's good, but the start of the show is More Than Meets the Eye.  MTMTE follows a group of Cybertronians who follow Hot Rod (calling himself Rodimus) off on a quest, and it's easily one of if not the most character-driven bit of Transformers fiction to date.  While Roberts and Milne do make use of a number of popular characters as well as some original characters, they had a knack for incorporating some very underutilized characters including Rewind, Whirl, Swerve, Tailgate, and Skids, resulting in the MTMTE versions being the definitive versions of those characters for a lot of fans.

[mark-1s]

This is "interesting" news.

"Some Hasbro Exclusives Are Now Only Purchasable Through Crypto Currency"

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/some-hasbro-exclusives-are-now-only-purchasable-through-crypto-currency/46425/

As if it wasn't bad enough getting your hands on some exclusives.

 

[technoblue]

Blaster looks good.

With any luck we will get the two well-known "twin" repaints Rewind (for the Autobots) and Buzzsaw (for the Decepticons). However, given how long we've been waiting on Buzzsaw, I'm not going to hold my breath. If a third-party doesn't step in, another option may be to DIY with paint.

[M'Kyuun]

18 minutes ago, mark-1s said:

This is "interesting" news.

"Some Hasbro Exclusives Are Now Only Purchasable Through Crypto Currency"

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/some-hasbro-exclusives-are-now-only-purchasable-through-crypto-currency/46425/

As if it wasn't bad enough getting your hands on some exclusives.

 

No kidding. Do they just not want people to be able to buy their products? Transformers are already as scarce as snow leopards in brick and mortar, online exclusives rarer still, and now they want to go to crypto-currency, which I personally know nothing about, as do likely 90% of the population for whom debit cards, cash, and perhaps Paypal, have been the means to acquire things.  I just wish everything was sold in stores again in decent quantities without all the exclusivity shenanigans of the past four or five years. They're going to end up alienating all but their most ardent fans if they continue down this road of scarcity and exclusivity.  I'm no marketing  genius, but it seems to me you make more money buy having your product available.  Meanwhile, the scalpers are hanging out in their very nice houses, which they've bought from all the overpriced crap they've sold, rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation.

[M'Kyuun]

59 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

IDW 1.0 started out pretty similar to other Transformers comics- Autobots good, Decepticons bad, they fight, humans get mixed up somehow.  After the Chaos story arc, though, it's almost as is the editorial team was tired of going back to the same old well and they massively upended the status quo.  This lead to two books, Robots In Disguise (later just Transformers), and More Than Meets the Eye. Robots In Disguise followed what happened on Cybertron after Chaos, and it's good, but the start of the show is More Than Meets the Eye.  MTMTE follows a group of Cybertronians who follow Hot Rod (calling himself Rodimus) off on a quest, and it's easily one of if not the most character-driven bit of Transformers fiction to date.  While Roberts and Milne do make use of a number of popular characters as well as some original characters, they had a knack for incorporating some very underutilized characters including Rewind, Whirl, Swerve, Tailgate, and Skids, resulting in the MTMTE versions being the definitive versions of those characters for a lot of fans.

Yeah, I've noted that Swerve and other characters have become popular due to the comics' depictions; they certainly never got much love in the toon.  Anyway, as you said, they took things in different directions, which make the TF universe more interesting. Kinda cool that Hasbro paid homage to the comics over the years with various toys based on those designs; it's a nice validation, and cool for comics fans. Even without having read the comics, I picked up any number of those toys myself.  I'm a toy guy, though; I've never needed lore or media depiction to find a toy appealing.

Looking forward to getting into the MTME stories. 

[mikeszekely]

OK, so remember back in September I posted a leaked list of the planned 2021 Studio Series releases?  There was a lot of Bumblebee versions of characters, including a Deluxe-class Wheeljack in the first wave.  And, uh...

Courtesy of PrimeVsPrime, that's a point for the leakers.

[Mechapilot77]

that bbm wheeljack looks decent.  the alt mode  is a bit busy/full of hinges right before the front wheels but otherwise not bad.   i dig the headsculpt and the leg design.

[sh9000]

I might get that Blaster.  I never got Generations Soundwave though.

[Negotiator]

amazon link for kickback

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1LHJ34/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[mikeszekely]

So this is kind of old news, but I guess the Hasbro team did a Q&A?  Here's some relevant stuff from it-

-"The Stunticons will not be the end of combiners. They are looking to expand on this in newer ways than before. There won't be interchangeable figures like in Scramble City."

I think this is for the best.  I'm guessing most of us who bought the Combiner Wars stuff put them together in the "standard" configurations anyway.  Ditching Scramble City allows them to ditch CW connector, which was apparently costly and a big reason why the CW figures kind of sucked.

Also, more Combiners!  *crosses fingers for Combaticons that don't suck*

-"Studio Series 86 has been a great success with no intention of stopping what they are doing with that line. There are more coming next year."

While this is, generally, a good thing, I'll note that this was the response given about whether or not Hasbro is doing the other Dinobots.

-"Do you want to see a Soundwave to go with it? Do you want it to be a Voyager a scale figure too?"

This was the answer given when asked if Hasbro was planning a Soundwave to go with the recently-revealed Blaster.  Not really an answer, though, but it could be them playing coy. My money is on a new Soundwave coming, but maybe not in 2022.

-Obviously, the Legacy promo art had some stuff like G2 Megatron, Hot Rod, a Seeker, and some kind of dragon that weren't announced.  Someone asked Hasbro about it, and this was the response.

"We love the artwork and how fans are reading into them and finding Easter Eggs. Just keep paying attention to what's coming. They are using more real estate on the boxes to tease more things."

-When asked about Gen Selects and Legacy:

"Legacy should expand more into these kinds of weird figures. Mark and Evan go back and forth on insane character figures like Action Masters and even Machine Wars ideas. Be prepared for some releases you may not expect."

Do Thunderclash in the Legacy line, then give me a Machine Wars Optimus Gen Selects!

-Asked if Weaponizers or Fossilizers will continue in Legacy:

"What's next is so much crazier. Can't say but they saw the fan's reactions to what was done with the Weaponziers and want to engage that even further. The design team feels it is going to get absolutely nuts for customizing and compatibility. Almost like its Lego that you can build yourself."

-Asked about the upcoming anniversary of Armada.  They confirmed nothing, but more or less said they wouldn't do a multiple-universe thing like Legacy without including Armada.

-Asked if there will be more Titans.

"Yes. They love doing them so they plan to keep making more."

-They were asked about why Origins Bumblebee wound up in Buzzworthy but not Siege.  They weren't really sure.  They mentioned that it takes about two years to go from idea to toy on the shelves, so they don't remember everything.  But someone did suggest they wanted to Thunderclash.

 

[M'Kyuun]

As long as they keep filling out the G1 roster, especially first season, I'm a happy camper. As to the combining figs, I'm right there with you for new Combaticons, although I didn't mind the CW version (still have CW Bruticus on my shelf, upgraded with 3P hands and feet, as well as Takara's Blast off with proper shuttle alt mode). However, judging by Legacy Dragstrip, the engineering has improved over the universal combining peg system from CW, and as Bruticus was always my favorite combiner due to the military alt modes, shuttle being the notable odd exception, I'll happily take an improved version that is hopefully more stable and solid in combined mode.  I passed entirely on the CW era Devastator, both Hasbro and Takara, for all the compromises. I hope the Constructicons will get a redo, hopefully all in voyager scale, to allow for both the scale of the alt modes to match more realistically, and to allow for the engineering of the individual bots so that articulation doesn't suffer as it did with the CW versions.

I liked any number of the Beast Machines designs, so I'm not opposed to seeing what they come up with. I still think, b/c articulation was really improving by that point, that many of the old toys are well done. 

I've no interest in the partsforming figs, like the Fossilizers, personally, but I applaud their willingness to try new things within the TF universe, and if these sorts of figs are popular, more power to them. 

I fervently wish, if they're going to make a new Soundwave, that they'd upscale their cassettes to match the original, realistically scaled, micro-cassette. I vehemently dislike that they downsized them for WfC rather than just maintaining the original scale.  Unfortunately, it looks as though they're maintaining the smaller scale for Blaster.  Dumb decision, IMHO.

 

[sh9000]

I might get all of the new combiners.  I’m definitely getting all of the SS TFTM releases.  Still cherry picking here and there for the other releases.