The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[JB0]

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

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.

I'm one of the weirdos that did weird things, and I have to agree. Even ignoring the cost of the part, it was very large relative to the toys it was in. It was usually very obvious the mold was designed around the combiner joint and it greatly compromised the figures. Having to include a nominal arm and leg mode for each toy didn't help.

 

Heck, I didn't get most of the Combiner Wars figures because the ones I found sucked. Particularly as a lot of them were characters that had been done better in the preceding line, and the one before it too. (I was very pleased to see so many second-stringers appear in Titans.)

[mikeszekely]

34 minutes ago, JB0 said:

I'm one of the weirdos that did weird things, and I have to agree. Even ignoring the cost of the part, it was very large relative to the toys it was in. It was usually very obvious the mold was designed around the combiner joint and it greatly compromised the figures. Having to include a nominal arm and leg mode for each toy didn't help.

 

Heck, I didn't get most of the Combiner Wars figures because the ones I found sucked. Particularly as a lot of them were characters that had been done better in the preceding line, and the one before it too. (I was very pleased to see so many second-stringers appear in Titans.)

Combiner Wars was so bad I swore off the mainline.  It didn't help that I wasn't super into the whole "everyone's a Headmaster now!" bit in Titans Return, or that I was starting to get involved with the 3P scene.  I did talk myself into buying the actual Headmasters, plus a few other characters I thought needed an upgrade like Scourge, Perceptor, Blurr, Kup, Hot Rod,  Blitzwing and Octane (and the latter two weren't that great and still need updates), but that was it.  I retroactively discovered that Titans Return was honestly pretty great, then had to go back and pay aftermarket prices for Misfire, Triggerhappy, Slugslinger, Topspin, Twin Twist, Overlord, Sixshot, Grotusque, Doublecross, Repugnus, Laser Optimus, Galvatron, Windblade, Krok, Sentinel Prime, and a Takara Fortress Maximus (don't care for the Sunbow version of Cerebros).  Aside from the fact that I got a better Galvatron in Kingdom and I'm getting a better Laser Prime in Legacy I have no regrets.

[Britai 7018]

I actually just recently got into the mainline Transformers after just picking up the occasional Masterpiece and a huge part of my collection has been Titans Return and the WFC titan masters. So needless to say theres been plenty of pain paying aftermarket prices for alot of those same figures. I actually just got Legends version of Twin Twist, Topspin and Windblade. Awesome figures but yeah, definitely quite the markup these days. 

I'm excited about the new combiners - totally missed the Combiner Wars versions and I probably would just want them in their G1 configurations anyways so not going to miss the interchangable parts. If they can commit to the full line and pace it out to 1 full Combiner a year I could see myself picking up all the major ones. 

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Combiner Wars was so bad I swore off the mainline.  It didn't help that I wasn't super into the whole "everyone's a Headmaster now!" bit in Titans Return, or that I was starting to get involved with the 3P scene.

Understandable. Combiner was was a mess, and Power of the Primes wasn't any better(being basically "Combiner Wars but with worse hands and feet")

I was really surprised how different Titans was from the two lines before it. And then they did Top Spin and Twin Twist and I was just "Wait, Hasbro remembers those exist? AWESOME!"

 

That said, you can take my CW Sky Lynx with Primes Dinobots combiner from me when you pry it from my cold dead hands. It is nonsense, but I love it.

[sh9000]

[obakesan]

MPG Shouki train mode photos from Takara twitter.

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

3 hours ago, obakesan said:

MPG Shouki train mode photos from Takara twitter.

 

That is rather amazing,  You can hardly tell from the bottom that it even is a Transformer.  The chest plate is the only real giveaway.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[mikeszekely]

The train mode is better than the robot.

[sh9000]

[mikeszekely]

I was just coming to post those!  My hockey game ran late, though, and you beat me to it.  Looks like the leaks were spot on, because that Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Brawn are supposedly coming with Perceptor as the first wave of Deluxes in 2022.  The only thing is, Sweep wasn't on the list, and we know it's coming.  Instead the leak mentioned a variant of SS86 Hot Rod.  For what it's worth, though, Perceptor is dated something like two months after the Sweep, so maybe it's just part of a different wave.

Anyway, that Ravage looks more like a wolf than a panther, but I'll probably still get it because I'm in for that Soundwave (even if he's got the same alt mode problems that Siege Soundwave does).  I think Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Brawn actually look pretty cool in both modes, so I'll be getting them as well.  Shockwave, not so much.  Gimme a Voyager and we'll talk.

[Negotiator]

dang, I said to myself once I get all the g1 stuff I want, I could take a nice long break from TFs again, but these look pretty cool and have to get them all too.  

[M'Kyuun]

Wheeljack is by far the best looking of those figs, so far as both alt and bot modes go. I really like Brawn's bot mode; the alt mode is so-so, but as far as Cybertronian alts go, it could be far worse.  Alas, poor, poor Soundwave- that alt.🤮  Like they couldn't be bothered to even try cooking up something relatable. Ravage, likewise- like Mike said, he looks more like a wolf, and he turns into a cube with unspecified purpose. 52Toys this isn't, and again, it just feels like no effort was put forth to give either of these guys relatable alt modes, which renders their ability to transform a bit moot.   Ratchet fared pretty well, though- his alt mode shares similarities with any number of sci-fi rover concepts I've seen over the years, and that's just fine. At least it's relatable.  Shockwave is very reminiscent of the Prime toy; odd that they made him core class instead of voyager or even deluxe.

[lechuck]

On 11/9/2021 at 5:50 PM, obakesan said:

MPG Shouki train mode photos from Takara twitter.

 

Definitely has got that wow-factor Takara engineering going for it in getting all of the robot neatly tucked in.

[mikeszekely]

Got time for a quick Repaint Roundup?

See, I was out this evening, and I figured (even though my Walmart is the worst) that I'd stop at look for Tigatron, since Amazon canceled my preorder and Pulse sold out.  No such luck (is Tigatron even out in the wild, or are all the Youtubers getting Asian market or factory samples?).  I didn't go home empty-handed, though... in fact, I went home with a figure that I didn't think was supposed to be out for three more months.  See, I went home with Studio Series 86 Sweep!

So yeah, no big surprises here.  Like the Hasbro team said during one of the livestreams it's almost the exact same mold as SS86 Scourge.  The only real differences in bot mode is that the Sweep (left) uses a less purple, more vibrant blue plastic, and his hands are mirrored so his open hand is his right vs Scourge's left, and vice versa.  (I actually bought two Sweeps, and I may take them apart and swap hands so one has two open and one has two closed to further differentiate them).

Sweep comes with the same accessories as Scourge; a blue rifle (also in the brighter blue plastic) and a purple blast effect (no difference that I can tell).

Transformation in the same, alt mode weapon storage is the same, the gimmicks are the same.  You'd be forgiven if you then assumed that the only difference was the altered shade of blue, but there's actually one more minor difference, you just have to look at the underside to see it.  See, where Scourge's wing tips were unpainted, the back of Sweep's (which shows on the underside of his alt mode) was painted the same light blue/gray as the nose and edges of the craft.  It's a nice touch, one I kind of wish they'd done to Scourge now.

I mean, what can I really say about the Sweep?  Scourge is a pretty great figure, and Sweep is 99.9% the exact same figure.  Granted, between the Seekers, Datsuns, and Cybertronian Lambos it's not like I haven't already bought a ton of repaints, but Sweep barely even qualifies as a repaint.  Indeed, if you for some reason missed Scourge but still wanted him in your collection you could grab a Sweep, name his Scourge, then call it a day.  On the other hand, if you did grab Scourge and feel no need to troop build (or maybe you did need to troop build, so you already bought multiple Scourges) then the Sweep is far from a necessity.  Sweep is for people like me who wouldn't buy multiple Scourges due to a pathological need to have Scourge visually distinct from his Sweep minions, but would happily fork over cash for a pair of Sweeps once Hasbro did make them visually distinct, however minor the difference.  So like I said, the base Scourge figure is very good, the only question then is if you feel you have a need for more of him in a slightly different shade of blue to be his Sweeps.  If the answer is yes, then go for it.  If not, then we'll move on to...

...Shattered Glass Megatron.  I've actually had this guy for awhile, but I don't like to write a review for just one repaint, so he's been sitting on my desk waiting for something like SG Starscream or Draculus to come out.

As you guys may or may not know, the original Shattered Glass toys were meant to be like a mirror G1 universe, but while some characters like Optimus were made from the Classics/Universe toys others were made from Unicron Trilogy toys.  This was the case with Blurr and Goldbug, who were made from Armada/Cybertron Blurr and Cybertron Hotshot, respectively.  Their new SG toys were, of course, made from Studio Series 86 Blurr and Earthrise Cliffjumper with new heads that better resembled the original SG toys, and I was able to accept that.  Well, the original SG Megatron was made from Energon Megatron, and here this new SG Megatron is a repainted, not-at-all remolded Siege Megatron.  And for some reason my brain just won't accept it the way it accepted Blurr and Goldbug.  Maybe because, unlike the other two, he doesn't have a remolded head, just regular pouty Siege Megatron with a black helmet and blue eyes.  Whatever the reason, SG Megatron just doesn't look like SG Megatron to me.  I mean, Hasbro tried... the black helmet, white body, black thighs and shoulders, red biceps, black tummy panel, gold accents, and red and black details on his shins are the colors used by the original SG toy.  The thing is, ignoring the fact that he didn't get a remolded head (SG Megatron's head was based on the one from an earlier animation model, seen in the very early issues of the old Marvel comics), Energon Megatron was actually designed to look more like Galvatron.  So there's a strong case to be made that you'd have a better-looking SG Megatron if they'd thrown a new head onto Kingdom Galvatron (or perhaps even a retooled Titans Return Galvatron) than Siege Megatron.

Since SG Megatron is just a repaint of Siege Megatron, you do get the standard fusion rifle, and the sword that transforms into the barrel for tank mode.  The barrel of the cannon and the sword are painted blue, like the "energon" shoulder cannons on the original toy.

Speaking of tank mode, yup, that's still totally doable.  Of course, the original SG Megatron didn't turn into a tank, he turned into a spaceship.

And so, in a desperate attempt to wrestle Siege Megatron into something closer to the original SG Megatron, Hasbro tossed in these new accessories.

The wings are meant to plug into the 5mm peg holes on Megatron's back (although the outsides of his shoulders are fair game, too).  And the cockpit thingy can plug into a forearm, and it sort of pulls off the whole tank blade that the original toy had.  As for his fusion cannon and sword, you can have him wield them the usual Megatron way, but I thought I'd try sticking them in the peg holes on top of his backpack to simulate the original toy's shoulder cannons.  It almost works, aside from the fact that they're asymmetric and the one has a big ol' sword blade sticking out the back.

In tank mode, you can use the wings to make a kind of flying tank.  Honestly, I dig this more than I probably should, especially since it's kind of reminding me of Megatron's flying tank mode in Revenge of the Fallen.  As much as I tried, though, I couldn't come up with any real way to use the cockpit in this mode.

Instead, to get a spaceship mode, you have to deliberately mis-transform the tank by straightening Megatron's legs back out, turning them so the shins are facing each other, removing the barrel, and spinning the turret 180 degrees.  Then you're supposed to plug the cockpit onto the peg holes on the sides of Megatron's legs, which is the only thing that holds them together, an the wings onto the treads that were the front of the tank.  And... it's not the best.  I mean, it really doesn't resemble the original's spaceship mode all that much (again, maybe they'd have been better off using TR Galvatron instead), there's still a noticeable gap between his thighs and knees, and there's nothing really locking his hip or waist joints to even keep everything lined up properly in this mode.

Officially, Megatron's spaceship mode doesn't use the sword.  That said, you can certainly plug it into the tank turret like you normally would.

Let's be real, the entire Shattered Glass line is a gimmick most of us can probably do without.  And, despite the fact that Blurr and Goldbug were also minimal effort repaints with new heads I somehow feel that Hasbro screwed up Megatron more than those two.  Unless you're really committed to the Shattered Glass line this one's going to be a pass for most people.  That being said, if I were going to get rid of my SG figures but two the one I like the most is Prime (from that Prime/Ratchet 2-pack), and this Megatron would stay to oppose him.

[M'Kyuun]

Not a Shattered Glass fan to begin with, but that Megs is fugly to the max. Having the Siege mold, I didn't even bother with his Earthrise version. I didn't like the oversized cannon-sword thing, and the difference between his being an "H" type tank or standard dual treaded tank was insignificant. The Siege toy serves as a good G1 incarnation until a better fig comes along, or gun laws change and they can make him change into a Walther P-38 pistol again.

As for sightings, I've been seeing Fossilizers, Tracks, and Waspinator, as well as reissues of the 90's original BW figs, but little else in Generations. I saw and passed on Gnaw a couple weeks ago, but he's since shipped from Pulse, so I'll likely have him in hand next week.

[mikeszekely]

After being delayed to nearly Christmas, look what came in the mail.

Gotta be honest, this is kind of a fun one to have in hand, because Jurassic Park toys are close to the Transformers at my local Target and for weeks I've been seeing a Target-exclusive Jurassic World Legacy Collection Tyrannosaurus Escape pack, which is basically a non-transforming version of this (but with a little figure of Tim Murphy that this set doesn't have).

The star of the Tyrannosaurs escape is the T-Rex, but here she's perhaps not so exciting.  The horribly-named Tyrannocon Rex is the third use of this mold, after Kingdom Megatron and the Target-exclusive T-Wrecks.  She's colored in varying shades of brown to look like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, which is cool and all (but a bit dull compared to a purple and green or red and blue dinosaur), but I kind of wish they'd painted her pupils a little lower on the eyeballs.  Then she'd look like she was looking down at the SUV she's chasing instead making a sleepy face.

Robot mode is also kind of a mixed bag.  On the one hand, she's got a brand new head that reminds me of Grimlock.  Actually, the mix of red and black do, too; maybe they could have kept the red pelvis and black thighs but painted her torso gold, then I'd call this my beast era Grimlock and find I'd invent a new character for the actual Kingdom Grimlock.  On the other hand, when you put her next to Megatron it's immediately obvious how much less paint she's got.

Perhaps her paint budget went to her packed-in adversary, the even more horribly named JP93.  As the first Transformers Collaborative figure that really seems to be an all-new mold this is the one I was most excited for.  I included Earthrise Trailbreaker and Inferno to help give you a sense of the scale, but the real takeaway for me from this pic is just how goofy the proportions are on the WFC figures.

Tyrannocon Rex does a reasonable job as the mottled brown T-Rex from the movie, but JP93 really nails the customized first-gen Ford Explorer seen in the film.  While some of the plastic comprising the front end and front doors is green, the roof and from the middle of the rear doors back is mostly translucent plastic.  That means that all the red and yellow plus half the green you're seeing is paint, plus there are painted lights, pain in the grill and painted wipers, very clean tampographed Jurrassic Park logos, and lots of movie-accurate touches like the brush guard with the lights above and in front of the bumper, the spotlight on the hood near the windshield, and the bubble canopy.  Hasbro did in fact obtain the Ford license, so you've even got a small molded oval for the Ford badge and the "Explorer XLT" on the rear.  Honestly, the only complaint I'll offer, and it's definitely me nitpicking, is the '04' on the sides just in front of the taillights.  Car 04 was the car that the kids and Gennaro were in, the on the T-Rex trashed, and a cardboard version of which Tyrannocon Rex is packed stepping on.  The other car, with Grant, Saddler, and Malcom that lived a bit longer, was 05.

While Tyrannocon Rex, like Megatron before her, doesn't get any accessories the set does include this shotgun for JP93.  It's modeled after the Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun Robert Muldoon was carrying when he was killed by a certain clever girl.  Somehow I don't think that Hasbro got the license- Universal Studios and Ford are mentioned on the box, but not Franchi.  Perhaps that large fin that the SPAS-12 definitely does not have makes it legally distinct enough?

The fin does serve a purpose, though.  If you turn the gun upside down, the fin fits into one of two slots behind the bubble canopy.  If you prefer a more covert method of storing the gun, though, you'll find a small tab between the rear wheels under the vehicle.  It fits into a matching slot just above the gun's handle.

If the T-Rex transforms, you better believe the car does.  And this is where things start to go a bit south for me.  I mean, aesthetically he's fine; the unpainted black arms and pelvis and similarly unpainted green thighs are fine, and the chest hood, door winged robot is a time-tested design.  I dig the head, with the sculpted hat and sunglasses (while the hat could be almost anyone Ian Malcom, including Muldoon, the sunglasses suggest that his head might actually be based on Alan Grant... who was in car 05).  I'm a little disappointed at the size, though, as he's similar to (or slightly shorter) than Deluxes like Trailbreaker or Ironhide, and definitely shorter than a Voyager like Inferno or Optimus.  Granted, we're in a new era where a class is more engineering and parts count that size, but JP93 isn't wowing us on those counts, either.  Indeed, his transformation is super simple; rotate the arms out, open the doors, fold the chest down, flip out the legs, and peg the roof into his back.  That's about it.

The joints and articulation are also a pretty big step backward.  His head is on a ball joint that can swivel and look down slightly, but he can't really look up or tilt his head sideways.  His shoulders rotate and can extend laterally 90 degrees.  He doesn't have a dedicated bicep swivel, instead he has a ball joint for an elbow that can swivel and bend just over 90 degrees.  That's something you'd do only to cut down on the total parts count, mind you.  Neither his wrists nor his waist can swivel.  His hips are, again, ball joints, and they're disappointingly loose (think Combiner Wars) on my copy.  He does at least have cut thigh swivels.  His knees are single-jointed and can bend nearly 180 degrees.  They're actually the same joints used for transformation, and set a bit lower than the weirdly molded fake knees.  I'm almost surprised by it at this point, but he does have ankle pivots of about 30 degrees, but no up/down foot tilt.

The 5mm handle easily fits into either of JP93's fists.  There's also bot mode storage.  There's a second, longer slot on the gun's fore-end that fits over tab on the bottom of his backpack.

This is a tough call, guys.  If I'm just looking at the figures divorced from any pricing then Tyrannocon Rex is a good T-Rex and has a cool new head, but a disappointing lack of paint compared to the figure she's repainted from.  JP93 is a fantastic Ford Explorer seen in the movie with a robot mode that fits neatly in with other Autobot cars, but the absence of an actual bicep swivel and waist swivel plus the use of ball joints for elbows and hips are super obvious moves to save costs and lower his parts count, and it makes him come across as a little cheap.  And then I do consider the pricing- this set is over $100 (assuming you can even still get it at retail).  You're basically paying the cost of two leaders for one leader, a figure that's somewhere between a Deluxe and a Core-class in engineering.  Even if I just say that JP93 is a Deluxe despite the cost-cutting, where'd the other $30 go?  I mean, sure, JP93's got a lot of paint and tampos, but Tyrannocon Rex has less paint than Megatron.  Were the Ford and Jurassic Park licenses that expensive?  I mean, I do like this set more than the X-Men and Top Gun crossovers, and if you're into these Transformers Collaboratives I suppose I'd recommend it (seriously, keep buying all the collaboratives until I get a Transformers X TMNT Party Wagon and/or a Transformers X Knight Rider KITT), but it's hard not to shake the idea that this set is a bit overpriced for what you actually get.

[Scyla]

Good review Mike, I think it is a real shame that they didn’t lean harder into the Grimlock aesthetic. To me it was always the natural think to do (repainting Beast Wars Megatron into Grimlock that is). At least they should have painted the chest golden, maybe even remold it. As is it is just too much red. I think even painting the chest vents would have helped.

If I remember correctly the consensus was that JP93 is based on the Cyberverse Deluxe Prowl mold.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, Scyla said:

If I remember correctly the consensus was that JP93 is based on the Cyberverse Deluxe Prowl mold.

It's similar in the broadest of strokes (doors open, arms fold out, chest folds down, legs flip over, roof becomes backpack).  But they're also pretty different figures that share no parts; Prowl's wheels are on the backs of his shoulders, JP93's rotate into the chest as his arms rotate out.  Prowl's hands don't fold in and his arms are straight under him, JP93's bend at the elbows and his forearms tuck in so his wrists are pointed up toward the roof.  Prowl has ball joints for shoulders, JP93 has universals.  Prowl actually has a mushroom swivel for a bicep and hinged elbows, JP93 has just the ball joint elbow.  Prowl has wrist and waist swivels, JP93 doesn't.  Prowl has flaps on the backs of his legs that you have to open to fold or unfold his legs, JP93 doesn't.  Prowl's feet fold in, tucking under his shins and roof in car mode, JP93's don't.  A chunk of Prowl's hood folds down to let his head through, and that flap tucks into his back to secure his backpack.  JP93 has a section of hood that stays upright on his backpack that his head fits through, with a second flap that folds up to give his head clearance then folds back down, and his backpack locks into place by using a long tab from the roof into a notch on his back.  Really, they're probably less similar than some of the Combiner Wars cars and Titans Return Chromedome.

[Scyla]

15 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

It's similar in the broadest of strokes (doors open, arms fold out, chest folds down, legs flip over, roof becomes backpack).  But they're also pretty different figures that share no parts; Prowl's wheels are on the backs of his shoulders, JP93's rotate into the chest as his arms rotate out.  Prowl's hands don't fold in and his arms are straight under him, JP93's bend at the elbows and his forearms tuck in so his wrists are pointed up toward the roof.  Prowl has ball joints for shoulders, JP93 has universals.  Prowl actually has a mushroom swivel for a bicep and hinged elbows, JP93 has just the ball joint elbow.  Prowl has wrist and waist swivels, JP93 doesn't.  Prowl has flaps on the backs of his legs that you have to open to fold or unfold his legs, JP93 doesn't.  Prowl's feet fold in, tucking under his shins and roof in car mode, JP93's don't.  A chunk of Prowl's hood folds down to let his head through, and that flap tucks into his back to secure his backpack.  JP93 has a section of hood that stays upright on his backpack that his head fits through, with a second flap that folds up to give his head clearance then folds back down, and his backpack locks into place by using a long tab from the roof into a notch on his back.  Really, they're probably less similar than some of the Combiner Wars cars and Titans Return Chromedome.

I see, thanks for the info. I appreciate it. 

[M'Kyuun]

@mikeszekely I also want to convey my appreciation. My copy should be on its way anytime, but this is a nice heads up to kinda soften the blow. For the price, I agree, it should have been better, especially JP93 (that is indeed a remarkably rubbish name). Incidentally, I was just at Target this last Thursday, and I saw that exclusive pack, which reminded me of this set. Had a private chuckle.

I'm thinking the majority of the budget was licensing (both JP and Ford), and then paint and tampo for that Explorer. After that, they probably didn't have much money left to work with, which is why T-Rex has sparse paint apps in bot mode (dino mode looks good, sleepy eyes notwithstanding- drab, but that's accurate to source) and JP93 was done on the cheap, feeling every bit a notable step back in a line that has, for the most part, been making strides in quality and design.  I'm glad they went with a new mold for JP93, but after owning  many WfC figs, it's hard not feeling a little disappointed, especially for the price.

Ball joints throughout used to not bother me, but since reading your reviews, Mike, I've tended to adopt your disdain for them, at least on deluxe and above. I think they have their uses, but given their propensity towards quick wear and floppiness, my druthers would be to have pinned friction, or better yet, ratcheted joints, for nearly everything, at least the main joints. It's a shame they went simple with Explorer (I think I'm just going to call him that, b/c JP93 is terrible), but as I said, I'm always excited by a new mold, and given the likely budgetary restraints they had to work with, I'll just accept it as a casualty of doing business with IP holders. I'd love to be a fly on the wall, or have some insider insight to the decision making process when doing a product of this nature.

I'll chime in that my favorite crossover is still Maverick, as it's similarity to the VF-1, and Macross designs in general,  put it well above the majority of TF jets in design and alt mode accuracy. It's not perfect, but compared to the majority of uber-sh!tty jet modes we get, it's an outstanding entry.  I, too, wouldn't mind a Knight Rider crossover- I kinda wonder, with the upcoming Legacy Laser Prime with ER Prime's trailer, if they would do both KITT and the tractor trailer that hauled him around as a way to milk the teat just a little more. With Pontiac being defunct, I wonder how that would affect licensing? The other crossover I'd love to see is Airwolf, especially if they went to the trouble of giving her all her retractable weapons and landing gear.😍 I'd love a transformable version of The Lady - cue up a YT vid of the Airwolf theme song and swoosh the ever living hell out of that thing- purely for aerodynamic evaluation, of course. 😜

As for the Turtles, it's not exactly what you're after, but 52Toys has a Turtles set in their MegaBox line that not only do the cube transformation, but combine to form a so-so version of the Party Wagon. It's one of those squint and it looks better kinda deals😄, but the thought is there. I've never been into the Turtles, but honestly, for what they are, I think 52Toys did a really good job on the Turtles themselves so far as their being action figures that turn into cubes goes. YMMV

 

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:02 PM, M'Kyuun said:

I'll chime in that my favorite crossover is still Maverick, as it's similarity to the VF-1, and Macross designs in general,  put it well above the majority of TF jets in design and alt mode accuracy. It's not perfect, but compared to the majority of uber-sh!tty jet modes we get, it's an outstanding entry.

I should note that my beef with Maverick has nothing to do with the engineering.  It's more that the resulting robot doesn't fit in aesthetically with the others, and Top Gun doesn't carry the pop culture cachet of Ghostbusters or Back to the Future.  And, while Top Gun is a movie in which the F-14 plays a large role, there's not a lot to distinguish Maverick's F-14 from another (I'd argue that the real-world VF-84 Jolly Rodgers are more iconic).

On 11/13/2021 at 6:48 PM, M'Kyuun said:

As for sightings, I've been seeing Fossilizers, Tracks, and Waspinator, as well as reissues of the 90's original BW figs, but little else in Generations. I saw and passed on Gnaw a couple weeks ago, but he's since shipped from Pulse, so I'll likely have him in hand next week.

I'm honestly surprised, after seeing the Transformers pegs hang nearly empty all summer that not only did I find Sweeps at my local Walmart, but I stopped at my local Target yesterday and found they were very well-stocked on the current wave of Kingdom Deluxes, Cores, and Leaders, plus some recent Studio Series Deluxes and Leaders and plenty of Cyberverse.  But, there wasn't a single Voyager to be found, so my hunt for Tigatron continues.

I didn't go home empty, though.  Cores in stock meant I could finally give Kingdom Core-class Soundwave a go.

Something that has me wondering how the Core-class stuff is going to be going forward is the fact that they've all basically been the same size.  I'd say that Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream are similar enough in size that it doesn't really bother me, but in the back of my mind I know that Soundwave should be a little shorter than Megatron, and a little taller than Starscream. 

Aesthetically, though, this might be the best Core-class Hasbro's done yet.  He's missing some yellow on his shins, and the red stripes around the forearms, but otherwise he's pretty cartoon-accurate.  Indeed, while he copies a lot of elements from the Netflix version, the extra red on his shoulders is a nice toy detail the Netflix version only partially copied, and the reduction in greebles gives him a cleaner, cartoonier look.

Soundwave comes with a few accessories.  You get his shoulder cannon and rifle, as well as a cassette slug.  From the black and red, I'd assume it's Laserbeak; indeed, the coloring follows the pattern of the MP version (and the back side of the G1 tape) pretty closely.  It does not, however, transform into a tiny Laserbeak, which is a bummer.  As for his weapons, nothing major to note except that the silver part of his rifle is rotated 90 degrees from it's usual cartoon orientation.

Soundwave's head is on a ball joint, with the ball down in his chest instead of the back of his head.  He can look up, but only so far before breaking the sculpt.  Not much down and only a little sideways tilt.  His shoulders are ball joints that rotate and extend a bit under 90 degrees laterally.  Ball-jointed elbows bend just about 90 degrees and double as bicep swivels.  No wrist or waist swivels.  His thick hip skirt moves as one single piece, but it does move enough that his ball-jointed hips can move 90 degrees forward and laterally, but his butt flap doesn't move so his hips can't go backward.  He's got cut thigh swivels, and knees that bend 90 degrees.  His ankles are also ball joints, so his feet swivel and can tilt down but there's not really enough clearance for him to have ankle pivots.

Ball joints don't bother me as much at this size, but I wish Hasbro could get the tolerances down better.  His shoulders are almost uncomfortably tight, his elbows are fine, but his hips are a floppy mess.

His should cannon plugs into a 3mm port, where it can swivel but lacks any up/down tilt.  His rifle can plug into either hand.

Core-class Soundwave's transformation is almost identical to the G1 toy, more so than the Netflix version.  The only real differences are that his hands fold back instead of sliding into his forearms, and his feet fold backward instead of forward.  This does create the figure's most obvious problem in alt-mode, and that's his toes sticking straight up.  There are, fortunately, 3P modes available to address this issue, but it's like, c'mon Hasbro.  Would it have really killed you to make his foot two pieces with a pin hinge instead of one?  If cost is the factor, I'd have done without the cassette slug.

Transformation differences aside, aesthetically it's interesting how similar it wound up looking to the Netflix version.  Hasbro even put some molded details on the sides of his legs with 3mm peg holes to store his weapons the same way.

Of course, as a tape deck there's not a ton he can do.  You can open the door and insert or remove the cassette, which you do by manually pulling the door open.  The molded button is just for show.

I guess you don't expect Soundwave to do a lot in alt mode, though, especially without a bunch of tiny minions.  I think if you're serious about a Legends collection you probably already have a better 3P version of Soundwave.  But for Hasbro's stated goal of providing inexpensive, smaller versions of their regular figures for displaying with the Titans that Soundwave might be the best one yet, and I recommend him if Hasbro's Core-class stuff has been something you're into.

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I should note that my beef with Maverick has nothing to do with the engineering.  It's more that the resulting robot doesn't fit in aesthetically with the others, and Top Gun doesn't carry the pop culture cachet of Ghostbusters or Back to the Future.  And, while Top Gun is a movie in which the F-14 plays a large role, there's not a lot to distinguish Maverick's F-14 from another (I'd argue that the real-world VF-84 Jolly Rodgers are more iconic).

I terms of livery, yeah, Maverick is pretty plain. Ironically, Roy Focker's VF-1S copies the VF-84's look, especially the vertical stabs. As to blending in aesthetically, it's not much different than the old Takatoku Jetfire, minus the FAST packs and far more striking paint job. The similarities to the VF-1 can't be denied, which makes me wonder how they managed to get it released without HG raising a stink. I guess they changed it just enough to appease them.  Anyway, I'm glad that they chose the design they did rather than the usual blocky bot wearing half a plane on its back that converts into half a plane toting a giant block of robot on its belly. I hated it when I was a kid, and I hate it more now, especially since technology, toy design, and engineering techniques have evolved expansively since the 80s, and a lot of that blockiness can be mitigated through clever engineering.  By way of digression, I'm rather pleased with TFC Toys' take on the Aerialbots, which arguably hew closer to the Bayformer aesthetic than G1, although the mechanical transformations drive the look of the bots rather than CG artists' whimsy. While their Siverbolt suffers from the usual block o'bot under a Concode, the rest of the team's alt modes are far more accurate to the real aircraft, which appeals to me greatly. I have their Harrier and F-16 figs POed.

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm honestly surprised, after seeing the Transformers pegs hang nearly empty all summer that not only did I find Sweeps at my local Walmart, but I stopped at my local Target yesterday and found they were very well-stocked on the current wave of Kingdom Deluxes, Cores, and Leaders, plus some recent Studio Series Deluxes and Leaders and plenty of Cyberverse.  But, there wasn't a single Voyager to be found, so my hunt for Tigatron continues.

I was at my local Wally yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lone copy of the Sweep and Wreck-Gar, as my store seldom carries anything larger than deluxes. They also had a couple copies of Paleotrex, Tracks, and Waspinator.  While they rarely carry leader class, they've had the original leader class Optimus Primal and Megatron figs, as well as Cheetor and Rattrap. I wanna say they had one more '96 fig, but I can't remember who it was. Anyway, they've been shelf-warming for awhile. I'm a little surprised, actually, at least that OP hasn't been sold out- as toys go, he was pretty amazing for all the stuff they packed into him. Neither the MP nor the Kingdom toys managed to faithfully pack in all the features of the original, and honestly, I don't really feel like they improved upon the original's engineering by much either, articulation notwithstanding.

I was at Target this past weekend, and I can't recall seeing any ER or Kingdom figs. They had a number of Cyberverse figs, though, but I haven't picked up any of those toys this year.  One of the figs was Thunderhowl, which had intrigued me back when the toys were first revealed; this was my first sighting, and I was a little tempted, but I put him back.

[M'Kyuun]

I finally got my copy of Kingdom Gnaw yesterday, and since Mike already did a comprehensive review, I just want to post a few personal thoughts. First, I love how close they got to Dery's design, from sculpting to colors, he's about as close as you can get in a $20 toy. It exceeds expectations, IMHO- just a lot of character for a 2 dimensional army builder bad guy from a few scenes in TF: The Movie.  For negatives, the ankle rockers, the shoulders, and the lower jaw (which is a PITA in bot mode, as Mike mentioned, for its lack of locking mechanism in bot mode) are a bit looser than I'd like; they're not floppy, and it will hold any pose I put it in, they just feel a little too loose for a brand new fig. Design wise, the one time where a ball joint would have been preferable, they instead used a pinned friction hinge for the Shark mode's shoulders, which greatly reduce the poseability in alt mode. I also wish the hands had been molded in a scratching pose instead of resting at his sides.  All in all, a nice addition to the G1 cast of characters, and at deluxe scale, I think he works better in comparison to his previous smaller legends and Cyberverse toys.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I finally got my copy of Kingdom Gnaw yesterday, and since Mike already did a comprehensive review, I just want to post a few personal thoughts. First, I love how close they got to Dery's design, from sculpting to colors, he's about as close as you can get in a $20 toy. It exceeds expectations, IMHO- just a lot of character for a 2 dimensional army builder bad guy from a few scenes in TF: The Movie.  For negatives, the ankle rockers, the shoulders, and the lower jaw (which is a PITA in bot mode, as Mike mentioned, for its lack of locking mechanism in bot mode) are a bit looser than I'd like; they're not floppy, and it will hold any pose I put it in, they just feel a little too loose for a brand new fig. Design wise, the one time where a ball joint would have been preferable, they instead used a pinned friction hinge for the Shark mode's shoulders, which greatly reduce the poseability in alt mode. I also wish the hands had been molded in a scratching pose instead of resting at his sides.  All in all, a nice addition to the G1 cast of characters, and at deluxe scale, I think he works better in comparison to his previous smaller legends and Cyberverse toys.

Hah!  You got your SS86 Gnaw the same day I finally got a G1 Gnaw!  Thus completes my 1986 movie collection...

There's a part of me that wants to buy two more SS86 Gnaws, but another part of me hoping for a pack of slight recolors.

[M'Kyuun]

Nice collection going there, Mike.  I only own Galvatron and Springer out of that crowd.

All things being equal, I'm far happier with my WfC figs; the old toys just hold no appeal for me. That said, I'm glad you were able to find these guys in such good shape for your display, and that they bring a measure of happiness and satisfaction.

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

All things being equal, I'm far happier with my WfC figs; the old toys just hold no appeal for me.

I mean, I think we can agree objectively that the newer WfC and SS86 toys are huge improvements in articulation and cartoon accuracy over the their 1986 counterparts (although I'm still thinking I'd like a better Arcee and Ultra Magnus).  But here's the thing, and I'm sure I've talked about this before, but my family was kind of poor growing up.  My dad was actually out of work for a year around the time Transformers was really taking off; it's why the only Transformer toys I had prior to the 86 movie were Sideswipe, Bumblebee, all three Insecticons, Powerglide, and Seaspray.  But I loved Transformers, and my parents knew it, so when things got better my dad took me to see the movie and I got a ton of Transformers for Christmas that year.  In fact, out of the above lineup, Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, and Springer were the only ones I didn't have (and in the case of Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr I'd actually get them again when the Targetmaster versions came out, but somehow still missed Cyclonus and Scourge).  I was already fueled a bit by nostalgia; I'd already had the Hot Rod, I grabbed the Rodimus Prime when I found a good deal one one that was only missing the blast shields, and I bought Kup and Blurr from a friend of my brother.  Between seeing the 86 movie in theaters again, though, and getting most of the 86 cast in WFC and SS86 really lit a fire under me for completing that group.

I dunno what's next.  Maybe try to get the rest of the cast that appeared in the movie but were 84/85?  I think I only need Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Thrust, Dirge, Reflector, Blitzwing, and Ratbat to finish the Decepticons that were in it.  Unfortunately, I'm a lot farther off from having the Autobots, since I only have Prime, Blaster, and Bumblebee.

[sh9000]

[JB0]

Blaster's not just a red Soundwave! Hooray!

[M'Kyuun]

Had I known this Blaster was coming, I'd have passed on the CW version, which was a bit oversized and couldn't hold a regular tape. Definitely will pick this guy up. Why oh why did they have to make the cassette from trans plastic?- usually doesn't bode well for longevity.

Pipes doesn't look too bad;  I like the Huffer mold. But I'm not really feeling the white arms, which in turn become white smoke stacks, thus ruining the realism a little.  His silver weapons, which are supposed to be his stacks, look odd sitting on his hitch deck. Wish they'd changed the transformation a bit so his arms moved to the center of his cab letting the silver bits become his stacks instead.

No idea who the third guy is. looks just so-so to me. Not sure if it's mistransformed here, but you can clearly see his face looking up asking Primus why the hell he got stuck with such a poor design. Big beefy bot, with tiny forearms and even tinier hands. Just looks all kinds of disproportionate.

18 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I mean, I think we can agree objectively that the newer WfC and SS86 toys are huge improvements in articulation and cartoon accuracy over the their 1986 counterparts (although I'm still thinking I'd like a better Arcee and Ultra Magnus).  But here's the thing, and I'm sure I've talked about this before, but my family was kind of poor growing up.  My dad was actually out of work for a year around the time Transformers was really taking off; it's why the only Transformer toys I had prior to the 86 movie were Sideswipe, Bumblebee, all three Insecticons, Powerglide, and Seaspray.  But I loved Transformers, and my parents knew it, so when things got better my dad took me to see the movie and I got a ton of Transformers for Christmas that year.  In fact, out of the above lineup, Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, and Springer were the only ones I didn't have (and in the case of Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr I'd actually get them again when the Targetmaster versions came out, but somehow still missed Cyclonus and Scourge).  I was already fueled a bit by nostalgia; I'd already had the Hot Rod, I grabbed the Rodimus Prime when I found a good deal one one that was only missing the blast shields, and I bought Kup and Blurr from a friend of my brother.  Between seeing the 86 movie in theaters again, though, and getting most of the 86 cast in WFC and SS86 really lit a fire under me for completing that group.

I dunno what's next.  Maybe try to get the rest of the cast that appeared in the movie but were 84/85?  I think I only need Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Thrust, Dirge, Reflector, Blitzwing, and Ratbat to finish the Decepticons that were in it.  Unfortunately, I'm a lot farther off from having the Autobots, since I only have Prime, Blaster, and Bumblebee.

Same boat financially; I usually split my birthday/Christmas requests between LEGO and Transformers. I don't think I even had as many G1 figs as you did. I would sometimes ask for other stuff, too, though, like Zoids, or another building toy brand called Brix Blox, which I built with as much as, if not more, than LEGO.  Anyway, by '86, I was 14 turning 15 and my dissatisfaction with the TF toys due to their lack of articulation was eroding their appeal to me. I still bought the odd bot here and there, but in '90 I joined the military and lost touch with TFs for probably about a year or two. I remember seeing the train bots in a hobby store near Kadena, but I opted to buy my first Gundam instead, which impressed the ever living stuffing out of me for all its glorious articulation. I went on to buy a few more, including the then new F91, which I still need to finish after nearly thirty years. Tough model to paint by hand.  Anyway, the appeal of G1 toys, but not G1 itself,  was already pretty low by the time I was in my late teens.  G2 didn't really appeal to me either, except for the Cyberjets, which had ball joints for all the major joints and represented in my mind a revolution, and hopefully, a harbinger of good things to come.  Then came Beast/Machine Wars and while the animal forms weren't my preference, I loved the direction the toys were taking with more complexity and articulation. Classics had the promise of, finally, the old G1 toys reimagined with articulation, but they still weren't quite what we wanted, were they? MP answered that desire, but the releases were sporadic and slow in releasing, and then the whole toon-centric direction  lessened its appeal for me. And now WfC/Legacy are finally, FINALLY, giving me what I wanted in the box nearly 40 years ago when I bought Prowl in '84. The line's not without its stinkers, as you mentioned, Mike (UM for sure, Astrotrain, Arcee), but the vast majority have been winners IMHO.  The 13 year old me within rejoices every time I pick up a new one of these figs- I constantly daydreamed, pondered, and imagined what those old toys would look like with improved articulation, and now I can hold the accumulation of those hopes and dreams in my hands. much like MP, WfC, SS86, and Legacy are dreams come true for me.  I don't even spare a thought for the old G1 toys. But, just like in Toy Story, all toys should be loved and cared for for the joy they bring to their owners, be they young or old, and I'm glad yours have a good home where they'll be loved and appreciated. I wish you every success in tracking down the rest of the figs you're missing; I hope you achieve a complete set, or complete to you. They still make for fun fidget toys- simple yet satisfying. 

[tekering]

35 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

No idea who the third guy is.

Didn't you recognize the alt. mode?

On 11/18/2021 at 4:59 AM, mikeszekely said:

Thus completes my 1986 movie collection...

As a child, I tended to keep my Transformers in their vehicle modes (whether in storage or on display), because they invariably looked better in their alt. modes AND were far more anime-accurate than they were as robots...

...and even as a child, I had no interest whatsoever in that so-called Galvatron.

Thinking back, I often wonder if my interest in Transformers today is fueled simply by my dissatisfaction with G1 toys.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

No idea who the third guy is. looks just so-so to me. Not sure if it's mistransformed here, but you can clearly see his face looking up asking Primus why the hell he got stuck with such a poor design. Big beefy bot, with tiny forearms and even tinier hands. Just looks all kinds of disproportionate.

Slammer was the name of the tank drone that came with G1 Metroplex.  Like G1 Brunt, the G1 toy was just a tank; it didn't transform.  And like Siege Brunt, I do believe that Kingdom Slammer is a Weaponizer.  In other words, his bot mode is pretty much an afterthought, but just like Sixgun, Cog, Brunt, Fasttrack, and Full-Tilt I'm stoked to have him (actually, it really makes me want a better Deluxe-sized Scamper... maybe packed in with a better Titan Metroplex?).  My biggest complaint isn't the goofy robot or the visible face in the tank, it's all the black on the tank.  Might have to repaint mine when I get him.

1 hour ago, tekering said:

As a child, I tended to keep my Transformers in their vehicle modes (whether in storage or on display), because they invariably looked better in their alt. modes AND were far more anime-accurate than they were as robots...

...and even as a child, I had no interest whatsoever in that so-called Galvatron.

Maybe I'll flip them all to alt mode and take another picture.

...actually, I'm planning on putting together a special 35 year pictorial where I'll be comparing the original 86 toys with their modern WfC/SS86 figures.

But c'mon, Galvatron is actually a pretty cool figure.  As a kid my biggest gripe was that he wasn't purple (and as an adult I've got the Gen Selects version coming and I can't wait!).  Of course, he didn't have a ton of competition, as the 86 toys tend to have weird designs based on Dery's early designs before they cleaned them up for animation and poor articulation even when they didn't strictly have to.  Of the lot, I'd say that Galvatron and Scourge are probably the highlights, Blurr, Wheelie, and Wreck-Gar being the worst.

[sh9000]

I still love my G1 toys.  Here are some old school childhood pics.

[mikeszekely]

Do you still have them?  My parents gave most of mine away when I was a kid.

And dang!  I had Trypticon as a kid, and I remember him being big... but he's not much taller than Galvatron in your picture.

[sh9000]

I sold off most of my loose G1 collection a long time ago and upgraded to MOSC and MISB.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I still love my G1 toys.  Here are some old school childhood pics.

Despite my low opinion of the G1 toys, mostly b/c of their lack of articulation, I'd be lying if I didn't say these bring back a lot of warm and fuzzy memories of a lot of time spent looking at these as a kid.  Even now, there's a strong spark of nostalgia that goes to full bright whenever I see these or some of the old box art. They definitely had a good marketing team at Hasbro- it's amazing how something like this can still stir up excitement nearly thirty plus years later. I wish they still put these brochures in with today's toys.

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Slammer was the name of the tank drone that came with G1 Metroplex.  Like G1 Brunt, the G1 toy was just a tank; it didn't transform.  And like Siege Brunt, I do believe that Kingdom Slammer is a Weaponizer.  In other words, his bot mode is pretty much an afterthought, but just like Sixgun, Cog, Brunt, Fasttrack, and Full-Tilt I'm stoked to have him (actually, it really makes me want a better Deluxe-sized Scamper... maybe packed in with a better Titan Metroplex?).  My biggest complaint isn't the goofy robot or the visible face in the tank, it's all the black on the tank.  Might have to repaint mine when I get him.

Maybe I'll flip them all to alt mode and take another picture.

...actually, I'm planning on putting together a special 35 year pictorial where I'll be comparing the original 86 toys with their modern WfC/SS86 figures.

But c'mon, Galvatron is actually a pretty cool figure.  As a kid my biggest gripe was that he wasn't purple (and as an adult I've got the Gen Selects version coming and I can't wait!).  Of course, he didn't have a ton of competition, as the 86 toys tend to have weird designs based on Dery's early designs before they cleaned them up for animation and poor articulation even when they didn't strictly have to.  Of the lot, I'd say that Galvatron and Scourge are probably the highlights, Blurr, Wheelie, and Wreck-Gar being the worst.

To @tekering & @mikeszekely Thanks for setting me straight. I never had much interest in the Titans, so my knowledge of their packed-in minions is woefully poor. I can see the resemblance to the original now that it's been pointed out. Not my cuppa, but a nice companion piece for those who own titan class Metroplex.

Looking forward to your pictorial. I enjoy seeing the old-new comparisons.

G1 Galvatron is a mixed bag.  HUGE liberties were taken with his animated appearance, such that it's difficult to equate the toy with Dery's very stylized take. Of course, that makes it difficult for today's toymakers trying to translate something that stylized compared to the original toy.  As a toy, though, G1 Galvy had his positives if you can evaluate him apart from the animation. He had hip and knee articulation, ratcheted even! which were nigh unheard of among the majority of TF toys at the time.  His arms had an impressive range of articulation, also ratcheted, for the time as well. Sure, his biceps were huge and bulky and his forearms puny by comparison, but it was to facilitate the transformation, and back then it didn't bother me as much as it would today if a similar contrast ended up on a modern fig. He even had a waist swivel. He had lights and sound, if that sort of thing floats your boat ( I've never been much of a fan of electronics in my toys). He could become a ground cannon, a sci-fi pistol, and a robot, making him a 2.5 changer, since you just folded the arms up parallel to the body and extended the handle for a grip to form the pistol. Still, as a toy, I thought he was pretty cool, and def one of the best to come out of the '86 Movie lineup, and honestly, one of the best in the whole line due to all the articulation he possessed.