The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

I'm honestly not sure what they are and aren't allowed to do there, given that a. Hasbro designed and made the toy, b. based on their IP, and c. due to issues with distribution around store-exclusives Hasbro has started holding 20% of the stock on them to sell through Pulse.  It might have been the case that Hasbro couldn't sell the exact same toy, but maybe they could have re-cast the gray parts in white for the Sunbow crowd and reasonably passed it off as a new deco.  It's not like there was a licensing issue, like with Volkswagen and Netflix Bumblebee.   At the very least, nothing was stopping them from designing a new one that isn't a Siege retool, even if that new one was a Blaster retool.  As long as it turned into a tape deck.  Any way you slice it I really think re-releasing the Siege toy had to be the worst possible option.

[Mechapilot77]

my 2 cents if anyone cares...

motormaster:  well done hastak designers.  the trailer as teh skeleton approach is a good idea and the way they've done it appears superior (conceptually) to the 3P MP versions.  its not "G1 MP" so it has the lattitude to do that i guess.

wildrider.:  a bit lazy IMO, hope it folds up a little better than the promo pics.  killer ferrari mode.

elita 1:  finally an elita 1 thats her own mold and has an alt mode somewhat (though more earthlike) inspired by tthe G1 toon cybertronian car.

soundwave:  ummm, how about reissue the nextflix one instead?  i got one but had to get it from a japanese online store because walmart distro was crap.  paint him a little different if thats an issue for walmart.

knockout:  great use of the jazz mold (way better than that black and yellow abomination of a redeco) with new panels....very nice alt mode.  totally getting this and hoping for more prime universe characters.

SG MAgnus:  don't care for the skull face.  the magnus face should have yellow yes though IMO and should also have yellow shin highlights.  i think i've bought this mold too many times to fall for it again (siege, OSKO siege with fixes, earthrise)....plus a recent legends 3P release scratches my itch for this style deco.  i may cave later but might not.

robosen:  like how they charging more for the trailer than the base bot.  its so much less impressive IMO.  i guess they figure if you spent for op, you have enough money  to waste on that trailer too.  i am....not committing to the trailer.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Mechapilot77 said:

my 2 cents if anyone cares...

I read everything you wrote, if it helps.  And I agree with 99% of it.  I just don't care about the Robosen stuff enough to have a strong opinion there.  And I'm in for SG Magnus, but I'll be putting the Delta head on him and he's going to be my Diaclone Delta Magnus.  It's worth it for me for the smaller cab robot alone; I know it's kind of crappy, but it's not often we get the blue Optimus.  I'm kind of hoping they do a Shining Magnus, too, just so I can get the yellow one.

BTW, regarding the shin highlights... yeah, the MP Delta Magnus gave him yellow.  However, it was red on the original Diaclone toy, and most 3P versions went with red.  It's actually SG Magnus that's right and the MP that's wrong.

 

Anyway, quick addendum to my Laser Prime review.  Doesn't really affect my ultimate opinion (it's one of my favorite Legacy figs so far, but it definitely has some flaws that allowed Dragstrip to overtake him), but I thought I'd point them out anyway.

One thing that initially bugged me was that the trailer didn't have the feet that the Earthrise box trailer does.  I even grabbed my non-modified Nemesis Prime trailer to make sure the feet weren't something I added on myself, and no, they're there.  Turns out that Laser Prime's trailer isn't doomed to tip over, though.  There's a cutout on the bottom of the trailer that allows the claw arm to fold out without opening the trailer up.  It's not real-world truck-accurate, but it'll do in a pinch.

Second, you know how Prime's trailer seemed a little bland, lacking a lot of the weapons and gimmicks of the original G2 trailer?  There are plenty of 5mm ports inside, though, and if you've collected some Weaponizers you can have plenty of fun with them.  I used the three Gen Selects Powerdashers to get the trailer armed up this much, with just a little car and drill tank left over.  (If you didn't get the Powerdashers, you can try this with Sixgun, Cog, and Guardian Drone/Brunt, or you can try making your own configuration.)

[sh9000]

Too bad Target doesn’t list all Transformers on their site.

[sh9000]

I was happy to find Legacy Galvatron earlier today at Target on their last day of the toy sale.  They also had Laser Optimus Prime but I left it there.  I might get a Nemesis Prime if/when it gets released.

[M'Kyuun]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:17 PM, lechuck said:

So having had MP-53 Skids for a little over a week now and here are my observations and thoughts...

The transformation is simple and boring - arms are very fiddly to pull out or tuck in when transforming, not an ideal implementation. Generally transformation has no intricacy, sense of engagement or achievement in the process, hardly anything to really to marvel about, maybe the split thighs as a novelty. Also don't forget to shift the thighs outward to have proper spacing between the legs.

A bit ironic that hybrid approach and emphasis on a accurate looking car still has Skid's end up with an additional fake car hatch part for the robot calves. Not sure why they didn't just split the actual car hatch in half and use them for the legs instead of hiding the whole part in Skid's back. Those robot calves by the way don't lock or tab in at all, which is annoying because it comes apart when you try to move the lower leg as the hinge above the shin has a weaker resistance compared to actual knee joint.

Accessories... a sad sight when you open the box, more could have been done here. Chrome fire weapons always looks tacky to me, Skids will not change that.

Alt-mode looks nice, plenty of paint used. To spite TF fans, I think Honda/Takara should have insisted on using the European Jazz model name and plastering it everywhere

Skids can also pull off his show room mode to avoid Decepticon detection.

From the feet to the the waist/abdomen area the robot proportions and silhouette look very good, everything seems to have the right size and ratio. It is the upper part of the robot where it falls apart. The fore-arms are far too thin giving the overall arm the appearance of a twig and this is unfortunately emphasized by the fact that the shoulders are not sitting close enough to the body thanks to some in-between alt-mode part (looks like car suspension to me). So the shoulder line is very wide giving the arms a very clumsy "tacked on" afterthought look. Hollow backpack design, hollow bits around the knees and visible mushroom peg hands don't provide and sense of premium toy feel either. I also wish the head would sit a little more on top of the bonnet, it looks to floaty where it is now.

Articulation is lacklustre, there is no ab-crunch, knees only bend 90 degrees and the feet only really pivot with minimal up movement. Outward leg movement can't go all the way as it is eventually blocked by the hip skirt and the legs can't go backwards either, both of these don't really impede on articulation, but it is a limitation nonetheless. On a positive, the hips work with nice clicky ratchets. Not sure why such a small and light robot needs that, but there you go.
Once again the shoulders become a contention point, no forward pivoting and they are only single jointed at the wheel-pauldron meaning lateral arm upward movement is away from the body looking very weird as the shoulder stays static. Implementing a (second) shoulder joint at the main body would have done wonders. There is also the unfortunate placement of the shoulder rotation point to contend with as it is offset, if you raise his arms up-forward the whole part suddenly sits to low and the shoulder line suddenly looks disjointed.

Overall toy engineering is too basic with some questionable implementation. Much talk was made about it being this new hybrid design approach, but honestly Takara should have done more to celebrate this. Higher engineering could have allowed for optional parts between animation and toy design - like head, thigh or even a front facia that could be swapped out to achieve a different aesthetic or some clever mechanism to change shoulder-wheel orientation. To me this is a missed opportunity. Likewise going backwards with articulation is not acceptable, not for something called Masterpiece in 2021. For some it might be great to have a sub-100 Euro MP, but personally I would have preferred paying more if it meant I get a higher premium feeling toy that provides more entertaining options.

MP-53 is in essence an expensive oversized CHUG Transformer, not really a Masterpiece in a premium toy sense. I hope Shouki fares better and more importantly MP Skyfire doesn't turn out this way.

So, my copy came yesterday, and while Lechuck's criticisms are valid, especially those too-skinny arms and the faux hatchback detail on the calves, it's still a decent fig. As to the transformation, as Lechuck pointed out, stowing the arms when going to car mode, and on my copy anyway, trying to tab in the little panels in his arm pits proved to be a little frustrating. I still like him, but there's definitely a simplicity to him that does indeed feel more like an overpriced CHUG than what we've come to know and expect from the MP line over the last few years. But, Skids is a pretty undersung and lesser known character, so I'm just glad he got an MP fig at all, and that it turned out at least as well as it did. I wish Hasbro would put this kind of paint on their Generations line. That'd be sweet. 

[sh9000]

[mikeszekely]

If Galaxy Force/Cybertron was your jam and you're excited for this I'm happy for you. It'd be selfish of me to only expect G1 Titans. But no way I'm spending $200 on it. Maybe if it winds up on closeout at Ross/Burlington/TJ Maxx/Marshalls...

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I am not impressed by Megalo Convoy mk 2.  I like the Galaxy Force version better.  No way I would pay 200 for this.

[M'Kyuun]

I didn't even know what it was initially until I scrolled down to the atrocious alt mode.  This is a prime example, no pun intended, of why I generally loathe the UT toy designs. I consider it one of the lowest points in the franchise.  If you like it, though, good for you, and honestly, for the sake of the UT fans, I hope they make more. Every fan deserves updates to their favorite lines, and not everything has to be G1 all the time.  

[anime52k8]

Is this a new figure or a reissue of the original?

[JB0]

Some of the Cybertron designs were awesome. This... was not one of them.

 

(Yeah, G1 Metroplex's transformation was also "sit down and hide the head", but he at least had the details needed to sell that as a vehicle.)

[anime52k8]

To be fair, G1 Metroplex didn't have a giant circular saw.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, anime52k8 said:

Is this a new figure or a reissue of the original?

It's a new figure.  The big thing, pun intended, is that this new version is a Titan-class, and much larger than the original.  I think the original was around 13" tall, and the press release for the new version says 22".  Here's some side-by-sides I made with the images released today and the ones of the original on TFU.info.

Tall robot mode

Short robot mode

Vehicle mode

I'm not sure what kind of articulation the original had, but you can see that the new version looks to have lateral shoulder movement, lateral hip movement, ankle pivots, ankle swivels, wrist swivels, a waist swivel, and maybe an ab crunch.

Knowing how picky Geewunners like me can be about colors and stuff, I can see that the new version is very much not the original but bigger and with better articulation.  Some stuff that was white or black on the original is blue now, the proportions in the bigger robot mode are better and less lanky, and the transformation to the shorter robot mode looks different.  For that matter, the transformation to alt mode looks different, too, with the forearms turned in against the legs instead of turned back (although, I imagine you could just turn the biceps 180 degrees).  Now, I didn't watch Cybertron/Galaxy Force, and I wasn't really collecting the toys at the time, so my opinion doesn't count for much... but I think the new version looks better all around.  But, as @M'Kyuun and @JB0 have suggested, they weren't exactly working from the best base.  It might just be me, but I think the fandom would have been more on board with a non-G1 Titan if they'd gone with someone like Tidal Wave.  I mean, I didn't care for Armada (I did, at least, watch it) but I loved the PS2 game and the boss fight with Tidal Wave was one of the best parts.  As it stands, I know that Titans have traditionally been low-volume, high-cost, low-margin figures for Hasbro.  I get why they've had to increase prices, what with everything going up since the pandemic, but increasing the price then releasing what seems to be the least-appealing Titan release so far seems like a questionable move.

Anyway, I stand by what I said earlier.  I am absolutely not spending $200 on this guy.  If I can find him later at a discount, at least 40-50% off, I might check him out just because I'm curious.  Maybe it'll inspire me to finally check out Cybertron.

[anime52k8]

I'm like, really annoyed that I'm just now learning that haslab starsaber was a thing; and I missed it.

[sh9000]

I’d buy a more G1 looking Titan Metroplex to go with Trypticon instead of that Metroplex.

[JB0]

You know what the funniest thing about Cybertron Metroplex's vehicle mode is?

The body is too large, and the digger arm too small. The pit mine diggers it is inspired by look like spindly delicate things, despite being some of the largest vehicles wrought by the hands of men.

[mikeszekely]

33 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

I'm like, really annoyed that I'm just now learning that haslab starsaber was a thing; and I missed it.

Sorry, I know we brought it up here a couple of times.  The response to the crowdfund seemed to be a bit tepid, at least here at MW.  I backed it, but I'm not sure how many others did.

Just now, sh9000 said:

I’d buy a more G1 looking Titan Metroplex to go with Trypticon instead of that Metroplex.

There were rumors that there was going to be a new G1 Titan Metroplex, but I'm thinking that someone found out that Hasbro was doing another Titan Metroplex and just assumed it was G1.  Ironically, if they'd done a more G1-accurate Titan Metroplex with proper foot articulation, even if it was a bit shorter (say, around the same size as Omega Supreme or the Ark), and it came with a better Deluxe-sized Scamper, I probably would have forked over $200 for that.  I'd like a do-over on Fortress Maximus, too, with a more-accurate G1 city mode.

Speaking of city bots... I got some more repaints for you guys.

First up, I'm late to the party on this one, but I grabbed Generations Selects Black Roritchi.  Black Roritchi is a very slight remold of Earthrise Fasttrack.  The gray on Fasttrack's body was swapped for gold, and the orange wheels and guns were swapped for purple.  The black thighs, black paint apss on the arms, toes, and abdomen, and the blue chest windows are all carried over.  While the gray on Fasttrack's body became gold on Black Roritchi, the gray dagger is black down, for some reason.

Fun fact, the original G1 Fasttrack was basically entirely gray, save for the orange wheels and guns.  Likewise, the G1 Black Roritchi wasn't black at all.  He was made entirely of gold plastic with purple wheels and guns tacked on.  The extra colors on these two is based on an episode of the Japanese Super God Masterforce anime, where an unnamed gold guy was leading a small army of gray ones referred to as Guardminders.

The slight retooling I mentioned has to do with his head,  More specifically, the back of it.  The front's the same, but the back was entirely different molded detail that omits Fasttrack's little antenna.  The antenna, uncolored on the G1 toys, were present on both the original Fasttrack and Black Roritchi, but again when you refer to Masterforce the gray Guardminders have antenna, but their gold leader doesn't.

Transformation is identical, and once again you can plug the dagger into the back of his head to make a little seat for a Titan Master.

And, once again, you can transform him into a spear for a Titan.  Just a very crappy one.

By now I'm sure you guys know I love these old minor G1 citybot pack-ins getting new life as Weaponizers in the WfC line.  I'm sure I probably recommended Fasttrack, and I'll stand by that.  And yet, despite the Powerdashers giving me a second version of Sixgun and Cog, and a third version of Brunt since I also have the Centurion drone, I didn't feel particularly compelled to pick up Black Roritchi.  He didn't really seem essential.  That is, not until I picked up...

...Black Zarak.  Look, when we're talking about $20, $30, even $50 I don't really hesitate to pick up repaints for a lot of modern Transformers.  Silverstreak was my 5th version of the Earthrise Datsun mold, and I didn't even think twice.  A $180 repaint, though, is a tougher pill to swallow.  Especially when I don't have a ton of room to keep adding more Titans!  But here's the thing... Scorponok was a pretty good figure.  And Black Zarak's colors are pretty swish.  And, while the original was Japanese-exclusive and had no role in any American Transformers media that I'm aware, he was a major villain in Masterforce and Zone.  So while I couldn't bring myself to shell out $180, I could bring myself to grab one when Dorkside Toys ran a sale on Transformers.

And, yeah, from the neck down, it's Scorponok in different colors.  He's got a very new head, though... which was pretty much how the G1 toy went.  I'll note that Scorponok had kind of weird proportions (although not as weird as the G1 toy), but for some reason the wonky proportions seem much more noticeable with the new head.

Black Zarak has more or less the same accessories as Scorponok.  You get a Titan Master, the thin, too-tiny shield, two double-barreled shoulder cannons (where the G1 toy had four), and the similarly-thin panels for the outsides of his legs.  Once again, you don't get his rifle, either.  But you do get a six new pieces that combine to form Black Zarak's signature spear.  That's something new, eh?  Likely to save money, one side of the spear is a bit hollowed out, but it kind of works in Black Zarak's favor.  See, while there are some pegs on the shaft, there's no ports to plug it into in Black Zarak's hands.  His hands do have ridges, though, and they kind of fit into the hollows enough that the tension of his fingers generally lets him hold the spear without too much trouble.  I will say that they missed a big opportunity, though.  See, one of my complaints about this mold going back to Scorponok is that there isn't a weapon for his Deluxe-sized head robot to wield.  You'll notice that the shaft parts of the spear have pegs, and the pointy bits just have peg holes.  If that arrangement had been reversed, so the pointy bits had pegs that plugged into holes on the shaft, you could have used some of those pointy bits to make a sword for a Deluxe-sized figure, similar to the way that the tip of the Master Sword included with the Japanese release of Fortress Maximus became a smaller sword for Fortress/Cerebros.

The fully-built spear is much larger and more cartoon-accurate than making one out of Fasttrack or Black Roritchi.  While I'm comparing, I'll also note that the brown mustard-colored gold use on Black Zarak is not a match for the gold plastic used on Black Roritchi.  Oh well.

The Titan Master is very nearly the same as the one that comes with Scorponok, just in different colors.  However, the face was remolded slightly to include an eyepatch in head mode.  Aside from giving him a bit of a more distinct appearance, this is a reference to Black Zarak's appearance in Zone, where the Demon General sports an eyepatch.

Most of the head robot is, again, repainted from Scorponok's.  The differences are mostly on the panels on the outside of his arms, legs, and back that make up the larger form's head, although Black Zarak does have some new battle damage on his chest.  It looks pretty cool, with some red-painted mechanical details inside the X-shaped scar.  This time, I'm not sure what the reference is, though.  I don't feel like watching Masterforce or tracking down a copy of Zone, but I did leaf through the manga, and I didn't notice anything that this might be referring to.

The remolded panels are more noticeable from the sides and back.  I like that Black Zarak doesn't have Scorponok's butt flap, but that's a trade off in head mode.  Another major difference comes down to the "ears".  Black Zarak's are removeable, like Scorponok's.  However, they don't have the little tabs, and his backpack doesn't have any little slots, so you can't partsform them onto his back like you can with Scorponok's.  You're kind of stuck leaving them on his arms.

Transformation is largely the same.  I mentioned that Black Zarak doesn't have Scorponok's butt flap, so the top of Black Zarak's head has a visible crotch and thigh gap that Scorponok doesn't.  Transformation is slightly more of a pain on Black Zarak, though, for two reasons.  One, there's a small gold flap between his brow and the bottom of the red "helmet."  It needs to fold down and out for transformation; you can see it on his back between his shoulders in the robot-mode picture.  There is almost no way to get that flap out without some kind of tool like a spudger.  Second, like Scorponok there are little panels that rotate 90 degrees on the arms.  On Black Zarak they like to pop off.  This is because they're the same parts as on Scorponok, but installed on the opposite arms, so instead of moving naturally into place turning them too straight causes molded details to push off against the outer panel.  My first thought, given their reversal, was that it was an assembly error.  However, the new outer panels that make up the new outside of Black Zarak's head don't actually allow them to be installed on the other arms.

City mode.  Nothing really unusual going on, it's pretty G1 accurate minus the towers made up from the gun they didn't give him, and the fact that the flaps on the ground in front of his legs should be gold.  Well, and the oft-omitted stuff like little claws and antennas.  You can store the new spear by splitting it in half, then swapping the top and bottom to the opposite halves.  Then pegs on the sides plug into his claws.

Scorpion mode, too, is as good as it ever was.  I'll note that, just as Scorponok was missing some orange on top of his back due to how the legs transform on this mold vs the G1 mold, Black Zarak is missing red in the same spot.  He's also missing some gold and silver on his tail.  While I don't think that gold paint will match the plastic it's relatively easy to pull the last two sections of the tail off if you want to paint them yourself (I plan on painting at least the silver tip).  Another thing worth noting is that, unlike Scorponok, you don't turn the head around for this mode.  This time the scorpion's "eyes" are on Black Zarak's forehead.  What you want to do instead is to get that little flap I was talking about and fold it out to cover over most of his face.  Now, you know that purple collar piece on Scorponok?  Black Zarak has one, too, in black.  However, because his head doesn't need to turn the instructions tell you that you don't actually need it and can remove it.  Indeed, I've heard that leaving it on can lead to scratches on the red paint on the back of his head, although I haven't noticed that on my copy yet.

Once again, storage for the spear was considered.  As with the city mode you'll need to split the spear in half.  This time, the bottom point stays on the bottom half, but the top of the spear will be removed entirely.  The halves of the shaft use pegs to fit into screw holes, more or less, on Black Zarak's robo-thighs.  The top of the spear plugs into a 5mm port on the tip of his tail, which looks cool enough.  However, the friction in the tail joint isn't really adequate and the weight of the spear causes it to droop.

Like Black Roritchi, Black Zarak is hardly necessary and the price tag will likely put many collectors off of the Japanese-exclusive repaint character.  As I noted, though, Earthrise Scorponok was a pretty good toy, and if you think you'd like a repaint with cooler colors and a better head then you'll probably enjoy Black Zarak.  My only real regret is that I know I'm going to wind up buying a DNA upgrade kit for him that'll cost me as much as the figure itself.

[Scyla]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I didn't even know what it was initially until I scrolled down to the atrocious alt mode.  This is a prime example, no pun intended, of why I generally loathe the UT toy designs. I consider it one of the lowest points in the franchise.  If you like it, though, good for you, and honestly, for the sake of the UT fans, I hope they make more. Every fan deserves updates to their favorite lines, and not everything has to be G1 all the time.  

To be honest to me, a fan of the engineering in Transformers with almost no nostalgia for the G1 cartoon, this looks exactly like any other Transformer that doesn’t need to reassemble a real alt-mode. To me this is in line with the Metroplex, Fortress Maximus and Omega Supreme Titan toys: wonky proportions, super simple transformation, suggestive alt-mode.

 

[M'Kyuun]

For those interested, MPM Blackout has been revealed.  I already have the Studio Series version, which itself is a pretty good fig of this guy. Not sure what this really brings to the table that would make me want another leader scaled Blackout at a likelier higher price tag. Looks nice, though.

 

[mikeszekely]

I'm not going to go out of my way to get him, but if he gets sold at Target like the last three I might pick him up.

EDIT: And apparently the CAD files were leaked and Black Mamba is already working on a modified KO...

Edited April 20, 2022 by mikeszekely

[mikeszekely]

Today's been a pretty good day for me.  I got a pristine G1 Menasor- no missing pieces, everything's in great shape, just missing the stickers for the cars.  Then I went to Target to buy a birthday present for my friend's daughter and I finally, finally was able to find the last first-wave Legacy figure, Deluxe-class Kickback.

*Sorry I cut off the top of his wings, but they're nearly as long as he is tall and I wanted you to see the figure itself a bit more clearly.

Anyway... Kickback's a good mix of G1 cartoon and toy details.  His red visor, nose and pouting mouth are cartoon details.  He's actually got hands, and that's a cartoon thing.  The Decepticon badge on the black part of his chest that wedges into the gold instead of on his right breast, that's a cartoon thing.  But the silver forehead is G1 toy.  The painted bit on his left breast, the yellow on his knees, and the red on his shins are all details borrowed from the G1 toy's stickers.  I'd also argue that his proportions, especially his very broad shoulders, are more toy than cartoon.  But you know what?  I think that's fine.  The translucent gold plastic with the silver details underneath look great.  From this angle, I think it's pretty much what you'd want Kickback to look like.

I do have some notes, though, as we spin him around.  I do like that he's pretty clean when you look at his back; there have been how many 3P Kickbacks that seemed to struggle with what to do with his bug legs, but Hasbro seemed pretty content to stick with G1.  That does leave him with some bug legs on the back so his arms, but nothing egregious.  That said, I wish they'd painted his bicep black.  I get why they didn't, and it's not pinned so I might pull it off, mask the insect leg part, and paint the rest.  Because it'd be more accurate if they had.  There's molded detail on the outside of his legs that copies the shapes from the G1 stickers, but they're left a cartoon black.  I gotta say, though, I'm not a fan of the wings.  I mean, the general shape is great but they replaced the more mechanical lines of the G1 toy with something more organic-looking.  Then, instead of chrome, it's translucent.

Kickback comes with three accessories.  The one is a gun, cast in black plastic but painted silver with some purple accents.  Purple accents aside, the sculpt is pretty similar to the G1 toy's.  The other two accessories are a pair of purple-tinged clear plastic sword-ish weapons.

Kickback's head is on a ball joint, with the ball inside the torso instead of his head.  He can swivel and he's got some limited up/down/sideways tilt.  His shoulders rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend far beyond 90 degrees.  No wrist swivels, though.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go forward and backward 90 degrees and just slightly over that laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet have a slight tilt down, plenty of tilt up (due to transformation), and 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

His gun and his swords can plug into either fist.

Additionally, he's got 5mm ports on his shoulders, the outside of his forearms, the outside of his lower legs, under his toes, and one on his back.  The one on his back makes for some decent storage for his gun.  The swords have 5mm pegs on the back sides, and the instructions suggest storing them on his shoulders.  However, I think you could use the ports on his forearms to use them like arm blades, too.

Like his robot mode, Kickback's alt mode is G1, almost to a fault.  I mean, even the transformation is more or less the G1 toy's- the head turns 180 degrees, move the ears a little, bring the wings around, split the arms in half, fold in the feet, and pull out the rear legs.  The only new elements are that there's a panel that folds up from his back to help hide his robot face, there's an extra ball joint on his rear bug ankles, and his robot fists fold in to bring out the insect foot.  There's no attempt to give him a more insect-like abdomen, as was the case with the older Titans Return Legends-class.  I've heard it suggested that it might have been nice of the robot legs collapsed over the thighs, and while I sympathize with the sentiment- his robot legs do seem pretty long- doing so would be neither cartoon nor toy-accurate.

So, yeah, I think it works pretty well overall.  I kind of wish they'd left his forehead black, as I think it'd look a little more cartoony that way, but I do appreciate that they hid the robot face.  And, again, I wish they'd painted his the back half of his bicep black.  The middle bug legs are a bit chonky due to being his whole robot forearm, but I think that's a small sacrifice.

As far as accessories go, the 5mm ports on his shoulders and the outsides of his legs are still available, and the ones that were on his toes are now facing up.  The one on his forearms are also available, but low to the ground in a way that might not be accommodating to larger accessories.  The instructions suggest using the one on his back, now his bug belly, for his gun, and that does work pretty good.  For the swords, though, there are actually tabs on them that fit into slots near the edges of his wings.  And... well, it kind of looks stupid.  The translucent weapons look kind of stupid, period.  But he's got his G1 gun, which is all he really needed, so it's easy enough to toss the translucent bits into a drawer and forget about them.

What ultimately bugs me the most (pun intended) are just a few minor changes they could have made that would have improved the overall experience, changes they might have had more budget for if they didn't include the translucent weapons.  Mostly, it's in his arms.  For one, I wish there was an additional hinge in his front bug leg.  There's just the one under his shoulder, but he really should have had one at the elbow, too.  For two, the halves of his biceps do not lock together in robot mode.  Some kind of tab/slot to hold his arm together really would have been preferred.  For that matter, while his fist/middle bug foot have points where they can't rotate any further to serve as stopping points for transformation, there's no "thoop", so to speak, that keeps them there.

But the single most egregious thing?  His chest DOES NOT OPEN.  0/10, childhood ruined.  Seriously, think of all the plastic Hasbro could have saved making his chest hollow!  And, ironically enough, the translucent piece does seem to be separate from the black part around it, and it's pinned at the bottom like it could have opened.  But you can see where tabs from it fit into the left and right halves of his torso, sealing it forever in place.

Gripes about his chest not opening aside, Kickback is a figure that succeeds at looking like G1 Kickback by more or less being G1 Kickback with better articulation and a bit more cartoon details.  And, you know, that actually works extremely well, but the overall simplicity lacks any sort of "wow!" factor.  It's delivering what you want with zero frills.  So, yeah, I'd definitely recommend him, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Hasbro will do with Bombshell and Shrapnel, but I'm not exactly enthused over Kickback, either. 

[M'Kyuun]

Appreciate the review, Mike. Looking forward to this guy.  I'm one of those that wishes the thighs would collapse and tab into the lower legs and that his wings mimicked the G1 toy's more mechanical details with a spray of silver paint. It's my main niggle as the rest of him is so faithful to the original toy, and then they go and try to make the wings look organic. IMHO, that'd be like making the heads on the Dinobots look organically accurate while the rest of the dino body looks robotic. It's both weird and uncanny. Too, those wings could have benefitted from an additional hinge at the base to allow them to flare out like real insect wings in flight.  The closed chest doesn't bother me as this isn't meant to be a Diaclone, and IIRC, none of the Insecticons ever used that feature from the toys in the animation. It was simply an interesting, if somewhat mysterious, feature of the G1 toys. Speaking from personal experience, I didn't learn about many of the G1 toys' origins as Diaclone and Micro-change until I was an adult, so those weird cockpit-like cavities in the Dinobots and Insecticons made no sense to me when I was buying them as a teen. Accordingly, I generally disregarded them, as they served no purpose; beyond nostalgia, they still don't.  However, had Has/TT kept that feature intact for these new Insecticons, it would have offered an excellent opportunity for weapon storage had they invested the money they wasted on those useless and unwanted energon weapons in making the actual G1-inspired weapons fold into little cubes that would fit in their chests.  To me, that's the desired solution.  After 40 years, as part of the design evolution, perfectly integrated weapons should be part of the package with these things. Sucks that it's not.  Alas, IIWII.  To end on a positive note, I am rather pleased with how this fig turned out overall. While it is a bit simplistic, and perhaps a step backwards compared to the superior grasshopper mode of the legends scaled TR figure, as an updated G1 toy, it succeeds. It's not perfect, but I still dig it for what it is, and it's one of my more anticipated Legacy figs, along with his arthropod brothers Shrapnel and Bombshell.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

But the single most egregious thing?  His chest DOES NOT OPEN.  0/10, childhood ruined.  Seriously, think of all the plastic Hasbro could have saved making his chest hollow!  And, ironically enough, the translucent piece does seem to be separate from the black part around it, and it's pinned at the bottom like it could have opened.  But you can see where tabs from it fit into the left and right halves of his torso, sealing it forever in place.

I wonder if this mold wasn't originally pitched for the Titanmaster line. Because I was thinking at the time that an insecticon chest was perfect for a headmaster saddle, and that would explain the chestplate having a hinge pin. Late revision to seal the chest, no one thinks to add a tab and slot to remove the need for a pin.

 

"The original toy, but with more joints" sure seems a fair summary. And that's okay, really. It isn't gonna light the world on fire, but not every toy needs to.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm not going to go out of my way to get him, but if he gets sold at Target like the last three I might pick him up.

EDIT: And apparently the CAD files were leaked and Black Mamba is already working on a modified KO...

Even on discount, I doubt I'll spare the expense as there are things I like better about the SS toy. It's been a while since I messed with my copy, so I took him down this evening and transformed him for the first time in a couple years.  The transformation itself is rather apparent, but some of his bits, like the split fairing over the cockpit, didn't want to stay together very well. Still, the helicopter mode is quite large and impressive, and, a few obvious tabs, slots, and hinges notwithstanding, accurate to the MH-53 Pave Low, which I've had the opportunity to see and clamber around in (but sadly never flown in) having worked Spec Ops many moons ago. I still wish they'd fixed the hands on this release, but IIWII. Had I known Grindor would be released with better paint apps and swiveling hands, I would have waited. Alas, retrospect. 

Funny that the CAD is already in the wind. Blackout, IMHO, is one of the better '07 Bayverse designs, with an alt mode that positively sings to my soul, and a bot mode that I genuinely like. I should be excited about this release, but I'm feeling rather ambivalent about it. IMHO, it just doesn't represent much of an evolution from the SS toy. I'm left feeling a bit 'meh' by it.  I look forward to seeing the eventual reviews and comparisons, and perhaps something will convince me otherwise, but for now, I'm probably going to pass on this guy.

 

On a different note, I've voiced my general disdain for the UT toys, but perusing Twitter, one poster reminded me that this gal existed.  Despite kinda digging her alt mode, I don't think I bought her toy back in the day (which is ironic, as I bought any number of other figs which I thought were much worse). Anyway, if Has/TT are embarking on updating UT characters, I wouldn't mind an update of Override as long as they preserve the leg portion of her transformation. The shape of her shins and feet forming the front fenders is just aces and gives her alt mode an iconic look. 😍 However, if they chose to make the entirety of her shoulder form the back fenders to slim out her chest, I'd be down with that decision. I think I'd prefer she had Hulk arms over that wide chest. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, JB0 said:

And that's okay, really. It isn't gonna light the world on fire, but not every toy needs to.

More or less. I mean, Kickback is exactly what he needs to be. He can't help it that we're all jazzed up on new G2 toys and Stunticons that don't suck.

52 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Blackout, IMHO, is one of the better '07 Bayverse designs, with an alt mode that positively sings to my soul, and a bot mode that I genuinely like.

Yeah, he and Barricade were done of the few bright spots in the Bay films. I really wish he'd get the pseudo-G1 treatment Barricade did.

54 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, if Has/TT are embarking on updating UT characters, I wouldn't mind an update of Override as long as they preserve the leg portion of her transformation.

Override is rumored to be coming in a Walmart-exclusive Velocitron line. Given the other leaks for the line, though, I expect her to be a remold of another figure. Question is, who?

Speaking of remolds, I'll be shocked if Elita-1 doesn't get reused for Nightbeat and/or Minerva, but I haven't heard anything.

[mikeszekely]

Yesterday the Hasbro team did a roundtable interview with a number of fan sites.  Most of it's pretty minor stuff... yes, Legacy Blitzwing's turret can rotate, they picked Cybertron Metroplex because he fits the Legacy story about Energon mining (was anyone actually paying attention?), the Energon weapons were designed so you could combine them, Legacy is doing better than Kingdom so far, MP Blackout will be sold in the US, they had to use the Siege mold for Soundwave because of the deal they had with Walmart doesn't allow them to use the Netflix mold, Shattered Glass Magnus will be packed with the first of another 5-issue comic book miniseries and there will be at least four more SG releases after him (spoilers, I'm 99% one of them is Blaster), you can kinda use Combiner Wars legs on the new Menasor but not the arms and Menasor was designed to have a specific combination, etc.

That said, there were few bits of info I considered to be pretty interesting.  The first regards the new packaging.  There have been reports of figures coming in damaged or with missign heads.  They're almost definitely not going back to plastic windows, it's part of a company-wide initiative to make their packaging easier to recycle.  However, going with closed boxes like they already do on the larger figures is an option.  Apparently the open boxes tested well with kids, but to me that begs the question of who's actually buying the figures?  I can see kids buying being into the Cyberverse stuff, and even the movie stuff, but given that Legacy (and WFC before it) has largely been nostalgia bait for Geewunners (and, to a slightly lesser extent, Beast Wars and Prime fans), maybe use the open boxes for Cyberverse and Studio Series and closed boxes for Legacy?

Another interesting thing came up when they were discussing how they decide which figures they do.  That, in itself, isn't a super big deal, and it's a lot of what you might expect- considerations for which characters have and haven't been done, fan demand, which characters a specific designer wants to do, and pressure to keep putting out the most marketable characters.  The interesting point is that one designer kept bringing up Machine Wars.  I, for one, would kill to have a new toy of Machine Wars Optimus Prime.  I think Machine Wars might work, too, in that with the European continuation of G1 there's a ton of repaints already built in- Machine Wars Optimus might not merit a regular retail release, per se, but it'd be an easy Gen Selects release if they decided to release Thunderclash, for example.

The last and most interesting tidbit has to do with combiners.  It was brought up that when the releases are spread across waves that it can be easy to miss one at the time and hard to get a copy of it later.  Most sites reporting on this are acting like the big news here is that the Hasbro team suggested a box set, like they did with RotF Devastator, could be possible.  To me, though, the real news is that they more or less said the reason combiner members get spread out so much is because there are figures planned that will be partial retools.

[mikeszekely]

On 4/6/2022 at 1:24 PM, Negotiator said:

Is the buzzworthy cliffjumper out in the wild yet?

It's back in stock on Pulse. 

[sh9000]

Yeah I was going to post that link too but when you go to checkout, the page says it’s sold out.

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Yesterday the Hasbro team did a roundtable interview with a number of fan sites.  Most of it's pretty minor stuff... yes, Legacy Blitzwing's turret can rotate, they picked Cybertron Metroplex because he fits the Legacy story about Energon mining (was anyone actually paying attention?), the Energon weapons were designed so you could combine them, Legacy is doing better than Kingdom so far, MP Blackout will be sold in the US, they had to use the Siege mold for Soundwave because of the deal they had with Walmart doesn't allow them to use the Netflix mold, Shattered Glass Magnus will be packed with the first of another 5-issue comic book miniseries and there will be at least four more SG releases after him (spoilers, I'm 99% one of them is Blaster), you can kinda use Combiner Wars legs on the new Menasor but not the arms and Menasor was designed to have a specific combination, etc.

That said, there were few bits of info I considered to be pretty interesting.  The first regards the new packaging.  There have been reports of figures coming in damaged or with missign heads.  They're almost definitely not going back to plastic windows, it's part of a company-wide initiative to make their packaging easier to recycle.  However, going with closed boxes like they already do on the larger figures is an option.  Apparently the open boxes tested well with kids, but to me that begs the question of who's actually buying the figures?  I can see kids buying being into the Cyberverse stuff, and even the movie stuff, but given that Legacy (and WFC before it) has largely been nostalgia bait for Geewunners (and, to a slightly lesser extent, Beast Wars and Prime fans), maybe use the open boxes for Cyberverse and Studio Series and closed boxes for Legacy?

Another interesting thing came up when they were discussing how they decide which figures they do.  That, in itself, isn't a super big deal, and it's a lot of what you might expect- considerations for which characters have and haven't been done, fan demand, which characters a specific designer wants to do, and pressure to keep putting out the most marketable characters.  The interesting point is that one designer kept bringing up Machine Wars.  I, for one, would kill to have a new toy of Machine Wars Optimus Prime.  I think Machine Wars might work, too, in that with the European continuation of G1 there's a ton of repaints already built in- Machine Wars Optimus might not merit a regular retail release, per se, but it'd be an easy Gen Selects release if they decided to release Thunderclash, for example.

The last and most interesting tidbit has to do with combiners.  It was brought up that when the releases are spread across waves that it can be easy to miss one at the time and hard to get a copy of it later.  Most sites reporting on this are acting like the big news here is that the Hasbro team suggested a box set, like they did with RotF Devastator, could be possible.  To me, though, the real news is that they more or less said the reason combiner members get spread out so much is because there are figures planned that will be partial retools.

 I missed this, so the recap is much appreciated, Mike. 

Speaking to the energon weapons, I get what they were going for, and if I truly believed kids were going for these more than us old crusty G1 fans, I'd be fine with it. But, I don't believe that, I have zero use for the energon weapons, and wish the budget for those had been put to better use on the primary figs. 

As to the Legacy combiners, while it'd be nice if the CW figs worked with them, honestly in terms of making improvements to the overall figs and combined forms, I'd rather all effort was placed on making the best figs possible without trying to do cross-over compatibility.  Too, I think the CW figs would look out of place with the Legacy figs just in overall aesthetics. The CW figs just look cheaper b/c they are, and they're far more stylized than the very toy/toon-faithful Legacy figs. The resulting combo would look odd, methinks.  So far as doing spread releases vs boxsets, I honestly don't have a preference. Boxsets are convenient, sure, but they're also an expensive single buy, and more than likely would end up becoming dreaded exclusives that are in high demand, short-stocked, and inevitably difficult to obtain. By putting the individual figs out in waves, it's a little easier on the wallet and by making them general retail releases, easier to obtain. Too, there's the anticipation and fun of collecting all the necessary figs to finally piece together the gestalt. It's a play pattern that's been ongoing since the original G1 Constructicons, and I think they should continue it both from a marketing perspective, but also as it helps them with repaints/remolds of different figs.

As to packaging- 100% closed boxes with nice box-art.  The fig is protected not only from damage and theft, but also germ transfer from uncovered coughing & sneezing, and unwashed hands all over the exposed parts of the figs. I applaud Hasbro's commitment to decreasing plastic waste, and I'm all for closed and sealed boxes for everything.

I'm pretty meh about Machine Wars, but I'd like to see them try to tackle Trans-Metals. I know the vacuform metallic paint is a bit of a showstopper for them; it's just not good, they know it, and want to avoid it. Finding a suitable alternative is what's holding them back for now. I hope they solve it, as the TM BW figs were some of my faves. Still have a buttload of them in storage. And one has to admit that that shiny paint and vibrant colors made those toys look sharp.  I have little fear that we'll see any updates of Animated, as that particular theme seems to be the red-headed stepchild that they'd rather shove in a trunk, double-lock, and forget it ever existed despite the huge fanbase it still retains. That may be a good-thing so far as their trying to translate every non-G1 theme into a G1-esque look for Legacy.  I'd rather get updated Animated toys that looked like Animated. Judging by the Prime toys they're doing, there's something lost from the original figs in the translation. Those originals, for the most part, were pretty sharp looking, with some rather interesting and complex engineering. the Legacy takes, not so much thus far.

3 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

It's back in stock on Pulse. 

It's in Targets as well; just came across one earlier this week.

[M'Kyuun]

On 4/20/2022 at 10:40 PM, mikeszekely said:

More or less. I mean, Kickback is exactly what he needs to be. He can't help it that we're all jazzed up on new G2 toys and Stunticons that don't suck.

Yeah, he and Barricade were done of the few bright spots in the Bay films. I really wish he'd get the pseudo-G1 treatment Barricade did.

Override is rumored to be coming in a Walmart-exclusive Velocitron line. Given the other leaks for the line, though, I expect her to be a remold of another figure. Question is, who?

Speaking of remolds, I'll be shocked if Elita-1 doesn't get reused for Nightbeat and/or Minerva, but I haven't heard anything.

Yeah, Kickback is good. Just fix the wings.

Y'know, as much as I love the pseudo-Datsun mold, I kinda wish they'd done something more Mustang-ish for their ER Barricade. I wouldn't mind seeing a Legacy Blackout, either, although if they wanted to keep its alt similar to the CH-53, it'd have to be its own mold. There just isn't anything else close, except perhaps Vortex from the Combaticons. If they get around to doing Bruticus, perhaps we'll get a repaint/retool of Vortex as Blackout. I'd prefer it had its own mold, though, keeping the salient feature of Bayverse Blackout, which they could repaint as Grindor to get some mileage from the mold.

I saw a different Velocitron mentioned on Twitter (don't remember which one) as a potential release this morning, and that gave me hope that Override would be coming too. as I mentioned previously, my hope is that they'd keep the basic leg and foot transformation- she has a pretty cool looking alt mode and I'd want to see that carried forward in an update. Can't think of a suitable existing toy that would make a good retool/repaint. Guess we'll wait and see.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Yeah I was going to post that link too but when you go to checkout, the page says it’s sold out.

Dang, that was fast.

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'm pretty meh about Machine Wars, but I'd like to see them try to tackle Trans-Metals. I know the vacuform metallic paint is a bit of a showstopper for them; it's just not good, they know it, and want to avoid it. Finding a suitable alternative is what's holding them back for now. I hope they solve it, as the TM BW figs were some of my faves.

Funny you mention that. I forgot, as I'm not really into Beast Wars, but the subject of Transmetals came up. They said they're considering it, and if it happens expect they'll use regular metallic paint.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yeah, Kickback is good. Just fix the wings.

Eh. I mean, more articulation is better, and I liked it when Fans Toys did it. But it's not really G1, either toy or cartoon, which is probably why Hasbro (and MMC and BadCube) didn't.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I kinda wish they'd done something more Mustang-ish for their ER Barricade.

Yes. Maybe someday he'll be popular enough to get his own mold.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I wouldn't mind seeing a Legacy Blackout, either, although if they wanted to keep its alt similar to the CH-53, it'd have to be its own mold. There just isn't anything else close, except perhaps Vortex from the Combaticons.

While they shelled out to license it for SS and MP I wouldn't expect them to do it for Legacy. And yeah, G1 doesn't offer a lot of good helicopters to retool, but I was thinking if they do Armada Cyclonus that that could work for a base.

Edited April 22, 2022 by mikeszekely

[Negotiator]

Was able to secure an order for cliffjumper at pulse this morning

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, Negotiator said:

Was able to secure an order for cliffjumper at pulse this morning

Yay! Good for you, man!

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Funny you mention that. I forgot, as I'm not really into Beast Wars, but the subject of Transmetals came up. They said they're considering it, and if it happens expect they'll use regular metallic paint.

Close enough.  It won't have the same sheen as chrome, obviously, but I can totally understand their reservations against using vacuform chrome, as it generally peels over time. This is one of those situations where a concession is completely understandable.

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Eh. I mean, more articulation is better, and I liked it when Fans Toys did it. But it's not really G1, either toy or cartoon, which is probably why Hasbro (and MMC and BadCube) didn't.

Even if they continued to omit the hinge, at least put mechanically detailed wings on him and paint them silver.

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Yes. Maybe someday he'll be popular enough to get his own mold.

Of the Bayverse characters, I would think he'd be among the more popular Decepticons. He should have had his own mold for ER; if nothing else, it would have been an interesting way to cross-universe with Binaltech/Alternators Grimlock and Wheeljack. too, I wouldn't be opposed to their creating a new character for the mold. I'm not completely beholden to the lore, so if they want to reuse a mold and give it a completely new identity, I'm fine with it. If it's a really good mold, I'll double dip.

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

While they shelled out to license it for SS and MP I wouldn't expect them to do it for Legacy. And yeah, G1 doesn't offer a lot of good helicopters to retool, but I was thinking if they do Armada Cyclonus that that could work for a base.

I had to look him up, such is my Armada ignorance. TBH, I think I have that toy somewhere in the bowels of my closet, unseen and untouched for many years. But yeah, as a base, with some major retooling, I could see that working as a G1-ified Blackout. Again, as do you, I think he and Barricade need their own molds to really pay proper homage to the original designs even while giving them the G1 makeover. But, we both know a hypothetical Legacy Blackout will likely be a retool, and since Armada may be getting some Legacy love, a probable Cyclonus update isn't too bad a place to start. That's a good call, Mike. Hopefully someone from Hasbro is reading this and taking notes.

[JB0]

9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

It won't have the same sheen as chrome, obviously, but I can totally understand their reservations against using vacuform chrome, as it generally peels over time. This is one of those situations where a concession is completely understandable.

It also apparently makes the plastic prone to fracturing, and in a way that leaves sharp edges.

Since these are nominally children's toys, and kids these days are big babies I never choked to death on a plastic rocket or put my eye out with a broken wing...