The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

26 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I’d even settle for an oversized Maverick with a different head.  One of the best parts for me would be that a 1/18 scale GI Joe figure could fit in a transforming plane.

That would be about the easiest way to do a transforming Skystriker, IMHO. Besides redesigning the forward fuselage to allow for a usable cockpit, very little additional engineering would be needed. Thing would be huge though- def dwarf even the 1/48 valks.

[M'Kyuun]

Bumblebee and a bit of Primal from the upcoming Rise of the Beasts live-action Transformers film.  

I can sum up my feelings with "Meh". 😒

[Tking22]

So does Optimus Prime become Primal or is Primal a totally different bot like in regular Transformers continuity? Is this set after the Marky-Mark films or after the Bumblebee solo movie? I'm so confused, I thought Bumblebee was getting a sequel and Bay was done with this franchise. 

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, Tking22 said:

So does Optimus Prime become Primal or is Primal a totally different bot like in regular Transformers continuity? Is this set after the Marky-Mark films or after the Bumblebee solo movie? I'm so confused, I thought Bumblebee was getting a sequel and Bay was done with this franchise. 

Although my care factor is pretty much off-scale low at this point, I'm assuming Primal will be a different character from Prime as he was in both the Netflix show and in the original BW. I'm just tired of the continued Bay influence in the live action films. I wish they'd retire it and start anew. Bee deserves to have an actual mouth like his original animation instead of that dumb looking perma-pacifier.

Interesting news: Bandai Spirits and Takara Tomy are forming a collaboration under the tagline "Dream Together" on the 16th. Curious what that will entail, and what it might mean for TF fans if Bandai gives the go-ahead to TT to make figs based on the Beetras line (Deluxe Insecticons), Dorvack (Roadbuster and Whirl), Machine Robo (Gobots), an actual VF-1 based Jetfire, and others. I'd love to see that as a consequence of their joining forces, although I'm not holding my breath.

The thought of Bandai licensing their 1/48 VF-1 as an official Jetfire is pretty exciting though, and given the agreement with HG, potentially possible.

[Wolf-1]

From what I've seen Youtube from the various reports is that Primal is indeed his own character.  However, there is a shot of his scale going around and he is essentially Mighty Joe Young size, if not slightly bigger and not a hair can be found on him.  So if they aren't going to use the organic portions of Beast Wars, why even introduce them into the Series?  

[lechuck]

Transformation feels a bit too simplistic, not quite what I like to see on a MP.

Edited June 17, 2022 by lechuck

[technoblue]

MP Skyfire looks to be a chonky lad. 

And as long as the articulation doesn't feel too limited, like it did on MP Magnus, I'm good.

[derex3592]

I SERIOUSLY hope they do something about that SAAAGGGGGG in fighter mode or I'm gonna bail out on the order. The promo pics didn't show that as an issue at all!! 😠

[Chronocidal]

12 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I SERIOUSLY hope they do something about that SAAAGGGGGG in fighter mode or I'm gonna bail out on the order. The promo pics didn't show that as an issue at all!! 😠

I'm actually wondering if this is a mistransformation of some sort, because the sagging while on the gear doesn't look like it's caused by anything related to weight.

The legs and nose are still pointed upwards, even when supported on the stand.   It's like they just misaligned the legs and body.

This one definitely looks droopy:

But the profile here looks aligned differently.

Hope it is fixable somehow, even if it's just adjusting the leg ratchets or something.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

 Yeah, most likely the legs aren't at the proper detent. Too, assuming the backpack tabs into the legs, that connection may not be made. You'd think they'd be mindful of such things in promo material, but there's Droopfire for all to see. All those years on ice must have exacerbated his arthritis.

Hopefully, it's a simple remedy to straighten him out, and he turns out to be a really well-done and enjoyable fig. Fans have waited a long time for a proper MP Skyfire, and overall, toon-slavish lack of detail notwithstanding, he's a fine-looking take on the character. If I didn't already have FT's Phoenix, which does some things I prefer over MP Skyfire, it wouldn't even be a question of getting him. Even so, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still tempted.

[sh9000]

[mikeszekely]

A SKU popped up in EB Games' POS system for "TRA GEN SDCC 1".  The price is $109 Canadian.  So it's looking like Gamestop will be carrying some kind of SDCC Transformers stuff, possibly a store-exclusive.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/209936

 

[tekering]

8 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/209936

$58 (!), and doesn't even come with a trailer. 😑

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

$58 (!), and doesn't even come with a trailer. 😑

Who would want this without a trailer? Is there a deluxe version or something that comes with a trailer? 

[mikeszekely]

This is the exact same reissue that Walmart had two or three years back for $49.99.  That they wound up putting on clearance for half that.  My guess is BBTS bought up leftover stock from them, or from Hasbro directly.

I actually bought one when Walmart clearanced them.  It worked for me because I had that anniversary reissue with the weird salmonish color and shortened smokestacks.  I gave that Prime to my kid but kept the trailer and accessories for the newer reissue.

EDIT:  Also, Legacy Minerva.  Might be a Walgreen's exclusive.  It's... OK-ish.  The bot mode looks alright, the alt mode is just not a Porsche.

Edited June 22, 2022 by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

TFSource has that G1 Optimus reissue listed as well.  The cheapest I've seen it back then at Walmart was $12.  I think I bought mine a while back for $25 too @mikeszekely.

[sh9000]

[mikeszekely]

For some reason I thought Hasbro's livestream was today and I completely missed both the livestream and the fact that Slicer was revealed as part of the livestream.  Oops.

In addition to Slicer, which was oddly the only preorder that went up yesterday, we had the non-toy announcements (VR game), non-transforming announcements that I personally don't care about (R.E.D., some rubber ducks thing), then the transforming toy news, of which the only announcements were Slicer, a reissue of Maverick, and then the Walmart-exclusive Velocitron stuff.

Deluxes:

Blurr

This one leaked a few days ago.  It's based on the IDW version of Blurr and has some remolded parts.  Unfortunately, the bot mode looks like G1 Blurr with an IDW head, and the alt mode looks like G1 Blurr with some missing pieces.   I might still pick him up, though.

Burn Out

It's a black Diaclone Skids with a new head (a head that's a pretool for Crosscut, maybe?).  Now I kind of want Reboost, too.

G2 Road Rocket

On the one hand, this was totally expected.  I mean, half the reason Arcee's wheel split and comes off instead of laying on her back like the original Prime version was, I expect, because G2 Road Rocket's wheels sit like that.  On the other hand I'm a little disappointed that they didn't remold Arcee's body a little more.  I guess Road Rocket's a girl now?  

Clampdown

Man.  Now I want Earth-mode versions of Deep Cover and Tigertrack.

Cosmos. 

Looks like a brand new mold, and hot dang he looks good.  He's got some backpack kibble, but hey, so did XTB's Klaatu.  The flag comes off the pole, and you can see a 5mm peg near the port that the flag plugs into?  So you can use that peg to plug it into his hand and now the flag pole's a gun.  I expect this is the figure that will be the most in-demand, which is possibly going to suck because, in my experience, Walmart is terrible at handling preorders.  Hopefully Hasbro is keeping some stock to sell on Pulse.

Voyagers:

Road Hauler

 It's Grapple in Constructicon green with a new head, but I'm totally here for it.

Override.  It's another new mold that was revealed a couple months ago.  I have no attachment to the character; Cybertron is the only part of the Unicron Trilogy I started but never finished.  I'm still in for her, but I'm less enthused for her than, say, Clampdown and Roadhauler, let alone Cosmos.

Leaders:

Scourge

This is another one that leaked awhile ago, and all I can say is that I hope Hasbro announces a proper Gen Selects Scourge with cartoon-accurate colors instead of this generic Nemesis Prime-colored abomination.  I do NOT want the figure as-is, and repainting it will be a pain in the tuchus.

All the Velocitron stuff is supposed to go up for preorder some time in July.

This morning there's also some new preorders on Pulse that weren't mentioned in the livestream.  For one, the Street Fighter Mash Ups are getting reissued.  Ken and Chun-Li are one pack, Ryu and M. Bison are the other, and you'll recall that they're repaints of Titans Return Hot Rod, Thrilling 30 Arcee, Titans Return Optimus, and Titans Return Megatron, respectively.  It's cool how they managed to get those molds looking like Street Fighter characters, but they're not the best molds in the first place (although I did like that Hot Rod) and frankly $75 is too much for two Deluxes and $113 is way too much for two Voyagers.

The other is kind of interesting.  It's a Transformers X Tonka Collaborative Tonkatron.

What we have here is G1 Devastator done in yellow and black, with Autobot symbols and Tonka branding.  I think it's kind of a neat idea, but at $105 I'm out.

Lastly, not mentioned in the livestream and not listed yet, we have leaked images of a Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Creatures Collide pack, courtesy of In-Demand Toys on Facebook.

Ransack was leaked just a few days ago; I think as a repaint of Legacy Kickback it works.  Likewise, I'm pretty sure Scorponok (Legacy Scorponok in his toy colors) and Skywasp (Waspinator in Skywarp colors) also leaked awhile ago.  Goldbug's a new reveal and not at all unwelcome.  Instead of using the Cliffjumper mold, as the Shattered Glass toy did, Goldbug is using Netflix Bumblebee's body with the licensed VW alt mode.  It's paired with SG Goldbug's head, though, and colored like the G1 toy/cartoon.  While I actually do like Ransack and the Predacon repaints and definitely would want at least Rasnack anyway I'm definitely going after this set because I really want that Goldbug.

[no3Ljm]

 

[Negotiator]

did they say when  the preorder is for cosmos?

[mikeszekely]

OK, so I read over this list, and as I was reading I was thinking that this sounds super fake.  But the list came from a very reliable source, so make of it what you will.  Anyway... this Velocitron collection is shaping up to be less a one-and-done thing, like the retro Headmasters, and more like Walmart's answer to Target's Buzzworthy Bumblebee.  And so the stuff I put up in the post above is just the first wave.  At a later time you can expect the following:

Deluxe-class Crasher.  I'm really hoping it's a new mold, or if they're retooling something that they start with Power of the Primes Jazz.  I don't want any more of this "Crasher is a race car, so let's repaint Mirage/Dragstrip" nonsense.  The Porsche 956 wasn't an F1 car.

Deluxe-class Shadow Striker.  I'm guessing this will be a Legacy-ified toy of the Cyberverse character, and I'm there for that.  I do wonder if she'll be a new mold or a retool.

Voyager-class Hot Rod.  This one actually tracks.  Another source told me that they were thinking about retools when they designed the Studio Series toy, and that they came up with "something different."

Now here's where things get a bit sketchier, because I thought that the planned waves for Legacy had been leaked already, and the announced second wave tracks with the previous leaks.  And this new leak doesn't match anything I'd heard before, nor does it mention Breakdown or Dead End.  But this stuff is supposedly hitting in early 2023.  So...

Core-class Soundwave.  Like Prime, this is just a re-release of the previous WfC figure.

Core-class Slug.  Really?

Core-class Sludge.  Seriously?

Deluxe-class Needlenose.  Here's where I'm really getting suspicious.  It's been a running joke in the community since he turned up in a fan vote, one I know Hasbro is aware of, that Needlenose will never get a Generations release.  Because, apparently, G1 Needlenose was never released in Japan.  Plus, I thought scale matters now.  I'd expect him to be a Voyager.

Deluxe-class Hot Shot.  Given that Hot Shot's a pretty popular UT character, and given that Legacy is dabbling in the UT (a Voyager-class Armada Starscream was previously mentioned in leaks), this at least seems plausible.

Deluxe-class Junkion.  Is this another Arcee remold?  I mean, I'm down for more Junkions.... based on the Voyager-class Studio Series mold.  I'm having a hard time imagining that Hasbro would use a slot in Legacy for a third out-of-scale Junkion when there's still guys like Gears and Brawn that could use new Deluxe-class molds.

Voyager-class Tarn. I know Tarn had a role in Cyberverse.  And I know he was popular in IDW like four years ago.  But I dunno...

Voyager-class Leo Prime.  Lio Convoy is my absolute favorite of the Japanese Beast Wars designs, and I'd love for one that's actually cartoon-accurate and not a repaint of another character that happens to have a big cat alt mode.  But again, this one feels like a stretch.  Speaking of stretches...

Leader-class Prime Skyquake.  Of everything on this list this is the entry I'm the least likely to believe.  This is like the kind wishlist rumor someone who missed the original figure's release might start.  Seriously, Leader-class?  He'd either be way out of scale, or packing a crap load of accessories I don't think Skyquake would need.  I'd have an easier time buying this if they said it was Voyager G1 Skyquake, retooled from Jhiaxus.  But time will tell, I guess.

Leader-class Armada Megatron.  This one's pretty believable; I'd argue that Armada was the most iconic of the UT Megatron designs, and main characters like Megatron sell.  But if we really do wind up with Megatron, Hot Shot, and Starscream then people are going to want Armada Optimus, too.  And then people are going to start remembering that prototype from 2019 Wonderfest...

[mikeszekely]

2 minutes ago, Negotiator said:

did they say when  the preorder is for cosmos?

Some time in July.

[Scyla]

23 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

OK, so I read over this list, and as I was reading I was thinking that this sounds super fake.  But the list came from a very reliable source, so make of it what you will.  Anyway... this Velocitron collection is shaping up to be less a one-and-done thing, like the retro Headmasters, and more like Walmart's answer to Target's Buzzworthy Bumblebee.  And so the stuff I put up in the post above is just the first wave.  At a later time you can expect the following:

Deluxe-class Crasher.  I'm really hoping it's a new mold, or if they're retooling something that they start with Power of the Primes Jazz.  I don't want any more of this "Crasher is a race car, so let's repaint Mirage/Dragstrip" nonsense.  The Porsche 956 wasn't an F1 car.

Deluxe-class Shadow Striker.  I'm guessing this will be a Legacy-ified toy of the Cyberverse character, and I'm there for that.  I do wonder if she'll be a new mold or a retool.

Voyager-class Hot Rod.  This one actually tracks.  Another source told me that they were thinking about retools when they designed the Studio Series toy, and that they came up with "something different."

Now here's where things get a bit sketchier, because I thought that the planned waves for Legacy had been leaked already, and the announced second wave tracks with the previous leaks.  And this new leak doesn't match anything I'd heard before, nor does it mention Breakdown or Dead End.  But this stuff is supposedly hitting in early 2023.  So...

Core-class Soundwave.  Like Prime, this is just a re-release of the previous WfC figure.

Core-class Slug.  Really?

Core-class Sludge.  Seriously?

Deluxe-class Needlenose.  Here's where I'm really getting suspicious.  It's been a running joke in the community since he turned up in a fan vote, one I know Hasbro is aware of, that Needlenose will never get a Generations release.  Because, apparently, G1 Needlenose was never released in Japan.  Plus, I thought scale matters now.  I'd expect him to be a Voyager.

Deluxe-class Hot Shot.  Given that Hot Shot's a pretty popular UT character, and given that Legacy is dabbling in the UT (a Voyager-class Armada Starscream was previously mentioned in leaks), this at least seems plausible.

Deluxe-class Junkion.  Is this another Arcee remold?  I mean, I'm down for more Junkions.... based on the Voyager-class Studio Series mold.  I'm having a hard time imagining that Hasbro would use a slot in Legacy for a third out-of-scale Junkion when there's still guys like Gears and Brawn that could use new Deluxe-class molds.

Voyager-class Tarn. I know Tarn had a role in Cyberverse.  And I know he was popular in IDW like four years ago.  But I dunno...

Voyager-class Leo Prime.  Lio Convoy is my absolute favorite of the Japanese Beast Wars designs, and I'd love for one that's actually cartoon-accurate and not a repaint of another character that happens to have a big cat alt mode.  But again, this one feels like a stretch.  Speaking of stretches...

Leader-class Prime Skyquake.  Of everything on this list this is the entry I'm the least likely to believe.  This is like the kind wishlist rumor someone who missed the original figure's release might start.  Seriously, Leader-class?  He'd either be way out of scale, or packing a crap load of accessories I don't think Skyquake would need.  I'd have an easier time buying this if they said it was Voyager G1 Skyquake, retooled from Jhiaxus.  But time will tell, I guess.

Leader-class Armada Megatron.  This one's pretty believable; I'd argue that Armada was the most iconic of the UT Megatron designs, and main characters like Megatron sell.  But if we really do wind up with Megatron, Hot Shot, and Starscream then people are going to want Armada Optimus, too.  And then people are going to start remembering that prototype from 2019 Wonderfest...

Leader Skyquake might be a Voyager+ toy: a bit bigger than regular Voyagers (like Prime:Prime) and he comes with a big gatling gun, sword and extra zombie head.

Maybe they came up with a neat transformation for a jet that is not a box under a plane and need the larger budget to pull it of.

Could also be a pre-tool for a new Seeker mold if it is a G1-fied version of Prime Skyquake.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, Scyla said:

Maybe they came up with a neat transformation for a jet that is not a box under a plane 

That's funny, tell another one!

[Scyla]

6 minutes ago, JB0 said:

That's funny, tell another one!

Maybe he won’t have waffles?

[M'Kyuun]

14 hours ago, Scyla said:

Maybe they came up with a neat transformation for a jet that is not a box under a plane and need the larger budget to pull it of.

And maybe the Earth will start rotating clockwise on its axis, water will stop being wet, gravity will start to repel instead of attracting- all distinct possibilities in a diametrically opposed parallel universe.

Let's just say I have little faith in Has/Tak when it comes to TFs with jet alt modes.  I think Maverick was a one-off- the most absolute of absolute exceptions.

[sh9000]

Cosmos looks cool.  I'd buy Tonkanator if it goes on heavy clearance.

[JB0]

As someone who only ever had (parts of) G2 Devastator, Tonkanator really speaks to me.

[M'Kyuun]

15 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Cosmos looks cool.  I'd buy Tonkanator if it goes on heavy clearance.

Indeed. I'm a huge champion of Hasbro's decision to upsize the minibots to deluxe scale. Hard to believe this is the only G1 Cosmos they've released since '85. I hope Windcharger, Gears, Brawn, Seaspray, Powerglide, & Beachcomber get the same treatment.

As for Tonkanator- interesting way to market a Devastator recolor. No interest here, but for those who enjoy collecting the G1 toys and variants thereof, it's a unique take for your collection.  If we end up getting a new team of Constructicons via either Legacy or Studio Seies '86, I wonder if they'll do the same with those figs? Nice way to milk the molds and offer a modern Tonkanator variant.

[Scyla]

Wotafas review of MPG Shouki:

After seeing this review I not only have major concerns for the longevity of that toy (hinges on clear pieces, painted surfaces on the bottom of the feet) but also about stability in combined mode. The upper torso seems super unstable to me. With lots of pieces not tabbing together securely.

[Mechapilot77]

On 6/25/2022 at 2:01 AM, mikeszekely said:

 

Deluxe-class Crasher.  I'm really hoping it's a new mold, or if they're retooling something that they start with Power of the Primes Jazz.  I don't want any more of this "Crasher is a race car, so let's repaint Mirage/Dragstrip" nonsense.  The Porsche 956 wasn't an F1 car.

 

re crasher:SO MUCH THIS.  I mean i want a 956 based mold.  You could repaint it as the machine robo white porsche robo version even if you need a repaint.  If its just dragstrip or mirage again....i'm gonna be disappointed.

 

The only others  that interest me are.:

Leader-class Prime Skyquake. 

Having the original tfp toy i was always a fan of h is character design.  Let's hope this is still cool.

Leader-class Armada Megatron. 

I skipped out on the recent 3pMP vesrion of this guy but a leader class toy would be an easier sell to me...if its not a pile o crap  haha.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Mechapilot77

[mikeszekely]

So not too long ago a new Legacy Core-class Shockwave leaked.  I was looking at it, figuring out how it transformed, and thinking that it wasn't really all that different than the old Combiner Wars Legends-class Shockwave, was it?  Unlike so many other leaked toys that have been looked at that I'm dying to get my hands on (Motormaster and Sludge NOW please), Shockwave seems to have slipped right from leaking to retail, so today we can have a look and see what's changed since 2016.

Well, while both figures share some aesthetic cues and even some engineering similarities, Core-class Shockwave is, in fact, a totally new mold.  And where Combiner Wars was still doing the old Classics "G1 but updated" thing, the new Legacy figure is more in-line with the WfC Trilogy's "G1 with more greebles" aesthetic.  The engineering of the figure makes him a little chunky, especially in the legs, and his hand/gun could probably have used a little paint, but on the whole it's a little more G1-accurate, a lot more tiny Siege, and on the whole is a better fit with my current collection, at least in robot mode.

A quick pic to compare Legacy Shockwave with his larger self.  You can see that, despite the obvious difference in proportions and a lack of color breakup on his hands that Hasbro was lifting some of the molded details, including the abs, the shin vents, the foot pistons, wrist panels, and belt buckle right from the Leader-class toy.

The backpack is super different, though...

Legacy Shockwave doesn't come with all the parts of the Leader toy, but he does come with one accessory.  That's more than the CW toy, eh?  It's this satellite dish thing, and there's a ton of paint on it (if a little sloppy).

Shockwave's head is on a swivel, so he can turn his head but he can't look up or down.  His shoulders are on ball joints for rotation and 90 degrees of lateral motion, plus there's a transformation hinge in the chest that can get you up to 180 degrees of lateral motion.  No dedicated bicep swivels, but he can swivel at his ball-jointed elbows plus bend them 90 degrees.  No wrist or wait swivels.  His hips are on ball joints and can move forward, backward, or laterally 90 degrees.  No dedicated thigh swivels, but they can swivel at the ball jointed knees- knees that bend 90 degrees at the ball joint.  A transformation hinge will allow you to bend the knees further, to almost 180 degrees.  No foot articulation.

For those keeping score at home, that puts him nearly even, slightly worse than the Combiner Wars figure, which had some tilt on the the ball-jointed neck, dedicated mushroom swivels in the thighs, no ball joints in the knees but hinges that bend nearly 180 degrees, and no ankle pivots but upward foot tilt due to transformation.

There's a small peg on the bottom of the satellite dish, and ostensibly you're meant to plug it into Shockwave's fist like it's some sort of gun.

That said, there's some interesting stuff going on here.  There's a second peg on the back of the dish, and a peg hole on the back of the purple part.  And, like the larger Siege version, there's more holes on Shockwave than just his fist- there's one on each shoulder, and one on the outside of each leg near his knee.  Plus, the hole on the accessory happens to fit perfectly on the tip of Shockwave's gun-hand, or the guns on his backpack, giving you options for accessory placement reminiscent of the old Siege play pattern but shrunk down for the Core-class scale.

So yeah, the engineering in the legs is pretty similar to the older toy.  There's nothing to transform with the feet, and instead of the hips shifting down his entire undercarriage shifts down and forward, but the gist of it is that the legs fold around so his thighs tuck into his hollow calves to form the "barrel" of the alt mode, his head tucks into his chest, and his arms stretch out the back.  There are a few changes, though.  On the newer you have to unfold the backpack over his arms to make up some of the vehicle's rear, instead of the arms themselves doing all the work.  There's no G1-style scope, instead folding in Shockwave's head causes a little bridge tower to pop out of his back.  Hasbro's leaning hard away from Shockwave-the-gun; indeed, the little Core-class figure's alt mode looks to mimic Siege Shockwave's spaceship mode with all the extra bits you had to buy.

Sure, there's some differences.  His wings and outermost nacelles have just the single barrels, vs the double-barreled attachments on the larger toy, while the inner single-barreled bits on the Siege toy are simply done away with.  But the more squared-off barrel with the protruding sides is what you get after you put the attachments on the larger figure, and the little bridge is modeled after the larger toy down to the fins on the sides.  There's even raised bits near the back with molded missiles, just like the backs of Shockwave's feet on the larger toy.

Unfortunately, though, Shockwave's arms are very visible just sticking out the back.  And unlike the Siege toy you can't leave off the extras, flip him over, and pretend he still has his G1 gun mode.  Weird feet-fins aside, now Combiner Wars Shockwave looks a bit more G1 accurate and a bit more cohesive to boot.

 Legacy Shockwave does still have a flip-down 5mm peg, though, so he can still be used as a (very spaceship-shaped) gun for a larger figure, like CW Bruticus or even Siege Shockwave.  So there's that, at least.

And Legacy Shockwave does have a place for his accessory in alt mode- it plug into a port just behind the bridge tower.  Which feels kind of odd... they seemed to put a lot of effort into mimicking Siege Shockwave's spaceship mode, but then they stuck on a comparatively mammoth dish on the back that Siege Shockwave didn't have.

So here's where we stand... while Legacy Shockwave does offer some robot-mode aesthetic improvements over the older Combiner Wars figure it offers no improvements in articulation and an alt mode that is, in my opinion, a downgrade (but your mileage may vary, depending on how much you liked Siege Shockwave's spaceship mode).  So who is this figure for?  If you want a good G1 Legends-scale Shockwave Magic Square and NewAge both offer better than this, and I'd imagine that even most official-only collectors are more interested in the larger figures, like Siege Shockwave.  That already limits the potential pool of customers to just the ones who were buying the Core-class figures as accessories that scale better with the Titans (something Dr. Wu is arguably doing better).  But, sure, there's a market for that, right?  That's the people who bought the Core-class Soundwave, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Hot Rod, and Skywarp.  However, while noticeably inferior to 3P offerings, those figures were clearly the best Hasbro had offered for those characters at that scale, whereas Shockwave seems like a lateral move from the Combiner Wars figure.  So if you're not collecting larger characters in the Core-class you can pass.  If you are collecting larger figures in the Core-class but you already have Combiner Wars Shockwave then you can pass.  But if you are collecting larger characters in the Core-class AND you missed Combiner Wars Shockwave, then I guess Legacy Shockwave is for you.

[no3Ljm]

[mikeszekely]

Well, no sooner do I write about the custom Junkion Rubbish I made with a spare Wreck-Gar and a kit from Nonnef, then what should turn up on my porch but Studio Series Voyager-class Junkheap.

I suppose this is technically a repaint review, eh?  From the abs down Junkheap is Wreck-Gar in different colors (ok, actually the tops of his feet are new).  The armatures inside his torso are the same, and his hands and biceps are the same.  So what's all changed?  Well, he's got a new head and chest, and new shoulders (at least, the front of his shoulders are new).  He's got some new panels on the outsides of his forearms- they're NOT removable.  Initially I thought that'd be it, but there's actually a bit more.  His forearms are actually different, and it's a bit of a shame that the panels outside cover up some interesting molded details (maybe we'll get a third with the new forearms but without the panels?).

I was also a bit surprised to notice that his back is different.  By back, I mean the gray backpack.  Disappointingly, the backs of his shoulders do NOT match the fronts.  Instead, they're from Wreck-Gar.

You know what else is reused from Wreck-Gar?  His accessories- two wheels, and one pinwheel of murder.  I mean, they're not even differently-colored.

Articulation is identical to Wreck-Gar.  I mean, for the most part.  I guess technically he doesn't have Wreck-Gar's nipple cannon articulation, because he doesn't have nipple cannons.  His ears can move a little, though, mostly for transformation.

Because of the new panels on his forearms Junkheap can't store his wheels on his arms the way Wreck-Gar can.  That just leaves him with the outside of his knees.  He does still have a small hole on his back for storing the pinwheel, though.

There's two minor differences in the transformation from bot to bike you have to observe with Junkheap.  First, his ears have to fold for his head to fit into the bike's nose.  Second, the panels on his arms rotate back alongside the bottom of the bike.  Remember I said the tops of his feet are new parts?  They have little tabs on them, and those tabs fit into slots on the arm panels to lock them into place.

In bike mode, we see another new part, and that's the bike's nose.  It's a bit shorter and wider than Wreck-Gar's, with some different molded detail.  While this has the benefit of making Junkheap a bit more visually distinct, I think the real reason is because it needs to be wider to accommodate Junkheap's larger head.  In turn, Junkheap's backpack/fuel tank is also a bit larger to accommodate the larger nose folding inside of it for bot mode.

Not much else to say, really.  He's still got the stands that fold out of his calves, as his legs are carried over from Wreck-Gar.  And his pinwheel still stores on the back, because his butt is also carried over from Wreck-Gar.

Oh, I suppose this is important to mention.  Yes, Wreck-Gar can sit on Junkheap (and vice versa).  To be honest, their robot modes are a little big for the the bikes, and I wish their knees bent a little more, but it still works.  In fact, there's a tab on the seat.  That tab actually locks the seat into the pelvis for bot mode, but there is a slot under the crotch so they can sit on the seat without the tab interfering.  It doesn't lock them onto the bike, though.

The other Junkions, who took years to even get official names (and even then, Junkheap's name is actually meant to be Junkyard, but apparently Hasbro can't get a trademark for that one), and had a diminished role in season 3.  If you're of limited shelf space then Junkheap is arguably less necessary than Wreck-Gar, sure.  However, I already thought that Wreck-Gar was a very good mold, and that hasn't changed.  Junkyard's worth picking up, and I honestly hope Hasbro makes one a few more Junkions out of this mold, even if they're a little less remolded or under the Generations Selects line.  Scrapheap, at the very least.