The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Scyla]

8 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I'm waiting for Hasbro to release the official images, when they do I'll update the post.

BTW, I know Black Lio Prime has an MP version coming up.  I haven't heard if LE Leo Prime is going to get the redeco, but I'm thinking the odds are very high.

Here they are. TFW just published them: https://news.tfw2005.com/2022/09/30/hasbro-pulsecon-2022-transformers-panel-round-up-466460

[edit:] Lol, that lion face: 

Is Tarn a remold of Skullgrin?

Edited September 30, 2022 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

4 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Here they are. TFW just published them: https://news.tfw2005.com/2022/09/30/hasbro-pulsecon-2022-transformers-panel-round-up-466460

Those are screen grabs.  While they'll be largely the same as the blue-background ones (although I hope we have some better angles for stuff like Hot Shot's bot mode), I'm waiting for Hasbro's official press.

[mikeszekely]

13 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Is Tarn a remold of Skullgrin?

 

I don't think so, Skullgrin is a Deluxe and Tarn's a Voyager.

[Scyla]

4 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't think so, Skullgrin is a Deluxe and Tarn's a Voyager.

Yeah, it looks super similar at first glance. Maybe an upscale or it’s just that they both are sci-fi tanks.

I wonder how Tarn will look like in a straight pose. His thighs look super long. He is posed kneeling even on the box. 

[mikeszekely]

13 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Yeah, it looks super similar at first glance. Maybe an upscale or it’s just that they both are sci-fi tanks.

I wonder how Tarn will look like in a straight pose. His thighs look super long. He is posed kneeling even on the box. 

There's some similarities in that they're both long tanks with double-barreled main cannons.  There's some big differences, too, in how Skullgrin's feet are the front of his tank, and Tarn's legs fold up over the back and lie across the top, and that's his arms at the sides of the back.  If I had to guess, Skullgrin is lying on his back side in tank mode, with his back flipped up and his arms tucked into the space.  I think Tarn's laying on his belly, with the chest flipped up and over his head to form the front, his legs folded over his butt, and his arms spinning 180 degrees at the shoulders then splitting to form the rear treads.

Anyways... I updated my first post with pictures now.

[mikeszekely]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention.  Previously, Legacy wave 1 was announced around the time the last wave of Kingdom was hitting.  Wave 2 was announced when wave 1 started hitting shelves, and wave 3 was announced when wave 2 started coming out.  Even though that was just a month or so ago, we have Evolutions announced today.  Could wave 3 be hitting sooner than expected?  Apparently some of the Deluxes have already made it to retail in the Philippines.  So, yeah, while the official date in Pulse is still January I'm expecting they'll actually start hitting before the year is out.

[mikeszekely]

Sorry to keep bumping this thread, but a couple more things...

First up, I was talking with Alex Milne today...

For those of you who might not be aware, Alex Milne was the artist on Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and man responsible for designing Tarn in the first place.  He seems a bit less salty about Hasbro making toys based of his designs than Don Figueroa was...

Next up, I'd been hearing some rumors, not from my usual sources but in a very "my uncle that works at Nintendo" sort of way, that Deathsaurus would be 2023's Commander-class.  Don't count on it.  I'm hearing from more reliable sources that if you look at the Evolutions poster carefully you'll find both the next Commander-class and the next Titan-class.  I'm telling you now, the Commander is Armada Optimus Prime.  Matter of fact, if you look at the original Armada Optimus, in both toy and cartoon, the lines across his grill are straight.  The Armada Optimus on the poster, though, has a kind of zig-zags near the edges.  You know where we've seen Armada Op with a grill like that?

Harder to make out, but you'll also note that both Wonderfest Optimus and the one in the poster has the same chin cutout on their mask.  I think it's finally happening.

But what about the Titan?  Well, believe it or not, I think it's staring you in the face.  See that big purple head that looks like a Decepticon symbol?  Bmac and Mark seemed pretty content to let you think that's Tarn- you see a robot with a face like a Decepticon symbol and that's just your go-to.  But, if you really look at Tarn's mask, and you look at the head in the picture, they're pretty different.  Well, you'll recall it wasn't that long ago that we got a Titan with a face modeled after The Last Autobot from the Marvel comics... and the Last Autobot's face was basically an Autobot symbol.  Of course, that Titan was the Autobot's ship, the Ark.  And up in the right corner there, we can see the Decepticon's counterpart ship, the Nemesis... I'm calling it now, 2023's Titan is the Nemesis, and that's the Nemesis' head, not Tarn's, in the middle of that poster.

Lastly, it's been pointed out to me that the Core Dinobots are a bit curious.  Like, why are their six?  There are two obvious answers- one, because you can get a cheap remold of Sludge into Paddles and two, because if they're all Cores using two of them to make the torso will probably make for a more proportional gestalt.  But, given that Volcanicus has Grimlock for a torso in both Prime Wars and Cyberverse, it's a bit curious that Slag is forming the upper torso and Sludge is forming the lower torso and thighs.  But then people started pointing out a few things... like, there was a G1 combiner that was smaller than the rest.  And it had six members.  And, in Japan at least, the torso was made from two robots whose Pretender shells were a triceratops and a brontosaurus.  And we do have an established pattern of making Core-class Pretenders with one mode based on their Pretender shell.  Then it sort of all clicks into place.  The Core-class Dinobots?  They're pre-tools.  While I expect that they'll use the American names (that is, Slog instead of Kakuryu) and possibly the American colors, I suspect we're going to get the Dinoforce with alt modes based on the Japanese Pretender shells.  That'd make Grimlock the left leg, Snarl the right leg, and Swoop the right arm.  The left arm of Dinoking (Gairyu, analogous to Bristleback) had an ankylosaurus for a left arm, which isn't super Paddles like.  But, you'll recall that Evan never said Paddles, he said "we pulled from some of our history to make the 6th Dinobot."  I'll refer you to RID 2015, which had a Dinobot named Scowl, who turned into (drumroll)... an ankylosaurus.  Of course, if they use the American names G1 Scowl is a Pretender Monster.  And RID Scowl is brown, which doesn't match the G1 Dinobot aesthetic... so I expect that they'll actually use Skar, a character from IDW's Monstrosity comic series, who didn't have a dino mode in the comics.  He'll be an ankylosaurus now.  So, yeah, long story short I think we're getting a Core-class combiner Monstructor/Dinoking, and the 6th Core Dinobot is an ankylosaurs named Skar.

One more thing... here's some stuff that's rumored to be coming in future waves of Evolution

Deluxes

Shrapnel
Prowl (it's probably the one that came with Ironhide in that Amazon box set)
Crosscut
Junkion 2 (possibly Detritus)

Voyagers

Ramjet (this is specifically mentioned as a package refresh, I fully expect it's the one from the Amazon boxset with Dirge)
Metalhawk
Nemesis Leo (emphasis for @Scyla)
Junkion (I think another Wreck-Gar retool)
Bludgeon

Leaders

Armada Megatron
Prime Skyquake
Prime Dreadwing
TM Megatron*
Laser Optimus*

*Package refreshes, possibly the first wave leaders, likely what they were referring to when they said there weren't new leaders in the first wave.

Edited October 1, 2022 by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

Preordered A Hero Is Born set at Hasbro Pulse and Breakdown x2 at Dorkside.

[Scyla]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Sorry to keep bumping this thread, but a couple more things...

First up, I was talking with Alex Milne today...

For those of you who might not be aware, Alex Milne was the artist on Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and man responsible for designing Tarn in the first place.  He seems a bit less salty about Hasbro making toys based of his designs than Don Figueroa was...

Next up, I'd been hearing some rumors, not from my usual sources but in a very "my uncle that works at Nintendo" sort of way, that Deathsaurus would be 2023's Commander-class.  Don't count on it.  I'm hearing from more reliable sources that if you look at the Evolutions poster carefully you'll find both the next Commander-class and the next Titan-class.  I'm telling you now, the Commander is Armada Optimus Prime.  Matter of fact, if you look at the original Armada Optimus, in both toy and cartoon, the lines across his grill are straight.  The Armada Optimus on the poster, though, has a kind of zig-zags near the edges.  You know where we've seen Armada Op with a grill like that?

Harder to make out, but you'll also note that both Wonderfest Optimus and the one in the poster has the same chin cutout on their mask.  I think it's finally happening.

But what about the Titan?  Well, believe it or not, I think it's staring you in the face.  See that big purple head that looks like a Decepticon symbol?  Bmac and Mark seemed pretty content to let you think that's Tarn- you see a robot with a face like a Decepticon symbol and that's just your go-to.  But, if you really look at Tarn's mask, and you look at the head in the picture, they're pretty different.  Well, you'll recall it wasn't that long ago that we got a Titan with a face modeled after The Last Autobot from the Marvel comics... and the Last Autobot's face was basically an Autobot symbol.  Of course, that Titan was the Autobot's ship, the Ark.  And up in the right corner there, we can see the Decepticon's counterpart ship, the Nemesis... I'm calling it now, 2023's Titan is the Nemesis, and that's the Nemesis' head, not Tarn's, in the middle of that poster.

Lastly, it's been pointed out to me that the Core Dinobots are a bit curious.  Like, why are their six?  There are two obvious answers- one, because you can get a cheap remold of Sludge into Paddles and two, because if they're all Cores using two of them to make the torso will probably make for a more proportional gestalt.  But, given that Volcanicus has Grimlock for a torso in both Prime Wars and Cyberverse, it's a bit curious that Slag is forming the upper torso and Sludge is forming the lower torso and thighs.  But then people started pointing out a few things... like, there was a G1 combiner that was smaller than the rest.  And it had six members.  And, in Japan at least, the torso was made from two robots whose Pretender shells were a triceratops and a brontosaurus.  And we do have an established pattern of making Core-class Pretenders with one mode based on their Pretender shell.  Then it sort of all clicks into place.  The Core-class Dinobots?  They're pre-tools.  While I expect that they'll use the American names (that is, Slog instead of Kakuryu) and possibly the American colors, I suspect we're going to get the Dinoforce with alt modes based on the Japanese Pretender shells.  That'd make Grimlock the left leg, Snarl the right leg, and Swoop the right arm.  The left arm of Dinoking (Gairyu, analogous to Bristleback) had an ankylosaurus for a left arm, which isn't super Paddles like.  But, you'll recall that Evan never said Paddles, he said "we pulled from some of our history to make the 6th Dinobot."  I'll refer you to RID 2015, which had a Dinobot named Scowl, who turned into (drumroll)... an ankylosaurus.  Of course, if they use the American names G1 Scowl is a Pretender Monster.  And RID Scowl is brown, which doesn't match the G1 Dinobot aesthetic... so I expect that they'll actually use Skar, a character from IDW's Monstrosity comic series, who didn't have a dino mode in the comics.  He'll be an ankylosaurus now.  So, yeah, long story short I think we're getting a Core-class combiner Monstructor/Dinoking, and the 6th Core Dinobot is an ankylosaurs named Skar.

One more thing... here's some stuff that's rumored to be coming in future waves of Evolution

Deluxes

Shrapnel
Prowl (it's probably the one that came with Ironhide in that Amazon box set)
Crosscut
Junkion 2 (possibly Detritus)

Voyagers

Ramjet (this is specifically mentioned as a package refresh, I fully expect it's the one from the Amazon boxset with Dirge)
Metalhawk
Nemesis Leo (emphasis for @Scyla)
Junkion (I think another Wreck-Gar retool)
Bludgeon

Leaders

Armada Megatron
Prime Skyquake
Prime Dreadwing
TM Megatron*
Laser Optimus*

*Package refreshes, possibly the first wave leaders, likely what they were referring to when they said there weren't new leaders in the first wave.

In the official images Tarn looks as funny as expected with his long thighs.

I‘m looking forward to a black Lio Convoy and a black repaint of Armada Prime (the black bendy Prime is a glaring hole in my black and teal collection).

Glad to hear that Deathsaurus will be a Commander class. I don’t have any desire to own it but people were speculating that he might be a new HasLab project.

If he is not that would mean that the next HasLab project could be an appropriately sized G1 Overlord with appropriate gimmicks. Which is what I ultimately want. That or a  Masterpiece release that doesn’t have the terrible proportions of the Fan Hobby one.

[M'Kyuun]

@mikeszekely you're so not wrong about my opinion of Needlenose. It's a travesty, but not an atypical example of Hasbro/Takara's nonchalance with just tacking a robot on the bottom of a plane and calling it good. I want to get excited about the two Prime jet characters (Dreadwing, I think and the other guy--I'm terrible w/ names), but if they, too, follow a similar pattern, I'll be passing on them as I did with the original Prime toys. There's just no excuse for that level of laziness in a world where Macross valkyries exist.

Overall, not much among the new reveals that excites me, which means a more merciful year on the wallet. I'm currently at a LEGO convention, and while I caught the TF panel yesterday morning, I was otherwise engaged in the afternoon and didn't get any POs in on Pulse, as is my custom. TBH, the only one I really care about is Breakdown, and I honestly don't think I'll have a tough time finding him at retail once he starts gracing the pegs. As an aside, I agree with you, Mike, about their putting funds into a new weaponizer class that nobody asked for in lieu of fixing things on other figs (Sludge's toe udder & Breakdown's all-wrong alt mode, not to mention the weird separating hood sections on both Wildrider and Breakdown b/c why?). I think there were better budget and design decisions that could have been made to optimize the toys, but I'm just a 40-year TF fan w/ a propensity for designing and building transforming mecha with LEGO, so what do I know?

However, while UT and much of the comics-based character figs don't interest me personally, updates to these toys have been a long time coming and for fans of those properties, I'm happy that Hasbro is finally producing them. What's more, it warms my heart personally to see guys like Mark Maher, whose enthusiasm is always palpable, working on these toys and giving us glimpses via social media of the BTS process. I appreciate that greatly, even when the toys aren't everything I want them to be. For me anyway, it makes some of the toys' shortcomings more digestible knowing both the constraints the designers are working under, but also the all the stuff they do try to cram into the toy. That said, Breakdown's alt is still a WTF? situation. 😒

[Hikuro]

I had Needlenose when I was a kid, gotta tell ya for it to be almost identical to his G1 figure just with way more articulation is sorta disappointing but yet familiar.  

This scraphook junkion, easy pass. Don't like the idea of making an original junkion character like him , just doesn't feel right. Breakdown.....wondering why they pushed away from him being a Lambo? It looks almost nothing like one now. And the amount of back kibble is just sad to me on him and WIldrider. 

I think the only things I'm remotely interested in getting would be the Hero Born 2 pack and Lio Convoy. 

[Scyla]

Given that all my  issues with MPG Raiden stem from Kaen and how he not really forms a lower abdomen, I wouldn’t be mad if a 3rd Party company produced as set of pants that make the thighs, lower abdomen and help to stabilize Shouki (maybe even have an armature that moves Raiden‘s head to the top of Shouki).

Doesn‘t necessarily if it transforms into a train or even a Kaen looking robot.

 

[mikeszekely]

On 10/1/2022 at 12:04 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Overall, not much among the new reveals that excites me, which means a more merciful year on the wallet... TBH, the only one I really care about is Breakdown, and I honestly don't think I'll have a tough time finding him at retail once he starts gracing the pegs.

Really?  The first wave of Evolution is more interesting to me than the second two waves of Legacy.  I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm more into Lio Convoy and Tarn than Jhiaxus, a repaint of Siege Soundwave, or Beast Wars Inferno.  Armada Starscream might be my favorite Legacy Voyager after Blaster, but even he isn't as exciting to me as Tarn.  I guess the Deluxes are more of a wash.  The Stunticons cancel each other out, Scraphook is kind of the biggest loser, but I have about the same level of enthusiasm for Needlenose as I do for Elita-1, Knock Out, Tarantulas, Crankcase, and Skullgrin (although I'm really wishing that they'd given more of Skullgrin's budget to Breakdown, made Skullgrin a Core like Iguanus and Bomburst, and maybe used a more straight redeco like Crosscut for that Deluxe spot).  Armada Hot Shot's slightly ahead of those guys (again, I hate the show, but I generally dig the aesthetic that blends fairly well with G1 out of the box), as is Pointblank (although I really wish they'd given him the toy/Headmasters head instead of the crappy Sunbow one).

3 hours ago, Hikuro said:

And the amount of back kibble is just sad to me on him and WIldrider.

G1 accurate.

Maybe less so for Breakdown, but that's the least of Breakdown's issues.

3 hours ago, Hikuro said:

Breakdown.....wondering why they pushed away from him being a Lambo? It looks almost nothing like one now.

In a word, money.  Then planning that goes into each wave is very much on a budget, and not just "this figure is a Deluxe, so it must be within this amount."  The budget is spread over the wave, so more money spent on one new mold can limit how much retooling can be done to another.  

This does NOT excuse them, though.  As I've pointed out, there have been several other decisions like making a brand Deluxe-class mold for Skullgrin when the other Pretenders have been Cores, making a brand new mold for Elita-1 (that isn't even particularly cartoon-accurate), or having slots at all for lower-priority characters like Crankcase, Knock Out, Needlenose, Pointblank, and Scraphook (or the other new Junkions that are going to clog up a lot of slots in Evolution).  Just cutting the costs on one of those figures a little (like, as I suggested, dumping the Skullgrin Deluxe and replacing him with a repaint or partial retool, maybe an Earth-mode Hound from Siege Hound) and simply making Breakdown's hood different would have made a huge impact. 

I don't know, I don't want to keep beating a dead horse about it, because it's clearly not something Hasbro's going to change before release and I'm not going to bail now.  But it is super frustrating to me, and all the more so for all the people on TFW2005 acting like it's not a big deal and we're just big nerdy man-babies for complaining about it.  For now, all I'll say is that if someone wants to get into 3P and they don't want to fill in the few remaining gaps in 3P MP or compete with Magic Square and NewAge's near-monopoly on Legends, I don't think the demand for 3P CHUG has been this high since TFC was making Hercules.

[Scyla]

I think the biggest problem with Wildrider is the not accurate color. A 3rd Party company could make  new hood piece but nothing will change the fact that he is the wrong shade of white. 

[mikeszekely]

Got myself a Core-class Studio Series 86 Ratchet.

Aesthetically-speaking, sure, we're still dealing with a Core-class and the budgetary limitation that go along with it.  But, I can't help but think that Ratchet might be one of the better ones so far.  I mean, in a lot of ways he's more accurate than the Earthrise version that came packed with the Paradron medic... no red stripes or vehicle panels on his shins, no red greebles on his shoulders, red-painted hands and pelvis without having to do it myself... heck, while trademark issues with the Red Cross prevent modern Ratchet toys from having the said red crosses on his shoulders, at least he has something there, which is again an improvement from the Earthrise version.  Of course, you're not going to get perfection from a $10 Core-class, so we've got the stubby suggestion of feet, visible wheels on the sides of his legs, and if I'm being nitpicky I might have painted some silver on his abs and the rectangular lights on his chest.

Sure, I expect that the inevitable Voyager-class SS86 Ratchet based on the upcoming SS86 Ironhide will have a lot of these same improvements over the Earthrise mold, and then some.  I might also point out some hollow gaps on the backs of his legs you can see from the sides and a chest that just abruptly quits aren't necessarily the best.  But compared to a lot of other Core-class figures, which have needed a lot more paint, and the fact that this little guy is more cartoon-accurate than a Deluxe with twice the budget, and yeah, I'm kind of impressed.

Ratchet comes with two accessories, a pair of pistols he used in his brief appearance in the 1986 movie.  Happily, while molded in white plastic (I'm pretty sure the entire figure is white plastic), they're sporting some nice silver paint.

Ratchet's head is on a swivel, so there's not really much tilt.  His shoulders swivel and have some backwards butterfly movement on ball joints that have the balls in his torso.  A second ball joint at the top of his biceps with the ball inside his shoulder armor gives him both a bicep swivel and a little under 90 degrees of lateral shoulder movement.  Hinged elbows bend just over 90 degrees, no wrist articulation.  His waist swivels, but you have to move the backpack a little to get it to clear the bumper on his butt.  His hips are (slightly loose) ball joints that give him just about 90 degrees forward, backward, and laterally.  Another ball joint at the bottom of the thigh acts as the thigh swivel and knee bend, which is unfortunately limited to about 45 degrees.

The little peg handles on Ratchet's guns are ostensibly meant to go into his hands.  However, there are holes in his forearms where they friction clip onto the elbow hinge.  These holes happen to be just the right size to plug his guns onto the outside of his forearms, if you prefer.

Ratchet's transformation is pretty basic and extremely intuitive; I didn't even bother with the instructions.  What I really find significant here is that they've improved on the Deluxe-class Ratchet again, this time by transforming him into a fan without partsforming.

And he looks pretty fine, too, if a bit bland.  There's molded details, like the windshield wipers on the front and back, taillights, etc, that just aren't painted, which is kind of a shame because Hasbro had already used some blue on the front windows and some red on the light bar.  Speaking of red, maybe some stripes along the sides would have been nice.  There's also that hinge halfway down the side, but it feels petty to complain about it here when the Earthrise vans have it and the upcoming Voyager Ironhide has it.  Honestly, my biggest complaint with the alt mode is actually that spoiler on the back.  It throws off the vannette shape.  However, it's necessary for bot mode, unless you want him falling over all the time.  That spoiler is his heels.

Ratchet's guns have tabs on the sides, and there's slots on his side windows you can plug them into.  I'll note though, that for whatever reason there's a hole in his light bar, and you can plug one of his guns in there instead.

Reviewing a figure like this is tough.  Like I said, it's pretty good for a Core-class release, better in a lot of ways than the Deluxe mold.  So, it's a definite recommend if you're collecting Core-class figures.  But... why are you collecting Core-class figures?  What is this figure's purpose?  I mean, Core-class makes sense for doing important but smaller characters like Spike in his exo-suit, and it kind of makes sense for cramming in guys who might not rate taking up a Deluxe slot like Iguanus.  But for a guy like Ratchet you probably are holding out for the Voyager.  Heck, for other Core-class guys like Prime, Megatron, Shockwave, etc, you probably already have a larger figure that the smaller one was copying details from.  So why do these exist?  If you want a collection of smaller robot that take up less space you'll get much better figures from guys like Magic Square or NewAge.  Hasbro's official reasoning is that you can display these guys with your Titans to make them look bigger, but Dr Wu is making figures that are arguably better and half the size, which makes you Titans seem even bigger.  So while I really do like this figure, I ultimately have to acknowledge that there isn't a ton of reasons to actually own it.

[JB0]

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

nothing will change the fact that he is the wrong shade of white. 

Except maybe a little sun. It's rare that yellowing would improve a toy, but I think it might do the trick here.

[Scyla]

3 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Except maybe a little sun. It's rare that yellowing would improve a toy, but I think it might do the trick here.

Maybe it even comes pre-yellowed out of the box!

[mikeszekely]

In addition to Ratchet, I also got my grabbed one Core-class Studio Series 86 Wheelie.

My initial thought was that, in bot mode, Wheelie's not too bad.  He's got the gray ball cap, the gray hexagons on his knees, and gray on his feet and boots... at least, on the front of his feet and boots.  The rest of his legs are a nice orange, his face and hands are silver, and he's got peach on his head and down the front of his torso, including on a spot where a lot of other Wheelies have had gray/translucent.

But, he's not perfect.  There's wheels in his hands and heels.  The gray on his feet and boots doesn't cover the sides or back.  There's no gray on his hips.  If we interpret the lighter color of his face and hands as silver vs the gray on other parts of him, then the insides of his knee hexagons should be silver.  And some of the peach that's on his torso should also be on his arms.  My first thought was that maybe peach on his arms would have made the alt mode less accurate, but no.  Oh, and I'm just going to ignore the skirt on his butt.  Dude's just a Core-class.  Regardless, while there are some things I like better about the one that came with the DNA Grimlock upgrade kit, I do think Core-class Wheelie is edging him out, and he's a huge improvement over the Titans Return one.

Another way he improves on those two is by actually including an accessory.  He comes packaged with his trusty slingshot, molding the same same gray plastic as his wheels.

As near as I can tell Wheelie's head is attached to a ball joint with a hinge in the torso, but the shape of his head doesn't really allow for much tilt.  He can look up by using the hinge, and he can swivel, but he can't look up and swivel at the same time, and there's no sideways or downward tilt.  His shoulders are on ball joints for rotation and 90 degrees of lateral movement.  No dedicated bicep swivels, but his elbows are ball joints that have the swivel covered plus a 90 degree bend.  No wrist articulation, and no waist articulation.  His hips are ball joints that can only move backward a little, due to his butt-skirt, and fall a bit short of 90 degrees laterally.  But he can kick forward well beyond 90 degrees.  His hips have a limited swivel around the ball joints, and if you need some more well his knees are also ball joints, and they provide 90 degrees of bend.  His toes can tilt downward due to his transformation, but he's got no upward tilt and no ankle pivots.  In other words, it's the standard Core-budget limited articulation provided almost entirely by ball joints.

He can hold his slingshot in either hand, no issues.

And, if you're wondering, Core Wheelie can also hold the slingshot that came with Grimlock's Wheelie slug, and both of those slingshots can be held by the DNA figure.

As a Core-class, Wheelie's transformation isn't anything particularly complicated  There are some things I found interesting, though.  Like, most Wheelie toys have used the front of wheelie's chest for the cockpit and his backpack to form the rear, with his legs making most of the front of the vehicle.  That tends to make his shoulders the location for the rear wheels, and his hand near the front axle.  Core Wheelie flips things around a bit... his chest is most of the front of the vehicle- only his feet are sticking out of the front, and they're turned sideways to present more orange.  The front wheels and fenders are his calves, and his arms are actually turns around so the rear wheels are in his forearms instead of his shoulders.  The butt-skirt is the rear of the car, which allows the backpack to be his cockpit.

In a lot of ways, this works.  Turning his feet hides most of the gray, so the nose is cartoon-accurate.  The wheels are a cartoon-accurate gray, and the middle is accurately peach.  The general shape is pretty close; the front could use a little more slope and a longer, cleaner nose.  Personally, I'd have been fine even if that mean he wound up with slightly too-big feet in bot mode.

But then we start to notice his issues, and honestly I think a lot of them come down to a lack of budget.  Like, instead of taillights he's got hands.  They're not even trying to hide, they're just jutting out the back of the car.  And remember how I wondered if having some peach on his arms would have made the car mode less-accurate?  If anything, painting the peach on his arms would have made him more accurate.

Well, at least Wheelie has storage for his slingshot in car mode.  You can plug it in under the rear of the vehicle.  Matter of fact, that's under his butt-skirt in bot mode, so he can store it in bot mode too.  Just note that, despite the butt-skirt being fairly deep, the hole itself isn't super deep and, due to the the sloping outer edge, is fairly shallow.  So the slingshot will plug in, and it's secure enough that shaking him won't make it fall out, but also loose enough that bumping it is almost sure to knock it out.

One last thing to note- It's possible to open Wheelie's cockpit while he's in his car mode.  You won't find a seat inside, but you will find Wheelie's face.  I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it's very evocative of the original G1 toy.  Hmm... we've already had Cylconus, Galvatron, and Springer in toy colors, and Hot Rod is coming.  Maybe a toy-colored Wheelie?

Yesterday I made the comment that Core-class figures like Ratchet don't really make sense because if you want small toys 3P makes better ones, and if you're into the mainline you're probably getting the Deluxe/Voyagers.  I also said that Core-class makes sense for smaller characters like Spike.  And you'd think Wheelie would fall into that category, right?  I mean, he's a tiny dude, and my single least-favorite Transformer, so you'd think I'd want to spend as little on him as possible.  But, with guys like Warpath, Huffer, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Cosmos having been done as Deluxes I've come to realize that I'd rather pay for a higher parts count if it means proper articulation, if it means stuff like the hands can fold away somewhere, if it means a more accurate paint job, even if the figure itself winds up pretty small.  This figure is so close, but he misses the mark in a lot of ways just because a Core budget doesn't get him across that line.  Wheelie is just OK; taking scale and purpose out of the equation, I think his wavemate Ratchet is actually the better figure.  But, he's the one most of you will pass on because having a Core-class Ratchet is largely unnecessary, while Core-class Wheelie happens to fill a gap in the mainline and manages to be just good enough to be better than Titans Return Wheelie.  Reluctantly, I have to recommend him for that reason.

[sh9000]

https://tfsource.com/hasbro-transformers/crasher-deluxe-class-transformers-legacy-velocitron-speedia-500-collection/

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, sh9000 said:

https://tfsource.com/hasbro-transformers/crasher-deluxe-class-transformers-legacy-velocitron-speedia-500-collection/

I'm sure I've done this rant before, but I'm tired of the lazy Mirage-as-Crasher repaints.  Crasher was never a F1 car, and the one time Hasbro did make a toy with Crasher's alt mode (Power of the Primes Jazz) they didn't repaint it as Crasher.

...I'll probably get it anyway.  But definitely NOT from TF-jack-up-the-price-once-BBTS-sells-out-Source.  Tomorrow is Walmart's Fall Collector Con, so I'm guessing Crasher and the other wave 2 Velocitron figures will go up for preorder at Walmart and Pulse sometime around then.

Speaking of, here's one you might not have seen yet...

 

On the one hand, it looks like Galaxy Shuttle and more like Astrotrain in Galaxy Shuttle's colors and with Galaxy Shuttle's head.  On the other hand, this is probably one of the only ways we're likely to get Japanese G1 characters like Galaxy Shuttle.  The train mode is still horrendous, but it's easier to forgive on a character that's not supposed to have a train mode.

[sh9000]

I'll probably skip Crasher.  I just found it interesting that TFSource had it for preorder.

[JB0]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

The train mode is still horrendous, but it's easier to forgive on a character that's not supposed to have a train mode.

The shuttle mode's horrendous too, and it doesn't have the excuse of "necessary compromises for a triple-changer".

[mikeszekely]

39 minutes ago, JB0 said:

The shuttle mode's horrendous too, and it doesn't have the excuse of "necessary compromises for a triple-changer".

Better than the train. *shrugs*

We really, really need a 3rd party to make Transformers at the Generations scale instead of five variations on Legends, MP, or OS MP, though.  MFT made some Legends-sized Decepticon triple changers that'd absolutely rule if they were upscaled to Voyagers.

[mikeszekely]

Well, Galaxy Shuttle went up on Pulse and Walmart for preorder... and already sold out on Pulse. So being a half-hearted repaint of a mediocre mold to make a more obscure JG1 character hasn't hurt demand.

Weirdly, there's no word on the other leaked Velocitron stuff (Hot Rod with a toy deco, Crasher, and Shadow Strip). Instead they announced reissues of the original G1 Hot Rod and Starscream toys, but with repainted with decoes based on the '86 movie.

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Better than the train. *shrugs*

We really, really need a 3rd party to make Transformers at the Generations scale instead of five variations on Legends, MP, or OS MP, though.  MFT made some Legends-sized Decepticon triple changers that'd absolutely rule if they were upscaled to Voyagers.

We really, really do.  So many great designs coming from these companies, especially designs like Magic Square's Doomsday, as we're likely never again to see a true G1 Megatron with his Walther P-38 alt, or Newage's excellent Seeker design. Moreover, the triple changer designs from Mechfanstoys (MFT) are vastly superior to the official releases, and with some upscaling, could likely improve further on those toys' weak areas resulting in some nigh-definitive figs. I guess legends scale remains a safe zone for them, as there's really no comparison between what companies like MFT, Newage or Magic Square are releasing as opposed to Hasbro's lackluster budget-hindered core class, and they can operate in that size class without spurning much ire from Hasbro. Once you get into the deluxe and larger classes, though, then you're treading on the bread & butter of their main line, and that likely just won't do, and 3P knows it. Still, it's fun, and frustrating, to think of the possibilities.

As to these new Velocitron releases, I'm not a big fan of the ER Mirage mold (still love my Classics Mirage), and Astrotrain had far too many concessions in both alt modes for my liking. I was really hoping this Astrotrain toy would be their piece de resistance within the line so far as triple-changers go. I concede that they're not easy to pull off, but sheesh, the G1 toy did it better, bot articulation notwithstanding. My expectation is that a 20xx toy is always going to be superior to a nigh 40-year-old toy. Unfortunately, such is not the case with Hasbro/Takara-Tomy.  I wonder if they do it on purpose, just to create an opportunity to make a better toy some 5-10 years down the road, as I don't expect to see another G1 Astrotrain toy in the mainline any time soon.  In which case- perfect opening for third party to fill that most-wanting void. Hope there's someone here from one or all of those companies lurking. 

[M'Kyuun]

On 10/2/2022 at 10:54 AM, mikeszekely said:

Really?  The first wave of Evolution is more interesting to me than the second two waves of Legacy.  I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm more into Lio Convoy and Tarn than Jhiaxus, a repaint of Siege Soundwave, or Beast Wars Inferno.  Armada Starscream might be my favorite Legacy Voyager after Blaster, but even he isn't as exciting to me as Tarn.  I guess the Deluxes are more of a wash.  The Stunticons cancel each other out, Scraphook is kind of the biggest loser, but I have about the same level of enthusiasm for Needlenose as I do for Elita-1, Knock Out, Tarantulas, Crankcase, and Skullgrin (although I'm really wishing that they'd given more of Skullgrin's budget to Breakdown, made Skullgrin a Core like Iguanus and Bomburst, and maybe used a more straight redeco like Crosscut for that Deluxe spot).  Armada Hot Shot's slightly ahead of those guys (again, I hate the show, but I generally dig the aesthetic that blends fairly well with G1 out of the box), as is Pointblank (although I really wish they'd given him the toy/Headmasters head instead of the crappy Sunbow one).

So, a few days have passed since I posted my initial thoughts that only Breakdown appealed to me out of everything shown at PulseCon. I happened to find Breakdown available again on Pulse and POed him. But, having seen someone post about the upcoming Lio Convoy on Twitter, and being a BW fan, my curiosity took me back to Pulse to check out his prod pics, and more and more, I was liking what I was seeing. First, I really dig the more realistic lion face as opposed to the doofy lion face , cartoon accurate though it may be, on the MP toy. I dig the lion alt, and that's just one more nice-looking big cat to add to the menagerie, as it were. Too, Has/Tak loaded a few hidden weapon gimmicks into the fig, which reminds me of the original Kenner BW toys- not a bad thing when implemented right, and I think they did ok here. The lion's articulation looks decent, too- not as good as it should be for a 2022 toy, but decent enough to get some poses. POed him.

Next, I took a second look a Tarn, a character with which I have zero familiarity outside of having seen various toy interpretations, mostly 3P, over the years. Honestly, his tank mode just wasn't grabbing me; I've long harbored a general abhorrence of Cybertronian alts, as I generally perceive them as lazy manifestations of a robot in a weird yoga pose, not really concealing the nature of the thing nor appealing as something realistic. Tarn's tank alt isn't nearly as egregious as some Cybertronian alts I've seen. The overlapping redundant treads and odd cowcatcher are a bit much, but overall, the more I looked at it, the more it appealed. But it's the clean, highly articulated bot mode with little in the way of hollow bits that sold me. This is the way, Hasbro. POed.

Finally, Hot Shot. I vacillated about this fig the most. Again, I'm not a Unicron Trilogy fan by any stretch of the imagination, although I do remember picking up a few toys from that era, including Hot Shot. Still have that toy in storage. I looked at the pics of this guy for some time, comparing it to the original to see if the big shoulder pads were right (they are), and some other details. Barring the lack of a few painted details, most notably the ring details on his shins, Has/TT got pretty close to the mark. The legs are hollow and look unfinished, but they pretty much nailed the silhouette and salient features of the character. I finally threw up the white flag to Hasbro and POed him.  If my wallet had a head, it'd be doing the slow shake at me.

I'll throw in an honorable mention for Armada Starscream. I have the OG toy in storage, but it never left much of an impression on me. Fast forward to the Legacy toy, I was initially unimpressed when he was revealed. The design still doesn't really grab me and y'know, it's really, compared to the vast majority of Has/TT's abysmal jet alt modes, not bad at all.  Maybe it's the color scheme- IDK. I don't care for the lazy bent arms in full view, either, but admittedly, it's no different than Powerglide, and from the front, they look like additional engines. I watched Prime vs Prime's review and was further impressed by the mechanics and cleanliness of the fig. In the broad scheme, it's a damned good jetformer, and yet something I can't quite put my finger on is keeping me from POing him. I think if they did him in Skywarp's colors, I'd be all over it. Here's hoping that Hasbro, in their usual custom, will release repaints ad nauseum including a certain purple, black and silver variant. That I will have.

[sh9000]

I'm down for more Vintage G1 reissues through Walmart and possibly Hasbro Pulse but nothing like that Hot Rod or Starscream.  I would love it if Hasbro somehow reissued the rest of the G1 combiners as gift sets.  Speaking of combiners, I ordered Tonkanator on sale at Target and used an additional discount to get it cheaper.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'm down for more Vintage G1 reissues through Walmart and possibly Hasbro Pulse but nothing like that Hot Rod or Starscream.

This. I want any reissues to be as close to the originals as possible. Combiners are good, but I honestly need a ton just to complete the cast of the first two seasons.

[lechuck]

MPG-04 Suiken revealed and available for pre-order.

https://www.taghobby.com/archives/650021

[Scyla]

4 hours ago, lechuck said:

MPG-04 Suiken revealed and available for pre-order.

https://www.taghobby.com/archives/650021

Horrible (bot-mode); I ordered one!

[lechuck]

On 10/7/2022 at 4:02 PM, Scyla said:

Horrible (bot-mode); I ordered one!

I have it on pre-order too, but I actually think Suiken might be the best bot so far. MPG-04 seems to have better articulation with the ab-crunch and forward pivoting shoulders, something the first three train bots are painfully missing.

Anyway Takara posted another video going into more detail about Yukikaze and Suiken.

Edited October 9, 2022 by lechuck

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, lechuck said:

I have it on pre-order too, but I actually think Suiken might be the best bot so far. MPG-04 seems to have better articulation with the ab-crunch and forward pivoting shoulders, something the first three train bots are painfully missing.

Anyway Takara posted another video going into more detail about Yukikaze and Suiken.

I think Getsuei pulled it off the best. Yukikaze will be probably a bit worse because of the extended size. Kaen could suffer a lot because he is probably the hips and lower torso.

Seizan will probably be the same as Suiken here. Suiken’s  issues are the additional (unwarranted) panels on the shoulders and "half" the train sticking off his back. Not a fan of the super busy look in bot mode.

[edit:] I think combined mode will be the worst mode. Maybe one of the worst combiners since Power Core. Elbow looks super limited, the ratchets for up and down shoulders movement feel weak on my Shouki and I wonder if he will have a swivel in his biceps and outward shoulder movement. The leg’s also seem to have terrible knee movement.

I wonder if there will be a add on set company like Crazy Devy that only ever releases sets for MPG Raiden.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

Looks like it's going to be part of the Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee line, and it's a retool of the Siege mold.  Still... FINALLY.  Do want.

[sh9000]

Hound looks good.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Looks like it's going to be part of the Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee line, and it's a retool of the Siege mold.  Still... FINALLY.  Do want.

Yep.  Long wait- didn't think it was gonna happen, frankly, but Earth-mode Hound looks good.  Figures it's going to be an exclusive- way to screw the fans and help the scalpers, Hasbro. Wish they'd put some silver paint on that winch instead of molding it or painting it whitish-grey.  Quite the extensive retool, though. Curious to see the Jeep mode to see how close they come to the Mitsubishi J59. The example pic is of a 1986 model, but close enough.

Looks like they eschewed the iconic vertical slots in the grill to avoid any possible legal blowback- guess Jeep is pretty sensitive about that. So one strike already.  The feet's taking up a huge chunk of the center part of the frame is another hit on OG accuracy, but IIWII- due to transformation, it can't be helped. kinda wish, too, they'd gone with the darker green of the OG toy, but it's actually pretty close in hue with the example pic (not sure how accurate that is, but likely more than coincidence).

 

 

I've held Classics Hound up for all these years as The Hound toy to beat, at least so far as the main line goes (comparing to other lines seems unfair as both MP and 3P legends would have that old toy beat in nearly every category these days). But as main line deluxes go, Classics Hound is still a pretty amazing fig, one of my all-time faves. However, I think this may be the one that unseats it as 'Best Hound' in my CHUG collection. Worry not though, I'll be keeping the Classics fig on the shelf close at hand- love that fig.