The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

Deluxe-class, Buzzworthy Bumblebee (Target-exclusive) Origin Jazz.  Coming in the summer.

[sh9000]

Snarl and Origin Jazz look good.

[M'Kyuun]

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Eh... I know it's supposed to be Studio OX, but that big helmet, small face is killing it for me.

That looks much better than Galvatron.  Especially Rodimus Prime.

I need that Snarl, and I need it now!

Kinda weird, though, that after giving the first three guns and no swords that they gave Snarl a sword but no gun.   I guess that's what the DNA kits are for.  While DNA is at it, they can replace the sword with a slightly bigger one, with the translucent red they used on Slag and Sludge, that'd be good.  Include one for Grimlock, too, since the one they included with the Grimlock kit was silver.  Can't wait to see Swoop, now.

No interest personally for the Action Toys figs, but I do have to say that Rodimus looks good. I'm just not into non-transforming Transformers. I guess these figs explain why AT are no longer doing Machine Robo figs. I wish they would have released their Supercar (Turbo) before moving on.

Yeah, I'm pretty stoked for Snarl, and really anticipating the eventual revelation of Swoop. Can't wait to have the whole team. My hat's off to Hasui-san, Evan Brooks, and all the other folks at Hasbro and Takara who made these guys happen- long time coming, but I'm glad it happened within my lifetime.

The gun/sword allocation is odd, and I know most fans would probably prefer they all came with their swords. Indeed, third party to the rescue!

That said, we're really fortunate to live in a time where so many other companies are producing upgrade kits for the official toys, stickers to enhance them, and all the third and fourth parties making their own figs. It's so far beyond what I could have ever hoped for in terms of outside support for the hobby. This sort of thing really didn't exist when I was a kid/young adult in my twenties; I try to foot stomp how fortunate we are in this fandom. I hope it lasts as long as the brand and beyond, but nothing's forever, so I try to express how grateful I am to be living in this time when Transformers is enjoying a golden period of popularity and access. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Deluxe-class, Buzzworthy Bumblebee (Target-exclusive) Origin Jazz.  Coming in the summer.

So much Yes!  You know they're cooking up a Wheeljack. The only negative is that in all likelihood he will also be a deluxe, which means you won't be able to really reenact the scene where Bee rolls up into the back end of Wheeljack's Cybertronian hover-truck mode. Sometimes all that mass-shifting is a real bummer. But I'm just happy that these versions of the characters are finally getting made- unexpected but happily received.

[mikeszekely]

On 1/12/2023 at 9:10 PM, mikeszekely said:

Speaking of his tail... the original toy didn't have those horizontal stabs on it, nor did it have the diminutive canards that Evolution Needlenose does.  While it could be as simple as making Needlenose less obviously an F-16XL to avoid paying Lockheed Martin for a license, there's been some speculation that Hasbro could slap new wings and a different head on this mold and make Windsweeper.

I said that when I reviewed Needlenose, and sure enough, I'm being told that Generations Selects Windsweeper is coming soon, along with Antagony (from the Predacon Inferno mold).  Walgreens is set to get a repaint/retool of Crankcase as Medix, and Target's going to get a Buzzworthy Bumblebee pack that ties into Rise of the Beasts.  Then there's the mysteries... I'm hearing that there's another Gen Selects, but it's just labeled "G1 Headmaster."  Then there's something called "Fan Fest" in the system, but again, no idea what it is.

[M'Kyuun]

Just curious if any of you guys are experiencing weird delays and long delivery times from Fed Ex. I was expecting a package per email notification today that shipped on the 2nd, last Thursday. Tracking shows it's only made it to VA from Harrisburg, PA in the last 6 days, so I don't expect to see it until next week. Previously, my copies of Tarn and Leo Prime shipped on the same day from Atlanta, GA, Friday 27 Jan, initially scheduled to arrive 31 Jan, which is pretty unrealistic in the best of times. I continued to receive projected delivery dates even when the parcels were still a couple states removed. So, somewhere in this transit time, the packages got separated. I received a delivery date for Tarn on Tuesday, 2 Feb, and indeed he was delivered. Meanwhile Leo Prime decided he needed a little more time to take in the sights. On Friday 3 Feb, I got a delivery notification for Saturday the 4th, which was then delayed to Sunday. On Sunday, he was apparently on the truck out for delivery but didn't make it due to "operational reasons", or so the email they sent me said. Delivery was rescheduled for Monday the 6th, which finally proved successful. This sort of situation has become my norm when waiting on Fed Ex- lots of projected and missed delivery dates and unusual delays. 

[no3Ljm]

[Wolf-1]

30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just curious if any of you guys are experiencing weird delays and long delivery times from Fed Ex. I was expecting a package per email notification today that shipped on the 2nd, last Thursday. Tracking shows it's only made it to VA from Harrisburg, PA in the last 6 days, so I don't expect to see it until next week. Previously, my copies of Tarn and Leo Prime shipped on the same day from Atlanta, GA, Friday 27 Jan, initially scheduled to arrive 31 Jan, which is pretty unrealistic in the best of times. I continued to receive projected delivery dates even when the parcels were still a couple states removed. So, somewhere in this transit time, the packages got separated. I received a delivery date for Tarn on Tuesday, 2 Feb, and indeed he was delivered. Meanwhile Leo Prime decided he needed a little more time to take in the sights. On Friday 3 Feb, I got a delivery notification for Saturday the 4th, which was then delayed to Sunday. On Sunday, he was apparently on the truck out for delivery but didn't make it due to "operational reasons", or so the email they sent me said. Delivery was rescheduled for Monday the 6th, which finally proved successful. This sort of situation has become my norm when waiting on Fed Ex- lots of projected and missed delivery dates and unusual delays. 

The "operational reasons" is a easy catch-all for everything under the sun; truck broke down and none were available for a swap, driver had legitimate issues or just said that's a day.  The shop I work for has the local FedEx fleet account, something that is typically taken care of in house at the Hubs.  The way these drivers treat the trucks, even with all the Big Brother equipment installed in them, would make a Cabi cry!  They're lucky if half of the available trucks are road worthy, while the other half awaits corporate authorization for repairs. Employee retention has been an issue lately for them.

[mikeszekely]

I signed up for some kind of FedEx informed delivery thing when Pulse was shipping Star Saber, because FedEx was sending emails as soon as tracking numbers were in the system but Pulse didn't actually email me to tell me it shipped until after it arrived.  The only weirdness I've had with them lately is that on my last three or four shipments I'd get an email from FedEx with one estimated delivery date before they even had the package in hand and they never met those dates.  They wouldn't email me about it, but if I checked the tracking number the delivery date would change once they actually picked up the package.  For instance, I made one order on Pulse yesterday afternoon, I got an email from FedEx that it'd be delivered today, but today when I checked the tracking number it's showing as "in transit" with a new estimated delivery date tomorrow.

It might help in my case, though, that Hasbro has a warehouse in my state, like 4-ish hours from me.  In stock stuff tends to get to me pretty fast, it's usually only the newer preorders that take longer because they're coming from the port in Georgia.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, Wolf-1 said:

The "operational reasons" is a easy catch-all for everything under the sun; truck broke down and none were available for a swap, driver had legitimate issues or just said that's a day.  The shop I work for has the local FedEx fleet account, something that is typically taken care of in house at the Hubs.  The way these drivers treat the trucks, even with all the Big Brother equipment installed in them, would make a Cabi cry!  They're lucky if half of the available trucks are road worthy, while the other half awaits corporate authorization for repairs. Employee retention has been an issue lately for them.

First, thanks for the response. Too, let me advance an apology if I came across as miffed; I'm not. However, the frequency of delays does get to be frustrating sometimes, especially if I'm expecting a package, I see that it's on the truck or at least due the following day and tracking shows it in my area, the expectation of delivery is reasonable, and then it gets delayed. I try to plan my few outings around deliveries to cut the chance of potential porch pirates making off with my stuff. I haven't had it happen yet, but there's always a first time, and I know they're around as I see warnings by victims in my local Facebook Community pages. Anyway, these odd delays sometimes foil my plans as such, and I have to hope that if indeed the package gets delivered there are no thieves lying in wait. As to Fed Ex themselves, I realize the effects of Covid and the misfortunes of life pay their toll; it's a human enterprise and thus subject to frailties and I empathize; I try to exercise patience. The delays and the separation of my two packages just seemed odder than the usual delays I experience with Fed Ex which prompted my original post. In the end, I got my toys and I'm thankful that they were something of such insignificance and not medication or critical medical equipment. For those using FE for such things, I hope there's a classification or some marker to indicate the need for expeditious delivery.

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I signed up for some kind of FedEx informed delivery thing when Pulse was shipping Star Saber, because FedEx was sending emails as soon as tracking numbers were in the system but Pulse didn't actually email me to tell me it shipped until after it arrived.  The only weirdness I've had with them lately is that on my last three or four shipments I'd get an email from FedEx with one estimated delivery date before they even had the package in hand and they never met those dates.  They wouldn't email me about it, but if I checked the tracking number the delivery date would change once they actually picked up the package.  For instance, I made one order on Pulse yesterday afternoon, I got an email from FedEx that it'd be delivered today, but today when I checked the tracking number it's showing as "in transit" with a new estimated delivery date tomorrow.

It might help in my case, though, that Hasbro has a warehouse in my state, like 4-ish hours from me.  In stock stuff tends to get to me pretty fast, it's usually only the newer preorders that take longer because they're coming from the port in Georgia.

I didn't sign up for any special tracking; the tracking they provide suits my needs; as I said, they're toys, I've lived 51 years without them, so another few days or weeks isn't going to kill me, at least I would hope not. 😄 As to your early delivery dates from Fed Ex, I get them too, but long experience has tempered my expectations. Too, I live in WA and most stuff from Pulse originates in GA, so it's at least a week's haul to get here from there, and it seems like the majority of stuff goes ground. The shipping is free b/c I'm a Pulse Premium member, so I'm not complaining, especially with the amount of stuff I order through the year- the free shipping alone pays for it. Some of the delays and weird transit routes leave me scratching my head sometimes, though. 

[Scyla]

12 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Jazz is looking good. I’m not too keen on the thigh swivels and the holes in his forearms.

I wonder if this will be a cheaper release or if they include some useless extra piece (like on Rodimus) to get to the $400 MSRP.

[mikeszekely]

Quick Repaint Roundup.

So, here's a look at how my brain works.  I'm at Target the other day, and I'm looking at the Transformer aisle.  Nothing super exciting... lots of the Earthspark toys nobody wants, a couple of Warrior Skywarps, a handful of the Deluxes.  Some Studio Series Arcees (the Bumblebee one), and plenty of Core-class Ratchets, Wheelies, Hot Rods, and Iguanuses... Iguanusi?  And some Buzzworthy stuff.  I'd already bought the Bumbleswoop pack, entirely for Swoop so I could complete the Cyberverse Dinobots.  Figuring that the other stuff needs to go too if I want Target to start stocking Hound I decided to grab N.E.S.T. Bonecrusher.  And when I got home with him, I decided I should probably get N.E.S.T. Bumblebee, too, for my box of Bumblebees.  And that's when that part of my brain that demands that sets be complete was relieved to see that Pulse still had copies of N.E.S.T. Ratchet.

If I'm not mistaken, Bumblebee was the first N.E.S.T. repaint and the only one in the regular Studio Series packaging (although he was a limited shared exclusive between Pulse, BBTS, and Entertainment Earth, and was originally supposed to be a Universal Studios exclusive).  He's a repaint of Bumblebee Jeep Bumblebee, with the yellow plastic swapped for gray, and the gunmetal paint swapped for silver.  (Technically, the "black" plastic on the original is kind of a dark brownish color, and that's swapped for actually black plastic here.)  He comes with the same blaster accessory as the original, plus the Sam slug that came with Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee.  I actually kind of dig it.  It's not necessarily the most creative repaint, but Bee looks kind of cool in gray, like he's getting ready for covert ops.

Ratchet came next.  He was a Buzzworthy Bumblebee release, which means he's technically a Target-exclusive, but as I already mentioned he's available on Hasbro Pulse as well.  It's the same basic idea- take the original figure, and swap the green plastic with gray (and black).  I find this one to be a bit less interesting.  I don't know why swapping yellow for gray works on Bumblebee, but swapping yellow for gray makes Ratchet just seem more boring.  I'd have preferred if they did the G1-ish white-and-red repaint instead, but I guess that's not how N.E.S.T. does things.  Oh well, at least he trades the buzzsaw from the original Ratchet for a gun (that's actually from the Dark of the Moon repaint that I never bought but wish I did).

Bonecrusher is the third, and the only one you're likely to find on (Target) store shelves.  Like Ratchet, he's a Buzzworthy Bumblebee release, although like Ratchet, he's available on Pulse.  And the theme continues, as N.E.S.T. Bonecrusher is the previous Studio Series release with the brown plastic swapped for, you guessed it, gray.  As with the original release he has no accessories.  This release feels like an odd choice... Bonecrusher struck me as the least forgettable of the Decepticons, probably of all the Transformers, in the 2007 movie.  And he died before N.E.S.T. was created.  And he's a Decepticon.  So... yeah.

Bonecrusher's weirdness extends to the vehicle mode.  N.E.S.T. is a military unit, and the military definite uses Jeeps.  Plus, we know Bumblebee worked with N.E.S.T. as he ditched Sam to a miserable civilian life after college to go work with them, even if he was still a Camaro then.  I could see N.E.S.T. personnel driving Jeep Bumblebee around the base.  Ratchet's lightbar, black now instead of red, is a little out of place, but the military definitely had some Hummers.  N.E.S.T. probably does some search-and-rescue after a robot battle, and that seems right up Ratchet's ally.  But Bonecrusher?  Yes, I get that the Buffalo is definitely a military vehicle, but it's for clearing mines.  Are the Decepticons building minefields that need cleared?

Also, shouldn't the gray used by N.E.S.T. be uniform across all their vehicles?  Bonecrusher and Ratchet are close, but we're really looking at three different shades of gray here.

Bee's alt mode features the fewest changes from the original.  It's mostly down to color, with gray plastic instead of yellow, black instead of dark grayish-brown, and greenish translucent plastic instead of clear.  Both have painted taillights.  Other than that, N.E.S.T. Bee has "N.E.S.T" tampoed on the sides, and an insignia that is ostensibly the N.E.S.T. version of an Autobot emblem on the hood.

Ratchet's got a few more changes.  As previously mentioned, the red lightbar is black now, and the red fire department livery is gone, replaced with the N.E.S.T. Autobot insignia on the sides and "NEST" in big letters and "FD681 SRE4" in smaller print with another N.E.S.T. Autobot badge on the door.  FD681 refers to Fire Department 681, and SRE4 is Search and Rescue E4, which was apparently on the livery for his Dark of the Moon alt mode.  He's picked up a few other paint decos, swapping the metallic blue on the lights with silver and adding some new orange ones on the roof and red marker lights on the rear.

Bonecrusher's a curious one.  They added some orange marker lights to the sides, and some red taillights.  The ladder on his rear is painted now, too.  He has black rims instead of tan, but otherwise, he's pretty much the same, just gray instead of tan.  Curiously, he's got the same N.E.S.T. Autobot badge prominently displayed on the sides, yet under the windows in a smaller print is "4LL H41L M3947R0N" and a Decepticon badge.  His bio states that he's apparently undercover on a N.E.S.T. base... I dunno, proclaiming "All Hail Megatron" right on the side of your alt mode in a unit that probably doesn't have much need for minesweepers probably isn't the best strategy.  But, given that Bonecrusher died before N.E.S.T. was established this must already be some kind of alternate universe, and in my head canon I prefer to think that if Bonecrusher lived through the first film that he decided to join up with N.E.S.T. to save his own hide.  Regardless, he still seems like an odd choice.  Like, sure, the Autobots have mostly civilian alt modes, but we've actually seen them working with N.E.S.T.  One assumes that we got Bonecrusher instead because his original Studio Series mold hasn't seen any repaints or remolds yet and Hasbro needs to get their ROI on it... but then again, the same could be said for Brawl, and even though he's another Decepticon I'd figure N.E.S.T. would need a tank more than a minesweeper.  Oh well.

So, yeah, of the three none of them are what you'd call must-have, essential additions to your collection.  For what it's worth, though, I do dig Bumblebee as the colors just work for him, I dig the Jeep mode, and it was one of the better Studio Series releases in the first place.  Ratchet's a bit less exciting, but I like that I get the gun I missed when I skipped the Dark of the Moon repaint, and aside from a bit of back kibble it's also a pretty good mold.  Bonecrusher is the least interesting and most expensive of the three.  The original figure was fine, I guess, but not my favorite.  I'd say this is the easiest pass of the three- I can only hope that my purchase really does help Hound get to shelves sooner.

[Wolf-1]

16 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

First, thanks for the response. Too, let me advance an apology if I came across as miffed; I'm not. However, the frequency of delays does get to be frustrating sometimes, especially if I'm expecting a package, I see that it's on the truck or at least due the following day and tracking shows it in my area, the expectation of delivery is reasonable, and then it gets delayed.

No need to apologize, didn't come across as upset/miffed, just curious. I was only trying to offer what little insight I may be privy to, which is little to none. Since I live in what is technically a small city but still maintains a "Big/small town" feel; so while we certainly have Porch Pirate issues, I've never really worried about it; even when living in the "Hood" part of town; we'll just say it's good living, yeah, that's it. On a plus note, FedEx broke down a purchased a new van for around here, I'll give it 1 week before it's in for an oil change, minimum.  Guess that doesn't really help you out though, but it does mean my collection can continue growing along with everyone elses.  

[M'Kyuun]

5 hours ago, Wolf-1 said:

No need to apologize, didn't come across as upset/miffed, just curious. I was only trying to offer what little insight I may be privy to, which is little to none. Since I live in what is technically a small city but still maintains a "Big/small town" feel; so while we certainly have Porch Pirate issues, I've never really worried about it; even when living in the "Hood" part of town; we'll just say it's good living, yeah, that's it. On a plus note, FedEx broke down a purchased a new van for around here, I'll give it 1 week before it's in for an oil change, minimum.  Guess that doesn't really help you out though, but it does mean my collection can continue growing along with everyone elses.  

Well, I'm glad I didn't give the wrong impression; tone is sometimes difficult to convey via the typed word. Anyway, my adopted hometown of Spokane is similar in that it's a medium sized city with a small-town feel, rather hick if I'm being honest, although with an influx of folks from California and Seattle over the last few years, a lot of big city issues are becoming common. Alas, life. I'm not as familiar with the maintenance issues experienced by our Fed Ex folks; I see them making deliveries with regularity on my street, so I know they have working vehicles. Since they are the harbingers of lovely little plastic robots, my collection's growth is, too, in large part due to their service.

[Scyla]

Preorders for K3 Jazz are up. He is "only" $310 but a super barebones release. He doesn’t come with a gun and a shoulder rocket launcher but a combi weapon acting as both: 

I will also skip the D4Toys release since the exclusive piece is only a screaming face.

I would like to have more weapon options but I said before that I hope he doesn’t come with superfluous accessories so I guess Flame Toys can’t win. 
 

More images available here:https://news.tfw2005.com/2023/02/10/flame-toys-kuro-kara-kuri-jazz-official-gallery-product-information-475501

Edited February 10, 2023 by Scyla

[Radioguy]

I finally obtained a HESS Holiday Optimus Prime, and (at least the bot and not the repurposed Earthrise trailer) he is fantastic. Maybe the best design at the deluxe or leader class I've acquired in some time. For me, the last with such good tolerances at this scale was JP93 from the Jurassic Park collab set. Designs like these make Tracks/Road Rage seem like dollar store KOs for being so poorly designed.

More is to come from this Volvo cab design, and I can't wait for the repaints.

[mikeszekely]

An outdated sub-Deluxe probably isn't the most exciting figure for a review, but it's what I got.  This is Robots in Disguise (2015) Warrior-class Bumblebee.

Until this point, the only RiD15 figure I'd bought was Warrior-class Grimlock, and that's because in the 15-ish episodes I watched Grimlock was easily the highlight.  Does the show get better?  I wouldn't know, because Netflix only has the first of four seasons, and if I wanted to watch the rest I'd have to buy them... on Apple TV (which I don't have), because Amazon only goes to season 3.  Streaming Transformers right now is a mess, but I digress.

So, yeah, I realized I have a big box filled with just Bumblebee figures (probably half of them from Studio Series alone!), but RiD15, which stars Bumblebee as the leader of the Autobots on Earth, wasn't represented.  Thanks to Transformerland.com, I was able to rectify that with Warrior-class Bumblebee.  I'm pleasantly surprised!  After finding the new Earthspark Deluxes a bit underwhelming compared to the Legacy stuff I was a little afraid to go down to the Warrior-class, but apparently "Warrior" back in the RiD 15 days is closer to "Deluxe" by Earthspark standards.  I mean, he's clearly a much simpler figure than the Prime and Cyberverse Deluxe-class Bumblebees, but not too far off the Earthspark one.

The main thing working against Bumblebee at the Warrior budget seems to be paint.  They managed to slather some black paint over his shins, which included painting over some details that actually should be yellow, but none of that made it to his feet, which should be mostly black with a little gray.  His pelvis should also be be black, and his abs should be gray and silver instead of unpainted yellow.  Blue headlights are missing from his chest, and some red details on his shoulders are also missing.

Other inaccuracies could be chalked up to the relatively simple design of the figure, but arguably also to the fact that the chunky, heroic proportions Bee had in the cartoon don't realistically lend themselves to transforming into a sports car at even a Deluxe or Voyager budget.  His arms, shoulders, and chest are much narrower than the cartoon.  A swivel to get his door wings to face forward would have been nice, and his smaller black wings are simply omitted.  He's got a bit of a backpack formed by the rear of the car, which irritatingly doesn't really lock into place, and the roof is hanging from his calves- it doesn't even plug in, but at least it stays put.  A lack of any heel spurs means he has to lean forward a bit or risk falling over backward.

Bee's sole accessory is a translucent blue sword, and considering he's a Warrior-class it's not bad!  It's a bit longer, and the plastic a bit thicker, than the translucent blue sworld that comes with Leader-class Legacy Laser Optimus.

Bee's articulation is held back a bit by his low-end nature.  His head is on a ball joint that swivels and tilts up a bit and slightly to the sides, not really down.  His shoulders are also on  ball joints, but where they connect to his torso.  That provides him with a swivel, a bit of shrug/slump, and a slight forward/backward butterfly.  A dedicated hinge gives him nearly 90 degrees of lateral movement.  Refreshingly for the class, he has a dedicated bicep swivel and hinged elbows that bend 90 degrees.  No wrist swivels, but he does have a waist swivel.  His hips (also NOT ball joints) can go 90 degrees forward, and a little less than that backwards and laterally.  His thighs swivel.  His knees get a little under 90 degrees of bend, surprisingly due to the shape of his leg and not the roof kibble on his calves.  His feet tilt up due to transformation, but not down, and he lacks ankle pivots.

He holds his sword in either hand by sliding the handle into his grip.

Transformation is simple- spin the waist 180, tab his legs together, fold his feet up, lift his backpack over his head, slump his shoulders so his arms are tight against his sides, rock the roof back and into place, then fold his wings down until the doors cover his arms.  As I said, simpler than the Deluxe-class Prime Bumblebee that came before or the Cyberverse Deluxe-class that came after, but not far off the current Earthspark Deluxe.  I'm kind of tempted to check out an Earthspark Warrior-class toy just to see how bad they've gotten.

I really dig Bumblebee's alt mode.  The hard lines reflect RiD15's animation style, mostly, but I think they also make for an aggressive, retro-futuristic look that sets the design apart from the more rounder recent Bumblebees.  Overall the shape of the car is very accurate to the cartoon without much visible robot kibble.  Once again, the main thing working against the  figure is just paint.  They put some black on the hood and nose, and they painted the blue headlights, but that's it.  The turn signals and marker lights on the front aren't painted, and the stripes on the sides are missing.  His rear is missing the taillights and A LOT of black... like, it should be almost all black except for the raised bit and the trapezoidal stuff at the bottom.  I actually decided to order the Toyhax labels for this one.

The underside of the car doesn't show as much car as you'd think, and there's storage for his sword under there.  Basically there are two hollow gaps in the blade that fit over matching tabs on the underside of the car.

RiD15 Bumblebee is not on par with a modern Legacy Deluxe... but unlike the "Deluxe"-class Earthspark figures he wasn't supposed or priced to be, so I find that I can forgive his simplicity easier.  I think he's actually a pretty decent figure, and I'd give him a recommend, especially if you don't mind painting some of the missing detail yourself.

[sh9000]

Stumbled upon this and thought it was a cool G1 edit.

Edited February 11, 2023 by sh9000

[anime52k8]

19 hours ago, Scyla said:

Preorders for K3 Jazz are up. He is "only" $310 but a super barebones release. He doesn’t come with a gun and a shoulder rocket launcher but a combi weapon acting as both: 

 

I will also skip the D4Toys release since the exclusive piece is only a screaming face.

I would like to have more weapon options but I said before that I hope he doesn’t come with superfluous accessories so I guess Flame Toys can’t win. 
 

More images available here:https://news.tfw2005.com/2023/02/10/flame-toys-kuro-kara-kuri-jazz-official-gallery-product-information-475501

he looks really good, I like him a lot, but Flame toys can F* right off with their pricing.

[Firefox21]

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Stumbled upon this and thought it was a cool G1 edit.

That is some cool sound editing! 

[mikeszekely]

A little while ago I posted the entire rest of the Legacy Evolution line.  Well, same source leaked some of next years line (which I suspect, but don't know for sure, will be Legacy Universe).  And... well, you know how I complained that Evolution is a bit less exciting than Legacy, and Legacy was a bit less exciting than the War for Cybertron stuff?  There are some choices here that are so "what were they thinking?" that I'd swear that someone was trolling with a fake list if this wasn't coming from a trusted source.

First, let's start with the good.  G1 is still getting some love... we're finally going to get a Deluxe-class Gears!  And Pointblank is going to be joined by fellow Targetmaster Sureshot.  And... well, that's it.  At least for what's been leaked, which is only two waves worth of Deluxes and some Cores.

Then there's the mixed.  Windblade and Chromia are both getting new toys, based on their Cyberverse versions.  I'm fairly ok with that.  I think Cyberverse was one of the better Windblade designs, if they can just give her a more WFC/Legacy-ish, less cartoony head (which has largely been their MO) I can dig it.  Athough... isn't a G1-ish Cyberverse Chromia basically the Thrilling 30 toy?  And Animated will continue to get some attention with Animated Bumblebee.  Frankly, they're losing me here.  Animated Bumblebee without Derek Wyatt's style is basically G1 Bumblebee with a more generic alt mode, and Animated has to be one of my least favorite versions of the character.  I'd rather they did Cyberverse Bumblebee or a new take on Thrilling 30 Bumblebee.

As for the "what where they thinking?" there are two listings labeled "Rock 1" and "Rock 2".  My guess is that this will be the Weaponizer/Fossilizer/Junkion gimmick for the year, but the real question is, what is it?  New Rock Lords?  Or the abandoned Rock Bots concept that was originally going to be in G2, that featured Transformers that turned into musical instruments?  Something else?  And then there's the last of the leaked Deluxes... Chase.  From friggin' Rescue Bots.  Now, on paper, I'm totally cool with Rescue Bots as a show to get really young kids into Transformers.  But, are there any kids who started on Rescue Bots old enough and still into the brand enough that they actually want characters from Rescue Bots in a line that's aimed at adult collectors?  I mean, I was on the verge of quitting Hasbro's mainline Transformers before Siege, and they totally sucked me back in by putting out some really awesome, cartoony, G1-inspired figures, and while I've said I don't mind them branching out into the other shows (I've actually enjoyed picking up some of the main-cast characters from Beast Wars and Armada), I think Rescue Bots might be a bridge too far for me.

Continuing with the WTF-ness, we have the leaked Core-class releases.  Whatever Rock is, it's continuing there with one release labeled "Rock 1."  If it's the old Rock Bots concept, I'm thinking something like one of the Deluxes turns into a guitar, and maybe the Core turns into an amp?  The original proposal had a guitar/amp combo pack.  Then there's Energon Megatron, which... like, yeah, I'm cool with an Energon Megatron.  Maybe a lot of fans are.  But, y'know, in a Voyager or Leader class.  Why Core?  And we conclude the leaked Cores with Tasmanian Kid.  Who's Tasmanian Kid, you ask?  Well, rather than put out a few more Core-class Decepticon Pretenders like Submarauder or Octopunch, or release some more improved versions of Soundwave and Blaster's cassettes, Hasbro thought they'd go back to the Japan-only Beast Wars II well. 

[M'Kyuun]

Got some LOLs from your post, @mikeszekely. Some questionable choices, to be sure. Ironically, I think I'd rather have G1ized versions of Rescue Bots than anything from the Unicron Trilogy. The Rock 1& 2 are interesting; I wasn't aware of the rock instruments, so my mind went immediately to Rock Lords, neither of which really excite when there are still so many desired characters, like Windcharger or the Omnibots, that they could do. And yeah, how about the rest of the cassettes and a better Soundwave that's closer to the G1 toy (proper leg transformation and an opening backpack that accommodates his weapons-cum-batteries)? I'm down for Prime, Animated, and Cyberverse stuff getting the G1 makeover, especially if they hew as close as Skyquake, i.e, closer to the original look than G1.

[mikeszekely]

When I shop at stores that don't have free shipping I prefer to buy more at a time.  So, when I grabbed Bumblebee from Transformerland, I decided to grab Robots in Disguise (2015) Warrior-class Optimus Prime, too. 

Most immediately out of the gate, Prime is around the same size as Bumblebee.  This is because, well, they're both Warrior-class.

Thing is, I don't think that's actually the correct size.  He's much smaller than Prime First Edition Optimus, who he's supposed to be the same character as.  He's around the same size as Cyberverse Deluxe-class Prime.  But, sure, in Cyberverse everyone is sort of the same size- Prime's maybe a head taller than Bumblebee.  But I'm not sure that's the case in RiD15.  It certainly wasn't in Prime.

Beyond the size difference, there's the lack of painted detail that has him coming across as a bit bland.  There's molded detail on his chest, but aside from the main chest window none of the windows or lights are painted.  Some of his torso should actually be silver, too.  Likewise, his hips have hip skirts molded directly onto them, but the entire part is cast in blue plastic and painted silver, while the molded skirts should be black. His hands and his knee pads should be black, too.

He's carrying a bit more alt mode kibble on his forearms and back, too.  What's kind of odd is that wheels that should be part of his back kibble aren't, they're on his arm.  And his smokestacks are missing entirely, at least from this mode.  All-in-all, the sculpt seems right enough, but you can definitely tell this is a toy with a lower budget, and he comes across as just a bit worse than Bumblebee did.

Prime's sole accessory is this axe.  It's got some nice paint on the blade.  I didn't watch enough of RiD15 to know what all weapons he used in the cartoon, but this seems like it's at least appropriate.  Not sure why there's a hole in it, though.

Prime's head is on a swivel, no tilt.  His shoulders can swivel, but he's got no lateral movement.  His elbows are ball joints, doing double-duty as a bicep swivel and a little over 90 degrees of bend.  No wrist articulation.  His waist swivels, though.  His hips go forward or laterally 90 degrees, and just a little shy of that backward.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  He has no foot or ankle articulation.

His axe fits into either hand.

As with Bumblebee, transformation is fairly simple.  His arms curl up and then meet over his head to form the cab sort of like G1 Star Convoy.  Then his waist rotates 180 degrees, he legs tab together near his ankles, and the sides of his legs fold up to cover his thighs and sides.  It's interesting, because it's a transformation that incorporates his trailer, but the result is kind of tiny.  He looks small, even compared to the Cyberverse Deluxe, but next to FE Prime or RiD15 Bumblebee he looks way out of scale.

The truck is, at least, kind of accurate.  He actually does have painted headlights, and he manages to get some smokestacks for alt mode.  He's missing some black around the unpainted marker lights on the roof of his cab and where the cab meets the trailer.  The trailer itself is fine on the sides, minus some light blue glow and a missing Autobot insignia.  The top is blue and gappy, though, due to being his legs, which aren't really covered.  The rear is also gappy for the same reason, and missing painted taillights, and from some angles you can see his feet just sticking up on the back.

Prime can carry his axe in truck mode... by stuffing it into the gap between his legs, actually.  There's a notch on his back kibble that the axe's pommel slides into, and some grooves where the yellow blade meets the black part of the axe fit over some tabs on the insides of Prime's shins.  This leaves the fin on the back of the axe sticking up.

RiD15 Prime is a kind of mediocre figure.  Like, given the constraints of the Warrior-class budget it's OK, but you can't help but think about how it could be better if it had been a larger, more expensive figure (which is likely why in Japan he actually did get a larger, more screen-accurate toy but we just never got it here).  If you just want something, anything to represent RiD15 Prime in your collection he'll do in a pinch, and only runs about $15 even on the secondary market.  "Better" is going to come with a premium, as the Japanese figure (TAV21) can go for $100 or more used without the original packaging, and upwards of $150 new in box.

[lechuck]

So I have had the MP Trailbreaker for a couple of weeks now, thought I'd share my impressions.

Trailbreakers alt-mode looks very nice, the embossed "Toyota" at the back is great touch of realism. Features include opening doors and bonnet with engine bay details. Pay attention when closing the bonnet again, it's a bit tricky to do, but it should sit absolutely flush - you will know when it's wrong when the plastic tab on the bonnet piece is still visible when closed.

There are also a couple of accessories for car mode, one is the radar dish from the episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2" and an alternate cartoon grill that can be swapped in for a more cohesive animation look in ones collection. If I had to be critical here, then I don't like how the open door has part of the b-pillar and sill attached to it.

 

Transformation is straight forward, nothing complicated, a little bit of origami with the how the doors fold and rotate. All of the parts have a set position to lock into, so no eye balling or just "floating" into place. I find going back to alt-mode is a bit fiddly with tucking in the rear mounted weapons and arms within the camper parts. Generally for my tastes the transformation complexity could be higher for more engagement and sense of accomplishment, but I think Takara has done a good job on finding a middle ground here.

There is some paint on the figure, the outer car shell parts and the red bits on his legs for example, but I would say a higher percentage is just bare plastic. That's not really a negative, because nothing really looks out of place or cheap.

Robot mode is of course heavily cartoon inspired and I think Takara has done a great job translating that into toy form. With that context in mind, the silhouette works and his proportions are not really wonky to me - limbs/extremities all have the right length and ratios. People are complaining about how thin the lower half of the robot is, but that is just really due to the fact that the whole car bonnet section is pretty big and is obscuring his "abdomen" piece at the waist from clear line of sight, creating this illusion of disproportion.

The visible door windows from the side don't really bug me as others. Takara provides optional stickers to conceal some of it (like in the cartoon), which I won't be using as I generally don't like the idea of using stickers for higher-end toys or model kits. Maybe Takara should have gone the extra mile and engineered swappable clip-on windows for clear and opaque plastic. 

In alt-mode MP-56 is very dense and a light weight when in robot form. I don't really have an issue with it, but take note that the inside of his upper robot body ends up being mainly hollow as there isn't enough material to go around. Maybe positioning the doors differently or folding up the camper section more to fill out stuff might have been a solution, but then I'm sure another section of fans would then start complaining of transformation being a panel-former or too complicated and complex etc..

There is also a little bit of gap between windscreen-chest and shoulders. I'm critical of visible hollow spaces, but in this instance it gets a pass as it allows for improved articulation – and on that point, Trailbreaker doesn't disappoint. The head is probably the only weaker point, it's on a ball joint but the degree of movement is a bit shallow, but critical stuff like deep bending elbows and knees, ab-crunch or forward pivoting shoulders are all here for expressive posing.

High up lateral arm movement is also possible, but initially requires one to clear out some plastic that is blocking the secondary shoulder joint. Two approaches to this, either take apart the shoulders and sand it down/carve it out with a hobby knife or just carefully force it by hand and then remove some of the warped plastic afterwards (which is how I did it).

 

There is an additional smiling and shouting face, an optional multi-nozzle weapon or left hand and a blast effect for TB. If you desire, then it is possible to replace the right hand with the weapons for even more Sunbow animation errors.

Final thoughts... If there were negatives to mention, then it is that there is no force field effect included in his accessories and maybe the reliance on stickers instead of better engineering around the doors. Otherwise it's all positive, I think Takara has done a very good job with MP-56 – just a fun MP to look at and mess around with.

[Hikuro]

Quick Q, were there any mods to help earthrise/kingdom magnus? Like namely that truck mode being so bad. 

[mikeszekely]

Guess what?  Robots in Disguise (2015) is not the only sequel to Transformers Prime.  I'm not exactly sure, but I heard something along the lines that Prime was designed with a massive story bible and a plan to run for three seasons, but the writers burned through all the material in the story bible in two.  The beast focus in Season 3 was kind of a last minute thing that, in the West, lead to the whole "Beast Hunters" imprint and a lot of toys that didn't make it into the cartoons until the Predacons Rising finale movie (if ever).  I don't know if Takara didn't know what Hasbro was doing or what, but they created their own OVA cartoon they bundled with magazines to promote the new toys, called Sanjō Gattai: Transformer Go! (Triple Combination: Transformers Go!).  And while the initial wave was made up of toys that would appear on Western shelves it would go on to include a number of figures based on new characters from the Transformers Go! OVA.  You know what that means?  Another Optimus for my collection. 😆  So I went and grabbed this guy, who surprisingly doesn't go by "Convoy"... this is Transformers Go! G26 Optimus Exprime.

Exprime is a pretty tall fella... I don't think Takara divides everything up into classes the way Hasbro does (or at least, they didn't), but he's taller than Earthrise Optimus or (not pictured) Prime "First Edition" Optimus Prime (who was already taller than Prime "Robots In Disguise" Optimus Prime).  And he's got some very recognizable Optimus elements, like silver thighs, blue feet and hands, red on the torso with a chest windows and an ab grill, and a blue head with a silver mask, antenna ears, and a vented forehead crest.

But... to call Exprime "awkward" might be understating things a bit.  Large flaps hover over shoulders that stick way too far out from his torso.  Likewise, there's a ridiculous overhang above his chest windows, and massive kibble armor on the outsides of his arms.  His pelvis is covered by a single-piece apron of a hip skirt that actually plugs into his crotch.  He's got an absolutely mammoth backpack, and you'd think with all that backpack they'd have a better way of hiding that flap that's just laying on top of it, but they didn't.  Probably because the backpack is a battery box and speaker for lights and sounds that I haven't tested because I don't feel like opening him up and looking for batteries.

Exprime comes with a few accessories, and none of them are guns.  You get two pretty massive swords, for starters.  But what's probably drawing your attention are the blue, red, and gold things.  I've heard them referred to as kabuto, which is Japanese for a samurai's helmet.  Which might seem confusing, because on his own Exprime does not wear them on his head.

So, Exprime's head is on a swivel.  Technically, he shouldn't have any tilt, but the head folds into the chest for transformation and that transformation hinge can fake a little downward tilt.  His shoulders swivel, and they could in theory do something like 180 degrees of lateral movement, but in practice you're going to get a little over 90 straight up before his forearm kibble meets his shoulder flaps, or about 90 if you raised his arm before engaging the lateral joint before his arm kibble starts hitting his backpack.  His biceps swivel.  His elbows bend a little under 90 degrees, and there's no wrist swivel (in fact, his kibble is attached to the backs of his hands and then plugs into his forearms, so even if he did have swivels you'd be pinning them in place).  No waist swivel, either.  Plugging his hip skirt in helps hold him together, but you'll have to unplug it if you want any forward hip movement- they can go forward 90 degrees on a ratchet, backward a little less than that because his thigh armor hits his backpack.  His hips go laterally a little over 90, also on ratchets.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend about 45 degrees on a ratchet.  If you fold open the red flap on his calves you can bend his knees farther.  His feet have some up and down tilt, but no ankle pivots.

For starters, he can hold his swords fine in either hand.  It's a simple sort of look.

You can spruce him up by using either kabuto as a shield- they have 5mm pegs that just plug into his hand.  The other can plug onto his back to give him wings.  I've seen snippets from the cartoon where Exprime looks like the first picture, with the segmented wings.  While a kabuto is occupying one hand, you can slide one sword out of his hand halfway, then plug the other sword into the underside of the same hand.  Alternatively, if the other kabuto is on his back, you can plug the swords onto his wings for storage... although the kabuto with the blue doesn't look as much like a shield.

Unless, that is, you don't want anything on his back.  Then the kabuto combine into a larger shield.  And, because it's apparently a thing in the cartoon, his swords have small pegs and holes on the sides so they can combine into something like giant scissors.

So, it turns out that Exprime's excessive kibble is largely due to the fact that he's a shellformer.  His pelvis disconnects and shifts so that it's behind his back, then his legs open up and fold over his thighs, and his head folds down into his chest.  From there it's just about arranging kibble.  His arms tuck under his chest so that the forearm kibble and shoulder flaps cover up, then the flap on the top of his backpack flips over to complete the front half.  From there it's just a matter of taking some flaps that were on his shins and swinging them on a double hinge to fill in the remaining gaps.

And yeah, as you can see, Optimus Exprime is no truck.  Instead, he turns into a shinkansen, a Japanese bullet train.  This might actually be his best mode.  As near as I can tell, it's fairly accurate to the show (it just needs a little more light blue paint on the door windows), and from most angles it definitely looks like a train.  It's only when you spin it around and look at the rear that he's a bit unfinished.

The train can carry all his accessories by combining the kabuto into their larger shield mode, and then plugging the swords onto it.  Tabs on the very back of the train plug into slots on the blue kabuto.  At this point, you might be thinking that the swords are kind of cool, but the kabuto seem like more trouble then they're worth and are wondering why you need them.

Well, maybe you need them for dragon mode!  You need to put his legs into robot mode, open the top flap, and start to fold out his arms, but stop before you shift his pelvis down, fold back the arm kibble, or flip out his head.  Instead, take the arm kibble and spin it 180 degrees, then push the translucent lights in so the translucent part spins around, revealing some claws.  Unfold the blue kabuto so the head is in the front and the wings are stretch back, and it'll plug into a hole on the front of Exprime's chest.  The other kabuto stays folded up, and uses two slots on the underside connect to a pair to tabs on Exprime's back flap.  The swords plug into it, and... it's a dragon!  I guess?  I kind of think maybe it'd look better if the wings on the red kabuto were unfolded, but that might be my Western bias as Japanese dragons were typically wingless.  Still, Exprime's legs don't make a very convincing dragon tail, and aside from a little arm articulation it's not like the dragon mode does much.

But even the dragon mode isn't exactly the point of the kabuto.  Recall at the beginning of the review I said the full name of the show is Triple Combination Transformers Go!  Exprime doesn't turn up until late in the story, which actually revolves around two teams of Autobots fighting the Predacons.  There's the Swordbot Samurai Team, led by a police car named Kenzan.  Kenzan combines with the other two member of his team to form GoKenzan.  The other team is the Swordbot Shinobi team, led by a lion named Gekisoumaru.  And, of course, he combines with the other two members of his team to form GoGekisou.  But once Exprime joints the fight, Kenzan and Gekisoumaru combine with him to form DaiKenzan or DaiGekisou, depending on who forms the top and who forms the bottom (Exprime is always the torso).  And this is where Exprime's kabuto really come into play. Gekisoumaru is on top, Exprime's blue kabuto goes on top, with the dragon's mouth opening to reveal the face of DaiGekisou.  When Kenzan's on top the red kabuto forms the chest and the actual helmet swivels up to become the head of Daikenzan.  And... well, you're not missing much.  If I may borrow some pictures from Transformers Universe...

DaiGekisou

DaiKenzan.

Yeah... they've got weird proportions and look kind of rickety, although as I don't have them I can't test the combination for myself.

I imagine the design process for Optimus Exprime at Takara when something like this:

Boss: Transformers is great, and Optimus Prime is cool, but he fights with a gun and turns into a truck.  That's so American.  How can we make him more Japanese?

Employee 1: What if he turned into a shinkansen?

Employee 2: Gattai!  Japanese robots should combine!

Employee 3: Give him swords!  And samurai armor!

Boss: Brilliant!  We'll do all those things!

Unfortunately, the toy isn't the best.  The robot is an awkward, kibble-covered thing, with rather limited articulation.  The kabuto are finnicky and do little to add to Exprime's solo modes, and the combined modes have weird proportions (to say nothing of the fact that you have to buy, at minimum, two other figures that'll wind up becoming six if you want the options for those two to also combine into GoKenzan and GoGekisou).  On an objective, rational level I can't actually recommend Optimus Exprime.  That said, I kind of love him.  The concept and design are just so over-the-top Japanese that I can't help but admire it.  Heck, I'm even thinking about tracking down the other six Go! Autobots to complete the experience.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Hikuro said:

Quick Q, were there any mods to help earthrise/kingdom magnus? Like namely that truck mode being so bad. 

As far as upgrade kits or anything?  Not that I'm aware of, save a few 3D-printed gap fillers (I have one in his shoulder pylons, but I couldn't be bothered to find some that matched Delta Magnus).  The only things I'd seen were ways to cover his hands in truck mode.  There's basically two I'd seen. 

For the first, all you need is the figure you have.  You want to open up the trailer, then you want to grab the arm covers and pull them back off.

Swing his arms out, and turn the fists so they're back in the robot mode position.  Open the arm covers, and slide the peg inside into the top of his fist, so that when you turn his arm back in that the long edge is facing out and the short edge is facing in.  Note that there's not enough clearance around the fist to fully close the bottom of the armor, just do your best.

Now his hands are totally hidden.  Sure, his arms are still sticking out of the back, but if you squint the parts that's covered in blue now almost looks like it's part of the trailer.  The only downside is that the clearances of the slightly-open armor made it a bit tricky to keep his arms lined up properly, giving it a crooked look.

Which brings us to the second option.  For this, you want to get some kind of accessory you're not using from another figure.  In my case, I've got the part of the bazooka that came with Earthrise Cliffjumper, since A.) I replaced him with the more cartoon-accurate Buzzworthy Bumblebee version, and B.) even if I hadn't, a cartoon-style gun for him came with the Gen Selects Centurion drone so I didn't need the bazooka anyway.  But you can try this with other accessories, as long as they fit, cover most of his hand, and are basically symmetric.  Then, with his hands in the usual "I'm riding a motorcycle" position, just plug the accessories into his hands.

Again, it's not a perfect solution, and his hands are still technically visible, but it does a fair job of obscuring them.  I have the guns angled like this because that's how they fit best.  If I squint, maybe I can pretend they're like fuel tanks. If you don't mind the roof not coming down the whole way you could haven turn them sideways and pretend that they're air filters instead.  Whatever works.

 

 

[sh9000]

[Hikuro]

22 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

As far as upgrade kits or anything?  Not that I'm aware of, save a few 3D-printed gap fillers (I have one in his shoulder pylons, but I couldn't be bothered to find some that matched Delta Magnus).  The only things I'd seen were ways to cover his hands in truck mode.  There's basically two I'd seen. 

For the first, all you need is the figure you have.  You want to open up the trailer, then you want to grab the arm covers and pull them back off.

Swing his arms out, and turn the fists so they're back in the robot mode position.  Open the arm covers, and slide the peg inside into the top of his fist, so that when you turn his arm back in that the long edge is facing out and the short edge is facing in.  Note that there's not enough clearance around the fist to fully close the bottom of the armor, just do your best.

Now his hands are totally hidden.  Sure, his arms are still sticking out of the back, but if you squint the parts that's covered in blue now almost looks like it's part of the trailer.  The only downside is that the clearances of the slightly-open armor made it a bit tricky to keep his arms lined up properly, giving it a crooked look.

Which brings us to the second option.  For this, you want to get some kind of accessory you're not using from another figure.  In my case, I've got the part of the bazooka that came with Earthrise Cliffjumper, since A.) I replaced him with the more cartoon-accurate Buzzworthy Bumblebee version, and B.) even if I hadn't, a cartoon-style gun for him came with the Gen Selects Centurion drone so I didn't need the bazooka anyway.  But you can try this with other accessories, as long as they fit, cover most of his hand, and are basically symmetric.  Then, with his hands in the usual "I'm riding a motorcycle" position, just plug the accessories into his hands.

Again, it's not a perfect solution, and his hands are still technically visible, but it does a fair job of obscuring them.  I have the guns angled like this because that's how they fit best.  If I squint, maybe I can pretend they're like fuel tanks. If you don't mind the roof not coming down the whole way you could haven turn them sideways and pretend that they're air filters instead.  Whatever works.

 

 

Either options aren't bad. There was a guy on thingiverse who had a pretty decent remedy with some printable parts, sadly something happened to this guy and all his stuff was removed. 
I think but I'm not 100% sure but I remember there being a rumor of a possible SS86 Ultra Magnus coming out....but I'm not really holding my breath as it'll probably be just a repackaged Kingdom.

[mikeszekely]

22 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

I think but I'm not 100% sure but I remember there being a rumor of a possible SS86 Ultra Magnus coming out....but I'm not really holding my breath as it'll probably be just a repackaged Kingdom.

Yes, SS86 Magnus is coming.  This year, I think.  And no, it shouldn't be a repackaged Kingdom.  My sources say it's Commander-class which means it should have nearly double the budget.

[M'Kyuun]

On 2/12/2023 at 1:59 PM, lechuck said:

So I have had the MP Trailbreaker for a couple of weeks now, thought I'd share my impressions.

Trailbreakers alt-mode looks very nice, the embossed "Toyota" at the back is great touch of realism. Features include opening doors and bonnet with engine bay details. Pay attention when closing the bonnet again, it's a bit tricky to do, but it should sit absolutely flush - you will know when it's wrong when the plastic tab on the bonnet piece is still visible when closed.

There are also a couple of accessories for car mode, one is the radar dish from the episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2" and an alternate cartoon grill that can be swapped in for a more cohesive animation look in ones collection. If I had to be critical here, then I don't like how the open door has part of the b-pillar and sill attached to it.

 

Transformation is straight forward, nothing complicated, a little bit of origami with the how the doors fold and rotate. All of the parts have a set position to lock into, so no eye balling or just "floating" into place. I find going back to alt-mode is a bit fiddly with tucking in the rear mounted weapons and arms within the camper parts. Generally for my tastes the transformation complexity could be higher for more engagement and sense of accomplishment, but I think Takara has done a good job on finding a middle ground here.

There is some paint on the figure, the outer car shell parts and the red bits on his legs for example, but I would say a higher percentage is just bare plastic. That's not really a negative, because nothing really looks out of place or cheap.

Robot mode is of course heavily cartoon inspired and I think Takara has done a great job translating that into toy form. With that context in mind, the silhouette works and his proportions are not really wonky to me - limbs/extremities all have the right length and ratios. People are complaining about how thin the lower half of the robot is, but that is just really due to the fact that the whole car bonnet section is pretty big and is obscuring his "abdomen" piece at the waist from clear line of sight, creating this illusion of disproportion.

The visible door windows from the side don't really bug me as others. Takara provides optional stickers to conceal some of it (like in the cartoon), which I won't be using as I generally don't like the idea of using stickers for higher-end toys or model kits. Maybe Takara should have gone the extra mile and engineered swappable clip-on windows for clear and opaque plastic. 

In alt-mode MP-56 is very dense and a light weight when in robot form. I don't really have an issue with it, but take note that the inside of his upper robot body ends up being mainly hollow as there isn't enough material to go around. Maybe positioning the doors differently or folding up the camper section more to fill out stuff might have been a solution, but then I'm sure another section of fans would then start complaining of transformation being a panel-former or too complicated and complex etc..

There is also a little bit of gap between windscreen-chest and shoulders. I'm critical of visible hollow spaces, but in this instance it gets a pass as it allows for improved articulation – and on that point, Trailbreaker doesn't disappoint. The head is probably the only weaker point, it's on a ball joint but the degree of movement is a bit shallow, but critical stuff like deep bending elbows and knees, ab-crunch or forward pivoting shoulders are all here for expressive posing.

High up lateral arm movement is also possible, but initially requires one to clear out some plastic that is blocking the secondary shoulder joint. Two approaches to this, either take apart the shoulders and sand it down/carve it out with a hobby knife or just carefully force it by hand and then remove some of the warped plastic afterwards (which is how I did it).

 

There is an additional smiling and shouting face, an optional multi-nozzle weapon or left hand and a blast effect for TB. If you desire, then it is possible to replace the right hand with the weapons for even more Sunbow animation errors.

Final thoughts... If there were negatives to mention, then it is that there is no force field effect included in his accessories and maybe the reliance on stickers instead of better engineering around the doors. Otherwise it's all positive, I think Takara has done a very good job with MP-56 – just a fun MP to look at and mess around with.

I appreciate the post and hope you're enjoying him. I think Takara did a pretty good job with him as well, and having watched a few video reviews, I think the transformation is excellent- straightforward and uncluttered by a lot of small folding panels, sliders, etc that we see in a lot of Transformer figs today. Granted those things can help make for better bot or vehicle modes, but sometimes simpler is nice. Alas, I already have MMC's Terraegis, and I'm quite satisfied with their take on the character. That said, had this come out earlier before all the other 3P options, I wouldn't have hesitated to get a copy.  My only nitpicks are the blue windows on his sides (I wonder why they didn't engineer it so that the doors remain outward-facing in bot mode? It would have improved that side profile). The other thing I don't care for is how his belly sticks out at an angle instead of flush as the original toy did and most other versions I've seen. Those niggles aside, he's a good take.

 

9 hours ago, sh9000 said:

This looks ok; there are always going to be inconsistencies between the complex CG models and the toys. Two thoughts: this opens the door for MP Jazz, and two, why couldn't they make SS86 Jazz's car mode this clean?

[Scyla]

14 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I wonder how hard it must be for the creators of the promotional material not to type Jazz instead of Mirage if they have  a smidge of Transformers background knowledge.

Also the blue eyebrows (?!?!) make it look like Mirage has a visor instead of eyes…

…you know, like Jazz.

[mark-1s]

I'll never understand using a Porsche for Mirage. If they didn't want to (or couldn't) use a proper F1 car, then they should have used the next best thing: a McLaren F1.

[mikeszekely]

33 minutes ago, mark-1s said:

I'll never understand using a Porsche for Mirage. If they didn't want to (or couldn't) use a proper F1 car, then they should have used the next best thing: a McLaren F1.

Or a Ferrari, like they did the last time Mirage (or Dino, if you prefer) was in a live-action movie.  No, what bothers me about Mirage isn't that they changed his alt mode.  They've been doing that since the very first film with Hummer Ratchet, truck Ironhide, and Camaro Bumblebee.  What bothers me is that they made a CGI model for a robot that looks an awful lot like Jazz that turns into a car that looks an awful lot like Jazz then named him after a prominent Season 1 Autobot that is NOT Jazz.😒

Speaking of Rise of the Beasts, it seems that the toys are starting to trickle out early.  I myself happen to have a copy here of Studio Series Core-class Arcee.

In some ways it seems like Arcee's having a bit of a renaissance these days.  She was one of the handful of characters to get a Deluxe-class release for Cyberverse.  We got a G1-inspired release in Earthrise (and repackaging in Kingdom) and a Prime-inspired Legacy version.  And when people complained the Earthrise version wasn't good enough we had a G1 do-over in Studio Series, one of now four Arcees in Studio Series line along with these three.

Despite Hasbro's enthusiasm for Arcee of late, it seems that after getting a major upgrade from the Revenge of the Fallen figure to the Bumblebee figure she's suffering a bit of a downgrade for Rise of the Beasts.  I assume the decision to make this release a Core-class was about scale, but limited budge for paint and parts is doing her no favors.  It's hard to tell from the screen caps of trailers that have been revealed so far, but in very broad strokes her colors are mostly OK.  White head, white chest, pink shoulders and biceps, red pelvis and thighs, red forearms, white shins and feet... this all checks out.  Her pink face is kind of off, though, as it should be white- apparently they were working off an older design, which is why I firmly believe that new movies should have their own line and not enter the Studio Series until later, as inaccuracies on Bumblebee and the car version of Shatter from Bumblebee were also due to the toys' designers working on unfinished movie designs.

Other issues are down to class, though.  Her entire midsection is black, lacking the white and silver mechanical details of the CGI model.  Her forearms are missing some white on the undersides, as well as silver fingers.  He thighs are missing mechanical details, as well as the Ducati branding.

Then there's the kibble.  The front of her alt mode is sticking off her butt, and her calves are dominated by wheels.  The wheels on her calves almost get a pass.  As near as I can tell the CGI model has them tucked away somewhere when she's just standing around, but action shots have her using the wheels like skates and I think that's the look they're going for.  Good luck getting her to stand, but you can even fold them out and down a bit.  The front of the bike is a bit more egregious.  I mean, the front of the bike is clearly her chest on the CGI model (to the extent that the toy's chest has painted lights that the CGI model doesn't).  The CGI does have a wheel on her back, though... two, in fact.  I can't tell from the trailers if she has two wheels on her back that move to her legs for skating mode, or if the idea is that one wheel splits and stores in her thighs, deploying for skating, and the other splits into two "wings" on her back.  It looks like it might be the former (you can see wheels on her back and nothing on her legs in the Stonehenge shot, and wheels on her legs but just fenders on her back in the scene where she's skating and falls backward into Wheeljack to avoid a missile).

Arcee does have an accessory, and it's this... object.  I suppose it does look a little like the blaster she's got in the skating with Wheeljack scene in the trailer.  Note that her front wheel is also packaged with her blaster in the box and not attached.  It just plugs into the bike's nose via a peg.

Arcee's head seems to be on a ball joint, and she can swivel and look down a bit, but no real sideways or upward tilt.  He shoulders are on ball joints that swivel and give her 90 degrees of lateral movement.  However, they don't actually tab into her sides and there's a hinge for transformation that you can use for more lateral movement.  No bicep swivel, but her elbow ball joint swivels in addition to providing a little over 90 degrees of bend.  No wrist articulation.  Her waist swivels, though.  Her hips are ball joints, and they can kind of go forward, backward, and laterally 90 degrees, although practically her butt kibble gets in the way.  Her only thigh swivel is the limited amount that her leg can turn around the ball joints in her hips.  Her knees can bend about 90 degrees, even with the wheels folded up.  She has no foot or ankle articulation.

She can hold her blaster by plugging the peg into either of her fists.  Technically, the peg on her front wheel will also fit in her fists, in case she needs a pizza cutter.

I suppose going Core-class for Arcee is about robot scale.  While smaller than her Bumblebee Deluxe counterpart, her bike mode is larger than Revenge of the Fallen Arcee's.  And I'm pretty sure that if you put ROTF Arcee next to, say, ROTF Bumblebee, and figure out how big a human would be in each one, that ROTF Arcee was already on the big side.  As a Core-class, the transformation is pretty simple.  Rotate her at the waist, bend her head forward, bend arms up above her so they meet, make her do the splits, flip the front of the bike between her legs, fold out the wheels and double hinge the knees so that the top of her foot sits where her knee should be, then fold her legs under her so the halves of the rear wheel meet.

Arcee transforms into a Ducati 916, which actually does bring us some continuity with Revenge of the Fallen since she was a Ducati there, too (and 848).  She's a bit of a mess, though.  You've got a mostly-visible robot head, visible robot hands where her exhaust should be, and a seat broken up by her robot shoulders.  The tail is red when it should be mostly white, and the nose is mostly white when the red should rum the while way up the sides, over the mirrors.  The smooth, curved sides of the real bike are flat and marred with mechanical details that don't belong.

Unlike the myriad of other motorcycle Transformers Hasbro's been releasing of late, Arcee doesn't have a kickstand and can't stand up on her own in bike mode.  This is where her blaster comes in, though.  You'll notice two grooves on the top.  This allows the blaster to grab onto some tabs as you wedge it between her feet under the bike.  Little flared protrusions on the bottom of the gun act as a stand to keep the bike upright.  And since the front wheel is pegged in place you can swivel it.  Both tires spin.  That's about it.

Arcee is not a good first impression for the Rise of the Beasts toys.  And I find it curious, because Hasbro is releasing figures in both the Studio Series line and a separate Rise of the Beasts line.  We've already seen leaks, in fact, of a planned Deluxe-class Cheetor in the Rise of the Beasts line that's retooled from the Kingdom toy, but the revealed Studio Series toy you can preorder is a more screen-accurate, all-new Voyager mold.  The impression I was getting is that Hasbro was going to cheap on the main ROTB line (much they way they do with Earthspark, offering "Deluxes" that are a bit less than what you'd get in a Legacy Deluxe, for example), while making the Studio Series releases the more accurate, more premium versions.  But Studio Series Arcee is a messy, ugly figure that I can't honestly recommend.  I'd suggest waiting and seeing if she doesn't get a better Deluxe-class toy in the regular Rise of the Beasts line.

[Hikuro]

17 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Yes, SS86 Magnus is coming.  This year, I think.  And no, it shouldn't be a repackaged Kingdom.  My sources say it's Commander-class which means it should have nearly double the budget.

Figured as much, it’ll probably be well sought after. I was excited getting Rodimus off the shelf before my bbts preorder popped up and he was a lone figure beyond the myriad of deluded on the shelf.

 

speaking of deluded I’ve got my local stores and man they are just shoving the earth spark and cyberverse figures down people’s throats. No legacy, almost no studio series outside of old stuff from last fall. Even Walmarts velocitron stuff hasn’t popped back up. 
guess that’s a good thing, not like I got much cash anyways.

I got in a couple of Toyhax labels last night, a set for wreckers Leadfoot and Legacy Jihaxus. Man the labels really helped both figures a ton. Leadfoot is more like his G2 self that I enjoyed as a kid, and Jihaxus though I’m not done, now has more broken up color apps that pop a ton.