Scyla Posted June 3, 2023 Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) [edit:] Double post, please remove. Edited June 3, 2023 by Scyla Quote
Scyla Posted June 3, 2023 Posted June 3, 2023 14 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: Sure, but there are better ways to go about it, like Animated Bulkhead or G1 Trailbreaker, which give the illusion of chubbiness without looking terrible. Nedrybot just looks like lazy engineering. Well it is still a jeep alt-mode and the engineering budget is probably limited (like with the first cross over set). I quite like the look of it personally. Quote
JB0 Posted June 3, 2023 Posted June 3, 2023 Artemis Prime* combines two of my favorite things, space travel and toy robots, into one glorious existence. I want it now. *That's his name, no one can convince me otherwise. Quote
mark-1s Posted June 5, 2023 Posted June 5, 2023 Interesting placement of Sideswipe’s shoulder cannon Quote
sh9000 Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 Ordered MP Hoist at AE. Went for the pay now instead of pay later price. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 6, 2023 Author Posted June 6, 2023 I think Takara's Hoist looks better than their Trailbreaker, but I don't really care for Hoist enough to replace the X-Transbots version I already have. Annoyingly, I don't actually have a Trailbreaker, and I might wind up with Takara's, but I really don't like the dark gray paint instead of black. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 6, 2023 Author Posted June 6, 2023 Following on that leak of Shadowstriker, here's another wave 4 Evolution figure: Bombshell. *sigh* Breakdown's my favorite Stunticon, Hasbro cheaped out and made and him 90% a retool of Wildrider. Bombshell's my favorite Insecticon, and wouldn't you know it, he's a retool of Shrapnel. Near as I can tell, it's a new torso, new head, new shoulders, but Shrapnel's arms from the biceps down and entirely Shrapnel from the waist down. I'll note that they don't show the back end of Bombshell's alt mode... probably because people are going to be miffed when they see toes pointing out the back. You know, people like me. I'm also not loving the black hips, gray hands, and gray biceps. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 9 hours ago, mikeszekely said: Following on that leak of Shadowstriker, here's another wave 4 Evolution figure: Bombshell. *sigh* Breakdown's my favorite Stunticon, Hasbro cheaped out and made and him 90% a retool of Wildrider. Bombshell's my favorite Insecticon, and wouldn't you know it, he's a retool of Shrapnel. Near as I can tell, it's a new torso, new head, new shoulders, but Shrapnel's arms from the biceps down and entirely Shrapnel from the waist down. I'll note that they don't show the back end of Bombshell's alt mode... probably because people are going to be miffed when they see toes pointing out the back. You know, people like me. I'm also not loving the black hips, gray hands, and gray biceps. Honestly, I'm not bothered that they reused Shrapnel's legs, as I was a bit concerned, given how closely they've been modeling these after the G1 toys, that the shins would be hollow. While it may not be the most ideal solution from a fan's perspective, it makes sense for Hasbro to make him a partial retool, and it doesn't look bad to me. The upper body and head are clearly Bombshell, and I'm fine with it. Is it lazy? Yep. Is it unexpected? Nope. Just Hasbro Hasbroing the sh!t out of it. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 6, 2023 Author Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said: Honestly, I'm not bothered that they reused Shrapnel's legs, as I was a bit concerned, given how closely they've been modeling these after the G1 toys, that the shins would be hollow. While it may not be the most ideal solution from a fan's perspective, it makes sense for Hasbro to make him a partial retool, and it doesn't look bad to me. The upper body and head are clearly Bombshell, and I'm fine with it. Is it lazy? Yep. Is it unexpected? Nope. Just Hasbro Hasbroing the sh!t out of it. I'm just frustrated. Most of the time Hasbro's been doing pretty well by me since Earthrise, right? Like I'm losing interest in spending $100-$200 on MP figures when $30 mainline figures are delivering what I want. But sometimes they just miss the mark (like Astrotrain). And they keep doing stuff like finding the budget for deep-cut characters like Devcon or newly-invented characters like a bunch of new Junkions (or, if the leaks are to be believed, guys who turn into rocks), but they can't manage to budget for important characters like Bombshell or Breakdown without retooling another character into a semi-accurate facsimile. Doubly frustrated because the characters Hasbro keeps cheaping out on are my favorite ones. If I had the money to get a 3P going, I'd focus on re-doing the figures Hasbro screwed up. Edited June 6, 2023 by mikeszekely Quote
sh9000 Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 I think I'll still get Bombshell to complete the trio. I would have also liked for Breakdown's car mode to be better. At least make the car the same as Sideswipe's or something. Screen Junkies posted an Honest Trailer for Transformers The Movie. Quote
JB0 Posted June 6, 2023 Posted June 6, 2023 2 hours ago, mikeszekely said: (or, if the leaks are to be believed, guys who turn into rocks) Rock Lords 2.0, baby! Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 7, 2023 Posted June 7, 2023 22 hours ago, mikeszekely said: I'm just frustrated. Most of the time Hasbro's been doing pretty well by me since Earthrise, right? Like I'm losing interest in spending $100-$200 on MP figures when $30 mainline figures are delivering what I want. But sometimes they just miss the mark (like Astrotrain). And they keep doing stuff like finding the budget for deep-cut characters like Devcon or newly-invented characters like a bunch of new Junkions (or, if the leaks are to be believed, guys who turn into rocks), but they can't manage to budget for important characters like Bombshell or Breakdown without retooling another character into a semi-accurate facsimile. Doubly frustrated because the characters Hasbro keeps cheaping out on are my favorite ones. If I had the money to get a 3P going, I'd focus on re-doing the figures Hasbro screwed up. I feel ya, especially concerning new molds for extremely obscure or made-up characters, and lazy approaches to main or far more established ones. Third parties are taking up some of the slack, but stuff like Breakdown or Astrotrain can only be fixed by a whole new toy purposely designed to get everything as right as possible. It boggles my mind that no third party has stepped up to produce toys in CHUG scale when the official ones are lackluster or just downright terrible, or in the case of G1 Megatron, make a fig to fill a void that Hasbro won't touch. We have two great legends makers, one of which has made two excellent Optimus Primes in MP scale; how much more difficult would it be to upscale some of their figs to CHUG scale as another option? I'm guessing the threat of legal action is very real, so they just avoid it altogether, but man, I wish they'd at least test the waters. At the very least, Magic Square's Doomsday (Megatron) would be a welcome fig in both CHUG and MP scales. 20 hours ago, JB0 said: Rock Lords 2.0, baby! I don't think Rock Lords is a line that too many fans are clamoring for. I don't believe they sold well back in the 80s when all things transformable were the rage. It'd be far better if Has/Tak entered into an agreement with Bandai to produce Gobots figs under the Transformers banner. However, Action Toys did their Machine Robo line, and now Megahouse is producing MR figs as well. Both companies are restricted to characters from Revenge of Cronos, which may be the only MR property Bandai holds. Anyway, I doubt Has/Tak could produce figs much better than the Action Toys figs, but if they could secure the license, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. At any rate, I'd take a Leader-1 or a Cy-kill over Boulder or Magmar from Hasbro any day, although given Has/Tak's history with jetformers, I can only imagine the travesty that would be Leader-1. Quote
JB0 Posted June 7, 2023 Posted June 7, 2023 5 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: I don't think Rock Lords is a line that too many fans are clamoring for. I don't believe they sold well back in the 80s when all things transformable were the rage. I was kinda joking. I wouldn't mind seeing a Rock Lords revival(or is that a reunion tour), but am aware there's not much nostalgia for them. 5 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: Both companies are restricted to characters from Revenge of Cronos, which may be the only MR property Bandai holds. Bandai owns all of Machine Robo uncontested. My understanding is that Revenge of Cronos is just the most popular of the Machine Robo cartoons. If they're gonna waste time licensing out toy robots not from Gundam or Super Sentai, they may as well go for the biggest puddle. Hasbro owns the Go-Bots names and setting, not the original toys(but WB owns the US cartoon). Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 7, 2023 Posted June 7, 2023 36 minutes ago, JB0 said: I was kinda joking. I wouldn't mind seeing a Rock Lords revival(or is that a reunion tour), but am aware there's not much nostalgia for them. Bandai owns all of Machine Robo uncontested. My understanding is that Revenge of Cronos is just the most popular of the Machine Robo cartoons. If they're gonna waste time licensing out toy robots not from Gundam or Super Sentai, they may as well go for the biggest puddle. Hasbro owns the Go-Bots names and setting, not the original toys(but WB owns the US cartoon). I knew licensing was split between various entities, mostly between Bandai's owning the toys and Hasbro's owning the names, which kinda does them little good. While they've pasted a few Gobots characters' names on regular TF figs with approximate paint schemes, it's just not quite the same as having dedicated molds to represent the old toys/characters. As I said, it'd be cool if they struck a deal with Bandai to use the MR toy likenesses for a line of Gobots, although my skepticism is barely reigned when it comes to the jetformers among them. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 7, 2023 Author Posted June 7, 2023 So, no joke, if Hasbro wanted to revive the Rock Lords brand as a separate toy line (or even as part of a Go-Bots revival) I'd be right there for it. My issue isn't with Rock Lords per se, it's with Rock Lords as new Transformers characters getting development budgets and slots in the lineup when they can't find the budget to make Breakdown a different car than Wildrider and a G1 season 1 cartoon mainstay like Gears hasn't had an update in almost ten years. I genuinely don't know what's going on over there, if they're giving designers free reign to get out the deep cuts like Devcon or mandating gimmicks like Fossilizers in a line aimed primarily at adults nostalgic for the '80s cartoon or what, but Hasbro needs someone else running the show for the Transformers brand. Quote
JB0 Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said: As I said, it'd be cool if they struck a deal with Bandai to use the MR toy likenesses for a line of Gobots My understanding is they don't do anything more than required to re-estblish and maintain the trademarks because they have a very good working relationship with TakaraTomy and don't want to hurt it by making deals with TT's biggest rival. Which SUCKS. Quote
Scyla Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) Another round of questionable deco decisions by Hasbro: Transformers Prime Dreadwing: To me that looks nothing like he did in the show from what I remember. The translucent red is an odd choice and he has not enough yellow. Hopefully the blue looks better in hand. More images: https://news.tfw2005.com/2023/06/08/legacy-evolution-leader-prime-dreadwing-first-look-486546 How he looked in the show: The PRiD toy: Maybe the designer was looking at G2 Dreadwing for inspiration but were is the teal then: Edited June 8, 2023 by Scyla Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 8, 2023 Author Posted June 8, 2023 I'd have preferred a translucent yellow chest (and doubly so for the real cockpit). But mostly Dreadwing's problem is that (aside from accessories) he's a straight repaint of Skyquake, and Skyquake was an amalgamation of Prime and Euro-G1, and the nods to Euro-G1 on Skyquake aren't actually applicable to Dreadwing. In other news, did you get the Walmart-exclusive G2 Dragstrip (sorry, "Shadowstrip")? Do you want a G2 Wildrider to go with him? Well, good news, I hear he's coming! Bad news, he'll be exclusive to Target. Worse news, in a two-pack. You want G2 Wildrider, you to buy him with '86 movie Prowl. "'86 movie Prowl?" I hear you saying. "I missed the Amazon two-pack and I need an Earth-mode Prowl! I actually want him more than Wildrider!" Yeah, I could see that, if he were simply the same Prowl figure with something like blue-painted windows or something to be more cartoon-accurate. But I didn't say cartoon, did I? I said '86 movie. So he's got a new head, complete with that "I'm dead" face he makes before coughing up orange smoke. And he's sporting his gunshot wound. Quote
tekering Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 2 hours ago, mikeszekely said: he's sporting his gunshot wound In nearly four decades of Transformers collecting, I've never even imagined such a thing... and yet it's not a fan custom, nor even a third-party, but an official release that's the first to do it. 😲 Quote
sh9000 Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 Thanks for the info @mikeszekely. I'll still get the set but damn I wanted just a reissue Prowl with slight recoloring in SS TFTM packaging. Quote
JB0 Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 New tooling to put a hole in his chest, but they couldn't spring for a dash of orange paint in his mouth? Lazy! Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 9, 2023 Posted June 9, 2023 5 hours ago, JB0 said: New tooling to put a hole in his chest, but they couldn't spring for a dash of orange paint in his mouth? Lazy! Actually, I'm surprised they retooled the hood at all. A new head mold makes sense, and they could have made a clear orange effects piece that fits in the mouth to represent the orange smoke. All things considered, although they're just chunks of plastic, it's still a bit morbid to collect figs in the act of dying. I prefer my figs alive and ready for action with as much detail as they'll give me- not pale and ghastly. Different strokes, I guess. Personally, I love the first season bots and I still feel a little bitter about how they went about dispatching them with so much careless ease for the sake of introducing new toys. These characters mattered to me and to many others, so it was a bit jarring, even as a 15- or 16-year-old, to see them done away with so flippantly. Even in my 50s, it still rankles. They could have been seriously wounded and later shown in a quick scene being taken in for medical care- out of action but not dead. Alas, that's not the way it went down, more's the pity. This was a good opportunity to rerelease ER Prowl albeit with a different head sculpt for those who missed out on him the first time. Although I have my copy, I'm hoping the regular version will get a rerelease eventually. Here's my copy, alive and ready to kick Decepti-chops! (after a bit of strategic analysis and planning, of course). Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 9, 2023 Author Posted June 9, 2023 @M'Kyuun I see you painted Prowl's thighs. The black ones didn't bother me, but I'm realizing that not only did he not have black thighs in the cartoon that the G1 toy had gray ones. I'm wondering if silver might do... Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 9, 2023 Posted June 9, 2023 9 hours ago, mikeszekely said: @M'Kyuun I see you painted Prowl's thighs. The black ones didn't bother me, but I'm realizing that not only did he not have black thighs in the cartoon that the G1 toy had gray ones. I'm wondering if silver might do... They're actually gumetal, IIRC- been awhile since I painted those. His biceps and the lower portion of his waist are the same. I have the OG toy (he was my first TF back in '84) and I tried to match the color and placement of my paint apps. There's a slight metallic sheen to it, but the lighting in my house is poor (very yellowish) and my camera, a little point & shoot, is extremely finicky about light and vibration, so my pics often suffer. In hand, I think it compares pretty well to my G1 Prowl. I also painted the interior and exterior portions of his lower legs that were cast in trans blue. I was hoping that Toyhax would include a sticker in their set that mimicked the interior leg greebles like the G1 Prowl box art, but sadly they didn't. I've always loved the look of leg greebles under glass that appeared on a number of the G1 toys' box art; I just find it an extremely appealing part of the look, and I wish it carried forward more on modern toys. Anyway, Prowl is probably my favorite character from a design and appearance standpoint. His appearances in the show were limited and he never really had much character development, but I just love how he looks and the box art for the OG toy went a long way towards cementing that in my mind. That said, I've spent a fair bit of time and money on this fig in painting, stickering, and procuring third party weapons for him to try and complete his G1 toy look, w/ a splash of toon in there as well. I'm still probably not done with him. This is the mainline Prowl I waited nigh 40 years for, and I love him. It's probably also why this upcoming 'Dying Prowl' is a bit unsavory to me- he, like the other Autobots on the shuttle, had such a cheap lackluster death and I just don't want that memorialized in a figure. Quote
lechuck Posted June 10, 2023 Posted June 10, 2023 Aside from the standard retail edition of Kaen, there will also be a limited TT Mall version (designated MPG-06S). This will be a bigger box that apparently can house all the previous Trainbot boxes and will contain additional stands for all six as well as having the beam sabre and sword plated. https://www.taghobby.com/archives/714329 Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 11, 2023 Author Posted June 11, 2023 I'm hearing this will be part of the Velocitron collection. So... Dragstrip was a Walmart exclusive, Dead End's going to be a Walmart exclusive, but if the rumors I'm hearing are right Wildrider is a Target exclusive (and comes with dead Prowl). Huh. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 13, 2023 Author Posted June 13, 2023 Good news for anyone who didn't want to buy a dead Prowl to get a G2 Wildrider... turns out he's actually coming with a dead Ironhide instead. Also coming is a troop builder 4-pack, with a Quintesson trooper (Alicon repaint), Animated Universe Autotrooper (Siege Ironhide retool), G2 Universe Cybertronian trooper (Skullgrin retool), and a Decepticon Seeker (Thundercracker... no, seriously, it looks like it might be a darker blue, but that's about it). What's cool is that everyone but Thundercracker has an alternate head, so you really could buy two and troop build. Quote
JB0 Posted June 13, 2023 Posted June 13, 2023 7 hours ago, mikeszekely said: Good news for anyone who didn't want to buy a dead Prowl to get a G2 Wildrider... turns out he's actually coming with a dead Ironhide instead. Still a weird choice, but I respect that they actually did remolds for the fatal wounds. I think it's actually weirder for having two corpses in the box, though. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 13, 2023 Author Posted June 13, 2023 1 hour ago, JB0 said: Still a weird choice, but I respect that they actually did remolds for the fatal wounds. I think it's actually weirder for having two corpses in the box, though. As opposed to one corpse in a box? Because I'm thinking I might get the set to go with this guy: And we know SS86 Brawn is coming, and SS86 Ironhide will be retooled into SS86 Ratchet. That's another box set of corpses waiting to happen. Here's hoping Hasbro's planning a new Windcharger soon so he and Wheeljack can complete the collection of SS86 corpses. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 13, 2023 Author Posted June 13, 2023 FYI, the pair of packs I posted about last night is available to preorder at Target. The trooper pack is sold out on Pulse, but you can still get Ironhide and Prowl's corpses there, if you prefer. I decided to order both from Target. If I see the Trooper pack in the wild I'll probably grab a second, and at that time I'll probably have an extra Thundercracker... I mean Seeker if anyone wants him and only him. Quote
sh9000 Posted June 14, 2023 Posted June 14, 2023 Preordered the Ironhide and Prowl set at Hasbro Pulse. If the Quintesson Trooper was a single release then I'd get it. Quote
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