M'Kyuun Posted February 27 Posted February 27 55 minutes ago, mikeszekely said: I ordered ML Convoy and the JAXA one through Hasbro Pulse, so I'm at the mercy of whenever they get those in. But I have a feeling ML Convoy will probably hit around mid-March. Y'know, so I get hit for it and the Haslab at around the same time and my wife throws a fit at the credit card bill. Heh, heh, I never have that issue. My wife and I maintain separate accounts, although we each have access to the other's and neither of us really ever checks on the other's. Too, we have no credit cards; we pay for everything from our checking accounts, and we're both careful to never overextend. Well, honestly, my wife spends little of what she makes, as she covers the groceries and I cover everything else, not to mention I'm the one with multiple expensive hobbies. My wife's main gripe when I buy something new concerns where I'm going to put the new acquisition, to which I reply, "I'll find someplace", to which I usually get some sort of dubious, "Mmm-hmm". Finding said 'someplace' is becoming increasingly more difficult; I've pretty much filled our house with my toys. I didn't go in on the Missing Link Prime, and I'll likely skip most of the line. If they do Megatron, or Prowl, though, I'm down for either. I'll find someplace to put them. 😉 Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 27 Author Posted February 27 Hasbro needs to announce some product soon. Pablo's on his way, so I have ZERO Studio Series preorders, and the only Legacy preorders I have are Tidal Wave and Magmatron. Meanwhile, apparently Bumblebee Sunstreaker and Gamer Edition Sideswipe, from the still-not-officially-announced second wave of 2024 Studio Series toys, are turning up on store shelves. At this rate there won't be any preorders, they'll do a Transformers Tuesday stream, show off some figures, then they'll just be available to purchase later that day. Quote
Black Valkyrie Posted February 27 Posted February 27 5 hours ago, treatment said: My Missing Link C-01 was delivered today. pictarz.... usual sucky amz-jp packing Underside to check for crotch tabbing issue some owners have been reporting recently: C-01 vs MP-01: C01 vs HM-R JetFire: C-01 vs UW-04 Devy: Other notes: I had to loosen up the thigh-screws as they were way bit tight when trying to rotate the thighs the first time. Other than that, no issues found so far. Despite Takara nerfing the Trailer by removing the spring-launcher for Roller, this C-01 is a pretty awesome release! Very nice 👍 . Quote
tekering Posted February 27 Posted February 27 7 hours ago, mikeszekely said: I ordered ML Convoy and the JAXA one through Hasbro Pulse, so I'm at the mercy of whenever they get those in. Living in Japan sometimes has its advantages... XL-01 pilot Buzz Lightyear really complements JAXA Prime. 😊 Quote
sh9000 Posted February 27 Posted February 27 10 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: If they do Megatron, or Prowl, though, I'm down for either. I'll find someplace to put them. I'd buy a ML Megatron and Prowl and his Datsun brothers as well. Quote
Radioguy Posted February 27 Posted February 27 10 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: I didn't go in on the Missing Link Prime, and I'll likely skip most of the line. If they do Megatron, or Prowl, though, I'm down for either. I'll find someplace to put them. 😉 I'd love a ML of the G1 version, but I imagine it would have more stability issues than the original with the extra articulation. Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 27 Author Posted February 27 7 hours ago, tekering said: Living in Japan sometimes has its advantages... Oh, that looks so good. I'm honestly more excited for JAXA Prime than I am for Missing Link. Anyways, for those of you stuck in America with me, you can finally get Hound! You just have to get his five slightly-toonier repainted buddies with him. https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-generations-selects-legacy-united-autobots-stand-united-5-pack Quote
Radioguy Posted February 27 Posted February 27 1 hour ago, mikeszekely said: Oh, that looks so good. I'm honestly more excited for JAXA Prime than I am for Missing Link. Anyways, for those of you stuck in America with me, you can finally get Hound! You just have to get his five slightly-toonier repainted buddies with him. https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-generations-selects-legacy-united-autobots-stand-united-5-pack This seems to work atm: https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-generations-selects-legacy-united-autobots-stand-united-5-pack-figures Quote
Black Valkyrie Posted February 27 Posted February 27 5 hours ago, Radioguy said: I'd love a ML of the G1 version, but I imagine it would have more stability issues than the original with the extra articulation. I not surprised if they produce ML the Seekers . Quote
CollectorCanine Posted February 27 Posted February 27 Thanks for posting that link so I could secure them. Missed out on Trailbreaker the first time around and been eager for Earth Mode Hound, so this + better versions of guys I already have is good. Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 27 Author Posted February 27 34 minutes ago, Radioguy said: This seems to work atm: https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-generations-selects-legacy-united-autobots-stand-united-5-pack-figures Weird. Wonder why the end got clipped off when I tried to post? Quote
sh9000 Posted February 27 Posted February 27 Thanks for the heads up about the Autobots 5 Pack @mikeszekely. I forgot that it went up today. Preordered at Entertainment Earth. Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 28 Author Posted February 28 (edited) Heads up, Walmart Collector Con is coming. There will be a sneak peak on March 7th, and figures drop on the 14th & 15th. I expect that Walmart's exclusive Star Seekers line of Transfomers. While Walmart has given us some new molds (Velocitron Cosmos & Velocitron Override come to mind) and a few heavier retools, I expect we're getting fairly minimal retools and repaints here. Leader-class Thundertron. No idea what will differentiate him from the United version. Voyager-class Ferak. Likely a repaint of Cyclonus. Deluxe-class Lockdown. There's an argument to be had that Chase is a pretty good mold to make a Lockdown out of, but realistically it's a repaint of Axlegrease. Deluxe-class Roadpig. There's been so many Transformers that turn into motorcycles lately, but I believe that this one's a repaint of Crashbar. Deluxe-class Cannonball. I don't know for sure what mold they'll use, because Hasbro likes repainting stuff into a yellow-and-black pirate. The originals were Cybertron Red-Alert and Prime Ratchet. I'm going to throw out an out there possibility- a repaint of Studio Series Kup, as an homage to Timeless Kup, who himself was a repaint of Cybertron Red Alert. Deluxe-class Filch. AFAIK, the only Transformer previously named Filch was from RID15. Realistically, that's going to make her a repaint or retool of Airazor Edited March 7 by mikeszekely Quote
M'Kyuun Posted February 28 Posted February 28 9 hours ago, mikeszekely said: Oh, that looks so good. I'm honestly more excited for JAXA Prime than I am for Missing Link. Anyways, for those of you stuck in America with me, you can finally get Hound! You just have to get his five slightly-toonier repainted buddies with him. https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-generations-selects-legacy-united-autobots-stand-united-5-pack I wouldn't mind having the Earth-alt Hound, but I already have the rest of the included bots in arguably better liveries, and I just don't have the room or the inclination to buy copies of them just to get the one fig I actually want. Hopefully at some future point, Hasbro will finally release just this version of Hound in some form or fashion. Until such time, the excellent Universe Hound remains my G1 Hound placeholder in my CHUG collection. Quote
Radioguy Posted February 28 Posted February 28 1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said: I wouldn't mind having the Earth-alt Hound, but I already have the rest of the included bots in arguably better liveries, and I just don't have the room or the inclination to buy copies of them just to get the one fig I actually want. Hopefully at some future point, Hasbro will finally release just this version of Hound in some form or fashion. EXACTLY. I hovered over this, but I have them all with proper windows short of Hound. Shame on Target for pulling out. I'm surrounded by them and would have had a chance at him, or even this set at a price low enough I might reconsider. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted February 28 Posted February 28 13 hours ago, Radioguy said: EXACTLY. I hovered over this, but I have them all with proper windows short of Hound. Shame on Target for pulling out. I'm surrounded by them and would have had a chance at him, or even this set at a price low enough I might reconsider. I understand that Hasbro likes to cater to its retail partners by doing exclusives, and that's fine. Well, actually exclusives suck, but for the sake of argument, it's fine. That's business. However, they're not quite living up to their motto of, "Where fans come first" in pulling these kinds of shenanigans. Hasbro knows fans want all the G1 bots in just regular color schemes, clear windows, etc to complement each other, so it's a bit of a middle finger to put a featured First Season bot who remains popular in an expensive multi-pack full of repaints. It certainly rankles with this fan. If I had an iota of talent and an airbrush, I'd just buy a copy of Detritus and give him a Hound paint job. Alas, I have no skills, so I'm at the mercy of Hasbro's weird and frustrating marketing decisions. 😒 Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 28 Author Posted February 28 39 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: so I'm at the mercy of Hasbro's weird and frustrating marketing decisions. 😒 I'm not going to defend Hasbro's marketing decisions 100%, as I've already said plenty about decisions like putting Knock Out in the main Legacy line while making Cosmos a Walmart-exclusive, or finding the budget for brand-new gimmick characters like Scraphook while not retooling Breakdown enough from Wildrider. But I do think I should clarify a few things. First, yeah, store-exclusives can be frustrating, especially when the exclusives are at stores like Walgreens that do such a bad job distributing and stocking them. But you need to remember that, in most cases, it's you get the figure as a store-exclusive or the figure doesn't get done at all. The main line only has much budget and so much room, and Hasbro is able to expand beyond that because stores pay them to do so. Second, yeah, stores pay for exclusives. These exclusives are planned and negotiated, and once the contracts are signed it's in the stores' hands. Walmart decides to cancel a planned second wave of Velocitron? Guess what, we're never getting that SS86 Hot Rod in toy colors because Walmart owns the design.* Sometimes Hasbro can get around a contract like that by changing the figure. That's what you're seeing here with Hound. That original leaked design is Target's. Going with a painted-window, extra cartoony deco is likely the only way that Hound ever gets released, because Target decided to cancel it. *In addition to changing the deco or included accessories, I assume control reverts back to Hasbro at some point. Hence Dirge getting a package refresh in Legacy Evolution. Quote
CollectorCanine Posted February 28 Posted February 28 Yeah, Hasbro has said in the past that ownership of exclusives reverts to them at some point and that there are past very rare exclusives the design team badly wants to reissue, but they have to wait the 3 or 4 years before they can do so first. Quote
Radioguy Posted February 28 Posted February 28 1 hour ago, CollectorCanine said: Yeah, Hasbro has said in the past that ownership of exclusives reverts to them at some point and that there are past very rare exclusives the design team badly wants to reissue, but they have to wait the 3 or 4 years before they can do so first. Leadfoot? 😁 Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 29 Author Posted February 29 On 2/19/2024 at 11:26 PM, mikeszekely said: Still a rumor, so remember your salt, but I have it on word from a reliable source that Amazon's exclusive Transfomers this year will be the Mayhem Attack Squad, and will be sold in three two packs. One is Voyager Bludgeon (probably a redeco of the Tarn remold we already got) with Deluxe Ruckus (a retool of Beachcomber), one is Deluxe Chopshop with Deluxe Barrage (repaints of Shrapnel and Bombshell as Deluxe Insecticons... sadly no sign of Venom). And the third is Deluxe Knockout (a redeco of, well, Knockout) with Deluxe Windsweeper (a retool of Needlenose). More exciting (for me, anyway), I'm told that there will be a TMNT x Transformers collab this year. It's gonna be the Party Wagon (Turtle van)! Well, I got one thing wrong here... we're not getting another Knockout (thankfully). We're getting his partner, Breakdown. And he's a Voyager, and basically Bulkhead with a new head. He comes with the hammer that the Wreckers version of Bulkhead did. But yeah, he's still packed with Windsweeper, and yeah, Windsweeper is still a retool of Needlenose. I didn't really want Windsweeper enough to also buy another Knockout, but I'll probably buy it for Breakdown, even if he's kind of a lazy retool. Much less lazy, surprisingly enough, are the retools of Bombshell and Shrapnel into Barrage and Chopshop. I'm definitely in for this, kind of excited to see Venom now, and feeling a bit sorry that Ransack was just Kickback with a new head. The Insecticons will also come packed with a Battlemaster, the little minotaur-looking fellow that turns into a hammer, done in gray. No word on the Bludgeon and Ruckus pack, but this pair of Amazon-exclusive two-packs will go up for preorder today at 1:00pm EST. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted February 29 Posted February 29 1 hour ago, mikeszekely said: Well, I got one thing wrong here... we're not getting another Knockout (thankfully). We're getting his partner, Breakdown. And he's a Voyager, and basically Bulkhead with a new head. He comes with the hammer that the Wreckers version of Bulkhead did. But yeah, he's still packed with Windsweeper, and yeah, Windsweeper is still a retool of Needlenose. I didn't really want Windsweeper enough to also buy another Knockout, but I'll probably buy it for Breakdown, even if he's kind of a lazy retool. Much less lazy, surprisingly enough, are the retools of Bombshell and Shrapnel into Barrage and Chopshop. I'm definitely in for this, kind of excited to see Venom now, and feeling a bit sorry that Ransack was just Kickback with a new head. The Insecticons will also come packed with a Battlemaster, the little minotaur-looking fellow that turns into a hammer, done in gray. No word on the Bludgeon and Ruckus pack, but this pair of Amazon-exclusive two-packs will go up for preorder today at 1:00pm EST. Barrage and Chopshop actually aren't half bad retools/repaints. Better than I thought they'd be. Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 29 Author Posted February 29 I need something to do to stay awake until the Amazon preorders go up. Lucky for me, I just got Studio Series Deluxe-class Rise of the Beasts Wheeljack, so I suppose I can ramble about him for a bit. Heads up, for the rest of this review I'll be referring to this guy as Pablo, because the crews on these movies have a bad habit of designing a character to be Wheeljack then changing the design to something more stereotypically "smart" but looking nothing like Wheeljack. Yeah, that's right... once upon a time Que had a head design that looked more like Wheeljack before they changed him to look like Einstein, and Pablo here at one point had his ears and face mask before they decided that he should look more like Steve Urkel. Anyway... it's been the case that, even if the mainline figure was pretty descent, the Studio Series toy was decidedly superior toy. I'd say the only real exceptions so far have been Nightbird, which is 99% the same toy but, to be fair, has a much better alt mode, and Mirage, where their licensing deal ensured that his Porsche 911 alt mode looked fantastic but seriously impacted the robot. Pablo here is somewhere in between, I think. He's definitely not the same robot, and there are some improvements here. Although his suspenders don't come up all the way, his chest and torso is much more accurate overall. His door wings are facing the wrong way, but they're angled upward and much more prominent. His feet are more proportional with the CGI model's, and the two-tone shoulder pads are more correct. Subjectively, I think I might also prefer the head on SS Pablo. For every step forward, though, we've got a step backward. His forearms somehow have more kibble. Despite being part of the ostensibly more-premium Studio Series line I think the robot mode is also lacking paint. The lights on his shoulders and thighs still aren't painted, he lost some gunmetal/black detail on his pelvis, hips, and biceps, plus some of the white on his knees and fingers. There's also the fact that the mainline Deluxe has a nice, smooth section of roof for his back while SS Pablo has some folded flaps just dangling there. Like the previous Deluxe, Pablo's sole accessory is a gun. Weirdly, it's made out o the same translucent plastic they used for his doors, and the sculpt is more like Studio Series 86 Ironhide's than the gun that came with mainline Pablo. Perhaps SS Pablo's articulation is an improvement over the non-SS version? Head's on a ball joint that can look up and down a bit, and tilt his head sideways in addition to swiveling. That's similar to, but slightly better. His shoulders swivel on ball joints, which is the same, but the cutout for the ball is more behind the shoulder than above it and really doesn't provide lateral movement. Instead, he's got a hinge in his chest that can move the shoulders 90 degrees laterally, but that puts it on the wrong side of the ball joint, giving him Hot Rod arms. That's a downgrade. His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, and he lacks a wrist swivel... same. His waist swivels (same), and his hips are again ball joints. They go 90 degrees forward (same), a little under 90 backward due to his back flap (a little worse), and only about 60 degrees laterally (slightly better, actually). His thighs swivel, and they have more range than the previous Deluxe, and his knees bend 90 degrees (same). His feet tilt down a little (worse), up about 45 degrees (better), and pivot about 45 degrees (better). They don't swivel the way the previous Deluxe's do, but I don't think that's super necessary. All-in-all, I'd SS Pablo gets better feet and ankles at the expense of worse shoulders, and is pretty similar everywhere else. I'll call articulation a wash. Pablo can hold his gun in either hand via the 5mm peg handle. There are thin tabs on the sides of the gun, too, and you can plug them into a slot on his back flap for storage. It's interesting that SS Pablo's parts wind up in pretty similar places- arms tucked in so the wheels on his shoulders fit just under the now-closed door wings, chest in the front, front of the roof formed from his back, rear of the van formed from his folded-up legs. Yet, their engineering is quite different. SS Pablo is a much bigger pain-in-the-rear to transform, and it's almost entirely down to his arms. First, you have to use the hinges to move his shoulders under his chest, which is tricky enough because the hinges for his doors are in the way an the cutout for the ball joint limits your ability to swivel the arm. Once you do manage to get his arms in place, you have to open up the forearms and wrap them around his waist to form part of the sides and roof, but the panels don't open wide enough and his arms are locked at his sides, so you have to bend the plastic and force it around his waist. Once you've done that, though, turning his legs into the rear of the van is pretty smooth sailing. As was the case with Mirage, where the mainline Deluxe lacked a license from the Volkswagen Group the Studio Series figure does indeed have that licensed alt mode. This of course means that the alt mode, at least, is far more accurate. The front end is distinctly a Volkswagen Type 2 T1, the roof rack looks more intentional and less like some weird waffling, the rear is pretty accurate (minus the weird and purposeless cutouts in the rear window), and the side now has the fuller "Reparacion de T.V. Pablo" in right red instead of just "T.V. Pablo" in a color more akin to dried blood. It's also nice to seem the silver trim around the sides swooping toward the front bumper, the door handles, and the headlights all painted in silver, though the marker lights on the roof and the rims could have used some of that, too. It's also a shame that they didn't put a little red on the taillights. Side note, I absolutely love that Pablo's head is looking out through the windshield. Yeah, it kind of defeats the disguise part of "robots in disguise," and no, it doesn't really leave room for humans to sit in the front, but there's something I dig about Transformers that appear to be driving themselves. Pablo can carry his gun in alt mode the same way he does in bot mode. Simply plug the tab on either side of the gun into the slot in his sunroof and you're good-to-go. I can't help but feel a bit let down by Pablo. While the sculpt is arguably better in bot mode and the licensed alt mode is definitely more screen-accurate, there's no meaningful improvements in articulation or accessories over the previous Deluxe, and the transformation clearly isn't as well thought-out. But what really hurts him, in my opinion, is just how drab he looks. Sure, he wasn't the most colorful robot in the film, but a bit more silver in spots, or just a touch of red on the shoulders and taillights (which would still be accurate) would help immensely, and making his hips and pelvis a more-accurate gunmetal color and/or adding the white to his knees or painting the lights on this thighs would have broken up a lot of the brown on his lower body. All-in-all, I'd say that if you don't have Pablo in your collection yet then the Studio Series toy is the one to get, especially if you're handy with the paints and don't mind touching him up yourself. However, if you already have the previous Deluxe and can live without the licensed alt mode there really isn't any definitive reason to "upgrade" to the Studio Series toy. Quote
sh9000 Posted February 29 Posted February 29 https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-legacy-united-doom-n-destruction-collection-2-pack https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-legacy-united-doom-n-destruction-collection-3-pack Available at Hasbro Pulse. Quote
mikeszekely Posted February 29 Author Posted February 29 And Amazon. Breakdown & Windsweeper Chop Shop & Barrage Quote
M'Kyuun Posted March 1 Posted March 1 (edited) I had to take my mother-in-law to an appointment, so I missed the PO window on Pulse. I got Chop Shop & Barrage on Amazon- same price as Pulse, only I don't get the free shipping. They appear to be some good retools; the base toy is obviously still Shrapnel, but there's enough retooling in the torso and heads, and even insect leg details that they channel the OG toys pretty well. As @mikeszekelypointed out, Ransack is a far lazier effort, and the final fig lacks the insect abdomen that formed the OG bot's lower torso. They could have retooled Kickback's body to give it more of a likeness, but they didn't. Maybe there'll be an upgrade kit that does so. Speaking of which, if Ransack went up for, PO, I totally missed it. He's a bit underwhelming, esp next to Chop Shop and Barrage, but I'm hoping, if and when I'm able to PO him, that hypothetical torso upgrade kit will become a reality, and the three of them will look purdy darn good along with their G1 counterparts. Disregard; he was part of a Target Buzzworthy repaint four-pack. No interest in the other three box-mates. Maybe they'll release Ransack as a solo character in a couple of years. Or better, maybe they'll do a proper retool- I doubt it, but I can hope. I completely forgot about Venom, the cicada dude. I can see them doing a major retool of Kickback to make his legs form the abdomen. Really, though, he just needs his own mold. Edited March 1 by M'Kyuun Quote
mikeszekely Posted March 1 Author Posted March 1 9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: Speaking of which, if Ransack went up for, PO, I totally missed it. Ransack came out two years ago, in a Buzzworthy pack (Creatures Collide) with a Goldbug (Netflix Bumblebee with a new head and paint), Scorponok (Kingdom Scorponok in his original toy colors), and Skywasp (Waspinator in black and purple). The Predacons also came with the alternate heads based on their non-mutant faces, and Ransack came with a toy-version of Kickback's head. My review was here. You can still find some ebay sellers offering the entire pack without too much markup, but you'll have an easier time finding a G1 Ransack than anyone selling a loose Ransack, so you'd better at least want Goldbug, too. (Scorponok and Skywasp can be easily had loose for around $15.) Quote
Scyla Posted March 1 Posted March 1 I have received a couple of Transformers. Again clustered into the good, the bad and the ugly. The good: Kuro Kara Kuri SG Megatron. A repaint of the excellent IDW stealth bomber inspired Megatron this time in Shattered Glass colors. I said for the initial release that Flame Toys even managed to make translucent plastic look great. Same is true for this one. Everything is great: build, qc, accessories, paint, articulation. Probably their best mold. Highly recommend, if you can stomach the hefty price tag. I wished his gray paint was more with though. It would look more striking that way. More fitting for the heroic leader of the Decepticons. The bad: Super 7 Ultimates Tarn. Yuck, avoid at all costs. Terrible sculpt, articulation, material, paint. His joints are so lose his limps can barely hold a pose. Not recommended, stay far away from this line. The ugly: Legacy Leader Class Dreadwing. When I first opened the box I thought they mislabeled the toy. What is that? A Leader Class figure for ants? This must be the smallest figure this size class were the box is not padded out with useless accessories. But not all is bad. He transforms into a fully formed robot (they even added covers for his forearms) with plenty of articulation and a decent amount of paint. What is terrible are the clearances for transformation. Folding the nosecone in and pushing the forward fuselage against his back has insufficient clearance. It feels like I'm going to break the toy. Once transformed he is a lot of fun but he could use better heels to stand stable when posing him. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted March 1 Posted March 1 15 hours ago, mikeszekely said: Ransack came out two years ago, in a Buzzworthy pack (Creatures Collide) with a Goldbug (Netflix Bumblebee with a new head and paint), Scorponok (Kingdom Scorponok in his original toy colors), and Skywasp (Waspinator in black and purple). The Predacons also came with the alternate heads based on their non-mutant faces, and Ransack came with a toy-version of Kickback's head. My review was here. You can still find some ebay sellers offering the entire pack without too much markup, but you'll have an easier time finding a G1 Ransack than anyone selling a loose Ransack, so you'd better at least want Goldbug, too. (Scorponok and Skywasp can be easily had loose for around $15.) Hey, thanks for the info, Mike. I don't remember that 4-pack at all, so my interest must have been pretty low. Honestly, the only reason my interest in Ransack was piqued is due to Chop Shop and Barrage, but with all the retooling done to make them more closely resemble the original toys, a simple repaint of Kickback just doesn't quite measure up. If they were to give him a completely new body similar in appearance to the original, reuse the Ransack head, Kickback's legs and arms, then I think it would work better. I doubt they'll do it, but they've gone back and redone figs before, so never say never. 48 minutes ago, Scyla said: The ugly: Legacy Leader Class Dreadwing. When I first opened the box I thought they mislabeled the toy. What is that? A Leader Class figure for ants? This must be the smallest figure this size class were the box is not padded out with useless accessories. But not all is bad. He transforms into a fully formed robot (they even added covers for his forearms) with plenty of articulation and a decent amount of paint. What is terrible are the clearances for transformation. Folding the nosecone in and pushing the forward fuselage against his back has insufficient clearance. It feels like I'm going to break the toy. Once transformed he is a lot of fun but he could use better heels to stand stable when posing him. Well, TBF, Hasbro have indicated that size classes are more price points now as it pertains to budget. That said, YMMV if the budget/ asking price/final toy was worth it. IMHO, many times, yes. I'm an aviation fan, and in about 98% of cases, Has/Tak's aircraft alts are inaccurate, disproportional (generally, undersized forward fuselages), lazy (robot arms just tacked on the sides of the plane), lacking full landing gear, with said gear rarely retractable (usually just the nose), lacking opening canopies or detailed cockpits (a lesser gripe-relatively speaking, few car bots have any car interior to speak of, and I'm fine with it). Dreadwing/Skyquake has a bulky but well-done jet mode where the arms are hidden Macross-style between the legs and form the lower surface of the jet. His tricycle landing gear all retract, although the wheels, as usual, are just molded into the struts- pretty much gone are the days when they put rolling wheels on retail Transformers planes, more's the pity. Again, he's bulkier than most jets, but I love the integration of his shoulder pauldrons in jet mode. He carries his weapon, again borrowing a page from Macross, on his centerline. One complaint is that the main gear aren't sufficiently long enough to provide adequate clearance for the gun in that position. Transformation of this fig spawned a great deal of discussion on the TFW2005 boards. I modded my Skyquake, which still doesn't lock together as solidly as I'd like, but my copy of Dreadwing I left unmodded and it works fine and seems to be a little tighter/less fiddly. I think it's a neat transformation schema, but tolerances and internal locking mechanisms could have been better for a more consistently solid figure. That said, I love the bot mode as much as the fighter mode. For me, it ranks as one of the best jetformers they've done. Too, I agree about the heels- some sort of folding heel or putting the exhaust nozzles on an off-center rotation peg to allow it to rotate back would have helped stability in bot mode. Overall, though, my opinion of this fig remains highly positive. Quote
Scyla Posted March 1 Posted March 1 2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: Hey, thanks for the info, Mike. I don't remember that 4-pack at all, so my interest must have been pretty low. Honestly, the only reason my interest in Ransack was piqued is due to Chop Shop and Barrage, but with all the retooling done to make them more closely resemble the original toys, a simple repaint of Kickback just doesn't quite measure up. If they were to give him a completely new body similar in appearance to the original, reuse the Ransack head, Kickback's legs and arms, then I think it would work better. I doubt they'll do it, but they've gone back and redone figs before, so never say never. Well, TBF, Hasbro have indicated that size classes are more price points now as it pertains to budget. That said, YMMV if the budget/ asking price/final toy was worth it. IMHO, many times, yes. I'm an aviation fan, and in about 98% of cases, Has/Tak's aircraft alts are inaccurate, disproportional (generally, undersized forward fuselages), lazy (robot arms just tacked on the sides of the plane), lacking full landing gear, with said gear rarely retractable (usually just the nose), lacking opening canopies or detailed cockpits (a lesser gripe-relatively speaking, few car bots have any car interior to speak of, and I'm fine with it). Dreadwing/Skyquake has a bulky but well-done jet mode where the arms are hidden Macross-style between the legs and form the lower surface of the jet. His tricycle landing gear all retract, although the wheels, as usual, are just molded into the struts- pretty much gone are the days when they put rolling wheels on retail Transformers planes, more's the pity. Again, he's bulkier than most jets, but I love the integration of his shoulder pauldrons in jet mode. He carries his weapon, again borrowing a page from Macross, on his centerline. One complaint is that the main gear aren't sufficiently long enough to provide adequate clearance for the gun in that position. Transformation of this fig spawned a great deal of discussion on the TFW2005 boards. I modded my Skyquake, which still doesn't lock together as solidly as I'd like, but my copy of Dreadwing I left unmodded and it works fine and seems to be a little tighter/less fiddly. I think it's a neat transformation schema, but tolerances and internal locking mechanisms could have been better for a more consistently solid figure. That said, I love the bot mode as much as the fighter mode. For me, it ranks as one of the best jetformers they've done. Too, I agree about the heels- some sort of folding heel or putting the exhaust nozzles on an off-center rotation peg to allow it to rotate back would have helped stability in bot mode. Overall, though, my opinion of this fig remains highly positive. I think the issue is that they packed Dreadwing in jet mode. I know of the notion that classes are related to complexity now but it was just a gut reaction I had when opening the windowless box and seeing how much empty space there was. I think the pricing would be acceptable, if everything about the figure was smooth, but all the tolerance issues leave a stale taste in my mouth. It is not just the forward fuselage. The outward ratchets on the arms are too tight and there is not enough clearance on the head so if you don’t get it just right, the compartment rips off the head. It feels like there is a door missing or something. I agree that the jet mode is great and I enjoy the toy for it. And it has a novel and innovative transformation scheme that reminds me of the SV-262. However, it could have been so much better. Personally I would have enjoyed the toy more with a TFP show accurate chest (I know of the fan mode) and a more desaturated blue with yellow highlights and yellow translucent plastic. The translucent red looks out of place making it too gaudy/colorful and clashes with the blue plastic. I don’t want sound too negative since I do like him. There are just so many little nitpicks all over the toy. In general I wished Hasbro would either smoothen out many of their transformation schemes or don’t rely on friction pinned parts as a cheaper alternative to riveted pins. I often had the experience that you need some force to transform toys of the Legacy line and ripping of friction pinned parts as a result, like the little fins on Dreadwing or the backpack on FoC Cliffjumper. Quote
Black Valkyrie Posted March 4 Posted March 4 I really hope if Hasbro will reissue the following : 1- TF-Animated : Megatron & Starscream, Earth Alt. 2- TF-Galaxy Force : Soundwave. Quote
Radioguy Posted March 4 Posted March 4 4 hours ago, Raikkonen said: Lego Bee on it's way. Volkswagen-based? Quote
Stampeed Valkyrie Posted March 4 Posted March 4 So abit OT buy any good price guide sites for these newer TF toys? I plan on slimming down the hoard.. Quote
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