The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

I think, if I have to go mad looking at all those Springer toys, I'm going to share that madness with you guys.  But what about all those official Springers that came before the current Siege one?  Well, there are four of them, but I'll spare you guys a little and do this in two parts.

The first two Springers we got we repaints of Cybertron toys.  In 2007, Cybertron Defense Hot Shot was repainted and sold as part of a souvenir two-pack at BotCon.  A year later, Evac was repainted and sold in a Universe Target two-pack.  Now, the thing is, I don't actually have BotCon Springer, and I couldn't bring myself to spend over $100 on what was very likely a $10 toy when it was Hot Shot.  Nor do I have Hot Shot.  But I do have Universe Roadbuster, who was also sold in a Target two-pack and also uses the Cybertron Defense Hot Shot mold.

From a sculpt point of view, I guess I can see how Hot Shot's head is a little like Springer's.  But, even with all the brown plastic done in gray, with green thighs, green forearms, and a some green on the head and chest (along with black and, surprisingly, some blue), I don't know that I'd say there's anything about him that's particularly Springery.  By and large, that's true for Universe Springer, too.  Evac's helmet does have a similar shape to Springers, and the green and gray deco (this time accented with yellow) is suggestive of Springer, but the sculpt from the neck down lacks details that make you go, "oh, Springer!"  

As far as accessories go, BotCon Springer would have come with a knife like this one, but with a bit more green paint on the blade.  Speaking of blades, we have these permanently-connected, definitely not a sword ones for Universe Springer.  As repaints of Cybertron toys both would come with red Cyber Planet Keys like the one here.  Universe Springer also came with a pair of gray missiles, but after two moves since getting the figure and never being big on missile firing gimmicks in the first place, I couldn't find them.

Overlapping as it did with the start of the Classics line, there's a part of me that lumps Cybertron with everything between Classics and Siege as semi-modern, but I should point out that Cybertron did just come right after Energon and Armada, which weren't exactly pioneers in engineering and articulation.  In the case of BotCon Springer/Hot Shot, his head swivels, no tilt.  His shoulders rotate, but they only get about 45 degrees laterally and then only when his arms are straight down at his sides; he's got Hot Rod shoulders.  He's got no bicep swivel, no wrist swivel, and his elbows only bend about 60 degrees.  He's got no waist swivel.  His hips can go 90 degrees backward, but less than that forward and only about 45 degrees laterally.  There's no thigh swivel.  His knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet can kind of tilt up, due to his transformation, but they don't tilt down or have ankle pivots.

His knife has a 5mm handle, and he can hold it in either hand.  However, both of his arms have another 5mm port on the front of his fists, and you can put the knife there like an arm blade.  When not in use, the knife can store in a clip on the slide of his left leg.  His backpack has a hinge so it can lift up, pointing the guns over his shoulders.  Each gun has it's own up/down swivel.  There's also a slot for the Cyber Planet Key, which causes the guns to pop open to reveal a barrage of missiles inside.  Further missiles can be exposed by open flaps on his shoulders and spinning some panels on this thighs.  Finally, though they don't activate any gimmicks, he's got a port on each of his forearms for Armada Minicons.

Universe Springer/Evac fared a little better.  His head swivels, no tilt.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and move laterally 180 degrees on more ratchets.  He does have a bicep swivel this time, and his elbows bend 90 degrees on ratchets.  No wrist swivel, but his wait can... on ratchets.  Hips go 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally... all ratcheted.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees on ratchets.  His toes point down, but no upward tilt, and no ankle pivots.

The blades plug into the engine housing permanently attached to his left arm, where they kind of just get in the way.  Under his right arm he has a big hook with a gimmick; you can pull the rope out on a hook, and pressing a button will cause it to reel back up.  It's kind of cool.  The Cyber Planet Key isn't super useful in this mode, as it just causes some thruster on his backpack to flip around to fire missiles... straight into the air.  The tail boom on his back has swivels that you're supposed to swing out like wings for his "attack mode," but you have to do that manually.

A downside to just repainting random figures is that only one of these guys has a "car" mode, and it's BotCon Springer/Roadbuster/Hot Shot.  Transformation is pretty simple; his head flips up, his arms collapse into his shoulders, and the shoulders fold up over his head.  His hips bend forward as his pelvis actually folds back, then they collapse over his thighs.  You finish it off by doubling-hinging his backpack backward and tucking his feet into his shins.

The result is an APC, and it's pretty cool.  It looks even better in the mostly-gray with green trim used on the BotCon toy.  My only complaint would be that the heels are still sticking straight out the back, though since Cybertron used CGI based more closely on the toys than G1 ever was one could argue that it's accurate for Hot Shot.  Except, I don't associate Hot Shot with APCs, even when he briefly was one.  Sports car or GTFO.  As for Springer... it's a more realistic ground-based military vehicle than his G1 car.  But then again, it's not his G1 car, so...

The backpack-turned-turret can swivel, and again each barrel can swivel up/down independently.  The Cyber Planet Key still pops the guns open to reveal the missiles, but the front bumper also pops open with still more missiles molded inside.  The knife can fit into the same clip as bot mode, but it's actually designed to fit into a groove on the inside of his legs, sandwiching inside them with just a bit of the 5mm port poking out the back.

Universe Springer is also cursed to have a solitary alt mode, but instead of the ground vehicle he goes for the helicopter mode.  His waist rotates, then double hinges forward to form the cockpit and nose, and his arms unclip from his sides then fold in front of his chest to make most of the rest of the fuselage and engine.  His backpack comes up to form the rest of the engine and nacelles, and the tail simply folds back behind it all.

Is it Springer's Cybertronian/futuristic helicopter?  No.  As the mold began life as Evac, what we get is actually a fairly realistic helicopter that borrows heavily from Aérospatiale/Airbus's Eurocopter line.  And, I'll remind you, at the time Classics/Universe figures were often more reimagining than copying G1, so a realistic helicopter wasn't necessarily out of place.  Excellent helicopter, then, no notes, save for a passing mention that in the same year Universe Springer came out this figure was also used for Universe Blades, but Blades had an even better Coast Guard deco.

Universe Springer has landing gear that can fold out from under the nose, or tuck in if you prefer.  The hip skirts make the rear landing gear, and it folds up if you prefer a more in-the-air look.  The winch can rotate and the hook can still be pulled out, then retracted at the press of a button.  Speaking of buttons, there's one on the side of the engine that causes the rotor to spin, which is cool.  The Cyber Planet Key plugs in behind the engine, and the nacelles swing forward to fire missiles.  It makes a lot more sense in helicopter mode, where they actually point forward.

That was basically it for Springer until 2012.  I think that gave collectors with the cash and inclination real incentive to pick up Fans Project's Warbot Defender.  For me, though, Universe Springer served as my Classics/Universe/Generations Springer.  Unless you were actually at BotCon in 2007, BotCon Springer is too expensive and extremely dated, so I wouldn't recommend him.  As for Universe Springer, well, his robot mode enjoys more articulation and his alt mode is actually a very cool helicopter toy.  And I think, for me anyway, I associate Springer more with his helicopter mode than his car mode, so if you can only keep one alt mode helicopter would be it.  That said, there are better Springers in modern times, and if you really want to experience this mold the Blades version not only has a better deco, it seems to be cheaper on the secondary market.  Go for that one instead.

 

[mikeszekely]

 Legacy United Gobots (Pathfinder, Treads, and Smallfoot).  It's a three-pack, and a BBTS exclusive.

"Hey mom, can we get MIssing Link Convoy?"

"We have one at home, dear."

Yeah... it's Legacy United Deluxe-class Optimus Prime.

Friendly reminder, preorders for these (and Quake and Slipstream) will go up tomorrow at 1:00pm EST.  Probably also the rest of the line, which isn't anything super exciting- Cores Energon Galvatron and a repaint of Bouldercrash, Voyagers Animated Motormaster and Metalhawk, and Leader Armada Galvatron.  I'm in for Quake, Slipstream, Optimus, and Armada Galvatron, but that might be it.  I'm not into Animated designs as toys, and while they said the deco will be different I already have Metalhawk.  I thought Energon Megatron was kind of trash so I'm not doing the repaint.  I guess the Bouldercrash repaint depends on the color.

Oh, I'm in for the Gobots.  I'm hoping we'll see a few more store-exclusives soon, Target's Summer Geek Out starts Friday, and both SDCC and Walmart's Collector Con are at the end of June.

Edited June 12 by mikeszekely

[Negotiator]

Is this Optimus a regular release?

[mikeszekely]

16 minutes ago, Negotiator said:

Is this Optimus a regular release?

Yep. It's your standard $25 Deluxe that could end up on shelves at Walmart or Target if they weren't still clogged with Arcees and Crosscuts.

[M'Kyuun]

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 Legacy United Gobots (Pathfinder, Treads, and Smallfoot).  It's a three-pack, and a BBTS exclusive.

"Hey mom, can we get MIssing Link Convoy?"

"We have one at home, dear."

Yeah... it's Legacy United Deluxe-class Optimus Prime.

Friendly reminder, preorders for these (and Quake and Slipstream) will go up tomorrow at 1:00pm EST.  Probably also the rest of the line, which isn't anything super exciting- Cores Energon Galvatron and a repaint of Bouldercrash, Voyagers Animated Motormaster and Metalhawk, and Leader Armada Galvatron.  I'm in for Quake, Slipstream, Optimus, and Armada Galvatron, but that might be it.  I'm not into Animated designs as toys, and while they said the deco will be different I already have Metalhawk.  I thought Energon Megatron was kind of trash so I'm not doing the repaint.  I guess the Bouldercrash repaint depends on the color.

Oh, I'm in for the Gobots.  I'm hoping we'll see a few more store-exclusives soon, Target's Summer Geek Out starts Friday, and both SDCC and Walmart's Collector Con are at the end of June.

For a moment, I thought that that was Missing Link with cheaper paint and materials, but the legs look better on this than the OG toy. I passed on ML, but I'm def down for this budget version. He'll be a little small compared to other recent main line OPs, but the novelty of having this homage is cool.

So, I'm fine with them repackaging TF characters as Gobots, but I do wish they'd try a little harder to match things with the OG toys. This is Pathfinder. Blue Cosmos just doesn't quite evoke the same image. No issue with green Warpath as Treds, whose original toy was pretty atrocious. This is definitely an upgrade for him. Gears is a good choice for Small Foot, I just wish they'd retooled her head to better represent the OG toy instead of Gears' big block head.

So after doing some research into Gobots, I discovered that these guys were all reimagined as part of a 2004 E-Hobby exclusive Collector's Edition "G1 Gobots", and their colorations coincide with those toys and later comics. I wish Hasbro, Takara, and Bandai would reach an agreement allowing Has/Tak to make modern versions of the OG MR toys as Gobots. That would be a lot better than endlessly recoloring TF characters who often have little in common aesthetically with their Gobot counterparts. Not sure if I want to go in on this BBTS exclusive, but at least they picked good toys for all three.

 

 

[mikeszekely]

37 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

So, I'm fine with them repackaging TF characters as Gobots, but I do wish they'd try a little harder to match things with the OG toys. This is Pathfinder. Blue Cosmos just doesn't quite evoke the same image. No issue with green Warpath as Treds, whose original toy was pretty atrocious. This is definitely an upgrade for him. Gears is a good choice for Small Foot, I just wish they'd retooled her head to better represent the OG toy instead of Gears' big block head.

Agreed, but...

37 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

So after doing some research into Gobots, I discovered that these guys were all reimagined as part of a 2004 E-Hobby exclusive Collector's Edition "G1 Gobots", and their colorations coincide with those toys and later comics.

That's kind of the thing.  The Hasbro team is referencing the e-Hobby set, and the work they've done here (and with the previously-released Road Ranger and Bugbite, who were also part of the e-Hobby set) is accurate to that e-Hobby set.  It's Takara's fault that they used some pretty random colors in the first place.

BTW, I kind of want a new Deluxe-class Powerglide as much for a Bad Boy repaint that would complete the e-Hobby repaints as for Powerglide himself.

[M'Kyuun]

25 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Agreed, but...

That's kind of the thing.  The Hasbro team is referencing the e-Hobby set, and the work they've done here (and with the previously-released Road Ranger and Bugbite, who were also part of the e-Hobby set) is accurate to that e-Hobby set.  It's Takara's fault that they used some pretty random colors in the first place.

BTW, I kind of want a new Deluxe-class Powerglide as much for a Bad Boy repaint that would complete the e-Hobby repaints as for Powerglide himself.

I understand why they referenced the old E-Hobby Exclusive set, but it's a bit of a copout over making an effort to actually homage the actual Gobot toys a little better.

I reiterate my desire for Bandai, Takara, and Hasbro to work out a mutually beneficial collab to allow Has/Tak to produce faithful updates to Gobots. I'd love, love, love toys of Royal-T and Road Ranger as a minimum. I'm pretty happy with my Action Toys figs and only wish they'd had more ability to realize all the "600 Series" toys instead of being limited to Revenge of Cronos. A collab as I mentioned would be the best opportunity to pretty much get all the characters and it'd open up a whole new line of nostalgia-fueled revenue for all three companies.

Deluxe class Powerglide is a big yes. I imagine he's an eventuality in Legacy, as the last version we got was a legends class fig back in 2014. IMHO, he wasn't a bad fig, but in keeping with redoing all the Minibots in deluxe scale, he's due an update and I'm here for it.

LEGO Transformers Bumblebee New Stock Images - Transformers News - TFW2005   LEGO Bee is catching flack. Looks like he's going to be a partsformer, as the windshield needs to be removed for transformation. I think it's odd, given how closely they skewed towards the G1 Optimus Prime toy, that they didn't follow suit with this model. I don't think it looks too bad, but even before the car mode was revealed, I was wondering why they approached the hood panels the way they did. As a transforming mecha LEGO MOC designer, I can think of better ways to approach it. Anyways, as both a huge LEGO fan and a TF fan, this is a must-buy, as I've been hoping for LEGO to do a transforming robot theme since I was a lad in the 80s, and an actual collab with Hasbro to do no-kidding Transformers characters that actually transform is a dream come true. Execution may leave somewhat to be desired, but as a beginning effort with the potential for future improvement, I'm all onboard.

[mikeszekely]

Here's the Wave 4 Cores.

Like I said, I thought Megatron was kind of crappy, and I actually prefer the Megatron colors, so Galvatron's a pass for me.

Geocron swaps the red paint for purple, and the reddish brown for a less reddish brown.  But hey, new head!  I'll put him in the "maybe" column.

7 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I reiterate my desire for Bandai, Takara, and Hasbro to work out a mutually beneficial collab to allow Has/Tak to produce faithful updates to Gobots. I'd love, love, love toys of Royal-T and Road Ranger as a minimum.

Honestly, if Bandai weren't notoriously litigious, I'd suggest an unlicensed third party just side-step all that.  And, sure, I'd like a lot of the Gobots I had as a kid, but for starters I'd rather they focus on the core cast (Leader-1, Scooter, and Turbo for the Guardians and Cy-Kill, Crasher, and Cop-Tur for the Renegades).

[sh9000]

I didn't realize this Optimus is smaller than G1 Optimus but I'll still order it.

 

[Radioguy]

I'm gonna get that BBTS set. That Pathfinder is gonna look cute next to the XTB Barada.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

This is unexpected news by Hasbro, maybe I'll preorder it but I already have the Missing Link Convoy. 

 

[Negotiator]

I don't have ML so this would be cool.  Please post links as soon as you find them.

[mikeszekely]

Oh, BTW... one final word on Springers, with a quick look at the remaining official Springers before Siege.

Time has muddied some of the details in my head, but there was a period where Hasbro was expanding in Asia, especially China, and they released a few retools under the label "Global Development Organization," or simply GDO.  But in late 2012 Toys 'R' Us thought it'd be fun to release a bunch of GDO figures as store-exclusives.  The fellow you see on the left is GDO Springer, who is a retool of Hunt for the Decepticons Tomahawk.  And on the right we have a figure I'm betting a lot of you might be familiar with, as it's the first official figure actually designed to be Springer rather than repurposed as Springer- Generations Thrilling 30 Springer, released the following year.

I don't think it was ever explicitly stated that Hunt for the Decepticons was a movie line, but I always thought of it as one.  Many of the figures were, in fact, repaints of Revenge of the Fallen figures, and even the ones that weren't (like Tomahawk) were clearly influenced by the Bayverse designs.  So while the mix of grays, greens, yellow and certainly Springer's colors, and the head is a bit stylized but clearly based on G1 Springer, the digitigrade legs and large, toed feet practically invite you to consider GDO Springer less as G1 Springer and more as a hypothetical Bayverse Springer.

Thrilling 30 Springer, on the other hand, with his gray arms and legs, green thighs, and yellow slab of a chest is the most G1 Springer we'd gotten to this point.  Which makes sense, since it's the first mold intended as Springer in the first place.  However, like much of the Generations line at the time, Thrilling 30 was based more on IDW comics than Sunbow.  In Springer's case, it's Nick Roche's design from Last Stand of the Wreckers.  And, y'know, the forearms could be a bit tidier, and the shoulders are a bit different, but it's pretty accurate to the comics.

GDO Springer comes with a pair of missile launchers, just like Tomahawk did, but he also get a brand new sword unique to Springer's version of the mold.  Thrilling 30 Springer also comes with a sword, and a large rifle that also fires missiles.

GDO Springer's head is on a hinged ball joint, so it had pretty good up/down tilt and at least some sideways tilt.  His shoulders are ball joints that swivel and get a bit under 90 degrees of lateral movement.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a hair over 90 degrees.  No wrist or waist articulation.  Hips are ball joints that go over 90 degrees forward and backward, and a little under that laterally.  His thighs swivel.  His knees bend a little under 90 degrees, and his digitigrade ankle bends 90 degrees forward.  His toes have a ton of up/down tilt, but there's no pivots.

Springer can hold his sword in either hand.  His missile launchers give you a few options.  First, there's a 5mm peg on them that can plug into a port under either wing on his back.  The launchers also have a ball-jointed c-clip.  This clip can latch onto the molded guns on the tips of his wings, or onto rails on his arms.  Finally, it's not an accessory, but the tail boom attached to his right arm has hinges in the vertical stabilizer, allowing it to act like a pinching claw.

Thrilling 30 Springer's head is also on a ball joint with a little upward tilt, plenty of downward tilt, and not much sideways tilt.  His shoulders swivel, and they can move laterally a little over 90 degrees, but he has Hot Rod shoulders.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees on ratchets.  His wrists bend inward slightly due to transformation, and they swivel.  His waist swivels a bit, though his backpack stops him at about 45 degrees.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward or laterally, but only about 45 degrees backward.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees on ratchets.  His feet can tilt down, but not up, and he lacks ankle pivots (which wouldn't be standard for another six years).

He can hold his sword or gun in either hand.  The gun has a 5mm port on it, so you can store the sword on the gun, and a 5mm port on his back allows you to store the combined weapon on his back.

As with yesterday's repurposed Springers, GDO Springer has just the one mode, a helicopter.  The canopy opens so the front of his torso can fold up over his head.  The sides of his chest rotate to line up with his back.  The sides of the tail fold out from his arms, then his arms hinge backward and join to form most of the fuselage and tail.  His hips double hinge forward, his toes and digitigrade ankles fold up against his shins, then his legs tab together and fold up under the belly.  T30 Springer's chest comes up over his head, and his shoulder wings angle in and slide downward.  His feet fold up, and joints in his thighs push his lower legs together.  A flap on his butt locks the legs in place.  His hands fold in, and his forearms split in half and wrap up around his shoulders, then his shoulders shift downward on double hinges to sit near his waist.

I'll note here that there are clearance issues getting his chest up over his head, and they seem worse going from alt mode back to robot.  I frequently wind up popping his head right off the ball joint.

GDO Springer is an interesting helicopter, with molded missiles and guns on his wings, large intakes, a two-seat cockpit, landing gear, and a swiveling camera thing under the nose.  However, nothing about the predominantly gray helicopter really is particularly notable as Springer.  Sure, with the head and more prominent green in robot mode you can tell, but if you were unfamiliar with this figure and simply saw the helicopter I don't think you'd recognize it as Springer.

His rotors spin.  As before, you've got options for the missiles; under the wings, on the guns on the win tips, or on the rails that are now on the tail boom.  With the 5mm pegs on the sword's hilt, though, the only thing you can really do is stick it under one of the wings, which means if you want the missiles to be attached symmetrically you're going to have use one of the c-clip spots.  It's not a huge problem, but it's a reminder that the mold wasn't designed for the sword in the first place.

Thrilling 30's helicopter mode is also a bit removed from Sunbow Springer or G1 toy Springer, but the colors are at least ones I'd more associate with Springer.  It's a tad awkward, though.  There's nothing securing the stabilizers on the tail in place, and his wings look more like folded-up kibble than anything purposeful.  What's more, his wings are held in place entirely by friction, as his shoulders don't tab into anything after they shift.

Springer's sword transforms and plugs into the top to form his main rotor.  He's knee pads have little non-rolling wheels molded onto them, and he's got folding landing gear under his nose for him to perch on.  Or, you can leave the nose gear folded in, and awkwardly clip his gun to the underside.

But hey!  As a toy that was designed to be Springer instead of repainted as Springer, Thrilling 30 Springer is our first official Springer since the G1 toy to actually be a triple changer!  From the helicopter mode, fold up all his landing gear. Double hinge his entire backpack backward, then unravel his arms so that the windows on them line up with the cockpit.  Take some bits that are on the sides of his shoulders, swivel them 180 degrees, then push them into his arms to reveal the front tires.  Split his legs below the knee pads and fold them up alongside his legs to form the rear.

T30's Springer is not G1 accurate.  That said, this is the best car mode Springer has ever had.  It looks even more like a Batmobile than Fansproject's Defender, with big wheels for all sorts of terrain and an armored appearance, while maintaining a the look of a vehicle that could also be driven fast on paved roads.  I love it!  My only real complaint is that I wish it fit together just a bit better.

In car mode, you've got a pair of 5mm ports you can use to plug the gun into the roof.  As I mentioned before, the sword can actually plug into a 5mm port on top of the gun.  However, I've found that you can wedge the handle between his knees, with the knee pads clamping down on the hilt and the blade running up through a gap near the nose, and store pretty securely out-of-sight under the car.

Like I said at the start, GDO Springer might work for me as a Bayverse Springer, but not a G1 Springer.  Even in 2012 he wouldn't have usurped Universe Springer on my shelf, and he's definitely not worth picking up instead of Siege or SS86 Springer, so there's no reason to pick up this figure unless you're a masochist like me or a completionist.  Thrilling 30, on the other hand, absolutely replaced Universe Springer and served as my Springer until Siege.  He looks great in bot mode, as long as you're into that IDW style, and I love his car mode.  In his time, I'd have said he's an excellent figure.  Indeed, many people will argue that he's still the best Springer.  However, those people might be remembering him with rose-tinted glasses.  The fact is, he's got some fit and tolerance issues, and his helicopter mode (which, again, I think is the more important of his alt modes) isn't particularly good.  For a modern, post-Siege collection, you really should go with Studio Series Springer, or at least Siege Springer.  But, like I said, this was still a great figure in its time, and likely one some of you have fond memories of.

[sh9000]

I don't think a lot of people were able to order Cosmos the first time so I hope there is a reissue.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I don't think a lot of people were able to order Cosmos the first time so I hope there is a reissue.

Early next year there will be a 5th wave of Legacy United before Hasbro moves on to the next trilogy in the spring.  Cosmos should be in that wave, along with G1 Sureshot, G2 Breakdown, Armada Wheeljack, Overcharge (a Diaclone repaint of Blitzwing), and package refreshes of Tarn, Ramjet, and Galaxy Shuttle.

[mikeszekely]

Metalhawk was shown off, and IMHO it's not worth posting pictures.  It's Legacy Evolution Metalhawk, but with darker gold and gray.  Some people are saying it's more toy-accurate, and the darker gray is, but the gold is more like a caramel than the metallic gold that was on the G1 toy, and I personally think the Evolution one looks more cartoon-accurate.  And since Metalhawk was a Japan-exclusive back in the day but I have actually watched Masterforce, cartoon colors all the way for me.

More interesting is that Hasbro's going into the Marvel UK deep cuts for their new comic book two-pack, with Emirate Xaaron and Flame.

Xaaron is a heavy retool of Siege Refraktor, while Flame is a new head and chest on Gamer Edition Megatron.  Hopefully with the knees fixed.

EDIT: Oh, and here's Armada Galvatron.  Guess we're just waiting to see Animated Motormaster.

EDIT AGAIN: As I was typing, guess what popped up on Mark's Instagram?

EDIT A THIRD TIME: Forgot that we're also getting Soundwave in this wave.  There was some talk that he'd be marketed as a Leader-class, but the box won't say "Leader" on it and it might be more expensive than a standard Leader.  It's the Netflix toy, modified from Siege to turn into a tape deck.  To fill out the budget, he'll come with yet another Ravage, Rumble (based on the Studio Series version, but with a more toy-Frenzy deco), and the reason the people who did get the Netflix one will likely still buy this one, Buzzsaw.

Edited June 13 by mikeszekely

[mikeszekely]

Deluxe Optimus

Slipstream

Quake

Soundwave

Galvatron

Motormaster

Metalhawk

Geocron

Core Galvatron.

Gobots

Xaaron and Flame

 

[M'Kyuun]

Preorders up on Pulse

Got deluxe G1 Prime and Animated Motormaster.

[mikeszekely]

9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Preorders up on Pulse

Got deluxe G1 Prime and Animated Motormaster.

I got Geocron, Optimus, Quake, Slipstream, Soundwave, Armada Galvatron, the Gobots, and the Xaaron & Flame pack.  Like I said, Metalhawk isn't all that different (and in my opinion, an inferior deco), Energon Megatron kind of sucked so I don't want the repaint, and I'm not super interested in Animated when the characters were in the show, let alone Motormaster.

[mikeszekely]

12 hours ago, Negotiator said:

I don't have ML so this would be cool.  Please post links as soon as you find them.

If Pulse sells out, here's links at Amazon, BBTS, and Entertainment Earth.

[sh9000]

Ordered G1 Universe Optimus Prime and Soundwave.  They need to go back to window packaging.  Skipped Animated Motormaster because I still have my Botcon 2011 Animated Stunticons set.

[Negotiator]

Got prime Ty

[obakesan]

I grabbed Prime & Soundwave. Speaking of Prime, was tidying up and found my Encore prime - quick comparison shot with ML prime. The sytrofoam makes the box solid indeed compared to the plastic tray of the Encore releaase.

Edited June 14 by obakesan

[Scyla]

I‘m surprised that Legacy Deluxe Optimus Prime is so close to G1. I would have expected the Evergreen design.

And to be honest, not having a lot of nostalgia for G1 Prime, I think that looks quite bad and not aesthetically pleasing.

I can understand why people are raving about Missing Link Convoy because they have that nostalgic link to the 80s toy design but to me that is missing in the Deluxe.

Why not use it as ab opportunity to update the design of Prime to make the Legacy line more appealing to younger people.

[M'Kyuun]

10 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I‘m surprised that Legacy Deluxe Optimus Prime is so close to G1. I would have expected the Evergreen design.

And to be honest, not having a lot of nostalgia for G1 Prime, I think that looks quite bad and not aesthetically pleasing.

I can understand why people are raving about Missing Link Convoy because they have that nostalgic link to the 80s toy design but to me that is missing in the Deluxe.

Why not use it as ab opportunity to update the design of Prime to make the Legacy line more appealing to younger people.

As a G1 fan, pragmatically speaking, most younger kids, especially in the 8-14 range, unless introduced to G1 by parents or older friends, are likely unaware of it. Sure, G1 Optimus is iconic- even the little kiddies know who he is, but I'm betting more of them associate with Bayformer's Prime or TBM Prime over any of the toon versions. I don't think kids watch toons like we did as kids; they're too involved in social media stuff and the internet in general. Ergo, all this retro G1 stuff Has/Tak are peddling is to the old fans' benefit far more than to the kiddies. Nostalgia drives us and, let's face it, we have far more disposable income than your average kid, and we've demonstrated to toy companies that there is an exuberantly willing market to buy plastic playthings that used to be associated solely (and woefully mistakenly IMHO) with children. I think it made good sense to make Legacy G1 Prime similar to the G1 toy while making a few improvements to the design. It worked: I had little interest in ML Convoy, but this deluxe with its tweaks appeals to me. This man-child will be more than happy to add him to my stockpile of plastic playthings.😁

[mikeszekely]

As someone born early in 1980, I can tell you my absolute favorite cartoon as a kid was The Transformers.  Of course, being a kid in the '80s isn't like being a kid isn't like being a kid today, where my daughter can watch the same thing over and over and over.  No, aside from a few episodes on F.H.E. tapes I could watch The Transformers when it was on, and then I'd have to watch something else.  And for me, my favorite something else was far and away Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  So I'm pretty psyched to be looking at the single crossover I'd most eagerly dreamed of since Ectotron, TMNT X Transformers Party Wallop.

My first impression was that Party Wallop is a pretty big figure.  I don't know why, but the pictures the Hasbro team showed when they revealed him make him seem sort of Deluxe-ish.  At the most, no bigger than Code Red, right?  Even though I grabbed Bulkhead as a comparison, I can tell you that Party Wallop is similar in height to Code Red, but he's got double the bulk.

Aesthetically, Party Wallop is meant to look like one of the Turtles, with green on his legs and arms, a yellow mechanical shell on his torso, and two-toed feet (his gray hands, oddly enough, have four fingers and a thumb).  Out of the box, Party Wallop has no bandana, no wrist, elbow, or knee pads, and an empty circle on his belt.

As we spin him around, you start to get the sense that Party Wallop is a bit of a shellformer.  I mean, yeah, the entire roof of his alt mode is hanging out on his back, but then again, he's a turtle, I can let that slide as part of his shell.  But there's flaps with wheels hanging off his hips, flaps of kibble on his forearms, and more flaps of kibble on his his shoulders.  Most of the kibble is, at least, hinged, so it moves with him more than it gets in the way.

Party Wallop comes with quite a few accessories... you've got two katanas, two sais, two pairs of nunchucks, and a single bo staff.  That's enough weapons for all four of the Turtles... which is probably why there's four alternate heads, each with a different color bandana- purple, blue, orange, and red.  On top of all that, you get a green dish with a pizza, and... well, the entire front end of his alt mode.

Party Wallop's head is on a ball joint with limited downward tilt, but decent upward and sideways tilt in addition to swiveling.  His shoulders rotate and get a full 90 degrees of lateral movement.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend almost 90 degrees.  His wrists swivel, and somewhat surprisingly given his backpack, so does his waist.  Heck, due to his transformation, he can even arc his back.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward, and about 60 degrees backward before his backpack starts to get in the way.  Due to the double hinge on his hip kibble, it can move enough that he almost gets 90 degrees of lateral hip movement.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend slightly over 90 degrees.  No up or down tilt on his feet, but his ankles pivot a solid 45 degrees.

Party Wallop can hold any of his weapons in either hand.  There's also a 5mm port on either forearm panel; you can use a flip out 5mm peg on the backside of his alt mode front to attach it like a shield.

A very nice thing about Party Wallop is that he has storage for almost all of his accessories.  The extra heads fit into his backpack, as does the folded bo staff.  The sais use tabs to plug into his hip kibble, while the nunchucks clip under his shoulder kibble.  The katanas have tabs on their blades, and they fit into slots along the sides of Party Wallop's backpack.  My only complaint when it comes to storage is that there's no way to attach the "shield" to his back.

You can, however, simply plug it into his chest.  That's where it needs to be for alt mode, anyway, so plugging it in there even negates some partsforming.  There really isn't any way for him to interact with the pizza, but if you flip it over it fits into the circular indent on the shield to complete the front-end look.  I think, for a turtle-esque Cybertronian with an expected alt mode named Party Wallop that I kind of dig this look, as a nice midpoint between TMNT and Transformers.

However, you have all those accessories for a reason.  Pop off the bandana-less head and pick the color of your favorite turtle instead.  Lift the gray rectangle on his belt and you'll find that that the circle is on a spinner with four other circles, and those ones aren't blank.  There's a 'L', a 'D', an 'M', and an 'R.'  Match the bandana and the belt and the weapons, and he's less a TMNT-themed Transformer named Party Wallop and more your choice of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, or Raphael re-imagined as a Transformer.  I could charitably believe that the design team was excited to let you make your favorite Turtle out of Party Wallop.  I could also cynically believe that some Hasbro suits were gleefully rubbing their hands together at the thought of collectors buying four copies of Party Wallop to display all four Turtles.  I might suggest that a balanced way of looking at is is that if you want four Turtles it'll run about the same as I paid for Neca Target Haul-a-Thon 4-pack two years back, and they're much larger figures with higher parts counts.

Anyway... with the shellformer kibble flaps, you can expect that the transformation isn't terribly complicated.  His backpack unhinges, with some flaps folding out from inside.  His head tucks in, and his arms fold back with the shoulder kibble filling in the area behind the side windows.  His wrists fold down to line up his forearm kibble to make the back window.  Then you can tuck his head in and tab the roof into place- just make sure you attached the front to his chest first.  The wheels under his feet fold out and his heels tuck in, then the feet and the outside of his legs rotate 90 degrees.  His waist folds back, allowing his legs to slide over his forearms and lock into the roof.  His hip skirts unfold and line up so the front wheels are in place, then the flaps that were hanging from the roof fold down to fill in the rest of the sides.

Size-wise, Party Wallop makes for a pretty big van, but honestly I think one that scales reasonably well with previous crossovers like Gigawatt and Ectotron, or the Jurassic Park Jeeps.  He's only a little large compared to an Earthrise car.  He dwarfs fellow fans like SS86 Ironhide or Code Red, though, but that just reinforces the notion that alt mode scale, especially in G1, is always a losing proposition with Transformers.

What I like here is that this is the Party Wagon from the '80s/'90s cartoon... not the Battle Shell from the early aughts, not the Cowabunga Carl Party Van from TMNT, not the Assault Van or the garbage truck from the Bay films, not even the inaccurate Kenner toys.  The only things I can critique (aside from the splattering of white overspray on the front of my copy) is that there shouldn't be green on the spoiler, the hinge in the roof should be green, there should be a little green trim around the bottom of the sides, and the sensors or whatever on the sides are usually the same yellowish color as the van, not the silver color of the larger sensor.  Pretty minor nitpicks, frankly, and some concessions to the fact that he transforms instead of just being a van.

Of course, he rolls, and the guns are hinged so they can move up and down.  The tips are compatible with (not-included) WfC/Legacy blast effects.  And again, all of his accessories can be stored in the van mode.  In fact, the heads, bo, and nunchucks stay in the same hiding spots they do in bot mode.  Only the sais and katanas have to move.  The sais tab into slots on his thighs, while the katanas plug into his crotch with the blades slipping into cutouts under the bumper.

Party Wallop probably isn't, objectively-speaking, the best crossover figure that Hasbro has done.  I think there are legitimate complaints to be made about how shellformery he is, how bland the default head is, and how there's nowhere to store his front end except on his chest or on his forearm as a shield.  He is, however, my favorite, as the only way to better encapsulate my childhood in a single toy would me to make a TMNT Tranformer that came with an NES.  To be totally honest, I bought this guy at Gamestop, where he's already in stock, but I kept my Amazon and Target preorders, and then preordered one from Pulse on top of that.  I'm going for all four Turtles, here.  I think, if you were the right age at the right time like I was for Transformers and TMNT to overlap in your formative years then you're going to love Party Wallop.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

  To be totally honest, I bought this guy at Gamestop, where he's already in stock, but I kept my Amazon and Target preorders, and then preordered one from Pulse on top of that.  I'm going for all four Turtles, here. 

Understandable. I'm legit surprised Hasbro isn't selling a 4-pack.


I know they won't, but I want them to do a large Metal Head that transforms into a Party Wagon sized for a team of Party Wallops to ride. Most certainly can't fit four inside while maintaining any semblance of sanity in the transformation, but some sort of ride-ability.

I'd style it like the original Kenner design instead of the modified 'toon version, too. Not even because of toy supremacy(my ideal OG Party Wagon is in-between the two),I  just I think it'd be cool to have it turn into the other version instead of a fifth copy of the same thing.

[Scyla]

Nice review @mikeszekely.

I think the size confusion comes from New Age released their Turtles as a retool of the Brawn mold and we just collectively assumed Hasbro would do the same.

Plus the Turtles are always depicted as being smaller as a regular human, so it would make sense that the Crossover toy is smaller than the other releases of the line.

[tekering]

2 hours ago, Scyla said:

the Turtles are always depicted as being smaller as a regular human

Usually, but not always.

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

this is the Party Wagon from the '80s/'90s cartoon... not the Battle Shell from the early aughts, not the Cowabunga Carl Party Van from TMNT, not the Assault Van or the garbage truck from the Bay films

Hey!  You forgot the best one!

The Party Wagon from Nickelodeon's 2012 series is the only one based on a Volkswagen van. 😎

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Hey!  You forgot the best one!

You mean second best. Or, best that isn't the original and actual best.

EDIT: BTW, if you couldn't go to the recent 40th anniversary theater event, Hasbro will be streaming the first episode table reading onto the Pulse Youtube channel on June 28th at noon ET/9:00am Pacific.  Frank Todaro (Starscream, Wheeljack) and Arif Kinchen (Jazz) will be in the live chat during and for a half hour before.  I didn't love Todaro's Wheeljack, but I have to admit that he nailed Starscream.  And Kinchen definitely did right by Scatman, so it's worth checking out.

Edited June 22 by mikeszekely

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, tekering said:

Usually, but not always.

Hey!  You forgot the best one!

The Party Wagon from Nickelodeon's 2012 series is the only one based on a Volkswagen van. 😎

Are we sure the live-action Turtles are not using plateau shoes or stools in this shot in order to satisfy their inferiority complex?

[mikeszekely]

Got a bit of a double review for you guys today that connects Age of Extinction to the present.  On the left, we have Deluxe-class Age of Extinction Premiere Edition Steelbane.  On the right, we have the Hasbro Asia-exclusive Year of the Dragon Crimsonflame.

Steelbane is meant to be one of the guardians who stole Quintessa's staff and fled to Earth (which is somehow Unicron... good thing he didn't eat himself in Rise of the Beasts, eh?) and did some stuff with Merlin and King Arthur.  He is pretty accurate to the mostly indistinguishable armored knight-looking guys we saw in the film, given that he's shades of gray and silver with some "dirt" painted on, with sculpted details that resemble a knight's armor and helmet.  The only real departure from the film are the wings folded up on his back, but I don't hate it.  It's not screen accurate, but it sort of conveys the impression of a cape or a cloak.  He's pretty typical for a Deluxe, standing right about the same size as a Siege carbot like Prowl or Sideswipe.

Crimsonflame is a 2024 retool of Steelbane to commemorate the Year of the Dragon.  As alluded to, he was released exclusively in Hasbro Asia markets; Hasbro didn't even make him available to import through Pulse the way they often do with Takara-exclusives like Lunar Convoy.  My wife's family is Chinese, though, and my wife's company does business there, so I was fortunate to have her pick up Crimsonflame on her last trip as a souvenier.

It's interesting how Steelbane immediately reads as a European Knight while Crimsonflame gives off a Three Kingdoms vibe, despite how little has actually been retooled.  The dragon arms/wings on his back are different, he's got a new head, different armor/kibble on his forearms, and the flappy part of his torso, from roughly the sternum down, has been retooled, but that's about it for this mode.  The chest, shoulder pads, and legs are the same, and it's kind of just the colors that sell it.

Steelbane's sole accessory is this rubbery sword.  It's... fine.

Steelbane's head is on a ball joint that can look up, down, and tilt sideways a fair amount.  His shoulders are also ball joints, and they swivel fine, but between the cut of the socket and the shoulder pads he can only get about 45 degrees of lateral range.  His biceps swivel, and his weirdly-detented elbows bend a bit over 90 degrees.  He does have wrist swivels, but they're kind of for transformation as the armor on the outside of his forearms is attached to his hands.  No waist swivel.  His hips are ball joints that move 90 degrees forward or backward but only 45 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel. His knees can technically bend over 90 degrees, but practically the alt mode kibble in his calves stops him at 90.  His feet are on hinged ball joints so they can swivel, tilt down very slightly, tilt up a significant amount, and even pivot slightly.  Not quite the modern "standard" for articulation in the post-Siege world, but enough that he doesn't feel completely outdated.

Steelbane can hold his sword in either hand.  When not being held, you can use a tab on the hilt to plug the sword into slots on either thigh.

Crimsonflame has a lot more to work with than Steelbane.  You've got a flame effect part, a piece that looks like three bundled tubes for rockets or fireworks, a tassel knot charm, a shield, and a torch.  Crimsonflame also comes with a display stand that can conveniently hold all of his other accessories except the shield.

Crimsonflame's articulation is the same as Steelbane's.  He's got a couple of things going for him that Steelbane doesn't, though.  For one, he's less back heavy, given that he's not toting those wings around.  But, even if he was back heavy, you can plug the stand into a port on his butt (a port which Steelbane actually possesses, mind you).  Also, unlike Steelbane Crimsonflame has 5mm ports on his forearm armor.  Ostensibly, this is so he can attach his shield, while the flame, torch, fireworks, and charm combine to form a spear.

The extra ports on his arms, and the way you combine the accessories, gives you a lot more options than simply a spear, though.  Put the flame in the torch and just have him carry the charm.  Turn the fireworks into an arm cannon.  Combine the arm cannon and the torch into a rifle.  The versatility helps make Crimsonflame feel more contemporary than his base mold actually is.

Both figures have pretty much the same engineering, and it comes from an era where the design team was trying some crazy stuff that you kind of have to admire, even when it doesn't work out so great.  To transform either of these guys, turn the wrists and flip out the forearm armor, then pull the shoulders so his sides unlock from his back.  Pull the backpack away just enough to get it out of the way, then the armor will slide up over the head.  Now here's where things get crazy.  The pelvis and spine split in half, and one side flips over to bring the right leg up over his robot head.  You twist some joints, fold the foot up against the shin, and fold the end of the tail out of the calf, and that's the tail.  With the tail done, you can lock the robot shoulders back in to turn his arms into his hind legs.  Back at the other end, we twist some joints in the other leg, fold up that foot, and fold out the dragon head.  All that's left is to fold down the backpack and arrange the limbs on it to form the front legs (and wings in Steelbane's case).

Like I said, you have to admire the crazy transformations from this era, but they don't always work.  Steelbane's dragon form is thin, with visible gaps and hollows under his neck, in his chest, and in his back.  His robot feet are just hanging out, and he's got robot hands dangling off the backs of his legs.

Credit where it's due, the number of leg joints that wind up in his neck and tail do give him some good articulation in those areas.  His jaws can open and close.  His legs have basically the same articulation is his robot arms.  The wings on his dragon arms have swivels so they can splay outward, but the ball joints in the shoulders are loose and don't give him any upward flap, plus the only other joint is an elbow bend.  You're not going to get a lot of dynamic posing out of his wings.  But his wings do add a lot of mass up front, which means that standing him on his hind legs and posing him for flight is a challenge anyway, as he really needs to stand on at least one wing for support.

Steelbane's sword uses the tab on the hilt to fit into a slot on his back, between his robot shoulders, allowing the sword to lie along his tail.

Once again, things come out a little bit better for Crimson flame.  The mold's tendency toward a skinny dragon works better for an Asian-style dragon than a European one.  The remolded front legs are shorter and don't have the wings in the way, and while the remolded back legs don't really hind the robot hands they rest under them in a way that doesn't have the hands just dangling.  The remolded dragon legs also seem to be better proportioned, so that Crimsonflame looks more natural standing on all fours.

Not that he has to stand on his legs, mind you.  You can plug him onto his stand for a nice flight pose.  As for his other accessories, the flame effect can attach to a nub inside his mouth so he can breath fire, and his shield doesn't simply plug into his back, it attaches in a manner that helps hide the game Steelbane's mold left him.  The rest simply goes onto his stand.

Steelbane feels like a figure that might have been OK back in 2017; decent robot, very interesting transformation, not-so-great dragon.  Not sure that I'd recommend tracking him down today (or, for that matter, Skullitron, a Toys 'R' Us exclusive retool that was just a new head on a more copper-colored body).

Crimsonflame uses a few retooled parts and more accessories to be a much stronger use of the mold.  However, we're still talking about a toy that was original designed seven years ago, to create a totally original character you probably have to put a little extra effort into importing from Asia.  To me, with my ties to Chinese family, it's a lovely souvenir that I'm happy to have, even if he's unlikely to get a spot on my desk as a frequent fidget toy.  Without those cultural ties I think he's hard to recommend, but I will say that if you're interested in experiencing this mold at all Crimsonflame is the version to get.

[Dangard Ace]

https://www.ign.com/articles/hasbro-sdcc-exclusive-figures-star-wars-marvel-transformers-gi-joe
 

SDCC Hasbro lineup revealed.  TF exclusives aren’t for me so click on the link.  

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Dangard Ace said:

TF exclusives aren’t for me so click on the link.

Allow me.

On the one hand, it feels kind of lame to see Hasbro doing Miner Megatron and IDW Orion Pax again so soon.  I do kind of like that the deco on Megatron is more gladiator, like he exists in a continuum between the previous Miner Megatron and Siege Megatron.  But honestly, the reason I'm likely to shell out for this set is that Pax.  I like the remolding they did here, and the Gamer Edition Optimus always seemed like a better choice for this Optimus than Siege Hound.

The set will be available to purchase in person at SDCC, with extras going on Pulse on July 28th.

[obakesan]

Shattered Glass Masterpiece (MPG) Convoy (Prime) coming soon?

 

Edited June 28 by obakesan