The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I wouldn't go that far (trash would be the Siege Astrotrain mold)... I think it looks passably fine in both modes.  But I otherwise agree; it's a tad blocky and lacking it articulation, and a bit disappointing that they basically recycled and upscaled the then 15-ish year old Classics mold.  We've seen enough companies do better Seekers and both the MP and Legends scales, Starscream deserves a new an improved mold (that they can then milk anywhere between 5 and 20 more times.

Aside from lacking a bigger handle and the scope, what was wrong with Shockwave?  I thought, for a guy that turns into a gun that can't turn into a gun anymore, he came out pretty good.  Better than Sunstreaker's too-wide, no-spoiler ER toy.

Worth pointing out that the previous version was a Leader, and the 86 version is listed as a Voyager...

While Kranix wasn't a Cybertronian (until/unless Lithone is retconned to be a Cybertronian colony), he actually did have an alt mode, and it appeared in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie.  Just don't ask me how they're going to pull it off without some new alt mode kibble on the robot and/or robot parts on the alt mode...

I don’t know, the Earthrise seeker is pretty bad. At least the version I have. The transformation is unimaginative, the proportions are wonky with that huge torso block and articulation is just ok.

The alt-mode is frustrating since it is again a box with wings (at least the arms tuck away nicely) and while the fuselage looks somewhat like a F-15 the thrusters just throw off the look too much.

And I don’t like how it feels like handling the toy. Maybe it’s just mine but the plastic used doesn’t feel nice.

If the significantly retool the Earthrise one I could see it fitting in the 86 line but I think just a reissue of ER Starscream feels off to me. The Earthrise Seeker mold can definitely needs some improvements.

[lechuck]

Pity they didn't add in the Star Saber from Prime show or Devastation game.

Edited Monday at 07:02 PM by lechuck

[pengbuzz]

4 minutes ago, lechuck said:

Pity they didn't add in the Star Saber from Prime show or Devastation game.

It looks cheap; major step down from previous offerings.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

It looks cheap; major step down from previous offerings.

I agree.  I wonder how much he will cost.  I am not a fan of the accessories.  I might buy it if it is cheap enough.  I realize he needs his jet pack not the movie stuff.

Edited Monday at 11:37 PM by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[mikeszekely]

They seem to have intentionally based it on MP-10.

Edited yesterday at 12:57 AM by mikeszekely

[mikeszekely]

Finally!  I have a friend that does the book merchandising for several Walmart stores, so while the ones around me are still pretty barren he was able to find this guy for me at a store about an hour from here... Age of the Primes Deluxe-class Slingshot!

This time the Age of the Primes figure destroys the Combiner Wars version.  It's not even close.  AotP Slingshot has the correct orange goggles, the line bisecting the top of his head, no unnecessary silver on his ribs or gold on his knees, his thighs are properly white, and his overall shape is much closer to the G1 cartoon.  From the front, my only gripes are the tiny stripe of white in his tummy, and the fact that his black hips should probably be red.

Viewed from the back his cockpit is folded in to a backpack and his wings are on his legs, as they should be.  His tail doesn't connect to his backpack, though.  Instead, they fold back into some pretty massive heels.  It's not the worst thing in the world, though... I'm not sure how his tail could move to the backpack without partsforming anyway.

Slingshot come with this pair of guns.  They don't particularly match the G1 toy, but they seem to match the cartoon pretty well.

Slingshot's head is on a ball joint.  Not a ton of upward tilt and basically no sideways tilt, but he looks down surprisingly well.  His shoulders, sadly, are Hot Rod Shoulders™, so they swivel with no issue and can technically move 90 degrees laterally, but because the swivel is on the wrong side of the hinge he can't do both at the same time.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 180 degrees.  No wrist articulation.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward and backward, and over 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend just a hair shy of 90 degrees.  The front of his feet can tilt down, due to transformation, but no upward tilt.  His ankles pivot 90 degrees.

He can hold his guns pretty tightly via the standard 5mm pegs.  He's also got 5mm ports on the outsides of his forearms, on his wings, and despite their squarish shape on his shins.

Slingshot's transformation isn't complicated at all, mostly similar to the Combiner Wars toy/AotP Air Raid.  However, there are two differences from Air Raid that make the engineering here much better.  First, rather than turning his shin inside out and having his feet just dangle from the bottom, his feet and heels fold down to form the tail.  Second, instead of just tabbing his arms against his sides, they actually curl up and tuck in to become part of the fuselage.

Slingshot is not an accurate AV-8B Harrier, as he's a bit chunky and has only the merest suggestion of intakes.  He's still mostly a jet with a block of robot on the underside.  I really don't think he's that bad, though.  As I said, the fact that his arms actually blend into the fuselage and his feet become part of the tail instead of just hanging out underneath make him much better than Air Raid.  There's even a suggestion of the vertical thrust nozzles on the sides.  And his blocky alt mode is, frankly, pretty cartoon-accurate, and overall thinner than the Combiner Wars toy.

In alt mode, the guns plug into the 5mm ports under the wings.  You can also see landing gear in the back of his head- yes, that landing gear does fold out.  There's no landing gear on the wings (as a real Harrier would have), but some molded non-functioning wheels near the peg holes at the bottoms of his shins.  That's not far off from the feet wheels of the G1 toy.

Gonna be honest, this isn't a review I was looking forward to writing.  Given MW's stronger-than-average love of military aircraft I'm expecting the bulk of the comments to be along the lines of "look at that big block of robot underneath, why can't Hasbro/Takara make decent jet transformers?" and "doesn't have an accurate FLIR blister on the nose, 0/10," as if a toy chasing cartoon accuracy without a licensed alt mode that also has to be a block of a combined limb was ever going to come close to being a realistic Harrier on a $25 budget.  And here I am, trying to tell you that despite his flaws Slingshot is actually very good!  Like, best wave 1 Deluxe good, and a major upgrade from Air Raid.  I'm going to tell you that you should definitely pick him up, knowing full well that many of you won't because a Deluxe-class jet is automatically a non-starter.  But reviews are ultimately opinions.  You don't have to agree, but mine is still that Slingshot is very good and I'd recommend him.

[sh9000]

I like it.  Can't wait to complete the Aerialbots.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Finally!  I have a friend that does the book merchandising for several Walmart stores, so while the ones around me are still pretty barren he was able to find this guy for me at a store about an hour from here... Age of the Primes Deluxe-class Slingshot!

This time the Age of the Primes figure destroys the Combiner Wars version.  It's not even close.  AotP Slingshot has the correct orange goggles, the line bisecting the top of his head, no unnecessary silver on his ribs or gold on his knees, his thighs are properly white, and his overall shape is much closer to the G1 cartoon.  From the front, my only gripes are the tiny stripe of white in his tummy, and the fact that his black hips should probably be red.

Viewed from the back his cockpit is folded in to a backpack and his wings are on his legs, as they should be.  His tail doesn't connect to his backpack, though.  Instead, they fold back into some pretty massive heels.  It's not the worst thing in the world, though... I'm not sure how his tail could move to the backpack without partsforming anyway.

Slingshot come with this pair of guns.  They don't particularly match the G1 toy, but they seem to match the cartoon pretty well.

Slingshot's head is on a ball joint.  Not a ton of upward tilt and basically no sideways tilt, but he looks down surprisingly well.  His shoulders, sadly, are Hot Rod Shoulders™, so they swivel with no issue and can technically move 90 degrees laterally, but because the swivel is on the wrong side of the hinge he can't do both at the same time.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 180 degrees.  No wrist articulation.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward and backward, and over 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend just a hair shy of 90 degrees.  The front of his feet can tilt down, due to transformation, but no upward tilt.  His ankles pivot 90 degrees.

He can hold his guns pretty tightly via the standard 5mm pegs.  He's also got 5mm ports on the outsides of his forearms, on his wings, and despite their squarish shape on his shins.

Slingshot's transformation isn't complicated at all, mostly similar to the Combiner Wars toy/AotP Air Raid.  However, there are two differences from Air Raid that make the engineering here much better.  First, rather than turning his shin inside out and having his feet just dangle from the bottom, his feet and heels fold down to form the tail.  Second, instead of just tabbing his arms against his sides, they actually curl up and tuck in to become part of the fuselage.

Slingshot is not an accurate AV-8B Harrier, as he's a bit chunky and has only the merest suggestion of intakes.  He's still mostly a jet with a block of robot on the underside.  I really don't think he's that bad, though.  As I said, the fact that his arms actually blend into the fuselage and his feet become part of the tail instead of just hanging out underneath make him much better than Air Raid.  There's even a suggestion of the vertical thrust nozzles on the sides.  And his blocky alt mode is, frankly, pretty cartoon-accurate, and overall thinner than the Combiner Wars toy.

In alt mode, the guns plug into the 5mm ports under the wings.  You can also see landing gear in the back of his head- yes, that landing gear does fold out.  There's no landing gear on the wings (as a real Harrier would have), but some molded non-functioning wheels near the peg holes at the bottoms of his shins.  That's not far off from the feet wheels of the G1 toy.

Gonna be honest, this isn't a review I was looking forward to writing.  Given MW's stronger-than-average love of military aircraft I'm expecting the bulk of the comments to be along the lines of "look at that big block of robot underneath, why can't Hasbro/Takara make decent jet transformers?" and "doesn't have an accurate FLIR blister on the nose, 0/10," as if a toy chasing cartoon accuracy without a licensed alt mode that also has to be a block of a combined limb was ever going to come close to being a realistic Harrier on a $25 budget.  And here I am, trying to tell you that despite his flaws Slingshot is actually very good!  Like, best wave 1 Deluxe good, and a major upgrade from Air Raid.  I'm going to tell you that you should definitely pick him up, knowing full well that many of you won't because a Deluxe-class jet is automatically a non-starter.  But reviews are ultimately opinions.  You don't have to agree, but mine is still that Slingshot is very good and I'd recommend him.

Just look at that big block of robot underneath! With over 40 years' experience designing transforming robots, why can't Has/Tak make decent jet Transformers?!!! 1/10 for at least having the arms collapse and form part of the fuselage instead of having them just hang out and tab in to the side like usual.

Sorry Mike, I had to. 😄 Such an opening can't be passed up. So, personal opinion of the toy aside, great review as always. I'm likely the most vocal critic concerning Has/Tak's dalliances with robots that turn into aircraft, mainly jets, and their absolute lack of interest or concern in preserving accuracy or realism. They certainly don't get the same care as ground vehicles, as I've yet to see a car or truck bot with its arms just hanging off the sides. As a 20-year veteran in the military aviation field (I worked on aircraft hydraulics and refueling systems in the USAF) and just a general aviation fan, my criticism comes honestly from having worked in that environment for a goodly portion of my life. That more Transformers fans don't take offense at Has/Tak's lackluster jetformers and demand better is surprising and frustrating to me. Surely there are other fans with similar stories to mine or are just aviation enthusiasts who see these little plastic travesties and desire better. Perhaps not and I'm the lone voice whining into the wind of indiscriminate passivity. Whatever the case, little progress seems to touch anything that turns into a jet (with a few good to great exceptions) in the Transformers toy universe. That even goes for third parties in most cases. I digress. I would really love to love these; the Aerialbots is a team that should be near and dear, but even as a kid, I thought the Aerialbots' jet modes were pretty terrible. I might mention that I had a huge poster of the F-16 on my wall and a well-thumbed book called The World's Greatest Interceptor Aircraft complete with cross-section diagrams and full color photos of all the jets, squadron breakdowns, and histories. So, even as a teen, I was invested, and I was even then critical of my favorite toy line's generally terrible depictions of aircraft. All that's changed in the last 40 odd years are my hairline, ie. pretty darn thin on top so I shave it, a single rounded ab, and I'm a little more articulate in my ability to convey my feelings of frustration and disappointment whilst elucidating on a toy's copious flaws. Alas, crappy toys did not lend themselves to improved animation, which only further sullied what little accuracy the toys may have enjoyed, so it's a double whammy against accuracy or realism where jets are concerned. Funny how the badly-skewed car modes in the Sunbow animation aren't generally carried over to the toys, though. Hmmm. Needless to say, I'm a rather harsh critic of "animation accuracy" given the animation's simplistic and often poor quality. However, where jets are concerned, the fault almost always originates with the toys before being amplified by animation. 

I wonder if there's a parallel universe where Has/Tak takes great care to make excellent jet modes and all the ground vehicle alts look like ass? I'd like to visit.

[mikeszekely]

26 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

They certainly don't get the same care as ground vehicles, as I've yet to see a car or truck bot with its arms just hanging off the sides

I don't know that I agree with that, actually.  I mean, yeah, they don't usually have their arms just dangling off the sides (though I'll refer you to Siege/Earthrise Ultra Magnus and his related molds, where the hands are very obviously sticking out the back), though I think the generally brick-ish shape of a car gives more places to hide the robot parts than a more tube-shaped plane (sans wings, which are too thin to hide anything).  I disagree more with the the idea that cars always get more care.  I mean, I've ranted many times about Breakdown not even being close to a Lamborghini.  I could point out SS86 Jazz's visible feet, or worse, Earthrise Ironhide's.  Maybe the fact that even Commander-class Optimus has a void on the back of his cab, or the fact that almost every Optimus's rear section is super obvious robot legs?

44 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Funny how the badly-skewed car modes in the Sunbow animation aren't generally carried over to the toys, though.

But they kind of are, though, when they're not making even more changes like missing spoilers (the Lambros) or erasing curves (Wheeljack) or changing bumpers (the Datsuns) to avoid licensing.  As a matter of fact, I happen to think some, like SS86 Bumblebee are better for it, as they look less like the real cars I was unaware of as a 5yo and more like the cartoon I watched as a 5yo.

But then again...

32 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I might mention that I had a huge poster of the F-16 on my wall and a well-thumbed book called The World's Greatest Interceptor Aircraft complete with cross-section diagrams and full color photos of all the jets, squadron breakdowns, and histories.

Whereas I had a poster of a Porsche 911 (930), and dreamed of owning a real Porsche someday (happy to say I bought a '23 Porsche Taycan😁).  So I like aircraft, sure, but I'm actually going to look at cars with a more critical eye.  And I've cut the cars some slack (except Breakdown).

42 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

That more Transformers fans don't take offense at Has/Tak's lackluster jetformers and demand better is surprising and frustrating to me.

Because what Transformers fans demand, more than anything, is animation accuracy.  And...

51 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

but even as a kid, I thought the Aerialbots' jet modes were pretty terrible... Alas, crappy toys did not lend themselves to improved animation

And that's really the crux of it.  The cartoon is based on the toys (which, in the Aerialbots case sacrificed even more than usual to the combining gimmick), and 40 years later Transformers fans want toys that look like the cartoon.  Is it possible to make transforming jets with good alt modes?  Heck no, Bandai/Tonka did it 40 years ago with Machine Robo/Go-Bots*.  But is it possible for Hasbro, today, to make a toy that's slavish to the G1 Transformers cartoon while simultaneously making a realistic aircraft that's also got enough bulk to be a combiner limb, all on a $25 budget when some 3Ps can't manage in a toy with five times (or more!) the price tag?  I'm afraid not.  That's why, taken for what it is, I think Air Raid is flawed but better than Combiner Wars.  And, taken for what it is, Slingshot is actually pretty good.

*I still desperately want modern Go-Bots toys that scale with Generations.

[Scyla]

To put your mind at ease Mike I think Hasbro did a reasonable good job with Slingshot‘s alt mode.

I think the expectation towards Hasbro should be what is feasible design and what is just plain lazyness.

For having a realistic alt-mode you almost never will have the budget for at Hasbro. Especially not for established character designs.

The designer of Slingshot at least put effort into making it a Robot in Disguise, even if it is not a realistic Harrier. And I think with a different design goal you could make a fairly convincing Harrier jet out of it.

Air Raid is just lazy to me. The fact that the arms don’t tuck in is just lazy design (same with Breakdown not being the right car shape but a slight retool of Wildrider).

So good job on Slingshot unknown Hasbro engineer I guess.

Edited 10 hours ago by Scyla

[lechuck]

23 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

It looks cheap; major step down from previous offerings.

It absolutely is, it's going back to the dark ages of MP like the early stuff or the Hasui era simplicity with "good enough" approximations in implementation. I take consolation in the fact that it is a sub-line.

[M'Kyuun]

With a few exceptions, I think most of us as long time Transformers fans can attest that the vast majority TFs that turn into Earth ground vehicles enjoy convincing alt modes. I'm speaking in generalities- most bots that turn into cars, trucks, and motorcycles enjoy alts that present to a believable degree. They have the salient features of those vehicles that they represent. The same, generally speaking, over the course of the last forty years cannot be said about TFs that turn into aircraft, specifically jet fighters. Like the TFs that turn into ground vehicles, there are exceptions: Maverick and G1 Jetfire (by virtue of being a Macross VF-1 toy first before being added to the TF toy line) are two notable exceptions. Heck, despite being highly fictional and bulkier than most real fighters, the recent Legacy Prime Skyquake/Dreadwing mold is pretty darn good. At the very least, it hides the arms in jet mode in similar fashion to many Macross designs. Other notables are both Animated Lugnut and his excellent Reveal the Shield adaptation. They make for convincing aircraft, although the Animated toy, by its nature, is a little more cartoony. Another notable, IMHO one of the best and most unique aircraft TFs, Generations Scourge, transforms into a lovely blended wing design inspired by NASA's X-48. It's one of my all-time favorite alt modes- so well done!

I feel your frustration concerning Breakdown not getting a new mold to give him a proper Countach-y appearance. I'm guessing budget was the main reason for that decision, and it sucks. Regardless, the car mode still looks like a car; it's not wonky in its proportions, it doesn't have arms hanging off of its sides or on the roof, or underneath the car. It looks like a normal car. That's the distinction I want to make between what Takara (and Hasbro by extension since Takara does the actual designing of these things with inputs from Hasbro) does with most jet designs as opposed to most car and truck designs. Both have their stinkers, but the TFs that turn into jets diverge from realism by a much, much wider margin. Again, I'm generalizing. Too, I completely disagree with the argument that it's not possible to accomplish a well-done, convincing jet mode in a $25 deluxe. Takara accomplished it with Legacy Needlenose, whose arms tuck away into the legs very satisfyingly, and whose overall profile is similar to the Typhoon, albeit quite a bit thicker and lacking intakes, alas. He still comes across as far more convincing than any of the new Aerialbots whose original alts are all based on RW aircraft. The legacy toys fall far short in any number of ways. Even the old Robot Masters Starscream, who was just a tad smaller than the G1 toy, has an F-15 mode that's better than pretty much every mainline toy made since, not to mention better than the most recent MP abomination. he also has the distinction of being the only Starscream toy besides the original to have his arms tuck into and form the aircraft's spine. I wish more Seekers, more fighters for that matter, used that design. It all comes down to engineering and how creative the designers at Takara want to be. They can cram a whole robot into a convincing motorcycle, a helicopter, a car, a truck, but for whatever reason, when it comes to jets, they generally don't even seem to try. I don't buy the argument even with combiners, as they can make just about any other vehicle look convincing and still combine, but these jet modes miss the mark on external features that could be there, like the Harrier's large scooped intakes that wouldn't affect combination. And let's not fool ourselves; since they essentially just slot into place in a frame, nothing about them, short of being able to move tails and wings out of the way is required to make them combine- there's no special engineering, unlike the Constructicons who at least form parts of the limbs as they should. 

I'm obviously not convincing anyone here, but I stand by my opinion that jet designs could be improved by a large margin within budget if more creative solutions were applied to their designs. Toys like Maverick and Dreadwing show that they can if they want to, but more often than not they take the simplest course making undersized nose sections, cubic underbodies, unintegrated arms that just hang out, undersized or completely omitted intakes, undersized wings, etc. which just speaks to a lack of care. And since the fandom keeps buying them, even praising them in reviews, there's little chance that Takara or Hasbro will receive the impetus to try harder. I can't unsee the aberrations and departures from basic realism that taint so many jetformers, so I'll still point them out from time to time, as is my wont. Even so, I continue to hold out hope that someday they'll hire a designer like Kawamori who has a vested interest in creating realistic transforming jets and perhaps, digits crossed, jetformers' alts will improve.

Edited 6 hours ago by M'Kyuun

[M'Kyuun]

On 3/31/2025 at 12:06 PM, pengbuzz said:

It looks cheap; major step down from previous offerings.

Different strokes: I like it. It's an improvement on MP-10, fixing the issues I had with that figure while maintaining a similar look. I like the Hasui era design aesthetic; I don't like the toon-centric direction that the MP line and so many others have taken. I love it when vehicle details come through and inform the bot mode. I suppose I'm in the minority within the fandom, and that's ok; we like what we like. I own a lot of recent toys, especially 3P legends figs who sport the ultra-smooth toon look, and many are gorgeous toys taken on the whole. However, I prefer Takara and Hasbro's approach to the mainline toys, which feature molded details as well as various vehicle bits that inform the bot modes. I think the simpler, practical design direction necessitated by smaller budgets often leads to cool figs that capture the essence of the characters, especially G1 in my case, with more surface detail than one gets in a far more complex and expensive MP fig. Looking at MPG Prime, I like the overall approach. I wish they'd found a way to collapse or otherwise transform the feet into a convincing part of the truck so they're not forming large clumps at the tail end of the hitch bed. The feet, more than anything else, ruin the believable look of the truck. So too, to a lesser degree, the two sets of fuel tanks on the side; it beggars the question of why the smaller tank couldn't have been hidden within the large tank in truck mode. 

I wouldn't mind having the MPG Prime in my collection, but I've so little space left in my house (with more mainline stuff coming all the time) with full shelves and full Detolfs that I've pretty much stopped buying MP figs in lieu of smaller legends. I still enjoy them vicariously via reviews, but let's face it, nothing compares to having a cool toy in-hand. That said, I have to exercise some resolve. Moreover, I already own MP-10, and both of Magic Square's MP scaled Optimus Prime figs. I love both, and IMHO, their MS-02 Light of Peace, despite being toon slavishly devoid of detail, is the best G1 Optimus figure ever produced and the bar for everybody else to beat. I keep hoping they'll upscale both their legends Light of Victory (Optimus) and their legends Doomsday (Megatron), which is IMHO the superior Megatron toy out there currently, to mainline CHUG scale. I like Newage's Romulus a lot, but Doomsday has it beat in overall aesthetics and if they made it to scale with SS86, they'd have a surefire winner on their hands.

[JB0]

19 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Because what Transformers fans demand, more than anything, is animation accuracy. 

Some of them. I will say that the brand's current obsession with toon-accuracy saves me a lot of money, because they're putting out a lot of toys that to me are hideously deformed or just straight-up unfinished.

 

Maybe Slingshot's robot mode will look good after the stickers are applied. I can't imagine something that barren is actually the final appearance anyone wants.

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, Scyla said:

To put your mind at ease Mike I think Hasbro did a reasonable good job with Slingshot‘s alt mode.

I think the expectation towards Hasbro should be what is feasible design and what is just plain lazyness.

For having a realistic alt-mode you almost never will have the budget for at Hasbro. Especially not for established character designs.

The designer of Slingshot at least put effort into making it a Robot in Disguise, even if it is not a realistic Harrier. And I think with a different design goal you could make a fairly convincing Harrier jet out of it.

Air Raid is just lazy to me. The fact that the arms don’t tuck in is just lazy design (same with Breakdown not being the right car shape but a slight retool of Wildrider).

So good job on Slingshot unknown Hasbro engineer I guess.

I think that's fair.  And I think, due to the way these things are designed, you can pretty much bet then that Skydive will be just as bad as Air Raid, and Fireflight will be just as good as Slingshot.

Will today's review be as divisive?  Maybe!  It's Studio Series Deluxe-class Devastation Optimus Prime.

The Optimus character model in Devastation was, arguably more than any of the other game models, pretty faithful to the G1 cartoon design.  The only real difference was that the Devastation model was maybe a bit more athletic-looking.  And that's really what we're getting here, a very G1 cartoony Optimus.  Unlike the Earthrise toy, he's got all the yellow on his pelvis painted, as his the blue on his crotch, and the flaps on the sides of his legs are supposed to be his fuel tanks.

His legs even have that tapered shape, and though they do peek out a bit at least some attempt was made to hide his wheels.  His back has less backpack than SS86 Optimus or MP-44, though he does have some bumper and wheel kibble there.

Prime comes with an unpainted Matrix of Leadership, and an energon axe with a molded "swoosh."  Sadly, no gun.  I get that the gameplay was more melee-focused, but I still would have traded the unpainted Matrix or even the axe for an ion rifle.

Prime's articulation is decent enough.  No real tilt on his head, but the flap it's on can be tilted up if you need to fake a little upward tilt.  His shoulders swivel and move laterally 90 degrees, though they are sadly Hot Rod Shoulders™ again.  I'll cut him a little slack for it, though, because the way he transforms means he's got a slight forward and plenty of backward butterfly.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  No wrist swivel, but due to his transformation his hands can bend inward.  His waist swivels, though his wheel kibble can get in the way.  His hips can go forward and laterally 90 degrees.  They only go about 45 degrees backward, again due to the wheel kibble, but that's honestly enough for most poses.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His toes can bend down 90 degrees, no upward tilt, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees.

His axe fits over his hand.  Note that his smokestacks are pegged on, like the Legacy Deluxe, but they're smaller with a 3mm peg, so he can't really use them as accessories.

His fists are, of course, standard 5mm fists.  So, you know, maybe you happen to have another Deluxe-class Optimus that came with two rifles for some reason, and maybe Devastation Optimus can borrow one?

As for his Matrix, his chest opens up, and the Matrix (which has a peg hole on the back) plugs into the peg inside.  Since he's only a Deluxe his hands don't open, but there are grooves cut into his fingers and little tabs on the sides of the Matrix.  You can slide those tabs up into the grooves in his fingers to get him to hold the Matrix.  Barely.

Prime's transformation is fairly G1, and for a change doesn't involve a fake grill.  Instead, his lats fold back, as does his head.  His hands turn inward, then his arms bend and tuck just like the G1 toy/cartoon.  His waist rotates 180 degrees, though, and the wheels fold down to finish the front bumper.  His heels and toes fold down, and a half of a hollow peg folds out from each of his shins before his legs kick up 90 degrees and peg together.  The wheels fold down, and the fuel tanks on the sides of his legs fold up over his thighs, and that's it.  You're done.

The truck mode is... not the best.  There's some seams on the front of the cap where his hands folded in, and a weird gap between the grill and bumper.  The fuel tanks don't look as much like fuel tanks due to how Hasbro hollowed then out for some reason (and some red paint at the steps would have been nice).  The back of the cab has a visible robot head, but ironically the same lats filling in the gap between the arms that the Commander-class toy does.  And the back of the truck is still obviously robot legs, though I appreciate that they put molded taillights on the underside of Prime's feet.  So yeah, not great, but I honestly don't hate it.  I mean, aside from the Legacy one (which had an advantage of trying to mimic the G1 toy, not the cartoon), the last time we had a G1-ish Deluxe-class Optimus it had a far worse truck mode.

There's a slot over one of Prime's knees.  You might have noticed a red tab on the axe; that tab fits into this slot so he can carry it in truck mode.

As for the fold-out peg, the hollow inside is a 5mm port.  And the peg is at just the right height for Prime to work with the Earthrise trailer, which actually scales better with Devastation Optimus than it does Earthrise.

When Devastation Optimus was first revealed, I think a lot of fans had a gut reaction along the lines of, "why does this exist, it looks so much worse than SS86 Optimus?"  And, they're not wrong, but I don't think it's totally a fair comparison to make when SS86 Optimus cost almost as much as four of the Devastation one.  He's a Deluxe, existing in a spectrum of Primes between the Core-class and the Voyager/Leader Earthrise one.  He's clearly a much better figure than the Core-class one, and while there are things that the Earthrise mold does better there are, surprisingly enough, things that the Deluxe version does better.  And, as I said, he's a lot better than the old Classics Deluxe.  Really, he's not meant to be the definitive mainline Optimus, which is still SS86's role.  He's overtly meant to be a smaller G1 Prime that can make the SS86 Devastator seem bigger (and I'm sure he'll scale nicely with the Deluxe-class Devastation Megatron when it comes, which I believe it should be later this year).  And, less overtly, to get a(nother) proven product-moving character into the scale that sells the best and makes the most money.

By and large, I think Hasbro was successful at what they set out to do.  Devastation Prime isn't the best Prime, but he's a good Prime, one that's fun to just have on your desk and fiddle with.  I can't quite call him a "must-buy" figure the way I did with SS86 Prime.  If shelf space is limited and you're only looking for single, relatively in-scale representations of the cartoon cast for a display than Devastation Prime is not for you.  But if Commander-class Optimus had too many steps in his transformation and you're looking for a simpler, fun Optimus to mess around with, Devastation Optimus delivers that in spades.  I just wish he came with a gun.

[M'Kyuun]

On 3/30/2025 at 11:14 PM, mikeszekely said:

I wouldn't go that far (trash would be the Siege Astrotrain mold)... I think it looks passably fine in both modes.  But I otherwise agree; it's a tad blocky and lacking it articulation, and a bit disappointing that they basically recycled and upscaled the then 15-ish year old Classics mold.  We've seen enough companies do better Seekers and both the MP and Legends scales, Starscream deserves a new an improved mold (that they can then milk anywhere between 5 and 20 more times.

Aside from lacking a bigger handle and the scope, what was wrong with Shockwave?  I thought, for a guy that turns into a gun that can't turn into a gun anymore, he came out pretty good.  Better than Sunstreaker's too-wide, no-spoiler ER toy.

Worth pointing out that the previous version was a Leader, and the 86 version is listed as a Voyager...

While Kranix wasn't a Cybertronian (until/unless Lithone is retconned to be a Cybertronian colony), he actually did have an alt mode, and it appeared in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie.  Just don't ask me how they're going to pull it off without some new alt mode kibble on the robot and/or robot parts on the alt mode...

The issues with both the Classics and ER Seeker molds are the too shallow nose section, which should extend all the way down nearly even with the bottoms of the intakes, the crappy chest brace which shouldn't be there at all, the huge gaping hole between the intakes in fighter that should be taken up with forward fuselage, and the hump under the nose for the swing bar (which the Classics didn't have). Positives: I like how the arms integrate smoothly into the fuselage on both, and the Classics mold is actually more accurate to the F-15 than the ER, although it should be the other way around. Anyway, a new mold that corrects these flaws is sorely needed.

Astrotrain should never have been released as it was, with noticeably misaligned wheels in train mode and a huge portion of the cargo bay door area missing, both of which the G1 toy did better. The G1 toy should never be superior to its modern equivalent- it shows a decline in engineering and care.

I don't understand how a bot that turns into a space gun that looks nothing like a real gun can't keep its proper alt mode. And while I bought WFC Shockwave, I was rather disappointed with it with its price point, and with the bevy of useless accessories that he came with to justify his leader price point. I hate his default alt, and turning him over and trying to arrange him into his gun mode just doesn't lead to a satisfying result. He'll likely be my last official G1 Shockwave toy purchase so long as his gun mode is off the table. Likewise Siege Megatron. I'm curious to see what they do with SS86 Megs, but ultimately Newage's Romulus is the CHUG Megatron I've been wanting for decades.

I thought the Sunstreaker mold was one of the better ER toys. I love it, missing spoiler notwithstanding. I think the transformation is clever and both modes look good. The omission of a proper rifle was also a sore point. Thank goodness for 3P add-ons to remedy such shortcomings.

My god, Krannix turns into a fugly robofish. Horrible. If that's what they go with for an alt, easy pass. 🤢

I can't believe they're doing Kranix over the Omnibots. C'mon Hasbro, that's bull$h!t. 😠