The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, tekering said:

G1 was exhausted a decade ago, both by HasTak and the various 3P manufacturers.  They just keep doing and redoing the same characters, over and over again.

Having achieved the pinnacle of cartoon accuracy -- at every conceivable scale, for some characters -- now they're going back to the more stylized interpretations from 20 years ago, and collectors are STILL buying. 😲

They'll never stop producing G1 toys, that's for sure. 🙄

 

Well, G1 started it all, those characters are iconic at this point, and they're proven sellers. However, I'm thinking once they're done with the combiner teams and crank out toys of any obscure characters or outliers like the Omnibots (fingers crossed!), they'll slow down on G1 for a while to focus on other series and comics-based stuff. I'm not sure how much the recent generations of kids are into "vintage" Transformers; I'm thinking us old fogies in our 40s and 50s are the main audience and consumers of G1-related merch, esp toys and models, and to that end, how much longer will it remain relevant or marketable except as Ebay/Amazon fodder or just the domain of dedicated collectors? I collect b/c I have a passion for transforming toys and of course, Transformers has all but monopolized and dominated the genre in the West. Too, growing up with the Sunbow toon, I have a connection to the first season bots (never cared much for successive seasons, but I'll still buy the toys b/c transforming robots are awesome). To the point, once all of us older fans start losing interest or quit collecting altogether, will the younger generations still demand G1 toys? I'll take 'em while they still make 'em.

[mikeszekely]

We're hitting a point where people who were kids and watched Transformers during the Unicron Trilogy or the first few Bayverse movies are about the same age as G1 kids were when Classics '06 hit, and for all the people who complain about G1 endlessly getting rehashed (especially the Bayverse fans who cry about SS86 invading what was previously a line for the live action movies) I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

[M'Kyuun]

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

We're hitting a point where people who were kids and watched Transformers during the Unicron Trilogy or the first few Bayverse movies are about the same age as G1 kids were when Classics '06 hit, and for all the people who complain about G1 endlessly getting rehashed (especially the Bayverse fans who cry about SS86 invading what was previously a line for the live action movies) I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

Well, let's be honest, the Bay films weren't good, successively becoming worse with every new film. And while the Sunbow toon wasn't exactly high art either, I think it's far more relatable than Bay's chaotic films. Too, by virtue of age, the G1 look is more pervasive, with many Geewunners introducing their kids to it thus bringing a new generation of fans into the fold. I don't have kids, but I'm curious how many fans here who grew up with G1 have introduced their kids to it and which your kids prefer, the old G1 stuff or the Bay stuff? Or maybe they don't like either and Earthspark is their "G1". I know that, had I had kids, they most certainly would've been introduced to all the cool 80s stuff from my childhood. Moreover, they'd see my Transformers collection, mostly G1, every time they came into my mancave.

Anyway, as a fan of G1, I'm just happy that it's still going strong, that the toys have improved in certain ways, especially more toy/toon faithfulness, and that the options have extended well beyond official toys to fulfill the desire for more G1y  goodness. I would shed nary a tear to see all of Bayformers consigned to the dustbin of history; like Robotech which introduced Macross, and in many cases, anime, to the West, Bay's films served a good initial purpose by reinvigorating the TF brand, which was stagnating, and generating a lot of revenue for Hasbro, which also benefitted Transformers beyond just the Bayformers toys. The brand has since sustained well, not b/c of Bayformers, but b/c of G1's continued popularity. I think that's vindication for the oldest designers at Takara who first invented and introduced these things over forty years ago, and by succession, for those of us G1 fans who defended it in the wake of the Bay era. 

[Hikuro]

19 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

We're hitting a point where people who were kids and watched Transformers during the Unicron Trilogy or the first few Bayverse movies are about the same age as G1 kids were when Classics '06 hit, and for all the people who complain about G1 endlessly getting rehashed (especially the Bayverse fans who cry about SS86 invading what was previously a line for the live action movies) I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

Oh god don't tell me that! Why did you have to tell me that?!  

[M'Kyuun]

38 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

Oh god don't tell me that! Why did you have to tell me that?!  

Why?

20 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 I've been told by reliable sources that it's the G1ers who are voting with their wallets, which is why we keep getting new and slightly improved versions of the G1 cast for the umpteenth time while even big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line.

This is excellent news! I'm one of those voters.

[26662]

"...big names like the TLK version of Megatron haven't gotten a figure since the TLK movie line."

Bayverse is terrible: nonsensical plots, humor that misses more often than not, and bots that appear to be made of cheap aluminum foil.  This is music to my ears.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Why?

Because it means we're old.

Anyway, this guy finally came, which I do believe (mostly) finishes out the first wave of Age of the Primes.  It's Leader-class Megatronus Prime.

Megatronus, better known as The Fallen, traces his origins all the way back to the days of the Dreamwave comics where he was the primary antagonist of The War Within: Dark Ages miniseries.  Those comics depicted him as an incredibly ancient, powerful Transformer that was very heavily implied to be working for Unicron.  This was at the very genesis of Simon Furman's idea for the Thirteen; he would subsequently flesh out the Fallen's story as being one of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus to battle Unicron early in the universe's history.  The Fallen sided with Unicron instead, and was sealed away with Unicron by the remaining twelve.  Later continuities, like the Prime-centric "aligned" continuity of The Covenant of Primus had him defeat Unicron but later come into conflict with the other Primes, causing him to name himself as The Fallen and leave Cybertron.

Regardless of which origin story we accept as correct (if any... perhaps they're all legends, corrupted by time?) the Age of the Primes figure is almost entirely based on that appearance in the Dreamwave comics, including his color scheme, the molded details of his chest and pelvis, and the face that's meant to evoke the Decepticon symbol.  The numerous little yellow lines on his body are actually supposed to be vents, and the yellow is the glow of the fire within his body (a feature that's more or less unique to the Dreamwave version).

Megatronus come with a number of accessories.  You get his signature relic, the Requiem Blaster.  There's also a small black barrel (that I've already attached to his backpack), a sword, a purple stick, a spikey bit, and a quartet of flame effects.  There should actually be one more accessory, a small black box with molded missile details.  It's supposed to attach (and remain attached) to a peg on his left shoulder, however, it was entirely missing from my copy.  Thank goodness I preorder from both Amazon and Pulse. 😒

Megatronus' head is on a ball joint that can look up and down a little, with a slight sideways tilt and a swivel.  His shoulders swivel, can extend laterally 90 degrees, and due to his transformation have a little forward/backward butterfly.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend slightly over 90 degrees.  His wrists are actually ball joints, so they can swivel as well as wiggle a little.  His fingers are pinned so his hands can open.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees backward or laterally, and over 90 degrees forward.  His thighs swivel, and due to transformation he has as swivel just above the knee as well.  Speaking of knees, they bend 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down a little, plus they pivot nearly 90 degrees.

The big flame effects are meant to attach to the 5mm ports on the sides of his shoulders and wrap around to the front, while the the smaller one plug into 5mm ports on top of his backpack.  The barrel plugs into a 5mm port on either side of his backpack; the instructions put it on the left (which is Dreamwave accurate), but I chose to put it on the right to reinforce the similarity to Megatron.  It can swivel there like a shoulder cannon, though his backpack isn't tall enough for for him to fire it straight forward.  On that note, the Requiem Blaster plugs into a 5mm port on either forearm, just like Megatron's fusion cannon.  As for the rest of his accessories, they can combine into a bladed staff that's originally a call back to call back to the staff used by The Fallen in Revenge of the Fallen, but has since been carried over to the Robots In Disguise 2015 and Transformers One versions of the character.

Alternatively, you could split the spear apart, and slide one end into one of his fists while opening his hand and pushing the handle of the blade into his other, giving him a sort of mace/axe and a machete.  All of his weapons can store on his backpack.  The black barrel remains where you attached it in the first place, and the Requiem blaster plugs into the port on the opposite side.  The shaft and blade of his spear each use pegs to plug into the pair of ports directly on his back.  There isn't really anywhere else to store his flame effects except when he's not pretending to be on fire.

Transforming Megatronus does involve some partsforming.  Not only do you have to remove his spear and flame effects, but the Requiem Blaster and and the barrel on his backpack have to come off, too.  That said, while there are some basic similarities to Siege/Earthrise Megatron in that his cannon goes between his arms to form the turret, something else gets plugged into the cannon to become the tank barrel, his backpack contains the front treads, and his lower legs spread and bend inward at the knee to form the rear treads.  The process feels more refined, though, with his chest reshaping into the front of the tank, parts of the treads storing inside of his torso so that his backpack can be smaller, and panels unfolding from his butt and legs to fill in the gap at the rear.  When Megatronus was first revealed I predicted that Studio Series 86 Megatron could be a heavy remold of him (and for reference, he's a little taller than SS86 Optimus), and while one of the designers (I think Evan) said that's not the case, I'd be really surprised if Megatron doesn't borrow at least some of the engineering here.

As you've no doubt noticed, Megatronus is a tank.  That aligns with RID15 and probably with Dreamwave (he didn't transform in the comics and I can't find any concept art of an alt mode, but the Titanium Series toy that was also based on Dreamwave was a tank), though other versions make him a Cybertronian jet.  I don't have a lot to say here.  It works well enough, as both the front and back are filled in, and since it's a Cybertronian tank it can look however it wants without needing to be accurate to anything.

The turret can rotate, and the Requiem Blaster can pivot up where it's connected to his arms.  The big flames can really only peg into the top of the turret on what are the insides of his forearms.  You have more options of stowing his spear and the smaller flames, with 5mm ports available on top of the turret (on what are the sides of his shoulders) as well as the top and sides of the front of the tank.

Of all the Primes save Primus and Alpha Trion Megatronus is the one most likely to appeal to the G1 crowd.  He actually appeared in a G1 comic book, and after his brothers he arguably has the most lore (where many of the remaining Thirteen seem hastily thrown together to fill out a the ranks of a group who's number was decided before who actually belonged in it).  The black-and-purple, always-on-fire design is a bit edgelord in hindsight, but was cool back in 2003.  And most importantly, he's a solid figure with good articulation and accessories.  I have a feeling he's going to wind up a highlight among the Thirteen Primes released in the Age of the Primes trilogy, but even if you're not in for all Thirteen he's still worth picking up.

[Chronocidal]

I know G1 gets retread every few years, but I admit I'm still waiting for the trends to roll back around and give us a modern Starscream with anywhere near as good a balanced set of modes as pretty much any modern MP car.

Not expecting it anytime soon, but it at least gives me something to hope for.
😛

Edited April 8 by Chronocidal

[pengbuzz]

One thing though: if they want to do somethign "G1" that has very few representations, how about an accurate model of G1 Cybertron from the cartoon?

I'm not talking about "Primus", just the actual planet on maybe a nice stand, with lights in it to recreate the weird subterranean glow from the series? They should have enough work from Floro Dery and others to determine the back half and other parts we don't usually see.

 

[mikeszekely]

The Fallen wrapped up the first wave of AotP, and it looks like we're making progress on Studio Series, too.  Today we've got Voyager-class Transformers One Sentinel Prime.

SS Sentinel is, of course, bigger than the Prime Changers toy from last year, with colors that are significantly more accurate.  His biceps, thighs, and ribs are properly a silvery color, with gunmetal on his lats and in his forearms.  He's got the light blue and gold on his legs and knees, but sadly there's no gold on the backs of his hands or the outsides of his biceps and thighs.  He's sporting tabs on the outsides of his forearms where the CGI model had fins, but they should properly be gold.

Things are a bit messier from the back.  The nose of his jet mode is just dangling there, and his wings don't have the shape or textures we saw in the film.  Granted, this probably has a lot to do with the fact that Sentinel Prime doesn't transform in the film, and I'm not sure that an alt mode was even designed for it.  The box art for the Prime Changer toy actually used a recolored version of Starscream's alt mode, while the art on the Studio Series box seems to be based directly on the toy itself.

Speaking of Starscream... does Sentinel give anyone else Seeker vibes?  I'd swear we're a retool away from this mold being used for TFOne Starscream if I didn't already hear that TFOne Thundercracker will be a 2026 Deluxe.

Anyway... Sentinel comes with his shield, which despite the lack of color is actually more screen accurate than the Prime Changers version.  He also comes with a pair of very Null Ray-esque guns.  Unfortunately, the one accessory I think he really should have had is the double-bladed sword he used in the movie, but we'll have to wait for an upgrade kit for that.

Sentinel's head seems to be on a hinged swivel, so he can look up but he lacks any sort of downward or sideways tilt.  His shoulders swivel and move laterally almost 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  No wrist articulation.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward and a little over 90 degrees laterally, but only about 45 degrees backward due to his backpack.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt down, but not up, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees.

His shield clips onto the tab on the outside of either forearm.  He can use the 5mm pegs to hold his guns.  He lacks any other sort of weapon storage.

OK, technically that's not entirely true.  The shield has nowhere to store, but the guns can also be plugged onto the shield for a look that I believe is more movie accurate.  While we're at it, you can open his chest to flip up a battle mask, and swivel his pecs out a bit.  The tops of his shoulders open, and small guns can swivel out of them.  His forearm can slid down over his fist to make a Mega Man-style arm cannon.  The gold panels on the outsides of his legs open so you can fold out molded missiles.  Finally, you can give him a bit of extra height by folding boosters out of his heels and folding his feet down.  This is the battle mode we saw in the film.

What we didn't see in the film, though, was an alt mode.  From his base robot mode, turn his head 180 degrees, and slide both forearms down over his fists.  Fold down his toes and fold out the boosters in his heels, but this time collapse them down against his toes and tab his legs together.  Pull his arms and pecs away from his torso so you have room to flip his nose up over his head; his pecs will tab into his thighs.  Double-hinge his backpack down so that it fills in the gab between the nose and his legs.  Swing the tips from the tops of his wings to the edges, then fold the wings down so they tab into two spots on his legs.  With the wings in place, you can lock the arms in by slotting tabs under the wings into the backs of his arms, just above his forearms.  Then you can finish him off by folding the vertical stabilizers up.

Although not seen in the film, the jet mode is pretty consistent with the one on the Prime Changers version, and I kind of like it.  It's got Cyclonus vibes.  His torso and legs attempt to integrate into the fuselage, though it winds up a little on the thick side.  Likewise, they seem to have attempted to make his forearms into more engine nacelles, but the un-aerodynamic shoulders throw it off.  All-in-all, it definitely has its flaws, but it's far from the worse jet-mode we've seen.

His shield stores on a tab on the back of the fuselage.  His guns have tabs that plug into the sides just in front of his wings.  It's not documented, but you can also open his shoulders and swing up the shoulder guns.

I have to admit, I wasn't particularly excited for Sentinel Prime, but while far from perfect he is surprisingly better than I expected.  In fact, I think he's probably the best Transformers One toy released so far.  I wouldn't say that he's so good that I'd recommend him if you aren't collecting the TFOne figures, though.  However, I will say this... Age of the Primes has me thinking not just about the original Thirteen Primes, but the Lineage of Primes (that is, the Transformers who have carried the Matrix of Leadership between Prima and Optimus Prime, which in the IDW comics was Prima, Nova Prime, Nominus Prime, Zeta Prime, Sentinel Prime, and then Optimus Prime), and I think that with a little tweaking this figure could actually be not Sentinel, but rather Nominus Prime.  We already have IDW-esque toys for Nova Prime and Sentinel Prime, so a toy for Nominus would just leave me wanting a Zeta Prime.

[mikeszekely]

And finally, we wrap up the new Studio Series molds with Deluxe-class 86 Bonecrusher.

OK... there's no getting around it.  We all saw the photos before he was even released... Bonecrusher is one dumpy dude.  He's a solid block of a bot, and it's unfortunately exacerbated by the fact that his head's a little too small, his legs are a little too short, and his arms are significantly too short.  I criticized SS86 Scrapper hard for being too similar to the Combiner Wars toy, but in terms of overall proportions SS86 Bonecrusher is actually a downgrade from the Combiner Wars toy.

It's not really any better from other angles, either, where you can see that Bonecrusher isn't just too wide left-to-right, he's too thick back-to-front.  What's more, despite knowing that Devastator will be more of a partsformer than the Combiner Wars toy, SS86 Bonecrusher still has what appears to be a chunk of the combined forearm on his back.

I don't want to be entirely negative, so let's talk about the positive changes.  Well, they ditched the silver on his arms and chest.  How you feel about that is subjective, but objectively it's more cartoon accurate.  And while he might have benefitted from longer legs, the lack of skinny gap that the CW toy has where his legs extend does look better.  I think I might even go so far as to say that, while the forearm backpack is disappointing, it's not as long or obtrusive as the one on the CW toy.

Another improvement is that he has a gun!  Sure, it's a fairly small, fairly simple one, but it's cartoon accurate and certainly better than no gun.

86 Bonecrusher's articulation is pretty similar to the CW toy, because they use rather similar joints.  His head swivels (same), with minimal up/down tilt (same) and no sideways tilt (same).  Shoulders are ball joints (same) that swivel and move laterally 90 degrees (same).  There's no dedicated wrist swivel (same), instead the swivel is the ball joint in his elbow (same).  Said ball joint also gives him 90 degrees of elbow bend (kind of wash, CW has a hinge for transformation that'll allow him to bend his elbow 180 degrees, but only if the elbow isn't swiveled.  No wrist articulation (same).  He does technically have a waist swivel, which you could consider an improvement... if the shovel on his chest didn't tab into his abdomen and negate it.  Hips are ball joints (same), with 90 degrees of forward range (worse) due to his shovel kibble, over 90 degrees backward (better) due to not having backpack kibble in the way, and cutouts that allow 90 degrees of lateral spread (same).  His thighs swivel (same, though it's a proper mushroom swivel and not another ball joint like the CW toy), and his knees bend 90 degrees (same, though I'll note that it's a proper hinge in a more anatomically-correct spot instead of using the same ball joint that was the thigh swivel on the CW toy).  His toes can tilt down, not up (same), and his ankles pivot 90 degrees (technically less range than CW, but 90 is plenty).

So, yeah, no real improvements on articulation and only minor improvements on the types of joints... but in the interest of fairness, SS86 Bonecrusher feels a lot better.  The tolerances on his joints are tighter, his shovel actually pegs in, and his pelvis isn't splitting in half every time you manipulate the legs.

Oh, and there's the gun again.  He can hold it without issue in either of his fists.  There's a 5mm port on his backpack if you want to give him bot mode storage, which is nice.  And for what it's worth, he's got a 5mm port under each foot, too.

Bonecrusher's transformation has some broad similarities in that part of his torso with his head has to move back to leave a gap for his arms to fold into, and his backpack ends up underneath so his tread legs have something to attach to.  The differences are more where and how things fold.  For instance, the front of the bulldozer isn't his chest like the CW version, it's his abdomen.  That means that his pelvis doesn't have to split apart to shift his hips upward, they're already in the right place.  His chest and arms come away from his abdomen with his head.  That section of the torso winds up rotating backward 90 degrees, so the back of the bulldozer is the top of his torso (and his head has to fold 180 degrees), rather than staying upright.  The differences in engineering are a trade off; they're why his torso ends up so thick  and his limbs so short in bot mode, however, they're also why he's more solid in bot mode and, I'm happy to report, in bulldozer mode, too.

Aesthetically, I don't have a lot to complain about with the alt mode.  The purple bands on the front, the lack of teeth on the shovel, and the open canopy with no actual driver's seat or wheel are more cartoon accurate than the CW toy.  The mechanical details on the engine compartment and the splashes of silver paint in the treads aren't so cartoon accurate, but I think they help break up the monotony of all that green.

While the shovel is attached via multiple hinges, they're really there for transformation and are mostly locked into place.  So the shovel can tilt up (which isn't actually how a shovel on a bulldozer works), and that's about it.  He does have a pair of 5mm ports on top (which are technically the back sides of his fists) where you can plug in his gun.

It's hard not to feel a bit underwhelmed by Bonecrusher.  He's a tad more accurate in some ways, he has a gun, and he's a lot more solid, sure, but his articulation is largely the same and he's got far worse proportions than a version of the character from a decade ago.  Too be fair, Bonecrusher was arguably one of the best of the CW Constructicons with better-than-average articulation for the time, and CW Bonecrusher is technically a Voyager while SS86 Bonecrusher is only a Deluxe, but still, if SS86 Scrapper hasn't sold you on the SS86 Constructicons I don't think Bonecrusher will, either.

However, it's a safe bet that most of us will care less about the individual Constructicons and more about the combined Devastator.  Now, neither Scrapper nor Bonecrusher's instructions mention their combined modes, but I can make some educated guesses.  And based on those guesses I expect that Devastator will be significantly more solid than the CW toy.  So if a more solid Devastator that isn't oddly huge compared to your other combiners sounds appealing it's probably a good idea to pick up Bonecrusher (and Scrapper), despite his bot mode flaws.

[M'Kyuun]

On 4/9/2025 at 6:43 PM, mikeszekely said:

And finally, we wrap up the new Studio Series molds with Deluxe-class 86 Bonecrusher.

OK... there's no getting around it.  We all saw the photos before he was even released... Bonecrusher is one dumpy dude.  He's a solid block of a bot, and it's unfortunately exacerbated by the fact that his head's a little too small, his legs are a little too short, and his arms are significantly too short.  I criticized SS86 Scrapper hard for being too similar to the Combiner Wars toy, but in terms of overall proportions SS86 Bonecrusher is actually a downgrade from the Combiner Wars toy.

It's not really any better from other angles, either, where you can see that Bonecrusher isn't just too wide left-to-right, he's too thick back-to-front.  What's more, despite knowing that Devastator will be more of a partsformer than the Combiner Wars toy, SS86 Bonecrusher still has what appears to be a chunk of the combined forearm on his back.

I don't want to be entirely negative, so let's talk about the positive changes.  Well, they ditched the silver on his arms and chest.  How you feel about that is subjective, but objectively it's more cartoon accurate.  And while he might have benefitted from longer legs, the lack of skinny gap that the CW toy has where his legs extend does look better.  I think I might even go so far as to say that, while the forearm backpack is disappointing, it's not as long or obtrusive as the one on the CW toy.

Another improvement is that he has a gun!  Sure, it's a fairly small, fairly simple one, but it's cartoon accurate and certainly better than no gun.

86 Bonecrusher's articulation is pretty similar to the CW toy, because they use rather similar joints.  His head swivels (same), with minimal up/down tilt (same) and no sideways tilt (same).  Shoulders are ball joints (same) that swivel and move laterally 90 degrees (same).  There's no dedicated wrist swivel (same), instead the swivel is the ball joint in his elbow (same).  Said ball joint also gives him 90 degrees of elbow bend (kind of wash, CW has a hinge for transformation that'll allow him to bend his elbow 180 degrees, but only if the elbow isn't swiveled.  No wrist articulation (same).  He does technically have a waist swivel, which you could consider an improvement... if the shovel on his chest didn't tab into his abdomen and negate it.  Hips are ball joints (same), with 90 degrees of forward range (worse) due to his shovel kibble, over 90 degrees backward (better) due to not having backpack kibble in the way, and cutouts that allow 90 degrees of lateral spread (same).  His thighs swivel (same, though it's a proper mushroom swivel and not another ball joint like the CW toy), and his knees bend 90 degrees (same, though I'll note that it's a proper hinge in a more anatomically-correct spot instead of using the same ball joint that was the thigh swivel on the CW toy).  His toes can tilt down, not up (same), and his ankles pivot 90 degrees (technically less range than CW, but 90 is plenty).

So, yeah, no real improvements on articulation and only minor improvements on the types of joints... but in the interest of fairness, SS86 Bonecrusher feels a lot better.  The tolerances on his joints are tighter, his shovel actually pegs in, and his pelvis isn't splitting in half every time you manipulate the legs.

Oh, and there's the gun again.  He can hold it without issue in either of his fists.  There's a 5mm port on his backpack if you want to give him bot mode storage, which is nice.  And for what it's worth, he's got a 5mm port under each foot, too.

Bonecrusher's transformation has some broad similarities in that part of his torso with his head has to move back to leave a gap for his arms to fold into, and his backpack ends up underneath so his tread legs have something to attach to.  The differences are more where and how things fold.  For instance, the front of the bulldozer isn't his chest like the CW version, it's his abdomen.  That means that his pelvis doesn't have to split apart to shift his hips upward, they're already in the right place.  His chest and arms come away from his abdomen with his head.  That section of the torso winds up rotating backward 90 degrees, so the back of the bulldozer is the top of his torso (and his head has to fold 180 degrees), rather than staying upright.  The differences in engineering are a trade off; they're why his torso ends up so thick  and his limbs so short in bot mode, however, they're also why he's more solid in bot mode and, I'm happy to report, in bulldozer mode, too.

Aesthetically, I don't have a lot to complain about with the alt mode.  The purple bands on the front, the lack of teeth on the shovel, and the open canopy with no actual driver's seat or wheel are more cartoon accurate than the CW toy.  The mechanical details on the engine compartment and the splashes of silver paint in the treads aren't so cartoon accurate, but I think they help break up the monotony of all that green.

While the shovel is attached via multiple hinges, they're really there for transformation and are mostly locked into place.  So the shovel can tilt up (which isn't actually how a shovel on a bulldozer works), and that's about it.  He does have a pair of 5mm ports on top (which are technically the back sides of his fists) where you can plug in his gun.

It's hard not to feel a bit underwhelmed by Bonecrusher.  He's a tad more accurate in some ways, he has a gun, and he's a lot more solid, sure, but his articulation is largely the same and he's got far worse proportions than a version of the character from a decade ago.  Too be fair, Bonecrusher was arguably one of the best of the CW Constructicons with better-than-average articulation for the time, and CW Bonecrusher is technically a Voyager while SS86 Bonecrusher is only a Deluxe, but still, if SS86 Scrapper hasn't sold you on the SS86 Constructicons I don't think Bonecrusher will, either.

However, it's a safe bet that most of us will care less about the individual Constructicons and more about the combined Devastator.  Now, neither Scrapper nor Bonecrusher's instructions mention their combined modes, but I can make some educated guesses.  And based on those guesses I expect that Devastator will be significantly more solid than the CW toy.  So if a more solid Devastator that isn't oddly huge compared to your other combiners sounds appealing it's probably a good idea to pick up Bonecrusher (and Scrapper), despite his bot mode flaws.

Since they're attached with ball joints, I can see a 3P upgrade kit making new forearms with flip-out fists for him, which is the main improvement to bot mode that I'd like to see, From the side, his shovel-chest appears to sit too low, a la MP Arcee; however, looking straight on, it looks fine. Those raised bits on either side of his head kinda throw off that side profile a bit.

[mikeszekely]

Gonna do a little cleanup before the next waves start hitting (and Alchemist and Vortex have both be pre/reviewed in Asia, so maybe not too far off).  Here's all the recent repaints.

We're opening with Leader-class G2 Grimlock.  There's not a ton of difference between him and the original Studio Series release.  His eyes are red and he's got some painted sticker detail, but the biggest change is that the gray plastic was swapped for blue.  To be fair, though, that's pretty accurate to how the original G1 toy worked...

There's no changes to the mold, so we have to wait for an upgrade kit to give him articulated dino arms or his front teeth.  He even comes with the same accessories- gun, crappy Wheelie slug (painted to look like the Marvel comics, but still just as un-articulated and worthless), still no sword.  All-in-all, he's fine, if you've somehow missed this mold so far or are super attached to the blue one because that's the one you had as a kid.  But frankly, the Walmart version of the unreleased G2 colors is the better G2 Grimlock, while the less visually interesting Studio Series one has the benefit of being cartoon accurate.

Age of the Primes also gave us Deluxe-class Wasp, who's a essentially Legacy United Animated Bumblebee with a new head.  One the one hand, I do like this mold.  It's got its flaws, like the seriously wonky shoulders, but there's something I find interesting about the transformation.  Plus, I know Waspinator had a toy in the Animated line, but I don't think Wasp did, despite spending more screen time as Wasp.  So I think this is probably a win for Animated fans.

Then again, while I did like the cartoon I've talked before about how I don't like the stylized 2D designs of Animated as 3D objects.  So... I kind of think if you have one of this mold that's enough.  Especially if you're more into G1.  But like I said, I can see Animated fans being jazzed for Wasp.

While we're still Generations-adjacent, here's Walmart's retro Gears.  New head, lighter blue, silver gun instead of black, and some different paint apps to better represent the G1 toy's stickers.  Shame he still has the unpaintable gray parts in his elbows and fists, though.

The blue windows are black like the G1 toy, is is the strip on his hood and he's got his sunroof back.  Since it's not molded onto the original hood, they tampoed a Microchange "M" onto the hood.  All-in-all, a toy deco doesn't totally capture the wonkiness of the actual G1 toy, but if you like toy decos it's pretty good, especially with the new head.

Bumblebee, sadly, didn't fare quite so well.  Ditching the yellow pelvis and forearms and using black translucent plastic for the windows is nice and toy accurate, and the shade of yellow is better than the Kraft Singles color used on Neftlix Bee.  But, even it it happens to match the Walmart-exclusive G1 reissue with the new cartoon head from a few years back, it does NOT match the battle mask of the G1 toy.

Then there's the crappy Cliffjumper Bazooka thing, the lack of alt mode storage for it due to the licensed VW alt mode, and the fact that you have to partsform him to get to said alt mode.  Long story short, I'd have strongly preferred this deco with a proper battle mask head on the Studio Series toy, not this one.

Alright, moving into Studio Series we have Gamer Edition Ironhide.  As the lone SS retool, I guess they had the budget to go hard on him.  He's got a new head, new torso, new shoulder pads, and a new weapon based on the EMP Shotgun from the War for Cybertron game.  He's also got the same axe as Ratchet.

He has a surprising amount of retooled parts for alt mode, too.  New front bumper, tweaked roof, and a new rear hatch.  The slots on said hatch are a little closer together, so he couldn't carry Ratchet's weapon back there, but fortunately the tabs on the shotgun are closer together, so it works.  Despite being slightly tweaked, the roof still has the tabs for the axe.

Gamer Edition hasn't been a particularly impressive subgenre for Studio Series, and if you've been skipping them Ironhide is definitely not the one to start with.  But if you have a couple, and you liked Ratchet, Ironhide's basically the same thing.

Lastly, coming out of left field (well, actually, Japan) we've got Bingo Sports Optimus Prime, a Japan-only retool of Studio Series Crosshairs as Age of Extinction/The Last Knight Optimus.  It's a fairly extensive retool, with a new torso, head, shoulders, and biceps.  He does have a new gun...

But if you'd rather, he comes with the same SMGs that Crosshairs did, and they store in his "coat" the same way they do on Crosshairs.

Speaking off, while the new torso and head isn't bad for a Deluxe, Crosshairs had a lot of kibble that we kind of ignored just because it was supposed to be his trench coat.  But Prime doesn't have a coat or a cape or anything like that, so on him it's straight up just kibble.

As with his bot mode, Prime is a suprisingly heavy retool.  The nose, the grill, the spoiler, and the sides are all new, really only leaving the roof, windows, wheels, and butt carried over from Crosshairs.  And on that note, you'll see that they both have a pair of notches under the spot for the license plate...

This notch allows you to (awkwardly) plug in his new gun.  And it's kind of weird that on a figure with so many new parts, the one place the new gun plugs into was a place that isn't new and already had holes despite the fact that Crosshairs did NOT have anything to plug into them.

I guess the question you might have is, "why even make Prime a Corvette in the first place?"  And the answer is simple... because the Corvette is a real car!  Bingo Sports, a Japanese company that helps buyers acquire high-end cars, sponsors a real racing team in Japan.  And their CEO, Shinji Takei, drives this Callaway C7 GT3-R.  Sadly, Prime is missing some of the sponsors, like the "Callaway" in the grill, "Pirelli" on the bumpers, "Japan Cup" across the windshield, etc.  But I think it's cool that Takara re-engineered a different toy that had a C7 'Vette alt mode into a Prime that turns into a real car with an Optimus-style paint job and Transformers branding.

That said, would I actually recommend buying it?  Probably not.  Like a lot of movie Deluxes, Crosshair's mold isn't that great.  And this is still a Deluxe, no matter how remolded or how nicely-painted, carrying a price tag around double a "normal" Deluxe.  I'd say most collectors don't really need this one.  That said, if you're a more Optimus-focused collector (like me) or you're into cars (like me) it's a pretty interesting bit of Transformers history.

[anime52k8]

48 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

All-in-all, he's fine, if you've somehow missed this mold so far or are super attached to the blue one because that's the one you had as a kid. 

So you're saying I should get this one.

[mikeszekely]

30 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

So you're saying I should get this one.

Hey, it's gotta be for somebody besides suckers who buy everything to write Transformers reviews on a Macross message board.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/04/16/rumor-missing-link-grimlock-ultra-magnus-coming-536765

 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/04/16/rumor-missing-link-grimlock-ultra-magnus-coming-536765

 

I bet Magnus will be expensive, but I'd be interested in both of those.

Edited April 16 by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

I'm in for every G1 Missing Link release so far.  Skipping Diaclone and alternate versions.  For Ultra Magnus I can see them adding articulated hands and retooling the trailer for articulated waist, legs, and feet.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'm in for every G1 Missing Link release so far.  Skipping Diaclone and alternate versions.  For Ultra Magnus I can see them adding articulated hands and retooling the trailer for articulated waist, legs, and feet.

Ultra Magnus is going to prove challenging, especially to maintain the look of the G1 toy, which was basically a big red slab with a white robot standing behind it. To integrate articulation into that without changing the look too drastically is going to be tough. So many of the G1 bots do not lend themselves to updating while maintaining their G1 looks. 

I'm just waiting for ML Prowl. He's probably the only one I'd pick up, as I destroyed my original toy while trying to give it hip articulation. A master toy upgrader I was not in my teens (or even now). Anyway, I'd welcome that into my collection.

[davidwhangchoi]

On 4/16/2025 at 1:08 PM, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://news.tfw2005.com/2025/04/16/rumor-missing-link-grimlock-ultra-magnus-coming-536765

 

will grimlock tiny hands now articulate?

i want his short arms to be able to articulate:

Edited April 17 by davidwhangchoi

[Hikuro]

I also just got G2 Grimlock. The local Walmart had him hiding way in the back behind The Fallen, there were also the retro bee and gears and Red Alert, I passed mostly due to budget.

gotta agree though the sword not being present is rather a bummer. I’ll be curious to see Toyhax upgrades for him in sticker form, I’ll probably snag them.

 

[M'Kyuun]

I've seen retro Bee and Gears at my local Wally, but no G2 Grimlock (yet). I like that they gave Gears his G1 toy face, but it's disappointing that they didn't do the same for Bee- he's just cast in a different shade of yellow. What's odder still is that they used the Netflix Bee mold, with its licensed VW beetle mode instead of the SS86 mold which more closely resembles his G1 Choro Q chibi design. Having the regular releases for both of these guys, I passed on their retro releases, although I appreciate the card packaging with all the G1 art and tech specs. IMHO, they could just card today's figs, too, at least the deluxes. It would save on the amount of cardboard being used/tossed in the rubbish bin. And for those like me who keep the boxes, cards take up much less space than boxes.

[sh9000]

Target had G2 Grimlock along with Slingshot and Air Raid on the shelves last week during their 30% off sale.  Grimlock looked nice but I skipped it and got the 2 Aerialbots instead.

[M'Kyuun]

31 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Target had G2 Grimlock along with Slingshot and Air Raid on the shelves last week during their 30% off sale.  Grimlock looked nice but I skipped it and got the 2 Aerialbots instead.

No interest in G2, well anything, but at %30 off, I might've considered picking up the Aerialbots all of whom I planned on skipping due to their horrible jet modes. Oh well. At this point I'm waiting to see if Magic Square or Newage will tackle the Aerialbots and hopefully at least one of the teams has decently passable jet modes that look like the planes they're supposed to be. 

[pengbuzz]

On 4/17/2025 at 12:59 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Ultra Magnus is going to prove challenging, especially to maintain the look of the G1 toy, which was basically a big red slab with a white robot standing behind it. To integrate articulation into that without changing the look too drastically is going to be tough. So many of the G1 bots do not lend themselves to updating while maintaining their G1 looks. 

I'm just waiting for ML Prowl. He's probably the only one I'd pick up, as I destroyed my original toy while trying to give it hip articulation. A master toy upgrader I was not in my teens (or even now). Anyway, I'd welcome that into my collection.

Too bad you don't still have it: I think I have a spare set of hip and pelvis parts for that mold.

 

[mikeszekely]

Haven't been to Target since last week, but they didn't have jack then. Looks like Walmart did a reset- the Transformers section moved, and now they've got lots of new Studio Series and Age of the Primes toys, plus Retro Gears and Bee, but nothing bigger than Voyager.

Waiting on Silverbolt, I guess. Amazon says he's delayed, but was due on April 2nd (better than some people, though; I had Amazon cancelled a bunch of orders). Pulse says November.

[M'Kyuun]

8 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Too bad you don't still have it: I think I have a spare set of hip and pelvis parts for that mold.

 

I do. I kept him. He's just in two pieces like Bayformers Jazz.  I hated that he had no articulation below the waist, so a Missing Link version of him would be grand.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Haven't been to Target since last week, but they didn't have jack then. Looks like Walmart did a reset- the Transformers section moved, and now they've got lots of new Studio Series and Age of the Primes toys, plus Retro Gears and Bee, but nothing bigger than Voyager.

Waiting on Silverbolt, I guess. Amazon says he's delayed, but was due on April 2nd (better than some people, though; I had Amazon cancelled a bunch of orders). Pulse says November.

My Wally also did a reset recently and they moved their Transformers section, too. They're still in the same isle, just moved to the middle instead of being on the end conveniently next to a main aisle. I liked just being able to pop around the corner from the LEGO aisle to check the TF situation quickly, but both have been reset now so I have to travel the length of both to look at stuff. Anyway, I haven't seen much of the Primes stuff, although they did have a copy of Armada (AotP) Red Alert, and a few copies of Party Wallop which have been shelf-warming for a while now.  Part of me wants to pick up Alchemist Prime if I see him, but I can't help but think he'll be retooled into Bulkhead, and I'd prefer that. They could say he's based on Animated Bulkhead, but I contend still that Legacy Bulkhead has far more in common with the Animated character, and Alchemist has far more in common and would translate well to Prime Bulkhead. I hope it happens, but I guess we'll see.

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I do. I kept him. He's just in two pieces like Bayformers Jazz.  I hated that he had no articulation below the waist, so a Missing Link version of him would be grand.

Okay; if you'd like to restore him, I'll dig in my parts box and get out the spare stuff I have.

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Okay; if you'd like to restore him, I'll dig in my parts box and get out the spare stuff I have.

I appreciate it. My email's in my profile- reach out and we'll discuss compensation. No good deed must go unpunished in kind.

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I appreciate it. My email's in my profile- reach out and we'll discuss compensation. No good deed must go unpunished in kind.

Don't thank me yet: I just searched my parts stash and couldn't find it. I have a few other places to look though, as well as an ebay "buy it now" that I found the other day.

 

[sh9000]

I'd buy a ML Prowl.  But then I'd want Bluestreak and Smokescreen as well.  Since they're releasing Sunstreaker I'd want Sideswipe too.  Ah hell I want all of the Autobot cars released as ML.  And if Grimlock is getting a ML release I also still want an official G1 reissue.

[pengbuzz]

5 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'd buy a ML Prowl.  But then I'd want Bluestreak and Smokescreen as well.  Since they're releasing Sunstreaker I'd want Sideswipe too.  Ah hell I want all of the Autobot cars released as ML.  And if Grimlock is getting a ML release I also still want an official G1 reissue.

Same; it'd be  a no brainer for Bluestreak, Prowl and Smokescreen. Plus, if the can ML Prowl, they can also do the same for Jazz (similar size and transform, though not the same). I also would hoe they;d have a "blue" Bluestreak variant as well.

 

[M'Kyuun]

9 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Don't thank me yet: I just searched my parts stash and couldn't find it. I have a few other places to look though, as well as an ebay "buy it now" that I found the other day.

 

I appreciate it, but don't worry about it. Just checked my stash and all I have left of Prowl is the upper torso. I thought I'd saved the legs, but if I did, they're not with the rest of Prowl in the box where I keep most of my old G1 toys which means I have no idea where they are or if I binned them at some point. The latter is unlikely b/c I rarely throw stuff like that away, but at this point, my interest in replacing or restoring him had all but waned in light of the various modern toys I own. A Missing Link version is the only version of G1 Prowl that really interests me at this point. I certainly appreciate the offer, though. Way too kind.

6 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I'd buy a ML Prowl.  But then I'd want Bluestreak and Smokescreen as well.  Since they're releasing Sunstreaker I'd want Sideswipe too.  Ah hell I want all of the Autobot cars released as ML.  And if Grimlock is getting a ML release I also still want an official G1 reissue.

NGL, I'd be tempted to pick up the other variants of the Fairlady Z bros. I just love that design. That they used it to make three different characters in Transformers in addition to the lovely blue Bluestreak Diaclone just means more of that mold in the collection, generally. ML's kinda expensive, so I think I'd limit myself to Prowl, my favorite deco for that mold.

While I love the Dinobots, I'm not sure if I'd go in on a set of ML versions, as they'd be pricey and between my Fans Toys Dinobots, my Newage Dinobots, and my SS86 Dinobots, I've got really well-done figs across three scales in my collection that already represent a lot of money and space dedicated to those loveable brutes. While ML is obviously a novel approach, and while I'd appreciate having the whole team, at some point I have to hit the brakes. Oh, and I also have the CW Dinos and Takara's MP Grimlock, but I don't consider them to be as polished as the aforementioned figs/teams.

23 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Same; it'd be  a no brainer for Bluestreak, Prowl and Smokescreen. Plus, if the can ML Prowl, they can also do the same for Jazz (similar size and transform, though not the same). I also would hoe they;d have a "blue" Bluestreak variant as well.

 

Yeah, Jazz was somewhat similar but still distinct. I got him as a kid, too, (Christmas surprise) and I still have him. The little clear plastic loop that lets his hood and roof slide broke decades ago, but there's still enough of it intact that it stays on the fig. I'd be a little tempted to get an ML version of him too. Oh Nostalgia, you parter of man and his money!

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, sh9000 said:

And if Grimlock is getting a ML release I also still want an official G1 reissue.

While that'd be nice it's my understanding that the original molds for the Dinobots were either lost or degraded/destroyed.

Then again, I'd heard the same thing about Hound, and Walmart relatively re-released him in the animation accurate colors, and there's supposed to be decent KOs of them out there, so...🤷‍♂️