Official Transformers Super Thread 3

[Doctor Reggae]

The 6" Titaniums are starting to appear, from what I've heard. Might want to check TFW 2005's sightings section of their boards, or go to Seibertron.com and click on their sightings section in the menu bar at the top. Seibertron usually has more information, so I'd recommend them first.

[Hikuro]

Kurisama you're not the only one, I got scuffs, and scratches on Prime's bumper and faceplate and it pisses me off that he turned out so crappy of a paint job compared to Nemesis. My Prowl is almost simpilar, he's got a paint smudge and a few splotches like they hand painted areas of him cause they forgot at the last second.

[eriku]

Picked up the 6" Titanium Prime and Megatron figures tonight. Prime is very cool. He is a little floppy because of all the diecast, but overall his joints are tight enough to hold poses well. The only thing that really bugs me is the hands don't lock into place, so they kind of just slide in and out of the arms freely. He holds together pretty well as a truck (or whatever it is) and the gun slides into a port for storage. I love the design of this Prime.

Megatron is something I would caution anyone on. Unless you really think he looks cool, don't bother. This is hands down the most frustrating and worthless TF I've ever laid hands on. For starters, just taking him out of the package resulted in a pile of pieces. All four limbs came off. They snap back on, but just barely stay there. Every single joint is so loose it's worthless. But the worst part is the mechanism that folds down and connects to form his crotch. The pegs that hold it together, or that are SUPPOSED to hold it together, are too small and short to be of any use. You can snap it together, but as soon as you pick the thing up they fall apart. I suspected this area might be bad because out of the 5 Megatrons at Target, all of them had this piece separated in the package.

The only upshot on Megs is that he really does look cool in person. I wasn't planning to get him but he was attractive enough on the shelf to make me grab him. The tank holds together well, but it does look a little crap from the side because of an enormous gap between the turret and the rest of the tank.

It's amazing how heavy these things are. Diecast is great and makes for a satisfying heft, but the amount Hasbro used for these is actually excessive, and hurts the playability of the toys. With this much diecast and every single connection spot and joint a tiny, thin piece of plastic, I expect much breakage in this line. Wonderful idea, but very poor execution.

Edited July 28, 2006 by eriku

[Hikuro]

I saw the diecast Megatron at a toysrus few days ago, 14.99 isn't a bad price but I skipped out cause I thought he looked a bit "flat" if that makes sense.

Anyways here's some pictures I took in the last few days.

BW10th AV Megatron

BW10th AV Primal

Optimus Prime/Nemesis in box

Optimus Prime Vehicle Mode

Optimus Prime Robot Mode

Nemesis Robot Mode

Nemesis and Prime Robot mode

Also didn't notice this till recently, if you look at Nemesis Liscenes plate it says California July 2006, a ComicCon exclusive mark.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Hikuro

[Vermillion21]

Cool pics Hikuro - thanks for sharing.

Anyone have Alternators Hound? I've been eyeing him recently as well. I do have the original G1 version of Hound from my childhood. For those of you that own him, is it worth upgrading?

I should note that I have a very, very tight budget for this fall, with all those Macross valkyries coming out soon.

[Metal_Massacre_79]

I like the Alt Hound. Not a bad design, good posability, shoulders are a problem in that they aren't well articulated. Good one to pick up.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I have him. Worth buying. You'll love the hood as it allows you to truly disguise the fact he is a transformer by flipping the symbol over. (ignoring the fact that the autobot symbol also appears on the license plate too )

Edited July 28, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Guppy]

get Hound! Probably my favourite and I have 9. If Mirage comes out as a BT I will have 10! I'm a sucker for diecast..

[Dobber]

Hey guys, I see Alt. Tracks and Alt. Sunstreak alot are they any good? I also can get a Alt. Ravage....he looks like Tracks but is black and has the Cat head and it also comes in a different box than the normal Alt's. Are any of these worth getting?

Chris

[Metal_Massacre_79]

Tracks is another decent one, but a little hard to transform (takes some getting used to). Sunstreaker is basically the same as Sideswipe and Dead End, so if you have one (or both) of those you'll know what to expect. Some have complained that the plastic on Sunstreaker is too transparent and will show the black parts that are under the shell. I don't think it's THAT noticable unless you're looking for it.

EDIT: I took the flame decal that came with Swerve and put it on Tracks. Looks much better on him.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Metal_Massacre_79

[Doctor Reggae]

Tracks' legs can be kind of difficult when transforming, but he and Sunstreaker are excellent buys as Alts.

Still haven't found Alts Prime or Mirage, though...this part of Ohio always seems to lag behind in distribution.

[Ivan]

New picture of Classics Grimlock and Mirage

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104862

[baronv]

Picked up the 6" Titanium Prime and Megatron figures tonight.  Prime is very cool.  He is a little floppy because of all the diecast, but overall his joints are tight enough to hold poses well.  The only thing that really bugs me is the hands don't lock into place, so they kind of just slide in and out of the arms freely.  He holds together pretty well as a truck (or whatever it is) and the gun slides into a port for storage.  I love the design of this Prime.

Megatron is something I would caution anyone on.  Unless you really think he looks cool, don't bother.  This is hands down the most frustrating and worthless TF I've ever laid hands on.  For starters, just taking him out of the package resulted in a pile of pieces.  All four limbs came off.  They snap back on, but just barely stay there.  Every single joint is so loose it's worthless.  But the worst part is the mechanism that folds down and connects to form his crotch.  The pegs that hold it together, or that are SUPPOSED to hold it together, are too small and short to be of any use.  You can snap it together, but as soon as you pick the thing up they fall apart.  I suspected this area might be bad because out of the 5 Megatrons at Target, all of them had this piece separated in the package.

The only upshot on Megs is that he really does look cool in person.  I wasn't planning to get him but he was attractive enough on the shelf to make me grab him.  The tank holds together well, but it does look a little crap from the side because of an enormous gap between the turret and the rest of the tank. 

It's amazing how heavy these things are.  Diecast is great and makes for a satisfying heft, but the amount Hasbro used for these is actually excessive, and hurts the playability of the toys.  With this much diecast and every single connection spot and joint a tiny, thin piece of plastic, I expect much breakage in this line. Wonderful idea, but very poor execution.

420211[/snapback]

Hey eriku, what store did you see the 6" OP & Megs at?

[eriku]

Hey eriku, what store did you see the 6" OP & Megs at?

420428[/snapback]

Target. They're hitting in good numbers at Targets in Minnesota right now, I've seen them at a few already. People in this state are also finding them at Toys R. Us, although I think they are $19.99 there as opposed to $14.99 at Target.

[Limbo]

OH NOOOOOOO Grimlock's head splits to make the robot's foot... WTF?!?!?

New picture of Classics Grimlock and Mirage

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104862

420399[/snapback]

Edited July 28, 2006 by Limbo

[GobotFool]

OH NOOOOOOO Grimlock's head splits to make the robot's foot... WTF?!?!?

New picture of Classics Grimlock and Mirage

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104862

420399[/snapback]

420470[/snapback]

wouldn't have been my choice either, i think they did it to give him a more articulated tail.

[BoBe-Patt]

OH NOOOOOOO Grimlock's head splits to make the robot's foot... WTF?!?!?

New picture of Classics Grimlock and Mirage

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104862

420399[/snapback]

420470[/snapback]

wouldn't have been my choice either, i think they did it to give him a more articulated tail.

420471[/snapback]

weakness!!! This is one grimlock I probably won't buy or I'll just leave it in dino mode.

[David Hingtgen]

Early releases (boxed) of Tracks have a much more glossy, metallic finish than the newer plastic bubble ones. Worth finding (and paying for) the boxed version IMHO.

[Fit For Natalie]

Back in 2003, Aaron Archer admitted that Neo Unicron had more detail than Armada Unicron, but when on to state the floppy, unstable problems the design had, as well as it being very expensive to produce (despite it being around the size of RID Super Mode Prime).

I think Primus has surpassed Neo Unicron in detail now, partly due to Hasbro's input - Takara's initial design was more of a plain sphere with guns. Hasbro requested the addition of random cities, as well as recognisable locations from the Dreamwave and Iacon as seen in the DK Tranformers Ultimate Guide book.

Don Figueroa (who seems to be designing alot of TFs these days) seemed to base Grimlock's beast mode on the Zoids Genosaurer and Beserk Fuhrer. Very similar armoured tyrannosaurus modes with the head and segmented tail.

Edited July 29, 2006 by Fit For Natalie

[Vermillion21]

Thanks for the comments on Alternators Hound folks - appreciate it.

Been looking around, man it is one pricey figure!!!

[Guppy]

re hound again: when I was in China I saw bootlegs of some of the Alternators. Hound was one of em. I had a close look and the quality was pretty good for a boot. Just in case you see one on ebay for cheap (although promoting pirated products is bad form! )

[kensei]

What's wrong with that Grimlock? Seems fine from a distance.

[David Hingtgen]

Whoa, Grimlock's tail is so copied from the Genosaurer it's not even funny. (I really hate it when I see clearly recognizable elements from other mecha in my TF's---it's bad enough that so many are so Gundam-esque in the comics now, but some are flat out Heavy Arms Kai---there's a difference between homage/inspiration, and line-by-line copying of design features).

Being "Zoid-esque" could be very good. (Zoids rock, and are not traditional mecha) But to have the back half IDENTICAL to a SPECIFIC Zoid? Bad.

[Kin]

anyone notice the screw shining trough the canopy of m-03? Terrible..

[eriku]

anyone notice the screw shining trough the canopy of m-03? Terrible..

420706[/snapback]

Just think of it as the "pilot".

[Fit For Natalie]

Whoa, Grimlock's tail is so copied from the Genosaurer it's not even funny.  (I really hate it when I see clearly recognizable elements from other mecha in my TF's---it's bad enough that so many are so Gundam-esque in the comics now, but some are flat out Heavy Arms Kai---there's a difference between homage/inspiration, and line-by-line copying of design features).

Being "Zoid-esque" could be very good. (Zoids rock, and are not traditional mecha)  But to have the back half IDENTICAL to a SPECIFIC Zoid?  Bad.

420689[/snapback]

I don't think its such a bad thing, especially considering Hasbro has worked on Zoids before (engineering wise) and TakaraTomy owns both Zoids and part of Transformers. Besides, its not indentical.

Hell, Don made the Cybertronian Lio Convoy a heavily reworked Liger Zero.

anyone notice the screw shining trough the canopy of m-03? Terrible..

420706[/snapback]

Better to have a visible screw that helps durability than to have an exacting collector replica that doesn't pretend to be a toy that breaks as soon as you look at it in a funny way. Given their pedigree, I tend to trust Takara's engineering decisions even if I question their creative decisions.

From what can tell, even when Takara designs TFs for their own market, they design them with US toy laws in mind (hence long firing missiles and pop-off parts/difficult to break parts). And that's a GOOD thing if you're the sort of person who actually plays with his action figures

Edited July 29, 2006 by Fit For Natalie

[areaseven]

For those who plan to pick up Tracks, I recommend ordering the Corvette Z06 Commemorative Edition decal sheet from Revell. The Le Mans stripes really make the car mode stand out.

(If you really want to make it true to the Commemorative Edition, paint the seats black and use a dark metallic blue spray paint for the body.)

[David Hingtgen]

LOL--I totally forgot about the Takara/Tomy merger when I wrote that. I guess it's ok now to copy each other. Can't wait for Deathsaurer Prime...

[ComicKaze]

Now whenever Grimlock says "Grimlock kick butt!" He'll actually be "kissing ass"

[Doctor Reggae]

New test shots of MP Starscream at the following link...mostly just garishly painted shots of his vehiclee mode, but I figured it'd be interesting to post anyway.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=105137

[GobotFool]

New test shots of MP Starscream at the following link...mostly just garishly painted shots of his vehiclee mode, but I figured it'd be interesting to post anyway.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=105137

420802[/snapback]

Wow, he hasn't been released yet and he's already been bootlegged. J/K

[Dobber]

Well, I got my first Alt. today! I was able to find a Mirage at my Walmart! This thing is Frakking sweet!!!!They also had a Prime but I didn't get it due to money and the bad reviews you guys gave him. Now I really want more it's like Crack!!!!!

Is Savage any good? Black Corvette looks like a Tracks Repaint but it comes in the older box instead of the plastic one.

Chris

[Abnolds]

I also bought Mirage and lemme just say this is easily the best alternator yet. If you can get him do it.

[Fit For Natalie]

New test shots of MP Starscream at the following link...mostly just garishly painted shots of his vehiclee mode, but I figured it'd be interesting to post anyway.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=105137

420802[/snapback]

Takara are still using the factories Hasbro leased for Transformers production - that's probably why their Primus release has a Cyber Key instead of a un-numbered Force Chip, and why a Takara-exclusive GF Soundblaster popped up with Hasbro security/theft deterent paint on its face and canopy. This all makes sense, as Hasbro's own Primus and Soundwave were in production at the time, lessening costs for Takara (they wouldn't need to set up a new production line).

It also makes sense for Takara to continue using Hasbro's factories for toys like Kiss Convoy and MP Starscream - if they are producing so few TFs (with an uncertain future for the line), they don't have to lease factories to produce these new toys, saving them alot of money.

So that's probably why Starscream here has Hasbro security paint.

[Fit For Natalie]

Well, I got my first Alt. today! I was able to find a Mirage at my Walmart! This thing is Frakking sweet!!!!They also had a Prime but I didn't get it due to money and the bad reviews you guys gave him. Now I really want more it's like Crack!!!!!

Is Savage any good? Black Corvette looks like a Tracks Repaint but it comes in the older box instead of the plastic one.

Chris

420809[/snapback]

Randy Savage makes a poor Transformer. Instead of fighting other Transformers, he keeps wanting to tell you about Slim Jims and picking fights with Hulk Hogan over Miss Elizabeth.

OOOHHHH YEEEAAAHH.