VFTF1 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I can understand why you guys don't like some of these toys, if there were movie toys only aimed at us, then yes I would expect more, these are not aimed at the same guys who only collect MP Transformers or Binaltechs. U.S. Retailers loved the movie line, have faith in realistic vehicle based Transformers again(just not as complicated as Alternators), and the line has done exceptionally well for Hasbro. As a business, it should come to no surprise that they will be focusing a huge effort on the Movie line and their audience which they will cater too, the majority being kids. Maybe we will get MP movie figures. I'd love to see that happen. Haskara can do it. Whether they will or not remains to be seen. You and your reasonable well written arguments! Takes all the fun out of whining On a serious note - I guess I am whining. I LOVE the Animated line - the engineering is great and the designs are so FUN and artistic and abstract and at the same time pretty perfect - not even homages - spirits of the G1 line... really good stuff. Henkei is nice too. My beef with the movie line was that something was missing. I'll probably get the new ROTF movie line anyways... oh - speaking of which... Where's Blackout? He was the best of the Decepticons - he must come back Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UN_MARINE Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 this new line of movie toys just goes to show why i don't like the movie designs. granted, the 2nd attempts at the Prime & Pacifierface & Silverswipe are pretty respectable, even impressive. but look at all the other toys that come with the package. most of them are terribly designed & engineered. back then, i thought the animated line had that title. but after the animated line developed, i'm gonna say it's far superior. the movie designs, however "interesting" are just giving a good toy company an excuse to shell out badly designed & engineered toys. take the jetfire for example, i believe i've seen better China-made transforming robots. hell, it even gives 'em an excuse to repackage some of those Chinese transforming robots & pass them out under the brand name. they could have done a whole lot better. i suppose that's what the movie franchise has to say for itself. meh. too bad they decided to drop the ball like Bandai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Yeah - I also like animated better. But maybe this is because in the end, it's kind of hard to love Transformers as "real robots" - they just lose a lot of their unique character. It's amazing how - looking back - the endearing thing about them was the extent to which they were anthropomorphic, and simple - boxy even. I just have trouble finding any of these characters (except Prime) endearing. Also - about the voyager Bumblebee with Sam: you just know that if Takara-Tomy were handling it, we would get a cute Mikhela PVC Well.. I dunno - I don't like 'em. I'll stick to Animated. Still gotta get myself a Wreck Gar and Swindle. Also - will definitely stick to Encore reissues Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Valkyrie Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Really not worth it, they should have given Jetfire a better alt-mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fit For Natalie Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) the movie designs, however "interesting" are just giving a good toy company an excuse to shell out badly designed & engineered toys. take the jetfire for example, i believe i've seen better China-made transforming robots. hell, it even gives 'em an excuse to repackage some of those Chinese transforming robots & pass them out under the brand name Yeah, let's go rag on the $3 (or whatever it costs in the US) Legends class Jetfire toy. A toy made out of very limited parts at the lowest price point for Transformers that kids could conceivably buy with their pocket money would have some difficulty in capturing the complexity of a Movie design (whatever it may be), would it not? Edited January 25, 2009 by Fit For Natalie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Also - about the voyager Bumblebee with Sam: you just know that if Takara-Tomy were handling it, we would get a cute Mikhela PVC .........TakaraTomy engineered it......like they have with every Transformers toy for the past few years..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensei Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 What, so they break? No, but so that they don't have missing or two left parts, and dodgy paintjobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermillion21 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Finally found TF Universe Legends Bumblebee, Brawn, & Beachcomber today ... nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeszekely Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Finally found TF Universe Legends Bumblebee, Brawn, & Beachcomber today ... nice. You don't mind me asking where, do you? The only store in my area that seems to carry Legends is Toys R Us, and they haven't had more than Universe Animated Starscream since well before Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermillion21 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Found the Legends class figures at Wal-Mart. The only other place I've seen them at is TRU. I don't think Target carries them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I've seen legends at my Target, several waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikaru VF-1S Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 For those that are fans of FANSPROJECT'S City Commander set. They have release some teaser shots of TF Classics Hotrod turning into Rodimus Prime. So I cant wait to see it.... As the City Commander look very good. FANSPROJECT.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promethuem5 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Guess I'll end up needing a Classics Hot Rod... fricken sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fit For Natalie Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Finally found TF Universe Legends Bumblebee, Brawn, & Beachcomber today ... nice. Check your local Meijer for the latest and most likely final wave of Universe Legends - Cosmos, Warpath, Rodimus and Wheelie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeszekely Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Check your local Meijer for the latest and most likely final wave of Universe Legends - Cosmos, Warpath, Rodimus and Wheelie. We don't have those here. And neither my local Target nor my local Wal-Mart bothers with Legends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Grabbed a Universe Cyclonus today. ... Am I the only person incredibly disappointed... because the first step in the instructions is to fold up the nosecone and reveal the head? It's probably due to watching way too much Voltron, but it just seems wrong for the head to not be at the end of the transformation. And WTF? He only has a gun hole in his right hand. That's just strange any way you slice it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protostar8 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Grabbed a Universe Cyclonus today. ... Am I the only person incredibly disappointed... because the first step in the instructions is to fold up the nosecone and reveal the head? It's probably due to watching way too much Voltron, but it just seems wrong for the head to not be at the end of the transformation. And WTF? He only has a gun hole in his right hand. That's just strange any way you slice it. Actually, I wasn't disappointed at all. I thought his engineering was incredible. He looks great in both modes (though the one hand only gun hole is weird). I usually TF his head area towards the end though b/c I like it better that way. Everyone see the "images" of the new "Fans Project" stuff? The Rodimus Prime upgrade for Classics Hot Rod looks to have potential even though the picture is basically a watercolor painting that got rained on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fit For Natalie Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 New pics of Bumblebee with Sam http://www.the-arker.com/bbs2/dispbbs.asp?...ar=1&page=1 Newer pics of Starscream's box http://www.the-arker.com/bbs2/dispbbs.asp?...=330&page=1 Grabbed a Universe Cyclonus today. ... Am I the only person incredibly disappointed... because the first step in the instructions is to fold up the nosecone and reveal the head? It's probably due to watching way too much Voltron, but it just seems wrong for the head to not be at the end of the transformation. And WTF? He only has a gun hole in his right hand. That's just strange any way you slice it. Try hooking Nightstick to Cyclonus' either of his wrists when his fist is folded into his arm. It's an undocumented feature Hasbro did in references to the Japanese Headmasters series, though Cyclonus was never a Targetmaster in that show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 So - question here: Which Transformers do you think were based off of/resemble earlier Super Robots from Japan? I don't know the precise time-line for when Diaclone came out, but off the top of my head - here are some resemblences: Optimus Prime ------- Getter 1 Cyclonus -------------- Black Ox Any others? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promethuem5 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Honestly, past Prime's initially being made up of the three entities (Prime, Roller, and Trailer), which died quickly as an idea in the TF setting, I don't see much direct influence from specific SR designs... what's leading you to the Cyclonus BO bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 what's leading you to the Cyclonus BO bit? Looking at pictures of SOC Black Ox (from the two pack with Tetsujin 28) - it seesm to me that Black Ox looks just like Cyclonus; except that he's just colored black. The head is the same, and the general body build is almost identical. As for Prime - it's mainly the chest with the truck windows - Getter 1 also had "truck windows" - although...he was never a truck Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letigre Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 The Getter relation I can see..the Black Ox..not so much. Call me crazy, but I see a lot of EVA in TFA Blurr- he is one of my favorite figures right now. Spindly transformers are to die for, atleast after the blocky stuff we got as kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promethuem5 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Looking at pictures of SOC Black Ox (from the two pack with Tetsujin 28) - it seesm to me that Black Ox looks just like Cyclonus; except that he's just colored black. The head is the same, and the general body build is almost identical. Cyclonus= jet transformer with blocky build and rabbit ears... Black Ox = Marshmallow super-robot w/ rabbit/cat ears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha OTS Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 New movie Starscream, eh? Hrmm. Much better F-22 mode. Something doesn't look right about the bot mode. He looks even more like a kite than the previous mold. Ironhide doesn't look changed enough to warrant replacing my Premium. I picked up classics Ironhide and Hound. I found an Ironhide that didn't have a bunch of paint defects, only to get him home, transform him, and find that they mispainted blue on his helmet. Grrr. Managed to scrape that off. The blue-face is a little offputting. I finally went ahead and repainted it gray. There's a single screw holding the two halves of the head together, and the face is easy to paint once you remove that half of the head. I'm beginning to think that rumor that Hasbro was going to correct the face color was just that. The base red really should have been darker on this figure. He's a nice figure, but he just doesn't have the elegance of transformation that the other classics have. Hound is a really nice figure, but I'm really annoyed that the shoulder cannon does not clip to the shoulder at all. At least it can be held like a handheld weapon, but on the back is where I wanted it. Ravage is just fantastic. Yeah, he doesn't have much useful articulation, but it's just so cool that they've taken a G1 sized cassette and managed to give it true bulk and width in bot mode. I saw Smokescreen on the pegs. I'm kind of hesitating on him. I'm trying to stick to the characters I like, and Smokescreen wasn't as memorable as Prowl and Bluestreak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Cyclonus= jet transformer with blocky build and rabbit ears... Black Ox = Marshmallow super-robot w/ rabbit/cat ears? Hm. I think part of the problem might be that for me "Cyclonus" - like the majority of other TFs - are what the Marvel UK comics showed him to look like/be. As much as I am a fan of the cartoon, I envision the TFs as they were in the comics - Cyclonus wasn't blocky in the comics - he looked very marshmallowy I saw Smokescreen on the pegs. I'm kind of hesitating on him. I'm trying to stick to the characters I like, and Smokescreen wasn't as memorable as Prowl and Bluestreak. Poor Smokescreen. He is - given his bio - a far more interesting character than Prowl and Bluestreak, but he never seemed to have gotten his come-uppance. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promethuem5 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Hm. I think part of the problem might be that for me "Cyclonus" - like the majority of other TFs - are what the Marvel UK comics showed him to look like/be. As much as I am a fan of the cartoon, I envision the TFs as they were in the comics - Cyclonus wasn't blocky in the comics - he looked very marshmallowy Fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Any others? I see more similiarities between the first waves of Classics figures, like Jetfire, and the Brave series of robots that Takara engineered. I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up much, but he, and especially his repaint, Treadbolt, are dead on homages to some Brave gestalt members. I found Universe Dinobot today, surprisingly. His knee articulation is killed by the transformation. You can barely bend his knees to a 45 degree angle, becaus the calf blocks it. You can unhinge the piece to retain articulation, however this does not look as good, as the legs in robot mode will now look very thin and the overall look will be unbalanced. Articulation everywhere else is good. The Henkei's definitely got the better paint job. I hate how the sword sculpt was compromised to turn it into a missle and to fit it into a launcher. The hilt is too high up. Had it been lower it would have looked far better, right now it looks like a child's nerf sword. I have to picture it not being there for it to look good, otherwise it is disappointing. The tail missle launcher looks okay as a missle launcher, if I remember correctly, didn't Dinobot use his tail with the halves split open as a machine gun in the show? This one has barrels sculpted in. In that respect, with the sword missle in, it looks like a gunsword, though a bit overkill due to the long tail halves. Cheetor and Dinobot manage to not outright outdo their vintage counterparts, which is disappointing considering those were made 10+ years ago. Dinobot has better stability but leg articulation is far inferior to the original. The sword on the original is far superior, no matter how it is held. The old one didn't need a missle launcher, and niether did the new one. Cheetor could have turned out far better without the gimmick, I'm not even sure why it was implemented. Wow the eyes change color. Big deal. I do like the shuriken gimmick, and the beast mode, but even the beast mode looks weird once you get to the rear legs and waist section. Realistic? That part sure isn't. Proportions in robot mode suffer, bad, with the arms. The first one has superior proportions. Some of you may say he is far too thick, therefore inaccurate to the show. I don't care. I prefer the looks of the original figure. You can skip Cheetor, he isn't horrible but he is not the huge improvement we would expect from a new version. Not the worst figure I have ever bought by far, but definitely not one I would recommend to everyone. Chances are, if you have the original, you might not need this one. Now Dinobot, the stability is better in robot mode, unlike the original, the shoulder hinges will not move everytime I move the arms. The raptor mode is better, however it's weird to see chest claws, when he already has the claws on his dino arms. What the hell? It is weird. I LOVE how the lower legs form, HATE how they kill knee articulation. When I say KILL, I mean there is effectively not much knee articulation with those parts in place. It is a HUGE disappointment for me, I'm not a guy that wants overdone articulation everywhere but I'm a guy that hates it when articulation is hindered. Proper updates? These characters deserve better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha OTS Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 There's been pics of the Heinkei Dinobot? Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Sorry to butt in prior to getting an answer to the Henkei Dinobot question - but I need to come clean with something that's been bothering me for 25 years now, but I always felt that it would make me look stupid to ask...er...so now...at nearly 30...I don't feel...stupid asking it ... ahem - namely: Why doesn't Cyclonus have anything to do with cyclones? Or hurricanes? Or cyclon guns - or was it cyclops - and like...cy means one? but then "clonus" as in "clone" means two? Like Unicron made two of him? What gives with that name? I noticed that the movie characters all have really childish names if you think about it. RC (Race Car). Kup (PicKup truck), Hotrod (a hotrod is a race car like ..er...like Hotrod). Ultra Magnus got the only decent name, but really the just wanted an analogy to "Optimus Prime." Springer - I think they "gave" him his springing ability in the tech-spec after giving him that name. The alternative was to call him? What? Helicar? Anyways - yeah - why Cyclonus? Scourge I can sort of understand - there's lots of sweeps - so their like a "scourge of locusts" - only they're not, because ...they're hunters? I'm confused. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Admiral Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Because the marketing department at Hasbro thought it sounded cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Exactly. Cyclonus sounds cool, and makes you think of wind--thus, a good name for a plane. It's an indirect reference. Tracks---tire tracks=car. Sideswipe---not a car from Road Warriors, but references the right things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hm. I guess. But for the longest time, "Cyclonus" made me think of Motormaster- because Motormaster had a cyclone rifle, and in fact all of the stunticons had Psi based weapons, which I thought was so cool. Cyclonus on the other hand had nothing to do with wind or psi based weapons - yet he got that name. No wonder Daniel called him "Cyclownus" once... Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeszekely Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Lucky me! After complaining that my local Wal-Mart doesn't carry Legends, they started carrying Legends! I think they're a tad expensive there ($4.87), but that's less than I'd pay at the Hasbro Toy Shop after they tack on shipping. I snagged Brawn and Beachcomber. Still no Inferno, though. Bummer. Him, plus Ratchet, Hot Shot, Wheelie, Cosmos, and Warpath would pretty much complete this round of Universe figures for me. The Decepticons are starting to get sorely outnumbered, though. I added Blackarachnia to my Classics Decepticons, since I'm packing my Animated figures away (I quit collecting Animated). Ironically, I'm passing on Universe Cheetor and Dinobot, but I'm thinking about buying Animated Waspinator for my Classics Decepticons. Animated Swindle is tempting too, but I can't reconcile the Animated-style head with the more traditional looks of the other Classics/Universe characters. I'm probably going to get Overkill, Dragstrip, and Megatron from the Hasbro Toy Shop. Gotta fill out the Decepticon ranks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 ahem - namely: Why doesn't Cyclonus have anything to do with cyclones? Or hurricanes? Or cyclon guns - or was it cyclops - and like...cy means one? but then "clonus" as in "clone" means two? Like Unicron made two of him? What gives with that name? As stated, because it sounds cool. See also: Starscream, Omega Supreme, Shockwave, Fortress Maximus, Optimus Prime, Megat-oh, you get the picture. I noticed that the movie characters all have really childish names if you think about it. RC (Race Car). Kup (PicKup truck), Hotrod (a hotrod is a race car like ..er...like Hotrod). I hadn't thought about it, but... it's not unique to the movie. Thrust, Skywarp, Soundwave, Blaster, Rumble, Mixmaster, Ratchet, Sixshot, Astrotra-oh, you get the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I always thought Arcee was more like "R/C----radio control". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts