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Transformers Super Thread 8


azrael

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I really wish they made Lugnut in scale (or atleast leader class)

Off off topic somewhat. I recently took out some old transmetal figures from storage and found their chrome's cracking and some joints disintergrating.. i.e. transmetal rattraps "wheels" most of the chrome is discolored and cracked... Transmetal Megatron (T-rex) same, plus joints where there are metal pins started to crumble? WTHoozie?

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Sounds wierd. Don't have any of the TMs, but I never really had any TFs crumble or break over time. I had a reissue Grapple's arm snap on me - and he was like a month out of the box - but that's an anamoly- like one out of a million...

Pete

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The irony with Animated is that so many people saw the initial designs and threw up a little, and now they don't want it to go away. I'm in that camp. I'll be the first to admit I had no idea how Animated could have any redeeming qualities, but now that I've seen the first two seasons I'd be very happy to see it stick around for a few more years. Even though season 3 is about to start, it still feels like they're at the tip of the iceberg and that there are so many more stories to tell and such a big world to explore. If it doesn't get an extension as a new series and it all goes in the toilet for some kind of Bayformer cartoon I will be one royally sad panda.

Edited by eriku
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The irony with Animated is that so many people saw the initial designs and threw up a little, and now they don't want it to go away. I'm in that camp. I'll be the first to admit I had no idea how Animated could have any redeeming qualities, but now that I've seen the first two seasons I'd be very happy to see it stick around for a few more years. Even though season 3 is about to start, it still feels like they're at the tip of the iceberg and that there are so many more stories to tell and such a big world to explore. If it doesn't get an extension as a new series and it all goes in the toilet for some kind of Bayformer cartoon I will be one royally sad panda.

Yeah.

On the other hand, unless I'm mistaken, I recall that when people saw the designs for Energon they were like "ooohhh homages! coool!"

Just goes to show how much a cartoon can do to imprint a design as bad or good.

Pete

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Went out today to pick up a new cell phone. Wasn't planning on hitting any other stores, but I figured, why not, I'm driving right past Toys R' Us. That had the wave 3 Universe Legends, so I picked up Cosmos, Warpath, and Wheelie. No sign of Voyager Inferno... I ultimately even swung by Wal-Mart, and no dice there, either.

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Hope that doesn't apply to Henkei...although in the final analysis I guess decomposing chrome on weapons is better than decomposing chrome on figures :)

To focus a bit more on Transmetals for a moment...

What was the deal with those? I remember when they came out - I was a bit dissapointed, honestly, to loose the realistic animal modes - equally as dissapointed as when the cartoon and comics started to introduce lines where the majority of vehicles were "futuristic." I don't mind a few such vehicles (Kup, Hotrod and Blurr - Springer...fine)... but entire lines... bleh. It's just not interesting for me to have Transformers which can't conceal themselves (because if you're a mechanical beast or a cybertronian airplane then - well - you've not really disguised yourself, have you?)...

Anyways - despite my misgivings, transmetals were somewhat cool. I liked Primal's flying skate board, and Megatron's VTOL was a nice touch. They were generally well produced and somewhat interesting...

What did everyone else think of Transmetals?

In any event - they don't seem to be major collectibles these days. I know they aren't on my "priority" list. Not as much as vanilla beasts as well as BW II and Neo (also mainly vanilla beasts).

Pete

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Transmetals were supposed to be "inside-out". Though actually, more like swapped. Look at them----robotic/cyber beast modes---very sleek and smooth. Organic robot modes---full of hair, scales, and muscles. Best examples are probably Primal and Cheetor.

Transmetal 2--I'm not sure if there really was a theme, it blurred the lines----each mode was partly cyber and partly organic.

Overall, both TM lines were very good IMHO, and the best of the BW. (the only good Fuzor was Silverbolt, he rocked). Mutants are all fugly and stupid except for Poison Bite, who rocks. Most "normal" BW toys sucked, excluding the combiners, Megatron, and Inferno.

It helped that TM1 Megs and Primal were both very well done-----good toys of the 2 main characters is always a bonus to a line---TM1 Megs is what got me into BW. (he seemed so much like Grimlock--even the packaging made me think G1)

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The Transmetals I have, have stood the test of time really well. I don't really see much wear on them at all. I was young enough when BW came out to actually play with the toys fairly regularly and they've held up well (though I didn't beat my toys up or anything). My Optimal Optimus, TM1 Cheetor, Rattrap, TM2 Dinobot...you get the idea all are pretty nice still. The only thing they really suffer from is floppy joints (especially Dinobot). But that isn't uncommon if the standard ball joint we've had on TFs for years.

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(the only good Fuzor was Silverbolt, he rocked)

I thought Quickstrike and especially Sky Shadow were really great. Skyshadow in Takara BW Neo colors as Drancon the Minion of Unicron looked even better.

I wonder what gives you such low esteem for "normal" beast wars? Or maybe it was the very first wave that ended up containing most of the show characters? I'll grant that compared to what came later, the first BW toys were very very "bad." No poseability on the animal modes and lots of undercarriage and compromises made - but already by the second wave - guys like B'Boom for instance were - IMO - great. In fact, the BW II line (wave 2 in the USA) was full of good moulds I think.

The inverting of mech/organic on the Transmetals was always a bit wierd IMO. They basically were no longer robots...although they were...although they weren't... it was just wierd :) But then again, as Rattrap once said "Man, I'm tellin' ya - the things comin' out'a those pods get wierder and wierder..." :)

In retrospect, a really good show and a fantastic toy line.

What about Transmetal Depthcharge and Rampage? I really loved the fact that Rampage had a great tank mode (unlike most of the others whose "vehicle" mode was...not ....really there)... but Rampage's tank mode looked awesome and the toy actually had real wrap-around treads which - judged in retrospect on the basis of lots of Hasbro's current lame offerings is a HUGE plus.

I guess I just am really sad that Hasbro has dropped the ball so low. When I think about the advances they once made year-by year - seriously: I was awe struck. Each year they would serve up some new great innovation.

The only thing that has struck my fancy now has been Animated, but even then, when compared with Beast Wars - it actually doesn't compare, because Animated is..well...Animated. It's an abstraction of a robot and an abstraction of a vehicle. A nice one; a good artistic statement/interpretation of vechiles and G1 incarnations - sure - but the fascination isn't really there because the designers don't really have this challenge before them of taking something real and making it convert to a robot and back again...

Just some of the magic is missing.

Pete

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I'm really enjoying Universe Ironhide now since making a couple simple acrylic paint touch-ups. There's two things that bugged me most, the face and the arm screws. The default blue face is not awful, and being that the head is tilted down anyway fortunately seems to diminish its effect. Plus I'm taking it that the rumor that later runs of Universe Ironhide would have a silver face have proven untrue, so its not like you have an option to avoid it anyway.

The arm screws are much harder to ignore. I just can't stand it when the screws are that blatantly obvious. I can't think of any other transformer I've owned where they were so prominent. <looking at my shelf> Wait, I was wrong, G1 Pretender Starscream is pretty bad too, but he at least has some more color to break it up so the screws weren't so distracting, plus he's a G1 figure, and not a very good one so there's other things to focus on him before even considering the visible screws.

After applying gray to the face and black to just the face of the upper and mid arms, the figure's much closer to what I wanted. I think I prefer this over the Henkei. It's amazing what a tiny bit of paint can do for some figures. G1 Ironhide is definitely in the mold. It's a shame the default Universe paint scheme doesn't bring it out as much as the Henkei or a couple simple paint apps like this one has does. The default is just too much of an amorphorous blob of red, and I think the visible screws have an added effect of making the red brighter too.

CIMG1832.jpg

I really like the proportions, but he still seems kind of short when standing next to the other classics though. Since becoming familiar with his transformation, I kind of like it. There is a little bit of a learning curve to get through so each step doesn't interfere with another. I'm still a little dissappointed with the end product, particularly because of the jigsawed side panels, but getting to alt mode is at least interesting.

I like it.

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I'm jealous... still haven't found IH even tho he was one that I was totally stoked for! Your detail work really makes him pop too.

Thanks! The detail is really simple and doesn't interfere with transformation either. Like I said, he was a blob of red before, but now I think I have something a bit more approaching the G1 toon model without having to fork out Henkei bucks.

I actually passed on quite a few IH's on the pegs before settling on this one. I'm a little dissappointed with the paint apps on most of the new classics figures. Sloppy paint apps, missing paint apps, and even gashes in paint apps like the windows on Sideswipe(most of the ones on the pegs had windshield gashes). Even this IH wasn't immune. He had blue spattered on the top of his helmet from where they painted his face. I had to scrape it off.

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How good is Inferno's transformation? (I.E., how many parts to move around?)

Inferno's transformation is quite simple than even the deluxes.

The only thing that might make you look at the manual-sheet is how to hide the front tires.

Other than that, it's standard pull and twists/turn, and just fold some door-flaps to expose the arms.

Oh, and the head is spring-loaded! Just pull back the driver-side emergency-light. B))

I do wish his tires were made of rubber instead of plastic, tho. But that would've most likely jacked the price way up.

Edited by treatment
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Has anyone spotted Classic Legends Cosmos or Wheelie? I got Braun and Beachcomber at Wallyworld which are really good representations of their GeeWun counterparts but I wonder why Comber has a spare tire/M-60 combo?

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Has anyone spotted Classic Legends Cosmos or Wheelie? I got Braun and Beachcomber at Wallyworld which are really good representations of their GeeWun counterparts but I wonder why Comber has a spare tire/M-60 combo?

Yes. Warpath and Rodimus too, but I only bought Warpath. Mentioned it just one page back. Wheelie's okay, but way better than the original. His transformation reminds me of Brawn's a little. Cosmos is the weakest of the three I bought, because his arms are always curved. It's still a pretty good toy for $5. Warpath is the best of the three. His tank mode looks a little weird with the gaps around the treads, but his transformation is pretty involved for a Legends class.

I suppose different people will get different mileage out of characters they had more attachment to than others, but for me, Jazz is the only Legends figure that I still want a Deluxe for. I wouldn't have minded Warpath, I suppose, but for Wheelie, Beachcomber, Brawn, and Cosmos, well, I'm just not into them enough to really have been interested in more than Legends. For that matter, I would have preferred a Powerglide that was more red, and a Legends figure.

My question is, where are all the Decepticons? The Autobots were already outnumbering the Decepticons, and with the added Legends figures, they've really pulled ahead. The Legends class is a good place to add a few simple Decepticons that don't necessarily rate a bigger toy. I'd love a Legends Rumble, Frenzy, Reflector, Bombshell, Shrapnel, Kickback, Runabout, or Runamuck.

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Has anyone spotted Classic Legends Cosmos or Wheelie? I got Braun and Beachcomber at Wallyworld which are really good representations of their GeeWun counterparts but I wonder why Comber has a spare tire/M-60 combo?

I've been actively hunting for them too, but I don't think they've hit widespread release yet.

I would have much preferred a legends scale Powerglide. I don't like that larger figure even in red. The proportions are just weird.

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I'm on the fence about Inferno. Since I only collect Henkei, I'll wait for pics of the Henkei version - but in general he looks a bit TOO boxy/pre-schoolish. The G1 Inferno was actually quite slend with those long legs and the fire engine mode was relatively more interesting too.

Pete

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I've been actively hunting for them too, but I don't think they've hit widespread release yet.

I would have much preferred a legends scale Powerglide. I don't like that larger figure even in red. The proportions are just weird.

A while back there was a Cybertron Legends Fireflight which IMHO passes off for Powerglide.

fireflight_box.jpgfireflight_alt.jpgfireflight_robot.jpg

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Found both TF Animated Waspinator and Samurai Prowl this morning at my local Target and Wal-Mart ... $11.99 each, ouch.

Lucky you...all I can find is an army of Oil Slicks. Okay, they did have two Roadbuster Ultra Magnus figures, but I just don't find the repaint very flattering.

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Lucky you...all I can find is an army of Oil Slicks. Okay, they did have two Roadbuster Ultra Magnus figures, but I just don't find the repaint very flattering.

Yeah, I know I have been lucky finding most of the TFs I've wanted. Although in many cases, I only saw them at retail once and bought it. My local stores seem to be restocking very infrequently. I'd guess it's because of the economy and they don't plan on stocking a lot of toys that may not move.

Still looking for TF Universe legends class: Cosmos, Warpath, HotRod, and Wheelie.

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