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Transformers Super Thread 8


azrael

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He's gonna retail for 15,000 JPY in Japan. That's more than a Yamato Valkyrie. That's more than a Masterpiece Transformer.

That's crazy.

That's Japan. In the US it's $100.
But 18 months? That's a pretty long time and I'm sure Takara will have another MP out by then.
They are waiting for a retailer to bite. If one, be it Target, Walmart, or TRU jumps soon, then we'll get it within that time span, most likely less. The plan is to have it out in stores once a retailer jumps onboard for it.
I'll give them this much: It does look great; it looks much better - but it's STILL NOT SHOW ACCURATE - and I'm not even being picky here. This this is way off. I mean... just compare them side to side. There's a million little differences that add up.
Well for accuracy, then no transforming Transformer from the movie line will ever be show accurate, because ILM themselves have admitted that their CGI models cheat transformation.

Also, comparing a collector's item aimed primarily at adults by Yamato to a TF movie toy meant to endure the handling of children, yet aimed at children primarily isn't a fair comparison at all.

4th Leader-class RotF toy coming Fall of 2010. (I wonder if they mis-spoke and meant Fall 2009). Not Blackout. Wouldn't say if it is Starscream.
Word from China a few weeks back says it's Starscream. Fall of this year sounds more likely. Makes sense for case transitions. Eventually Jetfire and Megatron will ship in the same case, as Megatron is discontinued, it makes sense for Starscream to take his place in the case.
The "Mech Alive" gimmick is much cooler than the Automorph of yesteryear's line, it's subtle and doesn't seem to sacrifice articulation.
I wish automorph was retained alongside mech alive. Mech alive in my opinion, works best on Starscream. On other figures, it doesn't do much. Automorph was one of my favorite gimmicks.
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Classics Jetfire repainted to Roy VF-1S: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-cus...fire-vf-1s.html

I really didn't know if it should get its own thread in the "Macross Customs" forum or what. It's kinda unique---it's the opposite of 99% of other Jetfire etc customs.

(kinda surprised Shin missed this)

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I've got a couple ROTF toys on order from Target since my weekend thus far has been to busy to go scouring the local stores to see if they actually released them.

That's Japan. In the US it's $100.

Damn, what's with the price difference?

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A few Botcon toy news highlights:

4th Leader-class RotF toy coming Fall of 2010. (I wonder if they mis-spoke and meant Fall 2009). Not Blackout. Wouldn't say if it is Starscream.

SS would be cool but no Leader Blackout makes me :(

Edited by Twoducks
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Seconded.

Thirded. (Ransack rocking)

I picked up Ransack yesterday with Prime, preview Bee, and Sideswipe. It's funny that out of the figures I bought, Ransack was the one I eagerly opened first. I love the alt mode, the bot mode, and the transformation which makes sense and which finds a place for most everything to peg which is impressive for a scout class figure. I especially like that there's asymmetric transformation going on in the feet which form the rear stabilizer wings.

I love that the bot mode is skeletal as it makes him look old and outdated. For a biplane alt mode, it fits. What I also like is the engine part on top of the head which makes it look like he's wearing an old mining helmet, which makes him look even older and more outdated. Another neat detail is that the front of the exposed plane engine on his chest is sculpted and painted. Yet another cool feature, in the instructions it shows his "Battle Mode" where you can extend the cape wings like normal wings and raise the propeller on his chest into place. It's more of a flight mode that makes it look like he can really fly! I don't care that he's probably not in the movie. It's a fracking bi-plane! Just like I'd buy the ice cream truck regardless of whether it's in the movie or not. The alt mode is so absurd it's awesomely cool.

Sideswipe is ok. I need to see him in action in the movie because he's still a nobody to me. I found that if you rotate the feet so the heel spurs(which don't do any heel spurring in the normal transformation anyway) are turned around to become the toes the figure is a bit more stable. Like Bonecrusher from the first movie, this is a figure essentially on rollerskates. Transformation was a little tricky, but I was being purposefully careful because I've read that it's easy to scratch his paint. The silver on him is very sharp. The lower torso on mine won't peg securely into the upper torso and comes loose really easy. Unfortunately I've read that this is a common problem. The arm sword gimmick works pretty well though, and stows and deploys. See, he's swiping at you with the side of his car. Get it?

The new head on preview Bee is simply fantastic. He's missing some of the tiny minor paint apps the Premium had, including the yellow "finish" on the car mode parts. The base metallic gray they use here is much better than what the Premium or Screen Battles Bee had. The new cannon hand is better and worse at the same time. It's more proportional to the figure and more resembles what we saw in the movie. However, the projectile is an ugly orange which kiddifies the figure, and when not in place, the cannon has a cross shaped barrel which doesn't look quite right. Still, if you own only one deluxe Bee, the preview one is the one to own despite missing some of the paint apps the Premium had.

I still need to open Optimus, going to do that shortly. I'm also intending on picking up Leader Megatron this week. In person he looks much better than online pics, even with the gimpy arm. He thankfully *looks* like a Megatron this time.

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The chest pieces that make Optimus look so damn cool are also the most infuriating part about transforming him back and forth. I honestly thought I had broken the one side when the bottom part of it dislodged from the chest, turns out, it's supposed to do that. It's such a tight fit though that it really does feel like you're breaking it.

Some people on the allspark have taken exacto knives to the speaker ribs to provide a groove for the chest piece peg to slide into as seen here. I'm probably going to have to do the same.

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Ok, NOW Leader Starscream is confirmed. Yay.

US MP Skywarp pic: http://images46.fotki.com/v1517/filexABP/7...03/DSC_0936.jpg

Black nosecone and silver intakes---if those parts were swappable I'd darn-near buy it just to save some repainting on my MP TC. (those 2 parts are insanely pinned--I've only seen one person that could un-pin MP seeker intakes)

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Really, all I want are people who know planes to report on the accuracy/alt-modes of the various new things shown but not photographed---cone-head VTOL Dirge, someone I forget (another VTOL?), and Leader Starscream. It took a while for Classics Octane to be positively identified--half the reports said "bomber jet". (didn't help that they showed an A400M in the presentation)

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Very nice! So it'll be out in Nov...according to the ticket. Will this be another hard/impossible to find exclusive or will there be a wider release?

Also, what are the odds we will get a decent F-22 SS? The Raptor could easily be made to transform into SS with minamal kibble. Hopelfully the effort will be put into it and we won't get another "Robot parts hanging off of an airplane transformer that pretty much all plane Transformers are.

Chris

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All depends on if they really listened to people about the SS kibble issues, or if they go the "bigger means more gimmicks" route like they did with $70 BB, and actually gets LESS accurate to accomodate many more gimmicks.

With how gimmicky and kibble-fied Leader Jetfire is, I'd hope their kibble-gimmick hunger is satiated, and they give us ONE good "jet mode accuracy over all other considerations" mass-released big jet toy this decade.

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Very nice! So it'll be out in Nov...according to the ticket. Will this be another hard/impossible to find exclusive or will there be a wider release?

Skywarp? It's a Walmart exclusive. From what I remember Starscream was also a Walmart exclusive and really difficult to find in some areas. It had an Asia release too by Takara - don't know about this time tho.

Starscream would have been alot more populat than Skywarp tho.

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Really, all I want are people who know planes to report on the accuracy/alt-modes of the various new things shown but not photographed---cone-head VTOL Dirge, someone I forget (another VTOL?), and Leader Starscream. It took a while for Classics Octane to be positively identified--half the reports said "bomber jet". (didn't help that they showed an A400M in the presentation)

I unfortunately am not present at Botcon, but here is what Sol Fury from TFW2005 reported:

11:54 [Comment From toxicon]

Might be late, but what do you mean by hidden missiles on Leader Starscream?

11:55 His arms open up with missile launchers inside of them

11:55 [Comment From Autobot]

How sleek is Starscream's alt mode?

11:56 Very sleek, the design looks very accurate. Probably going to be the definitive version of the character

Since it IS a mainline transformer, I wouldn't expect it to be as realistic as the Masterpiece/Alternator/Binaltech releases, but a significant step above the current voyager Starscream from ROTF(which in itself is a huge step above the TF1 version).

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That actually sounds less hopeful than before. I figured "hidden missile launchers" meant accurate to an F-22's AMRAAM or Sidewinder bays. If they're inside the arm, that means really friggin huge arms, like the 07 movie figure----which probably means they're hanging under the wings or something...

Working missile launchers are the WORST possible gimmick for a transforming plane--they are the largest gimmick. (yes, I realize the irony that planes are among the few real-world things that DO have missile launchers---unlike say semi trucks and sports cars)

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If Yamato were to sell such an intricate transformable figure, it would look exactly like the CGI model in your post, rather than looking like a sleeker version of the original toy that looked nothing like the CGI model.

I'll give them this much: It does look great; it looks much better - but it's STILL NOT SHOW ACCURATE - and I'm not even being picky here. This this is way off. I mean... just compare them side to side. There's a million little differences that add up.

Takara-Tomy will hopefully one day (before I die) make a Masterpiece Movie Prime.

Meanwhile - at 44 dollars this will do.

by the way...44 dollars?

BBTS has it for 54 dollars.

Am I to understand that Walmart or whatever has it for ten bucks less? Just curious - not that I'm buying from either of them...

Pete

I got mine for $39 shipped from TRU online.. I had a TRU Rewards online coupon!!

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That actually sounds less hopeful than before. I figured "hidden missile launchers" meant accurate to an F-22's AMRAAM or Sidewinder bays. If they're inside the arm, that means really friggin huge arms, like the 07 movie figure----which probably means they're hanging under the wings or something...
They might be smaller than we think. According to one of the movie guide books, the missles on his arms aren't AMRAAMs or Sidewinders, they are smaller missles.

I liken Leader Starscream to how different ROTF voyager prime is to Leader Prime. Hasbro knows that most fans hated the kibble and huge undercarriage of the TF1 Starscream mold. They addressed it on the ROTF voyager but they also know that the ROTF voyager also has inefficiencies.

By how leader Starscream was described, it doesn't even seem finished yet. So being that it was designed much later than the voyager, I think it will turn out pretty good. I think the mech alive gimmick will have something to do with his missle launchers opening up from his forearms, and his chest panels moving.

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So is there a release date for MP Skywarp? I'm a sucker for black jets, although I have the MP version, I want a more G1 accurate version.

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Regardless of what type/size of missile they are----working launchers in the arms means big arms. (especially if they try to be screen-accurate, what with the giant tri-missile crossbow SS uses)

Not to nit pick, but it just said Missile Launchers, not "Working" missile launchers. It is possible that it is just solid molded plastic.

However, having said that, I also believe that Hasbro will throw in a few gimmicks, and a working missile launcher on a leader class jet would make sense.

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In short--no.

The ones currently sold individually do NOT combine. (and there is little chance of fan-made connector parts working either, due to scale and likely lack of several entire characters)

For the big gift-pack: You get 6 vehicles. They can be stuck together end-to-end to make Devastator. They do nothing more. (and it's not all that screen-accurate either, considering that that's all it has to do)

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Thanks, I am glad I stuck to Ransack only then. I was tempted to pick up the Constricticons and maybe even Prime, but I am jaded from my experience with the toys from the first movie, and will wait until the 4th repaint where Hasbro colors them 'definitively'.

They are releasing a legends scale combining Devastator that has robot and vehicle modes. It's being released in Japan in July, and I think Botcon confirmed that it is coming stateside, but not for another year plus, which I assume is partially because they want people to buy the constructicon product they're going to be offering now. Here's a link to BBTS's preorder here. I have my preorder in already.

Fan reaction towards the giant non-transforming Devastator on the transformers boards has been luke-warm at best, imo. And those that are intent on getting it seem to be willing to wait until the inevitable discount clearance. Personally I think it's too obnoxiously large for what little it does and how ridiculously expensive it is. Half that size and half that price, I might have been interested, even though it's still essentially a Voltron/Zord.

Btw, we need a Ransack repaint in Red Baron colors. :D

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I agree, but I think I will paint the Sopwith Camel first.

I thought that the Red Baron was more often associated with the Tri-Plane, the Fokker Dr I.

He achieved most of his kills in an Albaross, which Ransack is a rendition of.

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