mikeszekely

Yeah... after seeing how their Streetwise turned out, I'm going with MMC.

Do you still have them? My parents gave most of mine away when I was a kid. And dang! I had Trypticon as a kid, and I remember him being big... but he's not much taller than Galvatron in your picture.

Slammer was the name of the tank drone that came with G1 Metroplex. Like G1 Brunt, the G1 toy was just a tank; it didn't transform. And like Siege Brunt, I do believe that Kingdom Slammer is a Weaponizer. In other words, his bot mode is pretty much an afterthought, but just like Sixgun, Cog, Brunt, Fasttrack, and Full-Tilt I'm stoked to have him (actually, it really makes me want a better Deluxe-sized Scamper... maybe packed in with a better Titan Metroplex?). My biggest complaint isn't the goofy robot or the visible face in the tank, it's all the black on the tank. Might have to repaint mine when I get him. Maybe I'll flip them all to alt mode and take another picture. ...actually, I'm planning on putting together a special 35 year pictorial where I'll be comparing the original 86 toys with their modern WfC/SS86 figures. But c'mon, Galvatron is actually a pretty cool figure. As a kid my biggest gripe was that he wasn't purple (and as an adult I've got the Gen Selects version coming and I can't wait!). Of course, he didn't have a ton of competition, as the 86 toys tend to have weird designs based on Dery's early designs before they cleaned them up for animation and poor articulation even when they didn't strictly have to. Of the lot, I'd say that Galvatron and Scourge are probably the highlights, Blurr, Wheelie, and Wreck-Gar being the worst.

Well, after finishing Metroid Dread I decided to play the previous four main entries* *At least, some version, as Metroid and Metroid II are just too dated for me. It's interesting how different my thoughts are than before... Metroid Zero Mission - I played it when it first came out, and thought it wasn't as good as Fusion. I was wrong. It actually takes everything good about the original NES version but makes it so much more playable. I think it might actually be my second favorite Metroid game; the only thing I really don't care for is the Zero suit stealth bit. Metroid: Samus Returns - This would be Mercury Steam's remake of Metroid II. Taken in a vacuum it's a good, fun game. Taken in the context of the rest of the series, including the source material, it's clear that the team at Mercury Steam didn't really 'get' Metroid II. The game is an action game first and foremost, one that relies heavily on the new melee counter move they added to Samus' arsenal, and not always effectively (there are times when multiple enemies will attack at once, causing you to only counter one and take the hit from the other). As @JB0 noted, the game practically revels in violence, with counter moves on the Metroids giving you cutscene-like bits where you have a chance to do massive damage. The horror element is pretty much lost, and the game never really wrestles with the notion of Metroid genocide the way the original Gameboy game did. ...also, F that digger robot. I almost quit right there. Still, I wouldn't say it's the worst Metroid, only the second-worst. And there are alternatives, like AM2R. I'm going to look for it and try it; maybe it'll rank higher. Super Metroid - I actually never played this on the SNES, and I struggled to play it when I bought it from the 3DS eShop. It's often held up as one of the best SNES games of all time, and the pinnacle of the Metroid franchise... well, one of those things is true. It is one of the best SNES games. But best Metroid? Truthfully, while not nearly as dated as the NES or Gameboy versions, Super Metroid hasn't aged as gracefully as I'd hoped. Truth is, after playing the GBA games, the basic controls are a bit clunkier and the floaty physics makes platforming a lot tougher than it strictly needs to be. Fortunately there's a patched ROM that borrows some control and physics elements from the GBA games, but even still I think Super Metroid's actually middle of the pack for me (although I have to stress that the top three are very close, and all three are pretty far ahead of the worst two). Metroid Fusion - This is actually the first Metroid game I really played, and at the time I loved it. Years later, with all the other Metroids under my belt, I can say without a doubt that Fusion is the worst one. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good game, but a lot of what makes the other Metroids great is missing here. You don't have the whole map to explore, limited by the need for certain power ups. Instead, the doors are simply locked, and for the bulk of the game your railroaded into missions to either get a power up or unlock a certain level of door. What's worse, once you get to a point in the game where you start to have powerups like Power Bombs, Speed Booster, Space Jump, or Screw Attack and you have the security doors open something will happen like the power going out or the computer simply not allowing certain doors to open, so you still feel railroaded and unable to freely explore the map. Also, absorbing X parasites sucks compared to the usual energy and ammo drops you get in other Metroid games. Metroid Dread - It's not a perfect game. The melee counter is back, although it's not as vital. The first few EMMI encounters really do convey a sense of dread, but after awhile they're just a frustrating game of getting caught and getting insta-killed as you fail the nigh-impossible escape QTE until you finally figure out the optimal route through the EMMI's zone. Like Super Metroid, though, Dread gives you a sprawling map to explore, and unlike Super Metroid I wanted to keep exploring it (sorry, Super Metroid, Maridia sucked). Plus, I don't think any game in the franchise had better boss encounters. Zero Mission, Super Metroid, and Fusion bosses were often scenarios where you'd just eat the damage and trust that you'd blast the boss enough before you ran out of health. Samus Returns was all about that Melee Counter. Dread, though, is almost like a Mega Man game where everything is about learning the bosses' patterns and timing. Bosses hit hard, and chances are you will die a couple of times every time you face one. But only until you learn the pattern- once you do that you might even beat some of the bosses without taking damage. I think Dread might actually be the best of the franchise... while I really loved my time with Zero Mission and Super Metroid, Dread is the only one that I wanted to replay immediately upon finishing it.

I mean, I think we can agree objectively that the newer WfC and SS86 toys are huge improvements in articulation and cartoon accuracy over the their 1986 counterparts (although I'm still thinking I'd like a better Arcee and Ultra Magnus). But here's the thing, and I'm sure I've talked about this before, but my family was kind of poor growing up. My dad was actually out of work for a year around the time Transformers was really taking off; it's why the only Transformer toys I had prior to the 86 movie were Sideswipe, Bumblebee, all three Insecticons, Powerglide, and Seaspray. But I loved Transformers, and my parents knew it, so when things got better my dad took me to see the movie and I got a ton of Transformers for Christmas that year. In fact, out of the above lineup, Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, and Springer were the only ones I didn't have (and in the case of Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr I'd actually get them again when the Targetmaster versions came out, but somehow still missed Cyclonus and Scourge). I was already fueled a bit by nostalgia; I'd already had the Hot Rod, I grabbed the Rodimus Prime when I found a good deal one one that was only missing the blast shields, and I bought Kup and Blurr from a friend of my brother. Between seeing the 86 movie in theaters again, though, and getting most of the 86 cast in WFC and SS86 really lit a fire under me for completing that group. I dunno what's next. Maybe try to get the rest of the cast that appeared in the movie but were 84/85? I think I only need Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Thrust, Dirge, Reflector, Blitzwing, and Ratbat to finish the Decepticons that were in it. Unfortunately, I'm a lot farther off from having the Autobots, since I only have Prime, Blaster, and Bumblebee.

Hah! You got your SS86 Gnaw the same day I finally got a G1 Gnaw! Thus completes my 1986 movie collection... There's a part of me that wants to buy two more SS86 Gnaws, but another part of me hoping for a pack of slight recolors.

I should note that my beef with Maverick has nothing to do with the engineering. It's more that the resulting robot doesn't fit in aesthetically with the others, and Top Gun doesn't carry the pop culture cachet of Ghostbusters or Back to the Future. And, while Top Gun is a movie in which the F-14 plays a large role, there's not a lot to distinguish Maverick's F-14 from another (I'd argue that the real-world VF-84 Jolly Rodgers are more iconic). I'm honestly surprised, after seeing the Transformers pegs hang nearly empty all summer that not only did I find Sweeps at my local Walmart, but I stopped at my local Target yesterday and found they were very well-stocked on the current wave of Kingdom Deluxes, Cores, and Leaders, plus some recent Studio Series Deluxes and Leaders and plenty of Cyberverse. But, there wasn't a single Voyager to be found, so my hunt for Tigatron continues. I didn't go home empty, though. Cores in stock meant I could finally give Kingdom Core-class Soundwave a go. Something that has me wondering how the Core-class stuff is going to be going forward is the fact that they've all basically been the same size. I'd say that Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream are similar enough in size that it doesn't really bother me, but in the back of my mind I know that Soundwave should be a little shorter than Megatron, and a little taller than Starscream. Aesthetically, though, this might be the best Core-class Hasbro's done yet. He's missing some yellow on his shins, and the red stripes around the forearms, but otherwise he's pretty cartoon-accurate. Indeed, while he copies a lot of elements from the Netflix version, the extra red on his shoulders is a nice toy detail the Netflix version only partially copied, and the reduction in greebles gives him a cleaner, cartoonier look. Soundwave comes with a few accessories. You get his shoulder cannon and rifle, as well as a cassette slug. From the black and red, I'd assume it's Laserbeak; indeed, the coloring follows the pattern of the MP version (and the back side of the G1 tape) pretty closely. It does not, however, transform into a tiny Laserbeak, which is a bummer. As for his weapons, nothing major to note except that the silver part of his rifle is rotated 90 degrees from it's usual cartoon orientation. Soundwave's head is on a ball joint, with the ball down in his chest instead of the back of his head. He can look up, but only so far before breaking the sculpt. Not much down and only a little sideways tilt. His shoulders are ball joints that rotate and extend a bit under 90 degrees laterally. Ball-jointed elbows bend just about 90 degrees and double as bicep swivels. No wrist or waist swivels. His thick hip skirt moves as one single piece, but it does move enough that his ball-jointed hips can move 90 degrees forward and laterally, but his butt flap doesn't move so his hips can't go backward. He's got cut thigh swivels, and knees that bend 90 degrees. His ankles are also ball joints, so his feet swivel and can tilt down but there's not really enough clearance for him to have ankle pivots. Ball joints don't bother me as much at this size, but I wish Hasbro could get the tolerances down better. His shoulders are almost uncomfortably tight, his elbows are fine, but his hips are a floppy mess. His should cannon plugs into a 3mm port, where it can swivel but lacks any up/down tilt. His rifle can plug into either hand. Core-class Soundwave's transformation is almost identical to the G1 toy, more so than the Netflix version. The only real differences are that his hands fold back instead of sliding into his forearms, and his feet fold backward instead of forward. This does create the figure's most obvious problem in alt-mode, and that's his toes sticking straight up. There are, fortunately, 3P modes available to address this issue, but it's like, c'mon Hasbro. Would it have really killed you to make his foot two pieces with a pin hinge instead of one? If cost is the factor, I'd have done without the cassette slug. Transformation differences aside, aesthetically it's interesting how similar it wound up looking to the Netflix version. Hasbro even put some molded details on the sides of his legs with 3mm peg holes to store his weapons the same way. Of course, as a tape deck there's not a ton he can do. You can open the door and insert or remove the cassette, which you do by manually pulling the door open. The molded button is just for show. I guess you don't expect Soundwave to do a lot in alt mode, though, especially without a bunch of tiny minions. I think if you're serious about a Legends collection you probably already have a better 3P version of Soundwave. But for Hasbro's stated goal of providing inexpensive, smaller versions of their regular figures for displaying with the Titans that Soundwave might be the best one yet, and I recommend him if Hasbro's Core-class stuff has been something you're into.

I think Skyward Sword being the worst has been the consensus since it came out on the Wii. I picked up the Switch version, hoping it'd play better without the Wiimote, but I can't bring myself to even start it when there's better games to play. Matter of fact, I just picked up Shin Megami Tensei V. I loved III back in the day (although playing the re-release makes me realize it hasn't aged well), and IV & Apocalypse are done of my very favorite 3DS games, so I'm excited to jump into V... if I can just bring myself to take a break from Forza Horizon 5.

It's similar in the broadest of strokes (doors open, arms fold out, chest folds down, legs flip over, roof becomes backpack). But they're also pretty different figures that share no parts; Prowl's wheels are on the backs of his shoulders, JP93's rotate into the chest as his arms rotate out. Prowl's hands don't fold in and his arms are straight under him, JP93's bend at the elbows and his forearms tuck in so his wrists are pointed up toward the roof. Prowl has ball joints for shoulders, JP93 has universals. Prowl actually has a mushroom swivel for a bicep and hinged elbows, JP93 has just the ball joint elbow. Prowl has wrist and waist swivels, JP93 doesn't. Prowl has flaps on the backs of his legs that you have to open to fold or unfold his legs, JP93 doesn't. Prowl's feet fold in, tucking under his shins and roof in car mode, JP93's don't. A chunk of Prowl's hood folds down to let his head through, and that flap tucks into his back to secure his backpack. JP93 has a section of hood that stays upright on his backpack that his head fits through, with a second flap that folds up to give his head clearance then folds back down, and his backpack locks into place by using a long tab from the roof into a notch on his back. Really, they're probably less similar than some of the Combiner Wars cars and Titans Return Chromedome.

I can respect that, given that was pretty much my own stance on the original Metroid and Metroid II just a few weeks ago (and funny enough, I've also been replaying old Metroid games, I just started after I'd already finished Dread). But I did have an NES and the original Legend of Zelda, and I loved it. Sure, a Link to the Past is a big improvement in a lot of ways, but it (and basically every other Zelda until 2017) was a lot more linear. Breath of the Wild was the only sequel to recapture that sense of really having a world with mysteries around every corner that you could kind of take at your own pace. When I do a playthrough in modern times I'll usually kill enemies for bomb drops and rupees to buy the blue candle, then hunt for heart containers so I can get the white sword before I do any dungeons. And when I do get around to the dungeons I like to do them out of order. But yeah, I'm totally in favor of Nintendo making Game and Watch consoles with SNES or GBA games, not just NES and Gameboy.

Anyone else grab the new Legend of Zelda 35th Anniversary Game & Watch? I thought $50 was a bit steep for last years Super Mario version, since it only came with SMB, SMB: The Lost Levels, and Ball. The Zelda one is a much better value with The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and Vermin. The packaging is also a bit nicer, too. Instead of the simple insert that holds the console and USB cord that the SMB version had, this one has a nice glossy black insert that has a spot inside for the USB cord but a tray for the console. The tray has a cutout to run the USB cable through and flaps that fold out to make a kickstand, so you can actually set it up and display the console in clock mode this time. So yeah, if you liked last year's SMB unit then you'll love the new Zelda one, and if you thought $50 was too much for last year's SMB unit then you'll be happy to know that you're definitely getting more bang for your buck this time around. I wouldn't mind if Nintendo did a few more of these with some of their other first-party games.

After being delayed to nearly Christmas, look what came in the mail. Gotta be honest, this is kind of a fun one to have in hand, because Jurassic Park toys are close to the Transformers at my local Target and for weeks I've been seeing a Target-exclusive Jurassic World Legacy Collection Tyrannosaurus Escape pack, which is basically a non-transforming version of this (but with a little figure of Tim Murphy that this set doesn't have). The star of the Tyrannosaurs escape is the T-Rex, but here she's perhaps not so exciting. The horribly-named Tyrannocon Rex is the third use of this mold, after Kingdom Megatron and the Target-exclusive T-Wrecks. She's colored in varying shades of brown to look like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, which is cool and all (but a bit dull compared to a purple and green or red and blue dinosaur), but I kind of wish they'd painted her pupils a little lower on the eyeballs. Then she'd look like she was looking down at the SUV she's chasing instead making a sleepy face. Robot mode is also kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, she's got a brand new head that reminds me of Grimlock. Actually, the mix of red and black do, too; maybe they could have kept the red pelvis and black thighs but painted her torso gold, then I'd call this my beast era Grimlock and find I'd invent a new character for the actual Kingdom Grimlock. On the other hand, when you put her next to Megatron it's immediately obvious how much less paint she's got. Perhaps her paint budget went to her packed-in adversary, the even more horribly named JP93. As the first Transformers Collaborative figure that really seems to be an all-new mold this is the one I was most excited for. I included Earthrise Trailbreaker and Inferno to help give you a sense of the scale, but the real takeaway for me from this pic is just how goofy the proportions are on the WFC figures. Tyrannocon Rex does a reasonable job as the mottled brown T-Rex from the movie, but JP93 really nails the customized first-gen Ford Explorer seen in the film. While some of the plastic comprising the front end and front doors is green, the roof and from the middle of the rear doors back is mostly translucent plastic. That means that all the red and yellow plus half the green you're seeing is paint, plus there are painted lights, pain in the grill and painted wipers, very clean tampographed Jurrassic Park logos, and lots of movie-accurate touches like the brush guard with the lights above and in front of the bumper, the spotlight on the hood near the windshield, and the bubble canopy. Hasbro did in fact obtain the Ford license, so you've even got a small molded oval for the Ford badge and the "Explorer XLT" on the rear. Honestly, the only complaint I'll offer, and it's definitely me nitpicking, is the '04' on the sides just in front of the taillights. Car 04 was the car that the kids and Gennaro were in, the on the T-Rex trashed, and a cardboard version of which Tyrannocon Rex is packed stepping on. The other car, with Grant, Saddler, and Malcom that lived a bit longer, was 05. While Tyrannocon Rex, like Megatron before her, doesn't get any accessories the set does include this shotgun for JP93. It's modeled after the Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun Robert Muldoon was carrying when he was killed by a certain clever girl. Somehow I don't think that Hasbro got the license- Universal Studios and Ford are mentioned on the box, but not Franchi. Perhaps that large fin that the SPAS-12 definitely does not have makes it legally distinct enough? The fin does serve a purpose, though. If you turn the gun upside down, the fin fits into one of two slots behind the bubble canopy. If you prefer a more covert method of storing the gun, though, you'll find a small tab between the rear wheels under the vehicle. It fits into a matching slot just above the gun's handle. If the T-Rex transforms, you better believe the car does. And this is where things start to go a bit south for me. I mean, aesthetically he's fine; the unpainted black arms and pelvis and similarly unpainted green thighs are fine, and the chest hood, door winged robot is a time-tested design. I dig the head, with the sculpted hat and sunglasses (while the hat could be almost anyone Ian Malcom, including Muldoon, the sunglasses suggest that his head might actually be based on Alan Grant... who was in car 05). I'm a little disappointed at the size, though, as he's similar to (or slightly shorter) than Deluxes like Trailbreaker or Ironhide, and definitely shorter than a Voyager like Inferno or Optimus. Granted, we're in a new era where a class is more engineering and parts count that size, but JP93 isn't wowing us on those counts, either. Indeed, his transformation is super simple; rotate the arms out, open the doors, fold the chest down, flip out the legs, and peg the roof into his back. That's about it. The joints and articulation are also a pretty big step backward. His head is on a ball joint that can swivel and look down slightly, but he can't really look up or tilt his head sideways. His shoulders rotate and can extend laterally 90 degrees. He doesn't have a dedicated bicep swivel, instead he has a ball joint for an elbow that can swivel and bend just over 90 degrees. That's something you'd do only to cut down on the total parts count, mind you. Neither his wrists nor his waist can swivel. His hips are, again, ball joints, and they're disappointingly loose (think Combiner Wars) on my copy. He does at least have cut thigh swivels. His knees are single-jointed and can bend nearly 180 degrees. They're actually the same joints used for transformation, and set a bit lower than the weirdly molded fake knees. I'm almost surprised by it at this point, but he does have ankle pivots of about 30 degrees, but no up/down foot tilt. The 5mm handle easily fits into either of JP93's fists. There's also bot mode storage. There's a second, longer slot on the gun's fore-end that fits over tab on the bottom of his backpack. This is a tough call, guys. If I'm just looking at the figures divorced from any pricing then Tyrannocon Rex is a good T-Rex and has a cool new head, but a disappointing lack of paint compared to the figure she's repainted from. JP93 is a fantastic Ford Explorer seen in the movie with a robot mode that fits neatly in with other Autobot cars, but the absence of an actual bicep swivel and waist swivel plus the use of ball joints for elbows and hips are super obvious moves to save costs and lower his parts count, and it makes him come across as a little cheap. And then I do consider the pricing- this set is over $100 (assuming you can even still get it at retail). You're basically paying the cost of two leaders for one leader, a figure that's somewhere between a Deluxe and a Core-class in engineering. Even if I just say that JP93 is a Deluxe despite the cost-cutting, where'd the other $30 go? I mean, sure, JP93's got a lot of paint and tampos, but Tyrannocon Rex has less paint than Megatron. Were the Ford and Jurassic Park licenses that expensive? I mean, I do like this set more than the X-Men and Top Gun crossovers, and if you're into these Transformers Collaboratives I suppose I'd recommend it (seriously, keep buying all the collaboratives until I get a Transformers X TMNT Party Wagon and/or a Transformers X Knight Rider KITT), but it's hard not to shake the idea that this set is a bit overpriced for what you actually get.

The pink Nicee was a bit too stylized of an Arcee for me and I passed on it. The black on this Mocha version and extra distance from Arcee have convinced me to preorder this one.

Got time for a quick Repaint Roundup? See, I was out this evening, and I figured (even though my Walmart is the worst) that I'd stop at look for Tigatron, since Amazon canceled my preorder and Pulse sold out. No such luck (is Tigatron even out in the wild, or are all the Youtubers getting Asian market or factory samples?). I didn't go home empty-handed, though... in fact, I went home with a figure that I didn't think was supposed to be out for three more months. See, I went home with Studio Series 86 Sweep! So yeah, no big surprises here. Like the Hasbro team said during one of the livestreams it's almost the exact same mold as SS86 Scourge. The only real differences in bot mode is that the Sweep (left) uses a less purple, more vibrant blue plastic, and his hands are mirrored so his open hand is his right vs Scourge's left, and vice versa. (I actually bought two Sweeps, and I may take them apart and swap hands so one has two open and one has two closed to further differentiate them). Sweep comes with the same accessories as Scourge; a blue rifle (also in the brighter blue plastic) and a purple blast effect (no difference that I can tell). Transformation in the same, alt mode weapon storage is the same, the gimmicks are the same. You'd be forgiven if you then assumed that the only difference was the altered shade of blue, but there's actually one more minor difference, you just have to look at the underside to see it. See, where Scourge's wing tips were unpainted, the back of Sweep's (which shows on the underside of his alt mode) was painted the same light blue/gray as the nose and edges of the craft. It's a nice touch, one I kind of wish they'd done to Scourge now. I mean, what can I really say about the Sweep? Scourge is a pretty great figure, and Sweep is 99.9% the exact same figure. Granted, between the Seekers, Datsuns, and Cybertronian Lambos it's not like I haven't already bought a ton of repaints, but Sweep barely even qualifies as a repaint. Indeed, if you for some reason missed Scourge but still wanted him in your collection you could grab a Sweep, name his Scourge, then call it a day. On the other hand, if you did grab Scourge and feel no need to troop build (or maybe you did need to troop build, so you already bought multiple Scourges) then the Sweep is far from a necessity. Sweep is for people like me who wouldn't buy multiple Scourges due to a pathological need to have Scourge visually distinct from his Sweep minions, but would happily fork over cash for a pair of Sweeps once Hasbro did make them visually distinct, however minor the difference. So like I said, the base Scourge figure is very good, the only question then is if you feel you have a need for more of him in a slightly different shade of blue to be his Sweeps. If the answer is yes, then go for it. If not, then we'll move on to... ...Shattered Glass Megatron. I've actually had this guy for awhile, but I don't like to write a review for just one repaint, so he's been sitting on my desk waiting for something like SG Starscream or Draculus to come out. As you guys may or may not know, the original Shattered Glass toys were meant to be like a mirror G1 universe, but while some characters like Optimus were made from the Classics/Universe toys others were made from Unicron Trilogy toys. This was the case with Blurr and Goldbug, who were made from Armada/Cybertron Blurr and Cybertron Hotshot, respectively. Their new SG toys were, of course, made from Studio Series 86 Blurr and Earthrise Cliffjumper with new heads that better resembled the original SG toys, and I was able to accept that. Well, the original SG Megatron was made from Energon Megatron, and here this new SG Megatron is a repainted, not-at-all remolded Siege Megatron. And for some reason my brain just won't accept it the way it accepted Blurr and Goldbug. Maybe because, unlike the other two, he doesn't have a remolded head, just regular pouty Siege Megatron with a black helmet and blue eyes. Whatever the reason, SG Megatron just doesn't look like SG Megatron to me. I mean, Hasbro tried... the black helmet, white body, black thighs and shoulders, red biceps, black tummy panel, gold accents, and red and black details on his shins are the colors used by the original SG toy. The thing is, ignoring the fact that he didn't get a remolded head (SG Megatron's head was based on the one from an earlier animation model, seen in the very early issues of the old Marvel comics), Energon Megatron was actually designed to look more like Galvatron. So there's a strong case to be made that you'd have a better-looking SG Megatron if they'd thrown a new head onto Kingdom Galvatron (or perhaps even a retooled Titans Return Galvatron) than Siege Megatron. Since SG Megatron is just a repaint of Siege Megatron, you do get the standard fusion rifle, and the sword that transforms into the barrel for tank mode. The barrel of the cannon and the sword are painted blue, like the "energon" shoulder cannons on the original toy. Speaking of tank mode, yup, that's still totally doable. Of course, the original SG Megatron didn't turn into a tank, he turned into a spaceship. And so, in a desperate attempt to wrestle Siege Megatron into something closer to the original SG Megatron, Hasbro tossed in these new accessories. The wings are meant to plug into the 5mm peg holes on Megatron's back (although the outsides of his shoulders are fair game, too). And the cockpit thingy can plug into a forearm, and it sort of pulls off the whole tank blade that the original toy had. As for his fusion cannon and sword, you can have him wield them the usual Megatron way, but I thought I'd try sticking them in the peg holes on top of his backpack to simulate the original toy's shoulder cannons. It almost works, aside from the fact that they're asymmetric and the one has a big ol' sword blade sticking out the back. In tank mode, you can use the wings to make a kind of flying tank. Honestly, I dig this more than I probably should, especially since it's kind of reminding me of Megatron's flying tank mode in Revenge of the Fallen. As much as I tried, though, I couldn't come up with any real way to use the cockpit in this mode. Instead, to get a spaceship mode, you have to deliberately mis-transform the tank by straightening Megatron's legs back out, turning them so the shins are facing each other, removing the barrel, and spinning the turret 180 degrees. Then you're supposed to plug the cockpit onto the peg holes on the sides of Megatron's legs, which is the only thing that holds them together, an the wings onto the treads that were the front of the tank. And... it's not the best. I mean, it really doesn't resemble the original's spaceship mode all that much (again, maybe they'd have been better off using TR Galvatron instead), there's still a noticeable gap between his thighs and knees, and there's nothing really locking his hip or waist joints to even keep everything lined up properly in this mode. Officially, Megatron's spaceship mode doesn't use the sword. That said, you can certainly plug it into the tank turret like you normally would. Let's be real, the entire Shattered Glass line is a gimmick most of us can probably do without. And, despite the fact that Blurr and Goldbug were also minimal effort repaints with new heads I somehow feel that Hasbro screwed up Megatron more than those two. Unless you're really committed to the Shattered Glass line this one's going to be a pass for most people. That being said, if I were going to get rid of my SG figures but two the one I like the most is Prime (from that Prime/Ratchet 2-pack), and this Megatron would stay to oppose him.

I'd already finished my undergrad degree and gotten married, but by 24 the farthest I'd gotten in my career was working at a Gamestop (that may or may not have still been a Software Etc at the time). Honestly, aside from the aforementioned bachelor's degree and marriage, I can't say my 20s were particularly productive at all. I didn't get my masters, start doing a "real" job in IT, or have a kid until my 30s.

Frost Light's alt mode reminds me of Dark of the Moon Megatron. More so after you touched it up.

I don't think I'm feeling that generous.

I mean, the concept art looks cool, and I want so desperately for this to be good. But, y'know... G-Saviour.

I was just coming to post those! My hockey game ran late, though, and you beat me to it. Looks like the leaks were spot on, because that Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Brawn are supposedly coming with Perceptor as the first wave of Deluxes in 2022. The only thing is, Sweep wasn't on the list, and we know it's coming. Instead the leak mentioned a variant of SS86 Hot Rod. For what it's worth, though, Perceptor is dated something like two months after the Sweep, so maybe it's just part of a different wave. Anyway, that Ravage looks more like a wolf than a panther, but I'll probably still get it because I'm in for that Soundwave (even if he's got the same alt mode problems that Siege Soundwave does). I think Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Brawn actually look pretty cool in both modes, so I'll be getting them as well. Shockwave, not so much. Gimme a Voyager and we'll talk.

The train mode is better than the robot.

The first MFT was a KO of one of DX9’s early Legends, wasn't it? The new one definitely looks a lot better.

Tell them pretty much what I already said- that Optimus Prime's pelvis and thighs are not white, it's merely an artifact of '80s cel-shading. I don't believe that's an opinion, I believe that's a fact, and I'll note that the fuel tanks on Prime's legs, the smokestacks on his shoulders, and his tummy grill are also colored white in the animation but I've yet to see anyone suggest that TE-01 or MP-44 should have had theirs white instead of silver/chrome to match their pelvis and thighs. But I'm guessing that after reading that your response is something along the lines of, "they're white to me/I still prefer white" or perhaps even something like "that's your opinion, it's not a fact at all," right? In other words, you have your preference and nothing I or David says, regardless of the logic we use, will change that preference. Hence, "try telling it to the Sunbow crowd"- it's not meant as a statement of value judgement (and I'm sorry it came off that way), it's a summation of the futility of trying to tell someone that a preference is "wrong." At the end of the day, you don't have to have a reason, you just like what you like. I really don't disagree with any of this. While in theory we had access to the same media (cartoon, toys, ads, comic books, etc) our perceptions of that media and what elements had the most meaningful impact on us is a deeply personal thing. Again, to me saying that Prime's pelvis and thighs should be silver/chrome because white was the best the animators could do to reflect the metal and chrome on the toy is a statement of fact, but if white is more evocative of your memory of the cartoon then that's going to be your preference. What's more, there doesn't need to be any consensus; you'll get whatever figures you think best represent the characters you want in your collection regardless of what I or anyone else thinks, and vice versa. I think this is the only thing I have to take issue with. I don't think the fandom is putting up walls, I think the simple fact is that there has been two approaches used, especially in the Masterpiece line; the older Hasui style of combining features of the toys and cartoon with realistic alt modes, and the newer style of extreme cartoon accuracy. The delineation occurs naturally when some people prefer the older style and some prefer the newer. My question to you is what, exactly, you would have those that think too much Sunbow is a bad thing reflect on? I think it's human nature to get defensive whenever someone else expresses views that are contrary to your own, but where you're hearing, "your preference is wrong," I'm hearing the complaints of the frustrated. A KO of MP-44 is an option, but where's Takara with the toy-colored MP-44+? The fact is, if you're in the Sunbow crowd Takara is catering to you (and Newage, and while companies like Fans Toys, X-Transbots, DX9, MMC, and Magic Square aren't there to the level of Takara and Newage that's definitely the direction they're moving in). What you're hearing isn't "what you want is wrong," it's "I'm envious that you get what you want and I'm worried that I won't."

I mean, the OX cassettes don't fit in MP Soundwave's chest (nor, presumably, Acoustic Wave), and I like them (at least Ravage, Frenzy, and Rumble) for my MP collection because they're bigger in their robot/cat modes. I don't know if this jives with the official scale chart or not, but to me it always seemed like they mass shifted after they came out of Soundwave's chest (although I never bothered with Volture and Buzzard because I actually was cool with the MP's size for Laserbeak and Buzzsaw). My desire for the RP/FT cassettes isn't a need for them to fit into Siege/Netflix Soundwave's chests, it's more me wanting robot/cat modes that aren't trash the way the Siege Micromasters are. I currently have the actual MP versions with the WfC guys, since I have the OX guys with the MPs. Oh, and it looks like TCP still has preorders for them (although they've sold out of Acoustic Wave himself). I guess count me in. Looks like it's just Rumble, Laserbeak, and Ravage, though. Frenzy's packed in with Acoustic Wave and... is Fans Toys just not doing Buzzsaw? Poor dude gets no love, since Hasbro couldn't be arsed to do him in Siege, either. As for the OX Autobot cassettes, Steeljaw was at TFCon. They're still coming, which I'm glad for. I really wish they'd do Ratbat, though. Like, even if it delays the Autobot cassettes longer. Despite them appearing in the cartoon, and despite me owning all four of them as a kid, I don't have a ton of attachment to the Autobot tapes (at least not until Rewind became part of the main cast of More Than Meets the Eye. Ratbat, on the other hand, was a major character in the old Marvel comics when I was a kid- like, for a time, he was the leader of the Decepticons, and featured in ridiculous storylines like "The Carwash of Doom" and the storyline that introduced Scraplets to Transformers fiction.

Combiner Wars was so bad I swore off the mainline. It didn't help that I wasn't super into the whole "everyone's a Headmaster now!" bit in Titans Return, or that I was starting to get involved with the 3P scene. I did talk myself into buying the actual Headmasters, plus a few other characters I thought needed an upgrade like Scourge, Perceptor, Blurr, Kup, Hot Rod, Blitzwing and Octane (and the latter two weren't that great and still need updates), but that was it. I retroactively discovered that Titans Return was honestly pretty great, then had to go back and pay aftermarket prices for Misfire, Triggerhappy, Slugslinger, Topspin, Twin Twist, Overlord, Sixshot, Grotusque, Doublecross, Repugnus, Laser Optimus, Galvatron, Windblade, Krok, Sentinel Prime, and a Takara Fortress Maximus (don't care for the Sunbow version of Cerebros). Aside from the fact that I got a better Galvatron in Kingdom and I'm getting a better Laser Prime in Legacy I have no regrets.

Yeah, or making Batman's costume blue because they colored him like this in the comics- ...wait. Seriously, though, I'm with you 100%. A lot of cartoon details were colored white because they couldn't really do a metallic sheen with cel-shading in the day, but if you look at the toys we're talking about parts that are very clearly silver, chrome, or bare metal. Optimus shouldn't have any white on him. For that matter, neither should Soundwave. But try telling it to the Sunbow crowd. Yeah, MP Soundwave isn't perfect, perhaps a little date, but the improvements on Acoustic Wave failed to justify the $250 price tag, especially when I think the white on Acoustic Wave actually looks worse, especially in alt mode. While I had no qualms about passing on Acoustic Wave, I am a little sorry I missed the boat on the tapes. I mean, I'm pretty happy with the Ocular Max ones in my MP display, but I think I might have actually displayed the FT/RP ones with my WfC stuff.