Transformers Super Thread 5

[promethuem5]

That big black streak looks like crap, and I really hope that if it was a official thing, they'd fix the color of the elevator joints on the wings... still, I would kinda expect it to be a custom, bc/ why would pics surface of this without any indication of its release?

[Fit For Natalie]

There have been several instances of test shot or proto photos appearing without any indication from Hasbro or Takara in the world of Transformers. Sometimes we only find out a toy exists because of the test shot find.

[GobotFool]

I'm being more polite at TFW, but am I the only that thinks the massive black streaks make it look like utter crap? Coal-fired locomotives don't get that filthy. WTF is the guy basing his "weathering" on? In addition to an apparent air-brake and engine-bay keel fire, SS has also seemed to fire several million rounds from the gun. And subsequently never cleaned, with "magic" smoke/soot/cordite that can leave black streaks in a LONG trail from the source.

Plus the fact that the gun vents seem to be spotless...

I'll wait for Thundercracker (hopefully he'll be deep metallic blue and CLEAN) But I wouldn't be surprised if we only ever get SS here.

If you don't mind modding your toys, you can probably just wipe off the weathering with some paint thinner.

[Radd]

Eh, I hope Takara simply releases an improved version in the original MP colours so I can pick that up. Avoid the overzealous carbon scoring issue altogether.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Hasbro Starscream = BUY BUY BUY.

[David Hingtgen]

That all assumes the black paint is "weaker" than the rest of the paint. I don't want to remove the black paint, and have the red and blue come up along with it. Plus the sheer fact that it LOOKS LIKE A FIVE YEAR OLD USED A SPRAY CAN to apply it.

There's a BIG difference between Prime's "battle damage" and SS's "flew though a coal mine while on fire" look. It just looks godawful, and makes no sense at all.

It's like---what if someone modeled a car. And then "weathered" it. With huge black streaks from the sunroof vent but the engine and exhaust were spotless. Most people would go "WTF? Why is the sunroof filty but the actual sources of dirt are clean?" SS is the same. The weathering makes no sense at all. Might as well have fuel leaks from the canopy, and brake dust on the nosecone. Plus it's 100,000,000x too heavy. Yes, one-hundred-million.

Hey, let's see how Hasbro would make MP Octane, because 747's tend to have 50-foot long black streaks emanating from the cargo doors and nosecone, and the leading edge of the tailfin just gets filty: Yeah, see now it's WEATHERED and DIRTY, and looks so much more REALISTIC now that it's covered with thick black blotches... Just like MP SS.

[Dio]

I was at wallymart this past weekend and saw most of the movie transformers on pegs and on the shelf...including The interactive bumblebee,voyagers,deluxes and those mini camera/cellphone/etc. Was about to snag them but when it was time to ring 'em up they said they couldnt sell them to me!?!?!?!

Why the hell are they on display then already I asked??? Idiots!! (Yes I do realize there is an official release date for these, but my point was they were on the shelves already.)

This is why they gave us self-checkout. You buy one toy from the earlier line, then scan it again for each toy (of the same price point) that's in the new line (this will work for everything but Leaders and Ultimate). If someone asks, you're "just making it easier since you bought a bunch at once." You'll have "Transformer toy - 9.99" show up on your receipt and can even take the associate back to the toy aisle to verify the price if they're persistent. Then you just return the old-line toy a couple days later. This way, Wal Mart and Hasbro get your money for their product, and you get the toy you want without cheating anyone. This is how we punish Wal Mart for their false advertising.

Or just wait till next Saturday and go wild.

[JB0]

Hmmm... that animation-paint Starscream... He looks a LOT better with the kibble not attached at the hips OR legs than he does with it hanging off of either location.

Pity it leaves spare parts laying around.

As far as the movie toys go... all I've seen is the 10$ ones.

Damn Hasbro for making some of them look appealing! My wallet was glad I was going to sit this line out!

[eugimon]

well, if hasbro is going to take the kibble off the hips, I'd rather they change the hip locks to tabs or something so he doesn't have those ball joints sticking out like that.

I do like th paint job though.. even with the uber carbon trails... reminds of Luke's Xwing toy.

[captain america]

If the info posted on TFW2005 turns out to be true regarding the re-colored Starscream, I am 99.9% positive that it will be the exact same Takara toy (in a different color scheme), manufactured by Takara, and simply re-branded by Hasbro with no changes to the structure or transformation. The hip kibble may simply have been left off for the photos.

Also, this could very well be a pre-production test-shot version; proper plastic coloring and little details like the joints & the battle damage paint would be "improved" on the actual production unit. That's generally how the toy business works.

...And for the record, if this thing IS offered in those colors, I'm all over it. I simply couldn't bring myself to purchase the MP Starscream in that awful green and burgundy at the quoted price. While the toy is still too tiny for my liking, the right colors and a considerably cheaper domestic release is an offer I couldn't refuse.

[JB0]

The hip kibble may simply have been left off for the photos.

That was what I meant.

But it looks REALLY good that way.

...And for the record, if this thing IS offered in those colors, I'm all over it. I simply couldn't bring myself to purchase the MP Starscream in that awful green and burgundy at the quoted price.

Seconded.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Spotted the toys being out here in australia. Resisted actually buying anything though, because I need to hunt for the alts I still want to buy. Starscream looks chunky in the plane mode.

Edited June 1, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Radd]

If it's the exact same toy just in different colours and with awful black streaks I'll grab the Takara version. If they make it so the toy isn't so fragile and they tone down the terrible "weathering" I'll grab the Hasbro version.

[Fit For Natalie]

Check out Longarm here. His vehicle mode is based on the tow truck Mikaela drives Bumblebee on in the 'I'll drive, you shoot' scene.

If the info posted on TFW2005 turns out to be true regarding the re-colored Starscream, I am 99.9% positive that it will be the exact same Takara toy (in a different color scheme), manufactured by Takara, and simply re-branded by Hasbro with no changes to the structure or transformation. The hip kibble may simply have been left off for the photos.

Hasbro and Takara share toolings, so its likely Hasbro are producing these toys by themselves. I don't believe Hasbro has depended on Takara to actually manufacture the toys for decades.

Also, this could very well be a pre-production test-shot version; proper plastic coloring and little details like the joints & the battle damage paint would be "improved" on the actual production unit. That's generally how the toy business works.

Yeah, this is a test shot. Most leaked Transformers are test shots (unpainted or not) or packaging samples. Most of the time the test shots are very close to the final production versions.

Methinks Hasbro might change some of the sharp/pointy or easily broken parts to a PVC material.

Edited June 1, 2007 by Fit For Natalie

[VF-19]

Got movie Prime tonight. And right out of the box, it's slightly mis-transformed: The feet aren't unfolded; although, it's probably so that nothing breaks in shipment.

Over all, very very cool looking.

[Hikuro]

Well the walmart near my house has the displays up, and all their stuff price taged, so tonight lil after midnight I'm gonna push it at them cause it will be June 2nd....so they gotta sell them.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Well the walmart near my house has the displays up, and all their stuff price taged, so tonight lil after midnight I'm gonna push it at them cause it will be June 2nd....so they gotta sell them.

Tell us what you think once you handle the toys, I am thinking about picking up robovision Optimus or Starscream.

[Hikuro]

Tell us what you think once you handle the toys, I am thinking about picking up robovision Optimus or Starscream.

Well, I'm not gonna get "robovision" prime since it's just the voyager class...I'm more interested in the leader version.

The choices are these:

Starscream

Leader Prime

Ironhide

And diffenet on Jazz.

I'm gonna try and beat the store on a technicality, technically hasbro said retail on June 2nd....the Walmart store already has a display and wall cleared off....so in about 3 hours, I'm going to go over there and say "Hey it's June 2nd, I think I should be able to buy the toys"

Anyone in agreeance? or am I just being stupid?

[GobotFool]

My current stash. I got all the deluxes 2 weeks ago, and leaderclass prime and the real gear stuff this tuesday. I am really hoping to grab all the voyager class stuff tomorrow. I want to see leader class megs in person before I decide to get him as non of the pictures have really blown me away. If you have to get one toy from this line, make it Leaderclass prime. Really well made, and lots of gimmicks that don't interfere with the overall look. (automorphing chest and feet, along with an automorphing gun arm). The only down side is a little chrome would not have hurt this figure. Sadly it seems the japanese leaderclass prime is pretty much the same toy with no real changes to the paint scheme. Oh well.

[Hikuro]

Well I left about an hour ago, got to Walmart, completely dead and notice they were restocking, so i finally got to the toy aile where the display was, and this guy no older then I came walkin out with a box saying "Action figures" and went "PLEASE tell me you're stocking the movie toys" and I took a sharp turn to my right and BAM, 4 by 4 rows of Transformer deluxe figures. then another 4 by 4 row of Real Tech. However he didn't have any of the Voyager or leaders, but the pallet he had by the aile was HUGE, there were probably 5 more boxes stacked high, and 3 or 4 across....so he had alot to go thru and said he had 2 more pallets of other stuff he had to go thru with Transformers labeled on it.

So after 5 minutes of talking with him about some of the things the deluxes do like Bumblebee's automorph, he finally got out the voyagers, and whipped out Starscream and Ironhide. After that I left with Jazz, Ironhide and Starscream spending lil close to 50 bucks.

He did have like 4 boxes of Leaderclass, so I think tuesday afterwork or something I'll go and pick up the rest of the line and be done for now.

SO WOOT!

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Well I left about an hour ago, got to Walmart, completely dead and notice they were restocking, so i finally got to the toy aile where the display was, and this guy no older then I came walkin out with a box saying "Action figures" and went "PLEASE tell me you're stocking the movie toys" and I took a sharp turn to my right and BAM, 4 by 4 rows of Transformer deluxe figures. then another 4 by 4 row of Real Tech. However he didn't have any of the Voyager or leaders, but the pallet he had by the aile was HUGE, there were probably 5 more boxes stacked high, and 3 or 4 across....so he had alot to go thru and said he had 2 more pallets of other stuff he had to go thru with Transformers labeled on it.

So after 5 minutes of talking with him about some of the things the deluxes do like Bumblebee's automorph, he finally got out the voyagers, and whipped out Starscream and Ironhide. After that I left with Jazz, Ironhide and Starscream spending lil close to 50 bucks.

He did have like 4 boxes of Leaderclass, so I think tuesday afterwork or something I'll go and pick up the rest of the line and be done for now.

SO WOOT!

What do you think of Starscream man? As much as I loathed the design, after watching video reviews, and seeing more galleries and reviews of the final version, I realized he's not as bad as I thought. Might be my first movie purchase.

[Hikuro]

Well, I hate that there's no place to set the arms in place, so they kind of just dangle from the shoulders. It took me a while to actually understand how to turn him into Robot mode but after I got it I felt pretty stupid for not realizing it earlier. mmmmm.....would I get the Leader Class? If the Leaderclass had alot of detail llllcompared to this and wasn't as chunky.

Ironhide, was confusing towards the end, he's really not what I expected....clever transformation, but the upper bodies just......stupid in the end.

and Jazz, well ppl are right, Jazz really isn't that good, his transformation confused me alot towards the end espically his arms....so I'd probably keep him in vehicle form.

Next tuesday if I can, I'm gonna pick up the others.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Well, I hate that there's no place to set the arms in place, so they kind of just dangle from the shoulders. It took me a while to actually understand how to turn him into Robot mode but after I got it I felt pretty stupid for not realizing it earlier. mmmmm.....would I get the Leader Class? If the Leaderclass had alot of detail llllcompared to this and wasn't as chunky.

Ironhide, was confusing towards the end, he's really not what I expected....clever transformation, but the upper bodies just......stupid in the end.

and Jazz, well ppl are right, Jazz really isn't that good, his transformation confused me alot towards the end espically his arms....so I'd probably keep him in vehicle form.

Next tuesday if I can, I'm gonna pick up the others.

An early review I read stated that there is a peg somewhere on the wings of on Starscream's back that locks the arms or shoulder piece into place. I'm not sure exactly. I did see a video review last night and was impressed.

Its dissapointing that Ironhide has floating chest pieces and such. I saw that on a review recently too.

Jazz has the weakest arms. I hope the final battle version is better but so far all I have seen is one box pic.

[Hikuro]

The pegs you speak of only work while he's in vehicle form sadly...so his arms sadly just dangle from the swing bars.

And yes, Ironhide has a floating chest....was really dissapointed to see that.

[Fit For Natalie]

WARNING

If anybody is interested in the Optimus Prime voice changer helmet, be aware there are two versions. An earlier release does not have Peter Cullen's voice. This packaging merely says 'TRY ME!' on the corner of the box.

The second version features Peter Cullen (the original and Movie Optimus Prime) saying the same lines. This one has 'TRY ME! Featuring the REAL movie voice!' on the corner of the box.

Image courtesy of MantaScorp over at seibertron.com

Edited June 2, 2007 by Fit For Natalie

[Guest sh002]

damn i will buy that hasbro mp starscream. good thing i didn't buy the original version since i'm getting mp skywarp. i hope they release it without all that black. they released hasbro mp optimus with battle damage. i'd buy a hasbro mp optimus or g1 optimus helmet with peter cullen's voice.

[David Hingtgen]

I'm going to airshows all this weekend, and the stores here adhered tightly to the Jun 2 release date, so I won't be able to buy anything until Monday or so. That said:

What's the best toy besides Leader Prime? I am definitely getting a Leader Prime mold (plan to wait for a repaint) but want to get SOMETHING now. How's Ironhide? (I'm not getting the SS that's available--I'll wait for a bigger/better mold, or if that never comes, the Thundercracker repaint)

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

http://www.bwtf.com/movie2007/wreckage/rm5.jpg

http://www.bwtf.com/movie2007/wreckage/vm1.jpg

I like the look of wreckage. He is the upclose and personal fighter with blades in his arms.

No empty space in the arms like jazz. If the arms were solid I would have already bought him. Decepticons seem the most appealing to me in this line so far.

And his face looks menacing. I always like scary faces when it suits the robot. ( ie classic ramjet looking angry vs classic starscream's neutral expression)

http://www.bwtf.com/movie2007/wreckage/rm4.jpg (closeup pic)

Edited June 3, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[David Hingtgen]

That reminds me---do you think future non-movie toys/series/cartoons etc will use the new movie versions of the logos from now on, or go back to the classic ones? I really don't see why they changed them in the first place--it's subtle enough most people don't notice. It's like they messed with it just to mess with it. The Autobot one is really subtle and I don't really care, but I definitely prefer the "classic" Decepticon logo.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I'm a fan of the old ones. Don't really know what the go is.

Yeah, movies always want to change things. I thought that for movie Spiderman for example, he should never have just naturally shot webbing from his wrists imo. I liked the comic book spidey with web cartridges as it made him seem like he needed to use his geekiness to come up with the idea to solve problems, not just rely on his power. Same thing with wolverines claws coming out of his skin rather than having those metal things implanted there. Yucky Hollywood.

I'm one of the people that didn't notice a difference in the logo. I hope they just leave it to the older ones. Meh...it's not going to stop me from buying anything without the old school logo though..

edit:

the important part of why I like wreckage:

Unlike the somewhat odd proportions of the movie figures, Wreckage is a straight forward humanoid shaped Transformer. No hunched over parts, no strange protrusions sticking out everywhere and he has two arms and two legs. His parts all look a lot more self contained, with well defined leg and arm parts including curves at the ball joints.

Where this figure borrows from the movie aesthetic are some of the choices in how parts are sculpted. The head is an example of taking the basic shape of a tradtional Transformer (in this case very similar to G1 and Beast Wars Megatron) but his face still has a slightly insectoid look to it with a mouth that looks more like mandibles than a regular lipped mouth. While his legs are curved in overall shape, a lot of sections have very angled designs on them such as the knees and lower legs, giving more of an impression of a "plated" look with armor sections being clearly defined. He also has a panel on each upper arm pointing up that gives the movie's "paneled" appearance. Finally his feet have toes on each side and an extended heel piece in back which looks more like the "clawed feet" design seen on many of the movie designs such as Optimus Prime and Starscream.

Maybe him not appearing in the movie is part of it. Good balance of trying to make them out as aliens (no human faces on the head) but not sacrificing too much of what I liked about traditional TFs.

Edited June 3, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Doctor Reggae]

I restrained myself to only Blackout and Barricade today...and I gotta admit, they're pretty damn good. Barricade's alt mode alone is pure love.

[mpchi]

June 2nd finally came, and I am fortunate to say that the Leader Prime is as good as people said. Kind of fun driving around from store to store hunting for one with a decent paint job (haven't done toy hunt like this locally for a while), and surprisingly, most Targets and Walmarts I visited in the Bay Area don't have a lot of Leader Prime. Mostly just one or two sitting on the shelves, while other movie toys they have a bunch. I already went pretty early in the morning, so not too sure if they just don't have big Prime shipments, or they just ran out of shelf space. And most of the paint job are crap. Luckily, Toys R Us has a lot of it, so I can manage to pick a decent one out of like 10-12 of them there. Guess I was a bit too spoiled by import toys quality. Hasbro is just not quite there...

But in terms of the Prime toy, its pretty awesome. Not very pretty looking, but loads of fun. Some very innovative designs on the transforming mechanics (feet, automorph chest, flip out gun...etc.), and the thing is loaded with ratchets. Not all have fancy spring ratchets, but ratchets nonetheless. So Prime is very sturdy in both mode, and transformation is very fun too. Complicated, but not hard. Takes much less time and care compare to transforming MP Megatron. While the aesthetics sacrificed for the sake of playability and durability, the toy still look decent in both modes, and sport some pretty good articulation. Sadly, no waist joint, no wrist joints, and has a swivel only neck joint. But very good movement on others. And since its a cheaper plastic TF, you can have more fun transforming and not worry so much on paint chip. Though not using blue light bulbs for the light effects is weird/cheap, and the sound effect could well be the 'signature transforming sound' instead of what is there. But other than very minor gripes, this thing is very fun. Pretty much the best non MP/BT transformer toy in my collection. In fact, its engineering is quite a bit better than most BT. Fun stuff.

And a weird thing about the pricing, Target actually charged $5 more than the MSRP $39.99.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

That reminds me---do you think future non-movie toys/series/cartoons etc will use the new movie versions of the logos from now on, or go back to the classic ones? I really don't see why they changed them in the first place--it's subtle enough most people don't notice. It's like they messed with it just to mess with it. The Autobot one is really subtle and I don't really care, but I definitely prefer the "classic" Decepticon logo.

Not sure if any will later on, but the next cartoon "Heroes", does not. Its more of a styalized retro look for "Heroes".

[Apollo Leader]

WARNING

If anybody is interested in the Optimus Prime voice changer helmet, be aware there are two versions. An earlier release does not have Peter Cullen's voice. This packaging merely says 'TRY ME!' on the corner of the box.

The second version features Peter Cullen (the original and Movie Optimus Prime) saying the same lines. This one has 'TRY ME! Featuring the REAL movie voice!' on the corner of the box.

Thanks for the warning! When I was out getting a few toys and stuff this evening, I waited until i was able to get my hands of the Peter Cullen voice helmet.

Swag wise, I got the Peter Cullen voice Prime Helmet (will use it when I go see the movie and for Halloween, too ), the Leader class Optimus Prime and the Bumblebee - Unleashed figure. I'll probably pick up a few more figures in the weeks ahead.

[Apollo Leader]

And a weird thing about the pricing, Target actually charged $5 more than the MSRP $39.99.

That's where I got my Leader Prime; it was the last one at the Super Target I was at and the two Wal-marts I went to had none, in fact one of the two Wal-mart Super Centers I went to had absolutley NO Transformer Movie merchandise out! But yeah, when I picked it up I thought the thing was suppose to be $39.95.