The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

 

On the other side I always face the reality that none of the Japanese toy companies never seem to finish anything. They do the most popular characters and then stop.

 

This is also a highlight, the MP line is still only targeted at the Japanese market, they only gauge Japanese fan's interests and wishes, if V3 Prime is what the people want, Takara will make it. Space is also a factor, in Japan that is especially true, I highly doubt most Japanese collectors would have room for a full Ark Crew let alone a full G1 season 1 or 2 cast. So as Scyla pointed out, Takara will make what will sell best and what the Japanese fans want most, which is toon accuracy, and the most important characters.

Would I personally love some more Cons or even mini-bots? Absolutely. Is that what will sell the best and is that what the Japanese fans want? Eh, probably not.

1 hour ago, jenius said:

I hope convoy three launches a new generation of masterpiece and we start all over.

People would probably riot.

[JB0]

2 hours ago, Tking22 said:

Or, at minimum, a dark purple "toy" colored Shockwave. How the hell has that not happened yet?

Seriously. That would actually get me to buy one, lack of sound and wonky transformation aside.

...

I still don't understand how they call the whole Rube Goldberg backpack-to-gunbarrel assemblage "perfect transformation", when it isn't accurate to any source, and doesn't even avoid part-swapping since you still have to put a purple sheath over the gun barrel.

 

 

Also: MP OMEGA SUPREME WHERE?!?!?

Edited March 1, 2018 by JB0

[Scyla]

28 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Seriously. That would actually get me to buy one, lack of sound and wonky transformation aside.

...

I still don't understand how they call the whole Rube Goldberg backpack-to-gunbarrel assemblage "perfect transformation", when it isn't accurate to any source, and doesn't even avoid part-swapping since you still have to put a purple sheath over the gun barrel.

 

 

Also: MP OMEGA SUPREME WHERE?!?!?

There are three 3rd Party Omega Supremes so pick your poison.  

[technoblue]

30 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Also: MP OMEGA SUPREME WHERE?!?!?

 

1 minute ago, Scyla said:

There are three 3rd Party Omega Supremes so pick your poison.  

Indeed. And if you're not hooked on scale, there are even more - the SD style and WFC/FOC style releases come to mind.

[JB0]

OFFICIAL MASTERPIECE OMEGA SUPREME IN SCALE WITH MP-01!

...

In seriousness, I'd love to see an MP Sky Lynx to go with that toy-colored MP Shockwave they don't make. Yes, I know I like WEIRD Transformers.

[technoblue]

It's off topic for this thread, but a certain company known for giga-normous dinobots hinted at doing MP skylynx. 

[JB0]

Just now, technoblue said:

It's off topic for this thread, but a certain company known for giga-normous dinobots hinted at doing MP skylynx. 

Then my supreme excitement is equally off-topic.

 

 

Sky Lynx was one of those love-at-first-sight toys I never actually got to own as a kid. A space shuttle that turned into a robot dinosaur(ish thing)? It ticked a lot of boxes in one shot.

[mikeszekely]

Yeah, Gigapower announced that they're doing a Sky Lynx, but who knows when since they still have to release their Swoop and Slag. I'm not big on Sky Lynx, but I've liked Giga's stuff so far, so we'll see.

As for Omega Supreme, you can buy FansToys' version right now. DX9's should be out soon, and my goal is to get it and review it in the 3P thread if I can work it in around the fact that I'm in the middle of a move. Wei Jiang, a company better known for taking other toys and making improved KOs, is also doing a surprisingly original version, but that's about all I know.

[M'Kyuun]

Somewhere in there, someone needs to make an Animated Omega Supreme. Sadly, it doesn't seem like we'll get an official version. I was hoping for that for the tenth anniversary, but we got absolutely nothing. Anyway, that's the only version of OS that interests me- never really cared for any of the other versions.

As for rebooting the MP line afresh, I can't even imagine the vitriol and madness that would ensue. I'd be disappointed, though, as I'd like to have a few more of the original characters in the present scale. I'd also like a new seeker mold. Maketoys Meteor shames the old MP- it's overdue. Actually, I think the present scale is good- any smaller and they're pretty much at the same scale as the retail toys, which might limit the engineering. I think MP-01 scale is, well, huge; I don't have room for that, let alone the Japanese who live in shoebox sized apartments. Current scale is perfect, IMHO.

Sky Lynx was always an odd TF to me. The Shuttle section was cool, but the big blue box wasn't much of an alt mode. However, at least you got a two-fer with that figure. I was really disappointed that the TR version combined them into one- why?  Had they kept the dual bot concept, I'd have gotten him, blue box mode notwithstanding. It'd be interesting if Giga took some initiative and applied a little license to perhaps make the Lynx half actually become something other than just a blue box- a triple changer of sorts just to make him more interesting.

 

 

[JB0]

Man, y'all are all missing the point. I want an MP Omega Supreme in scale with MP-01 because it'd be flippin' huge and you could live in the packaging, not because I have any intent of actually buying it. I ain't made of latinum, you know.

...

Vehicle scale, not robot scale.

Edited March 3, 2018 by JB0

[M'Kyuun]

If they made Omega Supreme in the current scale, that is, scaled to MP-10, it would still be a sizeable toy, estimating 25- 30 inches tall, going by the Sunbow TF scale chart. Not sure how accurate that is, either, but it is an official guide for the animators.

[mikeszekely]

10 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

If they made Omega Supreme in the current scale, that is, scaled to MP-10, it would still be a sizeable toy, estimating 25- 30 inches tall, going by the Sunbow TF scale chart. Not sure how accurate that is, either, but it is an official guide for the animators.

Dunno about FT or Wei Jiang, but Gabriel is supposed to be around 22" from toes to head, and around 24" to the top of his wings.

[derex3592]

Wife is out of town for a few days SO!!!..... time to get the toys out!!! I really do love MP36 Megatron.. probably my favorite out of the few I own. I think it's the swappable faces that do it for me! 

"I would have waited an eternity for this Prime".... 

 

Prime...in my head... "Bitch please"...

[Scyla]

Baltmatrix reviews: Transformers Studio Series Starscream: 

I'm taken aback how fantastic Starscream folds up into a relative clean and slim jet. It is not perfect but I think it is as perfect as a retail Transformers jet can be. Sadly I have no affection for life-action Transformers toys so I hope they implement lessons learned from this toy to their Neo Classics line. Power of the Primes Starscream is such an disappointment.  

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

Baltmatrix reviews: Transformers Studio Series Starscream: 

I'm taken aback how fantastic Starscream folds up into a relative clean and slim jet. It is not perfect but I think it is as perfect as a retail Transformers jet can be. Sadly I have no affection for life-action Transformers toys so I hope they implement lessons learned from this toy to their Neo Classics line. Power of the Primes Starscream is such an disappointment.  

From what I've seen, the new Studio Series Voyager Starscream reminds me a lot of the old Dark of the Moon Deluxe.

[M'Kyuun]

While I have little interest in any more Bayformers (jury's still out for Blackout, though), this is the level of engineering that I wish we saw in most of the Voyager, or even Leader class figures. Moreover, I wish Has/Tak were this creative incorporating the arms into the transformation in all their jet TFs instead of just having them hang off the sides as they've been doing. Engineering wise, I gotta admit, I'd enjoy transforming this guy; however, I'm just not that into the aesthetics, and I already own a few other Bayformer Starscream toys- I don't feel the need for any more. Bias aside, they did a nice job with this figure: looks really good in both modes, the articulation is pretty impressive,  I really appreciate that the gear can fold, and they created a mildly complex, all-inclusive transformation that looks satisfying rather than frustrating.

'Preciate your sharing the video here, Scyla. Cheers!

[Tking22]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

While I have little interest in any more Bayformers (jury's still out for Blackout, though), this is the level of engineering that I wish we saw in most of the Voyager, or even Leader class figures.

I'm confused, isn't this just the Leader Class movie Starscream that was released multiple times over? Same engineering, same figure and all that? I'm pretty sure I have this exact thing boxed up somewhere but with the stupid Cybertronian markings all over it.

And what's up with this Studio Blackout or whatever? Is it essentially a new Leader class Blackout like many people clamored for years ago? I'm not getting the big resurgence of movie toys, didn't the franchise just get set to be rebooted after the solo Bumblebee movie? These will all eventually be the "old" movie designs, no?

[M'Kyuun]

One last 'hurrah!' before it's officially, and may I add thankfully, dead. That's my thinking about it, anyway. The same applies to the Bayformers  only just recently receiving the MP treatment. Trying to squeeze one last drop of grape juice from a raisin.

I'm a bit confused, though, as there's a leader class Blackout that's been talked about, and then the Studio series, which I'm guessing is a smaller scale. IDK. If anybody has clarity on this, I'd appreciate some elucidation.

Edit: As to your initial question whether this is the previous leader class toy, after looking at a vid for the Hunt for the Decepticons leader class figure, they're different. That figure had lights and sounds, the landing gear were in a different place in bot mode, there are a few differences between the studio's legs and the leader (the leader is far more detailed- really a lovely figure, TBH). That's what I see comparing the two. I'm sure there are more differences, but these were obvious enough for me to make my conclusion.

Edited March 22, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Mechapilot77]

2 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I'm confused, isn't this just the Leader Class movie Starscream that was released multiple times over? Same engineering, same figure and all that? I'm pretty sure I have this exact thing boxed up somewhere but with the stupid Cybertronian markings all over it.

And what's up with this Studio Blackout or whatever? Is it essentially a new Leader class Blackout like many people clamored for years ago? I'm not getting the big resurgence of movie toys, didn't the franchise just get set to be rebooted after the solo Bumblebee movie? These will all eventually be the "old" movie designs, no?

its tiny though as all teh studio series are.  think that starscream but like the size of a larger deluxe or smaller voyager.  downscaled if you will

[Tking22]

Interesting... I don't do the Bayverse stuff myself but some of my buddies are wetting themselves over the in hand images of Blackout, and they are insanely hyped for that Starscream and some Studio Series Grimlock nobody has seen in hand yet.

[Scyla]

I think one Hasbro designer mentioned during NYCC that the Studio Series is intended to scale to each other in robot mode. So Blackout and Grimlock are exactly as tall as they ought to be compared to the hight of Studio Series Bumblebee (in bot mode). 

[mikeszekely]

19 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

While I have little interest in any more Bayformers (jury's still out for Blackout, though)

As much as I'd say I really don't care for the Bayverse designs, after 11 years and 5 movies they're a part of the cultural zeitgeist now.  Bayverse Optimus and Bumblebee are arguably more recognizable as Op and Bee for a lot of people now than the G1 versions.  So despite my dislike, I'm kind of interested in having proper MP-style versions of the characters from the first Bayverse movie, especially the Decepticons.

12 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I'm confused, isn't this just the Leader Class movie Starscream that was released multiple times over? Same engineering, same figure and all that? I'm pretty sure I have this exact thing boxed up somewhere but with the stupid Cybertronian markings all over it.

Like I said, not the Leader-class but the Deluxe-class from Dark of the Moon.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

So despite my dislike, I'm kind of interested in having proper MP-style versions of the characters from the first Bayverse movie, especially the Decepticons.

NOT MY PRIME.

Seriously, they may be popular, but there's no room on my shelf for ugly robots, unless I REALLY like them. And if I really dislike them, all the cool-looking in the world won't overcome that.

[Firefox]

On 3/22/2018 at 9:23 AM, mikeszekely said:

From what I've seen, the new Studio Series Voyager Starscream reminds me a lot of the old Dark of the Moon Deluxe.

You are right, it is the exact same mold with some improvement done on it. It has the exact same transformation. I have the DOTM Starscream and can vouch for it. Same goes with Blackout, it's not entirely new mold as some say, it just old mold with improvement.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Firefox

[M'Kyuun]

19 hours ago, Firefox said:

You are right, it is the exact same mold with some improvement done on it. It has the exact same transformation. I have the DOTM Starscream and can vouch for it. Same goes with Blackout, it's not entirely new mold as some say, it just old mold with improvement.

That's interesting. I don't recall there being a leader scaled mold of Blackout, as I probably would have bought it back when it was first released. Then again, looking at it now, there are things about it that don't appeal, like the fugly hands sans wrist joints, that give pause. So I may have skipped it and forgotten about it ; my memory is terrible anyway, so forgetting something that didn't grab my attention in the first place is par for the course. Alas, while the overall mold looks decent to me, I think I'll pass on the Studio and wait for a MP version. And if no MP version is forthcoming, it's money saved for something else, like more G1 MPs. Priorities!

Good ol' Hasbro recycling molds. BUT, if it makes them money that goes towards Generations, then I say resell the crap out of those things. 

Edit: So pics of Studio Brawl showed up on Seibertron.com, and I tried to match it to a previous mold without success. Within the Movie mainline, they made deluxe and leader class versions, but my understanding is that this fig is closer to voyager. New mold? Moreover, the configuration of his treads is different from standard; they generally sit on his shoulders horizontally facing front to back, rather than parallel to the body. I thought his treads might actually roll looking at the pic, but then I noticed that the tread sections on his legs break up, so I guess not. Too bad, as rolling treads would have significantly bumped up my interest, and just generally made him a better toy. Anyway, I kinda dig this look for him. I like his deluxe version (never owned the leader class despite being mighty tempted. Brawl is one of the few Bayverse designs that appeals to me). To me, esp in this paint scheme, the Studio toy looks more like a variable military mecha concept than many of the more shard-heavy Bayformer designs. Anyway, this may end up being my guilty pleasure from this line.   Slightly off-topic, but my ruminations on this figure made me think of future toys, and the hope that it'll become something of a standard to equip all treaded vehicles with rolling treads- it may take some new engineering ideas, but that's the kind of progress I hope to see in the next twenty to thirty years.

Edit to the edit: Out of curiosity, I pulled up some images of the CG model for Brawl, and the Studio figure is correct in its placement of the treaded section vertically within the torso, which makes him the only mainline Movieverse Brawl toy to get it right, that I'm aware of anyway. And, after reading the accompanying article, it is indeed a new mold.

Edited March 24, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Omega Prime]

Someone posted in hand pictures of Power of the Primes Predaking!

(From TFW2005)

 

More at: http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/03/24/power-primes-predaking-hand-images-361270

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I like it-the blocky look of the PotP line fits Predaking well.

[M'Kyuun]

Yeah, it homages the blocky  original, but unlike the Constructicons, who were all voyager scale, these guys all appear to have full range of articulation in their individual bot modes. I like how they did the elbows for Predaking, rather than having the thighs fully extended- makes him look more solid, even if it limits rotation a bit. Unfortunately, it looks like the animal modes are pretty much going to be bricks- big blocky bricks with oddly proportioned limbs relative to their bodies. Too, the combiner apparatus is rather large and looks a bit awkward on a few of the bots. All things considered, however, I think it's a decent update, at least as far as articulation goes, while still keeping the 80's look. I know that might not appeal to everyone, though.

[mikeszekely]

After what feels like months of going to Walmart and seeing nothing but some RiD and TLK stuff, I finally saw some wave 2 Power of the Primes Deluxes. (Forgive the crappier than usual pics, but I just moved and most of my stuff is still packed away).

Like the other PotP Dinbobots, I'd say these guys look... OK.  About half of Sludge is repainted parts from Slag (shoulders and biceps, everything from the waist down minus the dino legs), but at least he got his wings, and his torso is appropriately t-shaped.  Snarl is similarly passably Snarlish.

Just like Slag and Swoop, you only get one sword and one gun between the two Dinobots.  The gun, which comes with Sludge, is identical to Slag's.  Snarl's sword does appear to be a different mold than Swoop's.  Curiously, where Swoop's was molded in clear plastic and painted red Snarl's sword just just clear plastic.  These dinobots also come with a second pair of "Prime Armors".  They're identical to the previous ones (with the minor exception being that the wrist peg on Snarl's is gold plastic instead of black).  They have the same removable clear panels to insert a Titan Master, a Prime Master, or an Enigma, and the clear panels can still be held as a sort of pistol.  They're still super obviously meant to be combined mode fists with extra thumbs, they can still be plugged onto their chests, Sludge's forearms, or Snarl's shoulders, and they still look stupid as anything but hands.

Articulation is pretty much the same on both figures.  You've got a balljoint for Snarl's neck and a mushroom swivel for Sludges, but then they both have balljointed shoulders that both get about 90 degres laterally, both have bicep swivels, both have 90 degrees of elbow bend, neither have wrist swivels, both have waist swivels and ball jointed hips good for about 90 degrees forwad and backward and under 90 degrees laterally (although Snarl gets a bit closer to 90 than Sludge).  Both have mushroom thigh swivels, both have just shy of 90 degrees of knee bend, and both have no feet or ankle articulation.

Both dinobots are passably similar to the G1 toys, sans chrome.  The big difference is that Sludge's front legs are more Slag than G1 Sludge, and Snarl's got some gold on his rear legs that should be black, some black that should be gray, and some gray on his tail that should be gold.  Snarl's front legs and Sludge's rear legs have no articulation aside from being able to rotate around the shoulder/hips, so while you have some articulation in the other legs there's really only one position where you can get all their legs flat (and actually, do to how his rear dino toes are molded, Snarl's rear legs are never flat).  Disappointingly, neither of their mouths open.  I could live with Snarl's not opening, but Sludge's really looks like it could have with minimal effort on Hasbro's part.

For dino weapon storage, Sludge has a port on his dino neck, ports on his rear dino hips, or ports on his sides.  Snarl seems to just have the ones on his dino hips.

And let's not forget the gimmick for PotP Deluxes (and Voyagers) is Combiner Wars part 2, so here they both are in leg mode.  Remember the feet come with Grimlock.

And arm mode.  In both limb modes, Sludge's lower half has trouble staying together.  This is a problem shared with Slag.

Of course, now that we have all five Dinobots we can form Volcanicus!  I'm not sure what Hasbro's intended "default" combination is; both ToyWorld and GCreation used Slag and Swoop for arms and Sludge and Snarl for legs.  I was tempted to go with that myself, but I like how Swoop's wings fold up for leg mode and I don't care for how Snarl's tail sticks up more than any part of any other leg-mode dinobot, so I wound up swapping them out.

And... what to say here, besides yikes.  I mean, I personally love the idea of a canonical Dinobot combiner.  I think Grimlock's transformation to torso mode is certainly different.  And I really like that the PotP feet have ratcheted ankle tilts, which puts them well ahead of the hand/foot/guns from Combiner Wars.  They're a bit skinny, though.  Volcanicus himself has the same crappy hips as CW Menasor, and an extremely wide chest and narrow waist.  The shoulder connectors are farily low, so Volcanicus reaches below his knees.  You could argue that the goofy proportions give him a more bestial appearance, or that they kind of mimic the one non-canonical comic book appearance of a Dinobot combiner, but I think it just looks bad.

Now, the extra set of hands could plug into the heels of the feet, giving him bigger heels.  I have a feeling that this would work pretty well if you're making a combiner with Starscream or Elita-1 for a torso.  However, there's another use for them on Volcanicus.

Using plugs on the torso, you can attach the extra hands to fill him out a bit.  And, to be fair, that does help, but it still a bit like putting lipstick on a pig.  He's still got a chest that's too broad, bad Menasor hips, and hands that go below the knees.

Oh, and something I didn't pick up on when I reviewed Grimlock awhile back, but the Enigma he comes with can fit into Grimlock's dino mouth on Volcanicus' chest, if you're into that look.

And that's that.  Over 10 years after Hasbro launched the Classics line we finally have new, official, G1-ish Dinobots, and frankly I'm not sure if it's worth the wait.  I know that Deluxes are Hasbro's bread and butter, but it still feels like the wrong size class for them and it leaves Grimlock at double the height of the rest of the Dinobots.  It also seems to saddle the Deluxes with some half-hearted design choices, like Slag's lack of wings and a lack of articulation in general for dinosaur mode.  Meanwhile, Grimlock suffers, especially in dinosaur mode, from having to be a combiner torso.  But, I feel like you can't entirely blame their woes on being combiners, either, because both ToyWorld and GCreation delivered combining dinobots that, with the exception of ToyWorld's Swoop, are much better in both robot and dinosaur mode than these guys.  I'd say, aside from these guys being the cheapest option and the only official one, you're honestly better off with either the ToyWorld, the GCreation, or if you don't care about combining the Fansproject Dinobots for your CHUG collections.  And if you just want the best representation of the Dinobots in toy form Gigapower and FansToys have you covered.  As it stands, I like the $90+ you'd spend collecting these guys is $90+ you could put toward literally any other option.

[JB0]

Yeah, I picked up Sludge and Snarl today too. Wasn't expecting too, it's just been a couple pegs full of Dreadwind for ages now.

 

Never picked up Grimlock, never going to. He's sad in tyrannosaur mode, he's sad in humanoid mode, and he's sad in black lion mode(though there's some neat concepts there). Far as I'm concerned, these four are teamed with Classics Grimlock. No, I'm not particularly bothered by the fact that he's a much more modern take on the concept than his buddies. He was involved in a nucleon spill or something, that's why he's different.

 

But hell, I was buying them mainly to attach to Combiner Wars Sky Lynx*. The scale problem is a lot smaller there, given that Sky Lynx is SUPPOSED to be bigger than the dinobots. Expect pictures of Dino-Soar™ soon as I figure out which bot is which limb.

...

When you think about it, dinobot scale works very strangely. We want a brontosaurus, a triceratops, a stegosaurus, a pterodactyl, and a tyrannosaurus to all be the same size.  And if one is larger, it should be the tyrannosaur, not the brontosaur.

 

 

*Except Slash. I bought her because she's about 90% awesome.

Edited March 30, 2018 by JB0

[Black Valkyrie]

 

 

[mikeszekely]

13 hours ago, JB0 said:

But hell, I was buying them mainly to attach to Combiner Wars Sky Lynx*. The scale problem is a lot smaller there, given that Sky Lynx is SUPPOSED to be bigger than the dinobots. Expect pictures of Dino-Soar™ soon as I figure out which bot is which limb.

This is brilliant, and I would totally steal your idea except that I've never seen a CW Sky Lynx outside of a Youtube review.

Anyway... the Dinobots were a bit of a bust, and I've skipped Jazz, the fembots, and the jets... but I did pick up Rippersnapper.

Robot mode is looking pretty sharp, if I do say so myself.  I've looked at the toy and some cartoon stills, and I think Rippersnapper compares favorably with Unique Toys' much more expensive version.  The most obvious change is loosing the monster arms on his back/shoulders, and gaining some pretty swish claws on the tops of his hands, Wolverine-style.

What's more, Rippersnapper has pretty good articulation for a Hasbro Deluxe.  A ball-jointed head gives him some upward tilt and a little sideways tilt in addition to roation.  Ball joints in his shoulders give you rotation and 90 degrees of lateral movement, but those balljoints are on hinges in the chest so you can go all the way to 180, or just pose him with a shrug.  Ball joints in his elbows provide both a bicep swivel and 90 degrees of bend.  And, in an extreme rarity for Hasbro toys, Rippersnapper has wrist swivels!  He's also got a waist swivel, ball-jointed hips that go 90 degrees forward and backward and about 45 degrees laterally, mushroom-style thigh swivels, and 90 degrees of knee bend.  No foot articulation, sadly.  Upscale this, replace the ball joints with hinges and swivels, and give him some ankle articulation and I'd be prepared to argue that this is a better robot than Unique Toys.

Accessory-wise, he comes with the stupid "Prime Armor" that the dinobots do, just in blue plastic with a blue cover instead of black plastic with a clear cover.  The cover can still be removed and held.  The armor can plug into a port on Rippersnapper's chest where it looks as stupid as ever.  However, if you're as set on ignoring it as I am a nice touch is that the port is behind a flip-down panel, so you don't have him going around with a 5mm peg hole on his chest all day.  Rippersnapper also comes with not one but two blue rifles.  The rifles can be stored on his back when they're not in use, and they feel pretty refreshing after the lackluster armaments that came with the Dinobots.

Rippersnapper's beast mode is pretty good, too.  His robot arms become his beast arms and retain their articulation, which for the most part works pretty well.  My only complaint are the very visble robot fists.  Hasbro tried to hide them with covers on the bottom, but it's not totally working.  The beast legs have big ball joints at the hip for rotation and a small amount of spread and swivel, plus a joint at the knee.  The head doesn't really have any articulation, but the mouth opens and closes.  Another bend at the digitgrade joint and the ankle and Rippersnapper's beast mode would be perfect.  I already like the proportions better than the Unique Toys' version.

The two rifles can peg onto the back near his shark fin.  Unlike the G1 toy, they're not attached to the fin as a single piece, but I'd argue that this actually works better (in addtion to negating the need for the white gun the G1 toy came with).

Of course Rippersnapper has his limb modes as well.  His robot arms don't tuck away particularly well, and the arm mode has the usual Combiner Wars thigh-elbows, but I'm nitpicking what appears to be limb modes as good as any other CW/PotP limbs.

And if I'm being totally fair, I'm nitpicking because Rippersnapper might be one of the best Deluxe Hasbro figures released in recent memory.  He works just fine in all four modes.  The things that hold him back, like articulation and the over-use of ball joints, are things that are standard on Hasbro Deluxes but things that, if they were adressed, would put this on par with or even surpass some of the 3P combiners.  As I've noted, there's a lot here that I prefer over even the Unique Toys version.

[mikeszekely]

One more for you.  I actually mentioned I'd picked this one up quite some time ago, but got wrapped up in closing and moving.  Anyway, this is PotP Hun-Grr.

At first blush, Hun-Grr's forearms are a little too big, and maybe his feet are a little small, but he seems close to the G1 toy.  The coloring is even more accurate than Unique Toys'.  However, there's one super obvious glaring issue here, and that's the tail running down the front of his torso instead of his back.  It really makes him look stupid.  Suffice to say, Unique Toys' is still my favorite.  PotP can't even quite top my  G1 toy.

One other thing I'm not really a fan of is that while there is some paint (you can see purple on his chest and blue on his shoulders), some of the details are done in stickers.  Now, I'm not necessarily anti-sticker, but the quality of the stickers are far below what you'd get from something like Reprolabels, and I think my two year old could have applied them neater.

The reason for the tail necktie seems to be that Hasbro decided to cram as much of Abominus' chest onto him as possible.  It's really too bad they didn't go the Menasor route and make up a new sixth Terrorcon whose sole purose is to transform into a chest plate, but c'est la vie.

While we're back there, yeah, those legs are pretty hollow.

For all his doofiness, the articulation on him isn't half bad.  His head on on a ball joint with some down, miniscule up, and miniscule sideways tilt.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and another ratchet gives him 90 degrees of lateral motion.  He's got thigh swivels, and 90 degrees of elbow bend.  No wrist or waist articulation.  His hips bend forward 90 degrees and backward about 45 degrees, and soft ratchets bend 90 degrees laterally.  His knees are double-jointed and can bend all the way around.  And, most impressively of all for a Hasbro figure, he's got ankle articulation- some up, over 90 degrees down, and 45 degree pivots.  I'd say the ankle articulation goes a long way toward redeeming the tail chest and ugly backpack.

As was the case with Grimlock, the only accessories Hun-Grr comes with are his "Prime Armors," aka Abominus' feet.  Guess they really want you to buy those Prime Masters, eh?  At least they're a different mold than Grimlock's, although they do still have the divot for a Titanmaster/Prime Master/Enigma.  Hun-Grr has some posts on his forearms where you can plug them in.

Hun-Grr's dragon mode is... not good.  The front legs are even stumpier than the G1 toy's, and the only articulation is the rotation at the hip.  Due to the fixed nature of the front paw there aren't much in the way of usuable positions that keep all his feet flat for the back, either.  Speaking of those back legs, they're backward.  And that's before you even look at the big pink block just chilling on his underside.  Mostly, PotP Hun-Grr is making me appreciate just how much more dynamic the Unique Toys version is, but this is a toy that mostly looks worse than even the G1 version.

The dragon mode's one saving grace is going to be the necks and heads.  The robot hips move the necks up and down, as well as out from the body.  The thigh swivels become neck swivels.  The double-jointed knees give the necks plenty of flex.  The heads can look up up, down, left, and right at the robot ankles.  His jaws can open wide.  And the flared shape around the knees actually works pretty well for him.

As far as the Prime Armor, it just plugs onto the same posts used for robot mode.

Taken on his own, Hun-Grr is probably not the Generations update of the G1 toy a lot of us were hoping for.  If there's one thing he does excel at, though, it's torso mode.  The transformation is fairly clever and somewhat akin to Combiner Wars Silverbolt, with his robot arms forming the thighs and his legs curling around to make shoulders.  His dragon heads tuck away into the hollow spots I showed on the backs of his legs, and his backpack unfurls to form his armor from pelvis to chest, with his front dragon legs filling in the gaps.  Splashes of paint on the dragon legs and stickers on the dragon necks help mainain the color and shape of the G1 chest plate, and the head, which is spot-on to the G1 toy, folds out of Hun-Gurr's tummy on an armature to get it in the right place.  Tabs and slots lock everything together very solidly.  The result is one of the most solid, least kibbly, and best-proportioned of the Combiner Wars/PotP combiner torsos.  I'd say that Hun-Grr is probably worth picking up for that reason alone.

Oh, one more thing- there is a compartment that opens up on Abominus' chest that you can insert the Enigma that Hun-Grr comes with.  What I like about it is that the compartment can close for that classic G1 look while the Enigma is still inside.  That's storage where you won't loose it without having to buy a bunch more Prime Masters to explain why only one foot has something stuffed in it. 

[Kuma Style]

Just got a chance to open up Sunstreaker.. it's beautiful.

[derex3592]

damn, that is a good looking Autobot!