The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

46 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Sorry @mikeszekely.  Just confirming the date.

You didn't do anything wrong, amigo. I'm just tying together the official fan stream announcement with my earlier unconfirmed date for preorders. Because yes, they're gonna talk Studio Series, and yes, you're gonna be able to preorder Megatron on Tuesday.😁

[Hikuro]

The moment he's up for preorder I'm in.

I managed to successfully find a Slingshot at the local target, last one, both it and the walmart are just crawling with SS86 and SSOne Bee's and Que's and Devestation Optimus. 

I rather like Slingshot....his vehicle mode cleans up really well but then in robot mode he's got big legs that'll take up a great amount of space in the cabinet until the rest of the figures are released. So that's 2 down, 3 to go. 

[M'Kyuun]

On 6/20/2025 at 7:06 PM, mikeszekely said:

You didn't do anything wrong, amigo. I'm just tying together the official fan stream announcement with my earlier unconfirmed date for preorders. Because yes, they're gonna talk Studio Series, and yes, you're gonna be able to preorder Megatron on Tuesday.😁

Yay! And this time I don't have an appointment!

[mikeszekely]

Hey @Scyla I wanted to give you a heads up. This year's Pulsecon exclusive is Commander-class Armada Nemesis Prime.

[Scyla]

51 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Hey @Scyla I wanted to give you a heads up. This year's Pulsecon exclusive is Commander-class Armada Nemesis Prime.

I already heard about it, but I don’t know when Pulsecon is or how to purchase any of the exclusives. 

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

I already heard about it, but I don’t know when Pulsecon is or how to purchase any of the exclusives. 

The official date hasn't been set, but it's traditionally September. Whatever day it is, you just have to order from Habro Pulse (the EU version does ship to Germany). I just don't remember if you have to be a Pulse Premium member or not.

[sh9000]

Just saw these new product listings:

G2 Swoop and Sludge

Deluxe BW Quickstrike

Deluxe Quintus Prime

Voyager Nexus Prime

Voyager Armada Sideways

Leader Shattered Beast Razorclaw

Leader BW Neo Big Convoy

Voyager Animated Wreck-Gar

Deluxe Animated Ratchet

Commander Onslaught

Voyager Brawl

Deluxe Blast Off

Voyager Swindle

Deluxe Powerglide

Deluxe Swerve

Deluxe Smokescreen

Deluxe Sureshot

[M'Kyuun]

Ooh, some interesting ones in there. Deluxe Smokescreen has my attention, but I wonder if it's G1 or some other version of the character. I'm still quite happy with my ER version. Deluxe Powerglide, if G1, sounds promising, as well as Animated Wreck-Gar and Ratchet. Glad to see the rest of the Combaticons on that list; I'll be happy to have another Bruticus, and one that's not as floppy as the CW version.

Still waiting for them to do BW Polar Claw. He was my first BW toy, so I have an affinity for him. 

[pengbuzz]

Then there's this (not sure if anyone reported on this yet; searched MW forums and found nothing):

https://tformers.com/55251

Just rumors so far (like Magnus and Grimlock)...

Edited Tuesday at 06:33 AM by pengbuzz

[mikeszekely]

The list tracks pretty well with what I've heard. Powerglide's a bit of a surprise, but not unwelcome; I think it's their intention to replace all minibots with Deluxes, and with Seaspray and Windcharger supposedly I the way it doesn't leave too many left to do. 

Swerve is also one I wasn't aware of, but that's another easy Gears repaint. His cartoon presence was minimal, but he was popular in IDW. I expect we'll see Tailgate, too, at some point after Windcharger.

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Deluxe Smokescreen has my attention, but I wonder if it's G1 or some other version of the character.

AFAIK it's Prime Smokescreen.

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Still waiting for them to do BW Polar Claw. He was my first BW toy, so I have an affinity for him.

I don't know how far along in development it got, but he was planned and I think even appeared in some Kingdom artwork. He was shelved indefinitely, though.

35 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Just rumors so far (like Magnus and Grimlock)...

Big if true. I've always found the G1 toys fascinating; so far from the animation, then learned later it's because they were original cool mech suits.

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

The list tracks pretty well with what I've heard. Powerglide's a bit of a surprise, but not unwelcome; I think it's their intention to replace all minibots with Deluxes, and with Seaspray and Windcharger supposedly I the way it doesn't leave too many left to do. 

Swerve is also one I wasn't aware of, but that's another easy Gears repaint. His cartoon presence was minimal, but he was popular in IDW. I expect we'll see Tailgate, too, at some point after Windcharger.

I'm glad Hasbro decided to upscale the minibots and it's not at all surprising to see more coming beyond the fact that there was no previous announcement or leak. I'll be happy to have Powerglide, Windcharger, and Seaspray on my shelf. I'm not familiar with Swerve or Tailgate as characters, but if the toys turn out alright, and thus far I've been rather pleased with the minibots they've done thus far, I'll probably pick them up as I did with past versions, at least Tailgate; I don't think I own a single version of Swerve.

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

AFAIK it's Prime Smokescreen.

Man, it's been so long since I watched Prime that I had to look him up. I remember that toy being a bit fidgety and certainly not their best effort in that line. Considering those toys enjoyed a level of complexity higher than today's deluxes, my skepticism that they'll do an accurate capture runneth over. Guess we'll see.

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't know how far along in development it got, but he was planned and I think even appeared in some Kingdom artwork. He was shelved indefinitely, though.

Most disappointing but given the amount of time that has elapsed since Kingdom, where in fact he did appear in the box art, I guess it's not unexpected that it won't come to fruition at this point unless Mark or Evan or one of the other powers that be (perhaps a Takara designer) really wants it. That Kingdom art had a lot of us hopeful, I think.

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Big if true. I've always found the G1 toys fascinating; so far from the animation, then learned later it's because they were original cool mech suits.

I saw this announced on TFW2005 a while back and I thought it interesting given how far the toon version varied from the Diaclone toys. (Eternal thanks to Floro Dery) I don't think they were bad toys in the context of Diaclone, i.e. mecha suits for little dudes, but in terms of being sentient anthropomorphic bots, they just didn't really fit in with the rest of the Autobot gang. That said, I still have my G1 Ratchet, the only one of the van bros I owned. Even then, it just felt jarringly different. The decision to do them in Missing Link is odd given all the other bots that more closely comport to their toon versions, but I guess in terms of just updating all the G1 toys with articulation, they're a must, especially given the prominence of the characters. I think it'd be interesting if Takara found a way to give them their odd G1 configuration and then combine the weird upper body with bits of the treaded chariot to create a bot mode more reminiscent of Dery's design, essentially making them triple changers in a sense. I don't collect Missing Link (just give me Prowl, please), but I'd love to see them pull off some cool engineering if they indeed make the attempt to do as I described.

As far as doing a Decepticon, I think they'd get the most mileage out of Soundwave due to his bevy of cassette minions who they can repaint to their heart's content. If they do Megatron, my interest is piqued as well. The G1 toy always fascinated me, and while I now own 'perfected' versions of that toy and character, something about the original toy still grabs me and I wouldn't mind owning a fully articulated version of it. I figure they made Prime, so they're kinda obligated at some point to do Megs. I'm here for it.

[sh9000]

Official pics.  Preorders go up in a few hours.

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:53 PM by sh9000

[mikeszekely]

Yeah, preorders should be 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT. I'm in for everyone but Grimlock, and that only because I already have him.

EDIT: And hey, my Pulse Premium which I haven't bothered to renew yet doesn't run out until Monday.

Edited Tuesday at 02:59 PM by mikeszekely

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

As far as doing a Decepticon, I think they'd get the most mileage out of Soundwave due to his bevy of cassette minions who they can repaint to their heart's content. If they do Megatron, my interest is piqued as well. The G1 toy always fascinated me, and while I now own 'perfected' versions of that toy and character, something about the original toy still grabs me and I wouldn't mind owning a fully articulated version of it. I figure they made Prime, so they're kinda obligated at some point to do Megs. I'm here for it.

Yeah; his cassettes wouldn't be much of an issue, as the MP versions were about the same size as the original G1's and were poseable.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Yeah, preorders should be 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT. I'm in for everyone but Grimlock, and that only because I already have him.

EDIT: And hey, my Pulse Premium which I haven't bothered to renew yet doesn't run out until Monday.

Good timing on the premium membership.

I'm in for SS86 Megatron, Scavenger, and Mixmaster, perhaps TFOne Starscream (transformation's a little lazy, but I still like the overall look of him. I can accept a little more wonkiness on a Cybertronian jet alt mode as opposed to one based on a real aircraft), and KSI Widow (undeniably beautiful car mode and I'm really digging the bot mode they cooked up for her. There's just something intrinsically cool about using the front of the car to inform overly large shoulders or shoulder pauldrons. The rest of her has some pretty good proportions as well, although she's a bit thicc in the calves which likely limits their range to 90 degrees. Standard fare for a deluxe. I can live with it b/c there's no alternative.😄)

Given the question at the end of the stream, I responded an unequivocal 'YES' to all G1 bots featuring in the SS86 product line. That may be a little controversial, but judging by the overwhelmingly high number of yes votes, I'm obviously not alone in that sentiment. I also saw, to by heart's jubilation, a number of folks requesting a non-death SS86 Prowl figure, and though I really like my ER Prowl and have invested time and money into making him as close to the G1 toy and box art as possible, I'm always down for a new improved version of the character. I also put in a request for Omnibots and I saw at least one other comment requesting the same. I hope they do them, as they're already doing and have done far more obscure characters and toy updates and for Primus' sake, they're just really due some updated toys in the main line. Oh yeah, I also saw a number of folks mentioning Mirage as a part of that question and given the lackluster toys we got for Siege and Earthrise, a new G1 accurate mold is long overdue. I'm still using the Classics toy in my First Season display, waiting patiently for that better toy to come along. Full disclosure, I love the Classics toy, along with Hound, who's also my S1 placeholder, both of whom were designed by Alex Kubalsky. Shame he left Takara, but MMC has certainly benefitted from his genius. Fortunately, a good deal of his design philosophy has been embraced and carried forward since his departure, to our great benefit as toy collectors and fans.

Edited Tuesday at 05:10 PM by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

Full disclosure, I grew up on G1, and I want whatever is going to give me the best versions of the G1 cast, right up to and including do-overs for the figures that fell a bit short even in more recent lines like Siege/Earthrise/Kingdom/Legacy/AotP, and if stuffing Mirage in Studio Series is the best way to get one that isn't a clumsy retool of a wonky-in-the-first-place Siege toy then 100% do it.

That said, there's going to be pushback.  It's tough for us old coots to remember sometimes, but Transformers 07 is just two short years away from turning twenty, which means kids who were introduced to the brand from that movie are now in their mid-to-late 20s... the same age I was when Classics came out and I started collecting.  While some of those fans have grown to appreciate G1, there are a lot of them who simply aren't interested in that part of the franchise.  For three years, Studio Series only featured toys from the live-action movies, and for three years Bayverse fans lived with the notion that Generations/Siege/Earthrise was for G1ers, and Studio Series was their thing, and then suddenly not only are the Bayformer designs sharing space with semi-reboot G1-esque Cybertronian designs from Bumblebee but now they're giving up slots to actual G1.  Then came the addition of Gamer Edition, and in 2023 and 2024 there were zero figures released from the first five films (to be fair, that has a lot more to do with Rise of the Beasts than 86).  There's been a lot of grumbling in some corners about how characters like Arcee and Ironhide got Studio Series do-overs for then-relatively recent Earthrise figures but they're still waiting for Skids and Mudflap, or how when the Commander-class came to Studio Series it was three years of '86 when they'd really like more (and bigger) AoE Dinobots.  I don't envy the team at Hasbro and the tightrope they're walking; G1 consistently sells, and you want to go where the money is, but you don't want to alienate the movie fans.

[M'Kyuun]

27 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Full disclosure, I grew up on G1, and I want whatever is going to give me the best versions of the G1 cast, right up to and including do-overs for the figures that fell a bit short even in more recent lines like Siege/Earthrise/Kingdom/Legacy/AotP, and if stuffing Mirage in Studio Series is the best way to get one that isn't a clumsy retool of a wonky-in-the-first-place Siege toy then 100% do it.

That said, there's going to be pushback.  It's tough for us old coots to remember sometimes, but Transformers 07 is just two short years away from turning twenty, which means kids who were introduced to the brand from that movie are now in their mid-to-late 20s... the same age I was when Classics came out and I started collecting.  While some of those fans have grown to appreciate G1, there are a lot of them who simply aren't interested in that part of the franchise.  For three years, Studio Series only featured toys from the live-action movies, and for three years Bayverse fans lived with the notion that Generations/Siege/Earthrise was for G1ers, and Studio Series was their thing, and then suddenly not only are the Bayformer designs sharing space with semi-reboot G1-esque Cybertronian designs from Bumblebee but now they're giving up slots to actual G1.  Then came the addition of Gamer Edition, and in 2023 and 2024 there were zero figures released from the first five films (to be fair, that has a lot more to do with Rise of the Beasts than 86).  There's been a lot of grumbling in some corners about how characters like Arcee and Ironhide got Studio Series do-overs for then-relatively recent Earthrise figures but they're still waiting for Skids and Mudflap, or how when the Commander-class came to Studio Series it was three years of '86 when they'd really like more (and bigger) AoE Dinobots.  I don't envy the team at Hasbro and the tightrope they're walking; G1 consistently sells, and you want to go where the money is, but you don't want to alienate the movie fans.

I have thoughts and opinions. 😄 I too grew up with G1, although I was thirteen when it premiered, a little older than the target demographic. Nevertheless, the concept sang to the deepest core of my being and still does. I also want the best versions of those characters, although my view of that skirts somewhere between toon'accuracy', toy, and box art. Anyway, since G1 lies at the core of my collecting, I'm also down for whatever Hasbro has to do to provide that and if that means taking up a copious chunk of Studio Series doing characters that didn't show up in the film, well that's fine by me.

I make no secret that I vehemently abhor the Bayverse films. However, I acknowledge, with gratitude, that they were successful, the financial windfall thereof benefitting the brand across all lines including Classics, Animated, and Prime. Although Studio series was initially created to highlight the live-action line, I've had no problem accepting that it has grown to include general media from films to games and perhaps eventually tv series. While my initial inclination, nasty though it may be, is to say "F**k Bayverse fans" for their hard feelings over the enduring popularity of G1 and its subsuming of a good deal of Hasbro's toy production, I'm not without empathy and I know how I'd feel if the shoe was on the other foot with Bayverse becoming the most popular part of the franchise and G1 fading away and getting less and less representation. I'd be angry, disappointed, and frustrated, and so I feel for my fellow fans who, for reasons I'll never understand, love the Bay films. Indeed, Hasbro's walking a fine line to avoid alienating fans of other aspects of the franchise, which continues to grow with every new show and film, and even independent toy lines all while dealing with the financial reality that certain parts of the franchise do better than others. I'm eternally and profoundly thankful that G1 maintains its hold on fans, as it should, IMHO, for kick-starting it all and heavily informing every other incarnation. However, I do hope that fans of non-G1 Transformers get their due in plastic as well, as everybody deserves to be served. I appreciate the honesty of Evan, Mark, and the various marketers who do these fanstreams, and I hope they can offer some hope to fans who are wishing for holes to be filled or explain why they're not, at least for the present. For myself, the Omnibots remain a void in the G1 collection and I hope they get toys eventually, too, but I get the frustration from fans who want characters that have been in media, perhaps with prominence, and still aren't getting their updated toys. Patience may be a virtue, but sometimes it's a hard one to embrace.

[sh9000]

I think having all G1 episodes available to watch on Hasbro Pulse's youtube channel and rereleasing Transformers The Movie in theaters helps younger fans get more into G1.

[mikeszekely]

Just now, sh9000 said:

I think having all G1 episodes available to watch on Hasbro Pulse's youtube channel and rereleasing Transformers The Movie in theaters helps younger fans get more into G1.

It helps. But I think '80s kids seem to have the right mix of nostalgia and disposable income; time and time again G1 sells more than Beast Wars  more than Unicron Trilogy more than Bayverse.

[sh9000]

Apparently the mace accessory from the Centurion Drone set fits on Megatron.  Hasbro should have included it or something similar since Optimus came with his axe.

[mikeszekely]

If the budget for the mace went elsewhere, I'm ok with it. I never use Optimus's axe anyway.

Edited Wednesday at 09:14 PM by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

4 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

If the budget for the mace went elsewhere, I'm ok with it. I never use Optimus's axe anyway.

Likewise. I get why it's included when it is, but I never use it. Just give me the character and his/her usual weapon(s) and put any additional leftover budget into engineering, paint, or tampo.

[sh9000]

If either of you have that mace accessory and you don't need it then I'd buy it from you.

[M'Kyuun]

19 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I think having all G1 episodes available to watch on Hasbro Pulse's youtube channel and rereleasing Transformers The Movie in theaters helps younger fans get more into G1.

Ultimately, though, it's likely going to be older folks who steer the younger to it, be they parents, aunts or uncles, older friends, etc. It is heartwarming, however, to see younger reviewers like a certain British reviewer who (notoriously) gets the toys in hand well before their releases to do his reviews. I'm glad he's on there and that he has embraced G1 with zeal, as younger viewers may be more inclined to watch his channel over those like Emgo, although Emgo's humor may draw them in, too. Suffice it to say, the majority of TF reviewers that I'm aware of are likely in their forties or over and may not appeal to kids so I'm hoping more younger reviewers embrace G1 and keep the torch burning for future generations. Too, hopefully many of those younger fans will become designers for Hasbro and keep the toys coming for those future fans. Likewise in Japan with Takara-Tomy. Moreso in Japan, as that's actually where the toys are designed; no shade on Evan or Mark, but I don't think Hasbro could design a transforming toy from scratch if they had to. I'd love to see an American toy company formed that does just that, perhaps with their own IP. I'd love to see the 80s transforming toy craze make a return full gusto, inspiring today's kids to want to take that up as a profession. Perhaps there'd even be a college course: Designing transforming toys 101. That would be my utopia.

Seems like China is cornering the market on transforming toys today, and more power to them, as evidenced by much of their output. I wish we'd catch that bug here in the US; we could do with more transforming robot lines and fiction, new approaches, new aesthetics (again which the Chinese are doing), and above all, new toys and models. Hasbro's ruled the transforming robot toy realm in the US for far too long without any challengers (Gobots only ran from '83-87, and Hasbro bought the brand from Tonka in '91). I'd love to see them get some competition. Heck, if I had the wherewithal and the finances, I'd do it myself. For now, it's just a dream, and I explore my own creativity and desires for these things through LEGO.

[M'Kyuun]

17 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Apparently the mace accessory from the Centurion Drone set fits on Megatron.  Hasbro should have included it or something similar since Optimus came with his axe.

Man, Takara really did a great job with those legs and sandwiching the lower tank body into them. That's an excellent looking Megatron. I still, wish, however, that they'd brought the same A-game to the turret, as the scope just looks too much like a scope and breaks the illusion. Moreover, the pistol barrel sticking out of the end of the scope just doesn't really look appealing or realistic; it looks exactly like what it is, a pistol barrel awkwardly sticking out of a gun scope. I hope third parties address it with better looking more realistic solutions to make the tank mode look better. It's a shame they couldn't get it closer to this concept art.

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I still, wish, however, that they'd brought the same A-game to the turret, as the scope just looks too much like a scope and breaks the illusion. Moreover, the pistol barrel sticking out of the end of the scope just doesn't really look appealing or realistic; it looks exactly like what it is, a pistol barrel awkwardly sticking out of a gun scope.

I just don't know how, on a Hasbro budget, you do that without making his arms more turret-shaped or his pistol barrel more tank gun-shaped. Like, yeah, it'd make for a way better tank mode, and would probably look great on an updated pseudo-G1 Megatron from IDW or something, but it'd make those elements less cartoon-accurate in bot mode. For me, who thinks Megatron's real alt mode is the pistol accessory, that's not a compromise I'm comfortable with.

[sh9000]

Tank gun.

[mikeszekely]

While waiting for Amazon and Pulse to get off their butts and fulfil my command for preorders, turns out the Big Bad Slow Toy Store of all people got some stock.  So I commanded them to to send me my third two-pack this month (also gave them money).  Now, can I command your attention for a bit?  I have a review for Commander-class Hook.

I was looking at the animation model for Hook, and I don't envy anyone trying to make a toy of him.  Combiner Wars Hook figured sticking the wheels on his forearms was enough and didn't copy the weird triangle elbows of the animation model.  Nor did it copy Hook's weird cartoon hips.  The real tricky part, though, is that the animation model completely abandons the truck parts on the fronts of the G1 toy's legs, except for a lump on his left foot with a wheel and a window.  Despite the lump obviously being the cab, aside from the purple window his legs are silver from his hips down.  Combiner Wars Hook was like, "nah," and reversed his lower legs, so the cab is on the back of his leg instead, and made his legs green from the knees down.

Studio Series Hook looks to "correct" some of Combiner Wars Hook's details by making them more cartoon-accurate.  Hence, his torso becomes devoid of color that isn't purple, aside from the cartoon-accurate green on the collar... although, as near as I can tell, his chest actually should have kept some of the black.  And silvery plastic was used for Hook's shins and feet to better color match the silver of the cartoon.  But, perhaps because the same Takara designers that worked on Combiner Wars Devastator are the same guys doing the Studio Series ones, some mistakes are carried over.  The cab's still on the back of his leg instead of the front.  He still doesn't have the weird hips.

He does have an accessory... forgive me if we're not justifying the Commander-class price point yet, but I promise the other guy has a ton more.  For Hook, though, it's just this one gun.

Hook's articulation isn't the best, but it actually is an improvement over the Combiner Wars toy.  His head swivels and can tilt down some, and up/sideways very slightly.  His shoulders swivel and can move laterally 90 degrees; the "shelves" above his shoulders are hinged now and can move up to give you more clearance.  He has bicep swivels now, and double-jointed elbows that get around 130 degrees of bend.  No wrist or waist swivels, though.  His hips go about 90 degrees backward, and a little over that forward and laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend a little under 90 degrees.  His feet have some upward tilt due to how he transforms, and 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

Hook holds his gun just fine.  And in a move I kind of like, his boom is only attached via a 5mm peg.  This means you can remove it and plug it into the port on either forearm if you want to use it like a weapon.  Of course, it naturally goes on his back, and with it there you'll find a 3mm peg that you can use to store his gun on the boom on his back.

It a move that's probably not all that surprising to anyone who's already mess with Studio Series Scrapper, Hook's transformation is basically the same as the Combiner Wars version.  You still shift his backpack up and tuck his arms into his sides.  You still rock his calves up over his thighs, fold his shins up under him, and tuck his feet flat.  You don't even fold in his hands now (for this mode), and you might notice that the SS toy carries over the the CW toy's practice of shifting the control cabin for the crane over, so it's not straight behind the driver's cabin.

Another thing I'm disappointed to see, given that the big change from Combiner Wars (other than scale) is that Hasbro is embracing partsforming, is that there's still a massive, inaccurate lump in the middle of the truck where Devastator's head is attached.  Why didn't they just partsform it, too? 

While I feel my complaints are pretty valid, as they're largely things that are NOT cartoon-accurate, I have to at least admit that it's at least better.  He's now got nicely-painted silver rims, and no random black bits in either cab.  The truck's surface is textured like it's got skid plating, and the purple stripe and purple end of the boom are cartoon-accurate (though the hook itself should be purple).

Although Hook's crane deck doesn't swivel, since it's just pegged in the crane itself can swivel.  And, although that's about the extend of it, the boom can also extend.  In both of those ways SS86 Hook is, again, an improvement over the Combiner Wars toy.  As for weapon storage, the gun can again simply be pegged onto the boom.

As I alluded to, Hook is a lot like Scrapper.  Both are, in a number of small ways, improved from their decade-old Combiner Wars versions, but both ultimately use nearly identical engineering and thus carry over a number of flaws from those older toys, and do so at a smaller size.  So it's like, yeah, Hook is better... but is he better enough to warrant an upgrade if you already have the Combiner Wars toys?  Naturally, some of that is going to come down to the combined mode, and we've got to wait until the fall to answer that question.  But, perhaps some of that will also come down to the fact that Hook is packed with another Constructicon...

[davidwhangchoi]

wow, i'm glad commander class hook's legs articulate.

Mine snapped off my hook as a kid.  

the silver on the wheels are a nice touch.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I just don't know how, on a Hasbro budget, you do that without making his arms more turret-shaped or his pistol barrel more tank gun-shaped. Like, yeah, it'd make for a way better tank mode, and would probably look great on an updated pseudo-G1 Megatron from IDW or something, but it'd make those elements less cartoon-accurate in bot mode. For me, who thinks Megatron's real alt mode is the pistol accessory, that's not a compromise I'm comfortable with.

Such is the challenge that Hasbro and Takara face with these toys; everybody wants something different from them.  A little bit of beveling on the arms or having some beveled elements fold out of them to give the turret a better shape would have been fine, but yeah, budget. I just think it looks like two different teams designed the top and bottom of that tank with different levels of realism in mind. It looks jarring to me and it beggars some better engineering. I know that the bot mode was the priority, and to that extent, they pretty much nailed it- Megs looks great.  However, since they can't legally make him a gun and a tank is going to be his alt mode pretty much from now on pending changes to our laws, I have an expectation that the tank mode will look good, or at least passable as such. That turret fails. I don't hate the toy, but I sure do wish it had turned out better.

I'm curious to see what third parties will cook up for this guy to address the turret issues. I can live with the fat round arms, unrealistic though they may be, if they can do something about the obvious scope and gun barrel to make it more passable as part of the turret.

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

While waiting for Amazon and Pulse to get off their butts and fulfil my command for preorders, turns out the Big Bad Slow Toy Store of all people got some stock.  So I commanded them to to send me my third two-pack this month (also gave them money).  Now, can I command your attention for a bit?  I have a review for Commander-class Hook.

I was looking at the animation model for Hook, and I don't envy anyone trying to make a toy of him.  Combiner Wars Hook figured sticking the wheels on his forearms was enough and didn't copy the weird triangle elbows of the animation model.  Nor did it copy Hook's weird cartoon hips.  The real tricky part, though, is that the animation model completely abandons the truck parts on the fronts of the G1 toy's legs, except for a lump on his left foot with a wheel and a window.  Despite the lump obviously being the cab, aside from the purple window his legs are silver from his hips down.  Combiner Wars Hook was like, "nah," and reversed his lower legs, so the cab is on the back of his leg instead, and made his legs green from the knees down.

Studio Series Hook looks to "correct" some of Combiner Wars Hook's details by making them more cartoon-accurate.  Hence, his torso becomes devoid of color that isn't purple, aside from the cartoon-accurate green on the collar... although, as near as I can tell, his chest actually should have kept some of the black.  And silvery plastic was used for Hook's shins and feet to better color match the silver of the cartoon.  But, perhaps because the same Takara designers that worked on Combiner Wars Devastator are the same guys doing the Studio Series ones, some mistakes are carried over.  The cab's still on the back of his leg instead of the front.  He still doesn't have the weird hips.

He does have an accessory... forgive me if we're not justifying the Commander-class price point yet, but I promise the other guy has a ton more.  For Hook, though, it's just this one gun.

Hook's articulation isn't the best, but it actually is an improvement over the Combiner Wars toy.  His head swivels and can tilt down some, and up/sideways very slightly.  His shoulders swivel and can move laterally 90 degrees; the "shelves" above his shoulders are hinged now and can move up to give you more clearance.  He has bicep swivels now, and double-jointed elbows that get around 130 degrees of bend.  No wrist or waist swivels, though.  His hips go about 90 degrees backward, and a little over that forward and laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend a little under 90 degrees.  His feet have some upward tilt due to how he transforms, and 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

Hook holds his gun just fine.  And in a move I kind of like, his boom is only attached via a 5mm peg.  This means you can remove it and plug it into the port on either forearm if you want to use it like a weapon.  Of course, it naturally goes on his back, and with it there you'll find a 3mm peg that you can use to store his gun on the boom on his back.

It a move that's probably not all that surprising to anyone who's already mess with Studio Series Scrapper, Hook's transformation is basically the same as the Combiner Wars version.  You still shift his backpack up and tuck his arms into his sides.  You still rock his calves up over his thighs, fold his shins up under him, and tuck his feet flat.  You don't even fold in his hands now (for this mode), and you might notice that the SS toy carries over the the CW toy's practice of shifting the control cabin for the crane over, so it's not straight behind the driver's cabin.

Another thing I'm disappointed to see, given that the big change from Combiner Wars (other than scale) is that Hasbro is embracing partsforming, is that there's still a massive, inaccurate lump in the middle of the truck where Devastator's head is attached.  Why didn't they just partsform it, too? 

While I feel my complaints are pretty valid, as they're largely things that are NOT cartoon-accurate, I have to at least admit that it's at least better.  He's now got nicely-painted silver rims, and no random black bits in either cab.  The truck's surface is textured like it's got skid plating, and the purple stripe and purple end of the boom are cartoon-accurate (though the hook itself should be purple).

Although Hook's crane deck doesn't swivel, since it's just pegged in the crane itself can swivel.  And, although that's about the extend of it, the boom can also extend.  In both of those ways SS86 Hook is, again, an improvement over the Combiner Wars toy.  As for weapon storage, the gun can again simply be pegged onto the boom.

As I alluded to, Hook is a lot like Scrapper.  Both are, in a number of small ways, improved from their decade-old Combiner Wars versions, but both ultimately use nearly identical engineering and thus carry over a number of flaws from those older toys, and do so at a smaller size.  So it's like, yeah, Hook is better... but is he better enough to warrant an upgrade if you already have the Combiner Wars toys?  Naturally, some of that is going to come down to the combined mode, and we've got to wait until the fall to answer that question.  But, perhaps some of that will also come down to the fact that Hook is packed with another Constructicon...

I think this guy turned out pretty well. On the whole, I've been pleased with these as opposed to the CW toys, both designed by Hasui-san, despite the similarities in transformation mechanics between the two sets. I think the aesthetic changes to bring these closer to the G1 toy and toon looks make them far more palatable as well as obvious improvements to the articulation. I do wish they'd made the entire crane deck spin (I very much like functionality to be preserved in my transforming toys, so it's rather disappointing when they take shortcuts, especially when the G1 toys were capable. These should be upgrades in every sense IMHO) and tampoed the warning stripes on the boom like the G1 toy. Ah, well, Toyhax will have us covered for that and a hundred other things we didn't ask for.

I get the sense that Scavenger's boom deck won't rotate either, as it's not shown doing so in any pics, nor was it shown in the fanstream. The G1 toy could do it, though.