mikeszekely Posted August 16 Author Posted August 16 (edited) 41 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: I'm not really into HoS, but as most of the alts don't do much for me. However, I'd love to have Grimlock as a Mark V tank. If you're gonna give Grimlock a vehicle alt, that's about as good as any. Funny Guidi chose Grimlock and not the more fitting Warpath., but whatever. Too, odd that he chose to make Megatron a field cannon instead of a tank. I don't recall Grimlock in Hearts of Steel? I do know Don Figueroa did a Grimlock tank design for a Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover set in the 1930s... HoS has John Henry in it, so while I don't recall a specific date it's likely set in the 1870s. The sequel, Infestation, is specifically set in 1888. That's still about 30 years before the Mark V, or really any tank. In addition to the cannon design that Hasbro used, Guidi did another design for Megatron that turned into a revolver. Edited August 16 by mikeszekely
M'Kyuun Posted August 17 Posted August 17 13 hours ago, mikeszekely said: I don't recall Grimlock in Hearts of Steel? I do know Don Figueroa did a Grimlock tank design for a Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover set in the 1930s... HoS has John Henry in it, so while I don't recall a specific date it's likely set in the 1870s. The sequel, Infestation, is specifically set in 1888. That's still about 30 years before the Mark V, or really any tank. In addition to the cannon design that Hasbro used, Guidi did another design for Megatron that turned into a revolver. OK, yeah, I'm thinking of Don Figueroa's concept art. I wouldn't mind having this as a figure.
mikeszekely Posted August 17 Author Posted August 17 30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: OK, yeah, I'm thinking of Don Figueroa's concept art. I wouldn't mind having this as a figure. No arguments from me. Don actually drew up a ton of great concepts for that series, and unfortunately you get to see almost none of it in the actual comics due to Jae Lee's art style (which I've personally never been a fan of). Don's done some other really cool concepts I wouldn't mind seeing in toy form... like this 5-changer Megatron. Unfortunately, Don had a falling out with Hasbro and swore off working on the Transformers brand anymore. I don't remember all the details, but I think it was something along the lines of he came up with the idea for a bomber Megatron and pitched it with a story, IDW didn't want the story but wanted to use the design, then Hasbro made a Deluxe-class toy of it in 2013. Don's position is that he did the design, he let IDW use it (he even drew issues of the comic himself at the time), then Hasbro made a toy without giving him any credit or compensation. Hasbro's position is that it's their brand and their characters, and the minute that design was put in the comics it was fair game for them. I can't imagine he'd be too keen on Hasbro using his unpublished designs.
mikeszekely Posted August 18 Author Posted August 18 Still no sign of Mixmaster, but I was at my local Walmart and saw that they're putting out some kind of display in the main aisle that seems to be targeting collectors. One of the sections has Transformers... indeed, after what seems like years of being behind (I saw Legacy Devcon and Tarn not even a month ago) they seemed kind of well-stocked. There was Vortex, Crasher, Alchemist Prime, Scrapper, Bonecrusher, and even the Commander pack with Long Haul and Hook. Of course, I have all those already, though... but they did have one figure I didn't have yet... the Walmart-exclusive Deluxe-class Sideways. I uh... I never made it through Transformers Cybertron. I think there were some interesting ideas, like the notion that there were other lost Cybertronian colonies, that even made it into other media, but I was kind of put off by the "sequel" to Armada and Energon that seemed to have nothing to do with the prior shows. This was, of course, because in Japan Galaxy Force wasn't actually a sequel, but I digress. Point is, I didn't buy a ton of Cybertron toys, but the tail end of Cybertron overlapped the launch of Classics and Universe, and a lot of Cybertron toys got repainted as G1 characters. One of those repaints was Sideways as Ratbat, and I do have that figure, so I can compare them. At first blush they might seem pretty similar, but I quickly realized that I liked the proportions just a bit better on the new figure. His chest doesn't stick out quite so far, and his pelvis and waist are a bit bigger. He's still got pretty long feet, but not quite as long and flat. Color-wise, he's a pretty close match for the cartoon/original toy, though he's missing a little orange on his thighs and he's got orange paint on his chest and face instead of translucent plastic. The wings on his lower legs are tucked in a bit closer, as they lack the armatures the original figure had. He's got tiny molded details near his collar that I assume is supposed to be like the black-and-gold bits on Ratbat... in the cartoon, they were black and orange on Sideways, and gold and orange on the toy. So I guess he's got some missing orange? It's a tiny thing, but technically the cartoon/original toy had orange heels, and the new figure has black ones. Much like the original figure, the wings on Sideways' legs are removable, so they count as accessories. They have molded details where the the original had green paint, but there's no green paint on them. He's got a little Cyber Planet Key. And he's got his shield, which is no longer permanently affixed to his arm anymore. The shield has the faction-switching gimmick of the original, but the key isn't required to activated. Instead, there's a switch on the under side that lets you freely toggle between Autobot and Decepticon. Hope the Autobots don't see his Key! I can't complain, though, the original toy came with a Cyber Planet Key with a Decepticon badge, so it's accurate. Sideways' head is technically on a ball joint. Not a lot of tilt, but it swivels no problem. His shoulders swivel, and they can move laterally 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, and his wrists swivel. So far, basically the same as the original toy. Things start to improve at the waist, which swivels now. His hips are molded to look like the originals, but instead of ball joints he has pinned swivel hinges. He can move his hips 90 degrees laterally, and if it weren't for his shoulders they could almost move forward/backward 360 degrees. His hips swivel, and his knees bend nearly 180 degrees. His feet can tilt up and down a little, but in another improvement over the original he now also has 90 degrees of ankle pivot. His accessories work basically the same as the original toy. The wings, which are simply pegged into 5mm ports on his legs, can be held like a bladed weapon or bow. The shield can mount on a 5mm port on either arm, and it has the blades that can fold out near the tip. They are not activated by the Cyber Planet Key; you have to fold them out manually. That said, the only place the Cyber Planet Key can really go is into the back of the shield, just like the orignal. Transformation is, by and large, the same. You open the chest to fold the head into it. His backpack lifts up, and part of his back opens up so you can fold the arms around to the inside. His waist folds back, and his legs still turn and curl around on themselves, but his pelvis doesn't have to split in half anymore. The biggest differences are that his accessories partsform now. There's no armatures to move his wings into place, you just remove them from his legs and plug them into his backpack. The shield also comes off... more on that in a minute. I think its fair to say that the improvements int he proportions of the robot mode are largely at the expense of the alt mode. The cockpit's a little shorter and rounder. The shield doesn't sit quite as flush with the top of the fuselage. His shorter, not-so-flat feet stick out of the sides and don't meet the cockpit at the same angle. I get the feeling that someone familiar with this version of Sideways might look at this particular toy and see something close enough to be recognizable, but side-by-side with the original (or Ratbat, as it were) you can't help but notice that how less aerodynamic the new figure looks. The fact that the pelvis doesn't split and and flatten out the underside winds up leaving a pretty big gap between his legs that his little arms don't totally fill in the back. I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out some noticeable orange hinges where the arms folded into the torso and around the ankles that weren't present on the original, and some missing orange and green paint apps. The new Sideways is also missing a bit of the alt mode functionality of the original, too. Remember, the original toy's shield was permanently attached to his left arm on a swiveling double hinge. This hinge allowed you to raise the shield up, so the Key could be inserted and the blades popped out while in alt mode. On the new figure, the shield comes off the arm, the peg is folded in, and in plugs into tabs on the top of the ship (marked with green arrows). That's it, it's either attached or not attached. It can't lift up, and it doesn't have the clearance to fold out the blades if it is attached. That seemed like such a glaring omission that I very nearly missed the fact that the new figure also doesn't have any wheels. Yeah, the original toy has three tiny wheels, one under his torso where the pelvis split and folded away, and two in the armatures holding the wings on. The new figure kind of just sits like a lump. Ultimately, Sideways feels like a series of tradeoffs. The robot mode has better proportions and better articulation that allow for more dynamic posing. Heck, improvements in how the shoulders fold in make them less saggy, and even just in a casual A-stance with his feet turned slightly outward is enough to make him look more alive, like he's about the spring into action, than the original toy. Having the shield as a removable accessory and putting 5mm ports on his forearms also opens up a lot more options poses. But every robot mode improvement seems to have come at the direct expense of his alt mode, which now has worse proportions and is missing most of the functionality of the original toy. And the thing about Cybertron is that we're not talking about a toy that's a major upgrade over a 40-year old brick that hardly bore a resemblance to the cartoon like we get with G1. The Cybertron cartoon was GCI modeled much more closely off of the toys, which again were contemporaries of Classics with most of the articulation we enjoy today. New toys have to work harder to be actual improvements over the originals. I'd argue that some *cough cough Galaxy Upgrade Optimus cough cough* haven't hit that mark. That said... Sideways' alt mode is an alien spaceship, not any kind of recognizable Earth vehicle. Does it matter how sleeky it is? Do I really need the top of the fuselage to lift up to deploy a melee weapon in high-speed aerial combat? I guess what I'm getting at is, yes, I'm a little disappointed with his alt mode, but my appreciation for the bot mode improvements outweigh that disappointment. And frankly, I'm not sure how many of you old geewunners care that much about Sideways in the first place. So, kinda cool robot I have no attachment to that turns into a weird spaceship that's slightly less good than the weird spaceship of *checks notes* TWENTY YEARS AGO? Already? Well now I just feel old.
M'Kyuun Posted August 18 Posted August 18 (edited) 23 hours ago, mikeszekely said: No arguments from me. Don actually drew up a ton of great concepts for that series, and unfortunately you get to see almost none of it in the actual comics due to Jae Lee's art style (which I've personally never been a fan of). Don's done some other really cool concepts I wouldn't mind seeing in toy form... like this 5-changer Megatron. Unfortunately, Don had a falling out with Hasbro and swore off working on the Transformers brand anymore. I don't remember all the details, but I think it was something along the lines of he came up with the idea for a bomber Megatron and pitched it with a story, IDW didn't want the story but wanted to use the design, then Hasbro made a Deluxe-class toy of it in 2013. Don's position is that he did the design, he let IDW use it (he even drew issues of the comic himself at the time), then Hasbro made a toy without giving him any credit or compensation. Hasbro's position is that it's their brand and their characters, and the minute that design was put in the comics it was fair game for them. I can't imagine he'd be too keen on Hasbro using his unpublished designs. I don't really follow the stories of the various artists that have worked with Hasbro over the years, nor the those of the comics' artists. I liked Don's work, as well as E.J. Su's, and Marcelo Matere's on the current box art. In Don's case, I can see both sides of the argument, but it's a shame that a promising professional relationship was soured, especially when Don produced such a prolific amount of interesting and appealing work that would've made for some cool toys. Perhaps Hasbro learned their lesson, as they seem more inclined to give credit to the various artists they work with currently and over the past few years. I'm always happy to hear Mark and Evan credit the Takara designers who do the heavy-lifting design-wise on Transformers toys. I've said it before and I stand by my opinion that without Takara, there are no transforming Transformers. I think Mark and Evan are talented, but I don't think they or very many American designers have the wherewithal to design transforming toys beyond something like M.A.S.K. Even in the LEGO community, which has no shortage of unfathomable talent, I very, very seldom see anyone make transforming stuff, and even then, it's usually on the microscale. I'm usually the only one bringing minifig scaled stuff to the party, which is unfortunate. Digression aside, it'd be great if Hasbro extended an olive branch to Don, seeing as how they're under new management, and perhaps court him again to use his designs with proper credit and compensation. I'm sure there'd be a lot of happy TF fans if that happened. I count myself among them. I always loved E,J. Su's more mechanically realistic approach to drawing Transformers. Instagram I still think they should have hired him to do the live-action designs. 1 hour ago, mikeszekely said: Still no sign of Mixmaster, but I was at my local Walmart and saw that they're putting out some kind of display in the main aisle that seems to be targeting collectors. One of the sections has Transformers... indeed, after what seems like years of being behind (I saw Legacy Devcon and Tarn not even a month ago) they seemed kind of well-stocked. There was Vortex, Crasher, Alchemist Prime, Scrapper, Bonecrusher, and even the Commander pack with Long Haul and Hook. Of course, I have all those already, though... but they did have one figure I didn't have yet... the Walmart-exclusive Deluxe-class Sideways. I uh... I never made it through Transformers Cybertron. I think there were some interesting ideas, like the notion that there were other lost Cybertronian colonies, that even made it into other media, but I was kind of put off by the "sequel" to Armada and Energon that seemed to have nothing to do with the prior shows. This was, of course, because in Japan Galaxy Force wasn't actually a sequel, but I digress. Point is, I didn't buy a ton of Cybertron toys, but the tail end of Cybertron overlapped the launch of Classics and Universe, and a lot of Cybertron toys got repainted as G1 characters. One of those repaints was Sideways as Ratbat, and I do have that figure, so I can compare them. At first blush they might seem pretty similar, but I quickly realized that I liked the proportions just a bit better on the new figure. His chest doesn't stick out quite so far, and his pelvis and waist are a bit bigger. He's still got pretty long feet, but not quite as long and flat. Color-wise, he's a pretty close match for the cartoon/original toy, though he's missing a little orange on his thighs and he's got orange paint on his chest and face instead of translucent plastic. The wings on his lower legs are tucked in a bit closer, as they lack the armatures the original figure had. He's got tiny molded details near his collar that I assume is supposed to be like the black-and-gold bits on Ratbat... in the cartoon, they were black and orange on Sideways, and gold and orange on the toy. So I guess he's got some missing orange? It's a tiny thing, but technically the cartoon/original toy had orange heels, and the new figure has black ones. Much like the original figure, the wings on Sideways' legs are removable, so they count as accessories. They have molded details where the the original had green paint, but there's no green paint on them. He's got a little Cyber Planet Key. And he's got his shield, which is no longer permanently affixed to his arm anymore. The shield has the faction-switching gimmick of the original, but the key isn't required to activated. Instead, there's a switch on the under side that lets you freely toggle between Autobot and Decepticon. Hope the Autobots don't see his Key! I can't complain, though, the original toy came with a Cyber Planet Key with a Decepticon badge, so it's accurate. Sideways' head is technically on a ball joint. Not a lot of tilt, but it swivels no problem. His shoulders swivel, and they can move laterally 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, and his wrists swivel. So far, basically the same as the original toy. Things start to improve at the waist, which swivels now. His hips are molded to look like the originals, but instead of ball joints he has pinned swivel hinges. He can move his hips 90 degrees laterally, and if it weren't for his shoulders they could almost move forward/backward 360 degrees. His hips swivel, and his knees bend nearly 180 degrees. His feet can tilt up and down a little, but in another improvement over the original he now also has 90 degrees of ankle pivot. His accessories work basically the same as the original toy. The wings, which are simply pegged into 5mm ports on his legs, can be held like a bladed weapon or bow. The shield can mount on a 5mm port on either arm, and it has the blades that can fold out near the tip. They are not activated by the Cyber Planet Key; you have to fold them out manually. That said, the only place the Cyber Planet Key can really go is into the back of the shield, just like the orignal. Transformation is, by and large, the same. You open the chest to fold the head into it. His backpack lifts up, and part of his back opens up so you can fold the arms around to the inside. His waist folds back, and his legs still turn and curl around on themselves, but his pelvis doesn't have to split in half anymore. The biggest differences are that his accessories partsform now. There's no armatures to move his wings into place, you just remove them from his legs and plug them into his backpack. The shield also comes off... more on that in a minute. I think its fair to say that the improvements int he proportions of the robot mode are largely at the expense of the alt mode. The cockpit's a little shorter and rounder. The shield doesn't sit quite as flush with the top of the fuselage. His shorter, not-so-flat feet stick out of the sides and don't meet the cockpit at the same angle. I get the feeling that someone familiar with this version of Sideways might look at this particular toy and see something close enough to be recognizable, but side-by-side with the original (or Ratbat, as it were) you can't help but notice that how less aerodynamic the new figure looks. The fact that the pelvis doesn't split and and flatten out the underside winds up leaving a pretty big gap between his legs that his little arms don't totally fill in the back. I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out some noticeable orange hinges where the arms folded into the torso and around the ankles that weren't present on the original, and some missing orange and green paint apps. The new Sideways is also missing a bit of the alt mode functionality of the original, too. Remember, the original toy's shield was permanently attached to his left arm on a swiveling double hinge. This hinge allowed you to raise the shield up, so the Key could be inserted and the blades popped out while in alt mode. On the new figure, the shield comes off the arm, the peg is folded in, and in plugs into tabs on the top of the ship (marked with green arrows). That's it, it's either attached or not attached. It can't lift up, and it doesn't have the clearance to fold out the blades if it is attached. That seemed like such a glaring omission that I very nearly missed the fact that the new figure also doesn't have any wheels. Yeah, the original toy has three tiny wheels, one under his torso where the pelvis split and folded away, and two in the armatures holding the wings on. The new figure kind of just sits like a lump. Ultimately, Sideways feels like a series of tradeoffs. The robot mode has better proportions and better articulation that allow for more dynamic posing. Heck, improvements in how the shoulders fold in make them less saggy, and even just in a casual A-stance with his feet turned slightly outward is enough to make him look more alive, like he's about the spring into action, than the original toy. Having the shield as a removable accessory and putting 5mm ports on his forearms also opens up a lot more options poses. But every robot mode improvement seems to have come at the direct expense of his alt mode, which now has worse proportions and is missing most of the functionality of the original toy. And the thing about Cybertron is that we're not talking about a toy that's a major upgrade over a 40-year old brick that hardly bore a resemblance to the cartoon like we get with G1. The Cybertron cartoon was GCI modeled much more closely off of the toys, which again were contemporaries of Classics with most of the articulation we enjoy today. New toys have to work harder to be actual improvements over the originals. I'd argue that some *cough cough Galaxy Upgrade Optimus cough cough* haven't hit that mark. That said... Sideways' alt mode is an alien spaceship, not any kind of recognizable Earth vehicle. Does it matter how sleeky it is? Do I really need the top of the fuselage to lift up to deploy a melee weapon in high-speed aerial combat? I guess what I'm getting at is, yes, I'm a little disappointed with his alt mode, but my appreciation for the bot mode improvements outweigh that disappointment. And frankly, I'm not sure how many of you old geewunners care that much about Sideways in the first place. So, kinda cool robot I have no attachment to that turns into a weird spaceship that's slightly less good than the weird spaceship of *checks notes* TWENTY YEARS AGO? Already? Well now I just feel old. Man, my Wally's been slow getting new TF figs. They did have a couple copies of Solus Prime last weekend, the first I've seen her there. I'm not interested in getting her, but I am on the lookout for Alchemist so hopefully they'll get him at some point. As to your review, I appreciate the comparison with the OG mold. I actually have Sideways, and I thought he was a pretty cool fig back in the day, but I concur that the new fig is an upgrade at least where the bot mode is concerned. I liked the OG's cybertronic jet mode, though, and honestly, despite the changes you mentioned, the overall aesthetic hasn't changed much. While I'm not a big fan of partsforming, it's not as egregious a concession given that the wings can detach and be used as an admittedly cool looking weapon. The lack of spring-loaded key functionality is the biggest bummer, as that was the big gimmick with the OG toys. But at least the shield can be manually deployed in a similar fashion as the original. As Cybertronic air/spacecraft go, I dig Sideway's alt. I may end up picking this guy up, too, if I see him in the store. Thanks for the review, Mike! Checked Pulse after I finished posting and Alchemist is available again so I ordered him. Could've ordered Sideways, too, but having the OG fig, I'm not as concerned about getting the new one. If I see him in the store I might pick him up, but if not, I won't consider it as great a loss. Edited August 18 by M'Kyuun
mikeszekely Posted August 19 Author Posted August 19 Still waiting on Mixmaster, and I don't have any more brand new figures to write about. I do, however, have a TON of repaints and remolds... Yeah, no Mixmaster, but the other Voyager in the current wave of Studio Series is War for Cybertron Voyager-class Thundercracker. And, I mean, not a lot left to say after Starscream and Skywarp, because Thundercracker's basically the same thing except blue. It's a pretty blue, at least. Same mace weapon, and I dunno if it was always too big or if there's been some mold degradation, but he has a hard time holding it up. On the flip side, he's got a different gun than Starscream and Skywarp. It's the same Neutron Assault Rifle that came with the generic Decepticon Soldier, though, so it's not totally new. Fine with me, though, I kinda wish Skywarp had a less bulky gun than his Thermo Rocket Launcher. Get him if you want to complete the trio, but if you skipped Skywarp and/or Starscream you can probably live without Thundercracker, too. Relevant to yesterday's review of Sideways, another figure on the shelf is Cybertron Deluxe class Excellion. Now, for anyone who actually watched the Unicron Trilogy, you might have wondered how Hot Shot started Armada as a reckless, hot-headed youth who gradually matured over the course of the series, becoming a seasoned warrior and mentor in Energon, only to revert back to a reckless, hot-headed youth in Cybertron. The answer is, as I mentioned yesterday, is because Galaxy Force wasn't created as a sequel to the prior two shows, it was just cludged into a "trilogy" when it was dubbed into English. The guy we know as Hot Shot in Micron Legend and Super Link was called Hot Rod, but in Galaxy Force that guy was called Excellion. While I think there have always been parallels between Hot Shot and G1 Hot Rod, stuff like the chevrons on his shins and the spoiler wings seemed a bit more obvious on Cybertron Hot Shot... but I guess not enough for Takara, who released a more G1 Hot Rod-colored version of Excellion. Hasbro was only too happy to bring this redeco to the West, but I guess their logic was that if Hot Shot was already reformatted into an APC alt mode in his usual blue color then he wouldn't go back to his old sports car mode but changed to red, so they decided he'd be a new, separate character. And for that character, they kept the Japanese name, Excellion. Personally, I'd have liked for him to have been Hot Rod or Rodimus and really hammer that deco and design home, but you can't always get what you want. The point is, Hot Shot was already a decent update of the original toy, so you'd think Excellion would be, too. And for the most part, he is, but there are some deco changes from the original toy. In bot mode, most of the dark gray/black details are a lighter gray, except for his hips which are the same orange as his thighs now, and his hands which are now red. The single chevron on his shin is in two parts now, and his fold-out wing spoiler is orange instead of blue. In alt mode, the vents on his hood and in front of his rear tires are painted a gunmetal color instead of being left unpainted, and there's some gold paint on the rear of the car where the wings fold out. Purists who had the original toy might be fussed by the changes, but I kinda like them, as they make him even more like Hot Rod. Heck, I'd have been cool with them ditching the gray and silver on his chest for orange with flames. As a character who wasn't actually in the cartoon Excellion is far from essential, but the mold's decent enough and I like him as an alternate universe Hot Rod. Where Excellion is a Walmart Exclusive, Studio Series 86 Perceptor can only be found in Targets. I mean, this particular version, since Perceptor was already a mainline Studio Series 86 release. Aside from some extra pack-ins (more on that in a minute), I figured that the only real difference would be tweaked colors. And they are tweaked... the blue and red are just a bit darker, and the blacks on the orignal are are dark gray to better mimic the colors used in the animation. His chest is no longer a translucent part with a silvery paint around the edge, it's solid red plastic with silvery paint. But that's not all. Take a closer look, and you can see that his torso is actually slightly remolded, so he's a little wider in his lats. Spin him around and he's also got a door on his back to hide the gap that his head folds into. Transformation is more or less unaffected, though. But it alt mode, you might see something curious... Perceptor's entire torso is painted red. The two tabs that hold his chest door shut show that the plastic under the paint is actually brown. I guess that's because they put Perceptor's new chest parts on the same sprue as Ramhorn, one of the two packed-in cassette figures and very likely the reason you're replacing Perceptor in the first place. Ramhorn's pretty ok! The little rhino mode is a chonky little guy, and I like that his tape mode has some silver bits that almost past for reels if the weren't so off-centered. Like Steeljaw, his golden weapons are partsformed on and off along with his tail... and a good bit of his back. The other pack-in is Ratbat. Ratbat was previously released as a mainline Siege Micromaster pack, along with a robot bearing the name "Rumble" while being colored like Frenzy. While I liked the shade of purple and the extra colored details on the tape mode of the original version, the two-toned, red-eyed face, the gray that stays on the body and doesn't spread to the wings, and the more magenta main color on the new version are more accurate to the way Ratbat was colored in the 86 movie. Also, Ratbat a new accessory, a set of backpack boosters like the G1 toy had. So, yeah, both of Perceptor's buddies have some partsforming now, and those parts don't really belong on the cassette modes. But, as they both have 5mm pegs (and the gold bits on Ramhorn are on swivels), you can use them as weapons for anyone with the usual 5mm port fists. Just like everyone had to buy Legacy Soundwave just to get Buzzsaw, I think a lot of completionists are going to wind up buying Perceptor just to get Ramhorn. To that end, I appreciate that they included an extra accessory for Ratbat, and that they actually did a little remolded to Perceptor. That remolding on its own probably wouldn't convince me to upgrade, but at least this way I do feel like I upgraded when I was really in it for Ramhorn. Though I haven't see this one in stores yet (I got mine from Pulse), I do believe that two pack containing this Transformers Devastation Ground Soldier is also a Target Exclusive. Ground Soldier is reuse of the Runabout/Runamuck mold, though with a new head and trading a gun in for a sword. For the most part, that's fine... with the backpack on the in-game model I recognized the Ground Soldier as being based on the Battlechargers at the time, and these are definitely one of the colors they used in the game (the other being orange with red windows), but I should point out that their car mode in game had more curves, flared fenders, and a wing on the back. Ground Soldier is packaged with Elite Seeker, who's a repaint of Earthrise Ramjet with new sword accessories. Of all the coneheads, Ramjet is probably the closest to what we get in the game, what with the delta wings and the presence of the vertical stabilizers. Still, I can't help but wish, with this being the fifth color of this mold with no changes to the mold, that they would have made some changes to the wings, since the Seeker in the game does have delta wings but broader with an upward bend at the tips (more like Dirge without the canards), and though the in-game model does have vertical stabilizers like Ramjet (which Dirge and Thrust don't have), they're not sitting on top of big engine nacelles like Ramjet has. In any case, the mix of red, gray, and black make this one of the cooler Seeker designs in my book, and I can always use more nameless grunts, so I think this pack is worth it. Moving on to Amazon's exclusives, we have a pack that's a bit harder to justify. This set has Slugslinger, a bit of a dated Titans Returns mold that replaced the Targetmaster gimmick with a Headmaster one. The white plastic is a light gray, and the blue plastic is much darker (yeah, sorry, I accidentally but the new version on the right instead of the left). Technically, the new deco better matches his brief appearances in "The Rebirth," so points for Sunbow accuracy, I guess. But to me these colors seem more like they belong on Triggerhappy, and the lighter blue is closer to the G1 toy and, arguably, his appearance in the Japanese Headmasters cartoon, so I'm inclined to prefer the original. I'd heard it claimed that the tampographs were altered for the new version, but you can clearly see that they're really not. The only change is that the Decepticon badge on one of his wings has been replaced with the Mayhem Attack Squad insignia. I probably wouldn't have bothered with this set for Slugslinger, but Slugslinger comes packaged with "handsome" Sandstorm... that is, Legacy Sandstorm, but the toy-style masked face has been replaced with a cartoon-style unmasked face. Not much else has changed... the gray plastics used for the small pistol, his hands, and some of his inner workings have been replaced with black plastic, and black hands is more accurate to both his G1 toy and most of his cartoon appearances. Other than than, the orange plastics are just a bit lighter and they didn't paint the vents on his chest. In dune buggy mode, the black plastic instead of the gray for the engine is a change that is less like the chrome engine of the G1 toy and doesn't totally match the control art, but I can't say for sure if it does or doesn't match the cartoon better. I think, if you're not partsforming the otherwise useless cage on, that black subjectively looks better than that random gray. In helicopter mode there's even less difference. I guess what it really boils down to is how badly do you want a cartoon-accurate Sandstorm? I didn't have the G1 toy as a kid, so to me he absolutely needed a cartoon face. The toy-style face was my biggest complaint with the Legacy release. It just sucks that to get that head you have to not only buy another barely-changed copy of Sandstorm, you have to pay for Slugslinger, too. Last but not least, we have the Takara Godzilla Megatron crossover. In robot mode, from the neck down it's just Studio Series Grimlock in a mix and dark and light grays, with a little bit of red in some spots. From the neck up, that's actually a repaint of Studio Series Sludge's head, which kind of works better than I expected it to. It's an almost Alex Milne-esque style for Megatron. I said when I reviewed Hearts of Steel Megatron that I like a black Megatron, and with the lower part of Grimlock's torso picked out in silver and red I think it's really not that bad of a design for a Megatron. I just wished they could have swapped Grimlock's double-barreled rifle for a Fusion Cannon. The disappointment comes when you get him in dino mode, because it's just a dark gray Grimlock. Same stumpy Grimlock arms, same Grimlock head with the missing front teeth. No Godzilla spines. Even with the included blue effect part in his (admittedly well-painted) mouth, I don't think anyone's going to see this on a shelf and think, "oh, that's Godzilla!" So I supposed the question is, how much do are you willing to pay for an actual transforming Godzilla? Because, as is, I can't recommend this figure. Because DNA, maker of third-party upgrade kits, will be releasing a kit later this year that replaces the toes, arms, and head, plus adds spines and a longer tail, to turn this figure into once that actually resembles Godzilla. The kit effectively doubles the price of the figure, though; worth it for a hardcore fan of both Transformers and Godzilla like me, I think, and enough to flip my recommendation from a hard no to a yes if you're willing to spend the money on the upgrade kit.
M'Kyuun Posted August 20 Posted August 20 I gave a second's thought to picking up the new multipack SS86 Perceptor at Target. I held it in my hands, and my desire to have that Ramhorn was strong, but not strong enough to coerce me into purchasing. I wasn't aware of the mold change to Preceptor's torso, but I knew about the new panel on his back to cover the hole where his head goes. Nevertheless, I wasn't 100% enthused with the original SS86 release, as I was disappointed that he didn't have the swing-down mirror and the internal focusing mechanism was no longer functional. In my view, these new toys should better the original toys in every sense, so the loss of those functions, functions that the G1 toy and even the TR figure had, is a downgrade from their predecessors. Too, the arms are supposed to form the support columns for the scope, but on this mold, they sit too far apart, and the scope just floats on its transformation armature. Again, a downgrade from both G1 and TR figures. The mold's only saving grace is its bot mode's likeness to the animation, which I realize is the driving focus of the vast majority of TF collectors. Alas, it's not mine. I prefer a good mix of both OG toy and toon where the best attributes of both are captured. Turning to Ramhorn, I think they did a pretty good job on this guy, much better than Steeljaw's Pomeranian look. It's lamentable that both require partsforming, not only to provide their weapons like the OG toys, but to actually fill out and complete the animal forms. Bit of a nasty cheat in my eyes, but the new cassettes, from their dismaying downscaling to the absence of effort to actually make them look like cassettes, and the need to add parts of the bot modes in addition to their weapons all represent downgrades from their 40+ year-old original toys. Again, the trend should be going the opposite way, where, in every measure, the toys should be improving upon what came before. I wish they would return to the original RW microcassette scale, return to ensuring, as much as possible, that the cassette looked like a real cassette with properly placed reels and cassette deco. IMHO, KFC demonstrated some really good engineering on their Ramhorn and Steeljaw, and IMHO, both are the best toys of those characters at the original scale, better by far, IMHO, than the Fanstoys versions which I found a bit underwhelming after waiting what seemed like an eternity for them. I hope KFC will produce the rest of the cassettes at that level. However, FT actually made a really good Ravage (best version at the OG scale IMHO), but I'd like to see what KFC could do. Likewise, Dr. Wu. While some of his combiner cassettes may have had their shortcomings, I really liked what he did with Overkill and Slugfest, especially the latter which captures the cassette mode, alas sans deco, better than any of his previous efforts and yet still pulls off a really well-done Slugfest at that scale. I wish his head was on a ball joint for a little more poseability, but overall, he's so reminiscent of the G1 toys while his leg solution is an improvement. I hope he gets around to doing all the main cassette characters, especially Ravage, my favorite. Ultimately, I wish Takara and Hasbro would change their approach to the cassettes and return to the original scale along with better engineering and attention to making the cassette modes more believable, but I have no faith that that will happen, as the trend seems to oppose that direction. I'm happy for the third-party options we have, but even they fall short sometimes, alas. Still, something's better than nothing at all.
Scyla Posted August 20 Posted August 20 New promo video for the Macross 7 x Transformers crossover Basara Prime. Stupid trailer is still stupid:
JB0 Posted August 20 Posted August 20 On 8/18/2025 at 8:26 PM, mikeszekely said: Last but not least, we have the Takara Godzilla Megatron crossover. In robot mode, from the neck down it's just Studio Series Grimlock in a mix and dark and light grays, with a little bit of red in some spots. Thank goodness for the red, or we'd think he was dead in stasis lock.
anime52k8 Posted August 21 Posted August 21 11 hours ago, Scyla said: New promo video for the Macross 7 x Transformers crossover Basara Prime. Stupid trailer is still stupid: Not gonna lie, that made a compelling argument for this thing.
Scyla Posted August 21 Posted August 21 Since it is rare to find Transformers in (toy) stores were I live - and even rarer to find some that I have (fleeting) interest in - I present to you Cyberworld Galvatron: He is tiny, has limited articulation (the head can’t turn, the arms don’t bend and turn) so you can’t give it a cool arm cannon firing pose. With a couple of steps he turns into a dragon: The chest folds out the backpack and folds in the head (1), fold out the head (2), fold up the legs to turn the knees into the beast legs (3), lock in the arms (4) and partsform the weapon and tail. No articulation in beast mode besides the mouth that can open. Now my understanding is that this is a remold of Cyberworld Bull Megatron (which is $10) and this was $15. The $5 is in this picture: Yeah, I don’t know if I see the $5 value here. This piece of plastic is probably less than ¢10 to produce. Overall this feels like a Happy Meal toy instead of a retail toy. I think the Lemmy mustache is weird but I like the blocky nature of the alt-mode. I think young kids might enjoy the simplicity of the transformation and the gimmick of the weapon. For all other fans of Transformers this is a pass.
M'Kyuun Posted August 23 Posted August 23 2 hours ago, sh9000 said: Ready for Mixmaster to do the kick to Grimlock. I've got 'em all except Mixmaster now, too, but I'm holding off combining them until I have the full team. I just think it'll be more satisfying that way. I watched EmGo's Devastator review, and I agree with his view that while there are faults to be had with both individual Constructicons and Devastator, overall, it's a pretty good set of figs and the combined form does just about everything you could ask of it. As EmGo pointed out, too, third parties will likely come up with solutions to address most of the issues. This will be my first official Devastator since I started collecting in '84 and I'm looking forward to Mixmaster's arrival so I can enjoy my Constructicons to the fullest, and maybe also kick a Dinobot or two around. Def gotta have him holding Sludge like he did in The Movie before he tossed him like a sack of potatoes. 😄 Regarding Basara Prime, I would not be proud of the ground vehicle mode in the least, but Takara seems to be celebrating it. Honestly, I don't think the fighter mode turned out to bad considering they had to fit Prime's big chest under there. It's certainly not as svelte as the actual VF-19, one of Kawamori's prettiest valk designs, but judging from so many of Takara's past jetformers, it could have been oh so much worse. For those who get a copy, hopefully it's a fun figure. I'll stick with my YamArcadia VF-19 Blazer and YF-19, as well as Bandai's VF-19 Advance.
Hikuro Posted August 23 Posted August 23 I was out roaming around to try my luck, but most places aren't open right now. Not like I really got any money at this point anyways after trading my 370Z in for the new model.
JB0 Posted August 23 Posted August 23 10 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: This will be my first official Devastator since I started collecting in '84 True story: I've never owned a complete Devastator. I don't see that changing soon. Every one I've seen is too expensive, not my taste in toy robots, or both.
davidwhangchoi Posted August 23 Posted August 23 Just now, JB0 said: True story: I've never owned a complete Devastator. I don't see that changing soon. Every one I've seen is too expensive, not my taste in toy robots, or both. i wanted Jet Fire and asked for it for Christmas. As I went to pick up Jet Fire, saw the new Devastator giftset for the first time and changed my pick. loved the set except Hook's leg broke off.
Tking22 Posted August 23 Posted August 23 Is SS Megatron supposed to be hitting shelves yet? I was at Target first thing this morning and they had a bunch, looks cool, but I just can't get into another scale.
pengbuzz Posted August 23 Posted August 23 4 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said: i wanted Jet Fire and asked for it for Christmas. As I went to pick up Jet Fire, saw the new Devastator giftset for the first time and changed my pick. loved the set except Hook's leg broke off. G1 Hook had a poor leg design, let's be honest; chromed plastic isn't really known for it's resiliency and the nub at the knee that the cab/ lower leg attached to was kind of flimsy.
mikeszekely Posted August 23 Author Posted August 23 On 8/21/2025 at 6:42 AM, Scyla said: Since it is rare to find Transformers in (toy) stores were I live - and even rarer to find some that I have (fleeting) interest in - I present to you Cyberworld Galvatron: ... Overall this feels like a Happy Meal toy instead of a retail toy. I think the Lemmy mustache is weird but I like the blocky nature of the alt-mode. I think young kids might enjoy the simplicity of the transformation and the gimmick of the weapon. For all other fans of Transformers this is a pass. I'd give this a pass as Hasbro doing something for kiddies instead of a collector... if Takara weren't also doing their kid-oriented Wild King line that craps all over this. 18 hours ago, sh9000 said: Ready for Mixmaster to do the kick to Grimlock. Yeah, if only Mixmaster would ship. It's the only figure from the wave I don't have. 😒 4 hours ago, Tking22 said: Is SS Megatron supposed to be hitting shelves yet? I was at Target first thing this morning and they had a bunch, looks cool, but I just can't get into another scale. Yeah, I mean, distribution is pretty sketchy (my local Target doesn't seem to have jack, but my local Walmart is full up on the current AOTP wave. But yeah, Megatron is part of the current Studio Series wave that should be hitting shelves about now.
M'Kyuun Posted August 24 Posted August 24 13 hours ago, JB0 said: True story: I've never owned a complete Devastator. I don't see that changing soon. Every one I've seen is too expensive, not my taste in toy robots, or both. Until I'm finished with the SS86 figs (I misspoke in my earlier post as I'm waiting on both Scavenger and Mixmaster to ship from Pulse) the only other Devastator I own is ToyWorld's Constructor in the MP scale. It's a little dated now, but I think it still holds up pretty well. If I was to go in on one of the new MP Constructicon teams, I'd go with X-Transbots, although if MMC does one, I'd want to see how those turn out, too. No judgement here for fence-sitting until the right toy comes along. I pass on stuff all the time for one reason or another. If you're paying for it, you should be happy with it, or at least content.
davidwhangchoi Posted August 24 Posted August 24 10 hours ago, pengbuzz said: G1 Hook had a poor leg design, let's be honest; chromed plastic isn't really known for it's resiliency and the nub at the knee that the cab/ lower leg attached to was kind of flimsy. that plastic knee nub angle was too sharp, created alot of broken hook legs. (crazy glued mine back on)
Scyla Posted August 24 Posted August 24 12 hours ago, mikeszekely said: I'd give this a pass as Hasbro doing something for kiddies instead of a collector... if Takara weren't also doing their kid-oriented Wild King line that craps all over this. [snip] I give Hasbro some leeway for their kids line and it is hard to separate my adult sensibilities from what kids find fun and engaging. However, I find this Galvatron too simplistic and nondescript (what is even that beast mode) and I don’t understand the $5 up charge for only adding such a simple weapon. With regards to Wild King I’m looking forward to having mine in hand once HLJ is restocking more limb bots.
pengbuzz Posted August 24 Posted August 24 17 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said: that plastic knee nub angle was too sharp, created alot of broken hook legs. (crazy glued mine back on) Agreed; I have a knockoff G1 Devy (really would like to get an actual G1 version) and the plastic is just crap on it. Going forward, I recommend Permatex Plastic Welder; it has better shear strength and is all around a better adhesive.
M'Kyuun Posted August 26 Posted August 26 3 hours ago, sh9000 said: I don't intend to get it as I'm quite satisfied with SS86 UM (one of their best efforts IMHO); however, I'm curious to see how they accomplish this given the nature of the G1 toy and their efforts to maintain the G1 toy aesthetics amidst the upgrades to articulation. I'm thinking this fig will have more concessions to affect a functional bot mode than we've previously seen in this line. I wish they'd do the Fairlady Z bros and Megatron, as I'd love an articulated form of G1 Prowl to replace the one that I tried unsuccessfully to modify as a kid, and I've always had a soft spot for G1 Megs but never owned the OG toy. ML versions of both would be welcome.
danth Posted August 26 Posted August 26 2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: I don't intend to get it as I'm quite satisfied with SS86 UM (one of their best efforts IMHO); however, I'm curious to see how they accomplish this given the nature of the G1 toy and their efforts to maintain the G1 toy aesthetics amidst the upgrades to articulation. I'm thinking this fig will have more concessions to affect a functional bot mode than we've previously seen in this line. I wish they'd do the Fairlady Z bros and Megatron, as I'd love an articulated form of G1 Prowl to replace the one that I tried unsuccessfully to modify as a kid, and I've always had a soft spot for G1 Megs but never owned the OG toy. ML versions of both would be welcome. I've always had a thing for Ultra Magnus since my friend had one as a kid. The white Prime is what I was enamored by. Something about seeing Optimus in a totally different color blew my little mind. I've always been a sucker for repaints. I like the Delta Magnus coloring even more, and I assume they'll do him as well. But anyway, the MP Magnus toys don't include the separate cab bot mode, which is what I liked the most about the G1s. So hopefully the Missing Link versions don't have any weird concessions! I'm also really hoping for the Zs. And the Seekers, if they're even possible.
M'Kyuun Posted August 27 Posted August 27 7 hours ago, danth said: I've always had a thing for Ultra Magnus since my friend had one as a kid. The white Prime is what I was enamored by. Something about seeing Optimus in a totally different color blew my little mind. I've always been a sucker for repaints. I like the Delta Magnus coloring even more, and I assume they'll do him as well. But anyway, the MP Magnus toys don't include the separate cab bot mode, which is what I liked the most about the G1s. So hopefully the Missing Link versions don't have any weird concessions! I'm also really hoping for the Zs. And the Seekers, if they're even possible. I was just the opposite; the original Ultra Magnus did little for me; I like the white Prime fig, but the armor was so limited in bot mode that it never really appealed to me. Honestly, the character never really appealed that much to me. I like the all-in-one engineering of the SS86 and MP figs (I bought MP Delta Magnus instead of Ultra Magnus b/c I dig his color scheme more, too), although I'm not opposed if they make an Ultra Magnus fig in the future who splits into a white Optimus and his trailer forms armor. As to my aforementioned concessions, I don't think the cab part would need any additional engineering beyond that of Missing Link Convoy. The trailer, OTOH, simply can't transform the way the G1 toy did; it was essentially a big red slab that the white Optimus stood behind. To realize the character better and afford him the articulation that is the hallmark of Missing Link, concessions will have to be made to make the trailer become functional, wearable armor which means it will be difficult to make it look just like the unaltered G1 toy, also a hallmark of Missing Link. That's what I meant by concessions. I simply don't see how they can maintain the look of the G1 toy and impart leg articulation while making it wearable by white Prime. I'm curious to see how they approach this fig, as it poses challenges that previous figs didn't, and it'll give some indication as to how they'll approach other challenging figs in the future. I think the Zs are a no brainer, as they can squeeze four or five repaints/slight retools out of that mold and they essentially need only to articulate the legs and head. The Seekers will pose more of a challenge since the arms relied on partsforming hands and were fairly short, and the legs, as they are, are also a bit stubby proportionally, and didn't extend like many of the other G1 toys. Moreover, the wing rotation joint sits at hip level which will prove a challenge for Takara if and when they decide to tackle the design as a Missing Link entry. I'd be interested to see how they solve the various challenges.
mikeszekely Posted August 28 Author Posted August 28 I mean, that's Magnus all right. In fact, my G1 Magnus is in that exact same pose as we speak. Kinda hard to get too worked up over it until they show off some articulation.
anime52k8 Posted August 28 Posted August 28 he's got some leg-spreadage and ab-cruchage going on in the teaser image, so there's something.
rsvictor1976 Posted August 28 Posted August 28 I just started collecting Transformers again due to the recent tariff situation in the U.S. I've managed to gather a complete Studio Series Devastator, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Grimlock, and Sludge. I'm impressed by them considering they aren't $200+ Masterpiece figures.
M'Kyuun Posted August 29 Posted August 29 20 hours ago, sh9000 said: I was hoping for a showcase of the articulation, which is kinda the point of this line, but I guess they're milking the anticipation for all it's worth. Anyway, the hips are now separated from the rest of the red slab and that separation is cleverly hidden behind UM's WWE belt. Moreover, there's clearly a hinge visible behind his shin plate that corresponds nicely to a knee joint. Needless to say, I'm sure Takara succeeded in imbuing the fig with at least a modicum of leg articulation and they did an excellent job of hiding the changes necessary to pull it off. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought they'd tackle this fig, at least not yet given the number of first season bots that have yet to get the ML treatment. However, this is a nice flex of their problem-solving capabilities and talents, as this guy poses more problems to be solved than the average car-bot. While I'm not yet invested in the ML line, from both a G1 fan's POV and an engineering POV, I enjoy seeing how Takara approaches each toy to give it the articulation that so many of us, like me, wish they'd had originally. Many of those old toys are going to prove challenging, like UM here, and I'm excited to see how they solve the obstacles that each toy presents while maintaining the look of the OG toys. I hope Megatron is on the to-do list. And Prowl. And Soundwave and his cassette minions, who could all do with some updated engineering since the MP fig.
M'Kyuun Posted August 29 Posted August 29 4 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said: I just started collecting Transformers again due to the recent tariff situation in the U.S. I've managed to gather a complete Studio Series Devastator, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Grimlock, and Sludge. I'm impressed by them considering they aren't $200+ Masterpiece figures. Welcome back to the fold! The toys have come a long way, and for the most part, the SS86 line has been delivering the toys that I think the majority of us have wanted from Hasbro/Takara since the 80s. I've been in the game since it all kicked off in Sept '84, and I'm thrilled that they're finally making figs of the G1 characters that are a balanced mix of toon and original toy, although they tend to skew more towards the animation aesthetic, which seems to be what most fans want. But yeah, we're eating well, as the saying goes, and while it took them about thirty years too long to get around to it, I'm glad they're doing it now while the G1 generation is still around to enjoy them. You picked a good time to come back to the hobby, as G1 fans have never been so well served. Cheers and enjoy!
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now