The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[sh9000]

I'm still looking forward to Soundwave.

 

[M'Kyuun]

I still prefer the greater detail on the Netflix figure. I dislike the leftover arm kibble from his Siege 'spaceship' mode, and I wish they'd retooled his arms for the Netflix release, but otherwise, I still think it's a decent take. I do wish however that the legs bent forward at the knees like the G1 toy to fill in his cassette player mode. Oddly enough, they followed suit with the SS86 mold, which makes no sense when the knee bumps are there precisely for that reason. It would have made more sense to follow the G1 toy's engineering in that regard than copy the Netflix's improper transformation and then make the knee bumps push flush into the legs on the outside edges of the cassette player mode. I think the cassettes for SS86 Soundwave leave a lot to be desired as well. I still haven't secured a PO for SS86 Soundwave, and oddly enough, despite Soundwave's being one of my favorite characters, I'm not really feeling like I'm missing out. I'm waiting patiently, hoping that perhaps they'll do a slight toyish retool with more surface details. Unfortunately, nothing's gonna fix those crappy cassettes. Hopefully, Dr Wu will give us something better.

Edited November 7 by M'Kyuun

[M'Kyuun]

On 9/17/2025 at 10:36 PM, M'Kyuun said:

I never had any of the OG Deluxe Insecticons (I only had Kickback and Shrapnel), but I do have a downscaled Convertors version of Barrage and I always thought it was a cool figure. I wish Takara/Hasbro had gone all-in on making new molds for Ransack, Barrage and Chop Shop to match their OG toys as well. Regarding Venom, I know there's some complaint about the wing attachments, but it follows the OG toy quite faithfully and IMHO that's a strength, mostly. It would have been nice had those attachments swiveled to his back to get them out of the way, but overall, I'm extremely happy with how he turned out. Still waiting for my copy. Since they've demonstrated the willingness and ability to back-engineer Venom, I hope they'll do the same eventually not only with Ransack, Barrage and Chop Shop, but also Whirl and Roadbuster. I really want a proper Mugen Calibur as my Roadbuster.

 

On 9/17/2025 at 12:33 PM, mikeszekely said:

 

 

On the one hand, Venom is basically the G1 toy with more articulation, and he completes the modern set of Deluxe Insecticons.  That's good!  But I think he mimics the G1 toy a little too well for my tastes.  Subjectively, I don't think he actually looks like he belongs with the other three.  But most of all, I think they should have taken the liberty to improve the original toy's engineering a bit.  Like, was their really no way to move the wing hinges between modes?  As it stands, he holds his arms permanently at 45 degree angles because his wings keep him from lowering his arms any further.  And the wings, which would look pretty cool if they were more vertical behind him, also kind of stick out behind him at a 45 degree angle.  His shoulders don't really lock into place, either, having a tendency to collapse when you're manipulating them in robot mode.  Frankly, I think he's kind of an annoying.  Get him if you got the previous three Deluxe Insecticons and you want to complete the set.  Otherwise sit this out.

Regarding the last sentence, I couldn't disagree more. My copy finally arrived today, and I'm quite impressed with how well executed he is. If their aim was to shrink the OG toy while improving articulation, Takara understood the assignment and followed through admirably IMHO. Would it have objectively improved the figure's playability had they allowed the wings to swing back out of the way in bot mode? Absolutely, and I wish that had been their one main departure from the OG design. Additional joints to allow the wings to camber would have also been appreciated too, but the wings are serviceable as-is. As it stands, however, I think this is one of their best Insecticon releases, along with the legends scaled Titans Return Insecticons which had more realistic insect modes than their G1 toys. I love robotic insects, so the nearer they are to the source, the more pleasing I find them. I still find the OG Insecticons charming (coming from Diaclone, they were more insect shaped vehicles than actual robotic insects); however, originating in the short-lived Armored Insect Corps Beetras toyline, designed by Shinji Aramaki who also wanted bots with more realistic insect modes after seeing Takara's Diaclone toys, there were four toys realized which Hasbro used for its Deluxe Insecticons. Aramaki-sensei created seven additional designs, but according to the TF Wiki, none of them went beyond the prototype stage.  Unfortunately, Takatoku folded, Bandai acquired their Beetras and Dorvack toylines, and Hasbro acquired the rights to use those toys in Transformers.

A taste of what might've been.  A planned second series included a hornet, spider, and dragonfly. 

Speaking to the shoulders: it takes a little tug, but they do click into place. I love how the arms compress and then the shoulders further compress into the body. If they can pull it off with a deluxe, I'm left wondering why they couldn't do the same thing with SS86 Swoop at a leader scale and price point, which would be accurate to the OG toy.  

I love that Venom (let's just agree to dispense with the official "Venin" name) has articulated legs on ball joints which look realistic and allow for some limited posing in his cicada mode. The wings can be positioned open or closed, another nice touch of realism. In short, I think they did a great job with him and it only makes me want the other Deluxe Insecticons to get their own deluxe scaled, articulation-improved OG-toy-faithful figures instead of the repainted and retooled regular Insecticons that we actually got. I can only hope that there's sufficient interest by the fandom and that Hasbro is aware and willing to turn them into plastic playthings.

Edited November 7 by M'Kyuun

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I would buy that ladybug in a heartbeat.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I would buy that ladybug in a heartbeat.

I'd love to see the whole lot get updates. Since they essentially copied the Takatoku Cicada design with nary a fuss from Bandai, I don't see what's keeping them from creating new molds of at least the other three Deluxe Insecticons, although I wouldn't complain if they went beyond that and made some new Deluxe Insecticons based on these designs including that ladybug. I'd be in for all of them.

[davidwhangchoi]

8 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I would buy that ladybug in a heartbeat.

to go along with Goldbug.

That one looks like an autobot... but i thought all insecticons were bad guys. 

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

to go along with Goldbug.

That one looks like an autobot... but i thought all insecticons were bad guys. 

Hey now, labels are hurtful! Who's to say a bot who just so happens to have a robo-arthropod alt mode wouldn't or couldn't be good? 

Edited Wednesday at 09:40 PM by M'Kyuun

[davidwhangchoi]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Hey now, labels are hurtful! Who's to say a bot who just so happens to have a robo-insect alt mode wouldn't or couldn't be good? 

 like Blackarachnia? You must be Silverbolt. 

 

 

[sh9000]

I'm glad Decepticon Nemesis was reissued and I preordered it at Hasbro Pulse where it was a decently cheaper price than other stores.  Missed the preorder the first time Nemesis was released.

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

 like Blackarachnia? You must be Silverbolt. 

 

 

Not Silverbolt, but certainly empathetic to his cause. I was, in fact, thinking of Blackarachnia, although her alt is an arachnid, not an insect. Guess I'll amend my post to say "robo-arthropod" as a catch-all for our multilegged friends.

[JB0]

On 11/11/2025 at 11:39 PM, davidwhangchoi said:

That one looks like an autobot... but i thought all insecticons were bad guys. 

I mean, she's nothing right now, so all the Insecticons remain Decepticons.

She was never made into a toy for Beetras, much less adapted into Transformers, and Hasbro as of yet hasn't seen the need to make an homage to an obscure never-was toy. Just a neat piece of non-Transformer robot art.

... 

But yeah, she'd probably be an Autobot if she did finally escape her decades-long purgatory.

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

She was never made into a toy for Beetras, much less adapted into Transformers, and Hasbro as of yet hasn't seen the need to make an homage to an obscure never-was toy. Just a neat piece of non-Transformer robot art.

I've known about the Beetras art for some time now, but seeing it again always fills me with wonder at how much transforming robot art is really out there, as I'm sure, especially during the genre's heights in the 80s, there must have been numerous concepts with only a fraction of them ever leaving the sketchpad, easel, etc to be made into toys or models. All that unknown, unused art would make for a great book. More than Transformers, I love the very concept of transforming robots, especially when the alt modes are highly relatable in their realism (of course, I happily set aside this preference for such as the Dinobots, the Insecticons, or something like Skyfire). The dreamer in me would love to see so many of those unknown concepts come to light, and for some enterprising company(ies) to make toys or models out of them.

The Convertors line was cool in that regard, as they took transforming robot designs from numerous sources, scaled them all to match, and made a fairly decent range of inexpensive toys. With the cost of everything now, replicating that would be far more challenging, but I'd happily welcome a Convertors II line that essentially updated all their old toys while adding new ones. That said, I can't say we're not spoiled for choice right now, especially with all the third party and independent companies churning out transforming robots at a good clip. I just think it'd be neat to see what could have been back in the day.

Edited Thursday at 03:31 PM by M'Kyuun

[JB0]

8 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

More than Transformers, I love the very concept of transforming robots, especially when the alt modes are highly relatable in their realism (of course, I happily set aside this preference for such as the Dinobots, the Insecticons, or something like Skyfire). The dreamer in me would love to see so many of those unknown concepts come to light, and for some enterprising company(ies) to make toys or models out of them.

I feel a lot the same. My preferences don't necessarily call for realistic alt modes, so much as realistic transformations. I dislike some of the parts-origami that exists in modern Transformers where they try to make the robot not look like the car, I want robots where the chest is made of car roof and the feet are obviously the trunk. 

[pengbuzz]

36 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I've known about the Beetras art for some time now, but seeing it again always fills me with wonder at how much transforming robot art is really out there, as I'm sure, especially during the genre's heights in the 80s, there must have been numerous concepts with only a fraction of them ever leaving the sketchpad, easel, etc to be made into toys or models. All that unknown, unused art would make for a great book. More than Transformers, I love the very concept of transforming robots, especially when the alt modes are highly relatable in their realism (of course, I happily set aside this preference for such as the Dinobots, the Insecticons, or something like Skyfire). The dreamer in me would love to see so many of those unknown concepts come to light, and for some enterprising company(ies) to make toys or models out of them.

The Convertors line was cool in that regard, as they took transforming robot designs from numerous sources, scaled them all to match, and made a fairly decent range of inexpensive toys. With the cost of everything now, replicating that would be far more challenging, but I'd happily welcome a Convertors II line that essentially updated all their old toys while adding new ones. That said, I can't say we're not spoiled for choice right now, especially with all the third party and independent companies churning out transforming robots at a good clip. I just think it'd be neat to see what could have been back in the day.

I would love a new Convertors line!

Edited Thursday at 04:07 PM by pengbuzz

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, JB0 said:

I feel a lot the same. My preferences don't necessarily call for realistic alt modes, so much as realistic transformations. I dislike some of the parts-origami that exists in modern Transformers where they try to make the robot not look like the car, I want robots where the chest is made of car roof and the feet are obviously the trunk. 

Oh, totally agree. I'm neither a fan of partsforming nor faux parts for the sake of matching some idealized artistic rendition rife with liberties taken. For me, that was the main charm of the Gobots cartoon; however cheesy and kiddified, I loved the fact that the transformations mirrored the actual toys, and of course, the toys, as simple as they were, by and large utilized the alt mode bits to a great extent in informing the bot modes. Diaclone, and Transformers thereafter, did so to, to a large extent, although there were characters like Prowl and Jazz whose arms were simply tucked away and had no part of the alt mode. But I love that old simple approach of using what the alt mode gives you to inform the robot mode and the transformation. I think that principle, too, is what endears the Macross designs to me, as well as the vast majority of the designs being very realistic looking fighters. It's a winning twofer!

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

I would love a new Convertors line!

In the right hands, with talent, passion for the old toys, and a desire to expand, I think it would be a fantastic line of toys with endless possibilities and also a great source of nostalgia.

Additionally, as I mentioned, a nice coffee table book full of well-curated unused transforming robot/mecha concepts over the decades starting at least with the late 70s onwards would be the bee's knees and perhaps provide fuel for a fledgling Convertors II line as well. I can dream.

[davidwhangchoi]

Transformers Toys Retro 40th Anniversary Autobot Blaster & Steeljaw Action Figures $20 -Walmart

Edited Friday at 10:42 PM by davidwhangchoi

[M'Kyuun]

27 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

Transformers Toys Retro 40th Anniversary Autobot Blaster & Steeljaw Action Figures $20 -Walmart

As a Geewunner who was less than impressed with these toys back when they were new, I'm always at a loss to understand their appeal when we now have vastly improved versions of them at virtually every scale. I guess nostalgia is a primary driver, but from my POV, I'd rather have a modern version with full articulation over the old 80s bricks. Except for the cassettes, which remain pretty cool, for the most part. I haven't been too impressed with the WFC Siege/Kingdom, Legacy, SS86 scaled versions, except, ironically, Eject, the best of the smaller scaled cassettes. I keep hoping Dr. Wu will eventually produce improved versions of all the main character cassettes, as Takara's takes have been less than lackluster. Well, SS86 Rumble/Frenzy was almost excellent except for the lack of elbows- how hard would it have been to split the arm and give one half a ball joint and the other a socket? So close to good, but not. SS86 Steeljaw looks like a Pomeranian, Ravage is severely compromised, the WFC Condors are ok except for the oddly shaped weapon packs, all three of the SS86 Soundwave cassettes look like steps backward in design. If you're a cassette fan like me, there's much to be desired with Has/Tak's modern takes.

[rsvictor1976]

23 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

As a Geewunner who was less than impressed with these toys back when they were new, I'm always at a loss to understand their appeal when we now have vastly improved versions of them at virtually every scale. I guess nostalgia is a primary driver, but from my POV, I'd rather have a modern version with full articulation over the old 80s bricks. Except for the cassettes, which remain pretty cool, for the most part. I haven't been too impressed with the WFC Siege/Kingdom, Legacy, SS86 scaled versions, except, ironically, Eject, the best of the smaller scaled cassettes. I keep hoping Dr. Wu will eventually produce improved versions of all the main character cassettes, as Takara's takes have been less than lackluster. Well, SS86 Rumble/Frenzy was almost excellent except for the lack of elbows- how hard would it have been to split the arm and give one half a ball joint and the other a socket? So close to good, but not. SS86 Steeljaw looks like a Pomeranian, Ravage is severely compromised, the WFC Condors are ok except for the oddly shaped weapon packs, all three of the SS86 Soundwave cassettes look like steps backward in design. If you're a cassette fan like me, there's much to be desired with Has/Tak's modern takes.

I'm guessing you don't like the classic Bandai 1/55 chunky monkeys? 

[tekering]

2 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

I'm guessing you don't like the classic Bandai 1/55 chunky monkeys? 

The continued popularity of that 40-year old toy perplexes me.  Both Yamato and Bandai have produced more accurate toys, at more practical scales, and in more variations than the original Takatoku versions, yet the outdated and inferior molds get continuously reissued...? 🤷‍♂️

Yeah, I agree with @M'Kyuun about retro Transformers (and Star Wars) reissues, too. 🤨

[sh9000]

Titan combiner.

[mikeszekely]

My beef with the recent Walmart reissues isn't that they're reissuing 40+ year old toys when there are new better ones... after all, the new better ones aren't what I had as a kid.  My issue with them is the new "movie" decos that are also not what I had as a kid.  If you're gonna reissue a toy, make it as close to the original as possible so that I don't have to spend a small fortune on one made in the '80s with fingers crossed that it's still in good condition.  But if you're going to get a toy with a new, more cartoon-accurate deco, it might as also have a new, more cartoon-accurate sculpt and new, more cartoon-accurate articulation while we're at it.

[sh9000]

I liked the first set of G1 reissues from Walmart and Hasbro Pulse and wish they continued instead of changing the toy deco and packaging.  I would still love a G1 Prowl reissue in G1 packaging.

The only Walmart G1 cartoon deco I got was Optimus because it came with a trailer and was on discount.

Edited yesterday at 02:12 PM by sh9000

[rsvictor1976]

50 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I liked the first set of G1 reissues from Walmart and Hasbro Pulse and wish they continued instead of changing the toy deco and packaging.  I would still love a G1 Prowl reissue in G1 packaging.

The only Walmart G1 cartoon deco I got was Optimus because it came with a trailer and was on discount.

Did you recently get those?

 

[M'Kyuun]

16 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

I'm guessing you don't like the classic Bandai 1/55 chunky monkeys? 

I actually own a G1 Jetfire that I bought at a second-hand toy store in Pittsburgh nigh twenty years ago before vintage Transformers really became sought after. I believe I paid $120 for it, still with its original box with styrofoam insert and all accessories. Unfortunately, the stickers were not well placed and in attempting to remove one of them from the inner leg, to my extreme horror and dismay, the paint came off with it. I had a set of Reprolabels that I was going to apply, but after that paint came off, I just put it back in its box and it's been in storage ever since. I also, roughly 20 years ago, bought an actual 1/55 rerelease VF-1A, IIRC. So, to answer your question, I like the Chunky Monkey; it's an anachronistic toy now, but when I bought the aforementioned toys, we still didn't have many good VF-1 options, and to Takatoku's credit, it was a solid toy with decent articulation even at that time, let alone in the 80s. Heck, I still treasure my G1 Soundwave and his cassettes, and I kept him with my CHUG collection until I bought Netflix Soundwave just a few years ago. I still keep my G1 cassettes on display, as I think they're still superior to the WFC/Legacy/SS86 cassettes. They may be flat, but they make for more convincing cassettes and the animal modes still have better articulation than the modern HasTak versions, not to mention looking the parts better, IMHO. I LOVE the cassette minions, be they Autobot or Decepticon, and IMHO, the new shrunken versions represent glaring failures among the otherwise overall well-done modern official G1 updates. I pin my hopes on Dr. Wu to hopefully remedy that situation.

To clarify my stance, I don't hate the G1 toys; they were a new, cool idea, and the execution was a bit primitive. With Diaclone, it seems to me that the vehicle modes were the primary focus (making them look like real-world vehicles) and the robot modes, being the gimmick, were done as well as they felt they needed to be to get the point across. I doubt they thought we'd still be talking about them and collecting them 40+ years on. They were made for kids, and most toys have a pretty short shelf life in kids' attention span. It just so happens that we got hooked by the story that Marvel cooked up for them and the rest is history. I was thirteen when Transformers debuted, so already a little older than the target audience, but still in range. But I loved robots and sci-fi. the transformation concept was earth-shattering to me- robots were already the coolest thing on Earth, but robots that could change seamlessly into realistic looking vehicles and stuff like the Walkman and its cassettes, which also could transform!- I was enrapt from the get-go. Likewise with Gobots, but I found the cheesiness of the toon coupled with the lesser complex toys less appealing than the TF toys and more mature toned toon. (speaking of first season). However, even at thirteen and on into my later teens and early twenties, I was disenchanted with most TF toys due to their limited articulation, primarily, and simplicity. Like most TF fans today, I wanted my bots to look, mostly, like they did on tv, albeit in my case, with a little more surface and mechanical details carried over with or from the alt mode. Articulation has always been my sticking point, and while they're getting better, I'd still like to see stuff like wrist rotation, ankles that pitch fore and aft, and opening hands (like they did with SS86 prime and Megs) become standard points among all size classes. Doubt it'll happen, but I can hope. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with where we're at right now with the Hasbro mainline toys including SS86. We need better cassettes (can't foot stomp that enough), a new improved Astrotrain with complete and realistic looking alt modes, as well as a new Blitzwing that manages the kibble better for better tank and jet modes, especially the latter. Takara is notorious for making crappy jet modes, so that's a big ask and I hope eventually they'll actually come through.

Edited 22 hours ago by M'Kyuun

[sh9000]

9 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Did you recently get those?

 

No.  Cartoon deco Optimus was bought last year.  Everything else in those pics (including Warpath and Gears) were bought in 2018 to 2020.

[mikeszekely]

Coming in 2026, I can try not think about how I'll have spent over $500 on dinobots...

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Coming in 2026, I can try not think about how I'll have spent over $500 on dinobots...

Ugh, the gaudy color schemes are the biggest turn off for me concerning G2. I'm happy with my G1 versions. Cool for those who like G2, though.

[Scyla]

I never liked these colors for G2 Swoop and Sludge. The other G2 Dinobots are a muted green, blue and red. These are too bright and gaudy and look out of place with the other three.

These would go well with the tiger stripe Grimlock. 

I don’t say the colors are bad looking, just that they don’t look like a cohesive group.