The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[M'Kyuun]

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The SS 86 Hot Rod will be reissued and recolored and released at Target.  I'll be getting one.

I'm happy with my first issue and won't be double-dipping, but It's a great figure, and there's an excellent argument to be made that it's the best official, and perhaps just simply the best ever, version of the character in toy form. That said, as mentioned earlier in the thread, while his bot mode is nigh perfect (needs better shoulder engineering), his vehicle mode is definitely his weakest and could use some work. But it still stands as one of the best figs thus far to come out of the SS86 subline.

[rsvictor1976]

I picked up some Transformers this week. I lucked out and found some of the 2-for-$15 deals at Walmart.

[sh9000]

I'll be picking up reissue Gigawatt today.  Now that I've had Agent Knight for some time I wish that his vehicle mode was the same size as Gigawatt's.

[mikeszekely]

When I reviewed Steelsmash a few days ago, one of my biggest complaints was that a Transformers collaboration with the NFL just doesn't the same sort of sense that pop culture vehicles do.  Which is why today's collab feels so right... maybe they don't have the mainstream recognition that, say, the Delorean from Back to the Future does, but Hot Wheels certainly have their place in both pop and collector culture.  Taking some of Hot Wheels' most iconic original designs from the last 57 years and making them Transformers feels as obvious as taking real licensed cars and making Transformers out of those.  While not part of the original 1968 "Sweet Sixteen," this car is so iconic Mattel actually commissioned a life-sized working version... this is Twin Mill.

As Transformers go, Twin Mill isn't a bad one.  With his primary blue colors and long, semi-circle shoulder pads I'm getting Cybertron Blurr vibes.  The roof-chest is more standard car Transformers fare.  And at roughly a Deluxe scale, he fits in pretty well with your regular Autobot crew.

Twin Mill maintains a pretty clean appearance all-around, with no backpack and only a minimal amount on his arms.  The open gaps in his calves are a bit of an eyesore, though, exposing the inner joints.

Twin Mill doesn't come with any weapons... I guess the pipes on his arms are enough.  He does come with these two flame effect parts, though.

Twin Mill's head is technically on a ball joint, but there's no real clearance around the ball, so he can swivel his head but he can't really tilt it.  His entire shoulder can swivel and move about 60 degrees laterally.  That lateral movement is really for transformation, though, and on the wrong side of the swivel.  Fortunately, his shoulders have additional swivels under the shoulder pads that get a bit under 90 degrees of lateral movement as well.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a little under 90 degrees.  His wrists swivel, as does his waist.  His hips can go over 90 degrees forward and laterally, and 90 degrees backward.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His ankles are hinged ball joints, so they swivel, have some up/down tilt, and pivot about 45 degrees.

The flame effects have holes on them that fit over the ends of the pipes on his arms.

To get Twin Mill ready to transform, you're going to have to partsform him.  The sections with the engines and exhaust pipes slide outward to come off of his arms.  Does that make them accessories?  I think no, simply due to the fact that there's nowhere else to store them.

As for the rest of his transformation, it's relatively simply.  His arms tuck up into his shoulder pads, which then swivel 180 degrees and fold up to encapsulate his head and form the nose of the car.  Spin his waist 180 degrees, and fold out his chest.  Flip the trim out from under the window, and rotate the roof 180 degrees.  Tuck in his heels and open his calves.  His feet swivel so the toes are pointed inward, then they fold up into his legs.  The legs tab together then collapse Combiner Wars-style.  When the legs are in place, you can rock the roof back and tab it in, too.  Slide the engines into the gap between the roof and the nose, and swivel the intakes so the opening faces forward.

I'm not much of a Hot Wheels collector... I do have a number of 1:64 cars, but they're all Porsches.  That said, as near as I can tell, aside from being a little thicker proportionally and using gray plastic instead of chrome form the engines, rims, and intakes, it's a pretty good representation of the Hot Wheels car.  The light blue markings match marking on various Twin Mill releases, with the only concession to being a Transformer coming from the Autobot badges in front of the rear tires.  I guess, if I was being really picky, I'd also point out that the swirly blue plastic Hasbro used is a poor substitute for Mattel's "Spectraflame" paint.

Of course, the flame effect parts are meant to be used with this mode, too.  In fact, there's a curve to them that allows them to curve around the flared rear, so they only fit a certain way.

As I kind of alluded to, I really like this collab.  Yes, Twin Mill is an iconic Hot Wheels car, but there's nothing about it that makes it stand out dramatically from other Transformers in either mode.  If you're into Hot Wheels, it's cool to see Twin Mill brought to life this way, but even if you're not into Hot Wheels it's just a solid robot with good articulation that turns into a solid car fictional car.  The only catch is the price.  He's Deluxe-sized, with minimal accessories, and nothing about his paint seems to push the budget higher, but he's priced more like a Voyager.  But, I guess Mattel has to get their cut, eh?  If you can swallow the price tag, I give Twin Mill a solid recommend.

[mikeszekely]

Despite not being nearly 60 years old like Twin Mill, Bone Shaker, first released in 2006, seems to be nearly as iconic.  It also had a life-sized working version commissioned, and has appeared in several Forza games.  And now it's a Transformer.

Bone Shaker is kind of like the opposite of Twin Mill.    Yesterday I praised Twin Mill for blending in with other Deluxe carbots due to his somewhat typical design and lack of overly Hot Wheels-esque elements.  Bone Shaker's giant skull chest is instantly recognizable to Hot Wheels fans, though, and the bot it's attached to clearly has no interest in blending in.  And yet, it totally works.  Combined with his red eyes and face that managed to look angry even with a mask, Bone Shaker is a bot that oozes attitude.  But not in a "I'm something else being shoehorned into Transformers way," like the pizza van from Stranger Things or a football helmet.  More like in a Lobo or Deadpool way, like you stuck him in a comic book with the regular cast and he gave off so much main character energy you had to give him his own series.

That attitude does come with a few drawbacks.  He's not as clean as Twin Mill.  The wheels aren't really his shoulder pads, they short of hover above his bare shoulders, with flaps of kibble tucked half-heartedly behind them.  A windshield that doesn't fold at all sticks off his back.  And his feet kind of aren't really feet.  Like the front of his "foot" is actually part of his shin and doesn't move at all, while the flat bottom does move but is kind of just a flap.

Bone Shaker's sole accessory is this... I guess mace.  There's something like a skull and crossbones on it, but instead of a skull it's an Autobot badge.  The packaging does suggest Bone Shaker's supposed to be an Autobot, but he gives me major Decepticon vibes.  I'm kind of glad this is the only Autobot badge on the entire figure; rather than accept him as another Autobot, I'll imagine him as a Decepticon rival for Twin Mill.

Bone Shaker's head is a ball joint, with a swivel and minimal down or sideways tilt, but he can look nearly 90 degrees straight up.  The wheels over his shoulders are hinged so you can adjust them as needed to allow his shoulders to swivel and move just about 90 degrees laterally.  His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, but he doesn't have wrist swivels.  He does have a waist swivel, though, and his hips can go forward, backward, and laterally 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend nearly 180 degrees.  The design of his feet don't really allow for up/down tilt, but the flat part that he actually stands on is hinged gives him about 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

Bone Shaker can hold his mace in either hand.  There doesn't seem to be any storage for it.

Transforming Bone Shaker is relatively simple, and unlike Twin Mill doesn't require partsforming.  Fold the skull on his chest open.  That will open a gap that will allow you to rock the front of his torso up over his head.  Don't close the skull yet, though!  You need to open to fold the flaps with his shoulders attached down, tucking his shoulders together in the space his chest just vacated such that his elbows are bend 90 degrees with his hands tucked in just above his waist.  Now you can close the skull, as well as fold the front wheels down and tuck the exhaust pipes into place.  As for the rear of the vehicles, his legs tab together and fold over, Micromaster-style, but that's oversimplifying things a bit.  You need to take his shins and hinge them out and away, giving you the clearance you need to fold his feet flaps around to make the seats.  Once the legs are actually in place, the shins swing down to fill in the rear of the car.

Bone Shaker has been released in a lot of decos over the years, and I'm not into Hot Wheels enough to say if what we've got here is accurate to any of them.  Suffice to say that the flames-on-black works for him, though.  And the shape of the car- exposed V8 on the nose, curling exhausts sticking out the sides, the big skull nose clutching the headlights, the open roof, and what I assume is a fuel tank in the back is all accurate to the 1:64 car regardless of the deco.  I think Bone Shaker's Hot Wheels origin is more obvious than Twin Mill's and it's hardly a disguise, but he's still not totally out-of-place as a Transformer.  G2 Laser Rods, anyone?  There is the bit of Hot Wheels branding on the hood, but again, no faction symbols.

The instructions fail to mention it, but there's a tiny tab at the bottom of the mace.  This tab fits into a notch between the seats in his cabin, allowing in to store it in vehicle mode.  Is it supposed to be a shifter?  Bright red, smooth ball of the mace does sort of seem like it, but the scale of it vs the car is way off.  I guess it's better than nothing, but why not just give him a gun that could tab into the slots on his rear?

Bone Shaker is, in my opinion, another hit.  Sure, he's got a bit more kibble, but he makes up for that with sheer charisma.  He's got a solid transformation and a great alt mode; there's not a lot to complain about here.  I'd love to see Hasbro and Mattel continue this collab, as it makes a lot of sense for both companies.  And, fortunately, it sounds like I'm going to get my wish, as I know of at least three more in the works.

[sh9000]

[Scyla]

I don’t know…

I think Hasbro is losing me with every new combiner release. They still have odd proportions despite the frame system. I think especially the arms suffer from getting thicker than they need to be since they all attach on top of the frame.

Now the legs are getting super wonky on Bruticus with very odd proportions and ankle tilt placement. 

[mikeszekely]

Oof.

I'll let Onslaught's feet have a pass.  They're ugly, but kind of becoming a standard for Hasbro; they're basically the same as Silverbolt's.  And the truck mode looks pretty good.  But this is a Commander-class toy.  At that price, they should be able to afford enough plastic colors to make his thighs and hands black instead of sticking them on the same runner as the green/brown parts.

And don't get me started on Bruticus.  He's got terrible proportions that look like half his legs are missing.  It's funny that after buying a DNA upgrade for Menasor I was debating if I think such upgrades are necessary for Superion and Devastator, but I'm already praying for DNA to fix Hasbro's mess on Bruticus.

Also, I strongly prefer Bruticus to have a silver chest plate and blue thighs.  I'm not getting that, because Hasbro wants to go Sunbow.  OK... then why doesn't Blast Off connect via the top of the shuttle, as is cartoon-accurate?  It's like Hasbro figured out the frame system works, then made a one-size-fits-all design that clearly doesn't work for Bruticus.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Oof.

I'll let Onslaught's feet have a pass.  They're ugly, but kind of becoming a standard for Hasbro; they're basically the same as Silverbolt's.  And the truck mode looks pretty good.  But this is a Commander-class toy.  At that price, they should be able to afford enough plastic colors to make his thighs and hands black instead of sticking them on the same runner as the green/brown parts.

And don't get me started on Bruticus.  He's got terrible proportions that look like half his legs are missing.  It's funny that after buying a DNA upgrade for Menasor I was debating if I think such upgrades are necessary for Superion and Devastator, but I'm already praying for DNA to fix Hasbro's mess on Bruticus.

Also, I strongly prefer Bruticus to have a silver chest plate and blue thighs.  I'm not getting that, because Hasbro wants to go Sunbow.  OK... then why doesn't Blast Off connect via the top of the shuttle, as is cartoon-accurate?  It's like Hasbro figured out the frame system works, then made a one-size-fits-all design that clearly doesn't work for Bruticus.

I saw a pic of this this morning, not knowing it was Hasbro's, and thought it was some chibi version. I woke up late today and was confronted with pics of Bruticus everywhere, so the realization set in that this is what we're getting. I don't necessarily hate it, but I'll agree that the legs look disproportional. I'm sure DNA or one of the upgrade kit makers will sort us out.

I'm still quite pleased with how Onslaught turned out, and I'm both relieved and glad that they integrated a turning mechanism for his trailer, a necessity that is often missing with Onslaught toys. I realize it'll likely be limited, but at least it's there in part.

Mike, you're not wrong about their over-reliance on the frame system and the concessions the use thereof entails. Bruticus epitomizes those concessions, alas. I wish, like the Constructicons, they'd found a way to use the bots themselves as limbs. And like you, I prefer Bruticus' toy look over the Sunbow. I never understood the Blast Offish shuttle-like chest, especially when the toy's chest piece was completely different and far better looking, IMHO. 

Gripes aside, I'm eagerly awaiting the preorder windows for Onslaught and Swindle.

 

[mikeszekely]

[rsvictor1976]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Maybe it's the picture, but Bruticus looks a little short and stubby like a dwarf. 

[mikeszekely]

34 minutes ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Maybe it's the picture, but Bruticus looks a little short and stubby like a dwarf. 

I was thinking Leprechaun, but that works too. Just replace "They're always after me Lucky Charms" with "Diggy Diggy Hole".

[M'Kyuun]

Well, the angle of the photo doesn't help, as the thickness of Brawl from back to front makes his leg look even thiccer than it is if viewed from directly forward. Add to that the ankle position nearly halfway up the leg, which also makes the leg itself look shorter, all which conspire to make him look rather chonky and squat. I appreciate that the leg bots, at least, are doing their due diligence more than the arms in this case, but it sems that the overall execution could have been improved.

I look no further than Magic Square's Bruticus: 

[tekering]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I look no further than Magic Square's Bruticus

Really clean, but still much too stumpty...

Ocular Max remains definitive for me.

[M'Kyuun]

The MMC does look good, no argument. Too, I'm generally a fan of MMC's work, as I have more of their MP scaled figs than any other third party. I would've gotten these guys, too, Bruticus being my favorite combiner, but I just didn't have the space for another MP scaled combiner. So, I've mostly contained my collecting now to Hasbro and 3P legends. I have the MS legends scaled toon-style Bruticus right in front of me as I type, and his proportions look good to me. I'd rather have had the toy version, but FOMO made me act before they were sold out, as I made my decision to get him rather late in the game.

Funny, even this bottom pic makes his shins look stubbier than they are. The knees on my copy are right at eye level on my desk, and from that perspective, the thighs and lower legs appear appropriately proportional.

Regarding the Taka-bro version, I prefer the direction they took giving both leg bots a minor transformation into legs and feet instead of just tacking them on to a frame like Menasor and Superion. At least the leg bots are performing their functions with the assistance of a much smaller than usual frame system. I'm hoping the proportions will look better in hand, as pics don't always do toys proper justice. Regardless, at this point, I'm in for the whole team.

Someone on the TFW boards said that Onslaught's PO will start at 10 AM PST on Friday. Can anyone confirm?

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Someone on the TFW boards said that Onslaught's PO will start at 10 AM PST on Friday. Can anyone confirm?

Not sure, but CCXP25 starts tomorrow.  The Transformers team is there and will have a panel at 3:00pm EST.  I expect we'll hear more about Onslaught (and a few other recent leaks) then, and if there are going to be preorders this week we'll get tipped off then.

 

EDIT: BTW, I'll have more to say in the near future.  Probably not before the holidays, though.

Edited Thursday at 04:45 AM by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Not sure, but CCXP25 starts tomorrow.  The Transformers team is there and will have a panel at 3:00pm EST.  I expect we'll hear more about Onslaught (and a few other recent leaks) then, and if there are going to be preorders this week we'll get tipped off then.

 

EDIT: BTW, I'll have more to say in the near future.  Probably not before the holidays, though.

Thanks for the info, Mike. I have an appointment in the AM, but between the predicted snow and time spent at the doctor's (waiting-he's a busy guy), hopefully I'll make it home before noon to catch the panel and any potential POs.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

 

why does this one have two heads?

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

why does this one have two heads?

 

 

I didn't even notice it. Yeah, if you leave Vortex's tail halves splayed open per instructions, his head is exposed. You can't see it from looking straight on, but from that angle, it's clearly visible. I keep the tail halves closed on my copy.

It's not a perfect figure, but for the size, it's quite solid and well-articulated, especially for a gestalt. Unlike the Taka-bro version, no frame required- the bots serve as the limbs, as they should. It doesn't hurt that it's pretty much all plastic, and so much easier on the joints over the long run. I prefer that over die-cast heavy figs that become weak and floppy over time. Too, at legends scale, it delivers, for me, an excellent set of Combaticons and, IMHO, a great-looking Bruticus at space friendly scale compared to both Hasbro's and especially MP scales. I hope at some point (I may have to check about now that it comes to mind) for a toy-version legs and chest-piece set to convert him over. I'm not crazy about the toon look of Bruticus, especially that shuttle-like chest.

[sh9000]

 

[M'Kyuun]

7 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

 

While the walking actions are a still a bit janky, everything else about these Robosen figures astounds continually. Never imagined I'd ever see anything this sophisticated regarding Transformers in my lifetime, but I'm glad I'm here to see it. They're a bit on the pricey side, and rather large besides, so I don't own any, but I enjoy them vicariously.

I'm curious if this will accommodate MMC's full sized cassettes? If Robosen was able to make their own fully self-converting cassettes, that would truly be next level. I'd consider picking up Ravage if they made him.

[rsvictor1976]

I want to see someone program it to breakdance.

 

[jenius]

I thought we were going to get Starscream so this is an interesting surprise. I enjoy my big Optimus but one is enough for me.

[mikeszekely]

The Hasbro panel was for all their brands, so the Transformers part was real short. They showed off the leaked Sideways and Onslaught. Nate said someone about making sure Bruticus has black hands- until I hear differently I assume he actually means Onslaught, since gray is already correct for Bruticus, but I pointed out yesterday that green is wrong for Onslaught.

Yes, pre-orders for those two open tomorrow, still confirming the time.

The only other thing they mentioned is a brief glimpse at Swindle. Sorry for the poor quality.

Bot looks fine, not loving the black winch. Jeep is a little long. The trailer is a reference to an episode; I'm hoping the guns mount without it. The arm cannon and trailer will combine to form Bruticus' gun. I don't think preorders for Swindle will be tomorrow, as he's scheduled for the third wave right now.

[M'Kyuun]

13 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

The Hasbro panel was for all their brands, so the Transformers part was real short. They showed off the leaked Sideways and Onslaught. Nate said someone about making sure Bruticus has black hands- until I hear differently I assume he actually means Onslaught, since gray is already correct for Bruticus, but I pointed out yesterday that green is wrong for Onslaught.

Yes, pre-orders for those two open tomorrow, still confirming the time.

The only other thing they mentioned is a brief glimpse at Swindle. Sorry for the poor quality.

Bot looks fine, not loving the black winch. Jeep is a little long. The trailer is a reference to an episode; I'm hoping the guns mount without it. The arm cannon and trailer will combine to form Bruticus' gun. I don't think preorders for Swindle will be tomorrow, as he's scheduled for the third wave right now.

PO time is Greatly appreciated, as no one else seems willing or able to provide it. My appt ran long, but I was trying to keep abreast via my phone bouncing between here and the TFW Bruticus thread.

So tomorrow. If they hold to precedent, it'll be 1300 PST, but I'll keep checking in to see if you get any clarification.

Regarding Swindle, despite the blurriness, he looks alright. Considering he has to match Brawl, at least in terms of length to form the other leg, a little extra length on the jeep mode is acceptable. While I could also live without the winch, it's apparently a cartoon touch, and unfortunately, Hasbro's leaning ever more into the toon.

[mikeszekely]

Confirming pre-orders for 1:00pm EST/10:00am PST.

[sh9000]

Another view.  I would have preferred it if Swindle and Brawl didn't transform into Bruticus feet and Onslaught transformed into taller Bruticus feet instead.

[M'Kyuun]

48 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Another view.  I would have preferred it if Swindle and Brawl didn't transform into Bruticus feet and Onslaught transformed into taller Bruticus feet instead.

Yeah, he definitely suffers from ape arms syndrome. Taller legs would've evened out the proportions.

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Confirming pre-orders for 1:00pm EST/10:00am PST.

Huge thanks, Mike!

[sh9000]

Swindle.

[M'Kyuun]

15 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Swindle.

Aside from that unsightly arm kibble, Swindle looks good. Very much loving these AotP Combaticons, although I wish they'd managed Vortex's arm kibble better. Of all of them, I'd say he's the weakest, and he's still much better than CW Vortex, at least insofar as G1 accuracy is concerned. I imagine there'll be several solutions at hand to fix Bruticus', erm, shortcomings, but otherwise, he's not shaping up too badly either. I do wish, however, that in this instance they'd abandoned the frame system for the arms and engineered the bots themselves to take on the roles they're supposed to occupy rather than just be relegated to accoutrement. As for how Takara approached the legs, in practice, I don't mind that there's a small bit of framework to help with strength, as the leg bots are doing a fair chunk of the work, as they should. This, IMHO, is a good compromise, and if they're going to continue to rely on a frame system, I'd rather see them embrace a minimalist frame over what they did with Menasor or Superion, where the combiner bots aren't even necessary to form the gestalt. At that point, the combiner bots become superfluous, as they're little more than decoration, and that's not what I want in a combiner.

[M'Kyuun]

Onslaught and Sideways POs are up on Pulse.

[mikeszekely]

45 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Onslaught and Sideways POs are up on Pulse.

I got 'em there. Can only find Sideways on Amazon, though.

Edit: found 'em.

Edited Friday at 06:52 PM by mikeszekely

[locidm]

Onslaught is up on BBTS.

Bruticus looks great from the knees up. The shin needs to be 20% longer........

[mikeszekely]

5 minutes ago, locidm said:

The shin needs to be 20% longer........

Or Swindle and Brawl need to be entirely shin and Bruticus needs some proper feet under them.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Or Swindle and Brawl need to be entirely shin and Bruticus needs some proper feet under them.

I'm of two minds about that: I appreciate that they went the extra mile to make Brawl and Swindle become both legs and feet and that they actually serve the purpose thereof instead of just tacking onto a frame that does all the work. OTOH, it's obvious how foreshortening their vehicle modes to accomplish this detrimentally affected the look of Bruticus by making his legs too short relative to the rest of him. It's unfortunate, as I like it when Takara employ their engineering skills, but something about the finished product here should have given pause. I'm sure the upgrade kit makers will be working on solutions, but that very necessity, and the ever-increasing prices thereof, sticks somewhat in the craw.