The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[mikeszekely]

On 3/25/2021 at 4:27 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Yep, from Pulse. I've been ordering as much TF stuff as I can from them since I have a Pulse membership, and it all ships free.

Well, I went to Pulse since I also have Pulse Premium, and saw that not only did they have Dinobot for sale but they have Inferno, too.  Meanwhile, Amazon's still telling me May.  Well, I guess I'm canceling those two on Amazon and ordering from Pulse.

Speaking of Pulse, maybe my Deep Cover will ship sometime before I waltz into a store and find the Netflix version...

Oh, some finds today, not everything I'd hoped to find but still something.  Reviews soon.  Got distracted picking up an Xbox Series X today, so I haven't even opened my toys yet.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Well, I went to Pulse since I also have Pulse Premium, and saw that not only did they have Dinobot for sale but they have Inferno, too.  Meanwhile, Amazon's still telling me May.  Well, I guess I'm canceling those two on Amazon and ordering from Pulse.

Speaking of Pulse, maybe my Deep Cover will ship sometime before I waltz into a store and find the Netflix version...

Oh, some finds today, not everything I'd hoped to find but still something.  Reviews soon.  Got distracted picking up an Xbox Series X today, so I haven't even opened my toys yet.

Pulse has been pretty timely about getting figs out. I've received any number of emails from them saying that stock came in early and my stuff was shipping. I got Inferno the week before last, and Dinobot came last week. This morning, I got emails saying Kingdom Huffer and Airazor shipped, so I'll likely have them in hand early next week. As for the Netflix stuff, my Walmart barely stocks anything Generations, Netflix or otherwise, and and when they do stock, it's not a lot. I never saw any of the Headmaster stuff in my store. It's sad.

I know that Pulse is selling some of the retailer exclusive stuff, and hopefully items like the Wally exclusive Headmasters will be available on there in the future, as brick and mortar, at least in my area, offers a very slim chance of getting these toys. I miss the old days when these things were well stocked and readily available. Heck,  they used to be well stocked in my store back in the mid 2000s, but something happened over the last five or six years to detrimentally effect their stock.

IMHO, the adult market for toys has had a negative overall effect: we're the impetus behind keeping a lot of nostalgia driven toys alive, but it's also the adult market that's created a thriving landscape for scalpers to take advantage. It'd make for an interesting case study to garner some imperial data.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

This morning, I got emails saying Kingdom Huffer and Airazor shipped

That's weird.  When I was ordering I checked on Airazor and Magnus, too, but Pulse has them both showing as pre-orders with a release date of May 1st.

Between what I told you I ordered at Pulse and what I just said I couldn't order at Pulse, you might guess what I found at Target...

 

EDIT: Found Magnus at Dorkside Toys. Just leaves Airazor and the Netflix stuff for now.

Edited April 1, 2021 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

Man, don't spoil Huffer for me. I've been waiting 37 years for Hasbro to make a proper G1 Huffer in the mainline, and from pics I've seen, it looks pretty darn good. There are reviews up already by the usual suspects, and I've been avoiding them assiduously, as I want to enjoy this fig with fresh eyes. I'm not even sure what it is I like so much about his design, b/c his personality wasn't the greatest, but I've liked it since the old G1 days, and I'm happy that they upscaled him to a small deluxe size, and that he can pull ER Prime's trailer. I keep hoping that all the G1 minibots will eventually get the same treatment, regardless of branding.

I've seen a vid review or two of Airazor, and my impression is that they did a really good job on her. The original toy was pretty decent, especially for the time, and the Kingdom toy is a lovely update. It's definitely better than Dinobot, who turned out to be rather disappointing after owning Kingdom Megatron. It didn't help that my copy had a bum ankle with zero friction- just flopped about freely right outta the box. A dab of Gorilla glue made it better- still not as tight as I'd like, but at least it'll bear weight in a pose. I like the solutions they came up with for his transformation, but his Raptor mode suffers from obvious bot bits, Palmolive hands (80s kids know what I'm referring to), odd proportions, and lack of hip articulation. The dino mouth on my copy doesn't seem to want to open as far as what I've seen in online pics, so I'm not sure if that's operator error on my part, or just the way my copy was put together. Anyway, of the Kingdom BW figs, I think his is the worst beast mode thus far for all the compromises.  I was really hoping they'd knock this one out of the park- sadly, no.

Edited April 1, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

49 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Man, don't spoil Huffer for me.

I can wait a few days.  Lemme know when you get him.  In the meantime I want to try to get a review for Nonnef's Grimlock kit up tomorrow.

49 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I've seen a vid review or two of Airazor, and my impression is that they did a really good job on her.

Reviewing Airazor will be more of a challenge for me.  Couldn't tell you what the original toy looked like, and my entire recollection of her in the show is basically, "wasn't she into Tigatron or something?"  That said, she (and a few other BW characters) had minor roles in late pre-reboot IDW Windblade's series.

[M'Kyuun]

15 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I can wait a few days.  Lemme know when you get him.  In the meantime I want to try to get a review for Nonnef's Grimlock kit up tomorrow.

I'm kidding, Mike. If you have your review ready to go, go ahead and post it. I can just skip over it until I've got my copy in hand. But I am curious to hear your thoughts on it.

This is BW Airazor: 

Comparing with pics of the Kingdom version, the feather detail is more heavily sculpted and realistic overall, but the transformation is very similar, except instead of concealing her robot head inside the falcon head (which makes sense, really), her bot head now tucks into her abdomen. The bot mode captures the look of her toon likeness much more accurately, down to the arm rockets she wielded. Unfortunately, Hasbro made no attempt whatsoever to hide them in beast mode, and the result is a falcon with JATO rockets. All things considered, I think she's a good update, and having never owned the original, I'm looking forward to this new incarnation.

Kingdom Airazor pics sourced from The Allspark

Edited April 1, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

37 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I won't post any pics of the Kingdom, since your review is forthcoming. I find both versions appealing.

No, go ahead and post. Airazor is the only wave 3 figure I haven't been able to find (excluding Arcee, but I bought her in Earthrise). In fact, Pulse already shipped the Voyagers and they're scheduled to arrive Saturday, although Dorkside hasn't shipped Magnus yet.

[M'Kyuun]

30 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

No, go ahead and post. Airazor is the only wave 3 figure I haven't been able to find (excluding Arcee, but I bought her in Earthrise). In fact, Pulse already shipped the Voyagers and they're scheduled to arrive Saturday, although Dorkside hasn't shipped Magnus yet.

I thought for sure you had your copy of Airazor; sorry to hear you've been having trouble finding her. Mine should be shipping from Pulse any day- just waiting for the email. I expect I'll have her in hand by next weekend if she ships within the next two days. Well, her and Huffer. Anyway, I found some pics on the net for comparison.

I canceled my Magnus order- the combined bot mode looks good, but the core cab bot is so-so, and I don't like the truck mode at all. I suspect at some point the folks at Hasbro who wanted to make ER Prime the core will push the idea into fruition. I hope so, even if they have to do the Rodimus approach and make him a commander class.

Swung by my local Wally today, and all they had for Transformers were a handful of Cyberverse Bumblebees. No Generations figs at all, as usual. In this collector's eyes, Pulse is one of the best things Hasbro has done in recent years. In lieu of heartfelt thanks, I send them money. It all works out in the end.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I canceled my Magnus order- the combined bot mode looks good, but the core cab bot is so-so, and I don't like the truck mode at all.

I'll talk about it more when I do my review, but ER Magnus is a disappointing, lazy retool that still looks better than Siege in both modes to me.

But yes, I'd replace it with a better hypothetical Commander-class.

[mikeszekely]

So you might be seeing a photo of half-assembled, mistransformed repaints of Studio Series Scourge and Siege Red Alert as Devcon and Clampdown. Before anyone gets excited (an official Clampdown is definitely on my wishlist) I'm being told that they're fake.

[505thAirborne]

On 3/30/2021 at 11:24 PM, tekering said:

LEK exists on a higher plane of existence than us mere mortals. 

He is truly one of the Masters of our time. 

[sh9000]

 

 

[mikeszekely]

Surprise! Gen Selects Deep Cover showed up on my porch today despite A.) being a Sunday, B.) being a holiday, and C.) no shipping notice from Pulse.  I even checked my spam folder after the fact.  Nope.  Oh well, I'm not complaining.  But I'm also not going to bother with even a repaint roundup on him or any pictures, at least for now.  Maybe if I can get my hands on the Netflix version I'll put something up for the both of them.  For now, suffice to say that you probably have at least one of this mold and know how you feel about it (I think it's good), so just take the one you know and imagine it in mostly black and blue and you get the idea.  I'd already had the Nonnef sets (rifle, shoulder cannon, and spoiler) ready to go for him.

I'm also still holding off on writing anything for Wave 2 of Kingdom yet.  I'm still waiting on Magnus (who should arrive tomorrow) and I still don't have a line on Airazor (maybe I'll hit the local stores tomorrow).  Besides, pushing them all a bit means I can do the bigger ones first and give @M'Kyuun a few more days to get his Huffer.

All that said, I do have something to talk about this evening, courtesy of a friend.  It's a blast from the Titans Return past thrust back into the limelight by leaks of the new hotness- Voyager-Class Galvatron.

I'll be honest, I passed on this figure back in the day largely because I already had a great Galvatron- Unique Toys Mania King.  Frankly, there's not a lot here that Mania King doesn't do better.  Both are a bit stylized rather than purely G1.  Galvatron is a bulkier, with more accurate feet (that need more paint), more prominent red details on his knees, and treads on the backs of his arms.  Mania King's abs are tucked more into his abdomen, he's got the belt, the better head sculpt, more accurate shoulder pylons, and a more accurate back spike.

Actually, Mania King is much cleaner overall, as Galvatron has this bit of kibble just chilling back there.

Then again, is not really fair to compare a figure that was something like $85 at a time when official Voyagers were $20 an actual Voyager-class figure working within the budget and constraints an official Voyager usually suffers from.  Especially when there are things that neither figure did right, like wrist swivels and the placement of the cannon on their arms. (I prefer the outside of the forearm, which it almost look like Mania King got right until you realize his elbows bend inward so it's really on the back of his forearm.  Galvatron's, on the front of his bicep, is at least G1 toy-accurate.)  It's also important to remember that the only other official Galvatron since the G1 toy was the decidedly not-good Universe Deluxe-class.

Galvatron doesn't come with a ton of accessories.  You get his signature cannon, and this being Titans Return you get his Titan Master, Nucleon.  Nucleon was clearly modeled after Megatron, which is cool enough.  Do note that Nucleon is actually all gray with red-painted eyes; the friend who gave this one to me had painted Nucleon to look more like Megatron.

Also in compliance with Titans Return's gimmicks, the back of the cannon can fold around to reveal a hollow space that Nucleon can sit in.

Nucleon transforms and plugs into Galvatron's neck port, but on his own doesn't look a ton like Galvatron.  When you open Galvatron's chest, though, a spring-loaded mask flips up and over the face.  And... well, this might be the single biggest flaw with this figure.  Sure, front straight on it looks enough like Galvatron.  But, from the sides it's clearly a mask, not a helmet, leaving most of his head more of a Megatron gray.  Plus, while his head should be able to swivel as Titan Master heads are basically little ball joints, the mask can't turn with his head, forcing you to more or less give up any head articulation.  Fortunately, a number of replacement helmet or whole-head options exist.  I'm actually expecting a new helmet to come as early as tomorrow.

Head articulation might be a bust (for now), but the rest of his articulation is adequate.  His shoulders rotate, and they ratchet out the sides a little over 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-jointed and curl all the way to 180 degrees... at least on the arm without a cannon.  The cannon pegs into the front of his bicep, and gets in the way of all but a little elbow bend.  Again, there are solutions available that move the cannon to the side of his bicep, although in this case I'm not sure I care enough to "fix" it.  His wrists do not swivel.  His waist actually does swivel, in fact it's necessary for transformation, but a flap that folds from his butt over the small of his back gets in the way.  His hips can move 90 degrees forward, and just a bit under that backward and/or laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend a little over 90 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down a little, and he's even got a little ankle pivot (standard now, but rare at the time).  If I have one complaint here it's that the up/down tilt on his feet is a little looser than I'd like.

While this is Galvatron's second round in the Classics/Henkei/Universe/Generations/Legends line this is actually the first official toy since the G1 that does his artillery mode.  And it's... ok.  Mostly.  Mania King is a bit more accurate, but there's a lot to be said for how much easier and less fiddly the process of transforming Galvatron is.

'

Obviously, the transformation from Floro Dery's seek, almost organic robot to a futuristic space cannon was purely animation magic in the cartoon.  So some stuff, like his curled-up arms in place of the thin, wide struts you just kind of have to roll with.  I'm even willing to let the fact that the cannon was mostly gray in the front instead of purple in the cartoon slide, as I don't think it's fair to expect a Voyager-class toy to pull off the kind of engineering that allowed DX9 (and, to a lesser extent, Fans Toys) to pull of that sort of color switch.  Other things, though, I feel like we can question more comfortably.  Like, why with that huge bit of kibble on his underside couldn't he have had a better, more accurate third support?  Why so much kibble under the cannon barrel?  Why, despite having shoulder pylons and hip skirts, do they fold up instead of sticking out in a more G1-accurate fashion?

In any case, cannon mode seems to work best when the arms are angled and the barrel is elevated, so kibble is on the ground and he's actually got three points of contact.  You can straighten him out more like Mania King or the G1 toy, but the kibble can't really move to stay flat due to it's own share of kibble.  Still... cannon mode!  No tanks like Universe, or weird spaceships like Energon.

Actually... scratch that last bit.  A requirement for the Titans Return Voyagers was that they're also triplechangers, so TR Galvatron is in fact saddled with a spaceship mode.

From some angles it's not too bad.  A little slimmer, add some wings, and he could almost pass for a Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica.  From other angles, though, it strikes me as contrived and half-finished.  Like, he's still got the arm treads showing underneath (perhaps, if he had the new tread flaps that Super Megatron got, he could have passed for a tank?).  And there's nothing that looks like it could be engines or propulsion.  Indeed, there's just a big gap between his awkwardly bent legs for you to look at his crotch.  Really, it's not the worst thing in the world, but a part of me feels like without that wedge of cockpit kibble his cannon and robot modes could have been improved.

Speaking of the cockpit, yes, it opens and there's a place for Nucleon to sit inside.  Actually, even though it's upside down, you're better off putting Nucleon there for cannon mode, too, so you don't lose him.  There's a spot under the nose for his cannon to attach to as well.  The cannon even has a little purple landing skid you can fold out, although Galvatron himself has no such skids so deploying it on the cannon causes the whole thing to tilt upward.

Alright, so Titans Return Galvatron wasn't really as bad as I thought he was.  He's a huge improvement over the Universe figure, he's got a lot more playability than Mania King, and aftermarket mods fixed a lot of his issues like the head and cannon placement (I've even seen Shapeways kits that replace the cockpit on his back).  If you bought this figure back in the day I couldn't blame you.  That said, in the year 2021 I can't really recommend looking on Ebay or something for a copy of this figure with Kingdom Galvatron just around the corner.  It's fun to have a copy I can compare to that figure when the time comes, though.

EDIT: Got a simple 3D-printed and painted helmet for Galvatron.

Color match is good enough.  It fits over the Titan Master.

The print is a little thick, though, so his face is a bit obscured.  And it doesn't cover the whole Titan Master; the back is still open.  Still, it's a huge improvement over the mask, and he can actually turn his head now.

Edited April 5, 2021 by mikeszekely

[Scyla]

Thanks for the review Mike. That said I despise TR Galvatron and prefer the Universe one that turns into a tank. If it only would have been a Voyager instead of a Deluxe.

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, Scyla said:

Thanks for the review Mike. That said I despise TR Galvatron and prefer the Universe one that turns into a tank. If it only would have been a Voyager instead of a Deluxe.

There were good ideas there, and had they made it a Voyager (which it was designed to be) many of the engineering issues it had might have been alleviated.

[David Hingtgen]

If there was ever a figure that deserved an improved, oversized KO...

[M'Kyuun]

Yep, I think so, too. Upscaled to voyager, I think they would have been able to fix some of his issues. 

I like my TR Galvatron, though, although I have the same complaints as every one else. But it was nice to have an official Galvatron that turns into his space cannon, and considering that they were under a design constraint to develop him as a triple changer, as @mikeszekely mentioned above in his review, I don't think he turned out half bad. I have the original toy, so comparing that to the animation model, and then doing the same with TR, the TR comes much closer to what we saw on screen, even with all his compromises. I don't even mind his weird jet mode.

Thus far, from the various pics we've seen of the upcoming Galvatron fig, I'm not really sold on the proportions. As Mike observed, he looks like he has the upper body of one figure, and the the lower body of a smaller figure, and the whole looks unbalanced. I'm also not really caring for his cannon mode, so that's knocks on both modes that are putting me off to it. He's definitely one that I'll wait to see some reviews before buying. Other than the crappy headmaster gimmick and mask, TR Galvatron appeals to me more across the board than this new fig.

I PO'd Deep Cover as well, and though I didn't receive a separate shipping notice, a quick check on Pulse shows that he's packed with Huffer and Airazor, whose tracking has bumped out from this Friday to next Monday. Not sure why it's taking so much time, but the package still may show up this week. Wouldn't be the first time FedEx's tracking was off. Anyway, it'll be a trifecta of goodness when it finally arrives.

[mikeszekely]

Since @M'Kyuun mentioned his Airazor is coming I checked Pulse a few times.  Up to yesterday it was still showing as a preorder, and today it's just sold out.  So I'm stuck checking my local stores between now and May when Amazon gets around to it.

If you're a Target fan, here's Maximal T-Wrecks.

He, along with an $80 "Worlds Collide" multipack, will be not just Target exclusive, but Red Card exclusive like Red Wing was.  Not a big deal for me, since I have a Red Card because I shop at Target way too often, but might be a downer for others.

T-Wrecks has a DPCI of 087-16-2849 if you want to keep an eye on Brickseek or something.

The multipack is 087-16-8265.  I have no idea what's in it.

[mikeszekely]

Well, I got a line on Airazor (and Netflix Deep Cover), and I paid a bit extra for 4-day shipping, so hopefully they'll be here by the end of the week.  And since the 4th Wave 2 Deluxe is just Earthrise Arcee in a Kingdom box that should do it for the second wave, and that means I'm ready to get started on reviews.  We'll go biggest to smallest, and that means we're starting with Leader-class Ultra Magnus.

Kingdom Magnus is a retool of Siege Magnus, which is honestly disappointing for a number of reasons.  Like, the designers have let slip that they wanted to do a white Earthrise Prime with an all-new trailer, which (on paper) sounds awesome, but Hasbro's bean counters apparently nixed that idea.  And yet, Kingdom Magnus has quite a few new parts to make him more cartoon-accurate.  He's got a new head with the thicker, square eyes (if you look closely he's got regular eyes behind the lenses, which is kind of neat).  His shoulder armor is new and weirdly asymmetric.  His left shoulder has some greebles, but his right shoulder is smooth.  Looks like it should have had a tampoed Autobot insignia.  The front of his torso armor is new.  His "belt" is new.  His shoulder missiles are new.  His forearm armor is the same, and from the front it looks like his legs are the same but painted differently.

From the sides and back you can see that the back (and collar) of his torso armor is the same, and the back of his legs are the same, but he's got new wheels, a new butt, and the sides of his legs are different, which we'll talk about more in vehicle mode.

Kingdom Magnus comes with a pair of shoulder missiles and a rifle, but not the black guns Siege Magnus came with.  As mentioned, the missiles are new and look a bit more G1.  The rifle is the same mold, but painted a darker gunmetal color vs the silver of Siege's.

I'm sure I covered the articulation when I reviewed Siege Magnus, but we can go over it again real quick.  Head is on a ball joint with a little up, down, and sideways tilt.  Shoulders rotate and move laterally 90 degrees, elbows bend 90, wrists swivel.  Waist swivels.  Hips ratchet forward 90, back only a bit due to his butt kibble, , and friction laterally just under 90.  Thighs swivel, knees bend just under 90, ankles can pivot nearly 90 degrees.  He holds his rifle no problem.  Missiles plug into 5mm ports on the outside of his shoulders.  Additional 5mm ports can be found on the outside of either forearm, on the outside of either leg, one on his back, two under each foot, and two around his collar.

Magnus' inner robot is likewise a mix or reused parts and new.  Most of the front of his torso is new, but his head, arms, and possibly his legs are the same (I have the DNA kit on my Siege version).

Coming around to the sides and back, and you can see that Kingdom Magnus has a different backpack and a new butt flap.

I'm not sure if how well it's actually showing up in the pictures, but Kingdom Magnus is also a brighter, cleaner white, which is nice.

As the combined-mode uses most of the core robot's joints the articulation is basically the same.  He can bend his knees a little bit more, his ankles pivot a little less.  You'd think he might have a little more backward hip movement, but nope, still restricted.  His fists are the same, so no issues holding his gun.  He's got 5mm ports on the outside of his forearms, on the tops of his shoulders, near his ankles, and under his feet.

Truck mode is the most obvious difference between the two.  Siege, meant to be Magnus' Cybetronian mode, has the single window and translucent blue over the grill, with the big blue bumper inspired largely by 2001 Robots In Disguise Ultra Magnus.  All that stuff has been retooled to give him an Earth truck mode more similar to the G1 toy, which is to say a white Optimus Prime.  The new butt flap sits right behind the bumper and fills in the space behind the front wheel with the steps you'd find on an Earth truck, and the new tires are less greebly and look like real Earth tires (even if they're just plastic).  However, because the legs and arms are unchanged Kingdom Magnus retains a lot of the problems that the Siege toy had- visible hands, arms sticking out from from the back of the cab, a greebly mess instead of a smoother, cab-shaped cab, obvious feet, and smokestacks in the wrong place.

I think the most disappointing thing is that for all the improvements in G1 accuracy to the cab and the robot modes, the trailer didn't quite get the same benefit.  The top of the trailer isn't Magnus' arms, it's the same red, flat surface as Siege.  Some of the panels on the sides have been retooled to look more like the G1 trailer, but most of the middle is the same as Siege instead of being open.  His shins don't open, and you can't drive a car onto the trailer.  And one weird difference is that the shoulder parts and cab connect a bit differently.  The shoulders do not plug into the back of the feet, they only clip around the cab's legs.  Then, at about the spot where the side panels grabbed the big clips on the cab's legs, they fit onto tabs on the shoulder armor.  The clips on the cab's legs connect to the trailer's sides closer to the front of the trailer.  The result is that the cab sits a bit further forward, looking more like a cab pulling a trailer than something as integrated as the Siege truck.  That causes it's own problems, though, as there's a bit of overhang on the trailer that was designed to sit on the cab, and Magnus can't count on the trailer to hide his fists anymore.

Curiously, both sides of the remolded parts near the front of the trailer have a flat, raised shape that looks like the outline of an Autobot insignia.  But, like the shoulder armor, there's no tampos there.  It's nothing I can't fix myself with some Reprolabels, but still, you'd think a there'd be some money in that Leader-class budget for some tampoed Autobot insignias.

Magnus retains the 5mm ports in the middle of the sides of the trailer from Siege, but with no guns doing an RID homage to plug into the front I'd suggest plugging the missiles in the front instead.  It's more G1 to me, even if it's not as cartoon-accurate as having them on the actual front of the trailer.  As for the rifle, he's still got a pair of 5mm ports on the top of the trailer, one near the front and one near the back.

I think it's fair to say I have very mixed feelings about Kingdom Magnus.  I'm a sucker for white Primes that armor up; Combiner Wars Magnus lost points for not having the transformable core robot and he's too big, and the earlier Classics Ultra Magnus was only a white Optimus.  I was tickled that Siege Magnus not only had a white Optimus that armored up, he was even a unique mold!  And the fact that Kingdom Magnus takes all of that and makes it more gee-wunny makes it a better figure than the Siege version almost by default.  At the same time, the fact that they got him that much more gee-wunny in so many ways highlights the areas that they missed the mark that much more, namely the mess that is the back of the cab and the fact that the trailer really isn't G1-accurate.  So it's kind of like it's a pretty good figure, better than the Siege version and probably the best official non-MP Magnus so far, and I guess I'd recommend it for that reason.  But deep down you and I both know this isn't really the Magnus you want.

[M'Kyuun]

Good review, Mike, but nope, not my Magnus. Way too many concessions, and in truth, it's ugly and non-functional in truck mode. To my mind, they simply retooled a flawed toy, and many of those flaws carried over. I remain hopeful for a Magnus utilizing a white ER Prime as the core, with hopefully a well designed trailer that can rotate independently of the cab and be utilized as a proper car carrier. That would be excellent, and with any luck the Hasbro designers can convince the bean counters.

[Scyla]

@mikeszekely where did you get the helmet for TR Galvatron? And is it available in the lilac color of the Japanese release?

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, Scyla said:

@mikeszekely where did you get the helmet for TR Galvatron? And is it available in the lilac color of the Japanese release?

Ebay, and yes.

Edited April 6, 2021 by mikeszekely

[Scyla]

4 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Ebay, and yes.

Thanks.

[technoblue]

11 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Good review, Mike, but nope, not my Magnus. Way too many concessions, and in truth, it's ugly and non-functional in truck mode. To my mind, they simply retooled a flawed toy, and many of those flaws carried over. I remain hopeful for a Magnus utilizing a white ER Prime as the core, with hopefully a well designed trailer that can rotate independently of the cab and be utilized as a proper car carrier. That would be excellent, and with any luck the Hasbro designers can convince the bean counters.

Seeing the blocky Siege core bot reused for Kingdom magnus is disappointing, especially after reading that the designers had plans to use ER Prime as the core bot. If that's true, then Hasbro really missed an opportunity there. Yeah, I'm surprised they aren't utilizing the ER Prime mould more than they already have. We have Prime himself and two repaints? Why not do more with that design?

On a similar note, I'm also surprised that we haven't seen more repaints of Seekers that aren't coneheads.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

Yeah, I'm surprised they aren't utilizing the ER Prime mould more than they already have. We have Prime himself and two repaints? Why not do more with that design?

It's my understanding that it came down to the cost of designing a new G1-style trailer that worked with the mold.  That said, I think if they had to bump it up to Commander-class to get it to work most fans would have been perfectly OK with that.

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

On a similar note, I'm also surprised that we haven't seen more repaints of Seekers that aren't coneheads.

Yes!  I mean, aside from the fact that I'd re-buy the other Siege Seekers (Hotlink, Red Wing, Ion Storm, Acid Storm, and Nova Storm) I'd probably just as happily shell out money for Nacelle, Sun Storm, and G2 Starscream.

And on the topic of repaints and remolds... how about Voyager-class Kingdom Inferno?

Inferno is, of course, a remold of Earthrise Grapple.  He's got a new headsculpt, some of the parts around his head box are different, and he's got a ladder instead of a crane, but he's 90% the same figure.  Which, you know, is fine because that's how G1 worked, and fine because Grapple was a pretty fine toy in his own right.  Although I'll note that Grapple was one of the more hollowed figures Hasbro had released at the time, and that carries over to Inferno.  Hopefully Go Better, who's filler kit I used on Grapple, will make one for Inferno.

That said, there are a few things bugging me here.  First there's his ear flaps.  Now, I'm all for using silver/gray for parts that were colored white in the cartoon but were clearly meant to be silver/chrome as they were on the toy, like Prime's thighs.  But G1 Inferno had chrome on his shoulders, his guns, his bumper and grill, and around his wrists, but the ear flaps were always white.  So the gray plastic that matches his shoulders is just wrong.  They're pinned, too, so removing them to paint yourself probably won't be easy.  Assuming that gray isn't unpaintable plastic.  Even though the shoulder bits were chrome on the original toy, I think a better option would have been to cast all the gray plastic parts in white (the ladder is also gray, and the ladder should also be white).  The other part that's bugging me are the stabilizers on his legs.  On Grapple they were painted, but on Inferno they're black.  That looks all kinds of wrong, and I can't figure out any way to get them off to paint them.

Ok, accessories.  Inferno has the exact same gun and the exact same hand replacement gun as Grapple.  Inferno trades Grapple's claw thingy, though, for the little gun that goes on his head and the hoses that go on his legs.  The hoses are, once again, a part cast in that gray plastic that should have been white.

Inferno's articulation is the same as Grapple's, which is to say his head can swivel inside its box, but he's got no tilt.  His shoulders can rotate, and the pylons on his shoulders are set just right so that he can extend his shoulders 90 degrees and they'll lie flat on the top of his torso.  His biceps swivel.  His elbows can bend 90 degrees.  His wrists can bend inward due to transformation, but there's no swivel there.  His waist does swivel, though.  His hips can go 90 degrees (or a little over) forward, backward, and laterally.  His thighs can swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  Collapsed properly for robot mode his feet don't have any up/down tilt, but they do have great ankle pivots.  If you start to pull them out like you're going to transform them you can fake some up/down tilt.

Inferno's gun and hand replacement gun work exactly the same as Grapple's.  The gun that goes on his head box fits onto a peg on his left side, and the hoses plug into the 5mm ports on his legs.  That leaves him with a port on each shoulder, one on each forearm near the elbow, one on the side of each foot, between the wheels, one under each foot, and one on each side of his backpack.

Inferno's transformation is the same as Grapple's; simple, effect, and satisfying.  I'll note that I'd heard that Hasbro modified the clips that hold the head box on top of the cab, as they were a point of failure on Grapple, but if there's a difference I'm not seeing it.  It'd have been cool if he'd borrowed some of the MP's engineering to totally hide away the ladder in bot mode, but I guess that's a bit much to expect from a Voyager.

Inferno's alt mode looks pretty spot on, what with the silver lights on top of the cab and the red paint on the rims.  My biggest complaint again is all the gray plastic that really should have been white, and the black stabilizers.  Oh, and he's got that gap in the back that Grapple had.  The hoses and the head gun don't have to be removed for transformation.  For the hoses, at least, that's pretty much where you'll want them in alt mode anyway.

That said, there's a peg on one side near the tip of the ladder that you can attach it to- that seems to be where Hasbro intended for it to go.  As for the hand gun, it has the slit in the side like Grapple's, and Inferno has the matching slot on his ladder.  That's a missed opportunity, as he's got a bump on the end of the ladder.  Hasbro could have put a hole in the 5mm peg that fit on that bump, so you could stick it to the end of the ladder.  As for his rifle, there's 5mm pegs on the sides that can plug into one of two ports on either side near the back of the truck.

A note on the ladder- a lot of promo pictures I've seen show it turned the other way, with the hollow end facing down.  Based on the molded piston on one side, the fact that ladders usually have that open gap on the top, and the orientation for Grapple's crane boom I'm pretty sure those promo pictures have got it wrong, and the pictures I've taken here are correct.  That said, it's your collection, do it however you like.  And yes, that's the maximum extension on that ladder.  It'd be cool if it could get longer, but it's good enough for to get the job done.

Inferno's not without his flaws, which are in some ways slightly worse than Grapple's.  On the whole, though, this is still a very good mold and I'd give Inferno a recommend.  Heck, I'm wondering where's my Gen Selects Hauler and Artfire?

[Negotiator]

I was excited to get inferno today until...

 

 

...just my luck.  Sent a message to pulse help, and preordered on amazon just in case hasblow can't help.

[M'Kyuun]

21 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Inferno's transformation is the same as Grapple's; simple, effect, and satisfying.  I'll note that I'd heard that Hasbro modified the clips that hold the head box on top of the cab, as they were a point of failure on Grapple, but if there's a difference I'm not seeing it.  

Those pegs were longer and tighter on Grapple, which caused stress breakage for any number of folks. Hasbro listened and made those pegs shorter and not as tight fitting on Inferno. I noticed it immediately when I transformed mine for the first time. Kudos to Hasbro/Takara for making the change.

The silver headbox wings bug me more than any of the other silver stuff. They and the side hoses should have been traditionally white, and yeah, the stabilizers should have been silver, and functional- c'mon Hasbro, is it too much to ask to put a little slider mechanism in there for realism?  Nitpicks aside,  Grapple/Inferno is one of the better molds in the line, and I'm glad they turned out as well as they did.

Also agree with the lost opportunity of not putting a 5mm peg hole at the end of Inferno's ladder for his arm spout accessory. As is, there's no where to store the thing in his truck mode that doesn't look stupid, so I just stick it in the hollow areas of his heels in truck mode. Not the best, but at least it stays with the vehicle, and it's one time when I'm glad for a hollow area.

@Negotiator Aw, that sucks man. Hopefully, Hasbro will come through for ya. Keep us updated, as I've not had any major missing bits like that except a missing prop on TR Seaspray that I just wrote off, so I've never had need of their service. But I'm curious to see how they respond.

[Scyla]

Got a package from BBTS today containing Kuro Kara Kuri Black Star Saber, 3As DLX Blitzwing and Alternators Nemesis Prime.

Controversially I’m looking forward opening the Nemesis Prime the most having never experienced an Alternstor/Binaltech toy before. 
 

[edit:] Also, MP52+ SW Skywarp is up for preorder. It is a Takara Mall exclusive so you will need a middleman.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Scyla

[tekering]

43 minutes ago, Scyla said:

WTF?  That looks like a cheap-ass vinyl figure... You know, the type that needs a stand because it's too thin and hollow to support its own weight. 

[Negotiator]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

@Negotiator Aw, that sucks man. Hopefully, Hasbro will come through for ya. Keep us updated, as I've not had any major missing bits like that except a missing prop on TR Seaspray that I just wrote off, so I've never had need of their service. But I'm curious to see how they respond.

Thanks. So pulse sends me link to hasbro CS.  From there we do a live chat and identify the toy.  Unfortunately inferno is out of stock in their warehouse.  The rep offers that the warehouse team pick out a transformer of equal value for me. I was like huh?? What if I already have the toy that they pick out for me?? Anyway from there the rep offers me a return/refund and emails me a return slip. Note their warehouse inventory is not the same as pulses inventory. I guess there's not much they could really do at this point as far as a proper replacement. 

[lechuck]

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

[edit:] Also, MP52+ SW Skywarp is up for preorder. It is a Takara Mall exclusive so you will need a middleman.

Woah! Skywarp looking good, nice semi-gloss paint/plastic black with a fitting tone of purple/lavender. Shame it's TT Mall exclusive again.

Can't wait to get this new seeker mould in hand.

[Jeremy007]

Titan Ark:

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Jeremy007

[Mechapilot77]

12 minutes ago, Jeremy007 said:

Titan Ark:

 

 

 

woah so the ship mode of the ark is looking kinda hollow on the sides...the robot is ok.  it inlcudes a teletran one that converts into that smaller robot i guess? 

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Negotiator said:

Thanks. So pulse sends me link to hasbro CS.  From there we do a live chat and identify the toy.  Unfortunately inferno is out of stock in their warehouse.  The rep offers that the warehouse team pick out a transformer of equal value for me. I was like huh?? What if I already have the toy that they pick out for me?? Anyway from there the rep offers me a return/refund and emails me a return slip. Note their warehouse inventory is not the same as pulses inventory. I guess there's not much they could really do at this point as far as a proper replacement. 

Interesting, but not in the most propitious manner for the customer. At the very least, if they can't simply get you a replacement wheel, they could give you a complete Inferno (I'd even request they open the box to make sure), even if it means waiting for new stock. Personally, I'd rather wait and have the toy I want than, as you said, possibly end up with a copy of a fig I already have. Kinda defeats the point of collecting/trying to assemble the full roster of characters.  I guess you can't expect everyone at Hasbro to be toy nerds; I appreciate that the designers seem to be in touch with the franchise and the collecting mindset, but it's probably not a requisite for customer support. Anyway, at least you get to do a return, and hopefully a store near you has it, or you can try and score a copy through Pulse, or one of the e-tailers.  To their credit, Pulse does seem to restock, although you have to keep an eye on it for when they do.

So, usually I complain about the lack of TF toys in my area, specifically Walmart, but yesterday after I got my first Covid shot, I decided to pay a visit to the nearby Wally (where I used to work, as it happens), and I was pleasantly surprised to find the retro-HeadMasters (Skullcruncher, Highbrow, & Weirdwolf), as well as the ER Prime three pack, and, IIRC, a few of the SS86 figs. Since I already have all the TR  Headmaster deluxes, I passed, although I was tempted to get another Weirdwolf since mine cracked a little at the hinge behind his wolf head. Anyway, today, I went to the usually stark and depressingly empty TF aisle of my local Wally  to find the newest batch of Netflix recolored deluxes hanging on the pegs, as well as two ER Arcees. they also had three copies of Deep Cover sitting on the overstock shelf, for some odd reason, as there was an a completely empty peg for Gen deluxes. I put the copy of DC that I took down on a peg, so hopefully some kid walks away happy. My copy's in the mail so I left all three. Anyway, I didn't bother picking up any of the Netflix figs, although I was tempted to get the rusty Cybertronian Datsun fig, simply b/c I like the mold and he's another variant. But  I didn't didn't grab any of them. My shelves are overcrowded as it is, with still more Kingdom figs coming, so I'm trying to be a little choosier. Anyway, just wanted to let folks know in case they were looking for one of these.

15 minutes ago, Jeremy007 said:

Titan Ark:

 

 

 

Not bad; I like it, and will probably get it. But for Primus' sake, why the hell can't they figure out a way to put some covers over those huge gaping holes where the knees are visible?  Jeez.  The Teletraan I bot is cool. Hopefully he can fit in the Ark's chest/flightdeck. The tummy section reminds me of the Iron Giant; I like it.

I'm liking that Ark bot mode, but part of me still wants this: 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[Mechapilot77]

the overall shape is kinda wrong too.  its missing its iconic curved rear "quarter panels".  i mean everybody knows what the ark looks like form the back and back 3/4 view.