The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[sh9000]

40 years of Optimus Prime.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

How it all started,  

 

[mikeszekely]

Speaking of Optimus, I am the scourge of sealed-in-box toys, since I got and opened this guy today.

[JB0]

You liberated him from his accursed prison!

[mikeszekely]

41 minutes ago, JB0 said:

You liberated him from his accursed prison!

I put him on a small table next to the Omega Prime I opened the other day.

Now if I could just find boxed Energon and Cybertron Primes...

(Technically I do have those molds, but my Energon one is the Platinum Edition Year of the Snake version, and my Cybertron one is Galaxy Force version that replaced all the blue plastic with black)

Edited February 11 by mikeszekely

[shazam]

 

[Radioguy]

That makes him interesting enough (for me) that I would buy the MP if TT did a mass produced cel-shaded one.

All I have is the Siege, and that was because of the unbeatable Zaavi deal awhile back. Skyfire, and the design impetus behind him, never made him desirable to me compared with using the same money to buy him for another valk instead.

[M'Kyuun]

15 hours ago, shazam said:

 

I'm not really a big fan of cel-shading, but I certainly appreciate the artistry of it, especially when done well. LEK's work always impresses; it's difficult to tell that's an actual toy standing there and not a 2D render, a testament and a compliment to LEK's skill. Amazing.

4 hours ago, Radioguy said:

That makes him interesting enough (for me) that I would buy the MP if TT did a mass produced cel-shaded one.

All I have is the Siege, and that was because of the unbeatable Zaavi deal awhile back. Skyfire, and the design impetus behind him, never made him desirable to me compared with using the same money to buy him for another valk instead.

I like the toon's Skyfire design because it's not the VF-1, which was ubiquitous in the 80s, from official to KO toys. It was everywhere. Granted, Jetfire's toy was the VF-1, which I found confusing after watching "Fire in the Sky" for the first time, as the artists, perhaps even Floro Dery himself, did a pretty extensive redesign that, aside from being a jet with a large red jet pack, shares virtually no visual similarity to the VF-1. I pined for a Skyfire toy for years until I finally got Fans Toys Phoenix. I was pretty excited for Hasbro's Generations Jetfire, as he at least shared some similarity to Skyfire's bot mode, and I figured that was probably the closest we were ever going to get to a proper Skyfire in the Hasbro mainline. When Siege Jefire was announced, I was over the moon, and the toy didn't disappoint- about as good as one could hope for in a mass retail figure. When MP Skyfire was announced, well, it was a no-brainer purchase. While I think I still prefer FT's Phoenix, the MP is a pretty fine figure, and I'm happy to have him. I'm also glad that he was marketed under his proper namesake, the only official Skyfire fig that I'm aware of. The Siege toy may be called Jetfire on the box, but he's Skyfire to me, too.

[Scyla]

During the recent Winter Wonderfest Flame Toys showed of some upcoming releases for their Kuro Kara Kuri line of high-end action figures (sadly no Cyclonus).

Starscream (the first toy of him that I will be buying):

Ultra Magnus (hope he fits in my display case):

And Strike Freedom Megatron (I mean SG Megatron):

 

More images over at TFW: https://news.tfw2005.com/2024/02/11/flame-toys-kuro-kara-kuri-ultra-magnus-starscream-color-prototypes-images-504037

 

[M'Kyuun]

I don't buy or collect non-transforming Transformers figures, as the ability to convert them into other things, the root of their namesake, is the very thing about Transformers that gives them their appeal to me. That said, I can appreciate the style and artistry applied to some of these non-transformable toys and models. Flame Toys definitely bring a cool anime style to their figs, and in most cases, I like how they look. Of course, I always lament that they don't transform. I wouldn't mind seeing Hasbro/Takara do a subline of transforming figs in a similar style along with an animated series. Like Animated and Prime, I think it's cool when they take a chance and lean into a different aesthetic. Granted, I don't care for the WFC or FoC aesthetics too much nor the Bayformers aesthetic, but many do and that's fine. The franchise requires change to remain interesting and relevant and I hope they continue to push boundaries and have the courage to experiment a bit. Too, I hope they don't continue to feel like everything needs to be G1-ized. G1 is great, but it's its own thing and the other lines should be celebrated for what they are- while they're starting to lean more into the Animated aesthetic in Legacy, I wish they'd just do straight updates to those character designs without compromising them with G1-esque touches. Likewise the Legacy/United Prime figs. Just give us some nice updates to those old toys keeping the style intact; it's what differentiated them and made them unique within the line, and to homogenize them with G1 is a disservice to the artists who created those designs as well as the fans who love them. I hope someone from Hasbro is reading these posts. I doubt I'm the only fan who thinks this way.

[mikeszekely]

Starscream's pretty interesting; mostly G1, but with a touch of Cybertron.  Magnus seems to be late IDW Roberts and Milne, I can definitely get behind that.  I kind of hate that SG Megatron, though.  Wasn't really a fan of them adding the wings to Don Figueroa's design in the first place, but in white it really puts the SEED influence in your face.

And for those who prefer transforming toys, I saw that the company that turned Flame Toys' Drift into the car from Cyber Formula came up with a transforming design for Flame Toys' Optimus.  I might have to check it out.

[M'Kyuun]

Not my cuppa, but for those who dig the Flame Toys design and wish it transformed, here you go. Hopefully it proves to be a more enjoyable process to transform than their Drift- beautiful toy in both modes, but the journey from one to the other will have you biting your nails.

Edited February 16 by M'Kyuun

[Scyla]

@M'Kyuun while I hear the sentiment quite often that Transformers fans are not interested because the figures don’t "convert" do me the question is what you are getting from Transformers as an experience. 
For me it is all about the clever engineering and the Flame Toys figures have plenty of that, sometimes even more than official Transformers figures. Plus they are more easily accessible because you just need to engage in the articulation.

If you enjoy the puzzle aspect of the toys and the tactile feel of morphing one shape into another these are clearly not for you. Plus it is much more feasible to buy a couple of retail Transformers than one of the Flame Toys offerings.

I'm confused why some variation of "it doesn’t transform" is the first reflex many Transformers fans have. I think every fan should own one of these just to see how other interpretations feel in hand and what kind of presence they have.

And clearly you can only amass so many transforming Transformers toys until you can’t mess with them in a regular basis. However, with my Kuro Kara Kuro display I can enjoy them looking nicely every day. 
 

@mikeszekely yeah, they even went so fare putting SG Megatron in the signature Strike Freedom pose. If it helps, you don’t need to display him like that, the wings and the backpack guns can form two fusion cannons that are part of his original design.

I find it so funny that this Megatron looks so much like a Gundam to me but no one ever complained he "looks like a Gundam". I assume it’s because everything is Gundam with the exception of the face so people get easily distracted in their criticism of the design by that.

 

[Radioguy]

Well, it's obvious that most folks expect transforming from Transformers. No need to explain that fact.

However, I do like that there are figures based on others that might take articulation beyond what can be accomplished with the original design. I feel there's a place for those, like the above figures, but it's always gonna be a niche market. Same goes with the Gundam-like highly poseable Valk toys we know. Accuracy, including transformation, always trumps other takes on the design. Calibre Wings takes diecast on the fighter beyond what DX can include, Plamax takes scale higher on it too, but those are always gonna be more niche products.

My gripe, at worst, my preference, at best, is that a scale should be able to feature all these functions if physically possible. What saddens me is when a licensor throws licenses around for the same thing with limitations on articulation, scale, or materials, to max out their licensing and leaving us with products that fulfill only one or a few of those features at once despite the physical possibility to accomplish all of them in each of the products.

Thankfully, we have DX and Arcadia for Valks, and for TFs, we have MPs from TT, and 3P takes that often surpass TT. I can be happy with those. On the other hand, for things like Godzilla, X-Plus does the best details on a large scale, but as statues lacking articulation. Meanwhile SHMA rides the fence on featuring detail and articulation, but on a scale not coming near X-Plus detail. That has always been a sore point for me, as X-Plus doing screen-accurate articulation would have me start collecting those as they would check all the boxes.

Articulation or static detail at the cost of transformation for a figure that has alt modes is just going to be a deal-breaker for many; myself included.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

I find it so funny that this Megatron looks so much like a Gundam to me but no one ever complained he "looks like a Gundam". I assume it’s because everything is Gundam with the exception of the face so people get easily distracted in their criticism of the design by that.

Speaking just for myself, it's because I don't necessarily see "looks like a Gundam as inherently bad.  I mean, I've heard it said about Star Saber enough, and I like Star Saber just fine.  And Fire Convoy/RiD Prime is one of my favorite non-G1 Optimus designs precisely because he's got that Japanese super robot aesthetic.  My beef is that, among the multitude of Gundam designs out there Strike Freedom is one of my absolute least favorite designs from one of my least favorite Gundam shows (and the weird part is that I'm actually a fan of vanilla Freedom, go figure), and FT's Megatron isn't inspired by it as much as it copied it wholesale and changed just enough to pass it off as a Transformer instead.

1 hour ago, Radioguy said:

On the other hand, for things like Godzilla, X-Plus does the best details on a large scale, but as statues lacking articulation. Meanwhile SHMA rides the fence on featuring detail and articulation, but on a scale not coming near X-Plus detail. That has always been a sore point for me, as X-Plus doing screen-accurate articulation would have me start collecting those as they would check all the boxes.

Getting off topic, but I miss when NECA had the Godzilla license and wish that Toho would have let them do other monsters.  Sure, they weren't even as nice as SHMA, but the 2-3x better quality was rarely commensurate with the 4-5x price increase.  Conversely, they were way better than the crap Playmates is putting out, and not much more money.

[Radioguy]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Getting off topic, but I miss when NECA had the Godzilla license and wish that Toho would have let them do other monsters.  Sure, they weren't even as nice as SHMA, but the 2-3x better quality was rarely commensurate with the 4-5x price increase.  Conversely, they were way better than the crap Playmates is putting out, and not much more money.

Agreed. They paled compared to SHMA (at least a few years ago), but balanced out scale, detail, and articulation along with box design better for the US market than Bandai or Playmates ever have. Yet, what helped NECA most was the distribution they had, and has, compared to Bluefin/Bandai Namco. NECA is a staple in Target and Walmart, while Bandai's footprint is much smaller there. (Perhaps that is changing.)

[shazam]

 

 

[mikeszekely]

Not the most exciting thing ever, but the new wave of Earthspark Deluxes hit, and...

First up we have Thrash, and... hmm.  I know that, like Cyberverse before it, Earthspark Deluxes do not get the same budget allocation that Legacy or Studio Series Deluxes do, but this feels like a case of one step forward, one step back.  Like, cool, they added some details to the tops of his feet... but his lower legs and feet lost all the aqua color apps.  Oh, but they did give him aqua hands... but he lost the paint on the pipes on his thighs.  Still, I think the lighter gray, the bluer aqua, and the more coppery paint on his hips and goggles are more accurate than the colors used on the Warrior-class toy, and I'd argue the proportions are a bit better as well... but why'd we actually lose details in the abdomen?

Looking at him from the sides and back the most immediate thing I noticed (aside from the missing aqua on his lower legs and feet) was that the Deluxe-class toy has painted rims on his wheels, which does help a lot.  But that's followed up by realizing just how similar these figures actually are.  Both have the seat folded onto the back, with a hollow side facing outward.  Both have hollow gaps under the forearms as well.

Well, at least the Deluxe-class toy has different accessories.  We do have his signature shield... which I suppose isn't that different than the Warrior-class after all.  Actually, there's a major difference- this one is flatter and more cartoon-accurate.  The trade off, though, is that it doesn't transform anymore.  Well, at least you get a small blaster, too.  That said, Thrash is the first of the Earthspark Deluxes not to include any build-a-figure parts (good riddance).

Ok, articulation is actually improved.  Deluxe-class Thrash's head got upgraded from a swivel to a ball joint, which lets him look down a bit and tilt his head sideways but he still can't look up.  His shoulders are ball joints that swivel and move laterally almost 90 degrees.  He still has a ball joint for a thigh swivel, but he's actually got a dedicated elbow hinge that bends 90 degrees, plus this time he's got wrist swivels.  His waist swivels, and his hips are still ball joints and they can go 90 degrees forward and laterally, and nearly that much backward.  They've given him thigh swivels, but due to the wheels in his calves having fenders now his knee bends are limited to about 45 degrees, unfortunately.  Still, unlike the Warrior-class toy, this Thrash has ankle swivels and 90 degrees of ankle pivot.

Thrash can hold his blaster in either hand, and there are 5mm ports on either forearm that you can plug his shield into.  If you want to store his accessories, you can plug the shield into a 5mm port on his back, then plug his blaster into a port on the shield.  There's also a port under the shield... I can't help but notice that if you plug it in there so the back is pointed out it looks like the front of his sidecar.  And there flared ends around it almost look like they could fold around it.  I wonder if a transforming shield was considered at some point, but cut for budget reasons.

If you have the Warrior-class toy, a lot of Thrash's transformation is going to be pretty familiar.  By and large, you're still making him do the splits, then turn his toes so they're pointing down, then bending the wrong way at the knees so his feet meet in the middle and his wheels are deployed.  Then you still turn him 90 degrees at the waist, lift his chest up over his head, fold his back down to make the bike's seat, then folding his torso over and tucking his arms in to make the front of the bike.  There's just a bit of added complexity, and most of it is unfolding his feet to help fill out the sides of the bike, and using the ball joint and elbow hinges in his arms to tuck them in a bit more.  There's a few more spots where things lock into each other, and don't be surprised if his kickstand falls off, as it's just pegged on.

It's... ok.  The arms are still visible, but they're not so blatantly laying along side the top of the bike, and the feet really do help fill in the bottom.  The painted rims and additional fenders are a welcome improvement as well.  I can't help but notice that his head is still visible through the cutouts for the shoulders, though, and the lack of a sidecar hurts his alt mode accuracy.

Instead of turning into a sidecar, his shield plugs into a 5mm port on the back of the seat, and his gun plugs into the shield.

All-in-all, Deluxe-class Thrash borrows heavily from the Warrior-class toy and still has issues like no sidecar and missing paint apps.  The colors, proportions, and articulation, plus the more filled-out bike mode, do make the Deluxe the better figure overall, and if you're looking to add a Thrash to your collection this is the one to get, but it's not the slam dunk upgrade I was hoping for.  I'd go so far as to say that if you already bought the Warrior-class figure and you're happy with it you can probably skip the Deluxe.  I shouldn't be surprised, though.  Hasbro clearly isn't investing too heavily on Earthspark toys.  This is, what, the ninth Deluxe in the Earthspark line, but only the fifth new mold (after Bumblebee, Megatron, Twitch, and Nightshade, with Optimus and Grimlock being retools from Cyberverse and Starscream and Shockwave being straight up repaints). 

And the tenth Earthspark Deluxe?

Well, that'd be Prowl!  I mean, why do Elita-1, Arcee, Swindle, Skullcruncher, Wheeljack, Soundwave, Frenzy, Breakdown, Laserbeak, Ravage, Skywarp, or Nova Storm just because they were characters that were actually in the show?  Doing Prowl, who was NOT in Earthspark (aside from a G1-style flashback) means that you can simply repaint a Cyberverse toy and no one can even point out how inaccurate it is they way we did with Starscream.  The weird thing, though, is that while there is a Cyberverse Prowl, Hasbro instead chose to repaint Cyberverse Hot Rod instead.  No mold changes, just a new vaguely Prowlish deco.  And who's to say it's wrong?  If he wasn't in the cartoon, it's not like we have any other reference to go by...

...I mean, aside from this picture on the box.  And... well, that doesn't look anything like the toy inside the box.  That actually looks a lot like they should have repainted Cyberverse Prowl instead.  Cyberverse Prowl isn't simply closer to this box art than Hot Rod, it's really not that far off at all.  They both have the bigger crest, hood chest, textured forearms, and triangle belt buckle, pointy hip skirts, and two-layered thighs.  Swap the dark blue paint for black, add a little paint to the chin, tweak the colors on the thighs, and add a little orange to the running lights on his chest and you'd be pretty close.

I mean, they didn't even give Prowl different accessories.  He's still just got the flame effects that came with Hot Rod.

Then there's the alt mode.  The blue and white doesn't look bad at all, but it's clearly not a police car.  They had to paint some red and blue lines in the hood scoop to even pretend that this mold has a lightbar.

I'll say this... Hot Rod looks better in blue and white than I'd have thought, but Hot Rod was also one of the worst of the Cyberverse Deluxe molds.  It kills me that Hasbro used it for Prowl when Prowl already had a Cyberverse toy they could have repainted that was one of the very best of the Cyberverse Deluxes and it would have been a lot more accurate to their own box art.  Had Hasbro used the Prowl mold I might have noted that he wasn't actually in Earthspark, but that it's a good figure anyway and I might have encouraged you to buy it.  But with the Hot Rod mold, I'm left scratching my head wondering why we got a repaint of a crappy toy that looks nothing like the box art for a character that wasn't even in the show, when there were plenty of other characters that were in the show that don't have Deluxes.  Heck, I only rattled off the Autobots and Decepticons earlier.  Arguably, the main characters in Earthspark are neither Autobots nor Decepticons, it's the five Terrans.  Among them Thrash was only the third to receive a Deluxe, leaving Jawbreaker and Hashtag still out in the cold.  Hashtag is especially a sore spot; Jawbreaker at least has a Warrior-class figure you can make due with, much as I was making due with Warrior-class Thrash until the Deluxe came along.  The only toy for Hashtag is a Tacticon- basically a glorified finger puppet.  Realistically, even subbing in Warrior-class figures, you cannot complete the Terrans... but a repaint of Hot Rod as guy who wasn't even in the show makes the cut.  There's no reason to waste money on this figure.

Since RiD '15 the slightly cheaper, slightly simpler Warrior-class toys have been the staples for Hasbro's more-kid focused cartoon lines.  The handful of Deluxes produced for Cyberverse didn't get the budgets Deluxes in other lines got but were still mostly decent figures that were a bit more appealing to adult collectors than the Warriors.  Despite a strong initial showing with three new molds (Megatron, Twitch, and Bumblebee) subsequent releases have shown turned the Earthspark Deluxes from the best versions of the new characters to exploitative cash grabs for a show that, frankly, wasn't even all that good (I finally finished watching it with my daughter).  It makes me want to retroactively change my review recommendations for the previous nine Deluxes- don't buy any of them.  Earthspark and the half-arsed Deluxe toys accompanying it aren't worth your time or money.

[mikeszekely]

Entertainment Earth has this posted about a Hasbro release on Tuesday the 27th at 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT:

Quote

We've got five great reasons for why you need to sign up for a reminder for this launch, but we can't share them yet. Don't let this one drive away - sign up today!

Nothing definitive, but signs point to it being that five-pack of Autobots I told you guys about awhile ago, with Hound, Trailbreaker, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, and Jazz.  From what we've seen of leaks of Trailbreaker and Wheeljack expect more Sunbow-esque decos of the existing Earthrise/Studio Series 86 toys, with painted blue windows instead of translucent plastic.  Hound is the previously Target-exclusive Siege retool we first saw over a year ago, but if you forgot think Legacy Detritus in Sunbow Hound colors.

Meanwhile, the next wave of Legacy United has almost entirely been revealed through unofficial channels, along with a few Studio Series leaks.  It's not clear why Hasbro's been sitting on this stuff, as the toys have all been in port in the US for awhile now and more collector-focused retailers have been pretty eager to start selling it.  I want to say that maybe Hasbro was trying to give the big box stores time to put out the first wave, but if my Target's anything to go by they're apparently content to not restock until those last few Legacy Crosscuts and Bumblebee movie Arcees sell finally sell.

Regardless, when pressed about it on Instagram, Bmac said that Hasbro will be having weekly fan streams celebrating Transformers' 40th anniversary in March, and wave 2 of Legacy United will go up for preorder sometime in March after one of the streams.  Which is cutting it kind of close, since that wave is supposed to be out in April.

[mikeszekely]

Probably not all that new if you follow anyone who gets their figures from China, where this guy was released months ago.  But US stores are apparently just now getting Studio Series Leader-class Concept Art Bumblebee Megatron, and since I buy my mainline figures from Amazon or Pulse...

So, what do I even compare this guy to?  Yolopark Megatron on the left, my customized Earthrise Megatron on the right if you want to see how he looks with G1...

...or maybe Gamer Edition Megatron?  Super Megatron?  Bayverse Megatron(s)?  I mean, like the other Bumblebee designs, he's got that abundance of little mechanical details that the Bayverse seems to have permanently added to any live-action version of Transformers, but with a much stronger G1-inspired base.  And in that vein of Bumblebee is maybe a reboot but maybe a prequel to the Bayverse because no one seems to know for sure anymore, this Megatron is equal in height to the Voyager-class Studio Series figures from the first two movies (and about the same size as Super Megatron, bigger than Earthrise, smaller than Yolopark).  But wait, this guys a Leader!  Well, I'd guess that Megatron makes up a lot of his budget with much nicer paint apps than we're used to; he's cast mostly in the kind of dark gray plastic you see on his pelvis or the black you see on his hips, so basically all of the silver and red you see is paint.

While Megatron has a ton of sculpted mechanical details, there's almost no alt mode kibble on him.  You have to turn him around to see the hints of treads in his thighs and calves, and small bits of wing.  There's also very little in the way of hollowed-out gaps... really, just a strip in his calves, but that's necessary for transformation.  His forearms have flaps that open to allow the hands to fold inside.  All-in-all, it's a very nice, very clean design.  Is it accurate?  I'm assuming so.  Remember, Megatron wasn't in the movie, just concept art.  And even then, I don't think any official concept art was revealed until after the toy.  Previous art that was assumed to be concept art (and the basis for at least one third-party toy) was actually fan art.

I seem to recall that Studio Series Revenge of the Fallen Megatron didn't come with any accessories, and movie 1 Megatron just had that crappy rubber flail.  So the bump to Leader also buys this Megatron a much better accessory.  It is, of course, his fusion cannon, but unlike the cannons that came with Siege, Earthrise, or Gamer Edition Megatron it's not a simple one-piece affair.  There are numerous hinges on the cannon, giving it a surprisingly high parts count, plus a little bit of red paint.

The rest of the budget difference is probably why Megatron's got such good articulation.  His head's on a ball joint that can look up a bit, tilt his head sideways a little, and swivel, but looking down is fairly limited.  His shoulders rotate and move laterally 90 degrees, but he's also got a slight backward and fairly good forward butterfly as well.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend around 120 degrees.  His wrists swivel, but they can also bend inward (which makes for a better cannon-firing pose, IMO).  And in a rarity for almost any Hasbro figure, let alone one this size, he's got articulated fingers, with pinned knuckles at the base and mid-finger, plus his index finger is separate from the other three.  This Megatron can point!  His waist swivels.  The front of his pelvis folds in and the hip skirts fold up, giving him the clearance to move his hips forward, backward, and laterally 90 degrees.  He can actually move his hips even farther laterally if you swing the hip skirt around to his back.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend around 150 degrees.  His feet can tilt down a little, upward about 45 degrees, and his ankles pivot nearly 90 degrees.  If he'd only had an ab crunch I'd say that his articulation is closer to a non-transforming toy, like Yolopark's model kit, than to a transforming toy.

Although his hands are articulated, Megatron's palms are still cut to accommodate accessories with 5mm handles.  Of course, he's got 5mm ports on either forearm where you can attach his fusion cannon.

Megatron also has a pair of 5mm ports on his back.  This is really where the hinges come into play.  You can plug the cannon onto Megatron's back, then use the hinges to bring the cannon up and over his shoulder.  You can also use hinges to fold the barrel up and simply store the whole thing on his back... though I'm not sure why you'd want to.  Cannon the arm is pretty standard Megatron stuff, and this one's designed so that you don't actually have to remove the cannon for transformation.

On that note... a Leader budget allows Megatron to be a triple changer, with a tank mode (as all G1-adjacent Megatrons are apparently required to have now) and a jet mode (just in case Bumblebee is still a Bayverse prequel).  The transformation to tank mode is more involved that you might expect, though most of the work is in his lower body.  His hips come apart and spread out like Kingdom Beast Wars Megatron, his shins have to shift up to reveal some treads while others pop out of his thighs, his chest flips up, and most of his torso double-hinges over his butt.  The jet mode has more jet-only parts that seemingly fold out of nowhere in an attempt to make it more visually distinct, but when you look past those parts there's actually a lot less actual transforming going on.  His chest is flipped up and his arms kind of tucked in front/under him, but his back and hips are in their robot positions and his legs are less transformed and more tucked up along side him.

Supposedly Hasbro got designer Emiliano Santalucia to come up with Megatron's alt modes.  And sure enough, Santalucia came up with a tank and a jet.  I feel pretty comfortable telling you, though, that this is not that tank.  The legs that run along the sides with the treads aren't so bad, and I can almost forgive his chest sticking out of the front, leaving a gap through which you can see the back of his head (if you turned it around, as the instructions tell you to do, otherwise his face will be visible).  But that Leader budget must have run out before Hasbro figured out Megatron's arms, because aside from tucking in his hands they don't really transform at all.  They butterfly toward each other, allowing his shoulders to tab into each other, but at an angle.  The angle means there's a gap between his arms, where you can bend his elbows a bit so the cannon on one arm can also peg into the other to form the least-convincing tank turret I've seen in awhile.

At least the turret has some articulation.  You can't turn it more than 45 degrees in either direction, but there is a swivel.  And the pegs on the fusion cannon can swivel in their peg holes to allow the cannon to aim vertically upward.

For the jet mode, a cockpit unfolds from inside Megatron's chest, wings unfurl from his legs, the front of his thighs peel off to form some kind of spikes, and the treads in his calves flip over to reveal thrusters.  For all those dedicated jet parts, I think his jet mode is even further from Santalucia's design and honestly worse than his tank mode.  It doesn't seem to tab together as well as his jet mode, for one.  His arms, which are already just hanging under the jet like lumps, are especially prone to coming untabbed on their own.  And even if I ignore that, it's harder to ignore that most of the back of the jet is just his exposed robo-taint, and that unfolding the front of his thighs seems less about creating something visually interesting for the jet and more to get them out of the way so that his legs can tuck in a bit tighter.

Megatron's cannon isn't necessary for jet mode.  I think they missed a trick here by not allowing it to attach to the upper rear portion, like part of an engine.

Instead, you're given two options by the instructions.  The first is what you'll get if you want to leave the cannon attached to his arm through his transformation, and it simply leaves the cannon sitting between his arms under the jet's belly.  Note that, unlike tank mode, the cannon is only attached to one arm, though.  It doesn't help to add any solidity to his underbelly, which is a bummer since (like I just said a minute ago) his arm don't stay tabbed in very well in the first place.

The alternative is to plug the cannon into one of the 5mm ports on his back, now on top of the jet.  Which isn't at all aerodynamic.  Worse, it's off-center!  Plus, partsforming, since you have to remove the cannon from his arm and relocate it onto his back for this configuration whereas it just stayed on his arm to sit mostly-centered on the underside of the jet (which still isn't aerodynamic, but with his arms down there that ship sailed).

My initial feeling was to be a bit disappointed with Megatron.  I mean, Santalucia's art looks so sleek and cool, but the toy's tank mode is kind of half-arsed and dumpy and his jet mode is even worse.

(Image courtesy of Hasbro designer Sam Smith)

But I keep coming back to the robot... as best I can tell Megatron's robot mode is far more accurate than most Studio Series figures.  The paint is good, the articulation is great, and there's almost zero kibble visible on him.  The jet mode is crap, but the tank is passable enough (and if you google fan modes you'll even find a gun mode) that overall I think he's worth a look, especially if you just want a good Megatron to pose in a display.

But more than that, it got me thinking.  On another board I've advocated for a potential (inevitable?) Studio Series 86 Megatron to abandon the pretense of a good Earth tank mode, to simply have the best bot mode possible- Sunbow as possible with the hammers on the shoulders, gun barrel on his back, etc, no visible tank kibble)- with an Earthrise Quintesson-level bullcrap alt mode.  Just include an accessory that looks like Megatron's gun mode with a 5mm handle that Starscream or Soundwave can hold, and I'll be happy.  And really, that's almost exactly what they did here.  In other words, you can take most the base engineering from this figure, retool the parts to be Sunbow G1 Megatron, reduce the parts count of the fusion cannon to save budget for the back gun barrel and the gun mode accessory, and this is pretty much exactly what I want from a SS86 Megatron.

[M'Kyuun]

13 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

But more than that, it got me thinking.  On another board I've advocated for a potential (inevitable?) Studio Series 86 Megatron to abandon the pretense of a good Earth tank mode, to simply have the best bot mode possible- Sunbow as possible with the hammers on the shoulders, gun barrel on his back, etc, no visible tank kibble)- with an Earthrise Quintesson-level bullcrap alt mode.  Just include an accessory that looks like Megatron's gun mode with a 5mm handle that Starscream or Soundwave can hold, and I'll be happy.  And really, that's almost exactly what they did here.  In other words, you can take most the base engineering from this figure, retool the parts to be Sunbow G1 Megatron, reduce the parts count of the fusion cannon to save budget for the back gun barrel and the gun mode accessory, and this is pretty much exactly what I want from a SS86 Megatron.

 

Couldn't disagree with you more. If they ever decide to do a proper G1 Megatron as an SS86 fig, I'm hoping it will be at least as good as Magic Square's Doomsday. I want a proper Walther P-38 mode, and a toon accurate bot mode, albeit with more detail than the plain animation models allow for, just as the majority of the SS86 figs have been realized. Even if it means they have to put a big ugly orange tip on the barrel, as long as the rest of the pistol alt mode looks believable, I'll be pretty happy. I wish Takara, who are unhindered by toy gun safety laws, would do an SS86 Megatron for the Asian market; if it means buying from an overseas vendor, well that's pretty much old hat for most us by now. I just want a proper mainline G1 Megatron for my CHUG collection.

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Couldn't disagree with you more. If they ever decide to do a proper G1 Megatron as an SS86 fig, I'm hoping it will be at least as good as Magic Square's Doomsday. I want a proper Walther P-38 mode, and a toon accurate bot mode, albeit with more detail than the plain animation models allow for, just as the majority of the SS86 figs have been realized. Even if it means they have to put a big ugly orange tip on the barrel, as long as the rest of the pistol alt mode looks believable, I'll be pretty happy. I wish Takara, who are unhindered by toy gun safety laws, would do an SS86 Megatron for the Asian market; if it means buying from an overseas vendor, well that's pretty much old hat for most us by now. I just want a proper mainline G1 Megatron for my CHUG collection.

Oh, of course I'd prefer a Megatron that turns into a gun! But the team"s been very clear that it won't happen in an official capacity, and that a Studio Series 86 Megatron would turn into a tank. What I'm saying is that if they're going to go the tank route that they should copy Bumblebee Megatron and make the robot nigh on perfect at the expense of putting quotes around the "tank" mode.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Oh, of course I'd prefer a Megatron that turns into a gun! But the team"s been very clear that it won't happen in an official capacity, and that a Studio Series 86 Megatron would turn into a tank. What I'm saying is that if they're going to go the tank route that they should copy Bumblebee Megatron and make the robot nigh on perfect at the expense of putting quotes around the "tank" mode.

I don't want an SS86 Megatron at all if it turns into a tank. G1 Megatron was a gun and any Movie or OG series referencing fig should reflect that. For any other continuity, they can make him turn into a can opener for all I care, but if it's G1 specifically, he needs, without exception, to be a gun.

I can't understand why Takara won't make a proper G1 Megs for the Asian market. They aren't hindered by our gun safety laws, so the only obstacle would be on Hasbro's part. And if that's the case, F##k Hasbro for screwing over fans on both sides of the pond.

[mikeszekely]

2 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I don't want an SS86 Megatron at all if it turns into a tank. G1 Megatron was a gun and any Movie or OG series referencing fig should reflect that. For any other continuity, they can make him turn into a can opener for all I care, but if it's G1 specifically, he needs, without exception, to be a gun.

I can't understand why Takara won't make a proper G1 Megs for the Asian market. They aren't hindered by our gun safety laws, so the only obstacle would be on Hasbro's part. And if that's the case, F##k Hasbro for screwing over fans on both sides of the pond.

I doubt you're alone in that sentiment, but as I understand it SS86 Megatron is coming. I just didn't know when (not this year).

[M'Kyuun]

51 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I doubt you're alone in that sentiment, but as I understand it SS86 Megatron is coming. I just didn't know when (not this year).

That's nice, but odds are high that his alt will be a tank or some other gun-wielding thing, just not the proper pistol he should be. I still can't believe they won't give Shockwave his G1 space blaster alt mode. Megs I can understand due to his more realistic pistol mode, but you'd have to be a color-blind and myopically challenged cop to mistake Shockwave as a real gun.

It seems an oxymoron that toy guns are so regulated in a country where guns are deeply and irrevocably ingrained in the culture, and it's easier for a kid (of legal age) to open carry than to go to the store and buy a toy gun. Back asswards.

[Wolf-1]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

That's nice, but odds are high that his alt will be a tank or some other gun-wielding thing, just not the proper pistol he should be. I still can't believe they won't give Shockwave his G1 space blaster alt mode. Megs I can understand due to his more realistic pistol mode, but you'd have to be a color-blind and myopically challenged cop to mistake Shockwave as a real gun.

It seems an oxymoron that toy guns are so regulated in a country where guns are deeply and irrevocably ingrained in the culture, and it's easier for a kid (of legal age) to open carry than to go to the store and buy a toy gun. Back asswards.

I seem to recall an incident in 87' where a kid was killed with a Laser Tag gun in hand.  What pistol was ever manufactured that had an enclosed hand grip and just as large as a Desert Eagle .50; not saying they aren't out there but they are so few and far between that the term "common use" doesn't enter into the conversation.  So sci-fi guns can still be misidentified, unfortunately.  

While a G1 fan only, I always found Megatron turning into a gun to be, well, silly.  Yes, once transformed he is an incredibly powerful weapon, but at the mercy/will of whoever holds him.  What size is he when transformed, sometimes he seems to have a small barrel, other times he can fit a massive power device into the barrel and boot into the atmosphere.  Also didn't help that the scope was the actual arm's fusion cannon.  Was it a clever feat of engineering for it's time; you bet, was he a must own, no.  Galvatron made far more sense to me, at least as an artillery piece he can aim and fire himself and the "Big Gun" concept carries over into Bot mode.  Seeing as the show went out of it's way to not transform either of the baddies, make them mobile artillery, it makes far more sense; even on Cybertron. Besides, Astrotrain tugging around Meg's just sits right with me at least.  

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Starting at 19:20, I got such a great laugh.  They stole this directly from Space Battleship Yamato.  Weird that Blitzwing actually says Yamato. 

[Dangard Ace]

That was great!   The english version just has Ratchet yelling, "Now!"  Japanese version there was definitely superior.

[JB0]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

That's nice, but odds are high that his alt will be a tank or some other gun-wielding thing, just not the proper pistol he should be. I still can't believe they won't give Shockwave his G1 space blaster alt mode. Megs I can understand due to his more realistic pistol mode, but you'd have to be a color-blind and myopically challenged cop to mistake Shockwave as a real gun.

It seems an oxymoron that toy guns are so regulated in a country where guns are deeply and irrevocably ingrained in the culture, and it's easier for a kid (of legal age) to open carry than to go to the store and buy a toy gun. Back asswards.

As I understand it, the problem isn't adhering to America's toy gun laws, it is that several states have stricter rules and adhering to all of them is a minefield.

If I recall, New York in particular has some rules that are uniquely challenging to transforming robot toy guns.

(This is why my PS1 copy of Time Crisis has a sticker on the box saying "not for sale in California". Came with an orange-tipped GunCon. My copy of Point Blank had a solid-orange GunCon, and no anti-California sticker.)

Edited February 20 by JB0

[Black Valkyrie]

 

@Hikaru Ichijo SL  

That was nice  😊.

 

[mikeszekely]

Still a rumor, so remember your salt, but I have it on word from a reliable source that Amazon's exclusive Transfomers this year will be the Mayhem Attack Squad, and will be sold in three two packs.  One is Voyager Bludgeon (probably a redeco of the Tarn remold we already got) with Deluxe Ruckus (a retool of Beachcomber), one is Deluxe Chopshop with Deluxe Barrage (repaints of Shrapnel and Bombshell as Deluxe Insecticons... sadly no sign of Venom).  And the third is Deluxe Knockout (a redeco of, well, Knockout) with Deluxe Windsweeper (a retool of Needlenose).

More exciting (for me, anyway), I'm told that there will be a TMNT x Transformers collab this year.  It's gonna be the Party Wagon (Turtle van)!

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

More exciting (for me, anyway), I'm told that there will be a TMNT x Transformers collab this year.  It's gonna be the Party Wagon (Turtle van)!

All I can say to that is cowabunga.

[mikeszekely]

If yesterday's news wasn't excited enough, how about the entire 2025 Studio Series lineup?

First, let's get this out of the way... these are the package refreshed characters (that is, figures that have already been released, but will be on sale again).

Deluxe-class 86 Perceptor
Deluxe-class 86 Jazz
Voyager-class ROTB Optimus Prime
Voyager-class DOTM Shockwave
Leader-class 86 Grimlock

Transformers One, which releases in September, gets a few releases

Deluxe-class B-127
Deluxe-class Starscream
Voyager-class Sentinel Prime

Gamer Edition continues with the War for Cybertron versions of:

Deluxe-class Autobot Soldier
Voyager-class Skywarp
Voyager-class Thundercracker
Voyager-class Ironhide

There's also a listing for a Deluxe-class Optimus as DEV.  I wonder if that's Transformers Devastation?

Bayverse fans, who have been complaining about a lack of figures from the first five movies while Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts have been dominating the Studio Series, probably aren't going to be too happy to hear about:

Deluxe-class Bumblebee Bumblebee.  Note that this isn't being listed as a package refresh, so my guess is they're either re-doing his VW figure with one that's more film accurate, or (more likely) they're doing the Camaro.
Leader-class ROTB Apelinq
Deluxe-class ROTB Double Punch (I wonder if he'll be green, since Scorpnok was purple?)

Or, maybe they'll stop complaining so much, because they're getting some attention in 2025.

Deluxe-class DOTM Hatchet (the one that leaked way back with Earth-mode Hound)
Deluxe-class DOTM Que
Deluxe-class AOE Widow Maker (likely a repaint or retool of Stinger)
Leader-class AOE Optimus Prime

I'm saving the best for last, though.  The 86 movie isn't limited to a few package refreshes.

Deluxe-class 86 Bonecrusher
Deluxe-class 86 Scavenger
Voyager-class 86 Scrapper
Voyager-class 86 Mixmaster

Unfortunately, there's no listing for Hook and Long Haul.  I assume they'll be 2026 releases, although I suppose one of them could be the unlisted 2025 Studio Series Commander-class figure, if he comes with all the combiner bits.

OK, TL;DR - STUDIO SERIES 86 DEVASTATOR!

[Old_Nash_II]

On 2/15/2024 at 1:28 PM, Scyla said:

Strike Freedom Megatron (I mean SG Megatron):

Orbital Frame Megatron????

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[sh9000]

I'm interested in that Devastator.