The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[rsvictor1976]

46 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Welcome back to the fold! The toys have come a long way, and for the most part, the SS86 line has been delivering the toys that I think the majority of us have wanted from Hasbro/Takara since the 80s. I've been in the game since it all kicked off in Sept '84, and I'm thrilled that they're finally making figs of the G1 characters that are a balanced mix of toon and original toy, although they tend to skew more towards the animation aesthetic, which seems to be what most fans want. But yeah, we're eating well, as the saying goes, and while it took them about thirty years too long to get around to it, I'm glad they're doing it now while the G1 generation is still around to enjoy them. You picked a good time to come back to the hobby, as G1 fans have never been so well served. Cheers and enjoy!

Yeah, I keep seeing YouTube reviewers saying the same thing about how it’s a great time to be a Transformer collector now. I was really impressed with the Studio Series Optimus Prime for how anime accurate it is and the price point (at least compared to Macross toys). And I’ve always had a weakness for Devastator. My only regret is missing out on that Legacy Menasor set. I’m still a little on the fence about the Age of the Primes combiners using that frame system, but I guess for the sake of accuracy and stability it makes sense.

Edited 16 hours ago by rsvictor1976

[sh9000]

From the resin prototype of ML Ultra Magnus I can see new joints in the hands, hips, knees, ankles, and Matrix Chamber.

Ultra Magnus can finally do its own G1 box art pose.

And I also want the G1 Datsun brothers to be released in ML along with the rest of the cars, Seekers, Dinobots, and as many other G1.

Edited 15 hours ago by sh9000

[M'Kyuun]

17 minutes ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Yeah, I keep seeing YouTube reviewers saying the same thing about how it’s a great time to be a Transformer collector now. I was really impressed with the Studio Series Optimus Prime for how anime accurate it is and the price point (at least compared to Macross toys). And I’ve always had a weakness for Devastator. My only regret is missing out on that Legacy Menasor set. I’m still a little on the fence about the Age of the Primes combiners using that frame system, but I guess for the sake of accuracy and stability it makes sense.

Well, to really appreciate the scope of toy options available to us, one needs to consider both official lines (Hasbro's main line, i.e. currently "Age of the Primes" under the Legacy umbrella, and Studio Series, which is a slightly more premium take, or supposed to be, on characters as they appeared in various media), Takara's Missing Link line which reengineers the G1 toys to feature full articulation and improved complexity all while retaining the look of the OG toys in both modes, Takara's own lines which recreate figs from the Japanese TF shows, the MPG line( formerly Masterpiece), their own releases of Studio Series and mainline toys, oft with better paint apps than their American versions, and other independent lines like their current Wild King show/toys aimed at younger kids. Additionally, there is Robosen, who's producing high-end, sophisticated, fully motorized, self-transforming, walking, talking Transformers. They currently represent the pinnacle of technology as its applied to our favorite Robots in Disguise, even featuring phrases recorded by the original voice actors. They come at a significant price tag, but they're astounding achievements and really cool additions to one's collection. They're a bit out of my price range, but they represent everything that I oft dreamed of in a "perfect' Transformers toy. Lastly, we get to third party companies who've been serving the fandom for about two decades now with figures both faithful to source and with a range of liberties taken in virtually every scale, from legends (slightly smaller than official main line) to Masterpiece, with varying levels of complexity, detail, 'animation accuracy', etc.  there are also companies like Blokees, who make non-transforming model kits of popular TF characters, companies like ThreeZero, formerly ThreeA, who make high-end incredibly detailed non-transforming TF figures. I'm likely forgetting a few, but these are the ones that occur off the top of my head. Lots of options for the intrepid Transformers fan. 

As for the combiner frame system, I'm of two minds: yes, it imbues the gestalt with much greater stability than the poor Combiner Wars figures, but at what point does it simply become an easy crutch to lean on in lieu of better engineering. They didn't use a frame for Devastator, which proves they can make a combiner without it. Granted, Devy has large partsforming bits to complete the gestalt, but aside from the mad all-in-one wizardry of MMC, the vast majority of combiners, official and non, have relied on partsforming bits to accomplish mashing a bunch of smaller robots into a big one. It's an acceptable concession, and one I think most of us, even the most ardent no-partsforming critics like myself, have come to accept, if grudgingly. It's simply the most practical and economical way to achieve the combining gimmick. Hasbro's frame system is a similar tactic, love it or hate it. I'd prefer they used it more sparingly, allowing the limb-bots to actually be the limbs instead of accoutrement on a frame, but I get the reasoning behind it.  If there's a cheap and easy solution, Hasbro will find it, although Takara does most of the heavy design work, so it's a good bet they're more to blame for the heavy use of the frame in lieu of more creative engineering solutions. 

Macross, alas, is such a niche franchise, especially on this side of the Pacific, largely due to Harmony Gold's litigious shenanigans over the last nigh-40 years, damn them.  The subsequent rarity of toys, especially high-end toys like Yamato/Arcadia's, cause availability and pricing to put them out of reach of many a fan. It's the sad reality of Macross fans everywhere, unfortunately. I was hoping that Big West's and Harmony Gold's agreement as well as Disney's airing of the majority of the various Macross Series would spark a renewed interest in the franchise in the West, especially a heightened desire for the toys, but that hasn't happened. Thus the anemic status quo remains.

34 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

From the resin prototype of ML Ultra Magnus I can see new joints in the hands, hips, knees, ankles, and Matrix Chamber.

Ultra Magnus can finally do its own G1 box art pose.

And I also want the G1 Datsun brothers to be released in ML along with the rest of the cars, Seekers, Dinobots, and as many other G1.

I'm thinking he will be able to pull off that pose and probably poses more dynamic than that. They're just teasing us right now.

I want to see that list done, too, especially the Datsuns (I want Prowl in the worst way), the cassettes, some of whom, like Ravage, are in desperate need of a good update. FWIW Fans Toys did a pretty good job with their version of Ravage for Acoustic Wave, both of which are pretty peak. I'm really curious how they'd approach the van brothers, as the Diaclone toys just never really fit in well with the rest of the Diaclone car bots, which makes their inclusion in the TF toyline, which seemed to cherry-pick the best looking of the bunch, oddly questionable in retrospect. We have Floro Dery to thank for the much-improved bot modes in the animation. However, Missing Link is all about improving the G1 toys as they were, warts and all, and it remains to be seen how or if they'll attempt to do something with them. We definitely need Soundwave, Megatron, and the Seekers as well. I'm most curious to see how they'll improve both of the latter. I want a fully poseable G1 Megatron.