The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[Ozgardian]

How about a female titan!?! Like Scorponok or Fort Max., Your thoughts?

[DELTAprime]

Steeljaw has always been my favourite of Blaster's cassettes. It really sucks that the only G1 Steeljaw toys we have ever gotten is his original toy and reissues of it. Would be nice to have a CHUG version of him even if it's more akin to TR Ramhorn than something like Henkei Ravage.

Hopefully the MP version isn't far off.

[GoktimusPrime]

We did get a Generations Steeljaw, albeit Fall of Cybertron.
I'd say an MP version would be coming soon. It would be silly for TakaraTOMY to create the mould (which they've obviously used for Night Stalker) but not go ahead with making Steeljaw.

Then again, we said the exact same thing about Binaltech Dead End and it took them a year before they released Binaltech Sunstreaker. :eek: And some people thought that the Binaltech Skids mould would've been ideal as BT Ratchet and Ironhide, but that never happened and they instead did Blaster (and as nice as that toy is, the mould just doesn't suit him as well as it would've suited Ratchethide). Then again, this was pre-Tomy merger Takara... and it was 13 years ago now (whaaat?!). :o Today's TakaraTOMY seem to be more reliable for this sort of thing.

[Omega Metro]

So are we expecting a new/reissue of Leader/MP Movie Starscream at some point? I’ve decided I want one, especially with all these movie MPs of late.:)

[DELTAprime]

I just had an unsettling thought. Since Takara do not own the rights to G1 Shockwave in the view of a ToyCo collector MP Shockwave must be like a 3rd party KO.:eek:

[GoktimusPrime]

:confused: Takara did obtain the licence for ToyCo's Astro Magnum to use as Shockwave, or as he's known in Japan - LASERWAVE (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5J2-X3C90g/U6ZmLxAysfI/AAAAAAAADcQ/9FW1ooGv7Ps/s1600/IMG_0161+copy.jpg).

Also, TakaraTOMY is a publicly listed company. Anyone can easily find their contact details - either through Google (https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/%E6%A0%AA%E5%BC%8F%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE%E3%82%BF%E3%8 2%AB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%88%E3%83%9F%E3%83%BC/@35.7467431,139.8395517,15z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1z44K_44Kr44Op44OI44Of44O8IOiRm-mjvuWMug!3m4!1s0x60188f66b105c0d9:0x74c72fad2d971a f5!8m2!3d35.741514!4d139.849102) or just looking at any of their toy boxes, instruction booklets etc. (or the Contact TakaraTOMY web page (http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/support/other.html)) and just contact them should they wish. ToyCo does still exist today (http://toyco.co.kr/).

Who told you that Takara doesn't own the rights to G1 Shockwave? :confused:

[DELTAprime]

:confused: Takara did obtain the licence for ToyCo's Astro Magnum to use as Shockwave, or as he's known in Japan - LASERWAVE (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5J2-X3C90g/U6ZmLxAysfI/AAAAAAAADcQ/9FW1ooGv7Ps/s1600/IMG_0161+copy.jpg).

Also, TakaraTOMY is a publicly listed company. Anyone can easily find their contact details - either through Google (https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/%E6%A0%AA%E5%BC%8F%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE%E3%82%BF%E3%8 2%AB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%88%E3%83%9F%E3%83%BC/@35.7467431,139.8395517,15z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1z44K_44Kr44Op44OI44Of44O8IOiRm-mjvuWMug!3m4!1s0x60188f66b105c0d9:0x74c72fad2d971a f5!8m2!3d35.741514!4d139.849102) or just looking at any of their toy boxes, instruction booklets etc. (or the Contact TakaraTOMY web page (http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/support/other.html)) and just contact them should they wish. ToyCo does still exist today (http://toyco.co.kr/).

Who told you that Takara doesn't own the rights to G1 Shockwave? :confused:

It's common knowledge that Takara don't own the rights to Shockwave, and what's them being listed in the phone book got to do with anything?

[GoktimusPrime]

It's common knowledge that Takara don't own the rights to Shockwave
Citation needed. Especially considering that Takara actually released G1 Laserwave in 1985. General consensus alone is not evidence (after all there is a lot of common knowledge that is actually inaccurate, like bats being blind. Bats aren't blind).

There are a number of G1 Transformers that Takara never released because they didn't have the licensing rights; e.g. Jetfire, Roadbuster, Whirl, Sky Lynx, Omega Supreme, Chop Shop, Barrage, Venom, Ransack etc. They would not have released Laserwave in Japan if this were the case.

And if you're wondering how TakaraTOMY were able to reissue Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx, it's because those moulds were originally designed by TOMY (for ToyBox), and after Takara merged with TOMY they automatically inherited properties owned by TOMY. This allowed them to reissue Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx. Well... technically not a reissue for the Japanese market as it was the first time that those toys were ever released there as Transformers. Same with Gears, which is really odd because that mould belongs to Takara from Microman. No idea why Takara never released Gears in the 80s. The Transformers Collection Mini-Bots reissue was actually G1 Gears' toy debut in Japan.

[Paulbot]

I'm procrastinating with some work I need to do and so I think about opening the Hasbro Trypticon. I have the Hasbro and Takara versions sitting in my house. But then I think 'ugh all those stickers'. And 'maybe the hips are dodgy?' And then I think no, maybe another weekend.

[DELTAprime]

My TR Quickswitch just arrived, thank you ebay!

TFwiki says Quickswitch is a minor remould, (specifically the wolf head) but honestly I can't see a single remoulded part.

Still that's one more G1 Transformer I now have towards my goal.

[griffin]

My TR Quickswitch just arrived, thank you ebay!

TFwiki says Quickswitch is a minor remould, (specifically the wolf head) but honestly I can't see a single remoulded part.

Still that's one more G1 Transformer I now have towards my goal.

Maybe they are referring to the titanmaster, if it's face hasn't been used before.
Otherwise, it could just be a mistake (yes... tfwiki do make mistakes :p ).

[DELTAprime]

Well looks like the third week of January might be a bust. No sightings of POTPs so far this week.

[griffin]

Maybe retailers are still waiting for enough old stock to clear out first... but they are apparently now allowed to stock them.

[GoktimusPrime]

Someone has just purchased a Diaclone Powered Convoy DX Set for nearly $40k! :eek:
https://image.ibb.co/fbOn8b/holycrap.jpg
For about the same amount of money you could also...
* Buy a used Mercedes-Benz
* Put a deposit down on a 3 bedroom house in a country town
* Put a deposit down on a 2 bedroom flat in suburban Sydney

...just sayin' :o

[Autocon]

Someone has just purchased a Diaclone Powered Convoy DX Set for nearly $40k! :eek:
https://image.ibb.co/fbOn8b/holycrap.jpg
For about the same amount of money you could also...
* Buy a used Mercedes-Benz
* Put a deposit down on a 3 bedroom house in a country town
* Put a deposit down on a 2 bedroom flat in suburban Sydney

...just sayin' :o

Is that delta magnus, undercover and a red mirage. Did red mirage get a character?

[GoktimusPrime]

Deepcover. And no, red Mirage never got a character as Mirage is a toy that's never been reissued, let alone received a retconned Diaclone-coloured character from eHobby. If I really wanted a Diaclone coloured Magnus and Sideswipe, I'd just get the reissues. Actually, I do own Deepcover (but not Delta Magnus - personally didn't interest me).

[Paulbot]

Prediction: "Red Mirage" will get a character a few months after MP Mirage gets released and a repaint/tool is announced.

[GoktimusPrime]

Prediction: "Red Mirage" will get a character a few months after MP Mirage gets released and a repaint/tool is announced.
^Agreed. Not much else they could do with that mould, other than release a clear invisibility variant. :p
Would people prefer it to be another Autobot car (like Road Rage) or a new Decepticon Car (like Exhaust)?

[DELTAprime]

Yep, not too many choices a for Mirage repaint too. Diaclone and a clear version (assuming the structural integrity of a clear version would be up to par).

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, clear plastic's not so great, as the broken wing mirrors on my Binaltech Ligier can attest. :(

[DELTAprime]

Thing is sometimes clear plastic is fine. My Henkei Ghost Starscream feels really solid, and the Ghost Starscream that came with Octane the other month also feels solid. But then you get other toys where they used clear plastic and you see stress marks the second you take it out of the package.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

^Agreed. Not much else they could do with that mould, other than release a clear invisibility variant. :p
Would people prefer it to be another Autobot car (like Road Rage) or a new Decepticon Car (like Exhaust)?I'm hoping for a Crasher/Fracture remold myself, a la Tracks and Road Rage.
Not sure how doable it is, but it's a hope nonetheless.

[GoktimusPrime]

TakaraTOMY wouldn't be able to do that since Machine Robo is owned by Bandai. Hasbro could because they own the rights to Gobots but I'd say it's unlikely.

[DELTAprime]

A couple of years ago there was a fan poll for the next Titan Class figure and Omega Supreme was one of the contenders. I wonder when they get around to doing a new Omega Supreme will he be a partsformer (which Hasbro seems somewhat willing to do these days *points at Overlord*) or something else?

[Jellico]

Everything that I ever saw said Scorponok came second and the Predacons have slipped in since then.
Devastator is going to be waiting a while.

[GoktimusPrime]

A couple of years ago there was a fan poll for the next Titan Class figure and Omega Supreme was one of the contenders. I wonder when they get around to doing a new Omega Supreme will he be a partsformer (which Hasbro seems somewhat willing to do these days *points at Overlord*) or something else?
Depends on how slavishly G1 accurate they want to make the toy. A lot of fans seem to prefer slavish G1 accuracy which, as you can see, can have its drawbacks. :rolleyes: But can't really blame Hasbro for responding to what their consumers are demanding.

[DELTAprime]

I'm personally hoping they use the TFA Omega Supreme as inspiration. Has the advantage of not being a partsformer and still will evoke G1 Omega Supreme if sculpted right (ei: gun hand, claw hand and wings).

[Jellico]

TFAnimated? He should have got a toy.

That said Omega is one of those bots where partforming is acceptable. No one would complain too much about two arms, a body, and a tank if you get a cool base out of it. Mind you. I would love to see the tank shrunk down to legends scale and sit in a pocket on the front of his chest. The traintrack isn't strictly necessary if you aren't using the motor gimmick. Hide some wings in the body.

[GoktimusPrime]

I would LLUUUUUUUURRVV an Animated Omega Supreme toy! :D And this line is meant to be "Generations". Plural. And CHUG has done Animated before, admittedly just at the Legends scale... but why not larger figures? And they should really make toys of the Animated Constructicons. I understand the reason why they couldn't do it back in 2009, but that was years ago.

[Jellico]

It is a hard business case to provide support for a series that has been off air for 10 years and had poor official support to start with.
Animated EARNED its love the hard way. But we are never going to see any characters beyond Lockdown, Lugnut, Slipstream, and Bulkhead.

Also could you imagine a Titan sized space ship? Even Trypticon's ship mode is a bit wink wink nudge nudge. All that weight designed to be picked up and flown without killing a small child or breaking when dropped? Is that awe inspiring or terrifying?

[GoktimusPrime]

It is a hard business case to provide support for a series that has been off air for 10 years and had poor official support to start with.
Animated EARNED its love the hard way. But we are never going to see any characters beyond Lockdown, Lugnut, Slipstream, and Bulkhead.
:confused: I don't know if I entirely agree with that. Animated came along at a time when Transformers was already massively popular. Animated toys first came out in 2008 and we know that Transformer toy sales doubled in that year against 2007 sales. There was also a looooot of merchandising for Transformers Animated. Stationery, apparel, games etc etc. And they even pushed the show to begin airing before the toys hit stores to give the line additional exposure and thus boost toy sale potential.

I personally think that BEAST WARS earnt its love the hard way. BW came out at a time when the Transformers franchise had hit rock-bottom. Just think back to what being a Transformers collector was like in the mid 1990s. It SUCKED! :eek: So many stores just weren't carrying late G2 toys because retail buyers had stopped ordering stock, while other stores were overflowing with G2 toys because nobody was buying them! I remember searching for ages to find Laser Optimus Prime and finally finding one lone figure at Toyworld, then years later finding mountains of them gathering dust at TRU. They couldn't even give these toys away, and Laser OP is a bloody awesome toy!

And support from Hasbro for BW in the beginning was pretty low. Hasbro even refused to put their name on the packaging, instead they used Kenner's logo! Hasbro was even afraid to put the "Transformers" logo on the packaging, instead they made "BEAST WARS" really big and transformers in smaller font sitting underneath the BW logo. And we know that the cartoon was created and released after the launch of the toy line, which is why the initial toy-canon was so different from the cartoon, and also why Optimus Primal and Megatron started off as Ultras and never appeared in their early Basic toy forms (although this was considered).

We also know that there was a lot of initial backlash and negative reactions from fans, spawning the fan-saying, "TRUKK NOT MUNKY" and early claims of "RUINED FOREVER" and "RUINED MY CHILDHOOD" etc etc. Seriously, remember some of those early online comments? And remember how some of us joined pro-BW groups like BWADL (Beast Wars Anti-Defamation League) to combat all of these naysayers in support of BW? Man, those were not fun times! :rolleyes: But all of these critics were eventually silenced when BW won the fans over with its excellent toys and TV show, creating an enduring legacy.

But getting back to Generations, we also know that Generations has touched on characters that Hasbro haven't touched in yonks. As great as BW was, Hasbro's done bugger all with it since 1999, yet we got BW toys in CHUG and we have more coming up. They even gave us BM characters like Tankor! And BM was very poorly received by fans and Hasbro hadn't touched it since 2001. Generations gave us Lioné (Sawback) and Shuffler! Characters that Hasbro's never touched before and Takara haven't touched them since 1987! :eek: If they can give us characters as obscure as Shuffler then surely they can do Animated Omega Supreme.

And it wouldn't need to be Titan Class. I'd be happy with a Leader Class. :) A Titan Class wouldn't be in scale with Deluxes, Voyagers and Leaders anyway -- I'd rather a smaller toy that's well made than some overpriced and oversized Titan Class. And it'd be easier to find space for smaller toys! One reason why I'm skipping LG Grand Maximus is because I just wouldn't have the bloody room for it.

[Jellico]

:)
Wasn't it Teen Transformers or Transformers 10 or something? In the middle of Bayverse hype they released a cutsie homage to G1?

Different environments different challenges. Beastwars was reviving the Transformers concept in the public mind. Animated was a homage when people were expecting something more like Prime to mesh with the movies. We all know how the fandom reacts with something new.



I have been struggling with the bit about the CHUG toys. Objectively they can do what ever they like. CW Armada Megatron shows they can drag in all sorts of weird universes. Things like BW and Shuffler are a little different as they are extensions of G1.
I guess the aesthetic I get from CHUG is that they are going for the old cast of thousands as long as the character only shows up once. They can have multiple bodies but they are all the same character.

I agree a Leader Omega would work well size wise and I would like to see it. I just think that ship sailed a long time ago.

[DELTAprime]

Walked into my local EB Games to get a two for one deal on Xbox Live Gold. I saw a MPM3 Bumblebee behind the counter. Someone had let their laybuy on him expire (3rd time it's happened to this particular figure). It took a little convincing but the store manager let me laybuy him (I would have just simply bought him but I have orders at HLJ this week).

So bottom line, I guess I'm now a MPM collector.:rolleyes:

For those that know how much I hate the Bayverse movies and are wondering why I'd buy a Bayverse toy. I dislike the movies, not the really cool Transformers designs that ILM created, though I think I'll pass on a MPM Demolisher.:p

[GoktimusPrime]

:)
Wasn't it Teen Transformers or Transformers 10 or something? In the middle of Bayverse hype they released a cutsie homage to G1?
Is that all? :o Mate... cast your mind back to the sheer virile hatred that spewed forth from people's keyboards and mouths when Beast Wars came out! Animated's big gripe was that it looked too cartoony. BW was accused of being the Transformers' Anti-Christ!

And Animated IS very cartoony. This was deliberate! Remember that Animated was conceived before the first Bayformers movie came out, and before then, nobody knew if Bayformers would be a financial success or failure. Hasbro felt the need to prepare for a worst case scenario - if fans reacted really badly to Bayformers and it bombed, they wanted the follow-up line to be as aesthetically distant from Bayformers as possible. So whereas Bayformers went for photorealism and making the Transformers look alien, Animated went to the opposite end of the extreme and made the Transformers look cutesy and cartoony. Animated was conceived as Hasbro's Plan B in case the first live action movie flopped. But it didn't, but since Hasbro already started putting in the work for Animated, they decided to run with it as a filler line until Revenge of the Fallen came out. And we know that Hasbro prioritised Bayformers, as evidenced by the fact that they never made toys of the Animated Constructicons. :(

None of the claims made about Animated were untrue though. They are visually very 'Cartoon Network,' but that was the whole idea of it. And people may love or hate it. It's not just because it's new, but also because fans are generally wary of anything that goes outside of the Transformers' traditional Japanese mecha design aesthetic. But this always happens whenever something unorthodox comes along. Despite all the great things that Beast Wars has done - the fact that we still enjoy CHUG and MP toys today whose design and engineering come directly from BW - there are still some fans who don't like BW. And it's because they just don't like the unorthodox aesthetic of the designs. BW was the first series to break away from the Mecha feel and went with something more organic looking. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just different. Bayformers did the same thing, and there are still some fans who don't like the designs. Animated, Prime, RiD, Rescue Bots... they've all continued to try to give us something new/different to Transformers beyond the traditional Mecha feel. But people like tradition.

CHUG and G1 MP have gone back to that traditional mecha design and have proven hugely popular. Just look at the way that Power of the Primes is flying off shelves even at the higher prices of independent toy stores. I haven't seen something like this since RiD came out here in 2001, and that was the same thing. After years of BW and BM RiD came along and gave us something that hearkened back to more traditional mecha aesthetics and licensed vehicle modes. People loved it and those toys were selling out fast months before the TV show even started airing! :eek:

[DELTAprime]

3 weeks until New York Toy Fair. Hopefully we get to see a bunch of the leaked POTP toys we haven't seen any images of yet.

[GoktimusPrime]

Come on, POTP Time Warrior. Don't let me down! ;)

[Galvatran]

^ I wouldn't be all surprised if there is a press release this April. ;)

[DELTAprime]

LG Overlord is a bit of a throwback in that he is most brick like Transformer I've bought since Star Convoy. Grant it he has more articulation than the Transformers from G1 people call bricks, but he just has the same feeling to him that I get from G1 Star Convoy, G1 God Ginrai and G1 Magnus.

[GoktimusPrime]

I disagree.

Comparison pics between G1 and TR Overlord (http://otca.com.au/boards/showpost.php?p=578120&postcount=4) - G1 Overlord has 2 points of articulation. Titans Return Overlord has 15 points of articulation! :eek:

See here: Ginrai vs Overlord (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=580984)

G1 Overlord is definitely a brick that's comparable with Star Convoy, Ginrai and Ultra Magnus. But TR/LG Overlord? Really? :confused: I highly doubt that I'd be able to get even half of those poses in that battle sequence that I made using G1 Overlord!

Let's compare G1 and TR PPOP/Ginrai for a moment. Here's a shot I made using G1 toys, obviously recreating that famous moment from the Matrix Quest where Thunderwing blasts Optimus Prime with the Matrix.
https://image.ibb.co/ffdqm6/photoskit_matrixqueststarsbase.jpg
Now compare it with TR figures...
https://image.ibb.co/cSBUw6/TR_overlord08.jpg
Even lying in defeat, I was able to get a more dynamic pose out of Magnus Prime than I ever could out of my G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime.

I don't own G1 Overlord - I borrowed a friend's to take those comparison pics. But having handled this toy on several occasions I can tell you that, as an action figure, TR/LG Overlord is a VAST improvement. G1 Overlord is still the better play set, but TR/LG Overlord is by far the better action figure. The combined vehicle mode is no better or worse than the G1 toys' -- it's daft, but it's meant to be daft. Even in the cartoon it looks silly! :D Yeah, the base mode really isn't as good. The designers have really just whacked it in there as a homage to the G1 toy's ability to become a base, but it's not really a main feature of the contemporary toy. G1 Overlord is a play set that transforms into a robot. TR/LG Overlord is a robot that transforms into a play set (and a one that's meant for those little Titan Masters).

[DELTAprime]

Well so much for patronising local retailers. It's way cheaper to buy a bunch of Takara products HLJ doesn't have that I'm after from RK than TLTC even after factoring in shipping and exchange rates.:(

That said I'll still get the POTP stuff from TLTC, much cheaper than Kmart, Target, etc.

[FatalityPitt]

Reading the trading card I got from PotP Shrapnel - "Quintus Skrapnel: Revives fallen allies by jumpstarting them."...

Seeing pictures of PotP Quintus Prime as Bludgeon (a skeleton)...

... Starting to sense a bit of a "Necromancer theme" around this Quintus Prime..

[GoktimusPrime]

Quintus is Latin for "the fifth" and in Ancient Rome it was a common given name for fifth born sons. Not sure if this means that Quintus Prime was the fifth created, but the ordinal numbers in Latin are:

I: Primus = 1st
II: Secundus = 2nd
III: Tertius = 3rd
IV: Quartus = 4th
V: Quintus = 5th
VI: Sextus = 6th
VII: Septimus = 7th
VIII: Octavus = 8th
IX: Nonus = 9th
X: Decimus = 10th
XI: Undecimus = 11th
XII: Duodecimus = 12th
XIII: Tertius decimus = 13th

[FatalityPitt]

Quintus is Latin for "the fifth" and in Ancient Rome it was a common given name for fifth born sons. Not sure if this means that Quintus Prime was the fifth created, but the ordinal numbers in Latin are:

I: Primus = 1st
II: Secundus = 2nd
III: Tertius = 3rd
IV: Quartus = 4th
V: Quintus = 5th
VI: Sextus = 6th
VII: Septimus = 7th
VIII: Octavus = 8th
IX: Nonus = 9th
X: Decimus = 10th
XI: Undecimus = 11th
XII: Duodecimus = 12th
XIII: Tertius decimus = 13th

Would make sense if Quintus was the fifth Prime.

I read on the TFwiki (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Quintus_Prime)that he's somehow related to the Quintessons. The Quintessons each had five faces (like the G1 Cartoon story arc 'Five Face of Darkness').

Apparently Quintus Prime is notable for being the Prime who values living creatures the most and has a high regard for life. Which might explain why he can bring people back from the dead (as suggested by PotP Skrapnel's card). If I collect more PotP toys with Quintus Prime cards, I'd see the bigger picture - or I can just wait to see the Quintus/Bludgeon Primemaster when it's out :D

Still, if he values life so much, it's a bit odd that he's a disguised himself as Bludgeon.. or is it??

(the most pro-life Transformer disguised as the Decepticon who looks most like the Grim Reaper)


EDIT: AHA! I won't need to collect all cards after all to see what each combination does. Ever wonder what a Solus Beachcomber does; click here:

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Prime_Master/Combinations

[prjkt]

I'd like to see a remould of CW Ultra Magnus as an "Evolution" release - keep the trailer part as is for the most part, maybe add a few pegs for the xMasters to chill on, but replace the cab entirely with a bot that transforms - can be deluxe size if we make the cab the width/height of the trailer (as the cab is pretty small in comparison now)

I think it could work nicely...

[DELTAprime]

Going by retailer release dates all the currently revealed and previously leaked POTP toys will be on store shelves somewhere in the world by mid year. So hopefully we won't be too far off a press release for the full wave 4 and maybe 5 and 6.

[DarkHyren]

I'd like to see a remould of CW Ultra Magnus as an "Evolution" releaseDefinitely doable considering that Perfect Effect made an Ultra Magnus cab upgrade that can transform from cab into a deluxe (maybe closer to voyager) sized robot as well as combine with the trailer.
Google "Perfect Effect (PE) PC-17" (or "Perfect Effect (PE) PC-16" for the PM OP cab) for images.

It would be interesting to see what Hasbro could do, if it would be anywhere near as good as the upgrade kit, because if it was it would have the advantage of being half the price (because CW UM + PE upgrade = $$$) for a decent UM.
Plus, well, I'd like at least a reissue as I still dont have a CW UM myself lol, so redoing it with a transforming cab would be icing on the cake for me

[prjkt]

Yeah it was the PE release that gave me the idea, and standing him
Next to PotP Rodimus.

Would be cool if they gave him a Minimus Ambus titanmaster for a head too

[SMHFConvoy]

Transformers whose alt mode was a submarine? I know there was a minicon but what about an Autobot or Decepticon (other than Nickel.)

[tinyJazz]

Transformers whose alt mode was a submarine? I know there was a minicon but what about an Autobot or Decepticon (other than Nickel.)

Energon Sharkticon (and subsequent repaints). He’s described as being adept at underwater combat, and his alt mode looks more sub than boat.

I think TFA Depth Charge is supposed to be somekind of sub too.

There’s also gobots dive-dive haha

[Paulbot]

There was that Autobot in The Last Knight but I don't think he has a name.

My go to when I think of submarine robots is also one of the Machine Men (as I had a KO version of him as a kid).

[SuspectimusPrime]

There's also the Cybertron Minicon with the outrageous shoulder pylon to forearm ratio: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Deepdive_(Cybertron)

[GoktimusPrime]

Transformers whose alt mode was a submarine? I know there was a minicon but what about an Autobot or Decepticon (other than Nickel.)
Deep Dive is indeed the most realistic looking submarine TF. Others include Waverider and Submarauder. Bumblebee's VW Beetle mode is amphibious and despite being a hovercraft G1 Seaspray is able to dive down to the ocean depths.

[Deonasis]

Random thought. POTP Rodimus images new remind me of Armada Optimus Prime with the smaller legs splitting to arms.

[GoktimusPrime]

Only in execution it's more like Super Fire Convoy

[DELTAprime]

Only in execution it's more like Super Fire Convoy

I haven't watched any videos of the transformation or seen the instructions for Rodimus because I'm one of those people that just figures it out. But I was thinking just from the stock photos and CG renders that Rodimus' arms look shall we say a little partsformerish.

That said Super Fire Convoy and Pants God Magnus are two of my favourite moulds despite being partsformers. I generally am not over the moon about partsformers.

[GoktimusPrime]

A parcel arrived today from Japan. I was amazed as I only ordered some LG figures from Japan on Monday and they're being shipped by SAL! :eek:

...turns out that it's for my daughter, not me. :p #prematureanticipation #ひなまつり

[DELTAprime]

Just reread the TFwiki article on GPS. I never realised my prized Optimal Optimus suffers from GPS. Well I guess I'm never transforming him again.:rolleyes:

[GoktimusPrime]

:eek: Didn't realise this either. Mine's still fine <knock on wood> But considering that it was released the same year as Transmetal Megatron - another notorious sufferer of GPS (well, BPS), it doesn't entirely surprise me.

Hmmm... maybe I should get POTP Optimal Optimus...

[FatalityPitt]

For a lesser known character who's NEVER appeared in any cartoon or movie, and started his existence as a fairly unimpressive toy, G1 Bludgeon is quite an popular character. It dawned on me when I was watching a friend use him while playing that game "Forged to Fight". It reminded me that he was also in that game "Earth Wars", and he's had some toy homages in the form of that RotF Voyager and recent RiD 2015 Warrior figure.

[griffin]

For a lesser known character who's NEVER appeared in any cartoon or movie, and started his existence as a fairly unimpressive toy, G1 Bludgeon is quite an popular character. It dawned on me when I was watching a friend use him while playing that game "Forged to Fight". It reminded me that he was also in that game "Earth Wars", and he's had some toy homages in the form of that RotF Voyager and recent RiD 2015 Warrior figure.

Bludgeon and Grimlock were two of Simon Furman's favourite characters, so we saw a lot of them in the comics he helmed... and as such, Bludgeon has a decent following, and even had a few homage toys.

[FatalityPitt]

Bludgeon and Grimlock were two of Simon Furman's favourite characters, so we saw a lot of them in the comics he helmed... and as such, Bludgeon has a decent following, and even had a few homage toys.

Yeah, I can see why. Even without knowing the character, he's got quite a unique and fierce look about him, being a skeletal Samurai dressed mostly in orange and purple. The funny thing about Bludgeon, to me anyways, is that he appears in video games and has lots of toy homages; but I've never seen him in any movies or shows. He had a Cyberverse Comander Class figure under the Prime: Beast Hunters line, but he never appeared in Transformers Prime. He had an RiD Warrior class figure recently, and I don't think he's appeared in that show either... Hmm, hopefully he appears in the upcoming Cyberverse cartoon. Unlikely, but it'd be cool.

[GoktimusPrime]

"Unimpressive toy"? I thought Bludgeon was one of the better Pretenders to come out of G1. Overall I think that the 1989 Pretenders were a notable improvement over the 1988 Pretenders. Gone are these spindly anorexic contortionists -- the '89 Pretenders looked more like proper Transformers (i.e. armoured mecha). And the alt modes weren't just folded up robots pretending to be vehicles -- they looked like what they were meant to be.

Bludgeon's alt mode is immediately identifiable and is unmistakably a tank. Even if you lose the accessories it still looks like an armoured vehicle. My first Pretender was Waverider, and in all honesty, I thought he was a starfighter. It was a birthday present, so I opened the toy and started playing with it before reading the bio and later learning that it's meant to be a submarine. But it always looked more like a little starfighter to me. Heck, when Waverider fought against Unicron on Cybertron we see him flying into battle! Sky High -- if you got the toy loose without any accessories, good luck trying to figure out what he's meant to be. Same with Iguanus and the notoriously horrid Gunrunner.

With the 1989 Pretenders you can tell what they're meant to be, even if you loose the accessories. Bludgeon would be a turret-less tank but you can still see the lower half with the armour and the treads etc. Octopunch would be a legless crab, Stranglehold a tail-less rhinoceros etc. While it would still really suck to lose these accessories, you can still make out what they're meant to be. Sure, the 1988 Pretenders had a few figures that contain enough self-contained parts that you can tell what they're meant to be, like Cloudburst or Metalhawk... but these toys were more of the exception rather than the rule. And they all have that generic transformation thing of fold the arms in and swing the legs back up. Contortionists in disguise. Bad disguise. :p

And yes, of course it was to allow these robots to squeeze into their Pretender shells. But 1989 improved the concept by making the robots smaller but in doing so, they didn't need to give them those stick-thin robot modes. They could make the robot modes look more like normal Transformers and allow them to fit into their shells by virtue of being compact rather than skinny. It even worked with some of the more classical G1 designs, as demonstrated by the Classic Pretenders. Pretender Starscream is undeniably an F15 Eagle and Pretender Bumblebee is clearly a VW Beetle etc.

The orange on Bludgeon's shell does look really silly though. It's always looked silly. :p We just accept it now because it's the original look of the character, but when this toy first came out I thought, "It's like Skeletor in a day-glow orange suit?" The overall sculpting with the samurai armour was cool, but orange?! Makes Bludgeon look like he's barracking for the Netherlands.

[DELTAprime]

I was thinking of G1 Bludgeon recently and read up his TFwiki entry.

I figure if Hasbro dictated to Furman back in the 80's like they do now for their media Bludgeon probably never would have become leader of the Decepticons and instead a larger more expensive toy or unique toy would have taken over instead of a toy that was just another standard sized Pretender.

[FatalityPitt]

I was thinking of G1 Bludgeon recently and read up his TFwiki entry.

I figure if Hasbro dictated to Furman back in the 80's like they do now for their media Bludgeon probably never would have become leader of the Decepticons and instead a larger more expensive toy or unique toy would have taken over instead of a toy that was just another standard sized Pretender.

That's one of the nice things about the Furman-run in the 1980's/early-90's; he can take a toy that most kids back then wouldn't give a second look at (particularly cheaper toys like Ratbat) and give then big and important roles in the comics.


"Unimpressive toy"? I thought Bludgeon was one of the better Pretenders to come out of G1.

Thinking about it now, the 1989 Pretenders weren't that bad. They literally were Transformers in disguise. Tell you a story - As a small child I remember staying at a resort with my family for a week. My aunt, uncle and cousin also came along. My cousin (about my age) had his luggage misplaced which contained his toys. I happened to have a Stranglehold at the time, which I gave to him to play with. He HATED it, he kept screaming "I wanna play with Transformers! Not Naked Man!". He hated the "naked man" figurine I lent him, but nevertheless he held onto it throughout the week. It was on the ferry on the way home when he returned Stranglehold to me; and instantly I took off Stranglehold's helmet and split him open to reveal the robot inside! My cousin wanted to play with Transformers and not "naked man".. Well, guess what - naked man WAS a Transformer! :D

[DELTAprime]

I never realised how big a modern Legends class figure could be until I got LG Seaspray today. That guy is really big for a Legends class figure.

[GoktimusPrime]

The current Legends Class has come to replace the old Scout Class which in turn replaced the Basic Class. It's a size point that's been around since 1996 (or 1995 if you count the Cyberjets).

[DELTAprime]

The current Legends Class has come to replace the old Scout Class which in turn replaced the Basic Class. It's a size point that's been around since 1996 (or 1995 if you count the Cyberjets).

You obviously don't have Seaspray. He is a much bigger vehicle than other Legends class figures.

[GoktimusPrime]

god damnit, I must another Legends-size hovercraft Transformer then. Can anyone identify this toy for me please? :confused:
https://image.ibb.co/fwcpHQ/TR_seaspray03a.jpg
It's definitely the same size as other Legends/Scout Class toys in vehicle mode as it fits perfectly onto Sea Spray's rear deck which is designed to hold Scout Class figures (as can be seen in this photo (http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/9/9d/TF2010toy-SeaSpray.jpg) where Sea Spray is carrying 2010's Scout Class Breacher (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Breacher)). If this hovercraft were larger than a typical Scout Class figure then it wouldn't be able to fit onto Sea Spray's deck.

Compare with Scout Class Shortround
https://image.ibb.co/hF3tS7/TR_seaspray06.jpg

I'm gonna call this hovercraft "Monty" until I can find out who he (or she) actually is.

[DELTAprime]

Try comparing "Monty" to the vehicle mode of POTP Windcharger, or LG Bumblebee. He is much larger than other Legends of this era. Hence my original point of I never realised how big a Legends can be.

[GoktimusPrime]

Here's Monty with an assortment of Legends, Scouts and Basics from across various lines. Monty isn't the smallest, but he isn't the biggest either. He's 9.5cm long in vehicle mode which is 2.5cm shorter than some of the other figures that I've compared him with in this limited sample.
https://image.ibb.co/bszKZn/basics.jpg

Who is this toy? I need to contact the retailer that sold this toy to me and demand an exchange for a real TR Seaspray, god effing damn it. I paid for a TR Seaspray so I should bloody well effing get one! :mad:

[Seraphim Prime]

Gok, in that image, Seaspray/Monty is clearly larger than Windcharger, Beachcomber, and Pipes - three toys from the modern "era" of Transformers design. The only other recent toy is probably someone like Brawn (and hence Outback).

In that paradigm, Seaspray is somewhat of an anomaly - larger and heftier than other toys in his "weight division".

The fact that he is comparable (in terms of size and weight) with Shortround and Breacher - a twelve year old and eight year old toy respectively - is remarkable.

[griffin]

Indeed... deluxes are getting smaller and lighter to combat inflation, so comparing toys from the same size class from several years apart will be flawed. Comparing among one series or year is more scientific because it eliminates more variables that aren't the focus of the study. If you then find one significantly larger or smaller in THAT sample, it is indeed an anomaly and warrants further discussion or investigation to find out why.

(I would normally focus on weights when comparing toys or looking at size-class shrinkage, as the altmode and kibble can make something deceptively bigger or smaller.)

[GoktimusPrime]

That was a quick pic that I snapped after just grabbing a random assortment of Basic/Scout/Legends class figures off my shelves. For a more thorough study I would also use some fine scale to measure the weights, but I don't own a scale that's so precise so I'd just go by size. I'd also have different groups which might be:
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 1996-present
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 1996-2010
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 2011-present

IIRC 2011 was when toys started getting smaller.

Now weight is a tricky thing because we often think that these toys are getting lighter, especially with the hollowed out parts, but this isn't necessarily the case. Ben Yee did a weight comparison between the Combiner Wars Constructicons vs some heftier looking older Generations Voyager Class figures using a precision scale, and he found that the CW Voyager Constructicons were actually heavier than the older Voyagers without the hollowed out parts. Obviously just holding stuff with your hands isn't a precise means of measuring weights, especially when the differences are in milligrams.

Might put this down as a future pet project though, but I'll need to buy some kitchen scales first (might as well record both size and weight at the same time while I'm at it). If anyone wants to do their own tests and present their findings in the meantime, please feel free. :) My hypothesis is that Seaspray around the average size for a Legends/Basic/Scout class toy, but I'll get around to testing this hypothesis probably in the next school hols. :)

[SuspectimusPrime]

(I would normally focus on weights when comparing toys or looking at size-class shrinkage, as the altmode and kibble can make something deceptively bigger or smaller.)

Makes me think of Generations Sky-Byte's calves.


Now weight is a tricky thing because we often think that these toys are getting lighter, especially with the hollowed out parts, but this isn't necessarily the case. Ben Yee did a weight comparison between the Combiner Wars Constructicons vs some heftier looking older Generations Voyager Class figures using a precision scale, and he found that the CW Voyager Constructicons were actually heavier than the older Voyagers without the hollowed out parts. Obviously just holding stuff with your hands isn't a precise means of measuring weights, especially when the differences are in milligrams.

Might put this down as a future pet project though, but I'll need to buy some kitchen scales first (might as well record both size and weight at the same time while I'm at it). If anyone wants to do their own tests and present their findings in the meantime, please feel free. :) My hypothesis is that Seaspray around the average size for a Legends/Basic/Scout class toy, but I'll get around to testing this hypothesis probably in the next school hols. :)

Super-nerdy here: In addition to weight, I guess a more definitive way of measuring across years should include other value-factors that could be missed by the scale - points of articulation, number of steps for transformation (some points of articulation need to be turned or rotated several times to make a tight squeeze), number of paint aps/tampos, number stickers (negs value?). I'm missing moulded detail here, but have no idea how we can quantify that (per square cm? lol). I can't be bothered with this, but it's not that much extra work for your average YouTube reviewer as most of them are fumbling with words as they're fumbling with their figs anyways.

[Jellico]

Random thought.

I had TR Trypticon out today with an army of TR Decepticons. It got me thinking about Fortress Maximus.

TR Fort Max has a reputation for being under armed compared to his G1 version. But when I had the army of Cons out they had a whole bunch of guns with seats in them which I was able to site all over Trypticon. I assume Fort Max is just the same. Perhaps we are looking at a feature rather than a fault? The arsenal comes from playing with Fort Max alongside the other Autobots?

[GoktimusPrime]

Trypticon is a new/unique mould whereas Fort Max is a retooled Metroplex. Apples and oranges.

[SharkyMcShark]

That was a quick pic that I snapped after just grabbing a random assortment of Basic/Scout/Legends class figures off my shelves. For a more thorough study I would also use some fine scale to measure the weights, but I don't own a scale that's so precise so I'd just go by size. I'd also have different groups which might be:
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 1996-present
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 1996-2010
* Seaspray vs sample of figures from 2011-present

IIRC 2011 was when toys started getting smaller.

Now weight is a tricky thing because we often think that these toys are getting lighter, especially with the hollowed out parts, but this isn't necessarily the case. Ben Yee did a weight comparison between the Combiner Wars Constructicons vs some heftier looking older Generations Voyager Class figures using a precision scale, and he found that the CW Voyager Constructicons were actually heavier than the older Voyagers without the hollowed out parts. Obviously just holding stuff with your hands isn't a precise means of measuring weights, especially when the differences are in milligrams.

Might put this down as a future pet project though, but I'll need to buy some kitchen scales first (might as well record both size and weight at the same time while I'm at it). If anyone wants to do their own tests and present their findings in the meantime, please feel free. :) My hypothesis is that Seaspray around the average size for a Legends/Basic/Scout class toy, but I'll get around to testing this hypothesis probably in the next school hols. :)

Re weight, in the benscollectibles review of SS Leader Blackout, he compared the weight of that figure to ROTF Leader Megatron.

Blackout was a few grams over being literally half as heavy (~300g v ~600g)!

Now to be fair, ROTF Megatron has batteries and electronics, and to be even more fair Blackout was made as an intentionally slightly smaller Leader Class figure. Still though, Hasbro should be selling diet programs with progress like that.

[Jellico]

Trypticon is a new/unique mould whereas Fort Max is a retooled Metroplex. Apples and oranges.

Why so negative? :(

Simple question. Does he have 5mm holes all over him as most larger TF do? If yes start arming him.

[GoktimusPrime]

Why so negative? :(
I was not aware that stating facts was negative. :eek: I have no problem with Fortress Maximus being a retool of Metroplex at all. But the fact is that he is a retool for Metroplex. I was just saying that since he is and Trypticon is a whole new mould that it's not really fair to compare these two toys.

In answer to your question, yes, there are some 5mm holes on Fortress Maximus such as on the arms (inherited from Metroplex) and on the shoulder.

[SharkyMcShark]

I have a real bee in my bonnet about fake parts on toys to mimic a character model.

I've watched a video review for SS Optimus Prime, and I'm picking mine up tomorrow. It looks like it has an amazing transformation, marred only subjectively in my mind by having fake pectoral windows (over the real windows, no less).

It makes me wish that HasTak would remold characters that have faux parts into other characters that can just have standard robot greebles there.

Like, give us a movie Motormaster or something with a standard molded breastplate part there instead of the fake windows or seomthing.

[GoktimusPrime]

I have a real bee in my bonnet about fake parts on toys to mimic a character model.
I know what you mean, but unfortunately it's the result of meeting consumer demand for "skreen akkuracy." :rolleyes: If Hasbro just focuses on making the toys and not caring about how they might look on screen (let the animators work that out), then you have fans who complain about the lack of screen "accuracy" despite the fact that the toys were designed/made first. On the other hand, Hasbro can collaborate with animators or directly reverse-engineer a toy from an existing animation model in order to make their toys look more like what you see on screen, but then people complain about compromises made in engineering.

I prefer toys just being made as toys and just letting animators deal with making their animation models toy-accurate, but there is undeniably a sizable demand for screen-likeness in Transformer toys.

[DELTAprime]

I have no issue with faux parts, but... Considering we have had great looking, screen accurate Bayverse Optimus Primes since the ROTF Leader that use the actual truck parts on the chest I don't see the need to use faux parts on one now.

And yes I remember that the 2007 Leader also used the actual truck parts, but it didn't look very screen accurate compared to what followed.

[SharkyMcShark]

I know what you mean, but unfortunately it's the result of meeting consumer demand for "skreen akkuracy." :rolleyes: If Hasbro just focuses on making the toys and not caring about how they might look on screen (let the animators work that out), then you have fans who complain about the lack of screen "accuracy" despite the fact that the toys were designed/made first. On the other hand, Hasbro can collaborate with animators or directly reverse-engineer a toy from an existing animation model in order to make their toys look more like what you see on screen, but then people complain about compromises made in engineering.

I prefer toys just being made as toys and just letting animators deal with making their animation models toy-accurate, but there is undeniably a sizable demand for screen-likeness in Transformer toys.


I have no issue with faux parts, but... Considering we have had great looking, screen accurate Bayverse Optimus Primes since the ROTF Leader that use the actual truck parts on the chest I don't see the need to use faux parts on one now.

And yes I remember that the 2007 Leader also used the actual truck parts, but it didn't look very screen accurate compared to what followed.

I understand why it happens, especially in Bayverse figures and especially with the passage of time leading to lower parts counts and complexity. Hell, of the six Voyager scale Optimus Prime figures we've had in the movie lines only one has not used fake parts of the chest.

I'm just saying that purely subjectively I'd get about 75% more enjoyment out of the Studio Series Optimus Prime mold if it was re-released as some other truck based Transformer (Motormaster, Thunderclash, Ultra Magnus) with the fake chest windows replaced with an armoured breastplate or something.

I suppose the vibe is very much 'this figure has an intuitive and interesting transformation that produces a well proportioned poseable robot - if they dropped the fake parts at the expense of making it a different character I'd enjoy it more'.

[GoktimusPrime]

When it comes to adapting screen first characters I think that there are pros and cons with using and not using faux vehicle kibble. An example of this is Voyager Class TFP Optimus Prime. The First Edition Voyager uses a fake chest kibble but also generally looks nicer and more screen-accurate in robot mode. The TFPRiD Voyager doesn't use a fake chest but is bulkier and arguably more ungainly looking in robot mode. TFPFE Voyager OP looks nicer, but TFPRiD Voyager OP plays better and you can appreciate it more from an engineering/design perspective because they didn't "cheat" by using a fake chest.

Pics for comparison...

L: TFPFE Voyager Prime with the fake chest ←nicer to look at
R: TFPRiDBH Ultra Magnus (retool of TFPRiD Voy OP of course); no fake chest ←nicer to play with
https://image.ibb.co/jN4QKx/prime_optimusprime_kewl.jpghttps://image.ibb.co/fzxO6c/prime_ultramagnus_ceci_robot.jpg

[Galvatran]

*snip* fake chest ←nicer to look at
I agree



*snip* no fake chest ←nicer to play with
I disagree

[CHILENO20]

I disagree

Buahahahahahaha!!!!!!

[DELTAprime]

I'm getting to the point where I'm feeling really over it with the MP line.:(

Yeah we are getting great cartoon accurate MP figures, but for the same amount of money I can get far more CHUG figures in my lineup than I can MPs.

I'm thinking when Takara get around to revealing the next non-repaint MP figures I'm going to have a choice to make as to if I continue with the line or not. Much as I'd love to have for instance a MP Trailbreaker he would probably come in at $100+ and I don't know that I I'd put my love for the character at any more than about $50.

[Seraphim Prime]

I'm getting to the point where I'm feeling really over it with the MP line.:(

Yeah we are getting great cartoon accurate MP figures, but for the same amount of money I can get far more CHUG figures in my lineup than I can MPs.

I'm thinking when Takara get around to revealing the next non-repaint MP figures I'm going to have a choice to make as to if I continue with the line or not. Much as I'd love to have for instance a MP Trailbreaker he would probably come in at $100+ and I don't know that I I'd put my love for the character at any more than about $50.


While not quite there yet, I understand where you're coming from.

I played around with Megatron and Sunstreaker the other week, after getting them from HLJ. The newer figures are really hitting the puzzle aspect, so much that I find it interfering with the enjoyability of the figures, which then makes the large sum of money paid for the additional engineering much less satisfying.

[GoktimusPrime]

Son of a glitch!!!

https://image.ibb.co/cPrvHS/meme_time_gfc.jpghttps://image.ibb.co/mhJLj7/temp.jpg

[Galvatran]

That bottom right pic made me chuckle.

https://image.ibb.co/mhJLj7/temp.jpg

[FatalityPitt]

Been looking at and fiddling with some pre-Combiner Wars Generations Transformers lately, like Thrust/Dirge, Blurr (the one that has the same body as Drift), Warpath (the deluxe class one), Red Alert, etc. Some of these moulds are still really good, and I even daresay they're better than some CW/TR/PotP toys (but to be fair, they must accomodate the combiner/headmaster gimmicks). Some of the pre-CW Generations figures have some really nice gimmicks like weapon storage, light-piping, etc. I sometimes wonder if they'll ever re-issue some of these figures in the future.

[DarkHyren]

I sometimes wonder if they'll ever re-issue some of these figures in the future.TR Cosmos and PotP Skrapnel are essentially reissues of the Generations/Thrilling 30 versions (just minus the mini cons that the T30's had) so I'd say it's at least possible if there's enough demand for a character that they may get a reissue

[GoktimusPrime]

This is why many TR/POTP figures based on characters that were already done before in CHUG don't hold much appeal to me. Like POTP Windcharger. IMO RtS Windcharger is just a damn excellent figure. No, not as slavishly G1 accurate in appearance, but I don't need it to be. If I want to play with a super G1 accurate Windcharger toy, then I'll go play with my G1 Windcharger toy. ;) I'd rather CHUG focus more on being modern reinterpretations of classic characters rather than being "Poor Man's Masterpiece." Look at toys from the very early Classics line like Classics Mirage. That's a brilliant figure. And so are Generations toys like Warpath, Kup etc. No, they're not slavishly G1 accurate, but who cares? They're still really good toys and there's also a cool element of originality and creativity by giving them new imagined designs.

[FatalityPitt]

This is why many TR/POTP figures based on characters that were already done before in CHUG don't hold much appeal to me. Like POTP Windcharger. IMO RtS Windcharger is just a damn excellent figure. No, not as slavishly G1 accurate in appearance, but I don't need it to be. If I want to play with a super G1 accurate Windcharger toy, then I'll go play with my G1 Windcharger toy. ;) I'd rather CHUG focus more on being modern reinterpretations of classic characters rather than being "Poor Man's Masterpiece." Look at toys from the very early Classics line like Classics Mirage. That's a brilliant figure. And so are Generations toys like Warpath, Kup etc. No, they're not slavishly G1 accurate, but who cares? They're still really good toys and there's also a cool element of originality and creativity by giving them new imagined designs.

I think in some cases, it's nice to have multiple versions of the same character. Take Blurr for example, the Pre-CW version and the TR versions are totally different - one's a headmaster that turns into a futuristic vehicle, and the other has a nicer weapon that can be nicely hidden in its semi-realistic vehicle mode. Only thing these figures have in common is the name and colour scheme.

Classics Mirage (who I don't actually have) looks good, but the CW version would make for a nice homage to the G1 cartoon episode "Masquerade" when you account for the combiner gimmick.

But circling back to Blurr and pre-CW Transformers; the engineering on the 2010 Pre-CW figure seems more complex than a lot of CW/TR/PotP figures, and I don't think the mould has been used that often; so I reckon they can still sell and make money from that design.

Another really good figure is the RtS Legends Megatron. That mould design was released in the RtS line and in a couple EZ Collection waves in Japan, but that's all we ever saw of it - unlike the Legion Rippersnapper who we've seen heaps of times (all the Grimlock repaints *shudder*). I can see why they'd want to avoid releasing another Megatron with a gun alt-mode (political correctness reasons), but I think it's a good mould that should still have a lot of mileage left.

[DELTAprime]

I just canceled a bunch of POTP figures from my pending orders at HLJ. No sense in keeping them on preorder since I have the identical Hasbro versions coming from TLTC. HLJ is probably losing a ton of Transformers business to the Hasbro dealers.

[UltraMarginal]

Been looking at and fiddling with some pre-Combiner Wars Generations Transformers lately, like Thrust/Dirge, Blurr (the one that has the same body as Drift), Warpath (the deluxe class one), Red Alert, etc. Some of these moulds are still really good, and I even daresay they're better than some CW/TR/PotP toys (but to be fair, they must accomodate the combiner/headmaster gimmicks). Some of the pre-CW Generations figures have some really nice gimmicks like weapon storage, light-piping, etc. I sometimes wonder if they'll ever re-issue some of these figures in the future.

I've found a lot of the more recent toys since the start of Combiner wars to have simpler engineering than the earlier Classics style toys. Partially to facilitate the combiner gimmick. But also I think as a reduction of manufacturing/design costs.

That deluxe warpath mould is one of my favourite transformers in the last 10 to 15 years. it's brilliant. I wish they had done all the 'minibots' using a similar design approach for complexity, size and modernisation/appearance.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

To be fair though, some of the new Legends seem pretty great. I really like RtS Windcharger but Thrilling 30 Tailgate didn't do much for me, so I'm glad that there's another option.
Likewise I can't really argue that the likes of Classics Mirage aren't head and shoulders above a lot of what's currently out there, but also in fairness that new Dreadwind/Darkwing pair looks pretty good, as do the deluxe Terrorcons. So it's nice to know there are still some hits there as well as misses.

I do hope we keep on getting some of the less well-known characters as pre/re-molds/retools though. That's been a really nice feature of the lines lately, and I really hope it doesn't fade out once the current IDW continuity wraps up.

[UltraMarginal]

completely agree, the new legends are quite impressive. I guess I really like the complexity/elegance in design opportunities provided by a larger toy.

[Bidoofdude]

completely agree, the new legends are quite impressive. I guess I really like the complexity/elegance in design opportunities provided by a larger toy.

The new legends have been probably my favourite part of collecting. Having minibots and Insecticons and everything in that perfect middle ground between teeny weeny and scout class is so great. Though I didn’t really experience it, Legends used to be really small guys, with super simplistic transformations.

[Thurmus]

I didn't realise that Butch from Transformers Dark Of The Moon was now goal keeping for the Melbourne Victory. He obviously isn't working for Simmons any more.

[CHILENO20]

I didn't realise that Butch from Transformers Dark Of The Moon was now goal keeping for the Melbourne Victory. He obviously isn't working for Simmons any more.

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Joking aside, Thomas is who won Victory the final :D GO MVFC!!!!!

[Galvatran]

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Joking aside, Thomas is who won Victory the final :D GO MVFC!!!!!
I thought VAR epic fail secured the win.
:D

[CHILENO20]

I thought VAR epic fail secured the win.
:D

I will agree that if it went against us, I'd be fuming. But look at it this way, Jets still had 81 minutes plus stoppage time to score. They didn't :D

[DELTAprime]

Even though HasTak said years ago that they fixed GPS I'm still rather concerned that one day my set of POTP Dinobots will turn to rubble.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I’m really impressed with the third party AoE/TLK MP Optimus Primes (especially Unique Toys Challenger) and wonder if HasTak will ever come up with their own MPM versions. Because what they’ve brought out so far is so underwhelming .

[Paulbot]

I imagine the two Legends toys that would make up Flywheels (Flystrike and Warwheels :o ) could be retooled/painted into Grandslam and Raindance.

And that got me thinking who would be a good fit for Battletrap's combiner parts.

Best I can come up with is Roadtrap repainted as Tackle from Multiforce and Battleslash remolded as Mach and that seems to actually work well.

[DELTAprime]

I'm still not sure if I'll buy MP Dinobot or not. I have him on preorder at HLJ, but I'm still really thinking about canceling him due to the steep price tag.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Even though HasTak said years ago that they fixed GPS I'm still rather concerned that one day my set of POTP Dinobots will turn to rubble.

Keep them away from UV and high temps and they should fair well.

[SharkyMcShark]

I would like to complain about the lack of repaints of The Last Knight Megatron.

It's an amazing figure. Give me a battle mask closed version/splash of red paint on the head version, at least. Or a G1 inspired redeco with a different head? Anything - would buy again.

[FruitBuyer]

I would like to complain about the lack of repaints of The Last Knight Megatron.

It's an amazing figure. Give me a battle mask closed version/splash of red paint on the head version, at least. Or a G1 inspired redeco with a different head? Anything - would buy again.

I agree entirely. I know the Age of Extinction line was decried for the overabundance of re-paints however this meant that we got some incredibly good colours for figures.

The TLK has some really mint figures that could be truly elevated to the next level with a premium paint-job.

[GoktimusPrime]

Shout out to any collectors in Strathfield. My collection count is currently the same as your postcode. :p

[M-bot]

Was just considering how to display my POTP Dinobots and realised that whenever I have displayed Dinobots in the past (ie Movieverse ones, Fansproject 3rd party ones), it’s always been in dinosaur mode, whereas the rest of my collection is in robot mode.

So my thought was, with most TFs, there main mode is as a robot, and their alt mode is, say, a vehicle, I think for the Dinobots it’s the other way around. Their robot modes are their alt modes.

(Not dissimilar to the way that some super heroes have an alter ego - ie Batman and Superman are who they really are with the costumes on, and playing a different part when they are Bruce and Clark, whereas Peter Parker is the real guy and Spider-Man is the alter ego.)

[FatalityPitt]

Was just considering how to display my POTP Dinobots and realised that whenever I have displayed Dinobots in the past (ie Movieverse ones, Fansproject 3rd party ones), it’s always been in dinosaur mode, whereas the rest of my collection is in robot mode.

So my thought was, with most TFs, there main mode is as a robot, and their alt mode is, say, a vehicle, I think for the Dinobots it’s the other way around. Their robot modes are their alt modes.

(Not dissimilar to the way that some super heroes have an alter ego - ie Batman and Superman are who they really are with the costumes on, and playing a different part when they are Bruce and Clark, whereas Peter Parker is the real guy and Spider-Man is the alter ego.)

I kind of felt that way about most G1 Transformers with Beast modes (Dinobots, Insecticons, Predacons, etc); it's like the beast mode is their natural form, and the humanoid robot form is what they 'wear' when they have to meet or interact socially with other Transformers.

Looking at the G1 Insecticons for example; they have each have specific roles (like Bombshell being the mind control expert, Kickback the resident con-man, etc.) but their most important characteristic shown in the cartoons is that they like to eat and breed (i.e. clone themselves) - which are the basic functions of nearly all animals.

It's like they behave more like the animals they turn into rather than intelligent, civilized ...robots? (droids? Androids? People? I don't know:confused:).

[DELTAprime]

Yeah my POTP Dinobots and MP Grimlocks are in Dino Mode. Robot mode doesn't feel right to display for some reason.:rolleyes:

[FatalityPitt]

No one's reviewed Cindersaur yet (I can't because I don't own him/her yet), and I'm not sure if this is counts as news since it's so trivial, so I thought I'd park this here. It seems Cindersaur can be male or female depending on which card you get.

Link/source: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/gender-variation-in-power-of-the-primes-legends-cindersaurs-prime-cards/41520/

Personally, I'd think of my copy of Cindersaur as female (If I get it). Seems appropriate since it's a retool of Slash, and the name "Cindersaur" is rather effeminate sounding (sounds like Cinderella). But I can see how this might offend some purists.

At the end of the day, it's all at the discretion of the owner of the toy. If you want yours to be male, it's male; if you prefer her to be female, it's female.

[FatalityPitt]

Really looking forward to photos and news updates from the next SDCC (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/transformers-san-diego-comic-con-2018-thursday-and-friday-events-sdcc2018/41526/). I'm itching to find out more about the 2019 War For Cybertron line.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Personally, I'd think of my copy of Cindersaur as female (If I get it). Seems appropriate since it's a retool of Slash, and the name "Cindersaur" is rather effeminate sounding (sounds like Cinderella). But I can see how this might offend some purists.

At the end of the day, it's all at the discretion of the owner of the toy. If you want yours to be male, it's male; if you prefer her to be female, it's female.

The misused gender pronouns looks like sloppy copy-writing and/or editing.

I agree that it should be up to the owner's discretion (my partner had pink/purple animal soft toys while growing up, but she always referred to them as boys), especially in cases where there is a reason for it.
e.g. deciding on Override/Nitro Convoy's (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Override_(Cybertron)) gender based on the US or Japanese versions of the cartoon.

[tinyJazz]

i like to think of Cindersaur as genderqueer so both pronouns are accurate. :cool:

[griffin]

Why not have a multiple personality Transformer, and when a Prime-Master is attached to boost their powers, it ends up tapping into a different personality, and the different personalities behave as different genders... their collegues would never know who they will be dealing with or to trust.
I wonder if there have been any characters with multiple personalities, that isn't a pretend personality (Counterpunch) or has multiple faces/heads.

[FatalityPitt]

e.g. deciding on Override/Nitro Convoy's (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Override_(Cybertron)) gender based on the US or Japanese versions of the cartoon.

Airrazor from Beast Wars also had that issue. In the Western market, Airrazor was female, and in Japan she was portrayed as male.. Which made the emotional scenes with Tigertron a bit awkward in the Japanese cartoon at the time.


Why not have a multiple personality Transformer, and when a Prime-Master is attached to boost their powers, it ends up tapping into a different personality, and the different personalities behave as different genders... their collegues would never know who they will be dealing with or to trust.
I wonder if there have been any characters with multiple personalities, that isn't a pretend personality (Counterpunch) or has multiple faces/heads.

That would be a cool storyline. As for characters with multiple personalities, only ones I can think of are Combiners. The Constructicons are individually quite intelligent, but when they form Devastator, they turn into a single mindless beast. Flywheels is also known for being mentally deranged because the jet part of his body can never seem to agree with the tank part.

I think for Cindersaur, maybe it's a male robot that turns into a female dinosaur? Dunno. There's so many ways to spin a story.

[griffin]

I think for Cindersaur, maybe it's a male robot that turns into a female dinosaur? Dunno. There's so many ways to spin a story.


I think it was determined that Tigatron scanned a female tiger form in the BW cartoon, so each time he transformed, he would essentially change physical genders each time.

[FatalityPitt]

I think it was determined that Tigatron scanned a female tiger form in the BW cartoon, so each time he transformed, he would essentially change physical genders each time.

A male robot that transforms into an organic-looking female tiger.. That creates extra layer to the "Robot in Disguise" element.

[bowspearer]

The misused gender pronouns looks like sloppy copy-writing and/or editing.

The problem is though, if it's intentional, which continuity's Cybertronian biology are we working with?

If it's the G1 Cartoon "robot butlers/maids" continuity, the G2 Comic "I've learned to turn my offspring into X/Y Gender based on observing carbon based life forms" continuity or the Beast Wars/Machines "I'm a specific gender because I have a specific DNA" continuity then it works. But which continuity does the gender explanation work with and I have yet to see a sound scientific explanation as to where and which continuities are compatible with the existences of gender dysphoria.

I realise this is probably asking too much, but it would be nice to get some competent universe building when a concept is introduced for once in recent years.


I think it was determined that Tigatron scanned a female tiger form in the BW cartoon, so each time he transformed, he would essentially change physical genders each time.

That isn't necessarily the case. Just because a tiger penis isn't shown, doesn't mean that the tiger is necessarily female. It's worth remembering that where nudity is concerned, seeing a penis on north American TV is very much taboo (http://ecosalon.com/fcc-rules-nudity/) - kind of like the old animated violence rules of the 1970s where if the villain attempted to kill the heroes with a deadly snake for example, there had to be a rock in place so that the villain wasn't actually attempting to murder the heroes, but rather the snake "discovers" the heroes after moving around the rock. This particularly seems to hold true where children's animation and penises are concerned (https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/09/a-brief-history-of-hiding-dicks-in-cartoons/).

As such, it could just as readily have been a case of it being a male tiger, just made "children's animation friendly".

EDIT: I just checked a screenshot of Snowstalker (who was clearly identified as male) and Tigatron and neither were animated with a penis, while both were so similar that they were confused for one another. Ergo the 'determination' strikes me as a fan theory which is myopically using a visible penis to determine the gender of the tiger mode.

[Paulbot]

00:38 “I’m sorry about your friend, I know how much she meant to you (https://youtu.be/Ob4yQc8hLGE)”

[DELTAprime]

^ There are other differences between male and female creatures than just reproductive organs such as size and body composition.

[bowspearer]

00:38 “I’m sorry about your friend, I know how much she meant to you (https://youtu.be/Ob4yQc8hLGE)”

That does present an interesting situation. Given that the maximal programming blocks were broken, did that in fact make Tigatron a transgender male?

It has interesting possibilities, especially depending on where you take the origin of Beast Wars from. There's an argument for it being based on the Marvel G2 comic (eg the Vok/Swarm), but then Beast Machines is clearly based on the G1 Cartoon.

If that is the case, then Tigatron is a very interesting case and one where transgender could work. You'd have a situation where you have a male Autobot (ie 'futuristic robo-butler') where the scanning system would ideally have gone with a male animal to maximise (no pun intended) psychological stability by preventing identity issues. Yes the Maximal programming suppressed the animal side, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't have been designed with a redundancy in place.

Then Tigatron of course has a malfunctioning pod, where his stasis pod scans a female tiger in addition to the other identity malfunctions. Suddenly you have a transgender male Autobot - a male Autobot with a female animal form and female Maximal shell program.

It's definitely fascinating. I'm not sure whether it was accidental, but if it's deliberate, it's incredibly well executed.


^ There are other differences between male and female creatures than just reproductive organs such as size and body composition.

And yet sex (and therefore gender by way of gender being a person's sex identity) does come down to reproduction. The reason we have male and female as we do is our reproduction. Asexually reproducing individuals would have a completely different sex than us precisely because their sex organs would be different. That is just a scientific fact and ultimately the only reason LGBTIQ individuals exist in society, much like heterosexual individuals, is precisely because of the nature of our sexual reproduction as a species.

With the exception of post-Furman IDW (and Bayformers which I despise so I'm not going there), every series has understood that - either being technorganic and therefore partly biological, or a deliberate fascimile of a sexually reproducing species of some kind.

With the G1 Cartoon, they themselves didn't sexually reproduce, but the clientele the Autobots were marketed to were. In that continuity gendered Autobots make as much sense as robot butlers, robot maids and even sexbots. Conversely, gendered Decepticons don't - a military generally doesn't care what gender a piece of military hardware is - just as long as it does a heap of damage while having a heap of endurance.

The post-Marvel G2 Comic likewise, took things a step further, establishing that the Cybertronian Empire had the ability to shape their offspring and that female Cybertronian Empire members existed because their parents copied what they observed of gender in carbon based life forms. The same story then has Hot rod giving birth to Arcee.

Beast Wars of course, you have Maximals and Predacons (in what I have heard suggested is an evolution of Pretender Technology) took on the DNA of various animals in their exo-skeletons and their psychology in shell programs, creating essentially a souped up Mega Pretender where the inner robot never leaves - to draw a crude analogy - and where at the very least, a Maximal or Predacon is gendered because their animal has a sex.

Beast Machines takes it further where you have an organic fusion of organic and technological - I'd assert that BM Maximals have a sex in every sense of the term and sexually reproduce. Of course that raises an interesting question where the sparks of the offspring are concerned.

Furman era IDW again, had Arcee being created by being mutilated by a twisted science experiment and much like Monstructor, is best thought of as being like one of the victims of Dr Moreau. Again, this experiment was the result of a twisted inspiration from what had been observed in carbon based life forms.

In all of these cases, gender as sex identity, absolutely tied back to sexual reproduction. Whether you're talking about the Quintesson version of True Companion (arguably all the Autobots), being spliced with alien life forms for protection and exploration purposes, being a seamless blend of animal and machine, designer children or unethical science experiments, all of it ties back to sexual reproduction (and yes I skipped over Masterforce, but considering Godmaster Transectors were glorified mecha, it's kind of redundant - besides it's a continuation of the G1 Cartoon).

In fact the only one which seems to get it wrong (with the exception of Bayformers which I wont even go into), which is more concerned with identity politics than universe building, is post Furman-IDW, where it's clear that the planet asexually reproduces the Transformers (who themselves don't reproduce, yet we have Transformers with sex identities and pseudo-sexual pairings which simply make no sense for the universe).

In short, while there are certainly different characteristics to sex (and by extension sex-identity aka gender) than merely physical size and genitalia, it is those reproductive organs which are the defining trait of sex.

[Paulbot]

I knew I’d read the idea of Hot Rod giving birth to Arcee before, but I had to dig into the archives to find the summary of UK FanFic (https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/alt.toys.transformers/3-73MyrdYMU) I first read online 20 years ago.

[bowspearer]

I knew I’d read the idea of Hot Rod giving birth to Arcee before, but I had to dig into the archives to find the summary of UK FanFic (https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/alt.toys.transformers/3-73MyrdYMU) I first read online 20 years ago.

I don't know if I'd necessarily call it fanfic. The problem is that if you're going to call it fanfic, do you also call the Collectors Club and Botcon stories fanfic (particularly the early Botcon days)?

After all, last I checked, this actually came out of Transmasters (http://transmasters.angelfire.com/), to my knowledge, the first ever international TF fan club to exist. I actually wish I'd taken up the opportunity to join it mid-90s when I was sent an invite in the wake of having my letter published, because apparently the comics produced are almost impossible to get hold of now.

[DELTAprime]

I just watch the Transformers episode of The Toys That Made Us. I couldn't stop smiling, at least till they got to the part where one of the interviewees decided to kill the 84 cast.

That was great to watch. And I learned that not all Transformers from the 80s were made by Takara. Now I have to do some research to find out when Hasbro took over design production from Takara.

[DELTAprime]

I wish HasTak would dig the Universe 2.0 Sideswipe and RTS Tracks moulds out of storage and do a CHUG Tigertrack and Road Rage.:o

[SuspectimusPrime]

I wish HasTak would dig the Universe 2.0 Sideswipe and RTS Tracks moulds out of storage and do a CHUG Tigertrack and Road Rage.:o

Those were solid moulds.

It shouldn't be too hard for you to get your hands on Botcon 2012 Shattered Glass Turbo Tracks. EvilBay price is the same as when it first came out (still exy).

[CHILENO20]

It shouldn't be too hard for you to get your hands on Botcon 2012 Shattered Glass Turbo Tracks. EvilBay price is the same as when it first came out (still exy).

That's what I ended up doing, can still pass for Road Rage :)

[BigTransformerTrev]

I cant believe that I only realized this morning that Heatwave has the same voice as Wolverine :eek:

Talk about late to the party :p:o

[GoktimusPrime]

It would appear that yet another one of my April Fools jokes (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=25371) has ended up coming true (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=25607). :p ;) Especially given that the G1 Devastator box set was one of the toys that was explicitly used in the prank and now Hasbro are set to reissue it for real.

This would be at least the 3rd April Fools joke that I've done which turned out to be true later (previous ones were MP Grimlock and Encore Fortress Maximus). Mind you there are plenty more that haven't come true, so I don't have a terribly high success rate. But it's still fun when what was initially just a joke ends up becoming an actual prediction. :p

[Deonasis]

I agree with everyone, Studio Series Thundercracker (Nitro Zeus repaint) is a fantastic toy. :cool:

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I wonder if there have been any characters with multiple personalities, that isn't a pretend personality (Counterpunch) or has multiple faces/heads.

Doublecross has two personalities (http://www2.unicron.com/1987-transformers/g1/monsterbots/1413-doublecross.html)

And with Counterpunch passing out, one could say that his Decepticon persona is becoming a real character.

[griffin]

Doublecross has two personalities (http://www2.unicron.com/1987-transformers/g1/monsterbots/1413-doublecross.html)

And with Counterpunch passing out, one could say that his Decepticon persona is becoming a real character.


I can see from the profile write-up, that they were focusing on the beast mode, which had two heads, and that makes it easier to play on the two personality concept, even though it was more like a conjoined twin concept. But when in robot mode, would he have been arguing with himself? And that was where my original query had come from - does any character who doesn't have multiple faces or heads, have a split personality.
My first thoughts that have multiple faces or heads were the Quintesson judges and the three Gen1 two-headed beasts (Hungrrr, Sinnertwin, Doublecross)... while Doubleheader had a two-headed pretender shell, but shells don't have their own sentience.

[CHILENO20]

Animated Blitzwing perhaps?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

If you're including Pretenders, a few of them seemed to have different personalities to varying degrees in-shell and out of shell.

[griffin]

This youtube video is a year old (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZnCDcMccFg), but probably the best way to explain the five Michael Bay movies to newbies... or fans who have trouble trying to piece most of it together, historically.
It misses some of the contradictions and plot holes that we love to make fun of and get upset over, but that wasn't the point of this 12 minute video... it just puts the main events of the five movies in chronological order, and might mention some things that fans here missed, or didn't pick up on at the time.


A couple of things I didn't realise - Sentinel's spaceship actually crashed on the moon in 1961, (I thought it had crashed after it left Cybertron thousands/millions of years ago and figured that since it was on the dark side of the moon, it just took until 1961 for it to be seen by probes)... and, is "the Last Knight" really Mark Wahlberg's character just because he is wielding Excalibur (as a descendant of King Arthur), as I kept assuming that Optimus was the titular character (but then, he wasn't the last of the Cybertronian knights, so kinda makes sense that he wasn't the "last" knight).

[GoktimusPrime]

Gigatron has SIX personalities and Devil Gigatron has TEN! :D This is totally lost in the RID dub, but if you watch Car Robot in its original Japanese format you can hear Gigatron's voice and personality totally changing with each mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfI0Pzu-uAc

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Gigatron has SIX personalities and Devil Gigatron has TEN! :D This is totally lost in the RID dub, but if you watch Car Robot in its original Japanese format you can hear Gigatron's voice and personality totally changing with each mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfI0Pzu-uAcMultiple heads though.:p

[GoktimusPrime]

Bayformer Optimus Prime. He did a 180 on his moral compass between the first movie and the sequels.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Bayformer Optimus Prime. He did a 180 on his moral compass between the first movie and the sequels.

And for that I will forever blame Ehren Kruger.

[techx]

Does the combiners bots (Individually) have Cybertronian alt mode? I'm basing this from the TV cartoons that I watched as I have never got the comics.

[SharkyMcShark]

Does the combiners bots (Individually) have Cybertronian alt mode? I'm basing this from the TV cartoons that I watched as I have never got the comics.

If we're talking TV show canon then at the very least we can say that the Combaticons don't, as we see them being built on Earth from scraps of old WW2 vehicles (which then magically update to 1980s contemporary vehicles...).

[Paulbot]

And in the cartoon the Aerialbots were created from scraps of old Cybertronian vehicles so kind of too. The Stunticons didn't and the Protectobots origins were untold.

In the original comics, they all originated on earth too (although the Combaticons and Protectobots origins were unclear in the US books and art errors suggest Defensor existed on Cybertron).

Later comics (like the War Within series, IDW comics) and War for Cybertron games and toylines gave most of them Cybertronian alt modes.

[techx]

Thank you SharkyMcSharky and Paulbot 😊👍

[shockNwave]

Animated Blitzwing perhaps?

You can also include Generations Blitzwing.

I don't know if this qualifies but G1 Wreck-gar might be an inclusion. He is very much all over the place with his various TV quotations.

[Galvatran]

It still blows me away just how recognisable & mainstream the Transformers brand is. Just about every time I visit the Transformers shelf of the toys section in retail stores, there is always a kid or parent calling out Transformers character names: Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Starscream.

Just as often I get to watch the scenario play out:
Parent: Put that Megatron down. I can't afford it. You just have to wait for when it's your birthday.
Kid: It's not Megatron. It's Grimlock!

[Paulbot]

I was trying to figure out some storage space stuff and did some sums about my own collection.

G1 toys (original and reissues) make up almost exactly half my collection and I really didn't expect that. CHUG toys makes up a quarter, and "all other lines" makes up the remaining quarter.

It would be quite easy to set up some display for "all other lines" with a few of those Aldi cabinets but the idea of putting the G1 stuff on display is very daunting. Same for the CHUG stuff honestly.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I cant believe that I only realized this morning that Heatwave has the same voice as Wolverine :eek:

Talk about late to the party :p:o

So does Barricade in WFC - just noticed that when replaying it for the first time in near a decade today

[DELTAprime]

I'm willing to give HasTak a lot of leeway on their high pricing as for me most items seem reasonable to me and if I get say a Deluxe for $25 I feel like it's a bargain.

But when I went into Target today and saw how much the Cyberverse toys are at a big retailer and not a small independent like Toyworld I was actually left feeling that the price is completely unreasonable.

At least with the higher cost of MPs now I can somewhat justify the spend for a character I really like given how much engineering goes into it, but I can't do that with a Cyberverse figure.

[SharkyMcShark]

I could really go for a reissue of BW Tigerhawk.

I bought a used/incomplete/slightly but not fatally broken one for a tenner at a toyfair years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

[DELTAprime]

I could really go for a reissue of BW Tigerhawk.

I bought a used/incomplete/slightly but not fatally broken one for a tenner at a toyfair years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'd personally go for MP of Tigerhawk, but a reissue would be cool also.

[GoktimusPrime]

I could really go for a reissue of BW Tigerhawk.
Fornicating purgatory, I just scoped out some of the online prices and nearly fainted. :eek: Although I don't know if a reissue these days would be much cheaper. Both Hasbro and TakaraTOMY seem to be releasing reissues at pretty inflated prices. And Encore God Fire Convoy has more QC issues than the Australian Parliament has changes in Prime Minister! I wonder if it'd be cheaper to buy a loose Universe Razorclaw and repaint it yourself. :/

Normally I would wonder why you didn't just buy this toy when it was out in shops and save yourself all this trouble, but I know that the Australian distribution for the Ultra Transmetal 2s were horrifically inconsistent. I personally never saw them in shops locally despite my best efforts to find them. :( I was fortunate to get them from another source, but still, I definitely remember these toys being impossible to find. :(

[SharkyMcShark]

Normally I would wonder why you didn't just buy this toy when it was out in shops and save yourself all this trouble, but I know that the Australian distribution for the Ultra Transmetal 2s were horrifically inconsistent. I personally never saw them in shops locally despite my best efforts to find them. :( I was fortunate to get them from another source, but still, I definitely remember these toys being impossible to find. :(

I was 9 years old and my access to retail Transformers was local Toyworld once a month and Myer in the CBD every school holidays. Unfortunately, it was never going to happen.

[DELTAprime]

I was 9 years old and my access to retail Transformers was local Toyworld once a month and Myer in the CBD every school holidays. Unfortunately, it was never going to happen.

Not all of us have been serious collectors since 1984. Anything before 2007 for me is a "must hit up ebay" item.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

A thought just occurred while watching some Fall of Cybertron Youtube clips...Peter Cullen is now pushing 75-80 years old...he's been pretty much The Voice of Optimus Prime for 30-odd years.

Who on Earth are they going to get to be The Voice of Optimus Prime once he's gone?

[Paulbot]

Who on Earth are they going to get to be The Voice of Optimus Prime once he's gone?

Garry Chalk

Or one of those Cullen sound alikes they've got to do G1/Movie Optimus Prime's voice for toys or ads and other things like that.

[Autocon]

Garry Chalk

Or one of those Cullen sound alikes they've got to do G1/Movie Optimus Prime's voice for toys or ads and other things like that.

Or make optimus a female voice. They did it wih the Dr from Dr Who

[griffin]

Cyberverse doesn't have Cullen, but the voice actor tries to do a Gen1 Optimus voice... so if Cullen retires, they have someone in training to replace him.

[GoktimusPrime]

DrSmoov. He could replace the entire G1 cast.

[SharkyMcShark]

DrSmoov. He could replace the entire G1 cast.

The realisation that most of those videos are over a dozen years old makes me feel cripplingly ancient.

[SharkyMcShark]

Today's underappreciated toy remembered:

ROTF Deluxe Class Deep Desert Brawl


Not a movie character for ROTF, and the original figure was deeply flawed. Fortunately, a slight remold in the shoulders fixed that. Arguably the most creative of the now three Deluxe+ sized Brawl molds that have been released - all weapons integrated into vehicle mode with no partsforming, and with a fully formed turret to boot. A real treat.

[GoktimusPrime]

I was gonna say, I think that the original Deluxe Brawl is a really nice toy save for the unfortunate shoulder construction. But it does sound neat that they fixed this issue for Desert Brawl. :)

Speaking of appreciating older things, this morning I was rewatching this music video that I made in 2006 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvptaJylSV8) where I was mucking around with my first 3 CHUG figures -- Bumblebee, Mirage and Rodimus. These figures blew my socks off and I was carrying them all over the place where I was taking all sorts of random photos of them which I compiled into a music video. :) One thing in the video that's showing it's age is the "Your Rights At Work" sticker which was part of the 2006 industrial movement against John Howard's controversial Work Choices policy. Geez, how many PMs have we had since I made this vid?! :eek: :o
P.S.: Also the presence of a chalkboard. :p

But this is what astounds me when I hear people female-dog about current CHUG toys like Predaking and the Monsterbots. Really? Remember when CHUG first started and we were completely over the moon with getting any G1 characters done with post-Beast Wars level engineering? If Hasbro had released Predaking or Grotusque back in 2006 everyone would have lost their minds! Now Hasbro releases these great toys and people wanna complain about them. I love what Sutton said on the Generations Grotusque review thread...

Minor quibble though - I think we should all take a moment to appreciate that we even got updated versions of the Monsterbots.
↑THIS SO MUCH! :D (this is my favourite OTCA post of 2018 so far :))

[Paulbot]

https://i.imgur.com/VTS7RUd.jpg


Seeing snaketales post reminded me, I remember I really liked Classics Dinobot but I sold him and kept the Henkei version - but I've never actually opened the Henkei version.

Now I think, 10 years later, maybe I won't like Dinobot so much so not sure if I should open him. Pretty much ruled out MP Dinobot due to price so it would be the Dinobot toy in my collection

[DELTAprime]

Any Henkei MOSC/MISB is fairly valuable at this point so if monetary value is at all a concern keep Henkei Dinobot MOSC.

I never liked CHUG Dinobot myself and recently sold my Henkei Dinobot since I will soon have MP Dinobot to take his place.

[Galvatran]

Would people be interested in buying Hasbro licensed diorama to complement the toys? Or would it be a fruitless venture for Hasbro? Which diorama set(s) peek your interest most?

[DELTAprime]

^ Yes! I want some sort of G1 background for my MP and Chug characters.

[Galvatran]

From the First Sightings in Oz thread...
http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showpost.php?p=595269&postcount=1079

The transformation instruction illustration on pack for the Rescue Bots Mini Sequoia is to poke the orange bear up the bum! :o

[GoktimusPrime]

Would people be interested in buying Hasbro licensed diorama to complement the toys? Or would it be a fruitless venture for Hasbro? Which diorama set(s) peek your interest most?
Probably not. Lack of storage space and I would rarely use it. As a kid I had 2 S.T.A.R.S. bases which acted as my Autobot and Decepticon HQs, but they soon became too small as my collection grew. Honestly just using my imagination and available furniture and objects works fine. ;)

P.S.: another problem is scale, because that never quite works for Transformers. Even the old S.T.A.R.S. base's console and controls were out of scale for many G1 toys. :p

[SuspectimusPrime]

P.S.: another problem is scale, because that never quite works for Transformers. Even the old S.T.A.R.S. base's console and controls were out of scale for many G1 toys. :p

Yep, seems pretty hard to fit in enough characters into one diorama without it appearing like a huge hodge podge of a battle like the old (awesome) G1 box art.

http://botchthecrab.com/gallery/box_battle_86_usa.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

Spaceballs: The Lunchbox!

[Galvatran]

Newb question. Who are two characters in red below Octane (robot mode)?

http://botchthecrab.com/gallery/box_battle_86_usa.jpg

[Paulbot]

Dead End and Rampage (if you squint)

[UltraMarginal]

I think some sort of card based background would go well, manufactured in sizes to fit generic display cases, maybe have perforations to allow for customising to fit a certain shape as a background.

I know there is something like this already manufactured by the ToyHax Indie group, they are very expensive though, and not cheap to get here either.

I have a box filler from one of the movie leader boxes that has a view of earth from space in one of my displays.

[Paulbot]

We got used to saying Prime for that cartoon show tie-in toy line didn’t we. I wonder how long it will take to saying “I’m looking for Bumblebee legion toys” will not sound like I mean the character.

Although in his case I am looking for a legion class Bumblebee from the Bumblebee toyline. :o

[Golden Phoenix]

Does anyone else think the Punch/Counterpunch could make a decent Drift figure?

The front of the car swept back on the shoulders could kinda look like the big shoulder pads he originally had.

Maybe even try to make the second robot Deadlock.

[Paulbot]

I’ve seen a Digibash that agrees with you (https://twitter.com/jessewittenrich/status/1016732545831055360?s=21)

And seen someone do it with the G1 Punch to create a G1 Drift/Deadlock

[Golden Phoenix]

I’ve seen a Digibash that agrees with you (https://twitter.com/jessewittenrich/status/1016732545831055360?s=21)

And seen someone do it with the G1 Punch to create a G1 Drift/Deadlock

That looks pretty good. Getting the helmet to change would be interesting though.

[FatalityPitt]

Off the top of my head, I think the last G1 Drift released was the 2010 Generations / United Deluxe (which I think is the first and only if I'm not mistaken). I think we should be due for another.

Come to think of it, we've had more movie and RiD Drifts than we've had of the G1 IDW Drift!

[GoktimusPrime]

On Saturday one of the magazine reporters asked me what I thought was the coolest Transformer name. I think I answered Optimus Prime -- I tried to think of something better but I couldn't at the time.

In hindsight I should've said "Blot." ;)

[SharkyMcShark]

On Saturday one of the magazine reporters asked me what I thought was the coolest Transformer name. I think I answered Optimus Prime -- I tried to think of something better but I couldn't at the time.

In hindsight I should've said "Blot." ;)

Erector?

Too obvious?

[Galvatran]

Nightstick

A crowd pleaser and awesome finishing move.

[SharkyMcShark]

Windbreaker? Discharge?

Gok, you're letting us down mate.

[GoktimusPrime]

I could've said "Scattor," but these are children's magazines! ;)

[davieanix]

Anyone with Unite Warrior or Combiner War box sets... or even Titans... do you keep the boxes?

I have all mine but unsure if I should get rid of them or keep them as display pieces. I’ll never put the bots back in, but I’m running out of room!

[FatalityPitt]

Anyone with Unite Warrior or Combiner War box sets... or even Titans... do you keep the boxes?

I have all mine but unsure if I should get rid of them or keep them as display pieces. I’ll never put the bots back in, but I’m running out of room!

The only Titan and Combiner box sets I have are Metroplex and Victorion, and I keep them MIB. For Leader and Voyager class figures, I would normally keep the boxes to store the figures when I don't display them. But like you, I ran out of space some months ago and had to toss away some TR Leader class boxes, and store the figures in Ziplock bags. I don't miss those boxes because tossing them freed up space, though I can understand why some collectors might want to keep them.

[Galvatran]

Anyone with Unite Warrior or Combiner War box sets... or even Titans... do you keep the boxes?

I have all mine but unsure if I should get rid of them or keep them as display pieces. I’ll never put the bots back in, but I’m running out of room!
Box art is part of the appeal. So I say yes to keep if you can find room.

[DELTAprime]

So after today's announcements I only need Hasbro to unveil some Deluxe Insecticons and then there will be a CHUG toy to fill every spot on my list of 1985 Transformers toys I want/have in CHUG form.

I really think if CHUG continues long enough I will have my goal of having every G1 toy (minus mail in toys not seen in the show) on my shelf in CHUG form one day.

And as expensive as this goal has become, at least CHUGs cheaper than original G1 toys.:p

[GoktimusPrime]

Apparently there are over 10,000 Commodore 64 programs that you can run off your browser (https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_c64?and%5B%5D=emulator%3Avice-resid&sin=). I had a look and they all seem like games. Didn't notice any word processing or editing software. Just curious as the first time that I started documenting my Transformers collection was in 1985 on the C64. Wouldn't mind revisiting that program. :p

Btw, Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth Side A is here (https://archive.org/details/d64_Transformers_The_Battle_to_Save_the_Earth_1986 _Activision_Side_A). ;) It's funny how they show the 90mm floppy disk icon... a cassette tape icon might be more appropriate. ;)

[Lint]

I was letting my 2yo play with the UW Constructicons set as he is currently obsessed with construction vehicles. The activity reminded me of just how inferior these vehicles are compared to the G1 release. The entire session was basically my son attempting to play with these vehicles and me going "oh the crane doesn't extend", "that drum doesn't spin", "this truck doesn't tip", "the digger doesn't turn".

I'd love to pick him up a G1 Constructions set for Christmas but the recent Walmart release is proving difficult find at a reasonable price. At this rate I'll probably be resorting to KOs.

[GoktimusPrime]

What about construction vehicle moded PlaySkool Transformers? Okay, they don't combine - but I think they're pretty cool for that age level. One problem with counterfeits, aside from the moral issue, is child safety. They're not tested and many of them are potentially dangerous for infants.

The two construction PlaySkoolformers that I own are Scrap-Bot from Go-Go-Go-Bots (aka Transformers Big Adventures) and Boulder from Rescue Bots. Both are pretty nice toys. :) Scrap-Bot is a repaint of Strong-Bot; Strong-Bot is yellow whereas Scrap-Bot is more of a Constructicon green. Boulder is green. Oh, and I just found out that this existed while Googling stuff for you -- in Japan Scrap-Bot was retooled as a steamroller, GO-19 Randy (http://departuretime.fuyu.gs/78_gobots/78_GOBOTS.html). Hey what? Strong-Bot was retooled as a dump truck (http://www.tfu.info/2003/Gobots/Strong-Bot/strong-bot.htm)?! :eek: Holy cow... there's a whole lot more to the PlaySkool Go-Bots that I never knew! Anyway, I'll let you keep digging, but I reckon these might be more suitable for your little one. :) Oh, and there's also the Dump Truck Transformer from the 80s My First Transformers line.

[UltraMarginal]

Anyone with Unite Warrior or Combiner War box sets... or even Titans... do you keep the boxes?

I have all mine but unsure if I should get rid of them or keep them as display pieces. I’ll never put the bots back in, but I’m running out of room!

I have just moved and put all my UW combiner teams back in their respective boxes. they take up a whole lot of room and once we're settled in they'll be getting taken out again. I expect I'll eventually run out of room to keep the boxes uncompressed. But!, if I decide to throw the majority of the box out I'll definitely be keeping the front flap, the artwork is almost good enough to frame.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Funny that the Predacons were so popular, considering they were in the least seasons of the G1 cartoon than any other of the teams at the time.

Constructicons: All 4 Seasons + the Movie
Stunticons: Seasons 2 & 3
Combaticons: Seasons 2, 3 & 4
Terrorcons: Seasons 3 & 4
Predacons: Only Season 3

Must be a testament to just how wickedly cool the G1 Predaking toy was :)

[GoktimusPrime]

Must be a testament to just how wickedly cool the G1 Predaking toy was :)
I don't know about you, but I didn't know anyone who had Predaking as a kid. I knew people who had individual Predacons, and sometimes we'd have parties or big play dates where we'd bring 'em all together and combine them, but I didn't know anyone who owned all 5 of them.

And I think a big reason for that was because collecting all the Predacons was flipping expensive. Each Predacon would be, in today's money, roughly $50 each. $250 for a complete set. Now obviously as adult collectors with disposable incomes, we're willing to splash that amount or more on POTP Predaking, but our parents buying these toys for us as kids? Or ourselves as kids trying to save up for these things with pocket money? Yeah nah.

Completing any gestalt set was always exciting as a kid, and I think one of the cool things about missing out on the box sets was that we had no choice but to slowly collect these toys individually. It would take us weeks, months or maybe years to complete sets. Devastator and Monstructor were cheap and easy to complete because they were just 6 cheap carded toys. But even with the other sets, it was the large boxed torso robots that would be trickier to get, but the limbs were easy. And I'm sure many of you, like me, just mixed and matched sets until we completed them.
e.g. this photo taken in 1988; I didn't have Scattershot yet, so I often had my Technobots team up with my Protectobots to form Defensutron or Compusor or whatever. :p
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/G1%20toyplay/th_g1_1988.jpg
And of course, the Predacons did last longer in the G1 comics, making their final appearance in 1990. In 1988 when that photo was taken, there was no new cartoon eps to watch anymore, so all I could do was continue reading the comics.

[TaZZerath]

I loved my G1 Defensor when I got him, and have no clue what happened to him or any of my other preloved G1 toys sadly. I was bummed I couldn't get the Combiner Wars version at the time due to my previous work being.... less than enthusiastic about my desk collection. And budgetary requirements.

[Jellico]

I knew a guy at school who said he had one when he was in the States.

My understanding was Predaking's selling point was size. Biggest and baddest etc.


For me who had seen my poor old Devy get demoted and demoted it was a case of the yet to be named Warf Effect in action.

[Galvatran]

Sears, U.S. retailer which owns Kmart in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy overnight, sighting Amazon as a contributing factor. Source: Finance section of the tv ABC news this morning.

[GoktimusPrime]

I knew a guy at school who said he had one when he was in the States.

My understanding was Predaking's selling point was size. Biggest and baddest etc.
Sure, but the greatest inhibitor was price - especially considering that almost all TF collectors in 1986 were kids (like us!) without disposable income. Boxed Transformers were always trickier to collect because we often didn't have the pocket money for them or it was harder to convince mum and dad to splash out and buy them for us. Boxed TFs for most kids were typically gifts for occasions like birthdays, Christmases etc., or if we were especially good or someone was feeling especially generous. But most of the time smaller and cheaper carded toys were easier to collect than boxed figures.

This is what made Devastator and Monstructor so ridiculously easy to collect. Teams comprised entirely of cheap carded toys that you could buy with your pocket money or convince mum/dad to buy them. The Scramble gestalts were trickier - while the limbs were easy enough to collect, the bodies were harder. And as a result, we often mixed and matched teams when we didn't yet have the body robot. You've all seen that photo of me taken in 1988 holding "Defensutron" -- I didn't have Scattershot at that time so I mixed some of my Technobots with my Protectobots.

The problem with Predaking was that every member was an expensive boxed toy. The individual toys were brilliant, and Predaking was awesome to behold. As a kid I knew kids who owned individual Predacons, but I didn't know anyone who owned all of them. We would get together to form Predaking, but when we all had to go home then Predaking would was disassembled. The set was only ever collectively owned but never individually owned.

And of course, Transformers in the USA are roughly half the price that they are here, so they would be cheaper for Americans to collect.

[griffin]

Damn that sucks (if it means that they lose kmart as I have a lot of toy memories from there). It is getting harder to shop for toys as a tourist in America. Online stores may be the future for domestic customers, but when you are a tourist, that isn't an option, and losing two of their national sources of toys will just leave Target and Walmart.
(at least this time, a collapse of kmart in America wont have anything to do with the one here as they are completely unrelated)

[TaZZerath]

Damn that sucks (if it means that they lose kmart as I have a lot of toy memories from there). It is getting harder to shop for toys as a tourist in America. Online stores may be the future for domestic customers, but when you are a tourist, that isn't an option, and losing two of their national sources of toys will just leave Target and Walmart.
(at least this time, a collapse of kmart in America wont have anything to do with the one here as they are completely unrelated)

Thank goodness for that, although the quality of the KMarts has siginificantly diminished here in my opinion (in South Australia, at any rate)

While online shopping is good, and bargains can be had (and maybe I'm in the minority here) the ability to 'look and feel' something before you buy it is still a major must for me. Images can too easily be skewed with lighting, perspective and in the case of Transformers, mistransformations can easily put someone off. In the case of fan or customer reviews, online purchases are helped considerably for the TF community to make a purchase, but there are still other items this doesn't hugely apply for, and can bring down retail chains, with toys like Transformers getting caught in the crossfire.

[GoktimusPrime]

One of my colleagues recently returned from a holiday in Singapore where she rode the TF ride. Before she left I asked her if she could grab me the exclusive Evac figure, but she told me that when she went to look for it they had none in stock. :(

Is this toy still in production? Has anyone been to any of the TF rides at any of the Universal Studios recently?

[Galvatran]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/business/companies/us-department-store-sears-goes-bankrupt-in-face-of-amazon-20181015-p509tx.html



US shopping icon Sears goes bankrupt in face of Amazon onslaught

(By Rick Green & Dawn McCarty, 15 October 2018)

Sears Holdings Corp, the 125-year-old retailer that became an icon for generations of American shoppers, filed for bankruptcy, saddled with billions of dollars of debt racked up as it struggled to adjust to the rapid shift toward online consumption.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the US Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, early on Monday and said Eddie Lampert is stepping down immediately as chief executive. At the same time, Lampert's ESL Investments Inc is negotiating a financing deal while also discussing buying "a large portion of the company's store base," Sears said in a statement.

The retailer, for years called Sears, Roebuck & Co. and famous for its massive catalogue, boomed in the decades after World War II along with a growing middle class. But it wasn't able to keep up with shifting consumer habits as online rivals including Amazon.com siphoned off shoppers, while turnaround efforts were hobbled by mountains of debt.

Sears, which sold everything from Craftsman tools to Kenmore appliances, lost its footing in the 1980s with expansions into financial products such as banking, mortgages, insurance and credit cards. Walmart supplanted Sears as the biggest retailer in the early 1990s.

The retailer listed more than $10 billion in debts and more than $1 billion in assets in its filing, and said it is seeking to reorganize around a smaller base of profitable stores. Sears and Kmart stores will remain open with help from $600 million in new loans, but the company will shut 142 unprofitable outlets near the end of the year, on top of 46 unprofitable stores already slated for closure by November.

For now, Sears will be run by an Office of the CEO, and independent directors will oversee the restructuring. Lampert, who is Sears's biggest shareholder and will remain as chairman, acknowledged in the statement that turnaround efforts so far have fallen short.

"While we have made progress, the plan has yet to deliver the results we have desired, and addressing the company's immediate liquidity needs has impacted our efforts to become a profitable and more competitive retailer," Lampert said.

The company already has commitments for $US300 million of debtor-in-possession financing from its senior secured asset-based revolving lenders, according to the statement, and it's negotiating a $US300 million subordinated DIP financing with ESL. The hedge fund held about $US2.5 billion in Sears debt as of September, the result of multiple attempts to keep the chain afloat.

ESL said in April it would be open to buying some of the company's assets and urged the department store to put the businesses on the block. In said in a statement Monday it had proposed as recently as September a strategic plan that would include selling assets, including those ESL was seeking to purchase.

"While a comprehensive out-of-court resolution was ESL's preferred approach, it did not prove possible to achieve this outside the framework of a Chapter 11 process," ESL said.

Lampert tried multiple strategies to revive Sears since using the Kmart chain to acquire Sears in 2005, sometimes with his own money. He's shuttered hundreds of money-losing stores, cut more than $1 billion in annual expenses, and spun off units such as Lands' End.

Parts of Sears have already been through bankruptcy. Sears Canada Inc. liquidated a year ago and about 12,000 people lost their jobs. Lampert partially spun off the company from its parent in 2012 and was Sears Canada's biggest shareholder.

The company was started by Richard Sears, a train station agent in Minnesota who began selling watches by mail in 1886, according to the company's website. He soon partnered with watch repairman Alvah Roebuck.

The Sears catalogue eventually sold products ranging from hardware and automobiles to kits for building an entire house. Sears opened its first store in 1925 in Chicago, and the Sears Tower in that city, now known as the Willis Tower, was the world's tallest building when it opened in 1973. The headquarters later moved to Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

At various times, Sears brands have included Allstate Insurance, Coldwell Banker real estate and Discover Card. The company has said it's the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 11 million service calls a year.

Judge Robert Drain will oversee the bankruptcy, with Sears represented by the law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges, according to court documents.

[Galvatran]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/15/business/sears-bankruptcy/index.html



Sears, the store that changed America, declares bankruptcy

(By Chris Isidore, CNN Business, Mon October 15, 2018)

Sears, the once-dominant retail chain that changed how Americans shopped and lived, has filed for bankruptcy.

The 132-year-old company has been struggling for several years and is drowning in debt. The final straw was a $134 million debt payment due Monday that it could not afford.

Sears Holdings (SHLD), the parent company of Sears and Kmart, is among dozens of prominent retailers to declare bankruptcy in the era of Amazon (AMZN).

The filing in federal bankruptcy court in New York came in the early hours of Monday morning. The company issued a statement saying it intends to stay in business, keeping open stores that are profitable, along with the Sears and Kmart websites.

As of the filing, about 700 stores remained open and the company employed 68,000 workers. That's down from 1,000 stores with 89,000 employees that it had as recently as February.

But Sears said that it's looking for a buyer for a large number of its remaining stores, and it will close at least 142 stores near the end of this year. That's in addition to the 46 store closings already planned for next month. The company did not rule out additional store closings as the bankruptcy process proceeds.

Eddie Lampert, the company's chairman and largest shareholder, gave up the title of CEO. The company will now be run by three of the company's top executives.

For years, Lampert has claimed the company was making progress to end its years of ongoing losses.

"While we have made progress, the plan has yet to deliver the results we have desired," Lampert said in a statement Monday. He said the bankruptcy process would allow the company to shed debt and costs and "become a profitable and more competitive retailer."

Although retailers typically file for bankruptcy with the intention of staying in business, many end up going bust after filing. In recent years,Toys "R" Us, RadioShack and Sports Authorityhave followed that path to the graveyard.

The upcoming holiday season will be a particular challenge for Sears. It will need to do better than last year. While other traditional retailers enjoyed strong holiday sales, Sears and Kmart both reported sharp drops.


Sears' problems go back decades

Sears fell out of shoppers' favor over the past decades as online stores and big box rivals, including Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD), beat Sears on price and convenience.

But many of Sears' problems were self-inflicted. Its management tried to compete by closing stores and cutting costs. It slashed spending on advertising and it failed to invest in the upkeep and modernization of its outlets. Sears and Kmart stores grew barren and rundown.

Sales declined. Losses piled up in the billions of dollars. Debt mounted, and the company's cash reserves disappeared. Sears sold many of its most valuable assets, including its massive real estate footprint, to raise the cash it needed to survive. According to the bankruptcy filing, the company was losing about $125,000 a month.

It ditched Lands End in 2014. Three years later, Sears dumped the Craftsman brand, which it had sold exclusively. The company has been looking for a buyer for its Kenmore brand of appliances for years. The only acquirer it could find was Lampert, who offered $400 million for Kenmore through his hedge fund. The Sears board never accepted the offer.

By last month, Sears' market value had fallen below $100 million, less than quarter of the value of Kenmore itself.

The retailer's problems have mounted in recent years. Sears warned investors last year there was "substantial doubt" it would be able to stay in business. It has lost $11.7 billion since 2010, its last profitable year. Sales have plunged 60% since then. The company shuttered more than 2,800 stores over the past 13 years.

With the writing on the wall that a bankruptcy was imminent, suppliers demanded Sears pay cash up front for the items in its stores, putting it at an even greater competitive disadvantage with other retailers.

Whirlpool, (WHR) which had started in business more than a century ago selling its appliances at Sears, pulled its various brands out of Sears and Kmart stores last year. Once the dominant appliance retailer in the country, Sears accounted for only 3% of Whirlpool's sales worldwide in 2017.

In September, Lampert proposed that Sears restructure its finances without filing bankruptcy. But he warned that the company was running out of cash. The company's stock quickly fell below $1 a share for the first time in its history.

Creditors opted instead to try their hand in bankruptcy court. Without a deal and with $134 million in debt payments due Monday, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.


The brand that shaped a nation

Sears was once the nation's largest retailer and its largest employer. In its heyday, it was both the Walmart and Amazon of its time.

Formed in 1886 by railroad station agent Richard Sears, the company started as a watch business in North Redwood, Minnesota. Sears moved to Chicago in 1887, and he hired watchmaker Alvah Roebuck as his partner. The first Sears Roebuck catalog, which sold watches and jewelry, was printed in 1896.

The Sears catalog was the way many Americans first started to buy mass-produced goods. That was an enormous shift for people who lived on farms and in small towns and made many of the goods they needed on their own, including clothes and furniture.

Sears' stores helped reshape America, drawing shoppers away from the traditional Main Street merchants. Sears brought people into malls, contributing to the suburbanization of America in the post-World War II era. Its Kenmore appliances introduced many American homes to labor-saving devices that changed family dynamics. Its Craftsman tools and their lifetime guarantees were a mainstay of middle-class America.

Sears truly changed America.

But long before the rise of Amazon and online shopping, Sears was struggling to keep up with Americans' changing shopping habits. Big box retailers such as Walmart beat it on both price and merchandise selection.

In 1999, it was booted out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, where it had been for 75 years. Big box rival Home Depot took its place.

Sears and Kmart merged to form Sears Holdings in 2005. At the time, they had 3,500 US stores between them. They have fewer than 900 today.

In July, Sears closed its last store in Chicago, once its hometown. In August, the company announced another 46 store closings. The company had 89,000 employees as of February. That's down from 317,000 US employees in early 2006, soon after the merger.

[griffin]

One of my colleagues recently returned from a holiday in Singapore where she rode the TF ride. Before she left I asked her if she could grab me the exclusive Evac figure, but she told me that when she went to look for it they had none in stock. :(

Is this toy still in production? Has anyone been to any of the TF rides at any of the Universal Studios recently?


Evac was re-released in 2017 packaging, and is still in stock at the Orlando online store (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=25564)... along with the Kreo Evac set. But as noted in that topic, the prices are expensive (though pretty standard for a themepark souvenir), and the shipping to Australia is really expensive (if they still ship here after the GST thing started).
It may have been sold at the Singapore park at some point in time and just sold out, but I have noticed that the different parks can often have different toys and merchandise that the others don't ever have.

[Galvatran]

Taking a step back in memory lane.

Remember when Hasbro Masterpiece Soundwave (& his minions) was about to be released at TRU then got delayed then mass hysteria when it did finally hit stores in late 2013? Ah, those were the good days.

Or how about G1 reissue Trypticon for "$70" at TRU, only to find out later the cancelled invoices of the many online orders due to a "pricing error".

Or the G1 Predaking reissue fiasco when Amazon.com decided to slap a postal label straight on the box (due to the an error with shipping weight estimated at 1 pound).

[M-bot]

I can only ever remember the names of 4 of the 5 Aerialbots.

It’s not always the same 4.

I don’t know why this is.

[TaZZerath]

I can only ever remember the names of 4 of the 5 Aerialbots.

It’s not always the same 4.

I don’t know why this is.

I must admit I have this issue with all Scramble City combiners. I remember 4/5 when people ask me then the last one escapes me. My 'memory shelf' clearly only allows for 4 total members to be stored! :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I can only ever remember the names of 4 of the 5 Aerialbots.

It’s not always the same 4.

I don’t know why this is.
Poor Alpha Bravo.

[M-bot]

Poor Alpha Bravo.

Alpha Bravo + Aerialbots = Fake News #GEEEEEEEWUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!;):p

[TaZZerath]

I did like the idea of Hasbro injecting some 'new blood' during Combiner Wars into well known teams, but it didn't seem to go down well with long-time fans. Maybe thats why a member of the Combaticons wasn't completely changed? (though Blast Off becoming a jet was hugely controversial)

Did anyone ever make up a gestalt of just the 'bots that Geewunners forgot'?

IE Alpha Bravo, Rook, Offroad, Blackjack, Jet Blastoff.....

You could have the Betatron/Scattorshot variant as the torso...

[SharkyMcShark]

I did like the idea of Hasbro injecting some 'new blood' during Combiner Wars into well known teams, but it didn't seem to go down well with long-time fans. Maybe thats why a member of the Combaticons wasn't completely changed? (though Blast Off becoming a jet was hugely controversial)

Did anyone ever make up a gestalt of just the 'bots that Geewunners forgot'?

IE Alpha Bravo, Rook, Offroad, Blackjack, Jet Blastoff.....

You could have the Betatron/Scattorshot variant as the torso...

I also quite liked the idea. For the Stunticons and Aerialbots it increased variety in the limb molds. All of the Aeiralbot limbs are basically the same, and without Offroad you'd have three sportscar Stunticon limbs.

[tinyJazz]

I think we called the combined gestalt Rejector.


I can only ever remember the names of 4 of the 5 Aerialbots.

It’s not always the same 4.

I don’t know why this is.

Same. Probably because their decos are so visually similar and they have near identical alt modes, I can only put one name to a face. Sure Air Raid is an Aerialbot, don’t ask me to pick him off the shelf.
I can remember the protectobots, combaticons and predacons just fine though.

[GoktimusPrime]

I did like the idea of Hasbro injecting some 'new blood' during Combiner Wars into well known teams, but it didn't seem to go down well with long-time fans. Maybe thats why a member of the Combaticons wasn't completely changed? (though Blast Off becoming a jet was hugely controversial)
M-Bot was just being cheeky ;)
But yeah, some people were actually butt-hurt over it, which was weird. The funny thing is that during G1 everyone was new! When the Aerialbots first came on the scene in 1986 we'd never heard of them before. There's no particular reason why any of these new characters are any better or worse than the existing ones, it's purely subjective bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias).

CW Blast Off is a great example, because having him as a jet fighter makes more sense than being a shuttle! :D Being a shuttle always made Blast Off's alt mode a running joke in G1. And a civilian Concorde jet amid a team of Autobot military aircraft? Alpha Bravo may be a helicopter, but at least he is a military chopper. Admittedly having missiles on the side of a rescue chopper for CW Blades looks weird (maybe they're fire retardant missiles! :D), but it does suit Blades' personality as the most violent of the Protectobots. :)


Did anyone ever make up a gestalt of just the 'bots that Geewunners forgot'?

IE Alpha Bravo, Rook, Offroad, Blackjack, Jet Blastoff.....

You could have the Betatron/Scattorshot variant as the torso...
I was pretty chuffed that they did Combiner Wars Lio Kaiser! :D An excellent character from Middle G1 that I guess not too many Early G1 fans may have known. Pretty bold move. Shame that we didn't get a CW Landcross or Road Caesar, but ah well.

--------------------
Early G1 = 1984, 85, 86
Middle G1 = 1987, 88, 89
Late G1 = 1990, 91, 92 (and early 1993)

[SharkyMcShark]

I think we called the combined gestalt Rejector.



Same. Probably because their decos are so visually similar and they have near identical alt modes, I can only put one name to a face. Sure Air Raid is an Aerialbot, don’t ask me to pick him off the shelf.
I can remember the protectobots, combaticons and predacons just fine though.

Air Raid is the only one I can remember by sight.

A jet black F-15 is hard to go past. The rest of them are basically interchangeable.

[M-bot]

M-Bot was just being cheeky ;)
But yeah, some people were actually butt-hurt over it, which was weird. The funny thing is that during G1 everyone was new! When the Aerialbots first came on the scene in 1986 we'd never heard of them before. There's no particular reason why any of these new characters are any better or worse than the existing ones, it's purely subjective bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias).

CW Blast Off is a great example, because having him as a jet fighter makes more sense than being a shuttle! :D Being a shuttle always made Blast Off's alt mode a running joke in G1. And a civilian Concorde jet amid a team of Autobot military aircraft? Alpha Bravo may be a helicopter, but at least he is a military chopper. Admittedly having missiles on the side of a rescue chopper for CW Blades looks weird (maybe they're fire retardant missiles! :D), but it does suit Blades' personality as the most violent of the Protectobots. :)


All of this.

I actually like the idea of different members coming in and out of gestalt teams. It adds greatly to story potential, setting up potential conflicts, altering team dynamics, etc. Alternative members of gestalt teams have no less inherent value than others, other than subjective preference.

I was indeed being cheeky. I love G1, but that’s no more valuable an opinion than any other preference one might have.

[GoktimusPrime]

The rest of them are basically interchangeable.
I gotta say... this is probably what makes the Aerialbots the least interesting compared to other gestalt teams. The limb bots all follow the same basic design plan. It sometimes confused G1 artists and at times you can't tell who's who on Superion.

Which leg is who? (http://static5.comicvine.com/uploads/original/4/49448/2466139-tumblr_luhwo4qkbj1qcrr5qo3_500.jpg)
Good luck telling which limb is who (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/69/Menasor_superion_heavy_traffic.jpg)
YoUr LiF3 iS pAiN (https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/8/8e/FSRLF5_superion_and_communicator.jpg)

[TaZZerath]

M-Bot was just being cheeky ;)


I was indeed being cheeky. I love G1, but that’s no more valuable an opinion than any other preference one might have.

Oh yeah i totally got that it was tongue-in-cheek don't you worry lads! :)


CW Blast Off is a great example, because having him as a jet fighter makes more sense than being a shuttle! :D Being a shuttle always made Blast Off's alt mode a running joke in G1

EXACTLY. When I first saw photos I thought to myself, oh they finally fixed this! I mean yeah he was a repaint/minor retool, but still, a large brown 'military shuttle' never sat right with me. At least Movor made a bit more sense!


Shame that we didn't get a CW Landcross or Road Caesar, but ah well.

YES. See, for some reason despite not having watched a huge amount of the Japanese only cartoons (Headmasters, SGMF, Victory, Zone), I REALLY loved the new take/spin on either existing characters (Ginrai as opposed to Prime for example) or their own new releases. Which is why the Big Powered release was too difficult to pass up for me despite my limited room and budget.

I love Road Ceasar's design, he'd be a must as a Neo-Combiner I reckon.

[UltraMarginal]

I did like the idea of Hasbro injecting some 'new blood' during Combiner Wars into well known teams, but it didn't seem to go down well with long-time fans. Maybe thats why a member of the Combaticons wasn't completely changed? (though Blast Off becoming a jet was hugely controversial)

Did anyone ever make up a gestalt of just the 'bots that Geewunners forgot'?

IE Alpha Bravo, Rook, Offroad, Blackjack, Jet Blastoff.....

You could have the Betatron/Scattorshot variant as the torso...

My 'rejecticons' are the limbs of sky lynx.

I really like the idea of new characters and bought all four of those misfits. I would have much preferred if the 'blast off in jet mode' had been given a new name though. I have always been irritated by toys/characters with G1 names having different personalities/alt modes to their original form. I'm getting used to the idea of 'different continuities' like animated or another line, but when the line is such a clear Homage to G1, or potentially in the same 'universe as G1, I much prefer new characters to have new names. Lockdown and Lugnut and bulk head are excellent examples. I even liked Prime bulkhead as he was pretty much the same character drawn in a different manner.

I am on occasion now interested to see the 'new take' of a character like for instance the movie lockdown from DOTM.

[tinyJazz]

Air Raid is the only one I can remember by sight.

A jet black F-15 is hard to go past. The rest of them are basically interchangeable.

.... i thought that was Skydive

[Paulbot]

Forgetting the name of an Aerialbot? I just can't fathom it - but then everything GeeOne was burnt into my brain at a key developmental stage!

Forgetting the name of one of the members of the Micromaster Construction Patrol or the Decepticon Battle Squad? Yeah, I completely understand that.

[M-bot]

Forgetting the name of an Aerialbot? I just can't fathom it - but then everything GeeOne was burnt into my brain at a key developmental stage!

Forgetting the name of one of the members of the Micromaster Construction Patrol or the Decepticon Battle Squad? Yeah, I completely understand that.

I’m much like tinyJazz - can name all the other members of other gestalt teams, no sweat. Just the Aerialbots stump me.

I will admit that my knowledge of TFs is not as extensive as some others here, I think in part because I had about a 17-18 year “break” in my interest during my teens and twenties (aka the idiot years:p).

[BigTransformerTrev]

Forgetting the name of an Aerialbot? I just can't fathom it - but then everything GeeOne was burnt into my brain at a key developmental stage!

Forgetting the name of one of the members of the Micromaster Construction Patrol or the Decepticon Battle Squad? Yeah, I completely understand that.

Heh - same. I looked at the 86 catalog sheet so much not only do I remember all the names but in the order they were listed :p

[Krayt]

Some notes on some older posts...


Evac was in Singapore universal studio store back in May. I picked one up.

And Predaking.... I had one back in the day. He was a birthday present, I had 4family members, and got a limb(body... I know Razorclaw isn’t a limb) off each. Dad used to sticker them the night before, put back in the box, and we unwrapped ready to play toys.

I realised that I had 4of 5... Headstong was missing.... one up set 4 or 5 year old.... then mum pulled one out of the closet they “didn’t know if i’d Want this one as well....”

Which all makes getting POTP Predaking a special moment too.... he was always the biggest and the best

[UltraMarginal]

And Predaking.... I had one back in the day. He was a birthday present, I had 4family members, and got a limb(body... I know Razorclaw isn’t a limb) off each. Dad used to sticker them the night before, put back in the box, and we unwrapped ready to play toys.

I realised that I had 4of 5... Headstong was missing.... one up set 4 or 5 year old.... then mum pulled one out of the closet they “didn’t know if i’d Want this one as well....”


That's an awesome story/memory.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I had no idea the old Ozformers site was still up (http://www.ozformers.com/) - came across it by accident :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Heh, cool! Clicked on the old board link but got 404 Not Found error. :p

[Galvatran]

So we've had Fall Of Cybertron, War For Cybertron, Power Of The Primes to name a few. When is Hasbro gonna do Freedom Under Cybertron Kup toy line?

[DELTAprime]

I have a feeling I have a Predaking waiting for me at the local Post Office. *fingers crossed*

Update, nope. It was some headphones from Samsung that I was owed from a redemption.:(

[Paulbot]

After months and months of seeing TLK Berserker shelf warm (still on the shelves at some stores!) I can't believe that they released a slightly different version and now Crowbar is shelf warming.

This thought brought to you by someone who's visited many stores over the past few days and been unable to find a VW Bumblebee, and yet every single store has had Crowbar.

[Galvatran]

HELP - I'm trying to find a particular post on this board a few year's back. It's actually showcasing a photo of Optimus Prime (& Megatron?) in vacuumised gold for an Asian deceased memorial thing-of-a-jig.

No, it's not for me. :p

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Found it, though the pic is no longer available. :(
http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=17195

[UltraMarginal]

After months and months of seeing TLK Berserker shelf warm (still on the shelves at some stores!) I can't believe that they released a slightly different version and now Crowbar is shelf warming.

This thought brought to you by someone who's visited many stores over the past few days and been unable to find a VW Bumblebee, and yet every single store has had Crowbar.

It's kind of amusing in a sad way isn't it. my local big w has 3 different versions of what is essentially the same toy.

[SharkyMcShark]

A small amount of love for my Transformer of the week - HFTD Highbrow!

Visually distinctive alt mode, unique transformation, striking and well articulated robot mode. Great accessories and well integrated gimmicks that don't harm the figure (spinning props and face mask). I fished my copy out of storage while doing some collection reshuffling the other week and it's been my go-to bot for fiddling while watching TV in the meantime.

[UltraMarginal]

A small amount of love for my Transformer of the week - HFTD Highbrow!

Visually distinctive alt mode, unique transformation, striking and well articulated robot mode. Great accessories and well integrated gimmicks that don't harm the figure (spinning props and face mask). I fished my copy out of storage while doing some collection reshuffling the other week and it's been my go-to bot for fiddling while watching TV in the meantime.

it's a great design! I would have preferred slightly better articulation in the arms, but what it achieves with it's transformation makes that forgivable.

[SharkyMcShark]

it's a great design! I would have preferred slightly better articulation in the arms, but what it achieves with it's transformation makes that forgivable.

I don't mind the arms but I transform them so the engines are at a 45 degree angle to the body, instead of perpendicular. It lets the fists line up with the elbows and biceps properly. It makes the arms longer and doesn't hinder articulation. I'm aware that this isn't how it was pictured on the back of the box or in the instructions, which as I recall just say to lock everything in at 90 degrees.

This is the best picture I could find from work. (https://static.seibertron.com/images/toys/uploads/1283551163_High3.jpg)

[BigTransformerTrev]

With all the combiner group gestalts that have come out in recent years I've always found myself that Devestator was in proportion to them. Now I have Predaking I'm finding all the other gestalts were in proportion to him and Deve :rolleyes::p

[GoktimusPrime]

Heh, gestalts and proportions/scale (http://bruticus.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Bruticus.jpg) :D

[UltraMarginal]

I don't mind the arms but I transform them so the engines are at a 45 degree angle to the body, instead of perpendicular. It lets the fists line up with the elbows and biceps properly. It makes the arms longer and doesn't hinder articulation. I'm aware that this isn't how it was pictured on the back of the box or in the instructions, which as I recall just say to lock everything in at 90 degrees.

This is the best picture I could find from work. (https://static.seibertron.com/images/toys/uploads/1283551163_High3.jpg)

yea, i'm the same but I still feel that the arms are a bit odd in general. I think it looks much better with the engines at a canted angle like that.

[griffin]

If Optimus transformed into a sofa (https://www.amartfurniture.com.au/optimus-62581/)... ironically, it is the new name for the Sentinal sofa (https://www.amartfurniture.com.au/sentinal-62578/).
Well that's just Prime...
:p

[GoktimusPrime]

Not sure if Amart are avoiding trademark issues, or if someone in their employ just didn't know how to spell "Sentinel" correctly. Or perhaps they're deliberately mocking fans who persistently misspell it. Hhmmm...

[techx]

Maybe it's Sentinel in Spanish 😁

[CHILENO20]

Maybe it's Sentinel in Spanish 😁

That's a no :cool:

[griffin]

It's probably just poor spelling by someone at Amart who didn't know that it is spelt with an E instead of an A... as their furniture names seem to be real words or names... spelt correctly.

[Galvatran]

Click bait! Where's a Mod or Admin. Oh wait...

If Optimus transformed into a sofa (https://www.amartfurniture.com.au/optimus-62581/)... ironically, it is the new name for the Sentinal sofa (https://www.amartfurniture.com.au/sentinal-62578/).
Well that's just Prime...
:p

[FatalityPitt]

I've been watching video reviews of the new WFC Siege figures. So far the reviewers seem to like all the figures, and there's not been a single one that they've universally disliked. Which poses a bit of a problem for me. I initially planned to skip most of the WFC line, and try to be more selective with my purchase decisions moving forward, mainly because I'm running out of shelf-space, and my income has gotten smaller since I changed careers to a less stressful one. So I'm torn between buying the new WFC Siege figures when they come out, or wait for better versions of the featured characters in the near future. Maybe HasTak will retool the Sideswipe mould to look more like a realistic Earth-based Lamborghini. Or maybe they'll release the Optimus Prime and Megatron in a two-pack with clean decos without the weathering paint details. However there's always a chance that they won't do any of this.

I think I have a tendency to get stung by FOMO and Inverted-FOMO; which causes me to either buy figures I don't like, or skip ones that I should have bought. Examples:

FOMO (fear of missing out): I see Cyberverse Warrior class Shockwave at the store and think to myself "I don't like Cyberverse, but this is probably my only chance to have a Neo-G1 Shockwave that's in scale with my other Neo-G1 deluxes and voyagers. There's no way they'd release a proper deluxe/voyager class Shockwave under Generations." So I pay my $35 for Cyberverse Shockwave, and though the figure doesn't impress me, I'm still grateful to have a pseudo Neo-G1 Shockwave. A few months later, the WFC Siege Decepticons are unveiled at NYCC 2018 and I see photos of the upcoming Leader Shockwave. I think to myself "Man! Instead of buying the Cyberverse Shockwave, I should have waited for the Siege version! No worries, I'll sell the Cyberverse figure!" But alas, no one wants Cyberverse Shockwave, and the secondary market price has dropped because everyone else is trying to sell theirs to subsidize their purchase of the superior Siege toy.

Inverted-FOMO: I see Combiner Wars Leader class Starscream at the store and think to myself "It's too big. It's out of scale. It doesn't transform the way Starscream should. I'll wait for a better Starscream." Two or three years later, I see the PotP Voyager Starscream and think to myself "it's the right size, but the proportions are out of whack and it still doesn't transform the way Starscream should. Maybe the next Starscream will be better". About year later I see photos of the Siege Starscream and find the alt-mode visually underwhelming. I'm disappointed. I think to myself "I should have bought the CW Leader Starscream when it was still on retail :(".

Problem is, unless you're a completist with enough funds to buy everything; you're stuck with the choice of either buying what's available now, or keeping your cash and waiting for better releases in the future that may not materialise. At the same time, it's so hard to predict what HasTak will release in the near future, and whether or not you'd like the upcoming release.

[GoktimusPrime]

I've been watching video reviews of the new WFC Siege figures. So far the reviewers seem to like all the figures, and there's not been a single one that they've universally disliked.
This is typical with a lot of video reviewers. Many of them like everything, often without providing reasons or a balanced critique. You know, actually reviewing the toy. Too many videos that claim to review toys are little more than just boastful showcasing videos. This is why I generally avoid video reviews and much prefer text reviews. For whatever reason, I find that text reviewers are less likely to be so blindly boastful about a toy and actually give a proper review. I don't mind if a reviewer says that a toy is the bee's knees, but it all lies in the justification of their opinion.

I definitely have FOMO. ;) But I guess that my rationale is to get a toy first and then later if I regret it I can always sell it. And yeah, selling toys is usually at a loss, so it's a risk that I'm willing to accept. Unless you're willing to wait years and years and try to sell the toy off at as close to RRP as possible.

Admittedly I rarely feel that new toys supersede existing ones. e.g. Goldbug didn't supersede Bumblebee, and Pretender Bumblebee didn't supersede Goldbug etc. - they were just the latest version of that character and I was happy to have all of them. Siege Shockwave will fit into my CHUG universe, which is currently occupied by Generations FOC Shockwave (yeah, I know that it's officially Aligned, but in the Gokiverse FOC = Neo-G1). Siege Shockers won't supersede FOC Shockers, he'll just be the latest version. Both are very different toys with different alt modes, so I can enjoy both for different reasons. :)

I suppose a toy would have to be one that I never fully enjoyed or loved in order to be later superseded by another toy. e.g. I've already arranged a buyer for my ROTF Combiner Class Devastator which I'll be selling after the Studio Series Constructicons come out. But as you can see in my post about this toy on the review thread (http://d343355.u107.fasthit.net/boards/showpost.php?p=147708&postcount=10), even on the day that I got this toy, on discount, I still wasn't terribly enthused. So yeah, letting go of terrible toys like that is easy. :p Ditto ROTF Jetfire.

But yeah, if I actually like the toy then I'll still keep it even after getting a newer version. Studio Series Starscream prompted me to sell my other Voyager Bayformer Starscreams, but I've kept my original Bayformers Bumblebee, Jazz, Brawl, Blackout and Lockdown even after getting their Studio Series counterparts. I like the original versions of those toys enough to not want to part with them. Still haven't sold my ROTF Voyager Starscream though. :p I don't really get Inverted-FOMO as I rarely skip buying toys that I want. If a toy really means that much to me then I'll buy it ASAP. Skipping it means that it was never that big a deal to me; if I didn't want to buy it that badly back then, then why should I care about it now?

[TaZZerath]

I find your reviews very balanced Goktimus.

I sometimes get FOMO but it is counterbalanced by desk space, budgetary requirements, and life.

I'm down to my final Oxipay payment on Big Powered next week so once thats done I might weigh up my options but i DEFINITELY want Stege (not a typo :D) Flywheels, Blowpipe for my Hasbro Triggerhappy, and 2/3 micromaster teams (the cars don't do anything for me, but I had the others as kids and they seem like awesome updates)

[SharkyMcShark]

You need to pick and choose reviewers. I generally find those that aren't racing to be the first to upload something can generally speak more frankly about a figure, and the reviews don't just amount to sticking the figure in front of a camera and going "yep the head turns, the arms swivel".