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View Full Version : Transformers Henkei (Takara Classics) Review



STL
26th March 2008, 11:30 PM
I'd like to note that there will be a deliberate lack of emphasis on transformation. Most of us are aware of the engineering issues and as such the review will be generally confined to visual design.

For those that don't know about my terrible little habit, I'm the type of collector who keeps buying but never gets around to opening half the stuff later. You'll often find plenty of MISB toys lying around my room that have been gathering dusts since their acquisition. Few figures excite me enough to force the issue and demand that I open them right away.

The Takara Classics, or any Classics to be precise, are an exception.

Hasbro did an astounding job. Their reimagiining of G1 was beyond our wildest dreams. Is it really possible to exceed that? Let's find out...

__________________________________________________ _______________

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5332/optmegsen9.jpg (http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=optmegsen9.jpg)

Megatron:

The Hasbro Megatron was not poorly designed. As a toy it is rather successful and it's primary deficiencies are:
1.) The shellformer engineering
2.) It's colours

Of the two the latter has been addressed. Likely one of the Henkei lines most notable differences is Megatron. What we have is a chrome bodied Megatron with Classic G1 colours. His eyes now have red piping as opposed to that eerie green which though is cool lacks the necessary malice that befits one such as Megatron. The designers stopped short of giving him a complete G1 look by not colouring his elbows or side a red colour. I think this is a good choice. Part of Classics is that it is a re-imagining and some slight distinction is helpful. I also particularly like the chrome Decepticon insignia on the side of Megatron's cannon. The purple really works. Nice use of chrome.

That said, there is a disappointment. The grey is a bit lifeless. They look great in photos but I find that in real life the gray on the arms and legs are dull and mundane. I find that the chrome on the body really accentuates this to the toys detriment

Nevertheless this is a worthy figure and a must for G1 enthusiasts. Certainly there is potential for improvement so expect a sense of disappointment. There were such high hopes for this figure because silver/chrome just works perfectly for Megatron. But don't dwell on it. In its own right, this is an amazing figure. It is how Classics Megatron should have looked. It is imposing and menacing. It is in all its glory Megatron.
Score: 8/10

Optimus Prime
Subtle. That is the most appropriate word with which to describe the alterations to Prime. The toy on a cursory glance is almost identical. It is not until you concentrate and look for the subtle differences that make this a wonderful redeco. The head no longer has that yellow, the lower torso now has more G1 like colours. The slight change in silver lets makes the red more dominant. The slightly darker blues harken back to G1. The arm shields aren't as visually dominanting with the red. The blue on the black fists gives a sense of contrast and grip. The chrome on the legs. The cumulative effect of these subtle changes is that we have a beautiful G1 Prime that far exceeds the Hasbro version.
Score: 10/10

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4441/starscreamkq9.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=starscreamkq9.jpg)

Starscream
This one was a no-brainer. Hasbro's Classics Starscream was a poor toy visually. Comparing him to either Ramjet or Skywarp and one can see why immediately. The Takara version goes a long way to redeeming the flaws of the Hasbro Starscream. The chrome on the missiles, the redeco of the body are very much appreciated but nowhere near as much as the work done on his head. Starscream's head, I hope my picture does justice, now has the precise lines and detailing that its Hasbro counterpart did not. There are not enough words for me to describe how beautiful the toy now looks. Such a small thing, such wonderful results.
Score: 10/10

Now we get onto the more contentious ones.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7959/bbmirage1vv7.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bbmirage1vv7.jpg)

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4103/bbmirage2vc6.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bbmirage2vc6.jpg)

Bumblebee
Of the lot, BB always struck me as the one who was going to be the weakest. I had opened my first assault on it at the meet on Monday. The packaging said it all. Too yellow. Too little variation. Major waste of money.

Wrong.

I fell into that trap. Upon removing BB from his packaging I was pleasantly surprised to discover how wonderful well designed this Bumblebee is. The yellow isn't as dominant as one would expect. Their is still a line of white on the lower part of the doors, white at the back and silver chrome on the spoiler. These provide just enough contrast but still let the yellow dominate like its Hasbro counterpart did with the white lines. The robot mode screams classic G1 immediately.

So far, it has been rather evident that the Takara offering trumped Hasbro. This is the first one where we're left with a quandry in trying to determine which was most successful. I think the Takara one only ever so slightly edges ahead. Let me explain.

The yellow on the little ski vehicle behind works to provide that little extra contrast with the silver and white. It works better too as it has yellow and isn't as jarring on BB when attached to robot mode as the Hasbro version is. Also note the colour of the rear lights. There's a distinct sharpness to the Henkei version whereas the red on the Hasbro version is very flat. The black is important. I'm a pretty hardcore G1 type of guy. And it's for that reason that I prefer this figure. I think the gray on the Hasbro hurts the life of the figure in comparison. I definitely like the blue on the shoulders of the Hasbro one but that gray is dull. The last, and most critical, point of distinction is Takara BB's head. The eyes have been readjusted for a light baby blue. The dark blue on the forehead too is now more subtle. This creates the sense of innocence and youth associated with Bumblebee. And that is why it wins out.
Score: 8/10

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6580/bbmirage4headshotsxj6.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bbmirage4headshotsxj6.jpg)

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/540/bbmirage3by4.jpg (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bbmirage3by4.jpg)

Mirage
Here's another tough one. The lack of racing decos on Henkei Mirage is an oft noted point of criticism. The reason for the lack of racing decos is because the chrome replaces those parts and as you can imagine, it's not easy to incorporate decos over that.

That said, Takara's improvement is to give us a far more cartoon accurate body and head mold. Whereas Hasbro's version focuses on the toy more with the silver on the head, the Takara version looks to preserve the G1 blue cartoon head. The chest with its red cross and blue and the darker windscreens combined with the chrome on the spoilers and the gun give us a very G1 cartoon Mirage. The darker blue gives us that greater sense of realism too. It's unique and it's more classy in my opinion.

The Hasbro version however still has its strengths. It feels like a racing vehicle, a character with a place to go. The "26" decos work wonderfully on each version but the Hasbro version definitely has the sportsy feel to it.

Which is better? Henkei Mirage in my opinion. And only just. I love the G1 cartoon look, the darker hue of blue, the G1 chest, and, needless to say, I am, as G1 fans generally are, a sucker for chrome.
Score: 9/10
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2738/grimlock1tm2.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grimlock1tm2.jpg)

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3603/grimlock2tb7.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grimlock2tb7.jpg)

Grimlock

Here's another one I slagged out of the box. I was rather disparaging in my initial remarks on it when I first saw this at Jaydisc's house as most will recall. Upon receiving mine the day thereafter and now opening them, I once again am forced to find some humble pie.

In it's packaging there are one too many grays. There is a notable lack of consistency.The tail is one hue, the head is another, the body is yet another. Throw in the chrome and you're staring at potentially a 5 year old's horrific definition of art.

Once you take Grimlock out of the packaging however, you'll see that the above points are less jarring. Dino mode isn't too bad after all but I'd still call Hasbro's version a winner minus the white teeth and gold mouth. Upon transforming Grimlock into robot mode you begin to appreciate the rationale behind the differing grays. Contrast. The grays operate at different levels to provide texture to Grimlock. The tail is deliberately distinct so that when Grimlock wields it as a sword, it looks like one rather than blending right into the colour scheme like Hasbro Grimlock does. On the upper shoulders and the chrome on the legs, the different greys also give that sense of texture and, in effect, life.

Bottom line: Never hastily dismiss Takara design selections until you have the toys in hand.

The other highlights of Takara's Grimlock include his head mold. The head is that much better. It's more worn and battle weary whereas the Hasbro version is quite flat.

Which is better? Again, this figure is touch and go. I'm inclined to call this one a draw. I think the sensibilities of visual design on both figures here render each a worthy acquisition.
Score: 7/10

Other Points of Interest
1.) Chrome
The Chrome here has been used strategically with the primary function of enhancing the robot mode on all the Henkei figures. For instance, take BB's legs. The two little gold chrome pieces there work so well in robot mode though they don't do much in alt mode. Grimlock is another prime example. The chrome is jarring in alt mode but fits the robot mode so well.

2.) Bio cards
Wonderfully designed. Bright and energetic, I'm always a sucker for these. Thank you Takara.

3.) Heads
With the exception of Mirage, all of the Takara head redecos are superior to the Hasbro versions. And even Mirage is just as good because it offers a valid variation to different fan segments. I think Takara went in hard to make this a point of differentiation and in my mind they succeeded.

4.) Rubsigns vs. Stickers
Then there is this issue that initially escaped me. I personally prefer the Autobot and Decepticon insignias over the rubsigns. The reason why is probably most obvious on Prime, Mirage, Starscream and Grimlock. The actual insignias give more life and vitality to the figure. In Grimlock's alt mode, just below his jaw, you'll notice the red Autobot sign. On the Hasbro version there just isn't that. It gives you a stronger visual appeal. You know who the characters are, where there allegiances lie but the coloured insignias makes them a team. For me rub signs are neat more than they are visually appealling.

Why get the Takara Classics?
I was always going to double up on at least a few of these. Originally I had figured some of the figures like Mirage, Grimlock or Bumblebee did not warrant a double. But having played with each now, I'm committed to a second set. The reason why is simply that Takara has raised the bar. The engineering was already sound but what Takara aimed to do was ensure it offered a visually superior product that was differentiated enough to the US counterpart. And it really works.

Overall:
It was a tough ask to try and improve what fandom unanimously believed to be the best thing to happen to Transformers in many years. Hasbro had exceeded all expectations. It was never going to be easy to surpass that but I think Takara got it right.

It could not risk going exactly the same path as Hasbro did. It had to take what Hasbro offered and transform it (pun intended) into something unique. The designers set a high standard and ultimately they did find something new. All of these figures offer a genuine difference to their Hasbro counterparts. Some exceed, some do not. But even if they do not, they at least are just as good despite their differences. And that I believe is the mark of success.

I look forward to more releases. I can only dream of the improvements on Astrotrain and Skyfire. The latter was an immense figure and now I'm just licking my lips with anticipation as to what they can do to one up Hasbro's version. In the meantime, I'm going to, unsurprisngly, double up on all of them.

Pulse
27th March 2008, 12:26 AM
I wish they would go ahead & issue a Thundercracker, Dirge & Thrust as regular figures. Yeah right, I can hear you all saying...
Hell, I'd much rather fork out for these as normal deluxes rather than as Botcon exclusives any day of the week.

Paulbot
27th March 2008, 08:07 AM
Prime impressed me in person so I'm buying one of those. Is Grimlock's loose arm problem fixed?

The preview pictures of Astrotrain look great so that's a definite get for me.


I wish they would go ahead & issue a Thundercracker, Dirge & Thrust as regular figures. Yeah right, I can hear you all saying...
Hell, I'd much rather fork out for these as normal deluxes rather than as Botcon exclusives any day of the week.

It sucks they were rare and exclusive and expensive but that's the deal, and a lot of us spent a lot of money to get them and would be very unhappy if that happened.

STL
27th March 2008, 08:46 AM
Prime impressed me in person so I'm buying one of those. Is Grimlock's loose arm problem fixed?


Nope. Same deal. I should mention too my BB's jetski pack is a bit loose. Both of the side parts that swing wide pop off very frequently.

Did you grab Starscream first time round? He's a definite buy imo.

iceburn
27th March 2008, 08:50 AM
yeah..paul bought bumblebee, starscream and megatron
wonder if he's getting grimlock this time round :P

STL
27th March 2008, 09:15 AM
yeah..paul bought bumblebee, starscream and megatron
wonder if he's getting grimlock this time round :P

I think Grimlock is the weakest one. The robot mode is definitely miles better than the Hasbro one but the alt mode doesn't quite work. It's not as bad as I thought it was but it's nowhere near as good either.

GoktimusPrime
27th March 2008, 10:25 AM
Takara designed the Classics. Hasbro may have had some input in the design process, I don't know - but they were originally engineered by Takara, even though they were initially only sold in Hasbro markets.

kup
27th March 2008, 10:44 AM
Takara designed the Classics. Hasbro may have had some input in the design process, I don't know - but they were originally engineered by Takara, even though they were initially only sold in Hasbro markets.

So these Henkei TFs are actually how they were originally meant to be?

STL
27th March 2008, 10:49 AM
So these Henkei TFs are actually how they were originally meant to be?

Hrm that strikes me as odd. So does Takara do more of the designing work?

Does the same go for Animated? One of the things I'm curious about it is whether or not I should wait for the Japanese version of Animated. If they are, I just might wait for those instead.

i_amtrunks
27th March 2008, 10:56 AM
I do remember reading that the Aussie designer at Takara helped with Classics Mirage, so that must count for some of his Awesomesauce-ness.

I do like those Takara versions STL, thanks for the piccies.

Paulbot
27th March 2008, 11:09 AM
I'm still not convinced by Grimlock's "contrasting" colours... If that arm problem was fixed it would be a maybe.

kup
27th March 2008, 11:15 AM
I think that the Animated line is purely a Hasbro initiated endevour as the style is very much in line with contemporary US cartoons.

I read that interview too and the Classics are very much designed by Takara but it appears that the Universe Classics may be a Hasbro initiative, particularly the larger gimmick heavy figures such as Hothouse (Powerglide).

1orion2many
27th March 2008, 11:26 AM
:confused:Sorry people but at the end of the day a new colour scheme and a slight remold will not make me fork out my money all over again, I have better TF's to spend my money on;). Nice reviews anyway.

sifun
27th March 2008, 12:30 PM
the aussie designer did bumblebee as well :)
Both awesome molds.

Robzy
27th March 2008, 02:33 PM
Great review STL! :)

I was always gonna get Megs, Prime, Bumble and Screamer... but now you've got me thinking about Mirage too! :p Grimlock???... I'm still not so sure...

GoktimusPrime
27th March 2008, 04:27 PM
So these Henkei TFs are actually how they were originally meant to be?
I don't know as I've never seen colour pictures of Takara's Classics designs. Even if there were coloured sketches, it's Hasbro's decision on what colours they actually want to go with and they will direct Takara accordingly to paint up the colours as per their specifications.


Hrm that strikes me as odd. So does Takara do more of the designing work?

Does the same go for Animated? One of the things I'm curious about it is whether or not I should wait for the Japanese version of Animated. If they are, I just might wait for those instead.
Takara does almost all of the design/engineering work for Transformers. Hasbro has some creative input with certain figures. What happens is that Hasbro will send over some design ideas or drawings over to Takara and Takara will give feedback back to Hasbro to let them know if they think if their idea is feasible for design, or what modifications need to be made. Once Hasbro approves the design, then Takara will go ahead and produce the toy.

Some memorable Ōno Kōjin (chief designer of G1 TFs) quotes:

"...the rear designs that Hasbro sent over for Kup's car mode that I saw were barely passable. That brings back some pretty twisted memories."

"We made these miniature figures that could become robot heads. It was also well received on Hasbro's end. Although I never thought we'd go as far as developing Fortress Maximus."

"At first we were told that we got these pictures from Hasbro, that had these humans and robots and wanted us to make them transform. We were totally stumped! We thought of all sorts of things, and ended up with the concept of placing robots inside humanoid shells."

The toy that was designed for Powermaster Optimus Prime and Ginrai started off with the same base design between Hasbro and Takara for the 1988 flagship toy for both markets, but whereas Hasbro placed their stamp of approval on what we got for PM Prime, Takara refused to approve the design for their market until it was further refined until they achieved what we got for Ginrai.

"(Powermaster Optimus Prime) was somewhat lacking, so with that in mind I added die-cast and clear plastic parts." - Ōno Kōjin

http://www.geocities.com/planetsabretron/onokojin.jpg


I think that the Animated line is purely a Hasbro initiated endevour as the style is very much in line with contemporary US cartoons.
Yes, I'd say that Animated is very much Hasbro-led, but Takara would still be doing the designs and engineering.

jaydisc
27th March 2008, 05:00 PM
The name of the Australian engineer is Alex Kubalsky. He's from Melbourne and goes to Japan for six month stints to do work. The well known interview with him says he designed Classics Mirage, Classics Bumblebee and Movie Bumbelebee.

I won a Seaspray off of him on eBay, picked it up at his place. He had a bunch of Lawson Bumblebees and other rare oddities lying around at the time. He was very friendly. Digger knows him well.

This is the interview: http://pingmag.jp/2007/06/29/transformers/

kup
27th March 2008, 06:04 PM
I don't get it. If Takara does all the toy designing then how come you have people like Aaron Archer who takes full credit for toy designs such as Transmetal 2s, Beast Machines and others.

Are they taking credit for the design concept and not the actual toy?

autobreadticon
27th March 2008, 06:29 PM
good read STL, your review on Henkei Mirage saved me a lot of grief, the henkei one is best

GoktimusPrime
27th March 2008, 06:56 PM
I don't get it. If Takara does all the toy designing then how come you have people like Aaron Archer who takes full credit for toy designs such as Transmetal 2s, Beast Machines and others.

Are they taking credit for the design concept and not the actual toy?
Aaron Archer takes credit for Alternators, which was initially just Binaltech in plastic. (-_-)

Pulse
27th March 2008, 07:52 PM
:confused:Sorry people but at the end of the day a new colour scheme and a slight remold will not make me fork out my money all over again, I have better TF's to spend my money on

It's like you read my mind exactly. Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.


I'm going to double up on all of them.

Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?

Pipesqueak
27th March 2008, 08:38 PM
STL, would it be possible to create a better looking Grimlock dino-mode - ie reduce the number of different greys - by using the classics tail and maybe forearms and attaching them to the Henkei version?

GoktimusPrime
27th March 2008, 08:45 PM
Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.
Well it all depends on whether or not you consider the variation to be significant enough to get another version of it. I think the Henkei repaints are really nice, but for the most part the Hasbro ones are nice enough that I'm not really pining to get Takara versions of them - the two exceptions to this are Henkei Astrotrain and Megatron, whom for me personally are significantly different (and IMO better) enough to warrant me wanting to get them. Classics Megatron's clown colours look gay (as in merry).

"Get your cousin outta that clown costume. Havin' that heat stroke again. Scarin' white folks."

"I'm hot! Makeup's melting, hurts my eyes!"


Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?
That's entirely dependent on how you choose to count figures. Under the substitution rationale they would count as 2 and under R.E.C.T.U.M. and the UCM they count as 3.

STL
27th March 2008, 10:22 PM
Geez, I don't even think this was supposed to be a how to count doubles thread. What Pulse said was a statement about me possessing so many duplicates. Not how I was counting them. Let's just not jump at an opportunity to talk about how you should count and degenerate the review thread into a discussion about counting methods. There's a link here if anyone really want to address the question.

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=252

Otherwise, no one really cares.


It's like you read my mind exactly. Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.

Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?

You'd be surprise at my Classics count so far. :) I have 3 Hasbro Grimlocks and 4 Hasbro Skyfires. Doubling up on Takara's versions is only the beginning. :D

In all seriousness it boils down to the type of collector I am. I am hardcore G1. I would rather have 2 spares of my favourite figures lying around. I'm a heavy poser and transformer of my toys. That type of wear worries me because of joints like those in knees on Skyfire or ball joints on Grimlock. Couple that with my desire to have an MISB version available of my favourite toys to display, you can see buying multiples comes pretty easy to me.

I can see where others are coming from saying I could spend the money better. I could have chased down a Desaurus, Sky Garry or Metalhawk with the money I've spent on doubling Classics. But for me personally, I get way more satisfaction out of G1 than I do out of rare HTF figures. These are characters and toys that I care about. The others are peripheral.

Takara here has provided superior repaints in many cases and for the life of me, I couldn't settle with an inferior and lacklustre version of Starscream, Megatron, Optimus or Bumblebee when I knew there were betters out there. I'd almost equate it to possessing a KO to the real deal. It's just not good enough.

Ironically however, I don't care for the TFM Premium line. I doubt I'll get doubles of most of those characters unless I like the toy enough (Ironhide), or the toy in the first instance was that woeful (Megatron), or I need an extra mod (Bumblebee's helmet).


STL, would it be possible to create a better looking Grimlock dino-mode - ie reduce the number of different greys - by using the classics tail and maybe forearms and attaching them to the Henkei version?

That's a great idea! I just tried it. These are the results:

Without Hasbro tail (IE. w/ Takara tail):
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/8379/dscf3632mf2.jpg (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf3632mf2.jpg)


With Hasbro tail:

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/1854/dscf3631ty8.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf3631ty8.jpg)

There's still a difference in the grays. I do definitely prefer your idea Pipesqueak. The difference isn't as pronounced and gives a more well rounded Grimlock. Not perfect but definitely a better alt mode for Grimlock.

jaydisc
27th March 2008, 11:12 PM
That combined Grimlock does look a bit better from the pics. I'd consider unscrewing the arms and trying to keep the gray as consistent as possible. Nice suggestion Pipesqueak.

STL, what figure/mold do you have the most of?

STL
27th March 2008, 11:37 PM
STL, what figure/mold do you have the most of?

In terms of figures: TFM Ironhide/Classics Skyfire are tied at four. I dread to think of how many Takara Skyfire's I'm going to end up buying. :eek:

In terms of molds I'm positive its the WRX from Alternators/BT. Were there enough of those or what?

lcz128
28th March 2008, 08:18 AM
Didn't Don Figouera(sp??) help design the classics? I'm attaching a pic that I found years ago to the post :) This as far as I recall was part of the beginnings of the whispers of classics :)

kup
28th March 2008, 08:30 AM
Didn't Don Figouera(sp??) help design the classics? I'm attaching a pic that I found years ago to the post :) This as far as I recall was part of the beginnings of the whispers of classics :)

Isn't that concept art for last year's Botcon comic?

Paulbot
28th March 2008, 08:37 AM
I'm pretty sure I recall Don doing some designs for Classics Hot Rod. But I think there's a difference between designing the look of the toy and designing the engineering of it.

sifun
28th March 2008, 09:12 AM
Can someone post more of those design pics? Awesome!

Pulse
28th March 2008, 10:26 AM
How cool would this be?

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn204/Pulse_Warrior/Random/Thundercracker.jpg

I heard another rumour that they were gonna release Skywarp & Thundercracker as a 2-pack at the end of the Henkei line ala Robotmasters

http://www.seibertron.com/images/news/gfx/1123645340_inbox.jpg

Come On TakaraTomy - Do it! Do it! Do ittttttttt!!!!!!

jaydisc
28th March 2008, 11:37 AM
That'd be awesome and would save me about 800 bucks.

Paulbot
28th March 2008, 11:42 AM
If Takara releases those, Jaydisc you can have my Games of Deception for $600

or Pulse, just wait for Justitoys to release the KOs :(

Tetsuwan Convoy
28th March 2008, 01:38 PM
Here is one I got a while ago. It compliments the robot mode of Prime. In the robot mode pic, notice the difference of the gun from the end result?

iceburn
28th March 2008, 11:21 PM
If Takara releases those, Jaydisc you can have my Games of Deception for $600

or Pulse, just wait for Justitoys to release the KOs :(

haha someone willing to let go of the Botcon 2007 set :p

griffin
6th April 2008, 07:27 PM
Got the set of 6 Henkei figures a week or two ago, and don't want to be repeating STL's posting of all the differences, so will just say how surprised I was to see that they had chromed parts (no idea that they had them until I got them), but fear that the negative side-effect of that has been some parts are now unable to fit properly. Both Mirage's gun and one of Grimlock's small dino-arms don't fit because of the extra layering of chroming, so am going to have to 'deface' the toys by sanding down the non-chromed part to make them fit.
The other thing I noticed was how different the paint apps are on the Takara figures compared to the Hasbro ones, especially with Optimus. The grey highlights on the red parts are all totally different patterns, while some parts are moulded in different coloured plastics for the different Optimus figure. The truck grill and back half of the upper legs on the Takara version are red plastic painted chrome and gray compared to the Hasbro version being gray plastic as grey and painted blue.
Megatron - I think this would be a toy that no one could say they like the Hasbro colours better than the Takara one.
Starscream - like Optimus, it has just about every body panel with a different pattern of paint app to the Hasbro version. And the jet mode's paint apps closer reflect the Gen1 colour scheme.
I think Bumblebee is a little too boring without the white paint pattern that the Hasbro version has. I know that original Bumblebee was all yellow, but this is a bigger form, so a bigger blob of yellow just looks boring.
Mirage is one that looks just as good in both versions. The brighter white of the Takara version makes it look cleaner and nicer, but the chrome on the weapon prevents it from fitting in the fist hole, so neither version really outshines the other.
Behind Megatron, Grimlock would be the next most different to the Hasbro version. The shiny bits look pretty, but don't impress me that much, because it is a mix-match effect by not having the entire toy shiny. I'm actually more impressed with the red abdomen colouring of the robot mode, to better reflect the Gen1 toy.
Overall I think the Takara versions are better, and with our crazy prices in Australia, it's cheaper to get the better versions.

Robzy
6th April 2008, 09:15 PM
I certainly prefer the colours of the Henkei figures better (haven't got them yet - but I will)... Megatron and Starscream look great!

STL
16th April 2008, 12:02 AM
After having Prime for a few weeks now, i have to say that the Takara version is head and shoulders superior. Prime used to be a very good toy w/ his Hasbro paint apps in my mind. But Henkei Prime has elevated the mould so much in my mind.

It's a bold statement for me (given my infatuation w/ the Skyfire mold) but I would equate Henkei Prime w/ Classics Jetfire.

The paint applications just do so much. They are so incredibly subtle but they make the toy in every sense the perfect playable version of G1 Prime. Masterpiece Prime is a toy I have nothing but love for but it's poseability and playability pales in comparison to Henkei Prime. It's amazing what a redeco can do.

And in the same vein as I fanatically scooped up doubles of Classics Skyfire, I think I may need 4 or 5 Henkei Primes. :) :D

Gutsman Heavy
16th April 2008, 02:02 PM
Henkei Prime is awesome, love that chrome! I'd like to see what they do to the Jetfire fig, surely not much more can top that!

kup
16th April 2008, 02:11 PM
I also don't think that much more can be done for Henkei Jetfire.

It is a rare thing but Hasbro did an excellent job with Classics Jetfire so I don't know what more can be done to improve it. They can add chrome but that would go against the original color scheme of the character unless its subtle but that won't be much of a change.

I am also interested to see if the Classics Hot Rod will have any defining improvements.

Mostly though I am looking forward to Henkei releases of the Universe molds, they will rock!