Toy review - PCC Smolder w/ Chopster

[Tiby]

The blue is a fact of life for these figures to make it easy for the kiddies to work out where the power up bits connect to. I have just made the decision to live with them. They are far less intrusive than the ridiculous systems employed in Energon: oversized boots, additional and obvious fists, teeny heads, etc.

[GoktimusPrime]

The blue is a fact of life for these figures to make it easy for the kiddies to work out where the power up bits connect to.

As I said before, the Scramble Power gestalts from G1 had black universal connectors when we were kids. As Michael McConnohie once said, kids are a lot smarter than adults often give them credit for and often hate being spoken down to.

Either that, or maybe kids are getting dumber these days. I blame teachers. Yep.

[Tiby]

As I said before, the Scramble Power gestalts from G1 had black universal connectors when we were kids. As Michael McConnohie once said, kids are a lot smarter than adults often give them credit for and often hate being spoken down to.

Either that, or maybe kids are getting dumber these days. I blame teachers. Yep.

I'm not saying I agree with the need for blue parts, especially when these toys are all Ages 5+ now, but contemporary design, movies, shows, songs, etc, are all based on the lowest common denominator. Sadly, this need for not making anything a challenge means that the primary original purpose of toys, education, is lost.

Finding the right black or grey peg would train hand-eye coordination and problem solving skills, but the manufacturers obviously dread a parent seeing a child get frustrated by a toy and not buy any more of that style.

Gok, I blame parents who want to make sure their kids' lives are "better" than their own chidlhood was, when in fact there was nothing wrong with their childhood to start with (excepting abuse, etc, of course).

[PascTF]

3 solid modes, very good Minicon too, my favorite of the 3 so far.

[snazzbot 101]

I'm not a fan of the Allspark Blue myself - though it's definitely not a deal killer here - but the very idea that it was chosen because modern kids are morons is ridiculous. Year after year we've seen figures released that feature complex transformations and advanced engineering.

Leader Class ROTF Prime was not designed with simplicity in mind.

To me giving the connectors a uniform color - and in the Transformer's Power-up shade of choice no less - is a way of readily showcasing that they all share the same gimmick. Surely it makes sense to visually reinforce this given every Basic can combine with Drones but not all Basics are sold with Drones. It's particularly important since the line wont be supported by a show and it is in "competition" with other TF lines (which will too feature Basics, but Basics that don't combine).

[GoktimusPrime]

but the very idea that it was chosen because modern kids are morons is ridiculous.

Perhaps it was a moronic test group.

To me giving the connectors a uniform color - and in the Transformer's Power-up shade of choice no less - is a way of readily showcasing that they all share the same gimmick.

But why this bright baby blue?? Why not a dark navy or cobalt blue or black. Black goes with anything (goes particularly well with obsidian).

Surely it makes sense to visually reinforce this given every Basic can combine with Drones but not all Basics are sold with Drones.

The G1 "Scramble" gestalt leaders were all sold separately from the limb robots here. Australia never got the gift sets that were sold in other countries. Yet everyone pretty much knew that they were all cross compatible.

It's particularly important since the line wont be supported by a show and it is in "competition" with other TF lines (which will too feature Basics, but Basics that don't combine).

Again, I was already playing with the Scramble gestalts cross-compatability feature before I saw them appear in the comics and cartoon. And in fact, the Anglophone canon never really showcased the cross-compatability gimmick unlike Japan's Scramble City OVA or subsequent episodes like "The Final Showdown On Earth Part 1" - neither of which were ever released here (so I was never exposed to them as a child).

Yet I frequently played with the cross-compatability feature of those toys.
<---yes, Defensor's right arm there is Afterburner. The legs were probably Lightspeed and Slingshot too.

[Grievous]

I love this little guy...in fact I love all the PCC I own...
Apart from Skyburst...my Aerialbot drones belong to
Searchlight permanently.