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Thread: Toy Review - Generations Combiners & group reviews/comments

  1. #1
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    Default Toy Review - Generations Combiners & group reviews/comments

    Ok, this post is basically a collection of posts I posted on another forum, but thought I'd share over here

    Ok this will be a text-only quick review for now, will post some pics/comparisons later today/tonight.

    Legends

    Windcharger - Repaint of the recent Tailgate. Not sure if I'll keep this one as I already have the United version of the RTS mould. Will remain unopened for now.

    Thundercracker - Repaint of Starscream, or Acid Storm (which I do have). Again, not sure if I'll open this one as I already have the deluxe Asia Excl. Generations version, and already have this mould in acid storm. Will remain unopened for now.

    Bombshell - Awesome little bug. His purple is a deeper, more metallic colour than Shrapnel. Good and bad, as it looks better, but doesn't quite fit in with Shrapnel (or is it Skrapnel?) His lack of a weapon is not really a problem with the moulded cannons in front of his hands (which can still hold 5mm weapons)

    Powerglide - Not as impressed as I thought I would be, GREAT design, but the plastic quality is lacking a little - has trouble holding together in alt mode. Sort of hampered by lack of a weapon, but then I guess he can just point his fists at the sky and launch missiles from the underside of his arm. Again his own targetmaster mode is slightly hampered by plastic quality.

    Deluxes
    These guys are big. Gone are the FOC and post FOC midget characters (Trailcutter has another reason to drink now) - they're more in line with the early Generations/RTS lines, and Universe (think Drift/Blurr, Jazz and Sunstreaker/Sideswipe.) Not as complex in transformation (understandably so) but still great representations of the characters.

    Dragstip - Big, chunky, articulated and an awesome face. As expected, works really well as either a foot or an arm, but it took me a while to figure out why his leg mode was a centimetre or so longer than everyone elses, the rear of the car actually folds up in front, shortening him a little. No more lopsided gestalt!

    Alpha Bravo - Possibly my favourite design of this wave - I like the way the helicopter works, and am getting a real Astrotrain vibe from his legs. On his legs, the plastic doesn't feel as solid as the other figures, but I have no fear of it breaking. His arms stick out a lot, the missiles help, hide his hands, but still kind of obvious. His rotors aren't really held in place by anything, other than his tail fins, and will often slip over the top.

    Firefly - His colours make me think Ratchet decided to change jobs, but I've always liked red. So I'ts cool. In all modes (other than robot) his arms are pretty conspicuous, if only there was a way to fold them up into the torso ala Classics Seekers, but with the combination joint I can see why they didn't. Leg transformation is really cool, makes a really solid looking jet.

    Skydive - Dark colours - this jet means business. Transformation is almost identical to Firefly, except that you move his arms/wings further down his torso, streamlining the jet and helps hide his hands underneath the tail fins. Vertical tailfins and nosecone are soft rubber.

    Voyagers
    Again, these guys are big.

    Optimus (Ultra?) Prime - Big. Really Big. It's like Optimus decided to take the Cybertronian form of steroids in the lead up to festival season to show off. Alt mode is a really solid truck, though the contrast between silver paint and grey plastic at the front is jarring.
    Torso mode is a little bit of a let down to me. For starts his Ultra Prime head is floppy. Really floppy. I dismantled the head and found quite a lot of stress marks, so in the meantime I've covered the ball with some Blu-tac, and it's a fair bit better. His legs are a bit weird in this mode too, I'm not sure if the ratchets on his legs are aligned with each other. Still a better figure than some I've got in my collection, but the weakest of the wave IMO - hopefully Motormaster is an improvement.

    Silverbolt - This guy is great. Like a new version of the only Aerialbot I had as a kid. No real complaints I have based on this price here, other than the obvious undercarriage in alt mode. He is a literal d*ckhead in torso mode though, and this is one photo I WILL take, just because. The whole conversion of legs to chest really breaks up his torso, and it really changes his profile - doesn't look like Silverbolt anymore. The soft rubber antennae are annoying, as they don't go all the way into place, but stick out backwards at a 30-40° angle.


    That's about it for now, as mentioned before, will make another post with pics, and further thoughts later on.

    as promised, here are some comparison shots (and a d*ckhead)

    various primes:

    Yeah, CW Prime is big

    CW Prime, CW SIlverbolt and Gen Blitzwing

    Hard to show in a photo, but Silverbolt feels a lot more solid than Blitzwing, there's just more plastic to him


    Henkei Lambor, CW Dragstrip, Gen Crosscut, United Rodimus

    Again hard to show, but Dragstrip is solid, feels more like Sideswipe in mass than Crosscut.

    United Starscream, CW Skydive, Gen Windblade, Gen Sky Shadow

    Taller and more articulated than a seeker, far more solid than Windblade (fitting though) and a little more solid than the Skyshadow/Thunderwing mould.

    Shrapnel & Bombshell

    Again, even in the legends class, the build quality seems to be improving, and you can see what I mean about the colour difference.

    FOC Bruticus, CW Superion

    No contest here, Bruticus may be almost as tall, but there's no mass to him at all, having such a solid voyager class torso really makes a difference.

    Maketoys Green Giant, CW Superion

    Ok, in weight terms, Green Giant wins here. But he's what, $400 US vs the roughy $100 price of Superion. I don't really have a problem here. Height-wise they're a pretty good match, Superior being just a little taller.

    Maketoys Green Giant, CW "Ultra Prime," JP Gen FOC Bruticus

    Ok, with Prime as the torso, the new combiner's actually a little taller, and appears beefier than Green Giant, but doesn't quite feel it. The lack of ankle articulation and the forced angle of Prime's hip ratchets means the feet aren't perfectly stable, however when shaking the shelf, he shakes less than Bruticus, who's now positively tiny in comparison.
    Menasor upon release is going to be one hefty bruiser compared to Superion, which makes sense I guess based in his characterisation

    Here we go, some more pics. This time Altmodes

    United Tracks, Arms Micron Wildrider (repurposed as G1), CW Dragstrip, Asia Gen Mirage, JP Gen Hoist

    As you can see, big vehicle mode, bigger than Mirage in bulk, just a little longer (sooo tempted to do a "race" shot of these two) and much bigger than AM Wildrider and Hoist, closer to Tracks in size

    Asia Gen Astrotrain, CW Alpha Bravo, JP Gen Vortex

    He's obviously smaller than Astrotrain, in size and over-all mass, and looks smaller than Vortex in this shot, though he is a lot more solid and a bit longer.

    G1 Reissue OP, AOE Evolution "1984" OP, CW OP, Classics Inferno

    As in robot mode, much bigger/bulkier than the classics mould, but doesn't seem out of scale (just a slightly bigger truck model) and is closer to Inferno in size.

    United Skywarp, CW Skydive, JP Gen Armada Starscream, CW Firefly, United Thunderwing

    Unlike robot mode, these guys look smaller than the classics seeker, purely because streamlined they are not. They're chunky looking jets, just pushing the realm of over the top, but to be solid combiner limbs I guess there was no choice. Bigger and heavier than Armada SS, closer in feel to Thunderwing (though still a little shorter, just thicker)

    JP Gen Blitzwing, CW Silverbolt, Henkei (2013) Skyfire

    These guys are my only voyager size jets, sure I have the Spring/Storm guys and Whirl, but they're not jets...
    Anyway, more streamlined and "complete" than Blitzing, holds together a lot better. Arms are hidden a little bit better than Jet/Skyfire with no weapons attached, tabs together really well, but I think Skyfire still wins in size (and weapons load out)


    EDIT: Megatronus - I did try to pose Superion legs out - one ratchet stop, but he fell over, and Green Giant can't close his legs any tighter, so my earlier pics is about as good as it gets.

  2. #2
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    Hmm the comparison pic of Ultra Prime didn't work,band I can't fix the post so here it is

  3. #3
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    Thanks for sharing - the comparisons are really helpful. I wasn't sure about keeping Voyager Optimus but he looks good, and the size of the limbs in both robot and vehicles modes is really pleasing.

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    Good reviews . Currently got the lot shipping from BBTS - these pics are making me very excited about them getting here

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    I got mine from RK last Monday. Was expecting a small box from BBTS to arrive then, imagine my surprise when I saw that the RK shipment had arrived on the date they said they'd start shipping.

    I just have Arcee, Chromia, Brainstorm and Hexatron on their way, and I'm done until CW wave 2/Leader Megs is released

    Hopefully the heads on your ultra primes don't have the same floppy problem mine does

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by prjkt View Post
    What has Rodimus been drinking?

    Ultra Prime looks good with the chest closed, but I get the impression that's not the official transformation - is the awful open-chested mode what the instructions dictate?

  7. #7
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    They're nice and chunky- good. Still need to get the Astrotrain set and Mirage set as well.
    Seeking the Following:
    - CW Brawl
    - Earthrise Runabout
    - Earthrise Thrust

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sky Shadow View Post
    What has Rodimus been drinking?

    Ultra Prime looks good with the chest closed, but I get the impression that's not the official transformation - is the awful open-chested mode what the instructions dictate?
    Ask Trailcutter, though that version of Rodimus is floppy as hell, replaced him with the Henkei version for Fansproject Protector as his arm kept falling off.

    And yeah, official transformation is open-chest, but it looks like crap without a car chest (Menasor style) so he stays closed.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by prjkt View Post
    Also... I'm assuming Silverbolt's face isn't meant to be... there.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sky Shadow View Post
    Also... I'm assuming Silverbolt's face isn't meant to be... there.
    looks like he is giving birth or taking a dump lol

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