The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[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.

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. 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!

[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?

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 where Sea Spray is carrying 2010's Scout Class 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


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.


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!