Transformers: Energon & Beyond

[figrin bran]

Heels and anyone else who bought any TF toys yesterday at Target, the prices have gone down for the week so you can go get price adjustments.

[JetsAndHeels]

Heels and anyone else who bought any TF toys yesterday at Target, the prices have gone down for the week so you can go get price adjustments.

Thanks i appreciate that info.

[Beast]

Apperantly from what I'm hearing... the Optimus Prime w/ Matrix of Leadership / Unicron and Jazz / Skywarp Robot Heroes are showing up in limited quanities at some stores. So it's much like what happened with the Spider-Man SHS packs of Spider-Man / Dr. Octopus and Spider-Man / Rhino sets that were only turning up at Toys R Us at first.

[JediTricks]

US-release G1-colored Masterpiece Starscream: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=135639
The red really shows off how long his torso is, looks weird. Still, US release, yay!

I decided I had to see the toys on June 2nd, ended up buying Ironhide and Ratchet. There were NO deluxes anywhere I went, that size is primo popular! No Leader Primes either, except 1 goback at TRU. Voyagers were very easy to find at TRU, only 1 at Target. Everybody had tons of Real Gear and Legends and Cyber Slammers and FABs. Target had a lot of the exclusive Cybertron repaint basics, nobody was noticing them at all. Target's price for Real Gear is cheaper than TRU's by a buck.

Ironhide is kinda interesting, I don't like the Topkick C4500 conversion even a little and Hasbro left HUGE junk hanging underneath in the form of the weapons which serves also to unbalance the look of the rear which is lacking support for the rear axle. But it's alright, and it looks good in scale with Bumblebee and alright with Optimus. Transformation is a mess in part because Hasbro has you do stuff that's not really in the right order - the first is flipping the front bumper down, you have to lift off the damn hood panels before it will move but they don't move them for a while. Automorph moves a lot of pieces in the lower leg which is cool but the left foot doesn't lock down enough. Bot mode is a Decepticon, no questions, they're just wrong. The face is nasty looking and it's got an aggressive stance. The figure's ok but too fragile, you have to think before picking up and I hate that. The back kibble is excessive but if you don't mind a long cape can be hugged closer with some creative aligning. The chest kibble is totally unacceptable though, these huge panels springing next to his head so he can't see anything that's not straight in front of him. It's the kind of figure I worried this line would produce, it's ok but problematic.

Ironhide made me notice something about the scale of the line so far. Jazz is out of scale to Bumblebee, but in scale to Leader-class Prime. Ironhide is out of scale to Prime, but in scale to Bumblebee. So Jazz & Prime look right together, while BB and Ironhide look right together. But BB & Ironhide don't look bad with Prime, yet they do with Jazz.

I also bought Ratchet - he's going back to the store, Hasbro messed up a panel and it keeps falling off, I don't like this figure much at all so they can hand me cash instead. Ratchet's alt mode is ok but too many obvious seams. Transformation is nutty and the Automorph is downright crap. Bot mode is too simplistic and too much kibble gets in the way of being an ok figure. The claw weapon downright sucks. I don't like Ratchet's head sculpt. The axe is unimpressive.

Ok we have ourselves a little s**t sandwich this year too. SDCC Exclusives will be available on Hasbrotoyshop. I hope I can score the Alternator Rodimus this time unlike last year.

I have no faith in hasbrotoyshop.com and doubt I will even try to get Rodimus from them.

Adam has the right idea, just because HTS claims they'll have something, you cannot count on them for SDCC exclusives. Last year, it was Alternators Nemesis Prime, they had a banner ad for him on their page for a week and then the show comes and goes and he NEVER went online. DO NOT COUNT ON HTS!

My local Target got in the Voyager and Leader class stuff last night, so I decided to pick them up and get some people fired. Actually, I was suprised to see the stock guy bring out Ironhide and Starscream, as I seem to remember all the June 2nd intel reports stating that Ratchet and Blackout make up wave 1. He checked all the Voyager cases and said they were all Ironhide and Screamer, so go figure.

That's because wave 2 is also out, both Voyager and Deluxe.

Ironhide: His bot mode is pretty slick too, but I'm not too crazy about his feet. They look great, but they're not as sturdy or as poseable as I'd like, thanx to the automorph feature (which works great btw). The floppiness of the hood/doors that make up his shoulder armor is a bit of a let down too.

The right foot on mine locks down making it sturdy enough. The left foot there's something wrong, I popped it 1 tooth in the gear and it locks down with the heel pointed further down, not really useful. I totally agree about the floppy hood/doors chest.

Starscream: There's really no reason why this thing shouldn't be deemed one of the worst alt modes ever. You basically have a jet-like vehicle with some F-22 details on top, and absolutely nothing that resembles a jet underneath. There are no thrusters or intakes. There are two huge cannon/claw type weapons under the wings, which go completely against the real life Raptor's internal weapons design. You have a big robot head sticking out of the back. This has got to be the most kibbly, least aerodynamic TF plane Hasbro has ever come up with.

Alt mode means a lot to me, which is one of the reasons I had no trouble passing on this one. Glad to hear I made the right call.

Here are my thoughts: I liked the non-Transforming Cyber-Stomper big talking toys for the kids the best. I love how it shouts: "I am OPTIMUS PRIME!" I talked along with it while passing employees thought I was crazy. But a girl who was stocking came by and joined me and together we were saying (in unison with Prime): "Autobots: transform and roll out!"

Dude, you make me sick. Cyber-stomper indeed.

Barely OK in size:

Leader Optimus Prime
BumbleBee
Jazz
Ironhide
Ratchet
Barricade

- you could buy all of the above and have a fairly in-scale collection.

Except not, because Leader Prime is in Jazz and Ratchet's scale while Bumblebee is in Ironhide and Barricade's scale. They can play in the same sandbox, but technically they're different.

Needing Leader Class Size or even a Deluxe Leader Class size:

There is no such thing as a "deluxe leader class", the class after $40 Leader is called "Super" and is $50.

Megatron (no toys of him were present btw - the only one missing)

I don't think he's shipping yet, haven't seen any sightings.

Starscream
Blackout w/ Scorponok
Brawl
BoneCrusher

- It might be possible to buy the above toys and get MiniCons of Jazz, BumbleBee, Ratchet, Ironhide to go with them. I'm not sure if a Voyager-size Optimus Prime (also not there) would then be appropriate. But the MiniCon figures I've seen really suck.

There are no minicons, only Legends figures which are something altogether different.

I like my solution better: hold on for Alternators of the Autobots and MPEs of the Decepticons or don't bother buying anything (except for stock in Hasbro because they're obviously doing well with retail stores ordering quantities like what I saw (of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four stuff (not stocked yet) as well.

How is that a solution? It's never going to happen.

Ironhide, Ratchet - very impressive actually. I like their look. Ironhide's kibble doesn't seem too irritating to me. I like him in black.

The packaging photo downplays that kibble in bot mode, and I don't like the kibble in vehicle mode.

Jazz - he's kind of large and fat for a car, isn't he? I thought a Solstace was small?

It is, he's a bigger scale than Bumblebee, in the movie he's the smallest bot at 13', 3 feet shorter than BB.

Leader Prime? - maybe he ought to be sturdier quality. I played with him in his Try-Me packaging, but the Cyber-Stomper impressed me more.

You have no idea what you're talking about, he's extremely sturdy and unbelievably cool.

Starscream - really pathetic kibble. This one's not cool.

Agreed.

Blackout - might be cool if there was a collection he was scaled to. I'd love a MPE of this character.

Never going to happen.

BoneCrusher - never should be a Deluxe figure. He needs to be Voyager-Class at least. It's a nice design though. People who aren't concerned with a uniform scale will probably like this figure.

I hear he's a good dlx figure, I am still trying to track him down.

Scorponok - Deluxe. I didn't see him. Morbid curiousity made me slightly interested. I'd never transform him into a robot, but I wonder how his scale would match up with my Alternator cars. So purchasing him remains a possbility.

Seek professional help for your mental disorder. As a side note, TRU has a 2pack of Blackout & dlx Scorponok for $25, you can see him there, he sucks, nobody wants this 2pack even though Scorponok can attach out-of-scale to Blackout's belly and use the gearing that spins Blackout's rotors to also spin his claws.

In any case, MPE Skywarp remains the only planned purchase of mine that I have for Transformers in the near future.

What about US-release Masterpiece Starscream?

"Robovision Prime" - Not quite as shiny as I thought he'd be but still better looking than the regular voyager. Transformation was pretty easy. Although slightly back heavy, mine doesn't have standing issues. I saw the leader Prime as well, he is ok, but doesn't impress me enough to part with 40 of my dollars.

You chose poorly, Leader Prime is the awesomest! And his transformation is more movie-accurate than Voyager Prime's even though Voyager Prime does more pretending at looking like the movie version.

Ironhide - Don't like him as much as I thought. He is back heavy and his feet don't really lock in to place so he can easily fall backwards if not posed right. His hood peices around his head are on springs and I'm not too fond of how they rest there.

Agreed.

Kibble is usually defined as vehicle parts sticking out on the robot. Starscream is the opposite. He is a fighter jet with huge arms and legs tucked underneath him instead of streamlining into a fighter jet shape.

Kibble can be robot parts pointlessly visible in alt mode as well, so Screamer suffers heavy kibble in alt mode to the point of pain.

Now that sounds cool. I'll have to take a better look for Booster the next time I'm in a toy section. I didn't see him this time, but I really didn't look through the real gear that hard.

He's from wave 2, not all stores are getting them yet.

Voyager Blackout: Not as big in robot mode as I expected. I used to hate they way this guy looked untill I found out his backpack kibble was removable. Looks tons better without it.

Good or no?

Voyager Ratchet: I think I swore awhile back I wouldn't get this guy but release fever has me and I gave in. And I'm glad I did! He is actually my favorite of the movie figures ( not counting real gears ). Unlike Ironhide and Prime he's not back heavy. His axe looks a little lame but its still a neat feature to go with his sheild/grabberclawthing. If they end up making the classic red and white colored repaint, I'll probably refer to this guy as Brawn and disreguard that he is an emergency vehicle. :P

They are doing a rerelease in white & red. I don't like this figure.

Also in case you missed it, here's some pics ofan upcoming real gear and some deluxes.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=135783

Longarm looks pretty decent, I'll probably get him.

I really like how Longarm looks, but I would have preferred him a Decepticon. I'll definitely get him.

Can't really tell about Payload, and FB Jazz looks like a repaint so I'll most likely skip. '08 BB will be bought. Arcee looked pretty bad in earlier pictures and doesn't look much better here. Dreadwing can rot.

Payload, you're right, no idea. FB Jazz sadly does seem to be a repaint, I was hoping for new forearm design at least. '08 BB has always been a Go. I suspect Dreadwing isn't as bad as you folks are making out.

Optimus Prime Robovision (target)-this was sort of my "escape clause" so i wouldnt drop the $45 on the movie leader prime figure. Haven't opened it yet, but I like the look of it alot

Get Leader Prime, he's $40 of excellent!

right on Tycho! i actually kinda liked the Cyber Stomper Prime and might get one if it ever goes on sale.

NO! Bad!

I saw the Bumblebee Unleahsed today, thought it was cool.

NO! Bad!

Heels and anyone else who bought any TF toys yesterday at Target, the prices have gone down for the week so you can go get price adjustments.

Rats! The only 1 I bought at Target I'm returning 'cause of a defect and he sucks. Maybe I can find receipts for Dlxs I bought last month.

[Beast]

No love for the Robot Heroes, JT?

[El Chuxter]

Anyone seen the WM exclusive set of Robot Heroes yet?

[Adam]

Too bad about Ratchet, I actually like him quite a bit.

As for Blackout, I do like him, but if you take off his backpack in robotmode, he's pretty much a deluxe figure. So its hard for me to recommend him.

I still don't care for leader Prime.

[Tycho]

I love my Japanese version of MP Starscream, JT. It was a calculated move to import him in spite of rumors back then that Hasbro would update him in traditional Starscream colors. I wanted something closer to a real fighter jet's look.

I've been having a big fight on my hands with people at TFW2005 who insist he's green.

I just make trouble wherever I go...

Anyway, Starscream will make trouble as well. I've posted that a Transformers friend of mine from MySpace broke his Starscream's wing joints from stress fracturing due to repeated transformations. So I only changed him to a robot once and then left him as I want him posed for my battle diorama display. I like that he is a real Transformer and could change back into a jet if absolutely necessary, but mine is mint / loose and in perfect condition, so I'd rather not press my luck.

But as a toy, Hasbro is in for some complaints with breakages with this one for people who aren't so aptly warned. And it's an expensive toy to break. Mine was $97.12 total (shipped etc.) from Japan. A US version might be cheaper, but still: I wouldn't want to even waste $50 for something that'd be ruined only hours to at most days after coming out of the box.

I have my realistically colored statue and I stand by it quite satisfied. Screamer is larger than my Alts and smaller than the other MPs I have as Leaders - so in terms of the scale for G1 cartoon representation - he's perfect for representing the characters I used to love watching do battle after school.

[BountyHunterScum]

No one is going to paying $80+ for Ultimate Bumblebee, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes marked down to 75% off at some point.

[El Chuxter]

Slightly off subject, but I realized today that, in the age of the internet, two of the biggest long-missing holes in my comic collection, "Another Time and Place" (the epilogue to the G1 comic) and "Alignment" (Furman's epilogue to G2) must be floating around online.

And so, if you've not read them:
Another Time and Place
Alignment

I enjoyed AT&P much more than Alignment, though both are good. Alignment did give me a new appreciation for one aspect of TF I've long ignored, which is why I'm posting here under toys (and not under comics).

The G1 comic continuity eventually becomes Beast Wars!

So I guess Cheetor and Rat-Trap really do exist. Is the whole series out on DVD?