Transformers: Energon & Beyond

[JediTricks]

Having seen the cassettes in Ben Yee's reviews, they don't look worth 12 cents.

Sorry to have led to confusion, I should have discussed it with you guys in private message.

Sucks about FOC SS being so meh, but it's not surprising either. I look forward to hearing how Kickback is, it looks really interesting and really potentially horrible.

Lazerback huh? I'd given no credence to that figure based on Hasbro photography, I guess I'll have to give it a closer look now.

[El Chuxter]

Laserback sounds like a knockoff.

"Groundrave, stop them!"
"Laserback, inject. Operative mission: instruction!"

[Adam]

What are you guys referring to as being overpriced, Voyager Soundwave or the legends two packs?

Quick round up of things I've gotten over the last month and a half that I kept forgetting about:

Arms Micron Smokescreen - I read a lot of people say this guy's head sculpt was good and I'm not sure I agree. It's not terrible but I wouldn't describe it as accurate. His joints are tighter than my Knock Out which I appreciate; Knock Out wasn't exactly floppy but always seemed a bit loose in the joints. He is a pearly white as opposed to a Wheeljack white. It looks fine, but I decided I wanted him brighter so I started air brushing him and hope to finish that soon. His micron neat a crossbow thing and would be unremarkable if it did not plug onto his back and simulate his door wings like on the show. Some people even assemble the faux door wings backwards on the micron so the red sticker is facing the front to take illusion that much farther. It's actually kinda neat and brings the figure from being totally passable to worth it if you really like the character and want that representation on the shelf.

AM Nemesis Prime - I returned the PRiD Optimus I bought not too long after I got it because his left shoulder kept popping out of the socket; Nemy doesn't have that problem so I already like it that much more hah. The FE voyager looks better in robot mode, but I always appreciated how this version doesn't cheat with the chest windows. It's different enough and the subdued color scheme looks pretty good. He comes with extra teal stickers for those who prefer that look for their black Optimus Prime which is a nice touch. Some M.E.C.H. stickers are also included, and while they are kinda uninspired I still think its kinda cool that they included them and I will I probably end up using them. His micron is pretty great and I was tempted to grab a second Nemy to pilfer a second micron like I did with Ironhide. ( I ended up not doing it though.) It's a pretty good representation of the blade from the show. It looks almost purple when being held by Nemesis Prime although its more of a gray color I think. A lot cooler than the sword the PRiD Optimus Prime came with.

AM Silas Breakdown - This figure is what I imagine Silas would have become if that plot had not been seemingly cut short. The headsculpt is really cool and looks worn with cracks and the artificial eye. It's a shame the rest of the figure doesn't match the worn look. The sticker sheet does come with some crack/scratched stickers but they are chrome and probably won't look too good. The micron is not as cool as the original's rhino hammer unfortunately. It's mostly the same as Breakdown, and since I think that was a good figure this one is pretty great too.

Masterpiece Red Alert - Mostly the same comments I had for Sideswipe. SS's piledrivers are swapped for an electrical effect part for his head. It's really dorky and I kind of love it for that.

Fans Project Warbot Assaulter - This figure, who is totally not G1 Broadside, is surprisingly heavy when you first pick it up especially when compared to recent Hasbro offerings of a similar size. He's a pretty large figure and most of the added heft comes from the well placed diecast he has. Robot mode is fantastic looking. Articulation is pretty good, although some of his ratchet joints are SCARY tight. It's recommended that one loosen up the two screws behind his hips to help. I did this and the joints are still super tight. I opened up one of the thighs to see how bad the wear on the gear is and was slightly surprised that there was none. The spring used for the ratchets are just VERY strong, which I learned when it popped out and flew at my head and across the room. Luckily I found it and was able to coax it back in there. I don't think there is much risk of the gears stripping, but man those are tight. Anyway, the alternate robot mode is kinda meh for me, but its nice that people have options. I don't really care for the alternate face so I pretty much keep it in the standard robot mode. The weapons are pretty neat, working as serviceable rifles and covert to oddly-held axes. Jet mode is REALLY cool, much better than I would have thought. It's clearly not realistic, but for some reason really works for me. The "carrier' mode is not as successful but also not a failure. It has a more sci fi twist to it, in a Macross SDF-1 kinda way. I've seen some fan modes for a more air craft carrier like configuration but haven't tried it myself. This is a fantastic figure and I can completely recommend it.

Fans Project Defender - I got this alongside Assaulter. This was FP's first full figure and it shows. It's actually pretty neat, but has a crippling flaw; the lack of heels essentially makes it nigh impossible to maintain most poses. There is a Shapeway's produced set of heels that comes highly recommended that apparently fixes this issue. I haven't ordered them yet but hope to pretty soon. The stars of this set are the two alt modes. The "car" mode is pretty cool and the mode I have him in while I wait to get the heel addons. I like the way the helicopter mode looks, although the clip that hold the blades together was broken in the package so i can't actually mount them. It's a bummer but I think I can glue the pieces back together. I feel like when I fix the heels it will be a pretty cool Springer, although its not up to the quality that Fans Project has put out since then.

I also picked up the second wave of Gashapon microns. They're just OK except for the Bulkhead one who is awesome. He is a Hulk Hand for Transformers. It's ridiculous in a way that I really like. I have no idea if I'm going to actually pair it with anything like I did the first wave of these, but I'm still glad I got it.

EDIT: Forgot over the course of this to mention that I also got FoC Soundblaster and the Ratbat/Frenzy two pack to go with him. I was never totally happy with the deluxe WfC Sounwave as I always felt his proportions were slightly off. Soundblaster does not have that issue and I feel it is an all around better figure. The discs, being Legends, are not anything special. I do however like the gimmick because it works (Most of the time). It does suck that the mechanism to push the disks out sticks out so far when you have all three stored in Soundblaster's chest though. There's no way to mount the birds on Sound's arm since there are no hardpoints. That is a bummer but they balance pretty well on his arm regardless. It's not a perfect figure, but is a fun toy with a fun gimmick that usually works for me. Too bad he doesn't come with a gun aside from his shoulder cannon.

[figrin bran]

Having seen the cassettes in Ben Yee's reviews, they don't look worth 12 cents.

Sorry to have led to confusion, I should have discussed it with you guys in private message.

Sucks about FOC SS being so meh, but it's not surprising either. I look forward to hearing how Kickback is, it looks really interesting and really potentially horrible.

Lazerback huh? I'd given no credence to that figure based on Hasbro photography, I guess I'll have to give it a closer look now.

I see what you mean about Kickback. I'll need to play around some more with him but he does feature some interesting design ideas. I'm not sure I transformed him into an insect correctly. I do think I like him better than FOC SS and he does fit in very well with TFP bots.

[Tycho]

Cool grabs, Adam!

I bought a red Ford GT (old Alternator Mirage mold, but reduced in size to a smaller-than-deluxe Autobot car from the DOTM line's sizes).

I wanted a Ferrari, but it's a Dino (Mirage) stand-in for my Chicago diorama I want to build one day. Since ideally, VOYAGER Ratchet should go along side Deluxe Autobot cars, but they made Ratchet in a Deluxe size, thus paired with an Optimus and Megatron in the Voyager class, I needed something like a Scout Class size for Autobot cars.

Since I don't need "Dino" transformed in this scene I have planned - other Autobots will be in their 'bot modes, probably when Optimus is fighting Voyager Shockwave, Dino can be in vehicle mode.

I don't think Hasbro paid Ferrari for the license and doubt they'll make new DOTM toys even for a supplimentary line, like they do with Classics.

So I might as well do this.

ALSO, I don't know if Dino will even appear as a character in TF4.

I know little about the plot for the next movie, and it might center on all-new characters entirely. I don't know if Bay will go so far as to do a movie with little or no Optimus Prime in it (but he'll be alive -somewhere else if he's not featured as a main character - which would probably be a serious mistake unless someone like Ultra Magnus could carry a movie for the leader-type figure.

In any case, I just don't see Dino being important in either way - though it's possible.

HOUND ought to debut and figure in importantly somehow in the Bay-verse for the Autobots.

I could see SideSwipe carrying over on his own mission, away from Optimus, with new Autobots, perhaps Sunstreaker.

The Twins (Mudflap and Skids) never died on screen. Bay might also use them for a connection to the first trilogy.

Que (Wheeljack??) should never have been killed. He's the type of Autobot character who could carry a movie with less presence by Optimus Prime. Perhaps Wheeljack could enter the picture and it be said that Que was his mentor and he joined the fight on earth to stand for justice for the fallen Que, so brutally executed (I think by Soundwave, IIRC).

Yeah, Dino might fit in to this, especially if he has Mirage's cloaking ability. But the car by KiNSMART (small "i") was like $6. CVS Pharmacy sells these. They also sell the Mercedes that Soundwave transforms into but for the Human Alliance scale, I bought the real deal from Japan. Maybe I'll find a KiNSMART or something in the deluxe scale. But Deluxe Soundwave (DOTM) is not too expensive in the orient. It's Leadfoot that I've become aware of him costing a fortune.

BTW, if G1.5's Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr, plus Springer and Magnus carry TF4 (with SideSwipe, the Twins, Dino, and Wheeljack, plus Hound) it could make a great movie. We don't need to go Rodimus Prime.

Galvatron could exist but be unrelated to Megatron since Prime really destroyed everything of Megatron.

Cyclonus and Scourge would be awesome and seeing the Stunticons might be a great idea for the Decepticons.

[JediTricks]

Finally put retail FOC Blast Off onto SDCC Bruticus. The figure's mention of being a "stealth plane" made the black / purple coloring feel more justified (the mention of it being a "rocket stealth plane" however was really dumb ). It looks way better this way, a better mix of colors instead of 3 tan limbs, but the bright yellow vent/canopy type designs do stand out in a bad way. That said, the deco is otherwise all around better, silver is darker, the face gets a painted mouthplate, and of course it's more G1-accurate.

What are you guys referring to as being overpriced, Voyager Soundwave or the legends two packs?

The latter, most definitely. I haven't seen Voy Soundwave/Soundblaster in person, but pics make it look really quite large compared to Voyagers lately.

Nice gets, the only one I can hope to think about right now is...

Forgot over the course of this to mention that I also got FoC Soundblaster and the Ratbat/Frenzy two pack to go with him. I was never totally happy with the deluxe WfC Sounwave as I always felt his proportions were slightly off. Soundblaster does not have that issue and I feel it is an all around better figure. The discs, being Legends, are not anything special. I do however like the gimmick because it works (Most of the time). It does suck that the mechanism to push the disks out sticks out so far when you have all three stored in Soundblaster's chest though. There's no way to mount the birds on Sound's arm since there are no hardpoints. That is a bummer but they balance pretty well on his arm regardless. It's not a perfect figure, but is a fun toy with a fun gimmick that usually works for me. Too bad he doesn't come with a gun aside from his shoulder cannon.

Soundblaster was the one I had been considering, but those issues you mentioned are largely what has held me back so far. Had the disc/cassette guys been better, I probably would have bought, but a lack of accuracy and their overall unattractive aesthetics killed them for me. Soundblaster's on my "if I see it while I have money, then maybe" list but his scale makes him a tough sell for my other WFC/FOC figures.

[Darth Metalmute]

I tried looking back through this thread, but couldn't find an answer. Does anyone know why FOC Swindle has two hands in his legs?

[JediTricks]

I tried looking back through this thread, but couldn't find an answer. Does anyone know why FOC Swindle has two hands in his legs?

All the Bruticus limb figures are designed to be either arms or legs, and since the shape of a hand is very dependent on which side of the body it's on, the arm modes need to represent both a left and a right hand for Bruticus. While the other Combaticon limb figures have thumbs that swap sides, the Swindle design isn't as flexible so they just gave him both a left hand and a right hand for Bruticus.

[Tycho]

Swindle makes left handed deals all the time anyway

[Adam]

I went and picked up Beast Hunter's Wheeljack today since I had a five dollar rewards coupon thing, making him less than $12. I quite like the base Wheeljack figure so I thought I would give this a shot. It's... ok. The figure has these black swirls all over him in the plastic that I think looks border-line terrible. Like they were going for a marble effect but its application seems random and just doesn't look good. His spear thing doesn't look that great, and can't be held in a way that doesn't look awkward because of how the handles are positioned. I do like the new headsculpt, and I dig the way his new shoulders and wings change his silhouette. But the black swirls ruin it enough for me that I may take the airbrush to it at some point.

I also saw Bumblebee and I think the head sculpt on that is great too, except for the creepy eyes. Something about the the lightpiping and painted pupils comes off really creepy in a Cyberfire Bumblebee way.