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[numbat]

Been a while...

PotP Battletrap is ace.

These are remarkably clever and complex wee figures - particularly Battleslash (the helicopter).

Only (minor) negatives are that there's not a good solution for the rotor in combined mode, and the combined mode knees are fairly pointless.

Oh, and to be really nit-picky, it would be nice if the helicopter could dock on to the car, but that's really just because I used to do that with my G1 figures as a kid. I can't really criticise Hasbro for not taking on board my particular childhood games when designing figures!

Anyhoo, big surprise, epic win. Roll on Flywheels.

[Skyquake87]

Encore Big Mission III
I've been wanting this set for a while, just for the neat looking Frenzy and Rumble who both have extensive tampographs, rather than stickers (and in an excellent bit of fan trolling are packaged with the opposing red/ blue artwork to the toys, for all your RIRFIB/ RIBFIR needs) and they don't disappoint. They are excellent, as is Laserbeak. Sadly, Overkill has fallen foul of the Encore line's rather sketchy quality control - the blue plastic used on his arms and legs seems to be incredibly brittle, as his right leg has just crumbled around the transformation joint.

[ganon578]

Picked up TR Repugnus on sale while at the grocery store. He's neat. The kicker is that the hip joint is super loose, so he doesn't stand up. I wrapped a tiny piece of clear Scotch tape around the peg, which helped but isn't a good long term solution. Should I try clear coat nail polish?

In the meantime, he can always sit around looking like a smiling cat with a chubby belly.

[inflatable dalek]

So, quite a few bad boys recently!

Third Part Kaon and Vos:

Because I love me my 3p MMC. Vos very much feels like a more fiddly old style 3P that's frustrating to transform, so he'll be staying in his nive creepy robot mode.

Kaon on the other hand reflects the "More like a toy you might actually buy in a shop" asthetic of Tarn and Autobot Megatron, chunky and a lot more fun than a guy who turns into a chair should ever be.

Legends Slugslinger: To complete my Decepticon Targetmasters. As everyone has said, this basic design is a winner and he looks great with his three pals. The targetmaster gun is a bit rubbish though, as is the naked girlies comic.

POTP Dreadwind: His lunchbox accessory is a bit cumbersome, but a lovely, ridiculous gairtish figure.

[Skyquake87]

Takara Legends EX Deadlock
My, this is very nice. Lovely black repaint (which Takara do so well) of the Drift mould, to represent Drift as a Decepticon. There's some good heft to the thing too, which is a reminder how solid Transformers toys used to be. The blood red, white and gold gels together really nicely and the vehicle mode throws in some nice purple stripes. Figure also comes with two pistols, a katana and a massive rifle, plus an amusing comic. Good stuff!

[HeavyArms]

I just got in the mail BW Prowl, Silverbolt and Ironhide, who can combine to form Magnaboss.

[ganon578]

I went ahead and convinced myself that I needed a PotP Rodimus Prime to stand along side PotP Optimus (plus, my wife gave me the go ahead to buy him, which never happens... like ever).

Here's the deal - he's not great. I wouldn't peg him as an atrocity; he's simply OK as a figure. Issues aside, I keep fiddling with him, even though his transformation isn't anywhere near as smooth as Optimus, nor as openly articulated or good looking. Somehow, I just can't put him down. Maybe it's 'new toy' syndrome that will wear off, or that my son and I bonded on a short trip to go pick him up from the store, I don't know. He's fun to fiddle with, and the Winnebago mode is pretty solid.

All of that said, I would have a hard time justifying anyone to pay the MSRP on this guy, given all the issues.

[Tantrum]

That tracks with other things I've read about Rodimus. By most metrics, he's fair to poor, but is somehow still fun. Maybe his unique transformation and alt-mode makes him inherently more interesting than yet another car-to-robot.

Does the matrix gimmick hurt him much? I've been thinking that putting the evolution gimmick and opening chest compartment in the same figure would require too many compromises.

I found a MOSC BM Obsidian, who is no longer MOSC. He's pretty simple, but fun. Like Jetstorm, his bot mode loks better hovering than standing. I may have to make a stand for him.

A while ago, I figured out how to use PotP Slash to fill out Volcanicus' torso instead of the extra hands. So, I bought another one to do the other side. It looks good, and frees up the extra hands to make the larger feet. Here's a pic I took when I just had one Slash.

[ganon578]

That tracks with other things I've read about Rodimus. By most metrics, he's fair to poor, but is somehow still fun. Maybe his unique transformation and alt-mode makes him inherently more interesting than yet another car-to-robot.

Does the matrix gimmick hurt him much? I've been thinking that putting the evolution gimmick and opening chest compartment in the same figure would require too many compromises.

He's interesting and different, that's for sure. Maybe that is why I keep fiddling with him - I can't think of any other figure that I own (I own all mass retail figs) that's even close to what Rodimus does.

The matrix gimmick does hurt him. I find that messing with Optimus' matrix is infinitely easier, and therefore it comes out quite a bit, or I'll even leave his chest open for display. Rodimus, on the other hand, is a bit of a chore to get to his matrix, as you have to lift half of his torso up to get to it. I don't mess with it too much, and when it's open it looks as though the matrix is in his stomach. Had they tried to re-engineer it into his chest they would have needed to find another place for Hot Rod's head, so there would have been some serious compromise.

[Denyer]

Cool. At some point I'll probably form a small pack of raptors, nice to know they might be useful for something as well.

[Tetsuro]

G1 Brainstorm

Considering the shape of this guy, I can't help but to feel I overpaid a little. Lot of loose joints, most of which I can't fix with just a screwdriver, and Arcana's faceplate is so loose that someone tried to fix it by jamming a bit of blu-tack onto it so it stays up against his forehead.

[Tantrum]

Cool. At some point I'll probably form a small pack of raptors, nice to know they might be useful for something as well.

I read one fan's idea that Volcanicus' weapon is hucking raptors at Decepticons, so there's two somethings.

I bought a loose CW Superion (w/Quickslinger ) today. I already owned all the Arialbots. But, with my orignal Alpha Bravo and Quickslinger being the legs of my all white Nova Prima, and Fireflight as an arm of my all red Betatron, Superion was reduced to having Blast-Off and Off-Road for legs. I has rigged Powerglide up in front of Off-Road to keep with the airplane theme, but it wasn't great.

Now, I have an proper Superion, again. I had to take apart the new Silverbolt's leg to detach Sky-Dive from Superion's shoulder. Sky-Dive worked OK in the other leg, and in Volcanicus, so I assume the issue was (is?) Silverbolt.

Other than that, the only issues are Quickslinger's landing gear being loose, and bopping him on the head, and some minor paint wear on Air-Raid's shins. He didn't come with weapons. But, the whole thing was only $100, and from what I've seen looking up Quickslinger on ebay, I wasn't going to find anything better.

[Tantrum]

I went ahead and convinced myself that I needed a PotP Rodimus Prime...Maybe it's 'new toy' syndrome that will wear off, or that my son and I bonded on a short trip to go pick him up from the store, I don't know. He's fun to fiddle with, and the Winnebago mode is pretty solid.

All of that said, I would have a hard time justifying anyone to pay the MSRP on this guy, given all the issues.

Has the newness worn off over the past week? I skipped RP because I didn't like the looks of him. I saw Rodimus Unicronus today, and liked the cheesiness. But, I'm not sure I'll still like him once the novelty of the mold and deco are past. I don't really want a Leader size figure if I'm going to get bored with him quickly, and just have him as a display piece.

That's for Legends figures. I got PotP Battleslash and Roadtrap, who combine to make Battletrap. They're OK, but the priorities of the design team seem to have been a bit off. The individual bot modes are the strongest for each figure, and who gives a shit about them?

The vehicle modes are the weakest. The back of Roadtrap is clearly not a truck, and only one of his wheels spins freely. The sides of Battleslash show losts gaps where bot parts aren't even close to meeting. Both modes have a spot on the exterior where a TM/PM can attach. The box photos show them in bot mode. The instructions how them in matrix mode. Neither looks great.

Like with Volcanicus, the only mention of the combined mode on the package is artwork on the side. It's OK. He stands eye-to-eye with Deluxes, which is nice. He's got swivel joints on his waist and neck. There's ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.

You've got a choice to make for the knee and ankle articulation. If you leave Roadtrap's arms tabbed to his torso, Battletrap's legs look good (if a bit bulky), but have limited articulation. Untab them, and Battletrap can do more poses, but has arms flapping around his shin.

There's no weapons and, due to helicopter kibble on Battletrap's fists, he might not be able to hold them, anyway. He can hold Swoop's sword fine, but Slag's rifle won't aim straight. Prime Master weapon modes work, though, since the helicopter kibble fits in the ankle gap.

Overall, I like him OK but wish they hadn't bothered with the individual bots, and focused on the vehicles and combined bot, and sold them as a set. I'd've probably been more satisfied spending $20 on that box set than the $20 I spent on these two triple-changers.

[ganon578]

Has the newness worn off over the past week? I skipped RP because I didn't like the looks of him. I saw Rodimus Unicronus today, and liked the cheesiness. But, I'm not sure I'll still like him once the novelty of the mold and deco are past. I don't really want a Leader size figure if I'm going to get bored with him quickly, and just have him as a display piece.

It's starting to, but not as quickly as I had feared. I fiddled with him last night to take some pics for my review of him, and I realized how quickly I was able to get him back and forth - it was actually quite fun. It was still fun fiddling with him, and I was tinkering with him this past weekend too. Getting the hang of the transformation definitely makes it easier, but between reviewing him and Optimus, it's a realization how seamless the gimmick works on one, and how stumbling it can be on the other.

[Brendocon 2.0]

Evening, losers.

MMC's Riot and Furor be here. Massive cognitive dissonance off these guys due to them using purple for Furor instead of dark blue, which means he's technically cartoon Rumble.

Other than that, these guys are great and everyone should have them.

[Warcry]

Rumble and Frenzy always give me a headache because they were both blue in their most prominent portrayals back in the day (albeit Rumble had lavender details in the cartoon and Frenzy was more of a toy-accurate blue when he got to do stuff in the comics and tertiary media), so the red guy is basically no one.

How large are they? Ravage in particular looks pretty cool in that shot.

Myself, I had POTP Swoop and Slag arrive last night. Slag spurs a lot of nostalgia, because he's so similar to the original figure. G2 Slag was the only one of the original Dinobot molds I owned (aside from a Snarl that I had for about two days before it broke), and was a childhood favourite. He's basically a streamlining of the 80s design, ditching the wings and incorporating the tail into the robot feet but otherwise basically just feeling like the G1 toy with joints. The combiner gimmick fits into the old design so well that I actually forgot it was even there until I started writing, too. He leaves me feeling a bit befuddled though, just because he's so similar to something I'm so familiar with that all the little differences make him seem...I dunno, weird I guess? But overall he's a pretty good figure, if not quite up to the high standards that the Titans Return Deluxes brought to the table.

Kinda sad he lost his wings, though.

Swoop feels totally different to me. I never owned the original, so I don't have the same tactile memories to compare it to, but he feels a lot less like a love letter to the 80s figure, and more like his own thing. All the other Dinos look like they were sculpted by importing the G1 figures into a CAD program and working from there, but not Swoop. Where the original figure was all boxy shapes and sharp angles, this one is very sleek and svelte. I don't know if the different feel is because this figure has to do triple duty as the basis for Cutthroat and Wildfly/Yokuryu later on down the line, but whatever the reason the figure definitely feels more like an updated resdesign of Swoop than the slavish homage of the other figures. He's quite a good figure though, very poseable and pretty much kibble-free aside from his wings (which are still quite functional in robot mode).

I was worried that both of these figures would be compromised by their combiner gimmick the way a lot of Combiner Wars figures are, but either Hasbro has gotten better at engineering around that or it's just easier to work it into a figure with a beast mode. But Slag and Swoop don't really suffer at all from being combiners, beyond the fact that their second accessory is a giant hand instead of a second weapon like most TR figures boasted.

[Tantrum]

Rumble and Frenzy always give me a headache because they were both blue in their most prominent portrayals back in the day (albeit Rumble had lavender details in the cartoon and Frenzy was more of a toy-accurate blue when he got to do stuff in the comics and tertiary media), so the red guy is basically no one.

I only watched the cartoon, and don't really remember the cassette bot named Frenzy doing anything at all. So, I consider whatever figure I have to be Rumble, regardless of color. Red Honda Alternator? Rumble. Blue TF:Prime coupe? Also Rumble. If I have the same mold in both colors, I demote the blue one to Frenzy.

I was worried that both of these figures would be compromised by their combiner gimmick the way a lot of Combiner Wars figures are, but either Hasbro has gotten better at engineering around that or it's just easier to work it into a figure with a beast mode. But Slag and Swoop don't really suffer at all from being combiners, beyond the fact that their second accessory is a giant hand instead of a second weapon like most TR figures boasted.

Slag's combiner peg just takes the place of the diaclone cockpit from the original toy. All Hasbro had to do was move the head out of the way in leg mode.

Swoop benfits from having his legs fold over his back in alt mode. That means the combiner peg can fold out of his back, leaving the bot chest uncompromised. They probably could do a vehicle alt mode with the same idea, but it'd end up kinda blocky, like Swoop's body. Maybe a penny-racer G1-type minibot would work.

[Brendocon 2.0]

Rumble and Frenzy always give me a headache because they were both blue in their most prominent portrayals back in the day (albeit Rumble had lavender details in the cartoon and Frenzy was more of a toy-accurate blue when he got to do stuff in the comics and tertiary media)

This is my only gripe with them. Frenzy's toy is two-tone blue, whereas this guy is blue and lavender. This is my first toy of these guys that actually matches Rumble's cartoon colour scheme and it's going to take a long time to adjust to that.

How large are they? Ravage in particular looks pretty cool in that shot.

The robotapes come up to about Prowl's bumper, so about the average size of a 3P minibot. Which is obviously a bit bigger than they should be, but that's life. I'm happier with them being this size than the ridiculously tiny versions that fit into MO Soundwave's chest.

I'll see if I can do a group shot with a selection of other figures at some point in the week.

[HeavyArms]

G1 Rodimus Prime and Stalker: I think the winnebago mode is the better of the three parts of Rodimus with the robot mode the worst as the figure has next to no articulation outside of moving his arms up and down.
I did own Stalker back in my early and outside of the very tight waist, he's exactly how I remember him.

POTP Vector Prime & Metalhawk - Purchased after finally finding the partial wave 1 at Target after hearing reports for weeks of people finding them at Toyworld.

[Clay]

I found most of deluxe wave two today! Picked up Darkwing, Rippersnapper, and Snarl. Sludge wasn't there; saw the green autocar, but passed. They're fun! Rippersnapper rides the line between hokey and cheesy as perfectly as a robot landshark could hope to. And they painted his shark teeth!

As Tantrum said, the Dinobots don't suffer from the combiner mechanic as they've simply slotted out the diaclone cockpits for the gestalt joints (in Grimlock's case, the combiner head gets stored there). So, it's to use or ignore as one pleases.

Swoop feels totally different to me. I never owned the original, so I don't have the same tactile memories to compare it to, but he feels a lot less like a love letter to the 80s figure, and more like his own thing.

Swoop has yet to break into three pieces, so yeah, he's pretty different from the original.

I don't see any conceits for making Cutthroat out of him as they transform very similarly. Basically he just needs an extra pair of dangly legs and not fold his robot legs up as a backpack, and bingo.