POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Warcry
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

Post by Warcry »

Clay wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 2:44 am I can't even begin to remember where I read it, but the reason Hasbro didn't release most of the BWNeo new molds was that most of the animals weren't, erm, action-y enough? 1996 beast wars was a cheetah, a rhino, a t rex, etc., whereas the 1999 selection was a giraffe, a penguin, a tanuki, etc. It's not the strongest point of argument if you ask me, but it was the rationale (if I remember right) for bringing over the dinosaur figures and not the rest.
That sounds entirely plausible and Hasbro-like, really.

I was having a conversation with someone else the other day and wondering why Hasbro transitioned to Fuzors and Transmetals so quickly when the original line seemed to be selling quite well. I'd put it down to simple greed and thinking they could make MORE money with different gimmicks. But after what you said, I'm wondering if they simply didn't think there were enough "cool" animals left to make toys of. That's really too bad, though, because I think a giraffe, a penguin and a tanuki could have been turned into MUCH cooler toys if it had been Kenner doing it and not whichever janitor Takara assigned the job to.

(If Hasbro chose not to import most of the Neo molds because most of them were simply sub-par toys, I don't think I'd be able to muster much of an argument against that.)
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmWell, stuff like Longrack, Break and Stampy are very silly. But then that's part of the charm. Or not.
The Neo stuff is definitely an acquired taste. One that I, for the most part, don't seem to have acquired. Airraptor is the first one that I can actually bring myself to call good. I like Stampy and Universe Nemesis Prime well enough but they're definitely pretty flawed.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmless so when Rapticon (or whatever the TMII Dinobot repaint is called - I own that. Bad collector, not knowing the name...)
I'd like to track down Rapticon but he seems to be surprisingly rare compared to the other BM Dinos (who, like you say, he doesn't fit with at all...)

I definitely think I'll put my Terranotron with my other Transmetals rather than assembling a Dinobot display.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmTriceradon is always welcome around my house. He's got the nicest paint job out of all the versions of this mould. Something unique for Hasbro, there.
Honestly? I wracked my brains trying to think of a worse Transformer in my collection than Triceradon and I came up blank. I can think of a whole heap that are less-interesting, but he's just such a mess, engineering-wise.I mostly bought mine (the Universe version) to laugh at what a mess he is.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmLots of paint on a Transformer. Unthinkable in this day and age.
I know, right? The sheer amount of bright colour and detail is a big part of what attracts me to Beast-era stuff. Compare something like Airraptor or Universe Reptilion or Geckobot to a modern Generations toy toy and the difference is almost laughable.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pm Hmm. Just thinking, my Hardhead is in a vs pack with Sharp Edge (also fantastic) which I bought as the vs packs seem to be a more cost effective way of getting the BWN figures, aside from the Korean releases.
My Stampy and Sling were is a two-pack too, but I think the two-packs got Korea releases. In fact I'm pretty sure mine were. Either way, like you say, they're fairly attainable as far as imports go. I get the impression they were over-produced and maybe over-imported by e-tailers who thought they'd be more popular than they were.

Sharp Edge is another I'd love to track down one day. I adore Cybershark and I can only imagine the mold is even cooler as a swordfish.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmKiller Punch was my last 'grail', so I'm pleased to have got him - again in a vs pack with that Polar Claw repaint whose name escapes me. Brown Bob. That's his new name.
Barbearian? Survive? Can never remember which one was the convention exclusive...
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Skyquake87
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Survive! That's his name. He could be a poster boy for our times...

Sharp Edge is really, really nice. I like him a little bit more than Cybershark. I know Triceradon is a bit of a mess (Thew's review of him is spot on in this regard), I just love him. He's a chunky, squat, angry little goblin with a dead mode.

I'm just thinking how good those Transmetal designs would have looked if they kept to the fleshy aesthetic. I don't feel they transitioned too quickly, but maybe after two years of solid sales success, they were trying to think where next to move Beast Wars. More of the same might have lead to a slowing of sales and a cooling of interest, and I don't feel trying mad things like Fuzors was a bad idea (although Air Hammer wasn't the best) and did no harm. Have to admit, I would have liked to see some more fleshy Beast Transformers given how nice some of the Animorph figures were with their texturing and general build quality.
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Warcry
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Skyquake87 wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 8:13 pm Survive! That's his name. He could be a poster boy for our times...
Did he eat his bat drone partner? :glance:
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pm Sharp Edge is really, really nice. I like him a little bit more than Cybershark.
He's definitely got more fetching colours and a really nice alt-mode, but I feel like it'd be tough for him to top Cybershark's psychotic toothy grin. Hellscream also looks pretty slick too.
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pm I know Triceradon is a bit of a mess (Thew's review of him is spot on in this regard), I just love him. He's a chunky, squat, angry little goblin with a dead mode.
I can't judge, I like Retrax. :)

(Also, it only took digging a bit deeper into the toy box to remember that I like the original Rhinox even less than Triceradon! At least the Dinobot is terrible in an interesting way.)
Skyquake87 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:32 pmI'm just thinking how good those Transmetal designs would have looked if they kept to the fleshy aesthetic. I don't feel they transitioned too quickly, but maybe after two years of solid sales success, they were trying to think where next to move Beast Wars. More of the same might have lead to a slowing of sales and a cooling of interest, and I don't feel trying mad things like Fuzors was a bad idea (although Air Hammer wasn't the best) and did no harm. Have to admit, I would have liked to see some more fleshy Beast Transformers given how nice some of the Animorph figures were with their texturing and general build quality.
Unfortunately it seems like they moved it in the wrong direction, since the new directions seemed to send sales trending down. I think they underestimated how much of Beast Wars' popularity was due to the organic alt-modes. Most of the Transmetals were amazing toys, but there were a few other lines to choose from if kids wanted transforming mechanized animals.

I don't think Fuzors really got a fair shake. I feel like they would have turned out better if they'd gotten a full wave to themselves, with the full attention of the design team, instead of playing a very clear second fiddle to the Transmetals. As is, we saw a lot of great ideas and a lot of cool beast modes, but a lot of them feel a size class or two too small because they only made Basics and Deluxes. Torca in particular would have been amazing as a Mega or Ultra.
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Clay
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Warcry wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:47 am The Neo stuff is definitely an acquired taste. One that I, for the most part, don't seem to have acquired. Airraptor is the first one that I can actually bring myself to call good. I like Stampy and Universe Nemesis Prime well enough but they're definitely pretty flawed.
The Neos are hit and miss, yeah. Break (the penguin) is pretty unsubstantial. He's just a robot with penguin plates/shells. Longrack (the giraffe) is amazing, however. Mach Kick (the horse) is somewhere in between.

I did have the thought after reading y'alls posts that organic beast modes akin to generations Waspinator and Rhinox would be great to revisit (a voyager sized triceratops or a deluxe pangolin could be pretty neat, for example), but the transformers as a brand has become an ouroboros and we'll never really see anything new again.
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Tantrum
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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I don't know about never seeing anything new again. We just had a cartoon line with animal based bot modes a couple years ago. Organic beast alt modes might be few and far between because they're harder to pull off than mechanical beats like Hammerstrike. We did just get a new Cheetor, but he was a smaller-than-warrior figure at a Voyager price point thanks to some armor no one wanted.
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Warcry
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Clay wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:15 pm The Neos are hit and miss, yeah. Break (the penguin) is pretty unsubstantial. He's just a robot with penguin plates/shells. Longrack (the giraffe) is amazing, however. Mach Kick (the horse) is somewhere in between.
I've never actually seen a Longrack in person. He's pretty goofy-looking in pictures, but a lot more charmingly so than, say, Guiledart. I suspect I'd probably like him. Mach Kick looks like he's got the same sort of engineering as Guiledart, but is less of a mess because horse parts aren't as chunky as triceratops ones.
Clay wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:15 pm I did have the thought after reading y'alls posts that organic beast modes akin to generations Waspinator and Rhinox would be great to revisit (a voyager sized triceratops or a deluxe pangolin could be pretty neat, for example), but the transformers as a brand has become an ouroboros and we'll never really see anything new again.
Sadly yeah, the brand has become too self-referential for me to have much hope. I'd be shocked to get any fleshy beasts that aren't just Cheetor, Dinobot, Waspinator and co. I would LOVE for them to revisit the concept of transforming, realistic animals for it's own sake and not just show nostalgia but I can't see it happening any time soon.
Tantrum wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:38 pmI don't know about never seeing anything new again. We just had a cartoon line with animal based bot modes a couple years ago. Organic beast alt modes might be few and far between because they're harder to pull off than mechanical beats like Hammerstrike. We did just get a new Cheetor, but he was a smaller-than-warrior figure at a Voyager price point thanks to some armor no one wanted.
The sad thing is that's the only place they seem willing to try anything different nowadays -- the low-budget, low-effort (but not low-priced) kids' line. G1 and Movie nostalgia sell too well for Hasbro to need to do anything different on the older-aimed lines. When was the last time we got a whole pile of random cool new toys of new characters in a main line...ROTF and HFTD?

And even Cyberverse seems to be falling into the "legacy characters" trap based on who I see on the pegs when I look at that section. Some cool new characters are in the mix, for sure, but seemingly fewer than RiD.
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Clay
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Warcry wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:34 pm
I've never actually seen a Longrack in person. He's pretty goofy-looking in pictures, but a lot more charmingly so than, say, Guiledart. I suspect I'd probably like him. Mach Kick looks like he's got the same sort of engineering as Guiledart, but is less of a mess because horse parts aren't as chunky as triceratops ones.
Longrack's great. Odd proportions and asymmetrical design, but the articulation and general build quality are there. Plus, he's a giraffe.
When was the last time we got a whole pile of random cool new toys of new characters in a main line...ROTF and HFTD?
I believe so, yeah. And even then, they were sprinkled pretty evenly with homages to existing stuff. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the live movie stuff once the studio line wraps up. There're plenty of oddball concept arts, deleted characters, and tertiary designs to explore (think along the lines of that nice ROTF Springer Osprey, 2007 Wreckage). Granted that's not the organic animal style we were talking about, but it's an example of a different style to mine just the same.
Tantrum wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:38 pm I don't know about never seeing anything new again. We just had a cartoon line with animal based bot modes a couple years ago. Organic beast alt modes might be few and far between because they're harder to pull off than mechanical beats like Hammerstrike. We did just get a new Cheetor, but he was a smaller-than-warrior figure at a Voyager price point thanks to some armor no one wanted.
That's a good point that I hadn't thought of. On the other hand, I got to use the term 'ouroboros' in a forum post. :p
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Clay wrote: Fri May 01, 2020 6:50 pmThat's a good point that I hadn't thought of. On the other hand, I got to use the term 'ouroboros' in a forum post. :p
Now I want a transformer with an ouroboros alt mode.
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Skyquake87
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Ooh yes, Longrack is awesome. I sought one out after seeing Thew's review of him years ago (the first transformer I picked something up based on a review) - in a 2 pack with Guiledart, of course :P - and he's such a cool figure. Yeah he looks weird, and that attack mode is just a horror of smashed up giraffe parts, but he is a quality piece of work. I did have Mach Kick at one point, but he was way too messy, all clashing shells and a strangely squat robot mode. The rooted hair was funny though. Shame the figure didn't come with a My Little Pony style comb.

...I just want to get my Beast Wars toys out now.

I would second a return of fleshy animal robots. Even if was just updates of BW cast - the Generations figures were all great (I love the Waspinator figure) and it was a shame Hasbro didn't do some more of the Beast era 'bots. G1 is fine and all, but Beast Wars stopped Transformers becoming a relic of days gone by. I know Takara's doing Masterpiece figures, but I'm not keen on the CGI beast modes and they're more than I can afford.

Some things arrived in the post, before I forget..!

ROTF Sideswipe
I liked the HFTD toy better, but wasn't a fan of the silly paint job, and went and picked this guy up. I was feeling nostalgic for ROTF, having picked up some of the ROTF Constructicons. He's a great figure, but I'd forgotten how much trouble he has standing up. Alt-mode is quite nice - I like the silver sheen for one thing - but a bit of a forgettable looking car.

Studio Series Barricade
On sale for £10 at B&M, I bought this on a whim and it's blown me away with how great it is! Barricade's my favourite LAM Decepticon, but always found his toys a bit lacking. This is much more like it. The robot mode looks less gangly and has that silly wheel weapon to wave about, which is both ridiculous and terrifying. There's some nice paintwork around the face and the crumpled up hood chest looks great. The transformation is just brilliant. It's a little fiddly, but I like that unlike all the horrible 'Bee figures I've had from the SS line, the robot mode can actually tidily pack itself away inside the body of the car. And the car mode looks fantastic and rolls superbly. Absolutely love it. Might actually be my favourite SS figure!
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Generations Dirge - Bought from eBay.

Commemorative Series Thundercracker & Skywarp & Platinum Edition Seeker Squadron (Ramjet, Dirge, Thrust) - Won an auction for all of these from eBay.

Now I only need Classics or Henkei! Skywarp to complete the Classics style planes and some form of reissue of Starscream to complete the reissue line of planes.
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As my first TF purchase in months, I got myself a Siege Jetfire. Because they finally gave us a proper damn Skyfire. And I'd say they nailed it. Suitably big, looks like the old animation model in both modes, got the changing faction symbol gimmick. Only transformed it back and forth once so far but solid transformation, nothing overly fiddly or that screamed 'break risk'.

My only issue is he's a smidge top/back heavy, due to the design. He stands up fine but he looks like he's leaning back a little, which could hamper balance when posing. It also gives me the concern that if given enough wear on the knee or hip joints, he may tumble over backwards. But the joints feel sturdy enough so maybe they planned for that possibility.
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Got the third party MMC Drift for dirt cheap thanks to Marian (that's why you co-host a podcast).

Yeah, that's a lovely toy isn't it? Fun transformation, sleek alt mode, good take on the original Cybertronain look for him.
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Who says nothing good can come out of a pandemic?

War for Cybertron SIEGE Omega Supreme: Holy buckets.... this guy is freaking HUGE!!!!! But, yes, thanks to government pandemic stimulus, I was able to get Omega Supreme. He's the only one of the Titan-class figures they've put out that I was interested in, mainly because I wasn't sure where I would put one, never mind several gigantic Transformers. And poor little Countdown has taken up permanent residence in Omega's left shin.
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HeavyArms
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Studio Series Soundwave.

Cyberverse Deluxe Bumblebee.

Earthrise Optimus Prime - Bought from Myer with a discount.

Armada Unicron - Bought from a collector in a Transformers Facebook group.
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Heinrad wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 7:52 pm War for Cybertron SIEGE Omega Supreme:
I didn't know he was out yet. He's one of the few on my 'to get' list as soon as I can reasonably spare that money. Don't think I have the reasonable space for him but that hasn't stopped my purchases before
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Omega came out towards the end of last year. My plan was to get him then, but things went kind of wahooni-shaped.

He's currently standing on top of a small bookcase I keep most of my PS4 games in. He wound up displacing my Studio Series DOTM Megatron and my PS1 Classic. He would have displaced my Chromecast as well, but by hanging it off the side, the HDMI cable is between his feet. His great, huge, crushing.... feet.
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Unicron
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Heinrad wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 4:24 pm Omega came out towards the end of last year. My plan was to get him then, but things went kind of wahooni-shaped.
Really? Hmmm... shows how close I've been paying attention to release schedules. Damn
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Denyer
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Heinrad wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 7:52 pmAnd poor little Countdown has taken up permanent residence in Omega's left shin.
If you feel like selling Countdown separately, would probably be interested. Can't get excited about Omega or Devastator at that scale but would quite like to get the named character micros.
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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I picked up Earthrise Astrotrain and Cliffjumper last month. No major complaints so far, even if Astrotrain's alt modes are a bit of a funny shape in parts.
See me tweet @BobCybertron
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HeavyArms
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Re: POST YOUR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS!

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Masterpiece MP-28 Hot Rodimus - Bought from eBay, haven't checked the robot mode yet, but the car mode has a nice low profile that I really like.
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