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Cliffjumper
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Post by Cliffjumper »

The Minibots' alternate modes are of toy cars, and I think Megatron's original one was a toy gun judging by the commercial that shows a kid having one in his drawer.
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FortMax
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Post by FortMax »

And the G1 toy's altmode is a toy Walther P38, not a P53. His lower arms even have "Walther P38" molded in.
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Kenori
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Kenori's Review: Leader Class Optimus Prime (Premium)[proofed]

Post by Kenori »

Name: Optimus Prime
Function: Leader of Autobots (and being a badass)
Sub-Group: Leader Class

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

The most expensive transformer I've bought so far. I picked this bad boy up just as they were putting the new transformers out. I had just cashed my paycheck and I KNEW I needed him. After playing with him and letting the glow kinda subside, here is my honest take on the figure.

Robot Mode
We will start with this today, because this is the mode that he comes packaged in. And I would also like to say that whoever come up with the idea for plastic ties to hold the figures in place needs to be shot. Repeatedly. Once he's out of the box, the first thing you notice is how tall he is. This guy is probably one of the biggest TF I've ever owned.

The second thing you notice is the detail. Everything is very well detailed, all the way down to the rivets under the windshield and on the sun shield as well.

The paint scheme, as always with good ole O.P., is red and blue: in this case an normal red and darker, navy blue. There are is also a shot of orange-gold on the legs. Of course, with this being a premium figure, there is some slight repaint here and there. The legs right at the joint to the waist do not have the blue application that the did originally, nor do the little nodules right above the knee joint have the gold paint they had on the original, instead, Hasbro chose silver all the way down the leg. While I can understand the blue missing (it didn't really fit where it was) I don't understand taking out the gold, as it would've been a good complement to the gold lining they put on the shoulders, instead of the red and silver they originally had. The head is the usual blue with silver trim on the mouth, cheeks, and around the eyes, but also there are some gold dots on the "ears" that bring them out a little more. While the head looks really good this way, I am a little puzzled as to why they didn't paint the forehead groove silver like every other version of Prime I've ever seen. It would just make since to do so.

Now as far as playability and posing goes....meh not so much. He does have various points of articulation, don't get me wrong, but definitely not enough of them. Nearly every joint in the arms and legs is a ratchet joint, and while the noise can be a little bit grating at times, I will say that it does keep the figure good and sturdy. There are no wrist joints at all, and that is a bit irksome. Also with his big blocky forearms and odd, blue rectangle shoulder pads, it can be a chore putting him in any cool poses other than "Stand Completely Still Like A Robot" mode (which, considering that he is a robot, is kinda ironic). The hands themselves open and close, but the thumb is almost completely useless. I can't even give a thumbs-up for crying out loud!

The head, though with a pretty new sculpt, has no new joints and therefore cannot move except left and right, which is fine i suppose, considering there aren't any poses the arms are going to be able to do that the head won't be able to follow more or less.

The legs are about the same as the arms, but offer even less articulation. Basically about all you can do with the legs is put him in the "One Step Forward" pose. The hips are a big disappointment, but since it is an integral part of the transformation process, its not too bad. Bottom Line: This is a toy built for showing off, not for playing with.

Now as far as kibble goes, well there is some that is annoying, while nearly everything seems to fit into place very tightly, there is a small exception with the two back fins that become the sides of the hood in alt mode. They just will not stay in place when being played with. At all. Whatsoever. The tabs that they are inserted into just do nothing to hold them on. Other than this and the big honking attachments on the bottom of the hands, though, the kibble pretty much stays out of the way. It was a genius idea to have the back wheels which connect to the legs split apart horizontally.

Other than the paint applications mentioned above, the only other change to the actual Prime mould is the resculpted head. I definitely like it more than the original head. It looks more inline with the movie, if a little Batman-ish.

The other change to the original Prime was the inclusion of a cybertron blade instead of a gun. I honestly like the blade way more than the gun. The blade is fully painted, and looks really really cool when put on his hand. It has little engravings in what appears to be Cybertronian on the blade. A small lever on the top opens the blade, and a socket on the side connects it to the tab on Prime's right arm.

While I love the blade itself, the way the blade goes onto the arm is not my favorite thing. Instead of coming around over the arm like the gun, you have to fold the hand back up, put the blade back onto the tab, and THEN you can slide the lever to put it into place. Honestly, it’s a little redundant, but the end result is worth it. Prime definitely looks all the badass he's supposed to be when he has his blade equipped. Also, the two cannons that come out of the bottom of the arm are still there, and they are still grey, which really puts them out of place with the blade.

Overall. I'd say that that the Robot Mode of Prime, although really cool to put on your shelf to display, really isnt all that fun to play with.

Transformation
The transformation is where the toy really shines. I love transforming this thing back and forth, but the first time I did it, it took me a little while. Almost every piece goes together beautifully (more on that in a bit), and it’s really clever how they got everything to fold down. The only problems I found with the transformation is the hood. Because of so many pieces that have to come together to form the hood, any one wrong move will mean that you're going to have a very odd looking hood. It usually takes me about 3 or 4 minutes just to get the hood to come together, and almost every time, I have a little gap between the top and right side of the hood. I just can’t figure out if it’s the design or me.

The automorph gimmicks here are the same as the original, and work the exact same. The first is with the head. Pushing a release switch right next to Prime's crotch (!) will cause his head to shoot up and make the transformation sound effect, with lights in the windshield and in Prime's eyes. These lights are oddly yellow, while Prime's eyes and the windshield are both blue.

The other involves the feet. By pushing diagonally on the little tab underneath he grill, then pulling that tab ninety degrees. Two pieces of the grill flip up to form toes. Awesome.

Vehicle Mode
Personally my favorite mode. Prime looks really good as a Peterbuilt Truck. He even has rubber tires! A great little addition.

There is much less silver on the truck, with more red and blue flames. The orange appears more between the Red and Blue, most notably on the hood. Overall, Primes vehicle mode, when properly put together, looks really, really good. When a button on the top of the truck is pressed, a sound effect of a horn blowing is played, and the cab lights up again in that yellow color.

There is only one, very minor, change as far as I can tell. The Autobot symbol on the grill (which as far as I can tell is the only one on Prime's whole body.) is silver instead of red. I actually prefer it silver, because I don’t think I've ever seen a colored hood ornament, especially not on a truck.

Transformation: 9/10. Seriously, it's that hard. And the instructions are the worst I've ever read, ever.
Durability: 10/10. Very stable, haven't had any problems with anything breaking or wearing. I dropped it off my work desk and it bounced off of a wood floor. Not so much as a scratch.
Fun: 5/10. Posing is a problem. Playing is a problem. Honestly, I'd just stick this guy on your shelf and look at him. Though I would have given him lower if transforming him wasnt so much fun after getting the hang of it.
Price: 8/10. 40 bucks ain’t cheap. Especially with as little fun as you'll get out of this guy. I'd say, unless you're a diehard Prime fan, or a collector, wait to see if he'll go on sale.
Overall: 7/10. Honestly, after the glow faded, he just sorta sits there now, looking cool, but that’s about it. I'll pick him up every now and again to transform, but for the most part he's just a pretty paperweight.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

It's funny robot mode! Ta-dah!:wave:
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zeoman4.5
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Post by zeoman4.5 »

Thanks for the pics. I wouldn't have been able to get some myself for quite some time due my moving and having missplaced my camera.

Its quite the strange figure in robot mode huh? but I like him.
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Detective Barricade
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Post by Detective Barricade »

To quote Tony Stark from Ironman: "I respectfully disagree."

I have the original Movie Leader Prime, and he is really fun!:D It's somewhat of a hassle, but he can be put into a wide variety of poses. And he can (awkwardly) do a thumbs-up: his thumb is ball jointed, so just turn it around!:p And if you thought that Prime's instructions are bad, go on to Hasbro's site, and look up Movie Leader class Megatron's instructions. Here's a link. His instructions are only good for garbage. But I'll agree that his truck mode and transformation are fun. And the nose sides don't lock onto the pegs in robot mode either. But great review anyway!:D
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Blackjack
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Movie Divebomb! [proofed]

Post by Blackjack »

Name: Divebomb
Alligeance: Decepticon
Function: Aerial something-or-other
Alt mode: Su-27 Terminator Jet

Divebomb is a Walmart exclusive repaint of Cybertron Thundercracker in napalm yellow with camouflage colours, so just read Thundercracker's review and leave me be.

Just kidding.

History time first. The name Divebomb first appeared in G1, as a Predacon, and he transformed into a rather nice red, black and gold eagle. The next Divebomb appeared in Energon/Superlink as one of the Terrorcon armies. This one's also an eagle/hawk. Creating Divebomb as a jet, with an odd paintjob... AND using Cybertron Thundercracker's mold... was not an idea I was too keen with.

VEHICLE MODE
Divebomb turns into, according to Wikipedia, a Su-27 Terminator jet. The jet is rather slick, but the solid 'camouflage' paintjob really detracts from it. I mean, would it be too much to ask for Predacon red or black on the rims of the wings? For the record though, Cracker's jet paintjob is good.

His cockpit's a clear light blue. Divebomb has four rubber gray missiles, which are NOT removable. The nosecone is also rubber gray. Divebomb's upper back wings are also made of rubber/softer plastic. Wonder why.

Divebomb's Cyber Key (the Decepticon one molded in Dark blue) pops the whole midsection of the jet up, firing a missile. The overall effect ruins the otherwise good plane mode.

Plastic non-rolling wheels can fold out from the nosecone and the engines (legs), helping Divebomb to stand. Divebomb's transformation covers all robot kibble except for the place to insert the key, making me hate the gimmick more. Grrr.

Oh, and Divebomb's profile describes kind of a stinking, smelly guy... Like Skalor, instead of a ferocious air hunter which is Divebomb.

ROBOT MODE
I watched Cybertron and I bloody like Thundercracker. He has a BIG cannon, making the comic relief guy look imposing. When I heard that the Thundercracker toy is going to be repainted I went for it. What I DON'T expect is that the cannon IS the hand. I kinda thought it was a detachable weapon. I ain't too pleased, but ain't too pissed either.

The jet turbines form legs, the cockpit form the chest, hand folds out of the jet's bottom... Truly a transformation of Seeker origins, only without the cone head. I hereby take back everything I say about Overcast looking the most like a Seeker--this guy is.

Divebomb has a nice head sculpt, but the mold's main fault is the shoulders, which often comes loose, as the transformation doesn't hold them together. The cannon hand doesn't help either, as if you point it down it makes Divebomb fall.

Final history note: this mold has been used thrice. The first is Thundercracker of Galaxy Farce/Cybertron, the second is for the toy-only Skywarp of the same line, the third for Divebomb. I was half expecting Starscream.

DURABILITY 8/10 pretty solid, make no mistake.
TRANSFORMATION 4/10 in hardness. Piece o' cake. 9/10 in design (robot to plane), as it covers all robotic kibble. 4/10 for plane to robot, for reasons above.
FUN 7/10 a guy with a cannon for a hand? Even though it's too long, it's bloody fun.
PRICE X/10 depends, really...
OVERALL 7/10 Not the best toy of the movie walmart repaints line(Jolt and Big Daddy look cool to me), but quite interesting nevertheless. Call me a sucker for Decepticon jets. If you missed out the originals (which have much better paint jobs) this guy is worth a try.
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The Reverend
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g1 Pretender Grimlock

Post by The Reverend »

Name: Grimlock (Pretender)
Generation: 1
Faction: Autobot
Function: Lieutenant Commander

"Among the winners, there is no room for the weak."
A raging, reckless robot. The most fearsome and powerful Dinobot ever. Particularly nasty when he's reminded that he now resembles a human. Outer shell equipped with jet pack and atom smashing submachine gun that pierces all forms of armor and eats away enemy fortifications. Inner robot armed with double-barreled, self-propelled rocket launcher. In dinosaur mode, serrated steel jaws can tear through solid rock. Jet boosters in legs also provide flight capabilities.


Towards the end of the G1 line we started seeing "recycled" characters, and the second wave of Pretenders featured revamps of Grimlock, Bumblebee, Jazz and Starscream in Pretender format. The inner robots were also available at K-Mart stores as "Legends" figures with slightly different Tech Specs. Since the Dinobots themselves were no longer in production, Grimlock's function has been bumped up to "Lieutenant Commander", although looking at his Tech Spec indicates that his Intelligence has dropped a few points and his skill has gone down by one point. Its hard to stay effective. Still, the attempt at boosting the rather odd Pretenders line by bringing out old characters in the new styling was interesting...

Shell:
Grimlock's shell, like most of the Autobot Pretenders, resembles a human wearing armor. This particular shell's design seems to stem from a confused influence. It looks like a middle-aged man (note the slight lining in the face) with bushy eyebrows wearing brightly patterned armor and the old NASA Manned Maneuvering Unit backpack. The armor features a strange stylized flower-like logo appearing in multiple places, and apparently consists of a blue undersuit with grey plates colored in with a sort of pinky-red on the smooth surfaces. He is also wearing squarish boots and odd shoulder pads that are the color of dark wood, and with their "scroll" designs at the peaks look like something from a furniture store. I guess the aim was to make him look somewhat barbaric, but the fact that the face is clean-shaven kind of ruins the effect. Capping all of this is a crested helmet. The crest offsets the furniture-store shoulder pads a little, but it also makes his head look even fatter. Each of his fists has a hole - the right arm has the standard weapon-hole for carrying his submachine gun, the left has a slanted one for carrying the inner robot's "rocket launcher". The submachine gun is nicely molded, and if you look closely at the over sized "bayonet" blade along its underside you may realize it doubles as Grimlock's energo-sword. The shell can move at the shoulders, but doesn't feature any snap-on belt like most of the Pretenders did. Overall, I really don't like it... I don't have anything specifically against Pretenders, but I don't like this particular shell. It's too bland and funny-looking, doesn't do anything for the character and doesn't really stand out well against the others in the line.

Robot Mode:
Opening the shell, you should normally find Grimlock snuggled inside in a sort of casket-like manner (I'm not going to comment on the implications of this). This is a sort of "pocket Grimlock", featuring at a glance most of the normal appearance we're familiar with. Gold chest with the triangular plate in front, masked face, big arms with the dinosaur claws hanging off, black groin and upper legs, grey lower legs. There are a few differences in color - Grimlock's faceplate as well as his visor is now orange, the plate on his chest is now black-on-gold. This incarnation doesn't have wings, and the dinosaur arms are attached to the sides of his knees now. The dinosaur head is still on his back, but its now staring down his back instead of folded over backwards. Grimlock can bend at the knees and rotate his shoulders, and he has the aforementioned "rocket launcher" (actually the dinosaur's tail) to carry - which, because it bends at a 45-degree angle halfway through, looks kind of funny, but tail/lasers have never been a big hit with me anyway. With a little cramming you can put the tail in the shell with him if you arrange it carefully. Still, as a mini-Grimlock this isn't half bad, and the stickers bring out a lot of nice highlights.

Alternate Mode:
The transformation for Pretender Grimlock is almost reversed from the original. Although his arms still form the legs of the T-rex, now his lower legs fold backwards to become the dinosaur's upper body and the head pivots down to meet them at the tops of his knee joints. This means that robot-mode Grimlock is now basically doing a headstand, and a hole is on the back of his head to attach his tail. Because of the length of the tail, this incarnation of Grimlock's dino mode is easy to stand and display. He now has rounded front limbs and fingers instead of the original's robotic limbs, his head has a lot of detailing and etching (there's a Mechagodzilla quality to him, almost), but he still has orange eyes and plenty of teeth. This version's jaw does not open, and he's pretty short (head-butting Ultra Magnus' shins, perhaps). The now smooth and lithe arms can move and the head has some upward movement available, and there's also a little room for his legs to move. Not a lot in terms of poseability here, but his display value isn't too bad. The way in which his robot legs form his upper body cuts back on his "armored" look a little, as the backs of the robot legs are visible right through the front of his chest. There's also no chroming on this version - everything is solid plastic.


Transformation: You don't need instructions.
Durability: He's actually quite sturdy given the materials being used by this point. I've never run across a broken one. The joint that allows his dinosaur head to move during transformation is a little questionable, but it seems strong enough.
Fun: I think I described it best as a "Pocket Grimlock". That's essentially what he is. The Pretender gimmick doesn't really seem to work for his character (maybe its punishment?), but having a Pocket Grimlock around to threaten Throttlebots is relatively funny. Its no substitute for the original or any other incarnations, but it is a neat novelty. Reprolabels now offers a sticker set for it, so you can restore a lonely one if you enjoy that.
Price: I picked this one up cheap because a comic shop had its shell and inner robot in a case mixed in with a bunch of others and didn't realize the two pieces went with each other. It usually seems to go for less than $30, and if you just want the inner robot you can often pick it up for $10.
Overall: Is your pocket feeling empty? Me Grimlock want to munch metal!
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Kenori
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Post by Kenori »

Well, to each his own as they say. I honestly couldn't get it to do right a lot. I would put him in a pose, just get him to look cool, and then he would just flop right over. I think he might be a little bit too top heavy.

Anyway, I did put him in my all time favorite Toku pose: The "Ore Sanjou!" pose (Like this). But like I said, his thumb just looks weird like that.

I'm not saying the toy isnt fun. I'm saying its more of a collectors thing than a kids play thing.
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Heinrad
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Music Label Soundwave -[incomplete]

Post by Heinrad »

Heinrad's Review of: Music Label Soundwave

Motto(at least, the only thing in English on the bio card that looks familiar): Cries and screams are music to my ears.

The motto I have for him: It was the beat.... the beat got to me.

Yes, for a year or so, I, like many others, have been wanting to get one of these. Thanks for the economic stimulus plan, I got one. The figure is available in three different color schemes: Sonic White, Spark Blue, and.... uh... Soundblaster Black. I got the Spark Blue version.

Packagng:

Soundwave comes in a simply adorned black box. The pictures on it are of the Sonic White version, with stickers advertising the fact that he's the Spark Blue version, and a motto saying that this will "Transform your music life." There's a flap on the front, and when you open it, there he sits in all of his glory, in tape player mode, surrounded by two sets of hands, his guns, and a white set of earphones.

Transformation is similar to the original Soundwave, but there are a couple of differences. First, you have to pull the arms out. This will allow you to flip the legs down, then turn them 90 degrees before flipping them down the rest of the way. Flip the feet down, then the heels in the back, flip the hands down, push the panel on the top back to let the head pop up, and there you have Soundwave.

He comes with a total of three sets of hands: closed fists, hands slightly open so it looks like he can pull the trigger on his rifle, and finger open enough to reach up and hit the door release. Although I can't picture him getting much use out of having the mini-SD chip eject. His shoulder cannon plugs into where the earphone jack is, and the rifle can be held in either hand.

Robot Mode:

With shoulder cannon and rifle in place, Soundwave looks like an updated version of the original, although his knees now bend the right way, and with 16 points of articulation you can practically pose him however you want.

The MP3 Player:

TakaraTomy has given us an extremely basic MP3 player. No display, no built in memory, and(most annoyingly), no position memory. If you turn it off, it will start back at the beginning of the play list on the mini-SD card(not included), and the volume will reset the next time you turn it on.

When it's playing, a blue LED light blinks on and off behind the tape door. From what I've read, the max the player will handle is 128kbps, with a 1 gig chip capacity. While I've read that a 2 gig chip works just as well, I got a 1 gig chip in the interest of saving 10 bucks. Powered by 1 AAA battery, it works fairly well. As for the kbps, I haven't noticed any difference in what's on there, and I've got a lot of things on the chip that are around 320 kbps.

The earphones aren't so bad, but I decided to get the most I could out of it and got a proper set of headphones. Skullcandy "Lowrider". The sound is very good..... especially when the cat hasn't chewed up the cord.

Summing up:

If you need a very basic MP3 player(and don't mind paying for it), get one. If you think your Classics Megatron needs a sleekly updated classic look Soundwave, get one. Or if, like me, you think it's neat, get one. If you want something to replace your iPod, look somewhere else.
As a professional tanuki (I'm a Japanese mythological animal, and a good luck charm), I have an alarm clock built into me somewhere. I also look like a stuffed animal. And you thought your life was tough......

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Detective Barricade
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Post by Detective Barricade »

His feet are ball jointed, so that helps! And as for your other comment, welcome to the world of Transformers - A Micheal Bay film!:lol:

EDIT: You need to fix your Durability thing. you need a (/) in front of that second 'b'.:)
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Kenori
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Post by Kenori »

I know I do, but everytime I try, my computer freezes, I'll try again here in a minute.

EDIT: Nevermind it did it then.
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Transformer Kamen
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TFA Voyager Megatron

Post by Transformer Kamen »

Name: Megatron
Fuction: Decepticon Tyrant
Subgroup: TFA Voyager Vehicles


“The Allspark will be mine, and Cybertron will tremble at my feet.”

Back on Cybertron, when it is late at night, and very dark, robots tell each other stories of the war. They spin stories about the deeds of Megatron, and though robots don’t fel cold, the listeners shiver. The only ones who don’t enjoy a scary Megatron story are the old ones, the ones who were there. Those old Auto bots remember the real Megatron. Many of them beat scars sustained in the heat of his fusion cannon, or dents delivered by his powerful swords. To those old robots, Megatron is no monster; he is a warrior so vicious and terrible that monsters pale in comparison.


And now a character who needs no introduction...

Alternate Mode:

Meg’s alt mode is a Cybertron Fusion Fighter, as described on the box. I’ve heard a lot of people complain that this mode is a load of crap, a Frankensteinian hodgepodge of parts, that can’t tell it’s back from its front. I disagree.

The craft is lain out in a diamond shape; the ovular shape flanked by translucent blood red panels is the cockpit. A the rear of the diamond are two fins also of blood red plastic. At the outer edges of the craft are what appear to be VTOL engines or turbines of some sort and two stubby wings. Directly behind the cockpit is the craft’s main thruster. Like the other Animated figures the craft has very little in the way of detail. Aside for the red plastic, light and dark grey, and black make up the rest of the color scheme. No kibble is apparent on the figure, though there are a few gaps in the forward part of the figure that look out of place.

The thruster, actually the robot’s gun, can fire the missile included with the figure, though it looks very odd in this mode. Landing gear also features on the bottom of the figure, and rolls along nicely.

This mode give me mixed feelings. I don’t think that its terrible; I can definitely look at it and see a spacecraft. However, I don’t remember the Animated version of Megatron’s cybertronian mode looking like this, and, in any case, he only uses it briefly.

Robot Mode:

Whatever your view of his alt mode, in robot mode the figure is immediately recognizable as Megatron, albeit more similar in appearance to Movie Megatron than his G1 incarnation. Simplified, however, to give him an overall cartoonish appearance.

His colors carry over from his alt mode, and the only new detail is his face, which has an appropriately fierce expression.

Articulation is great. Combinations of ratchet, swivel, and hinge joints at major joints plus waist and head articulation give him a wide range of poseability. The only thing holding him back, in fact, his the size of his cannon. It’s HUGE; roughly the same size as the figure itself. As one might imagine this beast over-balances him on his left side, and, at least on mine, is too heavy for his shoulder joint to keep steady if the arm is straight.

There are a few problems I found in this mode. His left leg keeps falling off at the swivel joint, and his cannon pops of its peg at the slightest provocation. Both problems can be fixed with a light application of nail-polish. He also has a slight problem with the way his cannon deploys, although this problem is dependent on your aesthetic taste. Deploying the cannon on the provided hinge has the cannon hanging a good distance from his arm, looking awkward to my eye, and over balancing him something fierce. This can be corrected by shaving off a bit of the plastic (see here for more details), thusly allowing the cannon to fold up against the arm. Obviously, though this fix depends on your confidence in your kit-bashing skills.

Gimmick-wise, Megatron has a missile that can be fired from his cannon. He also has a “fearsome fusion blade”. You make this by pushing the cockpit out of the way then swinging one side of the red plastic down; the other side will automatically flip into position. It looks at best like a bat’leth style weapon, but since he has no way to hold it aside from the same pin that keeps the cannon attached to his arm, it ends up looking rather daft.

Overall, though, robot mode is a quite solid.

Transformation: About average. You shouldn’t need instructions. 3/10

Durability: I’ve mentioned some trouble spots in the review. Otherwise, I haven’t had any problems. 7/10

Fun: This is where personal taste takes over. His robot mode is great fun, but his alt mode, well, isn’t everyone’s cup’o tea. However, I enjoy it. 7/10

Price: $20 USD. Not bad, but if you’re not sure wait a bit I’m sure they’ll be plenty life at the end of the run. 5/10

Overall: As a figure, I like him well enough. As a Megatron, his robot mode hits all the right vibes. However, this version of Megatron only show up in the first episode, but if you want a Megatron and can’t afford the Leader Class (the only Earth-mode Megs in the line so far, curse you Hasbro!) then I think this one is preferable over the deluxe figure. 7/10
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Ackula
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Post by Ackula »

numbat wrote:I'm not too clear here - are the four smaller leggie things at the front not legs?
Yes. They rotate down and form the two front legs. The spider alt mode stands just fine on these.
Transformer Kamen wrote:I just think it makes more sense for the black limbs to be some form of pedipalp or claw rather than legs.
No. :nonono:
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Transformer Kamen
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Post by Transformer Kamen »

Kali wrote:Yes. They rotate down and form the two front legs. The spider alt mode stands just fine on these.
She can yes. The attached pic is the best I've been able to do (if you, or anyone, has better please post it!), but I still think the forward limbs are grossly out of proportion with her body.

Reviews been edited to included these findings.

Keep the feedback coming! ^^
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

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The Reverend
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Post by The Reverend »

Jazz's visor wasn't blue on at least the earliest originals.
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Kenori
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Premium Blackout [proofed]

Post by Kenori »

Since this was accidentally put in the Review thread, I figured I'd go ahead and write a review on him. Why not.

Name Decepticon Blackout
Function Possibly Stealth?
Sub-Group Voyager

The only goals BLACKOUT ever had were to serve for MEGATRON, fight for DECEPTICON dominance, and be the most perfect soldier he could. He follows orders without question, even to the point of self-termination, and maintains himself and his weapons in pristine condition. The other DECEPTICONS may choose the easy road, letting their bodies gather scratches and dents, but BLACKOUT knows discipline is the prerequisite to power

I decided to pick up Blackout after reading Numbat's Review of the original version. I was a big fan of this helicopter transformer in the movie, he just oozed a lot of bad ass. Anyway, on to the review.

Vehicle Mode
We will start with the mode straight out of the box. Vehicle mode is truly where this figure shines. As per Wikipedia, Blackout's vehicle mode is a MH-53 Pave Low Helicopter nicknamed the "Super Jolly Green Giant." The paint job is done mostly in a dark grey-blue, much darker than the original figure, with most of the detailing done in black. Also the entire figure appears to have a wash coat of black on it, giving it a darker, more used look. There is also some silver paint done at various points to resemble scuff marks, and some tan on the connections to the jet intakes on the side.

The level of detail in the paint job on this figure is simply astounding. Finding all the little points of detail is actually fun to do. So far here are the ones I've found: on either side of the back panel is a small "blink and you'll miss it" Decepticon logo.
On either side door there is an arrow with RESCUE printed in it, which I assume to be for the rescue hoist. The right arrow, however, has a screw going threw it, so it sorta breaks the realism a bit, but the left arrow is unblemished.
There is an arrow on either side of the jet intakes with the words JET INTAKES written into them. For added realism, the jet intake sticker on the right appears to be scuffed off slightly, with silver paint showing through.
The premium has the two red stripes like the regular figure does, but between those stripes is also a white stripe with the code 551-SOS, which Google told me meant that Blackout belongs to the 551st Special Operations Squadron.
Also underneath the tail on the left and right side is the letters BLK-OT with 4500X underneath that. Its a nice little touch. One of my favorite things is when Transformers hide their names somewhere on their vehicle mode bodies. Also there is a scuff line in silver on the right side of the tail, between the BLK-OT and the 4500X.

The toy is very solidly put together, with few missing gaps or anything. The only two noticeable gaps are the two on either side between the jet intake, and the roof of it. There is also one between the cockpit and the roof, but that one is small and inconsequential.

The action feature is very simple, but fun to do. By pressing a button behind the tail, it causes to the rotor blades to spin. It is very solid and looks realistic. The rotor blades themselves are not necessarily loose, but they come off a little easily. They do fit tight in there little holdings, but I think they're designed to come off instead of snapping in half or something.

The figure also has a cage underneath the fuselage which holds the Scorponok mini-fig (more on him later). There is a release switch you use to open the cage, but honestly it works maybe one out of ever ten times you use it, and the hinge the cage sits on is incredibly loose. I'm always afraid of it just falling off, but it is holding for now.

Transformation
The transformation can be annoyingly nerve-wracking until you realize that the rotor blades, and thereby the entire back section, can be completely removed. This makes the transformation LOADS easier. Unfortunately, the instructions have you do the transformation as if you had it attached which, as I said, will give you a headache very quickly. The instructions also don't tell you exactly how to use the automorph feature (you have to pull on the legs as you flip them around to do it) nor does it tell you that the rotor blades have to be split apart between two certain ones to have them sit properly (their is a small arrow between the two, but if you're not looking, you won't know). In other words: get rid of the instructions.

Robot Mode
The Robot Mode for Blackout is, for lack of a better term, dumpy. He is very Igor-like, with his "Shoulders" coming up to his head. He looks very different from a lot of figures in the line, but hey they can't all look the same.
There aren't any new colors in this mode than in the Vehicle Mode, but they are portioned out a little differently. There is a lot more tan, mostly on the arms and legs. Also the same grey-blue color appears in patches on the legs, but it is a much lighter color, due to the absence of the shot-through black like on the rest of the figure. There is also more silver, mostly on the codpiece, waist, and chest, and the head is blue, with silver highlights. The eyes are red, and the back of the head is also red. I guess it was supposed to have a back light thing going on, but the whole back coves up the back of his head, so no glowing eyes for this guy. There is also two decepticon symbols on the backs of each of his forearms. as well as a the mandatory silver Decepticon logo on his chest.

Kibble is prevalent in this mode, but it doesn't really take away too much. Except for the cage on the bottom of the fuselage, and the rotator blades folded back, the entire back section of the plane is completely unchanged, also the two pieces of the roof that split apart really don't have anywhere to go except to sit right on top of the highest point of the shoulders. While they tried to detract a little bit away from this by adding missiles to this part, it still looks too bulky.

For the most part, the joints on blackout are pretty tight and offer ok movement. The hands are jointed at the shoulder and elbow, and offer enough movement for a few nice poses. The legs are also jointed at the hip and knees, with the knee joint being a ratchet joint, giving him a solid base. The head is on a pin joint, so he can move left or right faily well, but with the way his shoulders stick out from his chest, the dude has tunnel vision something fierce.

The action feature for this mode is the same as the vehicle mode, but used in a different way. By removing the back section and placing it in a peg on Blackout's shoulder, you can turn the propellers into a blade weapon like in the movie. Now you can have fun getting into blade fights with Blackout and Incinerator.

Bonus! Like the original Blackout, the premium version comes with a scale model Scorponok figure that you can put in Blackout's little cage. Unlike the original, however, this version is fully painted in Scorponok's gold and brown/bronze color. It looks most bad ass indeed. There isn't much articulation, but you can raise and lower its tail. One of my favorite poses is to put Scorponok in the little space between Blackout's shoulders, right behind his head. It's an almost perfect place for him, even if it is a little comedic.

Transformation:6 (or 4, depending)/10. If you try to do the transformation by way of the instructions and with the rotor attached, its extremely frustrating, but without the rotor blades it really isn't too bad.
Durability:7/10. Overall, the figure is solid, with only the rotor blades
and the under carriage being loose.
Fun:8/10. I love playing with this fellow, transforming him back and forth, and just flying him around in helicopter mode. He just looks amazing and goes really well with all the other figures on my desk.
Price:10/10. At only 20 bones before sale prices, this figure is an absolute steal. I would say get him ASAP.
Overall:9/10. The robot mode looks a little odd, but it definitely makes up for it in his beautiful vehicle mode. Plus the fully colored Scorponok mini-fig just sweetens the deal. Hasbro, take notes, this is how you make a premium figure.
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Detective Barricade
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Animated Starscream Review [proofed]

Post by Detective Barricade »

Name: Starscream
Function: Air Warrior Supreme
Sub-Group: Animated Voyager class

Galactic Powers and Abilities:
- Fastest vehicle mode of any Decepticon.
- Aerial assault and tactical blitz expert.
- Weapons can shatter metal and disrupt electronics.

Quote: "Power is it’s own justification."

No one really likes Starscream, not even other Decepticons. Who can blame them though? He’ll do whatever it takes to gain control of the Decepticons, even going so far as trying to destroy his commander Megatron. Of course, he’s also nearly as powerful as Megatron, and just as sneaky. He’s the fastest flier there is, and even Optimus Prime would have a hard time beating him in a fight. He’s the best there is at what he does. Even so, he sometimes overrates himself, and that’s why he’s still second in command.

One of the best known Decepticons, Starscream has been mostly known for attempting to overthrow Megatron to become leader of the Decepticons, and always turning into a fast fighter jet. So guess who’s back for Animated? Only this time, he’s more determined, more opportunistic, and more overconfident! Anyway, on to the review!

Alternate Mode:

Starscream turns into a futuristic jet, supposedly based on the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut. It certainly has the distinctive forward swept wing design, which apparently really does work well in the present. He has a set of three landing gear, one under the cockpit, and one on each of what will be his legs. These aren’t spring-loaded, but hold due to pressure, and can be a real pain to get out. His arms and legs are clearly visible from the underside, but they’re not as cluttering as Movie Voyager Starscream’s robot parts in alternate mode.


In vehicle mode, Starscream’s blasters can flip forward under the fuselage for an “Attack Mode”. From here you load the missiles, which have a neat little “Bullet Bill” (of Super Mario Bros fame) style face, into the blasters and push the triggers on the sides to fire. In robot mode, the blasters can slide forward to open his arm panels.

His main colors include red, black, yellow-orange, and a light blue-purple, similar to Movie Voyager Blackout except a little darker. He also has gold Decepticon symbols on his wings. The colors in robot mode are the same.

Transforming Starscream is almost too easy! First, flip the blasters back and retract the landing gear. Next, open the nozzles to form his feet. Then, gently tug the legs away from the wings, and rotate the lower torso section over to the front. As this happens, several automorphs kick in: the nosecone retracts, the arms rotate out, the head extends back, and the back springs down forming the robot’s back. Lock the torso together. Open the back panels and flip them out. Push the back down under the front landing gear to have it catch. All that’s left is to reposition his limbs. For the legs, rotate the leg forward one click and the knee back one click. Now Starscream is in robot mode!


Robot Mode:

In robot mode, Starscream looks like he just came out of the cartoon! There are of course some differences, such as the blasters being different, the color of his Decepticon symbols, and how his feet form. His overall look is a more stylized Seeker appearance than his past incarnations. And he has one of the largest chins on any Animated figure. His Decepticon symbols are also right-way up in robot mode. His face has his classic overconfident smirk molded on, which benefits from the excellent light piping. He’s also very steady, which means one doesn’t have to fight with any tendency to fall over.

Animated Starscream is possibly the most articulated of any Starscream figure, with the exception of MP Starscream. His head is on a ball joint, which lets him look up, down, left and right a bit. The shoulders are ratchet joints (the “clicking” joints), but due to his wings, they can’t rotate a full 360 degrees. The joint below the shoulder swings in and out, the elbow rotates 360 degrees and bends up and down. His fingers and thumb move in and out a little. His hips can ratchet back and forth, as well as in and out, the thigh rotates 360 degrees, and bends in and out because of transformation. The knees ratchet forward and back. The feet are on ball joints, allowing them to rotate up and down, and side to side. The only spot that could’ve been articulated but wasn’t, were the wrists, forcing Starscream to have his hands in a “Bring it!” position. I don’t see how the waist could have been articulated due to the transformation, so I can’t complain there.


Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 3 – Extremely easy. Slightly harder to get back into vehicle.
Durability: 9 – A few bits pop off, but they’re meant to, so it’s no big deal.
Fun: 10 – He's fun, until he shoots someone in the eye. That's not so fun...
Price: 7 – He's certainly big enough to be a Voyager, and is worth the $20 USD.
Overall: 10 – It’s Starscream! How can you not pick this up?
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Warcry
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Universe Classics Tankor review [proofed]

Post by Warcry »

Name: Tankor
Function: Fueler
Motto: "He who has fuel, has power."

Other Decepticons would call Tankor a dirtbag, if it wasn't for the high-octane fuel he supplies them. He's a sleazy liar who will steal or manipulate anyone, so long as it helps him get his way. As such, he fits right into the most dangerous battlegrounds across the universe, where survival depends on maintaining an advantage. The only reason other Decepticons will have anything to do with him is that he always seems to have a supply of fuel when everyone else is tapped out.

I don't much care for Tankor (the artist formerly known as Octane, with a new tongue-in-cheek name because they couldn't secure a trademark on the old one) as a character and I never had the original toy as a child, but I was looking forward to this guy a little bit. I was really impressed by the concept art for Octane that came out at BotCon '07, but when the first previews of the new Classic molds started to show up online it was pretty obvious that very little of what I'd liked in the concept had been carried over to execution. In the end I decided to give him a chance and bought him anyway, if for no other reason than because my army of Classic Decepticons were horribly outnumbered by their Autobot counterparts. In retrospect, I think I'd rather still have the money.

Alternate Modes:
Octane comes packed in his transport plane mode, and looking down at him from above (the angle he's packaged in) he actually looks pretty good. Take a look at him from almost any other angle, though, and you'll spot two major things wrong with the poor guy. He's mostly light grey in this mode with a few black and purple highlights, so it really jumps out that he's got a blue truck cab tacked onto the back of his tail section. Likewise, his underbelly is covered by a giant plate of plastic -- in robot mode it's used as a melee weapon and in truck mode it forms the top of his rear section, but here it's superfluous and looks like some sort of bizarre sled -- that's cast in a different shade of grey and stands out quite a bit. Those two sections ruin the flow of his colour scheme and make it really hard to buy that he's actually a transport plane.

That aside, the aircraft itself is pretty mediocre. The plane's nose and wings both look quite a bit like they belong to a C-130 or other, similar military transports, although the wings are probably a good size smaller than they should be. His weapons (a pair of really nice double-barrelled cannons) attach to the base of the wings and look really nice there, although they detract from the disguise a bit because planes like this are almost always unarmed.

That's where my praise ends, though. Tankor's chest is clearly visible under his wings if you look at the plane from the side, especially if you don't mount his weapons under the wings. More troubling, the rear half of the jet is blocky rectangular. This is especially obvious at the very back of the plane where a truck cab is blatantly sticking out. All in all, Tankor's aircraft mode is decidedly below average.

Transforming Tankor into tanker truck mode the first time was a bit of an adventure. Unlike the fairly straightforward Astrotrain, you'll definitely want to at least glance at his instructions. I won't go into detail except to say that almost all of his parts end up rotating around 90 degrees so that the nose of the truck is pointing 'up' compared to where the plane's nose was pointing.

In the end it's not really worth the effort. Tankor's truck mode is probably the most unconvincing transformations I've seen in years. The cab has airplane tail fins sticking out, the truck's middle section is little more than a pair of wings tucked in between his robot-mode thighs and the rear end of the truck is an equal mix of robot hands and the nose of a transport plane. To make matters worse, the giant off-grey plate that stood out so much in plane mode doesn't look any better here as the canopy over the rear end of his truck mode. Supposedly he's based on a supply transport that the US Army uses, but he's such a mess that he only vaguely resembles it.

Tankor's cab is blue and the rest of him is a mixture of light grey and black. He's got four wheels on each side, although only three of them actually roll (the other one is actually used as his shoulder joint in robot mode). Unfortunately, his propellers get in the way of the front wheels and his 'joint-wheels' foul up the working rear wheels, so he can't even roll along the ground properly. His guns can be mounted either on his cab or at the back of the truck's cargo area. I tend to go for the latter because they help to cover up his robot-mode hands a bit that way.

Tankor's vehicle modes are a disaster mainly because he's supposed to transform from a bulbous aircraft into a giant rolling brick. No one should be surprised that that doesn't work very well. Astrotrain succeeded where Tankor fails because both of his alt-modes were sleek enough that the 'extra' parts from one still looked OK wherever they got slapped onto the other. When the two modes are so completely different that doesn't work so well...something that one look at G1 Broadside could have told them.

Robot Mode:
I'd like to say that this is where things get better, but that would be a lie. Tankor's robot mode is less of a mess than his truck mode, but he's still horribly flawed. He doesn't look much like the original save for his wings and a few details around the head, which is a tad disappointing. His silhouette actually resembles Sixshot a lot more than Octane. Tankor's torso and thighs are black with white and silver highlights, his lower legs are grey and dark blue, and his arms are grey and purple.

Octane's proportions are his biggest problem. He suffers from a serious case of RiD Magnus Syndrome: his torso is tiny and his legs are absolutely huge. He's also got insane shoulder pads that stick up into the air way above his head, especially annoying because that mass could have been put to better use bulking up his stumpy, ugly arms.

The paint work and molding on his face don't look very good. The face itself seems sort of 'lumpy', reminding me a lot of the knockoff Constructicons I bought a few years back. The purple paint used for his helmet seems to have bled onto his silver face, and there are bits of what looks like dark blue visible through the paint. I'm not impressed by that, to say the least.

Tankor has a lot of articulation, but because of the way he's engineered a lot of his joints don't have much range of motion. His knees can't bend more than 50 degrees or so and his shoulders, while double-jointed, don't offer much in the way of lateral movement and can't swing up or down much more than a quarter turn or so in either direction before getting caught up in his wings or his shoulder pads.

He can carry his guns in both hands, combine them into a single weapon or attach them to mounting points on his lower legs. I tend to avoid combining the two guns because it looks a bit silly when you do, and because they're such nice weapons on their own. Tankor's most obvious weapon, though, is his gigantic melee blade. Made from the giant off-grey plastic plate that annoyed me so much in both of his vehicle modes, the blade is huge, ungainly, ugly and really, really heavy. Since Tankor has about 90% of his mass concentrated below the knees he manages not to keel over when he's carrying it, but he can't quite manage to not look incredibly stupid. The blade is made from a 'cheat' piece that serves no real purpose in jet or robot modes other than to take up space, and I really wish they'd found a better use for it here. A shield or a pair of blocky swords would have been a marked improvement on what's really nothing more than a giant pair of serrated scissors.

Tankor's robot mode manages to edge out his vehicle modes by just being kinda bad as opposed to really bad...and that's the best thing I can say about the poor guy.

Transformation: 3/10 There are a few good ideas here, but they've all been really, really poorly executed. Everything that was wrong with every previous triple changer toy is still wrong with Octane, and then some.

Durability: 5/10 Several of his joints move on odd angles and don't look particularly sturdy. A lot of his parts (especially the wings, tail fins and shoulders) seem to be pretty flimsy, too. Every time I transform him or try to pose him it feels like he's going to snap in half. Luckily that doesn't happen very often...

Fun: 1/10 None to be found here. He's frustrating to transform, he's no fun to play with in any of his modes and he doesn't look good either.

Price: 9/10 He's still available at retail...and will probably be warming shelves at a location near you well into 2009.

Overall: 2/10 Seriously, what the hell? Five years ago I might have rated him higher, but after seeing what they pulled off in the Movie line and the first set of Classics there's no excuse for this kind of garbage. He might even be worse than the original, and G1 Octane is supposed to be a piece of junk even by 1986 standards.
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