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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Can't say that Predaking does much for me. I guess I feel about the same as I did with Devastator. I'd be happy getting a fully CW-compatible set of Predacons, but at the larger scale and with no cross-compatibility, it's hard not to look at it and only see the flaws. Minimal accessories, maximum kibble, clunky individual robots and what looks like very simple engineering.

The fact that there are so many actually good third-party Predakings bouncing around at the same size bracket probably don't help matters either. I know this'll probably cost 1/3 of what Feral Rex did, but it's still hard not to draw the comparison.
Clay wrote:Going by combiner wars as an example, I wouldn't expect all of them necessarily to get full limb sets. However, it is funny to see people on the big boards freaking out and thinking waves 1-3 are the full line. I remember not knowing about Mindwipe in TR until he was nearly released, and he was just wave 3.
The box pics show the likes of Starscream and Elita with a hodgepodge of random limbs, don't they? That makes me think that they're definitely not planning to give them full teams. I guess you could put Darkwing and Dreadwind with Starscream, Firestar and Moonracer with Elita and Jazz with Inferno, but we'll already be into wave four before we get any more. And we don't know yet who those Voyagers are going to be. For all we know the couple waves could be focused on the Seacons and Pretender Monsters/Dinoking, all retooled from various Dinobots and Terrorcons, with no more random limbs in the pipe at all.
Clay wrote:I also had a thought. Titans Return saw the release of Black Shadow as a pre-tool of Overlord, even though Black Shadow was originally the Takara version of Thunderwing. Maybe they've held Thunderwing back so he can be a matrix-bearer in POTP? Black Shadow's chest already opens up, albeit not enough to accommodate the width of the little matrices the current leader figures come with. But if it happens, I CALLED IT.
I've been waiting for that since they first included Thunderwing in the fan poll. But Hasbro have been hinting that all the POTP Leaders will be Autobots, apparently? So I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

If they did go this route, my hope would be that they'd tool up a new set of legs for Thunderwing, something to give him a more G1-accurate look. Maybe have it transform into something based on his inner Pretender robot's jet mode? Though I suppose if they want to keep with the theme of the other POTP leaders it'd have to have a robot mode as well.
Hound wrote:Hasbro should do a version of Crossblades/Blue Bacchus just because I really want that.
I would go nuts for a Blue Bacchus that goes well with TR Black Shadow. Crossblades is fine too I guess, but nowhere near as exciting. I tend to forget that he and Vroom even exist.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Bumblebee Movie Masterpiece (solo movie version)

Apparently he's a VW bug that turns into the movie Bumblebee. And to think, it was just 15 years or so ago that Volkswagen were too skittish to let Has/Tak make a Binaltech Bumblebee because of the implied violence of being a warrior robot.

(That Soundwave killshot makes me squee a little every time, in fairness.)
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

I wondered if there might be after that Herbie looking poster at NYTF promoting the film.
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

POTP Nemesis Prime

New heads, weapons, and a bird thing!
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

Magazine scans of Predaking showing all modes and how they combine.

Apparently the arm cannon divides up into guns for Rampage, Divebomb, and Razorclaw. Tantrum and Headstrong just have the combiner feet as weapons.
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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

I'm not impressed with the Predacons. They just gave the 4 limb cons giant backpacks so Razorclaw didn't have to form very much of Predaking's torso. It's like they form Razorclaw's Evolution armor.

It works in that Razorclaw looks to be a good standalone figure. My only compaint is his mane pattern baldness. The G1 figure has the lion head in the center of a full mane. This guy's got almost nothing on top of the lion head. It makes the lion head sit too high on Predaking's chest.

Tantrum and Headstrong have pretty spindly rear legs in beast mode. It'd've been nice if the Predaking thigh each of them carries underneath were used to form the beast legs so they'd be bulkier. The backpacks not doing anything but connect to Divebomb's backpack remind me of G1 Long Haul not actually connecting to any other Constructicons, just to combiner kibble. Except now instead of the combiner kibble being separate pieces that can be lost, it just gets carried around awkwardly.

I've usually, if not always, seen Tantrum as the right leg, and Headstrong as the left. They've reversed that here. Can they be swapped? If it's possible, you'd lose the yellow on the thighs since it's only on one side of Headstrong's thigh piece (photo 7 of the Predacon set).

I've seen Divebomb and Rampage on either side of Predaking. I wonder if they can be switched. It depends on if the backpack connection to Razorclaw is symmetrical or not. Also, Divebomb has 2 backpacks, right? Predaking's shoulder and the wings/waist.

Rampage looks OK, except for the bot backpack and gun tail. The rear legs forming the bot feet reminds me of TR Twinferno. The rear thighs seem kind of pain, though, like they made them functional, then didn't bother with aesthetics. They did a good job incorporating Predaking's shoulder into the tiger body.
Alleged "poems"
that don't follow a rhyme scheme
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

I think they'll be great toys to play with, although I agree that the spindly beast legs and so on are distracting enough to slightly the spoil the figures. Still excited for them though!

I saw those Movie Studio series figures in my local Smyths, and after being initially quite interested, I'm now disappointed by them. Bumblebee and Stinger look really plain and Ratchet being a Deluxe was puzzling and they've brought out a Crowbar, so at least the Dreds are all now represented in plastic. They're all very small though and some how less impressive than the previous retail movie releases. It's a shame, as I thought these would be akin to the MCU Legends line which celebrates 10 years of those films. I guess there's just not the budget to do these justice. Although the detailing and engineering is there, the lack of paint apps and cheap-ass clip on wheels don't scream 'premium' to me, unless I'm missing the point. Still, at £21 each, they were an easy pass.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

Clay wrote:POTP Nemesis Prime

New heads, weapons, and a bird thing!
Yep. Didn't think I needed another leader figure, but that thing is sexy. I might just have to get it. Looks like an Amazon exclusive too, link pages provided within:

Nemesis Prime

I wonder how quick it will go since it's an online deal, and you don't have to hunt physical Walgreens or something to find it.

Predaking looks OK to me, but he's so ginormous and expensive I don't think I could get one. At the size and the price, I'd prefer to go back and buy a used CW Devastator. Kinda miffed I can't get a solitary Tantrum too, as he's the only Predacon I had back when I was a kid.

And as for the extra combiner limbs, I would be happy if they filled out a couple of the lesser known 'Seekers' like Acid Storm and Sunstorm for Starscream - not that it would happen, just wishing. They would just be the repainted mold from the Takara Legends Ghost Starscream figure. Might not be the most sensible, but at least I would be happy. :D
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Clay
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Post by Clay »

MP Beast Wars Megatron!

Also, MP shockwave is finally getting his dark purple repaint.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

That Shockwave is so much more expensive than the original! Like, 5,000 yen more than I paid for mine after shipping. Ouch. Pretty, though.

And then there's Police Sunstreaker, looks awesome but it's also apparently got a significant price hike from the original Sunstreaker.

Beast Wars Megs is going to be >$300, isn't he? :(
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Police Sunstreaker! Haha that's brilliant. I like the toy accurate head. Much better than the haunted gargoyle look regular MP Sunstreaker has. Interested in that one. I like the look of BW Megs, but yeah... after Dinobot being so dear, I can see this being wallet shattering too.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

I would 100% buy that Policestreaker if it was in the price range that I paid for G2 Sideswipe, Blue Bluestreak, Exhaust or the like. But two or three times more? They can keep it.

BW Megatron is one of my very favourite characters, but even then I don't think I could talk myself into paying more then Dinobot's asking price.
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Tetsuro
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Post by Tetsuro »

Toy-accurate Megatron too?

That's kind of funny after so many releases that discarded toy accuracy for cartoon accuracy, resulting in some rather "plain" looking toys. I guess dismissing that sweet spot between the two didn't work out so well after all!
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

I MUST HAVE IT
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Pre-orders for Cordon look to be pushing close to the £100 mark :( That's a lot for a a repaint/ minor retool.
Cliffjumper
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Skyquake87 wrote:Pre-orders for Cordon look to be pushing close to the £100 mark :( That's a lot for a a repaint/ minor retool.
With a shit name.

I'm hoping the Chinese get their nefarious hands on the Sunstreaker mould, I could go for a cheap Random Policing Item as a comparison with Badcube Sunthing then.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

it is a shit name. unless they were going for Cordon Bennett.

The Bad Cube people have now done their own Sideswipe, in some sort of perverse inversion of people buying 3P as a placeholder...
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Skyquake87 wrote:The Bad Cube people have now done their own Sideswipe, in some sort of perverse inversion of people buying 3P as a placeholder...
Does suggest they're in it for the fun of things to some extent, considering how knocked-off the MP is.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

To be fair there are a couple of bits of the Countach that look a bit cruder than more recent figures, like how you can spit through the chest, and his Golem head always grates as a really crap last minute design fix. I wouldn't be gauche enough to spend 3P money on it but if T-T make it through the rest of the Ark crew, don't bankrupt themselves doing something stupid like an MP Star Convoy and loop back round I figure Sideswipe has a better figure in him. Or they'll just do him with a clip-on rocket pack.
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Mr_Hi_n_Mitey
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Post by Mr_Hi_n_Mitey »

I know that I'm kind of late on this, but I like yellow MP Bumblebee - especially with him standing alongside Spike in his exosuit (:laugh:) on that box photograph. That's got to be worth some money, that's for sure!
:devil: Image :angel:
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