I like these pictures, very much the TFC aesthetic. The odd part about it all is the placement of the large shoulder rifles while Nemean is in bot mode, they look more like wings. Maybe it was just to differentiate between that mode and when he's the body of Ares?
Several factors will be necessary for this figure set to be a success, and it seems that the original silhouettes didn't win anyone over (myself included - still think they should've went for the Combaticons/Bruticus). Pricing, release timing, and better sculpts for the rest of the figures.
Pricing - probably the same song and dance we're used to from Hercules and Uranos. A few years ago, $100 figures were novel and I feel the fandom was a bit more accepting of this because we treated these as one-offs. But when a company basing their business model on selling multiple figure sets at that price, the novelty has worn off and I'm guessing several people who would b interested in purchasing these figures will have to do without. Especially complicated when the market now has several players who are doing basically the same thing. The one party you'd hope would jump on the bandwagon, Hasbro/Takara, seem to be far behind. One hopes that there were lessons learned from FoC Bruticus, and we can expect better product in the near future. I know I'm looking forward to the Transformers Go combiner teams, regardless if they are just 3 man units.
Release timing - I expect we'll see the first Ares bot out the door before the end of the year. Will it be Nemean? The past two lines indicate we'll get two limbs before we get this fellow. Or is TFC changing up things because they are the late comer to a battle that has already started (MMC vs Unique Toys)? It's very possible that all 5 figures from Unique are out by December, but doubtful MMC will be completed by then. If I were TFC, I'd wait until both of the competitors are finished their releases before my first figure hits. Let the dust settle a bit, maybe release one or two other releases during that time like the Iron Army commander. Could also take this time to work out any kinks on Ares and prepare to release the best figure that they can. Speaking of...
Better sculpts - How can I ask for better sculpts if I haven't even seen 4/5 of the figures yet, am I a modern day
Ms. Cleo Nostradamus? No, absolutely not! I'm only referring back to the original silhouettes, which really didn't do any favors for these figures. Maybe because it hid the details/features of each character except for anything on the border. I really hope that the beast/bot modes look superb, and that everything translates well for the combined mode. If anything else, I can always wait for TFC 009 - Blank of Ares to be announced...
Well, if you've made it this far, I hope I've given you something substantial to think about. I'm not against TFC releasing this guy, but I'm definitely going to prioritize MMC's version. It might not even matter, depending on release dates. So, let's see how the next 4 - 5 months play out, shall we?
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. Now that's pretty damn cool
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