Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

TFC Toys offer more teasers of their upcoming homage to The Protectobots gestalt Defensor!

Early images are mirrored below for your pleasure!

So what do you think?

Is there some type of convention going on overseas right now that has a 3rd party display? What ever happened to TFC's dinobot combiner,did it get cancelled?

When I first got a look at the Streetwise images I thought he had potential, but knew that Groove would be the linchpin (for me at least) and I am really liking what I see so far! Going with a more G1 look would've been incredibly stupid, what with the Protecobots alt modes, so the choice they went with is great

I wont be jumping on board right away, like with Herc and Uranus, but will be looking forward to seeing the last 3 figures.

the actual feet look a bit simple, but the legs themselves are promising. i would love to see more

Dodge Tomahawk concept used by TFC Toys for Not-Groove.

robotmel wrote:Dodge Tomahawk concept used by TFC Toys for Not-Groove.

So much win in this. I remember that thing. They took the engine of a Viper and built a motorbike around it. Great stuff.

I love how his legs are actually formed by the vehicles themselves rather than being clipped onto the fronts of the actual legs (lookin' at you FP ).

Not liking the neo bike at all. While the picture of the actual bike looks slim and streamlined, the bike in the leg mode pic looks fat and chubby like a ride on lawnmower. If TFC was going to say screw the scale, they should have went with the standard police issue Harley Davidson. No motorcycle is the size of a Barricade style police car.

Yeah, I am intrigued by this project. It was always going to be problematic fitting in a motorbike with the other vehicles. I like their approach, shrinking the car and enlarging the bike. I'll need to see more to jump in fully.

LOVING IT!!!

Groove was always going to be the one to make or break this set and I have to say I'm impressed. Just like the Combaticons, it'd be nigh-on impossible to do scale accurate vehicle modes for the Protectobots while giving us a good looking Defensor. At least they've chosen a form that gives Groove the mass that'll be needed. Bravo, TFC. Not digging Defensor's feet much, but they aren't vital pieces.

This once again makes me question how or why TFC choose the alt. modes they do. These guys will obviously be getting updated vehicle modes (Yay! ) as did the Constructicons, but with the exception of Silverbolt all of TFC's Aerialbots were given their traditional forms. One of the biggest reasons I haven't invested in Uranos is that I was hoping for more contemporary warbirds.

Unlike the cold war era, all the current US fighter jets look alike. If you wanted a full squadron for neo fighters, they would be just a bunch of F-22 raptors which is getting pretty boring. I dont really consider the TFC constructicons vehicle modes neo. Theyre basically all the same as their G1 counterparts. Its not like bayformer constructicons which added new construction vehicles and eliminated traditional ones. Im just not digging the police lawnmower looking thing. I would have preferred a police Harley Davidson with a sidecar to add the bulk needed to make the combiner leg match streetwise.

Double post.

Why is this the only site that the system struggles to submit posts ? Never happens on TFW. That's why there's so many double posts on this site. People have a tendency to keep clicking the mouse out of frustration.

Wonder if they'd consider releasing 2 versions of streetwise?

A modern and a G1.

They do it for the add on sets, why not for a full character?

not really concerned by this lot either way, but I do hope that's a placeholder hand. I don't think Defensor should be wearing the spikey knuckles of doom.

Rated X wrote:Unlike the cold war era, all the current US fighter jets look alike. If you wanted a full squadron for neo fighters, they would be just a bunch of F-22 raptors which is getting pretty boring. I dont really consider the TFC constructicons vehicle modes neo. Theyre basically all the same as their G1 counterparts. Its not like bayformer constructicons which added new construction vehicles and eliminated traditional ones. Im just not digging the police lawnmower looking thing. I would have preferred a police Harley Davidson with a sidecar to add the bulk needed to make the combiner leg match streetwise.

Sorry X, but you clearly know nothing about jets so I'm not going to get into it with you. You're right in that TFC's Constructicons do still share the same general alt. mode types as the original G1 figures, but like these new Protectobots you wouldn't be able to peg them down to the exact same make and model of vehicle as G1, which is what you can do with the Aerialbots.

And who said anything about strictly US jets anyway?

craggy wrote:not really concerned by this lot either way, but I do hope that's a placeholder hand. I don't think Defensor should be wearing the spikey knuckles of doom.

That photo of Streetwise saw him randomly placed in a case alongside TFC's Team Ares, so that'd be one of his hands.

Good-looking Groove and Streetwise. I wanna see the other three before I fully commit, though.

Some of the stupid things people say...to complain about scale between the Dodge "motorcycle" and a car is pointless cause a cop Harley isn't right sized either, sidecar or not. The only argument that can reasonably be made if cycle/car scale is an issue in your world is don't make Defensor. No matter what vehicles you use, its out of scale. I suppose you feel the same way about Computron and Bruticus? Both have the same alt mode issues.

In addition, its fat because the front wheels collapse down to its side.

Streetwise looks awful to me just looks like a really lazy robot design and transformation the alt mode looks really good though .

Groove is the opposite robot looks great with loads of detail and the bike I guess I haven't warmed up to it yet .

The legs. my first thoughts were they don't look good and as i've looked another couple of times I still think the same.

I would complain about the vehicles having no transformation as limbs but with fp menasor I can't really say much but when I look at that car & especially the bike I cant help but think it needs something else just a couple of twist and turns after all this is TFC and not FP .

Autobot Genocide wrote:I would complain about the vehicles having no transformation as limbs but with fp menasor I can't really say much but when I look at that car & especially the bike I cant help but think it needs something else just a couple of twist and turns after all this is TFC and not FP .

If they did that, people would complain that the combined mode isn't "G1" enough .

Yeah, I'm totally in on this.

As for the whole "Devastator/Hercules" vehicle mode discussion, those vehicles actually aren't the "G1" 80's versions of those vehicles, they are the much (and I mean MUCH) larger versions used in modern strip mining operations and such, which explains their added "bulk". At least that's what they look like to me (and always have).

Now we're talking. Hopefully now FansProject will announce the same.

I like what I'm seeing so far. Wish Groove could be ridden by other Protectobots (the handlebar placement makes this unlikely), but that was never going to be a deal breaker for me.

It's a little odd that Streetwise is so G1 inspired while Groove is so not. But that's about all the complaints I have.

Meh!! I'll wait for MMC or other companies to announce their versions before I decide. There's going to be at least 3 versions of Defensor to chose from right?

Sodan-1 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Unlike the cold war era, all the current US fighter jets look alike. If you wanted a full squadron for neo fighters, they would be just a bunch of F-22 raptors which is getting pretty boring. I dont really consider the TFC constructicons vehicle modes neo. Theyre basically all the same as their G1 counterparts. Its not like bayformer constructicons which added new construction vehicles and eliminated traditional ones. Im just not digging the police lawnmower looking thing. I would have preferred a police Harley Davidson with a sidecar to add the bulk needed to make the combiner leg match streetwise.

Sorry X, but you clearly know nothing about jets so I'm not going to get into it with you. You're right in that TFC's Constructicons do still share the same general alt. mode types as the original G1 figures, but like these new Protectobots you wouldn't be able to peg them down to the exact same make and model of vehicle as G1, which is what you can do with the Aerialbots.

And who said anything about strictly US jets anyway?

craggy wrote:not really concerned by this lot either way, but I do hope that's a placeholder hand. I don't think Defensor should be wearing the spikey knuckles of doom.

That photo of Streetwise saw him randomly placed in a case alongside TFC's Team Ares, so that'd be one of his hands.

I know plenty about jets. This isn't the 80's any more where the Air Force builds a new fighter every year to answer the Russians latest Mig. The only true combat fighter seeing real service these days the F-22 Raptor. Then came the F-35 Lightning which looks almost the same as the raptor. Sure we still have some F-16's in service. And the F-18 seems to be the preferred choice of military air show teams. The focus now is more on drones than fighters. I'm not sure what the Chinese have now a days. There was a time they just had cold war era stuff but with all the money they got now I'm sure they got some pretty high tech stuff too. Im sure there are plenty of jets out there that I don't know about because they never made it past the prototype stage (similar to the FP Stunticon cars) And if I was TFC, I would have gone with the B1 Bomber rather than the Blackbird. it's still in service or at least was during the Iraq war. Of course, I would still rather have a Concorde, but the B1 actually was a combat jet unlike the Blackbird which was a spy plane.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I like what I'm seeing so far. Wish Groove could be ridden by other Protectobots (the handlebar placement makes this unlikely), but that was never going to be a deal breaker for me.

It's a little odd that Streetwise is so G1 inspired while Groove is so not. But that's about all the complaints I have.

I think Streetwise is more or less a Barricade style Mustang. And police actually do use them In Florida, the Highway Patrol does have them. Not the Barricade model, but something similar. I cant say I'm feeling the neo bike. I'm getting tired of seeing transformers having alt modes that never make it past prototype stage in real life. One thing I liked about G1 is that most of the car alt modes were common on the streets when the toys came out. I couldn't see a cop riding that thing in real life. Maybe in a science fiction movie. Lets hope TFC doesn't come up with some kind of one man mini copter for Blades. That would be horrible.

Rated X wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Unlike the cold war era, all the current US fighter jets look alike. If you wanted a full squadron for neo fighters, they would be just a bunch of F-22 raptors which is getting pretty boring. I dont really consider the TFC constructicons vehicle modes neo. Theyre basically all the same as their G1 counterparts. Its not like bayformer constructicons which added new construction vehicles and eliminated traditional ones. Im just not digging the police lawnmower looking thing. I would have preferred a police Harley Davidson with a sidecar to add the bulk needed to make the combiner leg match streetwise.

Sorry X, but you clearly know nothing about jets so I'm not going to get into it with you. You're right in that TFC's Constructicons do still share the same general alt. mode types as the original G1 figures, but like these new Protectobots you wouldn't be able to peg them down to the exact same make and model of vehicle as G1, which is what you can do with the Aerialbots.

And who said anything about strictly US jets anyway?

craggy wrote:not really concerned by this lot either way, but I do hope that's a placeholder hand. I don't think Defensor should be wearing the spikey knuckles of doom.

That photo of Streetwise saw him randomly placed in a case alongside TFC's Team Ares, so that'd be one of his hands.

I know plenty about jets. This isn't the 80's any more where the Air Force builds a new fighter every year to answer the Russians latest Mig. The only true combat fighter seeing real service these days the F-22 Raptor. Then came the F-35 Lightning which looks almost the same as the raptor. Sure we still have some F-16's in service. And the F-18 seems to be the preferred choice of military air show teams. The focus now is more on drones than fighters. I'm not sure what the Chinese have now a days. There was a time they just had cold war era stuff but with all the money they got now I'm sure they got some pretty high tech stuff too. Im sure there are plenty of jets out there that I don't know about because they never made it past the prototype stage (similar to the FP Stunticon cars) And if I was TFC, I would have gone with the B1 Bomber rather than the Blackbird. it's still in service or at least was during the Iraq war. Of course, I would still rather have a Concorde, but the B1 actually was a combat jet unlike the Blackbird which was a spy plane.

Um...what? There weren't that many aircraft created in the 80s. The F14 Tomcat goes back to 1969, if memory serves. Most of those aircraft in regular use in the 80s were created long before. Look up the main aircraft from Superion: F4 Phantom, F15 Eagle, F16 Falcon, Harrier. All were put into service before 1980. What aircraft from the 80s are you talking about?

From this list in Wikipedia, there are a great number of jets still in service in the US Military, including:

F15 and F16; yes still in service. The F15 is expected to see service to 2025.

A10 (Thunderbird or Warthog, take your pick); good ole Powerglide, expected to be in service until 2042

F22 and indeed the F35, though not in production at this time. They look about as alike as the F14 and F15, in my opinion...

T38 trainers are still used a ton! (Unarmed version of the F5, the same plane used as MiG 28 in Top Gun.)

The Harrier is still in wide use, to be replaced by the F35 if they ever get made.

EA-6B Prowler, a long time staple in the Navy

F18 Hornet, still the mainstay in the Navy, since replacing the F14. (Yes, it's not just for air shows.)

That's a heck of a list of relevant aircraft to choose from. Sorry, this has swayed waaaayyyy off-topic, but I don't think X's reasoning is sound here.

Back to Defensor, I think any design is going to suffer the scale issues. Using a prototype is one heck of a way around it. I'd love to see other companies give it a shot. Perhaps a station wagon type of ambulance and a small jumper type of helicopter can be used. I don't know how they are going to get around such recognizable vehicles, but I am eager to see them try.