The Energon Pub

Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:33 pm

I'm sitting here, looking at the first wave of FOC. Despite all the complaints about size, they're great little robots, in their own ways. But try as I might, I just can't get myself to transform them into their meaningless "cybertronian" vehicle forms. I love a good transformation, but I'm so very sick of uninspired alt modes. After three films worth of toys that turned into "alien jets" and "alien tanks" and a growing number of cybertronian vehicles in the CHUG line, I find myself at a point where I just want to buy the toys, display them or fiddle with them for a few minutes, and stick them in a storage box.

Say what you will about the boundless kibble on the Beast Wars figures, I loved knowing what the alt mode of a toy was supposed to look like without having to consult the photos on the packaging half a dozen times. As boxy as the early Diaclone-based TFs were, they transformed into awesome cars and planes and tape decks and guns! But as much as I love having a halfway decent Shockwave figure, I get no joy from turning him into a tank/train/cannon thingy. (wait, the packaging is telling me this is a cybertronian mobile artillery mode. awesome.)

I know this isn't anything especially new, that G1 was full of similar uninspired alt-mode mediocrity. But I didn't mind that most of Sixshot's modes didn't look like much of anything -- he turned into six (seven?) different things! Shockwave here only manages to turn into some weird cyberpunk dildo/flashlight amalgamation. How very dull.

So for me, these guys are Action Masters with light-piping. Transformers in name only, robots they are and robots they shall remain. /end rant

News Credits: 1235 · Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:47 pm

As far as the FOC toys are concerned, what do you expect Cybertronians on Cybertron to transform into? An earth based vehicle? Platypus?

Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:57 pm

LOST Cybertronian wrote:As far as the FOC toys are concerned, what do you expect Cybertronians on Cybertron to transform into? An earth based vehicle? Platypus?

I would love a Platypus TF!

And look, I completely understand that Cybertronian vehicles will look like nothing in particular by definition. But that's really my point; I miss when Transformers transformed into something loosely recognizable. This whole Cybertronian nonsense is just a way to cut down on license fees and give the designers a chance to underachieve on alt modes. Don't get me wrong, as I mentioned, I'm grateful for nice 'bot modes. But the joy of turning a sci-fi-looking robot into something familiar is not present whenever these meaningless alt modes are the vehicle du jour.

News Credits: 14 · Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:50 pm

After three films worth of toys that turned into "alien jets" and "alien tanks"

Technically, it was only Megatron that did that. Twice, yes, but everybody else was a fully licensed real vehicle. Bar a few exceptions, with unlicensed, but clearly reality based alt modes.
Shockwave excluded, but he's always been cybertronian.

With that said, licensed vehicles for the most part have been the exception rather than the rule after G1.
Not counting the WFC, or FOC figures released, the generations lines have had vehicle modes that resemble real vehicles, but aren't actually licensed. This is no different than lines like classics, or AEC... None were licensed, just had a vague resemblance to real vehicles.

If you want real licensed vehicles, go for he alternators/Binaltech lines.

News Credits: 7 · Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:18 am

It's not like we'll never see "real" alt modes again. Prime is still going, while Movieverse and Classics will inevitably re-start in due time; FoC is the only one with any real concentration of "Cybertronian" alt modes.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:26 am

Gotta agree with Overcracker here. Contrary to what you might claim, almost all of the figures in the past 5-6 years or so have been real world vehicles or critters. They may not be exact liscensed copies, but you knew what they were just looking at them. For example, Crosswise from Transformers: Cybertron is almost certainly not a Bugatti Veyron, and Downshift may not be a specific model 70's Muscle Car, but they look like they would fit on Earth streets. As for "Cybertronian modes", the latest Fall of Cybertron and War for Cybertron figures do NOT have the problem that many other Cybertronian modes have - they LOOK like vehicles, not like robots doing yoga (see TFTM Megs for an example, or ROTF The Fallen). So, really, with the exception of a tiny handful of figures (TFTM and ROTF Megs, ROTF The Fallen, ROTF Soundwave, ROTF Ravage, TFTM Deluxe Scorponok, and DOTM Laserbeak), I don't see a problem, myself.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Aug 29, 2012 2:08 am

Cybertronian alt modes are almost as old as the line itself, it's an essential part of the toyline in general. There's tins of realistic earthbased TF's out there. You're just not liking FOC's alt modes. More a peeve than an issue, IMO.

News Credits: 7 · Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:29 am

I definitely hated the movie Cybertronian vehicle modes of Megatron, Shockwave, The Fallen and the other Valender mentions above, but they were the main culprits of the lackluster style of the 'Cybertronian mode'. For the rest, I kind of like the WFC and FOC alt modes. To me, they seem pretty defined as vehicles, and certainly aren't 'robots doing yoga'.

However, back in 1987 I did go off Transformers due to the change to blocky, unrealistic 'Cybetronian' vehicles (it was only years later that I found out about the true origins of the 1984/1985 molds). To this day, I can only see Kup as some sort of version of this vehicle:

the Sinclair C5, and not as a Cybetronian pick-up (or whatever they tell me he's supposed to be)...

Always liked Computron though: the combiner that's entirely made out of 'Cybetronian' vehicles.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:41 am

The only one I don't like is Shockwave. The rest have recognizable alt modes, you can tell they're supposed to be a car, jet, helicopter, tank, etc. Shockwave turns into a flying cannon, so his alt mode is more of an accessory than a vehicle.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:19 am

Evil_the_Nub wrote:The only one I don't like is Shockwave. The rest have recognizable alt modes, you can tell they're supposed to be a car, jet, helicopter, tank, etc. Shockwave turns into a flying cannon, so his alt mode is more of an accessory than a vehicle.

But it's a fairly awesome accessory, apparently, haha. Honestly, I quite like Shocky's altmode. I mean, he's a flying gunship, that's the kind of thing you run like hell from.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:41 am

i dont see why FOC shockwave gets some much hate for his alt mode. i love it. its a jet, and that jets entire front is a BFG. cant get any cooler than that.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:51 am

Doubledealer93 wrote:i dont see why FOC shockwave gets some much hate for his alt mode. i love it. its a jet, and that jets entire front is a BFG. cant get any cooler than that.

Exactly!

Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:03 am

Doubledealer93 wrote:i dont see why FOC shockwave gets some much hate for his alt mode. i love it. its a jet, and that jets entire front is a BFG. cant get any cooler than that.

For me when I think BFGs I think big recoil. His alt mode doesn't look like it can handle that much force. It seems incomplete to me, like there needs to be more to it.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:09 am

Evil_the_Nub wrote:
Doubledealer93 wrote:i dont see why FOC shockwave gets some much hate for his alt mode. i love it. its a jet, and that jets entire front is a BFG. cant get any cooler than that.

For me when I think BFGs I think big recoil. His alt mode doesn't look like it can handle that much force. It seems incomplete to me, like there needs to be more to it.

megatrons arm cannon in TFs prime does not have recoil. not all lasers have recoil.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:17 am

hmmmm why would a directed energy weapon have recoil.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:18 am

njb902 wrote:hmmmm why would a directed energy weapon have recoil.

i have been wondering this for years.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:05 pm

And even if it DID have recoil, say it was some form of particle weapon instead of pure DEW, the three rods the end is mounted on could be recoil dampeners. It fires, and slams back a centimeter or so (in figure scale).

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:07 pm

njb902 wrote:hmmmm why would a directed energy weapon have recoil.

Because if you're shooting something, even pure energy forward, there has to be some reaction force in the opposite direction. More likely than not, Shockwave built himself a system which more than sufficiently deals with the kick from his main cannon. Megatron's gun was probably designed my Shockeave as well, and as such would also be equipped with a recoil dampening system.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:11 pm

I actually really like the Cybertronian forms.

I want to be clear, not any of the ones from the movieverse. As Megatron and The Fallen really didn't look like anything. They're too stylized in their robot mode to carry a decent vehicle mode.

I like the FOC forms though. They're alien robots. They don't need to make a vehicle that holds a smaller human, or even has the limitations we know. Just look at the first episode of G1, the weird pyramid things the seekers turned into. which while weird, I still thought it was pretty neat. These toys have more thought put into them than that. I think they're doing a good job and welcome more in this style.

News Credits: 4 · Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:41 pm

yeah, I want realistic alt modes again! like in G1 when Tracks and Freeway were supposed to be the same bloody car mode!

I get it though, and agree to some extent. There is something special about robots that transform into realistic, recognisable alt modes. However, what with the idea that Hasbro wants to appeal to kids, and the fact that the majority of modern cars are gash compared to the looks of the 60s, 70s and 80s, I'm not entirely against them using more made-up modes. ESPECIALLY in Fall Of/War For Cybertron toys. I can just about buy the translation of names thing, but the idea that 4million years ago some alien robot just happened to sometimes look like an exact replica of a VW Beetle or an F15 is somewhat outwith my suspension of disbelief.

News Credits: 101 · Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:43 am

Some of you already said it, but let me say that again.

I dont mind Cybertronian vehicles, as long that the thing LOOK like a vehicle, not a scrapheap or the bot doing yoga. Movie Megs, Shocky and Dropped come to mind. Prime's Megs is also a culprit.

The game's TFs however, all have "real" vehicle modes. I still have to get my hands on any FOC figures, but I was really pleased with the Generations Cybertronians deluxes from WFC. Bumblebee was complex enough while being fun (he's not hard to transform. Stop sucking!) Optimus Prime was quite a challenge for a satisfying vehicle. Finally, it was nice to finally see a Megatron that changed into a "real" altmode without having his head going "peek-a-boo".

I just cant wait to have my FOC case from BBTS.

By the way, does FOC shockwave come with a 5mm peg, like the DotM HA Basics do? If he dont, it's quite the missed opportunity here.

News Credits: 9 · Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:16 am

I've never really like 'alien' alt modes as they are often free license for poor design efforts but I do feel the OP is blowing it out of proportion because, as has been said already, there are plenty of realistic alt modes present in recent lines.

As for FOC: Jazz and the Combaticons have perfectly good alt modes, I think it's the robots that suffered!

Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:22 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:By the way, does FOC shockwave come with a 5mm peg, like the DotM HA Basics do? If he dont, it's quite the missed opportunity here.

He does, but there's not much you can do with it. It's sorta tucked into the alt mode so there are very few figures that can even reach it.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:50 am

I have no problem with Cybertronian vehicles.

But what I DON'T understand is why the WFC/FOC Cybertronian vehicles have wheels if they can hover and move in any direction.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:54 am

Evil_the_Nub wrote:The only one I don't like is Shockwave. The rest have recognizable alt modes, you can tell they're supposed to be a car, jet, helicopter, tank, etc. Shockwave turns into a flying cannon, so his alt mode is more of an accessory than a vehicle.

Then you must HATE G1 Megatron. He turns into a gun that just lays on the ground and does nothing unless someone picks him up and wields him. At least FOC Shockwave can fly.