The Energon Pub

Razorclaw0000 wrote:Please let's not have anymore glowing reviews of Alternity Bumble and Cliff. I was hoping I could just pretend Alternity never happened and save money by not buying any.

No more reviews...just pics:

Click to enlarge.




The figures don't really photograph well... It's a shame, but if I have any credit to what I say here, trust me that they are good, fun toys.

Counterpunch wrote:The figures don't really photograph well... It's a shame, but if I have any credit to what I say here, trust me that they are good, fun toys.

They look really natural in with the Alts and BTs. You keep doing this to me CP!

Razorclaw0000 wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:The figures don't really photograph well... It's a shame, but if I have any credit to what I say here, trust me that they are good, fun toys.

They look really natural in with the Alts and BTs. You keep doing this to me CP!

I do. I really do.

These guys are actually in scale to the other Alts when in bot mode. Vehicle mode, not so much, but they are of similar scale to the G1 cars and mini-cars.

Counterpunch wrote:Hey Diem...

At any rate, you had some discussion here about his hood and getting it to align in. I just wanted to check and make sure that you were able to snap the little engine piece, the one under his hood in bot mode, into the body frame.

It tabs in snuggly, controls the hood piece, and makes the front view of the toy far less apron like. If you've already done/discovered this, just ignore me.

I'm glad you're enjoying them so much. They grew on me so quickly that I can't detect the point where they went from "not as good as Convoy or Megatron" to "but still pretty fun in their own right".

As for the engine thing, I never managed it! I could see in the instructions that the engine was meant to plug into his waist, but even when I pulled the head/leg column down as far as it would go and pushed the windscreen up and in until the steering wheel was touching the seats, it still...wouldn't...quite...align!

So dooby-doo, I wanna be like you-oo-oo, dooby-doo-dee. I wanna walk like you, talk like you and transform Alternitys like you. Please help me, what am I doing wrong on him?

Diem wrote:As for the engine thing, I never managed it! I could see in the instructions that the engine was meant to plug into his waist, but even when I pulled the head/leg column down as far as it would go and pushed the windscreen up and in until the steering wheel was touching the seats, it still...wouldn't...quite...align!

So dooby-doo, I wanna be like you-oo-oo, dooby-doo-dee. I wanna walk like you, talk like you and transform Alternitys like you. Please help me, what am I doing wrong on him?

My Cliffjumper was really easy to transform, no issue at all.

Bumblebee was much, much tighter. What I ended up doing when he got stuck, was transform it partially back into car mode and then make sure the hood and engine piece were tilted up. After that I just gave it one solid pull and the whole alignment dropped down together.

I think it would be kind of hard to break them, so, just apply a little force.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Counterpunch wrote:

Diem wrote:

My Cliffjumper was really easy to transform, no issue at all.

Bumblebee was much, much tighter. What I ended up doing when he got stuck, was transform it partially back into car mode and then make sure the hood and engine piece were tilted up. After that I just gave it one solid pull and the whole alignment dropped down together.

I think it would be kind of hard to break them, so, just apply a little force.

Okay, I got it! I never realised that the waist had a tiny slide extend on it. I was too worried to pull it that hard! They each put up a bit of a fight but I'm relieved now that they're no longer mistransformed. Also, that tiny extra bit of height makes 'em look better!

I have noticed a little bit of the Cliff paint issue real Devastator was talking about: the very sdge of the bonnet, close to the side mirror has lost its paint. It's really tiny, and I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't peering so closely trying to complete the transformation, but there it is.

Thanks for all the assistance!

Thanks for the pics, Diem and Counterpunch...

I got mine in last week, and opened both up. I too had issues with the waist piece, and the little "engine" cover piece, I actually broke slightly on Bumblebee.

It didn't break completely off, but at some point in the transformation, I applied too much force on the grey engine cover part and the portion attached to the end of the peg (the part that looks like a Lego man hand), one of the halves snapped and folded back, attached only at the hinge by a small strip of plastic.

I glued it back, but it's not as tight. I was careful and didn't glue to the peg, so it still moves, but I'm really irritated that it broke.

Just be careful on the transform. Once it gets "popped" the first time, the waist assembly all slides into place, but getting it to snap the first time is tricky. That's how I semi-broke mine. The dash portion has to be folded first, that was my biggest obstacle. It is hard to get to, and wouldn't budge.

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Overall, I really love these guys. I simply wish they were a little bigger, but they fit in well in bot-mode. I actually don't mind their back kibble. It's way better than most, and it doesn't really stick out like some.

In fact, besides the waist/chest issue that bugs me slightly, the only thing I could have done without, and may in fact fix myself, is the light-piping. It doesn't work very well, and I don't like the big plastic blue dome on the back of their heads. On Cliffjumper it's not so obvious due to his dark tone, but on BB it's super obvious and distracting.

I love the colors on both, but have had the bonnet/hood wear on CJ the same as mentioned before. To me, these are the best CJ/BB ever, despite the few issues with them.

mandingo_rex wrote:Just be careful on the transform. Once it gets "popped" the first time, the waist assembly all slides into place, but getting it to snap the first time is tricky. That's how I semi-broke mine. The dash portion has to be folded first, that was my biggest obstacle. It is hard to get to, and wouldn't budge.

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Glad you're enjoying the figures!

Yeah, a general heads up to everyone: transforming them the first time is easy. Transforming them after that is harder. There's a lot of complex stuff going on inside the chest, and it almost, but not quite, automorphs.

Diem wrote:

mandingo_rex wrote:Just be careful on the transform. Once it gets "popped" the first time, the waist assembly all slides into place, but getting it to snap the first time is tricky. That's how I semi-broke mine. The dash portion has to be folded first, that was my biggest obstacle. It is hard to get to, and wouldn't budge.

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Glad you're enjoying the figures!

Yeah, a general heads up to everyone: transforming them the first time is easy. Transforming them after that is harder. There's a lot of complex stuff going on inside the chest, and it almost, but not quite, automorphs.

I'm confused. What you said contradicts mandingo_rex doesn't it? So which is it? I think I'm going to cave and buy a CJ.

Mykltron wrote:

Diem wrote:

mandingo_rex wrote:Just be careful on the transform. Once it gets "popped" the first time, the waist assembly all slides into place, but getting it to snap the first time is tricky. That's how I semi-broke mine. The dash portion has to be folded first, that was my biggest obstacle. It is hard to get to, and wouldn't budge.

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Glad you're enjoying the figures!

Yeah, a general heads up to everyone: transforming them the first time is easy. Transforming them after that is harder. There's a lot of complex stuff going on inside the chest, and it almost, but not quite, automorphs.

I'm confused. What you said contradicts mandingo_rex doesn't it? So which is it? I think I'm going to cave and buy a CJ.

Sorry, I was really tired when I made that last post, and didn't elaborate properly.

Let me rephrase. Sometimes his transformation is as smooth as silk, sometimes it's a jammed mess. Which it is seems to rely a little on luck, and mostly on pulling the central column just hard enough. I play too gently, which is why I sometimes have trouble transforming him. Maybe I just got lucky first time. It sounds like Mandingo went too hard first time and broke it, but then found a happy medium. It may be worth noting that my Cliff had WAY tighter joints than my Bumble, while Counterpunch's were the other way around.

Yeah, I read that and felt slow for a minute.

Well with my two, my BB broke, but his left knee also won't go down all the way, (the left edge conflicts with the outer leg mold) so I figure it could be QC as well. I have never broken a TF in adult life, and as a kid only "broke" one when my father stepped on one, so I'm always super careful.

My BB works perfectly now, and the snapped part is so hidden you can't see it, and it still works, so nothing was really lost. But it also didn't break all the way through, so that was luck too.

With my CJ, I had no problem other than hood wear at the top corners near the hinges. He transformered super easily, but he was also my second attempt, as I opened BB first.

I now know the comfortable pressure to use, so it may be that I used too much pressure on BB, or it could be that I used the same amount of pressure and the hinge wasn't formed perfectly either, so it snapped under the pressure needed.

Got Bumble and Cliff in on Friday, and just got around to opening them today. Just spent the last hour attempting to transform Bumble for the first time. I have to say this was the most stressful transformation I've ever done. I really wanted to just hurl him against the wall about half way through. The problem was getting the central column to extend low enough to peg in the engine piece and getting the windshield to go up into the chest cavity far enough. Not trying to brag here, but I'm a strong guy. I've been a weightlifter/fitness nut for years. I got ahold of the upper legs in an area where he's pretty solid, and I swear I was pulling so hard it should have by all accounts pulled in half. I could get waist to come down enough to engage the peg, but it wouldn't stay down. As soon as I released the pressure it would suck right back up, and the hood refused to lay flat. Finally I took a little break and came back to study the problem, and finally figured it out. Somehow during the auto-morph process the dash and steering wheel and went down into the floor board area when they should have went up into the seat area, and of course now it was really jammed in there. With the help of some small screwdrivers as pry bars I was able to get dash out of the floorboard and back where it should be. Went back through the transformation, this time making sure the dash went where it was supposed to, and lo and behold everythng went into place. I dont' think I damaged the figure with all the pressure I putting it under, except for a small stress mark on the dash from when I had to pry it back into place. I need a beer.

Phew, I'm so glad you guys have given me all these warnings! I'll have to reread this thread before trying to transform mine. That's right, I caved and ordered one. £29.50 ($48) seems like quite a good price for an import.

Umm... WTF?

I remember Counterpunch howling on how awful the Alternity Bumble is from the pictures we saw previously, and now's jumped on this like crazy! And now everyone's on the bandwagon...

Is it safe to come out? There's enough Alternity crack left, right?

Blurrz wrote:Umm... WTF?

I remember Counterpunch howling on how awful the Alternity Bumble is from the pictures we saw previously, and now's jumped on this like crazy! And now everyone's on the bandwagon...

Is it safe to come out? There's enough Alternity crack left, right?

The pictures of these toys were bad, they were very misleading.

If it had not been Christmas time, I might have passed, but as it is I just went ahead and got them.

I'm not sure why the pictures make the figures look so distorted. I'm not one for video reviews, but in this case it helped because the depth of field in the videos made the toys make more sense.

Blurrz wrote:And now everyone's on the bandwagon...

Is it safe to come out? There's enough Alternity crack left, right?

I just want to state for the record that I was on Alternity Bumble(bee)'s side from the beginning, even though the early photos did a bad job on showing the figure. I was there before the bandwagon was constructed.

Counterpunch wrote:

Blurrz wrote:Umm... WTF?

I remember Counterpunch howling on how awful the Alternity Bumble is from the pictures we saw previously, and now's jumped on this like crazy! And now everyone's on the bandwagon...

Is it safe to come out? There's enough Alternity crack left, right?

The pictures of these toys were bad, they were very misleading.

If it had not been Christmas time, I might have passed, but as it is I just went ahead and got them.

I'm not sure why the pictures make the figures look so distorted. I'm not one for video reviews, but in this case it helped because the depth of field in the videos made the toys make more sense.

I finally saw one in person myself, and he's a little round looking, but it's true. Not nearly so bad as the pictures would have you believe. He's the first import figure I'll be picking up after the Chrstimas debt gets paid off. XD

I suppose it makes sense that it looks worse on camera as the lens only sees from the centre whereas we look from both sides. Does that make sense?

I guess it's true, the camera really does add a few pounds.

Mykltron wrote:I suppose it makes sense that it looks worse on camera as the lens only sees from the centre whereas we look from both sides. Does that make sense?

Not only that, most camera lenses distort visual perspective(in comparison to how the human eye perceives space). Artists who take reference photos use particular lenses(I can't recall which ones) to reduce perspective distortion.

Convotron wrote:

Mykltron wrote:I suppose it makes sense that it looks worse on camera as the lens only sees from the centre whereas we look from both sides. Does that make sense?

Not only that, most camera lenses distort visual perspective(in comparison to how the human eye perceives space). Artists who take reference photos use particular lenses(I can't recall which ones) to reduce perspective distortion.

I think that's the same thing as what I'm trying to explain. The lens has one viewpoint, we see from two. Therefore the camera will bring out his fat body and is unable to see the sides, whereas the eyes can see either side of it, making the middle less obvious. I suppose that if the pictures where taken from a greater distance and then zoomed the effect would be lessened.

I've just transformed Cliffjumper for the first time. It's a tricky li'l blighter to transform if you insist on doing it without instruction the first time!

Diem, I don't understand why you say the arm articulation isn't very good - it seems really good to me, and isn't hindered by the wings in any way. Was it because you hadn't transformed him properly?

I'm going to go and test your statement that transforming him the first time easier than subsequent times!

Well, I finally got around to ordering Alternity Bumblebee now that I've changed my mind, and my girlfriend bought that Henkei Skywarp off me.

If anyone wants to get Alternities for a great price, check out etoysjapan.com. I managed to get BB for just over $50 USD shipped, but that is also the cheapest possible shipping from Hong Kong, so it'll probably take awhile to get here. I also preordered my Black Convoy from them and it was even cheaper, but I think I had to pay up-front or put down a deposit.

I am fascinated by his transformation - it's pure genius but, although the fat body looks better in real life it only looks SLIGHTLY better. He is still too fat to be a convincing and stealthy spy.