The Energon Pub

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's an interesting question for you guys regarding the complexity of a figure: how are scared are you of breaking off parts when transforming a more complicated one? I can imagine the simpler ones being more sturdy thanks to less moving part;, compare any regular Prime Deluxe Bumblebee with the upscaled Legion for example.

I think this is a natural fear whether or not the figures are less sturdy. A natural connection in the mind has been made between fragility and the number of moving parts. A similar phenomenon occurs with prices.

BlueBefore wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's an interesting question for you guys regarding the complexity of a figure: how are scared are you of breaking off parts when transforming a more complicated one? I can imagine the simpler ones being more sturdy thanks to less moving part;, compare any regular Prime Deluxe Bumblebee with the upscaled Legion for example.

I think this is a natural fear whether or not the figures are less sturdy. A natural connection in the mind has been made between fragility and the number of moving parts. A similar phenomenon occurs with prices.

With that point you're raising I think Hasbro is playing in on that. Make them seem big and sturdy so they'll last longer with the kids, therefore making them worth more the price.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Appart the leaders, Movie One line have pretty simple transformations, akin to Energon or Cybertron. Did I miss anything? Appart the fact that I started collecting at HFTD that is.

They are a bit trickier than the rest. You have voyager Longhaul, rampage, mixmaster, ironhide, all more complex than anything up to that point.

And for deluxes, you had dead end, bumblebee, bonecrusher and barricade which were also more difficult than any deluxe up to that point.

Those are from the ROTF line.

It's true that Voayger Movie 1 Ironhide is also a bit tricky. Ratchet, however, is a breeze. The M1 Bees were also somewhat complex. However, the rest of the line Is eazy enough. I own about all of the Movie One molds. Except voyager Megatron which I heard is complete garbage. I have a scrap one (for custom fodder) as a preview and it does not make me want a complete one.

The majority of Movie 1 figures were a bit more complex and fiddly than what we were used to at the time, sure they come off as simplistic now, especially when compared to ROTF, but back then they were considered quite complex. A big part for that was that they required you to transform certain parts before you could do something else, and if you did not do them in the required order you ran into problems. Older figures were more obvious or much more forgiving in their trasnformations.
Ratchet while possibly the most simple figure from the line had an automorph feature in his legs, it was possibly the most pointless in the entire line because all it did was slightly shift two panels to create a barely noticeable bulge on the legs, and if you did it wrong, the feature would prevent you from moving the legs into robot mode. The way Ratchet's robot-mode transformed, you automatically wanted to just move the legs down, but the automorph, which was supposed to make it easier, actually stopped you from doing it so that you had to do two extra steps for something you usually would have only needed one.
And that went for pretty much every toy in the first movie line, most of the time the automoph made them harder to transform. The last half of the line kinda got rid of that and went towards more complex transformations and designs while dropping the automorph gimmick which made the figures look better, made them easier to transform, but much more involved with much more steps.

From today's point of view Movie 1 toys were simplistic figures, but back then we weren't used to stuff at their level of complexity so we thought they were insanely difficult. I even had to defend Voyager Starscream back then because "he wasn't that complex once you did him a few times".

william-james88 wrote:

Noideaforaname wrote:(while regular TFs are also getting simpler, I might add)

That all depends what you are comparing it too. I notice a shift in the Transformers brand in 2007. Before then, Transformations were more or les simple (ie the Cybertron line) and there wasn't that much G1. All the G1 present was the classics line, and very few masterpiece toys. Then the movie happened at the same time as the Animated series. So all the G1 characters came back full circle (albeit with completely new designs) and the toys became more complex than ever before. To a point where it got insane in the ROTF line for kids. Since I didnt collect TFs back then, I had to go back and try to find all the toys I wanted. I look on local adds a bunch. You guys cannot imagine the amount of times I find lots of movie toys being sold because the parents just find them too hard for their kids to do.

Anyways, I just wanted to say that toys are only getting simpler if we compare to 2007 and on, not before. And the G1 inundation happens to also be at the same time. You know what's crazy guys, 10 years ago, thre were no bumblebee toys on the shelves.

Absolutely. Classics was the first time in years we had an actual, original, new mold Bumblebee. Then the flood began.

Here's some clearer bigger pics of the Cyber Series 11 inch Optimus and Bumblebee toys.













Don't see any knee articulation on Optimus. Not sure if Bumblebee has bending knees or Faux looking bending knees.

Can see a possible head joint on Bumblebee. Optimus's Head is turned, A indication the cancan move it's head.

Not sure if Optimus has rotate fist. See Bumblebee has no rotate fist. Guessing Optimus has no articulation fist as none of the other Cyber toys appear to have any.

Would have liked to see Cyber Eleven Bumblebee get clear windows like Eleven Optimus has.

Yeah, knees don't seem to be a thing with these figures. Elbows, yes, but not knees.

Fellow Seibertronian Tsutsukakushi has brought to our attention some great new images of the upcoming Cyber Battalion line 11 inch assortment. These photos give us a far better idea of the limited articulation we will find on these figures. The 11 inch assortment thus far includes only Optimus and Bumblebee. These images were obtained from Brazilian retailer Hobby Brinquedos which reinforces the Brazilian connection to these toys, since it was a Brazillian Hasbro catalogue which first revealed them, in much smaller pictures. Better images of the 7 inch assortment have also been found since the initial reveal and can be seen here.

The listings featuring these new images (mirrored below) also had the following description:

Get ready for a high-level action with the figures of approximately 11 inches of Transformers ! This figure is convertible to vehicle mode! They will turn any enemy into scrap . They are the perfect warriors to the largest and wildest adventures Transformers

Bumblebee looks like he wants to kill us all!

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:Bumblebee looks like he wants to kill us all!

I was thinking the same thing. I actually like these headsculpts quite a bit.

These designs look like interesting crosses between G1 and the current RID line.

I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

they look better than any of the other 1 step or flip n change toys

11 inches, eh? That Optimus design is just begging to have a gold star sticker applied to its chest...

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Agreed. These aren't too ghastly looking to be honest, the knees bug me, but anything is better then the majority of RID's offerings

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

Hasbro loves big toys. But they are probably going to have the same quality as a Family Dollar Transformers-like knock-off.

I really do like these. They are simple and cartoonish yet pull off the look and the transformation with the articulation that I really care about. I think these are good kids toys that can still satisfy some of the older kids like us

william-james88 wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

You guys are simply seeking to confirm your biases.

BlueBefore wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

You guys are simply seeking to confirm your biases.

Uh, no dude, structurally, it seems like only Megatron and Grimlock from this line have knees, and that's only due to transformation. And most of us haven't been biased towards this line, just kind of confused and disappointed.

Madeus Prime wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

You guys are simply seeking to confirm your biases.

Uh, no dude, structurally, it seems like only Megatron and Grimlock from this line have knees, and that's only due to transformation. And most of us haven't been biased towards this line, just kind of confused and disappointed.

BlueBefore wrote:

Madeus Prime wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

You guys are simply seeking to confirm your biases.

Uh, no dude, structurally, it seems like only Megatron and Grimlock from this line have knees, and that's only due to transformation. And most of us haven't been biased towards this line, just kind of confused and disappointed.

What? To be fair, all figures but Megatron and Grimlock, that we've seen thus far, have lacked knee articulation. This is based on the figures they share engineering and design with as well as pure visual confirmation.

Madeus Prime wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

Madeus Prime wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

BlueBefore wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I'm disappointed in myself for wanting that prime... If only he had knees.

Expect for the fact that both Primes in this line have knees.

How are you certain? The picture above doesnt prove it. And Bumblebee's knee joints appear to be more of a decoration than functional, no?

You guys are simply seeking to confirm your biases.

Uh, no dude, structurally, it seems like only Megatron and Grimlock from this line have knees, and that's only due to transformation. And most of us haven't been biased towards this line, just kind of confused and disappointed.

What? To be fair, all figures but Megatron and Grimlock, that we've seen thus far, have lacked knee articulation. This is based on the figures they share engineering and design with as well as pure visual confirmation.

both will be mine. hope the megatron is as big. LOVE that prime art.

Man, these actually look somewhat interesting. Shame about the (most likely) brickishness through the legs though.

Anyways, I actually really like that vehicle mode for Prime, gives me some Armada nostalgia.