Hey everyone! With the news of the DOTM toy leaks and after a bit of hunting, I've been able to acquire a good chunk of the Wave 1 figures. In this thread, I will be writing my thoughts on each of them and hopefully dispel a lot of the hate towards this line.
Let's start shall we?
Voyager Megatron:
Overall, Megatron is an okay figure. He's smaller than the average voyager. I would put him in the older RID $15 sive range that had the Train Brothers and Sky Byte. I think the size reduction is how Hasbro was able to reduce the price on Voyagers figures. He has a great look and a nice transformation. He does have a couple of drawbacks. To me, the big one being his vinyl cloak. It's kind of hard to manipulate and use in either form. He also suffers from Small head syndrome. Without the cloak on, the head just does not look right. He has a fair amount of poseability and can do some unique posing. Mostly though, he's best for looking intimidating amongst the Decepticons.
Deluxe Skids:
Before I got over any of the other deluxes, I'm getting him out of the way first. From a collectors standpoint. Don't buy him. He can be fun if you want something to fiddle with, but the ROTF toy is leaps and bounds better than the DOTM figure. Poseability is lacking on this one and the feet are freakin huge. He's also like half the size of the original figure.
Now onto the good stuff.
Deluxe Bumblebee:
Now I know many of you are thinking, "Oh no, not another Bumblebee!
" Well, I think the DOTM deluxe deserves a chance. After pulling him out of the package, I was initially not impressed due to the size, but after transforming him and posing him, I think he is one of the better Bumblebee molds made. He’s got good joints and is an overall fun figure.
Deluxe Starscream:
He’s okay. If you own the leader class or the other voyagers, then you probably don’t need him.
Deluxe Crankcase:
I’ve saved the last 2 of my finds for last as I think they are the best. Crankcase is an amazing figure. Good transformation and poseability along with a unique look. He has an almost grim reaper typ look to him. His mech tech weapon is a claw typ thing that extends and adds to this. I would have preferred a scythe, but the extending claw works. The dreads and demonic look add to create a unique figure and in my opinion one of the strongest molds of the line so far.
Deluxe Roadbuster:
Keep in mind that the Wreckers are probably going to be the rednecks of the lot. Roadbuster completes that look with not only being a Nascar, but having a mullet and baseball cap on him. Redneckness aside, he’s one of my favorite molds. Great looking figure and has one of the best sculpts of the lot. The mech tech weapon is also the least obnoxious of the line. It’s a small chainsaw that attaches to his arm. Looks nice. The body style is also going to be appealing to those who don’t care for the movie style. He’s got one of the least Bayverse looks so far. Poseability is good and and can easily stand I more collections than just the movie shelves.
Also, one thing to keep in mind about the Nascar stuff in this movie. It is officially liscensed Nascar and each figure is individually serial number to prove it. The logo can be found on their backer card. TF collectors won’t be the only ones going after the Wreckers. We’ll be fighting hordes of Nascar collectors too.
Also, many of you are probably wondering why I haven’t really touched on the mechtech in this. That’s because once you seen one mechtech, you’ve seen them all. They are kind of boring. You flick a swtich and it changes. You can’t lock the mechtech weapons in place either so they just go back after you release the switch. Limits some of the scenes you can make. I would have rather had them integrate the guns into the figure and increase the size and the mech tech is kind of lame from an accessory standpoint.
So for this post, my recommended purchases are Roadbuster, Crankcase, and Bumblebee.
As I get more figures, I’ll post my thoughts and rant about them.
UPDATE:
Time for some more reviews!
Leader Sentinel Prime:
Great figure. Looks amazing in robot mode and in vehicle. Probably one of the easier leaderclass movie figures to transform. Mech tech weapons are alright and I like them way more than most of the mechtech so far. His posability is good and his paint apps are great! In his transformation into the firetruck it can be a little tricky to line up his arms and legs, but nothing too unbearable. He is a little top heavy so you have to make sure the feet are positioned right for him to hold his weight. I only have one real complaint about him. He does more than say "I am Sentinel Prime", but in order to get the additional saying you have to use a mechtech weapon from another figure and place it into the port on his right shoulder. It's kind of annoying and I would have preferred it if they would have just let the sayings cycle through one button.
Voyager Skyhammer:
Amazing figure. I even like his mechtech weapon which becomea a long sword. The robot mode looks great and had good posadbility. A bit of a tricky transformation, but what's a transformer without a challenge? Overall, I think he's one of the best molds so far.
Deluxe Sideswipe:
Being a guy, I have an immediate attraction to all things that qualify as a shiny object. Sadly, Sideswipe does not have his shinyness. Now some are probably wondering why I'm even talking about shinyness to begin with. Well, My rant on this stems from ROTF and HA Sideswipes being silver. Much more accurate, but really is a minor complaint that I blew out of proportion for the sake of my own entertainment.
Now the figure does have plus' along with a few negatives in which I feel that if you already one the ROTF version than you don't need to worry about this one. Sideswipe does have his unique design and look still, but the pelvis section does not offer any near as much for posability as the ROTF did. A lof of movement is restricted from the backpack area which is fine with me since most of ym figures are displayed, but could be probablematic for a fiddler. Overall, I think the ROTF version exceeds the DOTM version by a significant margin. Mine also has some kind of weird issue where the hood keeps popping off. Not sure why. The mechtech weapon would be really cool if the blade could actually be locked out.
Deluxe Topspin:
He's definitely armed to the teeth. Has a lot more weaponry than your average figure and I like it that way. The figure at first looks like he only has claws for hands, but he actually does have fists! The claws are just another part of his arsenal. Fairly poseable, but his backpack kibble may be prone to restricting some of the stuff you can do with him. However, he has a clever transformation and is a very solid figure. I'm a particular fan of how the legs transform.
Deluxe Barricade:
He's a mixed bag. You'll either love him or hate him. I'm kinda inbetween. I like the 2007 version more cause of size and the fact that he has frenzy. DOTM is smaller, but more accurate, but has no Frenzy and can barely hold his weapon which doesn't seem to be a good match up for him. Not sure why they gave him a giant claw.
My recommended buy for this lot are: Sentinel Prime, Skyhammer, and Topspin.
More to come as I find it.
UPDATE:
Voyager shockwave:
This is a all around good figure. He's also the only one who's mechtech weapon is actually an integral part of the transformation as well. His transformation is unique and the everything locks into place quite well between both modes. Another plus is that the mechtech actually locks into place. He might not be colored to be movie accurate, but the G1 homage is very fitting. I will definitely buy this mold again.
Leader Class Bumblebee:
Oh no! Not another Bumblebee!
Fandom statement aside, he's actually pretty cool. The transformation is good and is leaps and bounds better than the Ultimate BB. However, this figure has 2 major faults that will either make or break him for you. 1. His cannon arm. I would have preffered a hand. 2. His mechtech weapon. Bumblebee has the largest mechtech weapon in the toyline so far. to the point of making it feel like you spent $20 on a mechtech weapon. He's actually quite small when you take that into account. Overall though, he has good posability and his kibble folds up fairly neatly into his back, but only gets restrictive when you plug the mechtech into the back.
My recommended buys are Shockwave, and I will recommend Bumblebee only if you want to see more BB in your collection.
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