The Energon Pub

So I was looking at my voyager Starscream last night and couldn’t get him to stand or Dreadwing or 08BB or the rest of the figures I was looking at. It was then when I realized there was something most of my older figures had the movie ones don’t, proper weight distribution.

The so hated duck foot Bumblebee and wave one and two figures don’t have as bad a problem but most of the movie figures have horrible weight distribution which is becoming a big turn off for me. Looking at Armada, Energon, Cybertron and classics, most of the figures can stand with ease but movie Starscream for example took me forever just to get him to stand in a semi-simple pose.

Before any one brings it up, yeah, some of the animated figure look like they’ll have better weight distribution, but like prime has tiny feet, which usually is a bad sign or bulkhead has stick legs and looks top heavy, same for Lugnut.

Fortunately, all of the upcoming classics look to be pretty well set on they’re feet, but the past two lines (or one past and one to come) are mostly toys that seem to not be able to stand on they’re own.

Will good weight distribution just be another one of those things of the past like die-cast or will we ever see figures that can stand up for them selves (pun intended)?

Maybe this is just me, but I've had no problems standing any of the Movie figures. Even Starscream with the chicken legs is easily posed in a variety of ways.

The hardest one seems to Ironhide, because he's got loose hip joints.


Starscream for example has a very low center of gravity, since his legs tend to be very short when properly standing.

If you want awful weight distribution, look at Cybertron Soundwave, R.I.D Omega Prime. He's so heavy, his waist and legs can;t hold many poses.

And don't get me wrong, I love R.I.D Omega, but he is hard to pose.

Starscream on the other hand is one of the easier figures to pose. IMHO.

I know what you mean, in general, but I don't have much trouble posing my Starscream. Maybe you don't have his legs transformed/positioned correctly. His stance should be kind of bird-like, like this:



NOT like this, which makes him more unstable:

My movie Starscream is hard to pose because his joints are so loose. I know you can use glue to tighten them, but I'm afraid that I'll glue the joints together.

I have no problem posing my collection.
The only one that gives me problems, is Dropkick and his damn chicken ankles.

Movie Longarm was an interesting piece, but I finally got him to pose the way I want. Sniper!

I honestly can't say it's been a problem. You just have to get a good solid pose. They all have pretty big feet extending front and back. I can probably balance most of them on one leg.

It's just a matter of counterbalancing anything that is throwing off the center of gravity.

articulation vs. stability. which one do you want?

argonaut wrote:articulation vs. stability. which one do you want?

I expect both. Look at classics Bumblebee or Mirage, both have excellent articulation and stand in any pose.

And don’t get me wrong guys, I love my movie TFs. Especially Starscream, its just that some of them don’t stand as well as past figures in comparison.

Here are some poses, I can get Starscream in, with a minimum of fuss.



"Look I can Dance to the Music"

Only one foot is touching the table.

"Are you Feeling Lucky Punk?"

The classic, Leg on higher step.


"And Exhale as you move into the pose..."

Stretched out legs


"Gonna bust your door down"

The kick test. Passed.

i agree. both should be had for the prices we pay for these toys. i just have a problem with certain quality issues. it may just be me, but i've gotten about every loose-jointed toy in the world. right out of the box!

If something should be sacrificed in order to give us both articulation and stability, I vote for gimmicks. Lots of figures would've been more poseable or balanced if Takara or Hasbro hadn't sneaked in a spring-loader rocket launcher here or an automorph there, don't even get me started on the stupid lights and sounds thing.

I haven't had any weight distribution issues with the movie line outside of Payload, but I would imagine it would be difficult for anybody to stay upright with a gigantic rod sticking out of your back.

I can strike some really great poses with several from the line(Ironhide, Ratchet, Starscream, Concept Bumblebee); any problems I may have are related more to the way the feet are designed, such as Voyager Megs and Leader Brawl.