by Sloptank » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:29 am
I like scale to be pretty uniform. Most of the deluxe cars for the unicron Trilogy fit well together, and the Leader-class Primes of those series fit in well too (most likely because their trailers aren't part of their primary transformation). Unfortunately, there seem to be issues with the voyager and ultra sized figures. Energon Ironhide may be the worst culprit. he's IMMENSE. I kinda like the figure on its own, and he makes a decent stand-in for Crosshairs when you think about it, but he looks ridiculous next to the deluxe-class cars. If he had been a voyager in the scale of Classics (which were bigger than Deluxe but just barely), he would have looked great, I think. On the other hand, Classics Prime seems kinda small. Big enough to run with the voyager subordinates, but...still a little dinky.
Now, flying alt-mode guys I have less of an issue with. Sure, Starscream and Astrotrain especially from classics would logically be much bigger than they are. It's easier, though, to imagine that the alt mode in question is far off, in the sky or even in space. I'd rather that Astrotrain was an ultra or Leader class (imagine a much more interesting and complex train mode, multiple cars, etc) but I can deal with the deluxe class since, well, we haven't seen a new Astrotrain since G1 (and now the club exclusive, which I must eventually make mine).
I quite like that Bumblebee/Cliffjumper were made deluxes in Classics. At first I thought "hey. ripoff, these guys are the minibots" but as my ever-dimming appreciation for the G1 toy line marches on, I'm much more pleased with them being vehicles that don't look like Power Wheels next to the other deluxe cars. They fill a niche of compact, fuel economical cars. Now, I do wish that guys like Cybertron Overhaul had been a bit bigger, because he makes a great stand-in for Brawn, but again the vehicle mode scale is getting to me. I hope that when the next classic-styled figures are rolled out, that other minibots like him, Beachcomber, Windcharger and others are worked in as Deluxes. 'Comber and 'Charger would fit well in the "econo-car" bit, though Brawn would adnittedly be better off as a full deluxe (Not to say he couldn't retain a squat, compact-but-dense robot form though).
I'm actually really into this now so I'm gonna keep clunkin' along.
Cybertronian vehicles are a blessing and a curse. It's true they seem a little out of place next to mundane things like some of the Earth-mode guys, but on the upside, scale for them is quite subjective. It's easy, for example, to cope with Energon Omega Supreme not being the size of an Autobot base in his alt-modes. The crane-turret combo works fine, and the boat/construction vehicle/hypertrain is fine as well because there's no precedent for scale in Cybertronian design. It's simply "big" or "not". Human passenger size doesn't have to fit into the equation. Likewise I have no problem with Minicons, because, being from Cybertron, it doesn't matter to me that they look like Power Wheels cars for toddlers by comparison. They do the same jobs as their larger counterparts, just in a smaller scale. Cybertron Heavy Load is a Dumptruck just like Energon Demolishor, but he carries much less, is probably faster, and still has his part to play.
Motorcycles ALWAYS bother me. On the one hand, they have some of the most interesting transformations out there. Energon Arcee is a fantastic treatment. The problem is that they're a vehicle that's CLEARLY designed with a rider in mind, at least the more Earth-modey ones are, and they suffer from being the same size as a small car when packaged as Basics. Cybertron Ransack and his repaints are, again, an exception, because they're steeped in Cybertronian stylings and lack the desperate call for a driver to be onboard. But then they go and make Lugnutz, who besides his unfortunate name and stumpy, useless arms, is enormous for what his alt-mode is. Maybe a 2-pack of smaller motorcycle bots to be sold as a basic or even deluxe set?
Finally, Mass-shifters. Can't stand them 90% of the time. I have Classics Megatron because, well, his robot mode is so absolutely perfectly Megatronesque to me that I must have him. He's even got pseudo-minicon ports on the wings! I wouldn't mind having a G1 soundwave, but only for retro-cool, stand-alone display because this is 2007 and he's a gigantic tapedeck. he'd fit perfectly with my Real Gears, perhaps.
Well, that's how I weigh in on scale issues. I'm just a little depressed I guess, that there are figures with great potential out there that feel clunky because when they hang out with everyone else they're either comically oversized or puny.
