The Energon Pub

Just picked up Trans-scanning Bumblebee. I didn't have very high expectations but was at least intruiged by the concept. It's not as bad as I expected. What were your feelings about the Trans-scanning toys?

I have TS Optimus Prime. I wasnt sure what to expect either and was intrigued by something new.

It was smaller than expected and drove me round the bend trying to transform it but once I did I was quite chuffed with myself.

I loved the idea of this concept when it was first announced!

However I expected it to have some faults, but once I got the figures I realised that as a first go at a whole new concept for TF's, they pulled it off remarkably well.

I hope to see more releases of this concept down the line because I have faith that over time the concept will improve.

Burn wrote:
I hope to see more releases of this concept down the line because I have faith that over time the concept will improve.

It strikes me as being "dress up" Transformers. But to me that is an amazing idea, ahead of anything else HasTak is doing at the moment. I'm the kind of guy who'll spend literally hours on the character creation/customisation modes in video games. imagine if HasTak did something similar: a box full of various mix-and-match bits so you could create your own real transforming original characters! I just thought this up and I'm amazingly excited about the idea.

When you think about it though, a lot of G1 figures were "dress up".

Gestalts? They all needed their extra bits put on.

Seekers you could easily strip down and rebuild.

Jetfire (while not strictly a TF release) had plenty of clothes to put on.

And that's probably why I liked this concept, I miss having to put my TF's together. Damn these modern day everything tucks away nicely TF's!

Burn wrote:When you think about it though, a lot of G1 figures were "dress up".

Gestalts? They all needed their extra bits put on.

Seekers you could easily strip down and rebuild.

Jetfire (while not strictly a TF release) had plenty of clothes to put on.

And that's probably why I liked this concept, I miss having to put my TF's together. Damn these modern day everything tucks away nicely TF's!

Yeah...that's my main beef with this figure; if I keep him in "Earth" mode I need to stow his other parts and his stand elsewhere. And if I want him in naked Protoform mode, I need to stow a ton of parts. I guess that's the flaw with my Box o' Kibble idea above.

ahhhh but for me, I love the kibble!

Burn wrote:ahhhh but for me, I love the kibble!

In that case sir, you are alone in a large crowd. I salute you.

Back to the topic... I have TS Prime and love him, although thanks to his proportions he looks like a kid in a dress-up kit. I love the way you can give his poses really human nuances cos he's so articulated.

I didn't like BB cos he has no weapon.

I never actually fiddled with them, but I was impressed when I saw them in the store. Question - Are Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's skeletons the same? Are they interchangeable?

Stormrider wrote:I never actually fiddled with them, but I was impressed when I saw them in the store. Question - Are Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's skeletons the same? Are they interchangeable?

I don't have Bumbleebee but from the images I have seen I would say they are the same. Only the dress up parts differ.

The skeletons are the same, but the transformation is different.

At the risk of resurrecting a dead thread and having it turn evil and start eating the brains of other threads, I just got Trans-Scanning Optimus Prime, and I heart him! He's very very fun! Yes, a bear to transform the "traditional" way, without removing parts (or having them pop off), but he has a beautiful alt mode, what I would call Deluxe-sized. Chrome grill and stacks, gray fender tanks (air filters, right?), but the steps and fuel tanks are a dark gray, shame. The nose section is too wide, and the rear chassis too short, but it's a very nice little replica.

He has awesome built-in cannons, but in their stored position in robot mode, they stick out from his backpack, straight down, affecting his balance and looking out of place and kibbly. So I went to work:
Solution: Some very simple cutting and trimming goes a long way here. Just trim the stop on the center joint of the cannon so that it can bend "backwards", i.e. the opposite direction from original. You'll have to trim more of that central link between the two cannon halves to get full folding motion, plus you need to cut a notch in the black panel on the side of the backpack (the inner wall of the rear chassis halves). The cannons can now be folded in half upwards; the original design allows the now-folded cannons to rotate into the gap in the center of his backpack.
Result: His backpack is much more compact now, and his balance improved.
Down side: None, the mods are invisible in alt mode and barely noticeable in robot mode. The cannons can still be deployed and employed as designed. I'll try to get soem pics, maybe in a new thread?

Additionally, I had to stiffen a couple of ball joints in his waist, as they would not let him stand up straight with his Earth mode backpack on. Minor fix. Trust me tho, the cannon mod is golden, and so is this fig. Got him on eBay for less than $20 shipped- I'd seen other completed auctions for about $15 shipped, so you can get him cheap now.

Best feature: you can form the truck without the internal skeleton, so you can re-create the TF1 scene where protoform Optimsu is standing on the hill looking at his soon-to-be alt mode passing by. Sweet.

I don't like TS OP or BB, they seem a bit bulky with the add-on parts to me.

I liked Prime quite a bit, but wasn't as impressed with BB...don't recall why as it's been a while since I've done anything with it.

I've been meaning to buy Trans-scanning Prime. The robot mode has always looked pretty good to me.

Thanks for the positive review Hip-Hoptimus Rime!

Nice overview, HHR. Thanks! I may have to consider buying me one of these.

Hip-Hoptimus Rime wrote:Best feature: you can form the truck without the internal skeleton, so you can re-create the TF1 scene where protoform Optimsu is standing on the hill looking at his soon-to-be alt mode passing by. Sweet.

That's cool!

Hip-Hoptimus Rime wrote:At the risk of resurrecting a dead thread and having it turn evil and start eating the brains of other threads, I just got Trans-Scanning Optimus Prime, and I heart him! He's very very fun! Yes, a bear to transform the "traditional" way, without removing parts (or having them pop off), but he has a beautiful alt mode, what I would call Deluxe-sized. Chrome grill and stacks, gray fender tanks (air filters, right?), but the steps and fuel tanks are a dark gray, shame. The nose section is too wide, and the rear chassis too short, but it's a very nice little replica.

He has awesome built-in cannons, but in their stored position in robot mode, they stick out from his backpack, straight down, affecting his balance and looking out of place and kibbly. So I went to work:
Solution: Some very simple cutting and trimming goes a long way here. Just trim the stop on the center joint of the cannon so that it can bend "backwards", i.e. the opposite direction from original. You'll have to trim more of that central link between the two cannon halves to get full folding motion, plus you need to cut a notch in the black panel on the side of the backpack (the inner wall of the rear chassis halves). The cannons can now be folded in half upwards; the original design allows the now-folded cannons to rotate into the gap in the center of his backpack.
Result: His backpack is much more compact now, and his balance improved.
Down side: None, the mods are invisible in alt mode and barely noticeable in robot mode. The cannons can still be deployed and employed as designed. I'll try to get soem pics, maybe in a new thread?

Additionally, I had to stiffen a couple of ball joints in his waist, as they would not let him stand up straight with his Earth mode backpack on. Minor fix. Trust me tho, the cannon mod is golden, and so is this fig. Got him on eBay for less than $20 shipped- I'd seen other completed auctions for about $15 shipped, so you can get him cheap now.

Best feature: you can form the truck without the internal skeleton, so you can re-create the TF1 scene where protoform Optimsu is standing on the hill looking at his soon-to-be alt mode passing by. Sweet.

Interesting, I shall examine him and consider this. That mod may also allow different ways of holding the gun or the ability to point them at new angles. I use his canons as support (like a zimmer?) - don't push them all the way in but pull them down enough to support the backpack.

HHR's review and tips on modding Trans-Scanning OP has really piqued my curiosity on the figure. Sure, the assembled "Earth" form is a bit kibble-ish, especially with the shell back kibble but it's forgivable considering what the design intent of the toy is. I really like the look and design of the core robot component. I've recently been on a bit of a 07 figure kick so this figure is going on my hunt list.