Rodimus Prime wrote:ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote:As much as I disapprove of the voyager + extra crap Hasbro calls leader class now, if he were white and purple instead of gray and purple, I'd probably pick him up.
*throws RiD Optimus, Armada Optimus, Energon Optimus, and Cybertron Optimus at you.
Those are not the same. They are not voyager + extra crap. Everything outside of the smaller bot is required to make an accurate larger bot. With Astrotrain this is not the case.
1. Astrotrain and Shockwave are not the entirety of the WFC Leader class. If those are the figures you're pissy about,
be smegging specific. What you said was "the voyager + extra crap Hasbro calls leader class now", which tars
every WFC Leader other than Doubledealer with the same brush and implies dismissal of
all smaller robot + extra parts figures as invalid uses of the price point. I know some people definitely think that way... If that
wasn't what you meant, you should have been more bloody careful with your words.
2. As I see it, the only difference between Astrotrain and Shockwave's extra crap and the extra crap of the figures I mentioned? Is the former's extra crap wasn't used in the show.
Rodimus Prime wrote:And G1 Optimus and Megatron for good measure.
Still not entirely acceptable. Prime needed the trailer to be screen accurate and Megatron needed his extra parts in gun mode as well.
Perhaps, but the toys came first (usually the case, but extra the case with pre-movie G1), and the show models were designed after them. Plus, if the Hasbro releases of the toys hadn't come with the extra crap, the show wouldn't have featured it (we never saw Soundwave's headphones, after all). And again, your wording implied you were writing off ALL WFC Leaders as invalid uses of the price point.
Rodimus Prime wrote:Again, with Astrotrain this is not the case.
You're right, it's not necessary for show accuracy. But it still adds play value, and it
is necessary for his FINALLY having a complete locomotive mode.
Rodimus Prime wrote:And then waves Earthrise Doubledealer in your face*
**** Doubledealer. Waste of a leader class spot.
Mm-hm, suuuure, having a Doubledealer that's not gimped and undersize is suuuuch a waste. NOT. He would have been screwed over if they'd made him a Voyager, and the Ultra size class has been retired for over a decade, so...
Rodimus Prime wrote:They're using the Leader price point that way because all-the-mass-is-one-robot Leaders largely don't work for the cast of '84-'86.
They shouldn't be made **** leaders then. Make them voyagers and sell them $20 cheaper.
1. No thanks, I'd rather not have a repeat of
Classics Ultra Magnus. And ER Voyager Megs' existence is bad enough, don't need to be double-dipping on that with Optimus.
2. They needed to have some Decepticons at the Leader price point in SIEGE, and Megatron had already been given a Voyager slot.. I think Astrotrain uses it better than Shockwave.
Rodimus Prime wrote:And hey, it beats buying a Voyager and then spending an additional $60 to get the accessories from 3P kits.
That's just it, though. They don't
need extra kits and stuff. Astrotrain didn't need it, and neither did Shockwave, if he had been designed better.
1. Reiterate statement about those two not being the entirety of the WFC Leader class
2a. Astrotrain has needed the extra kit since 1986 IMO, plus it makes him stand out further from the TR version... That and I think that as a Voyager he would have wound up with even more hollow spots.
2b. As for Shockwave... He probably
would have worked better as a Voyager, but they needed another Leader to be Ultra Magnus' wavemate in a hurry, and Shockwave conveniently had a Leader design prepared thanks to the PotP poll (I remain firm in my belief that SIEGE Shockwave is really a hastily reworked PotP Evolution Leader, it would explain sooo much).
3. I was also thinking of characters yet to be done when I said that. Such as Rodimus Prime... Galvatron
if they're going to re-do him (he might get screwed over at the Voyager price point since I think the plastic limit has gone down a bit since TR)...
Rodimus Prime wrote:And who knows, maybe they'll do Astrotrain in that color scheme as a Selects figure.
Doubtful. Would have been done by now, or at least revealed.
Not necessarily, especially if he's a Hasbro-initiated Selects figure (news on those seems to come a lot slower than the Takara-led stuff). Why not allow yourself to have some hope?