Dear 3rd party d00ds: Moar combiners pls!
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:58 amHey guys, just a short entreaty to one of my favorite aspects of the TF universe: the combiners.
TFC Herc was a big hit (well, I loved it anyways...one of the sets I never had as a kid but always wanted, now I have one the size of a toddler!), and we see teaser images all the time of "new" or "planned" projects, some of which never come to fruition (P.S...what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that caused such a stir back in sep/oct last year?).
Anyways, I would love to see more of the same. The detail, transformation, articulation, and size of the overall gestalt for Herc to me was a dream come true.
A few caveats:
1. I dont necessarily need "G1 accurate". Lets face it, alot of our toys from the early- to mid-80's SUCKED...what we are actually collecting is the 'nostalgia'. It's like remembering how cool Voltron or He-Man was as a kid, then watching it again as an adult (and I have them all, so believe me) and realizing how poor the animation was...not to mention the storyline.
However, I dont want a total throw-away to be called "Devastator" either...like that rainbow-colored construction-site pile of garbage marketed from that terribad movie...ugh.
FP's insecticon homages were a perfect example of what I consider "close enough for nostalgia, updated enough to actually be cool".
2. I DO believe in relative scale...which is one of the reasons I actually DON'T like G1 version combiners...the individual robots were purposefully made tiny and without detail and the gestalt ended up being just over 1.5X larger than a standard G1. "Gestalt" should mean "Frikkin' HUGE"...the way the characters always appeared in animation. A "combiner" whose individual robots are actually midgets with stick arms and legs and then combine to form a robot barely taller the OP is a big phat fail IMHO.
4. Hasbro is Garbage. Capital "G". As far as I am concerned, they sold out onto the Michael Bay train to reproduce cheap and numerous OP and Bumblebee movie styles/repaints Ad Nauseum simply for the cashflow, and have therefore lost my faith as a toy company being able to provide me with the sense of nostalgia my habit fulfills. Most of their "non-movie" related products are poorly made/designed, although I will occasionally pick up a rare Hasbro figure to fulfill an empty slot on my TF roster.
That being said, I would love to see the TFC trend of true Gestalts continue, and although I know alot of people get butthurt about it, I happen to be lucky enough to have a job were I can actually afford to feed my addiction, and would gladly shell out for a shelf full of Herc-sized Superion, Menasor, Bruticus, and Defensor (most of the other combiners I consider "2nd-gen" and dont really "do" it for me).
I would love to see an Aerialbot team whose individual robots are the same size as the Seeker molds, to make a true Superion on par with Herc. This is one of the two combiner sets I actually had as a kid (along with the protectobots) and has a special place as one of my favorites.
I would love to see a Stunticon set where Motormaster is roughly on par with my Henkei Prime and his FP trailer. I remember the original MoMa was a small-ish little thing (about half to a third the size of G1 Prime)...which was always disappointing to me because they were supposed to be in heated enemies and vying to be the "Road King". Making the other 4 the size of say, molds of classics Sunstreaker/Sideswipe would make them a totally AWESOME collection.
And yeah, I do love my ROTF Bruticus (but only because the FP upgrades made him and acceptable toy, once again: Curse You Hasbro!), but I would be willing to relegate him to JV status if I had a chance to get a set of combaticons where the individual bots are bigger (Swindle perhaps a Hound remold?), and the combined form is actually "Gestalt".
Also, what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that was so touted in Sep/Oct last year? Cancelled...postponed due to the Herc project...?? Would have loved to have them, not necessarily as a combiner (although that makes a sweet bonus) but because Good Ol' Hasbroke refuses to see fit to offer us any decent alternatives.
TFC Herc was a big hit (well, I loved it anyways...one of the sets I never had as a kid but always wanted, now I have one the size of a toddler!), and we see teaser images all the time of "new" or "planned" projects, some of which never come to fruition (P.S...what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that caused such a stir back in sep/oct last year?).
Anyways, I would love to see more of the same. The detail, transformation, articulation, and size of the overall gestalt for Herc to me was a dream come true.
A few caveats:
1. I dont necessarily need "G1 accurate". Lets face it, alot of our toys from the early- to mid-80's SUCKED...what we are actually collecting is the 'nostalgia'. It's like remembering how cool Voltron or He-Man was as a kid, then watching it again as an adult (and I have them all, so believe me) and realizing how poor the animation was...not to mention the storyline.
However, I dont want a total throw-away to be called "Devastator" either...like that rainbow-colored construction-site pile of garbage marketed from that terribad movie...ugh.
FP's insecticon homages were a perfect example of what I consider "close enough for nostalgia, updated enough to actually be cool".
2. I DO believe in relative scale...which is one of the reasons I actually DON'T like G1 version combiners...the individual robots were purposefully made tiny and without detail and the gestalt ended up being just over 1.5X larger than a standard G1. "Gestalt" should mean "Frikkin' HUGE"...the way the characters always appeared in animation. A "combiner" whose individual robots are actually midgets with stick arms and legs and then combine to form a robot barely taller the OP is a big phat fail IMHO.
4. Hasbro is Garbage. Capital "G". As far as I am concerned, they sold out onto the Michael Bay train to reproduce cheap and numerous OP and Bumblebee movie styles/repaints Ad Nauseum simply for the cashflow, and have therefore lost my faith as a toy company being able to provide me with the sense of nostalgia my habit fulfills. Most of their "non-movie" related products are poorly made/designed, although I will occasionally pick up a rare Hasbro figure to fulfill an empty slot on my TF roster.
That being said, I would love to see the TFC trend of true Gestalts continue, and although I know alot of people get butthurt about it, I happen to be lucky enough to have a job were I can actually afford to feed my addiction, and would gladly shell out for a shelf full of Herc-sized Superion, Menasor, Bruticus, and Defensor (most of the other combiners I consider "2nd-gen" and dont really "do" it for me).
I would love to see an Aerialbot team whose individual robots are the same size as the Seeker molds, to make a true Superion on par with Herc. This is one of the two combiner sets I actually had as a kid (along with the protectobots) and has a special place as one of my favorites.
I would love to see a Stunticon set where Motormaster is roughly on par with my Henkei Prime and his FP trailer. I remember the original MoMa was a small-ish little thing (about half to a third the size of G1 Prime)...which was always disappointing to me because they were supposed to be in heated enemies and vying to be the "Road King". Making the other 4 the size of say, molds of classics Sunstreaker/Sideswipe would make them a totally AWESOME collection.
And yeah, I do love my ROTF Bruticus (but only because the FP upgrades made him and acceptable toy, once again: Curse You Hasbro!), but I would be willing to relegate him to JV status if I had a chance to get a set of combaticons where the individual bots are bigger (Swindle perhaps a Hound remold?), and the combined form is actually "Gestalt".
Also, what ever happend to the TFC dino-combiner that was so touted in Sep/Oct last year? Cancelled...postponed due to the Herc project...?? Would have loved to have them, not necessarily as a combiner (although that makes a sweet bonus) but because Good Ol' Hasbroke refuses to see fit to offer us any decent alternatives.
