The Energon Pub

Hi everybody, I'm a reader of this forum since 2008 but just recently I decided to create a Seibertron's account.

Last month I decided to add some Human Alliance toys to my TF collection: BumbleBee and Barricade. I think they look so nice, that I'm planning to complete the toy line.

HA Jazz definitively looks great. What about the others ? Sideswipe, Skids & Mudflap all seem to have a huge "back pack" ... Which ones do you guys recommend / like the most ?

Thanks in advance for the advise.


PS: I already watched some video reviews and looked at Seibertron's toys galleries ...

Jazz is, IMO, the best of the line.

Followed closely by BB and Barricade.

Haven't bothered with the other 3, so can't comment on 'em.

Get Jazz.

Stop there.

I agree that Jazz is probably the best...his only real negative I can think of is his alt mode isn't as "clean" as the others, in other words, he has too many visible panel lines that shouldn't be there on a real car.

Skids and Mudflap are both ugly, but are very fun figs...I like them better than Barricade, personally, but they are very similar so if you don't get the entire line, you could easily get away with only picking up one or the other.

And Sideswipe might have the best alt mode of the line, but easily the worst bot mode...he's still somewhat fun, though.

Kibble wrote:I agree that Jazz is probably the best...his only real negative I can think of is his alt mode isn't as "clean" as the others, in other words, he has too many visible panel lines that shouldn't be there on a real car.

Skids and Mudflap are both ugly, but are very fun figs...I like them better than Barricade, personally, but they are very similar so if you don't get the entire line, you could easily get away with only picking up one or the other.

And Sideswipe might have the best alt mode of the line, but easily the worst bot mode...he's still somewhat fun, though.

I think you pretty much nailed it. I think you are correct as far as the twins for sure. They are completely ugly in both molds, but they are completely accurate to the movie. They are also amazingly interesting toys.

Barricade is great, but his legs just take so much away from poseability. It is too bad really, because he is an otherwise amazing figure. Sideswipe is fun like you said, and I agree that he has the best alt-mode of the line. It really is too bad the bot mode is so bad.

I am probably in the minority saying this, but Bumblebee is pretty boring to me. I wish Hasbro would have figured out a way to hide the seats of the car in bot mode.

Jazz is easily the best of the line, IMO. The panel lines as you said could be fewer/less visible, but the alt mode doesn't suffer yoo much if you ask me. It is far and away the best figure of the line...and possibly the movie line as a whole. I really think it is that good.

I agree with nearly everything said here.

I started with BB. He's alright, but I dremeled off his seats. Much better. Overall, not strong enough to be my favorite, but snags the 3rd place slot behind Jazz and Barricade.

Picked up Skids next. He was pretty freakin cool I thought, looks even more accurate then BB.

Bought Barricade the only time I've ever seen him in store. Bad ass looking. Goes great with my 1/24 Revell Hertz Mustang.

Managed to get Jazz recently, also the first and only time I've seen him in the stores. Absolutely super freakin awesome. Only drawback really is his arms are still kind of weird. I wish the headlights were at the bottom like in the movie and that the forearms were different somehow. But 98% greatness.

I've passed up Sideswipe forever now. He just looks awful in bot mode.

And I have never seen Mudslide in stores. Ever.

Prime Riblet wrote:I am probably in the minority saying this, but Bumblebee is pretty boring to me. I wish Hasbro would have figured out a way to hide the seats of the car in bot mode.

I think he's decent, but I do think he's overrated...and I think the seat might be the primary reason I feel that way. They bother me a lot.

Kibble wrote:

Prime Riblet wrote:I am probably in the minority saying this, but Bumblebee is pretty boring to me. I wish Hasbro would have figured out a way to hide the seats of the car in bot mode.

I think he's decent, but I do think he's overrated...and I think the seat might be the primary reason I feel that way. They bother me a lot.

That's why I cut them off. Do it right and they kind of look like his arm armor...gauntlet..things.

I have Bee and Barricade and love them (after modifying the hip joints on 'cade a little and mis-transforming his legs for better poseability). I also have Jazz but haven't opened him yet. I've passed on the others and don't plan on ever getting them at any price!

Basically, what Zodconvoy said, unless they make some new ones.

I never had any interest in the HA line, until Jazz. I know I'll be picking him and only him up when he hits retail around here.

Thank you very much everybody. Now it is more clear to me which HA figures are really worth to acquire ...

I'm a kind of perfectionist, so I'm always after 3 things when buying any TF movie figures:
- Movie accuracy
- Elegance of the design (specially in Robot mode)
- Scaling

That said, I think everybody more or less agrees that BumbleBee (even with the seats exposed), Barricade and Jazz are the must-haves from the HA toy-line.

The twins look funny and ugly to me, but they are ugly and funny in the movie as well. Because of the movie accuracy, I will add them to my collection later. Furthermore, they come with Arcee and Chromia in the proper scale. The Deluxe ones are just too big IMO to be displayed with the other figures.

It's a shame (for Hasbro) that Sideswipe was so poorly designed. He is so cool in the movie, but the HA robot mode is too ugly (I like more my Deluxe). I hope his new TF3 alt-mode (coupe sports car) helps Hasbro to design a new HA mold with an acceptable back-pack. I even have the impression (by watching the video reviews) that the current HA mold is not in scale with the other HA figures. I would expect Sideswipe to be a bit taller than BumbleBee (after all, he is using the wheels as feet), but he is in fact quite shorter.

Xterminator wrote:Thank you very much everybody. Now it is more clear to me which HA figures are really worth to acquire ...

I'm a kind of perfectionist, so I'm always after 3 things when buying any TF movie figures:
- Movie accuracy
- Elegance of the design (specially in Robot mode)
- Scaling

That said, I think everybody more or less agrees that BumbleBee (even with the seats exposed), Barricade and Jazz are the must-haves from the HA toy-line.

The twins look funny and ugly to me, but they are ugly and funny in the movie as well. Because of the movie accuracy, I will add them to my collection later. Furthermore, they come with Arcee and Chromia in the proper scale. The Deluxe ones are just too big IMO to be displayed with the other figures.

It's a shame (for Hasbro) that Sideswipe was so poorly designed. He is so cool in the movie, but the HA robot mode is too ugly (I like more my Deluxe). I hope his new TF3 alt-mode (coupe sports car) helps Hasbro to design a new HA mold with an acceptable back-pack. I even have the impression (by watching the video reviews) that the current HA mold is not in scale with the other HA figures. I would expect Sideswipe to be a bit taller than BumbleBee (after all, he is using the wheels as feet), but he is in fact quite shorter.

In the animation he's very tall and slim but the toys don't capture it at all.

Thinking more about Sideswipe in TF3 and the HA figure, I just had an idea:

Would it be possible to remove the Corvete's roof, in such way that the car-mode still
looks acceptable and the robot-mode looses at least 50% of the back-pack ?

I don't know where the wind-shield is attached in the HA Sideswipe. If it is not attached to
the roof, that modification might work.

Xterminator wrote:Thinking more about Sideswipe in TF3 and the HA figure, I just had an idea:

Would it be possible to remove the Corvete's roof, in such way that the car-mode still
looks acceptable and the robot-mode looses at least 50% of the back-pack ?

I don't know where the wind-shield is attached in the HA Sideswipe. If it is not attached to
the roof, that modification might work.

Not an easy task. The roof is attached to the top of the back of the car reaching all the way to the rear bumper. Without the roof, you'd have a stray piece. You can't glue it into place either, because that piece covers his head, and would make transforming him impossible. Even if you just snapped that piece into place in his alt mode and set it aside or used it as a shield in bot mode, it's not cutting down on the backpack very noticeably. You still have most of the car resting on his back.

On an unrelated note, I want HA Mudflap but don't want to pay a fortune for him I thought I read on here a while ago that he would be repackaged for Hunt for the Decepticons, any actual confirmation of that? Hopefully still with Simmons as his human buddy.

Xterminator wrote:Thinking more about Sideswipe in TF3 and the HA figure, I just had an idea:

Would it be possible to remove the Corvete's roof, in such way that the car-mode still
looks acceptable and the robot-mode looses at least 50% of the back-pack ?

I don't know where the wind-shield is attached in the HA Sideswipe. If it is not attached to
the roof, that modification might work.

If you're looking to do a mod, you can do one that makes the backpack fold up tighter...like it appears the repaint does (unless that too was modded.) Or just get the repaint if that's the case.

As for removing the roof, Sideswipe actually has a good (or rather bad) amount of kibble crowded about the interior of his alt mode so even if you can remove it without much trouble, it probably wouldn't look very good.

Kingpun wrote:On an unrelated note, I want HA Mudflap but don't want to pay a fortune for him I thought I read on here a while ago that he would be repackaged for Hunt for the Decepticons, any actual confirmation of that? Hopefully still with Simmons as his human buddy.

I don't know that that's ever been confirmed. I think that was specualtion based on a pre-order from BBTS which may have been a bit misleading. I can't seem to find the pre-order/listing on BBTS any more either, but to me it sounded more like they mighta just been getting in a shipment of cases with Mudflap and Bumblebee of the ROTF variety.

Skids and Mudflap are great toys. They have really interesting transformations and look the closest to their movie counterparts that you'll find. If you just enjoy toys, pick them up.

Sideswipe is easily the worst of the lot. He has bad proportions, an inccurate transformation, and balance issues.

I can get either Barricade, BB, or Sideswipe at TJ Maxx and Ross for under $20, which one should I grab?

I haven't bought a HA yet

adamassc wrote:I can get either Barricade, BB, or Sideswipe at TJ Maxx and Ross for under $20, which one should I grab?

I haven't bought a HA yet

Bumblebee probably of those three. He looks the best in robot mode. 90% of Sideswipe's car exterior sits on his back and Barricade's hip joints force his legs into a "I have to pee" position. However, if you are skilled enough to modify Barricade yourself, there is a simple fix for him that improves him greatly. http://mattbooker.info/2010/05/04/human-alliance-barricade-hip-mod/ But his legs still feel a little small compared to his upper body. Really, Bumblebee's only problem is that his car seats hang on the sides of his arms pretty noticeably.

Kingpun wrote:

adamassc wrote:I can get either Barricade, BB, or Sideswipe at TJ Maxx and Ross for under $20, which one should I grab?

I haven't bought a HA yet

Bumblebee probably of those three. He looks the best in robot mode. 90% of Sideswipe's car exterior sits on his back and Barricade's hip joints force his legs into a "I have to pee" position. However, if you are skilled enough to modify Barricade yourself, there is a simple fix for him that improves him greatly. http://mattbooker.info/2010/05/04/human-alliance-barricade-hip-mod/ But his legs still feel a little small compared to his upper body. Really, Bumblebee's only problem is that his car seats hang on the sides of his arms pretty noticeably.

Dr., I concur.

Too bad Jazz isn't among those choices, he is without a doubt the best of the line. Best articulation, robot mode closest to the movie, etc etc.

Valandar wrote:Too bad Jazz isn't among those choices, he is without a doubt the best of the line. Best articulation, robot mode closest to the movie, etc etc.

He really is the best without question. He is at or near the top of the list as far as the whole movie line of figures is concerned.

Counterpunch wrote:Skids and Mudflap are great toys. They have really interesting transformations and look the closest to their movie counterparts that you'll find. If you just enjoy toys, pick them up.

Sideswipe is easily the worst of the lot. He has bad proportions, an inccurate transformation, and balance issues.

Very much agreed. If someone likes TFs in general, that person needs to pickup one or both of the twins.

Side swipe is undoubtedly the worst of the lot. It was a MAJOR disappointment to me. The backpack alone is borderline breaking a law.

Kibble wrote:
If you're looking to do a mod, you can do one that makes the backpack fold up tighter...like it appears the repaint does (unless that too was modded.) Or just get the repaint if that's the case.

As for removing the roof, Sideswipe actually has a good (or rather bad) amount of kibble crowded about the interior of his alt mode so even if you can remove it without much trouble, it probably wouldn't look very good.

Thanks for the hint !

Anyway, it seems the modifications don't really solve the back-pack problem nor are easy to implement.
So, as I said before, I will just pass the current HA Sideswipe. Maybe Hasbro will release an improved mold after TF3 is released.

Pontimax 01 wrote:

Kibble wrote:

Prime Riblet wrote:I am probably in the minority saying this, but Bumblebee is pretty boring to me. I wish Hasbro would have figured out a way to hide the seats of the car in bot mode.

I think he's decent, but I do think he's overrated...and I think the seat might be the primary reason I feel that way. They bother me a lot.

That's why I cut them off. Do it right and they kind of look like his arm armor...gauntlet..things.

Besides liking a lot my HA Bumblebee, I also get annoyed by the exposed seats in Robot-mode. I even thought myself of chopping-off part of the seats, but I'm not brave enough for that

What I really would like to see as a solution for the seat issue, is an up-grade provided by a third-party supplier: new seats that fold (like in HA Barricade) for both arms, plus a right hand to be plugged into the plasma cannon. It shouldn't be difficult at all to manufacture such up grade !

Are there any third-party companies supplying up-grades to the TF movies' toy-lines ?

Probably not enough demand... Even though those things would probably make for a better figure, I know I wouldn't dish out the extra cash for it.