Diem's 2 cents: Toyfair 2013 edition
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:48 pmSo whenever there is a big event like Toyfair with the beckoning glass cases and shiny trinkets within, there is always one question on everyone's lips: "What would Diem make of this?" Well wonder no longer.
First up, Metroplex. He's either too G1 or not G1-enough, I'm not sure. What I do know is that if you put a G1 Metroplex in front of me right now and said "How could we make this better?" my answer would not be "Make it more lanky and gangly." I do enjoy that everything unfolds in an orgy of panels and hinges, but he doesn't come with a little black car buddy. That's a deal breaker. My verdict? Probably not worth the purported $125 pricetag but since people are paying that much for deluxe-sized third party figures now that probably won't slow many fans down.
Springer and Blitzwing. Love it. Looooooove it. Partly because they're great and partly because Springer fans are a loud and dissatisfied crowd, and this might stop them whinging. Springer is very cool. A great looking triple-changer with a double-missile launcher? You have found your way into both my wallet and my pants, Hasbro. I love the simple yet effective method for turning a thin helicopter cockpit into a wide car body. And speaking of which, I love that his car mode actually looks vaguely like a car. That's novel. And while I would prefer an original mold I really wouldn't mind if this got a retool into Sandstorm.
Blitzwing looks awesome too. I'm not sure the face-swap gimmick is necessary but it's cute. Both jet and tank modes look amazing with no compromises. The robot mode has a bit of a case of "high knee" but I'm buying toys to play with so I don't really care. If this mold winds up being half as good as it looks I will happily snap up the Overcharge repaint at Botcon 2015.
Generations Deluxes: Trailbreaker looks fantastic. At this point we would all have been happy with a turnip as long as it was black with a chrome engine block thing. It has the same wide-chest/skinny arms thing that really didn't do FOC Jazz any favours and I feel trepidation that Hasbro thinks it's still okay to use car roofs as shields but the vehicle mode with its retro stripes is a thing of wonder. Please don't let those stripes go away on the final shelf product.
As for the other 3, when I heard "IDX" I was hoping more for Chromedomes and Tailgates, not 3 guys that we already have a million figures of. As figures, the Megatron and Pax look good so I look forward to getting them when they get repainted into someone else. Bumblebee looks very hollow-torso-y at this stage. The car mode looks okay but I literally cannot get interested in a Bumblebee figure any more.
Beast Hunters: The Ultimates look pretty cool, though those images look verrry photoshopped at this stage. Optimus has had a bad tendency towards cheapy grey plastic of late. Voyager Shockwave looks just non-G1-enough to piss off Shockwave fans, which is a plus. Grimwing looks good in a generic dragon way. Really not sure why all the Predacons are dragons. And UM joins the ranks of Primes With Jet Backpacks, which seems to be a thing. Hasbro are gonna be experts at dragons and truckpacks at the end of this.
As for the deluxes, Skystalker's dragon mode looks great but with a disappointing robot mode, Ratchet has gone horribly wrong in a range of different directions And Dreadwing is gradually turning into a Final Fantasy villain. Those marbled wings? That's amazing. We have marbling technology now? Why isn't everything marbled?
Cyberverse: Everything that is a Terrorcon is exciting. Everything that isn't is blah.
Legends: I love the whole Targetmaster thing they're doing, but I reeeeally don't need yet another Optimus and Bee.
Kreos and Botshots: They're all adorable but I really can't keep up with them.
In other news: Domestic release of MP Soundwave with all 5 tapes? Yes please!
First up, Metroplex. He's either too G1 or not G1-enough, I'm not sure. What I do know is that if you put a G1 Metroplex in front of me right now and said "How could we make this better?" my answer would not be "Make it more lanky and gangly." I do enjoy that everything unfolds in an orgy of panels and hinges, but he doesn't come with a little black car buddy. That's a deal breaker. My verdict? Probably not worth the purported $125 pricetag but since people are paying that much for deluxe-sized third party figures now that probably won't slow many fans down.
Springer and Blitzwing. Love it. Looooooove it. Partly because they're great and partly because Springer fans are a loud and dissatisfied crowd, and this might stop them whinging. Springer is very cool. A great looking triple-changer with a double-missile launcher? You have found your way into both my wallet and my pants, Hasbro. I love the simple yet effective method for turning a thin helicopter cockpit into a wide car body. And speaking of which, I love that his car mode actually looks vaguely like a car. That's novel. And while I would prefer an original mold I really wouldn't mind if this got a retool into Sandstorm.
Blitzwing looks awesome too. I'm not sure the face-swap gimmick is necessary but it's cute. Both jet and tank modes look amazing with no compromises. The robot mode has a bit of a case of "high knee" but I'm buying toys to play with so I don't really care. If this mold winds up being half as good as it looks I will happily snap up the Overcharge repaint at Botcon 2015.
Generations Deluxes: Trailbreaker looks fantastic. At this point we would all have been happy with a turnip as long as it was black with a chrome engine block thing. It has the same wide-chest/skinny arms thing that really didn't do FOC Jazz any favours and I feel trepidation that Hasbro thinks it's still okay to use car roofs as shields but the vehicle mode with its retro stripes is a thing of wonder. Please don't let those stripes go away on the final shelf product.
As for the other 3, when I heard "IDX" I was hoping more for Chromedomes and Tailgates, not 3 guys that we already have a million figures of. As figures, the Megatron and Pax look good so I look forward to getting them when they get repainted into someone else. Bumblebee looks very hollow-torso-y at this stage. The car mode looks okay but I literally cannot get interested in a Bumblebee figure any more.
Beast Hunters: The Ultimates look pretty cool, though those images look verrry photoshopped at this stage. Optimus has had a bad tendency towards cheapy grey plastic of late. Voyager Shockwave looks just non-G1-enough to piss off Shockwave fans, which is a plus. Grimwing looks good in a generic dragon way. Really not sure why all the Predacons are dragons. And UM joins the ranks of Primes With Jet Backpacks, which seems to be a thing. Hasbro are gonna be experts at dragons and truckpacks at the end of this.
As for the deluxes, Skystalker's dragon mode looks great but with a disappointing robot mode, Ratchet has gone horribly wrong in a range of different directions And Dreadwing is gradually turning into a Final Fantasy villain. Those marbled wings? That's amazing. We have marbling technology now? Why isn't everything marbled?
Cyberverse: Everything that is a Terrorcon is exciting. Everything that isn't is blah.
Legends: I love the whole Targetmaster thing they're doing, but I reeeeally don't need yet another Optimus and Bee.
Kreos and Botshots: They're all adorable but I really can't keep up with them.
In other news: Domestic release of MP Soundwave with all 5 tapes? Yes please!
