Regarding that Leader DotM Megs, as umpteen people have said the reps most likely have him mistransformed. Heaven forbid Hasbro reps should be competent at representing their products.
Bucky wrote:Black Hat pretty much hits the nail on the head. In any combiner limb, torso, or triple changer you have to lose something from the other two modes to achieve a third mode. It’s just what happens. Those combiner pegs and ports take up a decent amount of space. And in the specific case of the Dinobots, their G1 designs were never intended to become combiner components. I don’t think they lend themselves very well to the gimmick, as evidenced by what we wound up with.
Edit:
ZeldatheSwordsman - Except that it’s not a forced gimmick for Jetfire and OP. They did combine. Parts from one joined with the other. You could make the argument that maybe not 100% of Jetfire combined with Optimus, but then we’d wind up with a partsformer (which isn’t a bad thing), but one that has left over parts, to do what with? And if they had gone that route, why would not utilizing all of a toy to combine not be forced, but using it all would be? Also this combination isn’t trying to fit into an already established pattern. It isn’t required to conform to how other combiners combine from the same, or previous toy line. So there’s more freedom there, when it comes to the engineering.
And yes, as i stated before, any combiner or triple changer will suffer some from having to incorporate a third mode option. But like the triple changers and original combiners, Jetfire was designed to combine with Optimus. It isn’t a feature or gimmick that was tacked on to a design some thirty years later. So there’s a difference. It’s also not a fools errand, if it works. Only if it fails. Even in the case of the Dinobots combining it wasn’t a failure. The end result just didn’t look good, and was necessary because there wasn’t a pretext for G1 Dinobots to combine. So you can’t even blame it on nostalgia.
1. As someone who actually owns all 5 original G1 Dinobots and compared the toys hand-in-hand. those pegs do NOT, in reality, take up extra space (in fact, Snarl is actually a little less fat than his G1 toy). On Slag, Sludge, and Snarl they take up the space that was occupied by the Diaclone cockpits on the originals. Swoop just sacrifices the chest closure, but manages to keep it from looking ugly. And while the ports are noticeable on Grimlock, I don't think they really clutter up the design; I think people blow that way out of proportion.
Beyond that, all five have huge gains in useful articulation. And the way Grimlock's legs transform.. It's kinda cheating, but it's done well enough to not look bad IMO. And it keeps him within mass limits while finding something to do with the tailtip halves. Slag is improved enormously despite losing his robot-mode wings - he's articulated in both modes, and his tail is properly dealt with in robot mode (as opposed to the original toy, where it's an awkward thing sticking out from his waist that you're not sure whether to have it up behind the back taking up a crapton of space, or tuck it under the legs). So I really don't see how the Dinobots being made combiners hurt them. There's no basis other than "Wouldn't it be cool if..?" but that's enough for me.
2. Let me spell it out for you people, since you're apparently unable to grasp my point.
Jetfire was
NOT designed to combine with Optimus. Jetfire was designed to transform from SR-71 to robot and back, period. The so-called combination with Optimus isn't a combination. Not even a partsforming one (like, say, RiD Omega Prime) since it's not a matter of structural parts being rearranged in a configuration they were designed for and can be converted back from.
IT'S @#$%ING KITBASHING!!!!!! Ratchet and Jolt literally
KITBASH the armor out of Jetfire's remains! That is why trying to make a Jetfire that turns into the Jetpower armor is a forced gimmick and a fool's errand, especially with how complex Bayformers are.
3. And as for "It's not a failure if it works"? Guess what, it doesn't! Not from what we've seen so far! It's still inaccurate, but in different (and in some cases, worse) ways, and unless there's pieces that the idiot reps left out when showing off the combo it doesn't even have the decency to include the weapons the super mode featured in the movie! The ROTF Leader toys' combination, for all its jankiness, at least included approximations of those. This isn't something being compromised for the sake of making a third mode option work well, this is something being compromised for the sake of a third mode option that's even
more compromised by a substantial margin.
Meanwhile, I think Volcanicus turned out looking great and works great too. And since Volcanicus was made up for PotP, there's no prior design he has to emulate. So long as the individual Dinobots are kept fairly faithful, he's free to be an original design (And pulls it off wonderfully).
Jetpower Prime does not have that luxury. There is an existing design to match, and it just can't be done using a transforming Jetfire. Too much moves in conflicting directions. or is just completely warped from what it was on Jetfire's body. The only way to properly pull it off is an add-on set. Like the one made by FWI only official, or the Jet
wing add-on for DotM Optimus.
JelZe, where's the confirmation that it partsforms? Looking at the trade show photos it looks like it could potentially still be straight-up transformation.
Yes to the first SS Prime and to this new improved upgrade, yes to Jetfire, yes to 'meat and potatoes', yes to no forced gimmick (the g1 dinobots did not need to be combiners... and grimlock in particular suffered).
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