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Full Plot Breakdown of Transformers Rise of the Beasts with Spoilers Abound

Date: Sunday, May 28th 2023 11:15pm CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Reviews
Posted by: william-james88

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The Transformers Rise of the Beasts film has premiered and we now have a full breakdown of the movie. Many fans seemed apprehensive about this film, as is the case with all live action Transformers films, so this might help you see if the film is worth your while. Of course, only ready this if you want to know EVERYTHING. This includes character deaths, how they die, third act revelations, and so on. The breakdown is from Actar who saw the film in Singapore. They also give us some extra tidbits and ratings after the full summary.

Actar wrote:Alrighty!!! Here is what you guys have been waiting for. A full plot summary of Rise of the Beasts. This is based completely on my memory. I usually have a pretty good memory, but please remember that I only watched the movie once, and I was really hyped. So, please forgive me if I get some details wrong. Also remember that there is also a ton of heart, characterization, and atmosphere that comes through the dialogue, jokes, and cinematography that I cannot recreate here. That said, here we go:


At the beginning, we have an opening narration from Primal introducing Unicron as a dark god from legends. Unicron nears the Maximal homeworld and sends down Scourge and his minions in order to mine the planet for their technology before he eats it up. The technology that the Maximals have is the Transwarp Key. Scourge comes down, not in a ship alt-mode, but in a literal small ship that he steps out of. (Spotted a Predacon emblem as one of Scourge's trophies here.) We see Cheetor, Airazor, Apelinq, and Primal evacuating to their escape pod/ship. Apelinq is the leader of the Maximals and asks Primal and the others to use the Transwarp Key to escape. He decides to stay behind and fend off Scourge to buy them some time to escape. He names Primal the new leader of the Maximals. Apelinq and Scourge fight for a bit, but Scourge kinda catches Apelinq off guard and uses his giant blade thing to stab and kill him. The other Maximals escape through a transwarp portal to what is implied to be a prehistoric Earth.

We get introduced to Noah and Elena. Noah is struggling to look for a job to support his family. His brother has a blood disease (I think sickle cell disease), and they can't afford the treatment. Elena is an intern at a museum, but she's more passionate and knowledgeable about history and artifacts than the actual staff. Noah tries to apply for a job but doesn't get it because of his apparent inability to work in a team from his military days. Elena notices a bird sculpture with a Maximal symbol and bizarre markings recovered from an auction. She gets interested it in and analyzes it. While analyzing it, she breaks it, and inside is a glowing crystal thingy (the Transwarp Key) that activates and emits an energy signature that can only be seen/felt by the Autobots/Terrorcons/Maximals. At this time, Noah was desperate for cash, so he decides to take up Reek's offer to steal rich people's cars and sell them. After breaking into Mirage, Noah gets a change of heart. It is here when Optimus notices the transwarp signature and puts a call out to all the Autobots to assemble. We see Bumblebee and Arcee leap into action. Noah hears Optimus's call on the radio, and Mirage takes him along for the ride. This is where we see the police chase from the trailers.

Once at the warehouse, Noah and Mirage start to bond. When Optimus arrives, he is annoyed that Mirage has brought back a human. Arcee scans Noah's face, reads his bio, and notes that he's an ex-soldier. Note that Optimus in this early part of the movie is really jaded and grumpy. Essentially, he feels like it's his fault that the Autobots are stuck on Earth and that anything that happens to them on Earth is his responsibility. Optimus really wants to get the Transwarp Key so that they can finally go back home. They want to get the Transwarp Key from the museum, but they can't just go and reveal themselves. So Mirage volunteers Noah. Noah can sneak in and grab the Key for them. In order to convince Noah, Mirage says that he can transform into any kind of car he wants, transforming into a Lambo and an F1 racing car. Noah can sell him for cash, and Mirage can sneak off later. Optimus distrusts humans and says that humans will only prioritize their own kind, but he agrees to the plan. Bumblebee says that humans are his friends, but Optimus says that because one was kind to him doesn't mean that all will be. It is at this point that Scourge, Nightbird, and Battletrap arrive (after noticing the energy signature) and they head to the museum as well.

At the museum, Noah sneaks in on Mirage, transformed into a garbage truck, and tries to convince Elena to give him the Key because giant robots want it, but she doesn't believe him. The Terrorcons attack, and she has no choice but to believe him. Scourge unleashes two Freezers to chase them while the Autobots come in to engage the Terrorcons. Noah and Elena manage to run out of the museum and evade the Freezers. The battle outside is intense, with Scourge beating Prime rather soundly, despite Prime whipping out his axe. Scourge says, "And you call yourself a Prime. Primus will be ashamed." Nightbird blasts the humans with a bomb, and I think it is here where they drop the Transwarp Key and the Terrorcons get it. Nightbird really reminds me of Shatter in terms of her voice and mannerisms, and Battletrap even gets a line or two. Battletrap's wrecking ball can also grab onto things to add extra weight and mass to his swing, which I thought was cool. Scourge "kills" Bee and takes his Autobot emblem. Scourge is about to kill Prime too when Airazor swoops in and blasts the Terrorcons with fire. They decide to retreat because they already have the Key.

Optimus and the gang follow Airazor to figure out what's going on. Optimus is really broken up about Bee. Airazor explains that she is a Maximal, "a warrior from both your past and future" (not sure what this means... any reference to time travel in this movie is really vague and never explicit) and talks about Unicron and Scourge. Optimus knows of Unicron. Airazor notes that Scourge is infused with "dark energy" and that Unicron controls Scourge's soul. Here, it is revealed that Scourge only has half of the Key because the Maximals broke it into two to keep it safe. Airazor thinks that she is the last of the Maximals as she hasn't seen the others in a long time as they split up a long, long time ago and went into hiding. Scourge has an audience with Unicron telepathically, and Unicron tortures him because he only has half of the Key. In reality, Scourge writhes in pain while floating in the air.

Elena figures out that the other half of the Key must be in Peru because the same symbols on the bird statue were only ever recorded on a temple in Peru. The Autobots are now going to go to Peru, and Noah insists on coming along. Here, it's interesting to note that Noah wants to go not to help the Autobots, but because he wants to get the other half of the Transwarp Key to destroy it so Unicron has no hope of ever coming to Earth. However, this will doom the Autobots to remain on Earth, but Noah only wants to look out for his own, proving Optimus' original perception of humans right. Of course, Optimus himself only cares for his own kind as well. In this sense, Noah and Optimus kinda mirror each other, and this sets up the best conflict and character arc of the movie, IMHO.

They then set off to Peru on Stratosphere. In Peru, they meet up with Wheeljack, who helps track down the temple entrance with Elena's coordinates. It is at an old church. Mirage gives Noah the gauntlet gun thingy. There is a huge parade/celebration going on, and Noah and Elene take a leaf out of the Autobots' book and hide in plain sight by blending into the crowd. Arcee sits hiding in Wheeljack in robot mode, which I found rather cute. Prime and Mirage are in vehicle mode. Here, there is a ton of dialogue between them while they're in vehicle mode, which is something that I don't think ever happened in the other movies and adds a ton to the bots as Transformers characters.

They manage to get to the entrance where they solve a puzzle, and they descend into the caverns Indiana Jones style. Scourge and the Terrorcons arrive, and Scourge sends a Freezer after the humans. Once Noah and Elena reach the temple, they discover that the other half of the Transwarp Key is no longer there. It had been moved. The Freezer attacks Noah and Elena, and they run deeper into the caverns. The Autobots spring into action, and so do the Terrorcons. There is a huge battle on the road and a rematch between Prime and Scourge. Nightbird and Battletrap fight Arcee, Wheeljack, and Mirage. During this battle, Noah figures out how to use the gauntlet gun and blasts the Freezer. They then emerge out of a cave in the jungle. Airazor blasts the bridge to prevent Scourge and the other Terrorcons from following. Scourge then fires a crab needle thingy that latches onto Airazor and begins corrupting her with Scourge's essence. This allows Scourge to track her and slowly turn her evil.

Outside the cave in the jungle, this is where we get the scene from the released clip. Primal appears, and so do the other Maximals. Prime and the other Autobots jump in, and Airazor comes in to defuse the situation and introduce the other Maximals. Primal says that he's named after Optimus himself, "the legendary warrior of Cybertron," and that it's an honor to meet him. Primal and the others explain that they have the other half of the Transwarp Key. He also says that Maximals are an advanced race dedicated to the expansion of life throughout the universe, but now they're just staying on Earth to protect the life here and to protect the Transwarp Key. The Maximals lead them to a little village of humans, the descendants of the tribe of humans who have watched over the Maximals and have shared their culture with them. The Maximals reveal that the humans are in possession of the other half of the Key. Prime is surprised that the Maximals trust the humans so much. Primal tells Prime that there is "more to them than meets the eye." Then, Primal shows Optimus raw energon deposits in the valley. Prime wants to use the energon to revive Bee, but the energon is inert and cannot be activated without great power. Still, Prime lays Bee, whose body was brought there by Stratosphere, on some energon. At night, Elena tries to convince Noah to not destroy the Transwarp Key.

The next day, Elena wakes up and sees Airazor going berserk. She flies off, and Prime and Primal realize that Scourge and the other Terrorcons are coming. Noah puts on the gauntlet gun and is about to destroy the Transwarp Key, but Prime pleads with Noah. Noah struggles but finally decides to not go through with it. The Terrorcons arrive and manage to snatch the Transwarp Key while Airazor comes in and snatches up Elena. Primal jumps in to save her. Primal and Airazor fight, and Airazor regains some of her senses, enough for her to plead with Primal to do what is necessary. It's a really poignant moment as Primal kills Airazor, something he doesn't want to do because there are so few of them left.

Now, Scourge has both halves of the key. He goes to the top of a mountain/volcano and combines the two. This (or maybe Unicron's power) creates a tower for Scourge to set the Key in, and it starts to open a portal in the sky for Unicron to come in. From the walls of the tower spawn a ton of Terrorcon drones. Noah refuses to give up and says that he will not give up fighting. Prime and Primal agree to fight, but they need a plan. The only way that they can shut down the tower without destroying it and causing a huge explosion that will essentially kill them all is by entering a special access code. Elena comes in clutch again when she realizes that one half of the code was on the bird statue and the other half was in the temple. Prime realizes that they each have been fighting their own fights when they should be fighting together. He finally learns to trust Noah and Elena. The Autobots and Maximals will fight the Terrorcons while the humans will sneak in through the tiny access tunnels and go to the console in the middle of the tower to enter the code.

The big fight begins. This part is simply awesome. However, there are too many things to remember, and the sequence in my mind is a bit messed up, so I'll just mention the main parts that stood out to me. Arcee, Wheeljack, Rhinox, and Cheetor focus on taking out the drones. Prime and Primal fight Battletrap. Primal cuts off Battletrap's arm and leg, and Primal smashes Battletrap with his own wrecking ball. Prime does a "He was mine!" bit with Primal. There's a bit during the battle where we see Primal without his faceplate, but it's just a quick flash. During the battle, there's a pulse from the tower, and the energon in the valley seems to react to it. Bee starts to buzz back to life. Mirage takes on Scourge to distract him, but Mirage gets punched aside and Noah gets discovered and pulled out of the tunnel by Scourge. Elena rushes ahead to the console. Mirage knocks off Scourge's mask, and it's literally just like MCU Ultron's face. Not really a hint of Prime, so those who were theorizing that Scourge was Bayverse Prime (including myself) will be disappointed. Regardless, Mirage shields Noah from Scourge's cannon fire. It looks like Mirage is dead, but he comes back to life for just a bit before telling Noah to "take over the wheel." He transforms around Noah and becomes Noah's exosuit. Noah starts to take on Scourge but is obviously outmatched. Prime then comes in to fight Scourge together with Noah. Scourge once again overpowers Prime. Unicron appears overhead and sends in his ball drones.

All hope seems to be lost, but Stratosphere flies in overhead and Bumblebee jumps out, taking out drones and shooting Scourge, giving them a chance to recover. Nightbird flies up and grabs Bee, and Scourge shoots at Bee. Bee manages to use Nightbird as a shield. One of her wings comes off, Bee stabs her with it, she explodes, and Bee does a superhero landing as Nightbird parts rain down. All this time, Elena was running from a Freezer, trying to get to the console, and entering the access code. Even though she manages to enter it, the console gets destroyed as Scourge and Prime fight. Scourge asks Unicron to send in more reinforcements, and Unicron does. This is where the giant Scorponoks appear. Prime cuts off Scourge's arms, rips out his head/spine, and takes back Bumblebee's Autobot emblem. Now, there's no choice left but for Prime to destroy the tower/Transwarp Key and sacrifice himself. Noah and the others start to run away. Prime destroys the Transwarp Key, there's an explosion, and everything starts to get sucked back into the portal. Just as it looks like Prime is about to be pulled in, Noah grabs onto Prime's axe and the suit kinda anchors itself to the ground. But it's no use. Noah also starts to get pulled in. But that is when Primal grabs them and yanks them to the ground. (ARRIVAL TO EARTH PLAYS HERE!) This is where Prime does that breakdance transformation and Noah rides on his back from the trailers. They speed away, and the entire thing blows up. After the battle, Noah is seen taking the exosuit back on Stratosphere.

Primal says that Unicron is not dead and that Unicron is instead trapped and could return. Optimus says "Let him come." instead of the "Let them come." from the trailer. Optimus gives an "I am Optimus Prime" speech about losing the Transwarp Key but how they have gained an ally in a battle that they can only stand a chance to win together.

Noah goes and applies for another security job. He sees on a TV that Elena gets recognition for the temple discovery in Peru. He gets an interview with a guy. Guy surprises Noah by knowing about his exploits and that he saved the world. He says that they know everything. Guy promises Noah that his brother's medical fees will be taken care of because Noah saved the world. Guy asks him and his big friends to join them as "we are in the middle of an ongoing war" (the line from the TV spot) and hands him a business card. He tweaks a plaque on the wall, and it opens to reveal a base/hanger thing. Noah flips over the card, and it says G.I. Joe on the back.

In the mid-credits scene, we see Noah putting the finishing touches on a junker car made up of different parts. Surprise! It transforms into a red/silver Mirage (might have been just rusty, seen only from the back). Noah managed to restore him from the exosuit.

THE END

Extra Comments:

Stratosphere is old like Jetfire. He's Scottish as well. He only does transport, doesn't fight, and transforms on screen twice.
Airazor doesn't transform into robot mode.
Transit is not in the film.
Rhinox has no lines that I can remember while Cheetor has a few. Their bot modes are also blurry and hard to see as they're always fighting. This is pretty much my biggest let down when it comes to the film. Cool scene of Cheetor throwing his spear to save Noah, though.
I don't remember if Wheeljack has his head fins out in the battle scenes. It was kinda hard to see anyway...
This film has the most amount of on-screen transformations and transformer dialogue out of any film. While some characters have much more dialogue than others, they all have personality.
The action is cohesive and choreographed. Some of the best in the franchise.
If I didn't know about how messy the production process was, I wouldn't have been able to guess it from watching the film alone. It's a very focused and tight plot with no unnecessary B plot like some of the other movies.
There is no post-credits scene.

Ranking of TF characters:

- Prime (Best development)
- Primal (Best overall)
- Mirage (Best personality)
- Airazor (Great performance, key to many scenes)
- Scourge (Great villain for Prime/Primal)
- Nightbird (Great voice, standout in fights)
- Arcee (All around okay)
- Cheetor (A couple of lines that evoke the original character)
- Stratosphere (Interesting alt-mode, unique transformation)
- Bumblebee (Doesn't do anything for most of the movie)
- Battletrap (Great in fights, nothing much else)
- Wheeljack (Nothing character)
- Rhinox (Biggest disappointment)

Would be my rating.

Video Review of Transformers Legacy Breakdown

Date: Thursday, September 29th 2022 6:23pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 35,546

Fans who ordered Transformers Legacy Breakdown on Shopee have received him since, hence our earlier photos. And now we have a video review, from JoeyBoy pommers Chompilo lacson Marquez. In it we see a good comparison with his moldmate Wild Rider. We also see that he indeed only comes with 1 gun, which can be stored under the car in alt mode. We also see combined Menasor from the front and back. We will probably have an official reveal tomorrow.

American and Canadian Sightings for Kingdom Core Class Megatron and Starscream + Video Review

Date: Saturday, March 13th 2021 10:33pm CST
Categories: Toy News, Reviews
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 47,215

Transformers Kingdom core class Megatron and Starscream have been found in the US at Target, which means the entirety of Kingdom wave 2 has been found in the US before the end of this year's first quarter. They were found in Canada at Walmart a little while before that. We have a video review for both of these toys below in case you want to know more before going on the hunt looking for them.

Also, for those curious, there are wave 1 repacks in this second wave of core class figures. Here is the box breakdown:

3x Megatron
1x Vertebreak
3x Starscream
1x Rattrap

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Starscream is the best smaller scale Transformer I've handled in a very long time, I look forward to buying this mold several times over in a rainbow of colors. Megatron is actually better than I thought, I just thought the silver would be a little brighter but the gunmetal coloring is still cool. Both figures would make great additions to your collection.

Video Review of Transformers Prime 10th Anniversary Jet Vehicon and Breakdown

Date: Saturday, October 10th 2020 3:27pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews
Posted by: ZeroWolf | Credit(s): PrimeVsPrime from Seibertron

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Views: 33,299

Greetings Seibertronians! Thanks to fellow Seibertron users, Tuned Agent and -Kanrabat-, we've learned that fellow Seibertron user, and YouTube toy reviewer, PrimeVsPrime, has just done a review of the forthcoming Transformers Prime 10th Anniversary Jet Vehicon and Breakdown boxset!

The set marks the first time that Hasbro have offered these two molds, with Takara Tomy releasing them during Transformers Prime original run. No changes have been made for this 10th Anniversary re-release as the set includes the Arms Micron figures from the original releases.

We have embedded the review below for your convenience:



Have you got these two on preorder? Did you manage to get these back when they first released? Any other figures you would like to see for future anniversaries? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

IDW Transformers #8 Review

Date: Wednesday, July 3rd 2019 6:35am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews
Posted by: ScottyP

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Views: 38,064

There have been times that IDW's "Bold New Era" of Transformers has felt like it's on the right track. There have been others where it hasn't. Four months in and without a cancellation post-issue 12 on the horizon, this reviewer has gone into a this is happening so deal with it mode and desperately wanted to like part two of its latest arc, "The Cracks Beneath Your Feet".

As it turns out, this is an issue that has very fun bookends but a troublesome middle, making it in many ways a microcosm of the series so far. Read on to find out more, or check out the Seibertron.com eBay store to buy your copy with its free pack of Transformers TCG cards then come back around here to see if you agree.


The start and ending thirds of this eighth issue are very strong, with the best action sequence and ensemble character work delivered so far in its short existence found in a pair of connected scenes. A well blocked action sequence from Anna Malkova and either Joana Lafuente or Josh Burcham* hooks you in while presenting fun teases of things to come in the future. While one facial expression here might have had a little too much dull surprise for my taste, the intense opening was otherwise executed flawlessly. This part gives me hope that when (if?) things ever "hit the fan" in this story, we might be in for a fun ride.

*The credits page gives no page breakdown for colorists, sorry!

The middle of this issue contains a seven page stretch that keeps doing much of the same as was seen in the previous seven issues. The first features Megatron and another new character, or at least new with respect to making an appearance. The setting is the most interesting part of the scene as the dialogue drones on with vague allusions to events unseen that are described with high-sounding phrasings that ring hollow. Maybe some of this will eventually mean something, but at the moment Ruckley continues to test readers' patience with the series' unclear overall plot. It's also worth noting that I might be the only impatient one, as other members of site staff are quite intrigued with this Megatron.


Then there are more stairs, which can no longer be ignored as a fixture in Angel Hernandez's art thanks to WilliamJames88 pointing it out last issue. There's also more talking and walking with Bumblebee. I'm not sure if it's a Hasbro mandate request suggestion that his "plot" be featured in a majority of issues, but it adds nothing to this particular one. This series needs to show what it wants Bumblebee to be, especially given that no one else involved with the Transformers brand has given much consistency to him over the past few years.


It's easy to focus on what didn't work so well, but things do come around again by the end with Bethany McGuire Smith handling the lineart for the final portion of the issue's story. While Brian Ruckley delivers some effective narrative dialogue to enhance it, Tom B. Long finally gets to do something interesting with the scripts providing all the KRISH and THWUWK you've been waiting for. If editors David Mariotte and Tom Waltz were responsible for the choice of pacing, credit is due for making sure things finished out strong.

The covers available feature Cyclonus on Anna Malkova's "A" cover, which is featured in this review's news story thumbnail. Casey Coller makes me wish he was doing interiors with his Megatron based "B" cover while Jeffrey Veregge provides another excellent "travel poster" cover for the ten copy retailer incentive option, available soon at the Seibertron eBay store along with the others. As always, you can also find images of all of the book's covers along with full credits for the issue in our Vector Sigma Database page for Transformers #8.


A good start and a great end couldn't avoid being dragged down by a sleepy middle, but there's hope that the forest of boredom that has been this series might be clearing into something more fun to read soon. The character work in the last third is especially encouraging, with Prowl and Chromia going from harbingers of slow plot advancement to a pair that could provide a super entertaining dynamic. Despite the middle driving a final yield of something merely a little above average, two-thirds of Transformers #8 are hard to complain about at all so I don't mind putting a little extra on top of the score for this one -

Pictorial Review of Transformers Masterpiece MP-43 Beast Wars Megatron

Date: Monday, April 1st 2019 3:46pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 45,246

This is it, the big in depth review at the biggest release of the year (that's right, you heard me!). While you can see a video of the transformation here, I will go through most of what the figure has to offer with images to go along with the pros an cons. The pros far outnumber the cons though and I do recommend the figure, so if that's all you needed to know then great. If you want more, well let's get to it:

Beast Mode

The beast mode is spot on. Some people have been saying that this mode is fully painted like with some previous Beast Wars masterpiece figures, but it is not. it is mostly shiny purple plastic with a pastel violet hue found across the toy in digital stripes. The mouth and head are very well articulated. So are the eyes which can be positioned as you wish by rolling them around. Other main points of articulation in this mode are the small arms (2 points of articulation), tail tip, tongue, knees and individual toes.













While there is more potential articulation in the legs (like outward movement), this is all due to the robot mode's articulation and messing with the legs undoes some panels and reveals robot mode kibble. So I don't touch the legs much. The articulated eyes make him very expressive. If you insert batteries, pressing a button on the top of the T-rex head will make him talk in Japanese. While he does come with extra clear adapters to connect him to Dinobot's stand, I didn't feel any need to use them. He is very well balanced. Also, of all the Beast Wars toys, he is the one that has the least amount of robot kibble showing (mainly because unlike the others, he uses the same parts for both modes).







Transformation

The original Beast Wars Meagatron toy is my favourite toy ever so it is really fun to see that Takara felt they did indeed ace that transformation the first time. To the point that this toy transforms the same way. The big change for this new figure is that to give him a much smaller backpack, the T-Rex shell is made up of 20 thin pieces of plastic which fold onto eachother to make a smaller back section. This of course makes him very tedious to transform back into a T-Rex. However, every parts does fit into each other fine and if I do intend on transforming him again, unlike ROTF Jetfire (NEVER AGAIN). I did see stress marks around the pins though, but I do not think they will get worse if I pay attention.

The scary part though is when you first start prying the shell open. He is held together by some very thin pegs and some heavy locking mechanisms. So you do have to use some force sometimes, since being delicate will just make him stay in beast mode. It reminds me of MP 05 Megatron in a way where you have to be forceful yet delicate at the same time (ah, the jokes I just can't make). Another big difference over the original toy is the role that those thigh circles play. These parts are working overtime here by both hiding and locking in panels as well as having (decorative) guns fold out. They do come off easily during transformation BUT once you peg them back in robot mode, they stay on securely. So I don't see them unpegging as too much of a negative.

Speaking of unpegging, my big worry with this guy was that with so many sections unpegging purposefully (6 parts) I thought it would have for a very frustrating transformation. But no, most parts are secure enough that if you want this toy not to be a partsformer, it wont be, but it also allows you to take some parts out for ease of transformation. And I recommend you do that with the big T-Rex body shells since removing them helps transforming the waist. It transforms essentially like the original toy (pivoting the axis of the waist and locking it in) but you have to pull it out first and that requires more of that delicate forceful touch I was talking about earlier. Also, if the back doesn't peg in well, DO NOT FORCE IT. Just undo what you did and try again, it should clip in effortlessly.



The tail and lower legs have as many transformation steps as the original toy. For the life of me I do not know why the instructions spend so much time on the lower legs, there is nothing to do there.

Robot Mode

[url=7oXtISrMwVc]Hoo-Ah![/url]. This is an amazing looking figure. He looks like he jumped right off the screen. The stability is great, thanks to the metal used for his heels. The extra kibble comes off only if you want it to and the only angle which looks a bit off is directly at the side. He looks good from the back, and even has a nice extra transformation bit where the T-Rex' pelvic area splits in half to reveal some robot mode detail made just for the back section.









I really love the left arm. It is fully articulated and I really like that the tail can be pivoted a bit to provide extra room, showing that they are two independent pieces. It's my favorite aspect of this toy, since it does end up being the biggest improvement over the original. Removing the tail is easy and it pegs back securely if you want it attached.











The rifle accessory is fine and while it is easiest to use when removing the tail, you can keep it on. It attaches as well as any of the other myriad of MP weapons we have had over the years. The tooth brush is much more secure though and it is quite fun. The energy blast is hollowed out from underneath but you won't notice that if you pose the toy properly.




















Speaking of posing, there are many ratchets to help you achieve great action poses. They can keep the right arm held really high (sadly, that means those silver pieces near his collar have to be loosey goosey to offer the arm as much mobility as possible). The one place where there are no ratchet, and it's too bad, is between the shoulder and torso, which hurts the toy. It is a friction joint and on my copy there is no friction on that left arm, which just falls. But at least you can compensate with the shoulder ratchet. I do not have more complaints than that. While the waist is a bit loose, he is top heavy enough that the weight compensates. I really like the silver deco over the sculpted detail which replicates the shading found on the show but using real light. The different faces are fun and work well.







So the main complaints: Force must be exerted at times, lots of panels to deal with (especially going back to beast mode), stress marks near pins and a friction joint that just doesn't hold for his left arm.

The main pros: This toy is gorgeous in both modes, he feels very sturdy and he is a love letter to the favourite toy of my childhood. Easily the best Beast Wars MP figure to date.



Also, just to review the use of Amazon Japan, it went so well I can't imagine getting non exclusive Takara toys from anywhere else. The price was the best and the shipping was lightning fast. I live in Canada and got the toy today. Here is a breakdown of the transaction, if anyone is curious:

Order Summary
Item(s) Subtotal: ￥ 23,506
Shipping & Handling: ￥ 1,200
Total: ￥ 24,706
Import Fees Deposit ￥ 1,175
Grand Total: ￥ 25,881

That's a total of $232 USD / $309 CAD

They did a great job on the packaging too.

Transformers Trading Card Game Optimus Maximus and More Revealed with Analysis

Date: Friday, February 1st 2019 11:46pm CST
Categories: Reviews, Collectables
Posted by: Wolfman Jake | Credit(s): The Roarbots

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Seibertronians, we have some exciting news for you for the second wave of the Transformers Trading Card Game! This news comes to us courtesy of The Roarbots. Optimus Maximus now joins the fun as the latest Autobot Combiner in the game!

Optimus Maximus made his debut during the Combiner Wars toy line and the IDW comics tie-ins. This is a SIX member team, consisting of a special "Gleaming Commander" Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Mirage, Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Hot Rod. Use the "Sentinel Enigma" card to combine them into the heroic Optimus Maximus and turn the tide! These sentinel cards are augmented by the new upgrade card "Combat Commands."

We've also got some more support cards incoming, including Scrounge (There is no other like it?), Secret Dealings, and Smelt. The Dinobots get the new "Electrified Spikes" card and the Predacons likewise get the new "Tooth and Claw" card.

Our own Seibertron.com member Sideways has provided us with an extensive review of these new cards to help you plan your deck. Check out his musings along with some nice pictures of the cards in Sideways' review below! Are you hyped for the Transformers Trading Card Game? What strategies are you favoring so far? Let us know in the comments, and as always, stay tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest news on all things Transformers. With that, please, take it away, Sideways!

Big Chungus! Biiiiiig Chungus! There has never been a Chungus this big before!

__________



With great reveals come great article-bility, and that's where I come in! There were a few publications that got to reveal some cards, and one of those reveals was an entire new six-man combiner team! We also get to find out what the heck a "Sentinel" is! Let's dive in!





This card is coming out of the exclusive reveal by The Roarbots, where they showed off the entire team of Transformers to make up the Sentinels, the essential "Team Prime" to make up Optimus Maximus.

Let's do a quick breakdown of his stats. First off, his health is monstrous for a Combiner piece, and I should hope so given how integral he is to the success of this deck, and his surprisingly competent attack stat can make a good first impression upon attacking with him. He's melee in both modes, which is (at least in my opinion) a good thing, as he can use both Power Sword to pull off his combo and use Body Armor to supplement a middling defensive stat.

So, before I get into what he does specifically, I would like to point out that he has 11 points, and is rather sizable for being a Combiner piece. This, you might notice, is roughly half of your point pool, and that doesn't leave too much room for wiggling in five other friends to make up Optimus Maximus. That's where his vehicle mode ability comes in.

You place three "Sentinels" into your KO pile at the start of the game, which sounds counterproductive, but when you consider that Combiners combine from the KO pile as well as the field, and that you can choose to transform a KO'd ally for turn, things start making sense. Things make even more sense given the Sentinel's knack for being useful, even when dead, but that's something to be explained later.

The real juice that comes out of this Optimus Prime is the robot mode ability, which can put you even further ahead on the Transformation Arms Race that happens when Combiners face off. You see, when you flip one of each pip -- save Green of course -- you get to Transform one of your KO'd characters to its other mode, which not only puts you ahead, but also triggers several other effects on the character cards themselves.

More on that below.

But as a final word on Prime, here, you can't live without him in an Optimus Maximus -- OpMax for short -- deck for more than one reason, his vehicle mode ability being the only way you can combine and his extra transformation effects being fantastic to get you to a faster combination. But as for his obviously limited play outside of his own archetype, something fascinating you could play him in is a Volcanicus hybrid list, where you use Optimus' effect to give those Dinobots in the KO pile an extra transformation. Naturally, it'd be a tight list, but I would love to see if it could work.

But what about his other Sentinel brethren?




He's finally here, and he's just as tiny as he was in Megatron's arms when he blew away Prime! He's basically Star-Lord punching Thanos, but thirty years ago. But it's not like I'm upset about something that happened before I was born or anything. Ahem.

Anyway, talking about the card itself, I love this guy. I'm not gonna lie, Hot Rod is one of my favorites of the entire group. Having a pocket indirect damage ability is great, especially when you consider he has solid stats that make him great at dealing damage until his inevitable demise. The biggest issue he has is the question of "who do I want dead at the start of a match?" Your whole team is pretty interchangeable in that regard, and really only changes it up depending on certain matchups.

The fact that he can help you 2HKO Skrapnel or KO a Force Fielded Six-Gun should definitely not be underestimated as both will likely prove problematic for OpMax, but dealing one damage elsewhere is kind of "meh" in certain regards. Combat Commands makes him really interesting, though, because it turns him into a continuous damage output mechanism from the KO pile no less. He's fascinating, and doing some interesting plays with I STILL FUNCTION! can never be ruled out.

Combat Commands is something I'm going to get into later since we now have the composite parts that make up the card's whole, and I admittedly misread it slightly when it was first revealed, but more on that later.

As for Hot Rod, he's really interesting for OpMax, but at seven points, there are definitely better Cars to take in other Car lists. Whereas he can still abuse the Car support and untap into infinity, you're still pretty underwhelming when it comes to other, non-Sentinel Cars. He's cool to think about in Cliffjumper, though, but outside of those two ideas I struggle to reconcile him in other lists.




Is it me or is Ironhide not the kind of person I would peg as running around with a melee weapon? Regardless, this old coot has the same stats that Hot Rod has and even the same point cost. The only real differences are that he's a Truck, and he has slightly different abilities.

The first of which is, instead of Hot Rod's Tough 1, Ironhide has Bold 1 which, in my humble opinion, is better than Tough 1 given the abundance of Bold stacking you can do as opposed to the sparse Tough effects. That being said, there is something to be said for Tough with the advent of Acid Storm's anti-Bold abilities, but his prevalence in the meta remains to be seen.

Acid Storm's presence notwithstanding, Ironhide is also, well, an Ironhide, which means he can use Static Laser of Ironhide to its fullest potential. It's an interesting concept that shouldn't be overlooked when considering active partners in a OpMax list. The simple fact that he is a Truck also allows you to play Cargo Trailer and Team Up Tactics, but it is still unknown whether or not the Cargo Trailer stay on the combined form when you do inevitably combine.

As for the final ability that Ironhide has, he gives his allies all Pierce 2 when used from the KO pile. I've already made several mentions of my detestation of low Pierce, but in this case, Ironhide combos pretty darn well with the Matrix of Leadership, giving each of your characters Pierce 3 in total. This can combine with The Bigger They Are to put yourself at Pierce 7, and then you're off to the races. Stacking Pierce is pretty okay -- not as good as Bold, of course, but high Pierce can definitely put a hurt on several different archetypes.

Again, I am not sure how useful he is outside of OpMax, but it is worth noting that in a Truck based archetype you can use him instead of Starter Prime or perhaps Kup. Trucks -- oddly enough -- have some good potential through use of high Tough and stacking Cargo Trailer, and I can't say it's any worse with the use of Ironhide. Either way, Ironhide is pretty useful in OpMax at least, and I think taking him alive instead of starting off with him dead is probably for the best depending on how you want to build your list, but the interchangeability of the characters in this archetype should never be understated.




Simply put, Mirage isn't the greatest in terms of offensive or defensive power. In fact, he has very few things about him that stand out. If it weren't for his Specialist ability, I wouldn't like him at all. But let's be fair here -- being a Specialist in a Combiner List, he allows you to use Field Communicator and Multi-Mission Gear to speed up your Combination, which is always a good thing in a format with Cornered! putting a hamper on Combiner hopes and dreams.

But simply put, Mirage is pretty dismal when it comes to usefulness as an active character. His robot mode, however, is very useful when KO'd. You can use him to dumpster Insecticons by removing their I STILL FUNCTION!, discard Cornered! so that it can't be used against you, and abuse Dinobots that want to play Dino-Chomp! pretty much ever in their lives. But perhaps the most important thing to note is, against other combiners, you can completely deny them a Combination likely for the rest of the game (depending on the list) by simply discarding their Combination Enigma at the right time.

That's why I actually really like this guy in OpMax and a potentially control-based deck, and why I actually kind of like the idea of running him in Cliffjumper-based Car Control lists. The simple fact of the matter is that a pocket Action scrapping effect is really neat. When he's alive, he's mediocre at best, but when he's dead, he can swing entire games in your favor. A funky card to be sure, but a welcome one.

He's also a Specialist, which might make you wonder if you should make him an active part to your list -- and it wouldn't be an overly bad idea, but it would be a somewhat redundant one given the next character we have on our plate...




Sunstreaker is the better cousin of Mirage in almost every sense. He has better base stats, survivability and a generally more useful role as the team's Specialist. Generally, you have access to all the utility that a Specialist can bring to the team, and keeping him in Car mode for the majority of the game is a good idea given his robot mode's utility when he is KO'd. Like it or not, being able to draw a free card is almost never a bad thing.

Of course, there really isn't too much else to write home about for Sunstreaker unfortunately. Unlike Mirage, he probably isn't worth putting in the KO pile at the start of a game if for no other reason than to abuse his being a Specialist and his higher stats than Mirage.

As with all Cars, he can use Turbo Boosters and Start Your Engines to keep untapped and fighting fit. You can use him in combination with Hot Rod to both keep ahead in the attacking game and to use Swap Missions to keep attacking with Optimus Prime. Of course, Ironhide also should probably be active, but it really is down to your discretion and your list. These guys -- again -- are pretty interchangeable, somewhat mirroring Scramble City combiners of old.

But either way, you have access to a lot of things that make his Specialist utility definitely worthwhile to keep in your active list. He also can be used with Cliffjumper to have an extra draw while KO'd, but you don't really want to Transform any KO'd Cars unless you're doing something massive (like using Mirage to discard important Actions).

All in all, he's the Specialist you'd have active, but that's more by default than by design.




Prowl is another fighting for the title of "currently living", with the highest attack of his peers and Bold 1, he hits the hardest and the fastest out of all of his teammates. The only downside to that is that his robot mode is a bit lackluster considering he's just a Weapon scrapping effect. Weapon scrapping might seem good, but when you consider that Grenade Launcher already discards itself after use, your targets are far more limited than you might think.

If you're going to discard an Upgrade at all, make it an Armor. Armor can be overly oppressive between stacking Tough and Force Field, and when you can discard them before you get to attack your opponent's characters, it's pretty great. However, that's not what's happening here. It's a defensive weapon-scrapping effect that unfortunately happens on your turn. The reason that's bad is that when the turn passes over to your opponent, they can simply attach a second weapon to that character and completely negate your effect.

Sure, you can use it in tandem with Security Checkpoint, but I would just rather pour my Action resources into something far more useful, like a Rapid Conversion, a Confidence or a Swap Missions.

Regardless, at least he does something. He doles out a lot of damage, and having an effect when he does eventually go down is a good thing. Again, if it isn't evident now that these characters are pretty interchangeable, I don't know what to tell you.

Outside of OpMax, though, I can't see this guy being played all that much. Maybe in Cliffjumper to make use of his powerful offensive power, but there are a lot of great effects that Cliffjumper can make use of and I'm just not quite sure if you need an offensive car taking up that much of your point pool.




Optimus Maximus is a huge Combiner. 65 HP is a lot to burn through, considering, but when you realize that you're inevitably going to start the game with half that already taken, that number grows smaller by the minute. You see, when you place three characters into the KO pile, all of your characters have 10 HP (save Prime, of course) and that damage carries over to the combined form, leaving him with -- at most -- 35 HP. That's pretty much the same as Metroplex, but there's another caveat: There's no way to immediately combine, so you're going to end up taking at least 15-20 damage spread around your characters just as the game goes on.

The simple fact of the matter is this: You're going to have roughly 15-20 HP to play with once you combine, and that's around as much as a solo Nemesis Prime. That's fine, of course, because you're incredibly hard to take down once you do combine.

Why? Well, your defensive stats are "meh", but the real juice comes in when you realize you have a Plan effect when you are both attacking and defending. So, not only can you supplement your absolutely monstrous 9 attack to ludicrous numbers, you can also supplement your defensive capabilities to have some tremendous staying power. Whenever you attack there's a good possibility to completely OHKO an opposing character (especially with Mining Pick, which I'll talk about later), and when you defend there's a good chance you can block a good bit of damage.

You're also a Leader, but the Matrix of Leadership doesn't really do that much for you other than give you +1 as your team has merged together into a tall character. But nevertheless, there is a good chance we're about to see different Leader support as well.

This is all made easier given your honestly extremely speedy rollout. Optimus Prime allows you to transform quickly and get ahead in the ticking time bomb that is a Combiner. OpMax is a simply wonderful combiner that I can definitely see taking a spot in the metagame.

My only concern is Menasor. Menasor has a lot of power in his disruptive abilities, moreso than you, and it will really come down to the ol' "who can disrupt the other harder" game. I haven't playtested it, of course, but the two share a similar disruptive playstyle.






This Enigma is definitely not an Enigma. Most Enigma have a secondary effect that make having multiple in your hand not the worst thing in the world, for instance Predacon Enigma draws a card and plays an Upgrade, but most are somewhat underwhelming like this one.

Whereas it does scrap an Armor, it can't scrap any Utilities and that's somewhat disappointing when you consider that Ramming Speed, a card that is barely played in the first place, can do all that the Enigma can do and more. But then again, Sentinel Enigma is an Enigma and you can't really ask it to do anything more than that.




"Taking a leap of faith" is the exact opposite of what this card does. This card plays free cards, simply put, and if you happen to flip a card that has an effect you don't like, you can choose not to use it. There is no "oops, that Security Checkpoint just made me discard my hand" or "I didn't actually want to use Peace Through Tyranny" here -- just pure, unadulterated free cards. Of course, drawing into this Star Card isn't going to be easy, but if you have a list with Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend, you can use this card extremely easily to play free cards out of your ears.

Leap of Faith is just plain nutty, and I love it.




Field Repair is kinda awful. Its effect of healing a single damage counter is terrible, and whereas Plan 1 is good, it isn't like that's an unheard of effect. There are a ton of good cards that Plan, for instance Incoming Transmission. There really isn't too much to even say about it, let alone combos.

Something that is worthy of note though is that its design is discordant with the other designs of Autobot Actions, having the entire text box be red like an Upgrade. Even more than that, it was revealed by my favorite source of spoilers, "some dude on Facebook". Whereas I wouldn't believe that this card was real, the moderators have been very good at taking down spoiled cards that have come out before the cards have been officially revealed and Wizards has been very upfront on communications with the community. Something else that I checked was the Cybertronian script at the top right, and verily, it says Field Repair without a typo in sight.

That's right, I legitimately thought it was a fake for the longest time. I was even debated not covering it at all until we had an official statement on the matter. The reveal was very unceremonious, so much so that it bumped my suspicion to the nth degree. I guess you're only paranoid if you're wrong, right?




Secret Dealings is a card revealed alongside Scrounge and Smelt by The Roarbots, and it is strictly okay.

Think of it like an Action version of Data Pad, which is okay, but when you consider that Incoming Transmission does the same thing but you draw an extra card, it makes me struggle to reconcile this card's existence in a list. You see, the best thing it has going for it is that it's a green/white pip. Incoming Transmission is an Orange, which means that some lists can't -- or don't want to -- play it, but then again most defensive lists don't want to Plan offensively like this card does anyway.

But having a green pip is a good thing, and it allows you to have a nice Planning effect. But that's not a good enough reason to take it in a list, methinks. There are just better cards to play during your turn.




The second reveal by The Roarbots is kind of interesting when you think about it. On the surface, Scrounge seems like a worse New Designs, but when you consider that there are a lot of Plan effects, it becomes a somewhat better New Designs.

Put it this way: There are several new characters that Plan upon Transformation, and when you plan an Upgrade, you can use Scrounge to immediately play it, and you can pull off this combo fairly efficiently given the fact that Scrounge sports a green pip as well as an orange one. New Designs also technically takes a card out of your hand when you play it, given that it attaches from your hand, and sometimes you can just roll the dice with Scrounge and see if you get another Upgrade.

You also have to have the Upgrade in your hand in the first place with New Designs, and often times you'll find yourself only having one to attach, making New Designs an effectively dead card in your hand. At least with Scrounge, you have the potential to get ahead on the Upgrade Arms Race.




Smelt is actually not bad at all. Being a blue pip, you can use it in the heavily disruptive blue decks like Menasor or Double Prime, and sometimes simply scrapping one Upgrade is enough depending on your opponent's board state. Sometimes, your opponent only has one Upgrade on the field, and other times you just want to hold back their power before they get to set up. They get to choose their Upgrade to scrap, of course, but when their options are limited, it will almost always go in your favor.

It's not that bad, to be frank, and the green pip makes it even more solid than it would be otherwise. I would definitely play this card in Double Prime, Tanks or Menasor to be perfectly honest -- I think it's well worth the spot.




Mining Pick is one of the most powerful Weapons I have ever seen. I am not lying when I say that this card adds an unbelievable power to a lot of decks, Optimus Maximus included. Think about it. You have Plan 2 on Mining Pick, which you can use to put two orange pips on the top of the deck which gives you +2 just from Mining Pick's effect alone, and when you use Incoming Transmission to place another on the top of your deck, that's another +1. Oh, what's that? You have a Data Pad? Cool, have another +1! And you say that Optimus Maximus adds another to the top of the deck? Nice, have another +1!

You add that collective +5 on top of the three orange pips you're going to see (assuming one of the cards you place is white) and you have an astounding +9 attack. Sure, you've dumped a lot of hand resources into that play, but if you're not killing something outright with that something is very wrong.

I love this card so much. The amount of power that you get with it is astronomical compared to most other weapons. Grenade Launcher still might be the now and forever king, but Mining Pick might just be the Mordred to this Arthurian tale.




This incredibly niche card is revealed by Scott over at VectorSigma.info where he does an in-depth breakdown of this reveal card. Give him a read if you want to his thoughts on this card, but as for my own thoughts, I think this card is extremely niche but honestly incredibly powerful.

You might think, "Hey, Sideways, why are you showing me this bad card for balanced lists?" and you would be right -- this card is really bad for balanced lists -- but in solo color lists, this card is the absolute nuts. When you have an all blue list with a character that is about to go down regardless, you can pop Inverted! on them and suddenly swing for absolutely massive damage.

Here's an example. You are playing an all-blue Tank list, and Demolisher has 5 damage on him. You're probably going to go down the next turn, even though you have a Blast Shield on him, so you plop down an Inverted and suddenly his mediocre literally zero attack can now flip a potential 8 cards off the top of your deck to do staggering amount of damage out of nowhere. Sure, he's probably going to go down the next turn, but it's a great last-ditch effort card.

You can also use it to keep a character alive in an all-orange list, as every orange pip will suddenly be a blue pip. Sure, you're not going to be dealing as much damage (at all) but you almost certainly won't be getting knocked out that next turn. It's just more longevity and that makes me very happy.


I love Inverted! and you should to. It won't be in every list -- in fact, it probably won't be in most lists -- but those decks that play it will make definite use of it.




This Upgrade is sorely underwhelming. I have always had a problem, with an Upgrade that plays other Upgrades -- especially singular ones -- because at a point, why not just play the second Upgrade from your hand instead of having to go through Multi-Tool or something similar? This card is even worse than that because it doesn't even add an Upgrade. It simply opens up the possibility of playing another Upgrade if you ever happen to.

Predacons are notoriously thin on survivability, so when you attach this, you're not attaching another Weapon to attack with one of your teammates. Sure, you're getting +1 damage, but there are so many better options than that.


Perhaps, then, they want you to power up Razorclaw or Rampage with multiple Weapons and leave his teammates by the wayside while you wait for a massive attack. Again, I would simply attach another weapon and attack with another Predacon, but that's beside the point.

I don't really know what to think about this card, but I know whatever I rest on, it sadly won't be good. I just can't get behind this card in such a fast metagame.




I can actually think of no better Armor other than Force Field to play in Dinobots. This Armor not only has an orange pip, lending itself to Dinobots' Bold playstyle, and it has an effect that wants to flip orange pips which also plays off the all orange playstyle. Sure, the extra one damage isn't that much in the long run, it does help defend against Insecticons as Skrapnel will never attack anyone with one of these equipped.

It's not the best card in Dinobots, but I can't see a reason not to play it. It's a really cool card that makes itself right at home in any Dinobot list.





There are a great many a playable card in this next wave, and Optimus Maximus is forefront in my mind when it comes to a premier Combiner. His sheer speed and utility make me extremely excited to see where he goes.


Speaking of the Sentinels, I admittedly misread Battle Commands to where I saw it ending the combo in your vehicle mode, I see now that it ends the Transformation combo in robot mode and only does so if you were already in robot mode to start with, making the effects of Mirage and Hot Rod even better than they already were. I am ecstatic to see such an interesting combo in this card game and I can't wait to see if OpMax is as good as I think he is.

But it's not just all aggro all the time, it seems, as there are plenty of disruptive cards being printed to give disruption-based decks a good boost. Whereas Double Prime is the most obvious of these, I'm sure that Shockwave will enjoy getting a disruption boost as well. Menasor can also use and abuse several of these new Battle Cards, and that makes me even more excited for the prospects of a combiner being meta.

As always, check out MY YOUTUBE where I upload Transformers Trading Card Game content as often as I can. I've been under the weather lately so uploading has been slightly sparse, but as I can finally breathe again I can continue my uploading schedule.

All in all, with each reveal my anticipation for Rise of the Combiners grows larger and larger. Thank you very much for reading this titanic article, and let me know in the comments what you are looking forward to the most!

Video Review for Transformers WFC Siege Optimus Prime and Megatron

Date: Friday, November 2nd 2018 11:09pm CDT
Categories: Site News, Toy News, Reviews, Digital Media News
Posted by: william-james88 | Credit(s): Seibertron.com

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Views: 42,815

We have some more Seibertron.com content for you. While we have several in hand images showing us the variation in deco from figure to figure, we also have a video review for both Transformers War For Cybertron Siege voyagers Optimus Prime and Megatron. These are currently being shipped to distributors (and in turn retailers) and can be found at comic book stores right now and will be found at big box retailers soon. The video review includes a look at the figures in package, along with features, a critical review, and the transformation.

Also, we have from a private source the case breakdown of the first wave of Seige. Optimus Prime and Megatron are of course evenly split in a case and it is also evenly split for the deluxes (Hound, Sideswipe, Flywheels and Cog) and battlemasters (Blowpipe, Lionizer and Firedrive). However it is not an equal split for the Micromasters where the Decepticon Airstrike is two per case while Autobot Race Car Patrol and Autobot Battle Patrol are each three per case.

Enjoy the review below and please let us know if you spot any Siege toy at a big box store.

Review of iOS Arcade Game Transformers Bumblebee: Overdrive

Date: Friday, September 14th 2018 1:25am CDT
Categories: Reviews, Site Articles, Game News
Posted by: Va'al

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Views: 23,904

Fellow Seibertronian Nicorange has taken the time to set up a review of the recently released iOS arcade style game Bumblebee: Overdrive - and we've formatted it below for all to read and enjoy! Take a look, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Nicorange wrote:Recently, Hasbro released a game called Bumblebee: Overdrive for IOS. It is a retro-arcade styled game, with 80’s flair everywhere. So, without further ado, let’s put the pedal to metal, and shove it into overdrive, because today I’ll be taking a look at this wonderful game.



After finishing the tutorial (which i sadly don’t have pictures of), you get sent to the “Play” menu. This is also where you start when you open the app. You can view all your characters and upgrade them.



There are three important parts to a character. Their level (To the left of their name), their “Blaster” which is how strong their shots are, and their “Armor”, which controls how much damage they take. You spend coins to upgrade their stats, and crystals to level them up, both of which can be found while playing, but crystals are far and few in between. After all, Hasbro’s still gotta make money!

The lighting bolt button allows you to access the Boosts menu.



You start off with the Magnet, Healing, Damage, and Score x2 upgrade. Defeating bosses allow you to upgrade and get new boosts.



To start playing, you just click the play button. It costs 1 energon cube to play each time, which refill every 20 minutes. Very disappointing when you really get into the game.



Here you can look at your missions. They can be fun goals to complete during play, or tediously annoying wastes of time.



This is where you can see the current event. Events seem to be glorified missions, so i hope Hasbro can make them more interesting.



This is the store. Pretty self explanatory. Spend real currency for digital currency.



This is my favourite page to look at. It shows you all the bosses, and there are some…. interesting choices. Like Tracer, who in game is just a Black Blackout. Weird boss choices aside, I just love that some obscure characters are getting some love. If only you were able to use them.

Now, onto the gameplay (Which is probably what you are here for)



The game is a top-down styled driving game and shooter. In vehicle mode, you get to drive around dodging cars, missiles, mines, and cracks in the road. In robot mode, you get to blast through nameless Seekers and avoid turrets and literally everything.





No, I am not exaggerating when I say you have to dodge everything. Running into all the stuff on the map (Yes, even the boxes) can kill you. That aside, the gameplay is fun and very addicting. Especially when you get a high score.



Also, sometimes during a level you encounter cars you have to smash. What is cool is that they are modeled after actual Decepticons! You can obliterate Offroad, destroy Dead End, ram Ruckus, and er- break down Breakdown. You have to avoid driving into their path (which is shown by an arrow), and smash them by ramming your character into the side of them.



When you reach a certain amount of points during a level, you get to fight a boss. Each boss is interesting and unique to fight. (Tracer spams attacks, Quake launches mines you have to make him drive over, Acid Storm, well I’m not going to spoil all of them!)



The bosses can be very frustrating to fight, so I recommend you use your first encounter with them to learn some of their attacks, but once you get the hang of it, they can become pretty easy.



Overall, this game is a very fun game to crack open and play for a bit. There are some things that I would like to see improved, like the amount of Energon you can have, or make Events a bit more interesting. Another gripe I have with this game, is that when playing on a phone, it is easy to lose your character. But putting all that aside, this game is a neat endless runner, made better by the inclusion of Transformers.

Dual Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #22

Date: Wednesday, August 8th 2018 3:35am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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Views: 30,856

Synopsis
The final battle begins—and when it’s over, nothing will be the same. Everything that Lost Light—and More Than Meets The Eye before it—has thrown at you, from the biggest plot twist to the smallest incidental detail, has been leading to this: all your favorites, arm-in-arm, hand-in-hand, ready to go out in style.




Story
Crucible continues, and we find ourselves following on from precisely where we left off last issue, with its ending leading directly into this opening, meaning that our efforts to keep spoilers to a minimum are taking even more of a toll on the review writing. For this, and for reasons that will become clear, this piece will look different, as Va'al and ScottyP argue over the book instead - unlike what you might see in other places, this process actually has different views and sides!



V - First thing first, from a story perspective: I can see how this issue is technically, as a piece of ongoing serialised comics fiction, a good issue. What I personally took a problem with was how it dealt with some of its implications in light of previous criticisms I've brought into the fabric of MTMTE/LL. Specifically, its tendency to 'redeem' characters with a morally objectionable past and track record. A point which you disagree with.

S - New information, especially when it was not known by dead characters before they died doesn't redeem them, at least not to me. Getaway's methods were still a step too far and Scorponok was being subversive even without knowing what he might have accidentally been helping. One of the themes throughout the series is about knowing when to empathize with a character and their decisions as opposed to sympathizing with them. Understanding and forgiveness are different lanes on the same highway, but one of them can still be a breakdown lane if that's what's called for. This issue of Lost Light hits that point again subtly, but in the wider context of the bigger story the reiteration is enough for it to be effective here.



S - As is typical with Lost Light, the character moments and beats in their journeys take center stage here, though there is a nice amount of progression and revelation to be found in the larger plot to go along with that. A returning character that appeared at the end of LL 21 makes a real impression here, including a short but long-awaited moment with a former ally.

V - I definitely agree with that, given the encounters and beats we have with some of the lesser front characters, but well beloved by readers and integral to the story being told about that character. believe, in the grander scheme of things, my biggest issue is with Tyrest.

S - Tyrest's foundational character trait is that he used to be really wise and good and just but he's super broken now, to the point where Prowl has to send Getaway and Skids to take him out but they nudge-gun him into being even worse. This issue furthers the mental health analogy of his character arc even further - his mind wasn't healthy to the point of corruption, misplaced (though well intentioned) treatment made it worse, and now he's truly forgotten who he ever was. Again, I find no redemption here as we were told from the get-go that he really was a good 'bot at one point.

V - I still don't entirely buy that point, and I do think something better could've been done with the analogy - I find some of it a little questionable, though narratively appealing. He is an ethically questionable character - on par with Prowl, Prime and Megatron - by his and the story's own admission, only now to have received validation with the GA's reveals.



S - One thing that deserves mention is the substantial payoff related to the larger story which occurs in this issue. Years of details, plotting, and planning (and Oxford commas) coalesce in ways that need to be witnessed to appreciate. For possibly the first time, it feels like the amount of questions still to be answered before the series wraps up is truly dwindling. In a way, all but probably one of these revelations was exposed in the past through some contextual clue in dialogue or in a background visual clue or possibly even by Hasbro (and this is possibly a spoiler click if you choose to accept it.)

V - I'll admit that some of the clues left since the beginning of the story, while not appearing to be directly linked until right now, and the reliance on trivia and minutiae and panel-analysing for some major plot points, has at times dampened my enthusiasm for the book. Especially of recent, as I think I've pointed out previously. And I'm sure some readers will also undoubtedly grimace at past references coming to play so many years later

S - I feel like this issue explains itself substantially enough, verbally and visually, that you will be entertained even if you forgot about these supporting details. Even if that weren't the case, leaving a trail of clues and breadcrumbs that build upon one another in fun ways is part of the identity of this series, and without that attention to detail it would be a different series. Were the back catalog some monolithic, inaccessible, and hyper-expensive ordeal this might be a detriment, but as it isn't, to cast all of the self-referential material in a negative light feels like it'd be the equivalent of admitting that you wanted to be smarter than the story, not learn from it.

V - I wouldn't cast it entirely in a negative light, as we've both been doing this sort of work with the books, but I'll stand my ground a little on this one: we had a similar appraisal but opposite reaction for Optimus Prime #21, and I wasn't too willing to let this one slide - story wise - if it weren't for what we said about the characters above.

S - Not how I'd describe my take on OP 21, but we're not here to talk about that issue, are we?

Art

V - Brendan Cahill is at the artistic helm this issue, with what is probably his most successful take on the Transformers characters yet, and for an issue with this sort of impact, we couldn't have asked for more.

S - No disagreement in this part. This is Cahill's best Transformers work ever. There is just a hint of some of the "roundness" that's bugged me about (some of) his earlier work, but he's evolved here to make it much more of a charming, Andrew Wildman-esque robotic round rather than the almost organic kind of round that I felt from some other recent issues.

V - His use of body language in particular, with the specific example of that character we mention earlier, is a testament to the development of both the artist and the character - in spite of any qualms I might personally still have about the latter.



S - SPACE BATTLE! :ahem: Great use of the layout to tell a visual story that frames in and influences the other character and "mytharc" moments that are the focus of the book. There's plenty of room to make your own head-canon side stories. Maybe Riptide can boat himself through space like it's Transformers: Energon.

V - And we have an excellent chromatic guide giving us a hand in Joana Lafuente's take on the lineart, aptly giving the right spotlights and hues to the interior/exterior scenes, both in the literal and figurative sense.



V - The general dialogue flow is what helps issues like this one to make the landing point of the script, and having clearly demarkated lettering - such as the one by Tom B Long, who also manages to have some font fun in the process - is what ensures something like that to work. And what is particularly appreciated, speaking to our point above, is that editorial assistance from David Mariotte was well signposted, for readers wanting to go back and check the major crumbs leading to this point.

S - I uploaded all the covers and made mention of all the creator credits in our Vector Sigma Database entry for Lost Light #22, so check that out if you'd like but be warned that the character appearance list might spoil some details! The particular cover used for this review's news post's thumbnail image is the "A" cover by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

V - This issue made it out, entirely by accident and par for the course for the IDW schedule, earlier than its supposed release. And what I saw in reaction to it on the internet was an outporing of emotional responses that extremely heightened my anticipation for the issue to be fully available. And I think that got in the way of my more reasoned appreciation of again, what I believe to be an otherwise very good piece of comics work, reminding me of my own difficulties with one of the underlying threads part of the MTMTE/LL narrative thread.

S - Lost Light #22 deserved a huge hype train and it got very little of an official one with the botched release timing. That said, I think the early reactions were entirely justified as countless pieces of a large puzzle suddenly clicked together here in a beautifully illustrated and written piece of science fiction. This review could never hope to properly analyze it all, especially with the attempt at spoiler avoidance, so be sure to experience it for yourself.



Scotty [im]P[erial magistrate]'s Verdict

S - Without hyperbole, for me this was probably the most rewarding payoff in a fictional story that I've ever experienced. I was so close to being right about That One Guy, but at the same time could not have been farther away. Here's to you, eyebrows.



Va'al's Verdict

V - I don't feel like repeating myself once more as to why I find it so hard to distance my personal reading filter on this issue (and the series) from the issue itself. As a book, this chapter does everything it needs to and more, more or less following its plotted path from the start, and that is impressive enough. The fact that it took two very invested people at least four days to put down thoughts on it, I think, speaks to its success as a piece of media. As for a score, however, I cannot honestly give it one. Make do with ScottyP's if you will!