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Top 5 Mass Shifting Transformers Toys

Date: Sunday, September 30th 2018 8:09pm CDT
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: Va'al

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Views: 58,585

Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. And Va'al swoops in from the left, takes the list, and shapes it in his image. First day.

Taking over from william-james88 for this session, I thought about turning our attention to one of the weirdest and least explainable (until Simon Furman in IDW) features of the Transformers lore: mass shifting. Tinkering with some of the figures below, I pitched the idea to the resident listicler - what are the best toys that change size drastically between modes, faithfully and painstakingly representing the mass-shifting quirk in plastic? It took us some thinking, as we kept running short at 3-4, but we may have cracked it, and we're spanning a lot of lines, too!

5. ROTF Wheelie

Is this a good figure? No. Does it conjure up good memories? No. But it is part of the best toy line from the live-action movie series (so far) and it does a fantastic job at starting from an admittedly hefty remote controlled car, to become almost Voyager scary nightmare of a spiky robot. The actual class? Deluxe. But don't remind him.

That said, the robot mode is also nightmarishly lanky and spindly, and carries a lot of the issues of the live-action designs in its feet, limbs, and general... everything, so I wouldn't exactly recommend tracking it down at this stage.

4. MP Hot Rod

As big as the smaller cars in the Masterpiece line - though not the smallest - the second iteration of the Captain Rodimus/Hot Rod compacts a towering robot into the speedy, flashy, flamey douche we all love to hate. Despite still being a little too big to make it into the Ultra Magnus trailer in play-mode, it's small enough to look positively tiny compared to its previous figure, and not that much bigger than the original!

But switch to robot mode, and you have something really much larger, in comparison. It does fit nicely with the likes of Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, but may annoy some fans in its comparison to, say, the Datsun clones or the Lambor army. You do get fishing equipment included though, so your Rod can hold a rod - rodception.

3. RID/TAV Thunderhoof

We've all heard the tale: Tiny Tractor Turns into Toweringly Tall roboT. That's what you get with Robots in Disguise Thunderhoof, at least when compared to other Deluxes Warrior class figures in the same line. Not only is it a great little farming vehicle (one of the very few, if not the only one), adorably blue, and plodding along in the fields.

But as soon as you unfold every single part of the vehicle into its limb configurations -- hoo boy, do you have a tall, dark, and handsome, mean lookin robit. He towers over several of his class in the RID line, and is probably the first or second best of the entire run (Bisk/Thermidor is somewhere in there too), and he's just *so* different in size between the two modes, you might almost not even notice how hollow he has to be to pull that off.

2. Prime FE Bulkhead

Voyager class, bulky but relatively compact green SUV, complete with wrecking ball port on the back, limited release in the First Edition wave, and extortionate secondary market prices. Bulkhead is a mean, green, looming, booming machine.

From that Wreckin' ball, you get a baller Wrecker - something later canonised in the IDW comics too, as the last generation of the team before it's disbanded entirely - which may not make up for the size in height, but it is *hefty* all round, and sacrifices nothing for its look. Who says round can't be intimidating?

1. ROTF/Animated Lockdown

Transformers Animated Lockdown Gallery

I placed both on here, as the Revenge of the Fallen figure is a stellar piece of work, and based on its cartoon counterpart - but Animated is the real star of the show, as the first entry onto the toy scene. The class? Deluxe. And the vehicle mode does a good job of keeping it at that, nice and tidy in its spiky green and black murder muscle car.

The robot mode, however, is HUGE. Like, super tall, almost Voyager scale, and without any hollow or thin or particularly lanky parts, as the aesthetic of the show and toyline allowed for proportions to work their way with stronger lower limbs and looming hunches. In Lockdown's case, it was also super fitting.

Honourable mentions:

MP Soundwave/Soundblaster
Cybertron Primus
Universe Unicron

Pictorial Review for Transformers Bumblebee Movie Titan Changer Shatter #JoinTheBuzz

Date: Friday, September 28th 2018 8:10pm CDT
Categories: Toy News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 21,270

Here is a quick review for what will probably be the biggest toy of Shatter, the main villain from the upcoming Bumblebee movie.

This is the Transformers Titan Changer Shatter, which is a very big simple toy with a 7 step conversion and limited articulation. It has not been reviewed yet (to my knowledge) so I wanted to show what was going on with this toy if anyone is curious when they walk by it in stores.

Honestly, for what it is I cannot see it be better. It is a fully converting toy with two very distinctive a good looking modes, bigger than a leader class toy, at a deluxe price point. That means the same resources (i.e. material) that goes into a deluxe is stretched out to give you a massive toy for younger kids to enjoy.

The box gives us what is either an early design fo Shatter, that has since been dropped, or a look at Shatter with a battle mask we have yet to see any footage of.

Transformers News: Pictorial Review for Transformers Bumblebee Movie Titan Changer Shatter

There is assembly required, and this is where the toy falters. The wings come seperate from the figure so you have to attach them, and they can detach during transformation.

They do provide a very impressive wing-span though. The jet mode is pretty great. It is MASSIVE! You can see it below compared to Transformers The Last Knight Voyager Megatron. It is also a very decent looking jet. While it has the same transformation as recent Windblade toys, I feel the legs are far better disguised here. The movie aesthetic gives the legs a lot of detail which blends well with the altmode. I also like how the wings have the perfect outline for the feet to fill.

Of course, this is a very simple transformer, so there is definitely (half) a robot hiding underneath there.

The best part of the robot mode is how uniform and unique it looks, especially when compared to the jet. Many Titan Changer toys suffer from having overly lanky robots and while Shatter looks rather slim, she actually looks more proportional than any other toy in the line so far. And the alt mode isn't obvious, especially since her chest hints at a car alt mode. Also, as you will see below, this toy is huge. Articulation is of course very poor, as is the case with all these toys.

So there you have it. I bought it so you don't have to. But hey, if you want a big simple toy for your kids to have fight against Bumblebee then this is the best Titan Changer toy we have ever had. Easily the most complex and most detailed, by a country mile.

Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #24

Date: Wednesday, September 26th 2018 4:32am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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Views: 24,573

Don't You
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
All they wanted was an adventure. Now, as worlds turn to dust and every sacred truth is undone, as everything they’ve run from catches up with them and every gruesome future comes to pass.

Only two issues left! Closing a story six years in the making! Don’t miss the B cover by beloved Transformers artist Geoff Senior!

feat. Shinji Ikari

Story
This is it. This is the end. Almost, I know. But this is the end. This is the flash before the finale, and everything we've seen in a long series, with stories starting all the way back in the first Chaos seeds reaching some kind of conclusion, before they actually conclude next issue, and attempting some form of closure. Starting with gods and life.

fight! super robot lifeforms

A first warning: if you're expecting a big action scene, or even a series of action scenes, how are you still living in denial with Lost Light? There is plenty of action, of course - they're fighting a planet from a planet, one which is also a giant robotic being powered by bigoted spite - but James Roberts' strength is still in the smaller moments between characters. Those, in this issue, abound.

MVPs

And in that action frame with people stories, then, we have the one, bigger story that no one expected until a couple of issue ago, the one that people were most likely to forget, most likely to get wrung, but that somehow still rang a bell, that somehow still brings a conclusion after a conclusion, even when plans only work in panicked extremis.

...

Where previous attempts at balancing heartfelt, passionate dialogue/monologue during action have been admittedly questionable (at least in terms of pacing), this issue seems to have found the better solution - tonally, pacing-wise, structurally - to weigh out the different aspects to telling this type of ending, using strengths and weaknesses alike.

Art

Brendan Cahill returns for the issue, after we last saw him in #22, and whatever he's been doing in the meantime has only made him more powerful. The issue contains some of the most tender and heart-rending moments for pretty much the entirety of the cast present in its pages, and Cahill's art has been able to work all of the right emotions into the motions, the gestures, the silent panels, all while keeping giant Functionist Primus in the peripheral vision of it all.

Take a load of this, too

And Joana Lafuente has made sure that the peripheral vision is something no one can ignore, be it explosions, sudden changes in light sources and direction, mood flickering, tone shifting, crucial moments and smaller, tender interactions - the light and colour fit all, snugly, and just right.

it's really hard to spotlight this without spoilers

It's almost impossible to distinguish Curtis and Tom by now, and if you're not in on the joke, please bear with me - but what Long is managing to do with fonts is truly impressive, given the already emotional charge of pretty much everything else in the visual aspect of the book.

All the covers, as usual, can be found in our Vector Sigma Database entry here, though the one spotlighted in the thumbnail is once more the Geoff Senior / Josh Burcham variant featuring Rung himself, for once taking charge of the situation - almost like Rodimus.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

And so, where do we stand now? This is the finale, no matter what the next issue decides to conjure up in its denouement, and as an ending it fits everything that the creators have set up from the start - sometimes literally, sometimes thematically - and it will definitely leave an impact on readers and TF lore (here's hoping, at least), for the principles and themes if not the execution.

also, gayest issue ever

Does it cancel out my troubles with the series up to now? No, but I don't think anything will. What it does do is sidestep to tell a wider story that no longer focuses on the alleged main characters, while also focusing on those very same characters - from Team Rodimus to Megatron's AntiVocationist League, to the Scavengers and more - in a way that we may have expected after all, and reminding us very much so of the influences, the setting, and the lineage of this type of story, and of Transformers as an icon.

out of

Bonus Tracks:

The Shepherd's Boy - Murray Gold
Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds (my addition)

How to fix your Transformers Prime Wars Trilogy Punch / Counterpunch

Date: Monday, September 17th 2018 5:41am CDT
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles, Transtopia
Posted by: Counterpunch

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Views: 90,518

The Amazon exclusive PotP Punch/Counterpunch is incorrectly assembled resulting in a vehicle mode that does not line up properly. User IronMagnus on fellow fansite TFW2005 has pointed out an easy fix to the issue, but we've added images so you can also follow these easy steps to correct the problem:

First off, remove the arms at the ball joint.

Transformers News: How to fix your PotP Punch/Counterpunch

The problem part is here. It is installed upside down. The flat edge should be facing up and the rounded edge should be facing down.

You're going to remove those parts and flip them. To start, unsnap the chest at the indicated point:

From here it's a bit tough. You're going to use force to pry the part out off of the peg. I've done three of these now and I can tell you that you will not stress any parts if you're careful and go one at a time. Once removed, make sure you reinstall them with this orientation:

Once finished, everything lines up much better and the arms tab in properly in alt mode.

Also, as IronMagnus said, flipping the Decepticon panel when going into alt mode makes the panels line up much easier.

Video update:
https://twitter.com/ME_Counterpunch/status/1041506823549771777?s=19

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: 22,973

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.

IDW Transformers Unicron #4 Review

Date: Wednesday, September 5th 2018 6:57pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: D-Maximal_Primal | Credit(s): D-Maximal_Primal @Seibertron, IDW

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Views: 30,000

Saviors of the World
A Seibertron.com Spoilerish Review of IDW Transformers: Unicron #4

Synopsis

Unicron sets his sights on Earth... but is anyone left to defend it?

Streets filled with blood, black and red
Dreams and hearts that once knew love are cold and dead

Story

The Unicron tale has crossed the halfway point, and we are now on the downward slide towards and explosive final 2 issues. But the big question is, how did the setup for the finale go? Well, it did not disappoint on many fronts, yet felt slightly hollow in others.

Let me break it down for you.

Breathing rust, it's come to this
We burnt to dust, an apocalypse

On one front, we had a very fast paced story, especially looking back at the previous 3 issues. That's not saying there are pacing issues at all, but a lot happens that you need to keep up with. A spotlight issue is nicely homaged and then in a way bookended. A story that began post-Dark Cybertron that was a dream turned reality for many characters reached its tragic conclusion. The big moment many have waited for finally took place, in pretty spectacular fashion. And how we are to the final battleground, the last stand.

And all that was in a single issue. You keeping up so far?

Cities will burn, the end is come
Paradise is lost, we wonder what we've done

Now while the story did have a lot going on, and it did bring in some other Hasbro properties, as promised, it did have a few wonky moments, ranging from overly happy to the point of somewhat forced hugs to some fun and games in what should be a really dark moment. But those are somewhat minor compared to finally giving the Visionaries a proper and good use and seeing the better side of Prowl once more resurface, and speaking of Prowl the similarities drawn between him and Joe Colton were quite interesting and sort of unexpected despite making complete sense. Also neat was Skywarp once more showing his face and being snarky. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get a Seeker reunion soon.

Riches rust
The iron fist crashes down on the powerless

I must add too that Stardrive had better not show up as a video game Boss level unless she is nerfed quite hard.

Overall, the story itself was good, and it continues to do a mostly great job with balancing characters. We continue to get new named characters on screen even as others leave the stage permanently, Strongarm being a great example of someone showing up late and new in the game. And it continues to give us good character moments, which are made but not drowned out by the very large stage they are performing on.

Art

Art duties once more fall to Alex Milne on lines and Tom B. Long on lettering, with the addition of David Garcia Cruz in addition to our regular Sebastian Cheng. No joke, the first time I read this issue, I did not know there were 2 colorists, that is how well they blended in together. The scenes of Unicron are very well done, and continue to properly show off his size and his power, even if to date he still only has 2 words and a noise expression for dialogue (itself not a bad thing, the art has been enough for this Titan).

But we could live again if we can find ourselves

I think the art continues to be a very strong point in a story about a Planet killing robot, where the struggle really can be to properly keep things in scale and convey the proper size and might, both of which are done properly.

And in addition to all of that, Tom Long continues to do a great job not only conveying the text, but also making sure it does not block any of the scenery of the book.

Final Thoughts

As a final thought on the story itself, there are a 3 things that stand out from this issue, 2 of which are running minor complaints or questions from the whole series: why bring Bumblebee back other than to make quips and yell at Starscream and be heard by more than just him; why do the stars go out when Unicron kills a planet; and where did the Visionaries go and is there role in things really done? Sort of a disappointment that they almost appear to be doing a "Hi and Bye" thing, especially when they themselves are probably the best Anti-Unicron force.

We are kings and conquerors
And I won't bow to you

With 2 issues to go, a lot is going to happen, and I'm intrigued not only by what will happen, but what can happen to finish the story off properly. We have seen so many stories ended here for characters that had major or minor roles throughout the Barber penned stories, and many quite Tragic, which is a wonderful and painful part about the book with the way so many die and so many die that mean things to the people reading it. But with many threads left to tie up, I'm hoping and trusting they find a way to do the remaining 2 issues justice. But for now, we have a pretty good one to set up that final dash.

We are the saviors, the saviors
The saviors of the world

out of

Continuing on with our Skillet/Unicron unity, this week's issue's Theme song is: Saviors of the World.

Review of IDW Transformers Optimus Prime #23

Date: Wednesday, September 5th 2018 8:00am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al

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Views: 27,811

Unicorns on Eart
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
The battle against Unicron forces Optimus Prime's colonist soldiers to contend with a brutal reality-they have no homes to return to. But when they make a move against Trypticon, the human-controlled home of the next generation of Cybertronians... can the end be far behind?

always the same story, no?

Story
In what has finally become a parallel story being told between the Unicron mini-series and the Optimus Prime ongoing, we reach the splitting point in the latter, as the former makes its appearance on Earth - but the shadow of Optimus Prime's presence and legacy takes priority in terms of 'how bad the situation actually is for everyone involved'.

you want chaos? we got it

Working multiple points of view into one coalesced synthesis was an extremely ambitious narrative choice on John Barber's behalf, and I enjoyed looking at both all of them in their individual stories, and as a the final bringing together in the final acts of the book itself - but there was something a little too cacophonous about how it was executed, that can border on confusing.

Rum-Maj is still the best

That said though, once you put the potential frustration aside, and maybe give the whole thing a second read (with Unicron #4 also at hand), the added layer of perspective over Cybertronian history, its imperial, colonising past, the politics at play that Barber has never shied away from in all of his Transformers books, is a juicy reward.

..oof

Particular standouts for the issue, and about time for one of them too, are Slide and her pent up anger towards Optimus Prime, Rum-Maj and her majestic spiky self, Slug and his existence as Dinobot grunt, and - going back to some very very very early stories told about the entire Earth/Transformers stories - Jazz, and his sense of responsibility for just about anything he can, it seems.

Art

For this one issue, we get to see the return of Priscilla Tramontano as line artist, with her rounder style that perfectly fits the story of Devisiun told in flashbacks (though may not fully work on Trypticon, in two panels), and some surprisingly sharp, pointed, and poignant depictions of the anger, anguish and visceral confusion that the entire Unicron element brings to an already taut cast of characters. Slide and Slug in particular have some really touching moments.

One of said moments

Once more, the visual continuity support that Josh Burcham can bring to the pages of this series cannot and does not cease to impress me, as we have a very different line art style from the artists seen so far. In addition, we also get some of the very interestingly multichromatic excitement that we saw in Sins of the Wreckers, in the opening flashback of the issue, and what it does with the tone is nothing short of marvelous.

fluffy and mournful

Tom B Long and Curtis Fandango are hard at work on this issue, as it requires more narrative captions than ever a regular Barber script would need at its usual capacity - but the work pays off in some key moments preceding even key-er moments-er (?), and the final page, with the added font effects in some of the harder contrasts.

In terms of covers, you can find all three (admittedly two, given the Kei Zama retailer incentive in black and white lineart) in full size in our entry, though the Tramontano cover is the one taking the spotlight in the thumbnail, as it bears quite heavily on the story in the book itself.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
This is a seriously poignant issue, part of an ambitious series that takes its titular character to the very extremes of its definition, blurrs the edges, and smudges the entirety of its name and legacy - with reason. As an issue, it's one of the most successful in doing so, though at times frustratingly confusing by choosing to focus on the multiple stories overshadowed by Optimus' legacy so far.

The captions in the story pack the punch

That may get in the way of some readers' enjoyment of the amount of effort and work going into this, but give it the time to settle (and a second read at least): the pay off, I found, was extremely rewarding, and I'm still poring over some of the (social) ramifications of this narrative. As an added bonus, too, we're finally, utterly concurrent with Unicron series, meaning that the book can be read both before and after issue #4 of the series, also out this week, without spoiling either!

- out of

Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #23

Date: Wednesday, September 5th 2018 8:00am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al

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Views: 24,823

A Tale of Two Primuseses
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
The final battle is here! Bots will live, bots will die, and the craziness can only increase! We’re halfway through a finale six years in the making! And if you’ve ever loved a bot, you won’t want to miss this.

don't blink

Story
We return this month and issue to a one voiced review, though still informed by a modicum of staff discussion to feed into a more balanced overview of the story being told for this number of Lost Light, as we get ever closer to the finale of the entire ..thing. Read on below, crusadercons!

a sample reaction

First thing to come up: my misgivings from the previous issue are not erased, and they still inform my base reading of any of the stories told in this narrative thread - however, there are some moments and developments in this issue specifically that seem to put in discussion those very same issues I tried to raise myself in terms of legitimisation.

if true

Though the expected ups and downs in terms of tone that characterises a lot of James Roberts' writing on the series is present, the general pacing and overall tone does not seem to fall into too many juxtaposed moments, egged on by the sense of urgency that is palpable even just in the silent opening pages of the issue, and some of the major interactions among the cast.

see below

The characters, of course, placed in this framework each get their moment to shine, or at least glimmer, with some chilling one liners, some moments that mark out the 'ending' feeling of book, and some Spinisters along for the ride, but few contributions feel forced or irrelevant to the story and pacing.

Art

Jack Lawrence is doing some incredible work on this issue in particular, and at this point I am no longer able to praise him enough and to say that 'this issue is the best one in his development on the series' - as that just seems to be the case with each new issue he works on the interiors. But just the opening, in its silent scripting, should prove my point enough.

he wacc

The colours that Joana Lafuente once more provides are pretty excellent too, with the shades changing between external and internal scenes, and some truly spectacular shimmering work displayed in some pivotal moments in flashbacks and present day scenes, especially with the Functionist Primus attack.

Technicolo(u)r spacesplosions

Furtis Candango and Tom B Long are doing some pretty spectacular work, already from the title page onwards, and they're clearly having all the fun that they can outside of the silent pages: the fontwork is exciting, and more of it sneaks into conversations with loud audiences than previously, too.

All the covers, as usual, can be found in our Vector Sigma Database entry here, though the one spotlighted in the thumbnail is the Geoff Senior / Josh Burcham variant featuring Pharma and Tyrest, which may or may not directly relate to the story itself.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Reading this issue alongside Optimus Prime #23, or indeed Unicron #4, is interesting, as the pacing seems to be very similar for all three, though the two ongoings are the ones with the most parallels (planet formers doing damage, fast pacing with significant moments on practically each page, lots of threads reaching a conclusion) - and in some ways, Lost Light has a more tonally streamlined, due to its established ensemble cast by now, than OP.

now kiss i guess

There is some material that feels like a late addition to the story, admittedly, but it works relatively well with how a certain progression of a subplot (so far) was handled, and sets up well the coming two issues without detracting too much from the Guiding Hand storyline. What's more, the book is visually stunning, and I can't not repeat this - I will be really interested in looking at how the trade works with the alternating artists at this stage, but what we're getting so far is magnificent.

out of

Round Table Review of First 2 Episodes of Transformers Cyberverse 2018

Date: Saturday, September 1st 2018 8:26am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 41,469

Hasbro's new animated series, Transformers: Cyberverse, has just started airing. While the live action films are probably what gets the biggest reach these days, there is something special about having a Transformers cartoon on the small screen. This is where many fans first became acquainted with the characters and one of the brand's most endearing storytelling mediums. While the times are changing, there is a comfort to having another Transformers cartoon on air trying to sell kids the toys they see at local toy store. Several members of the Seibertron.com staff watched the first two episodes and we wanted to share our thoughts on this show and if it holds any interest for us going forward.

What we liked best:

I like Hasbro's intentions to finally go all out on G1. They were always dancing around it with Animated and Prime (bringing it a bit closer) but now with this show, it is full on G1. They really commit to it. To the point where it assumes you know G1 and the characters enough character's name brings a history and an importance. It's like this giant G1 sandbox that they are playing with, similar to what the IDW comics were like in that perspective but in a very kid friendly version.

I really like the designs too. It helps that some of these are similar to designs we know and already have toys of, meaning if you don't like the Windblade toy from this line you could just pick up the RID Windblade and get a toy of basically the same design/character. Of course, that is not the case for all characters, as we will see more later. Also, I love that intro. - William-James88

How the show looks, in my opinion, is a big factor in my enjoyment. The animation is very fluid, and the new evergreen designs used looks great. The show's main plot, that Bumblebee lost his memories, is a great way to world build and to see more of Cybertron's past. And Windblade's devotion to helping Bumblebee is written well and adds to her character. Episode 2 also named a generic female seeker, "Nova Storm," which was apparently one of the obscure rainmakers from the G1 show. So, yeah, cool reference! Another cool reference was the show fleshing out Windblade's cityspeaker abilities of her able to enter someone's mind easily. Also, no human characters. Yeah. - notirishman

First off, am I the only person who expected to see roadrunner racing next to Bumblebee in the opening scenes? Just me? Okay moving on swiftly. I went I to this show with low expectations after the clips that we'd seen but I actually liked what I saw. The animation was overall very smooth and the character models were expressive, most notably Windblade. Speaking of her, she was the highlight of these episodes for me, I feel that her voice actress has done a good job so far.

Like others have said before and in the threads, I wasn't expecting a stronger narrative structure than what we got and the comedic moments for the kids were more subdued than I thought, expecting a 'zany' type of humour being thrown around everywhere. - ZeroWolf

Like any new show it's hard to get a feel of things from the first few episodes, the fact that they're only 10 minutes long doesn't help the situation.

I can't say there was anything I liked "best" about the show, but, the animation was okay, not as terrible as I expected. - Burn

Of course, it wasn't all great - here is what didn't work so well with us:

I really dislike the use of a radio for Bumblebee's voice. It isn't fun and in a show trying to be as G1 as possible, it clashes pretty badly. - William-James88

Bumblebee's voicebox. The show would've been fine if he just had Jeremy Levy's normal voice the whole time, but no, his voice box is continuity jumping. Hopefully, this can be related to a backstory similar to Prime where it was from Megatron punishing him, which I can get down with. Another complaint of mine is also related to Bumblebee's voicebox, and in that a couple of times, Bumblebee's lines can just drag on forever. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's annoying. - notirishman

Bumblebee's voice actor. If you want to do the radio voice gimmick (I can understand why they would given the close proximity of the Bumblebee movie) then you have to go all out and use different voices for the clips. Having one voice doing all just doesn't work for me. It's a shame as I do like Bumblebee when he's doing his normal speaking. While it's technically more of a 'want' than something I didn't like, I would have liked to see the Decepticons have a bit more depth given to them. I mean, it took the second episode for us to hear any Cons speaking properly. Also did Thundercracker forget he could fly when Windblade kicked him into the ravine? - ZeroWolf

Things I don't like, well, Windblade's ability to pluck all sorts of things from her back. I think we now know where Optimus' trailer goes...

Bumblebee's radio voice. I mean come on - kudos to the VA, but the concept is annoying. And as far as concepts go: Autobots and Decepticons leave Cybertron in search of the Allspark which is believed to be on Earth. Haven't we been here before? - Burn

The biggest difference to previously aired Transformers cartoons is probably the 10 minute format. Here are our thoughts on that:

I don't understand the 10 minute format here. With every other kid show where it is used (Teen Titans Go, Gumball, Dorothy in Oz, etc) you get a beginning, middle and end. It makes for fun and fast storytelling. But here, one episode leads right into the other, making the idea of it only being 10 minutes inconsequential. The end of an episode is the same as a cut to commercial of a 20 minute episode, so why not just do that instead. It just doesn't make you feel satisfied at the end of an episode and you feel like little has happened (similar to my feeling watching the Machinima cartoons).- William-James88

I don't mind the 10 minute format, as both episodes ended in a cliffhanger. Due to this, if every two 10 minute episodes are one, it won't matter, as each episode appears to not have any time progression between each. - notirishman

Splitting the episode up into ten minutes bugged me at first as it followed the trend of all kids' shows at the moment, but I can see reasoning for it from a TV programming point of view as it's easier to slot it in the schedule. It's also practical for fans to catch up quickly on the last episode, like me with my already limited viewing time - ZeroWolf

Again, it's hard to tell from only two episodes. At the very least they seemed to have paced well. And for me personally I'm able to sneak in a 10 minute break easier than a 20-40 minute break. So it has that going for it at least. - Burn

The big question is though, even if this is not made for us, will we be watching more?

I will be watching more to see the character models and just where they take this. But my expectations are back to being very very low (just above the Machinima stuff). - William-James88

Yes, I will be watching more because while yes, it's kiddish, it is still entertaining, and I am curious how the plot will flesh out and how the characters and their world develop. However, if RID'15 or the Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons taught me anything, I shouldn't keep my hopes up. - notirishman

While I'm still unsure how things will end up, I will be checking more out. I also want to see if they'll dive in and make Bumblebee and Windblade a couple *laughs* - ZeroWolf

Yeah, I mean, I'm a Transformers fan. I sat through the Prime Wars trilogy so I could critique it. It's Transformers media, I watch it good or bad. - Burn

Initial Playtest Review of Transformers Trading Card Game

Date: Friday, August 31st 2018 3:23am CDT
Categories: Reviews, Site Articles, Game News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): #Sideways#

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Views: 28,280

Fellow Seibertronian #Sideways# wrote an article for us, after they went through the new Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast Transformers Card Game, documenting their current playtesting and opinions. The result, shared below, is a lengthy piece of thorough work, and we're happy to display it on the site for all to read. Take a look, and share your own thoughts on what we've seen so far for the game!

#Sideways# wrote:
OVERVIEW

I decided to proxy three Transformers Trading Card Game decks recently: Initial D (Bumblebee / Cliffjumper / Mirage), InGen (Nemesis Prime / Snarl / Swoop) and Capri Sun (Sunstorm / Slipstream / Chop Shop). I playtested them over the past two days, marking down my thoughts about the archetypes and about the game in general.

I found out a lot about not only the decks, but the game as a whole. But before I get into that last bit, lemme tell you about the decks and what they do.

Initial D
(Starter Bumblebee / Cliffjumper / Mirage)

Okay, if you know anything about the title, you know that this is a Car deck that is full of "Gas, Gas, Gas" to leave your opponents with a sense of "Deja Vu" while you're "Running In The 90s". The general sense of the deck is you constantly untap your Transformers with Ready For Action and, more importantly, Turbo Boosters. When you untap constantly, your opponent is eventually going to reach a point where all of their team is either tapped or dead and you get to attack with impunity thanks to how natural untapping in this game works.

Cliffjumper allows you to draw an extra card when you Transform other Cars, allowing you to burn through your deck more than you already do. Bumblebee is there because he's a 6 Point Leader Car which is frankly silly value. Mirage is there because he allows you to play an extra Action in a turn, meaning you get to play more draw cards/more Ready For Action, but even better, he has a natural, easy to pull-off untapping ability.

The deck also benefits from being able to play Team Up Tactics, allowing you to draw two cards with no repercussions, unlike literally all other Action draw cards in the game. You draw so many cards with this deck -- it's a little stupid. But if you whiff your untapping cards, you've got a hard time coming.

Being so small in terms of defensive abilities, Initial D can fall victim to heavy bruiser decks and get punished. Your damage output isn't as large as theirs, and you can't win going toe-to-toe with the big guys without your tools to help. It'd be like using a flashlight against a howitzer.

All in all, this deck has a low damage output. But then again, who needs huge bruising attacks when your opponent can't fight back?

Well, this next deck might.

InGen
(Nemesis Prime / Snarl / Swoop)

Something... Has... Survived...

Well, that's something your opponent would say if they hadn't just gotten one-shot by Nemesis Prime. Slow, lumbering and currently one of the most heavily damaging cards in the game, Nemesis Prime is frankly one of my favorite cards that I've seen out of this game thus far. He's also one of the game's two rarest cards to get your hands on; but man, is he worth it.

Getting him to work can be a bit trickier than it might seem, especially in a game where your opponents can just make dated anime references and untap themselves into the nth dimension, but you're a deck that can be startlingly hard to make headway into, especially with all the defensive cards you play.

Being defensive is a good thing, for certain, but it also means that you're more likely to eventually reshuffle your deck, putting Nemesis' offensive ability to a base 10(!!) or more(!?) damage, without modifiers like upgrades. For reference, a common mid-ranged HP value is around 10-13. I've one-hit 12 HP Transformers after getting this guy set up with a Grenade Launcher, and lemme tell you, there's seldom a better feeling.

The problem is getting there. But that's where you get a little help from some primal friends.

Snarl and Swoop are both Dinobots, which allow them to take advantage of "Dino-Chomp!" to give them Bold 5, flipping five extra cards from your deck for your attack. Keep in mind, you start out with two, and if you flip a white Battle Card (which you play plenty of) you flip two more, leaving you with 9 cards out of your deck and into the Scrap Pile.

The potentially heavy damage you just did aside (in my experience, you're only going to use the Dinobots to soften foes up for Nemesis to clean up), you milled almost ten cards out of your deck, a full quarter of it! Using these cards to your advantage, you can pull off the reshuffle and make Nemesis the powerhouse he deserves to be.

All in all, this deck is fantastically fun to play against Initial D, as the two are somewhat polar opposites. But the one that seems to not be getting any headway at all in my playtesting is one of the most unlikely of them all.

Capri Sun
(Sunstorm / Slipstream / Chop Shop)

On the surface, everything seems to have everything going for it. Sunstorm does more damage for every card in your hand, Slipstream keeps him alive, Chop Shop draws you cards... It even has Bombing Run to both supplement your survivability and damage output!

But here's the thing: This game revolves around playing cards. Your hand is almost never going to go above six cards, and even then you'll probably need to play something out of it. It's frustrating. I've never won with this deck, and whereas it might be a product of the deckbuilding, it might also be a problem with the contradiction of Sunstorm himself.

Sunstorm wants you to hold your hand and never play anything out of it unless it puts either more damage on the field or more cards in your hand. The problem being, you have to play cards to draw the cards that you need to stockpile more cards in your hand. Only Team Up Tactics (essentially Pot of Greed) gives you a +1 card in your hand. Everything else replaces itself, leaving your hand stagnant, hovering at about 4-6.

This is not enough.

But maybe I'm just playing the deck wrong, or perhaps my list is bad. It has potential, but until we see Skywarp, Thundercracker or Starscream to hopefully pad out the Plane support, this deck will probably not see too much success, at least against the decks I have listed above. I have literally never won with this deck. At least not yet.

It is, however, one of the most interesting of the archetypes I have built. There are also quite a few other interesting card comboes in this game -- and you should definitely take a peek when you have the time.

On The Game As A Whole

TFTCG is a blast to play. It's fun, addicting and can surprisingly make you think, desperately planning out what your opponent will do next. But there are a number of flaws that I really hope are addressed in the future.

But let me get a few things out of the way first. Keep in mind, this is without having the entire set revealed, which could potentially address a few of the issues I have listed here.

The card flipping for attacking and defending sounds annoying and adding in an unneccessary layer of randomness to the game, but surprisingly, very few times have I felt like I sacked my opponent out of a KO or I got sacked and the oddest thing is... I thought it was fun. It was enough that I thought it played little into the grand scheme of things (Nemesis was going to kill that guy anyway, frankly, regardless of flips) and it only really comes into play when it comes to 2HKOs and and to put more power in the ever-prevalent healing cards. It also helps cycle decks.

Another thing that I didn't like about the flipping mechanic was that it simply dropped useful cards into the discar-- *COUGH* I mean, Scrap Pile. I can't tell you how many times I saw a Turbo Booster fall into the Scrap Pile. It could make a man weep! I don't know how much I would say that it's a good mechanic; just that it was fun, and had several underlying purposes.

But the thing is, you can mitigate or outright remedy this by adding more topdeck rigging and tutoring effects, which brings me to my second point. This game has no tutoring, which, if you didn't know, searches your deck for specific cards to either put them on top of your deck or into your hand. Powerful, yes, but I feel it is necessary to mitigate the luck factor.

But I have an issue with this game that will be tough to remedy: Counterbalance. In Dragon Ball Super, when you're at half life, your Leader card awakens to his "final form", netting you extra cards and more powerful abilities. This mechanic drives the entire game, and it helps games from being total runaways, where the person who attacks first wins.

This game sometimes wants to fall into those failings.

Let me explain: You and an opponent start the game. Each person has three Transformers. You and your opponent trade turns a few times, but it ends up with your opponent taking the first KO on your side, putting your opponent at three Transformers and you at two. This means that, if you can't KO one of them back, you have a distinct man disadvantage and attack disadvantage. It's really easy to snowball sometimes, and I can definitely see that becoming a problem if left unchecked.

But then again, Pokemon can sometimes have the same problem. Same with Magic. Perhaps Dragon Ball simply spoiled me! But perhaps -- just perhaps -- I'm on to something.

Conclusion

TFTCG is a blast. I love this game, despite its warts, and I look forward to spending an inordinate amount of money in an attempt to finally pull a Nemesis Prime. It may seem like a game with a low skill cap, but I keep finding more nuance to it every time I play. Will it overtake Magic, Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh? Ha... Hahahaha. Ha! Hahah!

No.

But maybe, just maybe, it could be a dark horse for other groups.

Dragon Ball might have to keep its Dragon Balls well-guarded: ROTF Devastator didn't, and look what happened to him. Vanguard and Weiss/Schwarz might just have to sleep with one anime tiddie open: Legion is in town, and Kiss Players is still very canon.

Those are just my thoughts, though. What are yours?

[/quote]

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