BotCon 2014 Coverage: Transformers G1 Retro Panel Summary

thats cool

I'm torn. I kind of want some of these exclusives (Shockaract, Pounce/Wingspan, & Flareup), but want to wait for an actual sale if I'm forced to buy the pirate/knights as packs. Also, I feel pretty iffy about spending $100+ shipped on clones that are retools of one another to begin with, and have identical paint apps.

Do people think these will actually sell out?

When the limit is "10 per membership" it kind of makes me think they have a lot left.

I caved in and bought the 2 pack set just to get shockaract. Comepared to scalper prices, its like im getting the grimstone figure as a free bonus. I like that TFCC has these things left over, its a scalpers worst nightmare. Die slow scalpers !

I love the stories about G1. This reminds me of the time I met Joe Bacal by pure chance. Back in November 2010 Joe needed some work done in his Penthouse in Manhattan. It didn't really click who he was until I saw the 2 Sunbow folders on his desk. When I asked him about it, Joe regaled me with stories about the voice actors for over an hour!

BigBadToyStore is doing a 'Botcon 2014' sale with some deals on a ton of figures, including 3rd party stuff, Takara Masterpiece figures and last year's Botcon sets. I just scored the entire loose set of Botcon 2013 figures for $200+$1.90 shipping !

I'd been wanting that set just to have Strika and Obsidian since the set came out but could never find those figures individually for less than what the entire set seemed to cost (or close to it) and the entire set never dropped below $300 or so. I just grabbed the entire thing for what I'd reasonably pay for just those 2 figures .

The sale ends tonight so check it out here before it's over.

leakin' lubricant wrote:

noctorro wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote:

El Duque wrote:Wow, all in all I'm very disappointed by almost everything they revealed.

Matter of opion.

I for one love the new figures and I had Delicate Warrior and Hegemon.
Do remember that these figures aren't going to cost 100 dollars a pop.

Not all 3rd party figures cost $100, OK the two you have mentioned do but many figures cost around the $60 mark, answer me this if you still had Hegemon would you be buying Leader class Megatron? Also it's not just that 3rd party stuff looks better than these figures, designs from the first run of Classics look better than these do and that was 7 years ago. Bottom line is most people will not buy Optimus because the either have Classics/Henkei Prime or Orion and most people will not buy Megatron because they have Henkei/United Megs or Hegemon.

If I still had Hegemon I'd sell him for the New Megatron. I actually had Classics Megatron, replaced him with Henkei Megatron, Replaced him with Hegemon but somehow he didn't feel right so I replaced him with United Megatron (yes, I have a hole in my hand when it comes to action figures).

I have Classics Optimus but I think he looks to Gundam-ish. I love my G2 Hero Optimus, because of his wide chest and blockyness, Very g1-ish. Also love my MP10. That's why I'm also a big fan of this new Optimus Prime.

I agree with people who don't buy the new Prime/Megz because they already have a Classics version. Hell I even have the deluxe repaints of Megatron and Optimus from that classics line.
Still I was waiting for a more G1-ish robot mode for both and these are it.

Now that I read it back, maybe I kind of have a strange taste as a TF fan. I just love the G1 cartoon and their appearances there.
And somehow I just can't seem to get to really like third party stuff, maybe because it's not official Transformers, or because of the big price tag. I only have one third party set left and that's Hercules, and he's a keeper for the figures are sturdy, great design and have that energon-cybertron vibe and fit in well with the other figures.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

It Is Him wrote:As a big fan of FOC Bruticus, I'm excited about more combiners. We've got 16 deluxes for 2015. Who wants to take a stab at Case layout?

X5 for Superion
X6 for Devastator
X5 for Defensor or Menasor

Or

X4 Superion limbs
X12 other scramble city type limbs
And voyagers like Silverbolt to give the torso some bulk

I'll take some of that action:
So for these past few major arcs in IDW, there've been three important combiners, Devastator, Superion, and Monstructor. Now the likely hood of the latter very slim, but possible. With that in mind, The figure count for each could Be:

5-6 Deluxes For Devastator, or alternatively, 1 Scramble city Voyager and 4 deluxes to make IDW Devastator, because you know Scrapper died. Now It's unlikely that there will be a prowl Headmaster, so the Voyager, or deluxe, constructicon would likely contain the head.

Superion would be dead simple, 5 Deluxes, or 1 scramble city Voyager and 4 deluxes.

Monstructer's pretty unlikely, though the possibility for him could be 5-6 deluxes, or one Scramble city voyager, 4 deluxes, with one of the Pretender Monsters being cut

With the all deluxe, the number of figures would be 15-16, out of 16. However if there was a return to scramble city format, there would be 12 of the 16 combiner deluxes, and 3 scramble leader voyagers.

See, I was actually thinking Monstructor, too! I just thought that might be less likely than Devastator and the original 4 scramble city combiners. But with Hasbro trying monsters and animals again, any things possible.

If Devastator had anything less than six units, fans would riot.

I'm hedging toward FOC Bruticus format, where everyone is the same height, but then again, we've got a new group of designers, who so its anyone's guess until we know more.

noctorro wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote:

noctorro wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote:

El Duque wrote:Wow, all in all I'm very disappointed by almost everything they revealed.

Matter of opion.

I for one love the new figures and I had Delicate Warrior and Hegemon.
Do remember that these figures aren't going to cost 100 dollars a pop.

Not all 3rd party figures cost $100, OK the two you have mentioned do but many figures cost around the $60 mark, answer me this if you still had Hegemon would you be buying Leader class Megatron? Also it's not just that 3rd party stuff looks better than these figures, designs from the first run of Classics look better than these do and that was 7 years ago. Bottom line is most people will not buy Optimus because the either have Classics/Henkei Prime or Orion and most people will not buy Megatron because they have Henkei/United Megs or Hegemon.

If I still had Hegemon I'd sell him for the New Megatron. I actually had Classics Megatron, replaced him with Henkei Megatron, Replaced him with Hegemon but somehow he didn't feel right so I replaced him with United Megatron (yes, I have a hole in my hand when it comes to action figures).

I have Classics Optimus but I think he looks to Gundam-ish. I love my G2 Hero Optimus, because of his wide chest and blockyness, Very g1-ish. Also love my MP10. That's why I'm also a big fan of this new Optimus Prime.

I agree with people who don't buy the new Prime/Megz because they already have a Classics version. Hell I even have the deluxe repaints of Megatron and Optimus from that classics line.
Still I was waiting for a more G1-ish robot mode for both and these are it.

Now that I read it back, maybe I kind of have a strange taste as a TF fan. I just love the G1 cartoon and their appearances there.
And somehow I just can't seem to get to really like third party stuff, maybe because it's not official Transformers, or because of the big price tag. I only have one third party set left and that's Hercules, and he's a keeper for the figures are sturdy, great design and have that energon-cybertron vibe and fit in well with the other figures.

Fair enough, but I will say this you kinda doing yourself a disservice, soo much G1 inspired goodness in the 3rd party market. Much more than there is here.

I agree, was very tempted with the not-Stunticons, Motormaster's awsome
At the moment, Hasbro/Takara is producing more then enough TF's that I can afford.
I also collect movie stuff, Dinobot SDCC set, moar temptation,

I for one am happy with what Hasbro produced (not interested in Nemesis, cracker, windcharger) because for instance I don't have a hegemon or a valkarie (Sorry folks, have a family and bills come before $90+ transformers) and paying $60 for a TF is not always in my budget so Ill take what Hasbro sends out because it is alot more affordable.
Sure 3rd party companies put out a good powerglide (Got him for Christmas a couple years back) and Brainstorm (Got smart robin for an anniversary present however he does not have the correct face plate). I will still pick up a majority of the newly announced figures.

noctorro wrote:I agree, was very tempted with the not-Stunticons, Motormaster's awsome
At the moment, Hasbro/Takara is producing more then enough TF's that I can afford.
I also collect movie stuff, Dinobot SDCC set, moar temptation,

Yeah those Stunticons are something else aren't they, shame their so expensive, I must say dispite my rant, arcee is looking pretty fine, Bombshell looks worth a buy too.

" The first Megatron is slavishly Generation One,"


Why is it "slavishly"? That sounds like unnecessarily obsessive and NOT what fans want. Why not "lovingly?" I see the term "slavishly" applied to any thing that's g1 lately and I don't think the writers pick up on the possible negative connotations.

I don't know about you, but it's about time a domestic released g1 Megatron actually looked like him.

I just hope leader Meg's is mp 10 size. I'll gladly use it as a stand in. I doubt an official mp Meg's is comin anytime soon.

I didn't like foc Bruticus, but a Superion or Devastator is tempting.

Cyber Bishop wrote:I for one am happy with what Hasbro produced (not interested in Nemesis, cracker, windcharger) because for instance I don't have a hegemon or a valkarie (Sorry folks, have a family and bills come before $90+ transformers) and paying $60 for a TF is not always in my budget so Ill take what Hasbro sends out because it is alot more affordable.

I completely agree and not only that we now have some affordable G1 looking toys but these are the transformers from the actual transformers company. That means the world to me.

I find these figures pretty cool but for the life of me I do not understand that Optimus.Where is he coming from? We all needed a big ass G1 looking Megs at an affordable price point, so I get his release (and I am happy for it) but that Optimus does not seem to follow that same logic.

Firstly, the scale is weird. Is he a voyager to be able to scale well with Megatron? A leader class figure would not scale well then?

And he does not seem G1 to me, in either mode. Too broad in robot mode,as opposed to the classics mold and Evasion Mode Prime has a much better G1 alt mode (and is also a voyager).

All to say that while I understand that the Megs is a great option for some (like me) I do not see how a voyager class Optimus with a non G1 alt mode would help for anyone's collection.

I actually think he is an homage to Cybertron (galaxy force) Optimus because that fat and long truck cab reminds me a lot of this one:

http://tilallaremine.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/optimus-cybertron-alt.jpg?w=812

Also, someone was talking about transformations being too simple in these homages but that makes absolutely no sense since there is no way this Armada Megatron can be a less complex toy than the original. I have nothing against the original and I still have him, but complexity was not one of that toy's strong suits. Oh and galaxy force optimus was a walk in the park as well.

And what's up with the hate for Windblade? She looks fine to me.

leakin' lubricant wrote:

noctorro wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote:

noctorro wrote:

leakin' lubricant wrote:

El Duque wrote:Wow, all in all I'm very disappointed by almost everything they revealed.

Matter of opion.

I for one love the new figures and I had Delicate Warrior and Hegemon.
Do remember that these figures aren't going to cost 100 dollars a pop.

Not all 3rd party figures cost $100, OK the two you have mentioned do but many figures cost around the $60 mark, answer me this if you still had Hegemon would you be buying Leader class Megatron? Also it's not just that 3rd party stuff looks better than these figures, designs from the first run of Classics look better than these do and that was 7 years ago. Bottom line is most people will not buy Optimus because the either have Classics/Henkei Prime or Orion and most people will not buy Megatron because they have Henkei/United Megs or Hegemon.

If I still had Hegemon I'd sell him for the New Megatron. I actually had Classics Megatron, replaced him with Henkei Megatron, Replaced him with Hegemon but somehow he didn't feel right so I replaced him with United Megatron (yes, I have a hole in my hand when it comes to action figures).

I have Classics Optimus but I think he looks to Gundam-ish. I love my G2 Hero Optimus, because of his wide chest and blockyness, Very g1-ish. Also love my MP10. That's why I'm also a big fan of this new Optimus Prime.

I agree with people who don't buy the new Prime/Megz because they already have a Classics version. Hell I even have the deluxe repaints of Megatron and Optimus from that classics line.
Still I was waiting for a more G1-ish robot mode for both and these are it.

Now that I read it back, maybe I kind of have a strange taste as a TF fan. I just love the G1 cartoon and their appearances there.
And somehow I just can't seem to get to really like third party stuff, maybe because it's not official Transformers, or because of the big price tag. I only have one third party set left and that's Hercules, and he's a keeper for the figures are sturdy, great design and have that energon-cybertron vibe and fit in well with the other figures.

Fair enough, but I will say this you kinda doing yourself a disservice, soo much G1 inspired goodness in the 3rd party market. Much more than there is here.

To each their own, really. I DO collect 3rd party, but for me, Hasbro's Arcee and United Megatron beat out every option I've seen. Delicate Warrior and Hegemon really do nothing for me aesthetically. I find Delicate Warrior blobby and Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

Counterpunch wrote:Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I like the character fine. Hegemon looks like he's made of a series of blocky parts attached together. It's hard to explain, but I find the figure hideous. I also don't want a perfect interpretation of G1 figures for my Classics, I want updated, modern looking versions. Hegemon doesn't fit that for me.

Counterpunch wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I'd have to agree. I wasn't sold on Hegemon or Orion. I thought they both looked ugly. And by ugly a poor representation of the characters in the face. Megatron has a misshapen face as does Orion. Orion also has that clear plastic that just looks cheap. Overall they are very blocky and ungraceful. I don't mind blocky, but not for $100.

Third party is great, but I think the tendency is growing to label those that don't like Third Party stuff as not being "true fans." need to be careful of that. People are entitled to not like something even if it makes little sense to you.

I mean heck, people like Armada...

Optimizzy wrote:I mean heck, people like Armada...

I am living proof of this statement.

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I like the character fine. Hegemon looks like he's made of a series of blocky parts attached together. It's hard to explain, but I find the figure hideous. I also don't want a perfect interpretation of G1 figures for my Classics, I want updated, modern looking versions. Hegemon doesn't fit that for me.

Same here. Not to dis G1 for what it did, but for the most part I find most of the old designs just far too flat and dull, especially Prime and Megatron. I find modernized re-interpretations like the Classic Voyager molds tickles my fancy a lot more than a simple stack of boxes with lots of panel detailing. In fact someone else here stated that Classics Prime looks Gundam-y, and thee I question how that's a bad thing, given that he sort of looks like a Gundam to begin with.

Optimizzy wrote:I'd have to agree. I wasn't sold on Hegemon or Orion. I thought they both looked ugly. And by ugly a poor representation of the characters in the face. Megatron has a misshapen face as does Orion. Orion also has that clear plastic that just looks cheap. Overall they are very blocky and ungraceful. I don't mind blocky, but not for $100.

I just hate Orion because it's an otherwise excellent concept that was completely sh*t on by toyworld's designers by f*cking the proportions over massively.

I mean heck, people like Armada...

Incidentally I think a lot of Armada stuff still looks better than the new Prime and Megs... well with the exception of Sideswipe.

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I like the character fine. Hegemon looks like he's made of a series of blocky parts attached together. It's hard to explain, but I find the figure hideous. I also don't want a perfect interpretation of G1 figures for my Classics, I want updated, modern looking versions. Hegemon doesn't fit that for me.

I agree the legs ruin that figure, I'll stick with United Megs until the Bold Forms ones released at least.

Counterpunch wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I am curious about Hegemon as I do not have any G1 interpretation of Megatron in my collection thus far. Am I better off waiting for a Masterpiece re-release or even getting the masterpiece instead of Hegemon himself ? What is the best price to value ratio in terms of G1 Meg toys? These announced figures included

I'm among the few people who think that the Megatron actually looks worse than the prime apparently. Both are horrible, but at least Optimus has matching proportions.

Megatron... OH MY GOD. I think nobody is actually taking a good look at him. He's a pair of spindly legs, with a bunch of cardboard boxes on top, held together by sticks. Those shoulders just make me wanna cry. This must have been designed for a child, there's no other explanation.

Optimizzy wrote:
Third party is great, but I think the tendency is growing to label those that don't like Third Party stuff as not being "true fans." need to be careful of that. People are entitled to not like something even if it makes little since to you.

I mean heck, people like Armada...

I totally agree, any "true fans" statement is BS. This would mean that those who stick to the actual official transformers products would not be "true fans"? Give me a break.

I get wanting to have toys that look the most like the characters we are fans of but there is nothing illegit from hoping to buy from the legitimate toy company instead. If we are on this message board, we are all true fans

Also, as for Armada, its not too bad. Hell, it gave us UNICRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I personaly have more problems with the Energon line's treatment of several autobots than the Armada line.

Vicalliose wrote: Both are horrible, but at least Optimus has matching proportions.

What matching proportions? Certainly not his head

william-james88 wrote:What matching proportions? Certainly not his head

I don't think you understand what I meant by matching proportions. I'm saying his proportions generally conform with each other, not that they match geewun Optimus. Also I didn't feel the tiny head was worth pointing out, as every time I've done this for a figure in the past nobody gave a crap. +1 to TF fan consistency.

Yeah, I think Prime's head is too small...but I'm hopeful a third-party head will come out that I will like.

and I am just teasing about Armada. I'm not a fan of the show but the toyline was pretty great.

Optimizzy wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I'd have to agree. I wasn't sold on Hegemon or Orion. I thought they both looked ugly. And by ugly a poor representation of the characters in the face. Megatron has a misshapen face as does Orion. Orion also has that clear plastic that just looks cheap. Overall they are very blocky and ungraceful. I don't mind blocky, but not for $100.

Third party is great, but I think the tendency is growing to label those that don't like Third Party stuff as not being "true fans." need to be careful of that. People are entitled to not like something even if it makes little sense to you.

I mean heck, people like Armada...

People are entitled to have opinions and to have them questioned when they state them in public. That's how this works. Opinions aren't sacred cows to live and let live. Forums are all about Hamburger Time.

Now this "true fans" business...I appreciate you not mentioning that kind of elitism when quoting me because I neither said nor implied anything of the kind. I've said a lot of stuff in my time, but one thing I've never done is be exclusionary.

Returning to the point, if this is what qualifies as "ugly" with a Transformer, then I guess I'm hoping for all my Transformers to be ugly as hell in the near future.

Megatron Prime by ME_Counterpunch, on Flickr

Counterpunch wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I'd have to agree. I wasn't sold on Hegemon or Orion. I thought they both looked ugly. And by ugly a poor representation of the characters in the face. Megatron has a misshapen face as does Orion. Orion also has that clear plastic that just looks cheap. Overall they are very blocky and ungraceful. I don't mind blocky, but not for $100.

Third party is great, but I think the tendency is growing to label those that don't like Third Party stuff as not being "true fans." need to be careful of that. People are entitled to not like something even if it makes little sense to you.

I mean heck, people like Armada...

People are entitled to have opinions and to have them questioned when they state them in public. That's how this works. Opinions aren't sacred cows to live and let live. Forums are all about Hamburger Time.

Now this "true fans" business...I appreciate you not mentioning that kind of elitism when quoting me because I neither said nor implied anything of the kind. I've said a lot of stuff in my time, but one thing I've never done is be exclusionary.

Returning to the point, if this is what qualifies as "ugly" with a Transformer, then I guess I'm hoping for all my Transformers to be ugly as hell in the near future.

Megatron Prime by ME_Counterpunch, on Flickr

yeah. that's pretty ugly.

and like I said, it's his face and blocky proportions. Plus I agree that I want a modern interpretation rather than a straight up design copy.

And for the record, I was commenting on the Third Party craze that seems to be the norm. Every time something is revealed it's compared to third party stuff. Yeah they are awesome collector pieces, there is no denying that. But it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Let them have that opinion, because usually it's a matter of taste.

Metro Prime wrote:...Optimus Prime that somewhat resembles his Powermaster counterpart (and has been rumored to be a combiner).

Oh? If this turns out to be true I could overlook his derpy appearance.

kirbenvost wrote:

Metro Prime wrote:...Optimus Prime that somewhat resembles his Powermaster counterpart (and has been rumored to be a combiner).

Oh? If this turns out to be true I could overlook his derpy appearance.

huh. combine with what I wonder....?

kirbenvost wrote:

Metro Prime wrote:...Optimus Prime that somewhat resembles his Powermaster counterpart (and has been rumored to be a combiner).

Oh? If this turns out to be true I could overlook his derpy appearance.

Oh how I wish there could b a newer version of power master Optimus that sold for $19- 50 @TRU and Walmart though the closest TRU IS IN Omaha Nebraska

Optimizzy wrote:

kirbenvost wrote:

Metro Prime wrote:...Optimus Prime that somewhat resembles his Powermaster counterpart (and has been rumored to be a combiner).

Oh? If this turns out to be true I could overlook his derpy appearance.

huh. combine with what I wonder....?

The upcoming deluxes. Speculation is that this OP exists as a redeco of an upcoming Motormaster, who's planned along with 3 other combiner torsos and 4 sets of 4 scramble city style deluxes.

Whether that's true or not, I've seen is reported that Hasbro said that this OP holds some "surprises" for when we held him in hand.

In terms of the ones I actually care about:




Bombshell looks neat. Will definitely try and pick up him and Shrapnel/Skrapnel. Hopefully we'll get a Kickback too.




Finally! An actual G1 Arcee! I'm almost disappointed I already have my Animated Arcee, but who knows, maybe if I brush up on my paint skills I can make this one into its own figure.

If it gets a Paradron Medic release I'll buy it though. No questions asked.

Kinda disappointed about the large amount of kibble, but G1 Arcee was heavily reliant on animation magic to transform (her thighs basically deform into the sides of her car mode) so I can forgive it.





Speaking of femmebots, Chromia looks ace too! Once again though I already have a Chromia (I use PRID Arcee as my Chromia) but that looks so nice I might get her anyway...Perhaps headcanon them as twins?

Looking closer, that is definitely a retooling of PRID Arcee. It has the same leg assembly and the almost exact same body. Still, that's near Four Star levels of retooling so I can forgive it (and it makes the Chromia Twins idea more workable) so regardless I like it.




That's a good looking Megatron. The robot mode looks a bit goofy but I imagine that's partially due to Hasbro's ever-wonderful stock photography (although I do worry about those feet). Regardless, I'm willing to forgive the iffy robot mode because that tank mode is not only gorgeous, but has WORKING RUBBER TREADS. Seriously, we haven't had a figure with actual rolling treads in years. The only one I can think of is Armada Scavenger (who would have been awesome were it not for his stupid "roll and stomp" gimmick). So yeah, he looks magnificent.




...This one, however, I'm not impressed with at all. I get the idea, but it doesn't work. Armada Megatron (incidentally my favourite Megatron design ever, bar maybe the RID toy from 2001) is way too different from the G1 design to get a simple retool of a "G1" Megatron- he needs his own mold. The proportions on this are too lanky and narrow. Armada Megatron is wide, bulky and massive, with huge blocky legs on comparatively small thighs, and small but powerful looking arms with the colossal shoulder pylons formed by the front of his tank mode. This toy, whilst perfect for the very humanoid G1 Megatron, is too uniform and not nearly exaggerated/"anime" enough. He doesn't even have his shoulder pylons, just some rather weak back panels.

The colours are spot on though, and I can't see how they possibly could have retooled the mold to make him any more accurate to/evocative of the Armada character model. I just wish he'd gotten his own mold.

But then any continuity that isn't G1 or Beast Era seems to get the short end of the stick with figures. I guess they decided that Armada wasn't worthy of getting a new-mold big toy (and to be fair the cartoon was rancid, or at least the Western release with its unfinished animation and dodgy scripts). I'm blaming the Geewunners.

Who knows, maybe when Takara is finally back in the driver's seat with toy design we'll get some decent Armada updates. I'm still holding out for a Masterpiece Armada Megatron, as unlikely as that is.

Armada Starscream got some love earlier this year (late last year). It was a great new mold with a lot of loving homage to the character. And the updates to the mold really helped since he can now have his swords and still have his wings and his cannons dont always have to be poised in in offensive mode.

Also, Armada intriduced minicons and that was part of the theme of the most recent generations figures. So I think the people at Hasbro and Takara do have love for Armada. And with the rumours of combining transformers of all kinds coming our way, it looks like they have love for Energon as well.

Welcome back, Drift! You were missed!

And for all the naysayers....

Well, geewun fans finally got their classics Arcee. I hoped it would more like IDW or WFC but there is no question it is geewun. It actually is kinda silly looking in robot mode. It, like TF4 Crosshairs, looks like it is carrying the car frame in full on its back. The Chromia, however, is nice. It looks like something out of the WFC/FOC games. I would rather have a pink verson of it than the Arcee they made, but I am happy for the classics guys who held out for so long. Now, we only have to listen to them drone on about Shockwave, Soundwave, Ultra Magnus and few others. I guess they really need proper versions of Skids, Hoist, and Trailcutter too, seeing is how the ones we got last year are not even close to classics. But there is no mistaking this Acree for anything other than classics. What would be cool is if they took the classics Arcee and repainted it as Classics Chromia, and then took IDW Chromia and repainted it as IDW Arcee. The alt mode would be a bike instead of a car, but I think that is a really cool mold. It looks like the bikes from the original Tron movie.

Personally, I am only picking up Chromia. The rest are not my taste. Except the legends. Getting all of those.

shockblast2 wrote: Except the legends. Getting all of those.

I know. I didn't think I would like them as much...but...I love the little weapon masters. They are so great.

Optimizzy wrote:

shockblast2 wrote: Except the legends. Getting all of those.

I know. I didn't think I would like them as much...but...I love the little weapon masters. They are so great.

We don't know if the new ones will even get Whatevermaster partners, even the repaints from the series year, as none were announced at all.

Can any of these legends series interact with the minicon ports found on the Megatron figure?

shockblast2 wrote:Well, geewun fans finally got their classics Arcee. I hoped it would more like IDW or WFC but there is no question it is geewun. It actually is kinda silly looking in robot mode. It, like TF4 Crosshairs, looks like it is carrying the car frame in full on its back. The Chromia, however, is nice. It looks like something out of the WFC/FOC games. I would rather have a pink verson of it than the Arcee they made, but I am happy for the classics guys who held out for so long.

Indeed. I really would rather be looking through the third party options for her. I mean it's a good representation of her character, but then I never liked her character to begin with. IDW is the only reason I like Arcee (or even fembots in general) and I particularly prefer her design there. The pink faced barbie look does not click with me, which is a damned shame since they'll probably change her appearance in the comic to suit the figure.

william-james88 wrote:Can any of these legends series interact with the minicon ports found on the Megatron figure?

Nope. So far, only the Minicon Assault team is minicon port compatible among the modern releases.

william-james88 wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote: Hegemon just doesn't fit what I want in my collection(too large, ugly figure, IMO).

All is fair in opinions I suppose but what exactly is ugly about a near perfect G1 interpretation of Megatron?

Complain about his transformation...fine.

Say he feels fragile...fine.

Ugly? I have to assume you just don't like Megatron.

I am curious about Hegemon as I do not have any G1 interpretation of Megatron in my collection thus far. Am I better off waiting for a Masterpiece re-release or even getting the masterpiece instead of Hegemon himself ? What is the best price to value ratio in terms of G1 Meg toys? These announced figures included

Hegemon is your best bet. Masterpiece Megatron was a hot mess. You'd be better off with the United version of the Classics mold. I say the United version because it is less Nerf-ish than the Classics release. I'd still recommend you wait for one of the tank releases like Hasbro or Megasteel for a G1-ish bot mode. None of the gun Megatrons really work out well in bot mode, IMO.

Vicalliose wrote:The pink faced barbie look does not click with me, which is a damned shame since they'll probably change her appearance in the comic to suit the figure.

I really don't think they'll do that in this case, and that they think the toy is a realization of the G1 Arcee design from 30 years ago, this release finally being a chance to get it out. It will sell, and they don't have to go tell the IDW dudes to hamfist the design in for it to do so.



Also not to dig up a dead horse but Hegemon is many things, and I've heard it called many things, but not ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but I think that's a gorgeous toy regardless of your opinion of third parties.

ScottyP wrote:

Vicalliose wrote:The pink faced barbie look does not click with me, which is a damned shame since they'll probably change her appearance in the comic to suit the figure.

I really don't think they'll do that in this case, and that they think the toy is a realization of the G1 Arcee design from 30 years ago, this release finally being a chance to get it out.

The one advantage to her being a shellformer is that they can easily swap the head, put an IDW car mode shell on her, change the paint apps and sell her as the IDW version.

knightsix wrote:The one advantage to her being a shellformer is that they can easily swap the head, put an IDW car mode shell on her, change the paint apps and sell her as the IDW version.

If only Hasbro could be that cool. Although the torso is also very wrong anyway.

ScottyP wrote:Also not to dig up a dead horse but Hegemon is many things, and I've heard it called many things, but not ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but I think that's a gorgeous toy regardless of your opinion of third parties.

It does what it needs to do, and that's okay, but what it does just looks f*cking dull.

Amelie wrote:This probably makes Nacelle the most obscure repaint ever conceived.

Stripes and Solarbot would beg to differ.

I'd say the obscurity levels of this redeco range in the same levels as the G1 GoBots redecos of those six Minibot molds, whose decos also appeared in the same early catalog as Nacelle's deco.

autobot1979 wrote:When is deluxe Stinger coming out?

It ain't.

No joke. They said they aren't making a Deluxe toy for Stinger. It got as far as the prototype stage, but wasn't completed.

The AOE toys are expected to last only until the end of the year, with next year's line coming in early 2015.

I guess there just wasn't room for a red Decepticon reshell of Bumblebee. *shrugs*

G1COLLECTOR wrote:To tell you the truth , The Transformers Movie Toys *(ALL JUST SUCK)!

I mean they keep making them smaller and they all look bad in both modes. I will be buying much more 3rd party and Masterpiece bots this year.

If you're gonna hold Masterpiece and 3rd party products to the standard norm of quality, you're gonna find disappointment in everything else. No one should ever expect MP/3rd party quality in everything since those toys are designed to be above and beyond the normal levels of quality. If you raise the bar up to match the level of MP/3rd party, you're practically daring your enjoyment of everything that isn't MP/3rd party to be diminished, potentially significantly.

Now, there's nothing wrong with having high standards, but there needs to be frame of reason behind them. At the end of the day, these are children's toys, aimed at 8-year-olds. The collector may be kept in mind by Hasbro, but that demographic doesn't get the highest priority. The child demographic does. And frankly, these look like something that age group would enjoy. I myself would have been into these at that age. So there's really no logical reason to expect high-end collector-grade standards for every plaything Hasbro churns out for the youngsters.

Nemesis Primal wrote:I hope there was a miscommunication somewhere and it's actually supposed to be "Beast Wars: Uprising" Tarantulas, because i checked the "Dawn of Future's Past" comic, and that really doesn't look like how Tarantulas looked in it.

That's because the body Tarantulas had in the DoFP comic was a made up one not based on an existing toy. Because of that, any toy they would have used to make a DoFP figure of him was doomed to not look like his comic body. Apparently they wanted to make a DoFP figure for him, but were outta luck with making a comic-accurate body version for him outside of Hasbro making a whole new mold, and had to make due with what they could.

But I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to use it for an Uprising version of him as well since the TCC panel had them mention that there is great potential for overlap between those two.

Sabrblade wrote:No joke. They said they aren't making a Deluxe toy for Stinger. It got as far as the prototype stage, but wasn't completed.

Wait what, really?! But he's just a red Bumblebee. Why wouldn't they just... argh. So glad I got out of collecting Movie toys.