Earthspark News with Video Reviews for Tacticon Megatron, Optimus and Bumblebee + Starscream Listing

Here we have a review, coming from me, for Transformers Earthspark deluxe Megatron. While it is as complex as a deluxe from any other line, the fact that all characters are deluxe sized makes him look very puny next to others, as you can see in the photos below. Also, while the articulation is standard, the giant bulky shoulders limit the articulation in that area which is a shame since many typical Megatron poses feature his arm extended forward at different angles to shoot his fusion canon. There are more reviews to come, enjoy!

I just can't get over that depressed face.

.......and ironically, that will be the #1 reason for me to buy that Megatron.

Damn lucky.

Here we have a review, coming from me, for Transformers Earthspark deluxe Bumblebee, which will probably be a very popular toy for Christmas this year since it will be the main Bumblebee toy on shelves for the brand new show on air. This is a solid toy overall, with some neat transformation steps, a very compact backpack which will remind fans of Prime Vehicon, and a different kind of car for the alt mode, which is now remenescent of the second generation ford GT. Below you'll find the review along with the reviews for the other two wave 2 deluxe figures, if you want to get up to speed on what's just been released.

Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

william-james88 wrote:Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

Leave something for the rest of us.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

Leave something for the rest of us.

I'll leave Skywarp

Elita-1 (or Elita-One) has a prominant role on the new Earthspark show and a new design, so fans may have been curious about her only toy known to exist so far. However, while warrior class Optimus Prime has decent articulation, as you can see in the review below, Elita-1 suffers in that department by having no articulation at the knee, neck and waist. No thigh swivel either and all of that greatly limits poseability. The transformation is satisfying though for a budget toy. She is the same size as a deluxe but only costs 2/3 the price and we can see why. Optimus on the other hand has a rather obvious transformation that we've all seen before but his articulation and proportions as very surprising for a warrior class figure making him a great choice for parents looking to buy their kid and Optimus Prime figure but not wanting to spend upwards of $20 USD on one.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I just can't get over that depressed face.

He saw the franchise go down the toilet in the past few years so that's why he's depressed. The entire Transformers franchise has been slowly going downhill ever since 2007. I never thought I would lose interest but Hasbro has been putting out nothing but garbage in the last couple years. Baby bumblebee crap & Legacy is all over the place, 1 lame/boring/bad repaint after the other.

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I just can't get over that depressed face.

He saw the franchise go down the toilet in the past few years so that's why he's depressed. The entire Transformers franchise has been slowly going downhill ever since 2007. I never thought I would lose interest but Hasbro has been putting out nothing but garbage in the last couple years. Baby bumblebee crap & Legacy is all over the place, 1 lame/boring/bad repaint after the other.

I think differently, I think the franchise is doing quite well for itself, the Generations lines keep going strength from strength and we're on the verge for another theatrical release. Earthspark also brings fresh ideas to the table. We're also getting toys like Victory Saber and Deathsaurus produced (not to mention Unicron, a toy the likes of which was just unfeasible back in 07). In my opinion, 2007 was a turning point, but in a good way, we had more new fans join the hobby and some old ones return (like myself).

ZeroWolf wrote:

Nemesis Reformatted wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I just can't get over that depressed face.

He saw the franchise go down the toilet in the past few years so that's why he's depressed. The entire Transformers franchise has been slowly going downhill ever since 2007. I never thought I would lose interest but Hasbro has been putting out nothing but garbage in the last couple years. Baby bumblebee crap & Legacy is all over the place, 1 lame/boring/bad repaint after the other.

I think differently, I think the franchise is doing quite well for itself, the Generations lines keep going strength from strength and we're on the verge for another theatrical release. Earthspark also brings fresh ideas to the table. We're also getting toys like Victory Saber and Deathsaurus produced (not to mention Unicron, a toy the likes of which was just unfeasible back in 07). In my opinion, 2007 was a turning point, but in a good way, we had more new fans join the hobby and some old ones return (like myself).

I think you got trolled.

Because for how long that dead horse will be beaten?

william-james88 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

Leave something for the rest of us.

I'll leave Skywarp

that's a true gift right there!

The one step class in the new Transformers Earthspark line is taking it up a notch by introducing a flip gimmick where, as advertised, a toy will transform after being flipped in the air. The review below shows you what that gimmick entails. As it turns out, while it does work, flipping the toy is not really needed. With this particular Optimus toy, simply pressing the knees in robot mode automatically releases the mechanism turning him back into truck mode. So there is no need to flip him to transform him. However, landing on the ground will trigger his knees and cause him to transform.

You can check it out below.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

Leave something for the rest of us.

I'll leave Skywarp

that's a true gift right there!

All kidding aside, I'll take it. I liked that mold and most people missed the trick of using the landing gear to lock the torso so once you do that it's an ok figure.

News Staff making news kinda reminds me of this old, ooooold, before he was famous Bob Saget bit on some random sketch comedy show where he was a news reporter, reporting on an accident that he caused. The punchline was "Waxwhatever, where we don't just report the news, we ARE the news."

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Working on reviews for the Warriors and they are all over the place. While Optimus is a very solid budget deluxe class toy, with good proporitons and articulation, that Elita 1 is ROUGH. Lacking lots of crucial articulation, no knees for instance.

Leave something for the rest of us.

I'll leave Skywarp

that's a true gift right there!

All kidding aside, I'll take it. I liked that mold and most people missed the trick of using the landing gear to lock the torso so once you do that it's an ok figure.

News Staff making news kinda reminds me of this old, ooooold, before he was famous Bob Saget bit on some random sketch comedy show where he was a news reporter, reporting on an accident that he caused. The punchline was "Waxwhatever, where we don't just report the news, we ARE the news."

Hahaha.
You also have the other 2 one steps.

Whomever makes the videos, I'm grateful to them! I never followed RiD toys until I binged the show, so it's great to have almost real-time (close to the toy's release) reviews.

RotorstormNZ wrote:Whomever makes the videos, I'm grateful to them! I never followed RiD toys until I binged the show, so it's great to have almost real-time (close to the toy's release) reviews.

Thanks and you are welcome.

I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

It is, but it's also not the first time. Prime took a while to get into stores after the false start with First Edition, and I remember Animated toys not being in stores until well after season one aired.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

It is, but it's also not the first time. Prime took a while to get into stores after the false start with First Edition, and I remember Animated toys not being in stores until well after season one aired.

Emerje

Yeah, Animated's toyline was slow to start because of all of the excess 2007 Movie toys taking up all the space on the shelves at the time.

Prime's toyline, however, was deliberately held back. While the shelves were still filled with DOTM toys at the time, Hasbro wanted to push the Prime cartoon as a TV show first, one that didn't necessarily need to be supported by toys. So they held back releasing the toys until after DOTM to let the cartoon stand on its own merits, but that just made the fans mad and want the Prime toys even more, instead of them initially learning to appreciate the show as a show first and foremost. That was back when Hasbro was trying to pass themselves off as a media company more than just a toy company, but that all came crashing down after the failure of the Battleship movie.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

It is, but it's also not the first time. Prime took a while to get into stores after the false start with First Edition, and I remember Animated toys not being in stores until well after season one aired.

Emerje

Yeah, Animated's toyline was slow to start because of all of the excess 2007 Movie toys taking up all the space on the shelves at the time.

Prime's toyline, however, was deliberately held back. While the shelves were still filled with DOTM toys at the time, Hasbro wanted to push the Prime cartoon as a TV show first, one that didn't necessarily need to be supported by toys. So they held back releasing the toys until after DOTM to let the cartoon stand on its own merits, but that just made the fans mad and want the Prime toys even more, instead of them initially learning to appreciate the show as a show first and foremost. That was back when Hasbro was trying to pass themselves off as a media company more than just a toy company, but that all came crashing down after the failure of the Battleship movie.

Thanks for the history lessons. That is still at odds with what may be happening here since 2022 got less kid focused transformers toys than originally planned due to the ROTB toyline delay. So there's a glut on the market and a bunch of Earthspark product that could fill it and while it is doing exactly that in Canada and elsewhere, it isn't being done in the US.

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

My BBTS preorder is supposedly supposed to get fulfilled this month, we will see, especially since BBTS appears to be about a month ahead of stores for the earliest TF sightings lately

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

I don't know what's going on but the only way we'll find out is to ask and ask a lot. All I know is I want my butt finger transformers.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:All I know is I want my butt finger transformers.

Even knowing the context, this is so frikkin wrong

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I am in utter disbelief that this first round of toys have not appeared in the US for the holiday season, a real missed opportunity.

I don't know what's going on but the only way we'll find out is to ask and ask a lot. All I know is I want my butt finger transformers.

Your butt has fingers?

Twitch just shipped from Pulse, I think I'm at least as excited about her as I am about Victory Saber, who is also on the way.

AcademyofDrX wrote:Twitch just shipped from Pulse, I think I'm at least as excited about her as I am about Victory Saber, who is also on the way.

Really? Huh. Hopefully that is a sign BBTS is about to get them, theirs are $4 cheaper, otherwise I'd jump now

Twitch has great poseability and fantastic use of translucent parts. I'm not doing the light piping justice, it's incredibly exciting in-hand. Those big round eyes just pop. I think she'll be my desk bot for a while.

My biggest criticism is that some joints are a little loose and others are a little tight, and combined with the range of motion, it makes tabbing everything together for alt-mide very difficult. Some of the connections are a little unusual too. It's not perfect, but when I don't try to make it perfect, I'm very satisfied with the result.

Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

AcademyofDrX wrote:Twitch has great poseability and fantastic use of translucent parts. I'm not doing the light piping justice, it's incredibly exciting in-hand. Those big round eyes just pop. I think she'll be my desk bot for a while.

My biggest criticism is that some joints are a little loose and others are a little tight, and combined with the range of motion, it makes tabbing everything together for alt-mide very difficult. Some of the connections are a little unusual too. It's not perfect, but when I don't try to make it perfect, I'm very satisfied with the result.

Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

She looks good, I am excited for her!

AcademyofDrX wrote:
Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

It definitely feels different from a Generations deluxe especially from a design perspective, but for Twitch and BB, I don't feel I'm getting less from these than what I get from a generations deluxe. What do you think?

william-james88 wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:
Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

It definitely feels different from a Generations deluxe especially from a design perspective, but for Twitch and BB, I don't feel I'm getting less from these than what I get from a generations deluxe. What do you think?

I never even saw any of these new deluxes in store but if they are like Cyberverse, they definitely feel cheaper and smaller in hand. They were less expensive too so it balance things out.

Are the Earthspark deluxes sell for the same price as SS or Gen deluxes?

-Kanrabat- wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:
Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

It definitely feels different from a Generations deluxe especially from a design perspective, but for Twitch and BB, I don't feel I'm getting less from these than what I get from a generations deluxe. What do you think?

I never even saw any of these new deluxes in store but if they are like Cyberverse, they definitely feel cheaper and smaller in hand. They were less expensive too so it balance things out.

Are the Earthspark deluxes sell for the same price as SS or Gen deluxes?

They are $30 CAD, which feels fair (by comparison). Though I would say Cyberverse deluxe Slag feels as quality as any Legacy deluxe toy.

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:
Usual disclaimer applies: Cyberverse and Earthspark Deluxes are not the same as Generations Deluxes. It's a huge step over Warrior class though, and a great toy on balance.

It definitely feels different from a Generations deluxe especially from a design perspective, but for Twitch and BB, I don't feel I'm getting less from these than what I get from a generations deluxe. What do you think?

I never even saw any of these new deluxes in store but if they are like Cyberverse, they definitely feel cheaper and smaller in hand. They were less expensive too so it balance things out.

Are the Earthspark deluxes sell for the same price as SS or Gen deluxes?

They are $30 CAD, which feels fair (by comparison). Though I would say Cyberverse deluxe Slag feels as quality as any Legacy deluxe toy.

To me it feels like a step up from the Cyberverse Deluxes, though I didn't get Slug or Cheetor. The transformation complexity and poseability are definitely up there with Legacy, though it didn't have the kind of heft or solidness I expect in Generations. On the other hand, it's very similar to smaller figures like Black Arachnia, so maybe I'm not taking a wide enough view of the line.

I also need to take back my criticism of the alt-mode: once I slotted the weapon in and adjusted some of the tabbing, it all locked together really well. I don't like fiddling that much, but it's an acceptable trade-off given how well it poses.

The next thing I need to do is dig out a flight stand. She has a port in her back and everything about her design suggests she should be in the air. I'm having more fun with her than I usually get from Generations, so maybe I'm approaching this the wrong way. Maybe I shouldn't see animated Deluxes as less collector-friendly than Generations, but as more play-friendly.

DeathReviews wrote:"Optimus, help! My LEGS are fused together!"

Awesome, i checked your channel it's amazing.

DeathReviews wrote:"Optimus, help! My LEGS are fused together!"

That's dope! I checked your channel, amazing work!

With two days to go I feel the need to state again that there was ZERO Earthspark toys on shelves in the US for the Christmas shopping season.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:With two days to go I feel the need to state again that there was ZERO Earthspark toys on shelves in the US for the Christmas shopping season.

I never saw a single one at my local Walmart nor even at my local Toys R Us. Must be a Montréal thing.

AcademyofDrX wrote:To me it feels like a step up from the Cyberverse Deluxes, though I didn't get Slug or Cheetor. The transformation complexity and poseability are definitely up there with Legacy, though it didn't have the kind of heft or solidness I expect in Generations. On the other hand, it's very similar to smaller figures like Black Arachnia, so maybe I'm not taking a wide enough view of the line.

I also need to take back my criticism of the alt-mode: once I slotted the weapon in and adjusted some of the tabbing, it all locked together really well. I don't like fiddling that much, but it's an acceptable trade-off given how well it poses.

The next thing I need to do is dig out a flight stand. She has a port in her back and everything about her design suggests she should be in the air. I'm having more fun with her than I usually get from Generations, so maybe I'm approaching this the wrong way. Maybe I shouldn't see animated Deluxes as less collector-friendly than Generations, but as more play-friendly.

Definitely, I see everything you see and you write it out perfectly. I only mention Slug because he felt like a step above the other deluxes in that Cyberverse line. Others had a lot going for them (like Megatron and Bee) but there was something about them that held them back.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:With two days to go I feel the need to state again that there was ZERO Earthspark toys on shelves in the US for the Christmas shopping season.

This is absolutely bonkers. I was certain these would be in the US for the holiday season, now is the time to sell them with a whole line made up of perfect gifts for young transformers fans in gift giving season, plus as a tie in with a brand new show on air. Something was fumbled. They won't be as necessary next year when the entire ROTB line, also aimed at kids, will be on shelves during the holiday season.

Amazon has the drone one and Elita-1 up for pre-order with a January 1st stock date.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:With two days to go I feel the need to state again that there was ZERO Earthspark toys on shelves in the US for the Christmas shopping season.

still nothing. Pulse fulfilled preorders for the 3 deluxes, but that was it.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:With two days to go I feel the need to state again that there was ZERO Earthspark toys on shelves in the US for the Christmas shopping season.

still nothing. Pulse fulfilled preorders for the 3 deluxes, but that was it.

I got ONE Deluxe (Twitch) and ONE Warrior (Elita-1) coming next week from Amazon. That's all they have available. They have a listing for Megatron under its code name but it's sold by third parties.

Right after I posted this I went to the Megatron listing and found that the Flip-Change Bumblebee and Wheeljack are up for pre-order but under their code names. Prime was available too but only by third-party sellers.

I hate code names, I hate having to look for them, and I hate ordering figures piecemeal because figures might sell out and not be restocked.

2 months late but for those still interested, the Earthspark line has finally arrived to US stores. The deluxes, one steps and warriors have all been found in a Target in New Jersey. Below are reviews for most of the figures to give you an idea of the figures if they interest you.

If you have found them, share your sightings with our community in the sightings section and on our boards in your region related thread.

This sighting was originally posted by AutbotJazz1 here.

william-james88 wrote:2 months late

Was there a release date previously announced that they missed?

RotorstormNZ wrote:

william-james88 wrote:2 months late

Was there a release date previously announced that they missed?

The toyline should have been out when the show debuted and for the holiday season.

I ended up canceling Twitch because the delivery date changed to "We don't know when the figure will ship" the same as the flip changers that Amazon has in stock. I got Warrior Prime instead.

"Finally"

I really thought this line would end up heavily delayed like Animated and Prime.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I really thought this line would end up heavily delayed like Animated and Prime.

The toys were in the hands of the retailers for months now so it was a matter of time. Either this or we see it all at a liquidator, which is what is happening in the UK.

Glad they are finally showing up, hopefully BBTS finally gets the deluxes.

I do think, after skimming Chuck's review, that I need Elita. I love her design so much, girl-boss for the win!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Glad they are finally showing up, hopefully BBTS finally gets the deluxes.

I do think, after skimming Chuck's review, that I need Elita. I love her design so much, girl-boss for the win!

Her lack of basic articulation is real rough though. That warrior Optimus excels in that department by comparison.