New Galleries: Takara Transformers Legends LG-03 Tankor, LG-04 Roadbuster and LG-05 Whirl

Tankor's legs are backwards in the gallery (his knees bend backwards).

There we go, this finally lets me do a good comparison of which Whirl suits IDW best.
... I mean, yeah, okay; neither of them look quite like MTMTE's beautiful abomination of hell, but I'll take what I can get. And Takara's lighter blue seems to match MTMTE Whirl more.




Plus I am a SUCKER for that cockpit. God it's beautiful.

william-james88 wrote:Its really interesting how Takara went all toy accurate on their release of Whirl as opposed to Hasbro. Which is a shame of course because Whirl was known by most as being just a toy.

Hasbro probably thought that what they did was toy-accurate enough, while also integrating some Classics-style updated elements into the design (with the head and digitigrade legs specifically inspired by his MTMTE design) as they are wont to do. Takara being Takara probably saw what Hasbro had done and went "We can make it even MORE accurate!" and thus gave us their version.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Its really interesting how Takara went all toy accurate on their release of Whirl as opposed to Hasbro. Which is a shame of course because Whirl was known by most as being just a toy.

Hasbro probably thought that what they did was toy-accurate enough, while also integrating some Classics-style updated elements into the design (with the head and digitigrade legs specifically inspired by his MTMTE design) as they are wont to do. Takara being Takara probably saw what Hasbro had done and went "We can make it even MORE accurate!" and thus gave us their version.

What is toy accurate about Hasbro's colours?

That they are light blue, yellow, black, silver, red (eye), and whatever color the canopy is. As I said, they probably felt their deco was "close enough" since they aren't as obsessed/picky about getting the exact matching color shades as the G1 toy.

But looking at the Hasbro figure it's still blatantly obvious what they were basing their figure's deco on, right down to their giving the Generations figure silver thighs where the original toy had metal thighs. Now that's a detail that Hasbro didn't need to mimic and which Takara would typically be chided over for being "too slavish" if Hasbro hadn't already done it first.

My LG-EX Waspinator is on the way to join my swarm finally. Don't need the other two, but I MUST HAVE ALL THE WASPINATORS.

Of these 3 Beast Wars molds, I think the LG-EX versions of Rhinox and Waspinator are superior to the previous Generations offerings from Takara Tomy and Hasbro. However, with Rattrap, I feel that the original Hasbro version more-or-less has the head correctly colored to the cartoon. However, I like how the oddly colored Takara Tomy versions has the full head painted at least, instead of half painted. Odd that they didn't do the same thing with Waspinator for some reason. The green looks better to me on the Hasbro Generations version, but I like the overall package (specifically the black markings on the head's antennae).

primalxconvoy wrote:There is little or no difference between the standard Takara Tomy and these versions. That's why they are still going cheap no matter where I look in Japan (by "cheap", I mean "as expensive as the standard versions").

Nothing to see here. Move along.

There is one huge differece: no metallic coating on the exclusive versions. That alone makes them far superior to the Japanese retail figures.

Emerje

primalxconvoy wrote:Considering the animation models had metallic parts then I am glad that I didn't bother with the "exclusive" versions, as they seem LESS than the normal TT versions.

Cheers for the heads up.

Sure, if it was just the "metal" parts, but do people really want a metallic rhino over a normal looking one? That alone makes both the Hasbro and EX versions superior.




Emerje

LG-EX seems a clear winner on both Rhinox and Waspinator, but Hasbro's Rattrap blows both of Takara's counterparts out of the water.

Emerje wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:For the beast mode, that is a fair ifference. I would say that the regular TT version loks superior to the Hasblow version (but then again, this is standard as Hasblow is usually below Takara's efforts). However, looking at the CG model, perhaps the metallic sheen is warranted?

Nothing about the CG model hide looks metallic or even super shiny to me.

The Hasbro version isn't inferior, it's based more on the original toy with cartoon elements.




Choosing a different source reference doesn't make something worse.

Emerje

I have to disagree. Although G1 can get a pass for not being authentic to the cartoons, I have no empathy for the original Beast wars toys, as it was the SHOW thta was the "real" look, rather than the toys )toy-only molds nonwithstanding). Thus, for me, the Hasblow versions are neithr show, nor toy accurate and thus worthless. they would do, at a pinch, if I had no other choice, but luckily for me, the regular TT versions are so much better.

The exclusive versions are not a significant step up in show accuracy for me, and the price and hassle of paying to see the original cast at an Aeon Mall to get them didn't endear them to me (and I am guessing, most collectors in japan), either.

Thus, the original TT versions are the best, IMO.