New Stock Images of Transformers Earthrise Doubledealer

I'm pleased at him being closer to Voyager height, frankly. Also not surprised, considering how much mass is required by the missile, some of his bulk, and the bird bits.

Really tho, Voyager height is about the size he should be next to his peers.

That DoubleDealer bird mode - be the worst bird mode, what I ever seen....

No powermaster?

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Back to Earthrise. If you want to discuss comic art styles, please do so in the comics forum.

Do you guys favor ER over Siege at all, or do you look at them the same way? I'm asking because the more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward ER, for the simple fact that they're giving us figures which already have representation in media, mainly the G1 cartoon. Siege figures are really good too, and I got most of the line, but honestly, besides Omega, Magnus and Shockwave, none of the figures appealed to me especially, because their appearances are different. I didn't realize this until recently, because I kept looking my Siege collection, and I felt something was off. Now I know. They're still great figures and I'm glad I got them, but I'm looking forward to ER much more.

Honestly? I see the trilogy as a single unit broken up for marketing purposes, and the G1 cartoon is a heavy influence on all parts. Every non-Micromaster SIEGE figure other than Cog, Brunt, Impactor, Skytread, Lionizer, Spinister, Galaxy Upgrade Optimus, and Barricade, is based on the G1 cartoon. That's why the Seekers have faux-parts F-15 ducts and cockpits despite turning into pyramid-like alien jets (which, I might add, originate from the G1 cartoon). That's why Soundwave still has tape player details and can be fanmoded into a roughly G1 transformation even w/o add-on panels. That's why Megatron has Walther P38 hammer halves on his shoulders. That's why Astrotrain's engine mode looks like a JNR D51 and his shuttle mode looks like a NASA shuttle. That's why to varying degrees (Voyager) Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Ironhide, Prowl, Mirage, and most blatantly Sideswipe turn into suspiciously Earthlike vehicles (the others can pass as Cybertronian, especially Optimus, but Sideswipe is blatantly an Earth car wearing "I'm totes an alien car UwU" stickers). Springer and Skyfire are how they looked in the cartoon (including Springer having a more distinct car mode thanks to the fenders moving past the hood), and Impactor matches the comics fairly well.

I look at the SIEGE versions of Optimus and the Seekers as WFC's equivalent of the Cybertron Mode figures from Animated - although the effect is lesser because of WFC duplicating the cartoon's "Alien altmode, Earth robot mode" thing.

With the exception of Megatron (for various reasons) and Arcee (Idiotic attempt to downscale the MP, instead of going with the proven techniques of the T30 toy), I'm largely looking forward to what Earthrise is adding: Optimus' Earth mode (complete with trailer, the Main 3 Seekers' Earth modes and the Coneheads, Scorponok, Grapple and Inferno, Astrotrain in a box stores will stock, Hoist and Trailbreaker, Cliffjumper (Quite distinct from Bumblebee, too), Snapdragon, Scorponok, Fast-Track, Sunstreaker, and so on... Quite a lot to enjoy, frankly.

Astrotrain doesn't look like a NASA shuttle. Not even close. But I guess it was the shuttle mode that suffered the most, when trying to cram 3 modes into such a small figure. Obviously the main objective was to get the robot mode right. Hasbro probably figured that by throwing in the unnecessary tender, they could smooth over the faults of the alt modes. And I guess in some cases it worked.

Also I disagree on Ironhide and Ratchet being anywhere near G1-accurate in either mode. That's why I said they're not represented accurately in previous media. The others, sure. Then I add the Datsun brothers and roughly half the figures from Siege are figures without previous screen-accurate representation.

... and herein lies the problem Hasbro and Takara Tomy face with pleasing fans.

Deadput wrote:It is how it is though, don't like the direction a figure took? Well just gotta wait for the next time.

Hence my post regarding the possible differences in style between Siege and Earthrise.

And I didn't say I had a problem with some of the Siege figures not being accurate. I just pointed out that they weren't.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Deadput wrote:It is how it is though, don't like the direction a figure took? Well just gotta wait for the next time.

Hence my post regarding the possible differences in style between Siege and Earthrise.

And I didn't say I had a problem with some of the Siege figures not being accurate. I just pointed out that they weren't.

And I was pointing out that you were dead wrong about that re: their robot modes.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:My main issue with a lot of the Earthrise figures is that they're sporting Earth Modes when they haven't even arrived yet. Which I think is robbing a lot of us from more cybertronian modes to mesh with the Siege figures.

The rest of us don't think like that because originally they arrived and got their Earth Modes in 1984. For some of us, that was years before we even started collecting or in fact were born. Also, since even SIEGE was going off the cartoon robot modes... doing Wheeljack and Bumblebee would have been a biiiit of a poser because those two cheat as badly as AoE Galvatron. Wheeljack goes from a tall, boxy car (possibly a hovercraft judging by the skirt) to a Lancia Stratos-based robot mode and Bumblebee goes from a stingray-esque groundcar to a VW Beetle-based robot mode.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:I think it's personally way to soon to crank out Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker again...

Animated did Earth and Cybertron Mode figures of Optimus in the same year, and it was fine. Much like in that case, there's a very appreciable difference between them, at least in vehicle mode. I think they should have gone with Skywarp first rather than Starscream. Skywarp's SIEGE version wasn't still warming shelves, getting him first would ease the pain of missing the SIEGE version a bit, and it would have been fitting considering the cartoon. Redwing and the Rainmakers, I don't think we'll see re-dos of. Especially after the Rainmakers lingered long enough for a $30 markdown.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:I'm on the fence with figures like Grapple at the moment. While he's a great figure (and with a bit of patience and a little tender loving- I don't see what issues people are having with the pegs behind the crane arm) I feel if he's supposed to be helping "build bases" and "fortifications" with the modulators (?) why he's got his earth mode already.

Because the toy bio fiction is off in its own world, as usual, and most of us don't give a crap. Except, perhaps, where I'd like to duct-tape whoever wrote Selects Hot Shot's bio to a chair and force them to watch "Revelation" and "Critical", and then rewrite the bio to not fail.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:I'm also really conflicted with the new Smokescreen. I've always been a sucker for his earth-mode... but again... many of us just got his cybertronian mode along with the other "brothers".

But on the other hand, a lot of us didn't get Smokes and he's now hard to get. Also, Smokescreen remains the only confirmed re-do of the Datsuns. For all we know, it'll stay that way and the reuses of the mold will be different. Someone suggested they might use the mold for Jazz instead; it would need differently-transforming lower legs, but I can see it.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:I'm worried that all this quick turn-around while appeasing adult fans... may burn parents out.

But there's a lot of new (to the trilogy) faces in with the re-dos. And of the re-dos, the Seekers are markedly different even to parent eyes (pyramid vs. decidedly more flat Earth jet), Optimus Prime has a freaking trailer base, Smokescreen is decidedly more accessible and on the radar... Megatron, on the other hand... Yeah parents aren't gonna be as impressed.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:I'm also curious if we'll be getting the micro master vehicle platforms like the tanker truck that splits open, or the missle carrier... maybe voyager modulators?

The Micromaster vehicles probably depend on how well the Micromasters themselves sell.

Here's an idea I meant to post about earlier but got distracted by other veins of discussion:

A G2 redeco of Starscream, sold as a set with a redeco of Bombshock to homage the tank soundbox that the original G2 Starscream came with. Maybe it could even be a bigger set, with G2 Ramjet and a different redeco of Bombshock to resemble his tank soundbox also included.

Rodimus Prime wrote:No, I'm not 'dead wrong' about Ratchet and Ironhide. In their case, the sum of the parts doesn't equal the whole.

From what I can tell, the whole doesn't equal the whole for you either here.

Rodimus Prime wrote:As far as I'm concerned, they're off the mark.

Fine. But what throws them off it for you, I have no idea. Frankly, if you find their robot modes off the mark of being G1-accurate even with as close as they are (and especially if you call them "not remotely accurate"), then I don't think any non-MP toy of Ratchet and Ironhide would satisfy you.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:My main issue with a lot of the Earthrise figures is that they're sporting Earth Modes when they haven't even arrived yet. Which I think is robbing a lot of us from more cybertronian modes to mesh with the Siege figures.

This. Right. Here.

I would've loved to keep up the Siege styled alts, especially seeing Cliffjumpers alt mode in Galaxies, I would have far preferred that alt mode to this one no matter how good the toy is (I'll find out soon).

I wish we could have kept going in that direction, it was a nice unity of futuristic "alien-esque" alt modes