Review for Transformers Earthspark One Step Flip Changer Optimus Prime Shows New Gimmick

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.

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.

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

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.

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:

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?

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

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!

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?

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.