Twincast / Podcast Episode #124: "Dogfight"

megatronus wrote:I've been working myself up to buy BC Optimus all day...

Counterpunch wrote:

megatronus wrote:I've been working myself up to buy BC Optimus all day...

And...?

btw, thanks for finding me an Override.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:So I'm not done listening, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in on CW Wave 4. Prowl looks awesome. As for the talk of him being better than Universe Prowl, I don't know. Universe Prowl is definitely the updated G1 version. However, I've never been super happy with that mold. It's always been a bit fiddly for me. In terms of displaying him on a shelf, he looks great. I think CW Prowl might be more fun to mess with. Please know that I LOVE Classics/Universe, etc. I'm not saying that they are bad figures at all(Except for Tankor/Octane. You suck, dude.). As for the rest of wave 4. Sunstreaker is in that terrible yellow that just doesn't look good. It's sorta translucent and just looks cruddy. Also, I really don't like that mold all that much and I wouldn't have bought Breakdown if I'd known the legs were that crappy. Mirage just doesn't compare to Classics Mirage. That is still, hands down, one of the best Classics figures. The CW alt mode looks great, but the robot mode, no matter what you do to it, just can't compare. I really don't like Ironhide's head sculpt at all. Just doesn't look like him.

All that being said, if I can find a Prowl, I'm going to pick him up. The CW figures are a lot of fun to play with. And that mold they used for him is great.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:And since Bulkhead has been in the comics as well as the Vehicons, they're G1 baby! So totally ok with my classics collection.

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:I bet it was Alpha Bravo who set that all up. He's always saving G1, you know.

kurthy wrote:I don't know who it was on the podcast that recently got Hot Spot, but the robot mode legs work great if you transform them correctly.
"You have HotSpot's knees wrong. Bend them at a 90 degree angle then snap them into the top of the "shin". Secures the legs. Makes him awesome-er." On shortpacked.

kurthy wrote:I don't know who it was on the podcast that recently got Hot Spot, but the robot mode legs work great if you transform them correctly.
"You have HotSpot's knees wrong. Bend them at a 90 degree angle then snap them into the top of the "shin". Secures the legs. Makes him awesome-er." On shortpacked.

BWTF wrote:Blackjack's sculpt has three of the hallmark design elements of those G1 characters including car windows as part of his torso and a section of the car that is swung behind the head, almost like a hood that has been pushed back. However, the biggest give away is his head sculpt which features visor eyes and a mouthplate with a distinct notch that sticks out in the middle.

youtube wrote:there is a way to lock the knees so they are tighter, he's mis-transformed out of the box, each knee is on a triple hinge and to lock it just press in on the lower hinges to get a step pattern and they click into place

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:So I'm not done listening, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in on CW Wave 4. Prowl looks awesome. As for the talk of him being better than Universe Prowl, I don't know. Universe Prowl is definitely the updated G1 version. However, I've never been super happy with that mold. It's always been a bit fiddly for me. In terms of displaying him on a shelf, he looks great. I think CW Prowl might be more fun to mess with. Please know that I LOVE Classics/Universe, etc. I'm not saying that they are bad figures at all(Except for Tankor/Octane. You suck, dude.). As for the rest of wave 4. Sunstreaker is in that terrible yellow that just doesn't look good. It's sorta translucent and just looks cruddy. Also, I really don't like that mold all that much and I wouldn't have bought Breakdown if I'd known the legs were that crappy. Mirage just doesn't compare to Classics Mirage. That is still, hands down, one of the best Classics figures. The CW alt mode looks great, but the robot mode, no matter what you do to it, just can't compare. I really don't like Ironhide's head sculpt at all. Just doesn't look like him.

All that being said, if I can find a Prowl, I'm going to pick him up. The CW figures are a lot of fun to play with. And that mold they used for him is great.

Kibble wrote:I haven't listened yet, but none of these molds are better than the previous versions, save maybe Ironhide which is a junk mold...but this version doesn't really say Ironhide either.

Kibble wrote:CW has a lot of weak molds, as is the case with just about ever figure since FOC Generations figures.

Kibble wrote:I haven't listened yet, but none of these molds are better than the previous versions, save maybe Ironhide which is a junk mold...but this version doesn't really say Ironhide either. CW has a lot of weak molds, as is the case with just about ever figure since FOC Generations figures.

megatronus wrote:

Kibble wrote:I haven't listened yet, but none of these molds are better than the previous versions, save maybe Ironhide which is a junk mold...but this version doesn't really say Ironhide either.

Ironhide isn't a junk mold, it's just a mold that doesn't fit Ironhide. Offroad and First Aid are great, and I fully expect Ruckus to be great, too.

william-james88 wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Kibble wrote:I haven't listened yet, but none of these molds are better than the previous versions, save maybe Ironhide which is a junk mold...but this version doesn't really say Ironhide either.

Ironhide isn't a junk mold, it's just a mold that doesn't fit Ironhide. Offroad and First Aid are great, and I fully expect Ruckus to be great, too.

I think he meant the universe ironhide/ratchet mold was junk and that of the 4 cw autobot limbs of wave 4, the ironhide was the only one that he found beat the original.

megatronus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Kibble wrote:I haven't listened yet, but none of these molds are better than the previous versions, save maybe Ironhide which is a junk mold...but this version doesn't really say Ironhide either.

Ironhide isn't a junk mold, it's just a mold that doesn't fit Ironhide. Offroad and First Aid are great, and I fully expect Ruckus to be great, too.

I think he meant the universe ironhide/ratchet mold was junk and that of the 4 cw autobot limbs of wave 4, the ironhide was the only one that he found beat the original.

Re-reading it, that makes sense.

Sorry, Kibble!

william-james88 wrote:You gotta get yourself:

Generations Cosmos
Generations Arcee
Generations Spriger
AOE Evasio Mode Optimus Prime
AOE Hound
RID Drift
Generations Brainstorm
CW Blades
CW Blackjack

Those are all amazing molds.

megatronus wrote:Eh. I think we just have a rosy view of that time. There were plenty of stinkers then, too.

william-james88 wrote:Well of course because in that time period you get Animated, First Edition Prime, HFTD, RTS and the best movie leaders. Plus you get Onslaught and Warpath. Yeah, thats a beautiful era.

megatronus wrote:Eh. I think we just have a rosy view of that time. There were plenty of stinkers then, too.

• Massive frustration over Animated's release schedule being entirely screwy, with the toys coming extremely late after the show premiere due to the first movie line then being canceled after less than a year due to plans for the RotF line. The internet complained about not only the general designs of the characters in some circles, but also about dodgy paint apps and sometimes poor distribution.
• Prime First Edition toys being not only extremely hard to find for a long time (outside of Bumblebee, Arcee, and Starscream) after no retailer picked up most of it, but also complaining because once again, the toys came way later than the show's premiere.
• HftD was panned as just a continuation of the RotF line and clogged shelves (in places where RotF was not still clogging shelves itself). Leader Starscream, albeit being awesome, also clogged shelves because this was coming out during the dregs of the recession and $45 toys didn't sell.
• RtS was a weird hybrid line that started as basically HftD 2.0/RotF 3.0 but was Classics-styled by the end, except that the end had extremely poor distribution/canceled releases and many folks paid $50+ for Windchargers for a time. Market Six and the Club eventually remedied this, but it took a long time and lots of frustrating trips to the store.
• Generations' first run was well distributed, good quality, and only had minimal complaints, so you can have Warpath's memory un-touched

megatronus wrote:Eh. I think we just have a rosy view of that time. There were plenty of stinkers then, too.

Kibble wrote:

megatronus wrote:Eh. I think we just have a rosy view of that time. There were plenty of stinkers then, too.

I don't think so. Yes, there were some not so great figures, sure, but a lot of the so called bad figures from then would be some of the better figures if they were released now. Like Universe Galvatron that's supposedly the worst thing ever...I think that's better than most the molds that have come since FOC. The engineering was vastly superior then, transformations more creative and solid, they actually had proper articulation most of the time, and the figures weren't hollow and a size class smaller.

Kibble wrote:

megatronus wrote:Eh. I think we just have a rosy view of that time. There were plenty of stinkers then, too.

I don't think so. Yes, there were some not so great figures, sure, but a lot of the so called bad figures from then would be some of the better figures if they were released now. Like Universe Galvatron that's supposedly the worst thing ever...I think that's better than most the molds that have come since FOC. The engineering was vastly superior then, transformations more creative and solid, they actually had proper articulation most of the time, and the figures weren't hollow and a size class smaller.

Kibble wrote:I do like leader Magnus. I also like Metroplex a lot...and while quite flawed, I like leader Jetfire as well...probably because Classics Jetfire was equally flawed and the leader one looks the part better. Outside of those, I haven't been particularly impressed with Generations since 'the glory days'. Springer and Sandstorm are solid, but not OMG!!!! I probably like Blitzwing better and he's seriously flawed. I dunno, maybe MP ruined me or maybe I'm just losing interest in TFs in general again. I still think the figures just aren't as impressive as they were, though.

Kibble wrote:I do like leader Magnus. I also like Metroplex a lot...and while quite flawed, I like leader Jetfire as well...probably because Classics Jetfire was equally flawed and the leader one looks the part better. Outside of those, I haven't been particularly impressed with Generations since 'the glory days'. Springer and Sandstorm are solid, but not OMG!!!! I probably like Blitzwing better and he's seriously flawed. I dunno, maybe MP ruined me or maybe I'm just losing interest in TFs in general again. I still think the figures just aren't as impressive as they were, though.

ScottyP wrote:Galvatron isn't very fun, but he's by no means a bell-weather for the entire time period. New "Classics" styled figures molds, at that time, weren't getting anything but deluxe scale. What they pulled off in most cases is superior, engineering and quality wise, to what we have today by most objective measure.

ScottyP wrote:This also doesn't mean that we don't have comparably good stuff today, as Will pointed out with stuff like Cosmos. I don't think they're so much like Energon/Cybertron Scout class as they are bigger, slightly nicer Cyberverse Commanders. Later generation scouts in movie lines were much more the idealized goal of that now defunct size class than today's Legends. And they are not the same size class. If you really think so, you haven't held one of each of them near each other lately.

ScottyP wrote:I have more to say on this but the words aren't flowing. In short, no one here is wrong at all, but most of you are going to extremes with your points.

megatronus wrote:I'm glad to see United Rumble/Frenzy reissued in the TAV line. What a wacky assortment that line is shaping up to be.

megatronus wrote:I disagree, and counter that you're conflating complex with 'better', at least in the engineering department.

Kibble wrote:Me again...I figured I'd post because I just pulled out leader Magnus again tonight...and while I still like the figure quite a bit, I realize it's kinda based on a curve compared to the junk they've been putting out. Had this come out toward the end of 'the glory years' it would be ripped to high hell. Hollow, tabberiffic transformation, no wrist articulation or ankle tilt, wonky arm articulation, no waist swivel, no rim paint on the wheels...and all this at the leader size class that's been shrunk down to ultra class and raised to a supreme class price point. SMH...

william-james88 wrote:Just making sure, are the golden years 2006-2012?

Kibble wrote:
The glory years? I'd say it was pretty much the Generations line after the movie was released, up until the FOC figs...when the engineering was at its peek. The actual Classics line, pre-movie, are cool enough figures, but they don't have the same level of engineering and cleverness the Generations line had. The Classics transformations did at least solidly lock into place, though, instead of the loose friction pegs everything uses now. That tends to annoy me.

Kibble wrote:I have MP Magnus, and am mostly a fan. I do wish it was properly scaled in bot mode like all the other figures post MP-10, but what can you do? Most prefer the alt mode scale for this particular exception for some strange reason...I dunno, my figs spend 99% of their time in bot mode so that's the mode that takes scale priority for me.