New Galleries: AM-22 Dreadwing with Jigu and AM-28 Leo Prime with L.P.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:

MetroSUplex wrote:
As much as I like seeing it used for Magnus like this, would it be too much to ask for a trailer??? Optimus seems half-finished without his trailer...

1) Optimus has only used a trailer once, in MECH's debut episode.

2) Ultra Magnus will probably go the same route and pull a very Ultra Magnus-y trailer only once in the series.

Why make a trailer when it doesn't even appear in fiction more than once, compared to the daily happenings with Generation One Optimus Prime?

Optimus also had a trailer in episode 20.

As for making toys of one-time things, Takara's TF: Prime toyline had toys for Cylas and Nemesis Prime, both one-episode guys. And both Hasbro and Takara made a Terrorcon Cliffjumper toy, as well as toys for pre-zombie Skyquake, who both also only appeared once. And Hasbro's Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line had parts for a Transmutate figure. And the Animated toyline had toys for one-timers Waspinator, Blackout, Electrostatic Soundwave, Laserbeak, Ratbat, Wingblade Optimus Prime, etc. And all Movie toylines have toys for characters who only lasted for just one of the three films. And then there's G1 Skids who was only in two episodes of the cartoon. And G1 Runabout, who also only appeared once in the show. And so on and so forth.

Thank you, Sabrblade! I'd also like to add that kids like trucks. And trucks have trailers. How exciting is it to see a trailer-less truck on the road? Not very. A truck without a trailer is a loss - these guys get paid to haul, so I imagine they don't to a whole lot of trailer-less runs. Plus, look at MP Optimus: he can fit autobots in his trailer!!! THAT. IS. BADASS. (But I suppose if he only did that ONCE in the cartoon, Hasbro/Takara has no business in introducing that feature).

Seibertron wrote:

MetroSUplex wrote:Ironically, I AM ordering more online because of what I mentioned: store inventory is unpredictable and I'm learning that entire waves (the end ones) usually don't make it to stores at all.

Really, it's a bit of a revelation to learn so many of you guys buy online. So I might pose the same question to you: Why do you buy online and not local?

Gas being around $4 a gallon makes hunting for hours on end an expensive venture, not to mention that my time is money as well and now that am married, have a 4 year old daughter, and own a business, my time is very limited. You might save a few bucks buying in store, but after sales tax, your time hunting, and gas are you really saving anything?

The nice thing about ordering at BigBadToyStore.com is if you find the newest figures at your local store when you're out and about (or really want a figure like I did when Springer and Blitzwing came out a few weeks ago and I spent 4 to 6 hours hunting for them), you can just go cancel your preorder at BBTS. You can't beat it! They don't ask any questions and don't give you a hard time at all. In fact, the process is all done through your order history ... you don't have to contact them at all.

Great points, and I must admit I was pretty moved by your query. I'm more and more in line with your thinking, as I've got a 2 yr old myself. $4 gas is the real killer. Plus how IL has one of the highest sales tax in the country (higher than NY and CA!). But tax-free online shopping is an endangered species - Senator Durbin (IL) is behind a bill to bring taxes to the internets! And good ole Amazon is with him 100%!

So in the end, you're really saving time and gas, and will likely pay more than local (as BBTS and TFSource both charge a little higher). Money is tight these days, so these things factor. But you're right: online is easier and a safer bet. My wife said that when I find just one figure at the store, I don't really get to choose the better paint job anyway... so my point about picking the best figure is becoming more and more moot as the distribution gets worse and worse...

Nemesis Destron wrote:Does anyone know or possibly heard if we can expect a Beast Hunters UM from Takara?

Besides the platinum version?

Sabrblade wrote:

Nemesis Destron wrote:Does anyone know or possibly heard if we can expect a Beast Hunters UM from Takara?

No word yet on any "Hunter Ultra Magnus".

Nemesis Destron wrote:Besides the platinum version?

That's Hasbro Asia, not Takara.

Oops...thanks for the reminder Sabrblade!

Sabrblade wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:

RAcast wrote:Don't feel too bad about it, Baltmatrix missed it too; I'm guessing it's not in the instructions.

Again, it's step 12 in the beast to robot conversion on the instructions. I made that perfectly clear.

Yes, regarding Lazerback. The part you quoted was directly referring to Shockwave's wheels.

I'm working on the gallery for Vertebreak right now. The instructions show to leave the feathers in the up position. The instructions never show to move the feathers down. The instructions show to move the back that the feathers attach to in an upward position in step 12, but it never actually moves the feathers down, which are in the up position throughout the rest of the instructions including the final picture.

Just to do something different, I'm going to put them in the down position in Vertebreak's upcoming gallery.

Awesome!!! I look forward to seeing these in the show...oh wait...

Just picked up Prowl the other day. I'd prefer him with a white helmet, but not a bad figure, nonetheless.

Paint Arcee the same pale blue/silver all over, change the color of the head crest, and you'd have a decent Prime Chromia. If she can't be blue, at least she can be silver/chrome colored.

Also paint Night Shadow Bumblebee's yellow parts teal or blue and you'd have a decent stand in for a Prime-style Nightracer, since it's a totally different head.

Basically, I want more fembots.

Seibertron.com is pleased to present a trio of Smokescreen galleries from Takara Tomy! Below you will find our new galleries for:

Transformers Go! Hunter Smokescreen
-A more screen accurate version the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Deluxe Smokescreen minus the Beast Hunters armor and weapons

EZ Collection Smokescreen
-A redeco of the Cyberverse Legion Class Smokescreen

Arms Micron Smokescreen with S.2
-A reuse of the Deluxe Knock Out mold with new head mold

Transformers Go! Hunter Smokescreen








EZ Collection Smokescreen






Arms Micron Smokescreen




Arms Micron S.2

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Mandatory warning, that nobody seems to know about, despite several reports:

S.2's assembly instructions contain a nasty error!

The error's in the rods connecting the backpack to the main body. Put short, according to the instructions, the order is:

1. backpack - 2. middle of rod (stopper) - 3. wings - 4. main body

That is incorrect, the actual order is:

1. backpack - 2. wings - 3. middle of rod (stopper) - 4. main body

The wings actually cover up the stoppers, plus with the wings moving back one position everything locks properly in place (rods going all the way into the main body being the main giveaway).

In case you're wondering his GO! repaint Jin's instructions contain the same error.

I figured this out with Jin, but thought that I had just misread the instructions with my inability to read Japanese and all.

I got lucky and had no problems disassembling Jin (surprisingly since he's made of the supposedly more fragile translucent plastic), but didn't have the same luck with S.2 who endured some extreme stress marks to the point of the clips almost breaking. I boiled the stressed parts in water and ran them under cool water after I was satisfied that everything was back to how it should be. I reassembled S.2 after this and had no problems whatsoever. Word to the wise ... just be EXTREMELY careful with taking these guys apart if you attempt to reassemble them.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I guess I got lucky. I read on a Japanese toy blog that described the issue, after I had assembled S.2. Stupid me... I carefully widened the clip using the width of a scissor, in order to extract the rod from the backpack, slid off the wings and reassembled him. Without ill effect.

Does the warm water trick work with clear plastics as well? If so, I wish I had known about that sooner. I actually broke my Shadow C.L. and Shadow Balo, the plastic is really brittle around the clips it seems

Balo is the one that comes with Skywarp, right? He was the first one I had break when I was doing the galleries last year for the first wave or so. That really turned me off to the whole "build a Micron" bit (and seeing the damaged stickers on many of them simply from transforming them has really turned me off of the whole Arms Micron line). I'm not a fan of spending $30 to $60 on a toy to only have it break the first time I put a clip together or try to disassemble one for the first time.

Boiling water gets rid of most stress marks. It is my preferred way of fixing Transformers and straightening out soft rubber parts like swords, antennas, smoke stacks, cannons, etc. Boiling water won't melt plastic (though it did melt the paint on a vintage MOTU Mer-Man head that I had boiled too long) whereas using a lighter or heat gun can melt the plastic. The only draw back that I've experienced with boiling water is that it has discolored some plastic which is frustrating to deal with, whereas a lighter or heat gun won't discolor it. It's all kind of a gamble and just takes a lot of practice, patience and the willingness to replace a figure if you damage it.

Either way, watching stress marks disappear and feeling the plastic clips on Microns restrengthen after doing this makes it all worthwhile and extremely satisfying.

welcometothedarksyde wrote:Does anyone else see the resemblance between Smokesecreen's Micron and Devcon?

Yep. The same guy who guest starred in G1 Smokescreen's G1 cartoon spotlight episode "The Gambler".