Size comparisons of SDCC 2013 Metroplex mini-figures to G1 Decoys

Trikeboy wrote:Hey, Seibertron, if you can only get one version of this toy, which would you recommend?

I have to go with the retail version of these two. The chrome is nice, and I'm very happy to have it in my collection, but for a regular budget-minded collector I don't think it's worth at least an extra 50 bucks for chromed upper legs and a face and an extra big red gun with a missile, that I feel were really tacked on (I can't figure out where the extra weapon is supposed to attach in vehicle and city modes).

I also had a lot of problems with the stickers on the SDCC version, which kind of soured my experience with him a little bit. The stickers would "cling" to the toy as soon as you get them close, I'm assuming because of their chrome foil nature. I don't recall having that much difficulty with the retail version's regular stickers. Because the stickers kept clinging, I feel like I had a much more difficult time to apply the stickers. It took me about 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours to put all of the stickers on. I don't recall it taking that long on the regular retail version. That one might have taken me an hour or so, but the SDCC version definitely took longer because of all the problems I kept having with the stickers not lining up properly. I even managed to damage two of the stickers.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:He already knows, Sabrblade.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Check out the following pictures of Megatron, Starscream, Orion Pax, Bumblebee, Hoist, and Trailcutter alongside their G1 Decoy counterparts.

I think that's supposed to be Thundercracker instead of Starscream since the rest of the mini-figures are all based on the Thrilling 30 Wave 1 and 2 Deluxes, which Thundercracker (but not Starscream) was a part of.

He already knows, Sabrblade. But how would you be able to tell single-colored Seekers apart aside from looking at their number (Starcream is #35, Thundercracker is #34 and Skywarp is #33)? Besides, the design is the same so any Seeker would do for comparisons.

Thanks for catching that. I had said yesterday that the mini-figure was supposed to theoretically represent Thundercracker, since the other 5 are part of the IDW Generations comic-packed wave. Slipped my mind today while I was pulling out these decoys. I updated the pics to show the "Thundercracker" decoy instead. Just force a refresh and you'll see the new pictures.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to get the gun to attach like it does in those pictures. I'm not having any luck yet.

Seibertron wrote:In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to get the gun to attach like it does in those pictures. I'm not having any luck yet.

A thought just occurred to me. What if Takara's remolded new ports for the guns to attach to? I'd hope not.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to get the gun to attach like it does in those pictures. I'm not having any luck yet.

A thought just occurred to me. What if Takara's remolded new ports for the guns to attach to? I'd hope not.

Alright, I figured out where the red gun attaches in city mode. One of the gray guns attaches to the red gun. How it attaches is really weak. If you bump into it, it falls off. Works for pics though!

On to battle station vehicle mode ...

Seibertron wrote:I now have a small paint chip on Metroplex thanks to connecting one of the guns in battle station mode.

And a stress marks on the base of the same pegs from where the gray handle of the black gun "attaches", which are the same pegs that attach to the upper leg in battle station mode. Not sure which spot caused the stress marks.

Seibertron wrote:

Seibertron wrote:I now have a small paint chip on Metroplex thanks to connecting one of the guns in battle station mode.

And a stress marks on the base of the same pegs from where the gray handle of the black gun "attaches", which are the same pegs that attach to the upper leg in battle station mode. Not sure which spot caused the stress marks.

Hm ... I was about to say the battle station mode because the other red gun has small stress marks as well but never used those pegs in city mode. I double checked my retail version and it has a small stress mark at the base of one of those pegs as well but those pegs had never been used at all on retail Metroplex. Could have been there before and I just didn't notice.

Seibertron wrote:There are no remoldings. Takara won't have remoldings either. Not this early in the game. The second gun and how those guns attach are just poorly added on. It's a sales gimmick to get people to buy into getting the version that has 2 guns instead of 1. I'm assuming most of you will have Metroplex in robot mode, which is probably what Hasbro and Takara Tomy are assuming as well, so in that case both guns can be used and used properly and will kick ass.

I wonder where the idea of having two guns actually came from. Are people that obsessed with symmetry?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I wonder where the idea of having two guns actually came from. Are people that obsessed with symmetry?

It probably has more to do with the G1 toy having had two guns. With this toy being pretty much a straight up modern day update of that toy, it having two guns like its G1 counterpart was just a logical assumption.

Over 40 new images have been added to the SDCC 2013 Metroplex gallery. This time around, the new photos demonstrate how the 2nd red gun attaches to Metroplex in battle station vehicle mode and city mode. To be blunt, this really seems like an after thought. The second gun does end up with a port to attach the red gun in city mode, but how the black gun attaches to the red gun in city mode is pretty weak. The same goes with how the red guns attach to the upper legs in battle station mode. It's not a firm connection like it is behind the shoulder, and the guns will easily detach if you bump into them, as will the black gun attached the red gun in city mode. Check out the pictures below for further details.

Thanks to Sabrblade for showing some pictures of the Takara Tomy version which show where to attach the guns.