OFFICIAL TRANSFORMERS TOYS NEWS

Tantrum · Post by **Tantrum** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:47 am

I'm looking forward to Beachcomber, since you'll actually be able to see the Titan Master riding him. Brawn and Roadburn are great, but you can't see their drivers.

Jazz's vehicle mode looks like TR HotRod with the small cockpit. The headsculpt is iffy, and I don't like the gap in the chest. But, I am short 1 limb for Optimus Maximus, so I'll probably get him.

Darkwing and Dreadwind look pretty good individually. I saw one pic of their combined jet mode and wasn't impressed. There were gaps where the wings didn't meet properly. But, it may have been mistransformed.

I'm assuming Starscream has some sort of gimmick to explain his badness. The wings have hinges halfway between the fuselage and tip that aren't needed for either bot or jet mode. They aren't even trying to hide the arms in jet mode. It was bad enough when limbs were just stuck under the wings, and only hidden when viewed directly from above. Those shoulders aren't hidden at all. At least make them look like intakes, or weapons. I'm OK with the underside of a jet bot clearly being a bunch of robot parts. I'd just like those parts to be arranged in something approximating an actual fuselage.

Rodimus looks like a great idea (Deluxe Hotrod combines with trailer to become Leader Rodimus) executed poorly. Hoefully, they'll try again when they don't have to force the Power of the Primes gimmick on top of the combining.

And, am I understaning this right: the "Power of the Primes" is that the Titan Master-types figure each transform in a Matrix that can be stored in a Leader's chest? That doesn't really sound like fun. Plus, like Brawn and Roadburn, you won't be able to tell if there's a little guy in there. The fun of Headmasters is making different looking bots by swapping heads around. Why bother swapping Primes around?

Gouki · Post by **Gouki** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:56 am

Is the Hot Rod that combines with the trailer a retool of that bloody Classics mould from over ten years ago?

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:46 am

Well..... Roddy looks kind of interesting, although I'd want a closer look first. Is there a deluxe sized Hot Rod included, or do you already have to have one? Given the way the last two lines have gone, I'd guess Jazz and Starscream are supposed to emulate their Classic Pretender versions, although I'm more interested in what Grimmy will look like. Also Bludgeon. Where is Bludgeon, Hasbro? Instead of cranking out the 452nd version of Movie Prime(yes, it does look very nice), give the people what they really want: a skeleton themed, death dealing samurai shell of death merged with a tank! Your failure with TR Nightbeat is the only one we'll allow.

.... I'm sounding kind of crazed again, aren't I.

Post by **Clay** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:05 pm

Warcry wrote:I'm not sure how to feel about Darkwing and Dreadwind. They're fine but I already own that mold twice over. They seem to still have their combiner ports, which leaves me scratching my head.

Why? I'm glad they left them in.

Tantrum wrote: Darkwing and Dreadwind look pretty good individually. I saw one pic of their combined jet mode and wasn't impressed. There were gaps where the wings didn't meet properly. But, it may have been mistransformed.

Yep, here's the combined mode: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... dcc/38985/

Can't really tell if that's as close as the wings can get or if a step was skipped. It's not a deal breaker though as the combined mode was always sketchy as hell.

Gouki wrote:Is the Hot Rod that combines with the trailer a retool of that bloody Classics mould from over ten years ago?

No, it appears to be the Titans Return Hot Rod from this year.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like a new mold altogether.

Post by **Warcry** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:23 pm

Tantrum wrote:Rodimus looks like a great idea (Deluxe Hotrod combines with trailer to become Leader Rodimus) executed poorly. Hoefully, they'll try again when they don't have to force the Power of the Primes gimmick on top of the combining.

I wish he was just Rodimus Prime with no Hot Rod. We've gotten so many Hot Rods in the last decade, and almost no Rodimuses. And two of the Rodimuses we did get (this and the MP) are both compromised because the designers wanted it to be Hot Rod too! The only modern Rodimus Prime toy I can think of that's just Rodimus Prime is the Titanium, and, well, yuck.

Tantrum wrote:And, am I understaning this right: the "Power of the Primes" is that the Titan Master-types figure each transform in a Matrix that can be stored in a Leader's chest? That doesn't really sound like fun. Plus, like Brawn and Roadburn, you won't be able to tell if there's a little guy in there. The fun of Headmasters is making different looking bots by swapping heads around. Why bother swapping Primes around?

It sounds like that's what it is, yeah. Seems like a pretty odd gimmick to me. But hey, if we get more TM-compatible figures and (looking at Darkwing and Dreadwind) more CW ones too, then it's not all bad.

Clay wrote:Why? I'm glad they left them in.

I was just very surprised to see it, is all. It's nice to see gimmicks like this continue on from one line to the next, but I don't know if that's ever happened before in modern lines.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:01 pm

I might just buy that Jazz mold if they redeco him into Crash---er, "Fracture".

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:17 pm

I like the look of Rodimus- a big chunky daft toy (shame about the shitty looking clip on wheels, but hey-ho). Beachcomber is good and Jazz has a good alt-mode, but the robot mode? Hmm. Might be one to see in hand first, and yeah, done up as Fracture, it might hit the spot. Other stuff looks fun, if not stuff to set the pulse racing.

Unicron · Post by **Unicron** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:24 am

Tantrum wrote:I'm assuming Starscream has some sort of gimmick to explain his badness.

I've seen it mentioned a few times, though all probably stemming from the same source, that Screamer is a combiner torso and the thus the badness.

I didn't realize Jazz was a CW-style limb. That raises his stock slightly in my view. More limb options is rarely a bad thing

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:42 pm

I'm happy with Rodimus Prime although I do hope the shoulder/collar bone section is mis-transformered.

That Starscream seems oddly proportioned and I will see what comes off the mold in terms of gimmick and potential repaints.

Jazz doesn't do much for me, I don't like the grey Combiner connection showing in he's bonnet.

I'm into Dreadwing and Darkwind.

I really like Beachcomber.

I may actually consider getting Skullgrin and the other possible Pretenders.

Post by **Clay** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 1:49 pm

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/24/powe ... eup-345389

Power of the primes product info. Chance it's fake, but most likely legitimate. Dinobots, terrorcons, predacons, oh my!

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 2:35 pm

Clay wrote:http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/07/24/powe ... eup-345389

Power of the primes product info. Chance it's fake, but most likely legitimate. Dinobots, terrorcons, predacons, oh my!

I'll say. "Rodimus Unicronus"?

Tantrum · Post by **Tantrum** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 3:02 pm

Warcry wrote:I wish he was just Rodimus Prime with no Hot Rod. We've gotten so many Hot Rods in the last decade, and almost no Rodimuses. And two of the Rodimuses we did get (this and the MP) are both compromised because the designers wanted it to be Hot Rod too! The only modern Rodimus Prime toy I can think of that's just Rodimus Prime is the Titanium, and, well, yuck.

It sounds like that's what it is, yeah. Seems like a pretty odd gimmick to me. But hey, if we get more TM-compatible figures and (looking at Darkwing and Dreadwind) more CW ones too, then it's not all bad.

Not just an odd gimmick, but one that seems to require a significant design compromise (an opening chest compartment) for not much added fun/play value (there's a purple thing inside instead of a yellow one). Sure, Headmasters require a cockpit, but it's fun to swap heads in bot mode and have a driver in alt mode. That's worth the trade off.

A standalone Voyager rodimus Prime would be nice. I'm OK with the idea of a smaller Hot Rod becoming part of a larger Rodimus. But, adding that gimmick plus the POTM gimmick to the same toy may be compomising the figure too much. Clay's link indicates this being another line-wide gimmick: Evolution, where Leaders have Deluxes built in.

That link also shows Voyager Grimlock with the other dinos being Deluxes. Maybe that's just becuase Grimlock is a bigger name, worthy of a bigger toy. Or, maybe there's a Dinobot combiner. Hungrr's another Voyager, Inferno's based on CW Hot Spot, and I've seen the same Starscream-torso theory that Unicron has.

However, this assumes that link is accurate. It shows toys with release dates of 4/20/2017 and 7/1/2017. Have those toys been released?

That grey combiner port does look pretty bad in Jazz's chest. If it were white to match the rest of the chest, or blue to match the stripe, it probably wouldn't be so bad. One of the picks had a Prime Master in a black piece mounted on Jazz's chest. That black piece has what looks like a thumb on one side. Maybe the new HFGs can hold PM/TMs.

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:16 pm

Feels overegged as a leak? Some of the Pretender stuff looks genuine, Classic Autobot and Dinobot combiners versus Predaking and Abominus makes sense, etc. But I wouldn't be surprised if a fair bit of this doesn't happen.

Assume the Predacons are upscaled deluxes like happened with Devastator.

Gouki · Post by **Gouki** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:06 am

The rumour is this leaked from a retailers meeting, which is why it's so detailed of products.

All I care about is the Hun-Gurr being real. And Slag/Slug.

Post by **Warcry** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:35 pm

Apparently Hasbro's gone around and forced all the major sites to pull the images, which is as good as confirming that this is legit leaked info.

Clay wrote:Dinobots, terrorcons, predacons, oh my!

YAY TERRORCONS! A full set of Dinobots would be cool too, though I'm not interested in them combining (assuming that rumour is true) and I don't like Grimlock being bigger than the others, so I may wind up buying Slag, Sludge, Snarl and Swoop (if they're good) to go with Classics Grimlock instead. Unless Voyager Grimlock is super awesome, anyway.

Anyway, this stuff is way more interesting than the stuff they actually showed off.

Tantrum wrote:However, this assumes that link is accurate. It shows toys with release dates of 4/20/2017 and 7/1/2017. Have those toys been released?

I think they were Asian exclusives of some sort? I don't really pay much attention to movie stuff but I seem to remember hearing about those molds being rereleased.

Tantrum wrote:One of the picks had a Prime Master in a black piece mounted on Jazz's chest. That black piece has what looks like a thumb on one side. Maybe the new HFGs can hold PM/TMs.

The Pretender shells transform into guns, so maybe it was one of those?

Post by **Denyer** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:43 pm

Yeah, and can't see why they'd bother in these days of social media. And I'd say the retailers are increasingly in the position of power.

Gouki · Post by **Gouki** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 11:36 pm

Clay wrote:No, it appears to be the Titans Return Hot Rod from this year.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like a new mold altogether.

Seems they've decided on a design/transformation style for G1 Hot Rod toys they really like and it's going to stick around forever.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:02 am

I just got a better look at what the Hot Rod figure will look like. I don't think Power of the Primes Roddy is on my 'must have' list anymore.....

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Aug 02, 2017 7:09 pm

At a guess, what the Grimlock is likely to take design cues from:

https://www.facebook.com/emiliano.santa ... 9954486981

https://i.imgur.com/Bfy08BC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uC8urJD.jpg

Post by **Clay** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:35 pm

Surprising no one, Takara have solicited for the Autobot clones in a set. Also Overlord and Blitzwing.

No mention of the decepticon clones yet.