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Prowl1984
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Post by Prowl1984 »

Just acquired Air Raid, thus completing Superion and I've gotta say i love him. I will however be getting the perfect effect add on for the hands and feet.
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Cliffjumper
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Thanks to what can probably be described as third party accessories have successfully pimped out my MP Datsuns.

  • Bluestreak: fitted with Dr Wu (I think) launchers and Reprolabels. I probably would have stuck with the small built-in launchers if they'd been red but the add-on ones aren't as cumbersome as I'd feared, i.e. he still has a passable field of vision. Did like the choice of three configurations with the set, though; went with the cannon-style ones in the end. Reprolabels tart him up just enough; the shoulder and waist details especially.
  • Prowl: Ordered the same launchers for him but really not sure why as I prefer Prowl bare-shouldered a la late Marvel comics. Again find the toy-style stickers to really break up some of the blank spaces on the figure.
  • Smokescreen: either this chappy is cursed or I just have ridiculous standards for him. Basically the Reprolabels set turns the fella into a 100% replica of the stock car it's based on with a distracting number of tiny logos and the like. Leave them off? Would have loved to but most are placed on huge labels which would have covered like 90% of the figure. So much trimming was needed (though RL's colour matching is nothing short of remarkable) and a few just plain got left on the sheet but I did just about manage to cover up all those shitty joke sponsors Takara inflicted on the figure. Only the door one - which has "The Gambler" on it on the white strip - isn't great (a blank option would have been nice) and even that's an improvement on "crap one-off character decrepid ATT users still inexplicably have a hard-on for". Might see what I can do with trims from other white areas.
First experience since RL have switched to this Toyhax thing and wares are still as impressive; might well see about sets for the Lambo boys and MP-10 as the stickers really do give the figures a lot more punch. Though the Red Alert ones look a lot like the Smokescreen ones - I feel a bastard knocking RL but they do tend to bundle a lot of overambitious inessential stickers in with the perfunctory ones of late and it really bumps up the price.

I am really, really tempted by those stage/background things, though.

In other "not really new toys" news I've preordered MP Tracks because he looks damn sexy. And when I did I remembered that I'd preordered that Impactor thing as well, which made me smile as I keep forgetting and effectively have a free awesome toy on the way at some point.
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Ryan F
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Post by Ryan F »

TAV Runabout arrived today! It came from BBTS, so shipping was more expensive than he actual figure. Thankfully it's a small, cheap toy, so value-wise P-ARSE-L Force couldn't stitch me up for a customs charge!

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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

I found Kre-O Battle Changers Bumblebee, and Megatron vs. Optimus at Marshall's. Megatron doesn't quite transform without dissassembly, since the 4 stud cape prevents the waist from rotating. Hopefully I can find the Ratchet vs. Soundwave set at some point.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Ryan F wrote:TAV Runabout arrived today! It came from BBTS, so shipping was more expensive than he actual figure.
Neat! Not a mould completist, but if that'd been a Western release it comes off very favourably compared to Blackjack.
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Auntie Slag
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Post by Auntie Slag »

inflatable dalek wrote:... Enemy Within really does show how bonkers the idea of toy accurate Brawn as a super strong guy really is. The animation model is rather bland, but you can't blame the TV people for trying their best to actually make him look threatening.
I thought toy accurate Brawn was very well done in ‘The Enemy Within’. The artist gave him some real menace with his Cylon-style eyes and face. His claws looked like alien steel girders and he had a weight to his punches that felt forceful & well depicted. I always remember being surprised that even Sideswipe was rather shaken up by Brawn when it was Sideswipe who was supposed to be the mean and dirty fighter.

Mirage and Starscream in particular looked incredible. There’s also a superb Roy Lichtenstein send-up where Starscream takes out some jets.

Then there’s Ravage with that colossal gun on his back, and finally Megatron addressing his troops at the end of the story, saying the Autobots are double-crossers & laughing at them. Those panels showing them visibly considering and mulling over his words whilst he goes all Hitler on them... this story really made the Transformers seem brutal, distancing them from the Gobots and adding to the mythos that these were serious robots, that this was a proper war and you'd better get down to Tescos, Woolies or John Menzies and badger your parents to get one of them right now!

And Brawn, for my money has never looked so good since Enemy Within.
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

I made the mistake of not just driving past Toys R Us like wot I normally do, and now I own Rhinox and Whirl from the Generations. They are both thrilled to be 30, even though they were only £12.49 each.

So, y'know, presumably they're on sale or something. People might like to know.

I like them both. They are good.

They also had a few Combiner Wars bits and pieces and, having seen them in the plastic, I now totally get why people like them so much. First Aid looks ****ing adorable.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

My Blue Bluestreak arrived yesterday! In spite of actually having the thing in hand, as with Exhaust I'm having a hard time believing it actually exists. I fell in love with this colour scheme the first time I saw it in an old catalogue as a kid, and the fact that it's finally available as an official TF (and an MP no less) is mind-blowing.
Denyer wrote:Has made me realise that Prowl looks better without launchers, too.
Same here. I'm with Cliffy in that I tend to think of late Marvel Prowl anyway, so the launchers on him do nothing for me. Plus it's a nice point of divergence from Bluestreak, for one of them to have the launchers and one of them not to.
Skyquake87 wrote:As an added bonus, Robot Kingdom sent me the collector coin (blimey, they're big, aren't they?) and a bunch of DOTM trading cards, one of which, amusingly, is just Ratchet's head. Thanks, guys!
They sent me a ton of those trading cards too, though they went right into the recycling since they're so thoroughly bent that it looks like someone drove a truck over them.
Rack 'n Ruin wrote:Anyone who has got MP-18B so far found any QC issues? I've seen reports of blotchy blue paintwork, which would be a real bummer. Fingers crossed!
Alas, yes. My Bluestreak's got the most paintwork issues of any TF I've bought in the last few years. The paint on his gun is spotty and there's a few places where the blue plastic underneath is showing through. He's also got a very small scuff mark on one of his rear fenders. More importantly, though, there's a huge glob of silver paint on one of his feet. Luckily it's in a spot that's only visible when you're transforming him, so the figure isn't ruined and I don't have to navigate the headache that is international returns. But it never should have made it out of the factory like that and I'm pretty seriously POed about it.

Aside from that, I'm happy with him. The shade of blue that they chose is great, and he looks fantastic in both modes. In fact I'd say he's one of the prettiest Transformers I've ever seen. Beyond that he's essentially the same as the Prowl I already own, a solid figure with good poseability that fits in nicely with the collection of oddball MP cars I've put together.

Huh. Between this guy, Exhaust, G2 Bee and G2 Sideswipe, Prowl is the only "proper" car I've got (a trend that'll continue if they make a black Tracks with the toy head, which they sadly omitted on Road Rage). And the only reason I even have Prowl is that I never in a million years thought they'd make this guy. Do I have weird taste, or are the G1 decos really just a tad boring?
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Post by Cliffjumper »

I love the MP cars but the economic decision to limit paint apps|desire to stick to the cartoon animation models [delete as applicable] can make them look a little... sparse at that scale. I'm certainly much happier with the Datsuns now they're stickered up (one of few good things about Pat Lee's art was returning a lot of the toy detail to these guys) while Sideswipe looks decidedly vanilla in his G1 scheme (personally always felt he was only ahead of Tiger Track from the original mould anyway). Part of my reason for going for Goldbee was just that plain yellow seemed so boring after getting used to overt black trim.

But I'm not sure how much of that is familiarity. With Prowl we've had the original (plus three reissues), the AM, the WST, the Alt, the Spychanger, the Universe, the Legends, the CW toy and probably a few others basically follow the same colour scheme; it's only natural that a scheme we haven't seen much before (the Universe Spychanger is pretty much the only attempt to be much more than a coincidence, IIRC) is going to jump out a bit more. It's the same with most of the chaps done in the line so far and probably to come as well.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Cliffjumper wrote:I love the MP cars but the economic decision to limit paint apps|desire to stick to the cartoon animation models [delete as applicable] can make them look a little... sparse at that scale. I'm certainly much happier with the Datsuns now they're stickered up (one of few good things about Pat Lee's art was returning a lot of the toy detail to these guys) while Sideswipe looks decidedly vanilla in his G1 scheme (personally always felt he was only ahead of Tiger Track from the original mould anyway). Part of my reason for going for Goldbee was just that plain yellow seemed so boring after getting used to overt black trim.
I definitely agree with you about some of the cars looking sparse, though even with the cartoon cast it's hit-or-miss. Prowl and Sideswipe are definitely a touch dull, but at the other end of the spectrum you've got Smokescreen and Wheeljack with their eighty-two zillion racing decals that wind up looking way too busy. In general I think they'd do better if they discarded the idea of being 100% accurate to the source material (be it the cartoon models or a real-life car) and spent more time trying to make a deco that looks good on its own merits. I wouldn't want them to go too crazy with it, but working in Prowl's shoulder badges or some of Sideswipe's leg detailing would have gone a long way.
Cliffjumper wrote:But I'm not sure how much of that is familiarity. With Prowl we've had the original (plus three reissues), the AM, the WST, the Alt, the Spychanger, the Universe, the Legends, the CW toy and probably a few others basically follow the same colour scheme; it's only natural that a scheme we haven't seen much before (the Universe Spychanger is pretty much the only attempt to be much more than a coincidence, IIRC) is going to jump out a bit more. It's the same with most of the chaps done in the line so far and probably to come as well.
I hadn't thought of that, but it's a solid point. No matter how good a Prowl toy is it's still just another in a long line of Prowls, whereas this thing is the first time the blue Datsun's been done justice since Diaclone.
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Warcry wrote:whereas this thing is the first time the blue Datsun's been done justice since Diaclone.
Burning dodgy paint app justice!
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Rack 'n Ruin
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Post by Rack 'n Ruin »

A week or so I got the awesome Masterpiece blue Bluestreak. So, so beautiful, especially with the toy style "launchers" on. Just amazing. So happy with him. I appear to have lucky with the QC. Only a couple of very small paint blisters on the silver bonnet. In my head canon he is now called Cobalt, and his function is "sentry". He was due to be on the Ark at launch but was delayed fighting a rearguard action against some Decepticons who intended to disrupt the launch, thus missing his flight. He has finally made it to Earth, has adopted an Earthen alt more, and has linked up with the the Ark crew as a reinforcement. :)

Also, today I got Legends Jetfire (the non-blinged up Generations Leader figure). Wow. So much better and more fun than I expected. Should a 37 year old still be swinging a toy plane around going "pew pew pew"? Ah, I don't care anyway. A better looking and more G1 feeling replacement for the old Classics Voyager (man, I always hated those feet and the jet nose). The old Classics double barrelled gun lives on in my new Jetfire's fist, though - the only element that was better on the older toy. :)
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Rack 'n Ruin wrote:In my head canon he is now called Cobalt
You have chosen correctly! :up:
Rack 'n Ruin wrote:, and his function is "sentry". He was due to be on the Ark at launch but was delayed fighting a rearguard action against some Decepticons who intended to disrupt the launch, thus missing his flight. He has finally made it to Earth, has adopted an Earthen alt more, and has linked up with the the Ark crew as a reinforcement. :)
Honestly though, I'm a bit disappointed that Takara didn't go all-out to make this toy a proper new character like they did with Exhaust, or with the likes of Road Rage and Tigertrack back in the day. Apparently his bio boils down to "he looks like Streak but he's blue and totally not the same guy because he lives in Asia!" They didn't even give him a distinct name, just "Blue Streak". Your idea is way better.

I can't remember the personality that I gave the guy in the RPG back in the day, other than that he was depressed and had a gun that makes people feel sad (the whole thing was a big "blue" joke...). I suspect yours beats mine, though.
Rack 'n Ruin wrote:Also, today I got Legends Jetfire (the non-blinged up Generations Leader figure). Wow. So much better and more fun than I expected. Should a 37 year old still be swinging a toy plane around going "pew pew pew"? Ah, I don't care anyway. A better looking and more G1 feeling replacement for the old Classics Voyager (man, I always hated those feet and the jet nose). The old Classics double barrelled gun lives on in my new Jetfire's fist, though - the only element that was better on the older toy. :)
Classics Jetfire really hasn't aged well, has he? I loved him at the time, but the legs and feet look really primitive a decade on.

I will disagree with you on one point, though -- the transformation on the old toy was better because the new one needs to cheat to get the look it wants in both modes.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Personally I think any Jetfire toy's on a bit of a hiding because the Macross mould is so good - the genuine retro styling makes up for some of the places where it shows age (leg articulation, really) and if you're lucky enough to ever own a 100% complete original he really has that "pow!" factor that outweighs the legs being able to move about a bit.

I personally feel the Classics one was a notable attempt to turn the original into a small, cheap figure but it tried to do too much; the helmet was a nice attempt but made the head too large, the jet mode too cartoony (the first Classics' line's real weakness... there's a lot less sport in making figures turn into vague generic vehicles), the deco too sparse to make up for the cheaper material and the figure was too top-heavy to do much with the leg articulation anyway.
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Rack 'n Ruin
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Post by Rack 'n Ruin »

Cliffjumper wrote:Personally I think any Jetfire toy's on a bit of a hiding because the Macross mould is so good - the genuine retro styling makes up for some of the places where it shows age (leg articulation, really) and if you're lucky enough to ever own a 100% complete original he really has that "pow!" factor that outweighs the legs being able to move about a bit.

I personally feel the Classics one was a notable attempt to turn the original into a small, cheap figure but it tried to do too much; the helmet was a nice attempt but made the head too large, the jet mode too cartoony (the first Classics' line's real weakness... there's a lot less sport in making figures turn into vague generic vehicles), the deco too sparse to make up for the cheaper material and the figure was too top-heavy to do much with the leg articulation anyway.
I agree that the original Jetfire toy looks amazing. I've never had the chance to play with one though, and the cost of owning a complete white one is too high for me. This Jetfire is the closest I can get. Still very happy with him. The head sculpt nails it, imo.
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Cliffjumper wrote:Personally I think any Jetfire toy's on a bit of a hiding because the Macross mould is so good - the genuine retro styling makes up for some of the places where it shows age (leg articulation, really) and if you're lucky enough to ever own a 100% complete original he really has that "pow!" factor that outweighs the legs being able to move about a bit.
Plus I think all Jetfire toys are going to be caught in a bit of no-man's land anyway from a design point of view.

I mean imagine trying to put together a model that looks like Jetfire, but doesn't look like a Macross, that also looks like Skyfire, but doesn't not look like Jetfire.

The Generations one is probably the closest we're going to get on the criteria they're trying to hit.
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Tetsuro
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Post by Tetsuro »

TFC Hot Rod

I hope someone can tell me how to mend cracked rubber, cause I got a case of that in two of Hot Rod's tires.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Encore Sixshot!

Owned Sixshot before and sold him and now I own him again. Huzzah! I like that he's tall and has five really unconvincing alt modes. He's just daft fun and a really great toy. The chrome was a bit distracting at first, but its really grown on me and gives a bit of a lift to the mould. As do the additional blobs of silver on the tank wheels and chest. The box is a bit disappointing - it looks all third party. It seems such a shame to have blacked out Sixshot's glorious box art and the opening flap isn't really necessary. Just seems an odd thing to have done when the rest of the Encore line is done up in G1 packaging.
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Tetsuro
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Post by Tetsuro »

Skyquake87 wrote:Just seems an odd thing to have done when the rest of the Encore line is done up in G1 packaging.
That's because it's not an Encore...
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

Cliffjumper wrote:Personally I think any Jetfire toy's on a bit of a hiding because the Macross mould is so good - the genuine retro styling makes up for some of the places where it shows age (leg articulation, really) and if you're lucky enough to ever own a 100% complete original he really has that "pow!" factor that outweighs the legs being able to move about a bit.
I can't disagree with you about the Valkyrie being a good toy, but I'm not convinced it's a very good fit as a Transformer. Partly because none of the character designs Jetfire's ever used have looked anything like it, but mainly because it's the signature design of a completely different franchise. It's like if they'd used Lion Voltron or the original Megazord as Transformers. I can't look at it without thinking of Macross, so it's never been Jetfire to me.

For new toys, I'd rather they try to make the familiar 80s model look good (admittedly, no mean feat) instead of constantly remaking another company's best-known design with the serial numbers filed off.
Tetsuro wrote:I hope someone can tell me how to mend cracked rubber, cause I got a case of that in two of Hot Rod's tires.
Buy replacements. :(

I wish I had better advice, but once rubber starts to crack it usually means the compounds are breaking down and any fix is going to be short-term.
Tetsuro wrote:That's because it's not an Encore...
It was a Hasbro Asia job, wasn't it?
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