Sounds like they're working on getting it up still.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
It's still BS. I mean,putting a limited edition number on it (that wasn't present on Ectotron and I don't think was on Maverick) is just... BEGGING for scalpers to leap on them and be jerks. I mean, are there even 1,985 Wal-marts in the country?
*checks*
4,756+ stores in the US.
So that's 1 of these for every 2-3 stores or so, if they were planning on selling them in stores. That's stupid.
Edit: Ectotron was bad enough. I actually found out why I couldn't find one locally -- a store an hour away called up all the stores in the region and asked for their supply to be shipped to said store, so they'd be able to corner the market on them.
It's still BS. I mean,putting a limited edition number on it (that wasn't present on Ectotron and I don't think was on Maverick) is just... BEGGING for scalpers to leap on them and be jerks. I mean, are there even 1,985 Wal-marts in the country?
*checks*
4,756+ stores in the US.
So that's 1 of these for every 2-3 stores or so, if they were planning on selling them in stores. That's stupid.
There's a non-limited one being released in October.
Speculation is the limited edition one was going to be an SDCC exclusive, but, you know, pandemic happened.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Okay, I'd seen speculation to that end, but didn't see anything concrete about that. I thought the general release would be that limited.
Forever Zefirocloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered Userregular
That trailer looked solid
Cautiously optimistic
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
One will rise.
And one shall fall.
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
I haven't watched the most recent trailer (Series is out in a few weeks, might as well wait until then), but going off material previously released
-Models look okay - way too toy accurate, even when the toys have ridiculous kibble (I'm looking at you, Chromia).
-Animation looks stiff as hell
-Voice acting is okay, but the dialog was incredibly cringey.
-Tone looks dark in a lame and boring way; I saw none of the humor or camp that I think Transformers thrives well with.
-Biggest red flag is that the showrunner is the same from the Prime Wars trilogy, which was abysmal. Like, just a raging trashfire.
I'm going to still watch it, but I have low expectations.
Undead Scottsman on
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RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
Trailer didn't do much for me. I'll wait for reviews
$50 is steep, but... eh. I need everything in this line.
Thats way to much for a what looks like a 15 dollar mold
I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
It's supposedly about 7" tall. And as I've been saying, getting a vehicle-accurate mold requires VERY thin plastics. Now, yeah.. they should've made it less translucent, and maybe that's a softer plastic that matches the paint scheme better or is more durable. But thin transforming jets is a pain in the ass...
It's a Voyager, so it'd be 30 if not for the licensing markup that hit Ectotron and Gigawatt.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Oh wow, I wasn't expecting this to get here so soon! Granted, it was originally announced as a Prime Day thing, and theoretically that would've been this weekend...
But still!
Now to decide if I leave it in its packaging or not.
-The tone sucks for the most part. Dark and dreary and the attempts at humor were so slight that I honestly am wracking my brain to think of one.
-Art design is good, for the most part, but the animations are frequently stilted and characters have a very weird sashay when they walk. (I initially though they were sexing up the female characters with it, but then I noticed EVERYONE was doing it.)
-Editing is.. this thing was made on a budget, so there's a few times where it feels like a quick scene is missng. (A character throws a grappling hook at another, and before it hits, it moves to the next shot where the other character is now completed wrapped up). Characters will transform off-screen, other stuff like that.
-Music... Not a single memorable thing, IMO.
-Voice acting is a mixed bag. Many voices don't stand out, which is like of the few things Transformers has historically been very good at, with some exceptions (I'm looking at you Bluestreak.). Some of the VO is bad, but I think it's probably a case of voice direction rather than a lack of talent on the part of the actors. (Prime's VO cannot keep his Peter Cullen impression up when he yells, so that kinda sucks)
-Script is loaded with cringe. Though it's not as bad as the context-less stuff from the trailers, it's not that much better.
-Story is.. okay. Things flow logically at least, for the most part, so while it's focused on McGuffins, they don't feel quite as shoehorned in as they could be. (Though not by much.) The War is reframed, as it is so often now, as a class/race war, starting as a revolutionary conflict between the Autobot elite and a resistance movement comprised of the working class and military bots (Decepticions) and sympathetic Autobots. Lead by Alpha Trion and his three students, Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Megatron. Megatron's ambition grows beyond mere revolution and into conquest and he basically starts an outright race war against the Autobots when Prime refuses to let the Autobots become the oppressed. Transformers: Race War!
Ultimately, I didn't hate it like I did with their Prime Wars stuff, but this definitely isn't going to be something I pull out when I get bored and wanna watch something Transformers related. I'd take the original G1 toon any day of the week over this, warts and all.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I'm curious: How does this thread feel about 3rd Party Transformers (or, I guess, Transformers-inspired legally-distinct-from-Transformers transforming toys)?
I've been spending a lot of time paying attention to that scene this year - I started getting back into it at the end of 2019 after a long absence, and then the pandemic happened and I started buying a lot of these toys to... basically self-medicate during a stressful time. Anyway, a lot of them are really cool, and I've been posting my thoughts about and photos of some of them in the action figure thread in Graphic Violence, and I wonder if the folks in this thread would be interested in that as well. If this is intended to be an official-only thread, though, that's totally reasonable!
I get a little annoyed about how the creators and fans of unlicensed Transformers jump through mental loopholes to justify their sub-industry as being completely legitimate rather than people exploiting something they don't own. I'm not saying I personally have an issue with it, but at some point I roll my eyes at how, say, some people will treat knockoffs as going too far because that's using engineering that doesn't belong to them, but using a character's likeness that doesn't belong to them is A-OK! It's like, just own up to it, guys.
So with that said, I'm perfectly fine with showing off some unlicensed TF's. I think they're a great way to full in holes in your collection that are unlikely to get filed any other way. For example, Masterpiece Octane ain't ever happening, so Unique Toys Provider gets a place on my shelf.
Hell, post about Gobots if you really want to. This is an open thread.
Except for Kiss Players. Keep that sick filth out of here.
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
I bought a third party Swerve based on the comic books. He came with a drink tray and drinks.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I have no problem with 3rd party transformers, as long as they are up to quality standards. Like... Hasbro has to go through child safety tests and all sorts of things to make sure their stuff is fine. 3rd parties don't. So they better be high quality to stand up to things.
I generally stick to accessory kits, like improvements to Predaking's wings or upgrades to Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus. But I do have 1 3rd party Optimus, the Jetforce Revive commander. Because goddamn was it awesome looking. I've also thought about gestalts.
The folks who did the 3rd party Unicron? Ehhhhh... that's a little more touch and go, considering Hasbro asked them to stop.
The folks who did the 3rd party Unicron? Ehhhhh... that's a little more touch and go, considering Hasbro asked them to stop.
Funny that you say that, because that was kinda my motivation for asking about 3P! You've posted about the HasLab Unicron a few times, and I was curious if you knew about the 3P one.
I dunno if Hasbro just "asked them to stop", or if they bared their legal fangs, but Zeta buried their Unicron project for a very long time. Like, didn't even talk about it in passing. It seems like the main reason it happened is that Zeta had the wherewithal/bone-headed idea to advertise it during the HasLab Unicron's crowdfunding campaign. As far as I can tell, Hasbro stopped caring again after their project got funded. My guess is that going after 3P companies is extremely not worth it, financially-speaking, because
1) it's probably very hard to actually get your hands on the people you want to take to court,
2) I don't think China is super-concerned with IP laws when it comes to non-Chinese companies,
3) the 3P market is very tiny and isn't really cutting into HasTak's sales very much, and
4) a 3P company that gets taken to court will probably just re-appear under a different name a few months later
Anyway, Zeta still isn't talking about the Unicron project - buuut a mysterious new 3P company is now selling something that looks very much like the body of Zeta's Unicron, and another mysterious new 3P company is now selling something that looks very much like the head of Zeta's Unicron. It's not clear if this is just Zeta trying to dodge and weave, putting out the pieces as two separate items under two separate pseudonyms to make it harder for Hasbro to make a case against them, or if Zeta really did just sell their design to someone else. In either case, I thought the entire saga of this project has been kind of fascinating.
Personally, I think that 3P Unicron looks miles better than the HasLab one, mainly because it has practically no planet-flaps hanging off the robot - almost everything's tucked inside, or becomes one of the surfaces of a forearm or foot or whatever. The engineering on it impresses me to no end. I wanted to post a video of someone reviewing it and showing off the transformation, but it's much more important to me to not turn off anyone in this thread, so I'll draw my blabbing about that toy to a close.
Agreed that the folding away planet bits is really, REALLY nice. But it does make me wonder about the structural integrity of the unit as a whole. The only way you can do that is with hollow limbs, which again probably wouldn't pass drop tests. And of course Hasbro's Unicron has the chompy bits which can't really fold away.
That said? The picture of the figure with all the panels removed makes me hopeful that they designed everything with friction hinges that can be removed. That would be a very nice touch. Yes, it means lots of kibble and that he's a shellformer, but I know the aesthetic is important to folks.
I don't know for sure, but I feel reasonably confident saying that 3P companies don't give a shiiiiiiiit about drop tests and the like. To be honest, I'm not sure what kind of drop tests apply to official Masterpiece-type toys, either - if MP-44 Optimus Prime falls on the floor, I feel like a Humpty Dumpty situation is fairly likely.
For not-Unicron, he seems like a beefy, sturdy toy. The thighs are solid and the lower legs seem like shells (since the thighs slide into them), but strong and durable shells. The ratchets sound very clicky. No idea how well it'll hold up over the years, and whether it'll stand up to repeated transformations, but I figure it won't tumble under its own weight at least.
I'm not gonna cross-post it so as not to clutter the thread, and because I dunno if it'll interest folks, but I wrote a (very long) post with some thoughts about a 3rd party Bruticus over in the action figure thread in the Graphic Violence subforum:
Let me tell you about the Mastermind Creations Ocular Max All Built In Assaultus.
[lengthy post snipped]
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
And then there was one.
I believe prototype molds of Thrust have been seen, so I am sure it is coming. The last complete set I got was the Transformers Classics set of seekers, from 2005-ish. I love these new bigger ones.
I only have 1 of the tetrajet, as there isn't nearly enough variation between them.
I do hope someone comes up with aftermarket wheels, though - the bottom of these models is horrendous!
Forever Zefirocloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered Userregular
What do you think about the coneheads? I love this new standard seeker mold, but I really don’t like the huge wings sticking off of the legs for the coneheads
I guess it would be blasphemy, but I wish their wings worked like the rest
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
What do you think about the coneheads? I love this new standard seeker mold, but I really don’t like the huge wings sticking off of the legs for the coneheads
I guess it would be blasphemy, but I wish their wings worked like the rest
It's very similar to the old 2005 molds.
On the old molds, the big wings were attached to the same hinge point as the rear wings on the standard mold.
On these, it's a couple new leg pieces - one with a larger kneecap (that is kind of annoying because it doesn't close flush) and the wings attach directly to the back of the legs. Like on the 2005 molds, the wings are broken into two pieces, to help with the profile.
The nosecone is also a little modified. On the 2005 ones, the nosecones just rotated to reveal the face. On these, they actually have fake coneheads, and the nosecones are modified to allow that fake cone to slide inside. Again, it's a nice touch.
I'm super very ultra happy with how they turned out, though they need unique weapons instead of null rays.
Edit: Just noticed the chests are remolded slightly too. So that's awesome - Skywarp and Thundercracker are exact redecos of Starscream (with Skywarp having the yelling head), but Dirge and Ramjet have some pretty decent remolding!
Edit2: Oh, by the way, you can swing the wings back so they don't stick out as far.
Posts
*checks*
4,756+ stores in the US.
So that's 1 of these for every 2-3 stores or so, if they were planning on selling them in stores. That's stupid.
Edit: Ectotron was bad enough. I actually found out why I couldn't find one locally -- a store an hour away called up all the stores in the region and asked for their supply to be shipped to said store, so they'd be able to corner the market on them.
There's a non-limited one being released in October.
Speculation is the limited edition one was going to be an SDCC exclusive, but, you know, pandemic happened.
As it is, sounds like scalpers got most of the Walmart.com ones, and are off to eBay.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
But isn't it worth $700 to help support the poor, starving scalpers of America? Think of the children.
It's true there haven't been any sporting events at which to ply their trade...
how we feeling about this?
Cautiously optimistic
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
And one shall fall.
-Models look okay - way too toy accurate, even when the toys have ridiculous kibble (I'm looking at you, Chromia).
-Animation looks stiff as hell
-Voice acting is okay, but the dialog was incredibly cringey.
-Tone looks dark in a lame and boring way; I saw none of the humor or camp that I think Transformers thrives well with.
-Biggest red flag is that the showrunner is the same from the Prime Wars trilogy, which was abysmal. Like, just a raging trashfire.
I'm going to still watch it, but I have low expectations.
https://hasbropulse.com/products/transformers-generations-top-gun-mash-up-maverick-robot
$50 is steep, but... eh. I need everything in this line.
Thats way to much for a what looks like a 15 dollar mold
But still!
Now to decide if I leave it in its packaging or not.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
It comes with a trailer.
IT COMES WITH A TRAILER!!!
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Hmmmm.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
This leaked before that tweet.
It's okay.
-The tone sucks for the most part. Dark and dreary and the attempts at humor were so slight that I honestly am wracking my brain to think of one.
-Art design is good, for the most part, but the animations are frequently stilted and characters have a very weird sashay when they walk. (I initially though they were sexing up the female characters with it, but then I noticed EVERYONE was doing it.)
-Editing is.. this thing was made on a budget, so there's a few times where it feels like a quick scene is missng. (A character throws a grappling hook at another, and before it hits, it moves to the next shot where the other character is now completed wrapped up). Characters will transform off-screen, other stuff like that.
-Music... Not a single memorable thing, IMO.
-Voice acting is a mixed bag. Many voices don't stand out, which is like of the few things Transformers has historically been very good at, with some exceptions (I'm looking at you Bluestreak.). Some of the VO is bad, but I think it's probably a case of voice direction rather than a lack of talent on the part of the actors. (Prime's VO cannot keep his Peter Cullen impression up when he yells, so that kinda sucks)
-Script is loaded with cringe. Though it's not as bad as the context-less stuff from the trailers, it's not that much better.
-Story is.. okay. Things flow logically at least, for the most part, so while it's focused on McGuffins, they don't feel quite as shoehorned in as they could be. (Though not by much.) The War is reframed, as it is so often now, as a class/race war, starting as a revolutionary conflict between the Autobot elite and a resistance movement comprised of the working class and military bots (Decepticions) and sympathetic Autobots. Lead by Alpha Trion and his three students, Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Megatron. Megatron's ambition grows beyond mere revolution and into conquest and he basically starts an outright race war against the Autobots when Prime refuses to let the Autobots become the oppressed. Transformers: Race War!
Ultimately, I didn't hate it like I did with their Prime Wars stuff, but this definitely isn't going to be something I pull out when I get bored and wanna watch something Transformers related. I'd take the original G1 toon any day of the week over this, warts and all.
https://hasbropulse.com/blogs/haslab-preview/haslab-war-for-cybertron-unicron-production-update-3
I've been spending a lot of time paying attention to that scene this year - I started getting back into it at the end of 2019 after a long absence, and then the pandemic happened and I started buying a lot of these toys to... basically self-medicate during a stressful time. Anyway, a lot of them are really cool, and I've been posting my thoughts about and photos of some of them in the action figure thread in Graphic Violence, and I wonder if the folks in this thread would be interested in that as well. If this is intended to be an official-only thread, though, that's totally reasonable!
So with that said, I'm perfectly fine with showing off some unlicensed TF's. I think they're a great way to full in holes in your collection that are unlikely to get filed any other way. For example, Masterpiece Octane ain't ever happening, so Unique Toys Provider gets a place on my shelf.
Hell, post about Gobots if you really want to. This is an open thread.
Except for Kiss Players. Keep that sick filth out of here.
I generally stick to accessory kits, like improvements to Predaking's wings or upgrades to Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus. But I do have 1 3rd party Optimus, the Jetforce Revive commander. Because goddamn was it awesome looking. I've also thought about gestalts.
The folks who did the 3rd party Unicron? Ehhhhh... that's a little more touch and go, considering Hasbro asked them to stop.
I dunno if Hasbro just "asked them to stop", or if they bared their legal fangs, but Zeta buried their Unicron project for a very long time. Like, didn't even talk about it in passing. It seems like the main reason it happened is that Zeta had the wherewithal/bone-headed idea to advertise it during the HasLab Unicron's crowdfunding campaign. As far as I can tell, Hasbro stopped caring again after their project got funded. My guess is that going after 3P companies is extremely not worth it, financially-speaking, because
1) it's probably very hard to actually get your hands on the people you want to take to court,
2) I don't think China is super-concerned with IP laws when it comes to non-Chinese companies,
3) the 3P market is very tiny and isn't really cutting into HasTak's sales very much, and
4) a 3P company that gets taken to court will probably just re-appear under a different name a few months later
Anyway, Zeta still isn't talking about the Unicron project - buuut a mysterious new 3P company is now selling something that looks very much like the body of Zeta's Unicron, and another mysterious new 3P company is now selling something that looks very much like the head of Zeta's Unicron. It's not clear if this is just Zeta trying to dodge and weave, putting out the pieces as two separate items under two separate pseudonyms to make it harder for Hasbro to make a case against them, or if Zeta really did just sell their design to someone else. In either case, I thought the entire saga of this project has been kind of fascinating.
Personally, I think that 3P Unicron looks miles better than the HasLab one, mainly because it has practically no planet-flaps hanging off the robot - almost everything's tucked inside, or becomes one of the surfaces of a forearm or foot or whatever. The engineering on it impresses me to no end. I wanted to post a video of someone reviewing it and showing off the transformation, but it's much more important to me to not turn off anyone in this thread, so I'll draw my blabbing about that toy to a close.
First is "Cell"
And second is an "Armor Kit" for it.
Agreed that the folding away planet bits is really, REALLY nice. But it does make me wonder about the structural integrity of the unit as a whole. The only way you can do that is with hollow limbs, which again probably wouldn't pass drop tests. And of course Hasbro's Unicron has the chompy bits which can't really fold away.
That said? The picture of the figure with all the panels removed makes me hopeful that they designed everything with friction hinges that can be removed. That would be a very nice touch. Yes, it means lots of kibble and that he's a shellformer, but I know the aesthetic is important to folks.
For not-Unicron, he seems like a beefy, sturdy toy. The thighs are solid and the lower legs seem like shells (since the thighs slide into them), but strong and durable shells. The ratchets sound very clicky. No idea how well it'll hold up over the years, and whether it'll stand up to repeated transformations, but I figure it won't tumble under its own weight at least.
I believe prototype molds of Thrust have been seen, so I am sure it is coming. The last complete set I got was the Transformers Classics set of seekers, from 2005-ish. I love these new bigger ones.
I only have 1 of the tetrajet, as there isn't nearly enough variation between them.
I do hope someone comes up with aftermarket wheels, though - the bottom of these models is horrendous!
I guess it would be blasphemy, but I wish their wings worked like the rest
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
It's very similar to the old 2005 molds.
On the old molds, the big wings were attached to the same hinge point as the rear wings on the standard mold.
On these, it's a couple new leg pieces - one with a larger kneecap (that is kind of annoying because it doesn't close flush) and the wings attach directly to the back of the legs. Like on the 2005 molds, the wings are broken into two pieces, to help with the profile.
The nosecone is also a little modified. On the 2005 ones, the nosecones just rotated to reveal the face. On these, they actually have fake coneheads, and the nosecones are modified to allow that fake cone to slide inside. Again, it's a nice touch.
I'm super very ultra happy with how they turned out, though they need unique weapons instead of null rays.
Edit: Just noticed the chests are remolded slightly too. So that's awesome - Skywarp and Thundercracker are exact redecos of Starscream (with Skywarp having the yelling head), but Dirge and Ramjet have some pretty decent remolding!
Edit2: Oh, by the way, you can swing the wings back so they don't stick out as far.