Takara Transformers

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Yeah, I gathered that throughout the thread, but prior to catching up, I had no idea who they were, AND I've read the Last Stand of the Wreckers series :duncecap:

The design is so cool, I don't even care that I don't really know the character(s)

 

[nacho]

I love transformers, but I have an unnatural hatred for Headmasters. And pretenders.

I always viewed headmasters as a pandering to the japanese fans who typically like their mechs to be brainless suits of armor with human drivers. Headmasters kinda turn good old autonomous transformers into useless mechs. I hated that whole storyline in the comics about humanoids on "Nebulos" and everybody and their grandma suddenly turning into a headmaster or a targetmaster or a powermaster or a cashgrabmaster.

It's where TF jumped the shark for me. It's the point where my thirteen-year-old brain said, "These guys are more interested in selling toy variation gimmicks than telling good stories. I should start reading mature comics, like X-Men."

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

The headmaster gimmick isn't a selling point to me AT ALL...I don't even own the statue Wardens a headmaster to...when I first saw the figure and fell in love, I had no idea he was a headmaster, he just looks bada$$, especially with the treads on his back...

Though, I do think it's freaking cool that the figures head pops off and turns into a smaller bot to drive the alt mode...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Couldn't care less about Headmasters.

I've had Bluestreak for about a week… I've got him armed up with the dual shoulder missiles and it gives him a good "beefy" appearance compared to Prowl. I think I may like him more than Prowl, and Prowl is fantastic.

And Eddie, check this out!

http://www.seibertron.com/transform...us-prime-and-grimlock-image-spoilerish/28757/

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Good gawd...I remember when they announced 4 they said the designs would be very different from the first three films...honestly, I expected more of exactly the same...I didn't not however, expect worse...

 

[nacho]

What, no foaming at the mouth over these guys?

From the makers of Quakewave...
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=FTS10003&mode=retail

Not sure about Warbotron as a company, but they sure look good. And they claim it's gonna be big.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=2810&category=9810

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Slag has my money due to Quakewave's quality and my love/lack of Dinobots. Not sold yet on the Combaticons, but they look good in render form.

I wonder if Slag is going to be bigger, or the same size, as Grimlock? If they went bigger, it'd be awkward next to Grimlock, but I kind of have a feeling Grimlock may be remade/retooled larger one day, with tweaked designs on his lame arm and removing the tail wiggle, which were my only complaints with the original one (besides the now-inaccurate size).

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Can't wait to see their Jetfire!

And MR, those aren't renders of the Combaticons, those are pics of the actual prototype figures...I'll wait until I see colored samples since a lot of companies seem to screw up decos...but for the size, the prices are pretty reasonable, and that's at BBTS...very curious to see what the more levelheaded sites charge for the figures...

Dinobots? Don't care one bit...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Hmm, I guess they could be. The lighting and texture makes them look like CG renders, though. Still, in-color, and in scale to something that I can judge the scale myself, before I even get my hopes up about them.

 

[nacho]

Slag is listed as being ~10 in, so he should be scaled properly with MP grimlock.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Hmm, I guess they could be. The lighting and texture makes them look like CG renders, though. Still, in-color, and in scale to something that I can judge the scale myself, before I even get my hopes up about them.

He's listed as being 18" to the to of the highest point on him...not a rumor, but directly from the company...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Slag is listed as being ~10 in, so he should be scaled properly with MP grimlock.

I read somewhere (may be true or fan fiction, I couldn't find a company listing) that said that Slag will come with something to add height to Grimlock? If so, that could be the fix he needs in bot mode. In dino mode, he's pretty bulky, but a lot of that is due to hollow space that's not utilized well like all the new MPs, which are crammed into their alt modes with little to no "wiggle room".

He's listed as being 18" to the to of the highest point on him...not a rumor, but directly from the company...

Gah, gonna make me get out a tape measure? So would that make Bruticus bigger than Devastator?

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Oh gawd yes...he'll be THE biggest combiner yet (not counting that 24" Voltron )

Do you have any of the Fansproject Stunticons?...there's a pic of this Bruticus with one of them standing in front of him...

EDIT: here...the colored figure out front is 4.65" to the top of his head...

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...51171-warbotron-wb01-unofficial-bruticus.html





.

 

[nacho]

Well, other than Swindle, all the combaticons should be larger than stunticons. Our resident scale-freak should be very happy about this.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I would be, if all the combaticons weren't out of scale with each other

 

[nacho]

Eddie, I feel sorry for your wife. You're a hard man to please!

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Model railroading really f*@#ed me up

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Apparently their fix is some new platform kicks for MP-08. And damn! Slag is gonna be fuckin' big!

I'm honestly okay with them making Slag bigger, as I think that TakaraTomy very well may redo Grimlock one day, and if not, then FT can once the other 4 are done. I just don't see TT making all 5 Dinobots anytime soon, so more power to FT for it.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

His disco shoes blend in so well, that i couldn't tell what was changed until you pointed it out...pretty cool

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I think they're passable, especially if colored correctly. I personally think that someone will eventually make a larger MP Grimlock, and I'm hoping it's either Takara or FT. I know I've said it before, but Quakewave is damn near as close to an MP as you can get without being officially from Takara. The iGear Coneheads are pretty close, too, but they didn't do much original design work on that one. Quakewave is seriously impressive, especially in-hand. And they've proven that they care, by doing things like shipping extra parts at no extra charge to all customers. That's fantastic service, if you ask me.

The only thing I'll dislike about their MP Dinobots is if they somehow don't finish all 4, and we're left with a slightly-short Grimlock. And damn, will it be a long wait until I have 5 dinobots!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Just got a preorder alert from BBTS. Apparently 3 companies have made shoulder launchers for Prowl/Streak.

www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product...ium=email&utm_campaign=Marketing&utm_content=

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DWU10043&mode=retail

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/...ium=email&utm_campaign=Marketing&utm_content=

Surprisingly, Wu's are the same damn price as I paid for official ones, except he has red for Streak, which may be nice to have. The others seem interesting, but I'd wait for reviews first.

I'll likely get a red set for Bluestreak and give the real ones to Prowl, but I kind of like him without the shoulder launchers, personally... Although it is awesome to see them armed with dual missile launchers.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I really the ones from Guitly...most aesthetically pleasing to me...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I looked at all these on my phone, I'll preorder a red set later tonight at my laptop after I can look at them post-work.

I personally don't think they'll even work with Smokescreen, the way his cartoon-accurate laser things are made. Wu's set is too little for too much, and the one with "four sets" makes me worry it's a typo or of cheap quality...

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I got the notice and preordered the Punishment set. Not only did they look nice, but they were a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...955.1073741825.237399409679670&type=1&theater

Apparently the Wu set is actually 2 sets, each?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Gah, Smokescreen just hit my POL at BBTS but I'll be gone for a few weeks for Christmas. Hopefully my missile launchers will come in stock between now and when I get back?

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

My favorite one!...and nachos least fave

 

[nacho]

Two days ago, I finally figured out what bugs me so much about him. His lack of a neck makes him look just like a Gobot! On that toon, nobody outside of Leader-1 had a neck, just a face plastered onto the underside of a vehicle. Smokescreen's non-neck looks just like Cop-Tor or one of those other TF wannabes.

That being said, I still bought him. I'll buy any MP TF from G1 '84-'86. Probably even Cosmos...

 

[Mandingo Rex]

As much as I love the MPs we've gotten so far, both Wheeljack and Bee are vintage-era TFs I've never truly owned and been happy with (I got the G2 Bee and lets face it, it wasn't an improvement). The Alternators Wheeljack was one of the worst from that line, and besides being white and having a head sculpt that was decent, he was not very good. And Alternity Bee has been an okay stand-in, but nothing too impressive.

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/silhouette-teaser-image-of-masterpiece-wheeljack/29001/

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Gosh dang!..I may have to spring for WJ...

 

[nacho]

I expect all MPs to be the best thing we'll ever get for a given character. As I've mentioned before, Alts were just waaaaaaay too not-G1 for my tastes. I liked the scale, I liked the detail, and I liked more of the head sculpts. But the non-G1 alt modes and decos just ruined the idea that any of them would be my definitive version of a character, maybe with the exception of Hound (to me, a green jeep from 2004 doesn't look that much different than one from 1984 or 1954). So even if a given MP isn't 100% perfect, I know I'll never beat it. I can only hope to improve it with 3P accessories, heads, and stickers.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Well, Hound, Mirage/Rodimus, Jazz, and Tracks were still pretty great versions of themselves. I think I like Mirage better than the vintage one, same with Rodimus, but that GT40 mold kicks ass. The others are good for what they were at the time, but I never did much care for Wheeljack or Grimlock. I'll probably keep the Wheeljack one just because it matches the GT40, but I think before long I'll need to get rid of some of them to clear out space. Not even 3-4 years ago, I never would've contemplated parting out my complete Alternators collection.

 

[nacho]

I bought a bunch of them, not because I liked them, but primarily because I had plans to make my own MP cars. I was going to use frames and heads and either reshell them or part them out for my customs. Now that Tak seems to be beating me to it, my entire Alt collection is surplus. Most of them will be in my spring-time purge.

 

[Goldbug]

I only got the ones that resembled their G1 counterparts... Hound & Tracks.
I was trying to get a Swindle too.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Yay!

http://www.seibertron.com/transform...ransformers-masterpiece-mp20-wheeljack/29119/

And I got in my MP Smokescreen tonight from BBTS. He's awesome! Also got my red Dr. Wu missile launchers for Bluestreak, and he does look a lot better with the red ones versus the "OEM" black ones. There's just enough variation in all 3 of the Z-siblings that they feel like their own unique designs. Can't wait for more cars to flesh out my 'Bot ranks.

 

[pcsguy88]

Hope they fix that crack in his chest plate.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

MP Wheeljack looks bada$$!! Especially his alt mode...wow!

 

[Goldbug]

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I'm pretty sure Takara will do Skywarp or TC as a filler this year… They're really spacing out the next figure release. I mean, I guess they have Soundblaster and uh… I dunno, some other eHobby bullshit coming out? I can't remember.

But Wheeljack got pushed to like, October or some shit now, and we've seen nothing of Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee, so it makes me wonder what they're waiting on. And we've been a tad shy on the Decepticon front since the cassettes.

 

[nacho]

Why would anyone need another TC at this point? I've got the original Tak release, the US release, and the igear version. I can't imagine that anyone but a very new collector doesn't have one or more TC's already.

They'd be better off making rainmaker repaints or retooling for official coneheads.