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Date Posted: 00:09:42 02/10/02 Sun
Author: Goktimus Prime
Subject: my thoughts
In reply to: Icon 's message, "HAve to say they leave me pretty cold" on 22:03:12 02/08/02 Fri

What's up with Hasbro?

I thought after the success of RiD that they'd be wanting to go for a toyline sporting more Earth-like vehicular modes. I'm not a market analyst, but the toys are flying off the shelves everywhere I look (save the peg warming spychangers because they're overpriced here) -- and remember, Australia has NOT aired any RiD until yesterday morning; so it really shows that the toys themselves, even without the support of a TV show, are extremely appealling/popular as opposed to BM which was supported by a show early on.

I agree with Icon that these alt modes are in principle, a rehash of Beast Machines (Vehicons) in terms of transforming into non-Earthen vehicular modes. I believe the success of Car Robot/Robots in Disguise has been the fact that they've maintained Beast Wars-esque toy engineering and mixed it with Earthen vehicular modes. When was the last time we saw a Lamborghini that could transform into a fully poseable action figure? That's the cool thing about the CR/RiD toys IMHO.

On the other hand futuristic vehicular modes do have their appeal and certainly the Vehicons did sell rather well, as far as I can tell, it's mainly the BM Maximals that are shelf/peg warming toy aisles now -- when was the last time you even saw Obsidian or Jetstorm in stores? It's been a looooong time since I've seen any Vehicons on sale. Last time I ever saw a Vehicon on sale would've been a few weeks ago, and that was Blastcharge (who I consider to be a rather weak toy because he has a really silly looking robot mode).

So from a marketing POV, the futuristic vehicular mode theme does have some appeal, although I thought that the Earthen mode theme would've been better. Although it's hard for me to find Vehicons on sale now, for the most part, they never really flew off shelves like RiD has.

Opinions on individual toy images:

CYCLONUS: Does this guy look like one of the Predators or what? Very late-G1-esque look with the robot head and overall look, but with much more detailled sculpt.

DEMOLISHOR: Not a terribly inventive name. Very G1-like overall look but with exquisite attention to sculpt detail. Interesting paint job including some "wear" that seems to have been sprayed on -- neat! Although it's hard to judge from a still image, it doesn't look like a terribly well articulate figure. Seems to be fitted with old-school swivel joints instead of ball joints. That's gonna suck if it's true...

GRINDOR: Gobot-esque name. *slaps Hasbro's naming dept*
What is that? A turbo skateboard?? Riiiight. Last time we saw that in Transformers was -- NNNOOOO!!!

HIGH WIRE: It's Cy-Kill's little brother... made by Lego. Still, it's ball-jointed! Nice! This little bugger could sport better poseability than Demolishor... maybe.

HOT SHOT: Gott in Himmel! Tankor went and raped Bumblebee and here is the love child! Actually, aside from that Tankdrone-esque gimmick on the front, this is actually a pretty neat looking car. It doesn't look too futuristic and could possibily pass off as an Earthen vehicle! This is the kind of vehicular modes Armada should focus on.

OPTIMUS PRIME: Looks pretty cool! Seems like a similar transformation as Laser Prime sans torso. Very cool sculpt. Very cool colours. And is it just me, or does his Minicons look like Brawn and Bumblebee? :p

MEGATRON: Reminds me of Overlord. Overlord also would've been a better name for this toy IMO. Cool colour scheme and impressive sculpting. I really like how those Decepticon insignias seem to be sculpted in with those grills -- I think all the toys feature sculpted insignias, which is very nice. They're continuing something that began with Optimal Optimus and was popularised in Car Robot/RiD (not including the RiD decals which I never much cared for).
Tank mode is a bit too "futuristic" for my tastes though. Just seems to lack a sense of bulk.

PERCEPTOR: Cool looking robot mode there. Looks much better than High Wire.

OPTIMUS PRIME (Combined): Looks a bit bricky from waist down. Again, colour scheme did not strike me. I agree that the yellows should be replaced with silver. But even if it is a bit of a brick, here's hoping that it's a far more secure formation than God Fire "Fall-apart" Convoy.

RED ALERT: Like Cyclonus, has that end of G1 overall look to it. Icon says it reminds him of a Motorvator, for me, it reminds me of a Turbomaster (both of which are late G1 anyway). Again, very detailled looking sculpt and he doesn't appear bricky at all! The Earthen-esque vehicular mode is also a big plus (because he can then function as a robot in disguise! -- though the Autobot insignia on the bonnet is a bit of a giveaway).

RUNWAY: I presume he transforms into some kind of space shuttle and merges with another Minicon to form... ummm... whatever. Still, considering that the Minicons are supposedly the size of Micromasters, they really don't seem all that bad.

STARSCREAM: I think he looks very very cool! Unlike his Machine Wars incarnation, his robot mode looks VERY Seeker-ish. The head -- the face -- the raised thingies on his shoulders -- the entire torso design -- the wings -- it's clear that Takara/Hasbro has intentionally designed this toy to be a futuristic Seeker jet!! The toy also seems to sport reasonably good articulation and a good paint job. The missile launching gimmick in jet mode (coupled with the F-1 racer Minicon on the back) look silly, but I imagine it would be fun gimmick for kids to play with.

WRECKAGE: Not a bad name -- not spectacular, but it's the first decent sounding non-recycled Transformer name I've heard in quite a while. Looks like a Micromaster vehicle mode... something out of the Battle Patrol, but I am noticing those ball joints!

Again, these are impressions from some still shots. We'll be able to form a better impression once the toys hit the shelves and people start buying them and deciding if it was worth their money or not.

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