? They barely appeared in Marvel G1 (certainly not in the US comic). I'm not sure there's sufficient evidence to say that they were triple-changers there. Indeed, I'd say these are characters with so little fictional appearances anywhere that the fact of their toy-gimmick being what it is trumps the scant fictional representation.
Machine Wars Sandstorm from DOTM Skyhammer, now G1 Skyhammer from Generations Sandstorm. What is going ooooooooooooon Cool idea!
You're correct, it was actually Marvel UK that depicted them directly transforming between their modes. Still, in their limited fictional appearances they're triple-changers almost half the time, there's precedent. I get that the separation aspect was important to the original character concept, it's why they're called Duocons. But there are plenty of characters who have evolved past their original gimmick over the years, I mean, does anyone really care if Bludgeon or Thunderwing are pretenders anymore? I sure don't. Hasbro tends to avoid giving classics updates to highly gimmick based characters. Targetmasters and Headmasters get dropped on a regular basis, we'll likely never see a Pretender again, and we've even gotten several combiner leaders who no longer combine. Given that, I don't think the Duocons are going to be high on Hasbro's list of characters to re-do with their gimmick retained. So a lot of fans would rather get what we can rather than nothing at all, and the new Springer and Blitzwing have bodies that work really damn well at evoking them in the right decos. Besides, it's a pretty stupid gimmick. Random Decepticon: Hey Flywheels, we're going to go attack that Autobot encampment, you in? Flywheels: Sorry, I can't. It's across the lake. Random Decepticon: What?! Can't you fly? Flywheels: Well, my torso can, but my legs would have to drive there. I could send them on ahead I guess, can we attack in a mega-cycle? Random Decepticon: This would be so much easier if you were a triple changer...I can see why no one likes you.
Marvel UK. Flywheels was a prominent character in the City of Fear story and although he transformed into both jet and tank modes, he never done so simultaneously like the toy. The other vehicle mode would simply disappear without being referenced to.
Oh I can't say no to a Pretender homage, very clever! I think you do have a winning hand there indeed!
So I'm probably still in the minority here, but I really wish they'd put that Knight faction symbol on him. Maybe they'll do like they did with Skywarp last year and give us a sticker? Although I'd really prefer it to be painted/tampographed on the figure..
Yeah I think they might want to do the sticker like they did last year with Skywarp. I think they decided to go with the Autobot symbol because this is the FIRST toy of Devcon we have ever had and while it is cool that Botcon has a PvK theme, most people who have been looking forward to this figure want it to have the Autobot symbol. This might be a case of anticipating a backlash and dealing with it a head of time, kind of thing. I for one would like the Autobot symbol, but for those that want the Knight symbol a sticker like last year would be perfect.
No, there were announcements over the PA system at last years convention that if you go up to the info booth and ask for the sticker, they would hand them out there. From what I understand the original MW Skywarp that was released at KB toy stores was the only figure to have a G2 symbol and that the Botcon version did not, so they offered a G2 symbol sticker to make the figure more realistic to the original toy.
oh hot damn, i'd totally buy that! don't forget all the updated Action Masters who actually transform now... I love the Duocons, but this is pretty damn funny...
Agreed! The mass appeal/desire for this figure increases exponentially (completely my opinion, no hard facts) by them using the Autobot symbol rather than the Kinght symbol. Devcon has been desired for a while now so using the Autobot symbol is a smart move on FP's part.
I think it would have been mass-accepted either way. It's a double standard. They want to adhere to the theme, but then out of nowhere one of the "Knights" isn't rocking that faction symbol? IMO that's stupid. Ferak has giant Star Seeker logos on his wings, and a Decepticon symbol on his head. That's the first Ferak figure we're getting, so what's the difference? Doing the same with Devcon would cement the theme, and the figure would fit a lot better within the theme. I know they could and probably will do a sticker for his chest or something, but what happens when that sticker peels away through time? I think there should be a Knight symbol painted/tampo on the chest. And if the G1 or "hardcore" Devcon fans don't like that, they can just grab some rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball to fix the problem.
Eh, I dunno.... I've got 30-year-old G1 toys whose stickers are still colorful and still adhering just fine. And even if they aren't, stickers can be easily reproduced. I feel like more people would want to take their chances with that than to permanently damage a limited-edition toy by taking rubbing alcohol to it. FP probably reasons (rightly so, judging by the initial responses when this year's theme was announced) that the whole "knight" thing has sort of a niche appeal, whereas the market for the first real G1-based Devcon toy is much larger. So they likely erred on that side. This is just my opinion, of course, but I think it was the right decision.
