One thing I'm really uncertain about regarding the Prime Masters is their weapon modes. I see that the actual weapons are capable of detaching via a friction joint, but it looks the 5mm handle on the shell might be as well. Does that mean I can assemble a normal-looking weapon without having a guy napping in the middle of it?

 

Except then you're giving Rung a functional alt-mode. Isn't his whole bit that nobody knows what it's supposed to be?

The time for Rung would've been Combiner Wars, where he could turn into "nothing" but still work as a beat-stick for a combiner.

 

I just want a rung that turns into a stick. Like, make him some sort of Hascon thing, I don't care, I just want it. ;_;

 

You are not actually, I recall some people in our discord server saying that as well.

Could do a simple mod by removing vehicle shell bits until you're left with a...thing for alt mode (kinda like being able to make TR Krok an Action Master by tearing off his beast kibble).

 

This and exactly this!

Not only that, but thicker protective armor, means even armor piercing rounds would take more to get through. So extra padding makes sense.

 

Same. A modified CW Shockwave would probably do the trick.

 

This would work with deluxes and the titan heroes type line that's the ultra class sized non transforming figurines Hasbro does for Transformers and Marvel stuff.
It'd also work with Construct-a-bots and new 5mm peg fold plating. Since the v1 body types had the 5mm peg on the front. I've got a custom built Construct-a-bots ironhide that uses that peg spot to wear a pretender shell of his own now. Kre-o built even.

If they went the construct-a-bots method, I would hope they'd make new chest pieces that had a friction canopy that could store kreons as drivers or even Titan/Prime masters. Which would fit the original pretender bots' designs as nearly all had that front canopy like landmine etc. So then it'd be a pretender in a pretender, wearing a pretender shell. And since v1 construct-a-bots had 5mm holding hands, then they could use their decoy shell as their weapon too. Factoring in inflation from original set prices, that'd give us roughly 19.99 USD sets for the original bots. Maybe 24.99 USD. Though with the lesser labor assembly cost because of having to build it yourself, probably 19.99 USD. And it'd be a great way to re-vitalize kre-o and construct-a-bots. (Honestly what both were supposed to be from the start, but I digress.)

The bigger sets using titan heroes would only need a minor sculpt difference to the ones now. a hinged clip door in the back to store the deluxe in compacted mode. Then the shells would be bigger than voyager, but near or cheaper than voyager price point, putting a deluxe with one together at a roughly 35-40 USD pricepoint, possibly even 29.99 USD. And the figure could have mild articulation that way too with elbows and knees it they added them. But if not, original pretenders only had rotation cut articulation in their arms anyway.

I tend to prefer the construct-a-bots method, but the titan heroes method presents potential too. Seems like something they were already testing with the Rescue bots Titan heroes style bots that could hold figures inside, but with the transparent doors on those, they had to minimize the room for a sculpt inside. A rear opaque door would mean that wouldn't be an issue and would open it up more. Also an added bonus of being 1:18th scale figure compatible. I like this method also because it'd mean potentially 1:18th scale figures of the shells, power masters, head masters, and various characters like Cogman, Sari, and Kicker etc.

Both these methods would give us bigger versions of the original pretender bots than scout/legends class. And would open up more articulation too to the figures.

I like your idea for the later year pretenders that did transform though. And we may see something like that later with the test engineering used in the leader class figures of POTP.
But I also really like the concept of making some of those shells 1:18th scale compatible for driving like some of the mega pretenders were that had action master compatibility too. One decepticon one stands out for that in particular that I'd love to see GI Joe attempt as a "Future Warfare" type line of more scifi futuristic stuff alongside Jinx's cyber ninja suit.

 

Too be fair, those were uniformly awful. They were undersized in robot mode, looked little like the characters they were supposed to represent, aside from MAYBE the Condor bros, and they transformed into essentially nothing: a useless thick circle.

 

Except from a kid's perspective the *robot* is what they are buying. So why not put the emphasis on that. Hell, from a collector's perspective most of us buy these for the robots.

 

Actually for those of us buying at retail, robot mode allows us to see vital imperfections in paint, especially on the head.

 

Toy swapping - Transformers Wiki

 

That would be an interesting way of doing the vehicle Pretenders and the Actionmasters in the same line.

 

When are Moonracer and Elita expected in stores or available to buy online?

 

Both are slated for Wave 2. Will probably be around Feb/March 2018.

 

I can tell you this hasn't stopped a thing.

There's at least one guy in my area who routinely returns action figures with a random Goodwill figure in the box. Stores don't care, regardless what mode it's packed in.

 

I just can't unsee Guard City's Fire Chief with that. Oh well, PotP Inferno can go to my Actionmaster CHUG shelf.

 

So it looks like Starscream is doing a handstand in torso mode. Is there any chance that mold has shared engineering with silverbolt?

 

that's long been the belief.

 

I thought that was about hun-grr not starscream