Looking at both Shockwave and Roadbuster's packages... Shockwave has his wrist turned making it look like his blade is on the underside of his arm. He has no swivel joint for his wrist like that. Roadbuster has his mechtech weapon attached to the side of his vehicle mode. It's impossible to use those ports outside of robot mode. The hell? Also, HATE having voyagers packed in robot mode :[
The photos are probably of an earlier prototype that underwent some final changes. ROTF leader Prime show articulated hands, I believe, even though the figure didn't have them. -Silvershot
- see how defined the head looks? well the bot head and the plane head are tabbed together. just untab. - see how there's no shadow on the wrist meaning that the wing is not as cumbersome to the hands. there a space between the wrist and wing. i want that. i hate it too. damn prototype pics.
I met with Hasbro Nordic in 2009. They told me the toys sold better when in robot mode as they look bigger, making people think they get more for their money. They started doing it with some characters in ROTF, like Bumblebee, and I guess they decided to go crazy with it in DOTM.
Naw I understand why they started packing bots in robot mode, but I hate it, ruins a lot of the fun for me. I rather have that first transformation be from vehicle mode to robot mode..for lots of reasons. For one it is a lot easier (usually) going to bot mode, and helps you understand the figure better. It's a pain going to alt mode for the first time because you have to figure out where all the parts go to make a coherent vehicle mode. Secondly it kills the "surprise". To me it's just cooler unfolding this vehicle into a robot than scrunching down a robot into a vehicle. Finally I prefer having my figures in robot mode majority of the time, so when I open them and they are already in bot mode..I gotta go to alt mode and then back into robot mode or just not transform them at all.
I can see where you're coming from for the rest. But a Transformers fan complaining about how having to actually transform their TFs two times is too much seems odd. Might as well just buy Gundams.
I mean as far as that initial transform and display bit. Plus if you're gonna argue that, what about MISB collectors?
I keep a fair amount of my collection sealed. I really like some of the figures boxed in robot form. They display really nice. I imagine there are a few opinions on this.
I think the main influence on how things are boxed is a balance between what looks/sells better, and what size the boxes are. The retailers put a lot of input into how big boxes can be, and how they want their shelves arranges.
MISB collectors and loose collectors are very different breeds. The first does it more for rarity, like a coin collector or comic collector who never opens the book. They don't really collect to even look at it, but more for the rush of ownership. The second cares about touching/playing with the toy. If you like transforming the toy once (as you stated) I don't see why you would hate transforming it twice.
While I think the whole concept of robots in disguise is better if the figure is sold in altmode, it's preferable to have them in robot mode sometimes, as it makes it easier to identify certain QC issues and details that aren't evident in vehicle mode. Imagine if Crankcase was packed in robot mode, for example.
