A short story, but I feel your pain  

 

That headsculpt kinda ruins the figure.

 

I think I like v2 better as well. Maybe I would like the weathering if the figure was bigger.

 

I'm just all for these World War designs. They can exist in my own personal headspace if Bulldog's quality is there.

 

Loving that Bee in primer grey. Great head sculpt on him, too. Can’t wait to see what Bulldog is like so I know how to gauge the rest of the line.

 

Bulldog arrived this morning!



Answering the burning question first: no, there is no BAF part for Starscream. There is, however, a small display base which is nicely textured and painted to look like a cobblestone street. Unnecessary but nice.

For the toy itself - it's good! As you can see in the pictures, the painting is every bit as good as the test shots suggested. I was worried the final product would be downgraded a bit, but not at all. It's absolutely gorgeous. Transformation is a bit tricky, at least first time, because a lot of things tab in super tight and the instructions aren't always particularly clear, but you get there in the end. I'm sure it'll smooth up with further transformations.

Articulation wise, shoulders, elbows and neck are on ball joints. No wrist swivel sadly, but I think that's to be expected on a toy this size. The legs have double jointed knees, though it's designed for the figure to stand with the knees bent - you can't really stand him straight up, it looks weird. Lots of articulation on the feet - forward and back movement and a huge ankle pivot, so you won't struggle to balance him. My only concern is that the entire foot assembly is attached to the leg by a fairly small double hinge which could be a weakness over time, but I'm probably just worrying too much.

Overall, this is pretty great on first impressions. If you've got any specific questions, give me a shout!

 

Hmmn. Interesting. This and the Bumblebee shots on the previous page really make these feel like figures that can do with a coat of good heavy weathering. The tank guy looks really blocky and cartoonish in the solid colours. Weather him up, add some dirt and rust and he’d look a lot more gritty and war-weary and less comical.
Clever designs though.

 

That may be down to my lack of photography skills more than anything else. He's got plenty of rust and weathering effects in-hand.

 

Does he fit in well with SS figures?

 

I only have a couple of Studio Series figures - he's a little shorter than Starscream, and a chunk taller than Jazz, so scale wise I think he's OK with them. Obviously his design is very different though, and he's a lot more detailed.

 

I'm glad they toned down the weathering effect on bee. But I would have preffered a nice premium deco like he just rolled out of the Mercedes factory.

 

So no starscream part included. Does this mean that toyworld have reconsidered the build a fig idear and is giving starscream a full release (WHILE FINGERS CROSSED AND HOLDING BREATH)

 

According to show z store and action robo, the BAF parts for the first run and coming at a later date and will ship when they arrive.

 

First impressions. He's a sterling chap but his instructions don't seem to mention that his back panel needs to be rotated 180 degrees, and he needs a swagger stick something fierce.

 

Ohhh, THAT'S what I was doing wrong! I noticed the side bits on the back panel can be flipped in, but that stops the back panel from fitting flush...until you rotate it, at which point it makes perfect sense.

Another step the instructions don't mention: the crotch panel can be flipped backwards to give a bit of a cleaner look.

 

Yeah I can see there’s some here but personally I much prefer the way overdone look on Bumblebee V1 than the more subtle effect on the V2. But I always think of WW1 as gritty and grimey and mud-caked. But still kind of cool

 

I hate it that they aren't MP scaled, but maybe I'll bite and give them a shelve of their own...

 

why cant they get the head sculpt right for ww2 bee lol

 

Absolute paintjob on this lad..