(Ok don't fuck this up, remember, do not tell about how you look at Grapple pictures every night before sleep. You got this)
(... Shit)

So, just got Mirage and can I say that I really like him ? Sure he's a little bit Sir-Mix-A-Lot-y on the alt mode but I kinda like it and I cannot lie.

Now I really wish I can get my hand on a wfc Ratchet and also, please make us another shot at Jazz. Really don't wanna buy the potp one again.
Which bring the question... WHERE THE HELL is my potp Windcharger ? Can't find him anywhere in the flat. Ironic that he is the one with the flash light. Oh well, guess that's convinient for him to be forgotten somewhere. Really toon accurate.


Hurry autobots, the cons have stolen the maple syrup.

Assuming the next line will see Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker, I guess Huffer and Gears are going to be the two reamaining season one bots. But which one will be the last ?
(Money on Gears ? Money on Gears) Hey cool that means Pipes for wfc3 ! Gonna put down my feet on that one.


Also my god this remake of the 6th palace of Link's Awakening is incredible. You JUST leanrt the truth about the nature of this island and it's supposed to weight on you/Link, and this music sure makes sure you feel that way.

Hi guys, des bisous !

 

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! No way I'm replacing my legends astrotrain now (not that there was ever any danger of that, but still).

These are some fantastic pics.

 

Ahh, gotcha! I had a feeling something like this could happen. Yeah, I think it’s likely Roadbuster now then.

I actually went back over the Generations Line & tried to think who else it could be, & the pool is pretty small. Other than ‘new to G1’ characters like Bulkhead or ones that were recently done/highly unlikely to get a redo like Springer or Onslaught, these are the only ones I could find:


I think Trailbreaker will be a retool of Hoist so he’s out. Sandstorm ‘maybe’ his thrilling 30 is an armoured car but likely a dune buggy if done again. There’s a Roller that came with Prime but I think he’d get a classic redo as a Small Drone that fits in the new Optimus first.

Could you class Straxus as an armoured car? He’d be a maybe. Otherwise you’re only left with Roadbuster, Doubledealer & Clench, & with them having a more early G1 vibe, much as I’d love Clench I now think it’s Roadbuster (or possibly Straxus if you’re being charitable!)

 

I saw a bunch more unboxed photos and in every single one he looks worse and worse.

Yes, it was a commander or leader class armoured car but I’m sure they said there hadn’t been a 3P version of it. Doesn’t leave a lot of choice unless it’s a ridiculously deep cut...

So, does anyone else assume that when Unicron hits we’ll get a new Galvatron and Rodimus?

Strongarm is an armoured car....

 

Moley Jeebus, thats almost enough to make me cancel my order...paying Leader money for that...and if it were anyone else aside from Astrotrain I would do but he does look so lovely

 

You know, that Astrotrain might be too little, and sure will be super pricey because STUFF in the box, and I know they're playing me... But they're right. I'm gonna astroplay the hell of that train.
My very first TF ever, I'm weak that way.

Also dear Mo' it's quite simple actually. You only have to remember one name: Dead End. Because, as he said himself, "who cares" about the rest ?

(Motormaster: Oh noes, Megatron being coup d'etated by Starscream !
Dead End: Who cares ?

I'm 38 and that's still making me laugh for some reason)

 

I love you. Don't ever change.
Hey boy!

Shite. I never think of Straxus as an armoured car, but you're on the money. I still feel, on the gut level, it's not who Catz was referring to, but it's definitely a solid candidate. Good catch.

Did I already say don't ever change? Yes. I did. Phew! The memory starts to go a bit once you hit forty. Enjoy your faculties over the next two years.

Also...
Megatron
Function: Leader
"Peace through tyranny"

 

I could never remember the Aerialbots until I got them in CW.

Straxus was a cannon, like Galvatron in the comics, so given how Earthrise is shaping up, I reckon a Straxus would turn into one of those. I do like this mystery of who could it be?

 

So...did anyone else forget Siege Flywheels exists despite owning it or was that just me?

 

I still cant get my head around getting rid of one transformer because a newer one comes out, I still have all the Primes i ever bought, all the Astrotrains, Jazzes, Grimlocks and Soundwaves as well

 

I only started selling when I ran out of space. I figured rather than have the likes of classics astrotrain and octane sitting in a box, sell them for a little money and to get some space. But I never sold a figure purely because I got a newer version.

 

Nah, my boy is front and centre with my Siege 'Cons.

 

Not mine. I much prefer the tetrajet seeker to the upscaled classics seeker that Earthrise is offering. Earthrise doesn't even have a waist swivel. Bleh.

I feel like a bit of an outlier in the fandom, since I really just don't like the classics seeker mold all that much... I guess I got into the hobby to long after it was introduced to feel like it was any good...  

 

Shall we practice medicine?

I kinda feel that Straxus would be a disappointment. If they wanted to "do him right" then Siege would be the perfect place to do that Cybertronian flying cannon thing. And to be honest, the old Generations toy is still pretty great in both modes, and only the fiddly transformation lets him down.

The more I look at the new seeker mould the less I'm impressed by the big blocky upper torso. That's not to say that the old Classics mould is better exactly, but it is in the same size as the rest of my seekers so yet again I've got no reason to upgrade.

 

When it came out, it was pretty awesome, and other than the robot masters figure, was the closest looking figure to what was actually on screen. It's definitely lacking when compared to some modern figures of the seekers, especially in the articulation department, but it's also the only time other than G1 when the seekers and coneheads were all in a matching mould.

 

Yeah. The first figure I got with that mold was Thundercracker, and he was in wave 7 of Generations, and I got him at the same time as Wheeljack and Warpath, so they overshadowed him quite a bit. Plus, I was never able to get a Skywarp, so now that I have all three in voyager scale, I'm happy  

 

I don't reckon he's going to happen until WfC:III, and I don't think Jazz will either. So would you settle for a Jazz retool?

 

Lol, I only managed to grab a skywarp to finish the set earlier this year. Granted I had a custom filling in for nearly a decade, but it felt really good to complete the set with official figures. He used to be crazy prices, but came down a lot recently.

 

Hes the one in the front of my decepticons shelf cant forget him

 

Rodimus Prime is a better character than Optimus Prime, hands down. No question. Hell, he's probably the better Prime too, but it's not like we got to see it. Optimus Prime suffers from Superman syndrome, whereby the character is too perfect to be interesting (yes I know Superman has had a bit of a renaissance lately, that's not the point here). Optimus Prime is the strongest, wisest, most capable, bestest Autobot everest, and therefore infallible. Every decision is correct, every battle is a victory, every word of wisdom is profound. Optimus Prime is never wrong.

Rodimus though? He's put through the wringer. Being the Chosen One by a pretty arbitrary process he spends the majority of season 3 grappling with the awesome burden of having to live up to the legend of his predecessor. He doubts himself. He makes choices he's unsure of. He wonders if he's even worthy of the Matrix, and willingly hands it over when he thinks Optimus is back. By the end of the season, Rodimus has grown, matured, and come to terms with his role as Prime. That's actually great storytelling, even if the quality of the cartoon was always the wrong side of shonky.

Just a pity the writers had to go and spoil it all in the last episodes by bringing back Optimus and kicking poor Rodimus to the kerb. He deserved better. And those episodes were straight-up terrible.

Okay, the toy, part of the Power of the Primes line. It's a contentious one. This is a flawed creation, no doubt about it, and the list of problems is enough to put anyone off. The worst is the shoulder joints for the larger robot mode, which are jointed at the collar rather than the actual shoulder. This hampers pose ability a lot. There are the small robot hands just about visible under the chest piece. The large vehicle mode's tabs don't all quite line up properly. The robot mode fists are visible in this mode too. There's a lack of 5mm ports in the smaller car mode. All in all, this speaks of a toy that really did deserve to have another run through the drafting process, to iron out the kinks and make it as good as it looks, and as good as it ought to be. It makes Rodimus Prime feel a bit... rushed.



And yet.

I absolutely love this thing. This is the Rodimus Prime toy I always dreamed might exist when I was a child. I'd watch his first transformation at the end of the 1986 movie and think to myself "Yup, that's just Hot Rod with a load of extra guff stuck to his roof to turn himself into a camper van", yet the few attempts at toys for Rodimus never seemed to lean into this obvious fact until POTP. You can remove the guff and have Hot Rod on his own, or slap it back on him for the full "Who the hell would ever drive this?" Prime experience. And in robot mode you can power him up for giant-ass Rodimus Prime, or leave the small robot on its own as Hot Rod... or a perfectly acceptable Rodimus Prime as well.

(Because here's the dirty secret: Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime always looked pretty much the same)



The Hot Rod portion is the best part. It's a near-perfect Hot Rod in both modes, though pedants might want him to be a bit pinker in hue. I'm fine with the red and orange, to be honest. It certainly looks a lot better in robot mode than the Titans Return version of the character - charming as that is, the miniature spoiler and beefy gorilla arms just don't look great overall. In vehicle mode TR Hot Rod edges it slightly, with the curvy edges and opening cockpit, but it's a close-run thing even there.

As Rodimus Prime the vehicle mode is possibly the best, most comfortable ride to go dogging in that you could ever imagine. Can't really see it being used for much else, the giant wacky flame designs sending very particular signals to passers-by. Ah, but then there's the old problem of having no windows in the trailer. Perhaps not then. It's not exactly an upgrade from Hot Rod's mental sports car mode to a doddering old camper van, but I guess they needed to find some way to bulk him up back in the 80s. And then the robot mode... well, so long as you don't try to pose him, it's pretty spectacular. He stands tall, stoically gazing out like an ancient sentinel, his face lined and angular to differentiate it from Hot Rod's smoother mush (that's how you know he's grown up). Ironically he has pretty decent legs, with angle tilts even before Siege made it common practice. It's yet another case of the toy being nearly perfect.

Perhaps that's for the best. Rodimus Prime as a character was never perfect. That's why he was a better character, after all. He had flaws, and so does his toy. I can't love this thing because of the flaws, but I can love it in spite of them. Outside Masterpiece (which looked good but kept breaking), this is still the greatest rendition of Rodimus Prime ever made. We'll probably not see another one for a long time, so why not enjoy this one? Now if only Hasbro had had the guts to keep Optimus dead forever, maybe Rodimus would get the respect he deserves...



Right, so that's all of them reviewed, right? The entire principle cast of season 3, over, finished and in the bag! We've had the Fast One, Old One, Smart One, Dumb One, Girl One, Serious One, Heroic One... and Wreck-Gar and Sky Lynx. That's everyone! Hooray! Thanks to everyone who's been reading these, I appreciate all your fe-

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

I missed one.

Oh god...