Didn't realize leader Prime was found at retail 3 months ago. Seems like he was first revealed around then. I'm in eastern Ohio and have yet to see him. I need to check the other area Walmart in WV. Of course, if they got the same display it's probably been ravaged by now too. There was still 1 Hotlink at the store I went to today, but I have no interest in him other than maybe the battlemasters.

 

Opinions are opinions, theres no disputing an opinion, I mostly see it as a friendly conversation and most of the time it's someone trying to clarify, justify or explain things.

Gripe: Hes too small
Clairty: Hes a minibot, this character is supposed to be small
Gripe: I'm not paying 19.99 for a Legends class
Clarity: Its actually not a Legends Class, although short in stature, its parts count, complexity, articulation, paint, accessories, etc all exceed the Legends Class scale which is a matter of explicit fact, not personal opinion
Gripe: It has the wrong arms, not G1 accurate.
Clairty: This is only an homage, not an MP, it's not mean to explicitly be a 1:1 recreation of 1984 G1 cartoon Cliffjumper.
Gripe: It's not worth it to me
Clarity: That's perfectly reasonable and totally understandable
Gripe: I'm not a fan of the character so I wont buy it.
Clarity: That's totally fine, I understand

You see some people complain about aspects of the figure that are supposed to be there or they make statements that are factually incorrect based on objective data and facts given out by Hasbro when they clarify their pricing protocols. Alot of fans are ignorant and that's not an insult, I'm ignorant of many things but here is one place where we can combated ignorance with wisdom and information, clarity.

Interview with John Warden and Lynsey Bernier On Making Transformers - Transformers News - TFW2005

What’s It Like to Design and Engineer Toys?

 

Better than being trolled by a flat-Earthriser.  

 

Check Renegade in North Lima. Got mine there.
Also, Target is supposed to have an end cap for Father's Day. Might be there.

Oho!

 

And, as you mention, it's probably why he specifically is coming with Grimlock. Not just because it fits within the model Studio Series has establshed....but also because he wouldn't fit in the current Generations model. He'd be as big as a Battlemaster but they don't want to try and cram him in that particular brand because he doesn't have a weapon mode or a buddy to package with.

The funny thing is, Studio Series already went through this. For all the bigger delxues/voyagers we've seen, we've also had Deluxe SS Jazz who's a wee boy.

 

If it helps any, I think I saw a couple of them in Target this morning. NW Ohio, South of Toledo.

 

ER leaders have been sloooooow to retail in part because of the abundance of Shockwaves on shelves. It's not even his fault. Just the fact that leaders coming two to a case and one always being a repack means everybody buys the new stuff and leaves the repack behind.

Shockwave had the misfortune of coming with BOTH Leaders that people were super excited for (Prime and Magnus). So everyone who wanted Shockwave got him in the first wave, and then he just lingered. Has Hasbro known they were going to do an extra wave...maybe they could have done wave 2 as two new leaders and then done the repack thing in waves 3 and 4 to help keep product moving.

That's what I'd do anyway. Wave 1 of ER is Astrotrain/Prime, Wave 2 is Dealer and another new guy, then waves 3 and 4 flip so Astrotrain and Prime are in different waves and so are Dealer and the new guy.

 

Agree, it’s a devastating blow to collectors who have been waiting a very long time for a proper Cliffjumper.

 

It is a fun little bot though. It's my travel companion. Small enough to fit in a hoodie pocket. But complex enough to be entertaining when ttransformed. Idk I think it's worth it.

 

Those clones also have significantly less parts and engineering than cliffjumper does, notice the new 2 pack of them is $25 and cliffjumper is $20. What's the saying? Size isn't everything

absolutely

The alt mode integration is still one of the best things about Beast Wars in my opinion, if you really think about it, it acutally makes it harder to lose the accessories because everything has a place to go in both modes

 

Yes they are toys but $20 is a hard pill to swallow for something that small and has to partsforms, maybe if i collected 3rd party or masterpiece i would but I'm not rich

 

Dang. So much angst toward my boy lil cliffy. I won't lie I was miffed by the diminutive size at first, but it's still a fun little toy that I pretty much bring everywhere with me. I love the car autobots in this line in general with wave 1, and I honestly am pretty content. Between prime, hoist, wheeljack, grapple+ add ons and cliffy I have enough variation to keep me entertained for a grip. May not get anything else with this chapter. Maybe the gen selects inferno we all know is coming, and the prowl/ironhide 2 pack if they aren't lazy retools. Prime and wheeljack are definitely my favorite though.

But it's still dope though... idk I like it man. You don't have to and I don't judge you for not liking it, but it is dope though.

 

It's 30$ over here and if I can get any figure on sale (as they are ALL overpriced really badly) I will. But I consider Cliffjumper to be a great figure and I have no regret getting him even if at full price. Between him and several larger deluxes, many have so many large gaps that they feel really cheap compared to it, many I ended up getting gap fillers (almost doubling the price for these figures' value) or doing some filling myself with plastic or hot coloured glue that I repainted over.

Size wise, I consider him a "mini" car like a "Smart car" so his small alt mode still works next to the other cars.

That said, I do not care for Grapple as he's simply way too small for the type of vehicle that he is. He just doesn't work for me. And the ER Seekers... not even if I found one for 2$... it's just a horrible mold as far as I'm concerned and I look forward to the next version that will most probably outdo it in every way.

 

Not to mention it's easy to remember which accessory goes with who.

And the alternative was RiD's Car Brothers, who even with weapon integration still had giant chunks of car hanging off.

I love Side Burn, but he's almost in exactly the same position as Wolfang, and instead of the roof coming off to form a shield it hangs off his arm and gets in everything's way both posing and transformation.

And people had better brace themselves because if Hasbro does a chapter or two on Beast Wars they'll almost certainly bring in the integrated weapons.

Because the alternative is pointless kibble despite weapons that would go there anyway.

The weapons being hidden in alt mode also lead to far more character in bot mode. Cheetor's gut gun, Wolfang's tail crossbow...

Chopperface's...chopper. Even BW Meg's t-rex cannon and tail claw. Can you imagine this fandom if they tried introducing a t-rex Transformer today who's entire dino head hung off his arm?

 

Yes and no. Initially I thought it was, over time I have mixed feelings. ER Prime can rotate the hips 90 degrees forward unlike SIEGE Prime but has less knee range. The arm and back kibble I didn't like on SIEGE Prime has been decreased/eliminated(save for the wheels) on ER Prime. SIEGE Prime has a more intriguing transformation overall whereas ER Prime has a cool torso transformation but bare minimum leg transformation.

SIEGE Prime was a knockout that I had a few qualms with. ER Prime is the mainline Prime a lot of us wanted since the 80's and shares some similarities with SIEGE Prime, doesn't carry over all of its strengths and has a few issues of its own.

 

Wait... wasn't "I MIGHT LOSE THE PIECE!" the complaint about headmasters during Titans Return?

It didn't make sense then, either.

Again, it was the best thing about Beast Wars. You couldn't lose the pieces because they had a place in both bot and alt mode.

Cliffjumper's shield forms his trunk in alt mode, so you won't lose it there. And you can't lose it in bot mode because he'll either be holding it, or it pegs to his back.

 

I see three valid reasons to wait for ER Prime:

1. This will probably see release in a premium deco.

2. The crotch while better engineered than Siege has weird detailing that accentuates his thigh length. If/when this mold gets retooled and/or as 3Ps launch upgrade kits for the cab, I expect the crotch detailing to lower the details and/or paint the center square. He has a small crotch to thigh ratio and instead of omitting the details that don't fit, Hasbro crammed all the details in and pushed everything up higher.

3. Studio Series. G1 releasing there at all might give some collectors pause and until we know what if anything determines what qualifies as SS material, there's an excellent chance this figure will be retooled for that.

That said, crotch detailing aside, none of that is this figure's FAULT. The big reason not to get this figure boils down to if you think there will be another version of it you want more.

It's a fine figure and worth the price at least once. The question is if it's worth buying twice in the same basic deco and if you can live with this version.

It's a better toy than Siege, flat out. I'd say if you buy any leaders that are at the "Voyager+" scale, the only thing that will displace this on a shelf is another version of this.

 

I'm not sure how much longer people should wait at this point if they want an updated G1 Prime at retail.

I can't picture Hasbro going back to anything like this in the Generations line for a long time. They're already testing the limits of double-dipping with Siege/Earthrise.

This really feels like a "speak now or forever hold your peace" type thing.

 

Titans returns gets a pass because most of them are required the head to be removed except for legends and the last 3 leaders, plus they transform into smaller figures way better than a dumb shield and the partforming of the "shield" for the blurr mold is optional
Also they were $5 cheaper

 

Thank you