No way man, again, I have alot of those figures with me right now, alot of their new counterparts have articulation that is just flat out better. Lots of missing ankles and wrists and waists and what not are there now. I'd be hard pressed to make my old Jazz and Ratchet pose as well as the newer ones do, they just... can't.

 

Maybe. Compared with the height of ROTF/HFTD, quite possibly, but compared with Beast Wars figures, that's not the case! A few weeks ago I got curious about this and grabbed a few (random) SS and BW deluxes that I have out for display and decided to count all of the individual plastic parts in each one (ignoring screws, pins, etc). They were almost exactly the same:

SS Jeep Bumblebee: 54 parts
SS Hightower: 40 parts
SS Scrapmetal: 42 parts

BW TM2 Iguanus: 50-something (hard to tell how many are in the missile launcher/head assembly)
BW TM2 Prowl: 42
BW Manterror: 46

It's really close, and when you account for inflation since the mid-90s, the price isn't far off either.

I think the main degradation with current lines lies in the plastic formulation, thinness of walls/parts, and the elimination of niceties like spring missile launchers, complex/expensive paint apps, chrome, etc. I'm sure Iguanus, despite having roughly the same number of parts and being the same overall size as SS 'Bee, costs more to make because of the chrome, springs, and complexity of construction, vis a vis the reptile head. But it's impossible to know for sure without being inside Hasbro.

I would also add (not having checked) that current leaders sure appear to use far, far fewer parts than their older counterparts. I think there's more obvious cost cutting the further up in size you go, for whatever reason -- my general impression with current lines is that voyagers are basically just big deluxes as far as complexity goes, and leaders are just voyagers with a few accessories thrown in. Possibly because deluxes are the bread and butter of TF lines so they don't want to cut them too harshly, but on the big ticket items they want to reap a huge profit per unit sold. All just speculation on my part, though.

 

You're missing my point though. There are plenty of old figures with wrists and waists and stuff of that type. The technique was still used frequently enough. It doesn't represent any kind of innovative new use of materials. About the most significant progressive new element that has become relatively common in recent years is ankle-tilts (or feet molded for an a-stance even)... but Armada Supercon Prime had that in 2003.

I just don't feel like the new Studio Series stuff is fundamentally more sophisticated or advanced than previous lines (especially not taking into consideration the increase in price, and decrease in parts and size). They're a bit different, but I think most of the changes are simplifications and aesthetics.

zmog

 

One of the biggest problems people love to gloss over is how inconsistent SS figures are when it comes to secondary articulation. Waist and wrist swivel, and in some cases even the beloved ankle tilt. It's not always there, yet the figures themselves are the same, smallish deluxes or what have you. People love to point out Siege figures as having more articulation--which more commonly they do--and that it's one of the(certainly not the only) larger reasons for the cost increase. But I can point to various Bumblebees, Stinger, Roadbuster, etc. as having none of those secondary articulation points, being smaller deluxes, and still shoved in a $20 box with nothing else to add to its lesser value. And they are no more complicated in transformation than past movie transformers.

Certainly not all are like that. I definitely prefer SS's Lockdown to the AOE version. Even then, he only has the waist swivel. Feet move 'back' due to transformation only. But it's a cool figure. I even bought the orange drone version...although the fact that both were at Walmart when they were selling for $17.88 for a small stint likely helped in that.

I don't expect these to be "cheaper;" the price points are what they are. But give me my money's worth--put SOMETHING else in there if you're going to give me a tiny bot with only the basic+ articulation. Car-mode Shatter and Dropkick could have been larger deluxes, considering how tall they were in the movie versus Bumblebee, and that their muscle cars were supposed to be big to sort-of play into the whole "see, THAT'S how they can be jets and helicopters, too--look at how big their CAR MODES are!" Yeah, add a wink and a nod to it. But their car-version toys were just...tiny.

Even with its gimmicks, I still love the ROTF and HFTD movie lines as an overall over anything they've done to date. Exceptions would be one-off figures here and there. That was a wonderful line.

 

Yeah, people are getting defensive, which is (again) missing the point. In most cases, I LIKE the simplifications made on the newer figures. I just wish they were bigger to give a bit more bang for the buck! They feel less fiddly to handle, look more accurate, and are easier to pose... and the transformations are faster and less rage-inducing.  

But, that said... I don't think those are the product of progressive evolution in design or mechanical innovation. The earlier figures generally had way MORE of that.

I agree about some of the old movie lines, but I especially loved the original characters they developed during that time. Without being chained to following the CGI models from the movies, we got some very good movie-style designs (Dropckick, Longarm, Breakaway, Mindwipe, Landmine, Brawn, Stockade, Bludgeon, the toon-style Lockdown, the 2007 Arcee, etc...)

zmog

 

Some of the older, non-character toys are some of my favorites. Dropkick is a great stand-out character, and while the game has him as a drone type Decepticon, the toy has such personality. Landmine is totally a character in my head, and I love that ROTF Brawn!

I also made a cast of AOE Lockdown's head, removed the ROTF Lockdown head and made it work in the leftover neck piece that still swivels side to side. He looks killer!

 

PrimeVsPrime had a review up of SS Blitzwing, it looks pretty good. Glad we got some opening hands. Definitely happy I preordered it. I'm trying to convince myself whether I need the Cliffjumper or not. Haha

 

*One opening hand

 

Well gosh...I guess its a start. Lol

 

I think the Blitzwing mold was designed for Cybertronian Seekers this jet is after thought in my opinion.

 

The wings of the jet and bot mode are exactly like the Cybertronian seekers. The way the wings are straight in jet mode and the way the wings angle upwards in bot mode.

 

Oh yeah! Easy cop for me! 3 things that bug me though
1. Bendy plastic for all weapons scares me
2. Was hoping for a little bit of yellow on the chest
3. Arms look a teeny bit long when they are just straight down.

 

Takaratomy Stock photos of Blitzwing

 

What stores will he be in?

 

A simple google search should give you details. It depends on the country.

 

Saw this guy on my grocery run at Target today. Feels early? I dunno, anyways it is awesome and has a ton of presence.

 

Just saw a wave 10 voyager case at a local Walmart. Still haven’t seen one at Meijer yet. The Targets here appear to be sold out of Blitzwing.

 

In regards to the soft bendy weapons.....what's the reason why this new release has those, but the original deluxe was able to have chunky solid ones?

 

Managed to nab the last Topspin at my local Walmart. Man... I was hoping for more. He's not as bad as Roadbuster, but the abundance of soft grey plastic really dampers what would otherwise be... a rather mediocre figure, honestly.

Think I'll keep Leadfoot, he's rather good, but Roadbuster and Topspin are hitting the BST boards when I can be assed to make a new sales thread.

Blitzwing still looks good, though. Definitely keeping an eye out for him.