What is b9t mode exactly?  

 

This works for newer collectors who missed the Maketoys and TT, I'm sure xtb will sell some. And the vehicle modes look good.

But ladders and cranes hanging off the back in bot mode is so out dated.

 

And where is Virtus?

 

I love his designs but this guy can't stop himself making Ben Stiller faces  

 

Hey man - 9 is really close to o!   Especially on a phone with my big fingers! It seems I've accidentally trained my autocorrect with a lot of dumb typos!

 

Somehow, just somehow i expected that kind of an answer!   Let’s see...9 is a number and o is a letter...Ok, fair enough.  

 

My first impression is I prefer the old Dante look compared to this, even with his oversized feet. The face is a definite downgrade. I would need to see it a comparison with MMC to really decide (MT and Takara were never considerations), but so far I expect it is a pass.

 

For those who complains that ladder can't be hidden in bot mode, please notice in the alt mode, the ladder in semi-contracted mode is already the same length as TT ladder in full extension mode, it has twice of the length compared with TT version.
And bulk/volume of XTB's ladder is much closer to the real life vehicle.
It's all about sacrifice.
But I agree, the market for them is too small and this is just a move to ease people's anger towards not seeing springer or the others.

 

If I had the extra money and opportunity I'd buy TT Inferno for the bot mode and XTB for alt mode. Best of both worlds.

When are these going on PO? Anyone know?

 

Physically close damnit!!! Like the buttons are right next to each other!!  That's how typos happen!! Trigerrrrrrrrrrrd   

   

 

I cant help feeling that XTB have left it too late for these figures. Back when MP Inferno was released he was the first huge lunge into a more cartoon-orientated aesthetic. Sure, Iron Hide and Ratchet had the clean leg panels but Inferno came along, not only with the clean panels and tapered limbs but also with alt-mode compromises. The alt-mode made no effort to look like a real Fuso outside of the cab due to them wanting to appeal to the cartoon crowd. They didn't even add rear lights to keep the toes clean.

Back then all the cars had dark tinted windows, painted badges and lights and were licensed. Realistic alt modes were the main priority with the robot mode being as close to the anime model as the alt-mode (and budget) would allow. An Inferno with a realistic alt-mode would have slotted right in. Hell, many board members were clamouring for one!

Fast forward to 2021 and we're all used to the anime-is-king aesthetic. Megatron wasn't a 1:1 perfect replica, all subsequent seekers have been happy enough with the toon accurate "oh look, there's a robot under that F-15!" design, MP-44 took a side-step rather than a step forward from MP-10s truck design, Bumblebee ended up being squished, Hound has fake ankles and Sunstreaker has a fake chest... All to get us closer to the anime model. The + releases replaced some of those early cars in many collections (not mine, heh) and now everyone wants a more cartoon accurate Soundwave, a better Sideswipe and even better versions of Iron Hide and Ratchet simply because they have van doors on their hips. Things have moved on. Even many of us who craved realistic alt-modes, extra details, no (or very limited) faux parts have softened our stance somewhat in that time.

5 years ago I'd have snapped this up, no question. I'm just not so sure right now... Though I will watch with interest to see how the final product turns out.

 

Why

 

Damnit! How far number 9 can go anyway because these phones are already so small anyway!  

 

Second thought...I solved this problem! A seperate keyboard for the phone! Yee!  

 

Why not?

 

This looks pretty good, but the Takara fuso molds were released during that period of peak perfection before Takara suddenly started making everything look like puffy marshmallows from the front and a messy stack of kibble from the sides and back, so this definitely won't be replacing them.


It's still just so weird to me that those two derpy fuckers can get so many MP options when characters like Blaster, Powerglide, Devestator, and Tracks can barely squeeze out one. The MP gods work in mysterious ways.

 

no kidding, was talking about this with a friend last night. an improved Tracks or a better bumblebee, newer-more articulated Datsun bros...or heck even an Astrotrain option would be appreciated. Why the guys who got 3 choices already?

 

This render does look better than the previous ones, but it's entirely too late. The Takara versions are still better than these imo.

 

I've been waiting for Dante all these years!!!

Like many of us, I prefer that figures don't use that same mold to differ the most between them, so I went for TT's Grapple and discard TT's Inferno.
MMC's Backdraft was not really meeting my expectations so I was holding out for this release expecting the worst.

Now I would really like to know the scale, cause in early photos was the same height of Prime.

 

Seems like XTB are resurrecting their Inferno and Grapple. I wonder if these are linked to the HotSpot project as the alt modes could share moldings

 

Personal opinion, these look better than the Maketoys offerings, on par with the MMC offerings, and sub par to the Takara offerings (how often can you ever say that?). Variety and options are always great, but I really don't see much appeal in these with so many alternatives and these seemingly not doing anything new.

If anything, it'd be great if they released a Hauler version; not huge appeal there, but considering how difficult the MMC version can be to find, it wouldn't hurt to have an alternate there.