I've mentioned this I've mentioned this before but it's been a while: I think a good, balanced, not-too-compromised-in-any-direction way to do a proper full-effort Pretender redo would be to have it be the (or at least a) gimmick of the line, have the "shells" actually be attachable armor pieces that plug on with 5mm pegs or something (think the less complex and thinner parts of Ultra Magnus' armor), and to have all the inner robots fairly directly rendered (with improved vehicle modes though, the way they improved Core Iguanus' vehicle mode); with the Pretender inner robots all being rather similar in proportions and shaping, it wouldn't be hard to make the armor swappable between characters of the same size class, to get that interactivity you really need for a good line-wide gimmick. You could have figures at both the Deluxe and Voyager pricepoints, with perhaps the Voyager's "shell" armor being a tad more complex, and the inner robots being on the small side for their size class to free up the plastic budget for their armor. The inner robots' transformations and engineering being simple as they would be in a fairly direct update from the originals, would also help to free up the parts-number budget for the armor.

That way you'd get both inner robots and shelled characters that are both well-articulated, and not very disparate in size, as well as avoiding the major cost problem of if you were to make the shell essentially a fully separate articulated figure the smaller articulated inner robot hides inside.

 

That’s crazy enough to work!

 

I think Elita is in wave 3 but I would love if I was wrong. Cause I want to see how that Elita looks being a retool of Minerva.
Wouldn't be made if it's a minor retool and it basically is a pink Minerva with an Elita 1 head - cause I think toon Elita is a little too plain with the lack of kibble.

I'm pretty sure Blitzwing.

 

Ahh, you mean like transforming versions of the 80s toy line Centurions? Power Extreme!


I’d love that if they could make it work! I think it’d be perfect for the Autobot Pretenders, but I’m not sure if they could manage the Decepticon ones with them having monster faces (unless they packaged the monster faceplates directly with the corresponding Decepticons, like Submarauder having his as a type of battle mask)

Honestly I thought that’s what they’d originally do for Power of the Primes, so as long as it wasn’t intrusive to the other figures I’d be well up for that (rather that than translucent Energon weapons any day!)

It is Blitzwing & his hulk hands, along with a Package Refresh of Galvatron from Kingdom (possibly a clean version without the ‘battle damage’, but we won’t know for sure until he starts showing up) with Dragon Megs wave 3.

Elita-1 is Deluxe Wave 2 as well, with the Minerva retool coming to Walgreens later this year.

 

So, since everyone seems to be confused at what was in wave 2 I looked in the thread it was revealed. The new figures in wave 2 are:

Core:
-G2 Megatron
-Shockwave

Deluxe:
-Knock Out
-Elita-1
-Tarantulas
-Wildrider

Voyager:
-Jhiaxus

Leader:
-Blitzwing

 

Fictionally, I much prefer how Masterforce did Pretenders. I’d be happy with inner robots and little armored human or creature mini figures. Sell them at the deluxe price point for the standard Pretenders. Then go all out for bigger characters like Mega and Ultra Pretenders. There’s no really good solution to Pretenders, which is why they’re trying different things.

 

NICE then I've been wanting to see how she looks.

I don't wanna start this again but of the characters for wave 2 without seeing them (which is important) I'll be getting the bolded
Core:
-G2 Megatron
-Shockwave

Deluxe:
-Knock Out
-Elita-1
-Tarantulas
-Wildrider

Voyager:
-Jhiaxus

Leader:
-Blitzwing

 

Can't wait to see Tarantulas and Elita-1

 

WRONG! the scale chart, blessed and holy be it's name, is a divine force guiding our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.

 

These are the ones I want from that wave, and I'm so hyped for it.

 

IMO, only bludgeon, metalhawk, mega and ultra pretenders should be voyager or above, let the pretender monsters be large deluxes, and everyone else a core class

 

G2 Megs, Shockwave, Tarantulas, and Jhiaxus are essential pickups for me!

I'll have to see how Knock Out and Blitzwing look before I consider buying them, though.

 

Wave 2 is freaking loaded if Elita-1 turns out to have an Earth mode. Glad that the first wave is a bit of a break because the backlog I have is already intense. Even then Bulkhead, Arcee, Dragstrip and Iguanus are $89 total before whatever tax law California passed lately comes into effect.

Wish we knew what the Energon Monsters were already. It's really weird they're all third wave.

 

Our Scale Chart, as Sunbow intended, hallowed be thy frames. Thy accuracy beyond doubt, gives our size arguments clout, and makes each one of us practically Floro Dery. Lead us not into repetitive arguments, but deliver us from boredom, for thine lines apply to Kingdom, to Earthrise, to Thrilling 30, to Legacy and beyond. Amen.

 

When I have time Im making a collage of those words, the chart and floro. It will be a founding document of Scalegion.

 

You are most welcome to do so, just give me some minor role in the faith. Nothing major, a very minor prophet figure meriting but a single mention in the scrolls is fine. I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

 

I kind of wanna make this my bottom banner quote now. Partially because you probably thought of this all for longer than most would have.

 

You know, maybe it’d be cool if we got the Pretender shell designs as RED figures or something.

 

I do what I can! Mostly it’s a lot more miss than hit, but occasionally even a blind squirrel finds an acorn.

 

Beastformers repaint when?