I think legacy might be the end of transformers? This is the moment where toy quality is all over the board, inflation is at an all time high with people not making more money, and were about to have the price increase this year. I don't want to Debbie downer the line but I've also seen a ton of you guys on here, adults with living wages, saying you're finally slowing down or out for various reasons, and even me and my fellow highschool/college collectors being priced out too.

 

Legacy looks to be a slight step down from the WFC quality, and I wasn't entirely happy with WFC. You never know though, the later waves could end up better and I could be kicking myself for not getting the wave 1 figures. Armada Starscream does sound interesting. I still have some WFC figures on display alongside a ton of older CHUG figures and love them so I don't want to come off like I'm hating on official figures, I'm just moving in a different direction with my collection.

 

As someone who had a soft spot for the UT designs and liked all of the experimental new ideas the UT attempted with its character designs, as much I'm cautiously excited for the rumor of having Armada Starscream, Armada Blurr, and Cybertron Metroplex in Legacy... but if HasTak genuinely wants to revisit the Unicron Trilogy designs for future toy designs, I do think they deserve their own dedicated new molds developed from the ground up just to do these characters justice, not retool of old toys or new ones designed with other characters in mind.

And even when they need to do the whole "redeco/retool of other figures" thing, the mold that was used at least still needs to make sense and changed significantly enough to represent its intended UT character; There are some people who had suggested that Siege Sideswipe can be redecoed into Armada Wheeljack and it could work, but significant retooling would be more ideal and preferable to sell Armada Wheeljack as a Siege Sideswipe retool (Such as the scarred chest, gull-wing doors and reversed legs).

 

This is my first time ever hearing the word skrunklied, and seeing an accompanying picture.

 

I think I finally turned over to this side completely:

Robotic animal modes are ugly, especially in G1. Real life animals have far cooler texturing and appearances than whatever stylization the blocky cartoon tries to put them in. Really the only exceptions are when the robotic beasts are fantastical or plain weird like Blot, Deathsaurus or Cruellock. But even then, they would look a lot cooler with realistic detailing. Like imagine Cruellock but with organic ridged neck armor like the 2014 Godzilla and a head that's like a mishmash of the two American versions of the beast. Imagine Deathsaurus with scales and feathers strategically placed across the body and a dragon face with strong influence from an eagle.



Badass.

Kickback has a straight-up ugly beast mode and Legacy would have been greatly improved if they tried to compromise in favor of emulating a real grasshopper.

 

G1 Grimlock looks like a fucking joke next to Transmetal Megatron.

 

I love the paint on Siege Soundwave but it doesn't look like damage to me. It looks like some kind of fancy dry brush metal flake application. Like maybe he had it done special for a hot date. <3

 

I've talked all kinds of shit about Siege Barricade and Legacy Bulkhead and Knockout (and rightly so in my book), but I'm afraid I'm a big old hypocrite because I want to see Clench reimagined as a Laser Optimus retool. I like Clench, I like the Laser Optimus mold, I want to see them mixed together!

 

cyberverse deluxe prowl is honestly better than earthrise datsuns. the fact that it isn't limited in trying to imitate a real life vehicle made it a whole lot bette, it even had a panel just to cover the gaps on the leg compare that to the little fold out ER datsuns had. But cyberverse prowl does have some downs it has this weird milky white but honestly im okay with that, it's a really good mold it can actually be a good G1 prowl, now if only it can get some repaints.

 

I think that with his reinforced front bumper he would make a nice Barricade.

 

partner that with how this prowls headsculpt has a double chin like smokescreen and it's perfect a repaint

 

Many of the Cyberverse figures have nice designs in general, but the execution is just half-assed. Materials feel cheap, use of paint is restrained, details are weak/blurry, and the engineering is basic, giving the toy an unfinished, we-wanted-more-but-the-budget-was-tight fourth-party KO look. I think CV Prowl is a good starting point for a custom, but overall it looks like a $15 gas station toy to me.

 

rofl, the entire Cyberverse line is just one jumbled overpriced mess. Try finding a Cyberverse version of Bumblebee and you end up with several different types to choose from, all of them hopelessly overpriced and cheap looking, and some of them aren't even fully articulated.

 

yeah his only faults are that his signature black is replaced with metallic blue and that white really makes him a bit see-through, but it felt weird having a deluxe toy with perfect qc for once no lose joints no paint mishaps and no missing parts, really makes me hate the ER datsuns more just because most of them had some bad qc, or the fact bluestreak's legs where unpainted on the sides making his legs look to fragile and thin in sideviews.

 

You won’t hear me singing the praises of the ER “Datsun” mold. Oh yeah, I own the Bluestreak deco, but only because I’m a fan of the character. My copy barely holds together as a car, and that’s if you line everything up, squeeze tightly, gently sit it on the shelf, and don’t touch it. And yes, I painted the legs because it absolutely needed it.

None of the issues with the ER not-even-close-to-a-280ZX figures make Cyberverse “Deluxe” Prowl a great toy in comparison. I have a perfectly serviceable can opener in the kitchen drawer with tight joints, no sprue marks, good color, and flawless QC that doesn’t impress me in the slightest. It’s just an ordinary can opener. And Cyberverse Prowl is just a mediocre toy.

 

You got a good point maybe my disdain on the er mold has screwed me over.

 

Ha!
The difference is that the ER figure is IMO a decent finish on an inherently flawed toy. The Cyberverse figure is the opposite: a poor finish on an otherwise decent mold. Cyberverse Prowl could be made into something much better than it is out of the package.

 

I'm honestly surprised they didn't reference the Protect Black Ironhide bio from ehobby when the reissued the G1 toy in black 14ish years ago. Just feels weird to give him literally nothing (it's just the Diakron toy) when they actually spent some effort on Mutant Tigatron and Puffer. Maybe we should put the blame on Takara for not redecoing the MP Ironhide yet and making up a character, lol....

Although the part that hurts more is the rumored upcoming DK-3 (bluish-purple Trailbreaker). This guy has had ZERO reference in TF (at least Ironhide had the ehobby one) and now he'll just be a non-character too most likely. Even just calling it Deep Sea Armor Trailbreaker like it was a 90s Batman toy would be something...

In the end, I am happy that we're getting more and more Diaclone love in Generations, but half the fun of these guys is seeing the new characterizations. The bios for characters like Exhaust, Loud Pedal, Cordon, Spinout, and Reboost have been really fun additions.

 

I don't think they did! In each case they had the opportunity to create a new character, and didn't. For Puffer they actually scratched their head and said, "He could be... two G1 guys?"

 

It's not a new character, true, but it's still some kind of plot/characterization. An all-new character is the most fun, but I'll take special event/armor/etc versions of a character over "it's that one toy".