Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

motorthing · Jun 29, 2022

Either or today.

Vertex · Jun 29, 2022

Chonkosaurus today.

Not too fond of the transformation, he has too few accessories, the paint app on his helmet crest is bad, and he's going to need a little mold flash removal (as did Blitzwing), but he's still a big hefty boy who makes Decepticons run and hide.

DanC · Jun 29, 2022

Cryotek rules, because he's supposed be a mob boss, but all we ever see him do is enact sprawling plans to dethrone God. It's like if literally every Kingpin story was about the Infinity Gauntlet.

barry said: ↑

I actually enjoyed the big mittens on the tank mode, but they're worthless.
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I was a big Hulk Hand defender when Blitzwing got revealed, they looked like the most fun thing about him. But they don't work! It sucks!

Not Blitzwing · Jun 29, 2022

TR-RH-HH

Brum Bot · Jun 29, 2022

Kickback.

Liokaiser1989 · Jun 29, 2022

Wreck-Gar

Optimusmegs · Jun 30, 2022

Master builders

Makarov · Jun 30, 2022

barry · Jun 30, 2022

"Goldbug! My life isn't important! Release the acid!"
From The Transformers #30 'The Cure'

Vertex · Jun 30, 2022

Count on him, he's gonna win the race.

No reservations whatsoever about this yello fella. Legacy Drag Strip is made out of joy and excitement (and decidedly gaudy plastic).

motorthing · Jun 30, 2022

Just Him.

DanC · Jun 30, 2022

(slaps roof of trailer that forms like 80% of a complete Menasor) this bad boy can fit so many Stunticons

I like this a lot, however silly the combination is. There's a lot of stuff like his fake cab toes that walk a very tight line between fun-stupid and stupid-stupid, enough to make him interesting even when he errs on the wrong side.

Also, you know how sometimes design elements from a third party company start seeping into official toys? I wouldn't go so far as to say a designer was fiddling with Power Baser while making this, but there's a decidedly Fans Hobby feel to him. Lots of folding thin strips of plastic around big meaty chonks. This isn't really a criticism, it works for Fans Hobby and it works here.

Brum Bot · Jun 30, 2022

G1 Kup today for a little 86 toy crossover.

Zentropy · Jun 30, 2022

barry said: ↑

So while Astrotrain was my favourite of the Decepticon Triple Changer toys, Blitzwing was the one who had the coolest look in the cartoons and comics. He looked like the archetypal Decepticon soldier, almost as iconic as the Seekers. In fact he kind of looked like Seeker plus in many ways. Plus he had shades! Any robot with shades was an instant hit with my little 1980's self.

Blitzwing is an oddity amongst the Triple Changers, but at the same time characteristic of his Diaclone heritage, in that his robot mode is the least fully realised of the three. It's not bad, but it's not great. The way the wings are on the same level as it arms makes it look like he's wearing a coat that just far too big for him. And of course they're very stumpy arms, only articulated at the shoulder. His hands are quirky in that the gun can only go in his right hand and his sword in the left. His head seems a little squashed and I've never been a fan of his face being the same shade of dark purple as the rest of him. His spindly little legs and tail fin feet don't really work for me either. I do like the tank barrel sticking up behind his head but that's kind of it.

But I loved his tank mode! It is an excellent little toy tank and was so much fun to roll around, spinning its turret hither and yon. there's a couple of things that could have improved it, namely hiding the pet cockpit a wee bit better and some better molding on the tank tracks either side. But seriously, if you fixed those two things I'd consider this a flawless alt mode. I can't recommend the jet so highly. It's pretty cool but it's just so boxy and un-aerodynamic. Even as a kid I knew a plane wouldn't work very well if it looked like that. I do like the diecast tail fins though.

So, we've got a new Blitzwing in Legacy.

ARGH!

When I wrote about TR Blitzwing, way back, I pondered why it was so hard to get Blitzwing right. Five years later and I'm asking once again.

I suppose I'll just jump straight to addressing the elephant that wanders into the room directly after a new Leader or Commander class figure takes a seat on the sofa and starts rifling through the snack bowl; they sure ain't as big as they used to be!

Now, I'm fully conversant that price point is not size. We're getting well engineered figures that wouldn't be achievable at a lower price point, whether that be a Leader class Shockwave or a Commander class, and this often results in a less substantial figure that seems to come with a lot of accessories to try and add value. Sometimes I've been satisfied, like in the examples already mentioned, and sometimes I'm left feeling like I've paid too much for a wonky figure (hello Astrotrain and Doubledealer). This Blitzwing is fearlessly in the latter category, and may be the worst offender yet.

I had reservations about Astrotrain, but I could at least feel the value. Far less so with Blitzwing. Rationally, I can see how this is more complex than a Voyager, but I do not feel. I just feel this overpowering skepticism that this guy isn't 'more' than say, Siege Springer or SS86 Wreck-Gar. I can believe that more parts count has gone into the whole 'backpack' section that holds the wings, tank treads, and turret, but what good is that if it still solves the problem of two alt modes in such unsatisfying ways?

I want to say the bot mode is good, and for the most part it is. At a glance he looks pretty handsome, get the proportions right, and retains all the key detail from the character model. But then I look a little closer, and the gaps the ankle tilt creates look ugly, and there's a weird seam going across his visor, and what first looks like a decent face sculpt looks a bit vacant.

And it's like this everywhere I look. The tank's ok, that turret works really well, and the cannon is good...but then not only do we have a a massive chunk of jet sticking out the front. A chunk of jet, I hasten to add, which has had budget put into it for a false cockpit. On top of that there's gaps a plenty. None greater, in my view, than the one that allows me to pretty much look up his nostrils of the headsculpt, so poorly hidden is the head. Likewise the jet almost looks nice. That cockpit isn't bad and that'd be a nice wingspan...if it wasn't for the big old fucking chunk of ice cream sandwich stuck below it. Honestly, just something that would have let the section with the tread collapse in just a little bit more...I know. The budget. The budget that allows for a dopey false canopy. Yes, I do know what a false equivalency is, thank you.

Do the accessories make up for any of this? No. They do not. I actually enjoyed the big mittens on the tank mode, but they're worthless. The gun feel far more generic and small than it should, and giving me two of them doesn't make me feel any better. I guess I have no gripe about the sword. And then the QC is alarming! Stress marks on the lower legs straight out the box.

I know I must sound...ranty, but I'm just taken aback. I'm not angry, or bitter, thinking that the Generations line is 'ruined forever', and I'm certainly not going to be crassly accusative about the competence of the design team. Rather I'm just checking on what I'll accept as a consumer, and I'm not sure that the Leader class price point will do it any longer. Sure, I liked Shockwave, and Galvatron, and BW Megatron, but they don't feel like the shape of things to come. That's this guy. And I have not enjoyed this guy.

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Other than the praise you give Siege Astrotrain, I can’t say I disagree with anything you’ve said here. Solid assessment, all around. This design sacrifices both vehicle modes in favor of cartoon fidelity and the robot presentation.

However, the FTFoTD thread seems the most inappropriate place to post a critical negative toy review. Isn’t this supposed to be where we celebrate what we like?

Napalm · Jun 30, 2022

The Tracker.

Goldlock · Jun 30, 2022

This little blighter today....

lord ginrai · Jun 30, 2022

Goldlock said: ↑

This little blighter today....

View attachment 29551094
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Crazy how this little dude has a better headsculpt than the v2.0 Masterpiece. This guy looks really neat!

Goldlock · Jun 30, 2022

lord ginrai said: ↑

Crazy how this little dude has a better headsculpt than the v2.0 Masterpiece. This guy looks really neat!
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Yeah, they really outdid themselves on this little guy. The fun factor is off the charts, even if his height isn't!

Zentropy · Jun 30, 2022

Goldlock said: ↑

This little blighter today....

View attachment 29551094
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That’s not a bad looking figure, and I’m usually pretty critical of Bumblebees. What is it?

Dinobot Swoop · Jun 30, 2022

Went to WM yesterday and spotted this guy on heavy discount, so having sold my original a couple years ago, I scooped him up and haven't put him down since (even if the plastic seems cheaper somehow).

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Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

motorthing Too old for this $hit

Vertex Still Rockets Redglare

DanC Delightful person

Not Blitzwing Well-Known Member

Brum Bot "Give them Victory... or Give them Death"

Liokaiser1989 Well-Known Member

Optimusmegs Well-Known Member

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Makarov Well-Known Member

barry Well worn member

Vertex Still Rockets Redglare

motorthing Too old for this $hit

DanC Delightful person

Brum Bot "Give them Victory... or Give them Death"

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Napalm Drinking About Robots TFW2005 Supporter

Goldlock and don't call me Shirley

lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

Goldlock and don't call me Shirley

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Dinobot Swoop TFW2005 Supporter

Log in or Sign up

Favorite Transformer of the day.....................

motorthing Too old for this $hit

Vertex Still Rockets Redglare

DanC Delightful person

Not Blitzwing Well-Known Member

Brum Bot "Give them Victory... or Give them Death"

Liokaiser1989 Well-Known Member

Optimusmegs Well-Known Member

Attached Files:

IMG_20220628_2019434~2.jpg

Makarov Well-Known Member

barry Well worn member

Vertex Still Rockets Redglare

motorthing Too old for this $hit

DanC Delightful person

Brum Bot "Give them Victory... or Give them Death"

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Napalm Drinking About Robots TFW2005 Supporter

Goldlock and don't call me Shirley

lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

Goldlock and don't call me Shirley

Zentropy Toys > Fiction

Dinobot Swoop TFW2005 Supporter

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