I will say that is one of the few things that sorta bugs me on the BW figures. Idk why but the weapons tacked onto an animal bug me more than ones stuck into a vehicle. Wish the weapons could hide inside.
No forgiveness necessary mate. No offense was taken Yes. It's a sad irony that something that was possible thanks to good design in 1996 wasn't possible in 2021.
You've been around a long time so I'm sure you know (or have thought about even if you don't agree) all of what I'm about to write but I'm full of coffee and snowed in from my morning walk so excuse me while I indulge my cynicism. Since 1996, Asian labor has become much more expensive, CEO/Executive pay has skyrocketed, shareholders have become more demanding, competition has been successfully reduced (largely through mergers which had already started by 1996), and culturally, there has been a significant loss of interest in physical toys by children who live and breathe their screens and therefore less effort has been placed into creating brilliant toys. So there's all that but the biggest factor that I have observed is tied to something pointed out by the great Aaron Archer, there has been a shift away from selling TOYS and toward selling representations of IP. The point at which this shift kicked into high gear can be identified with the switch from packing the toys in alt mode to packing them in robot mode. So the priority with Legacy Inferno was primarily on likeness to the media, to hijack the "hey, I recognize that thing..." /nostalgia part of our brains that is so exhaustingly exploited by...everything these days. The priority on the 1996 Mega class release was to make somethin FUN, clever, and engaging. The thing that blows me away about the original Beast Wars figures is the use of materials. People complain about the original Inferno's translucent plastic but as @LoserBroadside pointed out, this was an attempt to emulate what an ant really looks like (something similar was attempted a couple years later with Quickstrike)...and it's also beautiful. Deluxe Class Dinobot is a weird looking tan toy but the "bony" parts have a gorgeous iridescent sheen that make it so appealing. Waspinator's wings have a similar effect. Details like the robot eyes being made from a separate piece which allowed for crisp/vivid detail were just "chef's kiss" material, There are tons of examples of stuff that was done just because it was beautiful. The Transmetal line took this to new heights. Some of those color schemes are just pure art. It all worked on my college sophomore brain so well that I set out to buy every release in that line. I absolutely love the current stuff. I collect happily seldom regret the money that I spend on new releases. I just don't know if these products reach deep enough into my brain to hook me the way that BW did.
"bugs me" Heheh. Don't let it crawl up on you Jokes aside, yeah, with vehicles (especially Military one), it's not weird seeing the weapon sticks out, but with Animals (or civilian vehicle), looks really weird and not to my liking. Thus why I usually just chuck the weapon away in storage. That's why I like Leo Prime, all his weapons can be hidden comfortably (behind mane, under the back, etc).
Great post. Reading it, I found previous points that I'd made about Kingdom and Legacy figures lining up with what you were saying. For example, the faux 4th panel of Legacy Inferno's abdomen. The Legacy figure needed to mimic the Original figure (to represent the IP, as you explain it), so it comes with a fake piece in order to do it. But the fake piece is undersized, and doesn't integrate with the other 3 pieces correctly. It's inclusion is purely for show, but fails at it. I'll stop there before I uncork a rant. But yes, I think we're looking at the two sides of the same coin. Your explanation helps give my grievances with the figures more clarity.
This is also the point where all of the cool "just because" designs disappeared. Nowadays, if it wasn't established on screen or in a comic somewhere, it doesn't exist. We'll never get anything like HFTD Terradive, ROTF Mindwipe, BW Manterror, or nuRID Rumble under the current IP landscape.
Sadly, I think you’re right. They do try every so often (Legacy Scraphook comes to mind as a recent one) but by and large, no risks are taken.
While that’s absolutely true for the most part we did still just get the bat-shit insane fossilizers last year.
In isolation, perhaps. But they make sense when you look at them as an organic take and continuation of the COMBAT and AIR Lock ideas from Siege and Earthrise.
Idk they didn’t feel all that creative/ “bat shit insane” compared to those old out there designs. At least for me. It was just skeleton dinosaurs that you take apart and reassemble into a robot of sorts. Mindwipe for example was a stealth bomber who turned into a triple eyed robot with bat design cues and flip-out daggers. They took the character’s name and character then made re-imagined designs to fit that. It was so fascinating.
I'd actually give them credit for the Fossilizers, etc. They really have been fun/ "just because" kinds of toys that don't tie directly back to something tried and true from decades ago. Yeah, it has been a continuation from the last era but they are finding new applications and innovations. The fact that Scraphook (aka Scrapbook) can transform without disassembly is a welcome new twist on the concept. I've bought every one of these gimmick figures with zero regrets.
I'm hoping they do a similar thing with Magmatron at some stage. Three Deluxe figures that can pull apart to form accessories for other figures to wield, but can also combine into one. We got a hint of it with the Fossilizers in Kingdom, the Junkions appear to also have a combined mode, so it could carry on what these have started.
Glad I grabbed this figure. Surprised to see the amount of paint and to see that the bug eyes were molded in translucent blue plastic despite no other parts using them. Good attention to detail on this one. Transformation is intuitive, poseability is pretty good. Some of the pinned/riveted joints are looser than I’d like as well as the thigh swivels. Feel like the feet could move more(vertically) same with the knees. The ability to attach the gun either in the hands or behind the wrists to replicate the original toy is appreciated. Same with the ability to make the engines. I like the sculpt and deco a lot, has a lot of character. 1 of the bigger Legacy voyagers too. The opening mouth is a good touch.
I'm really disappointed that they didn't have the compound bug eye label included in the toy hack set, pretty big miss
My main gripe with this guy is that the plastic for his chest/ant head was molded pretty thin. This gives the whole figure a bit of a cheap dollar-store toy appearance. After some deliberation I decided to give his ant bits a few layers of Pledge as a clear coat. It’s foolproof because of the excellent self leveling properties and doesn’t require an airbrush or anything fancy. I also gave the same treatment to the 3rd party gun to make the colors and sheen match even better to the figure. It’s pretty hard to tell in pictures but it makes all the difference in person. I’d recommend this quick fix to everybody that owns this guy. Not sure yet if I’ll do the same to his limbs as they don’t really need it as much.
Based on your pic, it does seem to have given it a bit of depth. I'm convinced enough to give it a try. Did you apply the Pledge on the transparent eye parts?
I covered the eyes with masking tape and didn’t paint them. I did 3 layers for the ant head, and decided to do 2 layers for the butt petals and 1 layer for the back/main body to give them a bit of an extra shine as well.
Really not sure what you're seeing my friend. But, along with the tail, the chest/ant head is definitely one of the more premium, thicker plastic areas of this figure. The legs OTOH, those are cheap and thin. Especially the ankle area.
