I'm actually excited for Deluxe Soundwave. It's kind of depressing how him and Leadfoot are probably going to be the last movie toys in a while I'll be genuinely excited for though. I'm just going to hope that buttflap is mistransformed. Hasbro should know by now how to get kibble to collapse properly. ...shouldn't they?
Yeah, that could be a part of it too, but still... All those "single hinges" add up, which is part of the reason of the complexity of Leader Prime. People wanted figures as good as him without the hassle of transforming them, thought they could have both, and now have funny looking figures.
^ Again, that makes the car mode hideous. I'm sure it was a high priority to get the car right. I just don't think you are on the right track there. Also, DotM molds all looking "funny" is well within the realm of opinion. Ratchet and Sideswipe are improvements over their RotF Deluxes (molds, not necessarily decos...also, excepting Sidearm SS). Starscream is very well-received. Barricade beats the pants off the '07 version. Plenty of folks seem to like the Ironhides, though I don't. Etc...
...let's agree to disagree. All I know is that most of the RoTF molds were too difficult for some people, and now in my opinion most of the the DoTM molds are weak. Take Deluxe Sideways for example. The (almost) Audi mode was beautiful. And the Robot mode was too, minus the fire crotch. Good figure, but people complained it was too complex... Then Mixmaster. Another great figure, great vehicle mode, but people cried about the transformation. I dislike almost every DoTM deluxe, and every voyager.
Sideways, BB Prime I'm fine with... however, WfC Bumblebee (Cliffjumper, really) and Mixmaster are the only figures I've written off because of their transformations. There's a line between pleasantly complex and finicky and those are really the only two that cross it for me.
Just out of curiosity...I see that claim everywhere and I'm not saying you're wrong but... Is ROTF Mixmaster REALLY that hard? I felt he was pretty easy myself. I haven't touched him for a year and I dusted him off and had him transformed in seconds pretty much. What's hard/bad about him? I'm just very curious as I think stuff like Battle Blades Prime are a bit more complex.
The funny part is that I actually LOVE Mixmaster. My only complaint about him is his "third mode" but that's easily ignored. Transformations getting easier isn't inherently bad. It would be a shame if the toys were suffering horribly for it, but IMO they are not. DotM has produced spookily accurate toys of new characters (Topspin, Shockwave, Leader Sentinel Prime) and improvements on several old designs. Several other designs are unexciting or arguably downgrades, but that's the curse of the movie lines...they have to keep coming up with fresh takes on old characters, for years. If you go to the Feedback forum, the narrative "DotM toys are for kids and collectors hate them" falls apart. That generalization just doesn't hold. Some fans think that, but the reviewers seem to be finding about the same number of duds and standouts as any other line (and commenters aren't consistently blasting the line either). If anything, this narrative seems to have spiraled out of control when someone compared DotM Voyager Prime to Battle Blades Prime and decided that DotM was going to be all FAB all the time or something. I think the DotM line has been a slight disappointment so far, but this has nothing to do with easy transformation in my case.
To clarify, I think that DotM has just produced fewer outliers (like Mix and Leader OP) in terms of transformation difficulty. The average toys in each line are about the same level of complexity IMO. It takes me about the same amount of time to transform every Sideswipe. Barricade probably added a step or two.
Mixmaster wasn't hard, he just had a lot going on. Lots of panels to move, and lots of hinges. My point from this was that when there are a lot of things like this, it adds up to what people call a complex figure. All the DoTM's look wierd to me. Deluxe Crankcase is silly looking, deluxe Sideswipe? No thanks, I prefer the RoTF one... Just everything seems dumbed down which seems to affect the figures' overall attractiveness. Plus the fact the ridiculously inaccurate MechTech made all of the figures tiny...
What's dumbed down about Sideswipe? Aside from his deco of course, which is admittedly dreadful next to any other 'swipe. However, his proportions are the best of the three, and he does the same thing as Sidearm...sacrificing complexity from the original in order to slim the hell down and look more movie-accurate. His swords don't look like kiddy scissors, his feet struck the best compromise between ability to skate and ability to stand, and if anything his backpack is less crazy than ever. A good paint job was all this mold needed*. Which is why I'm getting Darksteel! Deluxe Crankcase I'll give you. I like him, in both modes, but it must have been almost impossible to take a blocky SUV and make it into a bot that's the OPPOSITE of blocky. So his backside and articulation suffer from the multitude of panels. Still, I can't see how a hypothetical RotF Crankcase would have solved the problem differently. As for his transformation difficulty, there are actually two steps that can easily break the figure. Not so kid-friendly. *Hasbro even went ahead and painted the hard bits, to make customizing easier
The whole "dumbing down" the figures is a bit exaggerated, I think. Just look at Voyager Megs for example. Regardless of if you like his looks (and deco) or not, you have to agree that it's a very well engineered figure. Look at that elegant transformation, the way it doesn't waste any part of the vehicle, the whole figure is a step ahead of what we saw during ROTF. If he was designed back then, the figure would have had a lot more panels and useless kibble hanging out in robot mode. Admittedly though, maybe he would have been painted way better. I forgive Crankcase on everything because he's just so damned awesome.
DoTM Sideswipe is the omly DoTM deluxe I like... The only reason I prefer the RoTF is the paint. If there were more hinges on Crankcase, it would make the backpack go away more, and he would look better... However, these hinges would add up to what people called a more complex figure and that's what Hasbro wanted to avoid. They could have made him better. To me, he looks silly.
I don't get it,what's so silly about him? I'm actually thinking about buying a second one to make into Crowbar . But I will admit,I wasn't good at TFing ROTF Mixmaster before,but with some practice,I can do it more easily . Unfortunately,I kind of shunned him for a while so I've lost the roof panels and the smokestacks (I don't get why those HAD to be removable )
I was just Transforming my ROTF Barricade(with the probe arms) and it is really a lot harder than the DOTM figure. But it's difficult because parts will unlock easily and you have to get everything done in a certain order to get it in vehicle mode,which I hate . The DOTM mold is infinitely superior and it has made me downgrade the ROTF version from default Barricade to random cannon fodder
that deluxe is on my waiting list for sure. i like the flap for the same raisin as angus; i don't like excessive panels on my car modes (rotf sideswipeeee). i like back kibble too, really helps signify this is a robot that turns into a car and while it would be nice if it foldced up it looks fine as is. human alliance is probably the only ha i'm gunna get and even then only if i can afford it. never cared for ha but man, that's a sexy car. evil, but sexy.
The actual bot mode of the Deluxe Soundwave does not seems to be what it suppose to be of the pic from the 1st page of this thread,Hasbro cheating us
I personally still think DotM Sideswipe is an awful figure. I don't like how inaccurate he is to his movie model (i.e. the front of the car being the chest), and his swords are stupid looking. His car mode at least looks fantastic minus the lack of paint, but his bot mode looks awful. I got him for half price, and I'd still take another Sidearm at full price over him.
I have deluxe and alliance Soundwave. The alliance one is by far the better of them. The deluxe one is far too small, the back kibble is the worst I have seen on a Transformer and his mechtech gun is rubbish. However, I have come to love dx Soundwave because he is Soundwave and because one can equip him with several weapons. He can hold guns in each hand and on each of his shoulders. He looks 'bad ass' with a full payload.
