You got him?

 

A Big Convoy in scale with Legacy Evolution Lio Convoy wouldn't be impossible. They were close in height, I think they could accomplish a faithful Big Convoy at the Leader Class price point.
Leader Class would definitely have a large enough budget for a proped Big Convoy figure

 

"Oh god...this place! What am I doing here?"
From TF:UK#229 'The Hunting Party'

 

Oh god I need Spinister so bad...

 

Have we ever had a unnamed figure that so many people already have their hands on before? I mean how do we not know the junkion cycles name yet

 

When you need an extra set of hands, borrow a friend’s:

 

Unless it happened with one of the Fozzilizers probably not. I mean... Hasbro hasn't officially announced it yet and the people who get their hands on stolen merch typically don't get the instructions or boxes so they don't know his name either.  

 

That's just it, normally it's been announced in some way before the stolen copies make the rounds

 

Yeah but how do they order it from the suppliers if they dont know the name?

 

Well Lio Prime is a pretty unexpected treat!



Can't say I've ever been a fan of the cash-in Beast Wars stuff that Japan cranked out in the 90's, so don't have any attachment to the character of Lio Prime, or original kibble-tastic toy, but this Legacy update has clearly had enough love poured into it, that you can't help but be won over.

I did have to fix that awful spooked lion face though!

 

Hot shot is pretty fun...forgot about his flip over shins from the original toy...looks like they lost some of the deco budget on those...
Not as chunky a robot as before, but retaining some of the play gimmicks of the original is great

Wish I had some mini cons at hand but they're all in storage...I assume they work with that peg just fine

 

Needle nose would make for a sweet star Sabre homage remold. The scale would off with most figures but it would be pretty awesome

 

Core/Baby Sludge

 

Good luck, man! He's a great figure and money well spent.



Oh, thanks for showing up, Needlenose. You do know that the entire War for Cybertron trilogy concluded a year ago? Yes, the two time fan vote loser has finally been given a Generations figure. As I trawl through my memories of this guy, I think losing those polls may be his moment of greatest significance.

I remember Needlenose showing up in those gloomy, post ‘Time Wars!’ days, when the UK strip had been robbed of all colour, both literally and figuratively. He was the somewhat panicky new recruit to the Mayhem Attack Sqaud who found himself flailing under pressure. He was also mainly in the background during those more exciting issues where the Mayhems were hunting the deserter Carnivac, who later offed him. Except that was in the ‘Earthforce’ era, so kinda sorta non-cannon. He showed up in Matrix Quest as one of Thunderwing’s stooges and that was that, we thought. Then over 20 years later, John Barber decides to pair him up with the soon to be deceased Horri-bull, make him Tracks estranged brother (CAN YOU SEE? THEY’VE BOTH GOT THE SAME SORT OF HELMET!) and made probably more interesting than he ever deserved to be.

Ok, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but when I look at my G1 Needlenose I can’t help but feel like the franchise had fallen out of love with itself. Now, I don’t want this to come off like a diss of the 1988 line. I know some people think the line should have ended in 1987 (or 1986. Or 1985. Or possibly even 1984. Some may even think it should have remained Diaclone and this whole Transformers thing is a travesty), but I really think there was a load of brilliant Transformers released that year, such as the smol Headmasters, the Powermasters, and even a load of the Pretenders. But there were definitely some duds in there too, and Needlenose was one of them (see also Crankcase).

Much like my G1 Crankcase, my G1 Needlenose is a scuffed up mess, so unimportant to me he was, beyond just completing ‘the set’, that I clearly felt ‘that’ll do’. I don’t think I’m missing much. In robot mode, he’s a charmless and undistinguished block. His wing lend him a nice profile, but the transformation makes his legs look like he has a minor case of rickets. He does have, I must say, pretty fine arm articulation.

The biggest sin of the bot mode is also it’s greatest strength. The overall design of Needlenose’s head is really strong. The helmet looks like it has some sort of flip down grated visor, and the day-glo yellow face really ‘pops’. I’m sucker for a faceplate, and this is a really nice one, with long side vents. However, due to some utterly crap engineering, it’s impossible to make the helmet looks good. It’s positioned in such a way that it either sits too high on his head, if aligned straight, so that his face is far too…open looking, and if you tilt it down so the brim of the helmet sits above his brow the whole thing sits at an unfortunately jaunty angle. And all so you can cover up roughly half his face in jet mode. Bit late to start worrying about jet undersides, lads.

Which bring us to the jet. It’s one grey piece of plastic with a blue front. The blue start randomly halfway through a section. It’s incredibly lame. All the robot kibble is very visible. It’s really poor, and not worth further comment.

I should, of course, mention that Needlenose is a double Targetmaster and comes with…Zig Zag and Sunbeam (what, seriously? Zig Zag? Sunbeam? Fucking Sunbeam? Like a little ray of joy illuminating and uplifting all it touches?). So, while in many respects the ’88 little Targetmasters are crappier than their ’87 bretheren, but they make it up for it with far more paint apps. I say far more. They’re a single piece of coloured plastic with two paint apps. The ’87 versions were two pieces of differently coloured plastic and a paint app. This ’88 take, I think, is more visually striking with much more contrast between the colours. I even think the molds are superior, with Sunbeam actually having a molded gun in his hand. What a lad!

All this apathy might make you think that I’ve not been excited by the prospect of an update for Needlenose, but know this dear reader; I voted for him back in those pre-pandemic glory days of 2019. I actually think he has a design that could be done great justice in a Generations update, and I was fond of the character as written by John Barber. So I was delighted that this celebrated two time loser hadn’t been written off.

And, I’m delighted to say, he’s a really handsome looking figure. He looks…exactly like he should. That helmet (which I only now notice makes him look a lot like Getaway)has finally been done justice. Everything that was good about the original design has been enhanced. I’m mildly peeved that we now have a normal tone of yellow, but the red paint on the eyes really makes up for it. His proportions and colours are spot on, and he’s nicely detailed all over. I’m really taken by the little touch of metallic paint on his lower leg vents. Very tasteful!

He’s well articulated to, having all the points of articulation that we’ve come to expect, plus his wings are now on a hinge, meaning his back is no longer a solid plank of plastic. However, I’m really sensing budget cuts when I look at his knees and elbows. He’s definitely got a bit of the ol’ CW Constructicon empty elbow/knee joint. I get that it’s most likely an artifact of the transformation, but I really don’t love it.

The transformation is actually very well done, so I shouldn’t whine about elbows too much. The way the back panel, with the wings, unclips and slide back over all that leg and arm kibble is quite elegant. Like nearly all jetformers, there’s a pile of less than aerodynamic bulk sitting on the bottom, but it’s far from the worst I’ve ever seen.

Viewed from the top, or the right 45 degree tilt, the jet looks nice. They’ve used a little more of that metallic paint on the wings, which is nice, but I do wish they’d taken the opportunity to make the move from blue to grey paint make a little more sense.

Zig Zag and Sunbeam (still struggling with this) are incredibly faithful updates of the originals, with a the odd touch of extra detail, like the rivets on Zig Zag’s armour. Very nice.

So, eagle eyed fans have noticed that Needlenose has four seemingly pointless gaps in his chest, which – it transpires – seem to tab into the forthcoming Leader class Transformers Prime Skyquake, who has a significant amount of detail that looks like G1 Skyquake. This can only mean one thing; PREDATORS! Like the precious little thing I am, I actually think Needlenose is a very poor candidate pre-tool for any given Predator jet. I mean, his canopy is on his back. True Predators wear their jet canopy on their chest with PRIDE! Nonetheless, I am thrilled at the prospect of getting these guys and I hope some wizardry occurs that satisfies my petty and trivial grumble.

Anyway, well done Needlenose. Better late than never!

 

Definitely think removing the floating canine teeth and painting the eyes helps Leo Prime’s beast face. Could certainly still be better, but this fixes most of my issues with it: