New Age Toys Legends Scale G1 Datsun hhh

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Discussion' started by NOCV, Jan 5, 2019.

  1. kingmob75

    kingmob75 Kreon

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    I just accept it now... silver lining is that it makes mainline HasTak figures look like an absolute bargain by comparison [I didn't blink when dropping $50 on Siege Leader Shockwave, and $20 Deluxes are a no-brainer].

    I just view it as quality over quantity, and since I Pre-Order everyone I want and pay as they are released, it doesn't seem like I'm spending that much on them. Then I look at my collection all assembled and think "wow... this is awesome... the toy line I've always dreamed about".

    I mean, I collect CHUG too, but if I'm being 100% honest, Legends is where it's at these days!
     
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  2. @l3x

    @l3x Well-Known Member

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    Yeah to be clear I'm all about quality over quantity, and generally prefer a figure to be as small as its engineering will allow. Just annoying to see some retailers piling on imaginary "premium" price bumps (Diaclone Bluestreak and all-Silverstreak) ON TOP OF other arbitrary price bumps (why are the other two repaints $5 more than Prowl?), ON TOP OF the standard price bumps you'd expect from domestic retailers).

    At least we're not dealing with MMC... they'd sell these as two-packs with Diaclone Bluestreak / Smokescreen in one box and both Silverstreaks in another ._.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2019
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  3. IronMagnus

    IronMagnus Well-Known Member

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    Some of this is just plain old economics.

    The more popular, 'standard', paintjobs they produce more of and so the cost per unit is a little lower. The extra versions won't sell as many so they're more expensive to make.
     
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  4. kingmob75

    kingmob75 Kreon

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    This is a very good point - I imagine they produce 2-3 times as many of the 'default' mold as they do any of the re-decos, especially after their first release, Bumblebee, seems to have sold out rather quickly, while Goldbug and Bugbite can still be found for MSRP.

    I guarantee they're not selling as many copies of Stepper and Soundwave COMBINED as they are Jazz.
     
  5. OCProwl

    OCProwl Autobot Dad

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    As for $30 legends, so far I've been able to secure MOST of these with some kind of sale/coupon so that does help. The most I've paid for any Newage figure was $23 for Prowl.

    Agree 100%. This is how I felt about Iron Factory since around 2015, and I was convinced after picking up a few and just being in awe over the detail and articulation at such a small scale. Newage makes me feel that way again, although the scale doesn't work with my other Legends they are worth having as a different set. It's mind-boggling what they have been able to pull off at this size/scale!
     
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  6. Sirtank

    Sirtank Well-Known Member

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    Just opened up my Harry figure and found he was missing one of the the side windows that folds behind the doors. Usually I have pretty good luck when it comes to QC. Hopefully Chosen Prime can help me out.
     
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  7. Cax6ton

    Cax6ton Insufferable Smartass

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    I get more enjoyment out of these 20-30 dollar legends than I do $23 Hasbro deluxes, and no way in hell am I paying the prices they want for voyagers and leaders, so the price isn't really an issue.
     
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  8. Robogeek28

    Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

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    Baba put up pre-orders for Smokescreen, Anime Bluestreak, and blue Bluestreak...
     
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  9. RedEG6

    RedEG6 Well-Known Member

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    as a kid watching Transformers G1 cartoons, i never paid much attention to detail. so it's only now that i realized that Bluestreak is actually a silver Datsun Fairlady Zed with a black bonnet?! is that assumption correct? BUT THEN! trawling the net reveals a Bluestreak that is actually blue, and another (straight silver colour) Datsun Zed named Silverstreak?! that must be one helluva' reunion when Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, and Silverstreak get together!
     
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  10. Grumpy Old Bot

    Grumpy Old Bot Well-Known Member

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    link? please.
     
  11. Robogeek28

    Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

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  12. Max Rawhide

    Max Rawhide Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ... uh, never mind

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    History lesson.

    The G1 TF toys came from several Japanese toylines with transforming robots (all were lines of human operated machines used to ward of alien invasions or something.). The biggest contribution came from the Takara Diaclone line.

    In diaclone the Nissan Fairlady Z model was released in four versions: police (TF Prowl), a rally car (TF Smokescreen), and a regular streetversion in two deco's: silver with a black hood and blue with a silver hood.

    It is very likely that Hasbro initially intended to use this blue with silver for the TF character. The G1 toy box had art depicting the blue version, product shots of the blue version and transformation instructions showing the blue version. This also makes it likely that Bob Budiansky (Marvel comics), who created the characters and came up with the names for Hasbro, was given or shown the Diaclone blue deco and thus came up with the name Bluestreak. Even though blue streak means to move very fast (to move like a blue streak) and to talk a lot, pretty fast with a lot of babbling (to talk a blue streak) thus describing his character and abilities (he's one of the fastest of the Ark crew and he has a tendency to start babbling), it does seem very likely that the inspiration came from his intended blue colour scheme.

    However, in both the cartoon and the Marvel comics they used the colours of the other diaclone street version: silver with a black hood.

    To confuse matters more, the toy sold in Transformers was neither the blue with a silver hood (as shown on the box) nor the silver with black hood (as seen in the cartoon). The G1 toy was all silver. (Well, unless you lived in Mexico (or later in parts of Europe), then the toy was a flat grey colour.)

    The reason for all this colour switching is unknown.


    In the early 00's the G1 toys saw their first (post-G1) reissue. Hasbro released the G1 toy deco (all silver) but unable to use the name Bluestreak at the time (and the toy not being blue), they renamed the character Silverstreak. Takara also released this figure (still named their original name of streak), but also reissued the diaclone silver/black deco through e-hobby as Anime Streak. (The blue/silver Diaclone deco was never reissued.)


    The Diaclone toy line also had a special edition that was all chrome silver.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
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  13. RedEG6

    RedEG6 Well-Known Member

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    thank you for taking the time to explain, i appreciate it.

    and here i thought Anime 'streak was either the blue, or the straight silver. this seems like the case with Diaclone Magnus, and 'toon Magnus as well.
     
  14. Max Rawhide

    Max Rawhide Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ... uh, never mind

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    Since I'm at it, Magnus is a bit simpler.

    In diaclone the models weren't unique: you could buy multiples of a toy and use them next to each other, since they were just human operated machined produced in larger numbers (army building). You can see this in Diaclone commercials (YouTube)

    One of these battle machines was the Battle Convoy (our Optimus Prime). In order to squeeze more money out of it, they not only repainted the cab robot, but also gave it a new trailer (a car transport) taht could transform into a repair bay, a launch platform for a jet robot (Starscream) or armour for the Convoy robot. This one was called Powered Convoy -- which was released btw, when TF was already a thing.

    Takara offered this Powered Convoy to Hasbro as a way to introduce a new version of Optimus Prime. Hasbro, however, was already set on course for the movie in which OP would die and a new leader would emerge, so they had no interest in a new version for Optimus. Instead they saw this as a fitting toy for a character created for the movie, Ultra Magnus, which at the time didn't have a toy/design yet. Considering deleted scenes exist with Magnus in his Diaclone Powered Convoy colours, Hasbro possibly planned to use the Diaclone Powered Convoy colours him to later decide on the now familiar colours. The original deco was reissued (with a slight variance) in the early 00's as movie preview Magnus and recently in MP as Delta Magnus. (There was also a special release in clear yellow armor to depict the moment he gets the matrix.)


    Other interesting points: Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were likely meant to be switched around (i.e. the toy we now know as Tiger Track, the yellow version of Sideswipe, was meant to be the character Sunstreaker (then named Spin Out), while Sideswipe was meant to be the toy we know as Sunstreaker, but in red).
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
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  15. RedEG6

    RedEG6 Well-Known Member

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    now this is interesting. i can barely remember but I know i've seen one video in YouTube wherein an animated Ultra Magnus still had the colours of Delta...
     
  16. Max Rawhide

    Max Rawhide Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ... uh, never mind

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    Yep. That's from a deleted scene from the movie. When the movie went into production either Magnus was still planned to use his diaclone deco (and changed during production to his now familiar colours) or he was colored like this by mistake.


    There's one member on this board who considers this proof that Takara had initially planned for Optimus Prime to survive the movie and be upgraded into a new more powerful body (the Ultra Magnus body). Outside of these deleted scenes (that clearly show Magnus, plus the movie was made by Hasbro without any involvement from Takara), his "proof" is also that Takara created TF (they didn't, they just made the toys for a completely different toyline -- Hasbro created TF through Marvel), and that the Diaclone name of this toy was Powered Convoy thus an upgrade for Convoy (the Japanese name for both OP and the Diaclone mech suit), ignoring the entire premise of Diaclone and early Japanese TF naming.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
  17. Snaku

    Snaku Primes Don't Party

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    And this is thought to be the reason Sideswipe had a jetpack. The Sunstreaker mold's back looked like a jetpack so Budiansky wrote it into his bio. When they switched molds nobody bothered to change the jetpack part of the bio so they just added one to Sideswipe in the cartoon.
     
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  18. Max Rawhide

    Max Rawhide Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ... uh, never mind

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    Yep. Sideswipe's jetpack (that the toy doesn't have, but Sunstreaker does), Sideswipe's drill arms (that the toy doesn't have, but Sunstreaker does), the lack of mention of a shoulder missile (while Sunstreaker does have techspec for a shoulder missile which the toys doesn't (really) have), Sunstreaker thinking Sideswipe's altmode is ruined by the exposed engine (which Sideswipe doesn't have, but Sunstreaker does) and of course the red stickers for Sunstreakers shoulders which stand out on the yellow car (the diaclone version came only in red and police deco).
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
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  19. AutobotMirage

    AutobotMirage Wrecker

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  20. kingmob75

    kingmob75 Kreon

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    Interesting... Pre-Ordered just in case!
     
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