Newage Weibo post

The translation according to Google:

07T&08T took off one after another, and the Mennon Emperor sent a 4-in-1 special-effects set special code to the first-time customers. The first batch was issued on the 15th of the month, and the special code was not sent to the ordering merchants. Ex version because the 1st cut order has been completely sold, so the special code is placed directly in the box, the hard core ab set upgrade process is also recently released @xl_zjj

What is this 4-in-1 special-effects and hard core ab set upgrade they speak off?

 

Does this mean early buyers get some kind of redemption code?

 

It amazes me that its 2019 and we still don't have better language translation.

 

It says the special parts are not in the box, so buyers need to communicate with their merchant to make arrangement for delivering them together.

Someone asked what the 4-in-1 special is, NA answered in the comments section, it's hand cannon, purple flame thrower, two autobots little car flames (no idea what that mean) and the last one no idea at all..

 

The box art would imply heavily that its meant to be Shattered Glass. Specifically the part of him giving a thumbs up to a purple Optimus Prime while sitting next to a red eyed, black helmeted Prowl.

 

Didn't read the comment, wasn't going to run everything threw Google Translate.

But if this true, why add this to the translucent ones and not the the non translucent ones?

Haven't done any of the translucent ones from Newage, this isn't enough to make me buy one.

 

If you're a ShowZ customer that wanted the black head with red eyes, they have them, but you probably need to request it. I received a corrected head with another purchase that arrived today.

If you're not, or don't want to go through the trouble and want to take a stab at fixing them yourself, don't be dismayed. I discovered today (actually, I realize now that this isn't news as Ratchet has swappable faces, but I forgot all about that because I only ever wanted the black one) that the face pops off completely, making the eyes extremely easy to paint. Just wedge a toothpick, or something similar, between the rear of the chin and the black of the helmet. Push towards the figure's forehead and it pops right off. There's no glue or anything, it's just pegged.

 

Did anyone find out more about what these special parts are supposed to be?

 

The Everyday Lives of Ironhide and Ratchet

(adapted)

 

I asked @ShowZStore about this in another thread and this was their response:

 

Received Ironhide and Ratchet and transformed them today. They're nice. The transformation is a little more esoteric than most of the other NA stuff but once you've done it once it all makes sense. The alt mode's pretty small in relation to the rest of the car's, even for vanettes, but it still looks good.
I had a lot of trouble with posing and stability until I read the post below. Just a minor twist to the toe but makes a huge amount of difference. They are a fair bit more back-heavy than the rest of the crew, and even with the toes and heels in position it's tough to get a decent upright pose. They always seem to end up either leaning back or hunched over, just a little.
The windshield chest is a bit annoying as it doesn't really peg in solidly. I can see what they had in mind for it but the execution is just a little off.
And overall, my Ironhide seems a little tighter and pegs together a little more solidly than Ratchet.

I'm loving the way they all look in bot mode, they scale together beautifully, pose wonderfully and I love the little coherent details across the line, like the windscreens all matching - you'd think that wouldn't be a difficult thing but it's something that Takara still hasn't managed to get consistent after more than 40 MP figures - every character has a different colour! BUT NA all look great together.
I now have the full set of G1 bots from them, and am expecting duplicates of all for alt mode display shortly. They look so good (and MS Prime fits in perfectly) Just need those Seekers to fill out the Decpeticon ranks.

 

Their chest does peg in if you give them a firm squeeze

 

Really? Can you explain how for me?
I can see the top of the windshield is supposed to slot over those wedge shaped shoulder pieces but there’s nothing holding those shoulder pieces firmly in place so the slightest movement means the windscreen pops out. I can see where the internal “spine” pegs in and if you fold the backpack up right it kind of holds together. How does the windshield chest peg in?

 

It doesn’t, as far as I’m aware... as you say, the front windshield pegs into the spine section, but the backpack just seems to hold in place via friction, rather than any kind of solid connection.

Happy to be proven wrong though, if there’s a step I’m missing!

 

You really have to squeeze it. I promise, you will know when it's pegged because it clicks into place. Then rotate the wheels into place; they have little tabs on them that further secure the front.

 

I was trying to figure out what nonsense you were talking because the chest clearly doesn't tab in but then I found it. You're talking about the tab in his spine. Yeah, that tabs in and then the wheels tab in as well but the chest is still loose. It won't go very far with the wheels locked in but it still moves back and forth.

 

Gotcha. The window section doesn't really tab, no. But, at least on mine, it's secure as long as the spine is snapped in, the wheels rotated all the way in (until they sit on an inward angle), and the shoulder-roof bits in place. Unless I really tug on it, it stays "locked" in place by way of the opposing force of those three holds.

 

Thanks for that. Pretty much what I’d already figured. It works reasonably well for Ironhide who’s all around a little tighter. My Ratchet has slightly looser joints all over so his chest is a lot more prone to movement. Only moves a little bit as others have said but it’s enough to disrupt his profile. And when combined with his tendency to be a little backwards leaning at the hips, it’s easy to end up in a pretty awkward pose.
But it’s not a major issue and otherwise it’s a very clever design.

 

I turn the thighs around 180 degrees on these guys to get a more stable and more dynamic anime robot stance. This way the knees are inverted and it solves all the back leaning issues.

 

Interseting, That does limit you to a perfectly straight-legged stance though? There's no "one leg forward, one leg back" dynamic pose or "mid-step" walking posing? Just that Japanese anime crotch thrust.

And I should clarify, in spite of my minor critcism of this guy, overall I am totally blown away by the NewAge guy's.
I love my new Legends collection. I'm pretty much sticking with NewAge, (with the odd MS bot that fits the look and scale thrown in) and I just can't get over how amazing they are. So clean and neat, I can actually figure out the transformations myself. I can pick one up and transform it without having to pull up a YouTube video.
They look amazing - better than many older MP figures in my opinion. But best of all is the consistency.
There's none of that whiney "urgh the cartoon was ugly", "never go full toon" "I want a mix of different influences" guff here. It's unashamedly and unabashedly toon-centric. They do alt deco's for those who want them, but the toon-look remains uncompromised.
The colours are right, the details are right, the scale is spot on... and oh my god... the windows!! The windows are ALL THE SAME COLOUR!!!
I mean who would have thought that would be so hard? Takara is more than 40 releases into their MP line, they've rebooted it at least twice, and they STILL can't get the same window colour on both MP-44 and MP-45!! Those two are released only a few months apart and they have wildly different windscreen colours!! I think almost every single MP from Takara has a different colour windscreen. It seems like nitpicking until you realise just how pervasive the issue is. Throw in 3P's who also seem to just randomly choose a colour, and the collection is really inconsistent.
NewAge though, it all fits together.
I genuinely feel that if NA stuff had started to appear just 2 or 3 years ago, before I was too heavily invested in MP, I would have dumped my Masterpiece bots and gone with this Legends scale. I would have saved a fortune, would have figures I can actually play with, and the entire G1 cast would probably fit on a couple of shelves of a book-case.
That ship has sailed for me as I am way too far down the MP rabbit-hole to stop now, but I am pretty much committed to a Legends scale collection as well. I just really hope that NewAge keeps going strong for years to come and there's hope to finish the entire cast (I'll settle for mainly NA with some MS help of course - Their Optimus is great and their Soundwave and Reflector look like they'll be lovely.)