Can anyone confirm that they're indeed being shipped with the shoulders "fixed?" I think that would put this debate to bed, if so.

 

Mine came from Amazon US but those who have received P/CP from Kapow have confirmed they are shipping with the shoulders in the 'fixed' position

 

Finally had a chance to crack mine open. Hes awesome,I wanna get one more to have both sides of my CHUG shelf covered,lol. So glad hes not a combiner or headmaster.

I couldnt transform him at all into altmode,his forearms wouldnt stay tabbed into the sides at all and it kept the shell of the car from tabbing together. I did the shoulder fix and everything locks up tight and secure and I can now transform him back and forth with no issue at all. I also have stress marks on the middle piece hinge that form the middle of the front of the car and folds into Punchs back and that was right out of the box.

I would of like to have seen 2 different guns for him instead of the Primemaster and Prime Armor which will stay in the box,cuz Ill never use them. I look forward to see what Nonnef will have coming up for him.

 

Still waiting for him to restock at Amazon.

Preordered him late Aug, said he'll arrive Sept24.

Sept 24 came, said out of stock & never arrived. wtf mane

 

Ahem:

 

Fixed them hood wont go down issues.

 

ew

 

My review:

CAR MODE:









This is one of the best car modes in over 10 years of the CHUG history IMHO, where the Hasbro designers have proven over and over their abilities to come up with sweet sweet mesh-ups of sports cars. What I particularly like here is they kept the same minimalist color scheme as the G1 toy while adding small details here and there to add to the realism, e.g.painted lights and front grill. Those painted red hub caps look real nice too. The overall design also reminds me a lot of the CW Deadend mold and its variations, which I also love. I can totally see this car driven by James Bond, befitting Punch's spy role; it's low-key yet powerful-looking.



I couldn't care less about the Prime Master dude or the prime armor, especially when Punch doesn't even combine; but they're there.

TRANSFORMATION:
The engineering doesn't feel like far superior than typical retail Deluxe Transformers. The utilization of the roof panel mass as bottom of the feet is quite clever. Other than that, there's nothing really to write home about. I wish there was enough budget to give the two 'bot modes different arms like the G1 toy did.

I did the shoulder ball joint fix and yes, it's definitely a mis-assembly at the factory. I didn't particular liked how you have to flex the plastic to do it though. The plastic is quite malleable and of high quality but do be careful when you do it.

ROBOT MODES:







Punch is excellent and unmistakably himself. All the visual ques are there with a modern feel. The head sculpt is up to Takara's usual high standards. The head uses the same tilting helmet mechanism to switch between Punch and Counterpunch; goes to show what a great design it was back then. What's nice is the chest panels in both Punch and Counterpunch configuration can fold down and cover the insignia not being used. This also reveals 5mm ports which is handy for weapon storage. Articulation is typical to a recent Deluxe figure. It's worth mentioning though there's a decent up and down range at the neck ball joint.







It becomes evident in Counterpunch mode that they actually went for the Japanese Headmaster cartoon deco, with the red eyes and silver mouth. I personally think the G1 toy with no silver paint on the moth looks better though. I can see again they went for HM cartoon accuracy with only one gun and not double barreled like the G1 toy had, I still wish they ditched the prime armor and gave us a different gun for Counterpunch. But all in all, a well done robot mode.





He looks a bit lanky with his small head and long legs standing next to the TR Headmaster/Targetmasters, but they do look great displayed together.

OVERALL:
It's the first true CHUG update to the my favorite G1 toy growing up, and aside from a couple of minor nitpicks, it's a wonderful little Deluxe figure.

 

To anyone interested in the design of this figure then it matters if it is a misassembly or not. That's why people wanted to know how it's oriented in the second run. It's understandable since POTP leader Optimus came out people said jamming the arms down in alt mode is the official alt mode, contradicting the renders in the instructions. Flip a piece, it fits better, then call it a misassembly right away? Nah..

opoptimus where is that pump shotgun from in your decepticon mode pics? works really well with him

 

That'd be from Igear's Brawn figure (Hench, IIRC). It does look sweet.

 

Because there's a 5mm post on the back of both robot modes, there's easy storage to allow for a different gun for each bot mode.

The POTP fist is best stored in the bottom of a nearby rubbish bin.

 

Finally arrived. Love it. No shoulder mod necessary, although one arm initially refused to stay pegged for the alt mode. It’s fine now. I also don’t think misassembly is the issue. Tolerances are to blame. That block is there to stop the shoulders from dropping further for robot mode.

 

Should I just give up on getting this figure, I've gotten no word from Amazon about mine ever shipping?

 

Did you manage a pre-order? They're probably still working through that back log

 

Yep, pre-ordered

 

^^^I pre-ordered mine over a month ago and have yet to receive an update from Amazon.

Patience...it'll come.

 

This right here.

 

So is there any orientation in which a Titanmaster/Primemaster can fit into the passenger compartment of P/CP’s car mode? I’ve tried every way I can think of, but it’s always a millimeter or two away from actually fitting. It’s slightly frustrating because it seems so close to working. But... it doesn’t, right? That little space left there in car mode is just coincidental?

 

PUNCH/COUNTERPUNCH

Not available in stores​

Vehicle Mode

Sexy… as long as my doors don’t pop off​

One of the appeals of Punch is he was one of the very few Transformers released in 1987 that had an Earth alt-mode (the others being the Throttlebots and new Decepticon Cassettes) when the line was moving heavily into Cybertronian and/or Creature modes. The vehicle mode has been faithfully redone here, down to the red hubcaps.

The arms/shoulder come misassembled which means that the arms don’t tab properly when you are folding the doors over to make his car mode. This is apparently easily repaired though I haven’t gotten around to it yet, I’ve found with sufficient (yet carefully applied) force that you can tab the doors properly, though they come back loose with the slightest knock. When I get around to making the repair I will post the method like I did with the problem regarding Trypticons hip, though I am sure if I look back through this thread properly I will find someone else already has  

Punch Mode

I’m a heroic Autobot – check out my orange chest!​

Excellent colours, well proportioned, good articulation, an orange gun – what more could one ask for! Well, perhaps some feet. But he balances quite well all the same and really puts the Timelines version to shame. You can fold down a tab on his back to hide the Decepticon symbol located there.

Counterpunch

I’m an evil Decepticon – check out my purple kneepads!​

Like the original toy, you turn this figure around, adjust the set of the shoulders, flip the helmet and viola – instant Decepticon! Like his Autobot version you can flip a tab on his back to hide the other factions symbol and he also lacks feet. Additionally what he lacks is a blaster of his own. In my opinion it helped differentiate the two robot modes with the original toy by each having its own gun. Since Counterpunch looks weird holding Punch’s gun, I give him the otherwise useless combiner appendage (since this toy does NOT combine)as a sort of black shield. Still on the whole he looks excellent, you can even flip the hands around so they are different colours!

Prima Prime

I am the leader of the Original 13 Primes! Check out the power contained in my tiny, tiny body!​

You can turn him into a box and stick him in the shield – that’s all I can say about this figure, except perhaps he has some cool pipelighting from the back the other POTP Primes lack. But I don’t like the concept as a whole and find them mostly useless little figures just waiting to get lost – give us some proper figures of the Original 13 more than just the likes of Alpha Trion and Megatronus.

So is this figure worth getting?

​

As long as you can afford the bigger (but not gigantic) price tag I’d say definitely yes, especially if you are a G1 fan! 3 great modes, a few accessories and a cool collectors box – he is good quality and a lot of fun! Now we can simply hope this toy prompts the character appearance in the upcoming IDW reboot of the Transformers universe.

 To see my review of POTP Punch/Counterpunch, as well as lots else, please check out my Blog Review of this figure HERE ​

Please Note: As per TFW2005 rules, all pertinent information from the Blog has been included in this post.

 

This figure is great! All three modes are simple but effective.

I can't seem to peg in Punch's left shoulder, but that's ok for now. Yellow tab is too big for the blue plastic part - I will go through this thread later on as I'm sure this is a common problem that might cause cracks and warps.

My only downside would be CW Prowl mold lack of real feet, but I can overlook that as I just feel this is a fricking solid deluxe. Prime Armor hand is also nice as it gives him a little bit of extra backpack bulk if you want to (I'm sure nobody ever uses these things for actual 'armor', right?). Oh, and the little Prima guy is a nice bonus (but not a freebie, pretty sure you're paying for it   ).

The first TFCC one was a clever effort that unfortunately ended up a bit poor thanks to the tiny head. This one doesn't have that problem AND is its own unique mold. Recommended!

Haha! Looks like in order to save some time on modelling, they just used the Arcee gun as a base!