PRID was a casualty of the price cuts due to the economy at the time, so was WFC (the game line). Honestly, WFC got it the worst. Jazz, for example, was a shell through and through with a pin holding him together in 2-3 spots and everything else was hollowed out limbs. I'd say he was the worst of the worst and probably none have been as bad as him either before or after. He is, without a doubt, one of the worst examples of a Transformers toy ever made. If not the worst.

That said, Titans Return is leaps and bounds better than PRID and better than what people give it credit for. Yes, hinges and ball joints have loosened over time, but the plastic is actually quite solid, it's just the QC that was really the biggest problem. The only thing Siege did was give the figures better joints, for the most part. I mean, yeah, Mindwipe was full of rubber in his beast mode head and wings, but I think that was more for safety than anything else because he's a pointy little bugger, while the rest of him is solid.

I think in some cases people are conflating plastic quality with QC. It's easy enough to do, but they're not one and the same. I honestly don't feel anything different between Siege figures and what my current collection consists of. Fun fact: POTP Starscream/Elita-1 mold is actually heavier than Siege Prime while Megatron is a good bit heavier than either one. Neither figure is junkier than the other, regardless of people's opinions. Bad design choices on Starscream (like the backpack not locking in place until the second production run) is more about the QC than the plastics being used.

I honestly don't see a vast quality difference. I see a design choice difference, and some weight changes, but that's about it. I'd go so far to say there are roughly the same paint apps and not more except in the case of Siege Sideswipe. He's slathered in it for color matching and they did a fantastic job, they really did. Honestly, he looks better than MP Sideswipe in that regard. (He's actually a better figure, period, but I'm not trying to get a war going... *shakes head no*) TR Deluxes definitely had more intricate paint apps, they replaced stickers completely. (I'm still impressed by that...) The only thing I'll give Siege Voyagers and Leaders over what's come before is the paint replacing those awful foil stickers that were peeling IN the package.

I'm happy to have the figures, period, I am, I just don't see that much of a massive change between the lines and I don't think it's fair to compare TR to PRID when PRID and WFC were among the worst toys made in terms of hollowness. (I know they had to cut costs, but dang, they literally cut the figures in half! Guess they went to the Bayverse Megatron school of economics. Jazz was the first lesson plan. )

My point isn't invalidated because I wasn't talking about retail versus exclusives and I wasn't talking retail at all. Perhaps you were, but that wasn't my point. I was talking only about numbers and uses, period. My point was everyone's claiming 3 Leader Class figures (mainly because that's what Hasbro's telling them) and it's not really accurate. Not anyone's fault but Hasbro's. They're getting used to saying one thing but actually doing another. The Leaders are proof of that.

*sigh* I really hate having to explain myself to you over and over again as of late. And it's generally you having me do it. Perhaps I could be a little bit clearer, I suppose (although I don't really see how my post could've been taken any other way, but whatever...) I'm just growing weary of this. Seriously.

Anyway... My point, currently, is that what we've seen so far is not the end of the Leaders in this line. They're going to milk these molds for all they're worth. I'm betting we'll see the red and black repaint of Galaxy Force Optimus, here. If we do, that would bring the current listings to..

1.) Ultra Magnus
2.) Shockwave
3.) Galaxy Force Optimus Prime
4.) Shackwave (gray repaint) maybe?
5.) Red and black Optimus maybe?
6.) ??? Unnamed new mold or extensive retool or what's already been released.

 

We have seen it all. But I'm not sure what Hasbro can do to appease the fans who want something completely new and different in Generations while simultaneously appeasing the fans who also have seen it all but are invested in the line because all they want anymore is just to see it all again.

I understand the desire to see something that isn't just recreating stuff from 10-30 years ago, to introduce brand new concepts and characters, but at the same time Generations isn't really the toyline that's supposed to do that. (If anything that's supposed to be Cyberverse's job, and sadly they're doing a poor job of it).

 

Ah, only two waves for leader class, that's pretty much that then.

 

Nothing appeases the masses anymore. That’s why every time something gets announced there’s always peaople saying “NOW I WANT THIS! AND THIS! AND THIS!”

Nobody is happy with what we just get. Even without it in their hands they demand what’s next which is sad.

I’m personally just happy with what we get because the other option is not getting anything. They could and arguably could just focus on the current cartoon like they used to.

I’m a CHUG only collector but man would I like to see the engineering in siege or Studio Series go into a Cyberverse line. I’d like an Optimus from Cyberverse that gets the treatment that Siege and SS gets. Same with a lot of those characters but that just shows I’m really not that target audience. Which is totally cool. As kids we had simple bricks and that’s what these are, an introduction to the brand for the kids

 

Cant stand the front wheels being right on the bumper. looks wrong on both toys. why couldnt they slide back to fill in that gap.

 

as a Leader exclusive? Unlikely. And it would have to be an exclusive if we know the three retail leaders.

They'll be an exclusive somewhere along the line, and it's probably an Op/Magnus recolour as there's a few options there.

Shockwave's in universe repaints are slim and I'm not sure energon Sixshot has the pull. Possibly.

His remould is I suspect, like T30 Jetfire and CW Ultra Magnus. I'm willing to have a fiver on it being Star Saber - they've got the riding on vehicle gimmick in common and something about Siege Shockwave's four arms has never sat right with me so I figure it must be essential for his remould, which leads me to Star Saber, who's got an inner robot and outer larger robot.

YMMV

 

That looks so cool!

 

Well a fire truck is bigger

 

So the wheels on his wings are fake? Why include them at all then?

It’s a cybertronian vehicle, why the hell would there need to be fake wheels

 

I might have missed something, but do we have any clues that the SIEGE line will be as short as POTP? I always assumed POTP was shortened to make room for SIEGE and the planned new trilogy. I figured SIEGE would be more like Combiner Wars in terms of remolds and repaints and we'd see more at toy fair.

 

hasbro has confirmed that moving forward they are doing yearly resets for generations

 

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY

 

I included "maybe?" to avoid this exact post. -_- *sigh*

1.) Ultra Magnus (Retail)
2.) Shockwave (Retail)
3.) Unnamed/unknown Leader Class (Retail)
4.) Galaxy Force Optimus (I'm betting it's a store exclusive like Amazon had with Nemesis Prime and HTS had with Throne Primal. A possible retail release, though. I'm guessing just like you are.)
5.) Shackwave has enough pull to be an exclusive somewhere. (People really do go for that type of thing.)
6.) Most likely a reuse of the unknown/unnamed third Leader mold.

Plus Rodimus Cron is a reuse and he saw a retail release. We don't actually know if GFOP is a retail release. (He most likely is, but we don't know. We also don't know what Hasbro has up their sleeves and we also know they tell us one thing then do another.)

You're thinking of Energon Six Shot while I'm talking about Radio Shack's gray repaint of the original G1 Shockwave mold, which was a hit in some circles and is still in collector collections to this day. FT even went to the trouble of making a Quakewave in that color scheme for Captured Prey as an exclusive. (I believe it was Captured Prey. I do know they carried some for a while, but maybe it wasn't their actual exclusive. Either way, it exists.) Could they use Shockwave's mold as a Star Saber? Perhaps (I certainly don't see how but I'm not a designer so you can't go by me on that one) but Shackwave is more likely given that they want to milk these molds for money and as much as they can get of that.

To evoke the visuals of the original toy. A nostalgia cash in because they know people would complain. "Where are the wheels on the wings?!" "We didn't include them because they'd be fake." So, they did include them...to the sound of "Why are they fake?!" to which I say that Hasbro can't win, even when they try, but sometimes they try things they probably shouldn't. While I'm impressed that they're giving nods to newer fans that come from different storylines like RID and the Unicron trilogy, I think it was probably a can of worms that they took a risk opening and they only have themselves to blame if someone dislikes it. (Please note: My post here is not a condemnation of your opinion. I'm not a big fan of the fake wheels myself, I just understand why they did it.)

Well, long before tigatron2002's post, quoted below, I knew it was a one year run just based on the numbers and waves. It lines up with POTP.

Honestly, I think it kind of works. They still have a finite amount of time and waves to give them confines to work in and push them to get it done, but they also have exclusives to help them get out the odd figures that wouldn't otherwise fit their current structure. Lets them get into the next line quicker and burn through the trilogy faster until the next Generations iteration. (Oh, joy. I can't wait to see what's coming then!)

 

the one thing i'll say about this is that galaxy force optimus' core bot is the one featured on the idw reboot artwork. if he is not a regular retail release then that makes no sense because you dont make a store exclusive the headliner of anything. its bad business

 

Holy crap!!! The truck mode looks amazing! Everything I was hoping it would be!

From the looks of it, I don't think we'll have the flying truck of doom mode, but it isn't that big of a loss to me. And even then we haven't seen everything yet. It might still be possible.

I am just so excited for this figure. I can't wait to get it.

 

He's a retail release. We've already seen the pre-orders of him and Shockwave in a case.

 

ah, well ok then. that seems crazy but then I think about Leader figures shelf warming in the last 3 lines and it makes some sense. that also means I only have to buy 2 leaders for Siege, so yee haw. Thanks!

 

I'm already sold on this but if it's capable of going into the "jet truck" mode my inner kid will die of happiness

 

In fact we do know we do know Galaxy force Optimus is the 3rd retail leader. A day before Leader Prime leaked Southern Hobby Distributors listed the wave 2 leader assortments up for order (and shortly took the product info down).
The Case Assortment breaks down as
1x E3576 Shockwave action figure
1x E3480 "Autobot" Action figure

E3480 is the product number of this siege leader Optimus. (we know this through the Chinese leaks)

Southern Hobby now only has the case assortment product number now showing, but that also matches the Chinese leak. If he was a exclusive his Case's product code would most likely be different.
Transformers: War for Cybertron Leader wave 2 Assortment - HSBE3419AS01 | Southern Hobby Supply

 

While I agree he’s retail where are these preorders you speak of