In your position I'd wait for a third option. I'm sure BMB or Wei Jiang are working on OSing the SS right now.

 

DF Steelclaw/Bonecrusher IS maybe a head too tall to scale with mpm/traditional leader class, but I wouldn't call him overly complicated. Having transformed him a couple of time I'd say he's slightly more involved than ROTF Leader Prime; the only 'fiddly' part is getting the arms tabbed into his torso, everything else is really straight forward.

 

Bonecrusher went “YEEEEET”

 

He feels a bit too short for a Voyager. I know that he's supposed to be short and thick,but something feels off about him. The arms were definitely better on the Deluxe as well. More fluid and poseable.

I agree. As much as I want to like this Bonecrusher,his flaws get in the way too much for me to fully appreciate him. His vehicle mode has a huge gap in the top where the arms are that won't close up no matter how hard I push them together. His transformation feels needlessly fiddly for the sake of it(because a lot of movie designs have to have fiddly transformations,it seems). His vehicle mode feels too long and thin in my hands. The Deluxe's vehicle mode had a nice thickness to it. I'm not sure why Hasbro didn't replicate that here.

Yeah. I wish he was a little bit bigger. It feels like Bonecrusher is only in scale with SS-32 Optimus. Prime vs Prime did a very good video review on Bonecrusher that echoes some of my misgivings about this figure.

 

My biggest problem with the TF Dream Factory one is...it isn't actually screen accurate. It's still based off the early concept design like the 2007 deluxe, rather than the actual final movie render of it. I GUESS you can get the 3P one, but it isn't accurate to the movie, which people seem to forget that part. Studio Series is supposed to be the most accurate to the final movie renders, rather than based off the early concept designs that would've been used as reference in the early design phase of the toy. I just can't get behind the 3P one. You can make an argument all you want about size and value but at the end of the day, the 3P one is less accurate, therefore inferior to the Studio Series one.

I don't really get your point about the arms since I actually have the 2007 deluxe one, and it can't pose nearly as well as the SS. But anyways, you do you. Though I do want to say that the SS vehicle mode is pretty good in comparison to the actual vehicle. The Buffalo MRV isn't actually a stout vehicle. It's tall and narrow, because it's supposed to be relatively survivable against a mine attack, or barring that, save it's crew. It's tall and narrow with a V shaped bottom hull to guide the explosive energy around the vehicle. It's narrow so that it doesn't risk flipping over when caught in a mine ambush. It's also a hellishly big vehicle.

 

Oh. That makes sense. I had a very different image of the Buffalo in my head. Thought it was thicker. I also misremembered the arms of the Deluxe being more poseable than they were because they can rotate and extend. Now that you mention it, the Studio Series version does have more poseable arms.

 

Glad I could help. I'm a big military buff and in general Hasbro has been nailing it in the SS line when it comes to alt mode accuracy. Hell, I could gush about the alt mode for WWII bee too, but I'll do it in that thread.

 

I mean neither are entire faithful to the final cgi. SS has accurate toe struts and groin-adjacent wheels, but conversely DF doesn't have the entire vehicle's roof on its shoulders nor does it have the backdoor and ladder hanging off its arms.

Neither is more accurate when the other has its own glaring discrepancies, but both are more than serviceable attempts to physically represent the same CGI model (that cheats its transformation)  

 

I would make the argument that the SS is still more accurate. DF's issues most glaringly are the shoulder paldrons made of the sides of the vehicle's cabin, and the front wheels over the shoulder. While certainly the SS has it's inaccuracies either, I would honestly consider those quite minor and write it off as literally being unable for current toy technology to twist and bend it's structure in a way that perfectly replicates the final render. That being said, the SS's silhouette is still MUCH more accurate. The overall shaping of it is much closer to the final render than DF's version, and that's where I'm more concerned with. I understand your concerns but those nitpicks are something that no one in 2018-2019 can do without shape changing plastic technology. I would also want to point out that a noticeable feature on the CGI model is the cabin windows that make up the shoulders. That is something the SS figure replicates pretty well, all things considered.

When it comes to alt mode, neither figure is perfect, but once again when it comes to little details the SS figure still wins out. The shaping of the fenders is a bit better looking on the SS, and the Hasbro one even correctly omits the paint on the tan "circles" just like the real vehicle does. The rear "balcony" on the SS version is of a correct length, although it's ladder is offset, which the DF version does have it centered correctly. The angled side radiator vents on the hood are more accurate and correctly spaced on the SS version. The DF version incorrectly places it's rear lights on the balcony's sides. Neither version gets the rear lights particularly well, but the SS actually has detail on the rear fenders that actually look like light placement. The front bumper on the SS version has the correct step bracket on the left side of the vehicle, just like the actual vehicle does. Although it isn't present on every Buffalo MRV, the SS one actually has a hook towards the end of the mine clearing arm like some vehicles do. As a last little vehicle nitpick, the SS vehicle has a correct pully on the rear of the hull that connects a wire that is hooked onto the hull under the center window.

At the end of the day I think, nitpicks aside, that when you stack up the SS and DF ones to the final render, the SS certainly wins out. I've watched some reviews and don't get me wrong, I'm impressed by the DF one, but it just ain't as accurate as the SS Bonecrusher. I love the 2007 Decepticon cast, and I love military vehicles. Neither of them are perfect but the SS gets more on it right down to even little details that only military nerds like me would catch.

 

Is there a use for the grey parts of his arms (with the hands) to come undone? Am I missing something here? I never really look at the instructions anymore cause they usually suck ass.

Don't forget the SS one is what, 1/5 the price?

 

They're to kinda mimic some of the arm shaping. Other than that its a do your own thing kinda deal.

I know it's always gonna be testy saying this but...the DF one is still within my range of affordability, so price didn't factor into it for me. If it was more accurate I'd be buying it without hesitation over the SS one.

 

Does the tab hanging down on the front bumper serve any purpose?

 

Got this guy over the weekend. Initial impressions are that he's... Alright. I didn't find that he "wowed" me like some other figures have. He gets the job done, but doesn't really do anything super ingenious.
But despite that, I can't seem to stop messing with him. Vehicle mode is nice, and I'm impressed that the wheels don't have any issues touching the ground. Transformation's involved, but not frustrating. Robot mode's pretty slick even if he does have some vehicle kibble on his arms.

I think my favorite thing about him are the butterfly joints on his shoulders. Lots of nice arm-crossing-over-the-chest ability. Kinda wish he didn't have gorilla arms, but with the claw hands, it's not too bad. The arms are very expressive, so that's pretty good.

Also, Studio Series continues to nail the head sculpts. Bonecrusher's looks fantastic.

So yeah. He's grown on me incredible quickly, and I'm happy to finally have a Voyager Bonecrusher after all these years.

 

It is a stepping bracket. A detail from the real life vehicle.

 

I just got him yesterday too.
I like him.

I don't quibble over many things about figures usually....that said, all this guy REALLY needed was a better range of motion in his head, especially up/down, and a wait swivel.

Too many poses he SHOULD be in, require his head to look up a bit; along with some waist turn. The butterfly joints make up for that sliiiiiightly. Overall, I do like him.

 

And wrist action!

 

Oh yes. The head could definitely use more range.

This figure... He's super fun. I really dig him. But it's one of those cases where a bit of extra engineering and he'd be absolutely perfect. What we got is good, but there's definitely room for improvement.

 

Agreed..anyone whonsays the original deluxe is more accurate is not looking at the big picture.

These vehicles are awesome too. I got to do a training mission with all of Michigan's top tier
SWAT teams and everyone brought their toys..there was one that looked just like bonecrusher...not sure if I got pics of it, but its noticeably larger than the rank and file generic term "MRAP" that comprises a vast category of vehicles.

For the time, the deluxe was good, but I hated the super stretch arm gimmick, and it was very standard humanoid, as opposed to the CGI hunched over, "monster troll" look. I'm looking for this one pretty hard in stores...I want to put it on my desk at work, and surprise one of these hoity toity defense contractors..

 

this guy grew on me once i had him in hand. the torso is still oddly shaped and i wish he had more normal hands instead of pinchers, but he's pretty good.

hate that back kibble, though. feels like they gave up on it, since it doesn't lock in at all in robot mode.

 

So I just opened Bonecrusher, he's fun, strange, annoying at times but overall I like him.

Pros:
- Unique robot mode with interesting articulation (I got him to stand on one claw! Kinda like a handstand!)
- Nice alt mode
- Very accurate to the CGI model

Cons:
- In the alt mode, the arms don't tab together leaving an annoying gap in the middle.
- The arms can be slightly annoying while posing him, and the head, his head can't move up and down, only side to side. That's a pain.

Great figure, he does need many improvements however. I recommend him.