Earthrise Leader WFC-E12 Astrotrain Triple Changer 17.5-cm Action Figure - Transformers Generations - Smyths Toys

For those that missed him in Siege.

 

We are, sadly, that old!

 

Ouch, that's not good. I transformed it once and found the pegs were so tight in there that I could barely get them out again, and immediately got the sandpaper out and shaved them down. Probably need to do it a bit more to be honest.

But as @Siege Fan points out we shouldn't have to be doing this. If adult collectors are having this problem then what chance have the carefree hands of a child? Kids don't get toys expecting to have to break out dad's toolbox just to get them play-ready.

Snake? SNAKE? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!

 

*************************************************CK!!!!!

Dude, I'm so sorry! That sucks hard. I haven't even transformed mine yet. I'm going to be treating him like he's an old GPS 'bot. How infuriating. Between this , the Astrotrain issues, and ALLLLLLL the MP problems, Hastak could really do with taking an unflinchingly hard look at their QC.

Addendum to my old TR Apeface ramble.

So way back in the middle of Titans Return, I was foolish enough to commit to the internet my hopes in seeing Voyager class takes on Apeface and Snapdragon in wave 6 of that line. Needless to say, I've been waiting for some time. Through PotP and the early waves of Siege, it transpired I had learned nothing and once again foolishly committed my thoughts to the stone tablet of the internet. Of course, we weren't going to the Horrorcons in TR. The requirements of giving us a Titanmaster that would work as both ape and robot heads would require some sophisticated design solutions. After all, they're not going to do anything as clumsy as they did in G1 and just stick the robot face on the legs, right?

I'm going to just stop saying things on the internet. It's getting embarrassing.

From the moment I saw the first reveal I've felt conflicted about Apeface. He's one of those outliers that, despite not having a strong showing in the fiction, is very dear to me. I really wanted him to be good. Shockwave good. Now, there's plenty about him that looked cool at first glance, but there's was plenty that...didn't look cool. And no, not the off white plastic.

Getting him in hand, it's an odd sensation when you find yourself thinking that the TR head is better, like even without the red eyes. That shouldn't happen, right? Of course, that's easily fixed; stick yer TR head on, and leave the new head in the ape mode. Simple.

Which brings me to the other thing that jumped out at me as I took this guy out the box; He seems to have a hollowed-out monkey head near his bumhole, presumably catch poop. How novel. And a slap in the face to those that say the new WfC stuff lacks innovation.

Petty quibbles aside, the bot mode does look quite beefy and intimidating. Which is how it oughta be! With a TR head on a Voyager body, I was worried he'd look a little pin-headed, but with the smaller scale for Siege, that's just not an issue. Nonetheless, there's something about this guy that looks...if not unfinished, then a little unpolished. Those legs are so full of...stuff and bits that it reminds me of some packing a suitcase in a hurry.

His transformation sequences do speak to the overall messiness of the execution. Instead of the chunky elegance of Shockwave or Springer we instead get something that explodes in every direction and then tabs together in a rather flimsy way, with the main offender being those robot legs. I found myself doing so much shuffling and shoogling to get tab A to fit into slot B, and it reinforced the feeling (right or wrong) that not enough of the thinking was done ahead of committing to the work.

Once you've actually got it tabbed in together, the ape mode is the pick of the bunch. It's very dynamic and poseable and has a shedload of character. I do like how they managed to incorporate the Titanmaster in the beats head, and that single red eye really really works. I know this is the mode that I'm going to spend the most time with. But even then it's only sorta kinda tabbed in solidly. As poseable as he is I still feel like a squeeze too hard and he'll pop apart like a Gobots combiner.

The jet is definitely the least forgivable of all the modes. It's not totally without virtue, with the teeth being visible beneath the cockpit is a nice touch, but it really is just the sort of flying brick we saw back in TR with Broadside.

I hate being such a negative nancy about this guy. It's not even that he's bad, because he isn't. He's a fun, if frustrating, little toy. It's just that I love this guy, and really wanted him to be done some serious justice. Now, like I always seem to, I'm going to have to listen to everyone say Snapdragon is better. And this time I imagine I'll reluctantly agree.

 

Kills me that you can't even nudge the nose cone in ape mode without the whole thing un-tabbing! Overall there's too many compromises with him. Never even tried ship mode!

Well pleased with the dragon, but that Sonic notebook is shite. £11 and only the rings slightly move on the lenticular, and there's a wanky sticker that'll leave a mess. Might even send it back.

 

Also, as someone who doesn't have any micromasters nor is bothered about the effects parts, I'm rather taken with Omega's fx parts and Countdown is a nifty little dude. And those ankle tilts on Omega. Man that is some sweet ankle tilting.


@Large Damn, sorry to see that happen, after you were so excited about it. Can it still hold together or is that it done?

 

Sad to see it looks like Flame Toys has sided with the abusive CHUDs over their Windblade so I’m seeing a bunch of folks boycotting them and cancelling preorders this morning.

It’s not a surprise though, I mean, they commissioned the design specifically from a Hentai artist in the first place and were happy enough with the prototype to show it off.

I can’t afford their stuff anyway so it makes no bloody difference one way or the other.

 

That sucks so hard my friend. I'm super upset, and equally sad. I loved that toy. I'll still do but you know how it goes, it's not the same.
Feel stupid to give money on something you know is faulty, feel stupid for thinking that i'd be clever and all.
I really didn't mind shying away from the MP collection due to prices not even close to be on my range anymore and yes all the QC reports I've seen comfort me about that decision, and took pride to be a Generations collector due to, well, how good they are and how good I feel about them. But if that kind of stuff is about to continue I'm not sure I'll continue myself.
Ok it's just one issue I have over dozens of super enjoyements but that's enough to make a dent about how good you feel about buying them, waiting for them, opening them, enjoying them.
Ok I'm a bit of a drama queen here. But yeah let's say that 2 or 3 more and that will be it.
That's money at play here. I love Tf to the bones. And that's the point.

Anyway, you feel better mate ?

Yep, that's absolutely correct.
When that happened to Grapple I immediatly remembered about when I accidently broke my G1 Schrapnel as a kid and how bad I felt for days. And that was my fault !
Now I don't want to buy one for my niece (hey she's four and she adoooore the Gnaw I gave her, my Gnaw is now hers and dang it it's great) and learnt it broke.

End of the day, it's a toy, I'll live, no problem, but I really don't appreciate to feel like a sucker (even more by something like this).


Anyway, how's the squirrel ?

21 years later I STILL imagine a FF battle is about to start when I hear this.

Cheers my friend.
Truck mode is still possible, it holds a bit, but it's loose on a side and you can feel it's not secure anymore.
That and the fact that it can happen to the other peg as well.

 

So I went with Scorp from Kapow, then skylynx, 2 quinitessons and snapdragon with Kapow (in a seperate order) they had the best non Amazon prices (and I think Kapow in general will have the items in before amazon do and these get me free delivery with the least likely delay (the voyagers will come together). I ordered 3 alicons and a airways from InDemand as the price was the same as Kapow but free delivery over £50 and not £100. The deluxes will all come in together as well.

 

Been digging through my pics looking for the LEGO Dinosaur Fossils, will have to take a shot later on tonight as they are a fantastic build!

Can’t remember if I posted this here as well as Twitter, ah well, apologies if I’m repeating myself!

 

Why the fuck did they go with a Hentai artist in the first place, to tout it as the IDw version too is insulting. I was really looking forward to getting the MTMTE Rodimus kit they're doing but after seeing what they're calling WIndblade, no thank you

 

For any of you that like Studio Series stuff, just seen some turn up in B&M at a nice £10 price point.

Snagged myself a Barricade at that price. Bumblebee, WW2 Bumblebee, Crankcase and Sideswipe all in there too.

 

He’s an absolute beaut, the size thing is kinda made up for by the weight. I don’t own the TR version for comparison, but siege Astro is a heavy lad, certainly heavier with all the weapons on, to the extent I worry he might end up with loose joints if I load him up with everything at once. When you get the transformation right, both the shuttle mode and train mode are great.

 

Just thinking that so far the only blast effects pieces outside of ramps we're seeing are the Netflix sets', and we're already learning about wave 3...

Weird to think the crappy little shooter dudes are kinda gone.

 

All ramps all the time!

 

  When something you are looking forward to that much has something go wrong, you're fully entitled to feel the way you do. I'd say I'm amazed that something so fundamental got through QC, but although Siege has seen a marked improvement in design, QC does seem to have gone down to balance it out. Vietnam factories just not as thorough at testing as the old china ones? Or something else? At least it still holds together.

Whaaaaaa??? I was actually in B&M yesterday, I had nothing. For a tenner, I'd get a SS Sideswipe.


Hmmm. Payday tomorrow. I'm sitting with Grapple and SS Soundwave in my basket from Kapow. But do I pull the trigger?

 

Oh wow. Both Barry and Sideswipe have been ones I've wanted for a while. I'll keep an eye out. B&M Comes through again!

 

So! My kid, who is nearly twelve, has noticed I am on this forum sometimes and has been dropping hints about getting a login of their own. I told them I wasn't sure if there was an age limit. *Is* there?

 

I remember seeing someone mention hoping they’d make battlemasters of little structures you could stick on the modulators. Like a figure that turns into a radar tower or something that could attach with 5mm pegs. But yeah, it’s sad that there won’t be a targetmaster that replaces a figure’s hand like the originals.