Only thing I wish was different is the Matrix. The more G1 design to it just doesn't do anything for me

 

If I had to be nitpicky, I still hate that there's no way to not flex the shoulder straps when combining. I also really do dislike that Leobreaker/Savage Claw is off the table since that mode in the show deserves to be done justice. I also don't know if it's just the reviewers being inattentive (it's hard to notice) but the cab seems to bow a bit from the weight, lifting the front wheels off the ground. I also wish the cab windows had the white trim.

Other than that this toy is perfect. There's so much intelligent design here, from the placement of diecast to move the center of balance and offset the backpack, to the backpack itself being much slimmer and less unbalanced, to the overall solid chunk and "wasn't broke, didn't fix" attitude of this redesign. Much like how Legacy Override is my example of what I want in a Hasbro update, TFR's Cybertron Prime is now my example of what I want in a 3P update. All we need is someone to do updates of Scourge and Evac and Cybertron fans be eatin' good.

I hope this guy is a top seller so TFR does either Megs or Starscream next. I feel like Megs would be perfect, since obviously then we can have the two leaders and they get a wicked Galvatron redeco out of it.

It is annoying though that, regardless of my personal opinion, these are 'fully articulated' hands with fully jointed fingers but single-piece thumbs. Means dynamic pointing or thumbs up poses are off the table. He'll always have a bent thumb, further limiting the effectiveness of the fully jointed fingers.

Yeah, it's the only truly odd design choice of this figure. Everything else is so faithful and then it's just an extremely off-model (and honestly rudimentary) Matrix design that feels entirely out of place.

 

Idk the thumb looks fine to me. It’s not curved enough to not work as a thumbs up, and it’s not straight enough to not work as a fist. Idk looking at my hands I don’t really need a figures thumb to fully straighten out in un-natural manner.

 

Sure. The problem is the poorly-made articulated fingers, which are too-common on smaller figures. If you're going to give me something like the hands XTB put on their Hoist and Trailbreaker then I'd rather have typewriter hands.

 

I mean, you do if you want to take full advantage of those articulated fingers. What if you want to give a thumbs up? Or point like the Optimus do? Or just kind of splay his hands out with his fingers fully straight?

Just seems kind of weird to take the whole "I want fully articulated hands" but then when they're not actually fully articulated to just go "eh close enough."

 

Because like I said the thumbs are in a fine angle. He actually can easily do a thumbs up, same with pointing or any other pose you can think of. Sure add a joint in there, but it ultimately won’t accomplish anywhere near as much as joints in the main 4 fingers.

I’m far more willing to accept that just the thumb doesn’t have a joint that does very little, vs accepting static hands that can’t pose at all.

 

I don't think I've ever given a thumbs up with my thumb bent inward. If anything it bends slightly out. You say the thumb straightening is "unnatural" but, like, make a thumbs up right now.

Okay but what do those accomplish, then? Which is to say, what do they accomplish more than semi-articulated fingers would?

It just seems weird to be almost there. Either go all-in or don't bother. Almost articulated hands feel worse to me than fully articulated ones, because they're fiddly and visually compromised and aren't even giving me the benefit of full expression.

 

I still don't get why this is a problem. There seems to be almost 0 flexing in any of the recent reviews that we've seen.

 

All or nothing is a good mindset in a lot of cases, I don't know if 3rd party transformers finger articulation is one of those cases. The thumb thing is akward but it doesn't make any pose strictly unattainable. Not sure if it's enough of an issue to warrant the "they shouldn't have done it at all then" statement

 

I just watched Emgo's review and the straps had to be bent over the little red nubs they clip on.

It's just weird to have any flexing at all, even the minor amount that there is. Especially when the original toy had zero.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have done it at all, I'm saying they should've added the extra joint to the thumbs. (Fanshobby's Power Baser got it right as an example) I was speaking more generally with the "all or nothing" bit.

 

100% team articulated hands for bots that are MP-van size or larger. Lets to the toys be far more expressive and natural looking than if their hands were always just closed fists or like they forgot they weren't at a keyboard anymore. Also preferable to needing a keep a bag full of a dozen swap out hands that heaven forbid you lose them.

 

Oh God not the MG hands of the Jesta and RX-78-2. Those things stink, and not because they're fully articulated, but because they're terribly designed. If a finger pops off even once the socket is permanently screwed and it will pop off forever.

Hell, the fully posable hands on my RG GaoGaiGar both broke just trying to make fists. Those are examples of being way too small to do full articulation.

 

This is why I collect MP instead of Legends for the same reason. Legends scale robots need to swap out hands, and I just find this clunky. Good hands can add a lot of personality to the character, especially those without faces or swappable faces. Hell, I personally don't care much for swappable faces either because of too many accessories, but I can't deny that having facial expressions might be important for some characters like Starscream.

 

Glad Emgo got one; I always like seeing him go over the articulation and details more than other reviewers do, and I live for the Just Transform It videos, which have practically made official instruction booklets obsolete for me.

One thing that I find interesting though is that unlike the other reviewers, it seems Emgo wasn’t given the list of changes that would be made for the final release, since he seemed to be under the impression that the key was a T&R inclusion and that the foot tabs would be included in the final release. Was also a little sad he didn’t compare it with Galaxy Meteor, since I know he’s the only reviewer of TR-02 so far that reviewed Galaxy Meteor previously. His copy probably broke, what with the hip joint issues.

Also another thing I’ve noticed is that not a single reviewer thus far has noticed or pointed out that the Matrix is different from how it should look.

Either way, Emgo showed it off in the best ways and has continued to make my hype for the figure go up.

 

Glad emgo got it too. This man got me back in transformers all those years ago...

Ah okay. Yeah while more articulation is welcomed, I'm not upset over the thumbs lacking a joint

 

Looks amazing.... Only disappointed that it seems to not be able to combine with Leo breaker. Maybe they're going to release their own Leo breaker and figure out a way to make it works?

 

My one and only complaint so far is that the Guns do not have an actual Cyber Key port. Didnt have to be functional but I still would have like at least a slot to put a key in.

 

Somebody mentioned that Leobreaker could shellform like a glove over Prime’s arm… otherwise, we’re not getting one from T&R.

To be fair, this is only their second figure, and it has been YEARS since reveal, plus a couple of cancellations and tons of controversy surrounding their first figure. I am not sure I’d put any bets on them even making another figure.

god I’d do anything for a Cybertron Megs in this quality.

 

He'd need to properly big for that one specific shot.

 

Imagine a 13 inch tall triple changer Cybertron megatron in TR-02 aesthetic.