Same example with better decos  

 

CW/UW was not a particularly good line though. It was an admirable endeavour certainly, but when it was made the entirety of the line it just produced a bunch of really bland cookie cutter figures with uninteresting transformations and low production value. They're about par with the Classics Seeker mold. Classics Seeker no doubt has a better jet mode than any of the CW/UW figures, but the CW/UW bot modes win out.

That the Classics 2006 Seeker mold remains the best representation of the G1 toon seeker outside of the MP molds suggests to me that HasTak stopped trying. They've got not well articulated, stubby, hollow arms. They've got legs that you can't get many interesting poses out of because of the giant chunky armour skirt and a lack of joints, and they've got weapons that interfere with the wings when attached if you try to pose them in any meaningful way.

I genuinely think that the FOC Seeker mold is better in most ways, aside from being G1 toon accurate.

 

Wow. So much hate for the seeker mold here. I guess I'm in the minority here but I love that mold. It's a tad small but has just as much articulation as most CW deluxes. Starscream's paint apps could've been better but Skywarp, Tgundercracker, and the cone heads are all gems. Also voyager Prime is aging like a fine wine. Love that figure.

 

Yes. Most of them are better than the figures that come out now.

I prefer Henkei Astrotrain over TR Astrotrain.
I prefer Henkei Optimus and Megatron to literally any other Optimus and Megatron that have come out since.
I prefer ALL of the older versions of Cyclonus/Sunstreaker/Mirage/Ironhide/Prowl/Wheeljack/Hound/Trailbreaker/Smokescreen/Ratchet to their CW counterparts.

 

You're definitely not in the minority as people do seem to love that mold for whatever reason.

But the thing with that mold is that more-or-less the same thing has been done much better on other molds without the problems that the Classics Seekers have. The FOC Starscream has to achieve much the same placement of vehicle mode parts in robot mode (wings on back, cockpit chest, vents on shoulders, thrusters on feet) and yet does it much better. Even the Generations Armada Starscream has to do a lot of the same things but is a much better toy. It's outdated.

 

That's that thing that matters most.

They've aged so well just coz they do look G1 accurate.

There are many newer and different interpretations of the Seekers in the same scale and sizing over the years, but only the Classics Seekers look G1 accurate.

Have those other Seekers interpretations aged well? Do they really evoke the Seeker characters outside of coloring? Are they really more sought-after than the Classics?

:shrugs:

 

I still like the Classics Seekers and Conehead retools. However...wow ....10 years went by fast..they're a decade old. Could they be better? Of course. Even 10 years ago they lacked things I wanted such as:

• bicep swivels
• thigh swivels
• better landing gear

However even now, I think their jet modes(aside landing gear) are still good. Love the translucent canopies and the panel lines. The CW Aerialbots don't look as refined in jet mode.

If a new mold(at the very least a deluxe, a voyager preferably) was made with all the things I listed above, I think fans would be happy and replace ther deluxe Seekers.

• However to the topic at hand, there are some figures which I feel stuck out and stand the test of time well.
• Ultra Silverbolt - Excellent jet mode, fun transformation, solid all around with lots of ratchets
• Ultra Onslaught - Solid all around with lots of ratchets and an imposing sculpt
• Voyager Inferno - Excellent sculpt with great use of translucent plastic and intricate details which make it stick out compared to other figures for some reason
• Classics Jetfire - Awesome armor integration and weapon reveal gimmick(in the boostes). Jet mode has a lot of panel lines and intricate detailing. Feels solid compared to voyagers from recent years.
• Treadbolt - Jetfire in Blue Angels colors. Great quality in cool deco.
• Mirage - Very fun to pose, much character
• Bumblebee - Solid figure, jetpack integration is cool, just wish it had a gun

 

Again, I don't like CW but this is just not true. CW Fireflight has a waist swivel, ball jointed head, above the elbow swivel, above the knee swivel and shruggable shoulders on transformation joints. Classics Seeker lacks all of those, but has bendable wrists on a transformation joint, and toe joints.

You're certainly not in the minority - look at how many bloody times the mold has been used and KOd. There's certainly a demand for it.

 

The main issue with getting a new Starscream toy is that the original classics mold already has a crap ton of redecos. I don't want a new Starscream toy if the rest of the seekers don't match.

 

Yes, yes and about the same. Are the Classics Seekers really sought after at all anymore?

I'm not saying that the FOC Seekers would necessarily be the best replacements for (non-IDW) Classics shelves as they are FOC designs, but they're better toys which invoke the characters a lot better. A new Deluxe Starscream toy that uses the same general skeleton as the FOC mold would blow the Classics mold out of the water.

 

RTS Jazz, the RTS version of Cyclonus (Has the best colors), Classics Prime. Generations Warpath is also really good, even if he doesn't fit with my shelf setup.

 

The only thing that blows the Classics Seekers out of the water are MP-3 and MP-11...

 

Can never call him "Jetfire", but I still have my Classics Skyfire. I think he looks very Skyfire in jet-mode/super-jetmode.

His non-helmeted bot-mode is ok, but his helmet still looks forever stupid, tho.

I've always wanted Hasbro/Takara to just do the simple fixes on the damn Classics figure to make it better.

The 2014 Generations version is still very meh to me.

It's really a good thing I have my HiMetal-R to double as the definitive small-scale Jetfire...  

 

My love for combiners is what drove me to easily pick Henkei Skyfire over the Leader Class Seeker version. Don't regret it at all.



Fun fact: Skyfire is the snowball that started the avalanche that would become my Classics collection; I previously had nothing but Combiner Wars prior to him.

 

Doesn't Jetfire have a problem with yellowing, though? I don't own the mold but that's what I've heard.

...They're not even the same type of thing as we're discussing.

 

He's that off-white plastic, but other than that I don't notice any yellowing sections or unevenness of the white plastic parts.

 

This, as well as Blurr. I definitely prefer generations Blurr and Scourge to their TR/Legends counterparts.

 

Totally agree  

 

I get that you have a heavy bias towards the earlier chug lines but thats no excuse to be disrespectfull.
And i dont see how it is all the rage to look down on the chu toylines.
Personally i like a lot of them but many of them are to big, lack articulation, are an ireedeemable mess (universe ironhide) or are just aestetically at odds with most thrilling 30's and especially post t 30 toys.
If you dont see it that way fine, everyone does what he pleases with their collection but claiming the likes of rodimus and inferno are superior to superion is all about a (mutual) aversion for hollow limbs not about design.

 

I'd just like to throw the entirety of my support behind this comment and endorse it 100%.