Mayhem Transformers Discussion: United We Shelfwarm

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Override is the best UT update so far. Cybertron designs used to bore me but Override makes me rethink that.
 

Princess Viola

Dumbass Asexual
Citizen
I don't mind her face in person but I really wish they could've engineered some way for her hands to completely fold away in vehicle mode tbh. Like keeping the guns in her hands to act as like exhaust pipes does help a bit, but it's still a flaw I have with the toy.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
RG Gaogaigar is terrible. Thing barely stays together, transformation is super fiddly and trhe hands broke off the sprue. Super mode face partsforms and the stupid articulated fingers snag on the arms. Hug this thing.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Hopefully they improve on that before trying other Brav- Who am I kidding, they will make nothing but GaoGaiGar until the end of time.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
Goldymarg is out too, but he's pretty much an add-on set for GaoGaiGar anyway.

I have GaoGaiGar on my desk here, but haven't built him yet. I'll withhold comment until I finish it.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
He’s meant to be a model kit. Don’t bother with the transformation once you get it together otherwise the boots kind of fall apart. And the hands are a ticking time bomb. Articulated fingers at this scale is stupid enough but making them articulated and having to slide in and out of his forearms, as well as the molding technique they used to make the hands all one on sprue is just asking for trouble.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
So far I've built Galeon/GaiGar, Liner Gao, and Drill Gao.

Galeon has never really looked good in plastic, given that it's pretty much just GaiGar on all fours, and GaiGar always ends up with a pinhead to fit in the transformations, but otherwise it's around standard Real Grade levels of fiddliness.

Liner Gao is.....well, Liner Gao has ALWAYS just been there to be GaoGaiGar's shoulders, and that doesn't change here, either. It has really tiny wheels, but they don't get enough grip to actually roll on anything. The thick plastic stickers for the windows look nice, at least.

Drill Gao having moving treads is a nice touch in theory, but they don't really work for pushing it around on a table., so it's mostly just a string of tiny parts with small clips.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
Finished GaoGaiGar. Overall it's a pretty good model kit, but it is definitely a model kit, not an action figure.

Negatives: The hands are annoying. Not the worst I've dealt with (the RG Gundam Astray Red Frame's hands are also articulated and pre-molded, but they're like a third of the size), but they're fiddly and tend to pop off at the knuckles due to being tiny ball joints connected to stiff hinges. Once they're in a pose, they're not going anywhere, but getting them into a pose can be frustrating. And they have to be folded just right to retract into the arms for Stealth Gao's engines or to fit into the Dividing Driver. The backs of the hands are also held on by tiny pegs and tend to fall off. Think I'll just treat them as partsforming if I ever transform it again. At least he doesn't have to worry about trying to hold anything, since GaoGaiGar doesn't have any handheld weapons.

The helmet is also on the weak side. Getting the hinge between the front and back halves to peg in is tricky, it's a tiny thin clip in a tight spot. Then it's attached to a wired segment going down into the backpack, which not only makes it tough to get the angle right at this scale, it also restricts the neck joints. And the face guard being a separate tiny part barely held in by two other tiny parts makes it a bit of a balancing act to get it to hold on. Might try using some tape or something to attach the face into the helmet, see if it can still fold over GaiGar's head, and if it can I'mma glue that sucker in.

Also, I needed a tool to get the upper arms out of Liner Gao, and to line up the clips connecting Drill Gao to GaiGar's knees, but that might just be a me problem. I have big clumsy hands.

On the positives, he's nice and chunky, mostly solid (aside from the above, some of the red bits in the mane could use some glue), and aside from the neck he's pretty well articulated. He won't be doing any super-fancy kung fu tricks, but GaoGaiGar's not an agile machine anyway, he's a hulking bruiser. Kinda wish they'd included a stand for the Broken Magnum, but it's not a deal breaker.

Overall, I pretty much got what I expected. A small-scale GaoGaiGar to put in a menacing pose and stand on my shelf looking badass. I would not recommend him (or, really, any Real Grade) to anyone who isn't prepared to put some work into the build, but if you are, the King of Braves is a solid choice.

And I just got the "preorder processing soon" email for Goldymarg. Neat. (Of course, I just hit ship on my PoL a few days ago, sigh.)

prDb6WK.jpg


Random size comparisons with Siege Megatron, a High Grade Zaku II, and an empty Monster can. Haven't done most of the stickers, won't bother using all of the little warning decals, but I'll probably use some of the metallic detail stickers, at least.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I might be willing to put up with all of that nonsense for something more interesting than another GaoGaiGar.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
The proportions sure beat the Masterpiece. It doesn't do as good a job making the alt mode seemingly fold out of existence, but it doesn't need to.
 

Haywire

Collecter of Gobots and Godzilla
Citizen
There is a kind of magic in getting a cartoon-accurate Ironhide out of a Onebox van. On the other hand, I kind of miss the Battle Sled (since that's the only part of my original G1 Ironhide that survived long enough to play with...)

If they had kept the battle sled in a toon/G1 toy hybrid design, maybe they could have added the stripe?
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
The sled would've eaten a big chunk of plastic and forced Ironhide to be much smaller. I'd rather have the bigger bot than a chunk on wheels.
 

Haywire

Collecter of Gobots and Godzilla
Citizen
Well, yeah, material and engineering costs figure a lot into what figures get done and how they are designed.

IF money were no object, I would have preferred Earthrise Ironhide, for instance, to have the shield redesigned to closer approximate the battle sled. Maybe it could have had a flap to hide the robot feet better.

Also, while Im dreaming, I want to see an Optimus Prime whose trailer transforms into a horse-like steed for him to ride.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
And make him taller for whatever dumbass reason.

i’d probably care more about the sled if it is wasn’t just a platform to stand on and maybe stick a gun onto. Same way i feel about prime’s combat deck but maybe even a bit more negatively since this actively affects Ironhide.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
It gave Ironhide more play value than other 1984 cars. Ratchet arguably benefits from it more.
 


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