Post Pictures of your Transformers, Let's see 40 years worth of Transformers!

Exatron

Exatron

Kaiser Dragon
Citizen
I'm trying to go through my collection and downsize it some. I love all of these, but I definitely think there are some candidates for the chopping block here.

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I'm thinking the Netflix Soundwave is the first to go. Mine has only minimal photodegradation, but I never liked his bright yellow door frame. The Legacy release is just a pure upgrade in my eyes. Overall, I think I like Legacy better than DC too. I kind of like the red shoulder and missile paint, but that's about it. I'm split between the Siege molds. I like the clean version, but the Siege release fits in better with the other Siege-era figures I'd be likely to display him with.

On the cassette side, the only ones I could see parting with are a Ravage and Legacy Frumble, neither pictured here. I already have a toy deco from the Siege mold, so the Legacy version is doubly redundant. For Ravage, I didn't like the gray neck on the Netflix version and I didn't like the fully black legs on Legacy, so I swapped the legs to have my preferred deco. The remaining one is now surplus to requirements.

Laying them all out like this has got me thinking. I'm likely to be getting another Ratbat, since he's supposed to be bundled with SS86 Ramhorn, right? At that point, I'll have both Cybertron and Earth versions of all the main 6 cassettes other than Buzzsaw. That's just making me want to go buy an additional Siege Laserbeak/Ravage and Legacy Soundwave so I can swap parts to make a Siege Buzzsaw. Damn it, this was supposed to be about downsizing, not buying more stuff!
 
LBD "Nytetrayn"

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
lastmaximal said:
What don't they like about it? Seems like a perfectly cromulent toy.
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I'm not even sure. The size for the price, maybe? I've mostly seen titles/thumbnails, but haven't looked into many, because I knew I was going to try to get him, anyway.

Btw, forgot one pic:

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(I really gotta put some stickers on that big guy...)
 
lastmaximal

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I can see the size for the price being an annoyance. It's a tiny cassette and a "make up for the price" accessory. I wish they'd at least had two sightly smaller speakers instead of one weirdly large one. Even Frumble came with four accessories (and better articulation overall, although of course the transformation etc are different enough that they're not really comparable).

But we did cross that bridge with at least those two cassettes already, so I guess I'm gritting my teeth and bearing it. And Steeljaw himself isn't bad looking anyway.
 
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Shadewing

Shadewing

Well-known member
Citizen
I and others I talk to, would have prefered if he was more articulated, and wasn't a parts former. I want something better then Seige Ravage, rather then him being the inspiration.
 
LBD "Nytetrayn"

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
lastmaximal said:
I can see the size for the price being an annoyance. It's a tiny cassette and a "make up for the price" accessory. I wish they'd at least had two sightly smaller speakers instead of one weirdly large one. Even Frumble came with four accessories (and better articulation overall, although of course the transformation etc are different enough that they're not really comparable).

But we did cross that bridge with at least those two cassettes already, so I guess I'm gritting my teeth and bearing it. And Steeljaw himself isn't bad looking anyway.
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Having it in hand, I'm not sure how much smaller they could really have made those speakers. From the front, they look huge, sure, but the back where it tapers down is a pretty close fit to Blaster's hand.

Shadewing said:
I and others I talk to, would have prefered if he was more articulated, and wasn't a parts former. I want something better then Seige Ravage, rather then him being the inspiration.
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From what I've seen of Ravage, I feel like this one is better...

Superomegaprime said:
There's an intruder in the bat cave and they aren't a Bat, a Night or a Robin, better call the Joker to deal with the pest!
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On it!

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Oh, wait, that was the Riddler. Eh, hard to tell the difference sometimes...
 
lastmaximal

lastmaximal

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Oh, in this movie definitely. Both villains seemed to be trying to be the, or a, Joker. Like, it's 90s Jim Carrey, they knew what they wanted. But I was not expecting that from Tommy Lee Jones, whom I REALLY wanted a heavier Two-Face from. Certainly not the movie for THAT, of course, but kid me knew nothing about Schumacher or his style.

LBD "Nytetrayn" said:
Having it in hand, I'm not sure how much smaller they could really have made those speakers. From the front, they look huge, sure, but the back where it tapers down is a pretty close fit to Blaster's hand.
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I'll be getting mine in hand soon, and I can form a more properly informed opinion then. The partsforming I'm not crazy about, and reviews suggest a tight fit in the compartment anyway so that might be something I skip doing.

It's occurring to me that Steeljaw and Ramhorn are probably going to come with one speaker each, which... Shrug. I do wonder how they'll differentiate Perceptor. Battle damage? Opaque plastic?

Cynically wondering if there'll be ANOTHER Blaster with three cassettes down the line, but outside Studio Series so they can use the toy head. (You know what. Give me a Skids retool as Broadblast, with opaque Rewind, Rosanna, and Flip Sides...)
 
Shadewing

Shadewing

Well-known member
Citizen
lastmaximal said:
Oh, in this movie definitely. Both villains seemed to be trying to be the, or a, Joker. Like, it's 90s Jim Carrey, they knew what they wanted. But I was not expecting that from Tommy Lee Jones, whom I REALLY wanted a heavier Two-Face from. Certainly not the movie for THAT, of course, but kid me knew nothing about Schumacher or his style.
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Has NO one ever watched the 60's series? WB wanted a lighter movie afer the controversies of Batman Returns, and Shumacher tried to balance what he wanted to so (an indepth character peice) vs what the Studio wanted (family friendly) vs test audiances wanted (less talky more punchy) So we get something that tries to explore Bruce as a character, with villians that are CLEARLY modeled after the 60s series, with Carrey's Riddle not being much different then Gorshwin's, and frankly one of the few performances that shows that TLJ isn't a robot, and enough action scenes to please audiences of the era. Then the studio doubles down on this direction for the next movie with a lot of stuff being out of his hands, yet he still gets demonized.
 
lastmaximal

lastmaximal

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Citizen
Easy, friend.

I actually did watch and enjoy some of the 60s series in late 80s reruns as a kid, yes. I didn't know at the time that this was what Schumacher was emulating (indeed, I knew nothing about the change at all other than that there was a new director and new Batman).

I enjoyed both of these movies too, although even then it felt a bit thin and fluffy (would find out much later that apparently they'd cut out a big chunk of Bruce character work from Forever). But the look was shiny and slick and colorful, and I thought this was peak Nicole Kidman before rediscovering her in Moulin Rouge. But I do stand by how even at the time I felt wacky Two-Face was a letdown. (I did also like both soundtracks.)

I researched both Schumacher films after reading the Chris Sims/David Uzumeri reviews that did make explicit the Batman 66 vibe, and I agree with their call that B&R has as one of its high points an actual wholesome and sincere Bruce Wayne (in his scenes with bedridden Alfred).

I didn't mean to malign Schumacher here, although I do see why it would come off like that after decades of that discourse.
 
lastmaximal

lastmaximal

Administrator
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CrockAlley said:
40th Anniversary photoshoot: Energon

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I will never not love this trilogy.

At the time Armada was a HARD reset of all expectations, going from complex (if maddening) engineering and an occasionally lean and lithe aesthetic to all chunky all the time. Dave van Domelen iirc mentioned it feeling like going back to late G1 and carving out a divergent evolutionary path from there, with limited use of ball joints, more pinned universal joints, and a tighter integration of play features paired with simpler transformations.

But while I was very lukewarm on that for Armada (the cartoon did not help much, again another culture shock going from RID2001 to the messier dub), the bits and bobs of nostalgia combined with fascinating new ideas (Demolishor is an absolute standout, Megatron was a walking action feature factory, and I LOVED Mini-Cons and would follow them forever) kept me coming back.

Then Energon upped the ante on everything, from super cool early-wave filler redecos like Ultra Magnus and Rapid Run (forgot Demolishor was later) to great new Omnicon and Terrorcon molds to the rest of the line's blend of nostalgia and novelty. And all these cool new designs carried the line so strongly I didn't even need to watch the absolute mess of a dub (in both shows' cases, at the time just finding out where to download episodes was enough work that it was easy to quit them).

Can't wait for the Cybertron pics!
 
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