Siege Alpha Strike and Phantom Strike sets getting re-released?

[Powered Convoy]

I think people expecting a new Seeker mould are off base. ER seems suitable for Hasbro's needs.

The Reactive Starscream mould could be the basis of a redone Seeker but I suspect that mould- and the others from that line- are getting shoved in the vault forever.

No way they'd use that mold for a replacement Seeker mold. That's too creative, things will be the original toy with knees for the foreseeable future.

The Devastation Seekers look like Dirge with different colors, so why wouldn't they use the Dirge mold in different colors for the Devastation Seeker?

Call it thinking they'd make a new Deluxe similar to Optimus to fit the aesthetic and style rather than a reuse. Removing all that tech detailing the Earthrise mold has.

The wings, while Dirge's may be considered the closest, are different than his and more of a cross between his and Ramjet's. The overall shape is similar to Dirge's but with the end points coming out and up similar but in the opposite direction to Ramjet's and tailfins similar to a Ramjet's just without the big engines.

The lower legs are like a regular Seeker's as well, so it will be interesting if they mix and match.

 

[Agent X]

Pretty sure a G2 Sideswipe from the Earthrise mold will come.

This reissue may just be a ploy to sucker those who missed out to buy the old one before the new one is announced.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

I like good things,

Given your purchase history, I have doubts.

 

[LordGigaIce]

No way they'd use that mold for a replacement Seeker mold. That's too creative, things will be the original toy with knees for the foreseeable future.

I wouldn't exactly call the ER Seeker the G1 toy with knees.

I would call it the Classics '06 mould in a more appropriate side class with better arm and head articulation though

 

[lastmaximal]

I like the Reactivate design well enough, but not as a "G1 with knees". Call it being spoiled by the years of shooting for redoing the animation model and/or original toy.

I'd love a redeco of it as an all new character. Or again, an opportunity for Sunstorm (reminiscent of what I've always felt was a missed opportunity with the Energon Starscream mold -- the black plastic and paint evoking damage/radiation).

 

[LordGigaIce]

I wouldn't mind that but I'd prefer Sunstorm from ER Starscream.

And Universe '08 camo Acid Storm from ER Starscream.

And Red Wing from ER Starscream.

And G2 Starscream from ER Starscream.

And Nacelle cobbled together firm ER Starscream and Thrust.

And...

I think I'll stop now. I have a poison in the mind

 

[Powered Convoy]

I wouldn't exactly call the ER Seeker the G1 toy with knees.

I would call it the Classics '06 mould in a more appropriate side class with better arm and head articulation though

True, but it really follows that mentality. Even if it seems like a slightly larger and slightly improved Classics Seeker. The Classics Seeker really being the only Classics figure that didn't try to reinvent and stray from the original design.

 

[LordGigaIce]

True, but it really follows that mentality. Even if it seems like a slightly larger and slightly improved Classics Seeker. The Classics Seeker really being the only Classics figure that didn't try to reinvent and stray from the original design.

I honestly don't mind. I loved the Classics Seeker back in 2006 (good G-d we're all so old) but even then I wanted it to be a Voyager.

ER did that, and improved some other stuff, so I find it easy to like.
Like... I get that it lacks a waist swivel, wrist swivels, and its torso is a bit of a box but... I donno? None of that bothers me, really.

I wouldn't mind a new take, I'm sure they could cook something nice up if they had to, but I'm kinda at the point where if this is the last Voyager G1 Starscream they do (it won't be) then I'll be very, very content.

And hey... that's good for me. Toss Starscream on the pile with Optimus, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Soundwave of characters who I'm content with the current versions of. Will save me some scratch going forward.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

It bothers me. The entire torso is a front panel and a back panel with no sides whatsoever. Hardly ideal, yet we've been stuck with it for nearly 20 years now. Aside from Masterpiece, G1 Seeker design just ran into a brick wall. It is more stable than Debian.

Reactivate feels like a glimpse of what they could do if they started from scratch today. It's so lively looking.

 

[Blot]

But it's so ugly...

 

[lastmaximal]

Reactivate is interesting to me in a UT sort of way, like a "new" design that tried to update or hew close to the original rather than a straight-up re-try of the original. Or, indeed, what we might have gotten if Classics Starscream had diverged from the G1 look a bit more.

I remember being surprised that the Earthrise mold was basically an upsized Classics mold with not much in the way of improvement (and indeed it feels like it has egen more cockpit just hanging off the back) other than ankle tilts and wrist articulation. It's far from ideal. But at the same time, I'm so close to being done with it that I may be able to enjoy the illusion of not pursuing a new mold if they just make the last few...

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

The Seekers getting redone has put me off of actually buying into any of them for a while now. I don't even have a G1 Starscream in my collection at the moment (unless you count Armada, due to IDW1 using that body for him for a bit, but I don't), I dumped the Classics figure a while back and just haven't gotten another. Why bother if it'll just be upstaged soon anyway?

 

[Donocropolis]

I'm too heavily invested in the Siege/Earthrise mold to start over. I'm not 100% opposed to buying a new/different Seeker mold if it's released as characters I don't already have, but I don't see myself replacing my current Decepticon Air Force.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I'm impressed by anyone who managed to get that invested considering how hard it still is to complete just the initial trio.

I bet we'll see another run of Wheeljack before Skywarp and Thundercracker.

 

[Donocropolis]

I'm impressed by anyone who managed to get that invested considering how hard it still is to complete just the initial trio.

I bet we'll see another run of Wheeljack before Skywarp and Thundercracker.

I got very lucky with managing to get them all without too much difficulty, so the idea of starting over now isn't very attractive. And, while I can imagine a slightly better version of the Seeker mold being made, the Earthrise one really does everything I need it to do.

 

[LordGigaIce]

I'm also starting to hate "G1 with knees" as a criticism.

First, most of what the current brand team does is NOT G1 with knees. If you want an example of G1 with knees, that's ML. And it was awesome. As was the resulting figure the one time Hasbro mainline dipped its toes in that water with LU G1 Optimus.

Secondly, even if we liberally apply "G1 with knees" to the Generations run from CW to now... so what?

"G1 with knees" isn't anything by way of a judgement. It literally means "G1 toys with more joints" or, as it's often used, "new designs based on the G1 character models with modern joints."

But neither is good or bad.
"I don't like X because it uses too much clear plastic and I think that compromises a figure" is a valid criticism because it's actually articulating an issue. Even if it's subjective, it's still an identified issue.

Hell, I think CoffeeHorse is dead wrong about the ER Seeker mould, but his criticisms are valid. I don't agree with them, but he does explain his issues with the mould and why they bother him.

But "it's just G1 with knees" is nothing. So what?
Like... even extrapolating the most logical argument possible- "It's just the G1 designs again."

Yeah. And? I like those designs. So do a lot of people in this fandom. And I may be pushing 40 but I was not alive for G1's heyday and didn't even get into the franchise until G1 was done. So don't go pining that on 80s nostalgia.
And I'm on the older end of the post-G1 crowd. There's no shortage of twenty-something and teenage fans today who do like those G1 designs.

So "it's just G1 with knees" or "it's just G1 designs again" is... a nothingburger of a criticism IMO. To steal a line from PointlessHub'a video essay on TFTM '86, complaining about the ER Seeker design because it's just the G1 Seeker design with modern articulation is like complaining about a pizza because it's bread with cheese baked in an oven.
Yeah. That's why I like it.

I'm not an idiot though, I do get it. The desire for new things, the desire for fresh ideas and designs. To the point where some of you are even tired about the fresh ideas and designs from the 2000s and 2010s getting regurgitated.

And that's valid too.

Emphasizing that because this is the internet and otherwise someone might reply to this missing me saying that (hell it may still happen).

But there's room for both. I've said it before, but this is plastic toy robot collecting. Nostalgia bait is half the fun. There's always room for "G1 with knees" or however you want to phrase it.

There's also room for new ideas, fresh ideas. And maybe they need to do a better job of cultivating that...but there has to be a better way of expressing that other than going "G1 with knees" with a side of internet snark.

 

[Sabrblade]

IIRC, the whole "G1 with knees" phrase really first came about with the release of Titans Return Sixshot having basically the same transformation scheme as 1987 G1 Sixshot. It was used to point out how the figure didn't try to reinvent or create a whole new transformation scene for Sixshot due to the original transformation scheme being at best sufficient or at worst necessary to get all six of his original modes in the correct shapes and configurations. People were so used to Hasbro reinventing the wheel that it came off as unexpected when TR Sixshot didn't have a new transformation scheme but just the same one from 1987, with more articulation. In other words, he was a lot like the G1 figure, but with modern day articulation. G1... but with knees!

 

[LordGigaIce]

I never minded that. As you said it was at best a good enough design and at worst necessary for what it had to do... but also? I kinda always wanted G1 Sixshot but never had him.

So the TR version being so close to him design and engineering wise was a bonus if anything, like a cheeky way to experience that G1 toy without actually having it.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Sixshot is one of those designs that hasn't had a ton of updates (or, well, any) over the years, so it's not as big a deal as the Seekers that he doesn't change much.

 

[MrBlud]

I feel like “plane to robot” is both more straightforward and more open to creativity than “ramming-tank, starfighter, jet-propelled laser pistol, armored carrier, wolf-creature, and wing-wolf to robot”

That’s A LOT of engineering work to have to re-do when it has already been laid out. If/when we get another RiD Gigatron I’m expecting “G1 with knees” for exactly the same reason.