I only have a few Joe figures, I mainly want this for the (to me) really strange tank mode and the fact that it can be ridden by a human. Of course, then there are all the comic possibilities of a Kiss Players Megatron and Baroness...
Transformers Collaborative (Transformers X Star Wars: The Mandalorian)
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
No, I know. I guess I'm surprised because there has been enough crossover between the two over the last near-40 years, and the HISS is arguably the iconic Cobra vehicle.
I WANTED to be excited for this, I really did. But it's just not clicking with me (except that GORGEOUS packaging). The set largely fits what I expected: a chunky robot that (perhaps rather simply) transforms into a HISS tank and an O-ring figure. I think what deflated me the most was how...SAFE it all was.
The HISS ended up a shell former to maintain the look of the robot mode, fair enough. Said robot mode was a disappointment by excessively reusing design elements of Siege Megatron. It looks they were going for a "cartoon" look, but it comes across more as "under detailed" relative to the other parts. The paint doesn't do the detail issues any favors as well.
Baroness was an odd choice, all considered. If Hasbro is remaking o-ring tools, there really wasn't a hard restriction on what they could have included. Instead of Destro (whose 83 figure hasn't been seen on a retail product in the US since 1985 or so) or Cobra Commander, or Major Bludd (same deal as Destro's original figure). I just don't see a big correlation between the characters aside from being "brand popular". As a LONG time collector, Baroness leaves me especially cold since Hasbro was more than willing to do new runs of the original mold in the early 2000s since that was a "popular brand character" they still had the full mold assets to.
It's like, I can appreciate the collector appeal...but after partaking in this stuff for over 20 years....it comes across as overly safe and a little....BORING. And for all the talk about "story elements" in Classified, I don't see a lot of it in this crossover set. For all intents and purposes I should be excited...but the set just leaves me..."eh, kind of neat".
The HISS ended up a shell former to maintain the look of the robot mode, fair enough. Said robot mode was a disappointment by excessively reusing design elements of Siege Megatron. It looks they were going for a "cartoon" look, but it comes across more as "under detailed" relative to the other parts. The paint doesn't do the detail issues any favors as well.
Baroness was an odd choice, all considered. If Hasbro is remaking o-ring tools, there really wasn't a hard restriction on what they could have included. Instead of Destro (whose 83 figure hasn't been seen on a retail product in the US since 1985 or so) or Cobra Commander, or Major Bludd (same deal as Destro's original figure). I just don't see a big correlation between the characters aside from being "brand popular". As a LONG time collector, Baroness leaves me especially cold since Hasbro was more than willing to do new runs of the original mold in the early 2000s since that was a "popular brand character" they still had the full mold assets to.
It's like, I can appreciate the collector appeal...but after partaking in this stuff for over 20 years....it comes across as overly safe and a little....BORING. And for all the talk about "story elements" in Classified, I don't see a lot of it in this crossover set. For all intents and purposes I should be excited...but the set just leaves me..."eh, kind of neat".
Yeah - I think they made the same mistake they did with Star Wars Transformers in that they limited their possibilities by trying to force a G1 Megatron out of a HISS tank, rather than making it Megatron-as-a-HISS-tank. All the great designs from the comics adjusted the bot modes to work with the alt-mode. Ah well, I'm still ordering it so I guess they got what they wanted.
And for those unfamiliar with the toy HISS, I took a couple comparison shots with some Megs (and a Jinx b/c I couldn't find my Baroness).
And for those unfamiliar with the toy HISS, I took a couple comparison shots with some Megs (and a Jinx b/c I couldn't find my Baroness).
Like Sabrblade and Donocropolis, I'm not really a GIJoe fan at all except where there's been some overlap with Transformers. That said, a HISS tank is a pretty iconic and unique vehicle mode, so I was interested to see how this would turn out. But doing a generic looking Megatron wearing HISS tank parts as a shell is really disappointing. At $90, easy pass.
I don't know. Their first goal was to make a G.I. Joe vehicle with as few compromises as possible, and they succeeded. Unfortunately all the compromises had to go somewhere. I think they could have reduced the compromises if they made a Megatron out H.I.S.S. tank parts instead of trying to ball up a G1 Megatron and hide it in a H.I.S.S. tank, but a G1 Megatron was clearly the second goal. For some reason.
I can't hate it though. The side view is going to be hilarious.
I can't hate it though. The side view is going to be hilarious.
Um, nope!
I never been a Joe fan as well, I barely know anything about it, only a couple of characters I would know if I saw them but that's from the crossover comics, mainly the Devil's Due ones, as Gi Joe pretty much never existed in the UK, if it did, I was unaware of it, the only times I seen toys were when the first live action movie was about and then once last year in my local toy shop where some small figures about the size of legends class figures were on a table with some sale stuff and frankly, I don't care, besides I'm more invested in Transformers than anything else, still seeing that vehicle, it just screams massive target and I think maybe they should of had the Gi Joe character actually transform into the vehicle, rather than shoehorn Megatron into a lame looking vehicle, but this is merely my thoughts!
Makes sense - I presume you missed Action Force then too which is how the UK got the toy back in the day.
Really? I'd forgotten it existed until it came up in this thread.
For whatever it's worth, I've never been much of a G.I. Joe fan, and I was fully aware of the HISS tank. Never actually viewed any media that featured it, but I've seen it all over nonetheless without ever going looking for it or anything else Joe-related.
Anyway, I know there are rumors of two of these, and I'm assuming Optimus will be the other. I'd definitely like to see these expand to more though. Maybe not a full line, but there are definitely some other characters I'd like to see done.
Anyway, I know there are rumors of two of these, and I'm assuming Optimus will be the other. I'd definitely like to see these expand to more though. Maybe not a full line, but there are definitely some other characters I'd like to see done.
I mean, if we are going to get a 3 3/4 scale Transformer, the HISS is really the best choice. I am surprised at how shellformery it looks; as others have said, it should have been a Megatron that turns into a HISS, not G1 Megatron doing a ship girl impression with HISS bits. I cant tell from the pictures my phone will load, can the cockpit be positioned in front of Megatrons torso, making the hapless pilot a literal human shield? If not, thats a missed opportunity.
Yeah, I've tried multiple times to give G.I. Joe a chance, though admittedly each time was with fiction that most Joe fans seem to not think highly of. I watched all of Sigma 6, Resolute, and Renegades, and the first two live action movies. I tried to watch the ARAH cartoon but that first mini-series was both too goofy and ridiculous for my tastes and had way too many characters that I had no personal attachment to for me to keep track of all of them and really care about any of them. Out of all of these, Renegades was probably the one I enjoyed the most.
I've read some of the TF/Joe crossovers as well, with mixed opinions. The Marvel US one was boring to me. The Marvel UK one with Action Force was better, but that just felt more like normal TFUK issues with Action Force characters as guest stars instead of an evenly shared crossover. The Joe issues that led into Marvel G2 weren't anything special to me, and from what I'm told, the subsequent issues of the Joe comics swiftly forgot about Megatron anyway and paid no mind to the Joes' and Cobra's appearances in Marvel G2. The Dreamwave crossover set in WWII was just ugly to look at and downright miserable. I LOVED the four Devil's Due crossovers so there is that. I did read the Joe issues of Infestation 1 and 2, but they were very forgettable to me. And I think that's all of the TF/Joe crossovers that I've read so far (I'm still way behind of IDW1 and still haven't read the Scioli series).
I did, however, purchase every TF/Joe crossover figure that Fun Pub put out on their Transformers Club Store before they lost the TF license: Human Arcee, Human Rodimus, Marissa Faireborn w/ Afterbreaker, Old Snake w/ Advanced Stealth BATs, and the Ninja Force set with G2 Megatron and MP Ratbat. I passed on all the SDCC TF/Joe sets, though.
I have also seen a vintage USS Flagg playset in person, and do appreciate it for the sheer scale of it. That, I fully admit, is very cool.
I've read some of the TF/Joe crossovers as well, with mixed opinions. The Marvel US one was boring to me. The Marvel UK one with Action Force was better, but that just felt more like normal TFUK issues with Action Force characters as guest stars instead of an evenly shared crossover. The Joe issues that led into Marvel G2 weren't anything special to me, and from what I'm told, the subsequent issues of the Joe comics swiftly forgot about Megatron anyway and paid no mind to the Joes' and Cobra's appearances in Marvel G2. The Dreamwave crossover set in WWII was just ugly to look at and downright miserable. I LOVED the four Devil's Due crossovers so there is that. I did read the Joe issues of Infestation 1 and 2, but they were very forgettable to me. And I think that's all of the TF/Joe crossovers that I've read so far (I'm still way behind of IDW1 and still haven't read the Scioli series).
I did, however, purchase every TF/Joe crossover figure that Fun Pub put out on their Transformers Club Store before they lost the TF license: Human Arcee, Human Rodimus, Marissa Faireborn w/ Afterbreaker, Old Snake w/ Advanced Stealth BATs, and the Ninja Force set with G2 Megatron and MP Ratbat. I passed on all the SDCC TF/Joe sets, though.
I have also seen a vintage USS Flagg playset in person, and do appreciate it for the sheer scale of it. That, I fully admit, is very cool.
I think I can justify getting this, if only for the novelty.
He'd have to be a lot bigger or have tiny limbs to have incorporated the cockpit another way than just hanging off his back. Not much you can do with it.
Looking like Megatron as much as possible while also looking identical to an actual HISS and having a cockpit to fit a 3 3/4" figure were likely all of the major requirements. So it wasn't like that giant cockpit was going to be better integrated than just hanging off his back.
The window shape of a HISS doesn't lend itself to fitting somewhere else. Highbrow is a good example of something similar in TR but with the HISS you have a cockpit that is essentially a third of the mass of the vehicle and can't disassemble.
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I want to get this, but I don't know where I would display it. I might just leave it MISB as that box looks epic!
I think the best way they could have made this look better, least to me, is iff they'd homaged the G1 Black Megatron color scheme. At least that way you still get an obviously G1 megatron look, but make him look more like he's made from the Hiss tank then wearing the Hiss tank. Anyone able to photoshop it?
Therein lies the problem.
They could have forgone maintaining the look of G1 Megatron's torso and just made the HISS Tank cockpit his torso.
Just thinking about that and yes, he would look much better all black.
Since other were saying it I might as well mention, I'm not a Joe fan, I'm a fan of crossovers, team ups and shared universes particularly Transformers/G.I. Joe but many others too.
Boots.
This Megatron needs boots. It's too obvious that this Megatron doesn't turn into a H.I.S.S. tank. He's just wearing one. But he's a big pair of boots away from at least looking like he's wearing the tank as a proper super mode. It would disguise how stubby the arms are.
This Megatron needs boots. It's too obvious that this Megatron doesn't turn into a H.I.S.S. tank. He's just wearing one. But he's a big pair of boots away from at least looking like he's wearing the tank as a proper super mode. It would disguise how stubby the arms are.
Imagine the G1 Optimus character model with Sky Striker parts hanging off. A very obvious cab-over-engine truck chest, but he turns into a plane.
Edit: or would it be worse if he turned into a military truck but still had the cab-chest? Either way, too weird for me.
Edit: or would it be worse if he turned into a military truck but still had the cab-chest? Either way, too weird for me.