Transformers general thread - Toy Robot men based on giant robots based on previously mentioned toys about said robots

[Electromagnetic Radiation]

An active Transformers thread here... I LOVE EVERYTHING!

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I just got into the G1 series and I'm only ten episodes in... Any suggestions?

Welcome, always good to see another Transformers fan here. Don't feel burdened and ask anything you'd like. The 1984 G1 cartoon is a classic great show with humorous writing and frantic episodic plots. The 1986 G1 Movie is integral to the timeline of the G1 cartoon and it takes places after season 2 but before 3, it's one of the best pieces of Transformers animation and definitely worth the time and interest. The Japanese side of Transformers has some exclusive shows that were never released in the west, including 3 sequels to the original 1984 cartoon that ignore The Rebirth season, which are The Headmasters, Supergod Masterforce and Victory. There are also 2 shows about Beast Wars in Japan only, which are Beast Wars 2 and Neo. Unlike the Japanese G1 anime series, these never got a subbed release internationally, but a fansub does exist (On youtube surprisingly, you can also torrent them from Nyaa.si and the G1 shows). Personally i would recommend the Japanese side of things, but i know not every person enjoys those shows. The animations are fluid and beautiful, Victory especially and they diverge from the western shows with their own unique narratives and characters. There are also a lot of comics and videogames to look into. The latter is considerably more difficult given that these were made under a agreement with Activision that has been severed since 2017, making those games by and large not obtainable, unless you pirate them or get a exceedingly expensive copy. There are some rumors about them returning but that'll probably be some time before it actually happens. Other then that, enjoy your stay, other users here also have their own suggestions i reckon

 

[King Of Braves]

Welcome, always good to see another Transformers fan here. Don't feel burdened and ask anything you'd like. The 1984 G1 cartoon is a classic great show with humorous writing and frantic episodic plots. The 1986 G1 Movie is integral to the timeline of the G1 cartoon and it takes places after season 2 but before 3, it's one of the best pieces of Transformers animation and definitely worth the time and interest. The Japanese side of Transformers has some exclusive shows that were never released in the west, including 3 sequels to the original 1984 cartoon that ignore The Rebirth season, which are The Headmasters, Supergod Masterforce and Victory. There are also 2 shows about Beast Wars in Japan only, which are Beast Wars 2 and Neo. Unlike the Japanese G1 anime series, these never got a subbed release internationally, but a fansub does exist (On youtube surprisingly, you can also torrent them from Nyaa.si and the G1 shows). Personally i would recommend the Japanese side of things, but i know not every person enjoys those shows. The animations are fluid and beautiful, Victory especially and they diverge from the western shows with their own unique narratives and characters. There are also a lot of comics and videogames to look into. The latter is considerably more difficult given that these were made under a agreement with Activision that has been severed since 2017, making those games by and large not obtainable, unless you pirate them or get a exceedingly expensive copy. There are some rumors about them returning but that'll probably be some time before it actually happens. Other then that, enjoy your stay, other users here also have their own suggestions i reckon

And just remember that continuity in the Transformers universe is a fickle bitch, and everything is canon somewhere.

 

[Space Police]

I just got into the G1 series and I'm only ten episodes in... Any suggestions?

For toys, the current Age of the Primes wave is good. Red Alert has a gimmick, and the Aerialbots are really good. They're a big improvement on the Legacy line since they focus more on polished vehicle modes and not irrelevancies like articulation and accurate robot modes. Also see if you can find the TMNT party van Transformer in stores; it's a bit expensive but it's incredibly worth it since it has lots of gimmicks and a great vehicle mode. The current Studio Series releases aren't that great, and they haven't been that good since 2022, but the blue Wheeljack that's out now might be good if you've never had a Studio Series.
For shows, Prime, Animated, and the 1986 movie are objectively the best. The anime have some cool parts and good designs, but they're also very repetitive and they're too long for the stories being told. For comics, the UK Marvel comics are the only worthwhile ones; IDW devolves into a trainwreck, the Skybound comics are overly violent and edgy, and the Dreamwave comics are retreads of the G1 comic (the Armada and Energon Dreamwave comics are far better than the shows and very well-drawn, but they're unfinished).

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

An active Transformers thread here... I LOVE EVERYTHING!

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I just got into the G1 series and I'm only ten episodes in... Any suggestions?

back in the day there was also the G1 comics from Marvel that existed basically as their own thing independent of the show, and occasionally dipped into the Marvel universe at large, like the Dinobots were the ones that landed in The Savage Land
then there's the Marvel UK stuff that ran parallel and
yeah Transformers ends up stupidly complicated a lot

 

[Raiken]

i found some transformers in a triftshop! they are--
oh, the rotf version but botched. can't transform.
a bumblebee that can transform with his head missing.



a awefull broken custom shattered glass classics prime with half a city commander armour.

and...oh god what did they do to you crumplezone?!

 

[King Of Braves]

TL;DR: Very sturdy connections. Both Long Haul and Hook embarrass their titan counterparts by having way more articulation. Long Haul's legs don't seem to serve much purpose though, but the trailer-made midsection makes the end product look really good.

 

[The Lawgiver]

TL;DR: Very sturdy connections. Both Long Haul and Hook embarrass their titan counterparts by having way more articulation.

Well asia's release of the titan class one from years back HAD the articulation, it was just the hasbro release that had the gimped articulation. I still want that unite warriors one someday but never was able to afford titan class shit. My tidal wave preorder got fucked and that was like the one time I tried getting stuff set up for that kinda thing lmao.

 

[Starscream's Loyalty]

According to Blokees, the Devastator parts kit won't be available in the West. Showzstore has it for preorder.
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But why though? Hasbro tarding out over tariffs or just being stupid?

 

[The Lawgiver]

But why though? Hasbro tarding out over tariffs or just being stupid?

Likely some weird shit about "competing" with their own licensed stuff given they REALLY want people to shell out nearly 40 dollars for each devastator combiner team member that functionality wise are like undersized KO level of the 150 titan class one from years back. make it so people can get the parts for the mini devastator kit but not the final parts to complete it to avoid "confusion" or whatever dumb shit.

As unsuere as the answer may be, it's very probably just as retarded as their random decision to never let companies sell the hooded cobra commander in the US a few years ago. Or the shit where they wouldnt let HIYA sell their gi joe stuff in US markets.

 

[Hope Eradicated]

Likely some weird shit about "competing" with their own licensed stuff given they REALLY want people to shell out nearly 40 dollars for each devastator combiner team member that functionality wise are like undersized KO level of the 150 titan class one from years back. make it so people can get the parts for the mini devastator kit but not the final parts to complete it to avoid "confusion" or whatever dumb shit.

As unsuere as the answer may be, it's very probably just as retarded as their random decision to never let companies sell the hooded cobra commander in the US a few years ago. Or the shit where they wouldnt let HIYA sell their gi joe stuff in US markets.

This stuff happen all the time with licensed products like how the Pokémon models Blokees is doing aren't available in the west because Bandai(?) has the license for that here.

Edit: Might be related to whatever agreement Robosen has to do their Devastator that leaked a while back.

 

[KissMyTaint]

My Ultra Magnus that I forgot I preordered is coming in this week. That was like $100 of something I'm not sure I want anymore. Is it as good as people say he is or should I return it once it arrives?

 

[The Lawgiver]

My Ultra Magnus that I forgot I preordered is coming in this week. That was like $100 of something I'm not sure I want anymore. Is it as good as people say he is or should I return it once it arrives?

If it's the legacy/ss86 one, from what I've seen people like it. I'm not able to pay that much for any figure, let alone a magnus but my immediate thought seeing it was how bizarrely wide the torso is compared to any other version the last over a decade of magnus figures. People say it's impossible for it not to be that way with how it's engineered to have the cab be part of the robot instead of it's own thing but combinerwars and the MP figure do that too and aren't weirdly wide like that. It still looks good though, I don't have it so I have nothing to go off other than aesthetics and price here.

 

[Hope Eradicated]

People say it's impossible for it not to be that way with how it's engineered to have the cab be part of the robot instead of it's own thing but combinerwars and the MP figure do that too and aren't weirdly wide like that.

The reason the torso is wide is that the circled part accordions in on itself. The reason it has to be like this is to account for the comboner the arm uses to connect to the shoulder, to facilitate the dismemberment gimmick. Unlocking the red piece on top of the shoulder lets you use the hinges as a forwards/backwards butterfly joint.

 

[The Lawgiver]

I got target optimus tonight/last night now technically since it's 227 AM. he was on discount, but shoved in a weird spot that wasn't the actual location the figure should be. Bought him with a gift card I got from a relative. Also Witnessed a scalper putting every NECA TMNT shredder figure into his cart. I know he was a scalper because he was taking photos of the items boxes and the insides of the box after he went to the electronics section to grab the other target exclusive shit. You don't do that shit unless you are the most brazen fucking breed of scalper that's started showing up after corona happened.

Kill scalpers, behead scalpers, etc.

Will maybe post photos later of the thing. I think I have every g2 laser prime remake now aside from the actual original remake. I fucking hate the shoulders and the looseness of the arms tot he point it can't even hold a blaster or sword without drooping, but I like how the figure looks otherwise. I think at this point if you lined up my transformers purchases the last 5 years or so it's just like siege megatron repaints and laser prime repaints witht he occasional nova prime or tarn or whatever other unique yet still retooled to shit character is out there. I should really get around to making that cycling display i've been meaning to the last 8 years or so. As in shelf diorama thing cycle around every once and a while.

Still pissed my scourge's smokestack snapped a while back under reallyw eird circumstances. Can't remember if I brought that story up when it happened or not.

 

[Hope Eradicated]

I fucking hate the shoulders and the looseness of the arms tot he point it can't even hold a blaster or sword without drooping

My Toxitron's arms don't tab into the torso that that securely making it annoying to pose him, also why does the Laser Prime mold have ratcheted shoulders? What is the point of that on a figure which comes with 2 small melee weapons?

 

[The Lawgiver]

My Toxitron's arms don't tab into the torso that that securely making it annoying to pose him, also why does the Laser Prime mold have ratcheted shoulders? What is the point of that on a figure which comes with 2 small melee weapons?

It's not the ratchets that piss me off, it's the fact the shoulder pylons are engineered in that way where they decided to make the inner arm a tiny nibbly nub thing and put the front of the shoulder as a static flap you have to move out of the way for the arm to move forwards. The ratchet shits bad too but for the same reason it's bad on the recent soundwave figures and the dreamwave fallen of all things. There's no need for it and it makes the arms looser somehow as a result. The elbows are what piss me off though the most with their inability to hold anything and pre-cracked looking nature. Reminds me of the issues with combiner wars weirdwolf where they made the plastic SO FUCKING THIN that some people's were cracked out of box.

 

[Monk Amen]

Got some cool shit from the past few weeks I havent posted here, cant show them rn since im 6 states away lol, but i will show it off.

Shit with tarrifs sounds stupid rn, and alot of price hikes and decisions by alot of toy companies sounds like BS. Super7 has been caught lying about tarrifs forcing them to layoff employees like 6 months ago, so who knows at this point.

 

[Hope Eradicated]

It's not the ratchets that piss me off, it's the fact the shoulder pylons are engineered in that way where they decided to make the inner arm a tiny nibbly nub thing and put the front of the shoulder as a static flap you have to move out of the way for the arm to move forwards. The ratchet shits bad too but for the same reason it's bad on the recent soundwave figures and the dreamwave fallen of all things. There's no need for it and it makes the arms looser somehow as a result. The elbows are what piss me off though the most with their inability to hold anything and pre-cracked looking nature. Reminds me of the issues with combiner wars weirdwolf where they made the plastic SO FUCKING THIN that some people's were cracked out of box.

The Laser Prine mold as a whole is so jank, between the shoulders & arms where everything is done wrong, to the legs which are just the Earthrise versions legs with new shin detailing, as well as the sword having a lug on it that prevents anyone else from using it. Why is this mold so weird?

 

[The Lawgiver]

Why is this mold so weird?

It's because it's a heavy retool of earthrise prime, a figure that already had it's own weird little bits of jank and a heavy retool of siege prime. I don't know if you remember this but like somehow they kept changing the molding and coloration of earthrise prime until right before release. Originally he was gonna have the silver hands and yellow eyes from the old g1 promo art IIRC, but the renders got photoshopped to match the final output. They also kept changing how the leg peg thing for the trailer was cut, and a few other oddities.

I'm still wondering why they changed the engineering to make the legs to a static block earthrise onwards, but kept the trailer nub from the siege one through every mold even if it just turned into an asymmetrical vestigal tumor. You remold the legs like 5 times and then settle on the one that looks the weirdest.

EDIT TO AVOID DOUBLE POST

Shit with tarrifs sounds stupid rn, and alot of price hikes and decisions by alot of toy companies sounds like BS. Super7 has been caught lying about tarrifs forcing them to layoff employees like 6 months ago, so who knows at this point.

Tariff price hikes in general have a very stinky smell about them, and everyone knows no company that claims the price hike is due to tariffs will price shit back to affordable levels. The only thing I saw that was reasonable-ish with tariffs was international ebay sellers temporarily increasing their shipping to 100 dollars to try and dissuade people from buying before they figure out what the fuck the tariffs are gonna do to affect them. Thought it was initially people overseas becoming THOSE kinds of scalpers but after looking around, no that wasn't the case. Nobody fucking knows still apparently so now it's back down for all of them that did that but they don't combine shipping price on different items.

 

[Raiken]

laser prime has that weird stink to it that it's far more complex then it needed to be while also being less of a goid looking truck then the original or even the reveal the shield one.
the matrix gimmick is the most likely reason for it, but why even call this a retool if the only thing you're going to use are the legs?
i also think the tanker is a bit lacking.
dure it is more then a box from the earth rise one, but do something wild with it! make it into a battle armour! a wingpack! a missile rack!