gojira77

Pretty much agree with what was stated above, though you could have added that the BW toys got better as they went along and found ways to make a robot not look ridiculous as an animal. I think that when children are old enough for Transformers, they are more likely to want the real-world detail of the movie line, too. Action features are great if they don't restrict imagination. A one-trick pony gets old fast even if it's one heck of a trick! Maybe the new Ultra Universe Classics are the best compromise... Don't underestimate TFA, though. Some of the toys are a lot better than others and the most important thing to a kid with a favorite cartoon show is figures of the main characters with SHOW ACCURACY!

'Cause they don't... Titaniums didn't do well at retail and Hasbro is giving the collector's a nice bit of closure, using the molds that made it past prototype stage. At least fans will get a complete set of seekers. Grimlock was a huge fan-request ever since WWI was in it's first printing-- too bad he's got a bad case of robot-lying-down-as-altmode syndrome! Maybe he and WWI Megatron can throw a benefit... Personally, I'l always be gratefull for my modern non-brick Scourge.

You could always buy a buch of the Legends-class Autobots for him to stand next to and basically push around. That's what I think I'll do for Classics Starscream. Poor guy just hasn't been himself since he found out he was shorter than Classics Bumblebee... LOL

Until next year, when we get an awesome Voyager G1 Inferno.

I really excited about the new Universe Legends figures, like the Jazz & Hound wave coming out about now and the slide show pictures from SDCC. If they can keep the quality up, like the pics of Brawn and Cosmos indicate, I think this would be a perfect home for new, original-sculpt versions of the minibots. Especially since the small size was so central to their characters that they seem a little wrong in the bigger classes (Powerglide sure comes to mind...). And though some may not like it, I think Hasbro would rather try the unusual characters in a less expensive scale first, as was the case with Energon Scout-class Arcee. However, I think a TFA Arcee would do for my Classics collection anyways, judging by how much I like their Black Arachnia (the cartoony proportions here aren't far off from what we saw on the fems in "Search for Alpha Trion").

Great topic! I pretty much want all of Wave 10 except for Wraith, probably because I stopped reading the DDP books after the first mini-series (I'm excited about the new IDW series though...). The Para-viper's really cool, and an Eel just like the Snow Serpent. Mutt comes with the best ever 4"-scale Triumph the Insult-Comic Dog-- just needs a clay cigar and bow tie and he'll be ready for the next installment of Twisted Toyfare Theatre! My one must-have is fairly contraversial, though. My childhood is forever linked to Tiger Force Duke, the first version of my favorite Joe that I could easily find in stores. I always thought that one fell short of his potential (like the great '92 Duke who was unfortunately painted by a blind person), and wished he was blonde like on the card. This new one's PERFECT!! Sadly (I've been on a tight 'actionfigure/ useless crap' budget since my son was born), I seem to like Wave 11 just as much. I thought the Flint was a pass until I saw the extra head-- more fodder for the bloody sword of Snake-eyes! Trakker is an in-joke that suddenly went, well, awesome. And Scarlett is a must-have for the card art alone!

And Pilot Scarlet is quite possibly the best version of the character ever made! Lots of real-world parallels to women as pilots in combat situations, a much better face than the 5-pack version, great gear and she's still packing her cross box and shurikins! Of course, my tastes might be a little off... '88 Storm Shadow is the definitive version for me and if I liked that Tiger Force Duke any better I'd have to ARMY BUILD HIM!

And Duke's face might work with the vibrant 'toon colors... Don't know for sure, I'll hold off jugment till I see these guys in the store. Really, I'm just paying $20 for the DVD's like I would on Ebay for the old Kid Rhino ones, the figures are a bonus to me, so I can't gripe. I've seen the first two packs at Target, and even the figures that I wasn't crazy about at first have superior paint jobs to their previous releases.

Wow, that Cobra Commander looks awesome! I'm still pretty happy with my TRU 3-pack CC so I'm sure he'll do for now, but the chrome face and bigger head would be a definite improvement-- unless... That new helmet looks a little big to me, like maybe it can come off, too. I don't really have a problem with that, per se, Hasbro's made plenty of cool figures with removable masks from Darth Vader to The new Armored CC. I'm just worried about what's under the mask, this being a Cartoon Movie Commander. Do you think, maybe, just maybe... ONCCE-WASSS-A-MAAANN!!! LOL

I always thought that the Cobra-La guys were cool, espesially the genetically engineered Guards that swarmed on you like big ants. They just don't work well when you try to shoe-horn them into the hierachy and origin of Cobra. Even Larry Hama couldn't use them (until comic park wave 5, apparently!), and this was a guy who made the whole Cobra Commander-Serpentor shared-power thing work! And Raptor!

This would probably be a better cross-over for Joe. Even though the comic had a lot of Marvel influences, they kept out of the Traditional end of the pool and only interacted with Transformers, the other successful Hasbro property. That's kind of a shame since Joes really don't do well with Giant Alien Robots-- As much as I love G2 Megatron I didn't like him in my Joe comic! I want to not like Trakker, it's cheaper that way, but you simply can't deny that he'd make a great guest star. Of course, I'm also excited about the new Marvel Fury Files figures and the prospect of Duke (who I'd give a secret SHIELD background) teaming up with Captain America or the Joes fighting the Hulk!

I don't know how many MASK guys I'd like to see come over (I'm looking at you, T-bob!), but I think Miles Mayhem would do great as a Cobra free-lancer. Like Toyfare said, the dude looks like "an evil Mr. Bellevedere". Awesome!

No. It just wouldn't work to ever have Robin as we know him in the current Nolan-verse. Robin is awesome (well, Dick, Tim, and Carrie are anyway...) but he works much better in comics or in a different kind of movie. Batman Begins wasn't Year One, and (though I haven't seen it yet) Dark Knight won't be Long Halloween. It's something new added to the mythos, strongly influenced by some of the best comics of the last 20 years. I really respect Nolan for not trying to make a "Year One movie" but rather making something different for the last film, sort of a Batman-meets-French Connection. It was different, cool, and most importantly, it was created specifically for the big screen. Frank Miller put Robin into DKR for very specific reasons of color and contrast that make sense in a 2-D universe. With all due respect to talented directors like Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo Del Torro, what comic book characters need most are simply good movies, regardless of whether you might call them good "comic book movies". Besides, you can always read the comics or see them in animation, where there has always been more creative freedom for the animator than with conventional film. That said, I think the Nolan movies could still use Dick Grayson (if not 'Robin'), the Huntress, or even Terry McGuiness.

This may just be the best news I've read or heard today! I've always prefered Stormshadow as a good guy and this 25th Anv. version of the '88 figure is proverbial "one that got away" for me. I also missed out on Battle-Armor CC, who used to kick the ever-living-snot out of my Serpentor "Dark Knight Returns"-style back in the day. Man, I love that goofy armor, even though my wife just rolls her eyes and asks why CC is "snorkling" whenever she sees a pic of it. Women! @grumpy@

I've liked G.I. Joe since the first airing of "The MASS Device", but I didn't really start collecting the figures until '87 and then kept on through '94. Consequently, I've got a lot of fondness for the post-movie figures. I've always thought that the figures kept getting better right up into late '91, when suddenly waves were no longer dominated by new characters and the uniforms went a little too X-men. Yeah, the various specialty-vipers got a little bright after '86, but they still had tons of sculpted detail and were still pretty believable by Cobra-standards. I would love more '88-'89 figures, my personal 'golden age', but I don't think we'll get a lot of them-- not this close to the new movie. My list of unlikely favs: 1. Lt. Falcon-- not that Duke Knock-off in the comic pack, a GOOD one! 2. Toxo-Viper (he he "Leaky Suit Brigade"!) 3. Big Ben 4. '89 Rock 'n Roll 5. Hydro-viper... though I'd settle for an Eel with some cool gear!

Another sequence of action scenes... "Take him!" "Clobbering less than four Decepticons is boring!" "Why do you throw away your life so recklessly?"

Prime versus Prime, or Convoy...

So after Jet pack Duke gets the binoculars and bandolier, and Mr. Classified gets a shorter knife that actually fits the sheath on his leg, what should I do with the rest of Green-shirt Duke? The head is actually molded in flesh-tone, he has a nice pistol, great m-16, and the re-molded, fixed crotch for added sitting action. Where should the other spoils go? I was originally kinda excited about this non-canonical "Original 14" version, since I've been a sucker for Sgt. Hauser since I first saw "The M.A.S.S. Device" and was too little to know that they don't let sgts fly jets! #US1# Do you think all the Joes have one of those generic things hanging in their locker, kind of like that OTHER blue and yellow costume, you know-- with the sleaves, that Wolverine sometimes wore in the old X-men comics? Maybe Life-line and Sci-Fi should have kept theirs...

I'd like to point out that the Transformers G1 mythos involves more than just the American cartoon-- Beastwars drew equally from both the old show and the Marvel comics, afterall. In the comics, Decepticon leadership changed hands/claws quite frequently: Megatron to Shockwave (and back again) to Ratbat(!) to Scorponok to Bludgeon... Megs just couldn't get his act together or manage his own people until after Cobra rebuilt him in the G.I.Joe/TFG2 cross-over. He had power, great ideas, and loyal followers, but also much stiffer competition from the other bad guys. Prime was much more constant, even though he died twice, in part because the Autobots didn't have anyone who could replace him. In all G1/G2 continueties, Prime is just better at managing resources and inspiring greater performance and loyalty out of his troops. He's not more powerful than Megs, or in some ways ever smarter, but he beats the Decepticon mastermind by means of his greater heart and wisdom. How'd Prime lose Cybertron in that 20 year gap between Season 2 and the movie? Short answer, G.I.Joe writers like Flint Dille who wanted a "new direction" @hmmm@ Really, though DW seemed to have a good theory (read vol. 3 #1-10), I think the best answer was good old Shockwave...

I made my Jet Pack Duke even Better! "Da, you suck, comrad!" I also gave his short 'Spirit' knife to v. 2 Snake-Eyes. The M-16's pretty nice as well with a 'blueing' paint ap on the middle. Great comic book, though.

Two more pics... Boy, Voyager Prime sure is a little guy. "No, Hot Rod, I'm not still sore about what happened at Autobot City. Now return to your mine-sweeping duty."

Well, the biggest difference is the chrome. I remember the many times I walked by Classics Prime on the store shelf, stared in disbelief at the cheap-looking flat grey bumber and shook my head. I mean, were they trying to make Classics Ultra Magnus the better twin this time? At least they painted UM's grill-- I'll never understand why Hasbro didn't just use a nicer silver plastic instead of that grey. Anyways, Henkei's other differences are more subtle but over all make a much nicer Truck and Robot mode. I've also ordered a Henkei Starscream and Megatron but they haven't arived yet.

Here's some more pics, including one with Encore Soundwave. I don't think TFU Reissue Soundwave really works with the other Classics, but Henkei's chrome and richer colors help the new toys (at least for Prime) blend in with the better G1 molds, kind of like R.I.D. "Yeah, I still turn into a tape deck-- So?!" "Prime... did I... do good?" "Yes, old Friend, you did good."

Here are various pictures of TakaraTomy's Henkei Convoy Classics Prime posed with other TF's as well as Impossible Toys' Spike and Sparkplug. There weren't a lot of reviews out on Henkei Prime when I bought mine (none on youtube) so I had to take a leap of faith when I got him. He's great, but my first one had serious QC problems. Make sure all of your Henkei purchases come from a reputable place with a good return policy! "Bikini Car Wash, huh?" "Dude, I can't believe they replaced you for that new 'Trek movie!"

THIS may be the most important issue facing heterosexual members of the fandom today (along with gas prices, student loans, and the general lack of customer service at Wal-mart). My wife is a great example: loves Star Wars and comic book shops, can't wait to go back to the theater to see "300" again-- basically puts Kelly LeBrock to shame as every man's dreamgirl. Until we get to the Transformers... She just doesn't get the facination. I tried to include her (hey, I got her hooked on comics, after all). She seemed to like the puzzle-like alternators... and then I bought 10 of them (ok maybe I screwed that up). After the sixth viewing I wore her down to the cheesy 80s charm of TFTM, but since then it has become progessively harder to gain ground. I've given up; it's not her fault afterall. What is it about Women and Transformers, the constant "Gwen Stacey" and "Mary Jane Watson" of my life? Why can't most girls get into TF and is there hope for men out there in my position? What does your Girlfriend/Wife/Significant Other think about your love for things that are More Than Meets The Eye?!