Transformers has always been Marvel when it intersected with superhero comics as far as I know, so no, no transforming batmobiles... yet. There has been a Batman logo shown off as part of the upcoming collab figures promo materials recently, but no further information I know of so far. If they do a Keaton or BtAS Batmobile to Batman for it, I will be all over that.
Also... transformers has to have done Batman collabs, right? You could do an entire line of toys just of Batmobiles turning into their respective Batmen and it would sell like hot cakes.
Much as I like Prime!Arcee - and she is really cool - I was a little disappointed that they dipped out of the pink paint scheme and the car mode. I like pink as a colour, and having that shift to blue felt much more like them trying to market her as being cool.
She is always a similar color to energon, some universes make a joke about it by saying that it's her being that color from all the energon spilled on her in combat.
Prima Prime is a dumb name. I'm fine with 'Prima' as a name, but 'One One' is a bit too far for me in terms of names.
I get wanting them all to be alled Prime but... you can make an exception for Prima, since that's literally his name. He's the first and oldest, that's plenty of justification as to why 'Prime' would become a subsequent title and why he wouldn't have one despite being the first.
It feels like something that was added on later by people who felt like the people at the back wouldn't get that he was the first and thus "Primest" Prime, so didn't need it added on.
I joked about it being the size of a small child, but now it arrived and the shipping box is like 1x2x3 feet and I think I'll need help to get it up the stairs, despite being liight for its size...
Well, at least it'll be useful as an "anchor" box to stabilize the stack where I keep the TFs not in my little display space, that's been getting unstable from being a tall stack of small and medium Amazon boxes. Ugh, I really need to go through and pick a few to sell off again.
eta: in toy listings news, the Sgt. Slaughter/Kup toy, which most reviewers seem to agree is the least horrible TF/GI Joe crossover figure yet, is on slae for "only" $76 USD (vs. the usual $90) at Amazon for their Big Spring Deal event. Still too much for what you get by me, but if you've wanted one it's likely the best rate you'll see for one without happening across a brick & mortar store that just really, really wants the shelf space clear and to stop having to pay taxes on it sitting in inventory.
It's Tuesday, so it's Transformers Tuesday. Today we look at that rough, tough Autobot, that cowboy, as I continue my look at the new Wave one of G1. This one's gonna be a bit of a long one, as I take a look at two toys. Folks, I give you...
War for Cybertron: Earthrise Ironhide/Studio Series-1986 Ironhide
On the left is Earthrise Ironhide, on the right Studio Series-1986 Ironhide, Earthrise as Deluxe-class and SS-86 Voyager-class. Earthrise was released in 2020 in an Amazon exclusive two-pack with Prowl, because of course we have to make two of the more popular characters hard-to-get exclusives. He's an extensive retool of Siege Ironhide. SS-86 Ironhide is a new mold, albeit sharing a similar transformation scheme. And... that blue stripe between the forward and middle windows? I can't get SS-86 Ironhide fully closed! I tried a half-dozen times, changing him back, massaging it, trying to force it without breaking it. That's the best I can fucking do. Say what you want about feet sticking out of Earthrise Ironhide, but at least I can get him transformed properly!
Both are red vans, natch. SS-86's is a bit more... complete, but as can be seen I can't get it fully closed. It's very frustrating. Both have internal weapon storage. Earthrise's stores under the roof. SS-86 does it quite cleverly.
It's like Sergeant Kup's!
The biggest problem with a G1-accurate Ironhide and Ratchet is the MASSIVE disconnect between their toys and animation/comic models. yes, other characters have differences, but they pale in comparison to the headless, sled-riding Diaclone toys Ironhide and Ratchet are derived from. pretty much everyone else except maybe Omega Supreme matches their toys a lot better. So with these two trying to work the robot into the van can be... difficult.
Transformation for both is actually quite similar, although SS-86's is... honestly more involved and can be frustrating in places with all the folding panels that, for me, popped off more than once. Unfold the back and move down to form the legs, folding in panels. Rotate around the front cab to form the chest. Fold down the arms. open the windshield and rotate the head up. And what do we get?
Earthrise on the left, SS-86 on the right. And honestly... I find SS-86 to be boring compared to Earthrise. There's less detail in the pelvis. he's smoother. All he's got are a pair of small silver pistols. Earthrise has the cool shield and larger pistol. He's got more detail. I find 'show accuracy' to be very low on my list of priorities, so yeah. Earthrise is just more interesting to me.
Articulation is identical. Both have rotating heads, universal shoulders, 90 degree elbow bend and rotation. Wrist rotation and waist rotation. Universal hips, hip rotation, 90 degree knees and full ankles.
I do like them both having something inside their shoulder joints so it doesn't look so hollow.
The Centurion Drone came with a drill, and I like to arm Earthrise ironhide with Siege's warhammer.
It's a hammer that fires off missile launchers. So cool.
And of course, Earthrise's shield and gun can be combined to homage the sled G1 Ironhide came with.
I... prefer Earthrise Ironhide to SS-86 Ironhide. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad they released a G1 ironhide that's not an exclusive or in a two-pack with prowl. It's just... I like the Earthrise one more. I can fully transform him. The transformation itself is less frustrating, and there's more play value for me with the robot mode. I recommend both... but I just like Earthrise Ironhide more.
Tune in Thursday when I do another dual review, as I look at Earthrise Prowl... and Pteraxadon! See you then.
eta: in toy listings news, the Sgt. Slaughter/Kup toy, which most reviewers seem to agree is the least horrible TF/GI Joe crossover figure yet, is on slae for "only" $76 USD (vs. the usual $90) at Amazon for their Big Spring Deal event. Still too much for what you get by me, but if you've wanted one it's likely the best rate you'll see for one without happening across a brick & mortar store that just really, really wants the shelf space clear and to stop having to pay taxes on it sitting in inventory.
I think it's that they've been pretty married to being the GI Joe vehicle (in proper colors and with figure interactivity) and turning into the TF character in evergreen G1 appearance and colors. They end up stuck with vast chunks of vehicle that both can't transform too much without compromising the play feature of the alt and can't be visible on the front for fear of making the robo look too different. Kup is the first one that seems super willing to compromise on making his robot mode look perfectly G1 and, well, it pretty clearly helps.
It's Thursday, so time for a new review. Today I take a look at two toys that don't seem connected at first, but they are. I continue my reviews of the new representations of G1 Wave One. this time it's a character I think has gotten very and unfairly maligned over the years . Folks, let's take a look at...
Earthrise Prowl was released in a two-pack with Earthrise Ironhide in 2020, as an Amazon exclusive. He's a redeco of Bluetreak, with the missile launchers swapped out for a police light bar. He transforms into a police car similar to his old Datsun model. As you can see, he's a nice little car. His laser rifle can mount on top of the light bar for some Mad Max action. He rolls well, too.
Transformation is, like Bluetreak, basically his G1 toy with some new bits. Pull out the back and split apart to form the legs. Rotate around the lower body. Fold the arms out from the bottom. Collapse the hood to form the chest. It's nice and simple. Although like with Bluestreak, care must be taken when collapsing the legs going back to vehicle mode. And what do we get?
It's G1 Prowl, basically. He holds together well, but like with his fellow Datsons, those transparent shins are VERY worrying. His articulation is fantastic. His head turns. he's got universal shoulders, elbow bend to 90 degrees, and elbow rotation. He's got wrist rotation and waist rotation. He's got universal hips, hip rotation, deep knee bends, and full ankle tilt. And his joints are tight enough to hold poses.
In IDW 2, prowl gained a pet, a flying reptile named Green. Green is a flyt, and flyts are based off of...
Battle Master Pteraxadon was released in Siege in 2019. The flyts from IDW 2 were based off of him, and i love that. pteradxadon is a Battle Master, and can transform from flying reptile into an axe or laser rifle. He's got good articulation, with movable wings, a had that can tilt up and down, and movable claws.
Transformation is, with this size, pretty simple, but satisfying. Fold the handle out from the back. Fold the had up. Pull out the wings. And what do we get?
Axe and laser mode are... pretty much the same. It all depends on how hes held and if the wings are extended. it's... there, but it's better than the Micromaster weapon modes.
I love this.
And yes, I do feel Prowl's gotten screwed over the years. I hated him dying to one shot from Scavenger in the 1986 movie. I hate how he was characterized in IDW and made to be Grimlock's fool in the old Marvel comics. He deserves better.
Earthrise Prowl is a great toy. A good car mode, great transformation and robot mode. He represents his G1 form pretty much perfectly. It's a damned shame he was only released in that two-pack with Earthrise Ironhide or that... later death pack. pteraxadon is a nice little toy, too. If you can find them fairly cheaply, I recommend them both.
Tune in Tuesday for my next review. Who will it be? We'll see!
I missed out on both WFCx Prowls the first time around, which was why I was so glad to see the Siege version listed for re-release pre-orders at Pulse and BBTS. I prefer the Siege mold anyway - better looking wheels, and the nominally alien sports car is close enough to a Datsun 280 anyway to just count as being stylized a different way to technically not need to license the car mode. I do have WFCS Bluestreak and WFCE Smokescreen to compare them to, along with the ... C;assics or Universe, I don't remember, version from the late noughties or early teens, and the Warrior Class from Cyberverse. That last one is actually relatively decent too, and the best option if you're particularly paranoid about load bearing transparent plastic since it has none, though his trim is navy blue instead of black and of course as a Warior class there's more hollowness and slightly less articulation than you usually find on the similarly sixe Deluxe toys, to squeeze the price point down an extra five bucks - in this case, he lacks bicep or thigh rotation beyond the minimal waggle you can get out of the shoulders and hip ball joints. The foot transformation joint does give a good amount of toe-down but there's no ankle tilt either, nor anything at the neck or wrists. I've got him with RotB targetmaster Air Razor since my Pteraxodon is with bayformer "Hound," the TLK one-step one with the flip out non-screen helmet, because he is so very I Am A Dwarf And I'm Digging A Hole and you can spread the wings out to be a pick instead of an axe in weapon mode.
This is the same mold that is being used for the new Cyberworld missile truck Megatron in G2 neon green, by the way, which is probably an easier thing to find pictures of at the moment than a cheap gimmick toy from an unpopular movie over a decade ago I don't see any sign of the flip up helmet in the pictures released so far, but I'm not even seriously considering picking up anything but shark-car Skybyte from that line anyway, and honestly I'm torn about that and waiting for the extremely likely minor remold to give it a big prominent engine for the Hot Wheels crossover subline. Twin Mill and Boneshaker are very definitely on my Must Have list!
I'm working on doing some unboxing photos for the Batmech, but with its size I'm pretty much going to have to do that in the shed with the door open for light, and it's been cold and/or dim and overcast the past couple of days. I need to get the thing out of the way down there, so if the weather continues I might have to forgo that, unfortunately.
I've seen reviewers call Blitzwing the single worst toy of the WFCx/LGC era, and after getting the Overcharge version I am now convinced they are correct. Even leaving aside how the tank mode, which gives you the choice of just leaving the head hanging out in front or swapping it for a robo-dong, is the better of the two vehicle modes and the heavily restricted shoulder mobility in robot mode, the transformation is too much trying to be clever and not enough actual fun, with multiple tab and slot connections that either don't hold or hold too well or don't want to get connect at all, multiple double hinge joints to swing panels around that are not at all obvious about their intended positions in any mode until you've tried all the wrong ones and can't get things to align, and a general unpleasant squashiness as nothing clips solidly together to actually play with any of the three modes. Do not buy any version of this mold unless it's marked down to Voyager-equivalent pricing, and even then think two or three times first.
If you also lack Astrotrain and Starscream, the price saving of the Triple Takeover Dramatic Capture set is probably not a bad deal since it mostly just ditches the big extra accessories that were supposed to justify the price point bump in the first place (throne, caboose, and power fists, of which only the Nemesis Bridge captain's chair was really worth taking out of the box IMHO) while still including all the weapons and the traitor idiot coward's coronation regalia anyway.
Titans Return Blitzwing looks a bit less screen accurate in robot mode, has the thin mylar stickers that like to peel up, and of course has the headmaster gimmick, but overall edges slightly ahead despite all of that, to the point that he's actually about worth the $45-55 USD loose but complete examples were selling for last time I checked. Do make sure you get one with his matching bathtub gun, though, as it partsforms on to be most of the tank barrel.
The Overcharge colors do work very nicely, I'll give it that much, and the dark green is much easier to ignore than bright purple as "just the shadow" against the silver of the rest of jet mode specifically.
If you're the special kind of insane collector who must army build him because of that half-second cut in the S3 opening where there's a row of green and silver tanks used as justification for the original collector's club G1 Blitzwing repaint, well, more power to you, you're keeping the toy line sales numbers up, and I guess they can be Heavies/commanders for your Quintesson faction's shelf full of Sharkticons, Allicons (most common other contender for worst of WFCx, and shown in a swarm of about two dozen in one episode ), and Deeseus Drones
Well, at least it'll be useful as an "anchor" box to stabilize the stack where I keep the TFs not in my little display space, that's been getting unstable from being a tall stack of small and medium Amazon boxes. Ugh, I really need to go through and pick a few to sell off again.
