Big news folks, the long
standing Technobot/Computron saga has seemingly come to a happy end,
and perhaps I can stop writing about it. TakaraTomy did it again.
Like the Constructicons, they have made a set that embarrasses the
Hasbro version, in this case before even the official announcement of
it. Coming mainly from TakaraTomy mouthpiece and toy designer TKYuki,
we've had numerous looks at the grey prototypes, not the team in its
entirety, but enough to declare a winner. In addition to new combiner
bits, the limbs are different, the disappointing Brawl mould being
replaced by a retool of Rook for Nosecone. We also have Blast Off
retooled for Strafe, and Wheeljack for Lightspeed. This was
subsequently reinforced by images of Scattorshot, Afterburner, and
just yesterday, Lightspeed, in their robot modes, all having
different accessories, and Scattorshot having a lot of decorative
retooling. At time of writing, I'd be very interested to see how
Strafe turns out, as those gun fists that make no sense for Blast
Off, would be very suitable for Strafe's altmode. Hopefully, the
kibble will pushed to the back, too.
I haven't seen a Western
company get so badly shown up by an Eastern one since Sony announced
the PS4 wouldn't have any limitations on used games. Going to Rook
instead of Brawl for Nosecone is a selling point in itself. Its like
replacing a wooden spoon with a gold medal. Then again, to be fair,
the Hasbro version hasn't been actually announced yet. Its entirely
possible that the changes evident in these prototypes may in some way
be present in the Hasbro version, the previously Japanese exclusive
deluxe Groove is getting a release now, but it would take a lot at
this point to shift things. The Hasbro version does have Scrounge, an
Air Raid retool, and probably a lower price point. It is however
looking rather lazy in the comparison. A remix, rather than a new
song, if you will. Why did TT go this far? Well, I didn't realise
this, but the Technobots are a much bigger thing in the East than
West, appearing significantly more in the cartoons. Seriously, look
these guys up, their only claim to fame in Hasbro media is that
Grimlock made them, and no post-G1 comic has really done anything
with the characters. It seems Hasbro wanted to do them, but didn't
want to spend too much given their relative obscurity. While I admit
I strongly favour Hasbro in my Transformers purchases, this would be
a situation were I would honestly prefer Japanese, and that hasn't
happened in a real long time.
The question is: will that
Liokaiser rumour pan out? And what will TakaraTomy do to beat it?
Sources: TFW2005, TFYuki,
and Snaka's Blog. Images copyright their respective owners, used under fair use provisions.
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