While this isn't the first toy I’ve got for the new iteration of Generations, its the first one I feel like talking about. Although, I have kinda talked about this guy before. Last year, I did an article on Cannonball, a character I was convinced was fated to be Red Alert due to the repaint connection. The fact that Red Alert appears as a new mould voyager is a bit of a surprise, and makes Cannonball more special in retrospect. I understand why he's a voyager, its so he can better match the assorted Armada revamps we've had in Legacy. As to why he's in Age of the Primes? Well, because Generations continues to be a grabbag of often weak theme, and I suspect he got held up along the way. And they don’t even acknowledge the Armada connection on the box. Odd.
. The truck mode seems a bit boring at first, and I was ready to breeze past it as "good enough" until I considered it more closely. The back-end and hubcaps go unpainted, but there is a lot of paint where you would mostly look. Its front bumper/hood area receives a lot of attention as a focal point in both modes, the flanks aren't bad either, and the translucent red is used is well. In terms of play value, there's the welcome presence of pinned wheels for good rolling, an assortment of 5mm ports, and the flip-out gun gimmick from the original toy appears, if as a mainly decorative thing. Something I hadn't realised prior to having the toy in person, is that not only do the gunhands store easily, they also have 3mm peg functions so they can attach by the lightbar. There’s also a decorative mini-con post. So, more going on than I thought, it rolls well, and it looks good on the assumption you don't flip it over or stare at the arse end. But, you do you. The transformation meanwhile apes the original with a lot of big panels and unexpectedly stiff joints. Spoiler alert: this is the only aspect of the toy I dislike. Things are generally too tight and stiff, but its not bad.
The generally good truck mode is followed by a solid robot mode. Red Alert has the face of Robocop, the body plan of a classical carformer, a gunarm, and legs that go for miles. Its a distinctive look for what amounts to a supporting character. There is a favouring of the animation model, notably featuring a different shade of blue for the kneecaps, but omitting the brass/gold from the inside of the arm joints. I suppose someone could third-party that, but I find it to be a fairly skippable detail. In other news, we see a light piped visor, it has been a while. The looks are very much on point. Functionally, he has 4 accessories in total, plus a significant presence of 5mm ports, with both the flip out gun and the gunhands using that system. The position of one port on the chest makes me wonder if there's new a Longarm mould which was cut for the price point, but this toy would shine with a weaponizer or similar. Articulation meanwhile is Legacy standard, so generally good, but this is where those stiff joints and vehicle kibble interfere. Its knees like to lock in the standing position for transformation purposes, and if you want to use the waist joint you have to unplug the backpack. Its nothing you can't work around though, as its otherwise very comprehensive, he does have a wrist swivel for his one good hand for example. Definitely a robot that ticks all the boxes...
Red Alert is not the first character I think of when I come to think of Armada. He's probably not in the first ten either. He's a bit dull if I'm honest. As a toy, this looked to be maybe a bit dull too. It is cut from exactly the same cloth as the other Armada remakes, with the same design principles as applied to what was probably the most conventual toy of Armada wave 1, i.e the one that was a truckformer with a hood-chest. Priority is given to screen accuracy and articulation at the cost of mini-con functions. So while there is that element of faint disappointment again, a sense that Hasbro is missing the point, there is a compelling argument in this toy’s favour. It is simply good at what its choosing to do. If this is the last Armada remake we get for a while, its gone out on a high.
Although, that Flatline repaint does look rather nice...
Well, I actually haven't done one of these for a while. I'll try to ease myself into it…
The 2003 Transformers Armada Wheeljack toy (Note that he's yellow.)
Wheeljack, no, not that one, is a character I have only a passing familiarity with. I never experienced the media he was in, nor had his toy. Armada's take on Wheeljack is however quite compelling to me on the conceptual level. There are a good few Transformers whom have switched sides, we tend to get one whom features that as a play feature every few years. Armada in fact already had one in Sideways, a character way too complex to get into here. But what you usually DO NOT get is a character that rejects the Autobots so completely and joins the Decepticons in the name of revenge. And you especially DO NOT get such a character carving a chunk out of their chest to make it official. Its a such a needlessly edgelord thing that I would adore it if somebody revisited in new media. Seriously, pay it straight or subvert it, either is good, but commit to it. And now there's a new toy of him? Fingers crossed.
Wheeljack is, as you can probably tell, the umpteenth reuse of the Siege Sideswipe mould from 2019. First off, fucking hell, its now 2025. Second, its not that much of a stretch TBH; the original toy had a Sideswipey look. While the new toy features much retooling, especially involving it's accessories, it's not the first time we've seen this specific iteration mould. Rather this was previously an exclusive release as Shattered Glass Sideswipe, seemingly part of Hasbro's "repaint every fucking thing" and "fuck Fun Pub" initiatives. Its release in Legacy United seems to be mainly one of filler, with wave 5 in general seemingly just keeping the seat warm before the new Age of the Primes kicks off, by reissuing stuff. Its nice to see him, don't get me wrong, the omission of the partner mini-con does tarnish the experience a touch. This is a shame, as they otherwise have done a decidedly non-trivial amount of work here. Not quite on the level of Cannonball, but this isn't a mere headswap. There's a new head with a slightly better neck, a new chest, a decorative approximation of the original toy's gull wing doors, and his baton weapons which peg in and store. Its a good likeness too, if to the Japanese version with the teal, maybe lacking the odd paint app, and this version retains the two piece missile launcher common to the base mould, but not seen on the exclusive.
So, is this any good, or merely something that exists? Well, even after so long the base toy is very good. The Sideswipe mould is more or less the platonic ideal of the carformer, doing an awful lot right even if its not doing anything too clever. Wheeljack has been happily positioned near my computer for weeks as hand candy, something the mould excels at. The changes to the accessories do work. On the other hand, long standing weaknesses in the design go unaddressed, and there's some minor QC issues. I had to thicken his "belt buckle tab" to secure his robot mode for example, and the paint on the missile was not a good idea; little fucker doesn't want to stay in. If you already own a Sideswipe, you don't actually need this version, but I seriously doubt you'd have a bad time with this one.
And is huge. Unreasonably,
impractically huge. Almost too huge to photograph. Hence the crappier than usual photos taken in my kitchen.
Tidal
Wave’s wiki picture, a screen capture from the 2004 Transformers
video game
As
a casual browse of this blog will quickly reveal, I dig giant robots.
But not nessecarily the most giant of giant robots. Over the years
I've had a fair few of the modern Titan Class Transformers. The
biggest of the big boys, without going to HasLab. We're talking toys
with robot modes exceeding 18 inches in height. The novelty of these
was high
at first, but eventually reality set in and it became routine. I
started to run out of space, inflation happened, Predaking was pretty
awful, and then Hasbro started to run out of characters that
justified the pricepoint in either fame or size. Eventually, I
donated most of my titans to Toy-Fu, and swore off the pricepoint as
something I couldn't justify to myself. Then this one was announced,
and I was pulled back in. In much the same way as Armada Optimus Prime. I sold a BotCon boxset to buy this... So
I'm glad it doesn't suck.
But,
I'm getting ahead of myself, who is Tidal Wave? Well, he's another
character from Transformers: Armada, the fifth such release to appear
of late. He was a big, physically powerful, Decepticon famous for
chanting his own name. Not exactly a thinker, he
was however noteworthy for having naval-themed altmodes, which is rare,
and combining with Megatron, which was unprecedented. How big he
actually
was a bit variable. The famously shoddy cartoon was inconsistent but
generally made him on the large side, while comics and video games
made him gigantic. The simply-titled Transformers
for the PS2 console had him be
both an end of level boss, and
the level itself. This was
awesome. Much later on, Nick Roche would bring the character back for
his Sins of the Wreckers comic, where he was similarly huge. And a
whale. This was also awesome. The toy was pretty well-regarded too,
people liking its transformation and play features, aswhile
he could split into
three seperate boats, it was not mandatory for the transformation to
do so. Its actually one of my
faves, I dunno if its top 3 material, but its definitely A tier for
its line. So, I was very pleased to see him back. And I think I would
have been happy for him to be
simply adapted into the Commander class with functional knees. But
they went Titan for him. And they kinda made him a mixed
representation in
that he's in Cartoon/Japanese-toy
purple and huge, rather than Hasbro/Western-toy
green and huge. Maybe
there's planned repaints, I don't know. But if he's a titan now,
surely he can't combine with Megatron any more? He’s lost that
along with the Mini-Con gimmicks these remakes all cut? Well, brace
yourself.
Something very odd has happened here.
They've created a bunch of integrated accessories that Tidal Wave
can pass to Megatron/Galvatron. I refer to these collectively as "miniwave",
as these are patterned off Tidal Wave's altmodes, with the addition
of platform shoes. There's shades of Astrotrain's coal tender with
this, or Blitzwing's
hulk-hands, but it is much much sillier than
either of those. The whole idea
of miniwave is so utterly, utterly dumb, I can't quite decide if its
just dumb, or so dumb it ends
up being awesome again. Given Tidal Wave is now so big that he's
socialising
with citiformers, no would of begrudged the designers for dropping
the Megatron combination. I mean, they've already dropped Mini-Cons.
But no. We have Tidal Wave break off bits of himself, in the
likenesses of his altmodes, so Megatron can go to the Met Gala in
style. On the one hand, it works, and probably better than the
original toys at that. It explains Megatron's odd shoulders, its
working off the 5mm port system with ratcheted pegs for stability,
and Megs' articulation doesn't suffer really. On the other? Well,
Tidal Wave is giving up his fingers for this. You end up with some
big gaps, although you can work the thumbs into a claw arrangement. Its also worth admitting that "Burning Megatron" wasn't the most dynamic combination in the first place, and you may only do this once. I
don't know if we'd honestly have a better toy if they left this
gimmick out. Maybe they could have pushed things further and had
those parts do more. Like be a partner robot. Or just having
Mini-Cons. But this is just such a weird thing to do, I can't help
but respect it.
The
mini-wave pieces also end up playing a part in the base mode, which
is also new. Its one step above a fan mode in terms of complexity, in
that it looks unintended until you realise that there's dedicated
joints in the thighs to allow for it. There's no ramps or such,
although its making good use in of the turrets, which use 5mm pegs.
The base mode is also the only form you can go to from robot mode
without substantial disassembly, Tidal Wave's old party trick being
lost in the embiggening process. While not a selling point, I feel
this looks OK, in a low-key, just throw it in sort of way. Most base
modes tend to be robot yoga anyway, and its not bad by those
standards. Better than Titans Return Fort
Max, at least. I will however mention that this form does expose
certain hollow bits in the torso block, and a transformation joint
that likes to separate on my example.
The
robot mode by comparison is
ideal. It is, as near as makes no difference, perfect. Like most of
these modern remakes, gimmicks have been swapped out for
articulation, but in so far as mass market toys go, I don't know how
you could do better. I mean, he's a big effing guy, he's covered in
details and paint, being excellently presented. He moves better than
I expected, with a waist joint, articulated skirt armour and ankle
tilts. Ankle tilts! The chest guns all move, and can tilt up so they
can fire usefully in robot form. Lots of 5mm ports too if you need
more. His hands now feature blasters, and are posable in an
industrial robotics kinda way. The head rotates, and can unexpectedly
look up, although not down. His hips also took me a bit by surprise
in that these give enough to look natural, but no more. In what I can
only assume is a concession to his weight, the hips are a limited to
about 45 degrees forwards and back. EDIT: no, they were just tight. This, combined with the
hollowness of his feet, is however as close to an actual flaw the
robot mode has. He has an immense presence. He's not trying to be a
gymnast. This guy is a
juggernaut, no, a dreadnought,
striding implacably towards you with no concern for fancy moves or
your feeble attacks. If you're not onboard with that, I don't know
what I can say to convince you.
Then
there's the Dark Fleet modes, yes, modes plural. I did mention that, but that was a few million words ago. Tidal Wave comes
apart to form three distinct naval vessels with sci-fi elements, and
then be recombined into a very anime space battleship. Following on
the original toy, these tend to be a bit simple, with castor wheels
on the underside, although obviously larger and more visually
pleasing than the source material. Of the three, the battleship
segment is the most functional if the weakest in appearance. It looks
the least like an actual vehicle, as the head isn't well obscured but
its got eight moving turrets, so fair enough. The landing craft or
troop carrier is the most
scifi, and generally the best looking too, if not having a huge
amount going on. EDIT: And a slight tendancy to seperate. Finally, the aircraft carrier is something of a slab, not doing much by itself, but put a couple of core class
jets atop and you'd be laughing. I do find the loss of the highly
individual play features these previously had to be a bit sad, if not
unexpected. I would have fought for that aircraft elevator...
Oh,
Jesus, this is actually heavy.
Ahem. Anyway, putting Tidal Wave into
the combined ship form is simple on paper, but there's a lot of mass
to manage, not to mention tabs. Once together however the ship is
completely solid. Little new is revealed, but it is making the best
of what's there, the weaknesses of the battleship being minimised
even as the hip joints poke out if the back. The colours make a great
deal of sense, the flight deck contrasting nicely with the rest,
while the landing craft and battleship match closely. Its got very
much the same dreadnought energy as the robot form, which is only
more appropriate. This looks like something that would warp in and
change an entire battle just by turning up. Perhaps less convincing
than say the immediately-preceeding Nemesis,
but much much cooler.
As
you can probably tell, I rather like Tidal Wave. There's a number of
imperfections, but mainly these fall under the heading of personal
preference or artistic licence. Its very much what it looks like, a
dramatically scaled-up version of the old Giga-Con
class toy, which removes
gimmickry in favour of articulation and modern engineering. It also
goes out of its way to maintain the Megatron combination, which would
be harmless and forgettable, if it wasn't so daft. So its harmless
and daft instead. If you're an Armada fan, you likely have this
already, but if you're not? Well, he's an expensive chap, but he's
doing nothing wrong. So if you want something huge and memorable,
Tidal Wave is worth considering. And should this end up on deep
discount, as Titans can do? Jump on it.
Goddammit, why is this so good?!
Everyone knows that glowing reviews make for dull reading...
The
2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, Superbase version
Anyways.
I'm not going to talk about Armada Prime too much as a character.
Partially because Optimus characters tend to follow a well-known
archetype, and if you've spent any time at all with Transformers, you
won't need that introduction. But also because I'm slightly more of a
toy guy in this instance. This version of Prime was a showpiece for
his toyline, and also a response to the Optimus of the previous line,
Robots in Disguise or Car Robots in its native Japan. Like that toy,
it had a super robot mode, was promoted primarily by a low budget
anime, which received a rushed dub and a bunch of name changes when
brought over. This new Prime, while having a clear lineage to the
past versions, took an entirely different approach to the matters of
play and transformation. He was stuffed with electronics, with the
cab functioning as a wireless controller to the trailer, which had a
motorised transformation and too many other things to quickly
summarise here. Posability and general complexity were greatly
reduced however, especially in comparison to the Beast Era which had
only just ended. Armada's overall design philosophy was more like
late-G1 and Micromasters, just with a lot more electronics and geared
action features. It probably didn't help that Armada Prime was the
first actual, no qualifiers, attempt to remake Optimus Prime. Many
vocal collectors were put off, although actual children and their
parents loved it. At the time, it wasn't for me either, and largely
still isn't. I was still getting back into Transformers, and I have
the probably autistic trait of not liking noisy toys. So I never
rolled the dice on that mould. But I did get the smaller "supercon"
release, which favoured articulation, and has aged very well.
The
other 2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, the supercon version, AKA "Bendy Prime".
Now,
I could do a mode by mode breakdown, but that's not what's really
important here. We've had one deluxe Armada revamp, one voyager, and
one leader, so the trend should be fairly obvious at this point. I.e.
a toy that evokes those early 2000s pieces, with influences from the
animation, but one with a significantly different design philosophy.
While mini-cons seem to be coming back for exclusives, they aren't
present here, and neither are the vast majority of gimmicks or play
features. Rather, you get one or so extremely characterful gimmick,
to go with Legacy's general baseline of articulation and 5mm port
functions. This makes the resulting toys better as actual
transformers and action figures than their source material, if being
less fun on the "listable features" level. It's just the
numbers, Armada toys had a lot going on, whereas Legacy toys don't
usually. Thus, Armada Prime is a decidedly more po-faced and
collector-oriented than the original, discarding basically everything
vaguely gimmicky in favour of looks and meaningful articulation.
Despite that, it did please my inner child immensely, with that
joyous feeling of things tabbing solidly into place, clicking of big
ratchets, thinking that you don't need instructions, then you
actually do, and you think, yeah, I see what they mean now. You know,
that "Christmas Morning" feeling when you've been looking
forward to something for ages, and it's actually better than you
thought it would be. And I admit I was looking forward to this. But I
think my enjoyment, and indeed the positive reaction from the fandom,
goes beyond it's self-evident merits. This is not merely Armada Prime
as we remember him, nor as he actually was. This is something better,
and something the 2002 toy could easily have been in the first place.
.
As
mentioned, the original toy was characterised by having a lot of
electronics and a motorised transformation. There's nowt wrong with
that as a concept, there is more than one kind of fun after all, but
compromises were made. The trailer amounted to a set of panels that
stood up to create an immobile set of legs, while the cab was simple
and not especially posable. If we consider the tactile act of
transforming a toy to be an important part of the experience, and
most of the time it is, the original was lacking in execution. It
didn't lack for ambition, and it certainly wasn't lacking for
creativity, but maybe they looked at the famously fiddly Car Robots
moulds and over-corrected? This new toy almost feels like something
that could have been made back then, and despite lacking in play
features, the amount of fun remains high. This is because, when you
get right down to it, having a Prime combine with his trailer to make
a bigger robot mode for improved arsekicking is pretty fucking
awesome, especially when everything else about the toy is on point.
This toy simply feels as good as it looks.
Is
this a perfect toy? No, there's a few odd places where omissions
become very notable in contrast with the high level of quality
otherwise. He has a matrix for example, but the inner robot mode
lacks a means to hold it. It's base mode
is fine, but like most such things is kinda forgettable. You might
want to change the eye colour and there's the occasional hollow bit,
but usually in places where it doesn't hurt. But the fact of the
matter is that, as far as mass market releases go, it's not being
bettered any time soon. Think of it like the average Combiner Wars
team right? It's took a while for them to do it, expectation was
high, and you can certainly nitpick or get 3rd party add-ons. But
even so, they nailed it, and attempts to do the same since have felt
like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade. Or however you want to
qualify the Legacy Stuntacons. I would not be surprised if something
similar happened with this chap.
My
point? Only that Armada Universe Optimus Prime is something that
exists. I kinda want to call it Transformer of the Year, but I'll
hedge my bets and not do so. Because if they do put something better
than this at retail? Goddammit I want that too.
Armada
Megatron is, of course, the version of Megatron from Transformers:
Armada, part one of the Unicron Trilogy. AKA Armada Megs. It even
calls him that on the shipping boxes, and while that’s a perfectly
fine as shorthand, maybe its selling him short. While voiced by a
returning David Kaye, he wasn’t really a criminal mastermind with
theatrical tendencies. No, this Megatron was more of the classical
despot. While his relationship with his Starscream is the stuff of
Limpkin Park vocals, and the writing wasn’t good, Armada Megs does
have nuance if you go looking. He is, to the best of my knowledge,
the only Megatron to gain a willing turncoat from the Autobots, and
in what could only be described as a heroic manner, rescuing someone
from a fire. This Megs was a harsh authoritarian in addition to being
a well-spoken despot, but tending towards competency, with an
unexpected streak of self-sacrifice. This version of Megs has
received an update before, as a head-swapped recolour of Combiner
Wars Megatron, but as part of Legacy’s Armada binge, we see him
here today as a totally new mould. It is also the purest example of
Legacy and its design approach I’ve handled so far. Peak Legacy, if
you will. Read on to find out why.
Now,
I like the tank mode. I like it a lot. It's got that platonic scifi
H-tank thing going on. It's not going for military realism, not with
the head upfront, but there is a nicely detailed sculpt and effective
use of colour. It rolls, the turret turns but I'll come back to that
shortly, and the plentiful 5mm ports are an acceptable substitute for
mini-con functionality. The thing is though, the main thing the
sculpt does is evoke play features that aren't there. And let's not
kid around here, the Armada original had a lot going on. Granted, a
lot of it was just places to stick on mini-cons that just sat there,
but we also had firing missiles, flip-out panels and electronics.
Probably more than any of the other Armada remakes we've had, this
mode feels like it lost something in the process, because the
original tank mode was extra. This new tank is fine to look at, and
does the basics, but lacks that flair. That’s peak Legacy, that is.
What does take the shine off though are two odd design choices. First
off, only half of mechanism on the front-right is painted, which is
supposedly due to the plastics used. At that point, it would have
been better to leave it blank. The second, and this is if anything
even more baffling, the turret can't do a 360 spin, seemingly for the
benefit of the robot mode. So, overall its fine, but its not setting
the world alight, and there’s a few things that seem odd choices.
Oh yeah, and the head antlers are a rubbery plastic and not
especially well-tabbed.
Engineering
and transformation has a similar fine if maybe odd around the edges
feel. The broad strokes are of course similar to the original toy,
with additional steps and sub-assemblies that help with the
proportions of its modes. This does however make things a bit unusual
with respects to the shoulders. The arms don’t connect to the torso
directly, instead connecting to the shoulder pylons. Functionally
nothing major is lost, but its a little weird, and probably needed a
locking tab somewhere. Meanwhile, the “face slider” from the
original toy is replicated in visual appearance, but not in function.
So, instead of pushing up a panel to conceal the face in tank mode,
you open the entire chest and flip out a panel. That’s peak Legacy,
that is.
Those
criticisms having been made in the paragraphs above, the robot mode
is quite lovely and has some welcome improvements. The original toy
was infamous for having no knees. The Combiner Wars version did have
have knees, but not great ones, or indeed especially great
articulation in general. This new toy has fine knees. And ankle
tilts. In fact, the posability is largely ideal for something this
blocky and tall, to do better you'd need to substantially increase
the parts count. So, with that decades-old fandom desire having been
finally met, what else does the robot mode offer? Well, it's kinda
gorgeous, you know? The head is extremely on point, with the general
appearance of things only marred by the hollow forearms. Something
that this toy does very well is a subtle asymmetry in its sculpt. The
forearms, chestplate, hands, lower legs, and back of the thighs, the
list goes on. If you look at him straight on, you don’t immediately
notice. The head and shoulder pylons are symmetrical and mirrored,
with the abs, upper thighs and feet continuing that trend. But then
you give it a harder look, and realise every area that could have its
own unique greebling does. We don’t really get designs like this
very often, and even within Armada it wasn’t common among the
bigger toys. A vast majority of Transformers toys are symmetrical
where-ever possible, especially as CAD exists, and its beneficial for
engineering. They could so easily smoothed out the details, made
everything symmetrical, and I don’t think anyone would have minded.
It would probably have aided the future retooling options they were,
no doubt, considering. But no, they committed to the look. That’s
peak Legacy, that is.
So,
what play feature’s does the robot mode have? Is it just a pretty
face? If that term that can be applied to a brick shithouse like
this? Well, it does have some. Less than the original toy, but still
more than the Legacy average. He doesn’t have any accessories as
such, but he does have three party tricks, which by the standards of
Evo Fusion are fricking legendary. The first thing, and a completely
new thing, is that you can pop the end off the tank barrel to give
him a gun arm which is nice, if unexpected. If you leave it on, you
can easily swing it under either arm to fire. Yes, that’s a touch
basic, but if Twincast gets to count weapon storage in boombox mode,
I get to count something actually useful. And finally, he can do
this.
That’s
peak Legacy, that is.
My
point? Only that Armada Universe Megatron is something that exists.
And that he’s peak Legacy. This is not same as saying he’s the
best thing in Legacy, although he is good, rather that he’s great
example of Legacy tends to modernise stuff. Armada Megs evokes the
original toy in terms of transformation, but not the play pattern,
while inheriting cartoon elements. I have nitpicked a lot, but that’s
because I care, and I acknowledge that this toy may well be outside
of your nostalgia window, and that won’t do the tank mode any
favours. But, all that having been said, this is a most satisfactory
update.
I
have strong feelings about Transformers: Armada. It hit just as I was
reacquainting myself with the Transformers fandom, which if the
forums were anything to go by, didn’t like Armada. I’ve already
written about this, and I stand by that article. So, when I heard
that Hasbro was actually doing Armada in its nostalgia tribute line,
my reaction was one of joy. I also turned to dust when I realised
Armada was now twenty odd years ago, but that’s besides the point.
Armada updates are personal must-have for me, so I grabbed the new
Starscream on sight. Might you, things may not be as you remember
them...
In
order to put this toy into its proper context, I need to talk about
the Armada era design philosophy. It goes a bit like this: its a big,
chunky vehicle which rolls and has a lot of gimmicks, which
transforms into a big chunky dude, which is somewhat immobile and has a
lot of other gimmicks. What you got was a lot of toy, but the absence
of posability annoyed collectors at the time. The toys from Armada
that have aged best were either mini-cons, the odd few that had good
articulation, or those embraced gimmickry so hard that they became
classics on their own terms. The Starscream mould from that line
definitely was in the big chonk of toy category, but this Legacy
mould does not do that. Rather, it's a modernised take on the
animation model, with a lot more posability, and no real gimmicks
beyond the 5mm port thing. That's a completely different design
approach, and rather more "serious business" than Armada
was at the time. The Thrilling Thirty version was a bit like this
too, but that still retained mini-con compatibility and firing
missiles. Today’s subject doesn’t. Now, I hesitate to call this a
negative, its just a different set of priorities, but it is the
mindset that gives us Blitzwing and the Stunticons. It's about
favouring media appearances of a toy, divorced from the actual
playing with of that toy. Such an approach does not prevent a
Transformer from being a good time, and I'd go so far as to say this
could be described as how a child circa 2002 would remember the
character. However, this approach colours the entire discussion about
the toy.
The
jet mode is a case in point. This was not an especially clean or
aerodynamic example in the first place. It's appearance was dictated
by the assorted gimmicks, the most important being some big, f-off,
missile launchers formed from the engines. These remain, but its a
purely decorative thing. You can stick a few blast effects in there,
but that's it. The toy also omits the distinctive wing sword gimmick,
although TBH that's more excusable. The original looked less than a
sword so much as a girder, and this would have resulted in much
thicker wings. What we have instead are a single piece accessory
representing it, paired with a representation of the Star Saber. I'll
come back to these in the robot mode section, but these do store in
jet mode, odd as it looks. What the jet mode has going for it instead
is proportions and detailing. There's a few dedicated panels to close
gaps, and lots of F35 style triangles. The flaws of the original toy
are retained, like the exposed scalp and arms are still there, but
brought in closer. While there is no landing gear, a dedicated flight
stand port is here. This is undoubtedly the best this jet mode has
ever looked, and the 5mm ports are both plentiful and unobtrusive.
While this is probably just me, I'm getting a bit more of a Macross
vibe this time around. Valykrie comparisons are obviously par for the
course with any jet ormer, but given the general tidying up, I wonder
if the VF-11A may have been an inspiration.
Transformation
to robot mode works largely as you think it would, but there's a few
wrinkles. The shoulders feature a sliding mechanism I advise keeping
an eye on, and a lot relies on friction joints rather than ratcheting
ones, so your mileage may vary. The resulting robot mode ticks all
the right boxes, so allow me to waffle about visual and character
elements for a bit. The thing about this iteration of Starscream is,
depending how charitable you are towards the cartoon, is that he's
basically either a Limpkin Park song, or basically noble underneath
it all. This Starscream is not the habitual backstabber of the
archetype, more of an abused underling, whom switched sides for a
time, and actually made a heroic sacrifice to force an alliance
between the Autobots and Decepticons against Unicron. He's possibly
the only version of a Starscream that's sympathetic for any length of
time. How this characterisation came to be seems to have been a
result of the Japanese writers working with what they had, trying to
make the Megatron/Starscream dynamic actually work, rather than
anything conscious. The original toy had a smirk on its face, but
that wasn't how I remember his depiction on screen. Rather, what
seems to have been the catalyst for this anti-heroic take on the
archetype, is that this Starscream is a swordsman. He doesn't carry a
gun, there are no obvious weapons in jet mode, and the big shoulder
cannon thing is something that his mini-con did. The Decepticons of
his time are basically made of guns, by comparison. And be it the
Japanese cultural mythology or western depictions, carrying a sword
in a time of guns implies a certain dignity and honour at odds with
being a, well, Starscream. One imagines that things flowed
from there.
This
depiction is strongly felt in this Legacy toy, which features both
his wing sword and the Star Saber. No, not that one. The Star Saber
we're talking about today is the combined form of the Air Defence
Minicon team, something sufficiently important to have its own role
play toy and be a major plot point in the show. If you aren't putting
in mini-con functions, that's a good substitute. As so often with
Legacy, there’s a high level of basic competency going on, with
the 5mm port system, so I don’t have anything especially deep to
say about how he plays. It comes down to a lot of little touches
which are nice, and maybe a few minor things that could have been
better, but are normal for today. There’s some hollowness, but also
panels cleaning up the forearms and calves. I would have liked wrist
swivels, but you can fudge a transformation joint to help. The canard
wings, in a deviation from the usual depiction, can fold back against
the torso for a cleaner profile. And, like the Thrilling Thirty
version, you can fold the gun assembly flat against the back, but if
you want it up, there’s a dedicated set of tabs to secure it.
My
point? Only that Armada Universe Starscream is something that exists.
And while not making the obvious choices, he bodes well for the
Armada revival.
This article has its roots on twitter,
mainly collecting articles by @inkybauds, but also thoughts that have
been bubbling away in the back of my head. While I am old enough to
have experienced Generation 1 first hand, the first Transformers toys
and media, I'm not wedded to the concept as many fans, and
TakaraTomy, seem to be. I'm more than happy to enjoy the new
iterations of the brand, the new spin of things, without immediately
comparing it to a toyline or cartoon only slightly younger than I am.
This leads me to the seemingly very unpopular opinion I wish to
discuss, I like Transformers Armada. I liked it at the time of
release. I like it now. I like those Armada toys I still have better
than the G1 toys I still have. While I am enjoying Titans Return,
probably more than you are, I am more interested in those infrequent
Armada homages and remakes, than revamping everybody from the 80's.
The latest cartoon accurate Masterpiece release? Not my thing.
Combiner Wars Armada Megatron? My thing. The only thing more my thing
than that thing would be a continuation of Transformers: Animated.
Today, I will ramble about why.
Context
Unpopular with fans at a time when
Hasbro had money trouble, Beast Machines marked the end of the beast
era proper. And, by extension, the original Transformers continuity.
The planned sequel, Transtech, was dumped and while its replacement
was worked on, a stop-gap measure was needed. This was quickly
provided by Takara, whom had their own problems with the brand in the
late 90's. For the new millennium, they produced “Car Robots”, a
new continuity(1), featuring a mixture of new toys and toys
previously unreleased in Japan. This did feature beast modes, but in
a purely antagonistic manner, and the proportion of beastformers
declined over time. Hasbro rebranded it as “Robots in Disguise”,
and played up the references to the original continuity in the
redubbed cartoon. It worked very well. Unfortunately, while Robots In
Disguise proved to be a far greater success in the West than in
Japan, one aspect that was less popular was complexity. Those few
original designs featured where often shellformers of an infamous
kind, or needlessly complex, and parents complained. It seems this
filtered through to the design studios at some point, and ended up
influencing what was being worked on. Like RID, the new series would
be another new continuity, paying tribute to the Generation 1
concepts and reusing names, but was doing its own thing. It would
also have a Japanese cartoon that would be redubbed. But more
importantly, it would favour simple, colourful and blocky designs for
kids to enjoy. Intricate transformations and balljoints basically
disappeared, replaced by unique play features, again, for kids. This
would be activated by tiny transformers called Mini-Cons, paired with
each full size toy, or sold in teams like the old Micromasters. This
is what was called Transformers: Armada.
It didn't go down well with people, but
it also so sold so well they couldn't make toys fast enough.
Demolishor & Blackout, a typical 1st wave Armada set. Not pictured: everything they do.
This design approach was of course the
complete antithesis of what much of the older fandom wanted, and in
those early days of the internet, boy did we hear about it. Beast
Wars kids, having been raised on complexity and balljoints, were less
than impressed with the simplifications being made, and the absence
of beast modes. G1 purists, initially cocky that vehicles were back
in fashion, were less than impressed at another new continuity that
reused names but was otherwise indifferent to 80's homages. Later
releases would help placate both groups, but a series that favoured
new kids over old collectors?
This always gonna annoy people, and actual children LOVED it. All
the while this was going on, the internet was slowly breaking down
barriers between east and west, while anime was the new hotness, so
another aspect of the fandom was acting up. Not only was there
derogatory comparisons to Pokemon, there would prove to
recognisable differences in both toys and the cartoon, nothing
significant, but enough for people to feel superior about imports
and fansubs. Some of my first experiences of the fandom as an alleged
adult was viewing endless moaning about bricks, bad
dubbing and missing paint apps. I didn't necessarily agree with the
tone of these discussions.
A comic from 2005, its audience older collectors, published by Fun Publications.
Having missed the beast saga entirely,
this aggro passed over my head. Those Armada toys I did get seemed light
years ahead of the G1 toys I had in the attic, and while that's
probably a sampling error, let's think about why that was. Your
average 80's Transformer could only move its arms up and down; in
Armada that was the entry level for Mini-Cons. G1 toys, especially
the early ones, had lots of easily lost bits that were vital to the
experience; in Armada that was limited to missiles and guns. G1 toys
were sometimes held up to be more realistic and less kiddy; I was
around for the Micromasters and Pretenders. Armada toys were regarded
as “Play Skool”, I was amazed they sculpted detail now, rather
than using stickers. It would be Transformers Animated before I
truly started collecting again, six years later, but it was Armada
that got me buying the occasional toy and paying attention to the
fanbase. If I'm thankful for the series for anything, its that.
The Space Mini-Con Team, a notable set of Mini-Cons. Not pictured: their combined gun mode.
Being Fair
There were of course good reasons to
dislike Armada though, and it would be intellectually dishonest of me
to pretend otherwise. The supporting cartoon was pretty poor, and
the western version only made it worse. Animation mistakes and “gotta
catch em all” plot lines abound, although its generally accepted
things picked up in later arcs(2). The comic fared better, and
featured some G1 pandering, but it was a Dreamwave production, so
your mileage may vary. As for the bits that matter, the actual toys,
some were not well-received at the time or aged well. This was
reinforced by Armada being in the habit of releasing recolours with a
frequency not previously seen, and as the same character, rather than
a seeker style new personality. And, even accounting for the marmite
factor, its hard to disagree with much of the criticism for the toys.
For an example, I refer you to noted youtubist TJOmega and his
Plastic Addict series, where Armada toys did tend to turn up. Here's
his harsh-but-fair analysis of the infamous Side Swipe toy. This
probably ruins my argument.
Yeah, he's less likely to do
caustic/comedic reviews these days. Check out the Random Reviews.
Anyway, having some bad toys and
weak media is not the same as having a bad line though. Other
Transformer lines have done similar and worse. Armada's play pattern
was a good one, and while not everything worked, the colour and
variety made up for weaknesses. The undoubted reason for this was the
tiny Mini-Cons themselves. Not only did they make great pocket money
toys, they basically turned larger toys into playsets. You can see
shades of this in the modern Titans Return line, where having a small
partner robot has made the vehicle mode more fun. Mini-cons could and
would trigger just about anything, in either mode, so there was
always something to do. These tiny dudes were also very visually
varied, not always being humanoid, and they've aged very gracefully
too. Compared to modern toys of a similar size, they hold their own,
these toys introducing level of complexity and articulation, yes,
the same traits the larger toys lack, which has yet to be truly
bettered. Some were also headmasters, some were targetmasters, some
combined, some had gears, some had missiles, one was AN ACTUAL BICYCLE, the list goes on.
Mini-Cons proved to be so good, the concept not only persisted in
Armada's two sequels, but in completely new moulds for Classics,
Universe, Power Core Combiners, the Japanese version of Prime, and
the Thrilling 30 bit of Generations. Basically, Mini-Cons rock, and
haven't stopped rocking since 2002.
Also, Armada has a notably good video
game adaptation. I just wanted to work that in somewhere.
The Big Things
Are the larger toys as good? That's
less clear cut. If you are on board with playing with your
Transformers as opposed to merely posing them, there's plenty to
recommend. Armada toys always do as much as they can, as uniquely as
they can, and they pre-date modern cost cutting trends. There's no
end of missiles, spring-loaded mechanisms, geared mechanisms and
electronic gimmickry, if that's your sort of thing. Treadheads got
Megatron and Demolishor. The seekers were back, with this iteration of
Starscream having enduring popularity. Cool cars abounded. There was a
faction switching toy that was also a double headmaster. Optimus
Prime got two different power-up partners. Megatron even got one, the
generally awesome Tidal Wave, a massive toy based around three
different combining ships. Play value can easily match a tranformer
from any other line. Articulation is not a strong point, but many
toys feel only a joint away from being fine. That having been said,
three toys do stand up above all others as examples as both of the
Armada ethos and answering the articulation complaints.
Tidal Wave & Ramjet, an impressive toy from wave 4. Not pictured: everything they do.
The Beast Wars repaints! You know, the
recoloured transmetal moulds they put out as they couldn't make
actual Armada toys fast enough? Because they actually sold really
well?
Ha ha, just kidding. Good toys are
they, but that isn't why I'm here. Coming at number 3 is Hoist, an
excavator whom was retooled into two different Beast Wars characters.
Coming at number 2 was the Supercon release of Optimus Prime, known
as “Bendy Prime”, whom will probably be on display until I die.
And at number 1, there's Unicron.
Yes, Unicron. The star of the 1986
film. Rendered in plastic, as what must be the single greatest act of
fan-pandering ever made in the brands history.
Yes, even more than the Masterpiece
line.
Unicron, A.K.A mecha-satan. Not pictured everything he does.
While, as mentioned, I don't venerate
G1 as much as other people, there was a huge hit of nostalgia for me
with this one. Unicron was explicitly tied to the film which I loved
as a kid, and was a huge part of a comics too. And not to put too
fine a point on it, Unicron was incredible. And he still is.
Gigantic, but articulated down to the fingers. Endless sculpted
detail. Many gimmicks. A missile launcher of such complexity and
noise that it scared my Grandad's dog, and no, it wasn't aimed
anywhere near her. Even the haters had something nice to say about
Armada after that. And this toy has been released four times, later
versions replacing the head with something more G1, with a platinum
edition on the way.
Conclusion
Armada doesn't get enough respect. Its
never quite overcome the bad impression that the cartoon made, and
fans always react badly to a Transformers series doing something
different. The fact is though, the brand would be in a very different
state without Armada selling so well. We'd probably find ourselves
like He-Man or MASK or whatever, known, but no-longer relevant.
Sometimes a hard reset is needed to keep things fresh. Armada got two
direct sequels, and that success eventually allowed for the Classics
line of 2006 and the modern films. And more importantly than that,
the toys aren't as bad as some claim, its just they are designed
differently.
If you are tired of G1 remakes, and
want a change of pace, Armada is the toyline you should look at.
