Transformers: Titans Return Sky Shadow Is Something That Exists

Righty, let's try an essay format article about a toy. One where I can tell a story and then chat about its actual merits. I haven't done a proper review in about five years, and I have no intention of being topical. So, let me just try this and see how it turns out, OK?

 

 

The 1989, Japanese exclusive Black Shadow toy

To properly explain what Sky Shadow is, you have to dive deep into the minuate of Transformers circa 1989. By this point the brand was still a big thing, but the cracks were starting to appear, with the American cartoon off the air, and Japan making its own animes in response. This created a vast fictional schism, as while Transformers always had a “do what you want” attitude to continuity, Takara's spin on things like the Headmasters was fundamentally incompatible with Hasbro markets. This also resulted in a number of exclusive toys, and a regrettable subset of the fandom that have the negative traits of both geewunners and weebs at once, but let's try to stay on topic. Sky Shadow's fate in this was somewhat more extreme, requiring yet more context. Originally, he was Thunderwing, a character given great prominence in the Western comics, and featured the Mega Pretender gimmick. This meant you had a small robot interacting with a much larger outer shell, which resembled a He-Man style action figure that the robot stored inside. Supposedly, this was taking the Robots in Disguise thing more literally, and yes, Thunderwing wasn't immediately recognisable as a robot, but he weren't exactly blending in either, so the comics treated the shell like power armour. The “mega” bit, came from the fact that Thunderwing's shell could transform into a jet like the inner robot could, both segments combining, effectively granting him and his casemates 5 modes. It was a fairly noteworthy toy of its day. When Takara decided to release Thunderwing however, they opted to retool the shell to be more robotic along with a black paint job, prompting the name Black Shadow. The name Sky Shadow would come much later. If you're familiar with Thunderwing, or just looked at the image below, you might find yourself a little bemused. Thunderwing had Japanese oni visual elements for his shell, and would not have looked out of place in a Tokusatsu production. It probably needed less explanation in Japan than it needed elsewhere, as it would have dovetailed nicely with the Masterforce version of Pretenders. So why the change? Maybe they found it vulgar, I dunno? Thunderwing was by no means the only toy this happened to as the brand fragmented, however, with the Pretender Monsters and Dinoforce being another good example.

The 1989 Thunderwing toy 

 

Whatever the logic, Black Shadow would then go on to appear in Transformers Victory, the last proper animation of G1. No, Zone doesn't count. I don't want to get too far into that anime, as it would quickly become about the show is an ancestor of Gaogaigar, but he was only in 1 episode. I don't know what actually happened, but this feels like a lot of extra effort for a character that they just didn't do much with. Retooling is a decidedly non-trivial expense, especially if the toy was not planned from the start to do that, like something we'll talk about in a second. Black Shadow would then go onto do basically nothing. It became one of the aforementioned Japanese exclusives, prized for its rarity and obscurity more than anything else. It would ultimately be Western media that brought him back. First, Fun Publications used him in a Trans Tech prose story in 2008. Then, Black Shadow would get notable cameos in the IDW comics continuity in the early 2010s, via fans-turned-professionals like James Roberts and Nick Roche. He was basically there as Thunderwing was unavailable, and died unpleasantly in 2013, but he was a big thing. A "Phase Sixer" to be specific, a person of mass destruction, no less. More importantly, in 2011, Hasbro was doing some comic inspired toys and decided to do both Thunderwing and Black Shadow on the same deluxe class mould, though renaming the latter to Sky Shadow for trademark purposes. This was famously revealed in Thunderwing's instructions, which happened a few times back then. While always a feature of Transformers, retooling and pretooling was coming become more and more common, to the point of ubiquity in with the Prime Wars Trilogy of collector-oriented toy lines. So, perhaps inevitably, Sky Shadow came back. In 2017 as part of Prime Wars, we got another Sky Shadow, this time as a pretool of Titans Return leader class Overlord. As this was also a Japanese exclusive character made (more) prominent by Roberts & Roche, and a fellow Phase Sixer, this completed some vast circle of nerdish obscurity. Takara, now TakaraTomy, was however less interested. They eventually shuffled the deluxe into Transformers Adventure, and never released the Titans Return version. They instead retooled it further into Dai Atlas, another Japanese obscurity that turned up in the same IDW comics, but that's a tale for another time. If you can say anything about Sky Shadow, is that he is mould mates with a select group of asskickers.

So what about todays subject then? Well, Sky Shadow benefits a lot from his colour scheme of black with shiny metal and red highlights, with greys contrasting. He's not just a black repaint, he's actually very colourful, as befits a toy of his price bracket. While much is shared with Overlord, the pretooling is both intense and very localised, as while the lower-body/tank is the same, almost everything above the belt-buckle is different. The jet mode is entirely distinct from Overlord's, not featuring the detachable cockpit block, instead coming with a little drone thingy that evokes his original altmode. This mode also features a seat for his Titanmaster Ominus, probably not a fun dude at parties, and a mounting clip which allows for the tank to be carried underneath. Yes, its a little undignified, but Overlord can't do that. The base mode he gets out of this jet isn't bad either, as such things go, being tangibly different too, and the colours again being an asset. Meanwhile, the robot mode is quite satisfactory. There's a presence to it, and it poses well enough. However, a weakness common to the Titans Return leaders was acceptable, but not memorable, articulation with lots of big ratchet joints. Sky Shadow is part of that trend, the transformation and Titanmaster functionality placing limitations, and if he'd just had something more in the wrists, it would have helped a bit. Overall, there's lots of fun to be had here, Titans Return was great at that sort of thing. Its not about being absolutely faithful to the source, as with modern Generations, its about being good to play with. The only actual flaw on my example is involves the drone and its movable peg, which comes off at the slightest touch. I also note that the arms feel a bit hollow, but not to the point of being worrisome.

 

 

The oddest thing about Sky Shadow is that I actually like this toy than I did Overlord, and Overlord is much better and more memorable character. Part of that is maaayyybbbbeeee that Overlord felt like a near-miss? Fine, but not a slam-dunk? Like they updated the original toy, but didn't add the finishing touches? It would have been nice, if technically difficult, for the tank turret to turn, for example. Even the modestly retooled Japanese version feels a little off. Sky Shadow has however benefited from being a leader class pretool. Yes, he doesn't do exactly what he did before, but he's only gained play value versus all his previous versions. And it all looks unified, and does what it does well.

 

I just think he's fun.

 

 

Return to Gunpla: a ramble ral

So, for a couple of months now, I've been building lots of model kits lately. To be more specific: Gunpla. Gunpla is the generic term for plastic models based on the Gundam franchise, hence the name, which is basically the Japanese equivalent to Star Wars. Its got giant robots, and largely functions as a sprawling war drama, and its been going 40 odd years now, so I'm gonna gloss over a few things here. The major difference between a Gunpla kit and a western model like the Warhammer 40k stuff I do, is that you get a functioning action figure at the end, and paint is optional. Gunpla scales in complexity and price, although these days its not difficult to find examples for a tenner or so. Why am I doing this? Stress and anxiety management via creative outlets. And playing/modelling 40K has shifted into the “non-fun” category. So, after occasional purchases over the last few years, I find myself building robots, and justifying it as a form of self-care.

Well, I tried jigsaws, and that didn't work.

I've mostly done the “serious” Gundam stuff, so far . The so-called High Grade Universal Century line, which gets you a mobile suit of reasonable complexity and accuracy of about 5 inches in height. But I also did an “Iron-Blooded Orphans” with its internal frame, and then a “Build Diver”. The assorted "build" series are quite interesting to me, as these are all about model-making, rather than warfare. On first impression, I'd say this was a pleasant change of pace, and right up my street. Gundam media has a certain tendency toward long-winded bleakness, and wangsty teenage protagonists, so having a lighter toned spin-off doesn't hurt. Also, model kits were of course the original Gundam merchandise, so it's actually a surprise it took the company that owns Gundam, Bandai, so long to do something like this. On the other hand, it is dropping any pretence of artistic merit. What made Gundam important in the first place was the GRIMDARK war drama stuff with giant mecha, so going "hey cool robot model!“ is missing the point by a country mile, even if this has appeal been in the Gundam DNA since day 1. The assorted Build series are transparently model adverts, but as a Transformers fan boy, I'm not necessarily hostile towards this. What I do notice though, is how Build represents a convenient way for Bandai to reuse moulds, in a manner not dissimilar to the Transformers Combiner Wars and the Generations line in general. That said, I've not engaged with any form of Gundam media since about 2009, much less anime in general. So, I've not seen the series I mention, I just read around, so don't consider me an authority. That may change, as there is an official Gundam youtube channel, but I have a low tolerance for certain “problematic” tropes in anime, so maybe not.

Anyways.

I might blog more on this topic, (as opposed to tweeting,) might not. But here's what you came for, LOW QUALITY MECHA PHOTOGRAPHY! 

Remembering Transformers: Armada

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.

Foot notes

1. Uhhh, its complicated, just go with it for now 
2. A direct comparison to G1 cartoon is very tempting. Maybe another day.

Images not by me are copyright of Hasbro etc.

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Sky Lynx (And Sky Reign) In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Voyager, 2016.

Modes: Dinobird, Shuttle, Combiner Torso.

Transformation Style: CW voyager, beastformer.

Play Patterns: Beast and vehicle, combiner, 5mm weaponry.

Points of Interest: A newly combining modernisation of the 1986 original. No partner legend toy. THIS EXISTS.

 

The Good
His dinobird mode has 26 joints, 4 in the neck and head, making him very expressive. He can't wield his weapons in the normal sense, but there 5mm ports on the wings, and dedicated tabs for tail storage. His shuttle mode captures the G1 toy, with a sci-fi spin. The torso mode is both distinctive and attractive, its lynx head, colours and chest granting much character. For this review, I've been forced to use a few stand-ins, but Sky Reign impresses, not least due to his combined sword weapon. He looks good in all three modes, and the play value is there, and boy, does he stand out on the shelf because he's so weird. Also, he's vaguely adorable.

 

The Bad
Sky Lynx has been the subject of repeated reports of loose joints, my example being effected. The back feet don't always hold a position, and the major ratchets are too soft. This is problematic in the combined form, not least because the shoulder assemblies don't lock in place. Its not as bad as a problem as say a first run of Motor Master, but it is an issue. Less subjectively, there's a few too many gaps here, and the lynx head isn't properly hidden.

 

The Mediocre
Due to his reduced size and combiner role, Sky Lynx has lost some modes, but you can fudge a lynx form. The lack of a true robot form will bother some, and I personally prefer to transform the torso mode differently from the instructions. The shuttle mode arguably does a better job than the CW Aerialbot moulds at concealing the robot forms, as while there's stuff under the wing, its not obviously limbs, and its meant to be there.

The Alternatives
Commander Modesty is so hugely odd that no directly comparable options exist other than the G1 toy. There's incoming release of the Liokaiser set which we know includes a repaint of this, but little else. This leaves almost any CW voyager, but none of those are beasts.

 

The Verdict
Sky Lynx benefits immensely from being completely unlike the rest of Combiner Wars, both visually and in play, while retaining most of the strengths. This is another one of those toys nobody expected, a welcome break from the monotony of the line, and has much to enjoy. However, the loose joints took the shine off things for me. This is not a consistent flaw, and one I intend to fix, but I would be remiss as reviewer to not mention it. Its also a marmite concept that suffers from having to combine with a load of repaints. Definitely good, but not mandatory.

A Concise Combaticon Review of Combiner Wars Shockwave In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Legend, 2015/2016.

Modes: Robot, Spaceship, Combiner Gun.

Transformation Style: CW legend, simplistic triplechanger.

Play Patterns: Robot and vehicle, “sixth member” combiner to Onslaught, 5mm weaponry, targetmaster.

Points of Interest: Homage to the G1 episode “The Revenge of Bruticus”. Rare new mould in Combiner Wars.

The Good

Nearly everything. The ship mode is very close to his original gun form, while the robot is a more of modernisation via the video games. Both look great, and the robot is almost ideally articulated for the size. There's a balljoint for the head, great motion in the shoulder through a balljoint/swivel combo, similar in the hips, and better knees than me. Joint count is 14, the neck being above and beyond the call of duty, so making natural poses with the gun arm is easy. He operates excellently as a big gun for Bruticus, being able to store on his back too.

The Bad

To emulate the G1 toy, translucent plastic is extensively here, most worryingly in the elbows. Breakages will be a thing to watch for. The forearms are a weak point, generating kibble in all modes. Achieving the gun mode is a matter of flipping a handle down, and while this can store on Onslaught's altmode, it doesn't sit well. There was also a tiny spot of misapplied paint on my example.

The Mediocre

Shockwave is specifically designed to work with Combiner Wars gestalt hands, and a bar of plastic before the peg will interfere with many regular hands, not to mention the weight.

The Alternatives

As a distinctive G1 original, Shockwave is extremely well supplied for toys, most recently with a Masterpiece release. Within Combiner Wars, the most obvious alternative is the Powerglide mould, specifically the Viper repaint. This would arguably fit the Combaticon theme better, BUT that's a weaker toy with tabbing issues. There is also the Botcon 2016 Relector pack remoulded from this, which I have, and adore, but its going to be expensive.

The Verdict

Shockwave is an unabashed success. Its difficult to image a version of the character at this size and price done better. As a partner mould to combiner, he's the best example of the concept. Yeah, he's basically a targetmaster whereas the other toys tried something new, but its a tried and true gimmick executed well. I would personally prefer that translucent plastic wasn't so big a feature, but its early days, and it makes the toy look good in a 1984 sort of way. Pick him up.

Prototype Watch: A Tale Of Two Computrons

News broke on Saturday of an official confirmation for Computron and the Technobots, a source of prolonged controversy in the fandom. As you may recall, Scattershot materialised in Combiner Wars wave 5 by himself, minus his team, as a somewhat uninspired Silverbolt retool, with a torso mode that was just Superion in red, named Betatron. Where were the rest of the Technobots, and their combined form, Computron? The disappointment was tangible, and I got it into my head that they'd never be released, but a succession of leaks confirmed the team would materialise as a boxset. What appears to be a package scan surfaced on Wednesday, and an official statement was considered a formality. Saturday's confirmation however came from the twitter account of TFYUKI, a TakaraTomy designer, rather than Hasbro. This reveal in the form of a silhouette(1), so its hard to judge at this time, but certain differences are obvious. Lets do a comparison, starting with the Hasbro.

Source: Seibertron

As you can see, its a repaint and retool job, although with some flair. Scattershot seems unchanged, aside from paintwork, although there is a lot of that. The rumoured Groove and Air Raid retools look good in arm form, although the two legs are a slight concern. I think everyone is tired of the DeadEnd/Streetwise mould, excellent as it is, and Nosecone is based on the flawed Brawl. Lets hope they fixed his waist. The famous hand/foot guns aren't present, replaced by a set of more visually pleasing if less functional bits. These seem similar to the Victorion set featuring ankle tilts and I would hope storage options. The show-stopper however is Scrounge in the Legend slot, a fairly obscure comics character and a retool of the excellent Cosmos mould, adding a UFO to a team of sci-fi vehicles. Not only have he and Afterburner been modified to dock, the shuttle/micromaster has been retained, so its now a team of seven. Lots of fun to be had there, and if this goes for a £90ish I'm seeing Combiner Wars boxsets go for, I'd be tempted. Now, lets look at the Japanese version.

Source: TFYUKI

There is only so much useful information that can be divulged from a solid black shape, but we can determine the following. 1) There's a new, and almost certainly 80's cartoon accurate, head for the combined form. 2) At least two members have new and/or additional weapons, as seen on the hips, possibly the drill, and being wielded in the right hand. 3) It looks like the hand/foot guns are retained. And 4) Scrounge isn't present, as expected, because Legend scale toys don't feature in Unite Warriors and he's not part of the original team. Otherwise, its pure speculation. Some think that the right leg is Wheeljack, and that left leg is a new mould. At this point, we just don't know, but I wouldn't dismiss these possibilities. This silhouette has however been enough to for many declare a preference for the TakaraTomy version, and in all fairness, they have a point. If TT can be trusted to do anything, its go full G1, and if they retain the hand/foot guns, functionality is going to be arguably superior to the Habro version. If you don't care about Scrounge, and the team proves to be easily obtained, its the better choice. Then again, it could be an exclusive, and therefore lot more expensive than the Hasbro, which looks fine and has more actual toys in it. Plus, we have yet to see either as individuals, so its all up in the air.


Both are better than this, mind you.

Source: Seibertron

Foot notes

1) Sigh.

Eight Fragmented Opinions

Righty folks. All being well, when this post goes up, I should be enjoying day three of Auto Assembly. Or, more likely, still asleep having stayed up till 3AM in the hotel bar. But in the run up to the convention, I tried to write some opinion pieces, to provide additional blog content. I found at first it was difficult often running about of bile and enthusiasm before finishing. But then I was reminded by a friend that opinion pieces are not necessarily solid bile, so I had a rethink. A new approach was called for, and I've spent a couple of weeks trying to stockpile articles, so maybe I'm over-doing it Just to ease myself into non-review writing, he's a few fragmented opinions which may yet form the basis of a future article if I can be bothered.

(Image sourced from here, original creator unknown.)

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar

This has been an endless storm of nerd rage pretty much from day zero, and its hard to argue with some of the haters. Games Workshop hasn't produced a points system for the game, or any equivalent system, which is necessary if you want to have a game with any appearance of fair and balanced mechanics. You can argue for days the extent to which GW games have ever been fair and balanced, short answer: not really, but they've abdicated their responsibilities here. I personally don't consider narrative and scenario play to be substitutes, I like structure. This is a crying shame, as having free rules and war scrolls were a big step in the right direction.

The Fantastic 4 Film

No, I haven't seen it. Not gonna see it. Neither will anyone else now. What exactly went wrong will be argued for a few years to come, and clearly studio politics hurt the project, but I'd point the finger at applying a grimdark, “realistic”, approach to a property where the lead character is a rubberman called Mr Fantastic. We just had Guardians of the Galaxy last year, a film with a heavily armed raccoon, and a tree with a three word vocabulary. There is no requirement for Superhero films to be serious any more, and nothing so daft it won't work on screen.

Terminator Genesys

No, I haven't seen it either. Not gonna see it. But apparently, it isn't as terrible as the above. I've not liked the look of it since that trailer spoiled the main plot twist, and apparently it doesn't get any better from there.

Dr Who

I'm not looking forward to the new season. While it wasn't Peter Capaldi's fault, the last series was painfully inconsistent, and don't get me started on the Moon episode. Things can always pick up, but some new writers would be a plus. And I don't like Clara any more.

Combiner Wars Remoulds

Okay, Combiner Wars has yet to produce a combiner component whom is actually bad. I'd go so far as to say half of them are worth buying twice. I just wish we didn't have to. And we had a few more Decepticons.

Takara's Unite Warriors Line

Full marks chaps for giving us a deluxe Groove, an improved Devastator, and hopefully Blast Off. Loose 20 points for ignoring play features to get more G1 combiner teams though. Powerglide, Blackjack and tiny Groove were designed to interact with respective teams, and you are selling them short by shuffling them into Transformers Adventure line. I'm not hugely impressed with you ignoring Alpha Bravo and Off Road either, as it means you have doubled up on moulds for the Superion and Menasor boxsets. Which kind of leads me on to the next point.

The Generation 1 Cartoon As Gospel

Guys, I know you love the cartoon. I love the cartoon. But it was thirty years ago, and it wasn't that well-made in the day. So can we all stop giving Hasbro and IDW grief for doing stuff that deviates from that template?

Fun Publications

Nice to see you getting some use out of the Armada Starscream mould. Now, be a dear and take those Arms Microns you have out the back, and do us an Armada boxset. Just for a change? Also, maybe stay away from IDW concepts? Not to disrespect your fiction, but you aren't in the same weight class, and people (wrongly) assume you are somehow preventing a mass market release.

Next week: more reviews.