Prototype Watch: TakaraTomy Wins The Computron War

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.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, A Short Spoilers Review

I went to see Batman V Superman on Easter Sunday, and then the internet exploded. The critics hated it. Fans loved it. Other fans didn't. It made pots of money. It might not make all of the money. It might do. There's a petition to remove its director Zack Synder from the DC universe. There's a counter-petition to keep him. Its all so dramatic, and I think, dear reader, you may have your mind made up already. But, you know, I've written a lot about this film, so here's my short essay on the film. Here be spoilers. And no, this isn't an April Fools Day prank, although the word fool could be used here very easily.

The fairest comparison I can make at the time of writing is to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Its breaking financial records. Its fulfilled a deep emotional need of fanboys. But no matter how much Warner Bros. tries to say you should ignore the critics, its not very good.

I'm sorry, I tried, but it isn't a good film.

Batman V Superman is a functional action film, with a few flashes of brilliance, but falls over once you stop to think. Before anyone says I shouldn't be thinking too hard about superheroes, the film puts Superman in a government hearing, and Zack Synder adapted Watchmen, so the intellectual angle is already invoked. The film is overly fond of dream sequences that may or may not be visions of future films, and tends to jump from scene to scene suddenly, so what should be a simple story becomes convoluted. Character motivations are muddy, often boiling down to "we need these characters to fight", or "because comics", but not "in these circumstances, he would do this". Lex Luthor is particularly bad on this front, he just seems to have spontaneously decided one day that Superman was a threat and is trying to justify it after the fact. Rumours fly about multiple different drafts of the script, with different villains, being amalgamated into one, and this would be easy to believe. Lex isn't alone with the silliness either, Lois Lane has her reputation ruined by the third act, WE NOW ENTER SPOILER TOWN, where she damsels herself through an act of stupidity. Having chucked a kryptonite spear into water, she must retrieve it for something to do, and then almost drowns as a result.

OK, lets put aside matters of writing for moment, as a sufficiently charming or directed film can overcome this. Lets give it the fairest shake, and talk action sequences. And these are good, when they eventually happen. You've seen most of the memorable bits in the trailers, Batman being a highlight, but its a long wait between sequences, and an even longer wait for the title fight. If you ever wanted to see Superman beaten up, including the use of a sink, this is your movie. Its just a shame about how it starts and ends. The fight could have been prevented by Supes saying “He's kidnapped my Mum”, and it ends with him saying “He's got Martha” instead. “Martha” is coincidentally the name of both Bats and Supes respective mothers, a piece of trivia that gets treated as a revelation here. I mean how often do you use your mother's first name?

I'm sorry, I realise I was meant to be talking about the action.

Ahem, well, as entertaining as seeing Bats punch people is, things go south once Doomsday wakes up. In a prolonged CG sequence not dissimilar in feel to the Micheal Bay directed Transformers films, we get another big fight. One that is hard to follow, done in contrasting colours, and goes on far too long. Wonder Woman makes her present felt, and is welcome, but Doomsday himself is a deeply unconvincing CG creation that seems to have been borrowed from the first Lord of the Rings film. And, at this point, I really have to start addressing the adaptation.

Now, if you watched Man of Steel and felt they'd missed the point of the character, bad news folks, they doubled down. Superman is still the perpetually depressed alien of minimal charisma, repeated religious symbolism, and generalised destruction. While the trailers imply his arc is about facing the consequences of the last film, its more about him having a crisis of confidence that he's causing harm by rescuing people. There's an odd dream sequence with Pa Kent, which seems to be the film's statement of principle, where Pa recounts how his attempt to save the family farm from flooding drowned some horses downstream. If you believe that he should be a symbol of hope, this film will anger you as the tone is utterly opposed to that. Not only does Supes flat out murder someone in the first five minutes, a terrorist admittedly, but still, the movie goes places that should have been struck down at the first draft. There's a suicide bomber in a wheelchair. Superman standing in the flaming remains of that attack. A big jar of urine. A frankly horrifying origin story for Justice League member Cyborg. Government officials believing Superman would need bullets to kill people. An alien spacecraft left to rot in the Indian Ocean. Batman branding people. Pa Kent. Those dream/vision sequences of a post-apocalyptic future. An ICBM being able to hit a man sized target in flight. Batman killing a bunch of people, first with guns, then with cars. Jesse Eisenberg's entire depiction of Lex Luthor. Jimmy Olson being shot dead as an exposed CIA agent. And then, Superman is killed by Doomsday, as part of a forced heroic sacrifice.

Yes, they killed Superman.

Warner Brothers grand plan for a shared cinematic universe is to build one on Superman's corpse.

Funeral scene and everything.

Then something starts to happen to the casket.

Then credits.

Thanks WB.

It's not that better for the rest of the trinity. Gal Godot's performance as Wonder Woman bodes well, but we don't get that much time with her. She doesn't actually speak to Supes either, and her main function seems to be a vector for all the world building stuff. Said world building has subtlety of a party political broadcast, because if its not dreams, its what amounts to a playlist of 30 second teaser trailers. Ben Affleck's Batman works well, but he was never going to be the problem, was he? He's won an Oscar, and Batman is a comparatively easy character to do at this point. He's compelling as Bruce Wayne too, interactions with Jeremy Iron's Alfred being a highlight. That said, this Dark Knight is a multiple murderer, so its not perfect.

So how did we get here? Well, as I suspected, this film is drawing heavily on two different comic series, Frank Miller's “The Dark Knight Returns” and the Death of Superman storyline. Both are well-regarded in their way. Frank Miller has largely ruined his reputation at this point, but TDKR is still considered a classic, if one that's notable for an unflattering depiction of Superman. The other is exactly what it sounds like, and was one of the big, huge, 90's comic events that sold gangbusters. Obviously, it didn't take, and as it was essentially an extended publicity stunt, its got its detractors. Doomsday on screen isn't that far from the comic depictions, if only for the fact that he only really does one thing, show up out of nowhere and kill Superman. While there is merit in adapting either, the themes therein don't really make sense for movie #2, or together. At the barest minimum, if you are killing Supes, give us a while to get to know him, and do it for his third or forth movie. That way, they would have earned it. If you want Batman to be an angry old man, as he is in Miller's work, let him age a bit on screen first, as opposed to promising the answer in future sequels. What WB and co actually did was latch on to these stories due to popularity, not because of merit, but because they were in a hurry. Too much. Too soon. All in a desperate, desperate, I say, attempt to catch up with Marvel. What story is there for Superman now beyond resurrection? What is there for Batman other than flashbacks? Not much that's obvious or good. Maybe he's killed all his big name villains by now.

The Verdict

Just don't. I hope I never have to talk about this film again.

Images Copyright Warner Brothers and DC, used under fair use provisions.

A Concise Review of TF2010 Breacher In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Scout, 2010.

Transformation Style: Shellformer.
Play Patterns: Robot and “Ratel IFV” APC. C clip accessories.
Points of Interest: Complementary mould to Sea Spray of the same year. Altmode is named after the Honey Badger. Possible homage to the Micromaster Groundshaker and his ATV.

The Good
Breacher is a blue badass in both modes with some extremely pleasing design elements. The APC has a fully functional turret, a well-detailed sculpt, and effective paint apps. The robot has a notably good head sculpt, and 15 joints in the right places. 11 of these are balljoints, and the waist is on a swivel for transformation. Both modes benefit immensely from the turret gun, which us on a balljointed C clip. This allows it to be used as a gunhand, the rungs being worked in as knuckle dusters in a nice touch, and allows you to switch it out for other weapons in vehicle mode. He also has C rungs on his forearm panels, which are themselves C clip based, allowing these to be used as shields or replaced with more guns. Its a very complete robot mode, backed up by a solid vehicle form.

The Bad
Those removable panels look unsightly hanging off his arms, and Breacher looks a little unfinished from behind. He lacks fist holes, and the instructions fail to mention that the gun or the vehicle panels are removable, so much of the play value goes unnoticed. My example has a paint blemish on his left thigh, and there's some minor gaps in vehicle mode.

The Mediocre
Almost nothing. Blue isn't an obvious choice for a military APC, but then I've seen this described as a SWAT vehicle.

The Alternatives
Breacher is a toy with a curiously low number of repaints, as one was cancelled. The other is GDO Brawl, whose colour scheme may be more attractive to Treadheads. There were a few militaristic scouts of about the same time, such as the Dune Runner mould, although often not as good, so I'd point you towards Breacher's similarly awesome Decepticon equivalent, Skystalker. However, if all you are looking for is a cool APC, consider Combiner Wars Rook.

The Verdict
Putting aside some vehicle panels in robot mode, Breacher is an ideal scout class transformer. He's crammed with play features, detailing, joints, and personality. The design pushes the edge of what's possible at this size, and while there are some visual weaknesses, this is a class act. Track him down.

A Concise Review of Combiner Wars Cyclonus (And Galvatronus) In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Voyager, 2015.

Modes: Robot, Cybertronian Space Fighter, Combiner Torso.

Transformation Style: CW voyager, Silverbolt style.

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

Points of Interest: Extensive retool of Silverbolt. Combined mode looks suspiciously like Starscream in purple.

The Good
As remoulds go this is a quite comprehensive one, and Sliverbolt was a highlight of wave 1. The altmode is surprisingly close to the animation model, giving it a rather different feel than the original, while the robot mode gains a new head and chest. Articulation remains solid at 21 joints. Both forms benefit from two completely unnecessary, but very welcome, wings with 5mm pegs. These add some play value as improvised knives, and further reinforce this is Cyclonus. The combined mode has been reworked too, with a new head and chest.

The Bad
Cyclonus shares the weak vehicle transformation of Silverbolt, with almost the entire robot on the underside of the fighter and a notable backpack in other modes, but there's a new problem. The new head is limited at the neck and there is no panel to conceal the head in other modes, resulting in a hysterical case of Visible Head Syndrome if you neglect to turn it. This toy also comes misassembled, with the vertical fins facing the wrong way, but that's an easy fix. The tolerances seem a bit off on my example, with a removable wing a hair too loose in the ports.

The Mediocre
Cyclonus retains the ungainly gun/shield combo, and has a slightly harder time with it due to the new parts. The shield can't fit on the back with the wings fully folded, and using it as an arm mount requires a tail-fin be removed. I also managed to scratch the right forearm during transformation, but that might just be me being heavy handed. Galvatronus arguably suffers for the lack of a dedicated team. Noted pain to photograph due to the purple.

The Alternatives
Cyclonus has two high profile rivals, the Universe mould and the TakaraTomy version. The Universe mould was specifically designed to be Cyclonus, and is well-liked, if a product of its time. The Japanese iteration however comes in a highly desirable if expensive boxset with four other toys, two of which with exclusive head sculpts. 

The Verdict
Silverbolt was my #10 of 2015, and Cyclonus is a comprehensive reworking, that seems ill-fated to end up on sale. The reason for this has less to do its weaknesses, of which there are a few, but more with the concept. Nobody really wanted a combining Cyclonus, but it seems they did it because they could, and it would be fun. He is therefore quite nice, but completely optional in a line that encourages you to buy six toys at a time. If you like what you see, Cyclonus/Galvatronus definitely have merit, but feel free to skip this one otherwise.

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.

New Captain America: Civil War Trailer Released, Guest-starring Spider-Man

Brace yourselves.

The word of the day is "Underoos!"

Blog Update And Eight Opinions

Okay folks, I'm back. Partially. The family matter is ongoing, and I don't feel I can talk about it here, but I've been away too long. So, I'm running a Sunday service for the foreseeable future. I've no shortage of demands on my time now, and I'm going to Botcon 2016, which is gonna be something of a distraction. And a good source of material too, don't get me wrong, but JEEEEEEETTTTT LAAAAGGGG. In the meantime, here's an article touching on the varying toy, political and nerd film news that happened while I was away.

Source unknown. Please tell me, I'd love to know.

The New York Toy Fair reveals

Yay! Chromedome! Yay! Fort Max! Yay! Almost Everything! Hang on, where's Computron and Liokaiser? Oh, there's Computron, yay!

The TakaraTomy versions of Titans Return toys, such as Hardhead

This is a complex one. The Japanese versions of Transformers tend to get lots of praise for superior paintwork and very closely following the G1 cartoon, and they've taken the step of retooling the faces for that purpose. So Hardhead has a mouth, like most of his appearances. However, purists will note that the Japanese cartoon continuity diverged from the Western version sharply in 1987, and had their own exclusive series. Which of course, does not line up with any Hasbro depiction. The whole “Takara makes stuff that reminds me of the cartoon I saw as a kid, and Hasbro don't, so its better” argument doesn't really apply here. It is however interesting to see these these come with mini-vehicles intended for release for $5 price point in the West. On a more objective standpoint, if the price is proportional, this would be a legitimate improvement. Given that I found Hardhead for preorder at $36, maybe not.

The Deadpool movie

An obvious labour of love, that deserves all the praise and money its receiving. If you like the trailers, especially the uncensored ones, go see it. Its easily the best non-Marvel Studios superhero film since 2008, both in terms of entertainment value and adaptation. I just hope Hollywood won't learn the wrong lesson from its success. You know, that Deadpool isn't popular merely because he minces people and says bad words and is from the 90's. Its because it was made by people whom cared, who did a good job, backed up with a spectacular advertising campaign.

Batman V Superman to get a “R Rated” home release

Oh god, too late. This has apparently been in works for a while, so its not Warner jumping on a trend. Its still a bloody stupid idea, regarding a film which has had seemingly nothing but stupid ideas. These characters are intended for children. Here's a more detailed rebuttal. And another.

The Venom film that doesn't involve Spider-Man

Oh god, too late.

On Donald Trump

Oh god, too late.

The new Ghostbusters trailer

Wow, what a lot of controversy. I'm almost afraid to talk about this, lest I accidentally I align myself with a bunch of misogynistic and/or entitled troll fanboys. The thing is this: I didn't find the trailer funny. I didn't find it engaging. It felt like exactly every other Hollywood comedy, possibly involving Adam Sandler, but could have been made by or starring anyone of the tinsel town standbys. Its too early too tell, humour is subjective, but I didn't like it. I'm also inclined to say that all the gender controversy is just giving the film free advertising, which it may not deserve.

And finally, the E.U Referendum

Look, whatever you decide, try to read up on the situation. I mean actually, read, don't just watch a rolling news channel. Don't use a single newspaper or website, and seek ones you normally wouldn't read. You're probably best off starting with the BBC; everybody has an agenda, but at least the beeb has impartiality in their charter. And then actually vote. And then shut up about the result, whatever it may be.

So sick of hearing about this.