Transformers: Generations Comic-Packs

A little while back, we were given the latest wave of Generations figures for Transformers.  This time around the 6 figures came packed with comic books.   Overall the figures are really well done.   We have 4 new molds, one repaint in a second wave, and a repaint from an earlier figure.  Pretty good to get 4 out of 6 as new molds in a series that has been running for years.

There are whole bunch of photos of each figure on my Flickr site, so you can head over there to look at even more.

Orion Pax:

The future Optimus Prime.  It is great to get an Orion Pax figure in the Generations line.  Isn’t that where we should get him?   He comes with his classic rifle and his battle axe.   A good pair of weapons for this figure.  Unfortunately, there is no place to hold one or both of the weapons in robot mode.  Either he holds them, or drops them.  I would love to have seen at least one hole that the posts could fit into.

Vehicle mode is… kinda a truck of some sort.   It looks like they gave him the solar panels from one of the movie figure trucks.  Strange design, but it is okay.  In the comic, he is actually hooked up to a trailer.  This does not look like a rig to me, but whatever!

Trailcutter:

Trailcutter is a great figure.  Small and compact, he is perfect for a re-imagining of his former G1 counterpart.  He comes with a shield that has blasters on it.   Everything moves well.  The transformation is pretty straight forward.  I do think the only letdown is the missing Autobot emblem.  It is on the hood in vehicle mode, and then disappears into the chest in robot mode.

In vehicle mode, he continues to look great.  The stripes on the side are perfect.

Megatron:

A little change this time around for Megatron.  Still sporting an arm cannon, which transforms itself to become longer with some clear purple parts, he is decked out more on black and purples, and less in the traditional silver.  Even with the color change, there is no mistaking who this is.  Since he is Deluxe class, he is a little on the small side of how big Megatron should be compared to the other figures in the line.   He is quite small compared to the recent Generations Triple Changers.

Things keep on changing with Megatron.   Finally taking on an Earth form, he smartly took the shape of a Stealth Bomber.   This is quite an ingenious transformation, to make a rather thin vehicle.  I really like how the arm cannon comes apart into two pieces and each becomes one of the longer wing pieces.

Bumblebee:

Ugh!  I love Bumblebee, but I can barely stand this figure.   The shoulders are bulky.  The doors are mounted to the shoulders, so they look weird when he moves his arms.  His forearms are painted the wrong color.   his cannon is the wrong color.  His feet look weird.   His roof sticks down between his legs in the back.  It looks like he has tiny hands.   Okay, now that the negative is out of the way, let’s look at the positive.   He has Bumblebee’s head.  Yay!!!  I like the joining of the two cannons to make one cannon.   Reminds me of the Animated Bumblebee that could combine his stingers into a more powerful weapon.

In vehicle mode, it does not get much better.   He looks like he is supposed to be similar to a Mustang GT500.  I see the 1967 version front hood intake as well as the scoops by the doors.   The nose has a funny shape and it looks like he was in an accident.  It think there is too much of a curve up there.   There are a whole bunch of color problems.   That is what is to be expected with yellow.  The bane of Hasbro’s existence is trying to match yellow.   My car would not fit together all the way.  There is a big gap down the back window.

Hoist:

Back to some better designs.  Hoist is part of the second wave of figures.  Not much of a wave with only two figures, who are repaints, and who pretty much came out at the same time as the first wave.   But, Hoist is a good figure.   Very similar to Trailcutter, with the exception of a different head, different weapon, and a great paint scheme.   I was really excited to see how his tow-hook folded up to become a blaster.   Not much else to say other than he also has the problem of no Autobot emblem in robot mode.

I think I would have been happier if he did not have the engine intake that Trailcutter has.  On Trailcutter, it fits, but with Hoist, it just sticks up back there.  These two make a great pair of “brothers.”

Thundercracker:

Thundercracker is a repaint of the Fall of Cybertron Starscream.  A Cybertronian jet, the only change is  a new head.   He comes with the twin Gatling-guns that can combine to make a lot of blaster bolts fly very quickly.

It is nice for Starscream to have a friend.   Thundercracker looks good in his vehicle mode.   Mostly blue with a few silver highlights.

Overall this is a great wave of figures.   The only letdown was Bumblebee.  He is a lot weaker than the other five figures in the line.   We seem to be winding down on the different Transformers lines.   It will be interesting to see what we get next, since Prime is done.

Transformers Prime: Beast Blade Optimus Prime

New color and a shield.  That is about all that is going on here with Beast Blade Optimus Prime.  But then again, it is enough.  There is something about this version of Optimus that really brings him into the world of Beast Hunters that his red/blue version could not.  While the other figures had changes to their designs, most of them also had some color changes to match.  Finally Optimus is in the mix.

In vehicle mode, he looks like he is ready to tear up the jungle.  I am not sure why the shield opens.  Maybe it is for flight, but I can’t see this brick flying through the air, especially without any engines to do so.   Still, it looks good, gives the appearance of some extra weight to the back, and helps to cover the arms that hang out back there.

An evolution of Optimus.  It is a big jump from the standard version to the Beast Hunter version, but with the not-so-subtle color changes, he looks like he is very different in the three Beast Hunters versions.  I am not totally sold on the bright green windows, as opposed to the darker black and red of the other two versions.  I think he would have looked great with the black.

An army of Optimus Primes.  You better hide Megatron!

Transformers: Prime – Predacons Rising – Target Exclusive 2-Pack

There have been a few special decos showing up at Target stores as of late.  The newest is a special 2-pack featuring Optimus Prime and Predaking with new colors.  The box features “Predacons Rising”, the movie that is coming up soon.  Will we see yet another change in Optimus before this series is over?

The two figures are the same as in the Beast Hunters line, featuring the same weapons and body styles.   The change is in the paint.   I don’t know if I would have gone for this pack other than the fact that Optimus is sporting quite a good paint job that looks like he is a part of the Elite Guard.   There has not been a mention of the Elite Guard in this series so far, but we did hear quite a bit about it in Transformers: Animated.

Predaking is sporting more purple.  Ah, purple.  The go-to color for Transformers bad guys.  What is up with all of the purple Decepticons (and now Predacons)?  Anyway, he looks good with the purple.  These are the Commander Class figures, so a little bigger than the tiny Legion Class guys.  It is a nice scale since you get the small size, but you also get a lot more articulation.

These two are nearly the same size in robot mode.  Pretty close to the show’s proportions.

In beast mode, almost all of the orange Predaking sports all but disappears.  That is a nice touch.   I am not a huge fan of this mode for Predaking.  He has tiny back legs which makes him look like a bodybuilder that only works on his upper body.    His cannon also becomes his tail, so it just sticks out back there.

I like Optimus’ alternate mode a lot more.  This is one mean looking truck.  In this color scheme, it looks even better.

All in all, a couple of good figures.  Nothing too special here that would make you need to go on the hunt for them, unless you are a collector that is trying to get them all.  Target can really be hit or miss.  Finding some of the exclusive items can be quite difficult at times.  A little bit frustrating at times, but that is the fun of the hunt.

Transformers Generations – Optimus Prime and Autobot Roller

Optimus Prime and Roller together again.  Too bad there is no trailer for Roller to hide in, but at least he is an actual vehicle this time around.   Not only does he sport the 6×6 look of the G1 Roller, but this time around he also carries Optimus’ gun while not in use.  Optimus looks similar to his G1 counterpart, with the addition of the air foil on the roof.  You can tell this is a mix between a Commander  and Legion Class figure.  He has solid stick-up feet in the back.  It sure would have been nice if those folded in.

Optimus transforms into his fairly iconic robot self.  There is no denying who this is.   The top of the cab becomes big shoulders, kinda Prime-esque.  He has a neat gimmick where his chest is supposed to be open a bit to show his Autobot symbol.  Unfortunately there is nothing holding it open, so it would rather stay closed when posing him.

His main gun is similar to his G1 gun without the big stock on the back.  It is a good size for the figure.  But what happens when there is a real problem that arises?…

Roller becomes a twin cannon, that can combine with Optimus’ gun to make quite a weapon.  I am not terribly fond of the back section.  Still looks like a truck, and you can see through it.  I think they did a better job with Bumblebee’s gun.

This is just the beginning of the 30th Anniversary stuff coming out from Transformers, as the year does not even start until 2014, they are giving us a wee-little taste of what is to come.  I am pretty excited about some of the newer figures that will be coming out in the very near future.

Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters – Ultra Magnus and Grimwing

We have two new figures from the Beast Hunters line coming to us in the Voyager Class, 004 Grimwing and 005 Ultra Magnus.  When I picked up Ultra Magnus, I knew it was time I started to watch the show.  There are 9 episodes so far, with episode 10 coming on today.  I had to see if this Ultra Magnus was as much of a jerk as the others that keep popping up in the different series.  When he showed up, he was once again a “by the rules” kind of guy.  With Optimus dying and the other Autobots not knowing where he might be, they had to turn to Ultra Magnus for leadership, but it is hard to follow that hard-nosed leader when you have been under the command of Optimus.   Thankfully it looks like the Magnus is going to be a little more humble as he was under the command of Optimus Prime in the War for Cybertron, and he is willing to change.

Let’s take a look at Grimwing first:

 

Series 2 Voyager 004 Grimwing:

Who is Grimwing?  Well, we know he is a Predacon, and we know… not much else.  We are 9 episodes into the final season of Prime, and we have only seen one beast.  Hopefully that will change soon.  I can however tell you about this figure.  He is solid and well made, with one glaring error that makes his top half fall apart.  The beast head that forms the chest does not click or snap into anything, so if he is picked up by his chest, his head flips up and his arms fall open.  Not very good for playability.

Then we have his weapon.  It is some sort of claw that is mounted inside of a gun that looks like the head of a really angry eagle.  Kind of makes me sad when Hasbro did such a great job of incorporating the weapons into the beasts of Ripclaw and Lazerback.  That and the gun is so heavy it pulls the shoulder down away from the chest.

Beast Mode.  We get something that is kind of like a griffin.  In one of the episodes they talked about all of Earth’s folklore coming from the Predacons being on Earth so long ago.  Why wouldn’t they make an actual griffin?  There is not a great deal of transformation here to get him into beast mode.   At least his head stays on better in this mode.

From the back.  Squared off legs and no tail.  What the??  Okay, maybe a little more attention back here would have helped a bit.

Gah!  Darn you stupid cannon.  What a dumb design.  Into the box of other toy’s junk with you!

Oh, by the way, I think your time is up:

Watch out for that Hammer of Solis.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Grimwing facing off against Ultra Magnus.

Series 2 Voyager 005 Ultra Magnus:

I was surprised to see a jetpack coming with Ultra Magnus as he does not have one so far in the show.  This one does however look a lot like Optimus Prime’s new jetpack, so either Magnus gets to borrow it at some point, or maybe Ratchet starts to build some for the team to get some flight time.

Hammer of Solis and missiles in your shoulders.  That is a recipe for success.

Finally a well thought out backpack that allows everything to be stored back there.

Since Optimus Prime makes a bit of a change for Season 3, it is only right to bring in Ultra Magnus and have him use nearly the same body as Prime.   Of course he has the addition of the shoulder pads, and then there is a change in the chest that is also the windshield, a new head, and a bit of a change in the forearms.  Most everything else is the same.  To me, that is okay,  The changes that have taken place do make for quite a different figure.

In truck mode, we see UM in the long nosed truck that we are used to seeing since the movie franchise brought about a new direction for Prime.  Very similar in design to Prime in this mode too.  A few differences we will look at right now!

The only thing that I think hurts Ultra Magnus a little.  His giant shoulder pads do not have any place to go, so they stick out the back of the cab in a very weird position.  We will come back to this in a few pictures and talk about why this only hurts him a little bit.

From the front, they look almost identical.  The change in the windshield is pretty dramatic, also taking away the side mirrors  for something that looks a little tougher on Magnus.

From the side, you can see that maybe 3/4 of the cabs are the same.  A little change on the side of the hood for Magnus.  Maybe for attaching a weapon of some sort, or maybe it was going to be a port for some sort of Beast Hunters accessories.  You can also see there are two holes right at the back edge of the sleeper of the cab.  They reused the same piece that they used on Prime, but they did not put on the smoke stacks.  I think that is due to the jetpack not fitting on the back of Magnus if he had the smoke stacks in place.    Speaking of jetpacks:

Here’s where the shoulder pads are okay for Magnus in vehicle mode.  They blend in pretty well with the jetpack and are not nearly as noticeable when the jetpack is installed on the truck.  The Hammer of Solis has a great place to be kept as well, with the handle going into the back of the cab, it looks to be a part of the back section of the truck. Good job there Hasbro.

Prime has his new look, and he has Ultra Magnus as his second in command.  If Ultra Magnus can continue to come around and not be as hard-nosed as he started out to be, this is going to be quite a force.  And with the Predacons AND the Decepticons to deal with, the Autobots will need all of the help they can get!