The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[GoktimusPrime]

From here

I wonder how many Hasbro versions of MPs are better or on par with their Takara (TOMY) counterparts. Not including special imports and excluding MPs for which there are no counterparts.

• MP1 Convoy = Takara

• MP3 Starscream = Hasbro

• MP6 Skywarp = On par. Takara's better for show likeness and Hasbro's is better for toy accuracy. Judging from photos though, I've never seen the Hasbro version IRL

• MP8 Grimlock = On par. Takara's better for show likeness and Hasbro's for comic likeness. Both toys can become toy-accurate thanks to changeable eyes in both modes.

• MP-9 Rodimus Convoy = On par. Takara's better for show likeness and has much more effort put into the deco, but has some design flaws. Hasbro's is more toy-accurate ('cept the hands) and fixes some of the design flaws but has a lazy deco. Takara's has the trailer while Hasbro doesn't, but Takara's is also significantly more expensive.

• MP-10 Convoy = TakaraTOMY. Although the Hasbro one is cheaper.

• MP-11 Starscream = On par. TakaraTOMY's has a more show-like grey nosecone and coronation kit, but Hasbro's has a toy-accurate blue nosecone (albeit it's cartoon-accurate light blue not toy accurate navy blue) and additional accessories not included with the TakTOM version. Again, based on photos as I've never seen either TakTOM's or Hasbro's IRL

• MP-11S Sunstorm = TakaraTOMY. Was Hasbro's cheaper? TakTOM's was 13650JPY (approx. $170). Either way, Hasbro's looked cheap. Judging from photos as I've never seen Hasbro's IRL outside of its box.

• MP-11T Thundercracker = On par.

• MP-13/15/16 Soundwave & Cassettes = On par. Hasbro's Soundwave is more toy accurate while TakTOM's is show-like. Hasbro's Frumble have sacrificed chrome for metallic paint colours. Hasbro's is cheaper though. Hasbro's Frenzy is technically incorrect because he's purple like G1 cartoon Rumble (but not like G1 toy Frenzy who's two shades of blue, not purple; Hasbro really should've switched Frenzy and Rumble's names and I'm assuming that every Anglophone fan is going to repurpose them as FIRRIB anyway)

• MP-17 Prowl = On par

• MP-18 Streak = On par

• MP-21 Bumble = On par, based on photos of Hasbro's; no significant differences

[griffin]

Wally Burr, the voice director for the original series cartoon in the 1980s, has apparently had a stroke earlier this year, and is said to have lost his ability to speak, and some body functions.

He was a guest at BotCon in 2004, 2005 (selling his copies of the movie script and storyboards) and 2013.
It says he's 92 now, so he's certainly beating the odds in terms of the average age. I think we have to prepare ourselves for him being the next to go.

[UltraMarginal]

From here

• MP-11 Starscream = On par. TakaraTOMY's has a more show-like grey nosecone and coronation kit, but Hasbro's has a toy-accurate blue nosecone (albeit it's cartoon-accurate light blue not toy accurate navy blue) and additional accessories not included with the TakTOM version. Again, based on photos as I've never seen either TakTOM's or Hasbro's IRL

[/list]

What accessories are in the Hasbro version that aren't in the TakTom version?

Wally Burr, the voice director for the original series cartoon in the 1980s, has apparently had a stroke earlier this year, and is said to have lost his ability to speak, and some body functions.

He was a guest at BotCon in 2004, 2005 (selling his copies of the movie script and storyboards) and 2013.
It says he's 92 now, so he's certainly beating the odds in terms of the average age. I think we have to prepare ourselves for him being the next to go.

I read that today, it's pretty sad, and probably very difficult for his family.

[GoktimusPrime]

What accessories are in the Hasbro version that aren't in the TakTom version?

TFwiki:
TakaraTOMY's MP11 accessories: Crown, pauldrons (left and right), cape, 2 null rays, hologram pilot figurine
Hasbro's MP07 accessories: 2 null rays, 2 missile racks, hologram pilot figurine, two-piece display stand, gun clip

[GoktimusPrime]

From here

The newer stuff has really dwarfed in size. And at a similar price point to what they were 30 years ago

Specific examples?

TR Scourge is actually 5mm taller than Generations Scourge. (note that the photo below is taken from an angle, but you can see that TR Scourge's left shoulder line is slightly higher than Gen Scourge's right shoulder line)


Also, BWTF's review of Combiner Wars Hook makes a weight comparison with Generations Springer (with all accessories on). Springer weighs about 147g whereas Hook is about 176g! So despite appearances CW Hook actually has more mass than Springer. So while Hasbro may be using less plastic with hollowed parts in recent toys, the density of the plastic itself appears to have increased.

[GoktimusPrime]

Recently when I've been playing with Blurr I've been making him move like Quicksilver from X-Men: Days of Future Past. This "bullet time" play is nothing new, but just the idea of him moving so quickly that he can stop and admire bullets (or lasers) in mid flight. It also makes him so frighteningly fast that he can basically win entire skirmishes on his own. As a kid I always stuck with his function as Data Courier and imagined him moving very, very quickly to send messages... but now I'm thinking about upgrading this role and playing Blurr as some kind of special covert ops agent. Because that his speed he could literally zip in and out of enemy lines before anyone could even notice, and as a robot there doesn't seem to necessarily be a limitation as to how long he can maintain his hyperspeed. Especially Animated Blurr who freakin' ran back to Cybertron This would mean that he can literally run through the time-space continuum, much like the Flash.

And yeah, I've occasionally caught myself singing the "Time in a Bottle" song when he goes into his super-speed mode too.

But it's made me think -- is Blurr a super-powered character who's underused? Or does it simply depend on which continuity? Animated Blurr definitely seems the fastest, but other Blurrs don't necessarily demonstrate anywhere near this level of speed. More like MCU Avengers' Quicksilver (who, while blindingly fast, is a snail compared to X-Men's Quicksilver). I don't think most Blurrs would be able to run fast enough to spin the Earth backwards and turn back time. And before Blurr appeared in G1 cartoon continuity, I always imagined (and played) Blurr as only being able to use his super speed in vehicle mode, not robot mode. Because his tech specs bio explicitly states:
"In vehicular mode, he can travel faster than the speed of sound, leaving a blurred image in his trail."
I was actually surprised to see him doing this in robot mode when I first watched TFTM in the cinema.

Mind you, there are a LOT of abilities which the cartoon portrayed far more differently from what their G1 tech specs had originally intended.
e.g.
* Hound is only supposed to be able to project holographic maps (like R2D2 and BB8 can in Star Wars), not holograms of just anything that he can freakin' imagine!
* Mirage active camouflage which allows him to blend with his surroundings, much like SHIELD's Helicarriers. It's not exactly the same as absolute/true invisibility.
* Rumble makes earthquakes by generating vibrations into the ground, not by using piledrivers. Which actually makes more sense when you consider how tectonics work.
etc.

I loved reading the tech spec bios as a kid. I would often just go into toy stores or department stores while my mum did 'boring' grocery shopping and just stand there for ages reading all the tech spec bios. I would ask her to let me hang out in a toy store and agree to rendezvous somewhere nearby. And indeed when I got a new toy I'd keep on re-reading that tech specs bio to familiarise myself with the new character (how I miss this and it's such a shame that kids can't do this with Transformers toys today ). But then I would sometimes be surprised at how certain Transformers media such as the cartoon would deviate from the source.

[Ozgardian]

+1. Have to agree with you there Gok! I too used to study the tech specs in toy stores (it beat shopping with mum & she knew she could leave her 10yr old son in the toy store because I was too absorbed to wander) it's what sold the character's for me. Traibreaker was one because of his sheilds, Skywarp's teleport was another. But speed was my favorite ability so I fell for Windcharger straight away.

Going a bit off subject here (sorry guys), but if you haven't seen it Gok 'The Flashpoint Paradox" is a great piece of anime. Never seen so much blood in a DC film before, animated or otherwise. Would absolutely love to see Transformers done this way. Excellent animation with nice thick black lines that make it feel more like a an animated comic. If the G1 Movie was ever to get a remake IMO this would be the way to go about it.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

That actually raises an interesting point.

Animated blurr was able to run back to Cybertron, but do we know how long it took him? In a way though, the animated series really pushed up the powers Transformers had into super hero territory. Magnus lightning hammer, Sentinels expanding shield etc etc. Which is kind of understandable when it started off as TF Heroes.

G1 Blurr though, hrm.... I always just saw him as being super fast, I mean there's quite a few Transformers that can travel faster than the speed of sound. Admittedly most of them are planes. I always felt he was his fastest in vehicle mode, and was surprised at the movie too.

Thing is though, if he did move that fast, him moving his arm would create mini sonic booms all the time!

As for the covert ops thing, well Animated Blurr was a covert ops guy. If I was to power up Blurr to X-men Quicksilver levels of speed, I'd place some restrictions, so he can only move that fast in robot mode for a limited time before the excess strain takes a toll on his body.
His vehicle mode is made for speed, so should be able to handle it no problems, so the restriction on robot mode would stop him from essentially being invincible.

I wonder what other TFs could be super powered-up into comic book style powers? Windecharger had magnetic hands, so could he be a TF Magneto? G1 Megatron has the ability to syphon powers from er, blackholes/space or something, so he could be considered super powered. IIRC most TFs with amazing powers were only to use them for a limited time before the power consumption/bodily stress caused them to have to stop.

Side note, I too used to just read the tech specs. I learnt what kinetic energy was from Runamuck's bio. Well, it made me look up the meaning of Kinetic, and has stuck with me ever since!

[GoktimusPrime]

Animated blurr was able to run back to Cybertron, but do we know how long it took him?

Not bloody long! Think of when Blurr got sucked into the space bridge, when Shockwave was on Cybertron waiting on the other end, until when Blurr finally arrived on Cybertron and Longarm Prime/Shockwave is still at the space bridge controls having communicated with Strika's team not long before. Hours? Days? That's still incredibly fast considering that he's running from one end of the galaxy to the other! Considering that it takes over four years for light to travel to the nearest galaxy, it's likely that Animated Blurr was running beyond the speed of light.

Having said that, it's odd that he wasn't able to outrun the closing doors. If he can even run at the speed of sound, those doors must've looked lethargically slow to him. Unless you reason that Blurr was low on energy and exhausted after having freakin' run back to Cybertron at super-light speed!

I wonder what other TFs could be super powered-up into comic book style powers? Windecharger had magnetic hands, so could he be a TF Magneto? G1 Megatron has the ability to syphon powers from er, blackholes/space or something, so he could be considered super powered. IIRC most TFs with amazing powers were only to use them for a limited time before the power consumption/bodily stress caused them to have to stop.

Time Warrior.
Super Power: able to accurately tell time and automatically adjusts across different time zones
Weakness: unable to adjust for Daylight Savings Time

Side note, I too used to just read the tech specs. I learnt what kinetic energy was from Runamuck's bio. Well, it made me look up the meaning of Kinetic, and has stuck with me ever since!

So you could say that it got things moving.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I'll commedn you on the kinetic joke here Goki, but moving on....

I was cruising through the official image thread and found the ones for TR Fort Max, and went to have a looksee.

I discovered this one, which I am sure was meant to show off his articulation:


But all I see him doing is hailing for a taxi.

Am I the only one?