The G1 figure review thread

[andersonh1]

I haven't taken any of these out of the package, and probably won't. I do have two of the three originals, though I have the red Bumblebee, and my version is early enough that it doesn't have the rubsign.

All cards are bilingual, in English and French.

G1 Reissue Bumblebee
Yellow Bumblebee with a cartoon-accurate face, which I think they changed for the Japanese reissue six pack, maybe? The package art shows the original faceplate. No rubsign, just a tiny Autobot sticker on the robot chest. The instructions are drawings rather than photos, unlike the original packaging.

G1 Reissue Gears
As far as I can tell, identical to my original. Autobot sticker rather than rubsign, just like my original.

G1 Reissue Swerve
This is the first Swerve I have owned. I think the face may be a remold, like Bumblebee, or at least a repaint since it matches the art in appearance if not color. Like the others, no rubsign, unless it's on the side inside the bubble against the card.

Metals Optimus Prime
Vehicle only, G1 style packaging and art. The cab is slightly smaller than the original G1 Prime's cab, has some paint aps instead of stickers and a bit more chrome, and a few other differences. But it's a nice G1 Prime truck, and worth $7 to me.

[Shockwave]

I haven't taken any of these out of the package, and probably won't. I do have two of the three originals, though I have the red Bumblebee, and my version is early enough that it doesn't have the rubsign.

All cards are bilingual, in English and French.

G1 Reissue Bumblebee
Yellow Bumblebee with a cartoon-accurate face, which I think they changed for the Japanese reissue six pack, maybe? The package art shows the original faceplate. No rubsign, just a tiny Autobot sticker on the robot chest. The instructions are drawings rather than photos, unlike the original packaging.

G1 Reissue Gears
As far as I can tell, identical to my original. Autobot sticker rather than rubsign, just like my original.

G1 Reissue Swerve
This is the first Swerve I have owned. I think the face may be a remold, like Bumblebee, or at least a repaint since it matches the art in appearance if not color. Like the others, no rubsign, unless it's on the side inside the bubble against the card.

Metals Optimus Prime
Vehicle only, G1 style packaging and art. The cab is slightly smaller than the original G1 Prime's cab, has some paint aps instead of stickers and a bit more chrome, and a few other differences. But it's a nice G1 Prime truck, and worth $7 to me.

It's funny this is posted today since today I decided to bring my Bumblebees with me. I have the "G2" MP Bee, as well as the G1 keychain reissue, the remolded one from that six pack you mentioned and G2. I really need to track down an original yellow and red ones at some point to see if there are more differences, but here's some quick observations of the ones I have:
Keychain has a sticker, no rubsign. G1 has paint, no rubsign, and the Japanese remold has a painted logo with rubsign on the back of the head and is a different shade of yellow from the keychain. It also has painted head and tail lights.

[andersonh1]

I forgot about those keychain minibots. I have Bumblebee, Brawn, Windcharger and Cliffjumper. They're in G1 similar packaging too, and have the photographic instructions for transformation rather than drawings, which is a nice touch. I like the thicker cardboard they use as well. The replica packaging on these G1 reissues is a bit thin compared to it and to the original packaging.

[andersonh1]

Wal Mart G1 Starscream reissue with movie branding - So I've had the original version of this figure since 1984 when it first came out, and I own at least two other reissues: the Takara Transformers collection (which is also in movie colors, though with more paint details than this version) and the recent Wal-Mart reissue that attempts to be mostly faithful to the G1 coloring, though the American versions have the longer missiles and thicker arm cannons rather than the toothpick-thickness originals. All of these reissues also come with the Megatron in pistol mode for Starscream to hold or clip on to the bottom of his jet mode that the Japanese reissue introduced.



This reissue comes in "plastic free packaging" meaning there's no windows on the box, and that the figure inside is clipped to the inner cardboard sleeve by paper twist ties. The cover art is Starscream in both modes with part of Autobot City and the surrounding terrain in the background. The accessories are wrapped in tissue paper, held together with a piece of thick wrapping tape. I'll be replacing that with a resealable snack bag to keep the parts in. If you've never owned any version of the G1 F-15 jet Transformers, almost nothing is integrated into the main body of the figure. All of the jet wings are detachable, along with the hands. The arm cannons are mounted on the underside of the wings in jet mode. The front landing gear is a small detachable piece (I'm surprised they didn't decide it was too short and a swallowing hazard like the original missiles). The Megatron pistol comes in two pieces, so Starscream can hold it in robot mode, with the stock able to fit on a tab that's been added to the underside of the fists. The tolerances here are not as good as they are on the Takara reissue, it's very difficult to get the stock to fit on the tab.

Paint aps are simplified on this figure, as is to be expected since it's based on an animated model. The face is fully painted with red eyes and dark grey on the "helmet" portions. There are red and white stripes on the wings, and the Decepticon insignia is painted on. There are two painted lines on the cockpit, and the diecast torso area is painted red. There is what looks like a white paint ap on the front of the arm cannons. There's even a tiny Decepticon insignia on the Megatron handgun. Everything else is molded plastic, mainly bright blue and a light grey, with dark grey on the jet thrusters that make up the robot heels. There's a soft white piece of plastic that is normally blue on other versions, but which is light trey to match the rest of the jet here, and it doesn't really sit flush with the rest of the jet like it should. It feels like the mold used to make these parts may have been used too often, so parts are starting to not fit as well as they should.

The only articulation is at the shoulders, so Starscream can raise or lower his arms, and swing them out a bit. Transformation involves folding the feet forward, removing the hands and arm cannons, rotating the whole center section and head through the hollow central torso to make the cockpit and nose of the jet, and snapping the arms into the open space. Rotate the main wings 180 degrees and attach the rear wings. Put the arm cannons under the wings, and he's in jet mode.

Overall: I enjoy having a brand new out of the box G1 figure, albeit a very familiar one. There's nothing new or surprising about this mold, so whether you like it or not will depend on whether the movie-inspired paint scheme is appealing. My main impression is that it's simplified compared to older versions, but animated character models were simplified for animation, so that makes sense. I wish we could get the old school short missiles and thinner arm cannons, since they look better, but that's not likely. Overall, for $33, it's not a bad reissue, and I'm always glad to see some of the original G1 figures on store shelves again.

[andersonh1]

Just an observation on movie-deco Kickback and Optimus Prime: sometimes the cartoon-inspired paint schemes are really flat and hide molded details rather than enhancing them. What works on a 2D animation model doesn't really translate well to a 3D figure. I like the novelty of having a brand new Kickback variant and certainly enjoy having a new G1 Prime, but I think just a few of these are more than enough. I noticed that on the animated color scheme Optimus, where the trailer is really bare compared to all the color from the decals on the original.