Animated Review Thread

Some cartoon with big chins and a little girl that got beloved by fans and taken off TV to make way for a different show on another network. Yeah, that's fair.
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donosaur
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by donosaur »

Well yes, I was wondering how I missed it in all that time. Clearly I need to pay more attention.
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onslaught86
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by onslaught86 »

I find Ratchet's little peg in the armhole makes the engine pop out. Irks me.
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by Prime_Wreck »

I do like the spot for thr EMP on ratchet, but never enough to have wnted to buy a second Lockdown. That changed however when I saw Blazing Lockdown, since I can use that versions EMP for Ratchet.

On an unrelated side note, and maybe it's just where I live, but I have noticed that while there are plant of Swoop, and Sentinal hanging around I have yet to even see EG Bumblebee once. I hardly thought he'd be the one I'd have the most trouble finding.
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by BWprowl »

It's actually the same thing where I am, Wreck. I saw a couple l33t Bumblebees on shelves when the wave fist appeared, and since then, the only other one I've seen in stores is the one I bought at Wal-Mart a couple weeks back. Maybe he's shortpacked or something. It's worth noting that regular flavor Bumblebee hardly shelfwarmed either, as far as I could see.
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by Prime_Wreck »

Now that you mention it. Wave 1 Bumblebee was hard to come by at first where I'm at too, and even still now that they've put out Wave 1 several different times, he still the one who's absent from the pegs. I didn't think it would be the same for EG Bumblebee, because I wasn't reading too much love for him on many of the forums.
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onslaught86
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by onslaught86 »

Underestimated the kid appeal of Bumblebee this close to christmas, you have!

Everything Animated Wave1 shelfwarms here. Sucks. They're clearancing Movie Crap at long last, but the many many Mega Bulkheads may take more encouraging than 20% off.
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by JediTricks »

Got these 2 from HasbroToyShop...


Swindle looks kinda cool in alt mode, a jeep crossed with a hummer. The big TOW missile launcher on top is silly-oversized, and leaving the back window unpainted sucks, but generally it's a likable design. The missile launcher doesn't want to peg into its holes though, the peg is a touch too small so the launcher just flops about. Transformation is quite clever, lots of folding and panels without being a shellmaster - I love how the forearms get created, this has to be used again for more figures - but the chest panel's double-hinge requires more force than seems possible. Bot mode has some good ideas in it, and is mainly a good design overall, but maybe I'm having bad QC because the lower chest panel absolutely will not stay closed, it just flops open no matter what, and the missile launcher will not stay in the forearm peg. The clear plastic upper arm pieces don't want to work together either, the right bicep slips out of its shoulder groove, and the left shoulder won't stay upright, stupid clear plastic never works right! I wish I liked this figure more, but the extensive use clear plastic is already causing trouble, and I loathe this figure's overly simple giant head design. Grade would be "D+" for mine, if I got one with the missile launcher peg working and the chest locking down and no upper arm troubles, it might be a "C+" or even maybe a generous "B-".

===

Blurr is almost everything I'm looking for in a Transformer. I love the speedy futuristic alt mode with its hollow rear wheels, Tron-esque "electro lighting" paint, and pop-out saw, I really hope to see this get another color scheme soon so I can buy another version; this is a toy car I'd buy even if it wasn't a Transformer. This alt mode is quite different in overall shape from the original G1 character, less alien, but they both convey similar themes - futuristic, sleek, fast, blue. In package, the robot feet are pushed against the rear wheel, so make sure you move those feet away slightly so they can spin. If you look carefully, you can see the glossy black cockpit is translucent plastic with sculpted circuit detailing on the inside, nice touch. The only complaint I'd have about the alt mode is that the rear end is too gappy if you look straight in, they could have used the fold-away panel over the bot face to add some triangular blocks thus making it look more "whole" while still allowing the see-through rear wheels.

Transformation is one of the most challenging deluxes I can remember, and it doesn't help that the instructions are vague about where the front fenders separate from the body so they can fold back, which makes it very difficult to even get started. In fact, why they started with the front fenders instead of the rears, which are easier to get going and unlock the front fenders, is beyond me. Once you get those sorted out, it's still a bit difficult but you start to get those "aha, I see what they're getting at" moments as the limbs switch orientations, the back becomes the front. Finally, the instructions totally leave out a step rotating the feet, the feet still work when you don't have them but they look worse. I have some trouble transforming this figure back to alt mode because the forearms and hands don't want to get under the canopy piece, and I always hate the way the hips rotate around (they've been using this more and more the last few years).

Bot mode is tall and extremely thin, beyond "lanky" even. There's a fair number of edges showing from the alt mode, but they somehow get visually absorbed into the overall look so it all works. Blurr clearly is a hand-to-hand fighter - they didn't give him a gun at all, just a shield with saw - but he looks like it, like a lithe master of some unknown martial art that focuses on speed and agility over strength. The head, although possessing notes of the G1 toy and cartoon designs, is really its own man and quite different from most TFs, he seems like an alien to regular TF and even TF:A designs IMO, though he does still fit the TF:A aesthetics. The rubbery antenna on his head is an interesting choice, mine came slightly warped but is slowly going back to the normal shape. Articulation is very good, ball-jointed head, elbows, foot front, foot back, and hips; limited ball-jointed shoulders; hinged knees and front feet; and rotation waist, biceps, and boots. The upper body posing is good, the lower body posing is very good, ultimately with some creativity the figure ends up incredibly stable in almost any 2-footed pose (I don't foresee any 1-legged poses working at all though). Just like in alt mode, bot mode is rock solid, nothing comes off or pops out, only the shoulder tabs want to transform back yet they're held in place pretty well.

In terms of gimmicks, there's the removable shield with clear blue spring-out saw, this can peg into the side of the forearm (the hands aren't sculpted to hold stuff), or onto the figure's back via an extra set of holes. The head also has light-piping, and from the sides rather than the back or top.

Bottom line, I love this figure, Blurr looks great in alt mode, is fascinating in bot mode, and has an incredibly clever transformation. It's going to be tough for kids to figure out the transformation, it's tough enough without the instructions being vague, so they will need help. For the rest of us, this is a real winner, my grade is "A".
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donosaur
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by donosaur »

SHOCKWAVE: My thoughts, not exactly in review form.

The initial pictures had me intrigued, and the cartoon portrayal got me hooked. When I did not receive Shockwave for Christmas, I decided I needed to put him on "buy on sight" status, regardless of my financial situation or more pressing needs. So when I saw him tonight, almost a month after asking for him, I hesitated a moment, then placed him in my basket and left Target with confidence. I do not regret my decision.

Vehicle modes: For both modes, I think the turret looks better turned around the opposite way, pointed toward the toes. I makes both vehicles look more balanced. Like Dom, I am concerned with the functional context of the vehicle mode, and I have to say t he Longarm crane looks like the most useless crane ever, I just have to imagine that Longarm's limb-growing power applies to his crane as well, allowing him to move things of significant size. Right now Longarm would be more helpful just handing the load to somebody. Moving on, the tank mode is more satisfying,once again with the turret facing toward the robot feet. It makes the front of the vehicle a bit more gappy, but it looks better proportionally speaking. This mode is much more convincing than the crane.

Robot modes: Longarm has got wonky legs, but is impressive in that he is as tall as Optimus. I wish his thighs had the weird sort of heroic-backwards-curve (like voyager optimus) like they have in the show. The mouth seems to be missing, but I may try and use a black paint application to emphasize it more. I'm not really impressed with his weapon/tool in either robot mode, but I suppose the cannon is better. Lightpiping is clever, the eye turns off in Longarm mode and then lights up when you pop his head open. The Shockwave head, by the way, is not as gappy as I was lead to believe, I have no complaints. In Decepticon mode, the long spindly legs and tiny torso work in concert with the monoptic head and the claws to make Shockwave the most robotic looking Animated figure I have seen, lacking the human touches the other figures possess. Shockwave is monster-like, which is totally awesome, but it's hard for me to picture this creature-like robot possessing the cool, logical Shockwave I'm familiar with. He looks more like a rampaging maniac, or a mindless battle drone. The better posability of this mode allows the gun to be used more naturally, and there are no flappy thigh armor or weird leg joints to mess things up. He makes a great, imposing Decepticon, and like most people I will probably leave him in this mode the most.

Other thoughts: I'm really stuck on how creepy and alien Shockwave looks. He lacks the smooth, human lines that make most of the other Animated toys look cartoony. I'd almost say it cuts down on his personality, which is perhaps the intended effect. The other effect is that in my mind, Shockwave is one of the few Transformers that really suggests his in-fiction scale. The weird, leggy proportions and the rivets and the spooky, glowing red optic make him seem like a towering, automated menace. The mostly-human proportions of the Autobots make them more sympathetic and likable, while the proportions of the Decepticons may be more hulking, it just makes them look like beefy villains. To overuse the term, Shockwave is monstrous. Anyway, this isn't really part of the review, just me musing on character design and stuff.
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by JediTricks »

I picked up another Swindle to trade the first one in. It showed me another QC problem with the first one, the "knuckles" panels that make up the alt mode grille were assembled wrong on mine, one was either upside-down or the other side's panel, so that stuff didn't line up properly.

On the second one, the stomach panel on that one stays in place but ONLY because of the friction on the hinge, the side tabs are still useless. However, this new one had its own QC problems, the shoulders droop, the backpack hinge is very loose, the stomach panel doesn't line up properly in alt mode (a big problem as it can keep the wheels off the ground), and the forearm hood panels were popping off their hinges. I ended up swapping the arms with the original and then the new one's hood panels onto those arms, that worked out but doesn't solve the loose shoulders or the stomach panel problem in alt mode. At this point, I'm giving up and calling it a draw.
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Dominic
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Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by Dominic »

Shockwave:

Shockwave is one of the few toys from reecent years to score highly in multiple categories. One of my idiosyncratic collecting habits is that I like faction switchers. I do not have every faction-switcher. But, the concept is fundamentally appealling. Along similar lines, I like triple-changers and the like.

Shockwave is a faction-switching quad-changer with 2 robot and 2 vehicle modes. In the cartoon, Shockwave is a spy who has infiltrated the highest levels of the Autobots' command structure under the alias Longarm. This means that the toy takes the "robots in disguise" idea to a new level, with half of Shockwave's modes being intended to disguise him while he is in plain sight.


Vehicle modes:
H-Tank: This is a standard tank-form, with treads and a turret. It looks somewhat like a tank from the "Total Annihilation" franchise. This is assumed to be Shockwave's recognized alternate mode, as evidenced by the Decepticon sigil on the turret.
Crane: This is the disguised alternate mode. Truth be told, it is not much of a disguise. In theory, anyone (in context or out) who saw the tank form would probably recognize Longarm's crane mode as being the same as the tank. The "arms" with the h-tank's treads fold slightly, arching the tank of the ground. (Aside: This makes the tank look like an artillery emplacement, a sort of 5th mode.) The main cannon folds in half, (sort of hiding the Decepticon sigil), and becomes a crane-arm. Two smaller cannons fold in completely. Besides looking like the tank, the crane lacks any real functional value.

Longarm (disguised robot): Long arm is varying shades of grey and black. The disguised robot form is stocky, and has a shiny Autobot sigil on the chest. Following the official instructions results in the turret (Decepticon) sigil being pretty visible in this form. This can be partially solved by rotating the turret/crane bit 180 degrees, so the sigil winds up behind the robot mode's head. (I really get the feeling that that "Longarm" stages of the toy's transform were intended to be secondary.)

Shockwave (actual) robot mode: The easiest way to describe this form is "Longarm all stretched out". But, that is a gross over-simplification. There are plenty of nice little elements throughout the process that boost the fiddle-value of the toy. The robot's hands convert from (rather vaguely) molded hands to claws that are mounted on longer arms. A jewel on Longarm's head becomes a single light-piped eye. Panels on both shoulders flip around to further differentiate the arms of the two robot forms. And, the Autobot sigil on the chest flips around to become a Decepticon sigil. (There are plenty of other nice touches, but there is not need to list all of them.)

Grade: A This toy is a well executed representation of a solidly written character, all wrapped around a good premise. Worth looking for, and buying from a scalper if need be.
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