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.
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

BWprowl wrote: Anyway, sorry to hit you with bad news right when you come back, but not only did the sale end weeks ago, but it was actually a mistake. It was supposed to be $2 off, but whoever set everything up goofed and made it $20 off instead. The packs were only five dollars for a couple of days, then they corrected the price. Of course, most people who wanted them grabbed them during then anyway (I was one) but it's still a major burn for those that find out later.
I would have so been on it. Sigh.

But I picked up a Sunstorm vs. Ratchet set anyway, because it was on clearance for seventeen bucks and because screw it.

I'll review the lil' guy first: Ratchet!

Vehicle Mode!: Decent lil' ambulance, but the spring-loaded fold out bits contribute serious kibble to the sides. Not much to say about this mode other than that. Also, the lil' symbol on the top of the rear panels? That's on upside down. So that's kinda different.

Transformation!: It's an Activator. Press the button, you got a Ratchet. Fold up the feet and you're good. But it's kind of impressive how well this works with this guy, I'll be holding him to transform him, and even my big dumb hands don't get in the way of everything moving around. Of the two Activators I've got, the transformation works the best here.

Robot Mode!: Not half bad. He's actually pretty close to the larger-scaled Ratchet, minus a couple paint apps. The legs kinda suffer for lacking these, as they become an unbroken red all over. But for the "cheaper" (sorta) end of this line, you gotta expect that kinda thing.

Overall: I'm satisfied enough with ActiRatchet. I kinda wish the set'd had Bumblebee and Sunstorm, but maybe that's too much yellow for one package? Whutevah, he'll do nicely.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

Then, the big guy. Sunstorm!

Bio!: Wasn't Sunstorm the suck-up? The bio here didn't go for that, but went with just calling him a "cackling madman". I'm okay with it, as long as he's not a hyper-powered zealot. Apparently the character is super-powered here, but it's more in line with the normal kinda Animated robot powers: absorbing and redirecting any energy directed at him, and generating blinding flashes of light ("Prime! Do not look directly into his paint job").

Robot Mode!: I think this figure kinda lost something for me by being packaged in robot mode, but more on that later. This mold's kind of neat looking, while obviously hugely influenced by the traditional seeker, he's got a little bit of the movie aesthetic going, too...mainly in the kinda backward-jointed legs and the feet. The colors only help, though that depends on how much you like bright orange. As it happens, I do. A lot! The dark red and white that work into his colorscheme sets this off well, making for an extremely visually pleasing figure. Though, I gotta say, I'm not wild about the lightpiped eyes and mouth, with them being cut into the figure instead of being, say, painted details, it makes him lose some expressiveness. Then there's the arm articulation. It's kind of weird, the arms still feel a little stiff, even though you can get most of the poses you'd want out of him. Maybe it's the lack of a wrist swivel or a bicep swivel, but to balance things out, hes got four-finger and thumb articulation. So that's pretty nifty.

Really, the only other thing about the robot that bothers me is the missles. They're huge, and they just sorta interfere with the figure's look and poseablility. I don't believe I'll be displying him with these things, which gives him short-barreled wrist cannons. I'm okay with that, but I do wish that more figures got better-looking guns and not these spring-loaded missle things.

Transformation!: Took me a minute, but I got it. Some pieces, like the nosecone, f'rinstance, transform themselves when you move other parts. That's kinda nice, but I think during my first attempts to transform him, I may have broken the spring-loaded bit on the nose. Ah, well, I can just pull that part out, which in turn folds the arms up further...really, once you get the transfomation going, it almost finishes by itself. Then, all you gotta do is snap the legs into the tabs behind his wings, and lookee there, you got a..

Vehicle Mode!: In this case one that's a...cartoon US future plane. I dunno, did Starscream scan an alt mode in the show? he really didn't need to, this thing may as well be a Cybertronian jet. I dunno, if you squint right it could almost be an F-22 or like that, but for the swept-wing design and the reverse talifins. Whatever it is, it does look kind of neat, and while it does have the traditional TF plane undercarriage kibble, there's nothing that's really obviously humanoid-robot parts in there. Looked at from the stop, though, you get a neat-looking future space jet in the stylized-out-the-wazoo Animated manner. From the bottom, it looks almost like, say, Movie Megatron's future space jet mode. So there you go, combination of aesthetics, again.

Overall: Not the best Animated Transformer I've gotten, but a pretty good one. With this mold, there's plenty of reason to repaint it, and the Target exclusive-pack went and gave us one of the more uniquely-colored clones from the show. The toy's got it's issues, but the visual appeal and novelty of him being almost a Voyager-sized Activiator help balance it out. He cool.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

Lightning Round!

Ultra Magnus: Screw it, I like him. Not only is he not a Prime repaint, and the first "Autobot Leader" character in forever that wasn't Optimus Prime (or facsimile thereof), he looks friggin' great on his own merits. A great update to the proper distinctive Ultra Magnus look. I love the retractable weapons, and the way that the shoulder cannon's barrels retract and extend. It's a nifty lil' addition that adds extra fun for me. Then again, I am really easily amused. One thing about this toy I enjoy a lot is how different the two modes look...the robot mode's very rounded and cartoony, but the vehicle mode looks very squared and not too much like an Animated thing at all. Pulling off two different aesthetics in one figure like that wins points with me. So does the fact that, given three things he could say, the designers (or whoever chooses the soundbites here) went with having Magnus talk shit on Optimus for one of 'em. Transformation frustrated me to no end at first, but after awhile the shoulder armor/truck front thing gets easier.

Overall: Very cool. I like the hammer, too. It's the Matrix that you can beat other bots with!

Blurr: Nothing I could say about this toy that JT didn't already say better, but I will mention that the vehicle mode looks to me like if Speed Racer wound up in the Tron-computer world. This is obviously a great thing. Blurr became one of my top Animated toys just before I got online access again, and when I got caught up on Animated, I got to see him RUN TO FRICKIN' CYBERTRON which is awesome! Logical, maybe not entirely, but you could work out somethin' semi-plausible, but awesome, yes it is. This implies that the character is capable of racing against a teleporter, and as such I just liked him more.

Overall: Super Rad.

Wreck-Gar: Y'know, I typed up a short one, but screw it, I want to give him the full treatment.

Arcee: Probably cancelled. God damn it, what is it about a car Arcee that can't be made? Since the whole mold's made and everything, I'm gonna go ahead and root for a future Universe release.

I'm so gonna miss Animated, you guys. This toyline is so friggin' beautiful.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
Onslaught Six
Supreme-Class
Posts: 7023
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:49 am
Location: In front of my computer.
Contact:

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by Onslaught Six »

Interestingly, TF is not the only line getting the shaft like this. GI Joe was supposed to have an entire other wave of figures like Alley Vipers and crap, plus a boatload of Resolute figures. The new classic figures are getting a rushed 7-pack release and the Resolute guys aren't coming out *at all.*
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
Image
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

138 Scourge wrote:
Arcee: Probably cancelled. God damn it, what is it about a car Arcee that can't be made? Since the whole mold's made and everything, I'm gonna go ahead and root for a future Universe release.

I'm so gonna miss Animated, you guys. This toyline is so friggin' beautiful.
I love it when I predict something and it turns out totally wrong. Apparently, Arcee and a bunch of other Animated toys are still seeing release. Including Rodimus Minor. So close to having an Animated Season three cast here...now, what should I try to make Kup outta?
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
Onslaught Six
Supreme-Class
Posts: 7023
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:49 am
Location: In front of my computer.
Contact:

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by Onslaught Six »

Dunno why he's called Minor. He's Prime, dammit.
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
Image
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

Onslaught Six wrote:Dunno why he's called Minor. He's Prime, dammit.
Would have been a great name for a red monkey repaint of that BW guy...

And apparently, he's not. At least, not yet.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
BWprowl
Supreme-Class
Posts: 4145
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:15 pm
Location: Shelfwarming, because of Shellforming
Contact:

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by BWprowl »

No, he's Rodimus Prime. Calls himself that in 'Transwarped', I believe. Toy looks friggin' beautiful anyway.

I'm also jazzed for Cybertron Mode Ratchet, even if he doesn't look all that much like the show model. We need a Cybertron Mode Bumblebee toy badly, if only to get all those show-character repaints out of.
Image
User avatar
138 Scourge
Supreme-Class
Posts: 2833
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Beautiful KCK

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by 138 Scourge »

Apparently, we at least get an Earth-Bumblebee repaint as "Fugitive Wasp". So that's something.

Maybe Rodimus got demoted after the whole thing against Oil Slick? Sentinel Prime's just the sorta prick that'd do that...

I'm also psyched for Cybertron Ratchet, but yeah, he doesn't even have that "V" thing on his chest like the show design. Whutevah, don't care, 'nother Ratchet, I'm in. I bought every other Ratchet (I think) this series wants to throw at us..even the "Bumper Battlers" one for my boy, so why not one more?
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
User avatar
JediTricks
Site Admin
Posts: 3849
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:17 pm
Location: LA, CA, USA

Re: Animated Review Thread

Post by JediTricks »

Ultra shorties:

Target-exclusive Shockwave - very cool in tank mode and both robot modes, crane mode is lazy but acceptable. Robot mode change from Autobot to Decepticon is extremely clever. Colors are fantastic, though blatantly Decepticon unlike the original. A lot of nifty stuff going on.

Activators Bumblebee - decent, goes well with Shockwave there. Fun, not too complex. Hinges on alt mode are an eyesore, but otherwise a decent car mode. Robot mode could have used real hands or at least a better arm situation, it's the 1 let down.

Target-exclusive Sunstorm - well, for $5 he's good, but I'm unimpressed overall. Face is clown-like. Robot mode is ok but not staggeringly cool, love the forearm blaster gimmick though. Transformation is interesting but the gear tolerances hamper this. Alt mode needs refinement, too thick. Colors are fugly but at least not bright yellow.

Activators Ratchet - ok bot mode. Alt mode works pretty well though. Transformation ripped off from G2 Hubcap, and I like that transformation better than here as this gets in the way of itself a little.


Ultra Magnus - nice sculpt, a number of cool gimmicks. Alt mode is nifty, bot mode is ok but simplistic as is transformation. Feels like it needs a little something more to really carry it into its higher pricepoint, I paid $28 on clearance so it works there.
Image
See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
Post Reply