Combiner Wars

[Shockwave]

HoneyBear was flipping through the comics that came with the Protectobots. He did not do a full-comparison. But, he he noticed that the Hasbro editions have different phrasing in places. (An issue of RiD where Prowl threatened to kill Spike is sanitized so that Prowl only threatens to "get" Spike for the First Aid pack-in.)

HoneyBear got a stack of RiD from me when I purged out my collection, and has not quite forgiven me.

You know I always hear you referring to this HoneyBear fellow; does he post here? I feel I'm out of the loop somehow.

He is a member here under the username Ursus Mellifera which translates to "Honey Bear". Although he hasn't posted on here in a looooooong time.

[Dominic]

Yup. Childhood friend. It is not unusual for us to exchange voice and text messages about sodomy and coprophagia. We also talk about philosophy.

[JediTricks]

My review of Menasor is complete, bringing my reviews of Combiner Wars waves 1 and 2 to an end after 18 days, truly this was my May Mayhem.

http://www.tfviews.com/news/toysandcollectibles/2463

In writing this review, I finally was able to answer the question of whether being a really good combiner could balance out the quality of individual bots: it couldn't. The Stunticons are better individual figures than the Aerialbots, the Aerialbots are a more harmonious team but the Stunticons are just better overall. Yet while Superion is considerably better than Menasor, it's just not enough better to sway my recommendation. I do like Superion as an actual figure, which is a first for a traditional 1-component-per-bot combiner that isn't named Voltron, but Superion is not flawless and those little issues keep it feeling like a sliding scale with Menasor rather than a total eclipsing.

[andersonh1]

My review of Menasor is complete, bringing my reviews of Combiner Wars waves 1 and 2 to an end after 18 days, truly this was my May Mayhem.

http://www.tfviews.com/news/toysandcollectibles/2463

In writing this review, I finally was able to answer the question of whether being a really good combiner could balance out the quality of individual bots: it couldn't. The Stunticons are better individual figures than the Aerialbots, the Aerialbots are a more harmonious team but the Stunticons are just better overall. Yet while Superion is considerably better than Menasor, it's just not enough better to sway my recommendation. I do like Superion as an actual figure, which is a first for a traditional 1-component-per-bot combiner that isn't named Voltron, but Superion is not flawless and those little issues keep it feeling like a sliding scale with Menasor rather than a total eclipsing.

Nice review of Menasor, and thanks again for all the pictures. He's a leggy fellow, isn't he? The original had similar problems, depending on how closely one followed the instructions. Either he was very squat if you gave him the Motormaster "wide stance", or else he was too tall. It was hard to find a balance, so in that regard, they may have been a bit too faithful in the update. But I sometimes like it when Transformers don't have entirely human proportions, so it's not necessarily a negative.

Distribution has been poor in my area, so after I finish spending all my hobby money on comics next week, I may resort to going online for my Stunticons and Aerialbots. I'm determined to finish both sets.

[JediTricks]

He's leggy worse than most movie figures which is a bit of a burden, and then the tiny wasp waist that's half covered by the crotch plate, it's like he's a very confused brick. I never had the original Menasor so I'm only going on pics, didn't realize this was variable. I suppose they don't have to be entirely humanoid, but the leggy figures thing got played out with TF:DOTM for me. And Superion is just so much better balanced, I might have been spoiled by that. I knew going into it that I was going to be comparing Menasor to Superion where Superion got much more of a stand-alone review, but it's a wave 1 vs 2 thing for me.

Yeah, Distribution is so bad right now, I don't really get it for Transformers but perhaps it's because RID isn't moving well and some stores still have AOE product wasting on shelves.

[Sparky Prime]

I swear the closest Target and Wal-Mart to me hasn't restocked the Transformers section in at least 2 weeks. The shelves have been almost empty with the same unsold figures still sitting there. It's kinda odd to see because it's like this one empty hole in the middle of the toy isle with everything else fully stocked.

[Shockwave]

Distribution has been consistently bad here for everything, pretty much ever. That's why I didn't even bother with brick and mortor toy hunting, I've just preordered from BBTS and call it a day. Speaking of which, Hotspot and Cyclonus should be arriving next week so I'll be able review Defensor soon.

[JediTricks]

SDCC Devastator, now with appropriate paint!
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... or-182787/

I called that one.


Takara's Deluxe Groove, I didn't call that one:
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ve-182786/

Seriously wow, it's a nice-looking mold but how would Hasbro even try to market this piece, e-tailer exclusive or not? They have a Groove out now.

[Dominic]

That Groove really annoys me. It is too much a sop to GeeWunners.


And, if I lose my mind and decide to jump for a Devastator, I will go for the better SDCC variant (which is really only what the retail variant should be).

[JediTricks]

I've decided that if I see them in the wild, I'll likely get First Aid and Streetwise and Rook, maybe Hot Spot and Groove, and likely not Blades. I want to see more coverage on Hot Spot before I decide, and my interest Groove has diminished since reviews have started coming in. Blades I already was on the fence about since I have Alpha Bravo and decided he's just not an Aerialbot but I like him, then I saw the head on Blades and was turned way off.

That Groove really annoys me. It is too much a sop to GeeWunners.

Japan is marketing their products differently for a harder-core fan, I guess they don't have faith that Hasbro's add-in characters will sell their products to their customers. Why wouldn't they go down that path?

And, if I lose my mind and decide to jump for a Devastator, I will go for the better SDCC variant (which is really only what the retail variant should be).

Yeah, it's frustrating how Hasbro expects north of $100 for this sort of figure yet lets it have the cheapest, most middling deco for retail, then doubles down on shitting on those customers by releasing the SDCC-exclusive with the proper paint job.