Transformers Kingdom

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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Shockwave
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Shockwave »

Sparky Prime wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 4:10 amBlackarachnia -
I'm a little annoyed the one I got has the Predacon symbol off centered a bit, so I decided to color a little bit more of her collar to make it less noticeable. Beyond that, another great figure. I never thought it'd be possible to make a black widow and robot mode as show accurate as this figure is. I've thought about painting the spider legs to make it a bit more show accurate... But a black widow's legs are supposed to be black, so I'm happy with how this figure looks as is.

Airazor -
This figure is perfection. Unlike the other figures, I see no need to make any modifications. I really like how they managed to find a way to hide the robot arms in beast mode. And the added articulation for the wings is exactly what this figure needed, adding so much character and pose-ability. I am a little concerned about the wings though... I've seen some people say they've had stress marks or the plastic broke. One of my figures wings popped off when I took it out of the packaging (not a fan of how they packaged this figure, it wasn't easy getting the wings out) but it popped back on with out any issues. Still... I'm afraid of how fragile it might be.
Go for it. Widow spiders come in all sorts of colors: red, black, brown and yes, even yellow. The show model wasn't 100% accurate (to the best of my knowledge, there's no actual species that is black with yellow legs) but it was close enough to be believable. So yeah, if you wanna paint it, go for it. Also, with the logo, there's always reprolabels.

And yeah, I love Airazor, I agree that she's perfect. I was amazed by the fact that her beak is articulated.
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JediTricks
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by JediTricks »

Interesting reveals. The Ark at $160 looks a bit small, I guess that's why Mainframe is being included, it's a cute set-up but it's not for me. I preordered Rhinox, Galvatron, Scorponok, and Tracks with a discount, but all of them look to have their issues. With the announcement of the price increase, I think I'm done after this.

Several comment say there's locking tabs on the legs in beast mode, I'm not seeing this. There's locking tabs for the robot thighs, but the beast legs none, they fit against a part but they don't lock.


As for existing Kingdom figures...

Cheetor - very small and fragile, first transformation bent the tabs around the beast head, the thin-wall design is guaranteed to break these or the center tab off. A so-so bot mode thanks to a lack of a chest and a lame weapon. Cheetah beast mode is ok to look at but not that poseable. C-

Huffer - gets the personality right but a pretty crappy transformer toy. Bot mode has a lot of hollowness and the backpack doesn't compact at all so it's pretty bulky and needs to be angled. Weapons don't fit the character but aren't un-fun; hands are slightly oversized so the gun is loose in each (it's not the gun, it pegs into the other 5mm ports fine). Transformation is ugly and clumsy and chintzy considering how small this toy is compared to other deluxes. Alt mode is clumsy with a misaligned cab making the truck look like it's bent, a huge gap under the cab, and hollows at the back of the truck. The front wheels are clip-ons and pop off easily. C- again.

Dinobot - a so-so robot mode that gets some things very right like the headsculpt and others wrong like the tubby torso. A transformation that's fairly clever, but limited by materials and design choices on thin-walled parts it cannot make work around the thighs. Beast mode has little usable articulation, and a lot of compromises that hamper the looks. Feels like a figure designed only for robot mode. If I had paid full price instead of getting $5 reduction, this would have gone back. C-/D+

Inferno - I passed on Grapple due to the breakage issue, this fixed it. A fun fire truck to robot man that's fairly true to the original character, that same devotion to G1 keeps it from having more going on in sculpt though. B+

BW Megatron - so very many compromises keep this figure trapped in a limbo between being genuinely cool and genuinely frustrating. Some serious engineering deficiencies are leading to a lot of breakages at various points, and it's not surprising given how many problems my sample has even without defects. There's also a lack of sharpness to the robot sculpt, and the arm weapons don't come off which just feels cheap. His beast mode is pretty great if you don't mind a lot of panels that don't closely align. C-/F depending on your luck of the draw.


Ursus mellifera wrote: Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:23 am I did more research. Apparently it depends on the scorpion.

Eight limbs:

Image
That one also has 10 limbs, you can see the front pair of legs just peeking out behind the claw, and you can see the right front hip clear as day beneath the arm shoulder.
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?
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Sparky Prime »

Cheetor - This was a figure I was going to skip from the Kingdom line. I get the changes they made, considering a cheetah is supposed to be slimmer than the original figure was (considering the original wasn't even meant to be a cheetah in the first place). But he really needs to have his gut or tail gun. I don't understand why they decided to make the tail into a spiked whip weapon like his Transmetal form, when they probably could have at least done his tail gun. Then I noticed an upgrade kit online... A gun barrel that goes on the tail, and a gut gun that even incorporates into the beast mode without compromising the slim cheetah look. Normally, I don't go for third party stuff, but... I felt this would complete the figure, so I decided to get it.

The upgrade kit should arrive later this week, but I got Cheetor today. Besides the lack of his proper weapons, the other thing that bothered me about this figure was the robot mode legs. Again, I get they made it this way this to improve upon the beast mode, which it does, but I wish they could have figured out a way to make it work better for the robot mode as well. Although, having it hand, it doesn't bother me as much. This is also another figure from the Kingdom line I'll be doing some painting. Like so many of the Kingdom figures, there's some really nice details on the figure that'd add so much if they'd painted them. And they really should have gone with a darker blue on Cheetor...
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Ursus mellifera
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Ursus mellifera »

Sparky Prime wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 4:06 am Cheetor - This was a figure I was going to skip from the Kingdom line. I get the changes they made, considering a cheetah is supposed to be slimmer than the original figure was (considering the original wasn't even meant to be a cheetah in the first place). But he really needs to have his gut or tail gun. I don't understand why they decided to make the tail into a spiked whip weapon like his Transmetal form, when they probably could have at least done his tail gun. Then I noticed an upgrade kit online... A gun barrel that goes on the tail, and a gut gun that even incorporates into the beast mode without compromising the slim cheetah look. Normally, I don't go for third party stuff, but... I felt this would complete the figure, so I decided to get it.

The upgrade kit should arrive later this week, but I got Cheetor today. Besides the lack of his proper weapons, the other thing that bothered me about this figure was the robot mode legs. Again, I get they made it this way this to improve upon the beast mode, which it does, but I wish they could have figured out a way to make it work better for the robot mode as well. Although, having it hand, it doesn't bother me as much. This is also another figure from the Kingdom line I'll be doing some painting. Like so many of the Kingdom figures, there's some really nice details on the figure that'd add so much if they'd painted them. And they really should have gone with a darker blue on Cheetor...
The Walmart Cheetor is a nice, dark blue, but all the paintwork on his beast form seems to suck on the ones I've seen, especially on the face.

I wish he had the gut-gun, too. How hard could that have been to do when some randos with a 3D printer managed to bang one out within weeks of the toy being released? Hasbro could've done that.
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Sparky Prime »

Ursus mellifera wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 6:41 amThe Walmart Cheetor is a nice, dark blue, but all the paintwork on his beast form seems to suck on the ones I've seen, especially on the face.
Yeah, the blue is much better on that version, but has its own drawbacks.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Sparky Prime »

After a bit of a shipping delay... I got the Cheetor upgrade kit today. The gut gun is a little loose in the figure's hand, but not so loose that I think it's a problem. The tail whip fits snuggly with the gun barrel and in the hand of the figure, with the tail going up over over his shoulder. Since the whip weapon doesn't have much of the... uh, rump of the beast mode on it like the original figure, it changes the profile of this weapon, and I really like how this contrasts to his gut gun. It makes each gun look like they have different uses from each other, like one is supposed to be a long range weapon, or whatever. Overall, really happy I got this 3rd party upgrade kit for the figure, I feel it really completes this figure to have the weapons this form of the character is supposed to have.
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Ursus mellifera
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Ursus mellifera »

Can you link that upgrade kit?
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Sparky Prime »

Ursus mellifera wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 8:33 am Can you link that upgrade kit?
Sure: Intestine Gun Tail Gun Upgrade Kit
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Ursus mellifera
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Ursus mellifera »

Thanks!
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Transformers Kingdom

Post by Sparky Prime »

Grimlock (repaint of Kingdom Dinobot with a new robot mode head) and Mirage has been revealed as an Amazon exclusive two pack.

Honestly, really disappointed by this Grimlock. The new head is nice, but the paintjob is terrible. It's also a little odd they say Grimlock is "Beast Wars: Uprising-inspired" in the description. That version of Grimlock was based on the original Beast Wars toyline version of Grimlock in the first place... Mirage is alright. Apparently a retool of Siege Mirage to change his Cybertronian race car parts into Earth race car parts... So nothing special if you ask me, when that figure already looked like an F1 racer.
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