Universe2.0/Generations Review Thread

[andersonh1]

Anderson, I can look into finding one. But, the mark-up is going to be painful.

Dom

I appreciate the offer, but they'll turn up here soon enough. And I've got three Wal-Marts, two Targets and one Toys R Us within a 15 mile radius, so there's plenty of places to hunt. It's just a matter of time.

[Dominic]

The problem is that Thrust is (so far) only listed as being in Wave 1. That is why I bought one at Newbury's, even with the mark-up.

I was going to buy more for customizing. But, if they are going to be rare and expensive, I am less likely to be doing that.


Dom
-good luck finding one.

[Shockwave]

The new movie toys seem pretty common around here, but Generations is almost nil. I chock most of that up to low distribution and suspect that there will be more in the next few weeks/months. I don't really expect Thrust or Dirge to be that rare.

[Dominic]

I know that Target, at least in this area, is not shy about skipping waves. I would not put it past them....especially considering that they have *piles* of RotF that they put out....just last week.


Dom

[Dominic]

"Generations" Thrust:

And.....yeah.

Despite the sour tone of this review, let it be said that I do like this figure. I can appreciate this as a modification of a mould that is soundly, if not brilliantly, designed. I can accapt "Generations" Thrust as an update of a old character, in much the same way that I can accept "Classics" Mirage or "Universe" Smokescreen as updates of old characters. They do not faithfully recreate old toys or character models. But, they represent the character and are well designed.

But, given Hasbro' spotty track record for releasing the original 6 jets in one consistent scale and aesthetic, in the same market, this toy is kind of a kick in the shins. To make matters worse, Thrust shows signs of mould rot not unlike "Henkei" Thundercracker and "Universe" AcidStorm, meaning the odds of the base mould lasting long enough to make all 6 of the original Decepticon planes even worse.

The color mapping is more or less faithful to the original figure and character model. However, the basic design of "Generations" Thrust (based on the "Henkei" mould from Japan) is decidedly not similar to the G1 character model.

"Generations" Thrust has the character's trademark wing-turbines. However, the design of the wings is different enough from the original to be noticeable. G1 Thrust's turbines are embedded in the wings themselves. "Generations" Thrust's turbines are mounted *on* the wings, making this toy just dis-similar enough from the original character model to keep it from being a direct homage despite being the same character. (The BotCon Thrust figure has wing moulding and coloring that is very evocative of the original. Good luck finding one for a reasonable price though.)

At this point, even if Hasbro does (eventually) release a G1 styled Thundercracker in this scale, getting a complete set of all 6 of the original Decepticons in one consistent scale and aesthetic will still require buying old toys or buying a mix of US retail, Japanese exclusives and convention exclusives. (Either option is going to be expensive, and beyond the means of many collectors.) And, mould rot is as evident on Thrust as it was on recent pressings of the mould, meaning that any mass release of Thundercracker may have serious QC issues.


The following is a breakdown of the 3 (by my count) possible sets of Decepticon planes, assuming one does not mix and match:

It is actually impossible to get perfect recreations of the G1 character models. The listings below are a "close-enough" standard. Considering how inconsistent much of the original series, was, this is not unreasonable.

G1 (or close enough):
-US "Universe" Starscream or Japanese Henkei Starscream.
-US "Generations" Dirge.
-US "Classics" Skywarp. (There is a fair amount of orange on this figure, making its inclusion here debatable, even assuming a "close enough" standard.)
-Japanese "Henkei" Skywarp and Thundercracker. (Expensive. Way expensive.)
-Japanese "Henkei" Ramjet. (Not as expensive.)
-BotCon Thrust. (Way the hell expensive, and from a *very* limited production run. If you do not have one, you probably are not getting one...ever.)
-BotCon Thundercracker. (See above, and make it even worse.)

It is technically possible to get all 6. But, there are some very expensive hoops to jump through. It is likely to be a bit cheaper that getting originals, (and the toys will be better), but it will not be fun. Additionally, "Henkei" Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp have chroming that the other toys will not have. For the record, I have 4 "Henkei" figures, and plan to get US Dirge. I am not getting Thrust.

On a personal note, this is made a bit more irksome by the fact that Thrust is the one one fo the originals I have never owned. I had Ramjet as a kid and later managed to find the all of the original toys save for Thrust on the after market about 10 years ago, and have since sold them off. (The originals are terrible toys.)


New colors: A number of the original 6 have been released with new color schemes. I have actually handled the US releases and view them favorably. However, even if one includes Japanese releases, only 4 of the planes have been released with new colors schemes. This is understandable in the case of the US releases, which were part of a line that was not trying to faithfully recreate the original toys. However, the Japanese releases were part of a line that generally was focused on recreating the originals, but still had newer color schemes.

-US "Classics" Starscream and Ramjet.
-US "Classics" Skywarp. (As noted above, this figure can credibly be placed on two lists owing to the orange highlights. My inclination is to put it here. However, given the cost of the Japanese figure, I would not blame someone for calling this one "close enough" to G1.)
-Japanese "Henkei" Thrust and Dirge. (Thrust has new color mapping on wings that are different from the originals. Dirge has G1 style wings, with new color mapping.)


Old colours, new style moulding:
While all of the figures on these lists are cast from moulding designed in the last 5 years, the moulding is generally evocative of the originals. In that sense, I refer to deviations from that standard as "new" moulding.

-BotCon Dirge: G1 colour mapping on a straight recolor of the above mentioned Ramjet mould.
-"Generations" Thrust: G1 colour mapping on the Henkei mould.


Dom
-actually loses sleep over this sort of thing.

[andersonh1]

I suspect the variation on the original figure's wing design is just to make the mass market figures somewhat distinctive from the Botcon figures, so those collectors who bought the Botcon figures won't have been shafted.

[Shockwave]

Eh, I would still argue that the Henkei seekers are more or less consistent with each other, Ramjet is the only one without chrome on his launchers, he has it on his tailfins instead. It also sounds like Hasbro does have the intention of doing and US Thundercracker, but it also sounds like it won't happen until next year.

Shockwave
-Has active plans to buy a Botcon 07 set and mold copies of Thrust's wings.

[Onslaught Six]

...Orange highlights on Skywarp, Dom? The toy has an orange cockpit...and nothing else. And there's some red in his shoulder intakes--which owes more to the stickers on the original release than anything else. I mean, I can kind of understand the chrome thing. I can even get onboard for the different wing patterns between releases. But 'this?' This is just anal, bro.

And Thrust? Thrust doesn't have anything new about him, man. His wings are a good compromise.

[Shockwave]

Orange eh? I suddenly feel compelled to track down a US Skywarp. I actually like the VTOLs as separate pieces myself. I allows for more diversity and a more dynamic figure.

[Onslaught Six]

It's just his cockpit that's orange! Dom exaggerates.