What do we have from G1 with this line?

[Onslaught Six]

(I know he's not supposed to be blue in color but in language)

Now I'm picturing Bluestreak swearing all the time.

Even if Skywarp could use a rerelease and Ratchet/Ironhide could be done a bit better, I'd rather they didn't. Those toys have been made already, move on to other guys (or, here's a craaaaazy thought: totally new characters in a totally new setting!). Anything to stop this from turning into GI Joe with four new slightly different Storm Shadows every time the line changes its name.

Half yes and half no. I'm okay with the Ratchet and Ironhide we got (The altmodes suck, but hey) but we get tons of new characters every year--and if not new characters then reused names in a new context, and sometimes those new contexts are enough to define the characters in my eyes. Longarm will forever be the doormat Autobot from the first Movie line, to me, just as Barricade will always be Movie Barricade and Blackout is clearly going to continue to be Movie Blackout. Hell, we just got Tomahawk and Terradive, two great new toys. (Well, Terradive's great, I can't speak for Tomahawk as I don't own him.)

I realized the other night that nobody's said anything about Insecticons. No love for Kickback, Bombshell, or Shrapnel. I can't entirely say I'm surprised, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get one, and between the Energon line and the ROTF line, we have 2 decent insect-themed TF molds, but they're definitely not exactly G1 Insecticons. So, anybody want to champion their cause?

Maybe it's because I own the reissue (which was RIDICULOUSLY cheap) but those satisfied me just fine. The only way you could improve on those figures is articulation--everything about their altmodes and transformations would need to stay the same. Also, the size--I dunno why but I'd prefer them to all be Basics, and I don't see Hasbro releasing three new insect Basic dudes--it ain't BW anymore. (That said, they might be able to get away with a couple BW repaints.)

I would also put ROTF Hoist in the "pretty much" category as well. He really does seem to display well next to other classics. Which I can say since I now have enough space to do this.

I totally forgot about that figure, it was in only 1 exclusive repaint pack and didn't make my radar. Interesting choice. In vehicle mode I could maybe see it, but in bot mode I remember this figure being a bit Baytastic, is that not the case with the green version? It's hard to tell in the pics I have seen. The head is somewhat similar to Hoist, that's for sure.

He really isn't, at all. The most you can say is that his legs can become digitigrade--*can,* not necessarily do they look good nor are they particularly designed for it. Longarm (the original toy) was one of the first guys from the game to have a toy designed, but one of the last guys to have his game design finished--basically, they started on the toy before the game design was finished, and as such they filled in the blanks with what they knew...which, at the time, was more traditional TF design.

He's also a lot better if you take the screw out holding his gun to his hand. Then he can hold it in either hand!

[BWprowl]

The Insecticons actually popped up in my mind just yesterday, and yeah, I'd like to see them (and I even have the reissues!). I'm with Six in that I think that they should be Basics, and ROTF's recent Insecticon is a decent enough proof of concept if you ask me. Plus, maybe we'd even get the Deluxe Insecticons later. That would be amazing (seriously, a new Deluxe Venom toy would be my TF of the year).

Yes, I am aware of that, but the figure was pretty blah, and the only reason anybody gives a crap about the new figure is due to his comic characterization. So mentally, that's where he ends up in my head.

Plus, anything that was a Pretender to begin with is a bit hard to take seriously as a G1 TF in my book.

Aw. I don't own it, but I always thought Thunderwing's old toy looked pretty cool. I like the way the robot sits in the shell with the chest closing over it like a cockpit.

I dunno, I just never got all the hate for Pretenders.

Someone on SSG said the same thing. I don't know if I feel Bludgeon fits in the Classics style enough, his aesthetic is taken largely from the movie line, specifically the limbs. I am on the fence though.

Dude, Bludgeon's limbs are like that to be skeletal. They're skeletal because he's a robot skeleton, come on!

[andersonh1]

Since I'm a diehard G1 fan, it goes without saying that I've been very happy with the whole Classics/Universe/Generations line from day one. Not to mention the odd extra like Bludgeon or Seaspray from the movie line that are clearly based off of G1 characters.

When Classics started and then ended with a handful of figures, I never expected to have 50 of 'em to choose from.

Me either. It's a great time for me to be a collector.

[Shockwave]

I would also put ROTF Hoist in the "pretty much" category as well. He really does seem to display well next to other classics. Which I can say since I now have enough space to do this.

I totally forgot about that figure, it was in only 1 exclusive repaint pack and didn't make my radar. Interesting choice. In vehicle mode I could maybe see it, but in bot mode I remember this figure being a bit Baytastic, is that not the case with the green version? It's hard to tell in the pics I have seen. The head is somewhat similar to Hoist, that's for sure.

I didn't see anything on it that was overly Baytastic, I just remember getting it out of the box and wondering if it was originally intended for the Universe/Generations line. Maybe the color scheme really just makes that much of a difference but it really looks like it was done for CHUG with that deco. And having put it next to my other CHUGs it fits right in. I've actually bought a copy of Longarm to custom into a decent Trailbreaker.

[JediTricks]

I know it's pretty far afield, but what about using Energon Shockwave for our list here? Or because we have precedent with Classics Megs, should only a real gun mode version count? I know we can't use Scorponok similarly, but that is as close as I'd be willing to get anyway.

For me, the Energon and Cybertron styles are the closest to Classics. Movieverse and Animated are their own styles, Armada was its own weird style, RID was somewhat similar to Beast Wars in design aesthetic.

(I know he's not supposed to be blue in color but in language)

Now I'm picturing Bluestreak swearing all the time.

I like it!

I'm okay with the Ratchet and Ironhide we got (The altmodes suck, but hey)

You don't feel the paint is an issue on the windows, or the tons of seams, could be addressed on the Ironhide mold? And what about collectors who just missed out on them? It's been years.

but we get tons of new characters every year--and if not new characters then reused names in a new context, and sometimes those new contexts are enough to define the characters in my eyes.

As for Generations, we don't usually get new characters, but there is Drift, and the line does use characters from other iterations including comics and non-G1. I'm ok with that when the line is all about noteworthy characters from classic TF lore.

Hell, we just got Tomahawk and Terradive, two great new toys. (Well, Terradive's great, I can't speak for Tomahawk as I don't own him.)

Tomahawk is alright, not quite as good as Terradive, but certainly adequate.

Maybe it's because I own the reissue (which was RIDICULOUSLY cheap) but those satisfied me just fine. The only way you could improve on those figures is articulation--everything about their altmodes and transformations would need to stay the same. Also, the size--I dunno why but I'd prefer them to all be Basics, and I don't see Hasbro releasing three new insect Basic dudes--it ain't BW anymore. (That said, they might be able to get away with a couple BW repaints.)

The only way I'd be interested is if they could gestalt into a combiner. Really, there's nothing the original 3 cartoon characters said or did that impressed me that we need more of that, they're not standout figures or characters. And the deluxe insecticons really never blew me away, they were ok but a bit colorful and trying to be a little too real-bug which has since been done quite a bit better.

He really isn't, at all. The most you can say is that his legs can become digitigrade--*can,* not necessarily do they look good nor are they particularly designed for it. Longarm (the original toy) was one of the first guys from the game to have a toy designed, but one of the last guys to have his game design finished--basically, they started on the toy before the game design was finished, and as such they filled in the blanks with what they knew...which, at the time, was more traditional TF design.

His brutish proportions, lower legs, and hands seem baytastic to me.

He's also a lot better if you take the screw out holding his gun to his hand. Then he can hold it in either hand!

And by "hold" you mean "fall out"? It works for the left hand peg, but the right hand no longer works at all. Still, it's such an overwhelming gun that screw-removal is necessary.

The Insecticons actually popped up in my mind just yesterday, and yeah, I'd like to see them (and I even have the reissues!). I'm with Six in that I think that they should be Basics, and ROTF's recent Insecticon is a decent enough proof of concept if you ask me. Plus, maybe we'd even get the Deluxe Insecticons later. That would be amazing (seriously, a new Deluxe Venom toy would be my TF of the year).

Well, that's obviously different from what I just said a couple paragraphs above, but it's cool, I didn't want this list to be ONLY what I was looking for. The ROTF Insecticon figure I think was fine and proof of concept, but it also seems like they don't know how to give that sort of thing its own personality separate from the other insect-bots that have come before since BW.

Aw. I don't own it, but I always thought Thunderwing's old toy looked pretty cool. I like the way the robot sits in the shell with the chest closing over it like a cockpit.

I dunno, I just never got all the hate for Pretenders.

Pretenders are generally mediocre Transformers with big un-fun shells slapped around them for no real purpose except to highlight that Hasbro had really run out of new ideas in the '80s for TF action figures. Mainly, they're just not good at doing anything they're trying to do, they halfass their pretender shells, they halfass their transformations, and they halfass the interactions between the 2.

Dude, Bludgeon's limbs are like that to be skeletal. They're skeletal because he's a robot skeleton, come on!

That's my problem though, Bludgeon wasn't a skeletal robot, he was a robot with a skull face, but his pretender limbs were drawn as muscled like a MOTU figure. I have no problem with ROTF Bludgeon being skeletal in theme, but it's not G1, it's clearly bayverse (in this case, I'm not trying to deride bayversity {that is, something of the bayverse, not a place of higher learning for crass robots}, just point out it is different).

I didn't see anything on it that was overly Baytastic, I just remember getting it out of the box and wondering if it was originally intended for the Universe/Generations line. Maybe the color scheme really just makes that much of a difference but it really looks like it was done for CHUG with that deco. And having put it next to my other CHUGs it fits right in. I've actually bought a copy of Longarm to custom into a decent Trailbreaker.

The color definitely makes a difference, but my points above are really why I find it baytastic, I'll restate: brutish proportions, lower legs, and hands

BTW, what's CHUG? I assume it's referring to Classics, Universe, and Generations, but the H?

I'm curious to see what you come up with for Longarm-as-Trailbreaker.

[Shockwave]

I didn't see anything on it that was overly Baytastic, I just remember getting it out of the box and wondering if it was originally intended for the Universe/Generations line. Maybe the color scheme really just makes that much of a difference but it really looks like it was done for CHUG with that deco. And having put it next to my other CHUGs it fits right in. I've actually bought a copy of Longarm to custom into a decent Trailbreaker.

The color definitely makes a difference, but my points above are really why I find it baytastic, I'll restate: brutish proportions, lower legs, and hands

BTW, what's CHUG? I assume it's referring to Classics, Universe, and Generations, but the H?

I'm curious to see what you come up with for Longarm-as-Trailbreaker.

I can see the brutish proportions, but the hands are pretty standard hands. Oh well, to each his own I guess. Really it was the head and chest that made me think "CHUG" (like the segway?) The H is for Henkei. Classics, Henkei, Universe, Generations, and now United (so I guess that's updated to CHUGU). Or if we wanna be really tricky: Classics Universe Generations Henkei United Reveal The Shield (CUGHURTS). CHUG is more accepted term though (at least on TFW).

[Onslaught Six]

I'm okay with the Ratchet and Ironhide we got (The altmodes suck, but hey)

You don't feel the paint is an issue on the windows, or the tons of seams, could be addressed on the Ironhide mold? And what about collectors who just missed out on them? It's been years.

Tough cookies; there's plenty of Ironhides out there. What about other really good toys from years past? What about Magnaboss, or Tripredacus, or Polar Claw? Why is Ironhide special, why does he get a rerelease?

And yeah, the painted back windows sucked--but I said the altmodes were terrible anyway. I bought those guys for the robot modes.

The only way I'd be interested is if they could gestalt into a combiner. Really, there's nothing the original 3 cartoon characters said or did that impressed me that we need more of that, they're not standout figures or characters. And the deluxe insecticons really never blew me away, they were ok but a bit colorful and trying to be a little too real-bug which has since been done quite a bit better.

That'd be dumb. I hate it when people try to shoehorn combiner aspects into guys who completely weren't fucking combiners. It's like the people that say the Dinobots should combine. They don't! They...they just *don't!*

His brutish proportions, lower legs, and hands seem baytastic to me.

We've had brutes in TF well before Bay came along. Maybe you can make a case for the lower legs, but there's nothing particularly different about his hands.

And by "hold" you mean "fall out"? It works for the left hand peg, but the right hand no longer works at all. Still, it's such an overwhelming gun that screw-removal is necessary.

I dunno, I never had an issue. Maybe the friction on mine was just good.

I didn't see anything on it that was overly Baytastic, I just remember getting it out of the box and wondering if it was originally intended for the Universe/Generations line. Maybe the color scheme really just makes that much of a difference but it really looks like it was done for CHUG with that deco. And having put it next to my other CHUGs it fits right in. I've actually bought a copy of Longarm to custom into a decent Trailbreaker.

The color definitely makes a difference, but my points above are really why I find it baytastic, I'll restate: brutish proportions, lower legs, and hands

BTW, what's CHUG? I assume it's referring to Classics, Universe, and Generations, but the H?

I'm curious to see what you come up with for Longarm-as-Trailbreaker.

I can see the brutish proportions, but the hands are pretty standard hands. Oh well, to each his own I guess. Really it was the head and chest that made me think "CHUG" (like the segway?) The H is for Henkei. Classics, Henkei, Universe, Generations, and now United (so I guess that's updated to CHUGU). Or if we wanna be really tricky: Classics Universe Generations Henkei United Reveal The Shield (CUGHURTS). CHUG is more accepted term though (at least on TFW).

Man, I hate the CHUG acronym, I'm really disappointed it caught on. It just sounds dumb. (Then again, I'm the same with "Unicron Trilogy.")

[BWprowl]

I dislike 'CHUG' too, but what'cha gonna do? My main issue is that it's already outdated. I just say Classics to refer to that particular type of toy. You people know what I'm talking about!

[Shockwave]

I don't especially care for it either, but it's faster to type than anything else. And speaking of the UT, was Unicron actually in any of Cybertron? I have the whole thing on DVD and I have watched it, but I don't recall actually having seen him in it.

[138 Scourge]

Megatron was wearing armor made from Unicron IIRC, and the supermassive black hole was supposed to have been created by Unicron blowing up real good. And he made a couple appearances in the toyline, so if you count that for anything...

So Cybertron was kind of a fallout from Unicron thing.

I don't care for CHUG, but CUGHURTS is kind of funny.