Universe2.0/Generations Review Thread

[Dominic]

Are these worth going crazy to find. Or are they, "buy 'em if you seem 'em"?

Dom
-seeing custom potential....

[Shockwave]

Depends. Fortunately there are figures to compare to. Did you like Hound Jazz and Bumblebee? If you did and would go nuts for those then go nuts for these.

[Dominic]

it is time to get a little but.....NUTTY!


Dom
-tuchus muchus alamagookus!

[andersonh1]

JT's written a thorough review of this guy, and I generally agree with his points, but here's my two cents. Starting with robot mode, since that's the form he's currently in.

Robot mode: Very G1, with very almost exact color matches and placement compared to G1 Perceptor. The abdomen is maroon instead of teal, but overall the colors are faithful to the original. We've even got chrome on the chest plate and the chrome microscope knobs on the wrists. The face is either the cartoon version or IDW's rendition rather than the faceplate of the original. The shoulder cannon is made up of the truck mode's lightbar. All in all, one of the most faithful remakes.

The backpack/shoulders are the biggest problem here. They don't lock down. The hinges are stiff enough to hold everything into place, at least as long as the figure is new. But in order to move the arms you have to hold the backpack into place or else the whole thing falls back and comes apart. There's a lot of truck kibble on the lower legs and forming the backpack, but it tucks away reasonably well. I think if not for the problem with the shoulders and backpack not locking down, this would be a much stronger figure than it is.

Transformation: Very fiddly, and not necessarily in a fun way. I had to resort to the instructions once or twice. There are a lot of steps that have to be done before or after something else, leading to a lot of "what do I do with this?" as I was trying to figure out where it went. A lot of the parts fold in multiple places, or don't quite line up.

Vehicle mode: Science truck? I'm not sure why this was chosen instead of the microscope. I'm guessing the vehicle was probably based on something real, but I don't know what. It does remove some of Perceptor's uniqueness when he's just another vehicle. In any case, it's hard to get everything to line up right, and the searchlights on the top don't look entirely realistic. Still, it's a nice attempt at a new mode for Perceptor, and it's a reasonable attempt.

Overall: It feels like Galvatron, a complex design squeezed into too small a figure. It works, but not as well as it should, and the non-fastening backpack is a major flaw. Otherwise, it's nice to see Perceptor get an updated figure.

[Shockwave]

Perceptor: I kind of agree with Anderson and JT about this figure, the backpack really needs to be able to peg into place somehow. But that's my only complaint and mine seems to stay in place just fine. I do like the look and feel of the figure and it does represent IDW's version of the character well. The gun site targeting thingy is the thing that really seems to homage that (for lack of a better word). Overall I'm pretty happy with it and I would still recommend it.

Wreck Gar: I'm at work and it's quitin' time, I'll review it later.

[andersonh1]

Quick thoughts on Wreck-Gar:
- one of the best motorcycle Transformers I've seen. Very good motorcycle mode without a lot of obvious robot kibble.
- nice asymmetrical transformation. The axe is one of the hubs and exhaust pipes in bike mode and blends seamlessly into the vehicle.
- robot mode: the two wheels sit off to the side as kibble, but mainly out of the way. the legs are the front and seat of the bike. The face is a nice version of the cartoon model for Wreck-Gar.

I remember the original, though I don't currently own it, and this new version is vastly superior to the original Wreck-Gar. It would be a great little Transformer even if it was a new character entirely. Very nice figure.

[Shockwave]

Wreck Gar is a nice figure. I like the look and feel of it and it does look great in both modes. It's a great sculpt everything locks into place in both modes and is really the shining star of this wave. I highly recommend him.

Edit: So update to the review. Was chattin' with Scourge over on the ol' facebook and we decided it would be funny to have a pic of MP Grimlock riding Wreck Gar. So I started transforming Wreck Gar. An hour later I was still at it. Part of the problem was that the hinges that form the thigh joints lock into the crotch area. I couldn't get one of those loose. I did after a lot of pulling at various angles but damn. That was work.

Shockwave
-And now for the joke about Wreck Gar enjoying it.

[138 Scourge]

Well, y'know, Wreck-Gar lives in a planet-sized junkyard, if there's one thing he likes, it's feeling like a dirty boy.

So, I've got the new wave of figures here, thought I'd post up some thoughts on 'em. Scourge I already got covered, and Thundercracker you don't really need a review for, right? Y'all know about this mold by now.

So, Kup: I think I'd really like this toy. The truck mode looks great, the transformation's clever, and the robot mode does a good job of retaining the movie-character look. I like the headsculpt, too, it does a nice job of getting across the "old guy" look Kup's rockin'. The thing that kills it for me is that mine's got two left hands, which makes him look just gimpy however you pose it. Gonna try again with this guy, I like it in concept, just not the gimped-up one.

Wheeljack, though, is dope as hell. I was kind of ambivalent on the Tracks mold, though it was okay, but I wasn't blown away. It's grown on me since, but I was definitely psyched for Wheeljack. Figure delivers. Strange, though, the alternate transformation on this guy makes him look really squat and kind of short. Doesn't seem to happen for Tracks as much, maybe it's that the car-hood stuff is on the back of his legs, and harder to notice? I dunno. Wheeljack looks like a really big dude, though. The new head is what you want out of a Wheeljack toy, the bits by the sides are smoky-grey transparent, and the eyes have the same thing going on. It's weird, like...transparent lightpiping? But it works well enough. The remolded "wrenches" are a cool touch, I like that dude gets some tools..or rather, two of the same tool. But it's a cool accessory for a guy whose main thing isn't fighting. Of course, you can snap 'em onto the mounts up on his shoulders and call 'em good enough gun things if you want. There's neat wrench storage in robot mode, too, they can clip into the legs, where they just look like some robot parts, hydraulic arms or whatnot. When you get dude into car mode, it's pretty impressive how well this thing evokes the G1 styled car, just by adding a new bumper and spoilers. Good enough sorta-vette for Tracks, good enough sorta-whatever Wheeljack was for this. Clever bit of versatility, there.

Wheeljack's a distinctive enough dude that you'd think he should be his own mold, I mean, he didn't even get a repaint in the G1 stuff, but this particular repaint does a bang-up job being his own guy. It's not quite on the level of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker transforming different ways, but it's close. You really don't look at him and think "Oh, hey, Tracks with a new head."

The bio gets it right, too, it mentions that he's kind of a crazy driver, that his lab's got a tendency towards blowing up, and my favorite, that his inventions are the cause of, and solution to, a lot of problems.

So, every figure in this wave is really good and you oughtta get 'em.

[Shockwave]

Pretty much what Scourge said.

Wheeljack: I like the new tooling on this figure. I don't know why but it seems way easier to transform than Tracks (probably because I've already taken out my frustrations on that figure). The sides of the head are transparent plastic which looks really nice and the wing bits that fold out from the doors are different than the ones on Tracks. I would really say that there's enough new tooling on this figure that it really doesn't even feel like the same figure. If you see it, buy it. You won't be disappointed.

Kup: The back end was a little tricky to figure out at first, but it's not too bad. My only complaint with this figure is that I wish there was more to the lower legs but other than that I'm a pretty happy camper. The sculpt is good, transformation is complex but not overly so and the colors work really well.

Scourge: Aesthetically I really like this toy. The vehicle mode is interesting and I think fits the character well. The robot mode does significant justice to the character and I especially like the "facial hair" details. I only really have two complaints with this toy: 1, I really expected the gun to be a targetmaster like Cyclonus'. Instead it's two guns that combine. Not bad, but I was just expecting more. 2, the upper arms. Due to the transformation they have no swing rotation at all (think G1 Prime's shoulders). I find that it really limits the poseability for the upper half of the figure. Overall I would still recommend Scourge.

[BWprowl]

Scourge: ... 2, the upper arms. Due to the transformation they have no swing rotation at all (think G1 Prime's shoulders). I find that it really limits the poseability for the upper half of the figure. Overall I would still recommend Scourge.

They're not *totally* without movement. Rotate the shoulder hinge up 90 degrees, and you can use his shoulder swivel to get the arm to swing out. It does look a bit awkward, but it'll do when you need it to.

I'm with you all the way on the gun though. The Targetmaster versions are the definitive versions of Cyclonus and Scourge to me.