RTS Perceptor

[Dominic]

But, the second Blurr's rifle has to stay with the assassin.

-rifle 1: Blurr

-rifle 2: assassin

-rifle 3: Perceptor

Dom

[Shockwave]

But you said the assassin would have no sword or rifle? I'm confused. Was that a typo?

[Dominic]

The assassin would have the rifle and knives as a default. But, part of me wants to give the assassin optional pistols.

The third Blurr figure would provide me with a rifle for Perceptor, as well as pistols for the assassin (crafted from the second Blurr).


Dom

[Shockwave]

Y'know, I suppose Kup's rifle could probably work too.

[Dominic]

Two problems wth using Kup's gun:

It looks more like a shotgun than sniper rifle though. And, then I would just have to buy another Kup.


Dom
-might just skip giving Perceptor a rifle.

[JediTricks]

First, I'd like to comment on the issue of non-vehicle TFs. Hasbro is right, they don't seem to sell with consumers in general, even Classics Megatron shelfwarmed hard. That said, I love 'em, and they often do a good job with them. I bought a bunch of the Real Gear guys, as you can see in my sig they inspired me, I also bought the FAB boombox-Frenzy from the first movie, and Scalpel from the second movie, they satisfy and have a "robot in disguise all around you" feel that is otherwise missing from TF lately.


Now, as to RTS Perceptor, I didn't like this figure when I first got it, the colors, chrome, and problematic backpack-shoulders really hurt my opinion of it. Also, the shoulder weapon having a joint it can't use that suggests a makeshift microscope gag is annoying, and there's something about the shoulder transformation going from floor-dragging to whipping around that bothers me. But something about this figure has charm, there's a completeness to the alt mode, the transformation has some interesting ideas, the colors and chrome feel like a reasonable throwback. I can't get past the rather unappealing facial expression, that headsculpt misses the mark. But the best thing is, by playing with it, transforming it back and forth, messing around with poses, I accidentally fell into a stable angle on the shoulders where they don't dislodge when the arms are used, and that really improved my opinion of this mold.

The chest folding down is a fun idea, but the rubsign back there doesn't fit the space, and it feels wrong there.

[Mirage]

That's why I ripped it off! I put it on his hood, where it seems more natural, but I damaged it so who knows if it'll stay.

[JediTricks]

That's why I ripped it off! I put it on his hood, where it seems more natural, but I damaged it so who knows if it'll stay.

That's a tad extreme, no? Plus, it ends up on his back in bot mode, right?

[Shockwave]

I'm still wondering what magical position you had that backpack in to the arms to lock into place? I"m still having trouble with mine. Pics would help if you have the capability.

[JediTricks]

I'm still wondering what magical position you had that backpack in to the arms to lock into place? I"m still having trouble with mine. Pics would help if you have the capability.

It starts by understanding the backpack transformation. The problem is the backpack can sorta come together in a myriad of ways without being "right". So first the black strut tabs into the gray slot in the neck:


Then you sort of roll the red tab into the black strut's slot:
turns into =>
But that's only the first half, you're not done yet.

Ok, so that gets you to here:

And you just roll that forward, but then most folks get to this "finished but not properly" position (pardon the unaligned arms, I didn't notice until I had put the camera away, but they just rotate around freely no matter what):


The key there is to roll the the backpack flatter (you're using those tabs from above to leverage everything together, but not LOCKING it together) until the actual shoulder hinges pop out from under the collar so they press against it like so:


Ultimately, it's that friction between that black shoulder hinge and the red collar which stabilizes the whole thing (it's on both shoulders). I can easily move either arm without concern now. I was going to post a video doing so, but I don't have enough hands to hold the figure, move the arm, and aim the camera - I almost had it, but I used my phone and it's sideways and because of the way I was gripping the figure, it ended up dislodging at the end because I pushed against the backpack underside.