Universe2.0/Generations Review Thread

[Onslaught Six]

Oh yeah! DVD raised the thing about Scourge being positively huge in his review. Get this: Scourge is based on a Boeing prototype that is like 1/6th the size or something of the actual plane it's intended to represent. In other words, Scourge's vehicle mode is actually the size of a car or so--the windows on it? They're fake on the very vehicle Scourge is emulating.

[Dominic]

I get the feeling people are going to army-build with that toy.

Dom

[Shockwave]

Indeed. There are already reports of it over at TFW. I don't really army build TFs. Other lines though... I have like 6 Snowtroopers loaded up in that big ass AT-AT. Along with two biker scouts so... yeah...

[BWprowl]

Oh yeah! DVD raised the thing about Scourge being positively huge in his review. Get this: Scourge is based on a Boeing prototype that is like 1/6th the size or something of the actual plane it's intended to represent. In other words, Scourge's vehicle mode is actually the size of a car or so--the windows on it? They're fake on the very vehicle Scourge is emulating.

Wait, so Scourge is pretending to be a plane that's pretending to be another plane? He's fake twice?

This actually makes sense though. Let's him be more inconspicuous than if he was actually super-huge. Plus it means he's more in-scale with most other toys.

[Dominic]

That is not quite the same existential question that RofT Wheelie raises, (an action figure whose gimmick is disguising itself as another toy), but there is a certain appeal.

Dom

[BWprowl]

That is not quite the same existential question that RofT Wheelie raises, (an action figure whose gimmick is disguising itself as another toy)

Weren't the first set of G1 Mini-Cars doing that too? They were supposed to be Choro-Q toys.

[Dominic]

For the purposes of the "MicroChange" line, yes. But, "MicroChange" =/= "Transformers". Wheelie and Scourge raise this question in the context of "Transformers".


Dom
-likes the 1:1 scale idea of "Micro Man". MMMMMMMMMiiiiicroooo Maaann!

[138 Scourge]

So, would RTS stuff go in here? I'm putting it in here, screw it.

Chopsaw: Chopsaw is a pretty neat toy, all around. First pictures I saw of him, I thought he looked pink. On further examination of the toy, he's more of a lighter purple/magenta color. His colors, along with the motorcycle alt. mode, actually sort of remind me of Thrust from Beast Machines. In my book, that's a huge plus.

The bio's entertaining enough. Chopsaw doesn't want much out of life. He just wants to wreck shit with his saws. Megatron lets him wreck shit with his saws, Prime probably wouldn't, so he's a Decepticon.

The toy's packaged in robot mode, but I'm starting in bike mode just because. This guy is a dope ass bike. He's one of those nifty-looking choppers, I don't know enough about motorbikes to even venture a guess as to what sort, but it's definitely something a Drednok would feel pretty comfortable on. A Drednok very comfortable in his masculinity, given the colorscheme, but still. The shape of the bike's really neat, and there's a lot of cool engine and chain detail at the bottom of the bike. Overall, successful vehicle mode.

Transforming this dude is fun. The box says gives it a difficulty rating of "2", but, man, I dunno. It's not that transforming him's that hard in itself, but it's that it does some different things with the bot into bike process that kind of threw me off. I was going from 'bot to bike, and turning the arms into the front suspension, wheel, and fuel tank were obvious. But the trickier bit is that I felt like I wanted to do that first, and then combining the legs into the engine and folding 'em into place doesn't work. Also, you can rotate the legs around, and I felt like I'd need to for some reason, but it turns out you don't do that. Easy once you get it down, yeah, but tricky at first. Still, overall, like I say, fun. Only downsides I've found are that it's hard to get these two pipes up front to peg together. You can, but it makes the fuel tank and handlebars want to split apart. Still, if you ignore those pipes not quite lining up, everything else snaps together...pretty well. There's always gonna be a tiny gap bisecting the fuel tank and the front wheel cover. It isn't unforgivable, though.

Robot mode's where the money is. This dude's a fiendish lookin' little dude. The legs and lower body are really skinny, but the shoulders and upper torso are pretty broad, thanks to being the fuel tank folded open and wrapped around the rear wheel. Actually, I think it's pretty neat how the rear wheel is the center of the robot, it's a neat design touch. So right, you've got that, then the arms are these long gangly skinny things, terminating in these big black "saw blades" made of the split-apart tires. Then you've got tiny, vestigal hands attached to the front wheel covers. Then the head, man, that is magic. An array of long thin pointed teeth, with a couple of green little beady eyes set on top, with a head that kind of echoes a certain type of motorcycle helmet. That is good stuff. He doesn't appear to have a lower jaw, but that mouth full of needles looks just creepy anyway. In a way, dude gives off a vibe similar to the doll from that last bit in "Trilogy of Terror". Neat touch, too, the green eyes are the only green on this guy. It's pretty cool that Hasbro sprung for the extra color for just two tiny applications.

Overall, Chopsaw has a good vehicle mode, a clever transformation, and a neat robot mode. But, any of y'all that are even remotely interested already bought Brimstone, didn't you? Well, screw it. Other than some minor issues where things don't peg together as tight as they could in bike mode, this is a really solid toy. The clever, creepy looking robot mode makes up for that flaw in bike mode, I'd say, and the whole thing is a pretty decent toy. Chopsaw's likely to be largely ignored in favor of his more desired wave-mate, and I can see why. Brimstone you could've had anywhere for five bucks a couple months back, why go nuts looking for this hard-to-find version? Well, if you find one at one of these discount chains and you haven't gotten Brimstone yet, you could do a lot worse than to pick this guy up. I'ma give him a B overall.

[Ursus mellifera]

I just got Warpath, and I think he's great. I really like the way he transforms like the old toy, but with, of course, far more articulation and detail. I also love the KAPOW and ZOWEE stencilled on the sides of the tank.

If I were a tank, I'd yell comic book sound effects as I shot at folk, too.

[Dominic]

Would also write songs about sodomy? Because, when you called to tell me how much you like Warpath, you opened with a song about sodomy.


Dom
-seriously. Sodomy.