TF Views

The biggest problems are people whining about ankles and wrists

Ankles and wrists open up too many options for posing. I wanted them for years before they became standard.

The other problem is the partly open chest cavities on the limbs.

The limbs have enough problems that the combined form becomes obligatory to make the limbs worth buying (which means it is really going to sting if somebody does not make a full combiner).

Silverbolt is AT LEAST as good as Universe Silverbolt (who didn't have wrists either, hurr), and he combines. Hell, his transformation's marginally better, with the wings that fold back properly and his legs forming actual parts of the jet mode, so hey! But as we all know, all new TFs totally suck

I will concede that new Silverbolt is better. Saw one recently and had to pass one it for money reasons. Maybe next payday.)

The "Zelda Cycle," in theory, is...Okay, you'll remember this. Wind Waker got announced and everybody thought it looked like shit and said they hated it, right? Then Twilight Princess happened and suddenly everyone hated it and loved Wind Waker. Then Skyward Sword happened and everyone hated it and loved TP. you see how this could apply?

Here's my big thing: Superion is combined now. Short of switching the limbs out or messing with options, Superion is likely to stay as goddamn Superion for the majority of his shelf life. The amount of times I will display these dudes as individual robots, in my LIFE, I will probably be able to count on my hands. Is the $70-80 I paid worth one big-ass robot? I dunno! Right now I think it is. It's certainly better than the $200-300 a third party Superion would cost. And shit, this is Superion we're talking about. Superion is the combiner I am literally least interested in, from both a design and character standpoint, and here I fucking am defending him, so what's THAT tell you?

The chests are what they are. You're either going to be alright with it or hate it. Same with the wrists/ankles, which have never been an entirely line-wide standard. Shit, a decade ago, the idea of a deluxe Rodimus without moving hips was a very real fear!

Dominic wrote:

The biggest problems are people whining about ankles and wrists

Ankles and wrists open up too many options for posing. I wanted them for years before they became standard.

The other problem is the partly open chest cavities on the limbs.

The limbs have enough problems that the combined form becomes obligatory to make the limbs worth buying (which means it is really going to sting if somebody does not make a full combiner).

Ugh, let it go... The fact is the elbow and leg joints are articulated enough that account for no ankles or wrists. And the chest cavity thing isn't nearly as bad as everyone is complaining about. I had Alpha Bravo for at least two weeks as a stand alone bot before I had any of the rest of Superion and for the first time in a long time I didn't regret purchasing it. Often times in the last year or so, I've bought Transformers figures and later felt like I should have spent that money elsewhere. I have not had that feeling with any of the CW figures.

Onslaught Six wrote:The "Zelda Cycle," in theory, is...Okay, you'll remember this. Wind Waker got announced and everybody thought it looked like shit and said they hated it, right? Then Twilight Princess happened and suddenly everyone hated it and loved Wind Waker. Then Skyward Sword happened and everyone hated it and loved TP. you see how this could apply?

Here's my big thing: Superion is combined now. Short of switching the limbs out or messing with options, Superion is likely to stay as goddamn Superion for the majority of his shelf life. The amount of times I will display these dudes as individual robots, in my LIFE, I will probably be able to count on my hands. Is the $70-80 I paid worth one big-ass robot? I dunno! Right now I think it is. It's certainly better than the $200-300 a third party Superion would cost. And shit, this is Superion we're talking about. Superion is the combiner I am literally least interested in, from both a design and character standpoint, and here I fucking am defending him, so what's THAT tell you?

The chests are what they are. You're either going to be alright with it or hate it. Same with the wrists/ankles, which have never been an entirely line-wide standard. Shit, a decade ago, the idea of a deluxe Rodimus without moving hips was a very real fear!

I remember when the games came out, but I'm not really active with the rest of video game fandom so I have no recollection of how others reacted to them. I do remember not liking Wind Waker visually and I still hate it. I haven't played the others, but I get what you mean. And I can see Prowl's parallel to the TF fandom. I also agree with you on everything you've said about Superion so far, except for displaying them. I've had them for two weeks now and I am really enjoying switching them between the various modes. I actually have displayed them together in Bot, alt and merged modes.

Alpha Bravo:

In a bit of perfect timing, Honey Bear called me about finding Alpha Bravo maybe a half hour after I talked to Lewis Brooks, who discovered that Slingshot is not scheduled for US release.

The good:
-really nice sculpt/painting on the face. (Not sure which is contributing more in this case. But, the face looks really nice.)
-helicopters do not get enough love in TF.
-it is a limb to a really good combiner.
-combiner foot works as a gun for the copter mode.

The bad: No surprises here.
-hollow looking chest in 'bot mode.
-rotors do not lock down.
-the gun looks excellent from one side, terrible from the other. (It is only moulded properly on the one side.)
-copter's tail section is similarly moulded, only having proper detailing on one side.

Alpha Bravo is the weakest of the limbs released so far, and probably the worst Aerialbot. But, ~$15 to $20 USD beats the likely import fees that Slingshot would obligate.

Grade: C/D

Not sure that this mould is bad enough to deter me from wanting Blades (and by extension the rest of the Protectobots). But, it is definitely not an incentive.

Just ordered Air Raid, Breakdown, Off Road, and Dead End from HTS. Which also has free shipping over $50 and a 5% off spring promo code. Not sure if there is a dollar threshold on the promo, but for some reason I couldn't use it. But still got free shipping.

So, apparently the remaining limbs are on preorder at HTS. So the promo code won't work but still, free shipping.

Anyway, TFW has confirmation that Slingshot and Wildrider are both still happening, the TF facebook page apparently teased an image of both with a release in May.

I should just order them there and now. We'll see what happens after the Play With This Too kickstarter goes through (or doesn't, at this point).

I might grab Slingshot (and Wildrider if I get the Stunticons). Dunno yet.


Speaking of buying things, has anybody bought the first two chapters of "Combiner Wars"?

I got the Windblade issue last night, but haven't had the chance to read it yet.

I kinda wanted to motor through the HumblyBumbly issues of RID/Adjectiveless (I'm making it happen shut up) to catch up on that series before reading Opening Salvo, but I might just say Fuck It and skip ahead.

Shockwave wrote:So, apparently the remaining limbs are on preorder at HTS. So the promo code won't work but still, free shipping.

Anyway, TFW has confirmation that Slingshot and Wildrider are both still happening, the TF facebook page apparently teased an image of both with a release in May.

Did you try the promo code? I have items on preorder from HTS using the promo code, worked fine for LC Megatron and others.