TF Views

Geewun sucks anyway more beast warriors plz.

And more A/E/C while they're at it. Voyager Armada Cyclonus?

138 Scourge wrote:And more A/E/C while they're at it. Voyager Armada Cyclonus?

MASTERPIECE. FUCKING. DEMOLISHOR

I can see arguments on both sides of this. Not all of us like to have multiple versions of various characters scattered around everywhere. I know that since the last purge, I don't generally like to have more than one of any given character at a time. There are exceptions to this, but the rule generally is that if I have a Megatron, that's my one Megatron and if I get another one then I sell the other. Case in point: Right now I have both Henkei and CW Megatron. One of them is getting sold. I do not need two representations of G1-esque Megatron. It's cluttering and annoying and that's how I wind up with piles of toys I either don't want or have nowhere to display. Another example is Optimus Prime. Right now I have both CW Prime and the chromed out repaint of Classics Prime that was part of the AoE two pack a while back. I'm probably going to keep Classics Prime and sell CW. It will likely be the reverse for Megatron. So, when I see that there's a new Sunstreaker coming out, I have to wonder if it's going to be better than the one I have because if it is, it likely will replace it.

Now that doesn't transfer to other TF lines or size scales. I have a scene set up with Metroplex and my Legends scale figures. Legends Optimus is not Classics Optimus so they're not replacing each other so they both have a place in my collection. So seeing that a new Legends version of a character is coming out wouldn't impact the previous Deluxe version since they wouldn't be next to each other anyway. Warpath is a good example of this.

Having said that, I can see wanting better updates of certain characters. Shockwave definitely needs an update in the right scale. We're getting a Legends one later this year (that's said to be based on his G1 design no less) but I would want the "full size" version to be at least the same size as Megatron. I would like to see a fixed version of the Prowl/Bluestreak/Smokescreen mold, that last one had some serious issues. The feet need fixing so that that figure won't fall over and the wings need to be on something other than a consistently breaking ball joint.

So yeah, I can see Prowl's perspective that we don't need the same characters updated every few years, but I can also see that some of the older figures do have some issues that new versions could fix. Could. Likely unfortunately isn't a thing right now. I have no faith that the new Sunstreaker will be better than the last one, so it does make me wonder why they would do it.

Sunstreaker is an easy recolour of Breakdown. And, the last Sunstreaker was over 5 years ago. That is probably all the justification that Hasbro needs. (Honestly, if I liked the comics more, I would probably be more excited about a new Sunstreaker. But, as it stands now, my Sunstreaker from '08 that looks like Sunstreaker form the comics I liked is enough.)

MASTERPIECE. FUCKING. DEMOLISHOR

Yes.

Of course, the old one is a masterpiece of sorts.

Unfortunately that line of thinking is exactly what Prowl and myself are against. "It's been five years let's make that figure again." All that does is produce an endless parade of slightly different pieces of plastic in varying sizes and qualities. Is that really what we want our collections to look like? Shelf after shelf filled with what are essentially the same toys over and over again with only minor variations? I know I don't. The line of thinking SHOULD be "It's been five years let's make that figure BETTER." Unfortunately, that's not happening. Breakdown is not a better figure than Sunstreaker. But, he's getting repainted into it anyway. Because... fuck it, that's why. I still have the previous Sunstreaker and will not be swapping it out for this one. I may get Mirage only because I don't currently have a Mirage. But, Miragestrip would only wind up being a place holder until I could afford a proper Henkei one. The idea should be to make toys better, not just more of them.

JediTricks wrote:Ratchet and Ironhide need new figures, based on the same mold or not, as their previous versions are pretty dated and wildly flawed.

I agree with this one. I think the robot modes look fine, but the vehicles were awful from the get go. All those badly fitting panels and seams all through the vehicle mode looked terrible, and the blue windows on Ironhide just didn't work. We could use a decent update. I don't think every character needs a new figure, but some certainly could use one.

andersonh1 wrote:

JediTricks wrote:Ratchet and Ironhide need new figures, based on the same mold or not, as their previous versions are pretty dated and wildly flawed.

I agree with this one. I think the robot modes look fine, but the vehicles were awful from the get go. All those badly fitting panels and seams all through the vehicle mode looked terrible, and the blue windows on Ironhide just didn't work. We could use a decent update. I don't think every character needs a new figure, but some certainly could use one.

I agree, if we actually get improved figures. In the case of Sunstreaker, I don't see it happening. For Ironhide however, maybe we will. I really hated the transformation on the previous Ironhide/Ratchet mold so I can only see this as an improvement. Especially if it turns out to be the First Aid version with the full back rather than the pick up Off Road version.

Also, I can understand some of the complaints about previous figures. Sometimes there are flaws that don't become apparent until a lot of time has passed. Play wear can greatly affect a figure. Case in point: the Universe Prowl/Bluestreak/Smokescreen mold. I loved this figure when it came out. I customized the shit out of it multiple times over. But, the feet get loose over time and the ball joint for the wings are flimsy as hell and break way too easily. Those are some pretty bad problems that would need to be fixed on any newer version. The problem with Hasbro just saying "we're doing this again" is that there is no guarantee that the next one will be better than the first.

Actually, maybe we should retitle the thread "Good figures gone bad and how they can be fixed". So, here's my list of figures that I'd like to see redone better.

1. Universe Prowl/Bluestreak/Smokescreen. As mentioned above, the ball joint on the wings breaks easily making them loose or unable to even stay on at all. A hinge would be probably be better there. The feet get loose over time and are not big or solid enough to hold up the rest of the figure. So unless it gets posed hunched over looking down at something, it will just fall over. Maybe have the back half of the car as an ankle joint that holds it up instead, not unlike the original G1 toy.

And I'm off work, so leaving the computer now. There will be more later.

All that bitching about the mould and not once do you mention the terrible enlarged head plate? That's the worst thing about it!