Combiner Wars

[JediTricks]

Amazon listed Devastator without ordering options, which means new pics:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SOFZF08
there's a lot of unpainted elements, the snap-on wheels look dreadful, and these look simple enough to be crummy deluxes yet they're voyager-scale. I have a feeling this set will be enjoyable ONLY for the big guy.


My last individual bot review just went up from waves 1 and 2, Alpha Bravo. I'm planning to start reviewing each team tomorrow, but may have to wait until next week. I am aiming to review each combiner team as a whole in each mode.

[Dominic]

Ugh....

I am not sure those look like terrible deluxes. But, the average deluxe figure is not much to be excited about. And, the fact that we are comparing voyager figures to deluxes is a problem unto itself.

Skipping that set unless I see it on discount. (And, considering that I never even saw Metroplex at retail, this all but guarantees that I am skipping the set.)

[Almighty Unicron]

It's clear that Devy isn't intended to be a "played with" toy but a display piece. Still, I'm curious as to the combined form's articulation.

[JediTricks]

I suspect these compromises were done both for budget and to add play to Devastator at the expense of the individual bots.

I want to give this set a chance, maybe I'll sell something else to get it and then if I don't like Dev I'll sell it too.

[JediTricks]

I posted my official review of the Aerialbots and Superion:
http://www.tfviews.com/news/toysandcollectibles/2416

I like Superion enough to say that if your focus is a good combiner, then the Aerialbots are worth getting, though honestly Alpha Bravo is a shaky fit.

But if your focus is individual figures first, then the Aerialbots are a pass, and Alpha Bravo along with Powerglide get a recommendation outside the team aspect.

[Dominic]

I tend to disagree with your praise for Alpha Bravo. The non-locking rotor is a serious problem. And, the robot's gun has a high/thin profile, which makes the fact it is hollow on one side problematic (as the side is a proper side, rather than the under-side as on the other guns).


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Viper (plane/robot):
Viper is likely to be a rare case where a retooled figure is one of the harder pieces to find, without being a tail-end release.

Part of the reason for this is that Viper is a solid retooling and recolour of Powerglide. For the most part, Viper shares all of Powerglide's good and bad points. The only new problem of note is that the retooled head/face do not line up as cleanly as Powerglide's in vehicle mode.

The other reasons for Viper possibly being harder to find are more difficult to monetize, but are still significant. At the most basic level, Viper is a troop-builder. Some people are going to buy 2, 3 or more copies. Viper is also the second (intentional) TF/Joe cross-over toy released are mass retail. (The first was the 2006 "Titanium" Megatron and the rest are either SDCC exclusives or the incidental cross-over of G2 Megatron.) By virtue of being a TF/Joe cross-over toy, Viper is arguably the only mass-released Joe toy in 2015. (The other Joe toys are all exclusives to TrU, the fan club or conventions.)

Grade: A/B Minor mould issues are more than balanced by the objective and idiosyncratic virtues of the figure.


Viper's profile describes an sturdy drone. No indicatioin is given about how sentient Viper is, or even Viper's nature beyond working as a drone. Is Viper a Cybertronian? Was Viper made (if only in part) by human hands? Is Viper sentient or a controlled/piloted mecha? Is "Viper" the name of a specific robot or the name of the larger "class" that the robot belongs to? The identification number on the wing ("Z06") matches on Wild Weasel's Rattler bomber, indicating that the Viper figure is meant to represent a specific air-craft. But, it does not get more specific that that.

Viper's only appearance beyond the toy packaging is the "Battle Tactics" game.

[Shockwave]

New stuff! Reviews!

Rook: A completely new mold to the CW limb bots. There's a lot of interesting engineering going on there. The transformation is ulike the rest of the CW limbs so it's something new and different. Also, the hole to hold his weapon is on the front of his fists rather than the top. The foot/hand piece has a hole in the bottom of it which allows it to peg into the top of the vehicle mode. Overall I like him. I like the bot mode, the alt mode, the versatility with the weapons and how they can be configured, transformation is different and interesting.

Streetwise: To say this a remold of Dead End is a bit of an understatement. Very few of the same parts are used even though he transforms exactly the same way. The entire alt mode is a different vehicle altogether and the chest piece and head are different too. Also, he comes with a triple barreled shotgun. Much like Rook, I like the overall figure. Alt mode is more similar to Breakdown, even down to the colors used.

First Aid: A retool of Off Road. The back end of the alt mode and the head are the only differences here, but they are different enough that I could reasonably see getting decent versions of Ironhide and possibly even Ratchet out of it.

Blades: Yep, that's a red Alpha Bravo alright.

Groove: Pretty simple transformation, decent articulation for a figure of that size and good paint too. Definitely recommended.

Viper: Yep, that's a blue Powerglide alright.

Warpath: Yep, that's a maroon Megatron alright.

[Dominic]

HoneyBear was flipping through the comics that came with the Protectobots. He did not do a full-comparison. But, he he noticed that the Hasbro editions have different phrasing in places. (An issue of RiD where Prowl threatened to kill Spike is sanitized so that Prowl only threatens to "get" Spike for the First Aid pack-in.)

HoneyBear got a stack of RiD from me when I purged out my collection, and has not quite forgiven me.

[Shockwave]

I didn't look through the comics. At most I might have read some of the profiles, but even then it was only one or two of them.

[Almighty Unicron]

HoneyBear was flipping through the comics that came with the Protectobots. He did not do a full-comparison. But, he he noticed that the Hasbro editions have different phrasing in places. (An issue of RiD where Prowl threatened to kill Spike is sanitized so that Prowl only threatens to "get" Spike for the First Aid pack-in.)

HoneyBear got a stack of RiD from me when I purged out my collection, and has not quite forgiven me.

You know I always hear you referring to this HoneyBear fellow; does he post here? I feel I'm out of the loop somehow.