Universe2.0/Generations Review Thread

[BWprowl]

-Obviously his lack of briefcase is the biggest bullshit, but I guess people who don't read MTMTE would be confused. Then again, I'm not sure there's that many people left out of the Venn diagram of "People who like Brainstorm" and "People who read MTMTE."

I'm not upset by the lack of briefcase. I'm no Dom, but it was overly whimsical even for my tastes, and was one of many things from the first 'season' of MTMTE that fell into that "Things Roberts thinks are super-funny but aren't actually that funny" category. Brainstorm can be cool without his randumb toplel briefcase. Furthermore, given that this toy is a Headmaster and actually has an altmode he can transform into, it's clearly not *specifically* trying to be the comic book version of the character.

On the other end, I'd heard scuttlebutt that this thing came with optional faction stickers per the recent reveal in the comics, but apparently that's not true and the Autobot symbols are tampo'd instead?

Overall though, sounds cool, I'll have to keep an eye out for that. The lame-ass transformation was my biggest misgiving from the pictures I'd seen, but if the rest of the toy is good enough to make up for it, eh, good enough.

[Shockwave]

Besides, if anyone really needs to give him a briefcase they could just go buy one at like a dollhouse store or something. And it probably wouldn't even cost that much.

[Onslaught Six]

On the other end, I'd heard scuttlebutt that this thing came with optional faction stickers per the recent reveal in the comics, but apparently that's not true and the Autobot symbols are tampo'd instead?

The 'bot logos are very clearly tampos on mine, and there were no stickers. (The instructions didn't even come in a bag, as figures with stickers tend to have, so.)

[Onslaught Six]

Generations Chromia

Short thoughts since I'm via mobile. I never got any of the Prime Arcees, but I'm told this is a remould of the "shitty one." Could've fooled me! Chromia is solid as hell. Robot is just as articulated as anything else recent (or better!), especially dem forearms. Her vehicle mode is super cute; little chibi light cycle. Transformation is par for the course at this point; solid and intuitive without being needlessly complex, not fussy with panels, and everything is well hidden, although there are one or two places where it could peg together a little more. Robot has some bad back kinble that can be slightly mitigated by positioning but can't be entirely resolved. She also only comes with one gun, which the box at least acknowledges--a step up for Hasbro!--but it's the cool gun that resembled G1 Arcee's from TFTM. That sucks, but I'll live.

If nothing else, Chromia is a painful reminder of how great the Prime line could've been if it hadn't been completely marred by cruddy headsculpts, iffy colour choices and poor character choices.

Overall: 7/10, maybe a soft 8. Not a mindblowing amazing figure, but if you like the character and the look of the toy, pick her up. Otherwise, don't go searching too hard.

[Shockwave]

Cosmos: Finally found Cosmos which is already an improvement over the last one. Robot mode has some pretty good articulation, especially for it's size. It also homages the original character well while being a decent update. I also like that he actually has a transformation rather than just "fold up the flying saucer". I mean, it does still fold up, but there's actually some steps to the process. Saucer mode is what you'd expect for Cosmos but it does have more detail than previous versions. Most notable are a couple of guns on the front giving him some previous lacking offensive capability in alt mode. His little space shuttle partner is cool too and about on par for what we've seen with the new legends scale so far. Overall I would definitely recommend Cosmos if you either really like the character or, like a lot of people missed out on the previous one.

Swerve: Swerve is clearly modelled on the IDW version, which makes sense since that's the one that's had the most development. Robot mode does a pretty good job of referrencing the comic model. Transformation is pretty simple but better than just SUYAR. His little jet guy is a bit better than most of the smaller figures that accompany the legends figures by virtue of actually having a transformation to gun mode. Was pleasantly surprised by that. Jet to robot is still SUYAR but again that's par for the other figures. Not much to say about Swerve's alt mode, it's pretty much what you'd expect.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with these two. One of the things I like about both figures is the level of paint on the details. Usually, I find that most figures now days have a lot of detail but no paint to bring out that detail. While these figures are small, they certainly earn their price point in that regard. Also, given that Hasbro is now starting a trend of releasing Deluxes without wrist or ankle articulation means these figures are now as complex as a deluxe but smaller. It's also nice to actually see distribution such that I actually was able to find these at retail. And, I also find that this is one of the few toy purchases that I've made this year where I didn't find myself wishing I could have spent money on something else. I really feel like I'm getting my value for these even if the price is higher than it used to be for similar scale toys. You know what? I'm giving them 10/10. Good paint apps, interesting transformations, and great articulation. That's pretty much all you can ask for.

Waspinator: We've had some pretty big debates on here about this figure and seeing some pics online had steered me away from wanting it. But, actually seeing it IRL and also talking to a friend of mine (who I ran into in the toy aisle at the time) convinced me to pull the trigger and get it. As with the other two, I'm not sorry I did. The figure is not without it's problems, but I do still think it's an improvement over the original figure. Again, like the other two mentioned above, there's more painted details on Waspy than there have been on previous figures. He's also got better articulation with wrist and ankle joints (my friend implied that perhaps these details were missing from previous versions? I dunno. Apparently this is a corrected version). Robot mode does a good job of referrencing the cartoon model pretty well. Transformation to wasp mode was frustrating. The bit with the legs is not intuitive at all and I actually had to read the directions for it. I was originally put off by online pics of alt mode showing the robot head visible behind the wasp head, but on mine it doesn't actually seem to be an issue. There's a slight gap between the wasp head and the thorax but not nearly as bad as seen online. It's small enough that the robot head is well hidden. The wasp legs are tight enough that they hold up the figure without sagging. Overall I'm happy with this, it looks good in both robot and wasp mode and poses well and displays great next to my Generations Rattrap. 8/10, A few drawbacks, but overall a great update.

[Onslaught Six]

Most notable are a couple of guns on the front giving him some previous lacking offensive capability in alt mode.

Cosmos always had these, the original toy had two little nubs meant to represent guns. You can be forgiven for missing it though; I did for years.

I've got these same two coming to me from BBTS now (plus Arcee, Skids and Crosscut) so expect some big-ass reviewin' in the next few days. I hope they're in time for Christmas!

[Onslaught Six]

Generations Arcee

It's been a long, hard road for Arcee. Between her comics character either being an appeasement to "feminazi" groups or a transgender abomination, to becoming a Headmaster with Daniel in Rebirth, to not having a single toy representing the G1 character for nearly 30 years...She's had a rough road. Is this new toy everything every Arcee fan could have hoped for...?

Well let's open with one good thing: Arcee comes with an extra gun that isn't shown in her packaging photos...the very gun Chromia was "missing!" This leads me to believe that the gun was always intended for Arcee in the first place, and simply got switched during the packaging photo phase. (It's an easy mistake to make, since Arcee has four weapons and Chromia only has one, to think that maybe they would be a little more balanced.) I was probably going to give the gun to Arcee in the first place anyway, so having it included works fine.

Arcee is very clearly directly inspired by the G1 cartoon model. There have been various different redesigns in IDW over the last few years, but she got a new body that was pretty explicitly this sometime before or during Dark Cybertron, so they're settling on this for a while. I have no problems with this. Arcee is Arcee. The robot mode perfectly captures this look; she got dat robot booty and wide hips of the animation model, the back kibble isn't debilitating, and she's got some great articulation. I wish she had a waist in there somewhere, but I can see why it isn't there due to the transformation scheme. The weapons are cool; one is clearly based off the gun Arcee has in TFTM while the other might be based off one of the S3 weapons she has. It looks very Diaclone missile launcher-ish, like something Sideswipe might have on his shoulder. The transluscent swords are neat, and can either be held by her or attach to her arms. I like options! The joints on mine are super tight (get your mind out of the gutter) and she can hold a bunch of decent poses, and even if the back kibble is a little large, it's definitely lightweight, I haven't had her fall over at all yet. The light piping in the eyes even works, in a great shade of cartoon blue, which is a refreshing change of pace after many painted-over-lightpipings lately! In fact, all of Arcee is painted very well, there's not many details I can see that I would have highlighted. (I think the Japanese version has some abdomen paint but I don't care much about whether or not she has it.)

Transforming is a little weird the first time you do it, it's not immediately clear which way the arms should go, which makes it difficult to move the legs into place at first. Once you get it, it's obvious, though, and intuitive. The instructions DO NOT help in this matter as they don't show the arms folded in as much as they should be, and it only tells you to flip the legs up underneath the car body, never actually SHOWING what the finished car undercarriage would be, so the leg placement is kind of all guesswork. Once you get it, though, it makes sense, and there's a few places to clip things, although not nearly as many as I'd like.

Vehicle mode is, well, what it is. It's the perfect G1 space future convertible thing, it looks just like she did in TFTM and will probably look weirdly out of place with the "modernized" updates like Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr, but who cares about that? It's got tabs for all of her weapons, and I'm sure there's lots of neat looking combos you could do with it. She's also got blue metallic headlights, which look snazzy!

Altogether, Arcee is a can't-miss figure. I've done a lot of "pick this one up if you like the character and design" ratings lately, but this one is definitely one I'm impressed with. Unless you absolutely hate Arcee, you are doing yourself a disservice to not go out of your way to find this toy. She's even reasonably priced on BBTS right now, at $16 or so, so there's zero reason to skip out on her.

[Shockwave]

Generations Jhiaxus: Finally found one of these and since my Decepticons are horribly outnumberred, I picked him up. And I'm actually glad I did. As we all know, he is a repaint/remold of the latest Generations Starscream based on his Armada version. I can see the elements of that design on Jhiaxus. I never got the Starscream version so this is my first forray with this mold. I know I've bitched a lot lately about lack of articulation on wrists and ankles and this figure is an example of that, but for some reason, it really doesn't bother me on this figure. I think part of that is because of the way those parts move as part of the transformation wouldn't really allow for articulation. But, the figure really just doesn't suffer for it. Bot mode is pretty decent, arms and legs have pretty decent articulation, he can take the "Mortal Kombat" pose well enough. After fiddling with it a bit I did find that the shoulder cannons can be displayed either up on the shoulders or hanging off the back. I do wish there was an option to fold the back parts forward like the original toy, but it's a minor complaint and I don't really know how they'd work that into this version anyway. I like the head sculpt, but I wouldn't mind seeing a version in his proper G2 colors. Still there is a lot of detail painted on that head which is nice. If only they had done that with the underside of the wings. Plenty of detail there but none of it is painted. My only other complaint with bot mode is that there is no way to flip the wings up which I generally like to do with TFs that turn into jets. The only thing blocking it is the shoulder cannons. They are on ball joints so I can snap them on and off but that will wear down after a while.

Jet mode is pretty similar to the original Armada Starscream but with different wings. Transformation is completely different from the original this is based on but doesn't feel like it's forced or missing anything from it. I'm actually kind of surprised with some of the things they did with this. Like having the nose of the jet tuck into the chest and disappear. There's a complexity with this figure that wasn't there with the original. Don't get me wrong, Armada Starscream was complex enough and looked fine, but it definitely had a simpler transformation. Again with jet mode, I'd like to see one in proper G2 colors but this still looks fine enough for me. It even manages to hide the bot kibble underneath which something most jet TFs don't have.

Overall, I would recommend this figure. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good for what it is and the price. If you need more Decepticons or just want a TF that's got an interesting transform to it and is fun to fiddle with, then this is for you.

Combiner Wars Windcharger: It's legends Tailpipe, but in red with Megatron's head. Seriously, have a look at both the toy and the box art especially and tell me that doesn't look Megatrony. I liked Tailgate and I like this one too but I would have been perfectly happy with a reissue of the previous scout class figure. Either way, I have a decent Windcharger in this scale so I'm good.

[andersonh1]

Generations Nightbeat
06 wrote a pretty comprehensive review of this guy and I enjoyed reading it. And yeah, his weapons are pretty strange. Not sure about those. My assumption is that they're possibly meant to look like boosters on the side of the car or something, with flames shooting from them. If nothing else, they're distinctive. In any case, this is a nice looking figure that evokes the original even though it looks quite different in a number of ways. I've never owned any version of the character before, so it's nice to finally have one.

Robot mode: fairly stable with some large feet so he doesn't topple over too easily. He's got a decent range of motion. Thigh swivels, knee and ankle joints help with stance. The elbows are pretty tight, but the shoulders are not. Head turns. No waist, due to the way the figure transforms. I like the big shouldered look as well as the "wings" created by the doors. It's amusing that the cover of the pack-in comic has him drawn as the Jazz repaint he was apparently going to be at one point rather than the Bumblebee repaint we got instead.

Transformation: the waist extends upward, and then the legs fold up to become the back of the car while the shoulders become the sides of the front. The wings are the doors, and the hood unfolds from the robot's back.

Vehicle: Looks a lot like the original vehicle, and everything fits together nicely with a little fiddling and massaging of parts. They didn't try to overthink the transformation, and that's definitely in the figure's favor.

Pack-in comic: Why in the world was this chapter of Dark Cybertron chosen? It's chapter 9 I think, and Nightbeat's barely in it! They could have at least picked the one where he frees himself from mind control thanks to the numbers on Rodimus' hand or something. As stupid as that was, at least it was Nightbeat in action rather than almost entirely absent, as he was for chapter 9.

Overall: Great little figure. Sometimes it's nice to just have a classic "car into robot" Autobot with no real frills. Nightbeat is one of those characters that was developed a bit more than most of the crowd of b or c list Transformers, so it's good to see him get a little attention in the Generations line.

[JediTricks]

Brainstorm: glad I didn't pay full price for this.

This figure feels like it was designed by someone who normally doesn't design transformers toys. There's not much detail, the transformation is atrocious, the alt mode is pretty damned lazy, the weapons and hands aren't designed to work with each other that well, and there's a lull in engineering quality which clearly can lead to breakage. Yet for all those failings, and make no mistake that they ARE failings, there's still enough that works to keep this figure from being a total flop - but paying $20-$25 for it would have been a crime.

Nothing is executed well on this, the amount of blank space where detailing could have been put in is pretty surprising given the quality sculpting this line has enjoyed lately. There's a plainness about most of the figure. The biggest disappointment is how little effort is put into making the lazy transformation at least look like it belongs in alt mode - not only could the transformation have been better in several areas with minimal changes (an extra hinge in the lower legs, moving the arms out to the sides) but there aren't grills and elements that look space-jet-like about these bricky elements, they're just there.

Also, why have the seatback fold DOWN during transformation? This is another area where the designer's inexperience shows, another designer would have had the seat either rotate or fold FORWARDS to fill more of the chest gap. The whole seatback spring button leads to confusion, is the panel that slides down over the cockpit and releases the catch on the seatback a head-ejection button? Most seem to think so, but the design says no since the part is only sprung one way and this isn't it. Moreover, the head doesn't have a chance of being pushed out of its socket by that button, the head is what's pushing the button in!

So what's good about this figure? The oddball teal, gray, white deco works ok. The headmaster figure despite its silly arm-panels is fun. The overall figure cuts a nice figure and is fairly well articulated.

I dunno, this is at best a C-grade figure even at the $17 I found it at TJ Maxx for, but it's charming enough to keep me from disliking it.