Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Commander Class Rodimus Prime: You just always have to be controversial, don't you?

 I don't know if it's a bad habit of mine or a bad habit Hasbro has developed, but "Rodimus Prime" and "Controversy" seem to go hand in hand. The managerial plans for the 1986 Transformers animated movie are well known in the community. In an attempt to tie replacing stocked characters on shelves with a shift of the main cast in media, Hasbro tried to get kids to like a replacement for Optimus Prime. A new leader for the Autobots would rise in the form of Rodimus Prime, with commercials even teasing Optimus's demise. However, that plan became tainted by people blaming Rodimus for Optimus's death in the movie. Power of the Primes was, by comparison, far less controversial, but many hated how the execution of the gimmick was handled for him and his black repaint: Rodimus Unicronus. Unwanted Visible hands in two of the three modes, trailer kibble on the back, Hot Rod's thighs awkwardly acting as shoulders for Rodimus, there was just a lack of polish in the overall toy. It just felt clunky compared to how effortless his wave mate, Optimus Prime, handled the gimmick (though I think we can all agree that Optimal Optimus managed it the worst). Now it's not a matter of engineering, but something else entirely. To begin rounding out this pseudo, unofficial series of reviews celebrating the 1986 movie, let's look at the chosen one who crushed the dreams of many a child in 1986. Arise Rodimus Prime!

Before covering the toy, let's cover the controversy first: The Size class. As mentioned in the Hot Rod review, one thing Hasbro has been doing is making toys that scale with a size class but selling them at a larger size class due to enhanced engineering. For Studio Series 86 Hot Rod, he was a Deluxe Class sized toy but sold as a Voyager, a somewhat frustrating but easy to ignore element as the toy was $15 more (based on recommended retail price). Another thing Hasbro has been doing is releasing Voyagers with a lot of accessories and calling them Leader Class toys (for example, Earthrise Optimus Prime and his trailer). What's causing the controversy here is that Kingdom Rodimus does both of these, which stands out badly when you consider that he's the third ever Commander Class toy, and the price jump from Leader to Commander is more significant than the jump from Deluxe to Voyager. When he was officially revealed, people were furious at him because he is a Voyager Class toy with Leader Class engineering sold at a Commander Class price primarily because of the trailer. It was a hard pill to swallow compared to the previous two Commander Class toys, Jetfire in the Siege toyline and Sky Lynx in Earthrise. As someone who acknowledges the need for the trailer for car mode, but was hoping it would be something more along the lines of a third party take on Rodimus Prime, DX9's Carry (where the robot was the entire vehicle and not just the car), it was something I wasn't overly impressed with at first either, especially for the recommended retail price of $150. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be too hard to find him on sale, and with the Christmas Season sales beginning soon, it'll likely be even easier to see him for cheaper. I bring all of this up now because I will be making critiques of this toy with the understanding of its full RRP (even though I got it for a little over $120).

Looking at the Space Winnebago mode (because no one knows what this is supposed to be), this has one thing over the Power of the Primes toy: The look of the detachable car modes. Due to PotP's car needing to look more like Hot Rod's car mode while still connecting to become Rodimus, the car mode didn't look like a car, more so a doorstopper with wheels. The sleek curves of Hot Rod's car mode seemed too flat, which meant that I often kept both Rodimus Prime and Rodimus Unicronus in either Combined Vehicle mode or Combined Robot mode (because the robot mode for Hot Rod was also rubbish). Kingdom Rodimus' detachable car still looks like a car, but for those looking for it to look more like Hot Rod's car, you're going to be disappointed as now we have an opposite situation. The car mode has a lot more bulk to it now, but I find it fitting for Rodimus Prime. It's a car mode that trades speed for power, not only to lug the trailer around but to move around any terrain. It's a car mode that invokes the power of Optimus's truck mode while still having Hot Rod's sense of speed. 

When plugged into the trailer, the overall combination is fine, but I wish some elements were a bit more refined. One of the most significant elements of this is the prominent quality control issue most people have with this toy: the trailer is not shut. I've not found any conclusive fixes to this, the one I've personally been using is wrapping a rubber band around the front for a few weeks, but while that has mostly worked for me, it doesn't seem to be a definitive fix. I wish there were more locking points for the sealed trailer to secure the two sides better. Another minor design element that I wish was different is the overall size of the trailer. I find the car spoiler poking out the sides to look awkward, mainly because it causes a visible gap in the smokestacks that are meant to connect to the car's engine (based on the intended sculpting). I wish either the trailer was a little wider, or there was a way for the car spoiler to compress in a little to try and hide it. A nice addition the trailer does have is a Masterpiece styled accessories tray, intended to hold three specific effects parts (two smoke effects for the smokestacks and a "light our darkest hour" Matrix illumination effect). An otherwise useless compartment in the front of the trailer is ideal for storing some of the smaller blast effects. The main section of the trailer can hold either an Autobot car or the sentry turret alongside Rodimus's gun and sword, giving the overall set a nice amount of playability, especially when compared to Optimus and Ultra Magnus' truck modes. 

For me, though, the robot mode is where Rodimus shines. While the overall execution of Studio Series 86, Hot Rod was less than ideal thanks to tolerances and quality control, the same can't be said for Rodimus. The transformation is one of, if not the best in the trilogy. The tolerances are balanced so perfectly that they're effortless to move but sturdy enough to hold any position. The sculpting on the plastic is beautiful. But the use of paint is probably the weakest element of this. I'm not a fan of moulding large chunks of Transformers just to recolour it with paint completely. The leading cause of this view is figures like Power of the Primes Jazz and Kingdom Tracks having the mass majority of their cars painted transparent plastic just for the sake of the windscreen). Thankfully Rodimus isn't as egregious as those examples; the spoiler was moulded with the same plastic as the windscreen. However, I can't tell what colour plastic the thighs are underneath all the orange. This isn't a judge of the quality of the paintwork itself. Everything yellow and orange on the robot mode is painted plastic. Nevertheless, the overall effect is impressive; the issue mainly comes down to questionable plastic sprew organization, an issue not limited to Rodimus.

As with SS86 Hot Rod and Earthrise Optimus before him, the smaller size but higher price tag does give him extra points of articulation, making him one of the most agile Transformers mainline has seen in a long time. The articulation is on par with what many expect from a Masterpiece Transformer toy, with the only thing missing being an ab crunch. I can easily see an upscaled version of this working well as a Masterpiece stands in for Rodimus. With my copy of the toy, I noticed that I don't see many bringing up the new Matrix of Leadership. This isn't the same Matrix that comes with Earthrise Optimus Prime and SS86 Hot Rod. It looks to have been the same CAD file, just shrunk down to allow it to fit in Rodimus' chest. Unfortunately this means that the same issues I had with Optimus' Matrix also holds for Rodimus; in fact, it's even worse here because it's even smaller. Another minor nitpick for me is the size of the sword; I wish it were bigger. It would make a great sword for a Deluxe Class toy to hold, but figures can only hold it with the ability to open their hands. 

It's hard to deny that this is a good toy; any issues I have with it on its own are minor issues at best. But the question of cost does need to come back again. Yes, it is a good toy, but I don't think it's worth $150. He lacks the presence of the other two Commander Class toys, and if you're not someone who'll be displaying him in his alt mode, or actively playing with him, most of the cost of the toy will feel like a waste of money. Would people have bought a Rodimus Prime that was just the car? Probably not because the trailer is a part of the look of G1 Rodimus Prime. It's not as easy to ignore as Optimus Prime's Trailer. Not having it would be like releasing a G1 Ultra Magnus that's just the truck cab, a nice novelty maybe, he is a nice easy repaint of Optimus after all, but for what many people know as Ultra Magnus, he needs to have the car carrier trailer. It was a no-win situation on the design team, and it was always going to cause some controversy. What might have helped was if there was more of a definition to what Commander Class as a concept is, even if it was a second Commander Class figure in Kingdom as a way of saying, "This class can be for either semi big characters or smaller characters with a lot more engineering". After all, one of the reasons why Cliffjumper's height didn't cause more issues was because his wave mates included Wheeljack and Hoist. If rumours are true, then the definition of the class will continue to change as it's looking like 2022's Commander Class figure is going to be Motormaster, which would technically blend the "Big impressive bot" and "smaller but with a lot more engineering" definitions together. Time will tell how that experiment goes for them. As for next week? Well, who else could it be other than Megatron's replacement?

Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Deluxe Class Predacon Scorponok: "What happened here?"

If there is one thing that has been nice about Kingdom, it's the focus on getting the Season 1 Beast Wars characters. Though there is a gap so far in the form of Tarantulus and Inferno, rumour has it that we'll be getting them next year. Unfortunately for all the good figures, some will be worse, though "absolutely terrible" is in the eyes of the beholder. For every Blackarachnia, there's going to be one like today's subject, where the issues come more from how you prioritize elements of Transformers. From Second in Command of the Predacons to nameless cannon fodder, and now to this. This year has not been kind to you, has it Scorponok?

 
I want to start the review of the beast mode with the most significant issue and the cause of the title: the Scorpion legs. I remember when they revealed the Kingdom toy line and talked about the first wave of toys, they said they spent a lot of time getting the tolerances right for Blackarachnia's spider legs. Even though they're ball joints, they're tight and nicely support her weight in spider mode (this even holds true with her Buzzworthy Bumblebee repaint). Scorponok doesn't get that luxury. In comparison, his beast mode is severely compromised, with the legs being the starting point. The legs feel hollow; the ball joints are loose; the scorpion legs themselves don't support the robot's weight. That title goes to the opened up chest with a robot leg stuffed into it. Usually, with Transformers waves, some compromises are made to figures to make others better. That's the perception of the situation, at least. I don't know if that holds here because I can't see where the compromises went too. Scorponok's wave includes a reissue of Earthrise Wheeljack, Fossilizer Wingfinger, and Autobot Tracks, none of which feel like the cause for the compromises. Is it because they knew the legs were never going to support the robot? Maybe. One day I hope to review the original Beast Wars Scorponok as the way it handled robot mass is extremely different. It would have been nice if they could have worked that engineering into the new toy, but that might not have been feasible at a Deluxe budget. There is also a third party one intended for a Legends Class Scale display that might also get a review later to see how well the bot junk is handled. While the underside of the beast mode isn't great, the top is really good. It's why the issues involving legs sting that much more. Once again, the texture work on the plastic is fantastic, adding to the creepy crawly feel of the figure. It's a shame that it's so static, with things like the tail not having a lot of articulation points without taking the other robot leg out of the tail. Overall, not a good beast mode. The positives bring it back a bit, but it feels like a letdown compared to others in the line. Does the robot mode do it better? 

It's complicated. In robot mode, Scorponok falls into a similar situation as Siege and Kingdom Ultra Magnus. He's in scale with other Predacons and has a design based on artwork from the original figure's box. But to some, it doesn't feel right, as evident by the thigh extension upgrades you can buy that make the legs into a glorified stand for the Scorpion. For me, the legs aren't the issue for the robot; it more comes down to the boxed shape of the chest. It's a minor issue, but it does throw off the look quite a bit. The robot is a significant saving grace for this toy. Though it's still not as good as other figures in Kingdom, it doesn't feel as compromised as the scorpion mode does. There are still compromises. The hollow tail looks terrible, you're not getting much of a waist swivel out of him due to the tail, and the head doesn't like to move due to how it's sculpted (which does look nice, by the way). But none of those issues feels like glaring issues compared to the overall look of the figure. The scorpion pincers look great in both modes, and thanks to them needing the robot arms, they're nicely articulate in both modes as well. I also love that he comes with both his twin missiles and the Cyber Bee, both of which effortlessly store in the pincers, though I do wish the missiles weren't hollow as those gaps are hard to ignore.

While I don't think Scorponok's one of the worst in the line, he's undoubtedly one of the worst Beast Wars figures in the line. A large chunk of that comes down to how good the other characters are, which is unfortunate but not unexpected. The good elements do claw back some quality, but it ends up making the figure underwhelming, something that stings even more, when you consider who it is. This would be like getting an underwhelming Starscream, only without the barrage of Seeker repaints that will follow. I kind of wish this got the same treatment Studio Series Hot Rod did, where it was sold at a higher size class for the sake of engineering. It could have been really interesting to see how they handled the robot mass for the Scorpion mode. Again, it's not the worst of the line (that title currently goes to Tracks), but unless you're really into Beast Wars and want an entire team of Season 1 Predacons, I'd say skip it.

Transforemrs War for Cybertron Kingdom Voyager Class Rhinox: Who says you can't have brains and muscles?

If you were to compare the main casts of Transformers shows throughout the years, you'd quickly find some tropes the personalities tend to fall into. The leader, the backstabbing second in command of the villains, the kid appeal character, the loner on the heroes side, to name a few. I bring this up because today's subject is a fusion of two of these tropes, the group's muscle and the engineer. A fusion of G1 Ironhide and Ratchet, with a bit of extra wisdom thrown in. A long-anticipated figure for me in the Kingdom line, allow me to introduce to you Rhinox.

As you've probably noticed by now, the vast majority of Beast Wars figures sacrifice articulation for sculpting when it comes to the beast modes, only breaking that rule if it's needed for the robot mode. Funnily enough, it's hard to make plastic move like realistic skin and muscles. I start the review here because Rhinox suffers from this pretty badly compared to other Maximals in the Kingdom line, second only to Rattrap (out of the ones I currently own). Without using transformation joints and breaking up the sculpt, you will not be making this rhino charge at anything. It's a good thing then that the sculpting is exquisite, with a lot of texture and subtle paint applications on the rhino skin to make it a very lovely looking Rhino shaped brick. Ok, maybe not a brick, the mouth can move, the front legs can move a little bit, and the back legs can move at the knee, but that's all the movement you're going to get out of him. From what I've seen, this is far more limited than the Thrilling 30 Rhinox from 2014, but I honestly think this looks better in Rhino mode when comparing the two (based on videos and pictures, I don't own a Thrilling 30 Rhinox). Thrilling 30 is more realistic to actual rhinos, whereas Kingdom Rhinox is more in line with the cartoon model. Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with how rhinos are animated and not how they look in the real world; Kingdom Rhinox looks more accurate to me, though a significant factor of that could be the colours rather than the sculpting. If anyone wants me to properly compare the two (and is willing to sell me a Thrilling 30 Rhinox), let me know, and I'll put that on the priority list. 

One element of the transformation frustrates me, more so when going into Rhino mode than going into robot mode. The leg transformation feels very cluttered, the clearance for moving parts around is a bit too tight, and because of that, it feels like I'm bending plastic to make parts move past other parts. It's not a pleasant transformation, something that I wished was refined a little more. The result, though, is a nice looking Rhinox, something that is very show accurate, though it does cheat in certain areas to pull it off. The Rhino mouth now no longer forms the chest plate, and the robot's main body looks a little too flat. Neither issue bothers me as the fake mouth makes the chest look a lot nicer, and the arms and rhino head nicely cover up the flat back. What does bother me, though, are the guns. For the sake of beast mode storage, Rhinox's Gatling Guns of Doom look bad from any angle other than from the front. While they are nicely painted from the front, the handle elements make them look more like the toy accurate flail sawblade rather than the cartoon accurate guns. It's an odd choice for something that's clearly aiming to replicate the cartoon look. I would have prefered the loss of internal weapon storage for them if it made the guns look better. It would have even been an excellent excuse to give Rhinox more C.O.M.B.A.T Ports (something that I wish wasn't all but exclusive to the G1 characters). I love how poseable Rhinox is in this mode. While he was a brick in Beast Mode, the joint implementation in robot mode makes him one of the most poseable Voyager figures I've ever seen, with the only joints missing being a waist swivel and an ab crunch, the latter I'm willing to accept as a loss as we got butterfly joints in the shoulders. 

While I can't say which is superior, this or the Thrilling 30 version, I do think this at the very least compliments the T30 release. A full replacement? Not entirely, but it does act as a nice Rhinox for those to get who can't/ haven't yet found a T30 version for sale. Neither is entirely perfect; we might be waiting for a Masterpiece version for that to happen. At the very least, this does what I wanted it to do almost perfectly, be an excellent representation of the Axalon's engineer.

Transformers Kingdom Deluxe Class Ractonite: A more cohesive pile of bones

As the days tick on, the end of Kingdom looks to be on the horizon (based on leaks); the Predacon squad is coming along, even if some crucial members are still waiting for a new release. Tarantulas, Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Inferno are still significant holes many people are waiting to fill in the season 1 roster. However, in the meantime, we can still enjoy the Fossilizer gimmick with the second Dinosaur Fossil to join the war effort, Ractonite. Is he better than his wave one companion? Well, yes and no. 

Starting in fossil mode. In terms of general looks, I prefer this dinosaur mode over the Paleotrex mould from the last time I reviewed Fossilizers. The main reason for this is the extra mass in the chest; while it's an ironic complaint, it makes the dinosaur mode not feel as malnourished. While I know it's an odd complaint with a toy that's meant to look like dinosaur bones, but the skeletal aesthetic does handicap the designs overall, it's one of the reasons I'm currently (opinion may change when I get it in hand) not a fan of the wave 3 Fossilizer, Wingfinger. There are more gaps on this one than the Paleotrex mould, mainly in the legs, but the white plastic and the bone design don't make them very noticeable. The gaps blend in well and add to the aesthetic like these are a degrading pile of bones. What does suck, though, is the compromised articulation for the sake of the robot mode. I wish the front legs had ankle tilts, and the inability for the head to turn side to side is a real shame. While it's not an issue exclusive to Ractonite, most of the beasts have had stiff necks, it's hard not to be spoiled by Beast Wars Megatron, and most of the other dinosaur transformers have had enough articulation for it to not feel like a hindrance. The Styracosaurus body shape that this is based on makes it inherently stiffer when compared to someone like Paleotrex (even if Paleotrex's weight distribution is so bad, most of those dynamic poses will result in a face plant). I'm not sure how I feel about the grey paint, though. The white plastic wouldn't have worked on its own, but the grey colour doesn't compliment the plastic either, compared to something like Paleotrex, where the colours are more complimentary. It feels like Ractonite's been playing in the same Cyber Mud that the Siege Figures had on them. 

While the paint doesn't work well for the beast mode, it does work a lot better in the robot mode, a robot mode that in itself is ok? It feels tamer compared to Paleotrex, more reserved, ironic considering one of the arms is coming out of the Styracosaurus' mouth. While Paleotrex is insane looking in his way, Ractonite is more the traditional Beast Era insanity, homaging how Beast Wars designs handled their Beast Mode junk. With the exception of where the front legs go, I could see this being a regular Beast Wars toy if it wasn't going for the living skeleton aesthetic. That said, though, he is a Fossilizer, and part of the gimmick is the ability to break him down and turn him into weapons for other characters. Unfortunately, on my copy, the tolerances for some of the joints and connections aren't great. As a result, many combinations, like the giant bone war hammer, aren't fun to play around with as the connections don't hold together, and the joints struggle to take the weight. It's less of an issue in the robot and beast mode; it's why I'm only covering those (the bone war hammer looks fantastic, though). Articulation is adequate, the parts used for the shoulders are cumbersome and make it impossible for him to do things like a T-Pose, but the rest of the articulation in robot mode is fine. The arms look very gangly thanks to the proportions, something that a torso extension would have helped with, but it is frustrating that he has no hands at all. Even Paleotrex tried to pull off hands.

Ractonite is both a step up and a step down when compared to Paleotrex. I enjoy the extra mass thanks to the thicker bone structure, but as a Fossilizer, he's not as versatile as Paleotrex. He's not as configurable as Paleotrex; there aren't many parts that can be other body parts. I think for that reason alone, Paleotrex is probably better just as a toy, even if visually I prefer Ractonite. While I couldn't cover it today due to COVID Lockdowns, and it currently waiting for me about 20km away, there is a repaint of this figure called Tricranius, lava themed repaint with some minor retooling. It's an interesting looking paint job at least. If you can find him on sale, he's worth a purchase. The good balances out the bad, and if nothing else, he makes for a great army builder for the Predacons. To get back onto schedule, I'll be reviewing an Autobot next Sunday (unfortunately not Rodimus, more Amazon delays). However, a G.I Joe review will be coming sometime soon on a Wednesday. At the very least, I'll see you next time for a review a long time coming. The Good, the Bad, the original and the dead, it's time to review Earthrise Optimus Prime.

Transformers War For Cybertron Kingdom Deluxe Class Airazor: Behold, the gender ambiguous falcon

While I'm sure many will agree that the War for Cybertron series on Netflix ended with a whimper, some standout moments stood out for the better, while others stood out for the worse. One of those was Airazor, the Maximal scout that looked to borrow a bit from Tony Stark when it came to her robot mode flight. A fan favourite from the Beast Wars show, it was inevitable that she'd be in Kingdom, but after being away for so long, how does the first female Transformer on toy store shelves (with a toy that was actually designed to be female) hold up after being absent for 24 years? 

One comparison to immediately draw when looking at Airazor is the wave one femme fatal, Blackarachnia, as many of the problems that Blackarachnia has in her beast mode, Airazor also has. However, like Blackarachnia, that's not an issue. Unlike female Autobots like Arcee and Chromia, the problems aren't limited to female Maximals and Predacons; very few Maximals and Predacons have beast modes that aren't compromised. Making robots out of realistic (to a certain extent) animals isn't easy compared to vehicles. Because of that, some are going to look like a crumpled up robot hiding under an animal. Airazor does not fit in her falcon mode; many exposed robot parts can easily be seen regardless of the angle you look at her. But as with Blackarachnia, I struggle to care because the features of the beast mode that are a Falcon are beautiful. I love the wingspread and all the feather detailing along with her wings and back. The falcon head looks fantastic, and even with the (albeit clunky in execution) neck movement, it doesn't take much to get it into beautiful flying positions. With all the joints in the wings, it's possible to get a somewhat convincing grounded pose out of the bird mode; however, doing this will expose the robot chest and back of the head. It's unfortunate, but there aren't many alternatives, especially as the robot mode needed the priority.

Another comparison to make to Blackarachnia is that representation of her robot mode from the show has been sparse. While Blackarachnia has had toys since Beast Wars that have been closer to her onscreen model (which in itself was heavily modified from the original toy), Airazor hasn't had that privilege. Outside of convention exclusive repaints trying to give her a vehicle alternate mode, Airazor has not been seen on shelves since 2000, which in itself was a tweaked version of her Transmetal toy. There hasn't been a toy of her look in the show due to it being drastically changed from the original toy, due to the original toy initially being a male character. This toy had something to prove, and if the robot mode were done well, many people would readily accept the beast mode compromises. This toy does not do the robot mode well; it does the robot mode almost perfectly. With one sole exception on my specific copy of the toy, I cannot find any fault in the robot mode design. It's lean. It's nimble, it's kibble free as the only parts that could be considered beast mode junk, the talons and the wings, actually improve her look, making her look even more dynamic. The head sculpts beautiful, with the only blemish on this toy being a slight quality control error misplacing one of the paint applications on her eyes. It doesn't look good when facing forward but makes for a very natural head turn position and making her look even more dynamic. The robot mode alone has put her in as one of the best figures in the Kingdom toyline so far for many people, and like Blackarachnia, she puts the recent Fembot toys to shame. Some might call this cheating, as unlike other female transformers, there's nothing inherently feminine about her design, save for potentially the face. I wouldn't be surprised if this is partly because Airazor in Japan is still a male character, which makes him one of the first openly gay Transformers characters. It's like what happened in Sailor Moon, only without turning a gay relationship into an incest relationship.

When it comes to recent female Transformers, Beasts 2, Bots 0, they're just killing it when it comes to female characters as toys. The Falcon mode is not great, requiring minimal effort to break the illusion of being a falcon. But for every issue the Falcon mode has, the robot mode makes up for and then some. I'm glad this toy is getting a second release as a Beast Wars Skywarp, though I do hope we'll get a Generations Magnaboss at some point; I miss three bot combiners. On the subject of three bot combiners (technically), I'll be reviewing Fossilizer mould number 2: Ractonite (and, if lockdown permits me, Tricranicus)

Transformers War For Cybertron Kingdom Cyclonus: Raising the bar even higher.

 While I love Scourge's toy, it's hard to deny that he's not very impressive as an overall Transformer. An imposing robot, a hilariously dumb alt mode, and a very basic transformation. While he did his job, the bar was set pretty low when it came to the new heralds of Unicron... and then Kingdom shows up with Cyclonus. Though he never got his armada, let's see how The Warrior was treated in the War for Cybertron Trilogy. 

Starting in Cyclonus' Jet mode, and right off the bat, there is something that needs to be addressed first. Generation 1 Cyclonus has a very distinct Jet mode, a sleek, futuristic space plane.Maybe it's because I wasn't that interested in my first exposure to the name Cyclonus in Transformers Armada, but I love this jet mode. If done well, it has the potential to be absolutely beautiful, as evident by all the third party versions that have been made. I've seen the design done well, I've seen it done amazingly, I've seen it done badly. Out of all the versions of G1 Cyclonus Hasbro and Takara have done over the years, this is, without a doubt, my favorite version of Cyclonus' Jet mode. This toy pulls off a beautiful jet mode and makes it look effortless, with the only hints of it transforming, the only traces of robot mode kibble being so minute that you effortlessly ignore them. The only minute problem I have with the jet mode is that I wish it borrowed a design cue from its forefather and had some guns on the nosecone to give the jet mode some armament that isn't sticking the robot mode gun on top of the jet, or under a wing. It doesn't look good, but other Transformers toys are guilty of it as well, so I'm not going to hold it against the toy. 

Kingdom Cyclonus shares a trait with a set of toys that I'll be reviewing (hopefully) sometime later this year, the Earthrise Seekers. Both toys have roots in the earliest years of what Transformers fans call the CHUG scale (standing for Classics, Henkei, Universe, Generations, the names of the toylines in Hasbro and Takara markets that follow the same scale and design cues). For Earthrise Starscream and all his repaints, it's the Classics toy of 2006. Cyclonus' traces back to his Universe toy from 2008. The modern toys share design tricks with the older toys, mainly in how parts move and what elements of the vehicles become parts of the robot. On Starscream, it feels like a hindrance, as aspects of engineering weren't brought up to date to accommodate modern engineering standards, with the only significant differences being how parts transform. The same could be said for Cyclonus; however, it doesn't feel like a crutch. The engineering is similar (just modernized), but parts of it were redone from the ground up to make something that looks cleaner in both modes. The proportions of the jet and robot look more refined; the articulation is improved in robot mode. There's even potential (with a bit of help from a 3D printer and a later Generations Selects figure) to recreate gimmicks of the Universe toy, thanks to the hands folding away to reveal 5mm ports. To top it all off, Cyclonus makes it seem so effortless. I'll go into this more once I review the Earthrise Seekers, but Cyclonus puts them to shame just by existing. It's what the Earthrise Seekers were trying to do, and not only succeeding at it but going above and beyond to fix the faults of the Universe toy. 

Not where I prefer to put his knees, but at least the lighting looks cool.

Is he flawless? Objectively no, there are some minor issues, especially when in robot mode. The plastic gaps in the wings, the gun, and the back of the thighs look bad, and the jet kibble on the sides of his stomach is distracting. It's also frustrating knowing the knees don't lock into place when in robot mode. But as mentioned before, when looking at the jet, it's hard to care about these issues. What minor faults are here are easily drowned out by the overall execution of the toy. Cyclonus' quality did come at a cost; his wave mate, Optimus Primal, is nowhere near the same quality as Cyclonus. But Primal didn't need to be. The Primal that we got was still almost everything fans of the character wanted in a new Primal toy; it didn't feel like corners were being cut. The results speak for themselves, this is one of the best Voyager toys in the War for Cybertron trilogy, and considering the competition, that's an impressive feat. The bar's been set high for Galvatron, but that review is still pretty far away. Instead of a G.I Joe figure next week, the following review will be a Maximal, Airrazor.

Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Leader Class Megatron (Beast Mode) and T-Wrecks: Best not to confuse the two purple dinosaurs.

While both came from someone's imagination, one wants to be your friend, and the other will want to kill you on his temporal, semi-religious quest for power.
 
In the pantheon of reboots and alternate universes, if you were to ask a Transformers fan to name a version of Megatron that wasn't the original from the '80s, a common answer would probably be Beast Wars Megatron. Originally a small green Aligator that was the original Megatron in a new body, what many consider to be the true Beast Wars Megatron is the Ultra Class gimmick laden purple T-Rex, thanks to its use in the show. Now a stand-alone character removed from the original Megatron, he quickly became a fan favourite for his mix of serious villain endeavours and cartoony quirks. One moment he could be trying to change time; the next could him brushing his T-Rex head's teeth and having a bath with a rubber duck. His voice also became iconic, with David Kaye giving a stunning performance that gave him a Shakesperian tone and demeanour, as noted by the way he emphasises the word "yes". It comes as no surprise when Kingdom rolls around that the version of Megatron they go for is the original purple T-Rex look, but something a bit more of a surprise was his first repaint, T-Wrecks from Beast Machines's repaint subline Dinobots. Ironically, at least for me, the Jurassic Park themed repaint, Tyranocon Rex, was more predictable than T-Wrecks was. With both here ready to review, how has the 2020s treated the T-Rex with a god complex? I should point out that from this point on, while the official name is Megatron (Beast Mode), I'll be referring to him as Beast Wars Megatron, or BW Megatron/ Megs for short.

While I usually start with the alternate mode for Transformers, there is something that should be mentioned first, as the toys are packaged in robot mode. As a part of the transformation, you need to split the crotch of the robot to get the legs into position for beast mode. The first time doing this, though, is challenging and requires an alarming amount of force that feels like you're going to rip the toy in half. Thankfully, it gets easier with every subsequent transformation, but that one step does knock down the transformation in terms of enjoyment. 

 

Looking at the Beast Mode once you get it there, though I wouldn't call it clean or refined, it is undoubtedly impressive. There are many visible panel lines and distracting gaps, particularly around the neck, but it doesn't ever really feel like a problem when seeing the result. This thing looks mean, deadly like a Jurassic predator should. I love the fact that articulation isn't compromised for the sake of the transformation when it comes to things like the tail and the neck. The tail isn't as moveable as an actual tail, but there's enough to do a convincing tail swing, and the way the neck panels move for the sake of letting the head turn is genius. I didn't notice until I got T-Wrecks into his Dino mode how seamless the robot mode bits integrate into the dinosaur, as Wrecks has these grey hinges for parts of the leg that look bad when compared to Megatron, where the pieces were cast in purple. What was a real shock when it was revealed was the use of rubber (well, rubber-like plastic) skin. Mainline Transformers can't even get rubber tiers, yet here's a leader class T-Rex wholly covered in the stuff while still having lots of beautiful paint to boot. It feels unnecessary but appreciated nonetheless. Like many T-Rex toys that go for the more natural position, Megatron and T-Wrecks are very front heavy. Getting them to stand in beast mode is an issue, but that's not the toy's fault, more so the initial inspiration. Considering as the first two leader class toys of Kingdom was a repack of Earthrise Optimus and Kingdom Ultra Magnus, a retool of the 2019 toy (see that review for my thoughts on him), this feels excessive, like they went above and beyond to make this as good as possible, which I respect. This is the first new mainline BW Megatron toy since 2006, so why not go all in and make the toy worthy of the event?

The event continues when you get to robot mode, primarily because of Megatron himself and not T-Wrecks. While the sculpting is mostly the same between the toys, with the only noticeable difference being different heads (though some versions of BW Megs have the T-Wrecks head), T-Wrecks has far less paint on him and doesn't feel as alive as a result. It makes T-Wrecks feel like a worse deal as you pay more for him than you would most Leader Class toys; due to him being a Target US exclusive, that one toy chain here decided to import directly from Hasbro Asia. The tan on the underside of the T-Rex, the silver and gunmetal on the robot torso, the black paint on the legs, and the faction symbol on the head make BW Megatron look a lot better than T-Wrecks. I cannot even find a faction symbol on T-Wrecks. I don't know if that's a QC issue, or he genuinely doesn't have a Maximal logo. Articulation in the mould is standard for WFC robots, with the only compromises made coming in the form of the arms and hands. Still, the reason for it is more understandable when you consider the fact that one hand is a T-Rex head, and the tail claw dwarfs the other hand. You don't need wrist swivels on this guy. One big problem this toy has, though, is the back. Beast Wars Megatron will always have a messy back, but this feels a bit too messy, thanks mainly to the Dino modes thighs. It's the one part that I wish was better refined, but the issue is that there's nowhere else for them to go with the way the toy was designed. Dinosaur part management was better handled in the Masterpiece toy from what I've seen. While this is far more durable, it's not something like Studio Series Hot Rod or Kingdom Cyclonus, where they look and feel like affordable Masterpiece toys. 

While it might not be a budget Masterpiece, there's no denying that Kingdom BW Megatron is a gorgeous Leader Class toy. Like I said earlier, this feels like an event, something that some designer has wanted to do for a long time, with a few sacrifices as possible—an almost perfect representation of the character in the Generations scale. While it's nice to get him at all, T-Wrecks feels underdone when compared to his general release mould mate, which makes him feel worse than he is due to his exclusive nature. When even the mediocre Beast Wars characters in Kingdom are done with this much care, we could be in for a real treat if the beasts continue to appear on shelves. While the Generation 1 purists might not like it, this looks to be the case, thanks to rumours, leaks and the next live-action movie bringing the Maximals and Predacons to the big screen (something that I don't have a lot of hope for, but "hope for the best, plan for the worst"). Up next for review, the Cobra saboteur, Firefly.

Transformers Generations Selects Transmutate (along with Kingdom Deluxe Class Paleotrex and Netflix Skelivore): "Man, I am tellin' ya, the things coming out of these [repaints] is just getting weirder and weirder."

War for Cybertron; Siege: Vehicles tied to the Titans (and a set of z list repaints) that can be broken down into weapons for other figures in the toyline. Excellent idea, executed mostly well. War for Cybertron; Earthrise: Micromaster buildings that can be broken down and become armour for other figures in the toyline. Cool idea, not as good of execution as Siege, mainly due to the reuse of the same two moulds. War for Cybertron; Kingdom: Dinosaur fossils that become bone weapons for other figures. Well, you have my curiosity, at least, especially when you do repaints for characters like Transmutate. 

While Paleotrex and Skelivore are brand new characters made for the toyline, Transmutate is an... interesting specimen. She was a one-off character in the Beast Wars cartoon. Her stasis pod was damaged in the show's opening, and when she made her debut in and was killed off in the episode, she is the namesake of, she was portrayed as a confused child in the show due to being viewed as incomplete, unfinished due to the pod's damage. Transmutate was terrifying in the show, not just because of her high pitch scream as a defensive measure, but the way she looked and moved in the show combined with the cheap CGI budget the show was known for made her genuinely disturbing to look at. So while the episode itself is excellent, be aware that it comes with some nightmare fuel.

Come on Hasbro, give us a Rampage. You know you want too

 
Transmutate didn't have a transformation back in Beast Wars, but as a part of her being a repaint of Paleotrex, she gets to share his. Paleotrex, Skelivore (a pack-in figure with Megatron in the third Netflix Leader Class Spoiler Box that I will not be reviewing), and Transmutate all transform into Tyrannosaurus fossils. That information, though, comes from TFWiki, and something about that feels wrong to me. While I don't know what these are, I'm almost certain they aren't T-Rex fossils. It's unsettling to see these in a Beast Wars toyline, where all the other Maximals and Predacons are living versions of the animals they transform into. It would be terrifying to see dinosaur fossils running around, let alone turning into giant robots. However, with the sculpting being mostly accurate to actual dinosaur fossils, along with the engineering of the Weaponizers of Siege and Modulators of Earthrise carrying over, these are extremely clean transformations, probably the cleanest out of all the Beast Wars characters. Unfortunately, though, due to the nature of their beast modes, they're not very stable in beast mode. The big heads make them very top-heavy, and while they will stand, I don't know how long the joints will last due to the transformation requiring joints like the hips to be friction plugs and ports. I also wish there was more articulation in the beast modes, things like a neck swivel to let the head turn from left to right, along with some ankle tilts to help get the most out of all the joints in the legs. 

Like the Weaponizers and Modulators, you rip them apart and put them back together into something resembling robot modes to transform these three. Unlike Siege and Earthrise's attempts, though, there's no one way to get to robot mode. The components are more ambiguous, and with some of the later Fossilizers, pieces such as hands aren't defined, relying on any 5mm port or any plug that can take a 5mm port to act as the hands. These give the toys many more playability options, making them the most versatile figures in the toy line, even before getting to the bone weapons gimmick. Below is a picture of three combinations of the toys, each only using the parts you get from one copy of the toy. 

While the playability is excellent, it's hard not to notice how different they look compared to other Beast Wars characters. Due to the bone aesthetic, they feel like zombie robots, which can either be a good or bad thing depending on your personal preference. Regarding the accuracy of Transmutate, due to this being a repaint, it looks nothing like the character does no matter what you do. However, I think this gets the spirit of the character's design, which isn't a guarantee with repaints. I love how they retooled the head, replacing the bone mask Paleotrex and Skelivore have (which in itself is a reference to Optimus Primal's mace, an accessory the original toy had) with the ability to do the scream she's known for in the Beast Wars cartoon. It's a nice touch. I'm not going to go into the bone weapon gimmick as, like the Weaponizers, many combinations can be done with them. The bone weapons do look convincing when they're trying to be melee weapons (like a giant bone axe or bone sword), but less effective when they're trying to be ranged weapons. I think Skelivore pulls off the ranged weapons the best, as the design and colours given to him are meant to represent something like Dark Energon constructs for Megatron. My biggest issue, though, with Skelivore is that the use of transparent plastic makes him far more brittle when compared to Paleotrex and Transmutate. My copy has fragile connections for the Dinosaur feet and shins (which can be but doesn't have to be a wrist swivel in robot mode). 

These three are a lot of fun. It's hard not to be entertained by them, thanks to the parts forming gimmick. Because this mould was built from the ground up for an original character, nothing limits their design. They don't need to look like the titan companions of Siege's weaponized, and they don't need to look like the Micromaster bases of Earthrise so that most pieces can be designed for the gimmick first and the robot/ beast mode second. Though some parts like the crotch are still a bit tedious to find a use for when combining onto other characters, especially when the weapon ports are more limited on Beast Wars characters, there's still enough playability in them to not rely on the ability to become accessories for other characters. Paleotrex and Skelivore are also generic enough to work as great army builders for the Predacons so that you could have a whole army of dinosaur skeletons. Definitely worth the purchase if you can find them. Next week though, it's time to go from some small dinosaurs to big ones and review one toy that's been a long time coming. "Yessss."

Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Leader Class Ultra Magnus: When expectations are still dissapointing.

When rumours began to circulate of a Kingdom Ultra Magnus, my expectations were low. Unlike what felt like most of the community at the time, I was expecting a retool of 2019's War for Cybertron: Siege version. But just because I wasn't expecting a brand new toy doesn't mean that I wasn't disappointed in what I saw. The press shots didn't look good, and the reviews were mediocre at best. I was expecting to skip this one and potentially pick up a repaint as Delta Magnus if Hasbro ever made one for Generations Selects. I was content with my Siege version, especially with the upgrade kit made by DNA Design which fixes his proportion issues. So... why did I get this one? Aside from it looking good alongside other 1986 movie characters, I was able to pick one up in a recent toy sale. A Leader Class toy for under $50 is a hard price to ignore when they usually go from anywhere between $80 and $100 here. So, once more Magnus, this time with feeling!

It should say at the very start of this review that I won't be rehashing flaws with the original release back in Siege. I've already reviewed the Siege version of this mould, and design issues like the short thighs, the robot mode junk inside the car carry bay, the inner robot's backpack were a problem then, and they're a problem now. I'll only bring up design flaws in detail that become more of an issue after all the retooling made to give it an earth car carrier look. Unfortunately, that's where we first start because one of those issues need to be brought up almost immediately. The arms sticking out the back of the truck cab looked terrible on the Siege version, but with how recessed into the trailer, you didn't notice them unless the truck cab was on its own. Because earth trucks require some distance for a potential turning circle (no, there isn't one here, it connects to the trailer the same way the Siege version does), the arms are now a more significant issue. They're almost completely exposed now, shattering the illusion of this being a "robot in disguise" completely. There's also no option to bring the cabin closer to the trailer, thanks to the retooling. Not only can you not get the trailer closer, but now there's a gap in the trailer's lower car bed (I don't know car carriers), creating even more issues with this vehicle's ability to be a functional car carrier. Is it all bad, though? Not exactly. The new truck cab (when ignoring the robot junk behind it) does look good, going for the traditional Ultra Magnus truck cab look of being a white Optimus. They've done some retooling to the front wheel section to cover it up some more, making the area look a bit more cohesive without sacrificing movement for the legs when it goes into the fully armoured mode. It would have been nice if more details on the truck cab were painted, such as painting the lights to help break up the solid white, but it still looks like a truck cab—shame though that the front of the truck is the only thing that looks convincing in this mode.

The core robot for Magnus is pretty much business as usual for the mould, with no changes done to the engineering. Paint applications are slightly different, the head crest for Kingdom Magnus is silver instead of cyan, and the metallic blue paint for the crotch plate is somewhat darker. The new truck cab makes him look both thinner and also fatter at the same time when compared to the Siege one. It's a lot flatter when compared to the Siege version, but the design of Siege's truck cab gave him a leaner, more robust looking torso, whereas Kingdom's looks like a box with arms and legs. You do lose some articulation thanks to the gap filler for the truck mode, as he can't move his thighs back any further than five degrees, compared to Siege being able to do a full split. Once in the fully armoured mode, it's a bit of a mixed bag for me now that I've got it in person. Pros: It's more G1 accurate (for those that demand that at all costs). I also like the brighter white used, and it makes the toy look a lot more vibrant and lively than it did before. The joints feel tighter (though that could be just my copy of the Siege version) and the connection points for the shoulder pads and leg plates feels better, stronger. The head sculpts better, and I love the more prominent eyes, along with the inclusion of light piping. 

Do they make this version objectively better, though? Not really, as when putting them side by side, it feels like the Kingdom version is missing something. There's more paint overall on the Siege version, partly thanks to the battle damage gimmick, but there was also more plastic included in the box as well, as the Siege version has two extra guns that are entirely missing from the Kingdom version. Were they great guns? No, but in terms of general volume, along with the playability they bring, it's hard to ignore their exclusion for no real replacement. One frustrating omission is the lack of Autobot logos, as both Car Carrier mode and Robot mode have places moulded in for them, but they're nowhere to be found, something that feels like a more significant issue than it probably is. I know there are high-quality stickers that can fix that, but I'm not reviewing Reprolabel sets, and Lego stickers already frustrate me when I don't apply them properly; I'm not going through that for my Transformers. Something that I'm surprised wasn't included, especially as it would have been a perfect addition to the toy to tie into the 35th anniversary of the 1986 movie; he doesn't have a Matrix Chamber. There's room for it inside the core robot, especially as they've been able to design tiny Matrix Chambers for both Earthrise Optimus Prime and Kingdom Rodimus Prime. It's a feature that I could have seen as a big selling point for the toy, something to help it stand out more when compared to the Siege version.

Kingdom Ultra Magnus isn't objectively better than Siege Ultra Magnus, but it's also not objectively worse either. The only selling point it has for long time collectors is that it's more Generation 1 accurate, but even that doesn't feel like something it does an excellent job at doing. I think it's a fine Ultra Magnus to get if you don't have the Siege version and want a version of the City Commander, but there's not much of a point in upgrading unless you hate the Siege aesthetic (in which case I question why you even bought Siege Magnus in the first place). The most disappointing thing about Kingdom Magnus, though, is that he feels 90% complete, like they could have done just a little bit more to make him genuinely warrant the "OMG THIS IS TOTALLY BETTER THEN THAT LAST ONE" reaction he's been getting from people. He's nothing more than a repaint, and though he was always going to be a repaint, there could have been more done to make him a fantastic and affordable G1 Ultra Magnus.

Transformers Earthrise Voyager Class Grapple and Kingdom Voyager Class Inferno: When is a good toy mediocre?

Another two for one this week. In another case of "I was waiting until at least the obvious repaint was coming", something that likely took longer due to the virus last year. Well, over a year since we first got the mould, it's time to look at Earthrise Grapple and Kingdom Inferno!

 

I'll start by going over the elephant in the room when it comes to the first release of the mould. People's common quality control issue was the pegs that connected Grapple's backpack to his feet in Crane Truck mode. This problem was something addressed in Inferno, where they made the pegs shorter. Still, the fix many people used, myself included, was to shave a bit of plastic off of the pegs before trying to turn Grapple into his vehicle mode to cut down on the friction connecting the pieces. If you're wondering which version of Grapple you have (assuming they've done a silent reissue that fixes the problem), gently try to push one of the pegs into the ports on the feet. If it feels like you're putting too much force into it, take it out before you go further, take a knife, and shave some plastic off of the sides of the pegs before trying again.

Starting in the vehicle modes, and right off the bat, we have their worst modes. On their own, they look fine, with a lot of lovely detailing. Though the ladder and crane arms could be longer on both figures, the biggest issue both have is the size. These two are meant to scale well with other figures in Robot mode, but due to the nature of their vehicle modes, to achieve that task, the vehicles look tiny compared to any other Generations vehicle. Scale isn't usually an issue for me; as long as vehicles and robots look good when together, I'm willing to look past the size issues. When there are some alternate modes like motorbikes, animals, dinosaurs, realistic firearms, and other similarly troublesome modes, it's hard for me to get worked up about things not scaling right. However, these two bother me. They never look good in vehicle mode when next to anyone other than each other. They're just too small!

I get why they needed to be small, and the ends justify the means when we get to robot mode. It's just an unfortunate side effect of the alternate modes. The retooling done to separate the two is minor, though effective. With Grapple getting a crane arm with an optional claw end, Inferno has something that loosely resembles a fire ladder, a nozzle on the end of it, and some fire hoses that peg onto what will be his robot mode shins. Grapple's claw has the best use of gimmick compatibility, with a clip in the middle of it that can connect to the road pieces used for your Micromaster bases. With it connecting via a 5mm port, you can plug anything onto the end of the crane so long as it has a 5mm plug. It's little things like that which add a lot of enjoyment to a figure, and it's a shame that they didn't find a way to replicate it for Inferno's fire ladder. 

 

As I said, the reason for the small trucks is for better-proportioned robot modes. While the transformation isn't anything exciting (as is typical for Inferno/Grapple toys, everything tucks in behind the chest as you turn robots into logs with wheels), the robot modes do look great when you get to them. These are some of the best-proportioned Transformers I own, and because of that, people have been able to do a lot of exciting and hilarious things with them. However, for some reason, I don't get much enjoyment when messing around with them. They just come off as rather dull to me, though I'm not quite sure why because there's nothing objectively wrong about their robot modes. That's something I noticed a lot in Earthrise. While there were several toys in it that were objectively good for what they were doing, something didn't quite click with me about them. They don't feel like they had a presence to them other than being good representations of the characters like there's no life in them. I know that probably sounds weird to people that don't collect toys. It probably sounds strange to people who do. But to compare it to the last review a few weeks ago of Cobra Commander, that figure has no face and is only expressive through hands, yet it feels more lively than these two. Even their wave mates, Earthrise Starscream and Kingdom Megatron (for Grapple and Inferno, respectively), feel more alive than these two do, and one of them is a glorified upscale of a toy from 2006!

Tiny truck mode aside, these two are good toys objectively. They're just underwhelming for me. Maybe it's my lack of general interest in the characters. Perhaps it's the fact that they always transform the same way. Whatever the reason is, they just come off as a bit lacklustre to me. Both are readily available in stores if you're after them, Grapple more so than Inferno, thanks to how much leftover stock of Grapple there is lying around! If you get more out of them, then great! Feel free to tell me what I'm missing because even I'm not sure what exactly my issue is with these two.

Opinion Piece: Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest 2021

Because the April Schedule is already out of whack anyway.

 

With the continued struggle of running events, Hasbro has decided to stream product reveals for six toy brands. Four licensed brands, two in house brands so that people who have access to Hasbro Pulse (without needing to resort to PO Boxes) can see what's coming up and what may join their collections. Instead of a regular review, I thought it would be interesting to go through the four and a half hours of live-stream, taking a break to finish building a new Lego Set, which will be getting a review soon, and see what new products are on the way. Here are my thoughts on the first Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest. 

 

 

 

To quickly get one thing out of the way. The six IP's that are focused on in this presentation. Transformers, G.I Joe, Star Wars, Marvel, Power Rangers and Fortnite. I actively collect two of these brands. I don't delve hard into merchandise for two of the brands here, choosing to focus more on the media they output, and the remaining two I don't care about in general. If you're coming here looking for my deep thoughts on the Power Rangers and Fortnite stuff, you're going to be disappointed as I didn't grow up watching Power Rangers, and I don't play Fortnite. 

I'll be going at this in order of reveals, but as an AV technician, I do have to call attention to awkward and frustrating aspects of the presentation, especially early on. Awkward camera transitions, the presenter's focus on the wrong camera, showing bad set direction early on, along with the continued use of "talk from the office via webcam", something that is a case by case technical issue depending on where the person lives and what they've done. There was stuttering, one of the people presenting in the Power Rangers muted themselves and didn't turn it back on, just minor issues like that which make the overall presentation look and feel kind of cheap. I was also not a big fan of the pointless padding like the Trivia, small Q&A sections, and talking to some fans moments that killed the presentation's pacing. Those shouldn't have been in the main show. Also, while I won't be going into details, I will still talk about all six IP's so going in order, relatively blind, so if it sounds disjointed, that's because it likely is. With that said:

 

 

Fortnite: The Victory Royal line looks alright overall, though, with my lack of knowledge on the game, I don't know if these are just fancy skins or actual characters, maybe both? It's why there are reveals that I'll be skipping because I can't think of much to say other than "looks alright". Ripply looks cool reminds me a bit of Minion from Mega Mind, but I'm cautious about how well those translucent joints will hold up over time. It seems like a very risky figure to be starting with engineering-wise. Lynx looks a bit too much like robot Catwoman, though I hope the articulation is carried over into other lines. Scarlett, the one female G.I Joe I have so far, only has single joint elbows, and I've heard Marvel Legends fans have been clamouring for better articulation in female characters for a while now, so hopefully, it happens. Shadow Meowsel (Meowsle?), the details are lovely, but I do find it odd that they released the obvious repaint first for this new line, though I shouldn't be surprised based on what I've seen from other toylines. The shark seems to be just a fancy accessory pack. I'm guessing a Loot Lama will be on the way based on how the accessories store in the shark. Will I go in on this line? No. As I said, I don't play the game. I've got no interest in these characters. I've not seen enough about them to know about any personalities they may have (compared to Overwatch, another shooter I don't play, but the characters do interest me). I might do a review of some if I get a chance to borrow the figures from someone interested in the line, but for the time being, I wouldn't expect to see more Fortnite on either site. 

 

 

Transformers: Purely because they addressed it in the presentation, Hasbro does need to get a lot better about leaks when it comes to Transformers. The new Titan looks fantastic; it's nice to get a Transforming Ark, and while I have minor nitpicks about the gaps for the sake of transformation, they do look bad in vehicle mode. It does, however, look very impressive as a whole. The Ark might be the first Titan I own because of how good it looks overall. Rodimus Prime, when I first heard about it from leaks, I wasn't impressed, as I don't care about Rodimus' trailer being a trailer. I was hoping it was going to be integrated into the transformation. After seeing pictures of it, though, and seeing all that it can do, all that it comes with, I've warmed up to it more. Ignoring what I wanted it to be, this Rodimus does look to be a great looking Rodimus. Galvatron I was excited for the moment we heard it was coming, and after getting Scourge and Cyclonus in hand, Galvatron doesn't look as impressive based on the pictures, but not to the point of it looking bad. I'm still loving the look of it and can't wait to get it. Scorponok looks fantastic, probably one of the best looking Scorpion Transformers so far, though that's not too hard to do. Wing finger looks alright, not too big on the fossil mode primarily due to the dinosaur they chose, but the robot mode looks great. I'm going to try and make the fossil combiner when I get all three fossilizes. Not entirely sold on Tracks, I think he looks a bit too bulky in robot mode, but the car mode and flying car modes look great. I can't wait for Rhinox, Dracodon's a Vertibreak repaint; see my review for my thoughts on that. Not sure if it looks good in green, though. Soundwave I'm not too interested in mainly because I'm not collecting the core class G1 characters. The only one so far that interests me is Megatron because of the accessory. Astonishingly, he comes with a Lazerbeak cassette, and because of that, I might change my mind depending on how well he looks in tape recorder mode when next to bigger figures. Tricranius looks cool, and I love the fact that they're doing a blast effects pack at last. I'd love to see them do more blast effects in different colours, especially if weapons that are blast effects compatible are going to continue going forward. Shattered Glass Blur, 1/5 figures that are going to be Shattered Glass repaints. I wish we could see more of those figures, but Blur looks excellent. I'm hoping to get the Shattered Glass two-pack sometime this year, and this one will look great with Prime and Ratchet. The final thing revealed is an app and voice-controlled Optimus Prime. This has been floating around for years as what looked like a Robotics designer's personal project, now given a mass retail release. It looks cool, but not the likely over $1000 cool. Though it's a shame that Studio Series didn't get any love, and it was so Kingdom focused, the fact that this paragraph is as long as it is shows you that there was still a lot of info released that I'm excited for. There will be a Fan Friday in May that'll show more off, hopefully including Studio Series?

 

Power Rangers: A significant focus for this section of the presentation was on the media side of Power Rangers, game updates, a new comic, episodes of the shows being uploaded to Youtube, along with unknown collections that will be retail exclusives in August. I don't have much to say about those. For the Lightning Collection, they first showed off the remaining team members of the Mighty Morphin Metallic Power Rangers. Yellow, Blue, Black, and Red. They look good; the glitter effect looks OK, the weapons look alright and will look good with the already released Pink one. Finally, they showed off the Boom Studios Tyranosaurus Sentry, and again, it seems fine. It might be the cape, but it looks like it'll be awkward to pose in exciting ways and doesn't look as expressive as the other figures shown (well, the digital renders they offered). The weapon effects on all the figures look great, though, and I think those interest me the most out of all of the reveals in this section of the stream.

 

 

G.I. Joe: The focus for the Joes was the product reveals for the upcoming Snake Eyes movie (which we're still waiting on a trailer for). The kids' roleplay items look fine, though I get the feeling the sword will be a bit difficult to hold for kids, at least based on the video itself, for all I know they're the same size as Lightsaber hilts which will be fine. Out of all the roleplay items, the spring-loaded staff would have interested me the most as a kid, but I could see them causing issues for parents. Parents beware when it comes to those toy Ninja weapons. The kids' action figures look good as well, a Joe equivalent of lines like Transformers Cyberverse, looking closer to the Deluxe class for them. The weapon combination gimmick, along with the spring-loaded attack gimmick, looks fun without being intrusive to the figure (they're not going to be as poseable as the Classified series, but these don't look to be as invasive as gimmick focused Transformers). The figures look good; not a big fan of the Baroness and Ninja Tech Snake Eyes, though. However, some accessories like Storm Shadow's quiver and a dagger that Baroness comes with seem to give off the impression that they'll work well with the Classified line for those who can't find the Classified versions on shelves. The Character and Vehicle figures don't look great to me. The characters look good, but the bikes feel forced in, and I'm not sure how well the gimmick will work considering they're motorcycles. I love the look of the Classified versions of the movie characters. They're different enough from the regular Classified figures that they stand out while not looking so drastically different from the familiar 80's aesthetic to not clash with the current Classified figures, at least when compared to the Transformers modernized looks compared to their movie designs. A solid presentation overall, but it's hard to be excited for a movie where there's no trailer for it yet, especially a movie now coming out in July this year.

 

 

Marvel: Starting with Marvel Legends Retro Wave 3, Bullseye, Grey Hulk, Invisible Woman, Cyclops, Ant-Man and Vision. While they look good, not too into 3.75-inch figures, at least on their own (something that I hope to elaborate on in the future). Going into the 6-inch stuff, Quazar looks well done; I just don't have much to say about him. I love the look of Classic Ultron, with there being just enough mechanical detail to give him some texture without going too far away from the comics. Evolt Guardsman looks fine; nothing really to say about him as I've never heard of him before. Hologram Iron Man seems interesting, but as with Ripply in Fortnite, I question how durable the material will be due to the translucent body. I love the look of Stealth suit Iron Man, along with Iron Heart. They did bring attention to the fact that Riri will have double pinless elbows, so regarding my comment about Lynx, there's a good chance the articulation improvements carry on into other lines. Not sold on Darkstar, to be honest, at least when compared to the previous reveals of the Iron Man wave. All of the figures from Ultron to Darkstar will come with components to make Ursa Major, which looks very impressive, but I would probably be more impressed if I knew who Ursa Major was. Stand alone from those in the 90's Modular Armor, which looks great and a good representation of the 90's armour. I could see people who played (what I'm assuming to be) Marvel vs Capcom enjoying the look as well, potentially keeping them around as new fans. The Iron Man suits are tempting, along with Iron Heart and Ultron; the others aren't interesting to me personally. In terms of the MCU stuff, while they couldn't show Disney+ figures, they did show off Thor from the final battle in Endgame. The sculpt looks good, and I like the effects parts, but I'm not a fan of the translucent blue weapons. They don't look good without the effects parts, which is a shame for those that don't want to use them for displays. A new piece of Legends gear is the MCU Eye of Agamoto, complete with a glowing, Removeable Time Stone. For people who like collecting the MCU gear, they're going to love this, and I can easily see this working well as a cosplay prop. After going into some details on the Haslab Sentinel, it appears that the next project they're going to try and crowdfund is a Galactus, at least based on the teaser and a teaser for the second wave of Age of Apocolypse revealed a Sabertooth coming. It is a nice mix of reveals, maybe not so much if you prefer MCU figures, but still solid overall.

 

 

Star Wars: Up first for Star Wars is the Galactic Snacking Grogu, based on his hunger from Mandalorian Season 2. An electronic Grogu toy is about what you'd expect it to be; looks fine. I hope you're not sick of Baby Yoda merch. After that came the reveals for the Vintage Collection. Re releases/ remakes in the collection include Luke Skywalker in his Hoth outfit, Han Solo in his Endor trenchcoat, Admiral Ackbar, and the Royal Guard. They look good for 3.75-inch figures. A new subline in the Vintage collection themed around Star Wars game characters was revealed, with the first wave including Heavy Battle Droid from Battlefront 2 (they didn't say which one), Shadow Stormtrooper from The Force Unleashed (which looks nice to me but, once again, translucent body parts), Scout Trooper (which looks to be a regular Scout Trooper but with new harness and a stun baton), and Electro-staff Purge Trooper, both from Jedi Fallen Order. The four figures look great, but I find it odd that it's all army builders and no characters from the games in question. Going to the 6-inch Black Series figures, they revealed figures they teased back in January, including General Lando from Return of the Jedi, Aura Sang from the Prequels (most notably from The Clone Wars), Tech from The Bad Batch, Zero from The Mandalorian, and Koska Reeves from The Mandalorian. All of these are faithful to their representations in Star Wars, though I am surprised they've finished The Bad Batch and Bo Katan's team so quickly, especially when there are (apparently) other teams and squads missing characters. Black Series Role-Play (I didn't catch the actual name) reveals include Wedge's helmet (which is probably a repaint of Luke's helmet, so again, looks fine if you're collecting them). The final reveal for the section was a Rogue One X-Wing for the Vintage Collection, along with an Antok Merrik that will be bundled with it to pilot it. During the presentation, a fan vote started to bring a vintage collection figure back into production in 2022. You can find it on Hasbro Pulse's social media channels. Maybe it's the fact that this took me all of Saturday to write (and I still need to do the thoughts on the presentation, the opening and closing paragraphs), or it's the fact that I don't collect Star Wars toys. Still, nothing in this section of the presentation interested me. 

Final thoughts on it all? I like the fact that Hasbro does product reveals like this and their Fan First Fridays. I hope that even after things fully recover, they continue to do them as it helps keep the excitement going between press shows. But, there are still some bugs to work out. I hope that if they keep working on them, the web cameras from home/ office stop once they can get people back at work, give the presentation a more professional look, and avoid technical hiccups that have frequently appeared in these kinds of events. I also think they need to strike a better balance in terms of the amount revealed compared to the discussion on the reveal. Four and a half hours is a lot to get through. Stop Motion trailers might be a thing to consider to show off a figure, what they come with, how they move, something that the designers would discuss. However, that will depend on how much they can cut the production time down. The padding, such as trivia and fan opinions, is also a pace killer; I think that kind of stuff is best saved for a post-show stream that could go into more detail on the reveals. I hope this was good read for you, I'll have a review of something for next week.