The Transformers thread - new CG animated series announced

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GreyWizzard
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Post by GreyWizzard »

Just looking at the voyager starscream on the hasbro site... man that looks pretty sweet. His Null Rays look a little too toy like though... but that often happens I guess.
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Post by Ben »

Yeah I've seen some at Toys R Us etc about a week ago.

I'm still not sure what I think of TFA. I haven't really seen any of the new series mainly because I'm not feeling anything for the warped animated designs.

From what I've seen though I kind of like the Bulkhead design butt he others look a bit weird and elongated...

I'm going to try and check out the series and put my reservations aside but I think I might just buy a toy and be done with it lol. Don't know which version of him to go for, Voyager or Leader..
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Post by GreyWizzard »

Seriously the series is pretty damn schmick. The writing is up there with some of the best. The action is great, and the characters are great. Just when you think Starscream can't get any cooler he does.

There are so many throw backs to the old series' it's not funny. I mean, they even reference the jap stuff.

It's written for fanboys by fanboys :D

I was a little weirded out by the designs at first but besides Sari and her Dad it's pretty easy to get over it because everything else is so damn quality.

Also, now would be the best time to get into it with both S1 and 2 completed.

I can't wait for the bluray releases. Widescreen HD with no idiot talking over the ending credits!
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Post by GreyWizzard »

I had a look at Big W Stafford on the weekend, and they just have Optimus and Megatron (leader class) in a boxset. It is their Cybertronian forms. I prefer the Earth form of Megatron though...

They looked okay, but they were kinda small.

No price on the box, I just assumed they were free.

What is the best rated version of TFA Starscream? I might just get lazy and see if I can order it somewhere online :D
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Post by GreyWizzard »

In other news, avoid the AU release of the dvds. They are in pan n scan with stereo sound. yuck eff that in the aye.


Hopefully there is a bluray release announced soon. I mean the series was done in widescreen HD, it was the networks that decided to butcher it. Obviously kids don't matter. It's all about selling a product :(
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Post by GreyWizzard »

Just found details for the season 1 box set. 4:3 stereo. That's from the US :thumbdown:

How come a series that was produced in Widescreen HD gets such a dodgey treatment for a DVD release?
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Post by GreyWizzard »

Something I do want to discuss about TFA...

[Click to see hidden content]
Sari, I assume others picked it as well. But what do others think about it? I am down for the whole robot girl... but how could the tech be that advanced and no one pick it? I mean she seems more advanced than the transformers. In the fact that she is fleshy and she can cry and do all those cool human things... I am pretty sure she even needs to go to the toilet... she eats... wtf man I am hella confused. This is like that ep of astroboy where the father updated the robot everynight. I really hope there is a 3rd season, I wanna know what the deal is.


thoughts?
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Post by GameHED »

One thing I found with the cartoony look of the robots is that it's both a good thing and a bad thing:

Good because it gives the characters some unique identifying characteristics that set them apart from each other from a distance. I hated how in G1 everything look sameish when you have a bunch of similar loking people all in one group looking indistinguishable fro mone another.

Bad because when you look at the cartoony and simplified appearance of the figures at larger sizes/bigger scale the lack of detail on them kind of makes wanting them in a larger size a little redundant. Because they were never really designed to be ultra detailed and full of complexity. Their simpler toonish art style in the tv show means the larger versions are not going to necessarily benefit as much as say the Live action movie TF which wanted so bad to be detail-infested and complex.

Anyway I finally managed to see the last eps and I got to say I was very pleased with how it ended.

Really though I think they needed to have a three part ep involving all the team of one side fighting all the team of the other side in order to give the battles a bigger sense of scale. Like in justice league animated show you would have many complex fights and interesting situations due to the sheer number of people fighting all at once at the same time so it meant that one guy's powers could be combined with another guys powers to overcome a unique problem instead of everyone individually doing their own thing.

As an example Blurr is the TFA equivalent to the flash, and could use his speed to make it impossible to be hit, bumblebee could use his speed to get a running start in car mode to ram megatron in the face and prime could spray water on the ground to make it slippery for the bigger guys to walk on so that if say bulkhead tackles megatron and he tries to get up he slips in a puddle. You could have ratchet use magnets to retrieve the shuriken for prowl which stuck to walls so he can use them like a boomerang, if he misses. You could have bulkhead break some walls with the wrecking ball attack and create cover for the autobots to buy time. Just basically have them set traps and fight with tactics. Ok so by himself bumblebee is weak against a heavy character like megatron, but what if prime used the water canon to create a wet surface and have bumblebee use his stingers to electrcute him while he is standing on the ground in a puddle of water? That might increase the effectiveness of the basic attacks. Grimlocks fire sword might be effective weapon against the oil-drinking constructicons and while they are drunk on oil he can cut them up and blow them up easily because of what they've been drinking. (of course we never got to see a fight between the dinobots and constructicons sadly :( )

But you get the idea: superheroes have unique abilitys and stuff. Blurr is the Flash, Bulkhead is the Thing, prime is captain america, prowl is batman, Ratchet is magneto etc so being smaller they all should combine and attack in a way that highlights their unique ability. There was one episode where megatron fought prime in G1 and absorbed all the powers of the decepticons to cheat in a one-on-one duel. I think that kind of thing should have been done to prime in TFA to make him strong against megatron to even the odds heh.. Or just call in grimlock to use his sword to fight megatron while prime uses his axe. Have prowl throw smoke grenades to blind megatron, Ratchet disarms megatrons sword with his magnets and even the odds a bit. (since he is much larger it makes no sense to let prime fight all by himself)

Just throwing some ideas out there.

And about the

[Click to see hidden content]
robot girl thing: Sumdac must have been experimenting on making androids in case the alien robots ever invaded earth in the future and she is the prototype weapon with humanoid learning capability. Powers deactivated for now to keep it a secret from everyone. Sumdac must be holding back all his best inventions. :D Or maybe she is human but exposure to alien robots has made her have some kind of disease. Remember how the autobots were scared of humans because they didn't want to catch germs? Maybe it's happening in reverse and the robots are giving humans a virus which turns them into robots? :p
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Post by GreyWizzard »

Picked up a Voyager class Starscream and a Deluxe class Prowl.

Very very happy with Starscream. The movement and range he has in how you can position him is great.

Prowl looks fantastic, very spot on to the cartoon, but he seems to have a weight issue. Very top heavy and he is hard to get to stand up straight.

I'll take some snaps soon and post them.
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Post by GameHED »

I've heard TFA leader class megatron (earth mode) has been getting positive reviews. Very close to the character from the toon, good articulation, and looks good in alt mode. I think I will skip starscream because I looked at his plane mode and he has a chunky undercarriage. Dammint hasbro why can't you make a skinny robot that transforms into a sleek jet?

Seen pics of classics Silverbolt: same problem as all other jets. Chunky robot is barely even disguised in plane mode and hangs underneath exposed.

I know TFA is the main line of toys but really I'm digging all the universe/classics toys. Did you see if universe is out yet? I'm thinking of getting all the car robots in this line since I'm such a G1 fan. Some of these are complex enough that you could almost say they are like mini alternators.

So do you think there is going to be a TFA animated movie?

Leader class megs review:
The idea of the dual swords and the samurai helmet really works for him here. He's like the shredder from TMNT. By being bigger than all the others he has a more vader like presence. (ie everyone is scared of him when he walks into a room)
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Post by GameHED »

I thought this might be of interest to Transformer Fans
(G1 people to be specific)

The new target catalogue "Australia's Biggest Toy Sale 24 July-August 3" page 40 has the "Masterpiece Prime with his trailer" listed in it.

This is the definitive version of optimus prime complete with the trailer and ....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfmrYzi ... re=related[/youtube]
...long smokestacks...

Normally you'd have to pay insane shipping cost for this if you were to buy it at say HLJ:
http://www.hlj.com/product/TKT72302" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So if you were stuck with gimped 20th anniversary prime without trailer, it might be a good time to ebay that and buy this ultimate version of G1 optimus instead. Now if only takara made the armor/trailer for ultra magnus...

Too bad I spent all my money on macross shit. :(

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video review:
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Post by Ben »

wow I never even knew they released a complete version of Optimus locally. I knew they had him out as the 20th anniversary version but yeah.

The price is still up and around the Masterpiece prices though :/ $180 via this sale but $200 normally (better than $300+ mind you)... I regret not buying the pack for $150 when I was in Japan!

Still I might go have a look for this today... though I'll have to think if I really need it as I'm short on room for Transformers, and I already have Ultra Magnus Masterpiece..
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Post by GreyWizzard »

I really don't like the look of his cab in vehicle form. I still prefer my original Optimus from... jeeze like 20+ years ago. He looks awesome. Currently kept under lock and key at my parents house.
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Post by General Chaos »

Can you get the Trailer Separately? I need to know within the next hour before I go do something stupid..
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Post by Ben »

GreyWizzard wrote:I really don't like the look of his cab in vehicle form. I still prefer my original Optimus from... jeeze like 20+ years ago. He looks awesome. Currently kept under lock and key at my parents house.
Yeah I think the Masterpiece Optimus was geared to be as close as possible to his G1 counterpart in robot form first, with vehicle form second.

Vice versa for Starscream from memory, the designer wanted the fighter plane mode to be as close as possible to what it actually looks like, hiding as much bot parts as is feasible without encroaching too much on the bot form itself.

Chaos, you can buy the trailer seperately, but I don't think you can locally, ie have to go to import shop or import it yourself.
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Post by GreyWizzard »

What I would really love is some high end Beast Wars figurines.

I so want a decent looking Inferno. I just felt that the toys for that series were so damn lazy :(

:lol: Yes my Queen
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Post by GameHED »

Can you get the Trailer Separately? I need to know within the next hour before I go do something stupid..
You can get bootleg trailers from justit toys but I think that doesn't open up to form the maintenance/repair bay.

I'm not an expert on TF, and like others haven't been following the Masterpiece collection closely much. (didn't even know there WAS a prime with trailer till the target catalogue actually :D - because I thought mention of trailer just meant the bootleg from hong kong or whatever, not an official product)

Sucks though that takara didn't make roller! GRrrr

This is like yamato not including the side parts on macross valks. How hard could that have been?

If you own alternators the trailer is perfect for storing them in there.

If you already own MP01 I would just pressure takara to release the trailer seperate. Or sell mp01 then get MP 04 later.

Maybe in 2009 they will release 25th anniversary prime with roller in the trailer to tempt people again? (But if 25th anni prime has short smokestacks I would just go for masterpiece 25th prime heh)

The good thing about australia is we can buy these at major retail stores. I think the yanks have to go to specialty comic stores for it so it might be a bit easier to obtain for us than them. (not 100% sure about that though) If you didn't import from HLJ or some other import store to get prime yet, you would be saving yourself some shipping cost money if you were to buy from target instead.
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Post by Ben »

I thought all the Beast Wars figures were pretty damn close to their TV counterparts?

Maybe my memory is faulty but that was one of the things I really appreciated about Beast Wars, was that what you saw on the show was pretty much what you got in toy form...

My mind wanders to Rampage (which granted is a transmetal but still) which for some reason I was looking at his wiki page the other day, but I saw this pic;

Image

now despite the obvious extra mobility/lack of screws etc that all TV Transformer characters have over the toys, he looks verbatim to the toy I have.
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Post by GreyWizzard »

what the deuce?

I was looking for some images and these figurines seem like a bajillion times better than what I remembered...

I am confused...

Image

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... wars&gbv=2

I stand corrected.

I must go find some now.
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Post by Ben »

hehe, yeah they were a pretty rocking line :up:
I actually got Inferno way back when the show was still screening, his rear booster thing doesn't spin with as much ease as when I first got it though :(
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Post by General Chaos »

Optimal Optimus fucking rocks! In fact I have a lot of Beast Wars Figures. The ones I got are all pretty good.

Oh and I didn't get a Prime with Trailer. Found it can be bought separately.
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Post by AgOnNy »

Yeah, you can buy the trailer seperate for the Original Masterpiece Optimus.

The one at Target that comes with the trailer is actually smaller than the MP-01 Optimus. It's the MP-04.
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Post by Ben »

lol, was searching stop motion stuff before and found this wicked TRansformers one;
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Post by AgOnNy »

hahaha, thats awesome
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Post by Ben »

Had a squiz at a Target on my lunch-break, couldn't find any of the Optimus+Trailers :( Almost picked up a Bulkhead voyager hoping it would be $20 like the movie voyagers are at the moment but it was only $35 :(

I'll probably go get it later though, I think I've finally sold myself on him.

So just out of curiosity, the Masterpiece Prime they have at Target, is it simply the MP04 imported in? Or is it a special pack unique to Target?
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