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I will admit, I liked this line. At least at first. I got the 3 wave 1 .... scouts? In one shipment and the 2 combine-a-messes in the second. I think I would have completely given up on this line if I'd opened the commanders first. But I didn't and I came to love the little individual guys. They are better than some of the sloppy jointed repaints on the market.

You know, I really hate this article. The 2 packs have been, for the most part, fantastic, with the only problem one I've encountered being Searchlight(Nothing locks). Bombshock and Mudslinger have at least decent drones and are fun to mess with on their own. I would prefer it if the gimmicks were entirely springloaded or entirely hands on(I've seen at least 2 or 3 limbs that had to be manually locked), and I'd love it if the hands looked like actual hands, but these guys are small and are trying to gain some steam from the movie line. I'm still waiting on wave 2 of the 2packs, but I love the minicons, and I've even managed to give each one a simple vehicle mode. Then again, I mostly fell for this line because of the minicons, but Smolder and Huffer have both turned out to be fantastic figures in their own right, and Bombshock and Mudslinger are pretty close to great(some minor locking issues for both). I hope to see more from this line, especially after it works out some of its kinks(springs too strong to keep the peg in, feet too weak, hands too abstract and functionless, etc)

Tyrenol wrote:
Yes, the PCC toys were a bit of a "choppy" idea. Scout figures? With Targetmaster-esque weapons? Shouldn't we have deluxe-class instead?

And pay more then what they are already. scout class
works for them so they dont cost an arm and a leg (no pun intended).
If you think about it the price they are is at now is close to what
they are worth a scout and a mini-con.

Tyrenol wrote:
Also; Hasbro has done WORSE.

RotL Voyager Demolisher? No rolling wheels? "Wheelbot?"
RotL Sideswipe
No RotL Hightower or Overload
The badly-written RotL movie which wasn't Hasbro's fault.
Too many movie-version Bumblebees
The goofy Animated series...
...on down.

1. If demolisher had rolling wheels he would be harder to
stand (and to make him at that) then Sideswipe.

2. So he is harder to stand than some other bots, oh well,
he still is one of my favorite figures from the line.

3. Hightower realy did not have a true bot mode and overload
was not even in the movie. and they made the legends class figures.

4. ...no comment...

5. see above.

6. yea it was not the animated style we are use to but it realy
was not as bad as people say it is.

now back on topic, the PCC, as different as they seem, give
light to transformers that time has forgotten, like Huffer
and leadfoot. fix a few QC isues and they might last longer then you think.

Blurrz wrote:As much as I'd love to agree with you about Power Core Combiners being known to everyone, I just don't see it. I know the PCC Fanboys and girls seem to be out in full force in this thread, but the bottomline is that this line is not selling well. It's the shelfwarmer, and there's a majority of Seibertronians and Transformers who absolutely despise this line.

I wasn't saying PCCs specifically were well known, I was saying Transformers in general are; so much so that almost anything with the brand name would sell (which I'd think is evident thanks to there being more than BB and Optimus on the shelves).
I'm hesitant to call anything shelfwarming a bad line in sales. For starters, in my area at least, all the TF lines are overflowing with Wave 1 stuff. Second, these things popped up in the middle of back to school season, which can't be good for toys. Once Christmas rolls by and we get more than Wave 1 in stores, if PCCs clog the shelves then, then yeah I'll have to say they were a bust.

Finally, I don't regard massive fan outcry as meaning a line is bad. Goodness knows how many times that has happened.

Yes these are aimed at kids... And that's another reason why we aren't particularly interested. It'd almost be like saying we should be able to enjoy Activators, Bumper Battlers, or even Go-Bots.

For me the PCCs are a crime against ingenuity. If I can say "the energon combiners were more well constructed than this" then Hasbro is doing it wrong.

The scout 2 packs are cool though, and in their own right they would do fine as just that, scouts.

It's for these reasons that I picked up the Munitioner and Explorer. I just don't trust Hasbro to do they're future planned classic combiner sets any justice.

Roboto750 wrote:
I just don't understand why Hasbro (or Takara for that matter) cannot make a decent combiner set since G1. Yes, this includes those poor combiners released during the Unicron saga, and even RID

Did you forget about Rail Racer my good bot
BEST COMBINER EVER!
stable, posable, has hands....
Now if Hasbro/Takara could make new ones to measure up to it...

Now I happen to like PCC, but thats because I love minicons and I love targetmasters. The only QC problems I have had with them have been with the drones. The idea of the PCC is sound but just not taken to its logical end. The spring gimmick is the problem. Transformable drones would make them better, and not relay on a spring for attachment.

Its to early to tell if they are going to bomb or not, the shelves are clogged with wave 1 of all three lines (and Mudflaps)

Wave 1 had it's hits and misses. I don't know about wave 2, as they have yet to make it to my area.

Personally, I think the line has some potential, but the execution of the Limbs is what is holding the line back. I feel like any 3rd party can make a awesome set of limbs to really showcase what should be done with the line. I think the Automorph gimmick makes the limbs inherently unstable from the get go.

I would love to have a set of limbs that are manual in transformation, with real hands and feet. The rest of the space not taken by the springs could be used to hide weapons and other features. For instance, Legs can have thrusters hidden in them, while arms can have guns or melee weapons.

The people who do like line seem to favor the basic scouts, but the commanders that come with limbs seem to be weakest link in the entire line. For the most part, the scouts that meant to come with Mini-cons are pretty solid. To me, they seem no weaker or better than an average TF. While the Mini-cons suffer badly from visual triple changer syndrome, the multiple alt-mode still has it's usage, and are backwards compatible with older figures.

This totally reminds of the Energon Gestalts/Combiners. Most people bought them because they were the closet thing to the originals, but as toys, people hated them. However, once Fansproject made the limbs for them, the aftermarket prices for them skyrocketed.

::Stands and Claps:: I have nothing to say...Blurrz has said it all

Here's my contribution, if anyone's still reading after 3 pages.

First, why the Armada Sideswipe hate? The altmode's good, the colors are very good and I like the face. The only thing done wrong is the engineering and the gimick. If they redone him in the 2.0 Classics line like Hot Shot without the gimmick then he would look very awesome.

And my vote for worst transformer ever goes to Revenge of the Fallen Mixmaster, my gawd what a horrible toy. He's small, he's arms are to long with kibble, his torso is to small and the smokestack things don't lock anywhere or look good. His feet are to sloppy jointed and the overall figure looks sad.

Or ROTF deluxe Rampage, with his huge backpack weird arms and legs which are more like tentacles.

Wait, Blurrz, Great article man, really enjoyed reading it.

And to Hasbro, I know you are reading page three of this thread: "If you want simplicity in a transformers line, look at the Turbomasters and Predators (european exclusives), super simple transformation and all modes look great. I'm sure with current technology they can put in "articulation").

I'm not a huge fan of complex transformations, still playing with the things even at the age of 25. So you have this battle scene, classics ironhide arrives, 5 minutes later he's in robotmode...

Maybe Hasbro is overfooding the market with transformers lines, Transformers Prime is getting a toyline as well I've read somewhere. And my favorite of 2010, War For Cybertron, will not be released in The Netherlands! That's fail to me.

NightGlider wrote:

Roboto750 wrote:
I just don't understand why Hasbro (or Takara for that matter) cannot make a decent combiner set since G1. Yes, this includes those poor combiners released during the Unicron saga, and even RID

Did you forget about Rail Racer my good bot
BEST COMBINER EVER!
stable, posable, has hands....
Now if Hasbro/Takara could make new ones to measure up to it...

Okay, I'll give you that Rail Racer wasn't all that bad. It was one of the rare exceptions of the post-G1 combiners in my eyes.

Personally i think most of these Power Core Combiners are cool, i just got Sledge and he's awsome. The only thing that ive hated about some of these lines are the transparent, bright colored mini-cons and weapons. Soon as i can get to a store, im buying some metalic silver paint and painting Throttler's purple parts a better color.

Great Article Blurrz.

In my view, I think PCC is Hasbro's attempt at a test run of different things. Just like machine wars was aimed at testing whether vehicle transformers would be a god thing to go back to after a few years of animal alt modes.

Hasbro is testing the consumer waters. PCC is actually testing 3 things at the same time.

1. Drones.
2. Combiners
3. Minicons

The Combining gimmick has always been something very tempting for a TF fan. Back in G1 you wanted to collect all 5 figures of a sub group so you could make the big gestalt. R.I.D. gave it a shot, and was quite successful. Who ever says R.I.D combiners were bad clearly has not played with them, or simply failed to see the beauty in their complexity. Energon tried to get back to the scramble city formula with limited success why? The hands and feet. The combinations were pretty good. But the hands and feet where mediocre at best.

And now PCC, come along offering pretty decent scout figures, interesting minicons that offer more than one mode, and affordable combiners. But again they fail with the arms and feet. Why is Hasbro so opposed to normal looking hands and feet?

The interchangeability of the drones is a strong point, but the fact that they do not feel steady or plug in securely for the most part is what's killing this line.

Had they released the commanders without any combination gimmick, slightly better articulation because of it, and the same minicon targetmaster partner it would have been an awesome line.

Its the characterless drones with worthless limb modes, and the completely unstable combinations that's killing the line.

If Hasbro learns anything from this line I hope its the fact that Movie-Megatron-Like lanky claw arms are not appealing to anybody.

Give us normal looking hands and feet with decent articulation (if you are sacrificing robot modes already). Even if you feel like it makes them too much like Power Rangers Mega Zords.

I like most of the PCC Commander figures(Huffer is my favourite so far) but the combining/drone engineering is lackluster as far as I'm concerned. It could have been designed better. If the connections were consistently stable and secure, it would make a world of difference. If these are supposed to be toys for kids, I expect more solid products because kids will be rough with their action figures.

With respect to Animated's toyline having possibly the worst QC in history, I think that's off the mark. Voyager Starscream is bad, certainly, but I didn't have any problems with my Voyager Grimlock's paint apps unless I'm missing something. What other QC issues are there for the TFA line?

I'm with those who view the RiD combiners in a positive light. I don't have Rail Racer(yet) but from what I've seen, it's a great combiner. I do have Build King/Landfill and I love the simple but effective design of the central hub connection point. It allows a strong central connection and I like the concept of "rotating" the team members around for the different configurations.

i love pcp

It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

The Legend wrote:It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

Give a 5 year old boy Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime and see if he can transform it.

Blurrz wrote:

The Legend wrote:It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

Give a 5 year old boy Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime and see if he can transform it.

I'm not saying some TFs aren't overly complicated, epecially those RotF aimed at a teenage market. What I am saying is just because something is basic doesn't mean it has to be a pile of garbage. It irks me that some people like to defend any old crap by saying 'well it's made for kids and kids like poor QC/ugly aesthetics/sloppy gimmics'. Kids are much more intelligent that they are given credit for (trust me, I was one) and quality appeals just as much to kids as collectors.

Okay, as a 15yr old who knows too much about transformers, I will state my opinion.

I like them. Yes, the have somewhat simplistic designs, but we are getting some big bonuses in my book, such as odd alternate modes (WWII Halftrack, a 2 seat sedan, the rockwheel/trencher, the constructicon team when that comes out), minicons that are themed after the character they go with, and a decent combination gimmick that doesn't sacrifice too much for its size. wonky hands aside. Now, my big beef with the toyline?

I can't read all the bios.

Honestly, I am working on at least 3 more waves in terms of what they'd turn into and what their personalities would be, but the problem is that this one is too much like the '03 universe line in canon.

And blurrz, thanks for defending armada, that was the first toyline I could conciously remember from beginning to end. Minicons are pretty cool, if sometimes a bit fragile.

the main issue from the home front is the lack of recognizible characters. This isn't as much of a problem as it sounds, why not use the PCC for generics in your floor wars? That's what I used minicons for. But also, what is it that makes the line so hated other than the craptastic wave three stuff? Why can't we use this line to get updates for raiden and liokaiser(the canidate for a truly wierd combiner in terms of vehics used)? Or have it used to shoehorn in flatline?

Don't look at the bad side, look at the concept, and what it could be used for. I just wish I could go to my local walmart so I could get everyone except double clutch (they don't have him) and bombshock (I have him, pretty cool and looks like an engineer in bot mode).

Besides, this is the only way we'll get anything similar to the breastmasters ever again.

paraphrasing a lot of people wrote:Why is Hasbro so opposed to normal looking hands and feet?

Reversible hands from a Legends-sized Drone with a spring gimmick aren't going to be "normal-looking" for a $20 set.
I'm not too sure about the feet, though. Possibly to keep the legs even with the above restrictions.

Personally, I think some, like Bombshock, work well with the oddball limbs.

Blurrz, I think you hit the nail on the head here.

I thought it was just me not being in LUV with this toyline. I thought it was because I got the Combaticons and even though I knew they were not THE Combaticons but the whole idea yada yada of combiner *teams*, I was really unimpressed. I didn't hate them, but I wasn't like OMG must run out and buy more!

The lack of media is really bizarre. Someone else said it, too: it's like Machine Wars all over again. Except smaller.

Great article!!

HK, I'll scramble YOUR city.

Noideaforaname wrote:

paraphrasing a lot of people wrote:Why is Hasbro so opposed to normal looking hands and feet?

Reversible hands from a Legends-sized Drone with a spring gimmick aren't going to be "normal-looking" for a $20 set.
I'm not too sure about the feet, though. Possibly to keep the legs even with the above restrictions.

Personally, I think some, like Bombshock, work well with the oddball limbs.

What? A thumb in the middle is some kind of mind boggling technology that costs more than a regular hand? Or a springy gangly claw? C'mon!.

And they've done it before:


I'd be surprised if they couldn't pull that off at a smaller scale. Or wait even incorporate removable fists, so you can swap them around. They fold into the drones for alt mode, but can be changed once transformed via the wondrous technology of a PEG! Which also lends itself to wrist articulation.

A standard normal looking hand would be 10 times easier and cheaper to make than a springy claw gimmick.

I applaud the article's intelligent attempt at figuring out the mentality behind the line, but for the record, I'm one of the many full-grown/adult/older TF collector's that likes this line.

Honestly? I want to hate it. I really do. I'm not in love with the recent 'drone' push on the TF lines. Then again, I don't entirely hate it. The main figures are great for the mostpart. Leadfoot and Smolder are my favorites. I know I should hate the little drone guys. Especially considering the fact their limb forms (for the arms, ALL arms, to date) are some of the shittiest excuses I've seen in all my days. But I'm a sucker for combiners the majority of the time. Now don't think I'm saying the oddball arms are my only issue, some of the cores aren't up to snuff for sure, the worst I've run into being DoubleClutch. He's a display piece, can't take any play movement. And I should know, the kiddo just got him the other day.

But that's the other thing about this, and something that rings true to the article. My six year old loves these PCC individuals & sets highly. He has more fun with them that he usually does with Transformers due to their ability to be managed by kiddo hands with ease. Hell, the last two figures I bought him, he didn't even bother with the directions, he just fiddled for all of two minutes and reconfigured them perfectly.

And sorry as well, I really dig the 'minicon' figures. They're neat, clear plastic, multi-functional Targetmasters, and that's good enough for me.

PowerCore isn't all that great, but I don't dislike it, and I'm not disliking it a bit more every day.

Blurrz wrote:

The Legend wrote:It's such a cop-out when people excuse TFs being crap because they are 'designed for kids'. TFs of 25 years ago were designed for kids and we enjoyed them so much then that some of us pay ridiculous amounts for them and their homages 25 years later.

Give a 5 year old boy Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime and see if he can transform it.

Fair point, but I guarantee you that there are 5 year olds out there that would have no problem transforming him, like a pro.

Kids tend to have that ability more than we do.

Give a kid a video game controller sometime, you'll be surprised how well they take down the boss you've been cursing at all day. Drowning in your own tears. I should know, I've been there.

I agree that Prime is a heck of a challenge for almost anyone, including kids, but kids don't know they can't do something and barrel through it like mad and usually end up with a positive end result.

Kids are smarter and far more resilient than we give them credit for. Hasbro needs to treat them better than PCC.

I like PCC's ok. I hope they don't get too crazy with them but they look pretty good just as display pieces on my shelf. 2 cents lol.

I have seen the PCCs in the stores...the 2-packs and the 5-packs...and not a single one of them really sang off the shelves and into my cart. I mean, I saw Smolder and he's alright and all that, but not alright-enough to pay that price for.

When I first heard about this line, I waa not impressed at all, and nothing in that line as done a thing for me.


Great article, Blurrz! Says everything many of us were thinking (and horrified others).