Images of Asia Exclusive Stickers Applied On Titans Return Wave 2 Deluxes

It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

butterflyboy wrote:I hope this is the right thread for this.

I just got my TR Powermaster Optimus, and the extra two lil' windows on his chestplate are unpainted. Does anyone know if this was a running change or did I just get unlucky?

Are you talking about to the left and right of the truck windows?


Transformers Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime Gallery
Mine are painted, but I got one of the first received by BBTS...

Agamemnon wrote:

butterflyboy wrote:I hope this is the right thread for this.

I just got my TR Powermaster Optimus, and the extra two lil' windows on his chestplate are unpainted. Does anyone know if this was a running change or did I just get unlucky?

Are you talking about to the left and right of the truck windows?


Transformers Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime Gallery
Mine are painted, but I got one of the first received by BBTS...

Funny thing is, an online friend I have received Powermaster OP and had only one of the four chest windows unpainted. It seems to be a common yet weirdly specific problem.

Mine came with a wheel that fell off since it was malformed and the peg was too short. Yay

[Review] Titans Return WOLFWIRE with Asia exclusive giveaway enhancement label







For detail comparison review:
http://blacklai1979.blogspot.tw/2016/09/review-titans-return-wolfwire-with-asia.html

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

There was a seller on Amazon selling the clear stands a couple of months back - they are the same stands used for Tracks but clear instead of black.

There was some earlier stands released for AOE (they have the hex holes in the butts too usually - as do some Generations toys like Arcee).

If you wanted one of the stands to see what they are like your best bet is to buy a KO of Road Rage or a MP Tracks (the legit Road Rage didn't include the stand in the box).

I do have some movable armature stands I got on ebay very cheaply but they are to small for anything bigger than a 4" figure really - I usually use them upside down to suspend Eaglemoss Starships from them.

But they also worked great for something like suspending cassettes near Soundwave or Blaster or for supporting flying figures like a 3.75" Marvel's Falcon figure say.

Currently out of stock, but TFSource had the clear Takara stands for a while.

These stickers look quite good on these guys. Makes you wonder why the Wave 1 stickers were so lackluster.

I think that Sentinel Prime looks nicer stickered up.

I get the impression that Mindwipe's stickers would look nicer on the legs so they show in robot mode though as I think they disrupt the look of the bat wings when placed on the front. I like them on the wolf though.

I don't see why they can't hand these stickers out a bit more broadly than they do - you can supposedly get them when ordering certain stock from certain places - but they don't make it easy on you really. and they usually for for $20.00 for that price it's worth the while of the Chinese to copy all the stickers I'd have thought and sell them in a KO bargain bundle.

-----

Botcon picked a bad time to go die on us what with that G2 Optimus being a shoe-in for a Toxitron repaint.

Not to mention Takara/Hasbro made it easier to make repaints/remould as all they had to swap was the face plate to make a new head and not the whole head.

Also they might have realised that Prime Beast Hunters Wheeljack would have made a good Rodimus too.

I expect that there will be an eventual replacement but what ever it is may end up selling more stuff like SDCC does and the sort of expensive giftsets they like to push at us.

I keep missing those as I usually don't want to pay their original retail and I then forget about them - I just remembered I completely forgot about the AOE Autobots also the Optimus & Grimlock Leaders Giftsets for example.

I suppose in 2017 I'll remember there was a Planet of Junk & Cyclonus' Armada set as well.

Nice to see branches someone picking up hasbro america's copious amounts of slack when it comes to paint apps/decals/whatever

RAR wrote:I think that Sentinel Prime looks nicer stickered up.

Do you have some pics?

really adds color and detail to highbrow.

another 100 posts in a week. i think i may have a problem

Bumblebee21 wrote:really adds color and detail to highbrow.

another 100 posts in a week. i think i may have a problem

I joined about 6 months ago and have accumulated over 2500 posts and somehow got on the news crew. Believe me, I'm the one with the problem

Ah, I remember being News Crew. That was many moons ago. I remember a convention was ongoing and I put up a pots while America slept. I updated that post as new news came in. Links, pictures, the whole damn biz.

I got an email outta the blue from Ryan, praising the post and my updates. "What he liked to see when he woke up." Made my goddamn month! God, how many years ago was that?!? Had to be during the Energon/Cybertron years, it's that long ago.

Big Grim wrote:Ah, I remember being News Crew. That was many moons ago. I remember a convention was ongoing and I put up a pots while America slept. I updated that post as new news came in. Links, pictures, the whole damn biz.

I got an email outta the blue from Ryan, praising the post and my updates. "What he liked to see when he woke up." Made my goddamn month! God, how many years ago was that?!? Had to be during the Energon/Cybertron years, it's that long ago.

Have you changed your username since then? I've been cruising the old forums (staff and all) going all the way back to the beginning and I'm curious.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

Takara sold them (and might still sell them) officially at their "takaraTomy mall" site. Be careful with them, as they do not fit EVEY peg-hole designed for display stands on a TF. The bags have a list showing which toys will work with the stands. Not EVERY MP or Combiner Wars figure, for example, work with the stands, even if said figure has a peg hole.

This is probably because some (older) molds had holes designed for the "standard" Bandai/Gundam stands (easily available in Japan), while "newer" molds are designed for the Takara proprietary stands. Unfortuntely, Takara failed to imclude adaptors to allow the narrower official pegs to fit into the wider holes on the older figs, so you will need to make one yourself. Also, EVERY stand has a silver Autobot symbol on it, which is a bit silly, too.

primalxconvoy wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

Takara sold them (and might still sell them) officially at their "takaraTomy mall" site. Be careful with them, as they do not fit EVEY peg-hole designed for display stands on a TF. The bags have a list showing which toys will work with the stands. Not EVERY MP or Combiner Wars figure, for example, work with the stands, even if said figure has a peg hole.

This is probably because some (older) molds had holes designed for the "standard" Bandai/Gundam stands (easily available in Japan), while "newer" molds are designed for the Takara proprietary stands. Unfortuntely, Takara failed to imclude adaptors to allow the narrower official pegs to fit into the wider holes on the older figs, so you will need to make one yourself. Also, EVERY stand has a silver Autobot symbol on it, which is a bit silly, too.

Cons always get shafted

Kurona wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

Takara sold them (and might still sell them) officially at their "takaraTomy mall" site. Be careful with them, as they do not fit EVEY peg-hole designed for display stands on a TF. The bags have a list showing which toys will work with the stands. Not EVERY MP or Combiner Wars figure, for example, work with the stands, even if said figure has a peg hole.

This is probably because some (older) molds had holes designed for the "standard" Bandai/Gundam stands (easily available in Japan), while "newer" molds are designed for the Takara proprietary stands. Unfortuntely, Takara failed to imclude adaptors to allow the narrower official pegs to fit into the wider holes on the older figs, so you will need to make one yourself. Also, EVERY stand has a silver Autobot symbol on it, which is a bit silly, too.

Cons always get shafted

Considering that only Autobots can look authentic on a display stand that involves a peg going up their exhaust ports, then maybe it's the Autobots that are getting shafted here?

I also forgot to mention the inconsistency of the peg holes. For example, some members of my TT Aerialbots can't work with the pegs, while my UW Starscream CAN (which shares the same mld as the arialbots)...

primalxconvoy wrote:

Kurona wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:It's prob been mentioned before, but the reason for the mysterious peg hole on the @$$ of most of the TR figs is for the Takara Clear Flight Stand

just in case anyone was still wondering, or if wondering at all?

I thought Takara didn't sell stands like that. They're mostly from Bandai.

Takara sold them (and might still sell them) officially at their "takaraTomy mall" site. Be careful with them, as they do not fit EVEY peg-hole designed for display stands on a TF. The bags have a list showing which toys will work with the stands. Not EVERY MP or Combiner Wars figure, for example, work with the stands, even if said figure has a peg hole.

This is probably because some (older) molds had holes designed for the "standard" Bandai/Gundam stands (easily available in Japan), while "newer" molds are designed for the Takara proprietary stands. Unfortuntely, Takara failed to imclude adaptors to allow the narrower official pegs to fit into the wider holes on the older figs, so you will need to make one yourself. Also, EVERY stand has a silver Autobot symbol on it, which is a bit silly, too.

Cons always get shafted

Considering that only Autobots can look authentic on a display stand that involves a peg going up their exhaust ports, then maybe it's the Autobots that are getting shafted here?

I also forgot to mention the inconsistency of the peg holes. For example, some members of my TT Aerialbots can't work with the pegs, while my UW Starscream CAN (which shares the same mld as the arialbots)...

Yeah, besides, everyone knows autobots can't fly

The pegs are fragile as all get out too.
I broke the peg of my Loud Pedal stand.

One of the local Walmarts got two more cases of Deluxe wave 1 in today so I finally got my hands on the elusive Skullsmasher. This is the first time I've even seen him in stores so it was nice to be able to pick the best of the lot. My only real design complaint is that the rear legs in croc mode could really use a knee joint since storing the gun in his tail lifts the body up making him stand on his back toes.

The arm joints are super solid, he has no bobblehead issues, and while his legs aren't tight they will hold a pose. Only issue I have is the left thigh spins like a propeller; easily fixed. Great figure, the wait was worth it. Now I just need Blurr, Hardhead, and Highbrow to round out the first two waves.

King Kuuga wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Stuartmaximus wrote:I hope that we get a new Cosmos, and that he's at least a Deluxe sized character, and that he has the TM gimmick

The rumour said legend. Which is unfortunate, since I'd love a Voyager.

He'll almost certainly have the TM gimmick as all TR Legends have so far though.

As far as we know, Gnaw has no Titan Master integration, and of course the Deployers (who admittedly make up about 2/3 of the Legends class this line) have only basic integration, rather than the dedicated cockpits of the other figures.

Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

Funny you should mention that, a Gnaw with Gnash listing along with a Brawn with Mudslinger one was found for the Thrilling 30 line, both Legends Class. Never came to be, maybe he was a holdover?

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

King Kuuga wrote:

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

By the by, if this is indeed the case, it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro released a toy designed for an older/different line into the current one:

- The Beast Wars Mutants were originally Animorph toys, but were retooled when that line bit the dust
- Beast Machines ended with toys still in development: Air Attack Optimus Primal, Megatron Megabolt and Bruticus were shifted to RiD 2001, with the last seemingly having incomplete features.

Makes you wonder if Legends Brawn is still possible... I'd say 50/50, because people probably thought "Hey, Gnaw is getting released, so Brawn must be too!"

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

Funny you should mention that, a Gnaw with Gnash listing along with a Brawn with Mudslinger one was found for the Thrilling 30 line, both Legends Class. Never came to be, maybe he was a holdover?

That's what I was eluding to, I just didn't want to outright say that they are absolutely the same figure since we only had a listing and no image. Seems like quite the coincidence that both Gnaw and Brawn would show up in this series, especially when we have Titan Master Brawn as well. Plus I'm sure I read or heard an interview where Hasbro said they'd be revisiting unreleased Legends figures in the future.

King Kuuga wrote:I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

Right, but that wasn't the original point. You were using it as an example of why Cosmos may not have a place to put Titan Masters and it really isn't. Gnaw was likely a carryover from a different series and we already have a non-Titan Master compatible Legends Cosmos. That's why the new Cosmos will have a cockpit. Unless he turns into a tablet, then I feel sorry for the guys that missed the original.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:- The Beast Wars Mutants were originally Animorph toys, but were retooled when that line bit the dust
- Beast Machines ended with toys still in development: Air Attack Optimus Primal, Megatron Megabolt and Bruticus were shifted to RiD 2001, with the last seemingly having incomplete features.

Ok, but it's to a lesser effect since it's still the Generations line even if it is a different series within it. Not as extreme as crossing franchises like the Animorph Transformers did going over to Best Wars.

Makes you wonder if Legends Brawn is still possible... I'd say 50/50, because people probably thought "Hey, Gnaw is getting released, so Brawn must be too!"

Maybe, but he's still showing up in leak lists including those Chinese(?) ones from the other week. Not all of the people getting these leaks are as savvy to the line's history as we are and probably don't even know these guys were planned previously.

Emerje

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

By the by, if this is indeed the case, it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro released a toy designed for an older/different line into the current one:

- The Beast Wars Mutants were originally Animorph toys, but were retooled when that line bit the dust
- Beast Machines ended with toys still in development: Air Attack Optimus Primal, Megatron Megabolt and Bruticus were shifted to RiD 2001, with the last seemingly having incomplete features.

Makes you wonder if Legends Brawn is still possible... I'd say 50/50, because people probably thought "Hey, Gnaw is getting released, so Brawn must be too!"

Looking at recent toys, I believe that CW Devastator, CW Skylynx, most of the non-Headmaster TR figs (Blurr, Galvatron, etc) were in the same boat, design-wise. Looking at them, it's clear to see different sizes (Devvy), redundant, gimped or missing parts (Galvatron's extra jet mode, the cavity seemingly designed to take a full head in alt mode), etc.

primalxconvoy wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

By the by, if this is indeed the case, it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro released a toy designed for an older/different line into the current one:

- The Beast Wars Mutants were originally Animorph toys, but were retooled when that line bit the dust
- Beast Machines ended with toys still in development: Air Attack Optimus Primal, Megatron Megabolt and Bruticus were shifted to RiD 2001, with the last seemingly having incomplete features.

Makes you wonder if Legends Brawn is still possible... I'd say 50/50, because people probably thought "Hey, Gnaw is getting released, so Brawn must be too!"

Looking at recent toys, I believe that CW Devastator, CW Skylynx, most of the non-Headmaster TR figs (Blurr, Galvatron, etc) were in the same boat, design-wise. Looking at them, it's clear to see different sizes (Devvy), redundant, gimped or missing parts (Galvatron's extra jet mode, the cavity seemingly designed to take a full head in alt mode), etc.

Galvatron and Alpha Trion were both confirmed to be designed before Titans Return but got moved into it. Saying everyone who wasn't a headmaster before being designed before TR and just getting moved to it is something I'd say is more than a little insane though, considering the original 1987 Headmasters can at most make up two deluxe waves.

Devastator is bigger because they needed a Titan Class and because if you want to do him accurately he's going to be incompatible with the rest of CW, so you need to go this route.

I think Sky Lynx was just a case of them going all-out and having fun.



I'd say Legends Brawn is a stark possibility; assuming the recent leaks about a few previously Titan Master-only characters (Nightbeat and Apeface) apparently getting actual toys later in the line. Which does make sense, I remember that originally a lot of the Titan Masters were instead designed to be original characters with original designs but got turned into guys like Nightbeat for some star power. Which is a shame, because while I do love the Titan Master class regardless it'd be cool to see some new guys. Rook, Alpha Bravo and Offroad made CW tbh.

Kurona wrote:Galvatron and Alpha Trion were both confirmed to be designed before Titans Return but got moved into it.

But just how far into the design process are we talking here? Alpha Trion, according to the artist, was drawn before Titans Return without the triple changing concept in mind, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was in the process of being made into a figure when the guy submitted the designs. These artists don't really get to know how their art will be used, if at all, that's just the nature of freelance work. One big example is the guy who designed Torca and Bantor didn't know his designs were turned into figures until many years later when someone told him. I think you'll find Hasbro has a large cache of character designs that they put to use when it fits their needs for a series and it's rarer for freelance artists to be called in to design specifically for a line.

Emerje

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:Have you changed your username since then? I've been cruising the old forums (staff and all) going all the way back to the beginning and I'm curious.

Nope. Always been Big Grim.

Emerje wrote:

Kurona wrote:Galvatron and Alpha Trion were both confirmed to be designed before Titans Return but got moved into it.

But just how far into the design process are we talking here? Alpha Trion, according to the artist, was drawn before Titans Return without the triple changing concept in mind, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was in the process of being made into a figure when the guy submitted the designs. These artists don't really get to know how their art will be used, if at all, that's just the nature of freelance work. One big example is the guy who designed Torca and Bantor didn't know his designs were turned into figures until many years later when someone told him. I think you'll find Hasbro has a large cache of character designs that they put to use when it fits their needs for a series and it's rarer for freelance artists to be called in to design specifically for a line.

Emerje

It's true, ask Don Figueroa who submitted a design for Bludgeon for the Unicron Trilogy. Fast forward to 2009, it's put to use for RotF Voyager Bludgeon.

Kurona wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:

Emerje wrote:Gnaw was likely designed long before even Combiner Wars for a 2014 release so it makes sense that he wouldn't have any Titan Master interactivity, same may be true for Legends Brawn who was originally supposed to be Gnaw's wave-mate. However, it makes no sense for the new Legends Cosmos to not be able to hold a TM since since we already have a normal Cosmos.

Emerje

I know Gnaw was designed for an older point in the line, before Titan Masters, but he is nonetheless being released among the Titans Return figures with no Titan Master integration (that we know of) aside from literally biting down on them. I'm counting it on a technicality.

By the by, if this is indeed the case, it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro released a toy designed for an older/different line into the current one:

- The Beast Wars Mutants were originally Animorph toys, but were retooled when that line bit the dust
- Beast Machines ended with toys still in development: Air Attack Optimus Primal, Megatron Megabolt and Bruticus were shifted to RiD 2001, with the last seemingly having incomplete features.

Makes you wonder if Legends Brawn is still possible... I'd say 50/50, because people probably thought "Hey, Gnaw is getting released, so Brawn must be too!"

Looking at recent toys, I believe that CW Devastator, CW Skylynx, most of the non-Headmaster TR figs (Blurr, Galvatron, etc) were in the same boat, design-wise. Looking at them, it's clear to see different sizes (Devvy), redundant, gimped or missing parts (Galvatron's extra jet mode, the cavity seemingly designed to take a full head in alt mode), etc.

Galvatron and Alpha Trion were both confirmed to be designed before Titans Return but got moved into it. Saying everyone who wasn't a headmaster before being designed before TR and just getting moved to it is something I'd say is more than a little insane though, considering the original 1987 Headmasters can at most make up two deluxe waves.

Devastator is bigger because they needed a Titan Class and because if you want to do him accurately he's going to be incompatible with the rest of CW, so you need to go this route.

I think Sky Lynx was just a case of them going all-out and having fun.



I'd say Legends Brawn is a stark possibility; assuming the recent leaks about a few previously Titan Master-only characters (Nightbeat and Apeface) apparently getting actual toys later in the line. Which does make sense, I remember that originally a lot of the Titan Masters were instead designed to be original characters with original designs but got turned into guys like Nightbeat for some star power. Which is a shame, because while I do love the Titan Master class regardless it'd be cool to see some new guys. Rook, Alpha Bravo and Offroad made CW tbh.

I disagree, as it's not "insane". Devastator doesn't need to be larger, and there was no need for a larger figure. The design seems to suggest that they were going to be Masterpiece, or that more and more figures were going to become bigger, but more hollow (CW Megatron, Jetfire-Seekers, Constructicons, etc). Even if that was not the case, Devvy's combination system (based on its G1 system) and scale were simply not in keeping with the play system designed for CW. Considering non-headmasters have been shoe-horned into TR, and non-combiners also so in CW, then it's puzzling to have a you, so large, so unique and so unable to be remolded/repainted into anything else, released.

As for the likes of Blurr, Galvatron, Scourge, etc, then it's not strange to suggest that they were not designed to be HM. Ignoring their non-headmaster past and looking at their current designs, it's possible to see that Scourge can keep the had on in alt mode (needing only a cover for the back of the jet to cover a rotated face/head), Galvatron has a chest cavity for his head and Blurr has space inside his front canopy (with minimal modding) to include a permanent head.

These are probably linked to the disconnect (which is not necessarily a bad thing) between the toy designers, marketing and range/play style designers. Toys get designed for existing or proposed ranges, or created to represent existing characters, only for marketing or other areas of design (play patterns, etc) to finalise other design mandates (marketing being notorious in game design for requesting "trending" features, for example), leading to last minute changes, to existing designs.

As for new designs, I agree. In fact, the whole point of genetic coloured transtectors(black, white, grey, red, people, etc) with silver/black heads would enable kids AND collectors to make their own characters.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see how the vast majority of the line - literally every single Deluxe and above figure aside from the 1987 headmasters - could have been designed for a different line and then shoehorned into this one. It just seems a little ridiculous. I have no doubt that some of them were designed for a different line - again, Galvatron and Alpha Trion have been confirmed for that - but you're essentially saying, unless I'm misinterpreting here; that Chromedome, Brainstorm, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, Highbrow, Hardhead, Fortress Maximus (and if rumours hold true, Nightbeat, Apeface and Snapdragon) were the only figures designed for Titans Return. That's... that doesn't make any sense. If it is true and all of them besides that handful were last-minute decisions, then Hastak has some extremely serious problems.

Hasbro's current line of thinking currently seems to be at least one titan per line. Metroplex for Thrilling 30, Devastator for Combiner Wars, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon for Titans Return. Devastator fills that spot, there's nothing more to it. There's a lot more to suggest he started out as a titan class toy than not.

Kurona wrote:Hasbro's current line of thinking currently seems to be at least one titan per line. Metroplex for Thrilling 30, Devastator for Combiner Wars, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon for Titans Return. Devastator fills that spot, there's nothing more to it. There's a lot more to suggest he started out as a titan class toy than not.

I still don't think it's right that we only got one titan for Thrilling 30. Metroplex was released in the half FoC half T30 year and it was clear with some of the design choices that he was meant to be for both. They really should've done Trypticon for the full T30 year so we wouldn't be stuck with the out of place TR Trypticon and gotten Scorponok. I'd rather of gotten another new fembot (not saying I have a problem with getting more) from a fan poll than them trusting us to pick the headmaster titan for a headmaster centric line.

Railbomb wrote:

Kurona wrote:Hasbro's current line of thinking currently seems to be at least one titan per line. Metroplex for Thrilling 30, Devastator for Combiner Wars, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon for Titans Return. Devastator fills that spot, there's nothing more to it. There's a lot more to suggest he started out as a titan class toy than not.

I still don't think it's right that we only got one titan for Thrilling 30.

They had to first see how successful Metroplex was before doing any additional Titan class figures. The Titan class continuing depended on Metroplex's commercial success, and he took a while to get out to people in stores since a lot of places never stocked him. Only TRU and Costco ended up carrying him at brick-and-mortar stores. Evidently, once Metroplex's success was evaluated, Hasbro was finally able to plan their second Titan, by which point was apparently when they were planning Combiner Wars.

I spoke to the engineer who modeled Gnaw and TR Bumblebee at Comic-Con this year. He's a fresh university graduate who's been at Hasbro less than 18 months or so and Bumblebee and Gnaw are the first designs that are "his babies".

There might have been concept art. I believe BB references Devastation. But the toys themselves are fairly new designs by a guy too young to have done much else professionally, as he was probably in high school when Thrilling 30 was being designed.

Well so long as Bee doesn't suffer from the cave-in in your hand problem of Wheelie the he looks quite promising as does Gnaw.

It would be nice if they could slap a few Sharkticons & Wheelie in a boxed set -perhaps with that much discussed 'Grey Kup' too.

Kurona wrote:I'm sorry, but I really don't see how the vast majority of the line - literally every single Deluxe and above figure aside from the 1987 headmasters - could have been designed for a different line and then shoehorned into this one. It just seems a little ridiculous. I have no doubt that some of them were designed for a different line - again, Galvatron and Alpha Trion have been confirmed for that - but you're essentially saying, unless I'm misinterpreting here; that Chromedome, Brainstorm, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, Highbrow, Hardhead, Fortress Maximus (and if rumours hold true, Nightbeat, Apeface and Snapdragon) were the only figures designed for Titans Return. That's... that doesn't make any sense. If it is true and all of them besides that handful were last-minute decisions, then Hastak has some extremely serious problems.

Hasbro's current line of thinking currently seems to be at least one titan per line. Metroplex for Thrilling 30, Devastator for Combiner Wars, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon for Titans Return. Devastator fills that spot, there's nothing more to it. There's a lot more to suggest he started out as a titan class toy than not.

That's exactly what I'm saying. It would not be strange to think the designers had a vision of the "2005/Movie/ 2010" G1 cartoon cast as figures, complete with different headmasters, targetmasters, etc, while other designers were working on generic headmasters (new characters) and then, later on, but not late in the design process, for one play pattern to be settled on, both to unify the designs, help with repaints and save money in design.

Trypicon's design, for example, was almost finished prior to Hasbro asking the fans what the next "Titan" was going to be. Strangely enough, that's the one the "fans" chose. I have it on good authority from an ex-employee of Hasbro that Trypicon was almost ready, prior to the announcement (and they told me that was the next intended Titan, although they didn't mention Fort Max, which might have been due to my surmised idea of a later decision for Titans Returns).

In conclusion, I don't think it would be strange for a new range of the "2010" bits to be designed, with a later decision to homogenise them into a singular play pattern. I believe that this style of thinking has evolved from the time of releasing such figures as "Springer", "Darkmount", etc (with the inclusion of multiple heads for remolds/recolours), Combiner Wars (similar designs and engineering, plus multiple recolours and remolds) to now this. I suspect this allows designers to suggest more obscure characters and for managers to allow them, due to less risk relating to the ease of inclusion in a range (as they can share engineering and production with multiple other figures).

To fit my hypothesis, it wouldn't surprise me if many TR figures were being designed around the time of Springer and Jetfire's release, and then amalgamated into Hasbro's new design ethnic of canabalising, assimilating and reusing designs to get the most out of them.

Asia exclusive stickers, Wolfwire and Chromedome: Comparisons

I think I prefer my TF's unstickered... Way too busy with them imo.

Generations VS Titans Return: Blurr (Quick Comparison)

primalxconvoy wrote:

Kurona wrote:I'm sorry, but I really don't see how the vast majority of the line - literally every single Deluxe and above figure aside from the 1987 headmasters - could have been designed for a different line and then shoehorned into this one. It just seems a little ridiculous. I have no doubt that some of them were designed for a different line - again, Galvatron and Alpha Trion have been confirmed for that - but you're essentially saying, unless I'm misinterpreting here; that Chromedome, Brainstorm, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, Highbrow, Hardhead, Fortress Maximus (and if rumours hold true, Nightbeat, Apeface and Snapdragon) were the only figures designed for Titans Return. That's... that doesn't make any sense. If it is true and all of them besides that handful were last-minute decisions, then Hastak has some extremely serious problems.

Hasbro's current line of thinking currently seems to be at least one titan per line. Metroplex for Thrilling 30, Devastator for Combiner Wars, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon for Titans Return. Devastator fills that spot, there's nothing more to it. There's a lot more to suggest he started out as a titan class toy than not.

That's exactly what I'm saying. It would not be strange to think the designers had a vision of the "2005/Movie/ 2010" G1 cartoon cast as figures, complete with different headmasters, targetmasters, etc, while other designers were working on generic headmasters (new characters) and then, later on, but not late in the design process, for one play pattern to be settled on, both to unify the designs, help with repaints and save money in design.

Trypicon's design, for example, was almost finished prior to Hasbro asking the fans what the next "Titan" was going to be. Strangely enough, that's the one the "fans" chose. I have it on good authority from an ex-employee of Hasbro that Trypicon was almost ready, prior to the announcement (and they told me that was the next intended Titan, although they didn't mention Fort Max, which might have been due to my surmised idea of a later decision for Titans Returns).

In conclusion, I don't think it would be strange for a new range of the "2010" bits to be designed, with a later decision to homogenise them into a singular play pattern. I believe that this style of thinking has evolved from the time of releasing such figures as "Springer", "Darkmount", etc (with the inclusion of multiple heads for remolds/recolours), Combiner Wars (similar designs and engineering, plus multiple recolours and remolds) to now this. I suspect this allows designers to suggest more obscure characters and for managers to allow them, due to less risk relating to the ease of inclusion in a range (as they can share engineering and production with multiple other figures).

To fit my hypothesis, it wouldn't surprise me if many TR figures were being designed around the time of Springer and Jetfire's release, and then amalgamated into Hasbro's new design ethnic of canabalising, assimilating and reusing designs to get the most out of them.

Just so long as they don't take shared parts too far!

Christ! are we still on about this?



i wish i hadn't said anything now

Stuartmaximus wrote:Christ! are we still on about this?



i wish i hadn't said anything now

But... no-one's talking about anything you said.



Also goddamn what I wouldn't give for Generations Blurr's head on Titans Return Blurr's body. I'm only collecting MTMTE (... and weirdwolf and skullcruncher and triggerhappy) at the moment, but that would be an instant buy.

Hey! Anybody try Weirdzie here with dog legs in bot mode? Giving off a heavy Beast Wars vibe, and I like it!


And I'm loving this guy. For me, he's just an empty vessel to be filled with head canon.


And he has important friends.


Loudmouth's face sculpt is cool.


More fun with new toys here.

Cobo, is that Alpha Trion the most majestic TF toy you have, or do you find Vector Prime to be more regal?

william-james88 wrote:Cobo, is that Alpha Trion the most majestic TF toy you have, or do you find Vector Prime to be more regal?

I like your question. I think maybe Vector is a little more regal because he is so clean and shiny. Plus that toy's size, stature, and presence is so impressive. A3 feels a little haggard by the trials of his ancient existence, and he looks kind of jaded about it.

But MAN, Alpha Trion really hits all of my fantasy sci-fi adventure bullet points. Animal adorned, magic sword wielding, horn-helmed ancient mystic warrior-king transforming giant robot... with a beard.
In my line of play, that pretty much equals PERFECTION!

Cobotron wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Cobo, is that Alpha Trion the most majestic TF toy you have, or do you find Vector Prime to be more regal?

I like your question. I think maybe Vector is a little more regal because he is so clean and shiny. Plus that toy's size, stature, and presence is so impressive. A3 feels a little haggard by the trials of his ancient existence, and he looks kind of jaded about it.

But MAN, Alpha Trion really hits all of my fantasy sci-fi adventure bullet points. Animal adorned, magic sword wielding, horn-helmed ancient mystic warrior-king transforming giant robot... with a beard.
In my line of play, that pretty much equals PERFECTION!

All good stuff. I hope to be judge of that soon when Alpha Trion shows up in Canada. In the meantime, here are the TF toys I found to be truly majestic, let me know if there are any else you can think about:

RID Megatron
Transformers Go Bukadora
Cybertron Scourge Flame Convoy
Movie Advanced AD 31 Optimus Prime

Cobotron wrote:Hey! Anybody try Weirdzie here with dog legs in bot mode? Giving off a heavy Beast Wars vibe, and I like it!

I actually was messing around with the legs like that when I was trying to get the sword to be in a good sheathed position on the peg hole on his legs. It's interesting to pose him with the legs like that though!

http://imgur.com/K6DTsPc

I think I just made the best proportioned version of fort max