Megatron H.I.S.S. Tank Transformers GI Joe Crossover Revealed

o.supreme wrote:It's probably my eyes playing tricks on me since WFC Megs had like 10 repaints/retools. Is any part of this new toy WFC Megatron, or is it all new?

o.supreme wrote:It's probably my eyes playing tricks on me since WFC Megs had like 10 repaints/retools. Is any part of this new toy WFC Megatron, or is it all new?

william-james88 wrote:I'll be honest, this is my least liked type of Transformer, where there is minimal alt mode integration in robot mode. Which is kind of nuts when the HISS tank could make for a pretty good old school TF. It's angular so you could definitely design it to trasform into a boxy TF.

Also, it seems like it is not that much bigger than a leader class from the CW era after all.

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

jtanimator wrote:I just can't wrap my head around what they were thinking when designing this Megatron. It's simply....horrible. Like, if I didn't see the packaging I would have assumed this was some cyberverse/Walgreens reveal. ESPECIALLY at this size. The larger he is, the more embarrassing and inexcusable those holes and gaps are. But worst of all is just the whole design. Instead of going for a contemporary Megatron with a darker/black color pallet to match his G.I. Joe alt mode, they just slapped a bunch of black pieces on his limbs and back to cover his regular grey parts when in alt mode. It's just so bad. And it sucks too, cause his alt mode is pretty dang cool to me.

Lastly, we can no longer defend the steep price on behalf of "licensing". They own this, and it didn't cost them an extra dime to do this collaboration. For $90, they should have shrunk him down a few inches and filled in his gaps/added WAY nicer paint, and given us a near masterpiece quality figure at WFC scale. And ya know, completely started from scratch with that God forsaken robot mode.

Okay, rant over.

Emerje wrote:So I have to wonder about something. $90 is a lot for a two figure set when Hasbro doesn't have to pay for a license fee this time around. So that makes me wonder if maybe maybe this time around the set isn't two Transformers, but a Transformer and one of the new 3 3/4" Joe figures that can ride inside it? So instead of including a tiny Joe to scale with Transformers, what if it's a big transformer that's to scale with G.I. Joe? That price is basically Commander Class Plus and there's a lot they could do with that. I doubt we'll see another Jetfire, but something smaller like a single passenger Dragonfly that turns into Whirl and comes with Wild Bill would be pretty cool and totally possible being such a skinny chopper that would work perfectly with lanky Whirl. The wording "pre-existing TF character" and not "pre-existing TF toy" means to me that it's going to include a familiar character rather than a new one like Ectotron or Gigawatt, not that it's going to repack an existing toy. I'm also going to guess one good set and one evil set.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

blackeyedprime wrote:For the price I was hoping it was to scale with classified figures where is Weijang when you need them, Damn Mouse.

william-james88 wrote:Also, it seems like it is not that much bigger than a leader class from the CW era after all.

TulioDude wrote:I wonder how big he is compared to the old Leader Class size.

Day 786 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

jtanimator wrote:I just can't wrap my head around what they were thinking when designing this Megatron. It's simply....horrible. Like, if I didn't see the packaging I would have assumed this was some cyberverse/Walgreens reveal. ESPECIALLY at this size. The larger he is, the more embarrassing and inexcusable those holes and gaps are. But worst of all is just the whole design. Instead of going for a contemporary Megatron with a darker/black color pallet to match his G.I. Joe alt mode, they just slapped a bunch of black pieces on his limbs and back to cover his regular grey parts when in alt mode. It's just so bad. And it sucks too, cause his alt mode is pretty dang cool to me.

Lastly, we can no longer defend the steep price on behalf of "licensing". They own this, and it didn't cost them an extra dime to do this collaboration. For $90, they should have shrunk him down a few inches and filled in his gaps/added WAY nicer paint, and given us a near masterpiece quality figure at WFC scale. And ya know, completely started from scratch with that God forsaken robot mode.

Okay, rant over.

Clearly the design priority here was a size- and design-accurate HISS Tank, including interaction with 3.75" figures. Everything you described would have made for a better Transformers figure, but a worse GI Joe toy. I get why everyone wanted something different than what we got, but at least from my perspective, I understand why they made the design choices they did.

It also helps that I've never cared about hollow parts and articulation compromises aren't a deal breaker. I don't mind too much when my plastic toys look like plastic toys.

As an aside, can we stop referring to this as a $90 figure? It's a two-pack, it's overpriced at $70, not overpriced at $90.

Also if anyone is running a pool, I've got $20 on Optimus Prime / Lady Jaye VAMP two-pack.

jtanimator wrote:Ill have to strongly disagree with most of the points you made here. This is, for all intents and purposes, a transformers sell. This is clearly targeted to Transformers fans. Prioritize the mini figure and alt mode accuracy as an excuse for a horrible bot mode makes no sense. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about; look at the numbers. The transformers brand is worth nearly 5 billion dollars, whereas G.I. Joe is valued at 100 million. They know who they’re really catering to.

Also, in what world do you consider that mini figure worth $20 of the package? Are you seeing some other included figures that I’m not? Nobody buys SS leadeclass grimlock for the Wheelie figure. Same general rule applies here. It’s a supporting factor, not the driving sell.
At the end of the day, People are buying this for G.I. Joe styled megatron that happens to come with a small mini figure accessory. The same way that it’s the transformers fans who bought out the Ghostbusters Collab and the Jurassic Park Collab. TF fans are driving this whole market, and it would have been smart for them to put more effort into the TF side of this.

Burn wrote:For Australians, Zing and EB Games have their pre-orders up.
https://www.zingpopculture.com.au/produ ... ess-figure

Glarryg wrote:I think I fall into the "I don't think it's a bad figure, but it's too expensive" camp. I'd be willing to shell out fifty for this, probably, but not ninety.

Glarryg

Emerje wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:So far, all X-Over toys were original characters. Why not that one?

You actually wanna break that tradition?

I don't get what you mean. All the X-Over characters so far were unique and not existing characters from the regular TF universes.

That Cobra vehicle could have been someone new and fresh (as all the others) instead of a amateurish cosplaying Megatron.

If they had made an all new character there's more than a few of us that would have been extremely angry and perhaps even felt a little betrayed since the whole point of the crossover is to do it with recognizable characters. May as well create an all new Joe character while they're at it.

ThunderThruster wrote:Excuse me? the X-over figure AREN'T established characters, despite being established vehicles within their respective franchises.

blackeyedprime wrote:Nah, just a $90 bot/vehicle compatible with classifieds and no classified figure included -though it could be done budget wise with as commander class jetfire was practically $45/£45 at retail on its release depending where sourced from.

Even the comic con x over sets before with vehicles painted as tfs and neat accessories compared to the dirt cheap retail versions was a thing before so Hasbros pricing has always been crazy. I think the tank they used for shockwave was something like $20 when I picked it up in toys r us in LA.

I like the compatability with the original joe figures though, reminds me of the robotech tank bot.

sol magnus wrote:As an aside about how "bad" the Baroness figure looks. I don't expect everyone to be toy experts in general, but that's a straight repro of 1984 Baroness, which of all the complaints one could levy against this set would be mine. Hasbro has decided based on (allegedly) fan feedback that 10+ years of modernized Joe figures with superior articulation and aesthetic to just...make O-ring Joes again. The only thing "boggling" to me is this new overall strategy. They're saying it's for the 40th anniversary, well these are 40 year old action figures. Literally. That Baroness is 38 years old. Last year they released a modern Baroness as a Walmart exclusive for a line new retro line that supposedly 'failed', yet you coulcn't keep the things on the shelf until the final waves when they got their act together and produced (more than) enough to meet demand.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

sol magnus wrote:As an aside about how "bad" the Baroness figure looks. I don't expect everyone to be toy experts in general, but that's a straight repro of 1984 Baroness, which of all the complaints one could levy against this set would be mine. Hasbro has decided based on (allegedly) fan feedback that 10+ years of modernized Joe figures with superior articulation and aesthetic to just...make O-ring Joes again. The only thing "boggling" to me is this new overall strategy. They're saying it's for the 40th anniversary, well these are 40 year old action figures. Literally. That Baroness is 38 years old. Last year they released a modern Baroness as a Walmart exclusive for a line new retro line that supposedly 'failed', yet you coulcn't keep the things on the shelf until the final waves when they got their act together and produced (more than) enough to meet demand.

Hasbro's Joe product strategy seems weird to me, but I think it fits with their other product lines broadly. Star Wars The Vintage Collection is their only detailed 3.75" line, while Marvel, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and now Joe have retro designs. I'm sure from a cost perspective, the development and production expenses have to be lower for those, so the margins are better, and they can focus on their 6" scale. I'm surprised that demand is there since it's competing with ReAction, but they must feel they're unique enough because they're still licensing out to them.

Hiya Toys announced they're doing 1/18 Joes so similar toys will still be out there, but they'll be considerably more expensive.

The toy market is really weird right now with so many shared licenses, different scales, and different design philosophies.

More directly on topic, I plan to buy the Walmart Cobra Commander to go with my Megatron. I too much prefer that style of figure.

AcademyofDrX wrote:As an aside, can we stop referring to this as a $90 figure? It's a two-pack, it's overpriced at $70, not overpriced at $90.

Emerje wrote:You were expecting a $22 figure and a Titan sized bot for $90?

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Oh geez. That is pretty bad. But maybe it's necessary for the figure to go in the back? The Joe has to be able to do something with the figure in bot mode.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Oh geez. That is pretty bad. But maybe it's necessary for the figure to go in the back? The Joe has to be able to do something with the figure in bot mode.

That said, functional cockpits on Transformers are either one piece, split between the windows and the seat or (less often) compressed as Titans Return has shown (Not counting ER Snapdragon with it split down the middle), I'm assuming so it stays in one piece in vehicle mode. Not ideal with the empty space that stays well... empty.

ThunderThruster wrote:Excuse me? the X-over figure AREN'T established characters, despite being established vehicles within their respective franchises.

Tuned Agent wrote:

Emerje wrote:You were expecting a $22 figure and a Titan sized bot for $90?

That Baroness is a 3.75", not a $20-22 6" figure. Am I missing something?

Tuned Agent wrote:This Megatron reminds me of those old Star Wars crossover figures, in all the worst ways possible. Add being super hollow on top of that, and it just looks bad. I genuinely think they could have designed a better toy than this, even with compatibility with the Joes, but as it is this just screams low-effort and over-priced.

AcademyofDrX wrote:As an aside, can we stop referring to this as a $90 figure? It's a two-pack, it's overpriced at $70, not overpriced at $90.

Emerje wrote:You were expecting a $22 figure and a Titan sized bot for $90?

That Baroness is a 3.75", not a $20-22 6" figure. Am I missing something?

AcademyofDrX wrote:The Retro Joe 2-packs on Hasbro Pulse sell for $40-$42. Divide by two, and there you go. Older figures in the Retro series were $13-$15, but the product has changed and the price is higher now. I'm not saying Baroness is worth that much, but that's how she would be priced.

I would add that size/scale/price are only indirectly related these days, but that's a whole other conversation, and I get where you're coming from.

Emerje wrote:Yeah, you somehow missed the quote I was replying to. They said they were expecting him to be in scale with G.I.Joe Classified figures, that's the 6" line, hence why I said Megatron would be the size of a Titan. But as others have mentioned the 3.75" and 6" lines are both priced about the same.

Emerje

william-james88 wrote:Prices changed, that Baroness would retail for $20 if released individually today.

Tuned Agent wrote:Thanks all for the clarification, I don't follow Joe and am not familiar with the different lines and price points. But I guess that just means there are two overpriced toys in this set, because there's no way that Baroness is worth $20.