New RED Prime Megatron, Prime Optimus and G1 Thundercracker Found in Taiwan

Watch these be todays announcements.

Emerje

The Prime series Megatron figures were generally kind of awful, simply because the alt mode wasn't well engineered. So ditching the transformation/alt mode for the RED Prime Megatron may be a good thing overall.

But looking at that photo, you can tell they're using the same soft, rubbery plastic. That seems OK for most of the figure, but it made the head look bad, like a photo that's been taken out of focus. That softer plastic just cant' do hard, crisp edges very well. And Prime Megatron had a lot of sharp edges that need good definition. That photo makes him seem like a candle that's starting to melt. Hopefully it's just the lighting...

Wow, who knew Transformers toys themed nude asian modeling was a thing.

Man, Hasbro can't catch a break. No one had seen what they were going to announce for the RED line today, until just a few hours before their livestream even happened when they were found on shelves at a Toysrus in Taiwan.

Well, at least we do see shots of these toys none of us had seen, which you can all see below. These RED toys are Walmart exclusives in the US and Canada (and exclusives to different chains elsewhere, like Toysrus). It's funny, Hasbro was really proud of showcasing the back of these toys. And I mean, why wouldn't they be, this is exactly what this line is all about, looking exactly like the show model.

I only picked up Arcee so far because I hate that rubbery plastic that was used and it turned me off from picking up any other RED figures. However I will have that Megatron no matter what. I have the Cyberverse Commander, Deluxe, Voyager, oversized KO Cyberverse Commander and the APC Toys oversized upgraded KO Deluxe already. So this Megatron will fit in nicely. I'll most likely pick up Prime Optimus as well and somehow find Knockout too. I might get Galvatron and Shockwave as I like the two of them in general. None of the others really interest me much though so far. Maybe Cheetor.

I've written about some really random subjects over the years on this site, like Gene Simmons promoting a betting app on TV by singing a version of Stan Bush's The Touch. Well, I'm not sure if this takes the cake but we got new photos of RED Prime Optimus Prime from a fan's Instagram account. Nothing odd about that per se, but while we will link off to it to show here these images come from, we warn you that her account is not safe for work. The TF fan who was first to find these new toys makes money by posing nude with Transformers toys and her instagram account has some preview images of her nude modelling. So fair warning out of the way, here are some great in hand images of the new RED Prime Optimus Prime. Let us know what you think.

EDIT: We also have in hand images of RED Prime Megatron from TFND's Facebook page.

william-james88 wrote:Wow, who knew Transformers toys themed nude Asian modeling was a thing.

I didn't understand this comment at first but now I do. I mean, get that money I guess. Toy collecting isn't cheap.

Grahf_ wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Wow, who knew Transformers toys themed nude Asian modeling was a thing.

I didn't understand this comment at first but now I do. I mean, get that money I guess. Toy collecting isn't cheap.

You damn right

This is out of control, toy reviews plus cleavage.

Optimus: Hey. Look here. Boobs are temporary. The rights of all sentient beings are forever.

SkyFire Prime wrote:This is out of control, toy reviews plus cleavage.

Check out that Instagram account when you have a minute, way more than cleavage there.

Wait, we're supposed to pose nude with our toys? No wonder my YouTube channel hasn't taken off!

these RED Prime and Megatron figures look good, they do. I just wish these were better quality. Arcee was just not good, and that is why I didn't get Knockout and why I am hesitant on these.

I really want to like them since they look good, but the quality is a huge concern for me

Boobies ass-ide, those Prime R.E.D figures could use much more paint to be truly worth it.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Boobies ass-ide, those Prime R.E.D figures could use much more paint to be truly worth it.

Yeah, they didn't even paint Meg's cannon

The eyes of Megatron barely exist?He looks kind of dull.

I may get that Megatron…
And I’m definitely interested in Thundercracker (& Shockwave).
Although all of these will have to be on a sale for me to bite.
No way am I spending $24.99 on a R.E.D. figure.

... wait, shouldn't Prime's swords replace his hands instead of coming from above the wrist? Or am I confusing the show with the Bay movies?

Anyway, I really like these figures (particularly Megatron), but it still doesn't appeal to me. Call me when we get Transmutate, Sari or Autobot X.

And I hope they eventually retool Megs into his Unicron form. I'm still waiting on a show-accurate version of that, and RED's replacement weapons/hands would really fit for his Dark Energon weaponry.

MaximalNui wrote:... wait, shouldn't Prime's swords replace his hands instead of coming from above the wrist? Or am I confusing the show with the Bay movies?

Anyway, I really like these figures (particularly Megatron), but it still doesn't appeal to me. Call me when we get Transmutate, Sari or Autobot X.

And I hope they eventually retool Megs into his Unicron form. I'm still waiting on a show-accurate version of that, and RED's replacement weapons/hands would really fit for his Dark Energon weaponry.

This is actually brilliant. I love this idea

So I got lucky and found Knock Out in Walmart yesterday, and decided to get him.

I really want to love this toy, i do, much like how I wanted to like Arcee. But again, this plastic lets him down. It feels too gummy, it is not the same quality as the ML or BS plastic, which is a shame, there is a good bit of detail and work that went into him, and I really like the concept! I just wish the plastic was not rubbish. It impacts posing too, as my legs will only go so far at the thighs due to the joints actually getting stuck, so I can bend them but they snap right back to a limited area of range.

I want to love these Prime figures. This is a fun avenue. Please just make the build quality worthwhile!

Took Knock Out to work this week. He has some good to him for sure. I like the fact they got his design proper and right, and the arms can do some really fun stuff. I do wish his head could rotate more and that he had more knee bend, but mostly, it's just still the plastic quality. He feels so gummy and not overly solid.

But despite that, he has won me over some. I like him, and he will be kept. He is especially good at capturing the sass-master type attitude of Knock Out himself, which really helps him here

I've been seeing these go on clearance at Walmart. If WM is going to stop carrying them, I wonder what that means for the future of the line? Maybe online only?

o.supreme wrote:I've been seeing these go on clearance at Walmart. If WM is going to stop carrying them, I wonder what that means for the future of the line? Maybe online only?

Figures going on clearance don't always mean the line is going away. Clearance is something that just happens from time to time.

Prime Optimus Prime and Megatron just went up on Pulse along with G1 Thundercracker. All in stock.

I ordered the 2 Prime figures. They should arrive next week I'd hope

So I got the Prime Optimus Prime and Megatron in from Pulse.

RED continues to be a disappointment in terms of plastic quality. Despite yet more time, the figures just feel gummy and not very good. The joints are still real gummy and don't like to rest really anywhere you want them to. The sculpts are decent, it is just the build letting them down mostly. I wish they had some more paint work too, especially Optimus.

The weapons are also suffering. Much like Knockout, they came deformed and are not easy to bend and keep back in place. Though the effects parts for Megatron is really neat. that also reminds me, the smokestacks on Prime's back came badly bent and will not settle in a good place.

This line has so much potential, it does. But 4 figures in for me and none of them have impressed me very much at all. And that sucks, we have several really good 6" lines, why is this one so much lower in quality?

It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

It really does, I honestly can't think of another line that is close to it in terms of quality/build/etc. I collect Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Plasma series, and none of those 3 feel anywhere near like these do. And the regular figures, cyberverse, SS, Legacy/WFC, have this same feel or gummy-ness either

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

It really does, I honestly can't think of another line that is close to it in terms of quality/build/etc. I collect Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Plasma series, and none of those 3 feel anywhere near like these do. And the regular figures, cyberverse, SS, Legacy/WFC, have this same feel or gummy-ness either

While not gummy, the delicate feel of the RED figures, combined with all the swappable parts and accessories, makes them remind me a lot of S.H. Figuarts figures. Particularly, the two that I own are the red and gold Shinkengers that Bandai of America imported to Toys R' Us stores factoring Power Rangers Samurai, and both they and the RED toys feel equally as fragile as one another. Like they're display pieces not meant to be played with, instead of mere plaything toys.

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

It really does, I honestly can't think of another line that is close to it in terms of quality/build/etc. I collect Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Plasma series, and none of those 3 feel anywhere near like these do. And the regular figures, cyberverse, SS, Legacy/WFC, have this same feel or gummy-ness either

While not gummy, the delicate feel of the RED figures, combined with all the swappable parts and accessories, makes them remind me a lot of S.H. Figuarts figures. Particularly, the two that I own are the red and gold Shinkengers that Bandai of America imported to Toys R' Us stores factoring Power Rangers Samurai, and both they and the RED toys feel equally as fragile as one another. Like they're display pieces not meant to be played with, instead of mere plaything toys.

i have the S.H. Figuarts Infinity Snap Iron Man, and I would disagree, the Figuarts feels much more solid than these do, and the joints actually function as they should. The amount of force you have to use to get the RED joints to do what you want and stop someplace should not be as great as it is

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

It really does, I honestly can't think of another line that is close to it in terms of quality/build/etc. I collect Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Plasma series, and none of those 3 feel anywhere near like these do. And the regular figures, cyberverse, SS, Legacy/WFC, have this same feel or gummy-ness either

While not gummy, the delicate feel of the RED figures, combined with all the swappable parts and accessories, makes them remind me a lot of S.H. Figuarts figures. Particularly, the two that I own are the red and gold Shinkengers that Bandai of America imported to Toys R' Us stores factoring Power Rangers Samurai, and both they and the RED toys feel equally as fragile as one another. Like they're display pieces not meant to be played with, instead of mere plaything toys.

i have the S.H. Figuarts Infinity Snap Iron Man, and I would disagree, the Figuarts feels much more solid than these do, and the joints actually function as they should. The amount of force you have to use to get the RED joints to do what you want and stop someplace should not be as great as it is

Well, I can't speak for any other S.H. Figuarts, but my Shinken Red and Shinken Gold feel very delicate, with very similar joints to those of RED Knock Out.

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

It really does, I honestly can't think of another line that is close to it in terms of quality/build/etc. I collect Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Plasma series, and none of those 3 feel anywhere near like these do. And the regular figures, cyberverse, SS, Legacy/WFC, have this same feel or gummy-ness either

While not gummy, the delicate feel of the RED figures, combined with all the swappable parts and accessories, makes them remind me a lot of S.H. Figuarts figures. Particularly, the two that I own are the red and gold Shinkengers that Bandai of America imported to Toys R' Us stores factoring Power Rangers Samurai, and both they and the RED toys feel equally as fragile as one another. Like they're display pieces not meant to be played with, instead of mere plaything toys.

i have the S.H. Figuarts Infinity Snap Iron Man, and I would disagree, the Figuarts feels much more solid than these do, and the joints actually function as they should. The amount of force you have to use to get the RED joints to do what you want and stop someplace should not be as great as it is

Well, I can't speak for any other S.H. Figuarts, but my Shinken Red and Shinken Gold feel very delicate, with very similar joints to those of RED Knock Out.

I remember hearing that Sentai SH Figuarts are of a bit different quality due to trying to replicate the seamless spandex look.

RED is actually around 5 inches, which is one of my big problems, Prime can shake hands with Origins He-Man but not Classified Duke. I have Starscream and it felt better, but I remember feeling one of the hands was malformed or warped out of package, then again there's only one pose that figure went in. I would buy more but Galvatron disappeared very quickly and so did Shockwave. Just like the Super7 figures.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I would buy more but Galvatron disappeared very quickly and so did Shockwave. Just like the Super7 figures.

My Walmarts are only just now selling the Galvatron and Shockwave wave, along with a very belated Reformatted Megatron. A triple threat of purple villains.

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

That's not the case?

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It almost feels like RED is being worked on by a completely different production team.

That's not the case?

That's why I said "feels like".

Messing around with Prime, i will admit one thing: while the plastic isn't up to snuff, this is the figure where it seems to work the best so far. He is actually proving to be fun, and he is definitely capable of holding a cool pose much easier than the other 3 figures I have gotten from this line.

For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

-Kanrabat- wrote:For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

That was my first thought

None of the Walmarts in my area have had RED in months. The few that did were on clearance. I wonder if they will be a Pulse exclusive in the U.S. moving forward? Honestly I thought the line might be dead. I thought those toys from TF Prime might get cancelled.

o.supreme wrote:None of the Walmarts in my area have had RED in months. The few that did were on clearance. I wonder if they will be a Pulse exclusive in the U.S. moving forward? Honestly I thought the line might be dead. I thought those toys from TF Prime might get cancelled.

My walmarts are still getting them, they are very slow, but not dead yet.

Speaking of dead, here is Megatron. While I admitted that Prime is actually pretty fun and actually good, by far the best RED figure, Megatron is a return to the norm. He basically has no ankles or much forward/backward tilt, his knees and hips are really loose and soft sitting, his arms are limited, as is his head, and for as heavy as he is, he is hard to keep a pose. He is just as good as Arcee and Knockout, and that is to say not very good. The plastic and some design cues for his joints really let him down.

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

That was my first thought

He has a lot of paint, they just chose poorly how to distribute it. All the silver on his lower legs is paint and that's a lot of silver!

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

That was my first thought

He has a lot of paint, they just chose poorly how to distribute it. All the silver on his lower legs is paint and that's a lot of silver!

Emerje

That really isn't a lot of silver, it's just the rims and that front shin bit. The rest is flat gray

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

That was my first thought

He has a lot of paint, they just chose poorly how to distribute it. All the silver on his lower legs is paint and that's a lot of silver!

Emerje

That really isn't a lot of silver, it's just the rims and that front shin bit. The rest is flat gray

That silver around the back of the leg doesn't match the gray plastic used everywhere else on the figure, you're saying that's not paint? If so then that's very strange since RED doesn't seem concerned with using different quality plastic for different tolerances.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:For a non-transforming toy, they could have at least bothered to PAINT the damn thing.

That was my first thought

He has a lot of paint, they just chose poorly how to distribute it. All the silver on his lower legs is paint and that's a lot of silver!

Emerje

That really isn't a lot of silver, it's just the rims and that front shin bit. The rest is flat gray

That silver around the back of the leg doesn't match the gray plastic used everywhere else on the figure, you're saying that's not paint? If so then that's very strange since RED doesn't seem concerned with using different quality plastic for different tolerances.

Emerje

OK, you made me take another look, and there is more silver around the back, it's just weird looking, it is a lot less prevalent than the shin and rim armor, most likely because the silver and gray sort of just mesh around each other, so it ends up weird looking

Does anyone actually collect this line? Well if you so, good news, we got more coming:

Tra Gen Red G1 Soundblaster
Product Number: F7499
EAN: 5010996136183

Tra Gen Red G1 Grimlock
Product Number: F7494
EAN: 5010996112514

Tra Gen Red G1 Skywarp
Product Number: F7498
EAN: 5010996180018

Tra Gen Red Prime Starscream
Product Number: F7495
EAN: 5010996126580

I have Coronation Starscream and it's ok, save for the marred fingers on one of the hands. I had my eyes on Galvatron and Shockwave but they never went on sale and I'm not paying $50+ for them.

Prime Knock Out is the only one I ever got, and he's very gummy. Don't know if the others are just as gummy as him or not, as I haven't gotten to experience any others.

You know, it just hit me. The Prime Starscream figure would actually be show-accurate to the time in the cartoon when he lost his T-Cog and couldn't transform.

I know the article stayed this is still a Walmart exclusive line in the United States, but I find that hard to believe. All RED got cleared out of Walmarts in my area over a year ago. Only place Ive seen them is on Pulse.

o.supreme wrote:I know the article stayed this is still a Walmart exclusive line in the United States, but I find that hard to believe. All RED got cleared out of Walmarts in my area over a year ago. Only place Ive seen them is on Pulse.

Considering where these are from, it's safe to say it's still a Walmart thing, even if those near you don't sell them anymore.

I'm not sure if having 3 counts as collecting...
I probably would get Skywarp if I could snag him on a sale.
Never did see Thundercracker, and don't feel these are worth hunting for.

I'm pretty sure it's been a month or so since I've seen any R.E.D. figures on shelves.
And I am surprised that these have gone up in price.
I won't spend more than $20 for any of these.
But I'm not bothered; having Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream is enough for me.

The only R.E.D. I got is the "scanned" Megatron.

This "action" figure can barely do any action so this may be the only one of this line I'll ever get.

That is, unless they release something that can't be obtained anywhere, like a Pretender human figure.