Transformers Cloud: New Story Chapter and Additional TFC-D02 Starscream, TFC-A02 Brawn

I wonder which non-Cloud Starscream that is in the upper left corner of the first pic? Armada Starscream or IDW-G1 Starscream. Looks like the Takara-Tomy redeco of the mold, I think?

Wolfman Jake wrote:I wonder which non-Cloud Starscream that is in the upper left corner of the first pic? Armada Starscream or IDW-G1 Starscream. Looks like the Takara-Tomy redeco of the mold, I think?

It's Armada cartoon Starscream. The previous chapter had Cloud Brawn and Cloud Screamer go to the Armada cartoon world, around the time of episode 15, "Gale" (Sideways's debut episode).

Sabrblade wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:I wonder which non-Cloud Starscream that is in the upper left corner of the first pic? Armada Starscream or IDW-G1 Starscream. Looks like the Takara-Tomy redeco of the mold, I think?

It's Armada cartoon Starscream. The previous chapter had Cloud Brawn and Cloud Screamer go to the Armada cartoon world, around the time of episode 15, "Gale" (Sideways's debut episode).

Which means the body used is the TakaraTomy version of the Generations mold: two orange swords (one is barely off-panel) and hexagonal air intakes. Hey, gotta advertise current toys on the side, right?

I wonder what Takara-Tomy's goal is with this one-off "Cloud" story. It seems like just a way to mish-mash a bunch of Transformers product from different continuities to advertise the hodge-podge that is the 30th Anniversary Generations line, plus push out a few more exclusive repaints to make some extra cash. In other words, the "Cloud" characters are just an excuse to dimension hop all around the 2014 Generations toy catalog.

Wolfman Jake wrote:I wonder what Takara-Tomy's goal is with this one-off "Cloud" story. It seems like just a way to mish-mash a bunch of Transformers product from different continuities to advertise the hodge-podge that is the 30th Anniversary Generations line, plus push out a few more exclusive repaints to make some extra cash. In other words, the "Cloud" characters are just an excuse to dimension hop all around the 2014 Generations toy catalog.

Well, I could see this argument working for the Generations Armada Stascream toy, but what of the previous story arc that had Cloud Optimus and Cloud Megatron cross over into the G1 cartoon? Everyone there who wasn't a Cloud character was in their G1 animation model designs instead of based on a toy.

Sabrblade wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:I wonder what Takara-Tomy's goal is with this one-off "Cloud" story. It seems like just a way to mish-mash a bunch of Transformers product from different continuities to advertise the hodge-podge that is the 30th Anniversary Generations line, plus push out a few more exclusive repaints to make some extra cash. In other words, the "Cloud" characters are just an excuse to dimension hop all around the 2014 Generations toy catalog.

Well, I could see this argument working for the Generations Armada Stascream toy, but what of the previous story arc that had Cloud Optimus and Cloud Megatron cross over into the G1 cartoon? Everyone there who wasn't a Cloud character was in their G1 animation model designs instead of based on a toy.

Because Takara-Tomy apparently can't create a new Transformers storyline unless they somehow cram it into their bloated "G1 continutiy" tree? Now they can say the Unicron Trilogy happened within G1, just like the live action movies and Car Robots!

Personally I hate having to many multiverses, I'm happy to have car robots and the unicron trilogy crammed in some how to g1.

Wolfman Jake wrote:Because Takara-Tomy apparently can't create a new Transformers storyline unless they somehow cram it into their bloated "G1 continutiy" tree? Now they can say the Unicron Trilogy happened within G1, just like the live action movies and Car Robots!

ausbot wrote:Personally I hate having to many multiverses, I'm happy to have car robots and the unicron trilogy crammed in some how to g1.

Fear not, for this is but only one multiverse. Just one. Car Robots is in the Japanese G1 cartoon timeline, but the Unicron Trilogy (or Micron Trilogy, as it is known in Japan) is in its own timeline.

Don't fret, Sabrblade. I'm just having a bit of fun at Takara-Tomy's expense. I'm usually being very tongue-in-cheek when I end a post with a winky emoticon.

ausbot wrote:Personally I hate having to many multiverses, I'm happy to have car robots and the unicron trilogy crammed in some how to g1.

I'm just the opposite: No matter how many universal streams there are to remember, keeping them separate prevents poorly-thought-out retcons from damaging older fiction to try and prop up a new story that might not be able to stand on its own merits. Hasbro and Takara wisely stopped having new cartoons imply continuity with G1 'toons around 2000, and while the mess Takara's made since reversing course on that is indeed entertaining, it mostly makes me glad Hasbro just keeps adding new dimensions.

Still, I await the collapse of Aligned continuity as eagerly as I do Takara's continuity. That'll be real entertainment!

The next chapter has gone up, and the image shows another case like the Rodimus redeco of Springer: A Shockwave redeco of Generations Whirl - http://takaratomymall.jp/special/tfcloud/story02_06.html

Interesting. If speculation is correct about Rodimus from Generations Springer, and this Shockwave from Generations Whirl is a go, there are only two more Cloud figures we don't know anything about yet.

e-Hobby has posted the latest chapter in the Transformers Cloud saga, which features eye catching art that may indicate Shockwave will filling one of the four remaining figure slots. As you can see in the image mirrored below the character in the lower right corner is clearly based on the recently released Transformers Generations Whirl mold, but the purple coloring and yellow eye seem to point to Shockwave. Speculation of course, much like the previously seen yet still unconfirmed Rodimus from Transformers Generations Springer. Check out the image mirrored below:

BTW, the girl-looking thing is the computer A.I. entity known as SARA.

I'd get a purple Whirl. He wouldn't be Shockwve though, but he'd be a neat addition.

I just hope they do end up doing Rodimus from Springer. He looks marvelous in those colors. And yes, I'm totally going to get the Shockwave repaint of Whirl too .

While I doubt it was intended, it would be a neat homage to Shockwave from the first Movie video game.

If they give it a G1-style laser arm and a G1-style head, it'll be pretty cool.

You know...jeeez. Id love to see a hot rod from the springer mold, but Im not paying $50 for an import of it.

RiddlerJ wrote:While I doubt it was intended, it would be a neat homage to Shockwave from the first Movie video game.

Exactly as I was thinking Incidentally, Whirl is yet another mold that TakaraTomy has seemingly skipped for Generations, so the pattern continues.

GuyIncognito wrote:If they give it a G1-style laser arm and a G1-style head, it'll be pretty cool.

I doubt they'll retool the head for Shockwave. From the looks of that picture, Whirl's head hasn't been altered at all. The laser arm is another matter, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that eitehr. So far, nothing has been retooled, just redecoed, and any apparent new tooling existed before, like Megatron's and Brawn's heads from the GDO Generations releases (even though Brawn was ultimately canceled), and Starscream's null rays from his Masterpiece figure.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:If they give it a G1-style laser arm and a G1-style head, it'll be pretty cool.

I doubt they'll retool the head for Shockwave. From the looks of that picture, Whirl's head hasn't been altered at all. The laser arm is another matter, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that eitehr. So far, nothing has been retooled, just redecoed, and any apparent new tooling existed before, like Megatron's and Brawn's heads from the GDO Generations releases (even though Brawn was ultimately canceled), and Starscream's null rays from his Masterpiece figure.

I don't expect any retooling either and will probably pull off his gun hand using the figure's pre-existing ability to slide a gun on over the wrist.

I had forgotten about that feature on Whirl. Now I wonder if this Cloud Shockwave would come with all four of Whirl's "gun" accessories, or if Takara-Tomy have another suitable, pre-existing accessory from elsewhere to achieve a more "G1" look for Shockwave's laser arm, a la the Masterpiece null rays replacing the gun and sword for the Double Dealer mold for the Cloud Starscream repaint.

Great, TakTom is already announcing a purple Whirl and meanwhile I still want my BLUE ONE HASBRO!!!!! [/rant]

Sabrblade wrote:BTW, the girl-looking thing is the computer A.I. entity known as SARA.

Okay, I was gonna guess a T-Ai 2.0

This could be an interesting paint scheme, but I'm with MKall, if I were in a position to get it, it'd be for the colors, not for Shockwave.

*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

Not to mention that, in technicality, while this figure (if it's ever made) could be used as a Classics Shockwave, it's meant to be an alternate-universe version of the cycloptic nerd Decepticon.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

Yeah, these Takara repaints/retools will have no impact on what Hasbro does for the Thrilling 30, although at this point I doubt we're going to see another Generations Shockwave any time soon (we already got FoC). But perhaps I'm wrong and they'll reveal something at Botcon. In the meantime, TF:GO! makes a pretty sharp Classics Shockwave.

I'm fairly sure that Generations FOC Shockwave IS Classics Shockwave, as far as Hasbro is now concerned. The same character design was repurposed as "neo-G1" by IDW.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

Oh.

Still, Takara will be wasting a fantastic character on such a ridiculous mold.

PrymeStriker wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

Oh.

Still, Takara will be wasting a fantastic character on such a ridiculous mold.

But thankfully it's not the G1 Shockwave, as others explained. Think of him as... a wacky Japanese version of the Club TransTech Shockwave Besides, it has unintentional homage material:



From the Transformers (2007) Video Game

shocky from whirl is one of those "have to see" before i can make up mind whether its a good idea or not. especially since the newest voyager in my neck of the woods is rhinox, im not even familiar with the mold yet.

Courtesy of e-Hobby and the TakaraTomy Mall we have some new images of their upcoming Transformers Cloud exclusives TFC-A02 Brawn and TFC-D02 Starscream. These images include a group shot with the previously released TFC-A01 Optimus Prime and TFC-D01 Megatron, packaging, and the covers from the comics included with the aforementioned Optimus Prime and Megatron releases. Check 'em out below:

This line is such a joke. It's like Machine Wars all over again. But at least in Machine Wars they gave them new colors instead G1 paint schemes. And trying to say that "Asia didnt get the molds" is stupid. At $100 bucks a pop, collectors are the intended target of this line, not kids. Every collector in Asia who wanted the mold got it already online. In the age of online shopping, theres no such thing as an "Asian exclusive".

Rated X wrote:This line is such a joke. It's like Machine Wars all over again. But at least in Machine Wars they gave them new colors instead G1 paint schemes. And trying to say that "Asia didnt get the molds" is stupid. At $100 bucks a pop, collectors are the intended target of this line, not kids. Every collector in Asia who wanted the mold got it already online. In the age of online shopping, theres no such thing as an "Asian exclusive".

Japan dear, Japan. Japan is a market separate from mainland Asia, end of story.

Rated X wrote:This line is such a joke. It's like Machine Wars all over again. But at least in Machine Wars they gave them new colors instead G1 paint schemes. And trying to say that "Asia didnt get the molds" is stupid. At $100 bucks a pop, collectors are the intended target of this line, not kids. Every collector in Asia who wanted the mold got it already online. In the age of online shopping, theres no such thing as an "Asian exclusive".

Believe or not, collectors like to buy domestically too.

Money may be no object for you, but how you spend your money doesn't represent the same for everyone.

They really should have used the other mold of Bulkhead:



It would have fit better in scale with everyone (not to mention his own body), maybe that head is still salvageable for the smaller mold

harvester wrote:They really should have used the other mold of Bulkhead:

not when that head was made for the mold it was used for. They can't just go slapping any old head on any old body. That's not how it works.

Sabrblade wrote:

harvester wrote:They really should have used the other mold of Bulkhead:

not when that head was made for the mold it was used for. They can't just go slapping any old head on any old body. That's not how it works.

besides, they seem to want to stick with voyager sized molds, and i assume thats a deluxe.

shajaki wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

harvester wrote:They really should have used the other mold of Bulkhead:

not when that head was made for the mold it was used for. They can't just go slapping any old head on any old body. That's not how it works.

besides, they seem to want to stick with voyager sized molds, and i assume thats a deluxe.

It is a deluxe, that's why it would fit better in scale but I do agree that they are trying to stick with Voyagers.

Sabrblade, who are "they"? Did this head exist before they chose this mold? I don't know what you are trying to say. What I was trying to say is, I wonder if I could get a hold of this Brawn, and put his head on a custom painted deluxe Bulkhead. Brawn always had a bigger head to body ratio but in this Cloud fig, the proportions looked flipped to me.

Brawn with big head: (courtesy of tfwiki)


I like how these turned out, I just don't like the oversized Brawn with awkward proportions. If I could swap the head with a deluxe, I think it would look better with this mix of figs, even if I have to pop the head off to transform it (when I would probably just keep it in bot mode).

That head was indeed pre-existing, for the GDO series Brawn that was canceled for some reason:



And with "they" we usually mean Hasbro or TakaraTomy.

I'm saying that this Brawn head was made for the Voyager Bulkhead mold, and that it can't be put on the Deluxe mold because it wasn't made to fit on that toy's body.

The "they" I'm referring to are Hasbro and TakaraTomy, who made designed this head specifically for the Voyager Bulkhead body.

One cannot take any head they want and stick it on any body they want if said heads and bodies weren't made to connect with each other.

As for why they went with the Voyager mold instead of the Deluxe one at the time that this head was made, the Deluxe Bulkhead toy didn't even exist yet.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:This line is such a joke. It's like Machine Wars all over again. But at least in Machine Wars they gave them new colors instead G1 paint schemes. And trying to say that "Asia didnt get the molds" is stupid. At $100 bucks a pop, collectors are the intended target of this line, not kids. Every collector in Asia who wanted the mold got it already online. In the age of online shopping, theres no such thing as an "Asian exclusive".

Believe or not, collectors like to buy domestically too.

Money may be no object for you, but how you spend your money doesn't represent the same for everyone.

I used to feel the same way, until I realized that every dollar I saved on shipping was being spent on gas. Sometimes I would drive 25 miles away and return home with nothing to show for it. The thrill of the hunt wears off after a while.

Also, I wouldn’t think $100 figures will be big sellers in Asian toy stores that specialize in kids lines. It would be the equivalent to finding Millions Publishing exclusives for sale at TRU. Maybe a handful of Asian hobby shops that cater to collectors will carry the Cloud line. But not retail chains that target kids. What parent is going to buy them for a 5 year old to rough play ? In my travels to the Philippines, retail chains at malls only had regular Hasbro figures. I hit up a few hobby shops and found a variety of Takara, Gundam, and 3rd party products.

When I said "collectors like to buy domestically too", that included "buying online".

Items domestically available in the U.S. tend to cost a lot less on BBTS and TFSource than imported TakaraTomy items on the same sites do.

Likewise, those who live in Hong Kong who buy from RobotKingdom have less to pay for shipping costs than those who live in the U.S. buying from the same site do.

If these Cloud toys were being made by Hasbro, Inc. in America instead of by TakaraTomy, chances are they would cost a lot less for American consumers than they do now, regardless if they were still sold online or in stores.

I really, REALLY wish they would stop with the "invaluable loli/preteen girl" concept in Japanese transformers. I love manga, anime, and western comics/animation equally do I'm not trying to be hateful but it's honestly starting to creep me out (see Kiss Players). I hope the comics made for cloud are creepy-robo-tongue-waggling-at-little-girls-free lol that aside... I only dislike Megatron, send he has the same terrible head sculpt as gdo Megatron. Really hope they make rodimus!

gantzrunner wrote:I really, REALLY wish they would stop with the "invaluable loli/preteen girl" concept in Japanese transformers. I love manga, anime, and western comics/animation equally do I'm not trying to be hateful but it's honestly starting to creep me out (see Kiss Players). I hope the comics made for cloud are creepy-robo-tongue-waggling-at-little-girls-free lol that aside... I only dislike Megatron, send he has the same terrible head sculpt as gdo Megatron. Really hope they make rodimus!

You are aware that that thing isn't a person, right? It's an A.I. entity called SARA.

And don't worry. The Cloud fiction is more based around dimension-hopping than anything, as the story with Optimus and Megatron had them going to the G1 cartoon universe, while the Brawn & Starscream story has them going to the Armada cartoon world. Completely free of grossness.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:*waits patiently for a cool new Shockwave in Thrilling 30*

*reads this*



Hasbro...please. I'm begging you. Don't. Whirl is a deplorable mold.

TakaraTomy, not Hasbro.

Whirl is That bad?? I have and love him to be honest however I don't think that mold would make a good shockwave.. However a Rodimus from springer would be cool

Sabrblade wrote:

gantzrunner wrote:I really, REALLY wish they would stop with the "invaluable loli/preteen girl" concept in Japanese transformers. I love manga, anime, and western comics/animation equally do I'm not trying to be hateful but it's honestly starting to creep me out (see Kiss Players). I hope the comics made for cloud are creepy-robo-tongue-waggling-at-little-girls-free lol that aside... I only dislike Megatron, send he has the same terrible head sculpt as gdo Megatron. Really hope they make rodimus!

You are aware that that thing isn't a person, right? It's an A.I. entity called SARA.

Besides, how many of these have we had so far? Only Kiss Players and 15 Go! Go! Technically we could count T-AI from RiD too, which was before Kiss Players.

Why is this range called "Cloud"? Is the TF multi-verse, when viewed on a diagram, a cloud of some sort? Idk.

thedistinctroom wrote:Why is this range called "Cloud"? Is the TF multi-verse, when viewed on a diagram, a cloud of some sort? Idk.

The primary location of the line's fiction is a dimension called "Cloud World".

As for why, I dunno. Japan sometimes uses words that sound weird to us but might be fine for them.