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TF Animated cartoon coming to hub in July


Shadowpanther

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About Activators maybe, but I'm sure you looked it up since your initial count was off by 4 :P

I'm not big on Activators. The concept is great and seemed to work well, but they're not really in proper scale with anything including themselves. I only grabbed CJ because I've always loved the character and couldn't get him in Deluxe class.

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Ahhh...see, I loved the Activators...I'd even go so far as to say that some of them (Grimlock) were executed better than their larger counterparts. The Megatron Activator was utterly frightening in its awesomeness--all it needed was a proper arm-mounted or mountable fusion cannon, and there was't much separating from the leader class toy. Even the knee issue was solved. They are perfect for my desk at work.

 

The only truly disappointing figures Animated released were two deluxes and one voyager: Sentinel Prime and Swindle and Cybertron Mode Megatron. Sentinel had a ton of issues, most of which I'm sure had to do with the fact that there doesn't seem to be any obvious way in which the character can transform--its as though the animation model imitates the G1 Ironhide/Ratchet mode and the rear of the vehicle just goes into dimensional shunt somewhere. Swindle is okay--what bothers me the most about the toy are the arms, which are prone to looseness by both their nature and their engineering. And Cybertron mode Megs...I've tried, I really have, but the toy is just plain lacking in the most important mode: base mode.

 

Okay. That's the three Animated "fails." All 3 of them.

 

The rest of the Animated toys IMHO were outright home runs--and by home runs, I don't mean those weak, inconsequential homers that you have to strain to make certain until the last second that they even leave the ballpark, like a home run hit by Dickie Thon or someone like that. No, by "home runs", I mean monster blasts, herculean efforts that recall the "Chasing History" epic between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire a decade and a half ago. LC Megs, Ultra Magnus, Voyager Optimus, the Animated Seeker mold, Jazz, Blackarachnia, Wreck Gar, Blurr, Arcee, Rodimus Minor, Prowl, the Cybertron Ratchet/Ironhide mode, Blitzwing*...these were all works of art. Even the Jetfire/Jetstorm twins--for all the flak they took--were really good and ambitious toys, IMO.

 

I still get a little misty eyed over Animated being gone, because--at the end of the day, Lord Onslaught is right. Animated failed. I don't believe that Animated failed on its own merits (I believe that the show itself was failed, to be more clear), but the fact remains. From a creative standpoint, it really reminds me of back in the day when my friends and myself were jamming and trying to break into the comic book industry: regular all-night jam sessions, creative meetings; living/eating/breathing comics; going to every convention and then having that one creative idea that everyone loves. It might not even be your most successful idea, but its the one that everyone wanted to do and everyone had a blast doing. I like to think that Animated was that for all involved--the concept that everyone in the circle wanted to be a part of and I tip my hat to them because they got it out there.

 

But that is not Animateds only legacy. I've already stated how I feel about their Blitzwing. I believe that the inclusion of Lugnut into any continuity is almost canonical at this point. Blackarachnia--or a reasonable approximate (wink/wink, nudge/nudge TF:Prime) is just as necessary. Animated helped elevate Ratchet into not just the Autobot medic, but a major character and bad-ass. Bulkhead has worked his way into central canon. I don't recognize any other Ultra Magnus but Animateds and G1. It took a hell of a performance from Leonard Nimoy to steal the show from TF:As Sentinel Prime. TF:A helped Swindle transcend his Scramble-City background. And from what I saw, their versions of the Autobots in Team Athenia and the Decepticons in Team Chaar would have been truly special. Even the background characters seemed to be interesting (Cosmos? Botanica? Scalpel? Magnificus?). And everyone seems to want a Slipstream these days, and the show helped elevate Omega Supreme. The re-invention of certain characters (Prowl, Shockwave among others) was genius.

 

(*I will posit that I am in some agreeance with MikePrime that Blitzwing does have some floppiness concerns, mostly centering around the wing kibble on his arms. I do feel that the toy definitely has more good going for it than bad, but I can see where it would not be everyone's cup of tea.)

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I actually thought some of the animated activators were slightly better toys compared to their bigger toys versions.

 

activators megatron had a ball jointed head that the leader sized toy didn't.

 

Activators gimlock didn't have that weird bent hanger looking thing in the middle of his arm like the voyager version had.

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It could easily be argued that Cybertron stood on the backs of Armada and Energon to achieve whatever success it had

If anything, Cybertron made up for Energon. Armada was a pretty good show (though plagued with errors), and then Energon took what good Armada did, crumpled it into a little ball, and threw it into a furnace. Cybertron, came back from that, and turned out to be a great show!

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Animated Ultra magnus was an awesome figure. I bought he majority of my ajimated collection becausi was desperate for new toys, but I've never regretted buying LC UM, or LC megatron for that matter

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Animated Ultra magnus was an awesome figure. I bought he majority of my ajimated collection becausi was desperate for new toys, but I've never regretted buying LC UM, or LC megatron for that matter

I got Ultra Magnus when he went on clearance. I agree, he's a great, fun toy. I should see if I can customize him into a movie aesthetic...

 

picked him up on ebay for $30 i think a year ago. he's fun.

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Gotta love his hammer too.

 

The hammer of the gods. UM is one of the very best LC toys ever. The only Bayverse leaders I'd put ahead of UM are ROTF Optimus and Starscream.

 

That's it.

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Iunno, man...LC Ironhide is a fun toy too..

 

I do love my Elite guard figures. Even Sentinel. I just wish he was a Voyager

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