Just picked these up today and I must say they kick ass. Bulkhead's a little wonky, is tough to balance and doesn't have knees but it's still a nice representation of the character considering the size and price.

 

Bumblebee's awesome. He's a much closer homage to G1 'Bee than the Deluxe version, he's got the full nine essential points of articulation (shoulders, elbows, legs, knees and head) plus his elbows are double-jointed. He's a bit too short to be in scale with the full-sized figures (he's about eye-level with Prowl's ninja-crotch) but he still fits in nicely. He can also do the "wheels on heels" thing with no trouble.

 

Starscream is essentially his Voyager figure shrunk down. He looks identical in robot mode to the full-sized toy except for a bit less detail and the fact that this version doesn't have that big ugly wing-plate behind his head. His altmode suffers a bit since his arms just sit by his sides instead of tucking away in this version, but it's not too bad and Classics Jetfire did the same thing as a Voyager.

 

I'm not sure if I'd recommend these toys to someone who already has the full-sized versions (unless you're a completist, in which case you're going to be getting them anyway) but if you don't and don't mind things being massively out-of-scale (except for Bumblebee, who's no more out-of-scale than his Deluxe toy) these are really nice and will save you a fair bit of money. Their easy transformations also make them good for any younger fans you might know and might get them to stop bugging you to let them play with your collection. ;)

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else this line has in store (Megatron, please?)

 

EDIT: Just wanted to add a few more impressions. Bumblebee's vehicle mode is a bit awkward since his arm/doors don't really pin into anything (which is necessary for his spring-loaded transformation gimmick) so they have a tendency to flop around a bit in vehicle mode. Overall, though, I'd say he's the best of the bunch since he's mostly kibble-free in both modes and he's different enough from the Deluxe version to be worth buying again.

 

Starscream, as I said, is essentially a scaled-down version of his Voyager toy, which means he's great for accuracy bit a bit redundant if you already have the bigger version. His robot most is great, very show-accurate and well-articulated, but his altmode is noticeably flawed due to the arm-issue. Still a very good figure, but I'd rank him below Bumblebee.

 

Bulkhead is the worst of the bunch, for reasons I described above. I got him because I wanted at least one version of every main-cast Autobot but didn't want to pay extra for his Voyager or Leader toy, but that's really the only reason I'd recommend getting him. Not a bad toy by any means, especially considering his size, but not great.

Picked up 'Screamer. I'm pleasantly surprised. He's a very fun toy and much less fragile then the Voyager version. His wings also look incorporated into the body rather then just backpack kibble, an other of the Voyager version's problems.

I've got Tiny Starscream leading my Seekers right now, however Energon Starscream, Classics Skywarp and Cybertron Thundercracker look a bit less than enthused.

I've got Tiny Starscream leading my Seekers right now, however Energon Starscream, Classics Skywarp and Cybertron Thundercracker look a bit less than enthused.

Classics 'Screamer's still calling the shots with my Seeker crew, though tiny Starscream's managed to weasel his way into third place behind Energon Starscream in just an hour on the job :D

Needless to say Classics Skywarp's pissed.

I encountered another problem with the Bulkhead figure. I was transforming him today and that little black piece on his shoulder (the one that kind of looks like a machinegun in vehicle mode) popped off. The problem is that the flaps that hold his wheels are geared into his transformation, however they just sort of sit on his back at an awkward angle in robot mode. I was always having trouble with the thing jumping a tooth if I held him the wrong way and was afraid that the gear was going to strip, but apparently it just worked its way loose instead until it got the point where it shot across the room during his autotransform. I managed to get it partially back on, but it won't go in all the way and tends to come off pretty easily now.

 

Anyway, it's not a huge deal since Bulkhead was never one of the better figures to begin with, but it's one more reason to avoid him.

 

Bumblebee, on the other hand, is impressing me more and more. I noticed a couple of extra points of articulation since I wrote my initial impressions. The guy's got swivel joints on his upper legs and arms in addition to his ball joints. Seeing how common it is for Hasbro to just stick a few balls on these things and call it a day I'm really impressed on how they went the extra mile with Activators Bumblebee. I've also noticed that he's stable and well-balanced enough that he can pull off one-legged poses without too much trouble. The only problem I have with this guy is his arms, in that the door panels tend to get in the way and he has no real way of bending them inwards at the elbow (he has two joints there, but neither of them are balls.) His arms are also a bit too long for his body when fully extended, but other than that this is simply an amazing figure and is one of my favourites from the Animated line.

How much of their transformations is spring-powered? The packaging, IIRC, says "push-button transformation" or something like that. Your thoughts please!

They can go from their vehicle mode to something very recognisable as their robot mode just by hitting the button, but there are a few extra steps to transform them properly.

 

With Bumblebee you have to fold up and separate the feet as well as extend the arms (they're double-jointed as I said earlier and they're in an unnatural-looking zigzag pattern in vehicle mode.)

 

With Starscream you have to pull his thruster-nozzles apart to form the feet, fold his rudders back, position his legs (his knees are bent a bit backwards when he first comes out of vehicle mode) and flip up his shoulderpads. You'll also need to unpin the arms from his wings if you want to pose them, fold his null-rays around if you had them facing forward in vehicle mode, and retract the landing gear if you had it extended (he has two non-moving molded wheels in the back.)

 

With Bulkhead you basically just unpin the arms and fold up the toes, although you also need to move his legs forward if you want him to be able to stand without falling over (Bulkhead is really back-heavy.)

Could we get some pictures of these guys, especially in comparison with some other figures? I've been thinking about getting Lugnut and want some figures to be in scale with him, so I'd like to see these guys (and the Animated Legends) to ge relative scaling.

I think that they should release Activator versions of "repaint" characters, like Starscream's clones. I think producing all those clones in Voyager Class would be costly and a lot of them would shelf-warm. Making them at the Activator price point makes more sense because it'd be cheaper and they'd move faster.

 

I'd be hesitant to get all those 'screamer clones at a Voyager price point ($45 a pop here) whereas I would probably get them at an Activator price point ($15?).

I think that they should release Activator versions of "repaint" characters, like Starscream's clones. I think producing all those clones in Voyager Class would be costly and a lot of them would shelf-warm. Making them at the Activator price point makes more sense because it'd be cheaper and they'd move faster.

 

I'd be hesitant to get all those 'screamer clones at a Voyager price point ($45 a pop here) whereas I would probably get them at an Activator price point ($15?).

:pfx

 

I'd be all-over the clones if Hasbro does that. I'm actually thinking about passing up the Voyager version of Starscream just for the Activators version.