Grahf

Intesting. It's not bad looking in any event. The thigh swivels look like they're not going to offer much range. The alt mode looks pretty fun though. Like a good little vehicle to roll around. My expectations were set very low for her toys though. I figured they were waiting so long to show a real toy of her because they were going to be really bad but it turns out that wasn't the case. Wouldn't mind seeing a Prime Changer of her too though. Those Prime Changers were really good and I wish there were more. As is, the PC Optimus was better than the SS version in more than a few ways. And that PC Bumblebee is going to be tough to beat too.

Looking like Geoffrey Prime. I miss Toys R Us...

They're NOT putting the claw arm in that set? I don't think this is worth it then. I own both kits already and don't think they were worth it really as it was. The rib cage pieces outright suck to start. The new shoulders are a bitch to get into place for alt mode. The thighs pieces pop out way too easily. The new head is way too loose on the new neck which doesn't firmly attach to the figure. I had to glue mine on. I tried to tighten their head multiple times and it just won't tighten up. But yeah, the prices for the two separate kits are too high. This single kit for Scourge is still too high. There are equally impressive kits out there for cheaper. There's also several KOs of Scourge that come with kits installed for less. How do I know? I literally own every KO of Scourge and every major upgrade kit for them. I have four distinctly different RotB Scourge figures right now from all of the options. The DNA parts were some of the least impressive of them all while also being the most expensive other than the Hasbro version of the figure itself. And not every figure can even utilize these parts due to the changes between them. Only the Hasbro figure can use this head. One KO has too big a ball peg to use this head. The other two KOs have new heads already installed. That's just for starters but I won't be going further.

That's it? Disappointed! Maybe some white paint on the red parts seen in the lion mode. They should be the undersides of all the pieces if I'm not mistaken so that they don't affect the robot mode. Maybe some gold paint on the red hinges on the arms for the small mane pieces. That would've been the very least other than the new mane and lion head. However I'd pay quite a bit more if they retooled those Primus awful kibble chunks on the robot arms. Those arms and the chest and the way it all converts for lion mode sucks. And those lion leg and shoulder kibble chunks on the robot arms is horrible. There had to be a better way to do all of that, especially on a release that could've cost anything really. I can think of a few better ways actually. None of which would really be crazy either. This figure would be so much better if something was done with all that junk. But no, longer blades in the lion legs to make the bad looking weapons look slightly less bad. I just noticed. They didn't paint the molded in mane on the lion's back plate. You've got to be kidding me.

Hopefully this will mean the toys will be making a comeback and have additional figures. I never got around to getting any outside of the "Lego" Windblade. One of the new characters is a drill tank. They originally only made a small core/legends/scout/basic sized one but it would be great to see a larger one now too.

So I tried to get the four Takara deluxes on Amazon Japan but ended up getting them on Amiami instead and picked up some Christmas presents for my sister and niece. Out of nowhere in her late 40s my sister finally decided to get into anime lol. She LOVES One Piece for some reason but I digress. My dumb ass forgot about the actual Takara deluxe Thrash (warrior Thrash was also sold as deluxe). I rushed the shipment too as it's the beginning of the month instead of "holding" it to the end of the month so I can't add to the order. Now I gotta find another way to pick up my fourth Thrash. Single figure deliveries suck due to not being able to split the shipping price. I would've remembered if they didn't cancel Prowl. Such a stupid move as that would've sold really well. So many people were looking forward to that one. I mean, it's not like they cancelled the line entirely or weren't willing to keep doing their own thing either as seen with Elita and Hashtag. But yeah, thanks to our old pal Chuck for reminding me about those figures with his videos the past few weeks. Completely forgot about them or rather, I thought they were coming out later. Would've been mad if I couldn't get them especially since the Hasbro versions will look different for Jawbreaker, Aftermath and especially Hashtag. I just wish their Eltia looked even more different as really only the arms and a little bit of paintwork are different from the Hasbro version which I already have. It would've been nice to have seen ALL the windows painted or something. Different color plastics or paints. Just anything more than headlights and insignias.

I just got Alpha Trion, Optimus, Sentinel, SS Optimus and Deployer Megatron today along with Shard (finally) and Vector Prime. Oh and also finally, Earthspark Grimlock. Now I can finish Mandroid. Man SS Optimus kinda sucks. The "warrior" class deluxe one is really good comparatively as a Transformer. Sure the SS figure is quite a bit larger but it doesn't have quite the same charm as the smaller version. Cleaner alt mode. Cleaner robot mode. Does have that stupidly designed "diaper". Better weapon integration. Better colors. Better arms. Better Matrix. Worse Matrix chamber though. And it doesn't have ankles or seperate feet in general. Alpha Trion is pretty cool too. I wouldn't mind Beast Machines and Universe Snarl retools from this but we know that's not going to happen. I wish they changed the arms and the weapon for Deployer Megatron though. And Maybe have done the Minicon up as Laserbeak or something. Wingthing might be more appropriate for the mold though. Given that he was a little gargoyle looking thing and not a bat originally. Overload wasn't a bad figure back in the day. I actually kept it but sold off Drift, Blizzard Drift and Fracture after taking their Minicons. I have both versions of Crazybolt too. Speaking of, I'd love to see some redecos of that mold. I don't know how it would play into the film but I don't care. It was such a unique mold that barely anyone got to own. Grimlock is okay. It was before in Cyberverse and is again in Earthspark. Retooled parts don't change much but the overall look. I now understand why Shard is so popular though. The Armorizors still suck for the gimmick they're named after but as a stand alone figure ignoring the gimmick, she's really cool. The colors really pop too. I trimmed the key tabs off the sword handles so she could wield the swords normally. I wish there was a way to kinda use the booster things as replacement hands. They so look like that's what they want to do but there's no way to do it which is a shame. I look forward to getting more now. Vector Prime was very floppy. But now that I think about it, so was Jhiaxus when I first got him. Had to tighten those joints up with some water based polyurethane (Kiki) real quick. Not really a fan of the wing armatures but that's about it. Couldn't care less about the details on the fronts of the shins left over from Jhiaxus. I do want something to put into the little ankle wing holders though. There's options coming out for those though along with a bunch of other things for him. But none of those have anything to do with the most recent Amazon listings leak. But this last one does. Sentinel Prime is really good. They even put in ankle pivots when they didn't need to. He's a triple homage. He's a cross between Combiner Wars Skydive in robot mode with FoC Blastoff in vehicle mode with a touch of FoC Air Raid/FIreflight with the shield thing. But once I transformed him I was reminded of what I'd like to see for Windblade toys moving forward. The way the arms turn into the front of the vehicle is what Windblade should be doing. With her shoulder pads becoming the intakes on the sides of the cockpit. They don't even need to have the nosecone flip behind the hands like on Sentinel and they can fold them away on a small bit of cockpit kibble to store in the chest cavity left by moving the head out of the chest for robot mode. That would make her super clean. The legs are no longer the issue for Windblade as there's like four or five good ways they've already found to handle them and the rear of the vehicle. It's the front of the vehicle and the arms and back kibble they still need to work on. Sentinel maintains the slim arms that can still work for Windblade despite them becoming the front of the jet. It's just Sentinel is how I envision Windblade transforming to almost eliminate the kibble in both of her modes. I just don't understand HasTak designers at times. These had to have been developed around the same time too. I wonder if they picked up on this themselves. Regardless, I'm looking forward to a voyager Sentinel Prime. That's it. That's all I really had to say about these new Studio Series Amazon leaks lol. Now to open my box from Sugargirl on Ebay and put some upgrades on my figures. Oh and I seen Wolverine and Deadpool today as well. I think they lost a bit of what made the first two movies decent. This one was just lacking the charm or heart the other two previous Deadpool movies had. Cameos and references are great and all but almost all of them went nowhere or weren't given enough time. Shame really. I wanted Wolverine, when discussing his past, to at least mention Jubilee, Rogue or Kitty. You know, the three of his wards. He only talked about Cyclops, Jean and Storm. You'd think he'd have more to say about the younger members than the older ones, even Jean. Especially given who he was talking to at the time. And Primus, the fucking endless quips. I get that this is Deadpool now and really how shows are made these past two decades but fuck, just speak like normal people for longer than a sentence or two please. And not a single person even thought anything strange of what he was even saying when he'd mention things nobody should know about or when he obviously broke the fourth wall. But at the same time, they didn't completely ignore him as if in a trance like Negasonic and Piotr did in the first two movies. They were acknowledging him while he was doing his shit. More in a following what he said and did kind of way and not a got involved kind of way but still. It's subtle but it was throwing me off. The other characters shouldn't be doing that if they're not another Deadpool or even She-Hulk. Or they should be like: Wade, what the fuck are you doing/saying? If you've managed to avoid spoilers, there are some neat surprises that were only really speculated on but not confirmed. So that could mean anything/one as there was a ton of speculation. Last but not least I had FIrehouse Subs after the movie and my run to Target. Their honey ham is so delicious. I love going there. No homemade brownies today but oh well. Didn't see any PotP Evolution Optimus Primes on shelves at Target but I already have him, Nemesis and Star Convoy. Maybe if they change the shade of red or gave him the Star Convoy cab instead of the Orion Pax cab maybe. But then that would've defeated the purpose. I mean they're reissuing him to coincide with ONE right? Orion Pax to Optimus Prime. That's why they're reissuing this now out of the blue like this right?

Lol wut? I thought Hook and Long Haul were being sold together as a commander and Scavenger and Bonecrusher as deluxes? So how are the all also separate releases as voyagers? Unless they're breaking up the commander two pack and moving some of the combiner kibble into the deluxes to move the four of them to voyagers. But ultimately I hope that's not what it's going to look like. The animation model I mean. I will straight up stop buying figures if they start making them look like the G1 animation models. I don't say that lightly either. I have more than enough other options to choose from that I don't need to get toys that are actively trying to look like shit. I grew up with and love the G1 cartoon as much as anyone else around my age. But I don't want toys that look like that. No thank you. There's a reason why I have negative interest in current G1 MP figures. SS86 Optimus is bad enough trying to emulate the cartoon model but it still has some CHUG influences. If they go ANY further than that then I'll be saving a ton of money from that point onward by skipping SS86. While it's not great, I have the undersized KO of CW Devastator to mostly scale with the other combiners as well as my UW Devastator.

Optimus, Jetfire AND the triplets? That's an odd three pack. Or is it a five pack? Words cannot describe the mild annoyance of having purchased those damn Reactivate two packs only to find out they will indeed be releasing them without the stupid asymmetrical paintwork. While I didn't pay full price for them, it's really obnoxious. I couldn't care less about Bumblebee and Soundwave and Prime I don't think I have any issues with but Starscream looked really bad. That would be the only one I would consider getting in a clean paint scheme but only when it goes on sale as I don't expect these to sell well as there's probably more people angrier than I am about this due to them having paid full price. So expect them to shelfwarm just as much as the two packs did on digital shelves. I have that concept art rumble and well, it's not good. I liked Ravage though. But now here's Frenzy. I'll get it at some point. It's not that bad all things considered, it's just not good. Core BB Starscream though looks amazing. I hope they continue with core figures going on as I'd want all the redecos. Maybe as multipacks? Two as a deluxe with a few extras. Three as a voyager with a bunch of extras. It would be a good way to get some extra weapons out there without making full on weapons packs. I could go for some weapons packs if they made them kinda like the weapons from the Omnicons and Terrorcons from Energon. Are we sure that's Megatron and not Megaempress? Because that Megatron has legs for days. Looking like a fusion between Megatron and Tsareena from Pokemon. But that tank mode is amazing looking. WFC/FoC Ratchet looks incredible. Yes please. Even the weapon arm integration looks really good this time on this one. Kup looks like one of the cleanest GI Joe Transformers yet. Shame they didn't try to do something with those tread pieces on the back. LIke turn them into a flight pack or something. Can't wait to get that on sale like the rest of them. Maybe if there was an option to not have the figures with them more people would buy them at full price. I loveD GI Joes. As in past tense. I'm not into them anymore. So this is just a Transformer for me and I don't want to pay for the two figures with it. Even for Baroness, Zartan and Sgt. Slaughter. I'm kinda glad that they're waiting on doing Optimus because they're getting better at this. Shame about Megatron though. Just needed a little more design knowledge to shrink that backpack down a bit more. Should've handed the design process to Takara. Already spoke about the Legacy figures and Dinoking. New to the list is that rumored repack of Origins Bumblebee though. Is it weird that I still want to see that mold retooled into Cosmos if only to be used for a new Pathfinder that looks more like her original look. It should still be different enough from the original design to keep Bandai lawyers away. She'd go great with Crasher at that point. So uh that Kitt. I know it's a new mold but I can't help but think I've seen it somewhere before. I mean sure it looks like Prowl but damn does that thing look almost exactly like Universe 2.0 Prowl twisted at the waist to be more specific. Maybe this will be the basis for that rumored SS86 Prowl? But at the same time, the lower legs look almost exactly like Siege Sideswipe's. It's like it took the top from Prowl and the bottom from Sideswipe. Kind like this idea I've had in my head for a while now. Where similarly sized figures use the same inner framework and then change out things needed to make the different alt modes (Prowl, Jazz, Skids and Hound or Sideswipe and Mirage or Wheeljack, Tracks and Sunstreaker for instance as they all pretty much transform the same way). That way you can mix and match certain aspects to make new figures. This combination in particular was what I was thinking for a new Overdrive. Prowl top with Sideswipe bottom. But then again, most of us thought Autobot JP-93 was going to be the base for Skids and that didn't happen. So maybe this is just a one off design and won't be used in the mainline despite what it looks like. I mean, Code Red was its own design too despite people swearing that it was a Siege Ironhide retool. I didn't see it but others wouldn't shut up about it pointing out details that 100% confirmed that it wasn't Siege Ironhide saying that it was.

If that Optimus is supposed to be in scale with that Magnus then why is it both too big and too small at the same time? The alt mode looks like it's too big compared to Magnus but that could be the bad comparison photos. But the robot mode is still way too short compared to that Magnus. They're supposed to be closer in height than that. Actually, Optimus should be about the size of Grimlock for a Magnus that big. And that's just when comparing it to Magnus. Obviously, this Optimus is too tall compared to the rest. Bumblebee should be up to the top of his pelvis, not the bottom. Grimlock should be about the size of Magnus compared to a Prime that big. In fact, just swap Magnus and Grimlock's heights and then they'd both be good to go with that Prime. Bumblebee then is mostly fine. It's really Grimlock and Magnus that are the problems. But this is all going off of them saying that Optimus is now in better scale with the rest of the line and Magnus at the same time. I really couldn't care less that Magnus is too big. I made mine even bigger lol. I got those thigh extenders and while the legs almost look out of proportion with the rest of the figure, at the same time they're also in better proportion. You can tell something's off with the proportions but it's also not bad. I think it's just that it's so odd to see a Hasbro figure of any kind with thighs that are mostly the proper length they should be for the rest of the figure. It doesn't matter what line the figure's from, if it's made by Hasbro then the thighs are most likely too short and nowhere near as thick as they should be. Speaking of things that should've been longer and thicker, the thighs on the smaller Legacy Armada Optimus Prime. I put the DNA thigh extenders as well as the transforming thigh extenders. The thighs are now in proportion as well as the super mode arms as a result, but damn are those thighs/biceps too thing. It's not quite as noticeable as thighs due to the side flaps, as biceps though, it's awkward looking. There was still some room in between the blue panels for those pieces to be thicker. Too late now. And my taller Magnus is standing next to Armada Optimus now and while Optimus is still taller, Magnus looks good next to him at the new height. About half a head shorter without the DNA feety flaps for Optimus and a full head with them. Magnus is a git taller than Star Saber now though and by default, Optimal Optimus, Star Convoy, Dai Atlas, PotP Rodimus and Super Ginrai as well. But really, it's not so much the smaller Autobot cars that bother me now with this taller Optimus, it's the ones that are supposed to be about his height or taller and are now too small like Rodimus, Blaster, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Springer (even though SS86 is a bit taller than Siege), the Dinobots, Motormaster, Menasor, Jetfire and so on. Kingdom Galvatron is about the proper height or at least SS86 Galvatron will be as will SS86 Megatron. I guess the four of them (Magnus, Galvatron, Megatron and Optimus) can be to tall together and make fun of how short Rodimus is.

For all those people who wanted ANOTHER throne. I have one from Starscream and one from Deathsaurus and that's two too many. IF I get the Decepticon bridge set I'll then have three. Which would be three too many. In no way will I ever purchase one on its own. I even sold my Drakkon throne from that Power Morphicon set a while back. I just don't like thrones lol. I also sold that awesome pop up display base from the SDCC AoE Dinobots. I just don't care for these kinds of things, even when I do display things. Oh boy, it's an Optimus Prime in black and it's a Takara exclusive. I never would've thought that would be a thing. Luckily I couldn't care less about movie Nemesis Prime figures. But wow, an Optimus Prime made in different colors that ISN'T black, purple or white. So that's Missing Link "Sentinel Prime". I'd be more than happy to get one if it were a CHUG figure. It's just that why yellow and blue? Yellow and orange, orange and red with yellow and grey, orange and red with yellow, powder blue and orange, blue and grey with orange, red and black with grey and most recently blue with gold and black are all colors for versions of Sentinel Prime. Shining Magnus Yellow and Optimus Prime blue are not. Finally, Super Mode Starscream. It's about time someone did a Legacy Armada Starscream redeco. But does this mean Hasbro won't be doing one? If they do end up making one, will it be different colors as Thundercracker? Will someone be making Skywarp and Ramjet too? I'll still be down for Jhiaxus as well. They need to make more Seekers, just not from the Earthrise or SS BB molds. Armada, Cybertron, Siege, WFC and even the Reactivate molds though, bring them on. I mean, I'll still get that upcoming SSBB "Skywarp" as well as the SSGE Devastation Seeker which will be using the molds I don't like but you know, I'll be getting them in protest lol.

DNA should take notes on how it's really done. While those new pieces are by no means perfect in any sense, they're at least better and have more function than DNA's. For starters, the arms are the same lengths and the elbows will bend at the same spot for both arms. They actually do something with Doryu's sword. Combined mode weapons that break down to be used in the individual robot modes. Combiner parts that don't actively interfere with the stock parts. This is going to really need those shoulder widening parts that YYW designed for Volcanicus. The knee parts too of course but those aren't essential. I just know that turning the arms like that is going to create problems with the hips so wider shoulders are going to be a must. I wish there was a little more "meat" on that left arm piece. It really doesn't do much to cover all that gap in the forearm made from Gairyu's legs. At least the parts are black or at least close to it as it hides it better. This time around though, I know to pass on the DNA kit. QQT or nothing for me this time. At the very least I'll get the QQT wings they'll hopefully redeco for this and not the arms and feet. There's just one thing off about this set though. If it was always supposed to be Dinoking and not Volcanicus, why is it that they were molded exactly like the Dinobots and not the Dinoforce? I would've thought there had been some different moldings somewhere to at least try to make these look a little less like the Dinobots for this release. Other than new heads that is. I'm not entirely sure what else they realistically could have changed on these figures though. I'm just a bit confused by this set is all. They were meant to be the DinoFORCE from the start but were molded to look like the DionBOTs instead. Either way, I will welcome them to my collection. Kinda want too actually just for those extra pieces that will hopefully get faithfully knocked off like they did for the Centurion Drone and Red Cog extra parts.

Wait, so Ruckus' gun from Beachcomber DOESN'T become the front part of the vehicle? I'm hoping that's just someone didn't know it's meant to go there for vehicle mode. He looks good though. So much better than Crankcase and especially Windsweeper. Ruckus is how retools should be done. So core Dinobot and deluxe Sureshot are still happening! I'm hoping that this those are abbreviated listings though as Sureshot doesn't mention Spoilsport and Armada Wheeljack doesn't mention Whisper. By now that Siege Sideswipe mold should come with two Minicons for the standard retail price. Retool or not. Wasn't expecting Overcharge. At least not in a single pack for full price. I was thinking they should've done a troopbuilder with him at a discounted price right off the bat. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait for the sale to get more. Even if Hasbro really isn't producing as many figures anymore, I KNOW this one will be going on clearance somewhere. I might at least buy the first one at full price though. Or wait for Entertainment Earth with a coupon or with their damaged box sales. Still really wish Galaxy Shuttle came with the Astrotrain head and a decal sheet to go from Astrotrain to Galaxy Shuttle. There's plenty of black and white Astrotrain releases to have a reason to have made that a dual identity figure. Glad I have another chance at getting more though. I wanted two more but never had a shot at them. I hope G2 Dead End gets a reissue too. Fucking Walmart. Still need him and G2 Sideswipe. So once I get that G2 Breakdown, I'll have two of the G2 Stunticons as I managed to find Shadowstrip at Ross along with three Crashers. Luckily I got three as the one I opened up had horribly mismatched tampos for the number on the car front/robot legs. I didn't know to check for it. But the other two were fine. I wonder how they'll be releasing G2 Motormaster. I'll grab another Cosmos for the gun. My mom and sister found one for me and never found one at Ross. Not that I looked hard though as I only went to one lol. They pissed me off with the credit card. I was approved but I couldn't use it that day and had to wait for the card to come in. They were supposed to send me an email I could've used in the meantime but it didn't come in for 6 days and the card was coming in the next day anyway. And if you're wondering; no, the employees can't sign you up at the register and use the card numbers you were approved for like a normal store as they force you to do a QR code bullshit thing. I'm too old for that shit. I had no idea what I was doing as I've never done a QR code before. Hatchet is finally coming out. I wonder if they tried to mitigate the backpack in some way in all this time. Doubtful though it may be. Double Punch from RotB Scorponok. Okay. WFC/FoC Skywarp. Okay. I hope it's the Hasbro colors and not the Takara colors. I want my Skywarps to actually look like Skywarp and not like Hotlink or a nameless generic. Apelinq will be interesting to see how they retool Primal. I hope SS86 Galvatron isn't just a straight redeco of Kingdom Galvatron. They need to do a few things to make that work better. Maybe make the thighs longer to start with. Without seeing pictures of them together, I'm thinking that SS86 Optimus is going to be a tad taller than even Kingdom Galvatron wo was too tall to begin with. So they'll need to make SS86 Galvatron at least match the height of SS86 Optimus if not making him bigger like I think they want to do. So a straight redeco won't do. So the longer thighs with the bigger back plate to cover the longer thighs and then maybe do some work on the arms to make them "better". Spinister vs Twin Twist. So I was right about Spinister being reissued. THIS is where they should've put Windsweeper's Targetmasters he wasn't supposed to have like I said months ago when we were speculating about what will be in that capsule line. They then could've put Spinister's guns in with Windsweeper. And okay, they're still insisting that there's a new Twin Twist coming and not the Topspin to match the Wrecker Diaclone Twin Twist. I mean, there is in fact more decos to use for Twin Twist but It would be nice to get that Diaclone Topspin first. Ironfist vs Carnivac. So another Siege Hound usage for Ironfist I take it. And Carnivac was supposed to be TR Weirdwolf if I remember correctly. Or am I making up reading that in a leak somewhere. I mean, there's no shortage of molds that could be used with so many Cheetor molds running around lately. Tigatron, Ravage, Thundertron, Thunderhowl (they'd never use a non-Generations deluxe though so RotB Cheetor is out too). There's options is my point. Wasp from Bumblebee. Slingshot and Airaid as retools of each other or of the Fireflight and Skydive from later waves. Solus Prime is interesting still but also still not much else to say. Same with Prima. Voyager Armada Red Alert will be weird considering we have a deluxe Cybertron Red Alert tooling in Cannonball. But it's not like that mold hasn't had several redecos so there's plenty of options for it. Red Red Alert (Inferno), Blue Alert (Prowl), Orange Alert (Powerlinx). And that's if they don't retool it into Energon Ironhide which I just thought of as an option for a voyager SUV mold. Shame they didn't wait to do Prime Breakdown until AFTER this mold came out. So that way Prime Bulkhead and Breakdown could be different molds. As soon as I seen the leader class leaks for both SS86 Megatron and The Fallen I had the thought that they'd be mold mates. I still see that happening. I mean, it makes so much sense. But let's go back a bit. A Galaxy Force/Cybertron capsule line. If we don't get a Dark Nitro Convoy finally I will riot...quietly and to myself with some slightly annoyed comments somewhere. Override GTS too. But who else though? That Cybertron Red Alert redeco from Cannonball? Cybertron Galaxy Force colors for Vector Prime and maybe also for Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime? Red Exillion or Excellion from Hot Shot? I want both actually as they are different colors. I had both at one time. Picked up Red Exillion from a great seller on Facebook along with a Chromia Medic (Minerva). Kept the Minerva and ended up selling the Red Exillion for a little more than I originally paid for both him and Minerva. I felt bad but I needed the money. "Thrust" colors Starscream? I mean, there's not many Cybertron molds yet that we know of. Not much retool potential either. Maybe there's a new Seaspray happening next year that we don't know about to get Shortround from? Hardtop from Beachcomber? Scrapmetal from Cyberverse deluxe Shockwave? No, I already said they wouldn't use non-Generations deluxes. Armorhide from Huffer? Clocker from SS86 Hotrod? Lugnutz and/or Ransack from one of the many deluxe motorcycle molds? There's plenty to choose from for either. Breakdown from SS BB Arcee? Scattorshot from Siege Hound? Wait, wouldn't that just be Generations Selects Cybertron Defense Hot Shot but a better use? Okay maybe there's more options than I thought and I haven't gone past the scout classes yet lol. Thundercracker from Needlenose? Sideways from yet another of those many motorcycle molds? Blurr from Pointblank? You know, like Velocitron Blur should've been made from instead of IDW Blurr from SS86 Blurr. Buzzsaw from Spinister? Crosswise from Kingdom Prowl? Demolishor from Impactor? Cybertron Defense Scattorshot from Impactor? And I think that's about it without really stretching for mold reuses. I didn't include all the redeco potentials either. It would've almost tripled the list at least.

I want to like this kit so much but it sucks. Just like almost every single non-MP release for the past 37 kits or so. Let's start with the good. And now onto the mediocre. The fillers fill spots. Congrats. Color match isn't good. The combiner pelvis is interesting. It looks okay but again, color match isn't good. The weapons work as intended. Everything else looks good other than color matching. Now onto the bad. Color matching but I've mentioned this already several times already without saying much else...yet. The new chest pieces for Grimlock pop off the ball pegs very easily when being transformed. The dino arms also slide in and out awkwardly and don't actually really add anything to the overall presentation of the dino mode. Back to the weapons for a bit. They never actually replaced any of the stock weapons. So you have to lug them around still. Not only that but they ran the three sword and gun molds twice each. So while you have six guns and swords for the individual figures, you're supposed to give them all two matching weapons each. This is again on top of their stock weapons. So Swoop gets his two guns that make the stock fist and two swords. Grimlock gets two swords and his stock tail weapon. Snarl gets two guns and his stock sword...that none of the new swords match. Slag has two swords and his stock tail gun thing. Skarr has two guns and his stock tail gun fist thing. Sludge has two guns. None of the weapons combine or anything. They store away yes but badly. The insides of the feet should've housed some of these parts as they're hollow underneath anyway. Skarr's guns in particular don't point forward when in dino mode and point dead upward instead. What? The new feet are okay at first glance but aren't exactly long enough. You can fix this by adding Grimlocks tail to the back of one of them...but only Grimlock's tail. Not Skarr's tail or Swoop's fist. The feet have trouble staying plugged in as well. They also can't store weapons while being used as feet as there's not enough clearance and the storage ports are only supposed to be for when you do the stupid display thing. Again, the undersides of the feet should've accommodated some of the weapons when in combined mode. Or at least Swoop's fist with Skarr's being used as the second heel spur alongside's Grimlock's. There's one other little problem with the feet. Since you have to keep the new weapons, you still store Snarl's sword on the front of his foot as shown in their instructions. The problem is, the central toe spike on the new feet is way too long and wants to occupy the same space as the sword. This is why every photo provided by DNA have the feet so comically spread apart. So that the ankles are pivoted far enough so that the central toe spike clears the hilt of Snarl's sword. The large swords have 5mm pegs but you have to use the rectangular tabs to port them into the hands. This never goes well. Speaking of the hands. They might as well not even articulate as the range of motion you get is useless for anything. The fingers also have a tendency to pop off and they're tiny so good luck finding them. The swords will eventually fall out as is the nature of the sideways tab and slot connection. I fucking hate this style system. Just leave it 5mm. Onto the arms now. These are by far the worst parts of the whole set. Let me slow this down...One arm is longer than the other. Not only that but the elbows bend at different spots on the arms. So when you bend them both at the same time, they're at different levels. But don't worry, Swoop's new arm won't hold a pose with the sword anyway as the ball peg is too weak and it didn't tighten up using water based polyurethane like every other joint ever for the most part. So that new arm droops. This is after they delayed the set and spent more time on this arm. I couldn't even imagine what it was like on earlier models if this was the end result. The arms being different lengths and the elbows being located at different spots is why in every single photo provided by DNA, the left arm is always shifted back at the shoulder before being shifted forward at either Skarr's hip or his knee. This is to make it appear as though the arms are the same length and to mitigate how goofy the arms look when bent at the elbows at the same time. There should've been six individual swords and two sets of guns for each all based on the original G1 toy loadouts except for Skarr obviously who would've needed newly designed weapons. All the stock weapons should've been replaced. Snarl's sword so that the new sword matched the rest. Swoop's split fist guns. And especially Grimlock's, Slag's and Skarr's tails. That would also require a new combiner head and abdomen but they made an entire pelvis anyway so why not? The head could stand to be bigger anyway and give it some up and down articulation while you're at it. The new tails then could've combined and formed a shield or something from three smaller shields or something. Maybe make two the heel spurs and the third the pelvis or a back plate or something. Or you know, just set them aside since you have to set pieces aside at times anyway. Color matching should've been better. Things shouldn't be popping off at the ball pegs. Grimlock's new dino arms shouldn't suck. Feet should attach better. THE ARMS SHOULD BE THE SAME LENGTH AND THE ELBOWS SHOULD BE AT THE SAME SPOT ON THE ARMS. In short, this kit went back in the box once I got better arms and feet. Which are the QQT Studio pieces as I wanted the wings anyway. Color matching isn't good on the wings either don't get me wrong, but they're the wings and swoop's are the wrong color already anyway. These arms are actually the same length. The elbows also bend at the same spots. The fists are also 5mm and don't pretend to articulate other than wrist rotation. They also don't pretend to be anything else when not in use. You just set them to the side. Which I don't really like but at least there isn't some stupid base that you make from all the parts as it's just setting them to the side anyway but with more steps. The feet actually stay on as well. They also don't have toe spikes to get in the way of anything. However the toes are separately printed pieces and do slide out easily. I tightened the connection with water based polyurethane. The feet don't rotate though and only pivot so you're losing out on some meaningful articulation compared to the DNA feet. And to be fair, those ball and socket joints were actually very good on the DNA feet. So I don't know what happened to the elbow, fingers, thumbs or Grimlock chest flaps. Tolerances are fine on everything. The elbows can be tightened at a screw which was VERY helpful. The wings are large enough for Volcanicus and have some decent articulation. There's even a little spot behind the new back plate that the wings peg into for me to sit PotP Slash up there and lock her into place. I had her sitting up there before and was worried the new wings were going to completely cover up a place to put her but they didn't. I am using the sword that came with this set but Slash is holding it along with Skarr's fist gun as there's no good place for me to put that with her sitting where she is as the 5mm pet on Slag's legs isn't accessible with her wedged in there. The sword from this set was just way too small for Volcanicus. Instead I gave him two PotP Slag/Sludge guns to double fist in one hand and an oversized FoC Grimlock sword I got from the BPF 1:1 KO PotP Grimlock. It's the perfect size for this Volcanicus. So Slash sits up on top of my winged Volcanicus with arms the same length and level elbows. I also got the blue swords from the DNA kit. I ended up snipping off the side tabs and giving them to Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime. The orange swords went back in the box along with everything but the fillers and the pelvis. I'll put the fillers back when I get new fillers. At which time I might put the pelvis away too. This kit looked good from far but was far from good. The Apelinq kit was good though even if it did come with a bunch of useless pieces and the arm swords are using 6.5mm or larger pegs. I was looking forward to using the bonus set of swords on someone else but I can't. So Apelinq has a pair of blades on each arm as the gauntlets were molded with two ports on them as they're not side specific.

While I hate the look of that figure for Armada Optimus Prime, for Clench, it's not so bad. However I'm not jumping through hoops to try and get this. I really thought we were past shit like this. Make a limited preorder window in which they're made to order for those who preordered and then make another small batch to sell at the con with the leftovers sold after. I have no interest in fighting with a bunch of scalpers and people with no lives refreshing pages just to try and get one. I have work that day. I'll be on my computer for most of it but that doesn't guarantee that I'll be able to babysit the page and checkout within a two minute window as again, I'll be working. But that's all beside the point. I heard they're asking like $180 for this. It's literally half of a $220 set. A set that's been released 4 times now. There's no Sparkplug. There's no fully transforming trailer/base/pants. It's just the base robot that may or may not have all the super mode parts and a thin plastic box with some hinges. I just don't understand how this one company can make reasonably priced figures and unreasonably priced figures at the exact same time that are meant to go together. I have some of their stuff and wish I picked up a few more. But then I look at other things and I would never get them due to the prices. For that matter, I even have one of their exclusives in Wheel Blade. I don't remember that being difficult to get after the fact and it was priced the same as Minerva. Wheel Blade had only 800 total made and Clench has 700 so there's less to begin with. Maybe Clench won't be difficult to get but the price still stucks from what I heard of it.