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Transformers |OT| Transform and roll out...

If I didn't already have an MP Starscream and those were the options, I'd go with the MP-11 Coronation Starscream.

BBTS and TFsource are the largest and most well known online vendors for Transformers, you won't have any problems with either.
 

Vyer

Member
cross posting from action figure thread, got a CW Megatron.

vVOvRR9.jpg



7FJeLBU.jpg

You guys
YOU GUYS
MTMTE #39= FRIKKIN' AMAZING!

I NEED A NICKLE PLUSHIE/FIGURE STAT, HASBRO PLS!

I've been reading through the MTMTE trades, up to Vol. 5 now. Such a great series. Looking forward to catching up.
 

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
I have some thoughts.


This guy is great. KFC really stepped it up and made something much, much better than any of their previous products. He stands next to MP Soundwave with ease and while the transformation is a little complex, he looks good in both modes and has a lot of little details that are fun to discover. However, do note that his red paint tends to chip very easily around joints and contact points during transformation. If you do decide to get him, I suggest also ordering some paint to do retouches on him as needed. Testors Red Metal Flake #1529-RM15291_0611 is a perfect match.

[*]Make Toys - Green Giant (Devastator) $399.95 - Though, to be honest, I kinda want the Yellow Giant more, but that's sold out. :( I may hold off on this one because it's a little pricey.

This guy looks cool but he isn't worth $400 by any stretch. The individual bots are pretty small and a couple of them are maddeningly fiddly and annoying to transform (especially Scrapper), and the combined mode is nice looking but more of a display piece than anything too poseable. If you're in the market for a Devastator I suggest the greatly superior Hercules set or waiting for the Hasbro one, which is 1/3 the price.


Really cool figure, but overpriced for its size. If you're a huge Mega Drive/Genesis fan, you won't be disappointed, but as a curiosity I'd say it's about $40 too much.


If you don't already have the MP-11 mold in another form, this is the one to get. Do note that MP Starscream is getting a US release later this year, apparently, which will probably be half the price of the Takara one, if not less. Of course, then you have to contend with actually managing to get one from TRU, but Takara MP-11s will still be available after that, so waiting may be smart. If you absolutely want one now, MP-11S Sunstorm is a repaint that runs the same price and looks way better than the US version of Sunstorm.


This is great and you should buy it. Seriously, all the MP cars are ace.


Of the two third party Astrotrains, this is the better one, IMO, but neither of them are MP quality if that's what you're looking for. For the amount of money this costs I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, but if you've watched video reviews and are prepared for the flaws, it's certainly the best Astrotrain on the market right now.


Obviously a nightmare to transform, but if you have an MP-10 Optimus, nothing will look better standing next to him than this. Who really turns their Megatrons into guns all that often anyway? Solid buy if you want an MP Megs and don't want to wait however many years it's going to take Takara to get around to it.

Also, I can get these two locally at Toys 'R' Us:
[*]Hasbro - MP-05: Sunstorm $79.99

I think the paint deco on this ruins the figure, and makes him look less like Sunstorm and more like a McDonald's Seeker, but at less than half the price of the Takara version it's hard to argue with it. I'd get Acid Storm instead if you're just looking to own the MP-11 mold in some form.


Thumbs up on this one. The shoulders and legs aren't as weird in person out of the box, and his tank mode is pretty great. With some posing he really nails the G1 Megatron look on the shelf.

Also, which store should I be purchasing these things from? Does anyone have any positive experience with either BigBadToyStore or TFsource?

I have used BBTS for over a decade, and they are great. Sometimes slightly higher prices, but their customer service more than makes up for it in the rare instances when something is broken or otherwise goes wrong. Also they don't charge you until the item is in stock, and there's no fee for preorder cancellation. Top quality outfit.
 
Hey TFGAF, has any of you been playing this game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am1i2vOQiP4

It's a free to play Android game, which normally would make me turn my nose in disgust and walk away, but it turns out this is made by DeNA, the same developers of Final Fantasy Record Keeper, which has taken FF-GAF (including me) by storm. This is pretty much as good (or better!) than that game, with both PvE and PvP battles, quite some strategy that is not apparent at first (that one it shares with FFRK), and tons of well animated 2D SD transformers to collect. I've been playing it for two weeks and progressing at a really good pace even paying 0$.


I'm mildly surprised there is no OT for this at all or mention elsewhere. Is it just that nobody knows is exists?

Anyhow, if any of you happen to start playing this, a friend of mine and myself crated a league (sort of 4-player guilds where points are shared and tallied during events), we're relatively active. Give me a heads up and I'll invite you.

Edit:
[CW Megatron] Thumbs up on this one. The shoulders and legs aren't as weird in person out of the box, and his tank mode is pretty great. With some posing he really nails the G1 Megatron look on the shelf.

I want this guy so bad, but Hasbro has forsaken us Spaniards and (Europeans in general) and I can't find it even on UK shops (out of stock everywhere). Sigh.
 

aparisi2274

Member
just saw this on tfw2005

1_1428603026.jpg


Brazillian Transformers fans Transformers Dioramas has shared some images from the 32nd ABRIN Latin America Toy Show. The highlight of their coverage are some images of the Combiner Wars Titan Class Devastator, who looks to be roughly the size of a small child when held up by an adult - yes, he is that big!


You know, I gotta say that after seeing a pic like this, I really do not want to get this combiner anymore. It looks like a hot mess...

What do you all think?
 
Tomorrow, I'm going to splurge my next paycheck on a new Transformer, but I'm torn on a bunch of different options. The budget doesn't really matter, but I want to try to keep it under at least $400 or so. You guys gotta help me pick it out!

My choices are:

Also, I can get these two locally at Toys 'R' Us:
I'm kinda leaning towards pre-ordering the X-Transbots - MX-I: Apollyon (Megatron) because Megs is one of my favorites and I'm kinda excited to get a non-Takara/Hasbro figure for the first time.

Also, which store should I be purchasing these things from? Does anyone have any positive experience with either BigBadToyStore or TFsource?

HELP ME OUT TF-BROS!

Definitely Starscream and Apollyon,and if you can Bluestreak. BBTS is great.
 

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
just saw this on tfw2005

1_1428603026.jpg





You know, I gotta say that after seeing a pic like this, I really do not want to get this combiner anymore. It looks like a hot mess...

What do you all think?

It's a hot mess because it's horrendously mistransformed. The entire right arm/shoulder section is a disaster, but not a single one of the components is transformed correctly.
 

Wark

Member
Thanks to everyone that gave me their input! I think I may settle on one of three: Transistor/Blaster, Starscream, or Apollyon/Megatron. I think it'll probably be the Apollyon figure if anything. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until I get a little more cash because today my cellphone made a nice crunch after I closed my truck door on it. :(
 

Tizoc

Member
I got it for my iPad.

So I generate a random number and then my characters attack? I like how it has a mix of obscure characters in there, but the character models could be better...
 
I got it for my iPad.

So I generate a random number and then my characters attack? I like how it has a mix of obscure characters in there, but the character models could be better...

I thought the characters were quite well done considering their animations and how many of them there are.

Combat is somewhat deeper than it seems at first glance (not unlike DeNA's other offering, FF Record Keeper, which seemed braindead to me at first). Each bot has five possible values for its damage, which are rolled randomly. However, you can affect that roll with several factors (there's a skill, out of four you can take into battle, that allows you to reroll one bot, while another rerolls all of them). Aside for that, you are free to transform them before attacking, which changes their characteristics, from their five attack values, to passive abilities (ex. add X to all your bot's attacks, or add Y to their defense, or do less damage but hit all enemies). A particularly important one is blue (first attack) numbers, which are added to decide who attacks first (ties are broken with a coin toss). This is so important that having a couple units with blue attacks in one of their modes (typically planes), and prioritizing them for rerolls, is quite important in getting the upper hand.

The most important factor in victory, I've seen, is the focus / jammer game. One of the skills that you can take is focus: it makes all your bots attack the same enemy unit that turn. This is immensely poweful, of course, it allows you to thin enemy numbers very quickly. So, there's another skill called jammer, that counters focus, making it so each bot targets a random enemy, like normal. However, there is a focus level 2, which ignores jammer. The thing is that it consumes two skill points out of the three you are given each round, severely limiting your rerolls and direct damage skills. Finally, there's a jammer level 2, which counters all levels of focus plus a seldom-used taunt-like skill. This too uses two points.

If you can guess that an enemy won't use focus, you can use that extra skill point on other things; conversely if you think they will use jammer, there's no use in casting focus (level 1 at least). You can also pick several units with attacks that hit all, bypassing the need for focusing, but it's quite risky (typically only the top 1 or 2 attacks of an unit will be multiattacks, if it has any, and a strong team armor defense can seriously slow you down).

Aside from that, some quick math is useful in determining who to focus in order to maximize casualties / kill the mos dangerous units with the fewest attacks: your bots always attack in the order you set them (except direct damage skills, which always go first, and multiattacks, which follow them), and always do the damage you rolled plus bonuses; you can also see if enemy units can provide team armor, but whether they actually do or not depends on the mode their user leaves them on. Whenever you manage to kill an enemy with an attack that deals exactly their remaining damage, you get a "perfect" coin / resource bonus.

My favorite part of the game is going against someone with a team much better than mine, and still beating them because they play "on auto" during the first turn and then it's too late for them to recover. The game just (like, two days ago) added a few Beast Wars units, I'm about to unlock Waspinator.
 

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
I'm taking a break from Battle Tactics until they tone down the pay-to-win aspects, which were absolutely horrendous. The nature of the battle system means that whoever goes first wins 90% of the time, so the whole PvP game was just people paying to get high end characters with first strike capability and steamrolling anyone who didn't want to pay.
 
I like battle tactics, just some of the unit balance is really wonky, Powerglide is a low level character who is better than so many higher level characters it's not even funny for example. Also the grind for the cores to buy the exclusive stuff is ridiculous.
 

Mike M

Nick N
F2P game's balance blatantly skewed to incentivize players to shell out more money than a retail title costs, film at 11.
 

yami4ct

Member
just saw this on tfw2005

[IM]http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/attach/4/0/5/9/7/1_1428603026.jpg[/IMG]




You know, I gotta say that after seeing a pic like this, I really do not want to get this combiner anymore. It looks like a hot mess...

What do you all think?

Mistransforming a figure will always make it look like crap. The fact the guy is so happy with such a mistransformed mess is hilarious.

That being said, I'm incredibly mixed on this figure. Body wise, I think it looks fantastic. Great bulk and size. The problem mainly comes from the head. I get why it is the way it is, they want it to fit in the alt mode of one of the voyagers and evoke a G1 style. It just throws off the proportions for me. Had they gone with a larger, more IDW-style head, I would have instantly bought it. As it stands, I might wait and see what a 3rd party does. I also would have liked hands that weren't all black like the arms, but that's a minor complaint compared to the head.
 
I'm taking a break from Battle Tactics until they tone down the pay-to-win aspects, which were absolutely horrendous. The nature of the battle system means that whoever goes first wins 90% of the time, so the whole PvP game was just people paying to get high end characters with first strike capability and steamrolling anyone who didn't want to pay.

That's what it makes it so satisfying to win against people that have a better team than you. Apparently the game got a balance pass before I started playing and with a free team and playing well enough you can beat anyone (I'm on Guard 1 rank already so I have some decent units, including one with two first strike slots), with the possible exception of Superion and Menasor (I have beaten them, but not often). In any case, the most efficient way to play outside events is to challenge the hardest bot teams, which suck at strategy.

Also, using jammer when your opponent doesn't pretty much negates the first strike advantage, especially with good team armor.

Anyhow, I'm leaving the league details here in case anyone wants to join, just quote this.

 

CloakBass

Member
Maybe it's just my perspective being skewed from staying away from the toy side of Transformers for so long, but this seems like a stressful hobby if you're not constantly on-the-ball with availability. I say this because I discovered Transformers Prime on Netflix while looking for G1 and tore through it on vacation. I really liked what they did with Arcee so I thought I'd get a figure of her, but both First Edition and RID versions look like they're suffering some serious markup. I'd probably be paying an extravagant $50 for a not-so-extravagant mass-produced figure. I guess it's just tough to get in on a series once Hasbro has moved onto the next phase of the franchise.
 
Maybe it's just my perspective being skewed from staying away from the toy side of Transformers for so long, but this seems like a stressful hobby if you're not constantly on-the-ball with availability. I say this because I discovered Transformers Prime on Netflix while looking for G1 and tore through it on vacation. I really liked what they did with Arcee so I thought I'd get a figure of her, but both First Edition and RID versions look like they're suffering some serious markup. I'd probably be paying an extravagant $50 for a not-so-extravagant mass-produced figure. I guess it's just tough to get in on a series once Hasbro has moved onto the next phase of the franchise.

You don't even have to go that far, some figures are ridiculously hard to find even during their production runs. Like pretty much any decent version of Arcee (Animated was the worst case). Hasbro stills seems to have this mentality that fembots don't sell, and no amount of shortages seem to change their minds.
 

Tizoc

Member
Seems MTMTE 39 introduced a new antagonist
The Council and/or their advesary are destroying Cybertronian colonies, will be interesting to see them clash against each other, especially with Magnus' current position
 

Mike M

Nick N
Maybe it's just my perspective being skewed from staying away from the toy side of Transformers for so long, but this seems like a stressful hobby if you're not constantly on-the-ball with availability. I say this because I discovered Transformers Prime on Netflix while looking for G1 and tore through it on vacation. I really liked what they did with Arcee so I thought I'd get a figure of her, but both First Edition and RID versions look like they're suffering some serious markup. I'd probably be paying an extravagant $50 for a not-so-extravagant mass-produced figure. I guess it's just tough to get in on a series once Hasbro has moved onto the next phase of the franchise.

This has been the case for a long while, and only seems to have gotten exacerbated in recent years.

Can't even fathom how it must be to try and collect Amiibo.
 
Its not really Hasbro's fault for the lack of fembots.

They take initial POs from all their direct accounts and produce based of those POs. Obviously they usually produce more to fill orders for a while but they don't continuously manufacture them. If anything I'd blame big box chains who are ordering truck loads of figures for being the ones who look at it and decided boys aren't going to want to play with a "girl" toy and only order a few in relation to the others they are ordering. It doesn't make sense for Hasbro to take the risk of producing loads more and not be able to sell them for years.

They've already canceled one line of toys(I think it was a wave of Animated?) for lack of initial POs, and who knows how many before that.

Takara is the same way except a bit more stringent with their "extras".

Thats why preordering is so important if you really want something.
 
Don't really get why Air Raid is not available outside of scalpers. Amazon even has all the combiner wars in stock, except that one. Haven't even found one in stores.
 
D

Diggeh

Unconfirmed Member
Don't really get why Air Raid is not available outside of scalpers. Amazon even has all the combiner wars in stock, except that one. Haven't even found one in stores.

He's the last figure needed for Superion (not counting Slingshot) and is a rather popular character. I've mostly given up on abysmal store stock because HTS has such good deals like the 20% off + free shipping.
 

CloakBass

Member
Can't even fathom how it must be to try and collect Amiibo.

Man, I have been in the Amiibo trenches for about 4 months and the landscape for collecting these things undergoes cataclysmic events on a regular basis. I'm glad I'm only buying the ones I like (though being a lifelong Nintendo fan that turns out to be a lot of them). I guess it's a bit like the Transformers market just on a condensed, accelerated schedule.

Thats why preordering is so important if you really want something.

I feel you. I guess I'm more lamenting that people who become fans of a certain continuity after the initial big marketing push are SOL when it comes to a fair price on the characters unless it's evergreen like G1.
 
So did anybody pick up the Masterpiece Star Saber figure? I got it on release a couple of weeks back, will add a couple of images when I'm next home later this week.

Personally, I like it a lot. it's scratching the itch I had to get hold of the G1 original, and I really like how the whole 'brainmaster' aspect works with one tiny figure enabling the medium-sized bot's face to reveal itself.

My only issue with this figure, as with virtually every other TF figure I have is how fragile they feel to transform. If this guy were to break somehow I would end up swallowing my own tongue - luckily I only really transform the MPs once in a blue moon!

Anyone else got him or hoping to?
 
So did anybody pick up the Masterpiece Star Saber figure? I got it on release a couple of weeks back, will add a couple of images when I'm next home later this week.

Personally, I like it a lot. it's scratching the itch I had to get hold of the G1 original, and I really like how the whole 'brainmaster' aspect works with one tiny figure enabling the medium-sized bot's face to reveal itself.

My only issue with this figure, as with virtually every other TF figure I have is how fragile they feel to transform. If this guy were to break somehow I would end up swallowing my own tongue - luckily I only really transform the MPs once in a blue moon!

Anyone else got him or hoping to?

Nope, but last year what I did was get a G1 Star Saber bootleg at a local store for 15$ (yeah, imagine my surprise when finding it out of the blue). I've been repainting and adjusting a few things here and there since then, I should put up some pics. It's pretty good plastic and molding, and surprisingly complete right down to the Brainmaster mechanism (!). I had to sand off a few pieces for tolerances but that's all, it's all working with its moving parts, springs and everything.
 

yami4ct

Member
So did anybody pick up the Masterpiece Star Saber figure? I got it on release a couple of weeks back, will add a couple of images when I'm next home later this week.

Personally, I like it a lot. it's scratching the itch I had to get hold of the G1 original, and I really like how the whole 'brainmaster' aspect works with one tiny figure enabling the medium-sized bot's face to reveal itself.

My only issue with this figure, as with virtually every other TF figure I have is how fragile they feel to transform. If this guy were to break somehow I would end up swallowing my own tongue - luckily I only really transform the MPs once in a blue moon!

Anyone else got him or hoping to?

I got him and have been meaning to take some photos. Just haven't gotten around to it.

Overall, I'm super mixed on him. He's an amazing representation of the character. Lovingly sculpted and fantastic to look at. On the other, he's got a lot of small issues that severely drag him down. His sword handle has no decent way to pose it blade facing forward, so you kind of just have to leave it hanging lose. The large saber(Saber's nosecone) handle is a bit disproportionally large as well. The ratchets on Saber's legs are way too tight, yet the ratchets on Star Saber's elbows are almost non-existant. The antenna are also a bit oddly sculpted, making it difficult to pose them straight on in vehicle mode. Most of all, the way Saber clicks into the Star Saber body is awful. It's near impossible to line up and takes way too much force.

I still like the figure, but I don't think I can recommend it unless you really like the look of the character. It's just a few steps away from being amazing for me. What the toy does well, though, it does really well. The brainmaster gimmick is amazingly well implemented and super clever. The figure looks great in almost any pose once you get it to hold together. I just wish the same love had been put into the way Saber and the V-Star connect. As it stands, I don't get near the same wow factor I got from Magnus or any of the car MPs.

As for fragility, I can't agree at all on that one. All the MPs post that awful MP Rodimus have felt amazingly playable and tough to me. You can't throw them at a wall like you can some mainline stuff, but I've transformed most of them a hundred times or more with no signs of wear. It's what I love about the line. Only ones I've broken are MP Laserbeak, who has a known molding issue, and MP Lambor who fell off a shelf. Lambor just snapped half of his spoiler, so it was an easy fix with some glue.
 

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
I got him and have been meaning to take some photos. Just haven't gotten around to it.

Overall, I'm super mixed on him. He's an amazing representation of the character. Lovingly sculpted and fantastic to look at. On the other, he's got a lot of small issues that severely drag him down. His sword handle has no decent way to pose it blade facing forward, so you kind of just have to leave it hanging lose. The large saber(Saber's nosecone) handle is a bit disproportionally large as well. The ratchets on Saber's legs are way too tight, yet the ratchets on Star Saber's elbows are almost non-existant. The antenna are also a bit oddly sculpted, making it difficult to pose them straight on in vehicle mode. Most of all, the way Saber clicks into the Star Saber body is awful. It's near impossible to line up and takes way too much force.

I still like the figure, but I don't think I can recommend it unless you really like the look of the character. It's just a few steps away from being amazing for me. What the toy does well, though, it does really well. The brainmaster gimmick is amazingly well implemented and super clever. The figure looks great in almost any pose once you get it to hold together. I just wish the same love had been put into the way Saber and the V-Star connect. As it stands, I don't get near the same wow factor I got from Magnus or any of the car MPs.

Fully agreed. He's a great representation of that character updated with modern toy design tech, but the problem is that the character just...isn't that great a toy. Super simple transformation, the design gets in the way of the figure's poseability, very inelegant way of inserting the Saber piece into the V-Star, as you point out. He's big and chunky but oddly hollow/light feeling. After the big weighty mass that was Magnus, Star Saber feels a little lightweight, despite being taller. Star Saber's the first MP since Rodimus that I've really semi-questioned my purchase on, which is surprising to me since I was super into him from the photos and such. It just sort of feels like the G1 figure with elbows and knees, which isn't at all on the level of the engineering marvels that are Magnus and the cars.
 
Just got myself my MP Ultra Magnus....really really like it. Much more than I thought I would, which is a bonus. It's such a well built piece, very sturdy and heavy but in a good way. I finally bit the bullet, knowing I won't buy another MP until Tracks comes out end of this year....only buying g1 MP's for myself to keep from going broke.
 

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
10 years of toy tech makes a difference, no doubt. It's about time Takara stepped up and gave Megs the modern treatment.
 

yami4ct

Member
10 years of toy tech makes a difference, no doubt. It's about time Takara stepped up and gave Megs the modern treatment.

It'l happen. Great MPs take time. If Star Saber proves anything, I don't want Megs rushed through the design process. If history is anything to go by, it'll blow all the 3rd party efforts out of the water.

That being said, really hope he hits by the end of 2016 at the latest. It is time.

Them legs.

They are so close to nailing it. The proportions with the thighs throw it off for me. Bit of kibble in the inner legs, but definitely forgivable all things considered. Were they really lose it is the waist. It's so thin. Completely ruins the design for me. Also continues the 3rd party tradition of awful head sculpts.

That's not to say it isn't better in those aspects than than MP-5. It totally is. I'm just expecting TT to fix those aspects in their MP and finally give us the Megs we deserve.
 
If Star Saber proves anything, I don't want Megs rushed through the design process. If history is anything to go by, it'll blow all the 3rd party efforts out of the water.

Sorry, I don't follow these as much as I'd like (Money is tight so I can't afford too many MPs D:) but what's wrong with the Star Saber MP?
 

yami4ct

Member
Sorry, I don't follow these as much as I'd like (Money is tight so I can't afford too many MPs D:) but what's wrong with the Star Saber MP?

Most people love it, but for me it's kind of a mess. I posted my longer thoughts above, but short story is it is a great sculpt that lacks the fit and finish of most MPs. Lots of minor quality issues that stack up. The biggest is the way that Saber fits in the larger body is frustrating and terrible.
 
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