In Hand Photos of Transformers Studio Series 72 Cybertronian Starscream

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Overcracker wrote:As for HotRod. So much drama with the faux hood/chest. He looks pretty good though. Its making the $29.99 price tag much more palatable.

Anyway, that makes me wonder, in the past 15 years, who’s done it better? I think outside of masterpiece 2.0 this is pretty much what Hot Rod should look like.

Classics I think is still an excellent Hot Rod representation with some interesting features.

I'm one of the few who also likes the Classics toy a whole lot. Although I think Studio will finally unseat it. The actual car hood is hidden really well and the end result is fantastic. So I'll be happy to add it to my collection.

The yellow part in vehicle mode bugs me, but it's something that can be fixed with a sticker.

PotP has some weird proportions that keep me from liking it.

PotP has definite proportion awkwardness to accommodate the evolution gimmick.

I agree SS 86, may dethrone Classics as my Favorite. Not to say I don’t like TR, I do, but there’s just something about classics. Still SS 86 looks to be better overall and does some things similar to the MP 2.0.

So this was unexpected. Devastator, who was projected to arrive in APRIL, is available now. I'm fortunate I had enough in the bank to take the hit. I was planning to overhaul my display area, I guess I need to accelerate my plans a bit.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transf ... -copy-copy


Just noticed my name is visible there but like, whatever.

Holy Crap!

Hopefully that means other things might also move up.

King Kuuga wrote:
So this was unexpected. Devastator, who was projected to arrive in APRIL, is available now. I'm fortunate I had enough in the bank to take the hit. I was planning to overhaul my display area, I guess I need to accelerate my plans a bit.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transf ... -copy-copy


Just noticed my name is visible there but like, whatever.

He has been available for purchase with fast-ish delivery (I could have it to me by the 10th) on amazon for over 2 weeks now I think. I originally had it pre-ordered but cancelled due to me ordering the DNA kit for it and that would cover most of the face paint up. I will be getting it though if it drops closer to $200. Then I will have 3 complete sets lol...

LinaNui wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:
So this was unexpected. Devastator, who was projected to arrive in APRIL, is available now. I'm fortunate I had enough in the bank to take the hit. I was planning to overhaul my display area, I guess I need to accelerate my plans a bit.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transf ... -copy-copy


Just noticed my name is visible there but like, whatever.

He has been available for purchase with fast-ish delivery (I could have it to me by the 10th) on amazon for over 2 weeks now I think. I originally had it pre-ordered but cancelled due to me ordering the DNA kit for it and that would cover most of the face paint up. I will be getting it though if it drops closer to $200. Then I will have 3 complete sets lol...

For some reason I had it in my head he was a Pulse exclusive, but here he is, you're right. Was this ever newsed? I swear when he went up on Pulse he had a release date of April 1, and even if that was a placeholder, it seems weird they never mentioned in the reveal that he would be out soon.
https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Rev ... 08BTWR57V/?tag=seibertron07-20&

Does anyone actually realize that this is the movie design and not just a redesign of blitzwing? "Seige is better" "think I'll pass" Yeah fine you're entitled to you opinion, but "seige is better" isn't a fair criticism because they're two completely different canons. My problem isn't with you not liking it, my problem is that you imply that this is trying to usurp it.

King Kuuga wrote:

LinaNui wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:
So this was unexpected. Devastator, who was projected to arrive in APRIL, is available now. I'm fortunate I had enough in the bank to take the hit. I was planning to overhaul my display area, I guess I need to accelerate my plans a bit.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/transf ... -copy-copy


Just noticed my name is visible there but like, whatever.

He has been available for purchase with fast-ish delivery (I could have it to me by the 10th) on amazon for over 2 weeks now I think. I originally had it pre-ordered but cancelled due to me ordering the DNA kit for it and that would cover most of the face paint up. I will be getting it though if it drops closer to $200. Then I will have 3 complete sets lol...

For some reason I had it in my head he was a Pulse exclusive, but here he is, you're right. Was this ever newsed? I swear when he went up on Pulse he had a release date of April 1, and even if that was a placeholder, it seems weird they never mentioned in the reveal that he would be out soon.
https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Rev ... 08BTWR57V/?tag=seibertron07-20&

They were a little misleading in the announcement stating "Available for pre-order starting now at most major retailers or in stores starting February 2021" in their Facebook post, but they were referring to SS86 and these were released on Amazon back on October 21, days after the Facebook post.

Emerje

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:
I'm going to be salty about that derailing GEEWUN-where-it-doesn't-belong hijack of a movie until the day we get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline.

You will never get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline, because the Bayverse cannot do it itself. Have you seen those movies? You can be a fan of the designs but you cannot be a fan of good storytelling and like the story in the movies.

I love it, at first, seeing them in the film, I was a bit put of by the weird mechanical design. The proportions were also a bit of with a bloated torso. But I came to like it very quick. Don't have Blitzwing yet but will get.

When I saw the photos I also thought reshell! (which isn't a bad thing imho). But now that I look at it further, it has a lot of different parts and a very different altmode.

#sold #willgetalltherepaintsprobably

I like it! In my opinion (and I love G1) it's miles better than the gorilla brute we got in the Bayverse movies. It had the personality resembling Starscream but looked like a brute. Transformers Prime did the design perfectly of the backstabbing coward, not my personal taste but the design is on point for the character.

What I really dislike about the Studio Series is the frailty of some (red car lady) and the rediculous complexity of the transformation. I'm 35 and like my bots in action (yes that collector)not to be transforming 15 minutes or longer -_-. But then I can't complain for Generations is total win and Cyberverse is a lot of fun as well. Too bad they botched the Villain Seeker set with 2 clear plastic figures and no square cartoon head remolds I want a square headed Skywarp, Thundercracker and Slipstream in deluxe size (First World Problems)

noctorro wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:
I'm going to be salty about that derailing GEEWUN-where-it-doesn't-belong hijack of a movie until the day we get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline.

You will never get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline, because the Bayverse cannot do it itself. Have you seen those movies? You can be a fan of the designs but you cannot be a fan of good storytelling and like the story in the movies.

That's a matter of opinion, and not everyone's is the same. I also think the Bee movie is worse than the other live action films, except maybe TLK. But it's clear that TLK was an unfinished story. That's why there needs to be 1 more movie to conclude the 2nd trilogy. But I do agree, unfortunately it will not happen, not anytime soon and not with Michael Bay.

I wonder if Hasbro has already started producing the seeker repaints or if they're waiting to see how Starscream performs. They did include a digital shot of Skywarp with all those Starscream pics.

I feel like the color scheme and the design of the alt mode on Starscream here looks way to busy. I think if they'd been able to do more solid patches of color it might have been a little better.

noctorro wrote:
You will never get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline, because the Bayverse cannot do it itself. Have you seen those movies? You can be a fan of the designs but you cannot be a fan of good storytelling and like the story in the movies.

You could not be more wrong there with that statement. The movies are the only reason that I am still into transformers today. They are what I grew up with, most likely how you grew up with the G1 cartoon. DotM is my all-time favorite movie followed closely by RotF and the others. I am not a fan of the G1 cartoon/toys at all, but I do respect that they started the whole TF thing which allowed the movies to happen. SS was my one ray of hope and now G1 stuck its nose into that to.

Hopefully Dino can redeem SS for 2021, because it is looking pretty bad. Fingers crossed that we get a leader class The Fallen also.

Just putting it out there, I technically grew up on the bayverse movies, since the first one came out when I was around 9. And I liked them at first, and ill still watch them if I have to. But I also saw the beast wars cartoon before those movies came out, and my dad showed me the 80s movie and later the cartoon. So even growing up with bayverse, I still most definitely prefer G1 by a landslide. Michael bays disrespect towards the dinobots and the abominations that were his live action TMNT movies were enough for me to hold a grudge, and even without it the bayverse movies are just terribly written. There are some good fight scenes, some cool things here and there but other than that I just can't imagine why that would be the favorite version of transformers

LinaNui wrote:

noctorro wrote:
You will never get a continuation of the actual Bayverse storyline, because the Bayverse cannot do it itself. Have you seen those movies? You can be a fan of the designs but you cannot be a fan of good storytelling and like the story in the movies.

You could not be more wrong there with that statement. The movies are the only reason that I am still into transformers today. They are what I grew up with, most likely how you grew up with the G1 cartoon. DotM is my all-time favorite movie followed closely by RotF and the others. I am not a fan of the G1 cartoon/toys at all, but I do respect that they started the whole TF thing which allowed the movies to happen. SS was my one ray of hope and now G1 stuck its nose into that to.

Hopefully Dino can redeem SS for 2021, because it is looking pretty bad. Fingers crossed that we get a leader class The Fallen also.

I grew up on G1 that was aired on TV. I was a poor child so I only had 3 in my whole childhood. As I grew into screen, it was video games and nothing else.

But why I'm such a hardcore TF collector today?
You know it.
The 2007 Bay Movie.

Are these movies bad? Yes. As bad as the 1986 one to be honest. Still, as horrible as was the TLK movie, I too, want a satisfying conclusion to the Knights saga.

TLK wouldn't have been as bad if it hadn't pretended like almost all of the setup at the end of AOE never happened.

Sabrblade wrote:TLK wouldn't have been as bad if it hadn't pretended like almost all of the setup at the end of AOE never happened.

AoE was also just China pandering and the overhyped Dinobots did nothing.

It would take a small miracle for the final chapter in the Knights Trilogy to "fix" AoE and TlK.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:TLK wouldn't have been as bad if it hadn't pretended like almost all of the setup at the end of AOE never happened.

AoE was also just China pandering and the overhyped Dinobots did nothing.

It would take a small miracle for the final chapter in the Knights Trilogy to "fix" AoE and TlK.

I'll say. As bad as both films were, AOE was the only one of the original five to actually attempt to set up future storytelling for the next movie, but TLK decided to ignore almost all of that and pretend like it didn't happen. I remember back before TLK came out and the films' staunchest supporters were so insistent that we would get some actual resolution to the knights/creators story in the next movie. But then TLK was like "NOPE!" and instead gave us a completely different set of knights unrelated to the first, and gave us Quintessa "the Great Deceiver" instead of any of the Creators we saw glimpses of in AOE.

I've talked about the movies before, and I'll agree that AOE and TLK kinda threw things off the rails. I still enjoy watching them, but my headcanon is just the first three movies, which I love (particularly DOTM).

Speaking of DOTM, I finished paint work on Leadfoot! I'm really enjoying the SS Wreckers so far, and I'm very excited to get Topspin. I know it has its issues, but still excited to have the team together!

jtanimator wrote:

Rtron wrote:

TulioDude wrote:He looks nice,it's one of better takes of Tetrajet concept.

Seibertron wrote:This Voyager Class version of Starscream, from the live-action Bumblebee Movie, features this backstabbing villain in his Cybertronian mode from the Movie Universe, which retains his familiar G1 color scheme and a normal (coherent?) looking robot mode than the fictionally-later Bayverse Starscream which had a tan color scheme and a more "gorilla-with-chicken-legs" robot mode.
Seeker fans may be left wondering how long until the inevitable recolors are revealed for the other Seekers like Skywarp, Thundercracker and possibly others, though it's possible that those never see the light of day as well such as Action Master Starscream and the Energon and Cybertron toy lines which never saw proper recolors of Starscream into his Seeker brothers (Action Master Thundercracker excluded for obvious reasons due to his obnoxious unfamiliar colors).

Passive aggressive editorializing.

Day 310 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

Seriously. Normal? Coherent? The word is humanoid. Or G1 inspired.

Yeah, I normally don't pay attention to people dropping in their bayverse hate comments (its usually just trolling or whining), but I certainly don't appreciate seeing this obvious passive aggressive hate from the editor.

I've gotten to the point where I just ignore it, I'm so tired of trying to justify my love of the live action movies, designs, etc. A lot of people, article author included, just feel the unnecessary need to keep going with it, even when SS86 is taking over for the most part next year.

I love my SS figures, I love all my movie figures, and they will forever be my favorites of the bunch. I like others, but these are my favorite.

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:I've talked about the movies before, and I'll agree that AOE and TLK kinda threw things off the rails. I still enjoy watching them, but my headcanon is just the first three movies, which I love (particularly DOTM).

Speaking of DOTM, I finished paint work on Leadfoot! I'm really enjoying the SS Wreckers so far, and I'm very excited to get Topspin. I know it has its issues, but still excited to have the team together!

Wreckers robot mode.jpg

Wreckers Alt.jpg

Your repaints are always so awesome to see, you do an extremely great job with them!

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

LinaNui wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:With any luck Hot Rod's date will be pushed back, as a sign of them fixing him.

What needs to be fixed on him? From the reviews he seems to be pretty perfect.

Then those reviewers are either blinded or have a laughably low bar.

What needs to be fixed on him? The faux-parts chest. It's disgusting and there's absolutely no good reason for resorting to that. We know HasTak can do better than that - they have. They did it with Animated, they did it with TR/Legends... There's no excuse. If they were going to halfass it that much, they should have just slapped a Hot Rod head and deco on the Cybertron Hot Shot mold and saved themselves some money.

You're on your own with this one.

sol magnus wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

LinaNui wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:With any luck Hot Rod's date will be pushed back, as a sign of them fixing him.

What needs to be fixed on him? From the reviews he seems to be pretty perfect.

Then those reviewers are either blinded or have a laughably low bar.

What needs to be fixed on him? The faux-parts chest. It's disgusting and there's absolutely no good reason for resorting to that. We know HasTak can do better than that - they have. They did it with Animated, they did it with TR/Legends... There's no excuse. If they were going to halfass it that much, they should have just slapped a Hot Rod head and deco on the Cybertron Hot Shot mold and saved themselves some money.

You're on your own with this one.

He would have had a wide chest with the engine block otherwise. Plus, the core PotP figure had a faux-chest too.

Razorbeast88 wrote:Just putting it out there, I technically grew up on the bayverse movies, since the first one came out when I was around 9. And I liked them at first, and ill still watch them if I have to. But I also saw the beast wars cartoon before those movies came out, and my dad showed me the 80s movie and later the cartoon. So even growing up with bayverse, I still most definitely prefer G1 by a landslide. Michael bays disrespect towards the dinobots and the abominations that were his live action TMNT movies were enough for me to hold a grudge, and even without it the bayverse movies are just terribly written. There are some good fight scenes, some cool things here and there but other than that I just can't imagine why that would be the favorite version of transformers

Remember that there was others to blame for the Turtles as he was only a producer for those two movies. Basically you attack bay for the turtles you may as well go after Spielberg for Transformers. Bay is a popular target but the burden of the movies doesn't fall on him. There was lots of hands in those movies, including Hasbro’s. O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't. Opinions are subjective and not factual, in terms of liking something or not.

"turns into a very sleek jet"

with a tumor underneath.

ZeroWolf wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:Just putting it out there, I technically grew up on the bayverse movies, since the first one came out when I was around 9. And I liked them at first, and ill still watch them if I have to. But I also saw the beast wars cartoon before those movies came out, and my dad showed me the 80s movie and later the cartoon. So even growing up with bayverse, I still most definitely prefer G1 by a landslide. Michael bays disrespect towards the dinobots and the abominations that were his live action TMNT movies were enough for me to hold a grudge, and even without it the bayverse movies are just terribly written. There are some good fight scenes, some cool things here and there but other than that I just can't imagine why that would be the favorite version of transformers

Remember that there was others to blame for the Turtles as he was only a producer for those two movies. Basically you attack bay for the turtles you may as well go after Spielberg for Transformers. Bay is a popular target but the burden of the movies doesn't fall on him. There was lots of hands in those movies, including Hasbro’s. O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't. Opinions are subjective and not factual, in terms of liking something or not.

I appreciate your response, I mistakenly thought Michael Bay was the director of TMNT movies, definitely a fair point as far as not blaming the producers. I also never said that the live action movies disrespect transformers, only that Michael Bay himself was talking smack about the dinobots. And i also never mentioned not understanding how people can like the live action movies, I even went out of my way to say ill watch them here and there and there are some likeable scenes and aspects of the love action movies. What I said was: I dont understand how the live action movies can be preferred over G1, beast wars, or even TF:A. I'm aware of the subjectivity of opinions, I was only stating mine. The point is not to say "you can't like those movies" the point was to say "those movies suck compared to other versions of transformers imo" and even more so just to point out that what someone grew up with doesn't necessarily define their opinion

Razorbeast88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:The point is not to say "you can't like those movies" the point was to say "those movies suck compared to other versions of transformers imo" and even more so just to point out that what someone grew up with doesn't necessarily define their opinion

I grew up with G1. I love G1. Most of my collection is G1 (chug/MP/3P). I also love the Bayverse designs. In some ways, they are utterly superior to G1. I love Revenge of the Fallen. The rest, not so much, but I don't hate them.

But anyone who says they are trash and I am a fool for not hating them is a sad sack of s&%t who can lick my bung clean and then go away forever.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Your repaints are always so awesome to see, you do an extremely great job with them!

Thank you, glad you're liking them! I really enjoy sharing them with you all.

Baynus transformer films are a bloody stool, once you've seen it you cant unsee it, kinda disgusting when mentioned or to look at but people have to know it exists and it exists for a purpose and even does what it's supposed to. The best you can hope for in the next is that it's just poop.

At least we get some nice toys out of it.

Razorbeast88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:Just putting it out there, I technically grew up on the bayverse movies, since the first one came out when I was around 9. And I liked them at first, and ill still watch them if I have to. But I also saw the beast wars cartoon before those movies came out, and my dad showed me the 80s movie and later the cartoon. So even growing up with bayverse, I still most definitely prefer G1 by a landslide. Michael bays disrespect towards the dinobots and the abominations that were his live action TMNT movies were enough for me to hold a grudge, and even without it the bayverse movies are just terribly written. There are some good fight scenes, some cool things here and there but other than that I just can't imagine why that would be the favorite version of transformers

Remember that there was others to blame for the Turtles as he was only a producer for those two movies. Basically you attack bay for the turtles you may as well go after Spielberg for Transformers. Bay is a popular target but the burden of the movies doesn't fall on him. There was lots of hands in those movies, including Hasbro’s. O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't. Opinions are subjective and not factual, in terms of liking something or not.

I appreciate your response, I mistakenly thought Michael Bay was the director of TMNT movies, definitely a fair point as far as not blaming the producers. I also never said that the live action movies disrespect transformers, only that Michael Bay himself was talking smack about the dinobots. And i also never mentioned not understanding how people can like the live action movies, I even went out of my way to say ill watch them here and there and there are some likeable scenes and aspects of the love action movies. What I said was: I dont understand how the live action movies can be preferred over G1, beast wars, or even TF:A. I'm aware of the subjectivity of opinions, I was only stating mine. The point is not to say "you can't like those movies" the point was to say "those movies suck compared to other versions of transformers imo" and even more so just to point out that what someone grew up with doesn't necessarily define their opinion

Thank you and sorry that I seem to have had my wires crossed with your responses

In terms of childhood, I grew up with G1 toys and g1 cartoon tapes, but my adult opinion of the G1 toon (just the series itself, not the 1986 movie) is...not good. I'd rank it equal to Energon if I were to list animated series (top 3 is Beast Wars, Animated and Super God Masterforce), i enjoyed the live action action movies for what they were (and I've seen far, far worse...).

blackeyedprime wrote:Baynus transformer films are a bloody stool, once you've seen it you cant unsee it, kinda disgusting when mentioned or to look at but people have to know it exists and it exists for a purpose and even does what it's supposed to. The best you can hope for in the next is that it's just poop.

At least we get some nice toys out of it.

....What. the. Hell.

I grew up with G1. I love G1. Most of my collection is G1 (chug/MP/3P). I also love the Bayverse designs. In some ways, they are utterly superior to G1. I love Revenge of the Fallen. The rest, not so much, but I don't hate them.

But anyone who says they are trash and I am a fool for not hating them is a sad sack of s&%t who can lick my bung clean and then go away forever.[/quote]

I submitted a reply to this but it didn't go through for some reason lol
I don't hate the bayverse, or completely dislike them either. And I agree that ROTF is probably the best of the five, if only because of Optimus tearing bots apart with those battle hooks. And im not dissing the bayverse designs, just the writing of the movies. Some designs are really cool, like jetfire and truck Megatron. SOME (few) are done better than G1, like hound- his character was pretty flat in the cartoon. I dont believe anyone is a fool for not hating the bayverse movies, I dont hate them either and there are some likeable aspects. That being said, they're still trash so I guess I have a date with your bung

[/quote]
Thank you and sorry that I seem to have had my wires crossed with your responses

In terms of childhood, I grew up with G1 toys and g1 cartoon tapes, but my adult opinion of the G1 toon (just the series itself, not the 1986 movie) is...not good. I'd rank it equal to Energon if I were to list animated series (top 3 is Beast Wars, Animated and Super God Masterforce), i enjoyed the live action action movies for what they were (and I've seen far, far worse...).[/quote]

Not a problem, I see now that a lot of my responses weren't as specific and left a lot open to interpretation haha and I was wrong about a couple things.

I grew up with cybertron trilogy toys but ended up ordering a lot of BW toys off ebay when I first started collecting lol and the G1 cartoon... I love it but it definitely has a LOT of problems and the only autobots I really enjoyed were Optimus and Ironhide, otherwise I mostly like it for the Decepticons. I like your top 3! I just haven't had the chance to see super god masterforce.
Well said on that last part haha the transformers have had far far worse to offer than the live action movies. The Netflix series so far is less than satisfactory to put it mildly

blackeyedprime wrote:Baynus transformer films are a bloody stool, once you've seen it you cant unsee it, kinda disgusting when mentioned or to look at but people have to know it exists and it exists for a purpose and even does what it's supposed to. The best you can hope for in the next is that it's just poop.

At least we get some nice toys out of it.

God I hope that at some point Studio Series either branches off for Bumblebee designs like they did for SS86 so that we can try to avoid these arguments whenever new figures get revealed Seriously everytime Bumblebee designs get releases we get arguments over Bay vs G1 vs Knight.

For the record, I think most of the Bumblebee designs are fine. Not spectacular, but a lot of the headsculpts are horrible looking except for Bumblebee, Prime, jet!Shatter, and Blitzwing. The others are a tad messy with the best examples being Cliffjumper and now Starscream. That's not to say Bay head sculpts are great, obvious examples being any attempt at mouthplate-less Prime and I'd argue SS Jazz because he's a tad too small for most of the details to be coherent, but some of them can pull off their attempts better

I'm actually hoping for a good SS Jolt more like Takaras Movie Advanced figure. I had the ROTF figure and it was more than dissapointing and going through galleries it seems like most of his other figures were too.

blackeyedprime wrote:I'm actually hoping for a good SS Jolt more like Takaras Movie Advanced figure. I had the ROTF figure and it was more than dissapointing and going through galleries it seems like most of his other figures were too.

Me too! I have the DOTM one (which is pretty cool), but I’m excited to have a new screen-accurate one. With ROTF Bumblebee leaked and BB Starscream revealed, it shouldn’t be too long before we see something about Jolt.

I think Starscream looks pretty good. I thought he was a slight retool of Blitzwing when I first saw him, so I'm surprised they went all the way with him, but it was probably because the vehicle mode necessitated a different transformation scheme.

I am a fan of the movies. My personal favourite is ROTF, mainly because I have sentimental attachment to it (I have very fond memories of waiting outside the theater to see the first showing on the first day of Summer 2009, and it stuck with me for the rest of the year) but I also think its plot is pretty solid, especially since it was delayed by the writer's strike.

I think DOTM is the best one, in my opinion it is highly underrated. The mystery-thriller aspect with the NASA cover-up plot is compelling, the invasion sequence is legitimately terrifying, and overall the film is structured very well. The Transformers themselves have much more character presence, especially the Decepticons. The twists are also great (Sentinel, Carly's car being Soundwave), although I know they were spoiled for some beforehand. As a grand finale, it doesn't just have the biggest effects, but it also closes out Sam's character arc excellently (as well as many other characters) and brings resolution to the Autobots' story. DOTM feels like it was trying to be a film for film's sake. If your opinion of it is not so high, I would suggest giving it a re-watch and paying more attention to the Accuretta / NASA plot and the Decepticon's plans instead of just the action. It's all dialogue and exposition, so it's easily drowned out by the exciting visuals, but it makes it more clear just how inventive the movie really is.

I liked AOE when it came out, and was one of those who thought TLK was going to be some masterful continuation, but then TLK was actual garbage, which retroactively ruins AOE, so the sequel 'trilogy' for me is a branched, alternate timeline, and the "true" post-DOTM timeline was totally peaceful and uninteresting so the movies chose the route with conflict.

I enjoyed Bumblebee, it was a nice back-to-basics entry to introduce what must become a new continuity because there is no way anyone can save TLK please Primus.

So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

Tuned Agent wrote:So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

If they dare choose that shoddy repaint over a whole other character I'm done with TF collecting, because that's ridiculous.

Tuned Agent wrote:So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

According to trustworthy leaker Pixelmaster over on TFW2005, both are still coming, but Dino has been delayed, to the point that he apparently probably won't be officially revealed until Toy Fair next year.

I don't plan on getting Bumblebee Screamer. He doesn't look that bad, but I'm just not interested, especially with all the stuff coming soon in Kingdom and SS86.

Guess I might as well give my thoughts on the movies, since everyone seems to be doing that. I really don't like the movies. Yeah yeah they re-introduced Transformers to the general public and pulled it out of obscurity and Transformers wouldn't be where it is today were it not for the movies. I know. That part was unquestionably a good thing. I do remember more kids knowing what Transformers was post-movie than pre, and it was cool seeing more people interested in the same thing as me. I got into Transformers through Transformers Cybertron and I liked that way more, but when you're a kid you don't really care what your giant robot punch explosion vehicle shoot man looks like, they're just cool robots you can play with and post movie way more of the kids around me wanted to join in. That was awesome. But I never really liked the movies that much, and that only got worse on re-watches when I got older and it really set in just how dumb they were. And as that attitude started becoming more common with the people around me (and it started becoming uncool to play with toys) I couldn't just be a Transformers fan anymore. I had to position myself as "Yeah, I really like Transformers, but god I HATE the movies.". That was the only way I could get anyone to talk about Transformers with me. Crap on the movies. And in retrospect I really overcompensated and probably came off as really annoying and super-obsessed with hating on them. Part of why I just stay out of talking about the movies now. I've just burnt out on being angry towards them and don't care anymore. Sure I'll still poke fun and have a laugh if it comes up in conversation but I'm not actively seeking that out. Okay that's enough of me rambling about my background with the movies now let's actually talk about them.

I don't at all care for the bayverse designs. There's just way too much silver and grey everywhere and all too often they just look like piles of vaguely humanoid shrapenel wearing vehicle pieces to me. You could argue that I'm biased towards G1 since I was introduced to Transformers through Cybertron and that's largely the same aesthetic, but I really don't feel like that's the case. It's not impossible for me to like a bayverse design I actually like Blackout (the one pre SS86 studio series figure besides Grimlock I was kind of tempted to buy) and TLK Megatron (who I feel works way better as a Galvatron upgrade for movie Megatron than TF4 Galvatron ever did), and I to this day still display and play around with this custom painted Cyberfire Bumblebee my dad bought for me the Christmas after DOTM came out because it looks absolutely rad. My headcanon is that this is the shattered glass version of movieverse bee, the autobot symbol on him is silver so there's nothing contradicting that.

Maybe I am somewhat biased towards Cybertron/G1, but I don't feel like it affects me in the way of "wah this isn't what Transformers looked like when I was 4-5 I hate these designs I saw them when I was 6!" I just have very specific problems with the movie designs. If I had to be specific I'd say the designs tend to be way too busy but also way too generic at the same time. If that makes any sense.

I'm going to try to be concise with my thoughts on each of the movies here I recognize I tend to be long winded it's just how I am.

Movie 1-Meh. It wasn't that bad. To me it's the most Transformers-y of the original five Bay films. There are fun parts, and I actually love the opening scene. The helicopter that was lost some time ago just showing up at the military base and once they get suspicious it just turns into a giant robot and starts wrecking stuff. It's just a fantastic opening scene and a great way to get people who know nothing of what a Transformer is invested in your movie. Makes you want to know what this giant robot is and what it wants. Other than that it's just a stupid action movie with some cool action scenes and lame jokes but nothing too painful. Also I have mad nostalgia for the first movie game. It's not all that good, but back in the day it and the armada game were the only two Transformers video games I was aware of and it was really cool to be able to drive around and wreck stuff.

RoTF-NOPE. I hate Revenge of the Fallen. If you like it that's great but I can't even think of anything I actually like in that movie. Like maybe if I rewatched it again I could find something I don't think I've done so in a couple years but I'm just not willing to do so. I remember just being bored in the theatre when I saw it. None of the humor was funny, and the action did nothing for me. The game also sucked (I played the PS2 one I've heard the Xbox 360 and PS3 ones are better but I had neither of those consoles) and I do recall how specifically frustrating the toys were to transform. I had trouble remembering how stuff transformed so they tended to just stay in one mode or another most of the time, but it was still a bit of a fun puzzle to do it when I did. Not with the RoTF toys. Oh wait sorry I just thought of something I do like about RoTF. The forest fight. That was legitimately awesome and I do explicitly remember thinking Optimus saying "I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!" and taking on a whole bunch of Decepticons by himself was badass.

DOTM-Not bad, actually. I wouldn't say I put it above the first movie but it was decent. I liked how Laserbeak was handled, not in terms of design but in how he was manipulating stuff behind the scenes and maintaining secret alliances between humans and the Decepticons. That was pretty cool. Oh yeah and I really liked the part where Optimus comes out of nowhere and declares they're going to take the fight to the Decepticons. You never buy for a second that they just killed off all of the Autobots on that space shuttle but it's still pretty effective as a reveal scene. Was not happy with how they did my boy Shockwave. Like, he's just a generic silver guy but he has a monoeye and a gun arm so I guess he's shockwave, and he doesn't actually say or do anything memorable other than walk around with the giant drill worm he has for some reason. And then he gets killed because he's blinded by a parachute. Not the most insulting death in the movie but it still sucks that my favorite Decepticon got that treatment.

AOE & TLK- I'm putting these together because they just sort of blend together for me. Like yeah AOE was better than TLK but for me that's not saying much. I find them both exceptionally boring, convoluted and just plain bad. Took everything that was bad but sort of tolerable in the first and third movies and turned them up to 12. I almost fell asleep in the theater when I saw AOE. A big problem I have with the fight scenes in the bay films is that although they're fairly well choreographed and have a huge amount of spectacle to them, I just don't care about what's happening. I barely know anything about who these characters are, and sometimes it can be hard to even recognize who's who. But sometimes they could still pull me in in spite of that. That's not the case with these two movies. They're just boring to me. I was also waiting in AOE for the Dinobots to show up, and was so disappointed when they waited until the last 10-15 minutes (rough estimate). I didn't think they were going to be handled well, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing giant robot dinosaurs wreck stuff anyways because my inner child still loves dinosaurs. But nah. I was also kind of let down when Grimlock didn't say literally anything. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I kind of like G1 Grimlock's caveman speak. It's sort of endearing to me. Even if they weren't going to do that I still would've liked my favorite Transformer to have A LINE. Also would've been nice to have some color to him. Not necessarily that G1 repaint Takara did but just something to break up the silver. I don't think I have to justify my opinion of thinking TLK is bad.

Bumblebee was legitimately good. Not without it's problems but I still had way more fun watching it than I did with any of the Bayverse films.

So yeah there's my essay on my relationship with the bay films. I'd be surprised if anyone actually read all of it but it was still fun and introspective to write it. I hate all of them but don't particularly care if you like them (anymore). I can see the reasons why you would, and your opinion is just as valid as mine or anyone else's. I do feel bad for the people who aren't at all interested in G1 and as such are upset this line is being invaded by the 86 film, hope you guys get some of the still anticipated characters sometime soon.

Jeddostotle7 wrote:

Tuned Agent wrote:So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

According to trustworthy leaker Pixelmaster over on TFW2005, both are still coming, but Dino has been delayed, to the point that he apparently probably won't be officially revealed until Toy Fair next year.

I didn't know that, that's a relief. Thanks for correcting me!

Tuned Agent wrote:

Jeddostotle7 wrote:

Tuned Agent wrote:So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

According to trustworthy leaker Pixelmaster over on TFW2005, both are still coming, but Dino has been delayed, to the point that he apparently probably won't be officially revealed until Toy Fair next year.

I didn't know that, that's a relief. Thanks for correcting me!

No prob

Anyway, if we're doing this whole "our thoughts on and relation to the movies" thing...

I definitely grew up on the first 3 of the movies, and used to love them, but in recent years, looking at them both with a critical eye and even just trying to enjoy them;

I think the Bay movies suck, and the designs in the movies are largely overdesigned.

HOWEVER

I have and do love the toys, not only because the engineering and work put into them is frequently very entertaining and satisfying, but also because I feel the certain amount of simplification required for turning them into a toy (particularly filling in of smaller negative spaces/consolidating smaller parts into a singular part), even for ones as detailed as the MPMs, undoes just enough of it to make them much more pleasant and visually readable designs.

Tuned Agent wrote:

Jeddostotle7 wrote:

Tuned Agent wrote:So, as it's already been pointed out, Starscream being SS72 means that there are only going to be two deluxes in that wave. We've previously had listings for RotF Bumblebee, Jolt and Dino, but it was also recently leaked that a SS figure had been cut for budget reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a safe bet that SS70 or SS71 is RotF Bee, since he's already been leaked.

...Am I the only one reaching the conclusion that either Jolt or Dino has been canceled?

According to trustworthy leaker Pixelmaster over on TFW2005, both are still coming, but Dino has been delayed, to the point that he apparently probably won't be officially revealed until Toy Fair next year.

I didn't know that, that's a relief. Thanks for correcting me!

I think he realyy has potential to look sick!

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Does it help that it was supposed to sound dumb and "focus group tested"?

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Does it help that it was supposed to sound dumb and "focus group tested"?

Its just as bad as unobtainium to be fair but its also something I could have seen the G1 cartoon doing if they'd thought of it.

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Does it help that it was supposed to sound dumb and "focus group tested"?

Its just as bad as unobtainium to be fair but its also something I could have seen the G1 cartoon doing if they'd thought of it.

My problem wasn't so much with the name (though it was bad) but with taking the transformation out of transforming. Couldn't even be imitated for toys, might as well have been liquid metal. That's one thing I'm glad they didn't carry over to TLK.

Emerje

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Does it help that it was supposed to sound dumb and "focus group tested"?

Its just as bad as unobtainium to be fair but its also something I could have seen the G1 cartoon doing if they'd thought of it.

There's no evidence for that. They gave their fake metals names. Electrum, anyone?

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote: O also don't see how the live action movies disrespect Transformers, just because you don't like them doesn't mean that others can't.

I don't know, I feel like a strong argument could be made for "transformium."

Emerje

Does it help that it was supposed to sound dumb and "focus group tested"?

Its just as bad as unobtainium to be fair but its also something I could have seen the G1 cartoon doing if they'd thought of it.

My problem wasn't so much with the name (though it was bad) but with taking the transformation out of transforming. Couldn't even be imitated for toys, might as well have been liquid metal. That's one thing I'm glad they didn't carry over to TLK.

Emerje

Except for that one really stupid scene of Bumblebee getting blown up to many pieces and just putting himself back together.

If he can just do that, then it made Jazz (who was only torn into a mere two pieces) look lazy.

What I like about the Bayverse is not so much the movies themselves, but that it's the only Transformers universe where the Transformers actually feel like aliens. The movies themselves I find pretty bad, except the first one, which has okay writing and direction backed up by some of the best visual effects and sound design ever. Dark of the Moon looks like it could've turned out pretty good if not for Bay. Poor Revenge of the Fallen never stood a chance, as it was impacted by the writers strike. But I get why some people like them.

But yeah, Transformers have never been more alien to me as in the movies, and I love that, because the fact that they're not man-made has always been one of the big draws of Transformers fiction for me. I really like how mysterious and other they are in the first film, the weird designs, the fact that they're basically manufactured by this magic cube that is the only thing that can mass-shift in this universe, all of those contribute to that aesthetic.

Also, at least in the beginning, there was this element of them being near extinction and Optimus seeming more like the leader of a band of refugees than the GLORIOUS COMMANDER of a military faction he usually is that I found very appealing. I feel like they never really managed to fully exploit that.

I absolutely love the designs of the first two movies, an some of the third. After that, they start becoming too humanoid and lacking in "vehicle kibble" for my liking. But those early designs perfectly balanced the alien, transforming and humanoid aspects for me. Many find them overdesigned, but to me, it is that "overdesign" that makes them believable as living beings, not just some Samsung-manufactured robot. I did some research, and the role of Lead Robot Designer shifted from Ben Procter to Josh Nizzi after the third movie, so I suppose that's what happened.

Oh, I'm probably alone in this, but I think the early "barely human" faces are way better looking than the "human faces made out of metal bits" of Age of Extinction, The Last Knight and Bumblebee. I find the Autobot's faces in the Cybertron sequence of the Bumblebee movie completely horrid. The latter ones just look too "uncanny valley human" to me. While the first ones just look like "alien robot faces".