I understand he's to be TWICE as tall as G1 Prime.
Since I can't find a G1 Prime for my collection, this'll do...
Posted by Styrofoaman (Member # 706) on :
Cool. Be adding that to my collection provided SOMEONE (LIZ!!) doesn't get one first.
Oh, and be careful if you buy the Unicron that's on the shelves now. The pall that holds the chest missile launcher in place is defective and can fail without warning.
Good thing I had my glasses on otherwise it would have poked me right in the eye.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Wow. Comes with the Matrix and even has independently moveable fingers. That's really neat.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Question: When it transforms, where the hell do the front wheels, bumper and headlights go? And just how dose the radiator grill manage to change shape and size?
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Buy it and find out. This is what I wanted the frikkin' toy to be/do back in '84.
--Jonah
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Reverend, I'm trying to figure that out as well. It looks like everything from the waist swivels around based on how Optimus is standing in the second link and the legs/tires on the legs. It also looks like the feet flip around, too. On those same pictures, it looks like the panels with the headlights in vehicle mode and the waist/pelvic panels in robot mode are on hinges. I also noticed that the radiator grill in robot mode is pushed in further than the one in vehicle mode. Maybe a removal front panel? It looks like the vehicle mode's bumper and radiator are one chrome piece. The front wheels look like they could be removable as well.
I really like the detailing on this model. It looks like there are working pistons connected to the elbows and ankles. I can also see little flip-open panels in the arms (in one picture it looks like he's using it as a communicator. Plus, there are tail lights in the front edge of his feet. Really neat.
I've noticed none of the pictures show his trailer. I hope that's included with the model.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It looks great but I'll stick with my Mega SCF Transformers figures (look em' up, they dont transform but look just like they do on the cartoon!)
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Buy it and find out. This is what I wanted the frikkin' toy to be/do back in '84.
--Jonah
It'll kill your teachers, make your freinds envious and let you get under Lonni Anderson's blouse?
Put me down for two. Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
*chuckle*
FWIW, Prime was shown to have a wrist communicator in one episode of season 1. Pretty nice detail to include.
--Jonah
P.S. God, I hope this is just the beginning of a G1 revamp... Larger, more posable, better detailed toys. Die cast parts, rubber tires. I did a write-up on this back in '95. Wouldn't you just love to see the Decepticon Seekers or Ironhide or Wheeljack done up this nicely? Hell, even Bumblebee!
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Some of the G1's cant look this good and still transform though. Megatron would always suck in robot mode (the gun's proportions gave him a super woodie on the toy in robot mode).
The ones that would be insanely cool this way and till transform correctly would be Soundwave, the Jets, All the cars, the dino dork...e...bots,....well shit!
Almost everybody EXCEPT Megatron would work! Huh.
OTOH, you could just get the 6" metalic SCF Megatron and have something straight outta the cartoon to fight with Prime. He comes with Lazerbeak (to perch on his arm) and even the energy moringstar he used all of once on the show! http://bigbadtoystore.com/images/tf102big.jpg Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Saw that. I mean true G1 -- he should be a Countach. And Megatron's cartoon model was patterned after the toy prototype -- which had a better head and arms, and no woody.
Personally, I want Skyfire.
--Jonah
Posted by SoundEffect (Member # 926) on :
I have a Tamiya car model of the Lancia Stratos Race Car that Wheeljack was. It has every decal the same as Wheeljack's markings. I bought it to cut apart and make a 1/24th scale model of a robot mode Wheeljack that looks as close to the cartoon look as I can. I have a Jazz-type Porsche for the same thing.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Saw that. I mean true G1 -- he should be a Countach. And Megatron's cartoon model was patterned after the toy prototype -- which had a better head and arms, and no woody.
Personally, I want Skyfire.
--Jonah
Jetfire. And how can Megatron have been based on the toy prototype? Wasn't the Walther PK-38 transforming toy already at least a year old before Hasbro created the Transformers line? Are you sure that you're not thinking of Galvatron?
Actually, Galvatron could do with being redone too. The original toy was surprisingly posable for the period, but he looked pretty wimpy compared to his cool cartoon and comic counterparts. And the sandcastle head was just stupid.
Anyway, yeah, they're doing a few of these. They'll be expensive though (for obvious reasons). Probably at least as much as Unicron is now. Still be nice though, since a lot of the Armada toys are really, really awful. There's not much point doing it to any other TF lines though, since Car Robots/Robots in Disguise were pretty accurate, and a lot of the Beast Wars toys were nigh on identical (especially the Transmetals, although I'd love a TM Megatron where the tail attached to his arm like it did on the show). Beast Machines toys aren't too show accurate bar some exceptions, but Beast Machines was rubbish, so that doesn't matter.
I can't see how they can possibly make Soundwave and his tapes show accurate and still have them fit inside him, but that would be cool. That, or Cyclonus. Or Hot Rod. Or Death's Head.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
It indeed looks cool. I've always favored Soundwave myself.
I like the art of the recent TF comics based on G1 by Pat Lee. The best way to do Transformers is the original way, the way that made them so damn popular.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"I can't see how they can possibly make Soundwave and his tapes show accurate and still have them fit inside him, but that would be cool."
Why not? Can't they make the tapes in such a way that, in tape mode, they are the same size as the opening in SW's chest? I'm not sure what that would make the size ratio of the robot modes. But, then, it's not like everyone was always drawn the same size every time. Individual parts of a single robot weren't always drawn the same size...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
To address the last point first... Blaster and Soundwave carried microcassettes -- the things you put in those pocket dictation recorders. And I devised a way for my Soundwave toy to carry two tapes, but the trial-and-error process destroyed him anyway. Just have a spring-loaded back panel to the cassette compartment(s).
Now then, Liam. I meant Skyfire -- the character as depicted in the cartoons. The comic Jetfire was somewhere between the cartoon and toy in design, and never looked as good as the cartoon version. And the toy named Jetfire was a VF-1S Valkyrie from Macross. That ain't what I'm talking about.
As for Megatron, the Microman toy line had been around for years by the time Marvel/Hasbro got involved. There were two versions of the P38 made, as well as a Colt M1911 .45 and a .357 Magnum revolver. Both versions of the P38 had the same gross transformation, but the faces, colours, and accessories were different. However, both were "refined" versions of a prototype whose design was what got sent to Sunbow to use as a character model for Megatron before said refinements were made to the toy. Me, I think the finished version looks like ass compared to the prototype. I'll upload pics as soon as I get a new Jaz drive. My old one died a couple weeks ago, cutting me off from 90% of my picture archives, among other things.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Maybe. Except that weren't the designs used by Sunbrow based on simplified versions of the character designs Romita had done by simplifying the box artwork? That seems as good a reason as any for Megatron to look different to the toy version.
Although Megatron did have a different character design for the first two and a bit issues of the (US) comic. He abbruptly gets a new head and fusion cannon half way through the third issue, for some reason. So possibly they were using a prototype. Except that the cartoon version is based on the second comic design, and not the first, so what was the first one based on?
Did the prototype have a black or blue helmet? Or was that a change Sunbrow made? Or Marvel?
And as to the tapes, yeah, they were meant to be microcassetes, except that in the comic and cartoon we saw them put into normal sized tape players. Of course, maybe they have two alt-mode size settings, like Megatron's "human hand sized" and "Starscream hand sized" settings. But I can't see how you can get a robot that looks like, say, Ravage that becomes a proper cassette without a LOT of add on parts.
And for a useless trivia fact that people probably already know: Takara did do a version of Soundwave (and Blaster) that could carry two cassettes. Woo.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The tapes have to have multiple sizes, if only because they always fit exactly into Soundwave's chest, regardless of whether he's a 20-foot-tall robot or a foot-tall tape player.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Yeah, I know. I meant multiple sizes when transformed. Lots of transformers change size when they transform, but some, such as Megatron (or indeed, Soundwave) have two different alternative-mode sizes...human and Transformer. So the cassettes would need 3 different alt-mode sizes...human microcassette size, human normal cassette size, and Soundwave's-chest-in-robot-mode size.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Where does the notion come from that they should be microcassettes, anyway? Is that a comic thing?
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
It's a Japan thing. Soundwave and his tapes were part of the Microman line, which included the guns I mentioned above, this Walkman-type thing, and the microscope/tank that would become Perceptor. Everything was 1:1 scaled. In Microman, that was the size of the robots and the battlefield they engaged on. And the stickers on the tapes reflect that. They have all the appropriate audio cassette markings on the obverse, including the word "MICROCASSETTE". And Soundwave's gun and missile launcher are AA batteries.
And Liam, he meant multiple sizes when transformed, too. Remember how Soundwave will eject a cassette while he's a 50-foot-tall robot? And remember how those same cassettes will also fit in a Transformer's or human's hand? Varying mass, same as the others mentioned.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Yeah. Still, I don't think they ever became microcassette sized, in either the comic or the cartoon.
And I want to see this prototype pic, damnit! I've just picked up Target: 2006, and am all nostalgicy.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, if the microcassettes were part of some Japanese thing where Soundwave was a Walkman, rather than a boom box (is that term even used in the current vernacular anymore?), then I don't see why that would apply to the original cassettes. It's like trying to rectify Optimus Prime and Megatron being a semi and a gun in one series, and a fire truck and a dragon thing in another. Either you assume they changed at some point, or you assume they're completely different versions of the story.
Actually, my reference to "Robots in Disguise" might be a mistake. I saw, like, one episode of the show. I didn't even watch the whole thing 'cause it was crap.
Anyway, now I'm not even sure what we're debating here. There was a suggestion that it would be impossible to make cassette toys that could actually fit inside Soundwave's chest. I still don't see what would be so hard about it.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I'd love to watch a show in which Walkmans (Walkmen?) and assorted other appliances could come to life and plot against their owners. Like a cross between the Philip Dick story "The Little Movement" and, uh...well, probably another Dick story.
"True paranoia is not 'That man is plotting against me' but 'My coffeepot is plotting against me.'", to paraphrase.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Liam, I have to ask your patience on this one. By mid-December I'll have all my images burned onto CDs, and will be able to stop having to rely on my dead Jaz drive or its replacement. I'll be back home from my parents' on January 5th. If you can defer final Megatron judgement til then, I promise to post that pic of the prototype.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Tim: No, that's not it. My argument was that, since the new "Alternators" (as I believe they're called) are going to both transform and be completely show accurate, I don't think they'll be able to do the tapes without a LOT of add on parts. Which is pretty much what the originals were, I suppose.
The RID reference was right, except that Megatron (Gigatron) in that series was actually a robot, two headed dragon, Batmobile-From-Hell, Scary-Jet-Thing, Bat, and GIANT HAND! And then some more, later on. And it wasn't quite crap. Okay, it was, but it was fun crap. Armada is just rubbish.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Also, regarding the cartoon "look"... Yes, Sunbow had to simplify things for ease of repetitive drawing, but their animation models were based off of John Romita's work for the comic, where he took the Diaclone/Microchange/whatever toys and "humanised" them. I can't think of a single character who came out of that process looking worse than their original toy incarnation. Brawn, Wheeljack, Ironhide, Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Huffer, Bumblebee, and Windcharger benefited greatly from the reworking. I don't think anyone would have been as fond of those characters (Wheeljack's a great example) had they retained their frankly alien/strange/faceless looks.
--Jonah
P.S. But no, this isn't the case with Megatron. His Romita character study, and from that the animation model, were pretty damn close to the look of the Takara prototype. The finished toy has very different arms, head, and some subtle differences in transformation hardpoints (the prototype has the pistol barrel folded so as to stick up behind the right shoulder, as seen in the comic and cartoon, where the finished toy couldn't do that) -- and especially the groin/trigger area.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Where the hell did John Romita do anything for Transformers? Not the Marvel comic. I've met John Romita (even got a drawing by him nad JRJR) a few years back but never heard anything about that.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Early '80s. 1983, I think. When he was creating all the character studies for G.I. Joe for Marvel/Hasbro, Marvel/Hasbro was also developing the Transformers from the original Japanese properties, and tapped him to -- as I said -- humanize some of the more bizarre TFs. I think he did a pass at all of the first-year TFs. Essentially 25 characters, as the humanoid cassettes and the Decepticon jets share basic body styles. After that, the regular artist(s) on the comic were able to follow his lead for later additions.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
It wasn't as important for all the movie characters and beyond, since they were actually designed to be part of the Transformers line, so they tended to have more "human" looks from the get go.
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: (the prototype has the pistol barrel folded so as to stick up behind the right shoulder, as seen in the comic and cartoon, where the finished toy couldn't do that)
I dunno. I'd read you can get it to go on his back on the toy. I haven't got it (and I'm not going to spend a fortune importing one from Japan, since it seems a fairly average toy with a horrible robot mode), but I've heard it can be moved to there.
And did the prototype have a black, blue, or white helmet, eh? I have to know, for the good of all.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Early '80s. 1983, I think. When he was creating all the character studies for G.I. Joe for Marvel/Hasbro, Marvel/Hasbro was also developing the Transformers from the original Japanese properties, and tapped him to -- as I said -- humanize some of the more bizarre TFs. I think he did a pass at all of the first-year TFs. Essentially 25 characters, as the humanoid cassettes and the Decepticon jets share basic body styles. After that, the regular artist(s) on the comic were able to follow his lead for later additions.
--Jonah
Cool. Romita did just about EVERYTHING for Marvel. I dont suppose you have a scan of any of those sketches by any chance? I'd love to see them.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Go to your local kickass mega comic book shoppe and look for the four-issue "Transformers Universe" miniseries. All of the first-year TFs' drawings are distinctive due to the heavier line style (possibly blown up from the originals). Those are Romita's.
--Jonah
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
keen-o. INcidentlly, Dreamwave is doing a "Transformers Universe" with the new art: it's called "More than meets the eye". Purdy kool.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I know. Takes a little getting used to, but it's pretty nice.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Just a pity that almost all of the Dreamwave comics rank as "really quite shockingly shite" on the story-meter. And the art isn't all that, either. Sure, Pat Lee is good at robots standing around, but when he attempts any sort of composition of depth, or dynamic movement, things fall appart horrible. And 4 page sequences of robots standing up does not make for a good comic.
Haven't read Furman's new stuff yet though.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Furman's got a little bit of Braga's Syndrome. He's a good storyteller, but hasn't much head for some of the finer technical points and his dialogue sounds "off" compared to both the original comic and the cartoon.
Up until Hasbro announced the new live-action TF movie, I was working on a script updating and expanding "More Than Meets the Eye" -- the original three-part cartoon premiere. Fully half of what I was doing was tightening up the dialogue to make the characters sound a bit more like themselves (using the rest of the animated series as reference), so I got to have a pretty good sense of how most of them spoke. I'm still poking along at it, partly just to see it finished, and also partly in case Tom DeSanto starts having script problems with his movie. *heh*
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
"More Than Meets The Eye" is pretty good though. The animation is better than almost every other episode (bar "Call of the Primitives", obviously), and as a series premier, it's certainly much better than the first couple of issues of the cartoon, which are awful. At least, that's what Liam Kavanagh says, and with my British wit and ability to insult people with ease, I certainly have the credentials to back it up.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...his dialogue sounds 'off' compared to both the original comic and the cartoon."
Then again, the dialogue in the original comic was rather extraordinarily "off" in itself.
"I, Optimus Prime, shall now transform!" *transforms* "I, Optimus Prime, have transformed! I am Optimus Prime!"
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
*shudder* Don't remind me. Some of that stuff was gawdawful, I admit. For the most part, I mean characters who didn't have much screen time in the cartoon.
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Some of the Dreamwave dialogue is pretty bad though. I mean, can you see either the Cartoon, Furman, or even Budiansky versions of Prime saying "Welcome back, boys"?
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I kind of subconsciously adjust it in my head. I hear Peter Cullen's voice saying "Welcome back, my friends..."
--Jonah
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Then again, the dialogue in the original comic was rather extraordinarily "off" in itself.
Just like in every other shitty eighties comic...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Which is probably why I don't notice it that much...
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I dunno. At least the X-Men thought about the situation when they were bringing everyone up to speed. They didn't annouce it, along with their C.V.s.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
You reading the same comics I am?
"Your armor's nothin' to my adamantium claws!" "Your hollow bones will help you ride these winds." "You know I can't touch my skin to yours without absorbing your psyche and powers." "I just have to fine-tune my optic blast enough to snap your shackles without hitting your arms."
I know they tended toward heavy exposition during the Claremont and Lee eras. But they lost me about three, four years ago between the new art styles and the near-doubling of titles. I had no problem when there were just four good X-books (Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, and Excalibur). I had no problem when they added the second X-Men title. But somewhere in 1999, it just got too damned unwieldy.
--Jonah
--Jonah
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
The difference there is that the TF equivalent would have been:
"Your amour's nothin' to Wolverine's adamatnium claws!" "As you know, Angel, you have hollow bones. They will help you ride these wings." "I, Rogue, cannot touch your skin, because I will absorb all your powers." "Cyclops is here to save the day by fine tuning my optic blast enough to snap your shackles without hitting your arms."
So, yeah, the difference isn't huge, but Liam noticed it.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
They (and all the other comics) talked like that back in the '60s and '70s. At least, all the Marvel books.
"Nothing moves the Blob!" "Your tanks are nothing but pathetic playthings to the might of Magneto!"
And Wolvie referred to himself in the third person when he first showed up in the Incredible Hulk.
--Jonah
P.S. I said "winds" and I meant "winds". I was referring to Longshot and a scene from Uncanny X-Men #227 (the end of the Fall of the Mutants crossover story).
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I know. But have you seen those spreads in the first issue? The big double page ones where EIGHTEEN SEPERATE CHARACTERS give us their biographies? Along with instances such as Prime chatting to Prowl and reminding him that he is one of his most trusted advisors, in the middle of a bloody big fight. And then not listening to him anyway.
And then there's Starscream claiming that Earth is backwards because we "enslave machines". So obviously the Ark gets to vote on Cybertron. Along with everyone's guns. (Well, I suppose when the Targetmasters turn up).
Yeah, I know it's standard for Marvel comics, but the TF ones are so much more clumsy that the rest. At least Furman managed to not be so obvious about it. Sure, Galvatron introduced himself in the third person, but it went like this:
"As it was in the future, so shall it be now. Earth and all its inhabitants - be they human or Autobot - shall kneel before the might of GALVATRON!"
Yeah, it was overblown, but the US comic would have had it as
"Galvatron, the future version of Megatron has travelled back in time, and shall destroy Autobots with this bright orange particle cannon on him arm. I mean, my arm."
Scourge and Cyclonus aren't even named until next issue. And then they look like they might actually kill some humans. Woo!
So, er, go Furman! Yes.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Here's an example. All of this comes from a single panel on a single page of the first issue:
Megatron: "...are we all accounted for on this brave new world?"
Skywarp: "Skywarp's up for raiding sir. And my teleportational power'll pop me right into their midst to make mischief."
Thundercracker: "As ever, your cause is Thundercracker's, great Megatron. Our land-bound enemy will be picked off at will as I soar over them, striking with rockets and sonic booms."
Starscream: "As the fastest, most maneuverable of Decepticon jet flyers, I, Starscream, shall continue to accumulate Autobot body-counts that enhance the reputation of our leader"
Rumble: "Can the speeches, huh, Star? Rumble's back in town and I'm gonna shake the place up with some low frequency ground-waves. You hit 'em from up top, and I'll do the job down here"
Frenzy: "And I, Frenzy, will shatter our opponents' equilibrium, using high-pitched soundwaves. I will not cease until every Autobot is slain. And you, Soundwave?
Soundwave: "I will monitor transmissions and read Autobot electrical impulses to learn their plans. Even my photographic memory serves as a defensive weapon."
Ravage: "Does even that compare with Ravage's power to slip undetected anywhere? And my own monitoring devices in my nose module allow me to smell, hear and detect electromagnetic radiation beyond that of any Decepticon."
Buzzsaw: "I all pales next to the artistry of Buzzsaw. I can pinpoint a hex-nut at twenty miles with my optical sensors. And my beak has carved many an Autobot warrior into a masterpiece of scrap metal."
Laserbeak: "Just leave some for Laserbeak, comrades. Allow me a few struggling survivors of our battle and I'm certain I'll pry some useful information from them with my optical lasers... even if they die in the telling."
Megatron: "Come. Our time to strike is later. The ship's brain has placed into our circuits the knowledge that this world possesses enormous untapped fuel resources... resources we can exploit in our struggle againt the Autobots."
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
You know you're in trouble when Buzzsaw of all people gives us his resume like that.
Rumble's line is unintentionally hilarious. "Can the speeches", indeed.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: You know you're in trouble when Buzzsaw of all people gives us his resume like that.
Rumble's line is unintentionally hilarious. "Can the speeches", indeed.
wow. actually suprised and bemused at this. What exactly will this movie set as? Stand alone/reimagining or cannon/hand-in-hand with teh current Comic Storyline?
obviously the current upcoming Transformers will be reimagined (then again, virtually every animated version of Trannyforce was stand-alone in quality...)
i might have to look into this more but i would like to see a G.I. Joe movie, even if it became a mercantile hog for Hasbro. Though i'd sh*t bricks and buicks to see something, ANYTHING related to Battletech.
Back in the day, i dreamt of a young Rachel Welch as Natasha Kerensky... or anybody in super shimmy hotpants and a coolant vest...
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
GI Joe, the movie? Pardon my French, but what is this horse shit? Why are toy franchises now being made into movies? Did we run out of novels to remake into movies? What about people making up their own damn stories? What's next, Jem the movie?
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: What's next, Jem the movie?
Outrageous. Truly truly truly outrageous.
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
Friggin Marky Mark
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Krenim:
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: What's next, Jem the movie?
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)