Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,487
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Post by Hero on Jun 11, 2008 7:50:26 GMT
Just opened Ratchet and my first impressions are good. Very easy to transform (esp compared to Prowl) has a spring loaded robot head, legs are easily folded out from the bottom of the ambulance whilst the arms are easily folded out from the roof.
Accessories are cool alongside the flip out triggerbot like tools from underneath the forarms. Basically Ratchet is like a swiss army knife esp with his added bits.
Only one problem and this isn't with the toy design itself but I will address this in a separate thread as this is something might effect other hubbers too.
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dyrl
Empty
Transforming robots are no match for combat waitresses from the future!
Posts: 1,652
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Post by dyrl on Jun 11, 2008 14:27:48 GMT
Wow! Sounds like some dark conspiracy...what is the problem with Ratchet?  pete |
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,487
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Post by Hero on Jun 16, 2008 21:22:51 GMT
I freed Blackarachnia from her packaging prison. I think she's the best BA figure so far. I think the grapnel hook gimmick could have had a longer string but aside from that BA is freakin' awesome.
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 17, 2008 10:00:31 GMT
She looks like a good toy from what I've seen.
I never really thought she had a decent enough toy in Beast Wars/Machines. The TM2 would have been the better one had she not been so top-heavy. As it were.
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Post by Shockprowl on Jun 23, 2008 11:58:44 GMT
Received a few items recently. 1st, Inferno Volt, a japan superlinx chap. It's a repaint of Energon Inferno, made to look like Graple! It's marvelous! New head, crane, front bits! Very pleased. 2nd and 3rd, Cybertron Defence Scattershot and Red Alert. Been after these for a while. Very nice Transformers. They are now, wait for it, Slag and Sludge! Cybertron forms obv.
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kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
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Post by kayevcee on Jun 23, 2008 20:49:30 GMT
Animated has finally arrived in Glasgow. I am now the proud owner of Animated deluxe Prowl, Lockdown, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, and voyager Megatron and Starscream. I like how the Decepticons are *all* much bigger than their Autobot counterparts- especially Lockdown, who is actually the tallest of the bunch despite folding up into a car little longer than (and not as tall as) Bumblebee. So much character to every figure. Prowl and Starscream are a bit fiddly to return to vehicle mode, but Starscream's transformation to robot mode is a work of genius- not to mention a welcome break after the battle that is his movie incarnation.
-Nick
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Post by legios on Jun 29, 2008 20:25:10 GMT
I have also obtained myself some Animated toys - specifically Prime, Lockdown and Prowl.
After the movie line leaving me feeling fairly cold (I didn't really like the general aesthetic, so there were only few toys that I felt motivated to acquire) Animated seems to have really struck a cord with me. I love the sculpts on these guys - they have a lot of character to them and capture the feel of the character models very well indeed.
Optimus' Cybertron mode is quite nicely angular, whilst echoing his past truck modes quite well. His humanoid mode has some great articulation in the arms and shoulders (I love the fact that he can sling his axe up on his shoulder in a "lets talk about this, no-one wants to have to get rough" stance) . I'd say he is about even with Laser Rod Prime for the range of articulation he has, which is pretty good going. I love the proportions of his humanoid mode too.
Suprisingly, Optimus isn't even my second favourite of this bunch. That honour goes to Lockdown. I wasn't that impressed with Lockdown's vehicle mode in the early photographs, but he is one of those toys who is far more impressive in the plastic than he is in photos. His batmobile-esque street-racer mode is nicely designed, and quite characterful. He has a decent transformation sequence too - not too difficult, but cleverly engineered. His humanoid mode is surprisingly tall - he towers over other deluxe figures and can actually look down on Classics Jetfire. Spindly and cadaverous he has a very distinct look - somewhere between undernourished and semi-Beast Machines in style. His hands are a bit odd, in that they don't actually fold out entirely in line with his forearms - ending up slightly crooked inwards. It works well with the rest of the look of his humanoid mode though, and his hook/gun mount attachment that covers one arm blends nicely as well. Well worth a tenner, both him and Prime.
Prowl though, Prowl is the real highlight of this trio. His motorcycle mode is a lovely design - very much capturing the feel of a high-performance street bike. His humanoid mode is, likewise, a superb piece of design - a wonderful sculpt, with pretty much all the articulation that could be wished for. To cap it all the transformation is a superlative piece of work - very different to anything attempted before by a motor-cyle Transformer but intiuitive once you see the logic of it. They've managed to solve with aplomb in Prowl most of the problems that have affected previous motorcycle Transformers. I'd say that he was definitely the best motorcycle Transformer to date, and a candidate for inclusion in the top rank of the best transformable motor-cycle mecha generally. If there was one Animated toy I would say should be the first acquisition for anyone thinking of picking up the line I would recommend that it be Prowl.
I am liking Animated a lot on the strength of these figures. Even the one that least impresses me - Optimus is still an exellent little toy. I've already bought as many Animated toys as I have toys from the Movie line, and on the basis of these three I can see myself being tempted to pick up some more.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 30, 2008 15:11:36 GMT
Prowl's traffic light can also be held by other TF's. Currently, reissue Grapple, recently killed on a desk-top battle has come back to life as a zombie whirling Prowl's traffic light above his head.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Jun 30, 2008 18:09:26 GMT
Prowl's traffic light can also be held by other TF's. Currently, reissue Grapple, recently killed on a desk-top battle has come back to life as a zombie whirling Prowl's traffic light above his head. -Ralph I have a soft-spot for the Traffic Light weapon. Although the packaging calls it a "chain weapon", it blatantly isn't - it's just a traffic light on a bit of electrical cord that Prowl has ripped up for battering people with. I wouldn't be surprised if amongst Prowl's martial arts talents is a mastery of the Scottish equivalent of drunken boxing. ("That Prool, he'll set aboot ye man!") Karl |
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Post by Bogatan on Jun 30, 2008 21:27:23 GMT
The more I play with Prowl Im increasingly impressed with just how similar the robot mode is to the G1 original. The chest has the right sort of rounded shapes. Wings on the shoulders. Wedge shaped legs with wheels built in. Even the back has a roof-ness to it. Head aside its all there. It wouldnt surprise me to see a white police cycle version at some point. Not sure it would be a good idea but it would only increase the Prowl similarities.
I would be quite happy to see Bluestreak and Smokescreen repaints though. To me it mold worth repainting and owning more than one of.
Andy
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Gav
Drone
John Travoltage!
Posts: 2,047
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Post by Gav on Jul 1, 2008 19:15:34 GMT
Bought Lockdown today, and I'm very impressed with it. I mean, it's not a perfect likeness of the character as such but it's a really fun little toy. Loads of play value from this methinks.
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Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 5,098
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Post by Nigel on Jul 3, 2008 10:16:39 GMT
My TCC Topspin arrived this morning.
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 3, 2008 12:00:37 GMT
Mine too. Its the first time Ive owned this particular mold and means Ive now got an example of all 6 in my collection. Fairly nice little robot and helicopter, but as usual utterly pants limb form. I assume its going to be used as an arm since its got the closest thing to a hand among the lot.
Andy
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 4, 2008 10:40:55 GMT
Leader Bulkhead and Megatron are mine Got Leader Cybertron Prime free as part of the 3 for 2 from TRU. They shall now be tucked away for my birthday in two months.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 5, 2008 22:32:38 GMT
I have p;layed with Nick's Leader Animated Megatron and kit goes WHUP WHUP WHU[!
WHUP WHUP WHUP!!!!
IT will be mine!
WHUP WHUP WHUP!
-Rlaph
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kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
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Post by kayevcee on Jul 5, 2008 23:10:35 GMT
Leaders Bulkhead and Megatron have indeed been procured this day. Megatron is wonderful. Bulkhead I haven't had enough time yet to examine, but aside from a slightly fiddly transformation he seems pretty spiffy. Also, he has an ass-mounted buzzsaw.
-Nick
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2008 10:52:35 GMT
Although I'm not too fond of the animated cartoon I might consider picking some of the Animated toys up at AA.
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Dezzeh
Thunderjet
Wait, what?
Posts: 4,886
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Post by Dezzeh on Jul 7, 2008 15:31:53 GMT
Got Prowl, Bumblebee and Lockdown from TRU today, gotta love 3 for 2.
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Post by legios on Jul 7, 2008 20:21:20 GMT
Courtesy of the TRU 3 For 2 offer I am now the contented owner of an Animated Bulkhead and Starscream.
Bulkhead is a lovely toy - the humanoid sculpt has a lot of character to it. He is wonderfully dumpy and clumsy looking. He has a decent action-feature - the launching wrecking ball - which doesn't in any way impede transformation or restrict the toy at all. His vehicle mode is pretty good as well. It has a chunky and hard-wearing feel to it - very much the way a SWAT transport should. I have to say that owning it, and having seen the larger Bulkhead on the same day I got it, I am content with this version. I can't really see any reason to upgrade from it in all honesty. Not that the larger version is a bad toy - more that the smaller one is so good that I wouldn't be gaining enough by the upgrade.
Starscream is a bit of a mixed bag. His humanoid mode is interesting - very elongated and exaggerated - and again has a lot of character to it. The face sculpt is lovely. I'm not entirely happy with how restricted the arm movement is on him though. He's not terribly poseable because of the way his arm joints work. His fighter mode is..... interesting. Parts of it feel very much like a VF-19 (from Macross Plus/Seven) that has been run through a chibifying machine. There are so many similarities in parts of the design that I can't believe it is entirely coincidence. Unfortunately it is burdened by a very unattractive underside, which looks thick enough to spoil the overall look they were going for and is rather kibble-ish into the bargain. Bonus points for having an actual set of landing gear - bonus points removed for the fact that they aren't very good and look extremely impractical.
I'm not entirely enamoured of the transformation either to be honest. A little too much of it is semi-automated, making it somewhat unsatisfying.
So Starscream is a bit of a mixed bag, but Bulkhead is one of those sculpts that just works really well.
Having seen Nick's larger Megatron - or as I feel he should be called "Super Megatron" - I am very impressed with that. Many of the toys on that scale have been a little dissappointing, but Megatron neatly breaks that mold. Fantastic sculpt on him, extremely poseable, looks great in both modes, and into the bargain he has a few fantastic gimmicks. One of my favourites is the fact that his rotors are synch-geared, so that if you turn one of them the other one turns with it in such a way that they mesh and don't collide. First time I have personally seen that done on a transforming rotor-craft. The large Megatron is a great toy, I can see me upgrading from the deluxe in due course. (Poor Prime will be remaining solely a deluxe I think however).
Karl
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Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 5,098
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Post by Nigel on Jul 8, 2008 9:51:00 GMT
I had the same reaction. In fact, I think my exact words were, "is that it?" Otherwise, a nice toy. Also on the Automorph front, I find Bulkhead's rather unnecessary. There's no need for the arms to be sprung.
I just picked up three of the new Optimus Prime birthday cards, which have finally come into Woolworths. One folds out into a poster, one has stickers inside and one has a Tech Specs Decoder. £8.67 for three birthday cards, though - what a rip-off! Why are birthday cards so expensive these days? Collecting aside, I shall stick to the jolly nice 29p cards from the shop in the next street.
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2008 9:54:07 GMT
Good grief! Is the tech spec decoder made of gold?
-Ralph
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2008 19:45:10 GMT
When it comes to getting birthday cards, fathers day cards etc. for my family I tend to go for the more pricey silly ones. I'm not too enamoured by the price but at least they bring a smile to peoples faces in the house.
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Post by championofjustice on Jul 8, 2008 21:58:29 GMT
Got BW 10th anniversary Optimus Primal at long last this morning. Had the Cybertron recolour for a while; this completes the 'set'. I know it's not a great action figure, but I like the character a lot, so I don't mind it being a glorified Action Master (the Cybertron OP certainly looks a lot better in the limited beast mode).
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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 9, 2008 9:02:42 GMT
I gotta a Henkei Henkei Bumblebee on the way! Hopefully it will arrive sometime today!
The truth of the matter is all the silver paint on my Classics Bumblebee has come off and now he's looking a little worse for wear. So I figured on replacing him with the Japanese version. Just for fun.
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 9, 2008 9:38:30 GMT
Awww. Have you been playing with him too hard?
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Jul 10, 2008 9:39:10 GMT
Bumblebee spies hard.
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Post by legios on Jul 15, 2008 20:12:08 GMT
I have aquired myself - courtesy of an Amazon seller - Animated Ratchet. So far I haven't been disappointed by any of the Animated Deluxes and Ratchet isn't looking to break the pattern.
Vehicle mode is great - with the pulse-like logo on the side he looks a bit like a telephone company van at first glance. His transformation is simple enough that you can work it out pretty much without instructions, but has a couple of nice clever bits to it.
The humanoid mold is rather good as well. Decent articulation, and a great head sculpt. (He has a fantastically grumpy expression on his face). He's well supplied with accessories as well - with a wrench, hammer, er.... something that looks like a bottle-opener and something that resembles a spatula........
But seriously, he is a great looking little toy and nicely rounds out my Animated Autobot display.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 18, 2008 7:22:10 GMT
The 3 deluxe Universe Classics arrived this morning. Ordered Wednesday.
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Post by Bogatan on Jul 18, 2008 7:34:02 GMT
What the packaging like? How many languages?
Oh for those who have Animated deluxes do they have the profiles and tech spec on a separate sheet like the instructions or is this just going to be in Canada?
Andy
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Post by legios on Jul 18, 2008 9:18:53 GMT
Oh for those who have Animated deluxes do they have the profiles and tech spec on a separate sheet like the instructions or is this just going to be in Canada? Andy I don't recall seeing any tech-specs on the Animated Deluxes at all I'm afraid. They have bulleted three line profiles on the card-backs but that is the closest you get I'm think. Karl |
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