Transformers Legends (Japanese Toyline)

[Philip Ayres]

[Llama God]

Hang on - I thought that Takara Fort Max wasn't going to have the... red frames around the leg cannons? Is this a change, or are they using some Hasbro parts?

As to Ginrai... Bugger. I was all set to drop a pre-order for TR Prime from Hasbro, but now I'm going to have to wait to see what Ginrai's going to look like. I hope we see some pictures before the end of the weekend...

[Philip Ayres]

That isn't Takara Max.

The Takara products there are LG23-26: Hardhead, Skullcruncher, Galvatron, Shockwave, Blurr & Scourge all from the first two waves of product.

Anything later, LG27-31 Blaster, Rewind, Wheelie (who I can't see there), Weirdwolf and Max, have the Hasbro version standing in..... but note the grey prototype Japanese head on Weirdwolf.

I think I pointed out Loudmouth's accessory earlier in the week: the only other Titanmasters I see there come with packed in toys - you can see the US Apeface deputising with Weirdwolf. I wonder if that's packed in with Max?

[Pinwig]

Okay. Seeing that Blurr does it for me. It's too bright, too cartoony. It may have more variety than the Hasbro one, but it isn't right for me. Time to switch preorders to Hasbro. G1 toy all the way bar Max and now probably Prime if the robot mode is going to look better. Also a much cheaper option!

[Philip Ayres]

[Philip Ayres]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TFYUKI/status/744013656619266048
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TFYUKI/status/744016292991098880

[Philip Ayres]

I got thinking about the Legends line in the bath this morning.

Japan generally avoids US repaints. Generally.

So do they do Soundwave or not? The feeling is they'll skip Sentinel Prime for Astrotrain but since Soundwave is linked to three unreleased Legends moulds my gut feeling is that yes there will be a Japanese Soundwave.

The three Titans Return Legends that go with him are Laserbeak (they haven't released his predecessor Buzzsaw), Ravage and Rumble. Let's say we expect those to appear.

The only problem is they've only got two spare Decepticon Titanmaster heads at the moment to go with them: Apeface and Terribull. Skytread is a repaint of one they've already released and not originally a Headmaster. So who goes with who?

Then there's Rumble. The Legends line has generally been going cartoon accurate and that could mean blue Rumble, which is useful for those who'd like a Frenzy soon.

Then there's Highbrow, Chromedome, Brainstorm and Mindwipe. Four toys. 3 unique Titanmaster accessories left at the moment: Nightbeat, Loudmouth and Brawn. Again, who gets what? Faction doesn't seem to matter here as Highbrow has Terribull's weapon. Do Japan get Brainstorm?

[Toph]

There's no doubt they'll do Soundwave.

[Dezzeh]

I think Japan will indeed get Brainstorm, and Soundwave. Brainstorm because Head on! Then they can do the Soundblaster repaint, and we all know TT loves black repaints.

[Philip Ayres]

Phil needs Billy and New Soundwave.

[Philip Ayres]

Jun 26, 2016 8:13:40 GMT Toph said:

There's no doubt they'll do Soundwave.

While I came down on the side of "I think they probably will", there is some doubt because, in general, the Japanese don't tend to release US repaints and vice versa. Legends Nemesis Prime, Huffer, Pipes, Acid Storm, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Gears, Rodimus, Chopshop & Wreck Gar are all good examples. Or CW Smokescreen. On a larger scale Japan didn't get the Leader jets from Jetfire, which featured remoulding. Or Crosscut, who to that point had only been a Japanese character. Or Doubledealer.

And, essentially, Soundwave is Blaster.

But there is some precedent here in FOC where they released the US Blaster & Soundblaster repaints of Soundwave.

And there is remoulding between the two, like the other 8 CW Autobots deluxe which did get a Japanese release.

[Toph]

They're also pretty sunbow obsessed, and soundwave is one of their big ones.
He's a bigger deal to them than us.
There's zero chance they won't do soundwave.

[Philip Ayres]

[Philip Ayres]

Oh bugger Twincast is blue like he should be:

[Philip Ayres]

Probably best pic of the Apeface weapons mode yet:

[Philip Ayres]

Legends Chromdome, Highbrow and Mindwarp

[Baron B of Triple B]

Awwwww man. I've already pre-ordered Wave 2 Hasbro but I think I prefer the LG Mindwipe.

[Baron B of Triple B]

The news we've all been waiting on. Takara LG Soundwave is happening. As is Ravage, Laserbeak, Brainstorm and Astrotrain.

[Dezzeh]

Glad they are doing Brainstorm, no hunting down Walgreens

[Pinwig]

Yeah, but it'll have a toon face. I pre-ordered Brainstorm at ID Toys just to be safe.

[Philip Ayres]

[Philip Ayres]

Here's what I understand the Japanese Titans Return release schedule to look like:

DATE	NUMBER	CHARACTER	EXTRA	PRICE ¥
JULY 23rd	LG-21	Hardhead	Terribull Tank/Jet	4000
JULY 23rd	LG-22	Skull	Crashbash Dinosaur/Dragon	4000
JULY 23rd	LG-23	Galvatron		5000
AUGUST 27th	LG-24	Shockwave	Cancer	1800
AUGUST 27th	LG-25	Blurr		3200
AUGUST 27th	LG-26	Scourge		3200
SEPTEMBER 24th	LG-27	Broadcast		8000
SEPTEMBER 24th	LG-28	Rewind	Nightbeat	1800
SEPTEMBER 24th	LG-29	Wheelie	Goshooter	1800
SEPTEMBER 24th	LG-30	Weirdwolf	Apeface Jet/Ape	4000
SEPTEMBER 24th	LG-31	Fortress Maximus		25000
NOVEMBER 26TH	LG-32	Chromedome	Nightbeat Jet/Drill	4000
NOVEMBER 26TH	LG-33	Highbrow	Loudmouth Car/Tank	4000
NOVEMBER 26TH	LG-34	Mindwipe	Crashbash Dragon/Dinosaur	4000
DECEMBER ?	LG-35	Super Ginrai		8500
DECEMBER ?	LG-36	Soundwave		8000
DECEMBER ?	LG-37	Jaguar	Bullhorn	1800
DECEMBER ?	LG-38	Condor	Apeface	1800
JANUARY ?	LG-39	Brainstorm	Brawn Jeep/Bike	4000
JANUARY ?	LG-40	Astrotrain		5000

[Philip Ayres]

And, cos I know someone will ask ......

Name	Wave	Original	Japanese	Legend	Deluxe	Repaint
Crashbash	1	Squeezeplay	Cancer	LG-24 Shockwave	LG-22 Skullcruncher LG-34 Mindwipe	Clobber
Loudmouth	1	Siren	Go Shooter	LG-29 Wheelie	LG-33 Highbrow
Nightbeat	1	Nightbeat	Nightbeat1	LG-28 Rewind	LG-32 Chromedome
Terribull	1	Horribull	Bullhorn	LG-37 Jaguar	LG-21 Hardhead	Sky Tread
Ape Face	2	Ape Face	Apeface	LG-38 Condor	LG-31 Weirdwolf
Brawn	2	Brawn			LG-39 Brainstorm
Sky Tread	2	Flywheels				of Terribull
Clobber	2	Grimlock				of Crashbash

¹ The Japanese version of 1988 Nightbeat is vastly different and called Minerva: expect a recolour of the head at some point!

Sooooooo.....

5 of the six Titanmaster moulds have appeared now in Japan: Brawn is the odd one out.

All 6 Titanmaster accessories have appeared in Japan, Crashbash twice.

[Philip Ayres]

More generally, some other differences between the Legends line and the US Titans Return:

Stripes, Buzzsaw and Rumble are currently missing from the Japanese tape lineup.

Sentinel Prime hasn't been released in Japan, his repaint Astrotrain is on the schedule. This isn't a huge surprise.

No Alpha Trion as yet.

[Philip Ayres]

Slightly disappointed that they didn't fix Highbrow's rotors on the Japanese version :-(

[Llama God]

Oooh. Blurr and Scourge in August, eh? I wonder if they'll be available to be picked up in hand at TFN. That'd be handy. They're the two Deluxes I want from Takara - all the others'll be Hasbro. Especially Chromedome, for IDW accurateness.

Thanks as ever for the intel, Phil!

[Philip Ayres]

Seeing as TF Nation is 19th-21st and those Legends are out the end of the following week, probably not!

List tweaked with Amazon's dates which seem to be last weekend of the month.

[Llama God]

AGH. DAMMIT.

Still. I'll order them from Kapow or sommat. Slightly more expensive than HLJ (would be if orders were open) but less chance of CUTA bummage.

[Philip Ayres]

I'm not sure HLJ (£19.63) + postage is much more expensive than Kapow's prices at the moment. And a pair of those from Japan is a red hot poker.

HLJ Chromedome, Highbrow and Mindwarp orders open while we're on the topic

hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?qid=PCENNV3SO17V0A&Dis=2&SeriesID=6038&DisplayMode=images&set=1&Sort=releaseDate+desc

[Baron B of Triple B]

Jul 9, 2016 8:27:57 GMT Philip Ayres said:

I'm not sure HLJ (£19.63) + postage is much more expensive than Kapow's prices at the moment. And a pair of those from Japan is a red hot poker.

HLJ Chromedome, Highbrow and Mindwarp orders open while we're on the topic

hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?qid=PCENNV3SO17V0A&Dis=2&SeriesID=6038&DisplayMode=images&set=1&Sort=releaseDate+desc

I want Mindwipe but I'll wait and hope Kapow do it like they did with Wave 1.