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Post by Shockprowl on Nov 10, 2018 0:18:36 GMT
Ooohhhhh it's a good feeling to complete a team.
And back 'Then' it was... well, unheard of 'round my way anyway. 'To Complete a Team'. Such concepts dare not engage in minds of... us.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 10, 2018 0:33:40 GMT
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 10, 2018 0:35:30 GMT
And yet these days it's par for the course. One of the only benefits of being an adult with an income.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 6:55:41 GMT
Freeway is clearly the best here. Freeway strikes me as the most boring visually simply because, thanks to Tracks, when I see a blue Chevrolet Corvette, I wonder why it's missing the flame sticker on the bonnet, and the aerial combat mode. When they decided to make Chase red and Freeway blue it was like a half-hearted attempt to make them Sideswipe (or Cliffjumper) and Tracks, which they then gave up on. Might have been better to make them different colours once they decided they were going to be different characters. Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 10, 2018 9:35:23 GMT
There can be more than one blue Autobot car!!!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Nov 10, 2018 10:39:18 GMT
Soon Martin will be claiming Micromasters were 84/5 characters!
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Post by Llama God on Nov 10, 2018 10:46:56 GMT
And yet these days it's par for the course. One of the only benefits of being an adult with an income. Benefit, drawback, one of the two... But yes, I am also in team "The Throttlebots are great!", which unnerves me since I'm agreeing with Ralph, but there we are. I can't deny that they're boxier than the original Mini-Autobots, but in terms of playability they were better - they were pull-back-and-go toys IN BOTH MODES! Sure, there isn't any of the excitement of the auto-transformation, but that's made up for by the gimmick working in both modes. Or at least it was for me as a kid, when poseability mattered less than being able to get from one part of my story to the next. So yeah, as toys, and ones at the cheaper end of the scale, these were absolutely fine. As to the character, well there's no question this time. Although, madly enough, I didn't vote for Bumblebee on the Mini-Autobots round despite him being my favourite, because he didn't stand out enough, this time... he does. Because it's Bumblebee, back! A character reborn! And that stood out, for sure. Goldbug! |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 17:31:09 GMT
Soon Martin will be claiming Micromasters were 84/5 characters! No, I'm just saying I think it's more than coincidence that the second Corvette was blue like the first, and the Ferrari was the same colour as the Lamborghini (a similar looking car). But I won't have anything to do with theories that Wideload is supposed to be Huffer just because they're both orange. There can be more than one blue Autobot car!!!!! Yes, but why not make the Corvette red and the Ferrari blue, just for the sake of variety, if they're supposed to be new characters? Martin |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 10, 2018 17:43:25 GMT
Soon Martin will be claiming Micromasters were 84/5 characters! No, I'm just saying I think it's more than coincidence that the second Corvette was blue like the first, and the Ferrari was the same colour as the Lamborghini (a similar looking car). But I won't have anything to do with theories that Wideload is supposed to be Huffer just because they're both orange. Orange *AND* Dark Blue. It's the only one of the Throttlebots to use a secondary colour in a significant quantity ad it just happens to match a colour used on the same mini Autobot that used his primary colour?   |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 17:55:03 GMT
Yes, Phil, they are the same two colours, but sadly they have nothing else in common!
Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 10, 2018 18:26:00 GMT
They are both, loosely, trucks and stand apart from the rest of the group.
Similarly Rollbar and Brawn are both green jeeps.
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Post by Shockprowl on Nov 10, 2018 18:35:03 GMT
Hmmmm so maybe Rollbar should have had 'has the mind of the Autobot Brawn', and Wideload 'has the mind of the Autobot Huffer'!!!!
You could argue a Cliffjumper and a Windcharger from two of the remaining cars.... But the idea breaks down with Gears though....
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 18:39:44 GMT
Except that Wideload looks nothing like Huffer in either mode. Whereas Freeway looks very much like Tracks.
Martin
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 10, 2018 19:26:03 GMT
So why was Rollbar the only one with those reflection effect window stickers?
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 19:48:15 GMT
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Nov 10, 2018 20:15:55 GMT
But none of the Throttlebots are as deformed as Cliffjumper and Hubcap, who in the real world should look something like this:   Martin |
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Post by Shockprowl on Nov 10, 2018 20:58:53 GMT
I'm voting Rollbar, because he doesn't have any votes, because I vaguely remember him being sort of the leader? And because he 'has the mind of the Autobot Brawn'....
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Nov 11, 2018 9:46:28 GMT
Sorry but: Wideload is NOT Huffer and was never intended to be!
Gone are the days when a character could have a similar colour scheme or vehicle mode and be it's own person.
It's the shape and style of the robot that makes the Transformer as well as it's colour.
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 11, 2018 9:57:55 GMT
Indeed. Orange and blue are complimentary colours so they get paired a lot. There's nothing in that which means Wideload is Huffer.
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Nov 11, 2018 10:14:17 GMT
The one thing old Widey did have in common with The Huff is that he complained a bit - but even that was more out of vanity than a simple need to let the world know it was at fault.
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Post by Shockprowl on Nov 11, 2018 11:16:51 GMT
Sorry but: Wideload is NOT Huffer and was never intended to be! I know that really, I'm just trying to wind up Doc'. |
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 11, 2018 11:23:28 GMT
Cheeky scamp.
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Nov 11, 2018 12:25:13 GMT
Sorry but: Wideload is NOT Huffer and was never intended to be! I know that really, I'm just trying to wind up Doc'. Well, in that case I've changed my mind: Wideload is indeed Huffer in a new body! Have we ever seen them both together at the same time? No. That is all the proof we need! |
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Post by Shockprowl on Nov 11, 2018 12:55:34 GMT
I KNEW IT!!!
Are you reading this, Doctor?!?!
ARE YOU?!?!?!
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 11, 2018 12:58:08 GMT
And thus did the world irrevocably change.
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Post by Bogatan on Nov 11, 2018 13:42:08 GMT
I'd never much thought about Wideload and Huffer, but given
Bumblebee becoming Goldbug
Deformed vehicle modes (which just is not a thing anywhere but minibots and throttlebots)
Shared colour schemes
Price point making them the replacement line
Goldbug aside they arent the same characters, but it seems way more than likely that at some point they either were planned to be or the designer was told to come up with a replacement line for the minibots and took very direct inspiration.
I imagine Wideload started out as a cab but the pull back motor require a trailer so the vehicle type changes to fit the theme.
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Post by Bogatan on Nov 11, 2018 13:43:59 GMT
If I was to go full Conspiracy Phil on you all, I would suggest Chase was intended to be Sunstreaker in his originally intended colours.
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Post by Bogatan on Nov 11, 2018 13:47:41 GMT
On the other hand Budianski applied profiles to them after they were designed so the Goldbug Bumblebee thing could be purely his work and there is no design intent connecting minibots and throttlebots. If it was intended by the designers you would think a cartoon accurate head would have been the option chosen.
Afterall by this point Powermaster Prime was being designed with a fake robot mode chest in order to make him more cartoon accurate.
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Post by Pinwig on Nov 11, 2018 14:12:50 GMT
It was the beginning of the gimmick era. The brief was probably that the Autobot line needed a pocket money price sub-group to replace the minibots. No diaclone moulds left and the aesthetic had changed to bigger, chunkier figures anyway, so the new minibot line followed suit. Keep the SD look, produce chunkier, more robust toys and put in a pull back motor so they have a USP instead of being headmasters. In the context of the rest of the new-look 87 line they make perfect sense for what they are.
I would imagine it was always intentional that Goldbug was Bumblebee. By that point the 'big 4' were established, so given bumblebee's toy had survived right the way through from 84, Hasbro would have been wise to the complaints about the demise of Optimus, so bee got the same upgrade treatment Megatron did.
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Post by jonathan85 on Nov 11, 2018 17:08:54 GMT
I'm voting Rollbar, because he doesn't have any votes, because I vaguely remember him being sort of the leader? And because he 'has the mind of the Autobot Brawn'.... Poor old Rollbar was a very common sight at jumble sales and car boot sales around Glasgow in the 90s. I used to see him all the time, and none of the others. Anyway, I like the Throttlebots and got a few of them in the Classics range. Leaning towards Wideload as he looks nice and different. Jonathan |
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