The Great Transformers Poll

[Jim]

Cyclonus. I don't think there's much I don't like about him - he looks great, good mini-con, general interactivity with certain other mini-cons is good, lots of features... The way his mini-con partner triple changes to act as an alternative cockpit is unusual and fun. Just an all-round great package, and that's without the personal attachment I have as mentioned in an earlier post.

All that said, I really like Wheeljack's design and look forward to his upcoming homage.

My experience of the Thrust mould is through the Sunstorm redeco, and I wasn't enamoured of it.

Zero experience of Demolishor or Sideways, but they both look fun.

[Bogatan]

Oops not sure I voted last week, but if I did/had it was for Hoist.

I always say Supercon Prime is the best of Armada. But I tend to to forget two things when I say that.

1, a lot of the added articulation you can get from the mould require the thighs to be swapped so that the moulded detail at the top of them is now at the back where they dont impede hip movement.

2, it wasnt till 2006 that I got Hoist from a car boot sale and was frankly blown away by it. I'd had 3 years to set in stone that Supercon Prime was the best and I still default to that. But Hoist and repaints are fantastic showing that Armada could do articulations and minicon based features at the same time.

[Bogatan]

This week its Sideways. No question I got most of these in 2002 and Sideways was the only one I really spent time with. It feels like a lost G1 Era Headmaster toy, with super articulated double headmaster feature.

Which is odd as I basically like it because its a brick, which is kind of my main complaint with Armada. But some how this feels like a G1 toy with the some bonus articulated mini figures included which is great whereas most Armada felt like modern toy (BW onwards) with reduced articulation which is bad.

[Philip Ayres]

<glares at AndyK for forgetting but aplauds the Hoist support>

This week, from the bottom up:

5: Thrust - NO HANDS, dodgy gimmick, colours that press the TM2 Cybershark buttons and a gimmick with the missile launchers that's been oddly and inexplicably neutered late in the day

4: Sideways - It's doing something different, and the combining Minicons are nice. But none of the heads are great, articulation could be better and no fist holes

3: but someway in front of 4 and not far behind 2, Demolishor - Fun toy, nice gimmicks with the Minicon launcher & chair but it annoys me the missiles only fire on one side

1 and 2 are a fight between the gimmick laden Cyclonus, whose articulation is limited to the forwards/backwards plane and has some plain colours, and the less gimmick laden, more articulated & better coloured Wheeljack who can hold 5mm weapons but has a name and moulded damaged Autobot detail that annoy me.

I have not yet come to a distinct conclusion and my automatic choice from the last few years has come into question the last few weeks.

Another tough one

[that_bluestreak]

tough one this week. i've had a cyclonus and it didn't grab me. i've never experienced demolisher but i don't like the way he looks. sideways i've been playing with recently as i have one listed, it was fun, i was tempted to keep it. thrust and wheeljack i;ve never seen or played with but both look good. i think that means that sideways has it.

[Fortmax2020]

Just dropped some stuff at church for fair tomorrow. Swept the toy stand for converting robots. Got an Armada Laserbeak. Great condition. Sounds still working. Naomi was fascinated. Did have to explain what a video camera was.

[The Doctor]

I never find robots at church fairs!!!

-Ralph

[Fortmax2020]

May 17, 2024 20:25:25 GMT The Doctor said:

I never find robots at church fairs!!!

-Ralph

Let the record state that I invited you to this one weeks ago.

[The Huff]

Demolisher!
Probably the best Armada toy of the lot.

[The Doctor]

May 17, 2024 22:30:57 GMT Fortmax2020 said:

May 17, 2024 20:25:25 GMT The Doctor said:

I never find robots at church fairs!!!

-Ralph

Let the record state that I invited you to this one weeks ago.

Let the record state that many weeks prior to this I invited you to today's Lego show at Mrs Ralph's church.

-Ralph

[Benn]

It'll be a stretch to find Transformers at a Lego show.

[The Doctor]

Not really. I often see Transformers made from Lego at these type of shows.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

We know a lot about the BTS for Armada toys from Aaron Archer. Wheeljack's notes on the wiki make interesting reading: tfwiki.net/wiki/Wheeljack_(Armada)#Notes

Hasbro Transformers lead Aaron Archer at first stated that the resemblance of Wheeljack's head design to Generation 1 Sideswipe was unintentional on Hasbro's part, noting that Takara was responsible and that the Hasbro team was surprised when they received the prototype from Japan. Years later, Archer recalled seeing the head amongst designer Eric Siebenaler's sketches experimenting with a more Generation 1-esque aesthetic.

"I would love to cross-pollinate with Eric on this one, I believe this was one of his first items, that he was probably more responsible for drawing—so like, I did not draw this vehicle ever. Eric did. He did... I think he did the deco sheet? I had heavy say in what the feature was going to be, but he drew it all out. And I believe I remember drawings of those heads and they were very—I wouldn't call them Sideswipe heads or Wheeljack heads or whatever, but they were informed by his exploration of the G1 head aesthetic, which is very much the classic, it looks like they're wearing helmets, like they're metal men wearing helmets of some sort. Like they could almost take them off. So I feel like that is as much his exploration into the early aesthetic of heads as it was a direct homage of any kind—that's what I recall. And again, this definitely a lot of his design vision in this."

Aaron Archer via The Toy Armada, YouTube, 2022/09/03

During Archer's time as ORSON, he indicated unawareness of several features of the toy:

* When a fan asked about Wheeljack having only one articulated wrist, Archer did not know why this was done.

* When asked about Wheeljack having knees while most Armada figures seemed to lack them, the reply was "Wheeljack has knees?"

There's definite hint of "I didn't know what was going on"/"wasn't in full control" there.

There's some more hints of this later....

[The Doctor]

They were pumping out a vast amount of toys at the time, to be fair. It's a production line. I wouldn't expect everything to be clearly remembered by those who worked on them.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I finally got to opening Hoist last night, being sure to take a deep breath of the twenty year old air trapped inside the bubble as I did.

He is indeed a good toy with some lovely details like the expanding armpits. Mine has an annoying flaw in that the ratchets in the non-digger arm aren't aligned properly so in vehicle mode that side doesn't go horizontal. It's either sticking up or down, the other side is straight.

Very posable. Fun punching action. Refute's rolling pincer action is just brilliant but - what is the blue peg with the spring for? Next to the minicon port at the back of the digger arm? It isn't in the instructions and I can't see what it does.

[The Doctor]

Every release of the mould has the ratchet issue.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

May 20, 2024 21:15:17 GMT Pinwig said:

but - what is the blue peg with the spring for? Next to the minicon port at the back of the digger arm? It isn't in the instructions and I can't see what it does.

It was designed to lock the shovel arm, so you can't push on on it, and that it would only be released by attaching a Minicon. A Minicon will release it but my blue peg can be just folded back.

I imagine the original intent was "gimmick only works with Minicon attached, which would have been good, but it didn't quite work out.

[Pinwig]

May 20, 2024 21:33:47 GMT The Doctor said:

Every release of the mould has the ratchet issue.

-Ralph

Really? Well I suppose it's reassuring mine isn't duff, but that's pretty crap. It's quite annoying. I'm not sure I would vote for him as the best super-con if he has an assembly flaw that means half his truck's wonky and he has a peg with a spring that doesn't do anything. 

I think Refute may actually be the best Minicon ever though. I have to stop working every few minutes just to push him across the desk. Possibly the best fidget toy ever made. 

Nip nip nip! 

[legios]

I'd have to give Cyclonus my second favourite position here. He is a lot of fun as a toy, and I love the way he essentially changes from a sort of pure transport helo, to a sort of Hind-D style "gunship with some infantry stuffed uncomfortably in the back" kind of look. The gear gimmick is also a lot of fun on him as well.

But my favourite has to be Demolishor. The humanoid mode has some wonderfully odd proportions, properly looking more like an alien robot than a metal bloke. I love that he makes "finger guns" literal and I think his transformation is interesting without being too complicated. The fact that he can be a triple changer, with a weird two-legged weapon platform mode like a Southern Cross Spartas tank is just icing on a very delicious cake.

By contrast Thrust kinda feels very "the money ran out, most of it before we got to this one .".

Wheeljack is an odd one though. In theory I really like it - has a lot of shelf-presence, looks great in both modes. The scarifying their brand of alleigance to mark their rebellion is nice and hard-core. But for some reason now that I have owned one... I'm not actually feeling it at all. Windsheer is neat though, really like them. (But I can't really strip out the Mini-con by itself when I can donate a complete Wheeljack back to whence it came. :-) )

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

Finishes tomorrow. Currently Demolishor 6, everyone else 7 between them.

Original Voyager moulds tomorrow. And there's a slight disparity in their distribution between the factions........

[Philip Ayres]

That does mean I need to make up my mind on this week though....

[The Doctor]

You can't vote Cyclonus because he is not G1 Cyclonus!

-Ralph

[Benn]

Nor Thrust or Wheeljack, really...

[Philip Ayres]

May 17, 2024 9:55:24 GMT Philip Ayres said:

<glares at AndyK for forgetting but aplauds the Hoist support>

This week, from the bottom up:

5: Thrust - NO HANDS, dodgy gimmick, colours that press the TM2 Cybershark buttons and a gimmick with the missile launchers that's been oddly and inexplicably neutered late in the day

4: Sideways - It's doing something different, and the combining Minicons are nice. But none of the heads are great, articulation could be better and no fist holes

3: but someway in front of 4 and not far behind 2, Demolishor - Fun toy,UCTANTLYnice gimmicks with the Minicon launcher & chair but it annoys me the missiles only fire on one side

1 and 2 are a fight between the gimmick laden Cyclonus, whose articulation is limited to the forwards/backwards plane and has some plain colours, and the less gimmick laden, more articulated & better coloured Wheeljack who can hold 5mm weapons but has a name and moulded damaged Autobot detail that annoy me.

I have not yet come to a distinct conclusion and my automatic choice from the last few years has come into question the last few weeks.

Another tough one

RELUCTANTLY, and only cos it was so difficult making a decision between them, Wheeljack

They are VERY different toys, with Cyclonus focused on the gimmick and Wheeljack on the moulding.

What it came down to in the end was I'm not keen on the colours or face (head) on Cyclonus - it's Powerlinx Battles and Energon repaints are far superior and I think I remember now why I kept the green "Springer" version over the original. But the gimmickry in Cyclonus really is superbly although sadly my repaint will no longer power the Minicon's gun or attached gear gimmick Minicon.

Wheeljack looks good. Chunky and solid. It's only real let down is the gimmick which, while it works, is knocked into a hat by what Cyclonus can do.

[The Huff]

Wheeljack is quite a big toy too isn't he?

[Philip Ayres]

That he is

[Pinwig]

These ones I have all opened. Tough choice. Cyclonus, Demolishor and Wheeljack are all great. I think I'll go Cyclonus on the grounds I'm a sucker for a helicopter and I think he was the first Armada toy I bought.

[Philip Ayres]

Demolishor wins

[Philip Ayres]

Week 327: What is the best Armada Original Mould Maxcon?

Red Alert tfwiki.net/wiki/Red_Alert_(Armada)#Armada
Longarm tfwiki.net/wiki/Longarm_(Armada)#Armada

Starscream tfwiki.net/wiki/Starscream_(Armada)/toys#Armada
Swindle tfwiki.net/wiki/Swindle_(Armada)#Armada

Scavenger tfwiki.net/wiki/Scavenger_(Armada)#Armada
Rollbar tfwiki.net/wiki/Rollbar_(Armada)#Armada

Overload tfwiki.net/wiki/Overload_(Armada)#Armada
Rollout tfwiki.net/wiki/Rollout_(Armada)#Armada

[Philip Ayres]

Repaints:

Red Alert has a Powerlinx repaint, an Energon exclusive as Prowl and a Movie as Inferno

Starscream is repainted as Tghundercracker (Starscream Super Mode in Japan) and in his Energon toy's co,lours in a VS Pack with the aforementioned Prowl

He's remoulded as Skywarp who's repainted as Universe Ramjet

Scavenger is repainted as Energon Treadshot, which is very likely an intended Powerlinx Battles repaint for him. Worldwide this was a hard to get toy, in the UK it shelf warmed

Overload has a clear repaint in the Japanese Magna Convoy set. He was repainted as Energon Ultra Magnus, and boosted up to Command Class by adding a repaint of the Space team. Like Treadshot it is very likely an intended Powerlinx Battles repaint for him. Worldwide this was a hard to get toy, in the UK it shelf warmed. He also has a yellow repaint in Energon in a Costco boxset with a repainted Armada Superbase Optimus Prime. TV Magazine in Japan do a blue version and Botcon repaint him as Sentinel Maximus.