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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 24, 2018 9:06:46 GMT
I always thought the moulding on the end of Huffer's exhaust pipes looked like hands. Ditto the "laser" fingers on Cosmos.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 24, 2018 9:09:23 GMT
Pipes is good but I agree about him having no hands. Wheelie is a fab weird alien robot. Was he the first proper Transformer? Was the line all recolours of other toy lines before this? Possibly. Astrotrain and the Special Teams appears first in Transformers, but were intended for Diaclone. Ditto one of the Deluxe Insecticons which was intended for the line the others came from but was never released. The really odd toys prior to 1986 are the 1985 Minibots: There's nothing else at that time made for Transformers but there's also no indication they were intended for somewhere else! So unless evidence to the contrary turns up, they're the first toys created for Transformers.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 24, 2018 12:14:43 GMT
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,243
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Post by The Huff on Aug 24, 2018 12:27:08 GMT
Pipes was great - I remember buying him and pretending he could transform into a clone of the almighty Huffer (which he sort of can). Really got play value out of him and as I got him the same day I watched 'Secret Of The Sword' on the cinema, he still reminds me of that film. But the new Mini Autobot that I really wanted first was Wheelie because he was so unusual. This was before I see Hot Rod, Kup & co, so was such a neat little space buggy. Wheelie get's my vote! I also didn't mind him in the Movie/Cartoon series (But not the Headmasters dub!)
Hubcap was, as Edmund Blackadder would say, as pointless as when they translated the book 'How to talk French' into French!
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Post by reilly2040 on Aug 24, 2018 12:28:52 GMT
Tricky one this. The only one I've owned was Outback, and I'm tempted to give him my vote based purely on that, but really they all look good. I'm going to throw a vote Swerve's way though. I always liked Gears, and the red and white recolour looks nice. Overall I think the robot mode looks a bit better than Outback's, but really if I was given any of this week's bunch, I think I'd have been happy.
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 24, 2018 13:38:53 GMT
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Jim
Thunderjet
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Post by Jim on Aug 24, 2018 13:52:34 GMT
Is Pipes even a remould of Huffer? He always struck me as being a completely different mould, they don't appear to share parts and don't even transform in quite the same way really. I think he just gets lumped in with Huffer because he's a truck and the others are all remoulds.
EDIT: I see the cab section looks pretty much the same, but otherwise it's a very extensive retool...
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 24, 2018 13:56:26 GMT
You might be right there. The cab shell does look like a remould, but there's not much else.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 14:49:50 GMT
Yeah, this new information on Pipes has sent me into voting quiver and disarray! He's like a completely new figure! I may actually vote for him, even though I've never seen one in the plastic let alone owned one!
I would say though I will not be voting Outback. That mold just doesn't suit a normal face. Only Brawn's alien face fits. Outback's (slightly grinning?) face looks odd. The arms don't work on Outback either.
Not voting Hubcap, 'cos he should have been a different colour.
I really liked Tailgate and Swerve as a kid.
Wheelie sucks ass.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 14:50:44 GMT
I always thought the moulding on the end of Huffer's exhaust pipes looked like hands. Ditto the "laser" fingers on Cosmos. Hmmmm... laser fingers....
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 24, 2018 16:09:50 GMT
Interesting to see that Wheelie's tech-specs character is at odds with the Movie (according to this he's on Earth rather than Quintesson), though Bob Budiansky fixed this in Transformers Universe: www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=WheeliePipes has the most intriguing character ( www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Pipes). Tailgate is, as TFU puts it, "not a well robot" ( www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Tailgate). Pipes is the strongest and least skilful, Hubcap the weakest and most skilful (followed by Wheelie). Hubcap and Swerve are the most intelligent. Wheelie is the fastest, Hubcap and Pipes the slowest. Wheelie has the greatest endurance, followed by Pipes and Swerve, Hubcap the least. Hubcap and Tailgate have the highest rank. Outback is only rank 4, which is unusually low, lower than those with the basic warrior function who typically have rank 5. Wheelie has the greatest firepower! Outback and Pipes have moderate firepower 5. We can see their guns. The other three don't have any firepower to speak of. I wonder what Tailgate has that gives him firepower 2 when Hubcap and Swerve only have 1? Wheelie wins on speed, endurance, courage and firepower! Martin
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 17:23:52 GMT
Awww great Techspecs Rundown there!
Yeah, rank 4 is unusual, I can only think of a couple of Dinobots and Twintwist having 4. Even Blot manages a 4! (wasn't Pretender Beast Snarler's rank 3? Even though he's often portayed in a leadership role?) Hubcap's endurance of 3 is very low. Lowest I'm aware of before that was Cliffjumper and Windcharger's 4, and... someone else but I can't remember now... Kickback? Buzzsaw?
Swerve's a 'specialist' type, so you'd expect a rank of 6, like Beachcomber or Huffer, whereas Tailgate, a scout, is a 6. Then again Hound was a 6, but he's far smarter than Tailgate. Hound is a 'go and actually find out stuff' scout, whereas Tailgate is a 'see what's over that hill and report back' scout. And Wheelie, speed 8 and endurance 9?! Blimey, he could blast along at -checks techspecs- well whatever speed he can go at for ages and ages!
I agree with Martin the Techspecs Wizzard that Pipes is the most interesting character. By far, actually. Swerve is a bit 'he's a really bad driver', and Outback is a bit 'he's a really bad driver' and Tailgate is a bit 'he's doesn't drive at all he just gets himself magnetically towed everywhere'. But Pipes' collectormania is unique and really stands out (I think we can all associate with Pipes' collectormania...). Wheelie's personality is actually moderately interesting, if only he wasn't so bloody annoying in the movie...
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Post by blueshift on Aug 24, 2018 17:25:02 GMT
Awww great Techspecs Rundown there! Yeah, rank 4 is unusual, I can only think of a couple of Dinobots and Twintwist having 4. Even Blot manages a 4! (wasn't Pretender Beast Snarler's rank 3? Even though he's often portayed in a leadership role?) Hubcap's endurance of 3 is very low. Lowest I'm aware of before that was Cliffjumper and Windcharger's 4, and... someone else but I can't remember now... Kickback? Buzzsaw? Swerve's a 'specialist' type, so you'd expect a rank of 6, like Beachcomber or Huffer, whereas Tailgate, a scout, is a 6. Then again Hound was a 6, but he's far smarter than Tailgate. Hound is a 'go and actually find out stuff' scout, whereas Tailgate is a 'see what's over that hill and report back' scout. And Wheelie, speed 8 and endurance 9?! Blimey, he could blast along at -checks techspecs- well whatever speed he can go at for ages and ages! I agree with Martin the Techspecs Wizzard that Pipes is the most interesting character. By far, actually. Swerve is a bit 'he's a really bad driver', and Outback is a bit 'he's a really bad driver' and Tailgate is a bit 'he's doesn't drive at all he just gets himself magnetically towed everywhere'. But Pipes' collectormania is unique and really stands out (I think we can all associate with Pipes' collectormania...). Wheelie's personality is actually moderately interesting, if only he wasn't so bloody annoying in the movie... If the lowest rank is 4 then surely that might as well be 1. You should always use the full range of the scale!!!!!
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 17:25:18 GMT
Yep, I'm voting Pipes.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 17:29:14 GMT
Awww great Techspecs Rundown there! Yeah, rank 4 is unusual, I can only think of a couple of Dinobots and Twintwist having 4. Even Blot manages a 4! (wasn't Pretender Beast Snarler's rank 3? Even though he's often portayed in a leadership role?) Hubcap's endurance of 3 is very low. Lowest I'm aware of before that was Cliffjumper and Windcharger's 4, and... someone else but I can't remember now... Kickback? Buzzsaw? Swerve's a 'specialist' type, so you'd expect a rank of 6, like Beachcomber or Huffer, whereas Tailgate, a scout, is a 6. Then again Hound was a 6, but he's far smarter than Tailgate. Hound is a 'go and actually find out stuff' scout, whereas Tailgate is a 'see what's over that hill and report back' scout. And Wheelie, speed 8 and endurance 9?! Blimey, he could blast along at -checks techspecs- well whatever speed he can go at for ages and ages! I agree with Martin the Techspecs Wizzard that Pipes is the most interesting character. By far, actually. Swerve is a bit 'he's a really bad driver', and Outback is a bit 'he's a really bad driver' and Tailgate is a bit 'he's doesn't drive at all he just gets himself magnetically towed everywhere'. But Pipes' collectormania is unique and really stands out (I think we can all associate with Pipes' collectormania...). Wheelie's personality is actually moderately interesting, if only he wasn't so bloody annoying in the movie... If the lowest rank is 4 then surely that might as well be 1. You should always use the full range of the scale!!!!! Well, possibly, Blue', possibly. But, I think 'Warrior' is quite an honoured position. A Warrior- noble, trusted. Maybe ranks 1 to 3 are 'worker' ranks, 4 is, I dunno, soldier, but 5?! THAT'S WARRIOR!
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Post by blueshift on Aug 24, 2018 17:31:50 GMT
Rank 5 is the mid rank of the organisation. Warriors can't all be middle management!!
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2018 17:41:33 GMT
Warriors are trusted, highly-trained. Plus, 'cos of how techspecs work, it's not middle management. Take strength- 2 is low low low. 3 is low. 4 is poor. 5 is, I dunno, low average. 6 is high average. 7 is good. 8 is very good. 9 is immense. And 10 is... 10 IS OPTIMUS PRIME, BABY! Ranks in techspecs work a similar way. 5 is low-averageish. Lower than that, is... poor. So 'Warriors', 'bots that the Prowls the Transformers' world would expect to do their duty, be reliable, and be good at... war, should be mid-range. Martin the Techspecs Wizzard helped me realise this yonks ago in a techspecs rank thread...
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,243
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Post by The Huff on Aug 24, 2018 19:52:03 GMT
This was the year that they did away with weaknesses which was shame.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 24, 2018 20:44:48 GMT
Voted Swerve, as I thought I probably would. There's little to choose between the four Not Hubcap repaints so I went for the one I've had the longest. Picked up, along with some other bits, off a stall on Epsom market in the late 90s. One of my longest surviving G1 TFs now.
He's been lucky and had some good attention paid to him in recent years, thanks James, and got a rather fab Legends toy too.
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Aug 24, 2018 22:42:37 GMT
I would say though I will not be voting Outback. That mold just doesn't suit a normal face. Only Brawn's alien face fits. Outback's (slightly grinning?) face looks odd. The arms don't work on Outback either. This is so true! He's like when in some kind of SF/horror thing a humanoid face turns up on some wrongly sized/shaped alien. A little unnerving.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 25, 2018 0:36:03 GMT
HEAR, THE GALVAJIM SPEAK, MORTALS!
And vote Pipes....
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 25, 2018 5:11:21 GMT
Where's Hubcap's arms in this picture?
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 25, 2018 7:02:55 GMT
Pushed into the sides.
Phil must stop using the wrong Tailgate/Hubcap picture!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 25, 2018 7:07:21 GMT
Tailgate looks rubbish in those pictures.
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Post by The Doctor on Aug 25, 2018 7:27:25 GMT
VOTE TAILGATE.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 25, 2018 7:44:50 GMT
Tailgate looks rubbish in those pictures. The yellow with red face look isn't a good one on him and isn't on Hubcap either!
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Post by Jaymz on Aug 25, 2018 10:13:20 GMT
Here's a question. Up until now, I think it's understood that the toys were designed as toys, and then Bob Budiansky gave them characters, and the comics and cartoons created stories featuring characters resembling those toys. Was that the case with the Movie toys, or were those toys created specifically to represent characters that they needed for the Movie? Is Wheelie an attempt to make a toy out of an animation character model? Martin I believe it was Hasbro designs, which were given to the Takara engineers to create toys from. The animation model sheets would have come from the design sheets too [be simplified for animation]. Phil, if I get a chance I'll go digging through my toys and see if I have an 87 catalogue. Should have at least one in with a Trainbot. Minis, I did vote Tailgate as I like the Windcharger mould, but I think I'm gonna change to Pipes with his seat nipples.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Aug 25, 2018 10:18:26 GMT
I think I'm gonna change to Pipes with his seat nipples. They're shelves! To display the useless treasures that he finds! Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 26, 2018 6:54:27 GMT
Here's the complete version of the 1986 Toyfair catalogue pic showing the Minibots. Obviously Tailgate and Hubcap are the most different but there's some colour changes on most of the new toys:
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 26, 2018 8:13:44 GMT
Hubcap looks great there in white. Tailgate looks terrible. I just cannot now unsee how weird outback looks with this face. Lots of read faces in that picture....
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