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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 6:30:35 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 6:33:03 GMT
Week 29: What is the best New Autobot Car on the 1986 UK catalogue?
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 7, 2018 6:37:18 GMT
RUNAMUCK! NNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!
I'm sorry, Numbat. We tried. But I, and the other Runamuckers, will never forget what you did for us...
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 7, 2018 6:46:07 GMT
So. Hotrod, Kup and Blurr.
Don't care for any iof them really. This is where Transformers changed for me (although I did like the likes of Cyclonus, Scourage, Terrorcons). 'Futuristic' cars like these three were just too jarring for little Shockprowl. And I resent them for the whole 'unnecessary replacing of existing characters in The Movie' thing.
I owned Kup though back in the day. Aka Ironhide mark II. I didn't like his thin flat-head, but I did like his big diecast metal chest. I liked pressing it against my lips. Did anyone else like pressing cold diecast against their lips?
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,244
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Post by The Huff on Sept 7, 2018 6:50:57 GMT
Hot Rod will win this week I know, but Kup has always been my favourite!
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Post by blueshift on Sept 7, 2018 8:37:53 GMT
Hot Rod will win this week I know, but Kup has always been my favourite! I voted Kup too, I love his arm ratchets and big die-cast body |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 9:29:08 GMT
The robot's not bad, as long as you've squished the legs closer together, almost like a comic/cartoon Ironhide with very decent arm articulation. But the vehicle is a disaster: again it's like Ironhide, but this time with th bul of the van missing. If it's meant to be a picK-UP (Burns!) truck ten why doesn't the flat bed stretched the length of the read, where's the tailgate to keep things on and why isn't tyhe flatbed recessed more?
Kup's vehicle mode has annoyed me for 33 years!
Blurr's on the other hand is a perfectly good Cybertron vehicle mode, It feels alien and futuristic. Robot mode is OK, but the head is a bit odd! He's not got the arm articulation of the other two though.
But Hot Rod..... In 1986 Hot Rod did feel like a plausible futuristic Earth vehicle. He feels like an Earth car with some design twists to place it 20 years in the future. The clear windscreen, the only one of the three cars this year to have one, with the seats within link it back to the design of the Diaclone toys which came in the previous two years. The robot mode looks nice, he's got two guns and decent arm articulation.
Hot Rod for me every time.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 9:32:30 GMT
There is only one possible answer.
Kup is not a good toy. I was so disappointed when I finally saw one many many years later.
Blurr also has a pish toy.
Hot Rod looks fantastic in both modes and is one of those rare moulds where no other version of that character has bettered it. Other Hot Rod robots have awful backbacks or don;t quite get the car right.
HOT ROD.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 9:35:12 GMT
Hot Rod looks fantastic in both modes and is one of those rare moulds where no other version of that character has bettered it. TFC-13 with all three guns. But essentially the same toy! |
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 9:37:54 GMT
Yes, the TFC-13 (which I regret skipping at the time) is the best ever version of Hot Rod. The best mould plus a targetmaster chum.
-Ralph
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Post by Benn on Sept 7, 2018 9:52:49 GMT
Tough one. I've had all three at one point or another. I remember Blurr's head fell off, and then Galvatron did the same to him in the comic.
Need to think about this. None of them are bad.
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,244
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Post by The Huff on Sept 7, 2018 9:56:24 GMT
Hot Rod is a great toy, but (to me) just feels cheaper and less sturdy than Kup & Blurr. His arm articulation annoyed me as he could only bend at the elbows. But still a very nice toy to this day.
Any truth to the rumour of Tracks not being red due to Hot Rod?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 10:02:35 GMT
You could see how such a rumour started but it would rely on Hot Rod being in development far enough back to affect Tracks' colour choices in production in late 1984.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 10:26:30 GMT
Yes, the TFC-13 (which I regret skipping at the time) is the best ever version of Hot Rod. The best mould plus a targetmaster chum. -Ralph I bought one at the time, sold it, and then go very fortunate hunting for a replacement a few years later. |
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 7, 2018 10:45:27 GMT
Hot Rod will win this week I know, but Kup has always been my favourite! I voted Kup too, I love his arm ratchets and big die-cast body Yes, and did you like putting the cold diecast against your lips? |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 11:49:48 GMT
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tomwe
Empty
Tom reads comics
Posts: 1,037 
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Post by tomwe on Sept 7, 2018 12:02:57 GMT
I really enjoy the Kup toy but Hot Rod is one of those Transformers I remember getting new. He's also the first one I gave to my boy and still remains a favourite of his.
Also, DARE!
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 13:50:04 GMT
This one of those cases where my least liked character (Hot Rod) has a much better toy than my favourite (Kup). I've always been indifferent to Blurr in general. Also his two R's irritate me.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 15:13:24 GMT
Right, before I get onto the toys I'll get out of the way that I'm not keen on the characters. Blurr does no harm but is one of numerous animated Movie characters (Dinobots, Junkions, Wheelie, Perceptor, Blaster) who has a weird way of speaking, and there are simply too many of them. It's not clever writing! Hot Rod only really annoys me because he's obviously Luke Skywalker, and is supposed to be 'young', which makes no sense since TFs are created fully grown up in terms of personality. And Kup annoys me for similar reasons - they've taken the human concept of an old guy and transferred it to a robotic lifeform that doesn't age, with large numbers of them being millions of years old, and who can get new bodies when needed. Kup also annoys me in the comics because he's a war-mongering grumbler who thinks he knows best and undermines his leaders (see him wanting to kill Nebulans in Headmasters #1, grumbling in the issue introducing Spike, not wanting to give Prime a chance to separate Ratchet from Megatron, being unwilling to surrender to Scorponok in order to build an alliance against Unicron, and then at the start of the big battle in 'The Legacy of Unicron' where Rodimus is horrified at the Decepticon attack, Kup is delighted, etc.). He's a less pleasant version of Ironhide, and just the sort of person I try to avoid in real life. He'd be kicked out of most armies for insubordination.
As for the toys, they look better when photographed as a trio than when grouped with the Diaclone 'Robot Cars'. They just don't feel like part of the same toy line. It's a bit like putting Mini Autobots with Throttlebots, or Roadbuster and Whirl with the Robot Cars. They don't feel like the same sort of robot. It's partly because they are designed with more human characteristics, partly the fact that they are futuristic or alien vehicles, and partly the scale. Hot Rod is supposed to be a lowly Autobot who rises from the ranks to become a Prime, but he's already towering over all the other Autobots, as if he's already on Optimus Prime's level.
But that's not a criticism of these toys, just a criticism of grouping them with the Diaclone Robot Cars.
I love Blurr's alien vehicle design. Hot Rod's futuristic Earth car mode is very good, and he still has a transparent windscreen and rubber tyres, which is a major plus point. But I think he'd look better without the massive yellow spoiler, which is so big it dominates the entire vehicle - compare with the more tasteful spoilers on Jazz, Mirage, Red Alert, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.
If it weren't for the too-large spoiler I'd vote for Hot Rod, but I'm going to go for Blurr, just for the nice alien vehicle design.
Martin
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 15:27:55 GMT
For reasons discussed here: tmukhub.proboards.com/post/332523/threadwe are going with the sensible tech-spec ratings, which means original Blurr but Targetmaster Hot Rod and Kup:  .jpg) .jpg) Kup is the strongest (8), Hot Rod the weakest (6). Blurr is the most intelligent (8), the others are average at 5. Blurr is the fastest (10), Kup the slowest (2). Kup has the highest endurance (9), Blurr the lowest (6). As a data courier, Blurr is rank 7, the other two have the warrior's rank (5), although Hot Rod is a cavalier without a horse. Hot Rod and Kup have courage 10, Blurr 8. Blurr and Hot Rod have firepower 7, Kup 5. Kup has the highest skill at 8, Blurr the lowest at 5. Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 18:37:03 GMT
No, Martin, no!
We're not voting on the Target Master versions here!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 18:57:32 GMT
I know we're not.
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 18:59:11 GMT
I think we need a ruling here. We can't mix the TM tech specs with non-TM tech specs!
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 19:04:44 GMT
I believe Martin has presented previous evidence that something is amiss with Kup's tech specs.....
.... especially as they're likely to be up for a vote again as Targetmasters
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 19:04:45 GMT
If we're allowed to talk about the characters of the toys we're voting on, as portrayed in the Movie, cartoons and comics, then we're also allowed to talk about the tech-spec ratings that match those characters, which in Hot Rod and Kup's case is the Targetmaster ratings. We are not discussing the Nebulans or the Targetmaster feature. But for completeness, and a quiet life, here are the silly tech-specs for these three characters:   .jpg) Martin |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 7, 2018 19:07:33 GMT
But for completeness, and a quiet life This is the TMUK forum, nobody gets a quiet life! |
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 7, 2018 19:14:51 GMT
Justice!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 19:18:28 GMT
The silly tech-specs analysis!
Hot Rod is the strongest, with strength 10, but Kup is as strong as Brawn with strength 9.
Hot Rod is the brainiest with intelligence 10, higher than Prowl.
Hot Rod is the fastest with speed 9. Blurr has speed 7.
Hot Rod has endurance 10, Kup 9.
Hot Rod is the leader with rank 10. Kup has the function of warrior, so he has rank... 8.
Blurr and Kup are the bravest, with courage 9. Hot Rod is the least brave at 7.
Hot Rod has skill 10, Kup 8.
Martin
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 19:34:11 GMT
The original text is suspect on all three of them. Normal Hot Rod had a speed of 120 mph and a range of... 4 miles. Targetmaster Hot Rod can go at 330 mph, with a range of 150... mph... which Hasbro apparently corrected to '150 miles' with a sticker worthy of Marvel UK's speech balloon edits. No-one will ever notice! .jpg) Original Blurr could break the sound barrier but ran out of fuel after 10 miles. Targetmaster Blurr has a more modest top speed of 750 mph but a range of 1500 miles. Both Kups have a speed of 100 mph, but one has a range of 5 miles, the other 800 miles. Martin |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 7, 2018 19:37:05 GMT
Martin has checked the speed of sound. It's 767 mph. So TM Blurr isn't far off.
Martin
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