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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 21, 2018 16:26:56 GMT
Re: the Autobots not having a tanker truck, they get one eventually with the Micromaster Combiner Tanker Truck Transport You'd have thought one whose tanker unfolded into a refueling/repair station would have been a useful thing to have and an obvious toy to do....
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Post by Llama God on Sept 21, 2018 21:24:51 GMT
Sorry but Broadside, jet and AIRCRAFT CARRIER, just doesn't work. Aircraft carriers are huge, it's... it's too big a shift. I know TF scales are bonkers, but Broadside being an aircraft carrier is just daft. He can land on himself! Which is probably like masturbation for Cybertronians.
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Post by Jaymz on Sept 21, 2018 22:34:27 GMT
This raises the issue of how Broadside's head in the comics (and cartoon?) is completely different from the toy. Not only does he have a face with a mouth, but his head is blue with sticky-outy bits. I wonder why it's so different from the toy? Sandstorm's head in the stories is basically the same but with a face with a mouth. Is Springer's toy so close to his character because the toy was designed for the Movie? Broadside's animation model is based on the prototype toy, which is in the catalogue photo. Although there is a 2nd animation model for Broadside which is closer to the released toy, that was used in some S3 episodes. Springer, yes. The character model came first, the toy was based on that, as was the simplified animation model. Poll! I went for Sandstorm as it's the best of the four. Octane suffered from a cheapening of the initial design:
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 22, 2018 7:03:07 GMT
A very difficult one, as I don't particularly like any of them due to None of them are quite as good ad the previous year's Diaclone originated offerings. I've owned all four nd currently own none. REALLY don't like Sandstorm or Octane. Octane's grown on me a bit over the years, and does have a name appropriate to his ground vehicle mode. Sandstorm's vehicle just annoy me, the long flat hellicopter tail that turns into a surfboard on the robot's back. Springer has a decent helicopter, and I like the sword formed from the helicopter blades BUT IT ISN'T A LIGHTSABRE! However the sides of the back of his ground vehicle look like they're missing and his head is far too small. His popularity is down to his fiction. I think it's going to have to be Broadside: unique to that point vehicle mode, OK jet, nice weapons.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 22, 2018 7:52:53 GMT
GOOD MAN, PHIL. I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU.
-Ralph
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Sept 22, 2018 8:41:01 GMT
I never has a problem with Broadside's scale - like many Transformers, I just assumed he turned into a smaller version of the real thing that was just a disguise. It's also a clever strategy if the Decepticon jets are swooping down on him from above, they will think that they are further away then they actually are, leaving Broadside the advantage to suddenly transform and blast them before they expect it.
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Post by Pinwig on Sept 22, 2018 9:58:58 GMT
I am overjoyed by the outpouring of affection for Sandstorm here, which has taken me by surprise. He was always a bit of a nobody in media, but my favourite triple by a long way. As a subset of six, they're a really odd bunch, with the Diaclone stylings of Blitzwing and Astrotrain bleeding into Springer and Octane, and the Hasbro new order more evident in Sandstorm. Sandstorm feels like a next generation toy, whereas Springer feels like a backward step at that point compared to chaps like Scourge and Hot Rod.
As a six they really don't fit together, but Sandstorm has the best proportioned robot and two really nice alt modes. He still feels fresh and new to me because of his quiet presence in any story. Springer is really defined by his movie appearance and feels of his time, but Sandstorm transcends that for me. Love him.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 22, 2018 12:29:04 GMT
It's also a clever strategy if the Decepticon jets are swooping down on him from above, they will think that they are further away then they actually are, leaving Broadside the advantage to suddenly transform and blast them before they expect it. I love this theory. And Soundwave turns into a giant cassette player that the Autobots think is right in their face when he's actually a long way away. It all makes sense now! Martin
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 22, 2018 15:23:30 GMT
But but but the Strike Planes will have scanners and targeting computers and shit like that, wouldn't they?
"I GOT TONE! THUNDERCRACKER- FOX TWO!"
or or or
"TARGETING SCANNER LOCKED! TOR-PEEEEDOOOES... AWAYYY!!!"
or or or
"Your eyes can decieve you, don't trust them..."
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 22, 2018 15:29:53 GMT
Bob Budiansky speaks: www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Broadside"In aircraft carrier mode, Broadside expands his form to a 1200-foot length, giving him the capacity of landing jet aircraft and carrying other Autobots and vehicles. Having little offensive capability of his own in this mode, Broadside relies on these "passengers" for protection. His titanium-steel hull and deck protects him from most artillery fire, but he's vulnerable to high-energy beam weapons. An internal fusion reactor powers him in this mode, allowing him a speed of 40 knots and a range of 15,000 miles." Martin
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Post by Benn on Sept 22, 2018 16:56:36 GMT
It's still crazy and I love it.
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 22, 2018 17:19:13 GMT
It's.... It's just TOO crazy....
"Expands"? I...
Sorry, Bob, I know you only had what was in front of you to work with...
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 22, 2018 19:40:01 GMT
The magic of imagination.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 22, 2018 19:52:04 GMT
But! It! I! 1010101010010101111010010110001110100101
Imagination I have, Docktor, but a 'normal' sized Transformer "expanding" into a FREAKIN' MASSIVE Aircraft Carrier just has no place in story-telling. SO SAYS THE LOGIC OF PROWL. ....and most likely Shockwave 'n'all.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 22, 2018 20:05:50 GMT
Imagination I have, Docktor, but a 'normal' sized Transformer "expanding" into a FREAKIN' MASSIVE Aircraft Carrier just has no place in story-telling. SO SAYS THE LOGIC OF PROWL. ....and most likely Shockwave 'n'all. But not Soundwave, 'cos he's too busy expanding from a tape player into a 30-foot robot. Martin
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The Huff
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Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Sept 22, 2018 21:19:12 GMT
Nah - a robot losing weight and mass is fine in my imagination but gaining it is another matter. I mean - why not just be big all the time? For instance, if combiners can mass shift hundreds of times their size when they combine, why not just do that anyway and have five or six giant giant robots running around?
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 22, 2018 21:45:26 GMT
Nah - a robot losing weight and mass is fine in my imagination but gaining it is another matter. I mean - why not just be big all the time? For instance, if combiners can mass shift hundreds of times their size when they combine, why not just do that anyway and have five or six giant giant robots running around? Yes. Yes this exactly. Gaining mass just doesn't work in a story-telling way. And I'm from the future, I should know.
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Post by jonathan85 on Sept 22, 2018 21:57:52 GMT
This is quite hard, because it's a fairly unassuming bunch IMO. I none of them as a kid first hand (Astrotrain was the only triple changer I had) so there's no nostalgia here either. Eventually got Sandstorm and Octane from the Barras market in Glasgow but they were both quite battered by that point.
Hmmm.
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Post by Pinwig on Sept 22, 2018 22:01:03 GMT
It's very simple Jonathan. Vote Sandstorm.
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 22, 2018 22:21:26 GMT
He is right, Jonathan. I should know... I am from the future...
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 23, 2018 5:44:23 GMT
Nah - a robot losing weight and mass is fine in my imagination but gaining it is another matter. What about Astrotrain expanding in shuttle mode to carry his fellow Decepticons in the Movie and 'Space Pirates'? And the Micromasters being human-sized when in the wrestling ring but sometimes being normal-sized cars when on the road (big enough to carry humans as passengers)? My theory is that some of them are engineered to gain size/matter relative to their 'natural' robot size but only to form simple objects, not ones with complex articulation - so Astrotrain and Broadside can't enlarge to super-size and still function as robots. Of course, Hank Pym can become Ant-Man and Giant-Man... Maybe he knows something the TFs don't. Martin
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 23, 2018 5:47:23 GMT
Or maybe Unicron is just a normal TF whose disguise mode was a space-hopper, but who learnt the secret of gaining super-size without limit!
Martin
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Post by Jaymz on Sept 23, 2018 10:20:58 GMT
Reminds me of Overkill's weakness on his Universe profile: Weaknesses: A defect in Overkill's transformation circuitry often results in him not being able to complete his transformations. Specifically, he transforms from cassette to tyrannosaurus, but he's unable to grow to his full size. He remains the size of the cassette. When he's stuck at this size he's no more of a threat than a particularly vicious rat.
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Post by blueshift on Sept 23, 2018 10:23:21 GMT
Reminds me of Overkill's weakness on his Universe profile: Weaknesses: A defect in Overkill's transformation circuitry often results in him not being able to complete his transformations. Specifically, he transforms from cassette to tyrannosaurus, but he's unable to grow to his full size. He remains the size of the cassette. When he's stuck at this size he's no more of a threat than a particularly vicious rat. I remember reading a fanfic from years ago where Slugfest had the opposite problem and transformed into a stegosaurus-sized cassette tape.
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Post by legios on Sept 23, 2018 19:11:51 GMT
Reminds me of Overkill's weakness on his Universe profile: Weaknesses: A defect in Overkill's transformation circuitry often results in him not being able to complete his transformations. Specifically, he transforms from cassette to tyrannosaurus, but he's unable to grow to his full size. He remains the size of the cassette. When he's stuck at this size he's no more of a threat than a particularly vicious rat. One of the most endearing things about him. I love the mental image of this tiny T-Rex threatening people with a high-pitched little roar. It amuses me hugely. Karl
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Post by Shockprowl on Sept 23, 2018 19:31:40 GMT
I never knew that about Overkill! Brilliant!
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Post by Bogatan on Sept 23, 2018 19:57:27 GMT
And now I need Overkill.
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Post by Bogatan on Sept 23, 2018 19:58:25 GMT
I may already have Overkill, until now I havent cared enough to remember.
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Posts: 4,241
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Post by The Huff on Sept 23, 2018 20:00:44 GMT
I may already have Overkill, until now I havent cared enough to remember. He has been trying to get your attention for ages, but is stuck in cassette size so you can't hear him calling you for help.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 23, 2018 20:07:19 GMT
I may already have Overkill, until now I havent cared enough to remember. If you boughtnall three Encore tape packs then you have him
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