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Zob's Thoughts on Titans Return Highbrow, Mindwipe, and Wolfwire
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Zobovor
Sep 4, 2016, 2:07:26 AM9/4/16
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Somehow, going out to breakfast this morning ended up turning into an all-day shopping trip with the wife and kids. It culminated in a trip to Target where I was pleasantly surprised to see one each of Wolfwire and Highbrow and Mindwipe, literally the only Transformers on the pegs. So, there's that. (Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
Can I just say how amazing it is that this entire toy line is celebrating the 1987 characters? They get so little love, and suddenly here we are with this incredible, full-blown tribute line. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from a dream, because this is exactly the sort of thing that my subconscious mind would come up with. All I can do is enjoy the ride as long as I can, because I know this can't last forever.
HIGHBROW and XORT
Somewhere around here I have a headless and weaponless G1 Highbrow toy, donated to me by a kid named Andrew Hunt who was starting to outgrow childish toys. (I tried to get him to give me his Targetmaster Scourge, too, but he was reluctant to do so because it was a gift from his grandmother. Yes, I remember stuff like this.) Anyway, the original Highbrow was a chunky Playskool abomination, with only a handful of moving parts to his name, a vastly oversimplified transformation, and an incredibly blocky vehicle mode that couldn't possibly get off the ground in real life. It's probably my very least favorite of the original Headmaster designs (and the fact that the character is a haughty know-it-all didn't exactly make me want to rush out and buy the toy).
The new version is an incredible tribute. A little smaller than the 1987 edition, of course, but very authentic in look and feel and transformation. He's predominantly grey and blue, and the blue is a bit darker than the G1 toy, closer to the way Highbrow appears in animation. He's got elbows that bend and swivel, fists that pivot as part of the transformation (and can pivot both to the inside or the outside of his wrists), shoulders that rotate and pivot out to the sides, hips that move in three directions, and knees that bend quite a bit due to the hollow lower legs. He's a dynamo of articulation, missing only a swiveling waist. His robot head and face is based on the squared-off Nosecone-like design rather than the more stylized Hasbro toy head. It's so great. (He's got a Blurr-like paint application where his blue knees have been painted a slightly different grey-blue shade. I can't imagine why somebody thought this was necessary.)
Gort's original name was a tribute to the robot character from the film the Day The Earth Stood Still (the same film from which the Star Wars characters Klaatu and Barada and Nikto borrowed their names). It's been changed to Xort, which is still sufficiently alien-sounding (some of the original Nebulan names seemed to allude to their Transformer partners in some way, while other names were just gibberish). Xort doesn't seem to be modeled after the original Gort figure the way a lot of Titan Masters have been; Gort had a distinctive asymmetrical chest design that isn't reproduced here. He actually shares a body type with Fracas, the partner for Scourge (which means that Highbrow gets the cheap snap-on legs instead of the ones held in place with a metal pin). I guess it was inevitable that they eventually started recycling those molds. Funny how every Decepticon Headmaster has gotten a unique, authentic partner but the Autobots don't. Usually, it's the Decepticons who get short shrift.
Also, it used to be that most of the original Nebulans were made of plastic colors not shared by their Transformer partners (for example, Grax had lime green arms and legs, a color not in evidence anywhere on Skullcruncher). This helped to make them look like they were add-on technology that wasn't always part of that Transformer's design. Titan Masters mini-figures tend to match their bigger partners more closely. So, instead of a unique dark grey color, Xort is just more light grey and blue. With a blue head and arms and legs and a light grey body, his color mapping reads as Rippersnapper the Terrorcon, though, to my eyes.
Transformation to twin helicopter mode is pretty close to the G1 toy with a twist or two. His pelvis telescopes dramatically like Titans Return Scourge, and his robot legs fold up into themselves like Beast Machines Mirage. The fins on the sides of his legs are thin enough that even when they're conjoined together, they're still a more convincing helicopter tail than the fat, thick faux-feet on the G1 toy. The arms stay where they are (and the side wings do not fold up as per the G1 version) and the canopy swings up and around from his back like you'd expect. One clever feature is that his chest panel pokes out slightly as per his Sunbow animation model, but it can tuck away and lay flat when he transforms. This wasn't necessary at all but, like the shoulder wheels on Astrotrain, it matches his G1 portrayal and really helps to sell the character.
Helicopter mode has a single Autobot symbol on the center of the fuselage (G1 toy had a symbol on each wing). The canopy is translucent red, like the G1 toy, which makes Xort appear pink and black. The helicopter blades don't collapse like the G1 toy, and each rotor is made of two blades instead of three. They're also close enough to each other than they could potentially interfere with each other when he's in flight. (I'm sure it's possible to rig them together and get their timing just right so that the blades don't get in each other's way, like a pair of windshield wipers, but it still bothers me that they're so close.) Instructions don't mention that he has one flip-out nosecone, and his twin guns (made of blue plastic but painted entirely gunmetal except the handles) appear to have the rear landing wheels molded into them, but I can't really figure out the best way to get him to roll. The guns can mount to the underside of the wings (either the tips or the centers) and he can balance on them if you're not worried about wheels per se. The guns can also connect together and have mini-pegs that allow Xort to sit in it like a vehicle; you can connect it to either side of Highbrow's nose like sort sort of aerial sidecar.
I can't get over how great this toy is. For years, we were lucky if Hasbro assigned a G1 name to an otherwise unrelated new toy and we were just expected to accept it as a close-enough, good-enough upgrade that kinda-sorta worked on some levels. This is a loving and accurate tribute to a comparatively obscure, fourth- or fifth-tier Transformers character and it's done so well. I never expected to see this kind of series-wide update, let alone one done with such devotion and care.
WOLFWIRE and MONXO
For the sake of my sanity I'm just going to continue to refer to this character as Weirdwolf and Monzo. (Honestly, the weird thing is not the wolf, but the fact that somebody else somewhere apparently though the name "Weirdwolf" was marketable enough to seize the trademark!)
Like Highbrow, he original Weirdwolf was also a huge chunkmeister, an easy-to-manipulate and nigh-indestructible toy meant for a younger age set than the uber-fragile Japanese toys from the Diaclone days. He was fat and chunky as a robot which means he only got worse in wolf mode. They drew him far more lanky and well-proportioned in the cartoon and comic books, which only serves to illustrate how blocky the G1 toy really was.
The new Weirdwolf is far more sleek and streamlined. His colors read correctly, although Gustavo may not like him since he's got two slightly different shades of yellow plastic and a third shade of yellow paint that doesn't quite match either. He's armed with an impressively-long sword-tail (that includes pegs on either side so you can attach it to stuff sideways) and a big boom-boom cannon that looks like something out of the Hero Mashes toy line (it sure looks long enough that you could stuff a child-safe missile inside the barrel, though it does not come with one). His head is based on the G1 toy, but the paint application for his eyes/face seems to extend well past the point where his optic sensors actually end, like Combiner Wars Drag Strip, giving him almost girly eyelashes. He is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows (both pivot and swivel joints), wrists, waist, hips, knees (pivot and swivel), and ankles.
Transformation to wolf mode is really cool for a number of reasons. His robot fists tuck away inside of opening panels in his forearms to hide them completely, and his ball-jointed wolf paws flip around and take their place. The yellow armor for his robot legs shifts from his lower legs to his upper legs to reveal the digitigrade rear wolf paws, and his robot feet tuck away and hide inside the wolf feet. The design and shape of the rear paws reminds me a lot of Night Slash Cheetor from the Beast Machines days. Opening his back allows you to extend the length of his body to make his wolf form more proportionate. His entire robot chest (a panel made of teal plastic but painted entirely yellow!) opens up, seemingly to allow you to do this, but opening the panel isn't actually required for transformation. Extending his body like this also means that his cockpit has room for not one, but two Titan Masters mini-figures. Tres chic! The wolf head is shaped more like an actual wolf, and the jaw opens to reveal tiny rubbery fangs (magenta, the same color as his canopy). He has peg-holes on all four of his haunches, and his gun can attach to his undercarriage or on his back (with Monzo riding inside it in either position).
At first, I was crestfallen to discover that the silver paint application on his wolf claws was partially incomplete, until I realized that they had actually applied a drybrushing effect rather than just painting them in their entirety. It's an unfortunate deco choice and it's the only thing I dislike about the toy.
MINDWIPE and VORATH
The original Mindwipe toy was my first Headmaster, and while I've always considered him one of my favorites, I never liked how simplified he was. I was 11 years old and growing more sophisticated, and yet my favorite toy line was reverting to kiddified baby designs. The way his robot legs just sat there, folded up on his back in bat mode, was unacceptable, and the tabs to slide his fists out for robot mode were the most fragile on any Transformers toy ever designed.
The new Mindwipe is perhaps the greatest departure from his G1 version among the Titans Return toys thus far. His transformation scheme was completely revamped, for better or for worse. Let's start with the robot mode, though. He's really well-proportioned, and functions as a true action figure in ways that G1 Mindwipe could never hope to. Gone are the oversized chrome elbow guards, a feature on the G1 toy that my eyes are always drawn to for some reason, but his head sculpt is great (very Sunbow cartoon-like) and his color mapping reads accurately. He comes with a small rifle that's very reminiscent of his old G1 weapon, and also a large shield whose purpose is not readily evident. He can store it on the peg-hole on the side of his arm (he stole this look from G1 Apeface) or there are two prongs that flip out, making it into a weapon of sorts. Naturally, it has a spot for Vorath to sit inside as well.
Vorath is black and purple, rather than the black and magenta of the G1 toy. He also completely lacks paint applications on his own face. He needs some silver paint or something on his eyes.
The biggest flaws with the toy: For one, the bat head has nowhere to hide. On the G1 toy, it was small enough that you could tuck it away inside the cockpit where Vorath was meant to go in bat mode. On this toy, the bat head just hangs uselessly on his robot back, and while this is also the case with Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher, the difference is that we're used to it with those two toys, but not this one. Also, the lower robot legs are clearly made up of the bat's folded-up wings, and while that in and of itself isn't necessarily a problem, the lower legs are distressingly hollow. However, I really like his tiny robot-mode wings (they're a great representation of the way his wings seem to shrink down in the cartoon when he transforms to robot mdoe) so his robot mode is still pretty good overall. Also, as a special bonus, the preponderance of soft PVC plastic (his robot wings, his bat head, parts of his bat wings) means that he smells like a brand-new TMNT toy upon first opening, and that's one of the best smells in the world.
Transforming him is just crazy sauce. His robot arms fold up to form his bat legs (and while the instructions seem to want you to keep them staggered, I think the toy is designed so that they sit under his body and are closer together). The robot legs do this whole elaborate song-and-dance in order to be positioned correctly and unfurl into his bat wings. It's a very different look for Mindwipe, a far cry from the box-with-wings that the G1 toy turned into. The chrome elbow guards, which always looked like boom box speakers on the G1 toy in bat mode, are still represented here as tiny, vestigial parts that connect the bat head to the body. It's nice that they were included, but they were such a dominant part of the G1 bat's design that they're almost invisible now by comparison.
The good news is that the new bat mode really is a much better design. Each wing has three individual hinge joints so you can pose them and furl them in different ways, and even use them to partially cover his face in a "blah! Dracula!" sort of way. The cockpit (which is suspiciously coffin-shaped) now allows Vorath to sit comfortably (he had to sit on his knees inside the G1 toy). The cockpit door tends to pop off, which is kind of annoying. And that mysterious shield from earlier actually connects to his handheld gun and forms the tail for his bat mode. So, that's kind of cool.
So, this is closer to being a reimagining of the G1 toy and not quite as much of a slavish homage the way Highbrow or Wolfwire are, but it's a *good* reimagining of Mindwipe. (If you want something that more closely approximates the G1 toy, there's always the unlicensed Zhong Jin version.)
Zob (also got Rewind in the mail today)
Can I just say how amazing it is that this entire toy line is celebrating the 1987 characters? They get so little love, and suddenly here we are with this incredible, full-blown tribute line. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from a dream, because this is exactly the sort of thing that my subconscious mind would come up with. All I can do is enjoy the ride as long as I can, because I know this can't last forever.
HIGHBROW and XORT
Somewhere around here I have a headless and weaponless G1 Highbrow toy, donated to me by a kid named Andrew Hunt who was starting to outgrow childish toys. (I tried to get him to give me his Targetmaster Scourge, too, but he was reluctant to do so because it was a gift from his grandmother. Yes, I remember stuff like this.) Anyway, the original Highbrow was a chunky Playskool abomination, with only a handful of moving parts to his name, a vastly oversimplified transformation, and an incredibly blocky vehicle mode that couldn't possibly get off the ground in real life. It's probably my very least favorite of the original Headmaster designs (and the fact that the character is a haughty know-it-all didn't exactly make me want to rush out and buy the toy).
The new version is an incredible tribute. A little smaller than the 1987 edition, of course, but very authentic in look and feel and transformation. He's predominantly grey and blue, and the blue is a bit darker than the G1 toy, closer to the way Highbrow appears in animation. He's got elbows that bend and swivel, fists that pivot as part of the transformation (and can pivot both to the inside or the outside of his wrists), shoulders that rotate and pivot out to the sides, hips that move in three directions, and knees that bend quite a bit due to the hollow lower legs. He's a dynamo of articulation, missing only a swiveling waist. His robot head and face is based on the squared-off Nosecone-like design rather than the more stylized Hasbro toy head. It's so great. (He's got a Blurr-like paint application where his blue knees have been painted a slightly different grey-blue shade. I can't imagine why somebody thought this was necessary.)
Gort's original name was a tribute to the robot character from the film the Day The Earth Stood Still (the same film from which the Star Wars characters Klaatu and Barada and Nikto borrowed their names). It's been changed to Xort, which is still sufficiently alien-sounding (some of the original Nebulan names seemed to allude to their Transformer partners in some way, while other names were just gibberish). Xort doesn't seem to be modeled after the original Gort figure the way a lot of Titan Masters have been; Gort had a distinctive asymmetrical chest design that isn't reproduced here. He actually shares a body type with Fracas, the partner for Scourge (which means that Highbrow gets the cheap snap-on legs instead of the ones held in place with a metal pin). I guess it was inevitable that they eventually started recycling those molds. Funny how every Decepticon Headmaster has gotten a unique, authentic partner but the Autobots don't. Usually, it's the Decepticons who get short shrift.
Also, it used to be that most of the original Nebulans were made of plastic colors not shared by their Transformer partners (for example, Grax had lime green arms and legs, a color not in evidence anywhere on Skullcruncher). This helped to make them look like they were add-on technology that wasn't always part of that Transformer's design. Titan Masters mini-figures tend to match their bigger partners more closely. So, instead of a unique dark grey color, Xort is just more light grey and blue. With a blue head and arms and legs and a light grey body, his color mapping reads as Rippersnapper the Terrorcon, though, to my eyes.
Transformation to twin helicopter mode is pretty close to the G1 toy with a twist or two. His pelvis telescopes dramatically like Titans Return Scourge, and his robot legs fold up into themselves like Beast Machines Mirage. The fins on the sides of his legs are thin enough that even when they're conjoined together, they're still a more convincing helicopter tail than the fat, thick faux-feet on the G1 toy. The arms stay where they are (and the side wings do not fold up as per the G1 version) and the canopy swings up and around from his back like you'd expect. One clever feature is that his chest panel pokes out slightly as per his Sunbow animation model, but it can tuck away and lay flat when he transforms. This wasn't necessary at all but, like the shoulder wheels on Astrotrain, it matches his G1 portrayal and really helps to sell the character.
Helicopter mode has a single Autobot symbol on the center of the fuselage (G1 toy had a symbol on each wing). The canopy is translucent red, like the G1 toy, which makes Xort appear pink and black. The helicopter blades don't collapse like the G1 toy, and each rotor is made of two blades instead of three. They're also close enough to each other than they could potentially interfere with each other when he's in flight. (I'm sure it's possible to rig them together and get their timing just right so that the blades don't get in each other's way, like a pair of windshield wipers, but it still bothers me that they're so close.) Instructions don't mention that he has one flip-out nosecone, and his twin guns (made of blue plastic but painted entirely gunmetal except the handles) appear to have the rear landing wheels molded into them, but I can't really figure out the best way to get him to roll. The guns can mount to the underside of the wings (either the tips or the centers) and he can balance on them if you're not worried about wheels per se. The guns can also connect together and have mini-pegs that allow Xort to sit in it like a vehicle; you can connect it to either side of Highbrow's nose like sort sort of aerial sidecar.
I can't get over how great this toy is. For years, we were lucky if Hasbro assigned a G1 name to an otherwise unrelated new toy and we were just expected to accept it as a close-enough, good-enough upgrade that kinda-sorta worked on some levels. This is a loving and accurate tribute to a comparatively obscure, fourth- or fifth-tier Transformers character and it's done so well. I never expected to see this kind of series-wide update, let alone one done with such devotion and care.
WOLFWIRE and MONXO
For the sake of my sanity I'm just going to continue to refer to this character as Weirdwolf and Monzo. (Honestly, the weird thing is not the wolf, but the fact that somebody else somewhere apparently though the name "Weirdwolf" was marketable enough to seize the trademark!)
Like Highbrow, he original Weirdwolf was also a huge chunkmeister, an easy-to-manipulate and nigh-indestructible toy meant for a younger age set than the uber-fragile Japanese toys from the Diaclone days. He was fat and chunky as a robot which means he only got worse in wolf mode. They drew him far more lanky and well-proportioned in the cartoon and comic books, which only serves to illustrate how blocky the G1 toy really was.
The new Weirdwolf is far more sleek and streamlined. His colors read correctly, although Gustavo may not like him since he's got two slightly different shades of yellow plastic and a third shade of yellow paint that doesn't quite match either. He's armed with an impressively-long sword-tail (that includes pegs on either side so you can attach it to stuff sideways) and a big boom-boom cannon that looks like something out of the Hero Mashes toy line (it sure looks long enough that you could stuff a child-safe missile inside the barrel, though it does not come with one). His head is based on the G1 toy, but the paint application for his eyes/face seems to extend well past the point where his optic sensors actually end, like Combiner Wars Drag Strip, giving him almost girly eyelashes. He is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows (both pivot and swivel joints), wrists, waist, hips, knees (pivot and swivel), and ankles.
Transformation to wolf mode is really cool for a number of reasons. His robot fists tuck away inside of opening panels in his forearms to hide them completely, and his ball-jointed wolf paws flip around and take their place. The yellow armor for his robot legs shifts from his lower legs to his upper legs to reveal the digitigrade rear wolf paws, and his robot feet tuck away and hide inside the wolf feet. The design and shape of the rear paws reminds me a lot of Night Slash Cheetor from the Beast Machines days. Opening his back allows you to extend the length of his body to make his wolf form more proportionate. His entire robot chest (a panel made of teal plastic but painted entirely yellow!) opens up, seemingly to allow you to do this, but opening the panel isn't actually required for transformation. Extending his body like this also means that his cockpit has room for not one, but two Titan Masters mini-figures. Tres chic! The wolf head is shaped more like an actual wolf, and the jaw opens to reveal tiny rubbery fangs (magenta, the same color as his canopy). He has peg-holes on all four of his haunches, and his gun can attach to his undercarriage or on his back (with Monzo riding inside it in either position).
At first, I was crestfallen to discover that the silver paint application on his wolf claws was partially incomplete, until I realized that they had actually applied a drybrushing effect rather than just painting them in their entirety. It's an unfortunate deco choice and it's the only thing I dislike about the toy.
MINDWIPE and VORATH
The original Mindwipe toy was my first Headmaster, and while I've always considered him one of my favorites, I never liked how simplified he was. I was 11 years old and growing more sophisticated, and yet my favorite toy line was reverting to kiddified baby designs. The way his robot legs just sat there, folded up on his back in bat mode, was unacceptable, and the tabs to slide his fists out for robot mode were the most fragile on any Transformers toy ever designed.
The new Mindwipe is perhaps the greatest departure from his G1 version among the Titans Return toys thus far. His transformation scheme was completely revamped, for better or for worse. Let's start with the robot mode, though. He's really well-proportioned, and functions as a true action figure in ways that G1 Mindwipe could never hope to. Gone are the oversized chrome elbow guards, a feature on the G1 toy that my eyes are always drawn to for some reason, but his head sculpt is great (very Sunbow cartoon-like) and his color mapping reads accurately. He comes with a small rifle that's very reminiscent of his old G1 weapon, and also a large shield whose purpose is not readily evident. He can store it on the peg-hole on the side of his arm (he stole this look from G1 Apeface) or there are two prongs that flip out, making it into a weapon of sorts. Naturally, it has a spot for Vorath to sit inside as well.
Vorath is black and purple, rather than the black and magenta of the G1 toy. He also completely lacks paint applications on his own face. He needs some silver paint or something on his eyes.
The biggest flaws with the toy: For one, the bat head has nowhere to hide. On the G1 toy, it was small enough that you could tuck it away inside the cockpit where Vorath was meant to go in bat mode. On this toy, the bat head just hangs uselessly on his robot back, and while this is also the case with Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher, the difference is that we're used to it with those two toys, but not this one. Also, the lower robot legs are clearly made up of the bat's folded-up wings, and while that in and of itself isn't necessarily a problem, the lower legs are distressingly hollow. However, I really like his tiny robot-mode wings (they're a great representation of the way his wings seem to shrink down in the cartoon when he transforms to robot mdoe) so his robot mode is still pretty good overall. Also, as a special bonus, the preponderance of soft PVC plastic (his robot wings, his bat head, parts of his bat wings) means that he smells like a brand-new TMNT toy upon first opening, and that's one of the best smells in the world.
Transforming him is just crazy sauce. His robot arms fold up to form his bat legs (and while the instructions seem to want you to keep them staggered, I think the toy is designed so that they sit under his body and are closer together). The robot legs do this whole elaborate song-and-dance in order to be positioned correctly and unfurl into his bat wings. It's a very different look for Mindwipe, a far cry from the box-with-wings that the G1 toy turned into. The chrome elbow guards, which always looked like boom box speakers on the G1 toy in bat mode, are still represented here as tiny, vestigial parts that connect the bat head to the body. It's nice that they were included, but they were such a dominant part of the G1 bat's design that they're almost invisible now by comparison.
The good news is that the new bat mode really is a much better design. Each wing has three individual hinge joints so you can pose them and furl them in different ways, and even use them to partially cover his face in a "blah! Dracula!" sort of way. The cockpit (which is suspiciously coffin-shaped) now allows Vorath to sit comfortably (he had to sit on his knees inside the G1 toy). The cockpit door tends to pop off, which is kind of annoying. And that mysterious shield from earlier actually connects to his handheld gun and forms the tail for his bat mode. So, that's kind of cool.
So, this is closer to being a reimagining of the G1 toy and not quite as much of a slavish homage the way Highbrow or Wolfwire are, but it's a *good* reimagining of Mindwipe. (If you want something that more closely approximates the G1 toy, there's always the unlicensed Zhong Jin version.)
Zob (also got Rewind in the mail today)
Shin Hibiki
Sep 5, 2016, 2:30:48 AM9/5/16
to
Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>(Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
The latest figures are showing up around here in relatively
>(Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
limited numbers (nothing unusual there), but they are pretty much
flying off the shelves when they do arrive. The ones that hang around
the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like there are purists
around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
I saw remnants of the second wave Deluxes locally for the
first time today. One Chromedome, and nothing else!
- Shin Hibiki
----
The race ain't over yet, baby
It's only just begun
They thought they had it won, baby
But soon we'll have 'em on the run
Zobovor
Sep 5, 2016, 8:02:31 AM9/5/16
to
On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 12:30:48 AM UTC-6, Shin Hibiki wrote:
> The ones that hang around the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like
> there are purists around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
Could be! Either that, or it's the Combiner Wars Wheeljack Effect: No paint equals no sales.
> The ones that hang around the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like
> there are purists around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
Zob (now would be a good time to release a toy of Emirate Xaaron, I guess... or a Marvel Comics version of Ironhide)
Gustavo Wombat
Sep 5, 2016, 1:39:25 PM9/5/16
to
Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 12:30:48 AM UTC-6, Shin Hibiki wrote:
>
>> The ones that hang around the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like
>> there are purists around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
>
> Could be! Either that, or it's the Combiner Wars Wheeljack Effect: No
> paint equals no sales.
Scourge at least has the pale blue wings, so he looks decent in the
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 12:30:48 AM UTC-6, Shin Hibiki wrote:
>
>> The ones that hang around the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like
>> there are purists around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
>
> Could be! Either that, or it's the Combiner Wars Wheeljack Effect: No
> paint equals no sales.
package. And, as a troop builder, I would be surprised if he really became
a peg warmer.
Blurr though... He's really, really plain looking. He's just a dark blob in
the package. Great mold, but he doesn't present well.
--
I wish I was a mole in the ground.
Zobovor
Sep 5, 2016, 7:09:05 PM9/5/16
to
On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 11:39:25 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> Scourge at least has the pale blue wings, so he looks decent in the
> package. And, as a troop builder, I would be surprised if he really became
> a peg warmer.
I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who are Headmasters? I guess he's a better armybuilder than Generations Scourge, though, and I've seen plenty of pictures that suggest people bought multiples of those.
> Scourge at least has the pale blue wings, so he looks decent in the
> package. And, as a troop builder, I would be surprised if he really became
> a peg warmer.
> Blurr though... He's really, really plain looking. He's just a dark blob in
> the package. Great mold, but he doesn't present well.
Zob (has nothing poignant to say here... grr)
Gustavo Wombat
Sep 6, 2016, 5:26:51 AM9/6/16
to
Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 11:39:25 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the
> Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
>> Scourge at least has the pale blue wings, so he looks decent in the
>> package. And, as a troop builder, I would be surprised if he really became
>> a peg warmer.
>
> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who
> are Headmasters? I guess he's a better armybuilder than Generations
> Scourge, though, and I've seen plenty of pictures that suggest people
> bought multiples of those.
I do love the Generations Scourge mold, I just don't think it makes a great
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 11:39:25 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the
> Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
>> Scourge at least has the pale blue wings, so he looks decent in the
>> package. And, as a troop builder, I would be surprised if he really became
>> a peg warmer.
>
> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who
> are Headmasters? I guess he's a better armybuilder than Generations
> Scourge, though, and I've seen plenty of pictures that suggest people
> bought multiples of those.
TF:TM era Scourge. He's clearly Scourge, but he's Scourge after he adopted
a different alt-mode, or from a different continuity.
I would have liked to see the inevitable redeco of him, had he not been
released so close to the The Great Cheapening. I might have enjoyed the
mold better as someone else.
>> Blurr though... He's really, really plain looking. He's just a dark blob in
>> the package. Great mold, but he doesn't present well.
>
> I'm really upset that the Takara version is so beautiful. It makes me
> feel like Hasbro cheaped out in a major way.
> Zob (has nothing poignant to say here... grr)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Sep 6, 2016, 1:22:09 PM9/6/16
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I got Mindwipe, I've been looking forward to him for too long. The Decepticons seem to have more detailed personalities.
The rubber wings are a bit odd, but this is an awesome Mindwipe. Blows the G1 toy away. The tail sled I will likely only do once to prove I know how to do it then never again.
Zobovor
Sep 6, 2016, 10:00:33 PM9/6/16
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On Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 3:26:51 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I would have liked to see the inevitable redeco of him, had he not been
> released so close to the The Great Cheapening. I might have enjoyed the
> mold better as someone else.
Remember when they were slipping the wrong line art into the instructions that hinted at potential redeco versions? At one time, it seems like Scourge was going to get a Senator Ratbat redeco.
> I would have liked to see the inevitable redeco of him, had he not been
> released so close to the The Great Cheapening. I might have enjoyed the
> mold better as someone else.
Zob (and Generations Warpath was slated for a Hardhead redeco)
Shin Hibiki
Sep 9, 2016, 12:06:05 AM9/9/16
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Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>At one time, it seems like Scourge was going to get a Senator Ratbat redeco.
But he did, in Japan.
>At one time, it seems like Scourge was going to get a Senator Ratbat redeco.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK11647&mode=retail
Then the collector club used it for Serpent O.R.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=HAS24020&mode=retail
>(and Generations Warpath was slated for a Hardhead redeco)
Zobovor
Sep 10, 2016, 9:46:18 PM9/10/16
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On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 12:07:26 AM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> His pelvis telescopes dramatically like Titans Return Scourge
So, I was comparing the Scourge toy with Highbrow today to see if they actually used the same telescoping engineering or whether it was just a matter of parallel toy development. Not only do they both use the same pelvis mold, but they also share upper legs. And fists. And toes. And shoulder struts. And elbow joints. Clever Hasbro, selling me the same toy 1.5 times and I didn't even realize it.
> His pelvis telescopes dramatically like Titans Return Scourge
So, what this means is that you can actually effect a parts swap between Scourge and Highbrow that can significantly improve the look of both toys. Highbrow needs blue fists, and Scourge has grey fists in the cartoon, so if you pop them off and switch them around, Highbrow's color mapping is closer to his G1 self and Scourge gets something to break up that solid block of blue plastic. Giving Scourge the upper legs from Highbrow improves him, too, though this part requires a small jeweler's screwdriver to get their lower legs apart. Highbrow isn't really supposed to have blue upper legs, but he still has enough going on that it's not a horrible look for him. You can swap the toes, too (it's actually the front of the feet on Scourge and the heel struts on Highbrow) but it doesn't really help either character.
This sort of "hidden" mold recycling is great, as far as I'm concerned, because it's far less obvious than just taking the same toy, giving it different colors, and expecting you to buy it over and over. The upcoming Chromedome toy, for example, looks like he shares some engineering with Blurr, since they both carry the same handheld weapon and seem to share the same knee joint design.
Seriously, Scourge is about 47% more amazing now. And I didn't have to make any permanent modifications to the toys; I can always swap their parts back later if I change my mind.
Zob (thinking about buying an extra Brainstorm now, whenever he comes out, to do some parts-swapping with Blurr)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Sep 11, 2016, 12:45:45 PM9/11/16
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(I hope you meant to say Brainstorm where you said Chromedome)
Zobovor
Sep 11, 2016, 6:09:51 PM9/11/16
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On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 10:45:45 AM UTC-6, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> Highbrow is a remold of Scourge, Brainstorm is an (obvious) remold of Blurr,
> Getaway is a remold of Chromedome. they announced that like three months ago.
> Brainstorm looks terrible, I'll just keep my Generations.
Yeah, but you kind of need a Deluxe-class Brainstorm who's the same size as the other Headmasters, yes? Besides, the Voyager isn't compatible, Headmaster-wise.
> Highbrow is a remold of Scourge, Brainstorm is an (obvious) remold of Blurr,
> Getaway is a remold of Chromedome. they announced that like three months ago.
> Brainstorm looks terrible, I'll just keep my Generations.
> (I hope you meant to say Brainstorm where you said Chromedome)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CktO0VXWkAALEV6.jpg
Zob (did some window shopping for the Takara versions of Scourge and Blurr last night, but I don't want to pay $40 for them)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Sep 11, 2016, 7:25:34 PM9/11/16
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So Chroedome, Brainstorm, Blurr, and Getaway might all be based on similar engineering,
Zobovor
Sep 11, 2016, 10:48:54 PM9/11/16
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On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 5:25:34 PM UTC-6, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> The gun and a small section of the knees aren't enough to be a remold to me.
Those are just what's apparent from a photo comparison, of course. They might have additional shared parts that we can't see.
I think in light of this, we need to reevaluate the traditional thinking. It's no longer a case of "this is a new toy, while that one is a redeco." There are degrees of separation, now. I think the hierarchy would be something like:
all-new toy --> shared parts --> remold/retool --> straight redeco
And, really, we've been getting shared parts since the early G1 days, usually the wheels (Optimus Prime and Trailbreaker; Cosmos and Seaspray; the G2 Go-Bots; etc.) They're just getting more sneaky about it now.
> So Chromedome, Brainstorm, Blurr, and Getaway might all be based on similar
> engineering.
I don't think it's as cut-and-dried as that. Getaway is going to be a Chromedome retool, and Brainstorm is a Blurr retool. That much is apparent. I think the fact that Chromedome had Blurr's gun and knees doesn't mean they share engineering the way Scourge and Highbrow do; I think it just means Hasbro is getting more clever about cutting corners and recycling assets from one mold and assigning them to another mold. It's still a cost-cutting move, but it's less obvious than "here's the exact same toy, now buy it over and over again."
Zob (e.g. Combiner Wars Dead End/Brake-Neck/Streetwise/Prowl/Dust-Up/Lightspeed)
> The gun and a small section of the knees aren't enough to be a remold to me.
Those are just what's apparent from a photo comparison, of course. They might have additional shared parts that we can't see.
I think in light of this, we need to reevaluate the traditional thinking. It's no longer a case of "this is a new toy, while that one is a redeco." There are degrees of separation, now. I think the hierarchy would be something like:
all-new toy --> shared parts --> remold/retool --> straight redeco
And, really, we've been getting shared parts since the early G1 days, usually the wheels (Optimus Prime and Trailbreaker; Cosmos and Seaspray; the G2 Go-Bots; etc.) They're just getting more sneaky about it now.
> So Chromedome, Brainstorm, Blurr, and Getaway might all be based on similar
> engineering.
I don't think it's as cut-and-dried as that. Getaway is going to be a Chromedome retool, and Brainstorm is a Blurr retool. That much is apparent. I think the fact that Chromedome had Blurr's gun and knees doesn't mean they share engineering the way Scourge and Highbrow do; I think it just means Hasbro is getting more clever about cutting corners and recycling assets from one mold and assigning them to another mold. It's still a cost-cutting move, but it's less obvious than "here's the exact same toy, now buy it over and over again."
Zob (e.g. Combiner Wars Dead End/Brake-Neck/Streetwise/Prowl/Dust-Up/Lightspeed)
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Sep 21, 2016, 12:21:42 AM9/21/16
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On Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 11:07:26 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> (Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
Chromedome is my favorite of the wave. He's ugly, with at least three different browns, two tans and two reds, but I never thought Chromedome was anything other than ugly to begin with.
> (Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
I like the clear plastic wheels -- it reminds me of TF:Cybertron, which was one of my favorite toylines.
I have no idea why he is named Chromedome though.
> HIGHBROW and XORT
>
> the original Highbrow was a chunky Playskool abomination, with only a handful of moving parts to his name, a vastly oversimplified transformation, and an incredibly blocky vehicle mode that couldn't possibly get off the ground in real life.
>
> the original Highbrow was a chunky Playskool abomination, with only a handful of moving parts to his name, a vastly oversimplified transformation, and an incredibly blocky vehicle mode that couldn't possibly get off the ground in real life.
>
> The new version is an incredible tribute.
I really want to dislike this toy. The transformation is trivial, there is no way he could fly (is he a helicopter with a really fat tail, or a VTOL airplane with really tiny wings?), and the robot mode has problems because the rotors get in the way of movement.
The rotors droop, bent in the package, and the wings droop slightly.
> He's a dynamo of articulation, missing only a swiveling waist.
> (He's got a Blurr-like paint application where his blue knees have been painted a slightly different grey-blue shade. I can't imagine why somebody thought this was necessary.)
> The guns can mount to the underside of the wings (either the tips or the centers) and he can balance on them if you're not worried about wheels per se. The guns can also connect together and have mini-pegs that allow Xort to sit in it like a vehicle; you can connect it to either side of Highbrow's nose like sort sort of aerial sidecar.
I love the guns -- they are my favorite interpretation of the Titan Sled weapon, and the bright blue plastic under the gunmetal paint comes out in really nice stripes where the two guns connect.
> I can't get over how great this toy is. For years, we were lucky if Hasbro assigned a G1 name to an otherwise unrelated new toy and we were just expected to accept it as a close-enough, good-enough upgrade that kinda-sorta worked on some levels. This is a loving and accurate tribute to a comparatively obscure, fourth- or fifth-tier Transformers character and it's done so well. I never expected to see this kind of series-wide update, let alone one done with such devotion and care.
> WOLFWIRE and MONXO
> Like Highbrow, he original Weirdwolf was also a huge chunkmeister, an easy-to-manipulate and nigh-indestructible toy meant for a younger age set than the uber-fragile Japanese toys from the Diaclone days. He was fat and chunky as a robot which means he only got worse in wolf mode. They drew him far more lanky and well-proportioned in the cartoon and comic books, which only serves to illustrate how blocky the G1 toy really was.
> The new Weirdwolf is far more sleek and streamlined.
> His colors read correctly, although Gustavo may not like him since he's got two slightly different shades of yellow plastic and a third shade of yellow paint that doesn't quite match either.
> MINDWIPE and VORATH
Meh.
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Sep 21, 2016, 12:32:09 AM9/21/16
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On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 7:48:54 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
>
> And, really, we've been getting shared parts since the early G1 days, usually the wheels (Optimus Prime and Trailbreaker; Cosmos and Seaspray; the G2 Go-Bots; etc.) They're just getting more sneaky about it now.
>
> > So Chromedome, Brainstorm, Blurr, and Getaway might all be based on similar
> > engineering.
>
> I don't think it's as cut-and-dried as that. Getaway is going to be a Chromedome retool, and Brainstorm is a Blurr retool. That much is apparent. I think the fact that Chromedome had Blurr's gun and knees doesn't mean they share engineering the way Scourge and Highbrow do; I think it just means Hasbro is getting more clever about cutting corners and recycling assets from one mold and assigning them to another mold. It's still a cost-cutting move, but it's less obvious than "here's the exact same toy, now buy it over and over again."
I kind of think they are just deliberately trolling people with reused parts. We know that the designs are computer models now (the scaling up of the TF:Prime Terrorcons has all of the decorative details exact), and there is nothing about Blurr and Chromedome that is shared other than a few incidental, random parts.
>
> And, really, we've been getting shared parts since the early G1 days, usually the wheels (Optimus Prime and Trailbreaker; Cosmos and Seaspray; the G2 Go-Bots; etc.) They're just getting more sneaky about it now.
>
> > So Chromedome, Brainstorm, Blurr, and Getaway might all be based on similar
> > engineering.
>
> I don't think it's as cut-and-dried as that. Getaway is going to be a Chromedome retool, and Brainstorm is a Blurr retool. That much is apparent. I think the fact that Chromedome had Blurr's gun and knees doesn't mean they share engineering the way Scourge and Highbrow do; I think it just means Hasbro is getting more clever about cutting corners and recycling assets from one mold and assigning them to another mold. It's still a cost-cutting move, but it's less obvious than "here's the exact same toy, now buy it over and over again."
I don't think they are sharing molds, just the computer model, with a new mold with all the dozens of new parts that they don't share.
Zobovor
Sep 21, 2016, 9:05:16 PM9/21/16
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On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 10:21:42 PM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I have no idea why he is named Chromedome though.
Do you see hair on his head? He's bald. There you go.
> I have no idea why he is named Chromedome though.
> I remember when the Classics line first came out -- I thought they were too
> slavish to the original designs. These are way closer, but I don't know the
> originals so well, so they have a freshness about them.
> I actually have an original Weirdwolf and Mongo. I like the chunky design.
> Yeah, I prefer the original. The new one is good, and captures the character
> well enough, but I really like the blocky, chunky beast modes of G1.
>> His colors read correctly, although Gustavo may not like him since he's got
>> two slightly different shades of yellow plastic and a third shade of yellow
>> paint that doesn't quite match either.
>
> "Slightly"? Three radically different colors.
Zob (that's the good thing about the Titan Masters toys so far... no painted windows)
Zobovor
Sep 21, 2016, 11:21:22 PM9/21/16
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On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 10:32:09 PM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I don't think they are sharing molds, just the computer model, with a new
> mold with all the dozens of new parts that they don't share.
I'm willing to entertain this idea. The only thing that makes me question it is that all the shared parts I've seen so far are the same color, which suggests mold recycling and not simply CAD model recycling. For example, the fists and upper legs and toes/heel struts and shoulder connectors and pelvis assembly are shared between Scourge and Highbrow. All these parts are blue on Scourge, but they're all grey on Highbrow.
> I don't think they are sharing molds, just the computer model, with a new
> mold with all the dozens of new parts that they don't share.
My observation doesn't necessarily disprove your theory. Differently-colored shared parts wouldn't disprove my theory, though, because a gated mold could be an alternate explanation.
I guess the only surefire way to tell was if one of the molds suffered from some kind of defect that obviously wasn't part of the CAD process, but was shared between two different toys. Like, for example, if Scourge's left fist was slightly warped and Highbrow's left fist was warped in exactly the same way.
Zob (armchair detective at large)
Gustavo Wombat
Sep 22, 2016, 4:21:27 AM9/22/16
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black. He already has such a busy and ugly color scheme that they just sort
of blend into the background noise.
Not all Transformers are going to polish themselves, and complain about
their paintjobs getting damaged. Chromedome has other concerns in life.
He's the anti-Tracks.
Zobovor
Oct 6, 2016, 11:19:43 AM10/6/16
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On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 5:09:05 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who are
> Headmasters?
Me, apparently. I got my first one yesterday. I realized how much I liked the idea of my "true" Scourge keeping the grey parts from Highbrow, and my Sweeps, however many I end up getting (perhaps three), will keep their blue parts. Gotta be able to tell 'em apart, dontcha know.
> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who are
> Headmasters?
Zob (it's less expensive than trying to build a collection of G1 reissue Sweeps, that's for sure)
Ramen Junkie
Oct 7, 2016, 8:30:04 PM10/7/16
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On 9/5/2016 1:30 AM, Shin Hibiki wrote:
> Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> (Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
>
> The latest figures are showing up around here in relatively
> limited numbers (nothing unusual there), but they are pretty much
> flying off the shelves when they do arrive. The ones that hang around
> the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like there are purists
> around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
> I saw remnants of the second wave Deluxes locally for the
> first time today. One Chromedome, and nothing else!
>
I keep seeing them at Walgreen's but they are charging $20 each.
> Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> (Chromedome is evidently part of this wave but I did not see him anywhere.)
>
> The latest figures are showing up around here in relatively
> limited numbers (nothing unusual there), but they are pretty much
> flying off the shelves when they do arrive. The ones that hang around
> the longest are always Blurr and Scourge--it's like there are purists
> around here that know they aren't supposed to be Headmasters.
> I saw remnants of the second wave Deluxes locally for the
> first time today. One Chromedome, and nothing else!
>
--
Ramen Junkie
Supreme Dictator for Life, alt.games.final-fantasy
Zobovor
Oct 10, 2016, 8:22:31 PM10/10/16
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> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 5:09:05 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
>
>> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who
>> are Headmasters?
>
> Me, apparently. I got my first one yesterday.
Oh, boy. Got another one today. This is becoming a habit. I've always wanted a small collection of Sweeps, and the Titans Return version of Scourge is close enough to G1 that I consider them acceptable armybuilders. Didn't like the wing-shaped Generations toy enough to want multiples.
>
>> I wonder, does anyone really have the desire to own a bunch of Sweeps who
>> are Headmasters?
>
> Me, apparently. I got my first one yesterday.
I wonder how many of these I should get? I don't want this to be like the M.O.U.S.E.R.S. from the Ninja Turtles toy line where I just bought a pack of seven every time I saw one, until they eventually stopped shipping. I think I have over a hundred of them, but I segregated the black-colored ones because they don't remind me of oldskool Mousers (and because I am clearly racist).
There were only two Sweeps aside from Scourge in The Transformers: the Movie, but somehow more of them kept popping up. I did a tally once and there must have been over 20 Sweeps in the show, given the number of them that got destroyed. (Of course, I'm assuming that none of them ever got fixed. I guess the Decepticons could have been repairing them.)
Three seems like a good number. There were three of them in "Starscream's Ghost," all arguing about who was more cowardly. I wonder which episode shows the greatest number of Sweeps all at once. There can't have been more than five or six on screen at the same time, right?
Zob (this is really going to bother me now)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Oct 10, 2016, 8:31:13 PM10/10/16
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Typing with a cat is not easy.
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