New wave of stuff: Tarantulus, Blaster, Scamper, Bomb-Burst

[Irrellius Spamticon]

So I got a few small things to prevent myself from spending $120 on a MP trainbot. I figure 1 new thing per week, 2 weeks ago I found Blaster (not the first time, just the time I decided to buy him)

He's nice, he just feels small. I know, I'm comparing him to G1. I wish he had a better method of attaching the gun in boombox mode, some way to make it some kind of antenna. I really got him because of the cassette, and he was on a minor sale. I like how the legs work and his arms fold up nice, even though it's a bit tight and fiddly. I'm glad they didn't try to replicate the G1 button puzzle-box of engineering that makes me have to open up and re-spring every G1 Blaster that comes in to the store.

I like Eject a lot, especially because he has 5mm weapon parts. Of course he doesn't have weapons which is unfortunate.People complain about the translucent plastic, but that's what made me want him much more.

Tarantulus is amazing. He works on every level. His transformation is a little different than the OG. For the first transformation I was afraid to push his legs in because I didn't know how his feet were going to fold in.

He gets extra points for having 2 accessories, the crossbow and the sawblade both of which store in the spider mode and even combine together to make...well I'm not sure. But it's cool and apparently the hook for the next phase, Legacy:Evolution.

I pulled out Scorponok because months ago everyone insisted Tarantulus was a remolded Scorponok. He's not in any sense. He is his own devious spider-bot. He even has better leg articulation I wish they'd done for Scorponok. He still has ball joint knees, but they're much tighter and more stable than Scorponok, even though he's not really standing on them. There's not much adjustment where the legs meet the body. It took awhile to figure out how exactly to get them together in the right position for spider mode.

Slammer is kind of boring. I only got him because i have Metroplex His chainsaw looks cool, but the partsforming and lack of a character to attach to the toy leaves him lacking. The tank is cute. He' got 3 rollers underneath to roll him along. His tank turret doesn't really hold together well. I wish the arms locked together a little better.

Bomb Burst I missed out on at work,we got 4 cases and sold all the Bomb Burst in 15 minutes. I saw him at Target, the sign said $8.49, but he was $9.99. I wasn't going to argue it as I'd waited in checkout way too long.

I accidentally typed Bumb Burst. That's a little potty humor I guess. Maybe a Bot-Bot.

So I enjoy him quite a bit. His transformation is slightly different than his G1 self. His legs still fold underneath, but you rotate his waist and his pelvis forms the back f the jet instead of the front. The jet fuselage comes up over the top. Since the robot torso is under the jet the opposite direction from GH1, his arms just stay where they are. They very easily could have given him the G1 transformation. His accessories are cool too. He doesn't have a belt, but so what. He has the 2 guns and the axe. His batwing shoulderpads have been integrated in to the gun fins now. It's different It works all right. The shoulderpads coming off the shell was a little silly in G1. The guns here just go on the arms with 5mm ports, and ust chage the direction they point for transformation. His little axe clips in very securely under the nose to form a nose gun, and works very well. I like the axe has some function in this mode. Parts that only work in 1 mode is almost as bad as a Transformer not having a second mode.

Overall he's very faithful to his G1 self, still missing the G1 robot nobody would recognize anyway. He does a better ob of invoking the G1 than Iguanus did, but he's far simpler engineered. He has more accessories that make sense to the character.

Iguanus is more complicated. He has more engineering and shows a lot of imagination. Bomb Burst is much simpler, with a much easier transformation. But he's closer to his G1 self. They still look great together. I don't currently have G1 Bomb Burst here to test if he can fit in G1 Bomb Burst's shell the way Legacy Iguanus can fit inside G1 Iguanus shell.

We have a G1 Cloudburst at work complete loose in box. He doesn't interest me at all. I hope Legacy skips the human faces and gives us the rbot to vehicle if they bother with Autobot Pretenders at all. I sold my Landmine for what was probably not enough back in July.

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 9:56:48 PM UTC-7, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
> So I got a few small things to prevent myself from spending $120 on a MP trainbot. I figure 1 new thing per week, 2 weeks ago I found Blaster (not the first time, just the time I decided to buy him)
>
> He's nice, he just feels small. I know, I'm comparing him to G1. I wish he had a better method of attaching the gun in boombox mode, some way to make it some kind of antenna. I really got him because of the cassette, and he was on a minor sale. I like how the legs work and his arms fold up nice, even though it's a bit tight and fiddly.

He's great. An absolutely amazing robot mode, and a really good cassette player mode. There are tiny bits here and there that could be better (an antenna), but he's basically perfect.

We don't need another Blaster Boombox this decade, I hope they do something with the FoC designs, or do something new and unusual if they want to revisit him. (I guess they can reissue this toy in 5-7 years, if they really want a boom box for some ungodly reason)

> Tarantulus is amazing. He works on every level. His transformation is a little different than the OG. For the first transformation I was afraid to push his legs in because I didn't know how his feet were going to fold in.

Another truly fantastic toy. Better than the original, and the original was a good toy.

Am I the only one who wants a horrible Toy Accurate Black Widow redeco out of this mold? It would not be good, but it would be a fun reminder of what we had before.

(I would also accept a "We actually looked at a tarantula" redeco)

> Slammer is kind of boring. I only got him because i have Metroplex His chainsaw looks cool, but the partsforming and lack of a character to attach to the toy leaves him lacking. The tank is cute. He' got 3 rollers underneath to roll him along. His tank turret doesn't really hold together well. I wish the arms locked together a little better.

For a toy with a gimmick that depends on pegs fitting perfectly into holes, his pegs don't fit perfectly into holes. I think if he held together a little bit better he would be one of the better weaponizers. Each toy with a partsformer design seems to be a little worse at this than the previous, although part of that is that the earlier toys were blockier and often had a secondary connector on spots, so it was peg/hole and tab/slot simultaneously.

> Bomb Burst I missed out on at work,we got 4 cases and sold all the Bomb Burst in 15 minutes. I saw him at Target, the sign said $8.49, but he was $9.99. I wasn't going to argue it as I'd waited in checkout way too long.

I eagerly await bothering to order this toy.

> We have a G1 Cloudburst at work complete loose in box. He doesn't interest me at all. I hope Legacy skips the human faces and gives us the rbot to vehicle if they bother with Autobot Pretenders at all. I sold my Landmine for what was probably not enough back in July.

Ok, how about this -- the human face pegs in over a robot face? Hopefully not via a 5mm peg in the robot's mouth, as that would end up looking obscene. The world is not ready for "Transformers: Glory Hole!"

[Zobovor]

On Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 10:56:48 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> So I got a few small things to prevent myself from spending $120 on a MP trainbot.

Probably a good move! The other day I crunched the numbers, and the people who eventually buy all six Trainbots will have spent about $900 on Raiden. (HasLab Unicron doesn't seem so expensive now, does he?)

> He's nice, he just feels small. I know, I'm comparing him to G1.

The G1 version was too big. He towered over just about every other Transformers toy in 1985, including Devastator. In the cartoon, he's the height of Optimus Prime. This version makes more sense to me.

> I like Eject a lot, especially because he has 5mm weapon parts. Of course he doesn't have weapons which is unfortunate.People complain about the translucent plastic, but that's what made me want him much more.

There are add-on guns for Eject you can get on eBay. I dislike the translucent plastic because a) it's more fragile and b) it doesn't look like the old Eject. I want an opaque one, dammit. And I want Rewind, too. And I want some chocolate. We never have any chocolate in this house!

> Tarantulus is amazing. He works on every level. His transformation is a little different than the OG. For the first transformation I was afraid to push his legs in because I didn't know how his feet were going to fold in.

They did an exceptional job on him. He's so great.

> I pulled out Scorponok because months ago everyone insisted Tarantulus was a remolded Scorponok.

I don't know who is saying this. But they obviously need to be struck in the face with a fresh trout.

> Slammer is kind of boring. I only got him because I have Metroplex.

I seem to remember a discussion some years ago where I had been wishing for a new Slammer toy, and a bunch of you were very dismissive of him. Banzaitron called him a "rounding error," as I recall. I've been waiting to see which of you guys actually ended up spending money on him, so I could expose you all for the hypocrites you really are! Mwu ha ha!

That's right. Elephants never forget. And they never forgive. *clutches knife in trunk menacingly*

> Bomb Burst I missed out on at work,we got 4 cases and sold all the Bomb Burst in 15 minutes. I saw him at Target, the sign said $8.49, but he was $9.99. I wasn't going to argue it as I'd waited in checkout way too long.

I think I have him pre-ordered from Hasbro Pulse or BBTS or some such place. It's hard to keep track. I now own two Jhiaxuses (Jhiaxii?) because I forgot I pre-ordered him from two different places. Yes, I'm aware that I need to get my shit together.

> Overall he's very faithful to his G1 self, still missing the G1 robot nobody would recognize anyway.

I don't yet own the G1 version. But, I'm still opposed to these new non-Pretenders, if only on principle alone.

> We have a G1 Cloudburst at work complete loose in box. He doesn't interest me at all. I hope Legacy skips the human faces and gives us the robot to vehicle if they bother with Autobot Pretenders at all. I sold my Landmine for what was probably not enough back in July.

Landmine doesn't seem to go for as much money on eBay as the others do. I'm not sure why. I could probably get one for $40 right now.

They could maybe get away with doing flesh tones for the faces but make them obviously robotic in nature. Sort of a two-for-one deal. But, maybe they are only doing DeceptiNon-Pretenders right now for precisely that reason—they can't figure out how to handle the AutoNot-Pretenders yet.

The Pretenders are interesting to me because they're such a departure. It's weird to think that they were part of the same toy line as the Diaclone redecos. G1 spanned for seven years, and yet it really could have been like six separate and distinct toy lines. Most of 1984-85 fits together, but all the Hasbro designs from 1986 feel like a separate toy line, and so does Scramble City, and so do Pretenders, and so do Micromasters, and so do Action Masters.

They're absolutely not the pinnacle of Japanese engineering the way the early Diaclone stuff is. But, as Marge Simpson says, I just think they're neat.


Zob (does not watch the Simpsons, but is a student of Internet memes)

[Irrellius Spamticon]

On Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 8:11:43 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 10:56:48 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
>
> > So I got a few small things to prevent myself from spending $120 on a MP trainbot.
> Probably a good move! The other day I crunched the numbers, and the people who eventually buy all six Trainbots will have spent about $900 on Raiden. (HasLab Unicron doesn't seem so expensive now, does he?)
> > He's nice, he just feels small. I know, I'm comparing him to G1.
> The G1 version was too big. He towered over just about every other Transformers toy in 1985, including Devastator. In the cartoon, he's the height of Optimus Prime. This version makes more sense to me.

Boomboxes were just bigger than Walkmans/voice reorders. That's just how it was.

> > I like Eject a lot, especially because he has 5mm weapon parts. Of course he doesn't have weapons which is unfortunate.People complain about the translucent plastic, but that's what made me want him much more.
> There are add-on guns for Eject you can get on eBay. I dislike the translucent plastic because a) it's more fragile and b) it doesn't look like the old Eject. I want an opaque one, dammit. And I want Rewind, too. And I want some chocolate. We never have any chocolate in this house!

Still slowly wittling down my Easter candy. Can't wait for Halloween, even though candy prices are supposed to be 34% up this year.

> > Tarantulus is amazing. He works on every level. His transformation is a little different than the OG. For the first transformation I was afraid to push his legs in because I didn't know how his feet were going to fold in.
> They did an exceptional job on him. He's so great.
> > I pulled out Scorponok because months ago everyone insisted Tarantulus was a remolded Scorponok.
> I don't know who is saying this. But they obviously need to be struck in the face with a fresh trout.
>

I don't currently have a Transforming Trout. Perhaps a Cybershark? Or Skalor? Or Submarauder?

> > Slammer is kind of boring. I only got him because I have Metroplex.
>
> I seem to remember a discussion some years ago where I had been wishing for a new Slammer toy, and a bunch of you were very dismissive of him. Banzaitron called him a "rounding error," as I recall. I've been waiting to see which of you guys actually ended up spending money on him, so I could expose you all for the hypocrites you really are! Mwu ha ha!
>
> That's right. Elephants never forget. And they never forgive. *clutches knife in trunk menacingly*
> > Bomb Burst I missed out on at work,we got 4 cases and sold all the Bomb Burst in 15 minutes. I saw him at Target, the sign said $8.49, but he was $9.99. I wasn't going to argue it as I'd waited in checkout way too long.
> I think I have him pre-ordered from Hasbro Pulse or BBTS or some such place. It's hard to keep track. I now own two Jhiaxuses (Jhiaxii?) because I forgot I pre-ordered him from two different places. Yes, I'm aware that I need to get my shit together.
> > Overall he's very faithful to his G1 self, still missing the G1 robot nobody would recognize anyway.
> I don't yet own the G1 version. But, I'm still opposed to these new non-Pretenders, if only on principle alone.
>

Get him just so he can ride on Iguanus. It looks great.

> > We have a G1 Cloudburst at work complete loose in box. He doesn't interest me at all. I hope Legacy skips the human faces and gives us the robot to vehicle if they bother with Autobot Pretenders at all. I sold my Landmine for what was probably not enough back in July.
>
> Landmine doesn't seem to go for as much money on eBay as the others do. I'm not sure why. I could probably get one for $40 right now.
>

That's what I sold mine for.

> They could maybe get away with doing flesh tones for the faces but make them obviously robotic in nature. Sort of a two-for-one deal. But, maybe they are only doing DeceptiNon-Pretenders right now for precisely that reason—they can't figure out how to handle the AutoNot-Pretenders yet.
>
> The Pretenders are interesting to me because they're such a departure. It's weird to think that they were part of the same toy line as the Diaclone redecos. G1 spanned for seven years, and yet it really could have been like six separate and distinct toy lines. Most of 1984-85 fits together, but all the Hasbro designs from 1986 feel like a separate toy line, and so does Scramble City, and so do Pretenders, and so do Micromasters, and so do Action Masters.
>

They're barely Transformers. Being like a separate toyline is what lost a lot of people. Micromasters worked because Micro machines were around at the time. Now Micromachines are worthless but some Micromasters are valuable.

> They're absolutely not the pinnacle of Japanese engineering the way the early Diaclone stuff is. But, as Marge Simpson says, I just think they're neat.
>
>
> Zob (does not watch the Simpsons, but is a student of Internet memes)

It's been 25 or so years since I watched The Simpsons

Me fail English? That's unpossible!