Kingdom Slammer Toy Images

[Zobovor]

Lots of images of the upcoming Slammer figure for Kingdom (not just artwork of the toy, this time, but the actual toy):

https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/09/17/transformers-kingdom-deluxe-slammer-in-hand-images-441275

As you can see, he's not the expected Warpath reuse at all, but a nearly all-new mold (evidently he does share some pelvis and upper leg pieces with the Ironworks/Greasepit toy).

He's purported to be a Modulator, and he reportedly has a chainsaw mode, most likely using the tank treads as the chainsaw blades.

Given that the Scamper component for Generations Metroplex was so small, we almost need a new Deluxe-sized Scamper now to go along with Six-Gun and Slammer. And probably a new Metroplex while we're at it, honestly.


Zob (get on that, okay, Hasbro?)

[Irrellius Spamticon]

On Friday, September 17, 2021 at 10:45:25 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> Lots of images of the upcoming Slammer figure for Kingdom (not just artwork of the toy, this time, but the actual toy):
>
> https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/09/17/transformers-kingdom-deluxe-slammer-in-hand-images-441275
>
> As you can see, he's not the expected Warpath reuse at all, but a nearly all-new mold (evidently he does share some pelvis and upper leg pieces with the Ironworks/Greasepit toy).
>

But who will they reuse him as?

> He's purported to be a Modulator, and he reportedly has a chainsaw mode, most likely using the tank treads as the chainsaw blades.
>

The sides of his legs look to have rocket details
The front broken up by the hinge, perhaps he has a tower mode?

> Given that the Scamper component for Generations Metroplex was so small, we almost need a new Deluxe-sized Scamper now to go along with Six-Gun and Slammer. And probably a new Metroplex while we're at it, honestly.
>

I am happy with my current Metroplex and him holding all my trilogy Micromasters.
I can't justify giving up on him just yet.

>
> Zob (get on that, okay, Hasbro?)

I'm regretting selling my Sixgun off back before I had Metroplex, and selling my Fort Max off back before I got Cog.....ok so maybe I really regret getting Cog after selling Fortress Maximus.

My Scorponok is currently holding Black Roritchi because he was easier to get than Fasttrack. Have they said how hard it will be to find Slammer yet? Will I be able to get his Zone counterpart Metrotank much easier?

[Zobovor]

On Friday, September 17, 2021 at 10:44:30 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> But who will they reuse him as?

I honestly can't think of a redeco that makes sense for him. Hasbro spreads the budget across an entire toy line, though, so maybe they're already planning enough redeco toys (like selling Huffer to us FOUR TIMES) that they only have to sell us Slammer once.

> The front broken up by the hinge, perhaps he has a tower mode?

Yeah, I read somewhere he was supposed to form a tower for Metroplex. Hasbro said he's part of a "Metroplex drone collection."

> I am happy with my current Metroplex and him holding all my trilogy Micromasters. I can't justify giving up on him just yet.

That's fair. He's not an awful toy, either, by any stretch of the imagination. He was just designed so long ago that he's not in synch with the screen-accuracy we're currently enjoying. I want something that looks like the Heroes of Cybertron Metroplex, with that big, blocky chest, only it's two feet tall.

> My Scorponok is currently holding Black Roritchi because he was easier to get than Fasttrack. Have they said how hard it will be to find
Slammer yet? Will I be able to get his Zone counterpart Metrotank much easier?

I worry about wave four in general, since the tail-end waves have always been traditionally difficult to find. Add the current distribution problems to the mix, and the fact that Hasbro hasn't even acknowledged that wave four EXISTS in any way, shape, or form, and I worry even more. How is it possible that people are finding Waspinator and Shadow Panther in brick-and-mortar stores and yet no online retailers, up to and including Hasbro Pulse, have even put up pre-orders yet? It makes no sense!


Zob (successfully installed a new bathroom ceiling fan yesterday and very proud of myself)

[Irrellius Spamticon]

On Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 11:03:28 AM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Friday, September 17, 2021 at 10:44:30 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
>
> > But who will they reuse him as?
> I honestly can't think of a redeco that makes sense for him. Hasbro spreads the budget across an entire toy line, though, so maybe they're already planning enough redeco toys (like selling Huffer to us FOUR TIMES) that they only have to sell us Slammer once.
> > The front broken up by the hinge, perhaps he has a tower mode?
> Yeah, I read somewhere he was supposed to form a tower for Metroplex. Hasbro said he's part of a "Metroplex drone collection."

It'd be cool to see a Sixgun/Scamper/Slammer combined,

> > I am happy with my current Metroplex and him holding all my trilogy Micromasters. I can't justify giving up on him just yet.
> That's fair. He's not an awful toy, either, by any stretch of the imagination. He was just designed so long ago that he's not in synch with the screen-accuracy we're currently enjoying. I want something that looks like the Heroes of Cybertron Metroplex, with that big, blocky chest, only it's two feet tall.

I don't mind the updates that bring us forward past the 80s.
I don't miss the Apple IIc boxes with monochrome green CRT tube screens

> > My Scorponok is currently holding Black Roritchi because he was easier to get than Fasttrack. Have they said how hard it will be to find
> Slammer yet? Will I be able to get his Zone counterpart Metrotank much easier?
> I worry about wave four in general, since the tail-end waves have always been traditionally difficult to find. Add the current distribution problems to the mix, and the fact that Hasbro hasn't even acknowledged that wave four EXISTS in any way, shape, or form, and I worry even more. How is it possible that people are finding Waspinator and Shadow Panther in brick-and-mortar stores and yet no online retailers, up to and including Hasbro Pulse, have even put up pre-orders yet? It makes no sense!
>

Slammer's not in wave 4, and wave 4 is already hitting places.... we got the Shadowpanther, Waspinator, Paleotrex, Tracks wave. unless you meant wave 4 2022?

Slammer doesn't look like the other Kingdom toys, I imagine it's whatever series might give us a Dragon Megatron and Tarantulus possibly reengineered from Scorponok.

[Zobovor]

On Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 5:37:54 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> I don't mind the updates that bring us forward past the 80s. I don't miss the Apple IIc boxes with monochrome green CRT tube screens

I collect characters I grew up with in the 80's and 90's. That's why I buy toys. The day Hasbro abandons the legacy characters and tries to reinvent Transformers with all-new characters is the day I stop buying them.

As long as they're paying tribute to the original characters, I'll be pretty happy. But, they need to get the characters right. Yes, make them out of modern-day plastics. Yes, give them improved sculpts and articulation. Absolutely. Technology marches on. I embrace the improvements.
But, if they're going to pay tribute to legacy characters, I want them to look the way they look. Reinventing and redesigning the characters isn't paying homage. I don't want attempts at making them better. I want attempts at making them authentic.

I feel like we've had variations of this argument before, and I don't expect you to come around to my way of thinking. But, speaking for myself, that's what I want to see.

> Slammer's not in wave 4, and wave 4 is already hitting places.... we got the Shadowpanther, Waspinator, Paleotrex, Tracks wave. unless you meant wave 4 2022?

We've had a list since November of last year regarding what Kingdom was supposed to look like, and so far it's been shockingly accurate. Back then, Pipes and Slammer and Waspinator and Shadow Panther were supposed to be wave four. Maybe there will be a mid-wave revision and Pipes and Slammer will be worked into the assortment.


Zob (time will tell)

[Gustavo Wombat]

Irrellius Spamticon <Ob1k...@att.net> wrote:
> On Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 11:03:28 AM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
>> On Friday, September 17, 2021 at 10:44:30 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

>>> I am happy with my current Metroplex and him holding all my trilogy
>>> Micromasters. I can't justify giving up on him just yet.
>> That's fair. He's not an awful toy, either, by any stretch of the
>> imagination. He was just designed so long ago that he's not in synch
>> with the screen-accuracy we're currently enjoying. I want something that
>> looks like the Heroes of Cybertron Metroplex, with that big, blocky
>> chest, only it's two feet tall.
>
> I don't mind the updates that bring us forward past the 80s.
> I don't miss the Apple IIc boxes with monochrome green CRT tube screens
>

I honestly have no idea what a more modern Metroplex would look like,
unless he was wearing a hoodie, shaved a notch in his eyebrow, and had a
bio card with his/their pronouns.

I want updated characters, where they make sense. Give me a Prowl for every
major police car we have had for the past 35 years — particularly the Grand
Marquis — and make Bumblebee a orangey yellow Prius Taxi (the only yellow
car that doesn’t stand out). Upgrade the Decepticon jets, and find some new
unfortunate soon-to-be-anachronism for Soundwave (an 8 track deck would be
going the wrong way, but have we thought about the Microsoft Zune? Or an
air fryer? (Laser beak could transform into food!))

But Metroplex? I just want Metroplex to be a better toy. He’s good, but he
could be better.

(I would also love the 2005 look of Hot Rod and the rest applied to
characters like Smokescreen… actually, I liked Siege a bit more than
Earthrise, because the designs were a nice mixture of comfortable and
different)

[Irrellius Spamticon]

On Monday, September 20, 2021 at 12:55:23 AM UTC-5, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> Irrellius Spamticon <Ob1k...@att.net> wrote:
> > On Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 11:03:28 AM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> >> On Friday, September 17, 2021 at 10:44:30 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
>
> >>> I am happy with my current Metroplex and him holding all my trilogy
> >>> Micromasters. I can't justify giving up on him just yet.
> >> That's fair. He's not an awful toy, either, by any stretch of the
> >> imagination. He was just designed so long ago that he's not in synch
> >> with the screen-accuracy we're currently enjoying. I want something that
> >> looks like the Heroes of Cybertron Metroplex, with that big, blocky
> >> chest, only it's two feet tall.
> >
> > I don't mind the updates that bring us forward past the 80s.
> > I don't miss the Apple IIc boxes with monochrome green CRT tube screens
> >
> I honestly have no idea what a more modern Metroplex would look like,
> unless he was wearing a hoodie, shaved a notch in his eyebrow, and had a
> bio card with his/their pronouns.
>

Every angle doesn't have to be a right angle, we got some wrong angles.

> I want updated characters, where they make sense. Give me a Prowl for every
> major police car we have had for the past 35 years — particularly the Grand
> Marquis —

One of the reason I like Barricade in the movies. Although most police mustangs weren't until after I saw the movie, and today they'd be SUVs ala Energon Red Alert.

>and make Bumblebee a orangey yellow Prius Taxi (the only yellow
> car that doesn’t stand out).

You mean yellow Prius with a Lyft sign in the windshield

>Upgrade the Decepticon jets,

But the F-15s crash less than the F-35

and find some new
> unfortunate soon-to-be-anachronism for Soundwave (an 8 track deck would be
> going the wrong way, but have we thought about the Microsoft Zune? Or an
> air fryer? (Laser beak could transform into food!))
>

So that's why all those Crock pots got hacked, it was Soundwave looking for Blaster.

> But Metroplex? I just want Metroplex to be a better toy. He’s good, but he
> could be better.
>

But are we asking for better or are we asking for regressing backwards?

> (I would also love the 2005 look of Hot Rod and the rest applied to
> characters like Smokescreen… actually, I liked Siege a bit more than
> Earthrise, because the designs were a nice mixture of comfortable and
> different)

Earthrise and Studio 86 happening at the same time was a little confusing, and then Kingdom seemed even more confused abandoning a lot of the linewide gimmicks.

[Gustavo Wombat]

Give me Prowl through the ages.

>> and make Bumblebee a orangey yellow Prius Taxi (the only yellow
>> car that doesn’t stand out).
>
> You mean yellow Prius with a Lyft sign in the windshield
>
>> Upgrade the Decepticon jets,
>
> But the F-15s crash less than the F-35

I liked the idea of the Combiner Wars Starscream mold, if not the
execution.

> and find some new
>> unfortunate soon-to-be-anachronism for Soundwave (an 8 track deck would be
>> going the wrong way, but have we thought about the Microsoft Zune? Or an
>> air fryer? (Laser beak could transform into food!))
>>
>
> So that's why all those Crock pots got hacked, it was Soundwave looking for Blaster.
>
>> But Metroplex? I just want Metroplex to be a better toy. He’s good, but he
>> could be better.
>>
>
> But are we asking for better or are we asking for regressing backwards?

I just want a little more fun out of it, whether it is particularly G1
accurate or not. If it was done now, it would have a lot more integration
with the Micromaster bases, and that would be nice.

My main issue with the toy — and with the other city transformers — is that
they don’t work as cities. They will never be big enough for significant
figures to be inside of them, so they are always on their own, unable to
really interact.

Titans Return Trypticon is a space ship for a couple of smaller robots, and
a battle station, and that works well.

Skorponok should be a throne — he comes so close to being a throne, just a
chair away, and Zarak could hold court. Leave the scorpion, and add a
spaceship (there are some fan modes that work well, so it could be done). I
currently have Throne of the Primes Optimus Primal sitting on Skorponok’s
head, in place of a chair, and he looks great. I guess Galvatron would work
better.

Metroplex though? He’s big, and not quite as much fun. He needs… something.
The rolling runway thing he turns into just doesn’t do it. Does he need
more gimmicks like Six Gun? Sure. But mostly, I think he needs to be
smaller in fiction, and interact with at least core sized figures.
Transform into a science station or an anti-aircraft battery rather than a
city.

And the Ark does even less than Metroplex. Had they blurred the lines
between the Ark and the Autobot shuttle shown in Beast Wars and Beast
Machines and made spots for a couple of small figures inside, and made the
guns on the outside removable/repositionable with 5mm pegs (and replaceable
with target masters!) he could have been fun.

I can bend my sense of scale for interactions about 5:1 for these things,
not 100:1.

This logic, of course, leads to my preference for the next Titan to be
Cosmos. (A small Cosmos can dock on the big Cosmos to try to make some
sense of scale…)