I am a big fan of War For Cybertron. Later this year, perhaps around fall, the sequel Fall of Cybertron will be released. But what’s even better is that there will be figures from FOC! Just like WFC, figures from the sequel will be released in the Generations line.
The following pics are previews of all the deluxe figures planned for FOC. While we only got 5 figures from WFC (Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Cliffjumper), we’re gonna get so much more for FOC! That’s right TransFans. Hasbro loves you. They’re even doing a combiner team that really combines! No release dates are given yet, but most likely the 1st wave will hit store shelves around the same time as the game. Fall of 2012 will be the Fall of Cybertron! Hey, that makes me wonder if there are seasons on Cybertron.
Fireflight doesn’t look right to me. I think this figure makes a better Strafe, with that head mold, alt mode, and the colors. But I like Aerialbots too, so I can live with it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting all of them. Transform and Roll Out!
Title of the post says it all. It has only been about 3 months since the release of the movie. Personally I thought the movie was pretty good. The GF didn’t like it one bit.
Now I maintain the position that only crappy movies get a quick home release. And that’s what makes DOTM so hard to classify. According to Wikipedia, DOTM is one of the most successful movies ever financially. It grossed $1.18 billion worldwide, and is the 5th highest grossing film of all time. However, critical reception was mostly negative and is usually not liked by anyone outside the hardcore Transformer fandom. I guess the quick home release makes sense if viewed from that perspective.
One of the very first post that I did when I started this blog was the release of Revenge of the Fallen. I definitely liked that one the least out of the three. Read that post to see my thoughts. Even Michael Bay himself has admitted that “Transformers 2 was crap.” Overall, DOTM corrected many of the flaws found in ROTF. DOTM cut out most of the juvenile non-sense, with the exception of that Asian character played by Ken Jeong. Story was more coherent. Bringing Cybertron to Earth is a worthy homage to the Ultimate Doom story arc in G1. Sentinel betraying the Autobots is an unexpected twist. In recent stories, Optimus’ predecessor has been less than perfect and the movie really explores that concept. I think Leonard Nimoy is destined to voice villains in the TF franchise. The acting was your standard Michael Bay cheese, but with so many big names in the cast it doesn’t get that bad. I liked Patrick Dempsey’s role. Good thing McDreamy and Josh Duhamel were there to keep the GF interested with their good looks or she might have fell asleep. But yeah, I liked DOTM, but the first film was still the best.
DOTM wrapped up things pretty good. I can’t think of any loose ends. All the baddies you expect to be killed off are terminated in spectacular fashion by the Autobots, or in some cases humans. I think this means we have seen the last of the Bay TFs. Shia LaBeouf has stated very clearly he’s not doing any more. That’s probably just as well. I think my interest for this trilogy has run its course and it’s time for something new. I like to see a new director take over and steer TFs more toward their G1 roots. J.J.Abrams perhaps? Every franchise he touches turns to gold.
But Michael Bay sure walks away a rich man. I don’t know how much of a cut he had in the 3 films and related merchandising, but he’s gotta be one of the wealthiest men alive in Hollywood today. That’s some good fortune for a director whose craft is questionable at best. He’s got TransFans to thank for this.
So am I gonna get the Blu-Ray? I don’t know. I like to get it on sale. A few months back I finally got ROTF on sale for about $10 at Amazon. I guess if I see one now for around $15 I’ll buy it, but if not I’ll keep looking.
The Bay TF movies have been fun, but I think I’m done with this franchise and I’m ready for another live-action reboot. I wonder what Hasbro has in stored for us besides TF Prime. One can only wonder… Transform and Roll Out!
As many of you already know, TFC Toys is making their own Constructicon Set called Hercules. The first figure released in the series is Exgraver (aka Scavenger), already available for some time now. I missed out on the first shipment of Exgraver since I was still on the fence over its $100 price tag, but good reviews of the figure has left me no choice but to buy. And so I pre-ordered Exgraver and now I’m waiting for the 2nd shipment to arrive. As of this writing, Heavylabor (aka Long Haul) is also available for pre-order.
If any of you are wondering how Hercules will look combined, below is a pic. Thanks to my friend Gemini for providing the pic.
I’m getting excited just looking at this. Hercules is gonna be huge! As far as scale goes, the only other fig that I recognize in the pic is Alternity Bumblebee, in the lower right. From that I can get a sense of how towering this gestault will truly be.
I don’t have Exgraver in hand, but if he’s as good as everyone claims he is, then Hercules should be a high-quality figure. Scrapper and Mixmaster appears to be the last 2 molds that TFC will produce. Their alt modes also appear in the pic and each fig is shaping up nicely I must say.
But let me point out again that it is $100 per figure! Hercules is a $600 investment. I’m already committed to Exgraver so I guess I’m in for the Long Haul (pun intended). That’s some crazy spending for a bunch of toys. But I’ll get over it. Transform and Roll Out!
Here we have another Gemini custom. This is the DOTM deluxe Sideswipe figure. I thought about buying this figure when he first hit the shelves back in May. This is a new movie-verse Sideswipe mold and I like how he’s a convertible this time. But the dull grey paint job just did not do it for me. Check out these pics on Seibertron to see what I mean.
Once again Gemini felt the need to correct this. And so he took this figure and painted him silver all over. The result is quite remarkable. This is Sideswipe as he was meant to appear. Check out pics below.
The last pic above shows off DOTM Sideswipe (center) with DOTM Walmart exclusive blue Sideswipe (left) and HFTD Sidearm Sideswipe (right). Don’t mess with DOTM Sideswipe in all his silver blingin’ glory!
In related news, it appears there will be a repainted version of this figure as Dark Steel. He’s looking pretty good and I will get this if/when he hits the shelves. I’m digging the color scheme, and using a new head mold is always a welcome feature. I included some pics below but you can see all the pics here.
As TransFans we all knew it was only a matter of time before Hasbro started repainting all the DOTM figs. It would be interesting to see what else they decide to repaint. And hopefully they will continue to make new molds too. The movies may have ended, but they toys don’t have to stop. Transform and Roll Out!
Roll for it! The third movie in the Michael Bay Transformers trilogy, Dark of the Moon, opens on June 29th, 2011. Here in California it is around 9:30pm of June 28th. But when the clock strikes midnight in a few hours, many of the bigger multiplexes around here will be showing the movie.
Normally I would be totally making plans to go to the midnight showing. If not, then this weekend for sure. But the GF is on vacation and she would kill me if I saw this before she did, so most likely I’ll catch it when she returns next week.
Some of my coworkers are planning to see this soon. I’ll be asking for their thoughts.
Prepare yourselves, my fellow TransFans! This is Earth’s Last Stand! Time to… Transform and Roll Out!
Oh happy day! News broke that the G1 Devastator giftset will be re-released in the Encore line. This is finally my chance to get my hands on a complete set of the G1 Constructicons. Release is set for late 2011. MSRP will be around 10500 yen, roughly $130 US today.
I mentioned before that I am on a quest to acquire all the G1 Combiner teams. This brings me one step closer to that dream. Getting a complete G1 Devastator would have costed me an arm and a leg. Now that this set is on the horizon, I might get some of those custom Devastator parts by Crazy Devy. They’re not cheap though. Even at Botcon they were not being sold for any kind of discount. All the parts added together will easily surpass the cost of the giftset.
In related news, the 3rd party Scavenger figure that I reported in my last post is now up for pre-order at your favorite online TF retailers (you know what they are). This product is being called Hercules Exgraver. I’m guessing Hercules is Devastator and Exgraver is Scavenger.
Here’s the pic I took at Botcon:
Another color image:
MSRP of this figure is right below $100. The obvious conclusion here is that this Devastator set will be $600, if they really make all 6. Am I hardcore enough to buy them? Only time will tell.
Dinobots and Constructicons were rivals in G1. At Voyager size, this Constructicons set will even give Masterpiece Grimlock a run for his money. “Prepare for Extermination!”
BotCon 2011 is this coming weekend! I’m so stoked! It officially starts tomorrow, but I will only be there for General Admission which is Saturday and Sunday. I can’t wait for all the robots and the TransFans. Pasadena Convention Center is a great venue for the event. I will be doing some serious shopping. I need to make a list of figures that I’m looking for so I don’t miss anything. I might attend some panels. In the 09 Con on Sunday, Tyrese made a surprise visit! Who knows what surprises Hasbro has in stored for us.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Movie designs, something I’ve repeatedly mentioned on this blog. However, early prototype pics of Shockwave from the 3rd movie (Dark of the Moon, or DOTM) have begun to surface. I gotta say, this Shockwave looks pretty damn cool. I’m liking this look and the toy is shaping up nicely. Check out the pics.
Based on these pics I can’t tell if this is a Voyager or Deluxe, but he looks pretty cool regardless. His colors, head design, arm cannon, and the tube connecting the cannon, these are all terrific homages to G1. If the final production toy looks anything like this, I’m buying one for sure.
On a related note, I recently picked up a brand new Alternator Shockblast, who we all know is really Shockwave. I got him relatively cheap on Ebay. I could have got this at $20 when he was first released, but I waited too long and before I knew it they stopped making Alternators. I’m glad I was able to secure a brand new one now in the $30 range.
FansProject is currently developing an add-on kit for Classics/Henkei Rodimus. I first reported this add-on kit back in April of this year. FP have recently released color pics of the set. Appearance wise, this kit is shaping up to be excellent. If the quality of this add-on is anywhere close to the usual high standards of FP products (and I have many), then we can assume we have another winning product on our hands. But enough talking. Check out the pics below.
Many reputable dealers are already taking pre-orders for this set. Get yours now! Transform and Roll Out!
