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While the Platinum Dinobots set is still unavailable in the US, it has been available in other territories for a while, including Canada. It is even on sale at the time of writing this article at 100$ cdn (75$ US) at its exclusive retailer Toysrus. While it is unavailable online, there are still several boxes found in stores scanning the same discount (even if the price tag has not been changed).
Since I bought one set and had some problems with it, I wished to make a quick review on some points regarding this set going through each dinobot. Images of this Generations set, like the one below, can be found here.
The main difference is the inclusion of the new classic styled G1 heads and that all five Dinobots being there at once (Slog had to be ordered off Amazon to complete the SDCC set) but there are other deco differences. In general, this Platinum Generations Dinobot set has less colour than the SDCC set except for the first one I will mention.
Slog:
Platinum Slog's arms aren't chrome. Also, the neck on SDCC's is slightly painted, this version is all clear with a fully painted head. However, this figure, aside from the head, has the least visible differences from the other G1 deco overall.
Strafe:
No picture has done this new head justice. He actually has a very long crest along his moving well past his head on from the front to the back (with the back being much longer). As for deco, the only paint on his arms is the yellow that appeared on the SDCC version (no green) and the back of the wings have nothing on them aside from the layer of chrome. There are differences in where the paint is applied on the chest where the Generations Platinum version has four dark grey/black triangles painted. What I find funny about the cover art is how toy accurate it is, and even includes the tails curved the same direction (a flaw still not corrected in this release), while the back shows a version of the toy with the tails pointing the right way.
Grimlock:
This toy has some major quality issues. The robot forearms and shoulders split, where the molded halves connect, whenever they ate rotated. This can happen on either side or both (I returned a set for Grimlock and Slug and thus held two versions of each). One of the Grimlocks I had also had silver paint splotches on his red T-Rex heels and had a loose peg which made him unable to keep his robot feet connected to his forearms. As far as a difference with the SDCC version, this Grimlock lacks the red chrome and blue paint on his legs.
Snarl:
Snarl by far has the greatest difference with his SDCC self since all the gold chrome was replaced with standard silver chrome. There is no yellow found on this toy anywhere aside from he cover picture. Speaking of the box, the picture in the back depicts the translucent dino head having a silver streak across it but this is also absent from the final toy. The head is just clear plastic with red eyes.
Slug:
Slug also has no yellow or gold on him aside for his painted eyes. However, he does have the only tinted chrome on any of these dinobots, which is the blue on the dino's front legs, though the shade of blue will be different on any toy. I had one which had light blue on one leg and dark blue on the other. The tail joint is very tight and the plastic connecting the tail to the body is very weak. My first version crack while transforming and eventually fell off.
So in general, while the deco is not as good as the SDCC Dinos (aside from Slog) and the quality is questionable on two, the heads are great (especially on Strafe) and the deco is still very nice with all the clear plastic and chromey goodness. We all had a lovely day together and I am overall very happy with this set. However, I did only pay 75$ US for it (plus taxes) and was lucky enough to get a replacement set.
PS: This is who is advertised on the back of the box:
Last Stand of the Wreckers: Part II - Stand Laster (Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
THE WRECKERS RETURN! Somebody’s kidnapped PROWL… but does anybody want him back? A lifetime of messing with everybody’s lives comes around to haunt him. Fortunately, he’s always got a plan. In this case… the one team of brutal, broken heroes… the WRECKERS!
Such hero, much broken
Story
It has taken some time to convince Nick Roche and the editorial team over at IDW to bring a bunch of clutch munching piston-lickers back to the stage - but years later, here we are again, sans James Roberts, looking at a very different status quo, a similar roster of names and faces, and a much, much darker (if possible) storyline.
Good start..?
We start from where we left in Last Stand, with the passing of time having passed, and done its thing, Springer still in a coma, Impactor and whatever is left of the Wreckers trying to find their place in the new reality of Cybertron and the Council of Worlds. The transition is seamless, in accounting for the time that sits between the two stories.
Establishing shot
We also identify the two majorly major players of the story - from this point, at least - in Verity Carlo and Kup, two people who have all the reasons to dislike Prowl, with a passion, though not necessarily with the knowledge to do so especially in Kup's case.
..and of course, this guy
One concern I do have, though it has been addressed by Roche and IDW more in general, is to do with the exact placing of this story. There are significant scenes with the Ark that do not coincide with The Transformers #47, and something seems to have shifted in Prowl's disappearance, too. That said, in John Barber we trust.
Art
The visual team, linework and layouts at least, is still concentrated in the hands and floppy hair of Roche himself, and he brings, in my opinion, something quite different to the previous Wreckers outing in Last Stand, and something perhaps more fitting to the tone he has set for his own story this time round. That, and a combination of some really dynamic work in the layouts.
Stakepunch!
A tone, of course, that has been perfectly captured and even enhanced in the chromatic wonders of Josh Burcham, who delivers a variety of lonelinesses depending on the scenes, characters, and environments. Blending a very dirty, gritty colouring and lighting for indoor conversations, and cold colours for outdoors Nome, the isolation is palpable.
Greyscale and sepia - mmhmm
Unsurprisingly, Tom B. Long is taking up lettering duties, and there is nothing I have to say that the lettering doesn't do for itself. Tone aside, we get snippets into the dark humour of the book, and the dynamics established among the cast. A cast which is, for the most part, highlighted on the covers with Roche and Burcham giving a cinematographic feel to the main one, guests Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire offering a magnificent Impactor, and Alex Milne teaming up with Josh Perez for a Springer-tastic LSTOW variant (thumbnailed).
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
We've seen it with Redemption, we've seen it in recent issue of The Transformers, it has been running in the Scavengers arc, and more so in this week's release of MTMTE - the status quo for the TFverse has changed. Some characters have not. Some characters are trying to adapt. Some cannot. This is their story, as told by cruel Nick Roche.
Look at that smug mug
Tight editing on the book will ensure that everything slides into place, I'm sure, removing the only major criticism I have of the issue. There are some surprisingly poignant, powerful, ominous, intriguing moments which you just need to enjoy. Make sure you take a break between this and MTMTE, too.
We Played With Life…. Spoiler-Free-ish (or how much it can be)
Synopsis
FRIENDSHIP ISN'T MAGIC! TAILGATE has a choice to make—and if he had any idea what was at stake, he'd think twice before making it. The crew is ripped apart as MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE begins the sprint towards its shocking 50th issue!
Better hope everyone else has their nerves steeled
Summary
For the sake of this review (and the reviewer), there will be no written summary of the book, as it is impossible to say anything without giving something away. There really is no way to make this non-spoilery. Expect pain, gut-punching, emotions, sadness, anger, love, manipulation, politics, post-war statuses, naivety, loyalty, and giant transforming robots.
There really isn’t anything you can do
However, this can be said: Roberts knows how to surprise us and keep us entertained. If you were just starting to nod off, this will snap you awake all too quickly. [Va'al says: And make sure you are ready to squirm uncomfortably at one side of the main plot, as Getaway ..gets away with a lot of morally dubious actions. The emotions in this issue run rampant, and they teeter on the brink of pure anger at times.]
Art
Artwork this week is covered by Brendan Cahill, and he really has been making some good art. With issue 40, we saw just how good he has become and how well he fits the artists for MTMTE, but it is in this issue where he really shines. His art is simply amazing and nothing is left out, no little detail. He does a fantastic job of covering all the bases and making this a great piece of art.
And just when you thought staring out the window was boring
As usual, Joana Lafuente adds all the colors, keeping Cahill's art in keeping with the string of artists that have worked on the series so far (along Milne) and Tom B. Long brings all the magnificent lettering. This issue continues the trends of great art and magnificent artistic team. There really is nothing else to be said there.
Lettering, colors and mystery: all in one panel!
Thoughts (SPOILERISH AHEAD!!!)
Speaking as a grown man who loves transformers and who loves a grand story: I cried this issue. Reading through this made this fan break down in tears. There are great characters, great individual stories, and a larger story that may have gone overlooked for a while that has been 2 years in the making. And it all just exploded. In a very emotional way that no one could ever have anticipated.
No it can’t! You need to get this issue Yesterday!
In a way, the opening of Sins of the Wreckers overshadows this story despite how strong and how big they both were. There was a lot of thought going into this story for some time, and it came crashing in in ways that no one could really imagine. And there are Wreckers connections that cannot be coincidence either.
In conclusion: tears, sorrow, triumph, and understanding all take center stage here. In the words of ScottyP: Crushing. This is one of the best issues to date, and that is saying something considering some of the arcs that we have already got. This is a must have, and the race to Issue 50 has begun in an all out sprint.
Once more via our fellow Seibertronian chuckdawg1999 we take a look at some of the latest toy releases, this time from the Robots in Disguise One-Step Changer sub-line - check out below a double feature review, focusing on Springload and Quillfire, including some added thoughts.
One-Step changers are here to stay, I know many of you don't want to hear that but it's true. Fortunately Hasbro keeps finding different and fun ways for vehicles to turn into robots, or robotic animals as is the case with Springload and Quillfire. I'm a little disappointed that Hasbro didn't use a push button, spring transformation on Springload; that was a missed opportunity. With that said both make for fun desk toys and are perfect for the younger fans in your life.
Fellow Seibertronian chuckdawg1999 has a review for Legion Class Thunderhoof, enjoy!
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Let's be Frank for a moment, (see what I did there?) Thunderhoof is a popular character and one of the bright spots of the RID cartoon. The Legion figure has a fun transformation, that makes for a great desk toy.
On this crazy day of many reveals, Seibertronian YouTuber optibotimus has shared his next video review, this time featuring the final member of the deluxe Combaticons: Swindle! Swindle is an extensive retool of Combiner WarsRook, and features a new weapon as well as some pretty cool new molded parts. Check him out below and head to the forums to discuss this newest member of the combaticons!
Synopsis
CONQUERORS, part 2! OPTIMUS PRIME ventures into the SEA OF RUST, looking for the truth about his role as a PRIME. Instead, he comes face-to-face with the new female combiner, VICTORION, who has some questions of her own!
I want one of all of them
Story
Of the two series from IDW Publishing running right now, The Transformers is undoubtedly the currently most interesting, maintaining a sustained and mostly narrative in a way that More Than Meets the Eye has kept subsided for a while now - and with John Barber at the helm, those narratives run deep, and way into the past.
Join me, Luke
This issue brings together several strands we have already encountered, and briskly moves them forward towards the next big step in the series - and I am seriously hooked onto what that may be - by referencing some of the older events in this incarnation of the Transformers universe, from Heart of Darkness to Dark Cybertron, via Combiner Wars.
Haaang on a second
While some of those may rest uneasy with the established readership, newcomers to the story will find them useful enough to go back and rediscover previous stories, or take the information and run with it - much like Starscream seems to do in the book. Which does not lack several wider scenes with key and major players in Cybertron's ever-changing scape, from Blackrock to Needlenose, to Soundwave and Galvatron, to all of those caught in between.
Off to see the wizard..?
The highlight of the issue, for me at least, was the fantastic sequence with Optimus Prime and the Torchbearers/Victorion (with Aileron playing support). The voices are fresh, the interaction sparking some serious food for thought, and once more a lead into new directions yet to be explored in the series.
Art
The newest addition to the artistic team at IDW Publishing makes her second debut here, as Sara Pitre-Durocher approaches the interior artwork with a fresh brush and some excellently dynamic takes on established designs and characters. The art is clean, the stroke is fine, the layouts are pleasing...
Gravity powers (tm) !
...and Josh Perez makes sure that the transition into a new style is seamless, smooth and slick, as only Perez can do. After the alternative, pastel take on Combiner Hunters, seeing his vibrant (but also contrasting where needed, such as the Victorion scenes) work on the new lineart is a good touch.
Dat Ark
Despite one significantly, and poignantly, silent scene, the lettering runs true all through, as Tom B. Long works once more his magic, capturing the new tones, balances and dynamics of the major players in the book. The covers are slightly different this month, featuring main art by regular Andrew Griffith and Perez, with Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente giving a scene that we never see in the book (thumbnailed), but speaks to Soundwave's plans, and Livio Ramondelli teases next week's Sins of the Wreckers debut.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
Not only in The Transformers the most interesting, to me at least, of the two books right now, it is also the best example of not needing to refer, any longer, to the established Transformers lore outside of what IDW is creating. Barber, Scott, and Roberts have woven an intricate universe, and the former handles the multiple factions extremely well.
Ominous, us?
It is excellent to see that universe expand, both in-story and beyond the limits of the page, with new artist Pitre-Durocher back on interiors after her stint on Combiner Hunters. There are many many leads for the stories being told, and I, for one, cannot wait to find out more next month. It'll be a woof wait.
Via member Tambeyoda, We now have video reviews for both the combiner wars Voyager Onslaught and Scattershot! Onslaught is an extensive retool of Combiner Wars Hot Spot and Scattershot a retool of Combiner Wars Silverbolt. Do these reviews make you feel the urge to buy these new torso bots? Head on down to the forums to say whether these will end up in your collection or not!
It's time for another episode of the Chuck Show where he provides an in depth look at the mass retail version of Warrior Megatronus. Only the Toysrus exclusive version was available so far and came with a mask, but this mask-less release should be hitting your way soon.
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Regardless of how RID does in the ratings, it has to be remembered for doing things story wise, that haven't been seen since the original Sunbow show. Megatronus as the big, bad, baddie instead of Megatron, or some other established Decepticon is a great switch. The figure is solid and from the neck down the same mold as the TRU exclusive release. From the neck up we get an unmasked head that is a very good likeness to the animated model. One thing that impresses me is how the tank mode comes together solidly using well placed tabs. If you don't have the Clash version yet this is a solid pick up.
Thanks to fellow Seibertronian Optibotimus, we now have a look at the third member of the Combaticon team: Vortex! Check out this repaint of Alpha Bravo below, and head to the forums to discuss what you think of the new coptor con!
optibotimus wrote:Enjoy guys!
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