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Fellow member and long time fan of Seibertron.com QBKiller94 was able to attend a première of the Transformers Robots In Disguise cartoon hosted by Hasbro at a movie theater in New York City. They were able to write up their thoughts of the two-part pilot episode, and we've copied it below for your perusal - why not compare it to our previous review from board admin Burnhere? The show is already being aired across multiple countries, and will air in the US on March 14th.
Review: “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” Two-Part Pilot Episode
By QBKiller94
“Transformers: Robots in Disguise” draws upon several of its predecessors while carving out a unique place in Hasbro’s animated lineup thanks to a striking art style, talented voice cast and promising plot lines.
“Transformers: RID” made its North American debut with a private screening at the TriBeCa Theater in New York City on Saturday. I watched the two-part pilot with my 5-year-old daughter without commercial breaks in a small theater with about 60 fans of all ages.
The pilot opens up on Cybertron with two Autobots racing down a path together -- a familiar scene for fans of the original G1 series. Bumblebee, brilliantly voiced by Will Friedle, is a veteran street cop accompanied by the young and inexperienced Strongarm. An indeterminate number of years have passed since the events of “Transformers Prime.” Optimus Prime is dead and it appears the war is over.
While Optimus is no longer leading the Autobots, his presence is felt throughout the pilot and marked physically by a giant memorial statue on Seibertron. Bumblebee sees Optimus in a vision during the apprehension of the law-breaking Sideswipe near the former Autobot leader’s memorial. The message from Optimus is loud and clear – Bumblebee must return to Earth.
The scene shifts to Earth where a boy named Rusty laments living in a salvage yard with his father, Denny. Denny is a nostalgic collector, a hoarder of things others have grown tired of and he’s not keen on throwing any of it out. It’s a subtle wink at seasoned Transformers collectors, for sure. Rusty yearns for life in the nearby city to take him away from the boring salvage yard. Rusty is a plucky, rebellious kid and Denny is a laid-back dreamer who provides comic relief. Thankfully, neither one detracts from the action of the pilot episode.
Things pick up when an Autobot prison ship crash lands in a wooded area near Denny’s salvage yard shortly before Bumblebee, Strongarm and Sideswipe arrive on Earth. Hundreds of deadly Decepticons have escaped and they’ve got to be recaptured.
On Earth, the Autobots team up with the Minicon Fixit and Grimlock, whose back story is given a fresh new spin. Grimlock, like some of the other characters, is a mash up of several previously seen Transformers personality. Grimlock, voiced by Khary Payton, is a combination of his G1 namesake and “Transformers Animated” Bulkhead. He’s massive, dumb and super kid-friendly.
Bumblebee is the reluctant leader of the group and it’s clear early on that his maturation and growth in that role is going to be one of the overarching story lines for this series.
“Entourage” actress Constance Zimmer voices Strongarm, the young, by-the-book cadet who’s eager to jump into the action despite Bumblebee’s constant coddling. She’s peppy and green as grass, basically the complete opposite of Arcee’s role in “Transformers Prime.” Sideswipe is aimed squarely at the preteen crowd. He’s a cross between “Transformers Prime” Smokescreen and Ted Theodore Logan. The diminutive Fixit rounds out the crew. He stammers and stutters comically, which makes you wonder how he ended up being in charge of a prison ship full of the universes most dangerous Decepticons in the first place.
“Do you know who I am? I’m Underbite, the Chompazoid who devoured Nuon City!”
“Transformers RID” is set up for the Autobots to embark on endless missions to hunt down these escaped cons and if the rest of them are as colorful as Underbite, then we’re in for fun ride. Underbite is a Chompazoid who is incredibly proud of his strength, which grows each time he chomps down on some metal. Undrebyte flexes, preens and exclaims: “Feel the burn!” just as you’d expect an arrogant muscle head from Venice Beach or the Jersey Shore to. Underbite is a hefty Decepticon who gives the Autobots all they can handle all the while looking for validation of his past misdeeds.
The art style for “Transformers: RID” has a strong anime vibe to it with a bright color pallet to give it a softer feel than “Transformers Prime.” It’s a mix of CGI characters and painted backgrounds that works well on screen. The action scenes are animated with skill and each characters transformation is expertly executed. There is a scene where Sideswipe saves Rusty while transforming that is reminiscent of one of the more famous live action movie scenes. There’s hope that we may get some of the cinematic quality action sequences that “Transformers Prime” made common place.
Overall, it’s clear “Transformers: RID” is aiming for a younger demo graphic, but it succeeds in both entertaining the under-10 crowd and having enough meat to keep parents and older fans engaged. The pilot episode does an excellent job of setting the stage for the series with well-written characters, laugh-out-loud moments and a solid plot foundation. If you’re looking for it to be as weighty as “Transformers Prime,” then you may be disappointed. However, if you can get past the tonal change you’ll be treated to a host of original characters and a fresh new voyage into the Transformers universe.
A we've been mentioning through today, site owner Seibertron was able to make the trip the Children's Museum on Indianapolis, in order to visit the new, Hasbro licensed, Transformers: Robots in Disguise exhibit we reported on a while ago!
If you head below and click on the images provided, you can take a look at a fairly extensive gallery covering the various parts of the history of the Transformers showcased, from interactive features, the prototypes and models on show (from unused toys to BotShots and more), the Soundwave through the ages collection, the vehicles of Movie Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on display, a Beast Wars diorama, a "design a Transformer" area, cartoons running in a room where kids can play with simplified 3 Step Transformers, an area where you can "become a Transformer" by motion-capture controlling a screen Bumblebee, and much much more than meets the eye!
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.
Top 5 Best Female Transformer characters (Fembots)
Ever since the introduction of female Transformers with an air of mystery in the G1 episode "The Search for Alpha Trion", fans have wondered what it means for Transforming robots to have a different sex. Or is it gender because they don't reproduce? In that case, then why different genders? and on and on. Regardless, these female robots, aka fembots, have garnered a lot of love throughout the years, maybe in part to their mystery, for how much diversity they add to the show or for how rare it is to see one in a show (and even rarer to see in toy form). I think they are kickass and add a lot to the brand which is, more often than not, purposefully male centric. Here are my picks for the top 5 fembots of all time!
5. Beast Machines Botanica
I must admit that the originality of her concept and design is a big reason for her inclusion on this list. She is to this day the only plant transformer ever depicted in fiction (let me know in the comments if that still holds true). However, it doesn't stop there. She displays a very motherly affection (to her planet in this case) which makes her very passionate about her cause and stake in the war against Megatron. Thus, the motherly qualities associated to her gender are used in the actual writing instead of her gender being used just to add diversity to the cast or designs. There is also a lot of world building owed to that character since her hatred for Megatron hints that this villain's reach extends beyond the cast of characters we followed.
Also, I love her accent and the way she says Megatron is pretty great (and kinda sexy).
4. G1 Elita One
While we see little of her, she is essentially the one in charge of continuing Optimus Prime's mission on their home planet, this is huge! And we see through the famous G1 episode "The Search for Alpha Trion" that she is aware of the great responsibility bestowed upon her and runs a pretty tight ship. While number 3 on this list is a far more popular character, Elita One will always be Cybertron's first lady to me.
3. G1 Arcee
G1's number 1 fembot for sure. The design is great and she adds nice diversity to the main season 3 cast, showing how much of a different direction the writers are taking with the season. However, when watching back, she doesn't seem to have a lot to do, unlike Kup, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and Wreck Gar (of all autobots), who keep hogging the spotlight. My main beef is pretty much that the main reason she stands out in the cartoon is due to her gender and design and I would have preferred a bit more, hence her not being #1 on this list. However, and I cannot stress this enough, her inclusion in G1 cannon and the Transformers brand itself is a testament to the brand's potential diversity and her aesthetics serve as a prototypical example to how kids of any gender would want some Transformers toys.
2. Transformers Prime Arcee
I find it really awesome how the Autobot's most daring and ruthless warrior is also their smallest and slimmest member. That totally sets gender roles upside down. She is very fun earlier on, before the influx in autobots, where she acts like the Clint Eastwood of the show, not calling in for backup and doing things her way. Of course, there is a great emotional aspect to the character in the way she wants to avoid loss at all cost, which explains her hardass attitude. This is set up very well in the early episodes and it stops her from being a caricature to instead make her probably the deepest character on the show.
1. Beast Wars/Beast Machines Blackarachnia
Blackarachnia is undoubtedly the best fembot in all Transformers fiction history. The reason behind this is because, to me, she has the greatest arc of all Beast Wars characters throughout the 5 seasons she appears in. Her different gender is not just a visual cue but comes up in how she acts, how she thinks. Her great sense of self preservation does not allow her to see the world simply in black and white and she must always be in control of the situation no matter her predicament. Her design is sleek and sexy and she uses it to get her way as she plays mind games on unknowing maximals and predacons who are usually a lot more powerful than her physically. She also brings to the table an emotional depth where she hides behind a stone cold attitude in order to survive in this war. However, she does have a softer side which can be revealed under the right conditions. Watching her development from her introduction in Beast Wars as a stone cold villain, up until her reveal as a passionate hero who will stop at nothing to be reunited with her lover, is something I would have never expected to see in a cartoon about alien robots fighting each other. And yet the writers make it work using her different gender to augment the storytelling and emotional aspect of the show.
Her legacy lives on as two North American based Transformers show have used a similar female spider design as part of their decepticon line up since then (TF Animated's Blackarachnia and Prime's Airachnid).
Synopsis
THE ONYX INTERFACE! The AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS face down human forces—and strange battlelines make for strange allies. Who will emerge with the ancient ENIGMA OF COMBINATION… and who will usher in the COMBINER WAR…?
PUNS!
Story
On a very different playing field from MTMTE, the 38th issue of The Transformers also brings a storyline more or less to its conclusion, and finishes setting the stage for the Combiner Wars event due to begin next month, alongside revisiting some of the characters and power plays we hadn't seen in a while. And it does it very well.
And Spike is still despicable
The most obvious, and personal highlight of the issue, is John Barber's writing of individual characters and interactions, rather than general team/theme work - with Thundercracker, Soundwave, Arcee and Galvatron in particular standing out among the rubble. The humans have some nice moments too, but the more ambiguous players really take the spotlight.
oooh ambiguuuuity
Of course, that is not to forget Prowl, the Constructicons and the strange dynamics of Devastator as it currently stands, and as it will stand for the next three or four months. The development on gestalt technology, plotting and writing has been a great thread to follow since pre-Dark Cybertron, and there are very interesting developments in this issue that might affect the wider concept.
No hamfistedness here
There were some misgiving about some of the more plot-device heavy moments, but overall, the issue serves really quite well to seed even further plotlines and potential, and we may see some of those potential lapses come back in Barber's continuity-magic at a later stage. That, and Thundercracker is still a wonderful piece of writing work.
Art
What really has to be said for this issue, is that artist Andrew Griffith undoubtedly kills it from an artistic perspective. The poses, settings, expressions (robot, dog and human alike) are spot on and fantastically execute everything at play in the script. Galvatron in particular is stupendously sinister, and the pain and confusion found in some Prowl/Devastator and Thundercraker scenes is actually quite moving.
Foof
Josh Perez' colours, on top of that, allow for a wider range of emotional charge that blend fantastically well with the linework and script. The bigger scale moments do not dwarf the smaller, personal scenes; the Soundwave situations in particular which both show nothing of what is actually happening and the pure anger that the true Decepticon must be feeling, are stunning.
What elephant in the room?
Tom B. Long is still as font-abulous as he can be, and Devastator's speechbubbles, any title or caption and the impressive amount lettering in the more explosive sequences is carefully controlled. Again, we have encountered the RI cover by Jeffrey Veregge yesterday, though still beautiful; the thumbnail then is the B cover, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente helps with a sense of scale and stakes for this and the coming story.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
Once again, ScottyP was a good sounding board for some of the points I made in the review, and his thoughts also come through in this piece. Personal highlights, however, are the return to Soundwave's own schemes and plans, which may or may not be working with/alongside/for Galvatron and the Decepticons, and the wonderfully poignant conflict within the Constructicons - and of course, Thundercraker.
A Handsome Jet
Hoping that Combiner Wars doesn't slow down the great pace and development in the post Dark Cybertron era of exRID too much, this issue shows just how much change Cybertronians and Earthlings have gone through, all the way since the -ations and All Hail Megatron, and with both positives and negatives considered, it is a lot. And definitely worth the read.
Synopsis
JOURNEY'S END! Across time, across space, from prewar Messatine to postwar CYBERTRON—it's all been heading towards this—the moment when the fate of the AUTOBOTS and the DECEPTICONS is sealed. At the heart of it all: three killers, two outcomes... and one terrible, terrible choice.
Here's an unrelated image
Story
What we really get in More Than Meets the Eye #38 is three conclusions. The end of the Elegant Chaos arc, under Days of Deception; the end of the Cybertronian trilogy according to James Roberts, started in Chaos Theory (2011); the end of the world as someone knows it. How we get there, though, is a whole other journey.
Yeah, it was
There was a strange feeling running through my head as I was reading the issue, the same sense of unease that I had found in the other parts of Elegant Chaos, as if it was just building and building, without really reaching its climax - and it feels even more the case in #38. Discussing it with others on the staff, we believe we've cracked that mutual feeling: this is really not about the action, or even the story itself.
Good
What Chaos Theory, Shadowplay and Elegant Chaos offer are is a an exquisite series of character developments and spotlights, retreading older paths and forking ways, in the wider frame of time travel and end-of-the-world threats. We get, then, to see the origin of Megatron, but also Whirl and Orion Pax; of Rewind, Chromedome and other relationships formed and lost; of Rung's historic constant, and much more beyond that; of Rodimus' leader skills; of quantum jump technology; of the whole MTMTE series.
Thank you Whirl
If you're looking for a semi-linear, action-based story that revolves around and solves all the questions it poses, you may not want to read this just yet. Go back to 2011, and read the three parts from there up to today. This book deserves more of your time than just one read, and sheds a lot of (fragmented) light on what came before it. Give it time.
Art
The story, the arc, the events, are really about the characters, then - and Alex Milne's character work is probably the most appropriate combination that could've been had. Yes, the backgrounds and settings are as great as always, but it's the body language, the positioning, the interactions, the facial expressions that truly stand out here.
...
Combine that with the fantastic colouring work provided by Joana Lafuente, and the bodies and faces no longer need to speak for themselves, as the hues of colour, saturation and gradients seeping into the scenes offer not only background but also mood settings and indications.
I mean, come on
There is also plenty of space, from the title pages, to the captions, to some of the speeches, for Tom B. Long to flex his fontastic fingerskills, including a number of action-heavier scenes in the latter half of the book. While we've seen the decorative RI cover by Jeffrey Veregge already, the thumbnailed B cover, by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham really makes sense post-reading, too.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
I'd like to thank ScottyP for teasing out some of my own thoughts on this issue, as we briefly discussed why it did and didn't work at certain turning points. And I think I've highlighted most of those further above. But, in no particular order, I hope you pick up on the following: Rewind, Brainstorm, Tailgate, Perceptor. Some major, some minor, but all part of the intricate web of personalities that characterise the Lost Light crew.
Oh, and there's jokes too!
There are some very powerful, emotional moments in the overall arc of the issue, and sometimes it can feel as though there are maybe too many, too different and all together. But they have just enough time, and space, to work out, compared to other endings by Roberts' storylines - and then you have that very last page. Good luck.
It's no secret that Hasbro planned for Legends/Combiner compatibility, but over the past week we have seen some great alterations to known combinations along with some great fan-made ones. Now Seibertron.com is happy to bring these great lesser known combinations to light!
To start things off, Kah Fei Shang has shown off Thundercracker working as a chest piece for CW Optimus Prime. This would work likewise with the other Legends Seekers (Starscream, Acid Storm and upcoming Skywarp), but what makes Thundercracker special is current turncoat status in the IDW comics.
Also, these Seekers should be compatible with CW Menasor, and might look especially fetching with a Skywarp chest piece!
Next we bring you a multiple Blackjack power-up to Menasor, thanks to Gikpa. While its not quite discernible how the pair of Jack's are situated on the shoulders, they sure give him a beefier look! If you're not interested in that bit of overkill, have a look at the alternate configuration of the chest Jack. It should connect the same way as the standard setting, but is a nice alternative to the "car parked on chest" look. Think about what this could mean for the upcoming Legends Rodimus!
Legends Huffer, Nemesis Prime, and Optimus Prime can all take a seat on the open chest cavities of CW Optimus and Menasor. It's as simple as positioning the Legends figures hands in a way to hold on to the two handles protruding from either Voyager's chest. How funny would it be to have Voyager Optimus combine with his Legends counterpart? Special thanks to Twitter users @FigureReviewers and @tsukumo_TF for the inspirational pics!
Even earlier Legends figure Skrapnel has found a way to clasp on the to Optimus/Menasor chest. Twitter user @frenzy_altron shared with his followers that he has the same method as Huffer and Nemesis Prime to hold sturdily aboard!
Hasbro's next stab at a Legends Insecticon, Bombshell pulls double duty as a Targetmaster and a chest piece. His gun mode is pretty self explanatory, and his hood ornament mode holds on like all his predecessors.
Saving the best for last, Seibertron's own Cobotron has come up with a great way to incorporate Legends Powerglide as a chest piece! Holding on to Primes chest pegs for dear life much like the others, he makes another nice addition to the hood ornament brigade!
In closing, you may have not been aware of the multitude of possibilities with these Combiner Wars figures and their Legends counterparts. A large number of mold sharing has made the options nearly endless!
If you have come up with something new, please share it! There's always new things to learn and things to discuss in our forum, The Energon Pub. Stop by and pull up a seat!
And March begins, bringing with it a new Sunday, Spring and ushering in Combiner Wars - and another round-up of the creative output of the Seibertron.com boards, as found in the Transtopia section! We have fiction, both written and visual, photos, art, supplementary kits, Kre-O custom, scratch builds, repaints, colourings, customs and much much more. Head below to take a look, and click on any link to access the original threads.
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here. (This article was edited December 3rd, 2015)
Top 5 Tank Transformers Toys
2015’s Generations Leader Megatron, is one of the most anticipated figures of the year (but not THE most anticipated, that title goes to Devastator). While he does sport his G1 deco, Hasbro has opted to have him turn into a tank because he couldn’t be distributed stateside if he were to turn into anything remotely resembling a realistic gun. This law regarding toy guns has made tanks an accessible alt mode for Hasbro to use when conveying raw power and devastation. As people are getting their hands on the latest tank Transformer, I thought it would be fun to look back on the best examples of tank Transformers over the years, starting with...
Yup, we are actually starting the list with the reason I first thought of the topic. While I do not find this toy worth it's leader price due to how he lacks heft, complexity and electronics, he does make a pretty awesome tank. It has everything you want really including a rotating turret, a telescoping canon (which ingeniously can be fired if telescoped or not) and working treads. This is the first time we have had working treads in this Millenium. While the aren't a continuous track, the designers make a really strong effort to line up all the components perfectly for it to appear as such and it works beautifully. The Transformation is surprisingly easy but still perfectly fine. The Tank looks like a tank and Megatron looks as much himself as possible with the given alt mode. It reminds me of the Cybertron Leaders which were also simple enough yet full of nice detail and fun to transform. I have yet to choose which deco is better though between the G1 and Armada version. The alt mode makes even more sense with the later, as do the minicon ports. In the end, my only nitpick with this guy is the price. You used to get a lot more toy for that much money (look to the honourable mentions to see how much a deluxe could give you back in the day).
When it comes to giant realistic looking tanks, there is no better than Leader Brawl. This guy could easily be surrounded by a bunch of toy army men and fit right in. He even comes with lights and sound, which up the play factor. He is an amazing tank on his own, and the fact that he is also a transformer is just downright amazing, and only hinted at by the hole where his buried head can be seen. However, it’s also where he starts losing a few points. Him being a movie toy means that there are lots of alt mode parts which are not integrated into the bot mode and these panels end up folding onto one another resulting in legs which are just way too horizontally long (didn’t know that could happen). Those leg panels are also spring loaded, which make his transformation from bot back to tank more annoying than it should be. But what a tank mode it is, and it well deserves a place on this list. Plus, add to that the fact that unlike the previously mentioned leader, this guy has the mass, the complexity and electronics which make this a perfect example of the golden age for Transformer Leader figures.
3. Beast Machines Tankor 1999
Tankor is one of the most overlooked TFs out there. He isn’t show accurate in the slightest, and that’s why no one cares about him now, but he is an incredible transforming toy! He is a beast of a machine in both modes and has an involved yet very intuitive transformation. I love his gimmicks too like his saw blades that can be revealed in tank mode as well as the most complex light piping gimmick ever done. Unlike the show model, this toy actually has two separate heads, one for robot mode and one for tank mode (which I like better, it feels less lazy as a transforming toy) and both heads share an interconnected light piping gimmick which makes it appear as though he is scanning the environment just as he would on the show. Also, his huge size also makes him work as a much worthy opponent to the other non accurate Beast Machines figures out there. In a fit of irony, his size makes him seem more suited to lead an army made up of the more show accurate Tankor that was released in a much smaller scale (also pictured below).
This top 5 list so far had great tank modes, but the toys were also flawed either in their overly difficult transformation or the lack of show accuracy. But now, with Deluxe Generations Warpath, we step into the realm of perfection. Firstly, this guy just oozes Deluxe Class perfection. The robot mode is superb with great articulation, 0 kibble, a striking show accuracy for a non masterpiece toy and an all around phenomenal update over the lacking G1 toy (he will probably be in more top 5 lists). I also love the slight automorph effect in Warpath when you push back the cannon to reveal his head. Simple but genius. The transformation into a tank is fun and intuitive AND though he does turn into an H tank, since this is about tanks after all, he does not look like a robot crawling on all fours. This is a mistake that happens quite a bit, with the like of Armada Megatron and Animated Shockwave, but it isn’t repeated here. This is an awesome looking H tank that shows no robot kibble even when lifting it upside down and fits tightly together. It even has c-clip ports to add a bunch more weapons to it.
What can beat perfection? The answer is perfection ... with style. Warpath has a show model and predictability to the toy. Phenomenal, sure, but you wouldn’t need to see the toy to have a pretty good idea of what he’d look like if I described him as a “show accurate deluxe figure with an H Mode tank”. But Bludgeon here, is something else. Someone actually did describe him to me once and I could not imagine clearly what I was being told, especially the bit about “using tank pieces and threads as samurai armour”. That just sounded too cool to be true, and yet it was. And it just boggles my mind that this is a movie toy. It’s more of a classics update to a pretender toy ala Thunderwing, but actually made in the proper voyager class and incorporating both the pretender shell (the samurai alt mode) and the inner robot’s alt mode (a tank). At the same time, however, I totally get how it does work as a movie toy since the movie toys are all about having two very distinct modes whose parts don’t make up the other. It usually results in a bunch of kibble and huge backpacks but it works really well here because all the tank kibble is indeed used as the samurai armour. And his backpack is used as weapon storage for his swords through sweet automorphed scabbard section. Oh and his bigger sword was stored away in the tank’s cannon! All this mix of homages and designs gives this toy a load of style points that just adds to the this toy which has two great looking modes which are a joy to switch between thanks to the fun, impressive and satisfying transformation.
Honourable mentions: DOTM Voyager Shockwave, Generations Straxus, Crossover Hulk, and most importantly, the Armada Megatron mold. And they say Armada didn't have any good toys.
People hate this guy and I understand why; he is small for an update on the fearsome Galvatron (I wrote about that last time), and very complex and difficult for such a small toy, and the transformation will often have pieces coming off. While I see all that, I also see a phenomenal deluxe figure which scales perfectly with the other Universe and Generations Deluxe figures (like Universe Cyclonus and Generations Scourge), and has an awesome amount of value for the price point. It’s amazing how they were able to cram so much into this small toy and quite refreshing to see such complexity brought to the deluxe class. He even has a third mode which was abandoned. But the best part is how they turned Galvatron into a tank and yet still gave him an amazing robot mode with an incredible sculpt. That headsculpt is perfect, the torso is just right and I love how the tank’s barrel is a perfect proxy for his turret cannon. This guy really looks the part of G1 Galvatron, that has to count for something. And he also happens to turn into a really good looking tank that fits tightly together. I really find this toy to be its own little miracle of engineering with two gorgeous looking modes but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish we get a bigger one someday.
The new animated series Transformers: Robots in Disguise has aired already in the Australian cyclone-lands, and Seibertron.com board admin Burn was able to both watch the Pilot and report on it without giving too much away! Read on below for a breakdown and thought cap on this new venture for team Bumblebee.
Burn wrote:
Burn Reviews Transformers:Robots in Disguise
So I guess this job falls to me after having watched the two-part "Pilot".
First and foremost, from what I've seen of the series from the initial character designs, through to a few short videos, and then the toys, I wasn't expecting much from the series.
Suffice to say, I've been pleasantly surprised.
The show, may be ... fun. There's a number of moments where you just have to laugh. Put that down to the characterisation, all of the characters are incredibly unique. So let's run through them!
THE CHARACTERS
Bumblebee - The veteran, reluctantly thrown into the leader position of a bunch of misfits. It's so weird hearing him talk ... Strongarm - The ride-along, a stickler for the law. She quotes the rules more than Red Dwarf's Rimmer quoted Space Corps directives. Young and out to impress her ranking officer. Sideswipe - The perp, reluctantly dragged into the mix when arrested by Strongarm. Very little respect for authority, but being one of the good guys, he'll fall into line eventually. Fix-It - The mini-con, in charge of a prison transport ship that has crashed to Earth. Currently suffering glitches which you could describe as dyslexia. Not really living up to his name ... Denny - The father, a collector of ... things ... Russell - The son, not a collector, typical cartoon human kid Grimlock - The Dinobot, an escaped prisoner from the transport ship, a little amnesic over a few details, not a fan of Underbite. Also nothing like previous Grimlocks.
Which brings us to ...
Underbite - The Chompazoid, the first escaped prisoner we meet. The Popeye of the Transformers world (his spinach is anything metal), a body builder type personality who loves his muscles ... a lot. Fun and interesting character. And not a Dinobot.
Oh and then there's that other guy who's dead ... kinda ... he's still preachy.
THE ANIMATION
I liked it. The aesthetic may not be my preference, but it worked quite well for my liking.
THE STORY
It was different, it was unique. This isn't your usual "Optimus Prime and his team are out to stop Megatron and the Decepticons with help from the humans". This is a whole new team with only one character we know well. It's a bold new move, and it works. It proves we don't need established names to enjoy a Transformers cartoon. Just give it a good story. As I said, there's little bits of comedy. Underbite, despite being the bad guy, is a character you can get behind.
OVERALL
It's good. It's worth watching. It's got potential. Some series you watch "just so you can join in the conversation", this one is WORTH watching because I think many will enjoy it, and so you can join in the conversation, right here, on the Energon Pub forums!
Fellow Seibertronian member gema has gone through the painstaking task of preparing a pictorial review on their own blog for the soon-arriving Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Leader Megatron. Even further, they then shared the imaged and thoughts with everyone else in the Energon Pub, and you can view a selection, and some thoughts, below!
One of the biggest complaint heard during his announcement was that his alt mode. Megatron transform into a silver tank instead of a gun. For me personally, I think I can understand Hasbro's decision behind Megatron's alt mode. They tried giving Megatron a gun for his alt mode but due to legal issues, he ended up being a Nerf-like gun (Classics, 2006). So, either funny looking gun or badass tank, I preferred the latter.
[...]
I hated him when Hasbro released his promo pictures but in hand, man, he's gorgeous! Despite unable to give Megatron his G1 alt mode, Hasbro did a really good job giving him G1 robot mode design. May I say, even better than MP-05?
[...]
Megatron comes with a ball-jointed head (wide range), ratchet joint on the elbows, wrist swivels, waist swivels (limited unless you push the tank tread on his back upwards, giving clearance. The hips are on universal joints with swivels just below them. The knees are on ratchet joint and there's small, almost none, ankle tilts.
[...]
Combiner Wars Optimus Prime can be considered a big voyager and personally, the size of these two really works as I always prefer the bad guy to be bigger. But the biggest question about Leader Class Megatron was when Takara posted a picture comparing him (Takara Version) with MP-10 Convoy.
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