Today, Noisy and I are going to take a closer look at some of our favorite non-Mattel lines featured at San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve got some quick write-ups on Transformers, Star Wars, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while Noisy will explore the Marvel Universe and Marvel Legends offerings!
A year ago I was just a casual Transformers fan. I would look at them in the toy aisle; maybe buy one if it really appealed to me, but in general I really didn’t pay too much attention to the brand. Then, Transformers Prime happened.
It was the design of the First Edition toys that really piqued my interest. They had a sleek look that I loved and they created a fantastic version of Arcee that was unmistakably female – as you know, I have a weakness for robo-girls. So I bought a Starscream and Arcee and between their amazing articulation and personality filled sculpt, I was hooked.
I’m certainly not a Prime completist, but I do enjoy buying the unique characters. I’m also a bit hooked on the Arms Micron versions from the Takara side of the brand because robo-animal Target Masters are awesome! And I’ve also been taking a more active interest in the Hasbro and Takara news releases, with SDCC being the most anticipated.
Probably one of the biggest surprises, at least for me, was the announcement of the rerelease of the First Edition Transformers Prime figures in the United States. I really loved the few figures I was able to get from this limited line, and I can’t wait to pick up the ones I’m missing. Even if you’re not into the Prime line, the bit of news that will make all fans happy is that Bumblebee won’t be in this case assortment.
Unfortunately, it seems this is a case where Hasbro giveth and taketh away. In an interview with TFormers.com, VP of Design Aaron Archer stated that Hasbro has no plans for releasing their own version of a Voyager Breakdown. Apparently the Takara figure was “not made to the same standards”, and is in “no-man’s land” cost wise. Breakdown is one of the main Decepticon characters on the show, so this is kind of an odd situation. I can understand not importing the Takara version (he’s a pretty cool figure, which you’ll see in my review on Friday!), but I don’t understand why they don’t even want to bother making one of their own. There’s already a Bulkhead, and a larger Starscream. I wouldn’t think Breakdown would be much different.
As for the regular Prime line, I’m pretty excited to see Kup, and Rumble doesn’t look too bad either. But the real wallet killer is going to be the Fall of Cybertron/Generations line. Grimlock is a perfect badass robo-dino. I was already sold on the new Soundwave and the new incarnation of his classic tapes, but now they got me with Blaster too. So long money…
I was really surprised by how many exclusives were announced. I’m still fairly new to this Transformers thing, but it seemed like a lot. Big Bad Toy Store is getting a “Dark Energon” wave, which consists of the Prime figures done in multicolored translucent plastics. (An awesome look, btw.) They’re also getting an exclusive Bruticus along with Amazon. While Amazon is getting Jetwing and Year of the Dragon Prime figures all to themselves. Toys R Us is getting a nice looking Masterpiece Thundercracker. Universal Studios are getting figures to promote a new TF ride. But the wackiest exclusive of them all is the gold Linkin Park Soundwave. A bit of good news on the exclusive front is that the Hasbro Asia figures are going to make their way to the US.
The last, but certainly not least impressive item for me from SDCC is the new Kreo announcements. The real moneymaker for Kreo was the cute minifigures, and Hasbro finally realized this. So now the minifigs will “transform” into their alt modes. The alt modes are kind of hit or miss with me, but the little bots are still cute and now we get more of them. Nothing wrong there. For more Transformers SDCC coverage continue to the forum.
I wasn’t as impressed with the Star Wars showing as I was MOTU, DC, Marvel, and Transformers. It’s been a couple years since the inception of the Vintage Collection line, and Hasbro has met its goal of over a hundred figures. They are going to transition it to something new, but there wasn’t a lot of information on what that new line would be. I’m a bit disappointed in this news because I’ve really grown to love the VC line. More often than not they have superior sculpts, and the articulation is usually damned good too.
They are bringing back the “Build-a-Droid” series though, with two droids being built in each new wave. I’m always up for the build-a-figure idea because it’s a good way of growing the line faster and adding character that might not have been considered otherwise. Unfortunately for me, I’m even less of a Star Wars collector than Transformers. So these obscure droids are a bit lost on me. But I’m glad that the SW fans get another chance at this. For more Star Wars SDCC coverage continue to the forum.
I was a bit disappointed with the TMNT showing at SDCC, but that might be my own fault. Between the press releases and finding the new figures at my local TRU, I was on the edge of my seat to see what Playmates had in store for Comic Con. But aside from their SDCC exclusive Night Shadow Leonardo, it was all stuff that had been previously announced. I should have realized they announced everything before SDCC, but the kid in me wanted more. And even though new prototypes were seen at Toy Fair, there was nothing new to be had at San Diego. Hopefully I’ll get a new press release soon…
Lastly, for those of you who are interested in the Monster High showing at SDCC, check out my Armchair Coverage on MonsterHighFearbook.com!
-Vault
Is it just me or is anyone else hating all these running changes that Hasbro has planned in Marvel Legends. At times is hard even to find them but now we figures getting swapped out part way which now makes not 1 but 2 figures harder to fine or more.
Not really. I hate the Sentry, so Hyperion is a great option.
But what if you can’t ever find him and all you see are Sentrys?
That’s what really bothers me as well. If I preorder through BBTS, there is no guarantee as to whom I’ll get. I want Hyperion but have no idea if I’ll get stuck with Sentry instead. Not what I’d call the best incentive for buying online.
Almost as it they are trying to make sure you cannot get the whole thing online, and you have to go into the stores. That’d be a big incentive for a store to carry the line.
It’s not just you. I was initially excited about the new Marvel Legends, but the “running change” thing killed that enthusiasm in its tracks.
I can’t find most of the figures in stores. The running change model has made online retailers unreliable. BBTS, which used to be my source for DCUC figures, flat-out says they “can’t guarantee” which version of Thunderball/Piledriver you’ll get if you order from them. I expect they’re just being honest. So much for building the team! I ordered Madame Masque from TRU, and I just received Madame Hydra instead. I’m not a happy camper.
I can’t get excited about most of the figures previewed at SDCC because there’s little chance I find them at retail, and for things like Wrecker/Bulldozer… what’s the point? There’s little chance of ever building the Wrecking Crew.
dude, all i can say is, i have both members of the crew released so far, and my town had the absolute worst distro on that wave that could be had, short of no distro at all… so if i can pull that off, i don’t feel like anyone else has an excuse. if you wanted the figs, they are out there. so yes, completing the crew is easily possible. you just have to stay positive. now, i will say, i didn’t find the whole wave, but i also made minimal effort to get to my TRU and only hit a walmart when we had other stuff to shop for… i didn’t hunt at all.
“completing the crew is easily possible”
Not trying to be jerk-o, but I strongly disagree with the word “easily” being included in that sentence. And it seems most of my collecting bros are in the same boat I’m in. But I congratulate you on your success. 🙂
You must live in a really lovely area, because I have been to multiple TRUs, Targets, Wal-Marts and – god help me – Kmarts over and over, over the course of months and in multiple cities, and all I found during that time were a lonely Drax and Bucky Cap who then, too, vanished from the pegs. I’ve never seen a villain or a female character.
There was no “easily” about it. This line has been nothing short of a nightmare to collect. You got really lucky. Congratulations.
I’ve recently expanded my MU collecting and decided to purge my Legends figures. I didn’t collect them from the beginning, but managed to amass a lot of them over the last four years. However, I felt “completing” certain teams would be difficult at this point and my new found appreciation of the 3.75″ scale motivated me to focus my attention on MU & G.I. Joe.
But that Neo-Classic Iron Man might reel me in still…
I think the coded message about Prime Breakdown is that Takara made him too expensive to be sold as a Voyager, and not complex enough for a Leader.
They’ve always been more open to just pricing things as they need to be, even back in the Beast Wars days.
Which DCnU characters got new origins? I collect a fair portion of the comics and can’t think of but a couple that got new origins. Superman is still Kryptonian. Batman is still annoying as ever. Aquaman is pretty much the same. The two changes I can think of is the Firestorm/s’ which is a bit lame, and Wonder Woman’s which is wonderfully tragic.
I hate it when I post prematurely.
Anyways… Hit Monkey looks awesome. I was a bit disappointed that he’s the BAF. Oh well I’ll get him off eBay.
The Dark Energon line for Prime looks great, but then I’ve always been a sucker for translucent toys. I won’t them all, but Megsy, Starscream (FE mold right?), Knockout, and Wheeljack will be pre-ordered ASAP. By a stroke of luck I managed to get the FE Prime translucent Optimus. Fingers crossed we see the weaponizer Bulkhead in translucent plastic.
Personally. I’m a little disappointed in the Iron Man 3 tease, since I was curious to see whether the 1/18th stuff would be Iron man 2/Wolverine/cap/Thor standard, Avengers standard or something else entirely. Then again, last year they teased the Amazing Spider-man line with the super-poseable figure, and we all know how typical that figure was in the Spider-man line.
Really, I just wanted to see a Mk.VII with a joint in his body, since that’s the one thing I can’t add to either Avengers series version of the armour. Roll on NYCC!
I’d be more excited about Hasbro’s reveals if I thought they could actually get them to the shelves. There’s hardly been MU and Star Wars product around here since Christmas and Marvel Legends barely exist.
I was surprised in a bittersweet way with the offerings for Transformers and Legends. After last year, I was expecting more out of the Marvel side, and usually they Hasbro has less to offer with Transformers since a lot of big reveals are done at Botcon.
I’m with Vault – Generations is going to kill my wallet in the next year or so. I was hoping with Voyager Soundwave being announced a little while ago that they’d be willing to upgrade the tiny FoC Optimus in a similar fashion, but getting Grimlock and Blaster in that size are a great trade-off.
Legends wasn’t disappointing necessarily, but I was almost expecting more; I wasn’t as impressed by the character selection this time. I might be mistaken, but I thought that Hyperion and Sentry were built off the Wrecking Crew base. The new female base should make for better proportions Mattel’s DC can only dream of, and will be an excellent opportunity to ditch the old ankles. Moonstar’s face looks a little disappointing and I’m not the biggest USAgent fan, but I’ll be happy to get a decent Doom, that Neo-Classic Iron Man, and truthfully that Wolverine looks like it might be the best yet.
I like Superion and Sentry too, but add me to the list of folks worried about running changes. It worked fine for the Wrecking Crew and the Madames to some extent, but not others. I had to resort to the obscure to get Big Time Spidey for retail.
naw, they said at the panel the hyperion/sentry buck is new, for guys between the steve rogers buck and warpath buck.
i too dislike the “running changes” feature, it forces you to impulse buy cuz you never know if the first time you see a character might prove the only time. that’s crap.
The running change thing is also a problem because it seems to be leading to situations where you never see one version or the other. I’d have bought Big Time Spider-Man on the spot if I’d ever seen one, but all I ever saw were Future Foundation.
I had two refresher cases of ML hit about a week ago, both with GL -I mean, “Big Time” Spidey, but most of the case at WM was crushed, but figures seem ok. If you’d like, I can swing by this weekend and see if he’s still there?
but yeah, I kept passing on FF Spidey, and now I’m wondering if I should regret that, even tho he’s not a “gotta catch’em all” character for me.
oh, and almost forgot: did anyone hear any last minute update on ML STRYFE? He was announced last year with Jean, but SDCC no show as far as I know despite her late appearance.
The running change seemed like a good idea at the time but seriously, a Hit-Monkey BAF? It just might finish off my interest in this line unless it leads to guys like Puck or Rocket Raccoon. Still hoping to see the 2012 MU waves that we’ve been waiting to hit for months. I’m betting that Hasbro has a better showing planned for New York. At least give us the Black Knight and Masterson Thor.
Rocket Raccoon was announced at one of the panels as being one of the Build-a-Mini-Figures
Puck is still coming in MU, which is good enough for me. At least it’s a better scale than the previous 5″ Alpha Flight wave Puck pack-in!
Jubilee, however, is still a bit short compared to MLs. It looks like she’s in black bodysuit? so vampire Jubes? I’m kinda wishing she was in Gen-X red, if not her classic/XTAS shorts.
and yeah, Eric-Thor or THUNDERSTRIKE is still in my Top Ten, regardless. I’m not sure about the Black Knight you’re referring to, however?
I saw the new TMNT the other day at TRU, and I’m not impressed. I considered the new van after seeing it online, but again, another no sale in person.
TF – it’s always pick and choose with these for me. the more classic the look, the better odds I’ll pick it up. still not decided on the Voyager class Soundwave and Blaster, tho.
I have seen the new bases popping up the last few weeks and saw the WFC Prime and Jazz at TRU the other day. Prime is TINY and not sure on Jazz, which I can wait to get him cheaper elsewhere, anyway.
ML – I am down with this line, but a few quibbles.
1- the “variant” pairings. Iron Fist and Protector? huh? (and I admit I thought Protector was Gravity at first pic, fro behind.) The Shulks I don’t mind, as it’s an obvious pairing, more than the Blade/Punisher pair.
Sentry and Hyperion I can understand, but don’t need Sentry. I’ve been hoping for several years that Hype would have a King Hyperion variant from Exiles. Of course, now that we have him, that’s two more teams they need to follow up on, Squadron and Exiles! (and no news of a 6″ Nighthawk?? the MU is still coming, right?)
2- BAF Hit Monkey. I heard he was supposed to be MU, but then someone decided to give us a mini-BAF instead? ISN’T THAT WHAT MU IS FOR???? There are at least four BAFs I think are fairly needed: Erik Josten as Goliath (to go with MOE 3pk) and Atlas, and with the Thor movies going, it would be nice to see ODIN and VOLSTAGG (Blob body base) in BAF form. I can’t think of many others still needed outside of Sentinel variants or even Celestials, except maybe the Shi’ar Imperial Guardsman Titan. Without even ML Gladiator to back him up, he’s not even on the radar, despite the MU Gladiator.
3- Orange Foom – was he a late reveal? I’m not caught up and I heard he was pulled due to lack of retailer interest? Maybe if they hint he could be in IM3? or somehow tie him into that? I balked at most of the Hulk Legends because it was the first price increase and I stupidly refused to pay $15 then, and besides, only saw a few figures ONCE. I don’t even have a complete Rulk, either, for the same price hike reasons.
With the marvel toy reveals I got mixed up on the scales. I thought She-rulk was a MU fig. I buy MU for a cousin and digs them all so, liked the reveals just waiting to see new stuff. I am wanting to find both Ultimate Spideys badly. On legends I admit I tried to get Terrax complete but the 1st wave but it went fast and wave 2 barely saw and only got Bucky cap. (Selling ‘strictor, Klaw, and skinny Drax)
On TFs that Grimlock is a must buy and hope to see some G1 homages later on cause the cybertron molds are fun but want those more. Trailbreaker and Hoist need good ones.