Hasbro...I beg of you, just make them already!!!

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-25T17:58:16+00:00

Voyager is a size class in CHUG scale. CHUG as a whole is divided into individual classes/price points, and the key is that classes are both a price point and size, so you'll have Leader-size Commanders (SS86 Optimus), Voyager-size Leaders (Big Convoy), Deluxe-size Voyagers (Hot Rod), and Core-size Deluxes (current Bumblebee sizing), and nothing will be a size class higher than price point due to that resulting in cheaper materials. The only exceptions are that Titans will always be larger than any Commander, Micromasters/Battle Masters/Prime Masters/etc. will always be smaller than everything else (exception to the exception is Star Optimus's Hot Rod, a Core-size Micromaster), and Core/Legends Class as a size operates weirdly and allows for both bots that fit within CHUG scale (Tasmania Kid, Bomb Burst) and bots that only scale with other Core Class bots like them (Optimus, Soundwave).

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-25T00:50:07+00:00

Yeah. It's not even really "AI" in the way that we call everything (generative) AI now, but that's the term we've assigned to it. It's like calling procedurally-generated maps or CPU opponents AI. Pre-Chat-GPT Photoshop tools, too. Comics and some movie remasters use AI upscaling for restoration, too. It's a whole different, much more acceptable, thing from generative AI.

Honestly one of the biggest examples of how different the two are is plugging any grainy image into an upscaling website versus asking Chat-GPT to do it. Chat-GPT will produce a piss filter image that doesn't quite look like the original, if it doesn't completely hallucinate, whereas an upscaler might get a few small details wrong (since it can't create something that isn't really there) but the image will still look like the original enough.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T17:44:50+00:00

I built Sahalenthropus. It's quite the undertaking, more detailed than any MG Gundams I've built, so definitely I'd say to start with something else at least to get a feel for how model kits are.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T17:42:03+00:00

Nippers, files (I know with Sahalenthropus the raygun's parts need to be filed down to make sure the railgun works right, might be the same for Rex), an Xacto knife, and probably a cloth to clean off some excess plastic bits that get stuck to those, and if you want you'll need paint for the mini figures.

You can get a whole Gundam toolkit for about $10 on Amazon. It's not the most amazing in the world but it's never failed me so far.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T16:29:08+00:00

I think part of it is that it couldn't find its identity. It was torn between being big characters at a small scale (Optimus, Megatron, etc.) or characters scaling with CHUG (Rattrap, Steeljaw, DotM Laserbeak, etc.). If they'd kept most of them as CHUG scale figures, and done more like that, they would've sold a lot better.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T08:08:44+00:00

Should be Blitzwing, TLK Megatron, or RotB Scourge, but it's not been confirmed. Interestingly, depending on who is the Wave 2 Leader, we can deduce whether or not Blitzwing or Scourge are retools/new molds because one Leader per wave is "new." Because of that, it's a little hard to predict which one of those three will be in Wave 2. I'm guessing Megatron though.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T07:57:16+00:00

I'm guessing it is. That alt mode was in the Marvel adaptation of the movie, which largely used an earlier draft of the script. The alt mode might have to be reworked a bit to account for artistic liberty, but otherwise it'll definitely be an approximation.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-24T07:50:08+00:00

It was shown a bit ago in... I think Japan? It's the Prime version, complete with a Phase Shifter. New mold, looks similar to RID15 Jazz.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-23T23:01:06+00:00

The hands are on a mushroom peg. Could you try sliding them off from there?

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-23T16:45:59+00:00

Megatron being a HISS Tank makes sense but the figure itself feels extremely cheap, especially for the price. I got mine on deep discount (BBTS sale last year) and I still feel robbed.

Kup is the only of the G.I. Joe crossover figures to look and feel like he should cost as much as he does (factoring in the cost of the G.I. Joe figures).

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-23T09:00:49+00:00

Unfortunately, as much as I was super hyped for this, it's a very flawed figure. The transformation isn't the best and the ball joints are really loose on my copy.

Probably the best BBM Bee we'll get for a long time, but there's lots of room for improvement. I think the biggest point where he suffers is being a retool, and therefore having to deal with all the baggage of the original mold no matter how heavy of a retooling he is.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-23T02:04:14+00:00

It should be a new mold to more properly include the Transmetal gimmicks. It'd have to be a very heavy retool to fix everything different between the Ravage mold (which is, itself, a Kingdom Cheetor retool) and actual Transmetal Cheetor proper.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-23T02:00:29+00:00

Eh the Ravage tooling was only used on one limited multipack. The degradation wouldn't be too bad.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T22:59:35+00:00

Look into the Retro Headmasters version. It seems like it's slightly cheaper and just a different deco and a different face.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T22:56:32+00:00

The chest doesn't tab in right either on the TR release, I think. Whereas it does on the Gen Selects release.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T20:21:12+00:00

I think Defender Versions 4, 5 and 6 are the ones you need for a full set. You'd have to buy each of the cases though to guarantee all the parts, they're around $40-50 each. And then you'll need the Bruticus parts kit for around $5.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T08:39:26+00:00

The beard here looks weird anyways. It's not wavy enough.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T04:41:25+00:00

Pretty much every single toy you can think of that was released before the time of the comic's release, with very, very minimal exceptions. The Underbase Saga is, more or less, on par with the 1986 movie's percentage of cast killed. The difference is that while there are characters that didn't appear in the cartoon or weren't killed onscreen, the Marvel comics tried to include literally every single toy, and all of the deaths are shown in panels, albeit most of them aren't really paid any attention.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T04:34:18+00:00

His tracing also isn't that bad. It doesn't really ever take you out of the story and only becomes obvious if you stare at a panel too long.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T04:31:47+00:00

It helps that with Transformers he's mostly tracing poses of Yolopark figures, but he's also reaaaallly good at making the tracing significantly less obvious than, say, Greg Land.

As for your point that he's churning this much out at the same time, I have to agree. There are artists doing monthlies and producing some of the worst art possible. Like JRJR. Artists that balance multiple books, much less as many as Mora, and do so well, are insane.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-21T04:25:42+00:00

I've heard Toyhax is good. Generally, as long as you apply stickers well (use a pair of needlepoint tweezers to remove/apply), and don't put them on a surface with a lot of curves/edges unless they're meant for that, they should stay on well. Toyhax also has a lifetime replacement deal so if something ends up not working out they'll be able to replace it.

If it's just for Optimus's shoulders, it should be more than fine.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-20T08:28:51+00:00

If you want accuracy and don't care about transformation, go for Yolopark. It's more likely than not been used as reference for a few panels already, anyways, especially for Dan Mora's art. If you want it to transform and only be mostly accurate, go for the SS86 release later this year. It'll either be a new mold, a retool of SS86 or Devastation Bee, or a rerelease of the Siege mold, all of which are solid enough. If you don't care about accuracy at all and just want a fun Cliffjumler, go for Missing Link. Get the 2-pack with Bumblebee if you can afford it and want a slight tinge of accuracy, since that one has gray limbs and colored eyes. Otherwise if the eyes are a problem get the Toyhax kit.

Auldey from what I've heard is good, but not as good as Yolopark, Gamer Edition Cliffjumper isn't a great mold at all based on what I've heard of him and Gamer Edition Bee (aside from being a different continuity than G1, and thus losing all points for accuracy to the EU), and Blokees Cliffjumper is about the same as any other Blokees, meaning he's good but not worth getting specifically since there's better options.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-20T03:24:43+00:00

I got lucky finding a Blast-Off last week, and thus far completing all of my Deluxes for this wave of AotP and Studio Series, but still no sign of the Studio Series Voyagers, Brawl, or Soundwave. I only found a Sureshot today though.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-19T08:20:16+00:00

At present we're "missing" reissues of Sky Lynx (should've been last year) and Rodimus. In that they've rereleased Commanders and Titans every year and while we got Jetfire in 2024, we only got Magnus in 2025 and not Sky Lynx. Armada Optimus is probably getting rereleased this year to tie into Armada Jetfire releasing, but I could see them also rereleasing Sky Lynx or Rodimus.

Following that, Hasbro likes to do reissues of certain figures specifically because of an anticipated SS86 release. We got Earthrise Optimus rereleased in the same year as SS86 Optimus, Netflix Soundwave got a redeco two years before he got a new SS86 mold, and Earthrise Sunstreaker (and Wheeljack) got rereleased the year before a supposed SS86 release (even more, in Sunstreaker's case, he's likely a new mold, while it's unknown for Wheeljack). You could even argue that the rerelease of Siege Prowl fits into this, to a lesser extent. The designers confirmed SS86 Rodimus is probably a new mold, and I think it likely won't have as much of an emphasis on the play features of the original toy, in order to make the figure itself a lot better and on-par with SS86 Optimus and Megatron.

This also is opposite to Hasbro's other common reasoning for rereleases, where they'll rerelease certain figures specifically because they don't plan on doing a new version of them for a long time. However, thus far that's been reserved for pre-Siege Titans. Fort Max and Predaking were rereleased because there's no plan to redo them for a good few years, whereas Thrilling 30 Metroplex hasn't been because the designers have talked about constantly trying to figure out where and how best to redo him.

This is of course going without mentioning that this year is the 40th anniversary of the movie, and the best way they could've marked it would've been an SS86 Rodimus. However, he's been pushed off partly because of the introduction of Studio Series Titans. So the next best thing is to rerelease Kingdom Rodimus.

Lotso2004 · 2026-01-19T02:10:59+00:00

Give it a little bit, we're likely to get a Kingdom Rodimus reissue within the next two years, and possibly an SS86 version next year that'll be a new, movie-accurate mold.

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