Studio Series discussion
- Thread starter Paladin
- Start date
It's this.
Dangit now I want the Airachnid mold but with a Vehicon head. Would be a good idea for a repaint/redeco but I know if I pass on this one it'll never happen. Still waiting for that Legacy Skyquake to get turned into G1 Skyquake or MW Starscream...
This is what I kept telling myself yet... Here we are.
I just don't care for the super smooth Sunbow look. And I've reached the point where the Netflix and ER guys are the peak of what I wanted. Sure, new versions may be more G1 animation accurate, but I'm kinda content?
Different strokes. I hate the prune look, so this works better for me.
I kind of need something in between. Stege is too much and looks like a mess. The Sunbow "man in boxes" looks a bit off in an "uncanny valley" sense (which really doesn't apply in its original sense, but I hope the idea comes across). So I need something that has some light texturing, enough that the detailing can breathe but not completely flat panels.
If nothing else, I can also appreciate the engineering that helps them wring the smooth robot modes out of the altmodes without an MP budget.
If nothing else, I can also appreciate the engineering that helps them wring the smooth robot modes out of the altmodes without an MP budget.
well see unfortunately i just realized that - even if i ignore the yellowing my netflix soundwave has - he's gonna be too short in robot mode compared to ss86 megatron (which im still waiting for lol)
so damn.
at least i never got the ER seeker mold so i won't have to double dip there for the inevitable starscream repaint off s86 thundercracker
so damn.
You win again, Hasbro!
Can we just get a mass release Soundblaster?
With Howlback, Garboil, and Enemy!
Or, I dunno, pick three other cassettes, I dunno.
I would buy that. I have a perfectly good Soundwave already, but I haven't bought any Soundblasters, so I could justify it if he came with some new tapes
Oh, hello, Corporate Commander.
I'm seeing this issue raised, and I'm trying to think of what '80s electronic I ever owned that had greeble on it.
Matte finish is about the most I've come up with.
I mean...
Seems right to me.
(shrug) that's fine?
I wasn't really basing any of that on what 80s electronics looked like. I'm not sure where that came from.
I wasn't really basing any of that on what 80s electronics looked like. I'm not sure where that came from.
I think ER really hit the sweet spot for detailing. They toned it way down from Siege, but still worked in a lot of neat little aesthetic additions to the sculpted surfaces. The ER cars and jets are criminally underrated in the amount of real world detail they worked in. The break mechanisms didn't have to be sculpted behind the tires of ER Cliffjumper/NF Bumblebee's wheels, but they are and it's awesome. It almost felt like a throwback to G1, when those old Diaclone and MC moulds tried to mimic the alt mode details as accurately as they could.
A lot of that has gone away the more they've leaned into the Sunbow aesthetic. And while I get why, and concede it has its fans, it's also far less interesting to me. Again, I don't need Siege levels of detailing, but ER threaded that needle between "plain" and "overly done" rather well.
As far as Soundwave goes... the bits of his NF mould (which was made during ER's run and is effectively an ER figure just sold under a different subline, see also NF Bumblebee) that are actually new tooling aren't overly detailed at all and fit in with the rest of the new tooling for the line- detail but not too much.
His issue is that he's not a fully new mould and has some parts reuse from Siege.
I'm looking at my Legacy United Soundwave (a NF redeco) and TT's Siege Soundblaster absolutely smooth over a lot of that excess detail for a more happy medium. And, once you look for it, the only bits of him that do seem rather over detailed are the holdovers from Siege. It's most notable in his forearms, but you can also see it in his hip skirt flaps, which are also Siege carryovers, and his feet.
As you examine them, though, you'll notice that even the remoulded thighs and knees have smoothed over a lot of that Siege detailing.
So I don't think NF/DC/Legacy United Soundwave is nearly as bad as his Siege predecessor in terms of overly done detailing. And the bits of him made for that ER run of figures carry over the line's aesthetics in a way that really works.
The Siege holdovers from the partial remould process are the only bits that really hold him back in that department, and they're really not as ever-present as some may think.
Now as a for the smoothness of 80s electronics... I do think some greebles are acceptable, as a card carrying member of the Cassette Futurism Fanclub (we have a newsletter which is mostly endless gushing over BSG's use of corded phones).
But as @LBD "Nytetrayn" pointed out... the immediate inspiration for Soundwave is rather smooth.
Still... Almost all of NF Soundwave's overly detailed holdover bits from Siege (forearms, feet, hip skirts) are all tucked away in tapedeck mode.
tl;dr if the Sunbow look is your jam, SS '86 is pretty dang nice... but I do feel like I have to defend the NF Soundwave mould, because it's not nearly as overly done as some might think.
A lot of that has gone away the more they've leaned into the Sunbow aesthetic. And while I get why, and concede it has its fans, it's also far less interesting to me. Again, I don't need Siege levels of detailing, but ER threaded that needle between "plain" and "overly done" rather well.
As far as Soundwave goes... the bits of his NF mould (which was made during ER's run and is effectively an ER figure just sold under a different subline, see also NF Bumblebee) that are actually new tooling aren't overly detailed at all and fit in with the rest of the new tooling for the line- detail but not too much.
His issue is that he's not a fully new mould and has some parts reuse from Siege.
I'm looking at my Legacy United Soundwave (a NF redeco) and TT's Siege Soundblaster absolutely smooth over a lot of that excess detail for a more happy medium. And, once you look for it, the only bits of him that do seem rather over detailed are the holdovers from Siege. It's most notable in his forearms, but you can also see it in his hip skirt flaps, which are also Siege carryovers, and his feet.
As you examine them, though, you'll notice that even the remoulded thighs and knees have smoothed over a lot of that Siege detailing.
So I don't think NF/DC/Legacy United Soundwave is nearly as bad as his Siege predecessor in terms of overly done detailing. And the bits of him made for that ER run of figures carry over the line's aesthetics in a way that really works.
The Siege holdovers from the partial remould process are the only bits that really hold him back in that department, and they're really not as ever-present as some may think.
Now as a for the smoothness of 80s electronics... I do think some greebles are acceptable, as a card carrying member of the Cassette Futurism Fanclub (we have a newsletter which is mostly endless gushing over BSG's use of corded phones).
But as @LBD "Nytetrayn" pointed out... the immediate inspiration for Soundwave is rather smooth.
Still... Almost all of NF Soundwave's overly detailed holdover bits from Siege (forearms, feet, hip skirts) are all tucked away in tapedeck mode.
tl;dr if the Sunbow look is your jam, SS '86 is pretty dang nice... but I do feel like I have to defend the NF Soundwave mould, because it's not nearly as overly done as some might think.
Last edited: