Transformers: Age of the Primes Thread: ll First Post All Listings II Update : April 12th, 2027 Bonus Wave: Repaint fun, Beast Wars, G2, Machine Wars

[Magnusblitz]

I'm only surprised they didn't release it for valentines day.

And as a Target exclusive!

Yeah. I think it highlights broader market shifts that Hasbro seemed more concerned about characters and alt modes than color variety like they might have been about how the wave looks on retail shelves.

Probably true, but even aside from that, I feel like the on-the-ground realities of distribution make it less important. It's pretty rare for me to ever see a whole wave on a shelf at once. I feel lucky if I see more than 2 different toys on a peg.

Also, I feel like the way the current boxes are designed drastically lowers the ability to see different toys from afar, since you can't see into the box at all from the sides if they're pushed up against each other. Different when they had bubbles.

 

[unluckiness]

Wait, this isn’t a set of Target exclusives ?

 

[Echowarrior]

So, just putting in my two cents.

No complaints about Liege Maximo. He shall be mine.

I'm...ambivalent...about Nexus Prime, but he shall also be mine. I am hoping for an SDCC or PulseCon giftset version that works a little closer to the original version from the Fun Pub days, however.

New AotP Deluxes? I will definitely get Animated Ratchet. I might get Powerglide if I ever see him at retail. Not really interested in Swerve, and I already have Cliffjumper. And aren't we getting Prime Smokescreen in this wave too? Him I'll get.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

Definitely the minibots and Liege for me. And probably Nexus Prime, since I'll want SOMETHING to take up that spot on my shelf and I don't want to wait five years for Hasbro or third parties to get around to it, if they ever do.

Maybe DNA will make a good addon kit for him.

 

[Platypus Prime]

I hope tomorrow's releases will include Swindle and I get a PO in. If I can, I will have the last two parts of the Bruticus I seriously doubted I'd complete on order. Since I've spent $3,500 on med mess this year to date it may be the LAST thing I order, too, though I hope to tack on a Monstructor if I can later.

 

[Magnus]

It matters precisely as much as your appreciation of this design. Dismissing objections as that and having "there's no perfect solution" as some kind of blanket defense doesn't leave a whole lot of room for discussion -- especially since no one here is trying to make you dislike it, just point out what you might have been missing in your surprise at "all the negativity", that these aren't just hating for the sake of.

"Disingenuous" would be if I claimed to like it while not actually liking it. I'm likewise not sure where this accusation of me saying I know better than the designers is coming from -- are we to assume the way they did it is the one true way to do it, and to consider alternatives that I find preferable is claiming to know better? What opinions am I allowed to have, then?

Admittedly, everything I say (and by the same token everything you say) is necessarily from the outside looking in, without knowledge of the constraints they're working within. But I feel I've tried to be reasonable with them, basing them on precedent where it's worked and avoiding obviously ludicrous expectations. There are a handful of expectations that come with each of these characters, and their generally being semi blank slates who've been depicted in divergent ways can simplify and complicate the process of translating them into these forms. But it doesn't seem unreasonable or arrogant to expect this aspect of this character to be represented by a toy of this character in that manner. Is it unreasonable to ask that a guy whose identity is "combiner" not require you to, uh, buy a combiner to experience combining? Is that too slavish an interpretation?

Frankly that seems more reasonable than implying that taking that stance is arrogantly "knowing better" than the professionals, or implying that those who don't like it don't "like to have fun fun" or "enjoy playing around with their toys".

Like hey, like what you like. You don't see anyone implying anything about you or your opinions on this.

Apart from calling me obtuse you mean.

People are allowed to dislike it of course, and to discuss what they'd have rather seen. I'm not policing that. But suggesting that Hastak left budget on the table and just half-heartedly made this figure, or that his specific combiner gimmick isn't appropriate for the character in a toyline with multiple combiners already in it, seems like a stretch.

I understand how disappointed you are, and i'm sorry for that - it sucks. I'd have loved it if he came in a complete box set. But my surprise comes from the seemingly high expectations everyone seemed to have for this guy when we full-well knew the figure was going to be compromised in some way.

This is like being told you cant dislike or critize a movie, tv series or webtoon, becuase you're not a professional director or artist.

Not quite. I'm talking about the accusation that they (the designers aka the experts) didn't fully utilize their budget for this figure. You're free to like what you want!

@Magnus First of all, welcome to the Allspark!

Second, if the new Nexus works for you, that's awesome! No Transformer is ever going to please everyone, but it's good to see people who are excited for this!

Third, I can only provide my own perspective, but for me, Nexus' depending on my buying a bunch of other figures to "complete" a combiner form is not an optimal solution. I grew up with Transformers and Gobots, and started collecting as an adult around 2001. At this point in time, I have probably 2 or more iterations of almost every major combiner; because of this, and to conserve budget, I had no plans to buy any of the AotP combiners.
The other issue I have with Nexus in AotP is that I consider it to be one of the rare combiners with a unified color scheme, and with the current AotP combiner offerings, that will not be the case. Maybe a gift set later on would fix this, but there's no indication that such a set is in the works.
Lastly, Amalgamous Prime showed how a Voyager budget can do some pretty cool things with a complex concept; I think a lot of people expected something similar from a Voyager Nexus, and most would have been fine with a small combiner.

You are right, none of us here have inside information about what budgeting and design constraints the designers work with, so maybe there are some factors we aren't even seeing at play, but Nexus feels to me like one of the weaker AotP offerings in execution.

Thank you for the welcome.

The fact that we're even getting the 13 Primes in toy mode at all is a miracle. Could they have gone the minicon/duocon combiner route? Sure. And i'm sure they explored it and decided against it for reasons we may find out about later. But I 100% understand and appreciate the logic behind linking the figure to the rest of the established Combiners in the line - it makes perfect sense from a thematic and design perspective within the toyline. Raking the designers over the coals for not meeting our expectations, when they've obviously tried to work as hard as they could within the constraints they've been given, makes me feel sad for them

 

[lastmaximal]

Apart from calling me obtuse you mean.

People are allowed to dislike it of course, and to discuss what they'd have rather seen. I'm not policing that. But suggesting that Hastak left budget on the table and just half-heartedly made this figure, or that his specific combiner gimmick isn't appropriate for the character in a toyline with multiple combiners already in it, seems like a stretch.

I understand how disappointed you are, and i'm sorry for that - it sucks. I'd have loved it if he came in a complete box set. But my surprise comes from the seemingly high expectations everyone seemed to have for this guy when we full-well knew the figure was going to be compromised in some way.

Not quite. I'm talking about the accusation that they (the designers aka the experts) didn't fully utilize their budget for this figure. You're free to like what you want!

Obtuse had nothing to do with you liking this; that was a description based on the surprise at "all the negativity", despite you now also acknowledging that you do understand the disappointment.

I think there is something to your point of having to lower expectations because the Voyager price point (a choice that already seemed off when it was revealed/leaked) already eliminated a lot of loftier ones. You're right that a compromise was always going to be what we got. But "in order for this guy to be a combiner you have to buy a combiner" is pretty much "our expectations for you were low but holy crap", and other compromises would have been preferable.

I only mentioned the budget in response to you mentioning the budget, and never to my recollection implied that this execution was them cheaping out on the design. There are many ways to deploy and maximize the resources they have available; this is one of them, and people have mentioned others they'd find preferable. Again, of course, the latter is done without the benefit of knowing exactly what's going on and what the resources and constraints are, but there has been an effort to couch these in possibility using precedent and related examples. And I've maintained that I'm waiting for what else they have to reveal that may show that there are aspects to this that haven't been shown, or some more insight into why this route was the optimal one in the end. That's one of the best things about the current team; they actually tell us about that. But until they do, all we've got to respond to is what we've been shown.

I'm not clear on where anyone here is "raking the designers over the coals". I'm sure there are many venues online where people do just that and worse, which is one reason I stay here and hope you choose to as well (welcome, btw). But read through this thread and others and you'll see a lot of appreciation from many for the thought the design team puts into their work and the engagement with the fandom to discuss that work, and generally giving them the benefit of the doubt -- seeing the best in them without having to romanticize them. In any case, these are adults and professionals whose work is knowingly, broadly public and don't need anyone defending them from imagined aggression. Disagreeing with a choice they make is not an attack on them.

 

[TriBlurr]

I really hate Nexus' base robot mode. I'd love to be able to display him in his proper combined mode, without having to disassemble my other combiners. Unless they say there's a limb set coming for him later, he's gonna be discount purchase only. Which sucks cause I've been collecting all the Primes so far.

 

[Sabrblade]

In addition to the repositioning of his horns from on his head to behind his neck, something else that's off about this design for the Liege Maximo is the lack of his arm cannon fueled by the power of a small sun. Out of every piece of published artwork depicting the Liege Maximo in his original G2 design, this is probably the one that give the most clear look at his arm cannon:

 

[lastmaximal]

Ironically, not canon.

 

[Badgertron]

In addition to the repositioning of his horns from on his head to behind his neck, something else that's off about this design for the Liege Maximo is the lack of his arm cannon fueled by the power of a small sun. Out of every piece of published artwork depicting the Liege Maximo in his original G2 design, this is probably the one that give the most clear look at his arm cannon:

Just to play devils advocate, that art could also be interpreted as the horns rising up from something behind his head as well, going by the lighting.

 

[Exatron]

In addition to the repositioning of his horns from on his head to behind his neck, something else that's off about this design for the Liege Maximo is the lack of his arm cannon fueled by the power of a small sun. Out of every piece of published artwork depicting the Liege Maximo in his original G2 design, this is probably the one that give the most clear look at his arm cannon:

He may have the arm cannon. Zoom in on his left arm. It certainly looks like his hand could rotate into his forearm, bringing out a clear red cannon in its place.

We should know one way or the other after the stream this week. We don't have a day and time for it yet, do we?

 

[unluckiness]

It's February 3 in the States but I forgot exactly what time.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

Really hope we get a Bad Boy version of that Powerglide...

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I kinda like that Swerve. And Powerglide. And would love that Cliffjumper. But at the prices things are today, who knows?

As regards Nexus Prime, I think maybe the best compromise would have been if he had his own frame that could not only fill out the vehicle mode a bit, but also give him a more unique combined mode while still potentially allowing him to "borrow" other limbs. Or not, as the frames allow.

Even with that alone, he'd still be something of a Combiner in his own right. Just more of a robot + trailer style, rather than five robot style.

 

[ZacWilliam1]

I still think he should have just been a new version of this guy.

-ZacWilliam, Ok maybe simplified down to Multiforce 7 or something.

 

[Sciflyer]

The new AotP Deluxes look pretty alright. I was the most excited about Powerglide, but I don't understand what he's so mad about, lol. His eyes look really angry, IMO. I'll pass on Animated Ratchet and Cliffjumper, and am really not sure about that Swerve. I didn't like the updated Gears all that much, and am completely fine with the other Swerves in my collection.

 

[Shockwave 75]

I'm all over Powerglide, he's one of my favorites. The others are an easy pass. I might have been interested in the Cliffjumper if it was the zombie version.

I'll not expound on Nexus Prime, but suffice to say, I echo much of the disappointment here. Especially since I have not bought ANY of t he current combiners as I really don't like the frame design. If you don't actually need the other bots to form the gestalt, other than for aesthetic purposes, then it's not a combiner. But that's just my opinion

My issue is with Liege Maximo.
I will be getting him since I want to complete the Primes, but I have an issue with him.
If the 13 were not a thing they were doing, and they were simply releasing this as a figure of G2 Liege Maximo, a figure many have wanted for 40-odd years, then this would be a rousing success.
But as a representation of Liege Maximo, member of the original 13 Primes, IMO, it's kind of a fail. Why, you ask? Because G2 LM is this giant hulking monster of a bot, but 13 LM isn't. He uses subtlety, guile, and subterfuge, not brute force. He's a sneaky schemer which is likely why they designed him to look very much like MCU Loki. Megatronus is supposed to be the "monster" of the group. The huge powerhouse who looks at the universe from the perspective of a hammer. Megatronus is a club whereas Maximo is a scalpel.
Now, I can head-cannon this figure by using the bit of fiction that says LM did not die at the end of the War of The Primes, but fled into the universe with Amalgamous chasing him, and this huge beast is what he eventually became as a result.
Don't get me wrong, this figure is cool, but it's not the Liege Maximo, member of the 13 Primes I was hoping for.

 

[Fullstrength Motleypuss]

I'm all over Powerglide, he's one of my favorites. The others are an easy pass. I might have been interested in the Cliffjumper if it was the zombie version.

I'll not expound on Nexus Prime, but suffice to say, I echo much of the disappointment here. Especially since I have not bought ANY of t he current combiners as I really don't like the frame design. If you don't actually need the other bots to form the gestalt, other than for aesthetic purposes, then it's not a combiner. But that's just my opinion

My issue is with Liege Maximo.
I will be getting him since I want to complete the Primes, but I have an issue with him.
If the 13 were not a thing they were doing, and they were simply releasing this as a figure of G2 Liege Maximo, a figure many have wanted for 40-odd years, then this would be a rousing success.
But as a representation of Liege Maximo, member of the original 13 Primes, IMO, it's kind of a fail. Why, you ask? Because G2 LM is this giant hulking monster of a bot, but 13 LM isn't. He uses subtlety, guile, and subterfuge, not brute force. He's a sneaky schemer which is likely why they designed him to look very much like MCU Loki. Megatronus is supposed to be the "monster" of the group. The huge powerhouse who looks at the universe from the perspective of a hammer. Megatronus is a club whereas Maximo is a scalpel.
Now, I can head-cannon this figure by using the bit of fiction that says LM did not die at the end of the War of The Primes, but fled into the universe with Amalgamous chasing him, and this huge beast is what he eventually became as a result.
Don't get me wrong, this figure is cool, but it's not the Liege Maximo, member of the 13 Primes I was hoping for.

I kinda see your point. I starting to think this may have turned out better if they swapped their price points and gave us a more svelte Liege and a more fully realized Nexus.

 

[Donocropolis]

I kinda see your point. I starting to think this may have turned out better if they swapped their price points and gave us a more svelte Liege and a more fully realized Nexus.

While that probably would have made for a better Nexus, I personally wouldn't be willing to sacrifice a big-boy Liege Maximo for it. But I have to admit that I have no idea what the ratio of Liege Maximo to Nexus fans is in the world, so I don't know whether or not I'm on the right side of history here.