Oops, not that one! I may have used the wrong terms, they overlap a lot. I meant the more recent Laser Prime that they later made Toxitron and Scourge from for WalMart. And the Skywarp was the Gamer Edition from last year.
Transformers Collaborative series
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
I knew what you meant. I was making a joke about how Hasbro keeps remaking older toys into newer versions.
Doesn't help that they keep recycling names for series and sublines, too. "whatever" of the Primes, "Universe", "Classics", "Retro", Robots in Disguise", "Cyberverse" etc.
Increasingly, due to the low birth rate and rise of phones and tablets, there is less interest in toys with kids. This has led the toy market (in cases like TFs) to cater more and more to the fans. As this is a smaller amount of people, the prices have increased too.
A similar thing is happening with videogames.
Now that's grim.
Someone named SMS 14 put up transformation videos. The Mystery Machine DOES have rotational head-swapping...but not remotely how I thought the rotor part worked. And the sheer amount of plastic and parts makes me think even more that they could have Titan Master'd the Scooby Gang, added some seats, and come out with LESS complexity for the budget...
Yeah, I see what they were going for, and I guess it's kind of neat that you can swap heads without removing them, but yeah, that's way over-engineered. In the practice, it looks like way more of a pain to swap heads that way than just removing and replacing them. The one saving grace is that the standard headmaster port allows for lots of playability with Titans Return figures.
I appreciate that you don't have to remove the heads to transform him (them?)
I have to wonder if they originally were going to be full headmasters, but turning each head into a multi-piece mini-figure probably would have upped the already inflated price even more.
I have to wonder if they originally were going to be full headmasters, but turning each head into a multi-piece mini-figure probably would have upped the already inflated price even more.
I'm still looking forward to getting this, but that head-swapping gimmick is, well, a head-scratcher. If they are going to use the Titan Master connection anyway, why have the head wheel?
I'm wondering if the heads weren't originally intended to be removable at all, but someone added the Titan Master compatibility either to create an intended "safe break" point, or because they weren't happy with the final head designs, and knew others wouldn't be as well? I also wonder if the individual heads weren't allowed to transform because of the terms of the license?
I'm wondering if the heads weren't originally intended to be removable at all, but someone added the Titan Master compatibility either to create an intended "safe break" point, or because they weren't happy with the final head designs, and knew others wouldn't be as well? I also wonder if the individual heads weren't allowed to transform because of the terms of the license?
The more I look at the implementation, the more I wonder if my earlier speculation that some part of the design was forced to change at the last minute with no warning might have actually been close...its like it has the engineering to do two entirely different things that somehow wound up having to work together when both got cancelled.
I’m so confused why the spinny head thing was a priority. Even more so with the heads all seeming to lack neck articulation
Huh. I was right and wrong about how this was done. That's interesting.
It really is the sort of thing that makes more sense if these were four Titan Masters; this might've started out with that plan but got downsized in terms of head design (from transforming to static) and/or size (smaller space for storage; no idea if four Titan Masters would fit the same). Like, it's not a Scooby-Doo thing per se, but it's a Party Wallop style way to have the gang all represented.
Designer 1 spent a whole sleepless week trying to figure out how to include four heads. As he discarded his latest failed sketch, he started to believe it was simply impossible.
Finally, in a fit of sleep deprivation induced delirium, he started again and sketched out this design in less than a minute. And it worked.
Designer 2 silently scribbled in a Titan Master port.
Designer 1 submitted the drawing as-is out of spite.
Finally, in a fit of sleep deprivation induced delirium, he started again and sketched out this design in less than a minute. And it worked.
Designer 2 silently scribbled in a Titan Master port.
Designer 1 submitted the drawing as-is out of spite.
Going by those videos, it seems like a pretty solidly built figure, at least!
It's more interesting than I thought. I stand by my complaints, but I appreciate the insanity of that head swapping mechanism. It's unnecessary and overcomplicated but it works.
I certainly prefer the figure having it to not having it.
I finally picked up the TF GI JOE Kup figure today. Ross had it for $35, so I found one on my lunch break today at the first store!
Ooooh, jealous.
There were two of them there, if you hurry, you might be able to get it! 
Kup was the standout from the line: good transformation, really good poseability, good scale in both modes for the gijoe figures with him, and good choice in gijoe figures.