There's something very satisfying about that wide chestplate.
Wait which tab did I open
Wait which tab did I open
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
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
I think despite the color mismatch that Swindle's trailer gun works really well on top of Onslaught's 'base mode' trailer. The socket sizes match to attach it and the barrels are close enough in scale to look intentional.
And if you have a Red Cog and a Viper, you can get a really good arsenal set going.
And if you have a Red Cog and a Viper, you can get a really good arsenal set going.
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So I finally completed Bruticus...
... and I love him. This is my first go with a frame Combiner and while I don't really like the idea in principal, I can't argue with the results. He's very solid, he's hefty, he's big enough to be impressive but not so big he becomes unwieldy. My one nitpick is I think his combined gun is a bit weak but that's a very minor issue.
SS "Bruticus, go and attack the Autobots, over there!!"
Bruticus "Do I have to? Megatron said today was a day of rest!"
SS "I'm Not Megatron, you will do as I say!"
Bruticus "Um, no, I'm going on holiday to fembot island, I booked my tickets in advance, you can fight the Autobots and get crushed by that big yellow fellow!!"
I understand the dislike of the frame system. However, All of my Combiner Wars combiners are prone to falling apart if you breath on them, with Abominus being the most flimsy of the lot. Frame Superion, on the other hand, was knocked to the floor three times in two days by the dogs with nary an ill effect. I am liking the frame system myself.
I've split the difference, there's aspects of both systems I like and dislike. My Defensor is CW, my Bruticus is frame. Copied from the picture thread, I know it's not the 'eye to eye' matchup from the cartoon but I like how it works. Unless something absolutely amazing shows up (and the mix of prices and QC makes it unlikely) I think I'll keep these.
I disliked the frame system, but it kinda stops being cheating if the frame is 100% made of one of the individual bots. That Bruticus frame is still just Onslaught. It is arguably less cheaty than the traditional approach with loose hands and feet.
Can this Bruticus hold the CW Shockwave?
The block in front of Shockwave's grip doesn't fit around Bruticus's fist. You could cut it off (or there are 3D printed adapters already floating round), but the stock toy doesn't work.
On principle, I really dislike the idea of the frame system. I always felt like the Micromaster combiners weren't really combiners because they all just plugged into a frame, and none of the individual bots actually combined with each other. The modern frame combiners are the exact same situation. The bots all connect to the frame, and none of them directly connect to each other.
Having said that, I'm appreciating them in practice far more than I ever expected to. I do still love the CW combiners for what they are. However, they do have their issues. When I took some pics of AotP Bruticus and UW Baldigus a little while back, it really stood out to me how much more stable Bruticus is. There's absolutely no competition there at all. You can pretty much handle Bruticus (and all the other frame combiners from Menasor on) just like they were regular bots, with none of the issues you usually would have had with combiners. Meanwhile, Baldigus took some effort to get him into the pose I wanted, and I had to keep repairing the bots that start falling apart in the process. In particular, Armorhide makes a terrible arm. His legs never want to stay together, and his waist never wants to lock into place. It makes handling him very frustrating.
So, as much as I was very skeptical early on, and would prefer the bots actually combine with each other directly, I'm really liking them both as individual bots and combined.
Having said that, I'm appreciating them in practice far more than I ever expected to. I do still love the CW combiners for what they are. However, they do have their issues. When I took some pics of AotP Bruticus and UW Baldigus a little while back, it really stood out to me how much more stable Bruticus is. There's absolutely no competition there at all. You can pretty much handle Bruticus (and all the other frame combiners from Menasor on) just like they were regular bots, with none of the issues you usually would have had with combiners. Meanwhile, Baldigus took some effort to get him into the pose I wanted, and I had to keep repairing the bots that start falling apart in the process. In particular, Armorhide makes a terrible arm. His legs never want to stay together, and his waist never wants to lock into place. It makes handling him very frustrating.
So, as much as I was very skeptical early on, and would prefer the bots actually combine with each other directly, I'm really liking them both as individual bots and combined.
i don’t like the frame system per se. I just think it’s the worst way to do Bruticus in particular.
That said, i’m not sure how much of the stability is due to the Commander vs Voyager budget vs the execution
That said, i’m not sure how much of the stability is due to the Commander vs Voyager budget vs the execution
I'm basically where Exatron is. I maintain that the CW format succeeds better at updating what the Scramble combiners actually DID, because it DOES it. The frame system is entirely incomparable to that because it explicitly does nothing of the sort.
But under the CW format, it isn't feasible at regular retail to make satisfyingly proportioned, complex, accurate, distinct, and stable designs for everyone. Deluxes that have to have the jointing worked into their design, Voyagers (I guess even Leaders) that have to have the four joint slots worked into their design, integrated chestplates/armor just not looking as good, the need for at least separate boot pieces (the CW/POTP hands were entirely fine, I don't need combiners to give anyone the finger ffs)...
I enjoyed it for reasons I state above. But I finally got extensively reacquainted with that system and its limitations late last year when prepping a huge batch of stuff to clear out, and I think that ultimately hammered the idea home. The frame system is inherently more stable because it's NOT five pieces having to work together, it's one piece wearing four more decoratively and stapling smaller dudes to your arms and legs is infinitely easier and more affordable to engineer and execute. These ARE essentially "pretend" combiners, but at this point in my life they're at the right level of "not as frustrating" for me. I came around to it late enough that I had to pay the late tax to backtrack through the Stunticons, and heaven help me if I should ever commit to getting a Liokaiser (that was both me not being into frames, even though it's less framey as a design, and me not having the money at the time).
Maybe one day we'll get releases that have enough of a budget to do it the "right" way AND avoid those shortcomings, but right now I'm fine with something that fakes it -- because for the most part it does make it.
But under the CW format, it isn't feasible at regular retail to make satisfyingly proportioned, complex, accurate, distinct, and stable designs for everyone. Deluxes that have to have the jointing worked into their design, Voyagers (I guess even Leaders) that have to have the four joint slots worked into their design, integrated chestplates/armor just not looking as good, the need for at least separate boot pieces (the CW/POTP hands were entirely fine, I don't need combiners to give anyone the finger ffs)...
I enjoyed it for reasons I state above. But I finally got extensively reacquainted with that system and its limitations late last year when prepping a huge batch of stuff to clear out, and I think that ultimately hammered the idea home. The frame system is inherently more stable because it's NOT five pieces having to work together, it's one piece wearing four more decoratively and stapling smaller dudes to your arms and legs is infinitely easier and more affordable to engineer and execute. These ARE essentially "pretend" combiners, but at this point in my life they're at the right level of "not as frustrating" for me. I came around to it late enough that I had to pay the late tax to backtrack through the Stunticons, and heaven help me if I should ever commit to getting a Liokaiser (that was both me not being into frames, even though it's less framey as a design, and me not having the money at the time).
Maybe one day we'll get releases that have enough of a budget to do it the "right" way AND avoid those shortcomings, but right now I'm fine with something that fakes it -- because for the most part it does make it.
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I think in practice the frame system just feels less egregious with Menasor and Bruticus because Motormaster and Onslaught have alt modes that make the frame far less obvious, if that makes sense. Just making it Motormaster's trailer is by far the most elegant solution so far. Still, Onslaught being a truck of some kind with a trailer does work as well.
It's Superion where the idea falls flat because you can tell they just threw up their hands and went "jet trailer?"
It's funny, really. And I mean there are more interesting ideas they could have done. Maybe an air traffic control complex or something but any way you cut it you're not just making the frame out of a logical extension of Silverbolt's alt mode so it's going to be forced. Thankfully Superion was probably the most solid CW set top to bottom so I'm very happy sticking with that one.
It's Superion where the idea falls flat because you can tell they just threw up their hands and went "jet trailer?"
It's funny, really. And I mean there are more interesting ideas they could have done. Maybe an air traffic control complex or something but any way you cut it you're not just making the frame out of a logical extension of Silverbolt's alt mode so it's going to be forced. Thankfully Superion was probably the most solid CW set top to bottom so I'm very happy sticking with that one.
Absolutely. It's why despite loving AotP Bruticus, I'm taking a hard pass on any Ruination/Baldigus repaints. That was the one time the Scramble City function played a role in the fiction, and so it seems right to stick with the UW set that can actually replicate it.
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I think they had the right idea with Silverbolt. The Concorde is a humongous thing. The frame approach let them make a Silverbolt that rightfully dwarfs the limb bots in var mode but not in robot mode. It could have worked.
They just didn't do it elegantly. At all.
They just didn't do it elegantly. At all.
I hate to break it to you all, but the perfect fusion of frame system and limb scrambling was perfected years ago:
Courageous, the Power Warrior
Not only could almost any figure be part of the combiner, but in most cases they could be an arm, leg, or command pilot, and the combined figure would remain totally stable. Seriously, if Habro wanted to pursue the frame system while still maintaining some Scramble City functionality, they could do worse than to look to the Gobots combiner for inspiration.
Not only could almost any figure be part of the combiner, but in most cases they could be an arm, leg, or command pilot, and the combined figure would remain totally stable. Seriously, if Habro wanted to pursue the frame system while still maintaining some Scramble City functionality, they could do worse than to look to the Gobots combiner for inspiration.
Magnaboss is a frame combiner.
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Just not a very stable one.
People forgetting the original TF Frame Combiner:
I don't know how those arms didn't bother the original designer. I know they were new at this but it's not like symmetry hadn't been discovered yet.