So, offchance that anyone else got Cannonball or some other Star Raider stuff cancelled, go give Walmart and Pulse a check, Cannonball's back up on both, and a Bluesky mutual mentioned being able to grab Filch on Pulse earlier.
The G1 Unicron toy prototype design they did was very popular. You'd think they'd take the hint that the money's in more out there ideas.
We don't have day to day stuff at our fingertips, no, but Hasbro's teams do share stuff with us.
I remember when Hasbro, way back in the day, explained that the reason for the Energon combiners only having two limb moulds each was budgetary. The budget would allow for either two combiners with four limb moulds each or three combiners with two limb moulds each. They made the choice to go with the latter, thinking fans and kids alike would appreciate more characters.
That was the first time I really re-evaluated how I thought about this stuff. It's easy to fall into the trap as a fan (especially in one's younger years) of assuming Hasbro's doing stuff for some malicious reason. But when it comes down to it... the design teams are people passionate about their work and the brand, and they want to do cool stuff. Sometimes the money is what it is, and they have to make decisions about what kinds of cool stuff they have to forgo to do other cool stuff.
Like... I don't think anyone on the design team is currently sitting in their offices in Rhode Island going "stupid Pretenders. Screw those nerds! They'll take a hovercraft with a shark fin on it as Finback and like it!"
No. It's that Pretenders are a REALLY difficult concept to pull off given the economics of modern toy engineering. You're looking at two separate toys, with two separate sets of tooling, that all have to be fit into one budget. And then we have to ask... how articulated are these Pretenders gonna be?
Combiners, Head Masters, Titans, 80s music and storage medium alternate modes, all of this stuff proved viable at retail in the modern day but Pretenders is the one gimmick from G1 that's just too hard to make work.
Of the "fusion" style Pretenders Legacy has given us, I think Bomb Burst, Iguanus, and Bludgeon came out pretty nice. Skullgrin didn't work, but 3/4 isn't a bad batting average.
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I really liked the LOOK of Deluxe Thunderwing, though I do hope he gets something better later and I was surprised to see him mentioned in the interview. Though more likely...
"The destruction of the Pretenders will be the next part of our EEEEEEEEEvil plan..."
"Evil plan?"
"No, no, you have to draw out the 'E' or it doesn't work, try it again. EEEEEEEEEvil..."
"EE...vil?"
"...That's it, you're being transferred to Accounting..."
"The destruction of the Pretenders will be the next part of our EEEEEEEEEvil plan..."
"Evil plan?"
"No, no, you have to draw out the 'E' or it doesn't work, try it again. EEEEEEEEEvil..."
"EE...vil?"
"...That's it, you're being transferred to Accounting..."
I'm so amused so many people dump on Skullgrin when he's arguably being the most accurate of the Legacy Pretenders by turning into a big lump of incoherent nonsense for his vehicle mode.
I just think his head looks goofy!
It just needed a lower jaw.
The G1 toy shell had one, but it was molded onto the chest and left unpainted in gray, so it got lost in the details and overlooked by the update.
Except that's not what his alt mode looked like. Legacy is literally just a brick with guns on it. The original has a actuall design, a real cockpit. It's slenderup front and thickens toward the back. The only think it gets right are the dual cannons uptop, the rear treads, and the weapons plugging in.
Bomb-Burst is practically 1:1 in comparison.
And Iguanus is honestly an improvement, as he really is "lump of nonsense" when compared to the other two's G1 toys. He's basically a Lizard Junkion, but at least that looks more like a motorcycle then the original.
With Pretenders, personally, I don't care about the inner robots for the most part as they all look generic or uninspired aside from Metalhawk, its the actual shells that looked cool, I rather they sort of stay as they have done, taking the shell looks and having them transform, I'll grant that the resent Skullgrin wasn't exactly the best and pretty much likely to end up as generic bot mold for whenever they want something odd for the line or some one off pack
I've come to warm to Skullgrin myself, a bit. I wish the robot mode were less blocky and a bit more organic, and I wish the altmode had managed to capture more of the angular wedge shape of the original. Of course, these may be at odds, and are tricky to balance.
In any case it's kind of funny how much of these current Pretenders are still "slap on altmode parts until they look like something".
(Also I kind of want to see those Energon Monsters now. Just make a batch of translucent Fossilizers to go with Skelivore and Tricranius -- lead with Wingfinger and either of the Wreckers retools.)
In any case it's kind of funny how much of these current Pretenders are still "slap on altmode parts until they look like something".
(Also I kind of want to see those Energon Monsters now. Just make a batch of translucent Fossilizers to go with Skelivore and Tricranius -- lead with Wingfinger and either of the Wreckers retools.)
I was just taking the piss at how a majority of the original inner Pretender alt modes are just awkward yoga messes of sci-fi nonsense and how Legacy Skullgrin was more accurate to that as a concept than any level of actual accuracy to his own Whatever the Hell He Had Going On,
The original Pretender vehicle modes have a way overblown reputation. A lot of them look like something out of a Galaga knockoff, and I love that.
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I really want that Lio Convoy, he looks 10X better than the Legacy verison!!
I respect what Legacy tried to do. It really wasn't a bad attempt at a lion face. But this is more satisfying.
Yes, it was. It's got an overly long snout with an exaggerated slope, had a derpy facial expression and had fangs sticking out when the mouth's closed.
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Possibly, even though I bought both versions, I think the original would be great with some paint details and gold paint. The TT version looks a little like the Okinawan dog statues, which just so happen to grace my local Okinawan bar near my flat.
Legacy retool:
Oh, wow.
I didn't hate the Legacy one, but I definitely prefer/want the one on the right.
Convincing enough, for some.
The originals were just rubber molded figures. I say just do that again.