TF Views

When purging my collection, one of the reasons that so many movie toys got chucked was that I did not rememember how to transform them.

Dom
-likely going to fiddle with Lewis' in the next few days.

Also Scourge if you wanna check out more I recommend Shockwave. Highly. My fanish devotion aside, this really is a good toy and a solid design. As someone mentioned before, everything pegs together in both modes leaving no doubt about what to do with all of the parts and the changeability of the gun arm allows for some versatility. Overall I'd say he's a great movie interpretation of the character and a solid well designed toy to boot. A big thanks to Hasbro for not gimping the toy of my favorite character.

And since I'm reviewing, I might as well do the other DOTM toys I got: Powerglide: This is also a very solid toy. Has a complex transformation but not so complex as to detract from the design. The colors and scale I think are a better match for the character than the Universe version and is even done well enough that you could slide him onto the Classics shelf without him standing out too much. Scourge highly recommended this toy and I second that.

Starscream: I like the Starscream design idea but I don't think I like how it's been pulled off. The chicken legs bother me for some reason and his torso to limb ration is way off. That said, this toy did pull off the best version (in this scale) of the design and it works pretty well, but I'm not blown away by it.

Bumblebee: If you Battle Blade Bee, skip this one. There's nothing new in the design and in fact, what is there sets the design back a few steps. Of all the movie bees, this one is the worst. Specifically, the roof is now molded with what look like Nascar nets in the car windows, but there are actual clear blue windows for the car that fold down behind the doors. These windows cannot be put in the up position in vehicle mode. Overall: Fail.

I'm glad to hear that Megs has a good toy this time round, though I'm still kinda holding out on him, in case news of a Leader class gets announced.

If not, well, I'm sure there will be excess stock and/or repaints enough to get a copy some months from now.

DOTM Deluxe Mechtech Jolt
Jolt! Everyone remembers Jolt! Or rather, they don’t. Poor Jolt, he gets no respect. He was literally Photoshopped into Revenge of the Fallen at the last minute and ignored by everybody. His toy in that line suffered from the same problems that plagued that line: His main whip-swinging gimmick was gimped by the whips being shrunken down and made of solid plastic, turning them into more of tiny spears (kinda cool in their own way), his chest was done up in all clear plastic to accommodate his MechAlive gimmick, but ended up too dark to see much of the movement going on, resulting in his clear plastic chest just making him look weird and unfinished. And to round out the ROTF line-wide-problems trifecta, he got a barely-different repaint later in the line that nobody bought. And now he’s not even going to be in DOTM, apparently! No respect, no respect at all. But this is the DOTM toyline we’re talking about, where *everyone* gets a new mold, even Jolt! Will this new Deluxe correct any of the missteps of Jolt’s original toy, or end up introducing its own issues? As a wise owl once said: Let’s find out!

Vehicle Mode
Jolt turns into a Chevy Volt, a hybrid car that was in the concept stages back during ROTF, but has since gone into production. I’ve always been annoyed that ‘Volt’ has just as much precedent as a TF name as ‘Jolt’ does, yet Hasbro didn’t see fit to just call this guy ‘Volt’ (even moreso since Volt was the Autobot Laser Rod while ‘Jolt’ had been used for a Decepticon). It’s the same way I can’t believe that they had two cars called a Trax and a Beat, and *didn’t* name them Tracks and Nightbeat. Hasbro must just not love synergy as much as I do. But I digress, as Jolt’s vehicle mode is actually all about synergy. Or multiple types of energy, anyway. He’s got a gas cap, something ROTF Jolt didn’t have, possibly indicating that original Jolt was a fully electric concept vehicle, as opposed to the gas/electric hybrid that DOTM Jolt is. Of course, considering that ROTF Jolt also lacks door handles where the DOTM toy has them, it could be that the original mold was just under-detailed. The other major detail DOTM Jolt has over his previous incarnation is the ridged solar panels on his roof and hood. That’s right, Jolt isn’t just a hybrid, he’s a gas/electric/solar TRIbrid. I like the solar panels, as they fit with this type of car and look nice, though the detail is sadly marred by the Mechtech ports in the roof. They’ve got those little circle bits that spring up to plug the holes, like on Roadbuster, but they’re cast in grey and not painted black to match the rest of the roof. So they stick out like sore thumbs, defeating their own purpose in a rather frustrating way. The other major missing paint application is on two panels filling in the back ridge of the car. These should be painted silver to match the rest of the details, but they aren’t. Hrm.

Jolt looks pretty nice the rest of the way around though. The rest of the silver lining the window area looks nice between the black of the solar panels and the powder blue of the car body. The headlights are clear now too, which looks nice. He’s also got some Allspark Blue line/geometric details around his windows and the sides of the car, making this look like Jolt Ver. Ka (anyone get that reference? Gomess?). The ROTF toy does still have a few details over this version (silver paint on the wheels and grille, plus that one actually says ‘VOLT’ on the back of the car), and this one’s just a smidge smaller, but the overall color scheme is nice and interesting, and it feels a bit more solid than ROTF Jolt (even if the lighter color makes his seams stand out more).

His Mechtech weapon plugs into one of the holes on the roof, and nowhere else. I’ll talk about it with the robot mode.

Transformation
Remember how ROTF Jolt’s transformation was intuitive and rather simple (especially compared to the standards of Movie toys)? Yeah, DOTM Jolt’s not having any of that. This is an exercise in rough parts clearances and strict order of operations.

Pulling the arms out first was easy enough to grasp, but from there is was pretty touch and go. You’re supposed to split the roof and pull those halves out on hinges to rotate way up, but those hinges are stuck in there *tight*. I had no idea they could move that much until I noticed their position on the box pictures, and some time spent gently moving them in and out over a few transformations has loosened them to the point that they’ll go willingly now. Even then, they still don’t spread quite wide enough to accommodate the waist/legs portion you’re gonna have to swing up to connect to the back of the car; you’ll have to gently flex the roof/window bits out of the way to get the hips past. No es bueno. And be sure you get that waist section swung into position before you try to deploy the head, since it can’t clear until the strut the waist is on has been moved down to its robot mode place. The head simply won’t come out until then, and worst case scenario is that it’ll pop off and things’ll get jammed until you can jiggle it into a mobile position. Of course, even with the hinge out of the way, the head might *still* pop off (more on that damnable head later), and you’ll still have to rattle the thing into position. And after all that upper body nonsense you’ve still got to transform the feet! The feet have these stupid hook bits within them that exist solely to make your life miserable. Seriously, they can barely be seen in either mode, and all the do is catch just under the front bumper pieces going to Robot Mode, making it hard to extend the feet, then running into those same bits on the way back to Vehicle Mode, making it a pain to recompress the damn things! And they partially block the rotating wheel bits on the feet for robot mode, resulting in more dangerous gentle flexing to get everything into position. I’m pretty much guaranteed to chop these bits off later, they are my least favorite things.

When going back to Vehicle Mode, keep in mind that those rotating front wheel bits can only go one way around; they’re just barely blocked by the edge of the wheel well if you try to go the wrong way. Also remember order of operations in regards to stowing the head before you fold the torso section back into place.

Robot Mode
A bit smaller, but broader-chested and a touch leggier than ROTF Jolt, your reward for struggling with the transformation of DOTM Jolt is a version that’s a bit more tightly detailed than the seemingly flatter and more simple (especially standing next to the new one) ROTF version. He’s still got ROTF Jolt’s fake doubled-up wheels in his legs, though they were assed enough to make them completely black here, unlike the original’s lame half-painted ones (They’re actually an integral part of the legs here too, as opposed to just superficial molding on the leg chunks). He’s a bit more obviously digitigrade than his 2009 counterpart, but I think it results in better proportions of the legs in general. Instead of ROTF Jolt’s weird panel-cape bits, this version has kibble split into four backwards-pointing, almost insectoid wings. They take up a bit of shelf space, but at least look more like they’re intended to *be* something, at any rate. His arms are also totally freed up, not crammed into roof windshield bits. Before this toy’s clearly molded three fingers on each hand, I wasn’t even really aware that ROTF Jolt’s claws also had three fingers!

Sadly, those arms are where you’re going to first start noticing problems with Jolt. The panels that they’re swung out on to meet the body don’t actually peg into anything, and they feel annoyingly small and flimsy, especially since the shoulder ball joints attached to them are actually tighter than their hinges. His biceps also have an out-swinging hinge in them, apropos of nothing, since the shoulder ball joints are perfectly universal on their own. But where the jointing *really* gets weird is his elbows. There’s a swivel joint at the elbow, and that swiveling piece of plastic angles out ninety degrees, and attached to *that* is his lower arm! This effectively gives him universal elbows, but in an awkward and gimpy way. It’s just…odd-looking, and between them and the weird bicep hinges, his arms always have this derpy, slightly crumpled look too them. It’s kind of a lateral move from the flat, kibble hindered arms of the ROTF version.

His legs fare better. Ball hips, plus double knee joints built around the fake tire pieces, mid-thigh-swivels, and even some foot movement if you can finangle bits to let things move the way you want. Feels more versatile than ROTF Jolt’s chunky legs, anyway. The head’s technically okay, on a swiveling peg with no random chunk of grey plastic blocking behind it (easily the most WTF part of the ROTF toy. Why was that THERE?), but it’s on this *terribly* designed peg that lets it stay on if it’s turned, but if the head’s in the neutral, staring ahead position, it slides right off! It’s just stupidly made. The head still has Jolt’s distinctive (and slightly off-putting) bug eyes and buck teeth.

One thing Jolt lacks that he really shouldn’t is his electric whips. These were the source of the only cool thing Jolt did in ROTF, and while they were gimped hard on the ROTF toy, at least they were there. DOTM Jolt has nothing resembling them. Rather, on his arms are some panels that fold out exposing 3mm rails, letting you clip little weapons you’ve got around in the places where his whips *should* be. He’s also got rails on top of the top set of ‘wings’ on his back, letting him at least make up for the frustratingly absent whips with some solid firepower options. And Jolt even brings a bit of his own with his Mechtech weapon! It’s a gun that turns into…a longer gun. It’s not super-interesting looking, and it kinda catches on its own action sometimes, but it does lunge forward with a satisfying *snap*, and it even has a rail bit on the front for additional weapon-mounting action. It can peg on top of Jolt’s wrists, or (as I’ve just discovered) into the screw-holes on his elbows, where I think it looks pretty nice. Jolt also gets distinguished as one of the few DOTM toys with Robot Mode Mechtech weapon *storage*: There’s a port on his back where you can stash the gun if you don’t want him holding it.

So overall…Jolt. He’s hardly the best mold out of DOTM (which I feel has been a pretty strong line so far, overall). While he improves on some things about ROTF Jolt, he also brings some annoying new problems to the table (the transformation is far less fun, the gimpy arms and their lack of whips annoy, his head is a very unsuccessful experiment), meaning you won’t necessarily like this one if you liked the first one. There’s some DIY improvements you’ll probably want to make if you do pick up this mold. Painting over the Vehicle Mode Mechtech port covers in black is simple and greatly improves the look of the vehicle (I may fill in that silver on the back too, now that I think about it). I’d also say it’s a good idea to think about clipping down/off those damn hook bits in the feet. You also may want to do like I did and look around for an Iron Man 2 Whiplash to steal some whips from. They wedge into those opening bits on his arms well enough (I kinda want to see about grafting them onto some 3mm clips though for more secure assembly), and work with the toy really well (the colors fit perfectly). Jolt just looks more complete with his whips (it’s worth noting that you can give the whips to ROTF Jolt as well). I dunno, I find that I like him about as much as ROTF Jolt in that he’s a decent toy of an amusingly neglected character, but I feel like I had to do a bit more work with DOTM Jolt before he felt worth it. Get him if you’re willing to put in a bit of work yourself, and feel like you like Jolt enough to want a different take on him. He’s hardly as polished as some of the other DOTM offerings, but he’s at least *interesting*, if in a sometimes annoying way.

Oh, and don’t give this toy to a child. Between the ‘gentle flexing’ required in the transformation and the flimsy-feeling arm panels, they’ll probably end up breaking the thing. ROTF Jolt fared much better as a kids’ toy.

After being incredibly turned off by the initial release wave, I've ended up buying a few figures from the line being extremely selective (except for Laserbeak, whom I bought because I was coming home from Botcon and he was new and had cool accessories ).

Line-wide reviews:
- the packaging is a little easier on the eyes, but after a while it feels cheap to me in looks and feel, luckily it just goes in the trash at my house.
- the mechtech weapons are a tad hard to deploy, especially in figures' hands or mounted on those round 5mm holes. Skyhammer's weapon spring is so difficult to deploy that I can't imagine my 9-year-old self being able to do it at all.
- the mechtech weapons do make cool sounds when deploying on most of the ones I have, the gearing and springs make for an interesting sound and feel.
- the figures are so much smaller than previous movies' figures in the same classes that I don't think I can display them together.
- Cyberverse Commanders are sorta cool.
- so far, the mechtech ports haven't been terribly intrusive, and the use of the 3mm clip-rail system is on every figure and has been fairly clever.
- the opening character lineup for DOTM sucks, there are a mountain of crappy-looking figures on pegs right now, tons of Voyager Primes and Leader Bumblebees and pegwarmer supreme Jolt, and the twins make a return despite being pegwarmers in multiple classes in the last movie line. It's very pick-n-choose for DOTM characters at this point. I can't think of another deluxe coming up that I have a lick of interest in.
- a few of the mechtech weapons self-lock in deployed position, and so far, all the ones I have can be locked by using one trick or another.

I don't have time to do even quick-views of my collection, I have to get ready to go to lunch for Father's Day, but I'll try to give short-lines on each (in order of class, and then order of when I got them)...

Cyberverse Commander:
- Optimus Prime (Hasbro sent this to me for free): Ok, not outstanding, not even a good indicator of the scale. Good, not great, accessories are pretty whatevs.
- Powerglide: Very cool in both modes, accessory(ies) are kinda meh but otherwise a real winner of a figure.
- Ironhide: Mixed. Hidden shoulders really hurt bot mode, but there is some charm. Alt mode is good. Weapons are screen-accurate but someone lengthened the pegs they were intended to have, making them not fit right in bot or alt mode.
- Blackout: Surprisingly decent. Very appealing bot mode (mistransformed in package) if short. Transformation involved but easy to get wrong due to timing issue on the rotors. Alt mode is good. Scorponok surprisingly adequate and turns slightly into a handgun, can mount under Blackout's alt mode or on bot mode's back.
- Sentinel Prime: Ok, a little mixed. Bot mode is ok, strong on accessories. Transformation is frustrating at shoulders. Alt mode is decent but really could use better paint and I'm not in love with the front's gaps at the top.

Human Alliance Basic:
- Backfire with Spike Witwicky: Good set. Good robot, alright human, looks like the best triple-changer of the wave which is to say the only good one. Robot mode is quite good, except with wheels hanging off stuff. Transformation is involved, adequate, although Hasbro doesn't understand weapon mode too well. Alt mode is very good, trike is solid and looks right. Weapon mode is a giganto-cannon with a translucent orange emitter, or can be converted to ground-based emplacement by moving the wheel-halves and opening the seating area for Spike (Hasbro thinks the human sits on the engine, but it's clear the engine is moved forward to make a seat inside that). Spike is a generic bike-armored figure wearing a helmet, has no neck, but movable wrists make it work for motorcycling. Deco on this set is surprisingly good.

Deluxe:
- Starscream: Good, but a bit overhyped by the fans. Decent alt mode, interesting transformation, bot mode is pretty small and a little awkward with gaps in the chest and a thrust-forward pelvis (huuh! Gregg Berger might get that reference). Still, transformation and robot do what only the Leader Class could do before, make an adequate Starscream. Coloring feels a little odd. Weapons are nifty, love how the mechtech works. Blades combine to make staff, but joint between them is a bit loose after a few uses.
- Laserbeak: Cannot recommend in general, but I actually kinda like this figure. Alt mode is a direct riff off the Scorpion Gunship from Avatar, still kinda bird-like but hanging the guns under the fans helps. Transformation is simple, yet Hasbro doesn't understand the figure, missing how the cockpit-to-chest locks the hips in their new location and other stuff. Bot mode has an ugly, bug-eyed baby-bird head with a hinged mouth, very odd, but the rest of the figure is interesting, very articulated (the wings could use a little more tho'). Laserbeak is small, so to pad that, he comes with 2 bigger accessories, near-matching gatling guns that are sculpted to look like they'd be held underslung (they can't really though). One can be pushed into the other to cause its barrel to revolve forward to reveal the back, a big single laser cannon barrel, very cool.

Voyager:
- Skyhammer: Probably the best figure of the entire line, sheer awesomeness! Alt mode is fine, looks good even from the underside. Transformation is very clever, although could be confusing for some, but uses helicopter rotors in a fantastic manner. Bot mode looks great, awesome use of kibble, very gundam-like in appearance without losing Transformers touch. Good articulation. Removable rocket pods look good just about anywhere on the figure. Main weapon is a generic, only-slightly-oversized, boxy blaster that turns into an unweildy blade as long as the very-strong spring plunger is held, but doesn't lock (they could have just put a sideways channel on the plunger the way they did with Megs). Forcing it to stay open merely requires a tool or fingernail holding the rack gear down as it's manually opened.
- Megatron: Pretty good piece, if a bit monotone in color. Alt mode is good, even has working swivel at the trailer (easily the most clever swivel I've seen used in a transformation, locks down when the wheels fold in, splits in half to become full legs); hood hidden inside cape which then sits on tanker trailer to act as a cover, looks good, works nicely. Transformation is involved, the front end can be very frustrating because of the way the grille comes together, if you can get beyond that it's not too bad. Robot mode has a ton of detail and personality, though I don't think it's Megatron's personality. Hood pops out of cape then pegs back into it from the other side, looks quite mysterious stranger about the whole thing, quite keen. Fusion cannon a bit meh at first, just the tanker's rear half, but mechtech slides out claws to make it interesting, and rotating the ladder clockwise 10 degrees locks it open; mechtech gearing feels and sounds great to use. BE SUPER CAREFUL WITH BULLDOG HOOD ORNAMENT, VERY EASY TO BREAK OFF IN TRANSFORMATION.
- Shockwave: Good not great, another one that's overhyped. Alt mode is mixed, a tangled generic mess that doesn't look like anything, no central turret sucks (packaging pics fool you into thinking it has this), and the armored doors were sacrificed to the budget gods, now gappy panels instead. Front treads don't even have wheels. Putting blade on the side instead of top helps fight the blah of the alt mode, as does locking the mechtech gimmick open. Transformation is interesting, not too complex, power cable can be left plugged into both sides if you're careful despite both halves moving away from each other. Robot mode looks like a steroid-abusing Skeleton Warriors figure and the sculpted detail isn't as fine, but the head and the purple make for an obvious Shockwave as well. Articulation is mixed, could use a little more in the arms. Upper body makes a good show, but is a bit gappy when you pay attention. Cannon is huge, rubbery power cable is a tad limiting but helps sell the look; cannon is on 5mm peg so can be hand-held, but can't be mounted in other forearm due to a stabilizing tab. Mechtech gimmick is a bit underwhelming, a pair of small cannons flip around, the spring is WAY too strong (there's a hinged lock, but I can barely engage it and I'm a grown man), and then retracted the cannons just flop.
- Target-exclusive Starscream with comic: Interesting, mixed. This is a repaint of ROTF Voy Starscream which I never bought, but I liked the silver tattoos and red canopy enough to buy this time after a lot of hype around the base figure. Alt mode is pretty good, panels don't quite tighten up as much as I'd like, and not as flat underside as I'd like, but good; big fail on the hands not folding away though. Transformation is very interesting, not entirely my bag but quite unique. Robot mode is pretty baytastic, which is to say, kinda not that great. Chest steals all the sculpting, the rest is left very plain. Cost-cutting kills the forearms (which also makes the limited elbow articulation pointless and annoying) and knees, figure is squat and weird, not movie-accurate. Mech Alive features underwhelming. Paint is good if you like the clean look, but plain in the outer realms. Figure is WAY bigger than the actual DOTM Voys, looks quite out of place with them. Comic is roughly terrible and very brief, cover art is downright terrible but actual comic art is fine; story is a meet-up between this Starscream and the upcoming Target-exclusive Space Case, nice synergy, douchejerks.

Quick note, JT: Skyhammer's weapon can lock into blade mode. Push the plunger all the way in then twist it to the side (Skyhammer's left, it'll only go that way).

BWprowl wrote:Quick note, JT: Skyhammer's weapon can lock into blade mode. Push the plunger all the way in then twist it to the side (Skyhammer's left, it'll only go that way).

I was gonna say the same thing, but then got mine out and locked it into place. It worked, but for less than a minute at a time. I don't remember if it would lock into place for longer than that when I first got him, though.

138 Scourge wrote:I was gonna say the same thing, but then got mine out and locked it into place. It worked, but for less than a minute at a time. I don't remember if it would lock into place for longer than that when I first got him, though.

You gotta be doin' it wrong. Mine's been sitting on my coffee table in sword mode for a good few hours now. How far to the left are you twisting it?

BWprowl wrote:Quick note, JT: Skyhammer's weapon can lock into blade mode. Push the plunger all the way in then twist it to the side (Skyhammer's left, it'll only go that way).

Thanks for the info. I tried and tried when I first got it, and it didn't work. Upon reading your note, I tried harder and it wasn't going, then suddenly I gave a little extra force without thinking and the plunger sunk in another 3 millimeters at least and twisted. Dude, I'm a grown man and I can barely get it to engage, they expect kids to be able to do this?!? That much spring force against the plunger, I am quite sure this will break internally, but I'm glad they actually did it. That means they do all lock, even if Hasbro doesn't know it.

138 Scourge wrote:I was gonna say the same thing, but then got mine out and locked it into place. It worked, but for less than a minute at a time. I don't remember if it would lock into place for longer than that when I first got him, though.

It's a 75 degree twist, I'm surprised it's failing on yours after a minute. Is it possible yours wasn't engaging all the way and hanging on the lip?

*EDIT*

Sorry. thought this was the movie review thread.