Animated Samurai Prowl, Waspinator, & Elite Bumblebee sight

[JediTricks]

Found all 3 at Target in West Hollywood, CA.

I only bought Prowl, I was surprised to find that Prowl has several recycled parts from the original (arms minus forearm covers, legs minus wheels, torso minus faring), and the recycled legs are missing the copyright text but suffer similar problems getting the front wheel to lock into the faring while the back wheel locks into place. The tabs used to hold the sidecar backpack onto the bot mode are barely sufficient, they pop out pretty easily, but you can at least use a makeshift lock by folding the faring sides over the tabs (cuts down the "samurai" look a little, but stability counts). And strangely, they used clear plastic for the sidecar wheel before painting over it completely. Paint's a little shy too, the hands are unpainted. So it's an odd mishmash of new and old, working and not-quite-working, but it somehow comes out on top and evokes the toon armor design.

BTW, the wheels are the same size, so you could conceivably kitbash the original figure's legs onto this one if you wanted removable blade stars (the new figure's wheels don't have these, and the blade stars are only painted black, and only on one side), but you'd need to work a little to get rear section rebuilt since the tab for the sidecar is on the lower leg piece of that. Also, the forearms could be swapped in, but you'd need to tap out the pins on the forearm shields and exchange them since they're not the same.

EDIT: I misspoke about recycled parts on Samurai Prowl. The upper legs are new, they got rid of that side part which limited knee articulation, and added a much-needed upper-thigh swivel. Also, it turns out the backpack fits very well as long as you exert some of that patented "excessive force" to snap the lower waist section on (equal force required to remove, yikes).

[Mirage]

I got both today and dig the hell out of 'em, especially Prowl. A drastic improvement on an already good figure. I didn't realize the sidecar stayed in one piece to become the armor (except for the wheel). There's really been some A-game engineering in this line. But now every Animated figure I buy and love will be tinged with sadness, knowing the end is near. And no Hydrodrive Bumblebee now? That's just cruel.

[andersonh1]

I'm not much of an Animated collector myself, but if anyone on the boards shops in the Greenville SC area, where I live, I've seen all three here as well.

[JediTricks]

I got both today and dig the hell out of 'em, especially Prowl. A drastic improvement on an already good figure. I didn't realize the sidecar stayed in one piece to become the armor (except for the wheel). There's really been some A-game engineering in this line. But now every Animated figure I buy and love will be tinged with sadness, knowing the end is near. And no Hydrodrive Bumblebee now? That's just cruel.

I didn't get Waspinator, the design isn't quite my thing. But I dig Prowl, and I like that they got the armor to go on without legoforming.

[Mirage]

And now it sounds like even Arcee and Electrostatic Soundwave are iffy. What the hell? I understand the need to promote the movie product, but why crush the life out of a line when there's so much potential left in it?