Let me tell you a secret.
I don't really like the ROTF toys. I think they're ugly, and not very creatively designed.
Case-in-point - Megatron (either one), the Fallen, Soundwave and Ravage. Yes, they're Cybertronian. Doesn't mean that it has to look like some spiky insect. It's alien, true - but you need some point of reference for people to even know what it's supposed to transform into.
Still, my principle is - buy one of each mould. I'd like to collect new moulds. Just to see how it's done.
Though I must say, the design aesthetic for the smaller ones, Deluxe and below, really is a matter of - see how we can shove their limbs in weird ways when it's in alternatve mode. Kind of like RiD. If they were coloured the same way, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Especially the twins. Gah.
It is very difficult to convey the irritation I have with the Twins. Not that I have anything against black guys, or low class fellows.
But gosh, two of them? And they don't even really do much. They (possibly) died offscreen during the fight with Devastator. They don't actually fight anyone besides each other.
Sigh. Transformers were supposed to be cool. Not idiots.
His right hand is a giant fist. OK.
He's ugly.
However, he is the better balanced twin, in that he can actually stand up by himself and not get blown over by any little breeze. The downside? No missiles. I guess you can't have everything.
So basically, how Skids transforms is - put his shell together, stuff all his limbs under the car so they fit nicely and don't protrude out.
He's a Chevy Beat. Beats me, I don't know what that is either. But it's not even a real car. It's a concept car - meaning, it doesn't exist.
I don't like hatchbacks. So I don't like his alternate mode.
How do you remember which Twin is which?
Mudflap is the the brown one, because he's Mudflap, so he's shit-coloured.
Really! That's how I remember them, anyway.
Mudflap is horrible in robot mode. He's ill-balanced. He's shorter than Skids (because if you want him balanced properly, you have to make him hunch forward. He's got elephantitis in his left arm. He's a hunchback.
The only saving grace is that his left arm fires a missile.
Again, it's a concept car. A Chevy Trax. It looks like a brown version of the Beat - I really cannot tell what are the specific differences. I mean, yes, there are differences, but the general look of either is the same.
It's amazing how both Skids & Mudflap share the same basic transformation steps. You could see it as - they're twins, so they transform similarly. Or you could see it as lazy designers. I prefer to see it as a designer nod to the fact that they're twins.
The Twins
Sigh. If they were loveable, maybe I'd like them. If they were funny, maybe I'd laugh at them. Right now, they're neither.
May they rest in peace wherever they are.
Demolishor is one of those quirky Transformers that becomes a robot that can't really do anything.
Move? Pose? Shoot? Punch? I'm sorry, Demolishor can't do any.
Because he will fall over very easily. Look at his robot mode. Look at it.
The fact is, Demolishor will fall over unless you use his shovel arms for support.
It's because in the movie, Demolishor gets around by rolling on his giant wheel-for-leg. But you can't really replicate that very well in real life - so his arms have become his support. He's a three-pronged thing.
No. I don't like him, either. Too alieny.
However, to sort of compensate for his weirdass robot mode, his alternate mode is actually not bad.
And if you look carefully at the windows, the scale is huge. Demolishor really towers over any Transformer, were there some way to replicate their relative proportions.
Mixmaster is a tad small, for a cement mixer. At least, compared to the other Transformers. Then again, relativity and sizing and proportions have never been a strong suit for the series.
Mixmaster is touted as a "triple changer"... in so far that if you mish mash his robot mode a little, you get his "third" mode. Right. I don't buy that. If I did, all my Transformers would be 9999-changers.
Horribly taken picture, I know.
Mixmaster has humanoid proportions, and really long, menacing arms. I wish the cannon on his back could somehow point forward - but it's all right. Mixmaster can always go on all fours and aim his cannon at whoever's attacking.
Having a giant Decepticon logo doesn't really help with the whole "blending in" thing.
But his alternate mode is pretty awesome. Well detailed, realistic, and makes me want to buy a real-life cement mixer too.
Esteemed leader of the Decepticons. Hello.
You look a little slimy and algae-covered. Must be all that time in the sea.
I like you. At least you're a new, original mould, not like Optimus Prime.
Cannon arm? Check.
Sword arm? Check.
Wings/cape? Check.
Vicious face? Check.
This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. And he's a much more fun, and cooler toy, than his Leader class variant. Fun fun fun!
Honestly, Megatron looks like some fossilised crab here.
But he's a planetank! Meaning, he's got the wings to explain his flight in the movie.
Now, if he only could actually kill somebody this time.
By far the most anticipated character in the movie (for me, at least), the Fallen comes from a time before our own, from a place beyond our reach.
The thing about the Fallen, like with Megatron, is that he looks alien. But unlike Megatron, the Fallen actually looks menacing as an alient robot - while Megatron looks weird for the sake of looking weird.
Pity he doesn't come with his staff.
The Fallen's alternate mode is quite scary, in that it at once looks like a plane, yet at once looks like it could, or would kill people.
And he's bigger/broader than Megatron.
Here's to hoping that a Leader class version of the Fallen is made. Even Supreme class.
And it's time for me to go to bed. Night!
