Dave's Transformers Classic Legends Rant: Wave 2 Menasor (Optimus Prime) Jetfire (Thundercracker) Bumblebee (Hot Shot) Whirl (Evac) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Classic/Legend2 This second wave of recolors never hit stores in my area, but Justin Anderson found 'em in his area and sent me Menasor and Jetfire, plus comments on Bumblebee. No review of Whirl. [Later note: Maybe this is where they all went...people buying the Transformers computer game at Best Buy got a free figure from this wave in early July, 2007.] http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cybertron/LoC1 has the Prime and Hot Shot molds, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cybertron/LoC2 has the Evac mold, and http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cybertron/LoC4 has the Thundercracker mold. CAPSULES: Menasor: Not very good recoloring, to be honest, and the name Motormaster would have been more appropriate to the mold and colors. Neutral. $3.99 at Walgreens (Maybe I'll paint the limbs in Stunticon colors.) Jetfire: The only one I'd recommend making any effort to track down. It's a good mold that has not otherwise been reused, and the G1 Jetfire color scheme always looks sharp. $3.99 at Walgreens. Bumblebee: Guest reviewer not very impressed. $3.99 at Walgreens. Whirl: Decent mold, okay colors, but not worth any serious effort to seek out. $3.99 at Walgreens. RANTS Packaging: Same as the previous Classic wave, listed as Series 6 on the cardback. Menasor has P/N 6613470400, and it advances by 100 through Bumblebee, Whirl and Jetfire in that order. I'll break my usual habit and present things out of that order, covering the ones I own first, then the guest review. DECEPTICON: MENASOR Function: Super Warrior Previous Mold Use: Cybertron Optimus Prime (plus Galaxy Force recolor) Previous Name Use: G1 STR 10 INT 3 SPD 2 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 9 FRB 9 SKL 6 Avg 6.625 These are the G1 gift set techspecs for Menasor. A G2 Menasor was planned out, but never released (a few test sets exist, plus one limb was made for the BotCon94 exclusive). I have to wonder why they couldn't use Motormaster, though. Or Onslaught, who's closer to the weird vehicle mode of Legend Prime anyway. 4 twist-ties. Color Swaps: The blue is replaced by light gray (999999) and the light gray by violet (9966CC). The black wheels stay black. Paint Apps: Violet on the windows, light gray (CCCCCC) on the face and grille, and then a LOT of black: shoulders (cab), fake wheels, pelvis armor, fronts of the thighs, fronts of the boots and tops of the toes. A purple and white Decepticon symbol is printed on the right shoulder. Other Notes: It's weird. If they really wanted a Menasor or even a Motormaster homage, just about everything painted black should have been left gray and everything left gray should have been painted black...that would have been a good start, anyway. I suppose I can understand leaving the helmet unpainted because of scraping concerns, but why not mold in black and paint on the gray? Now, if the weird colors of the robot mode at least resulted in a decent vehicle mode, it might be excused, but the vehicle mode looks like it was randomly assembled using body panels from two different trucks, an incoherent muddle of black and gray. [Later note: I'm informed they did try to get Motormaster, but weren't able to secure the trademark. Still, even as Menasor, the colors are wrong.] Overall: There was a serious breakdown in vision on this one. A good Menasor or Motormaster could have been made from this mold, but this ain't it. And given that the mold has been used twice already (not counting showing up in two Target 4-packs!), Menasor really deserved a better job. AUTOBOT: JETFIRE Function: Air Guardian Previous Mold Use: Cybertron Thundercracker Previous Name Use: G1, G2, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Classic STR 6 INT 10 SPD 10 END 5 RNK 10 COUR 9 FRB 7 SKL 9 Avg 8.25 Again, uses the G1 techspecs. 3 twist-ties. Color Swaps: The blue plastic becomes a VERY light gray (much lighter thaqn CCCCCC), the gray plastic on Thundercracker becomes white. Paint Apps: Black cockpit and underwing missiles. Dark blue thigh fronts and part of the head (eyes and some forehead deco). Light gray face. Extensive red paint all over in G1-Jetfire-evocative patterns. Red Autobot symbol printed in the center of the fuselage top. Other Notes: The light gray is so close to white I have to wonder why they didn't just go with white instead. Shares Thundercracker's joint popping problems. Overall: A good recolor of a good mold. Justin Anderson sends in guest comments on Bumblebee. AUTOBOT: BUMBLEBEE Function: Eager Autobot Spy Previous Mold Use: Cybertron Hot Shot, Excellion Previous Name Use: G1, G2, Classic STR 2 INT 8 SPD 4 END 7 RNK 7 COUR 10 FRB 1 SKL 7 Avg 5.75 2 twist ties total. And while he's not as physically strong as movie Bumblebee, he can take a punch better. G1 techspecs. Color Swaps: The blue becomes a bright yellow, red becomes black. The dark bluish wheels become black. Paint Apps: The face is silver as are the 2 headlights. The pointed details on his chest are blue with a red belt buckle. Black on the fists, waist and windows with a tampo'd Autobot emblem on the car roof. It evokes Bumblebee well, but really needs a bit more, such as black forearms and feet to help it. It's a touch bland. Other Comments: Joints are tight, at least on mine. The boots rattle a bit fully extended but not terribly much. Car holds together well. Overall: The car mode and tall robot may have worked better with the name Sunstreaker, especially with all the tech greebles at the back of the car. Also needs more paint. But passable as Bumblebee. Not as good as the Excellion version though. And now, just for completeness, the raw data for Whirl. I'm guessing that they followed the pattern and used his G1 techspecs, correct me if I'm wrong. AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT WHIRL Function: (dunno, G1 was Aerial Assault) Previous Mold Use: Cybertron Evac Previous Name Use: Universe (G1 was just "Whirl") STR 8 INT 8 SPD 8 END 8 RNK 6 COUR 9 FRB 8 SKL 8 Avg 7.875 Color Swaps: Yellow becomes a light blue, dark blue becomes dark gray, at least judging from the Amazon.com pics. Maybe dark brown instead of gray. Paint Apps: Medium blue paint on helmet, chest and kneecaps. Yellow on the tail rotors and stripes on arms, legs and chest. Can't tell more with the picture I found. Other Notes: Well, it's the right colors for G1 Whirl, anyway. Overall: This is the only recolor of that mold, so you might be interested in grabbing it if you see it, but I wasn't sufficiently interested. Dave Van Domelen, still has Movie Leaders and a trio of 6" Titaniums in his "to be reviewed" stack, and that's assuming he doesn't review the Movie puzzles or videogame guide he has.