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In the aftermath of TF:P Beast Hunters, Bumblebee leads a rag-tag crew of
Autobots to clean up the remnants of the Decepticon Empire, and search for
the O-Parts...wait, wrong Robots in Disguise.
Bolded names got Strongly Recommended, while italic indicates a
rating of neutral or worse.
Review of the Trade
Dress and Size Classes for this series, at least as of the launch wave.
May append to it as more classes emerge. Updated: 12/21/14
Blind-bag figures have worked well for My Little Pony, so
why not Transformers? Like the old Robot Heroes, but unposeable and packaged
with trading cards.
- Series
1: 12 figures, not all of which actually seem to be from RiD.
Strongarm, Underbite, Bisk, Steeljaw, Thunderhoof (mooooose), Cliffjumper
(G1), Sideswipe, Grimlock (dino mode rather than bot), Hammerstrike, Prowl
(G1), Optimus Prime, Bumblebee. Most are pretty bad, Dollar Tree level or
worse.
- Tiny Titans Wave 2
Ultra Magnus compared to Robot Heroes Ultra Magnus. A picture review.
Tiny Titans just not good enough to be worth reviewing, much less buying.
Like a sort of Bakugan riff, these are designed to turn into one of two
launchable shapes for use with the Deployers (Drift and Fracture so far), or
peg onto other later figures designed with the new kind of interface (like
Mega Optimus Prime). Autobots turn into buzzsaw discs, Decepticons into
torpedoes. All of them are fairly unimpressive compared to even the weapon
partner Mini-Cons of Generations T30.
- Wave 1: Slipstream (Buzzsaw/Robot), Divebomb
(Torpedo/Robot), Dragonus (Torpedo/Dragon), Sawback (Buzzsaw/Wolf). Dragonus
is my favorite of the lot.
- Wave 2: Velocirazor (Buzzsaw/Raptor), Ratbat
(Torpedo/Bat), Sandsting (Torpedo/Scorpion), Beastbox (Buzzsaw/Gorilla).
Beastbox is best of breed, despite being a defector to the Autobots.
- Wave 3: Not mass-released in America, but showed up piecemeal at TJMaxx
and its sister stores. Includes Scorch Strike Jetstorm, Decepticon Hammer
(orange and black), and Decepticon Back (show colors). I got a few, may or
may not review.
- Wave 4: Similar story to Wave 3. Haven't found any personally yet.
- 4-Pack Wave 1: Hot and cold themed redecos (predecos
in most cases) of Mini-Cons that are or will be available singly. Scorch
Strike Undertone (Cannonball/Ninja), Blizzard Strike Backtrack
(Cannonball/Quad-leg Robot), Scorch Strike Beastbox (Buzzsaw/Gorilla),
Blizzard Strike Swelter (Torpedo/Robot).
- 4-Pack Wave 2: Decepticon Hammer
(Cannonball/Wyvern), Undertone (Cannonball/Ninja normal color scheme),
Decepticon Anvil (Cannonball/Griffon, purple scheme), Slipstream
(Weapon/Robot). Hammer and Slipstream are new molds as of release date.
Updated 9/24/16 with singlepack Hammer notes.
- 4-Pack Wave 3: Autobot Dragonus (dragon/cannon),
Bashbreaker (robot/hammer), LORD DOOMITRON (robot/cestus), Lancelon
(robot/sword). All new molds.
After being dropped for the 2014 movie line, the Legion
class is back, but now without weapons.
- Wave 1: Optimus
Prime (tractor/trailer), Bumblebee (sports car), Strongarm (police
SUV), Steeljaw (Power Rangery off-road vehicle).
- Wave 2:
Grimlock (T.rex), Sideswipe (sports car).
- Wave 3:
Underbite and Fixit.
- Wave 4: Patrol
Strongarm, Night Ops Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, Alpine Strike Sideswipe.
- TRU
Two-Packs: white Optimus Prime vs. Megatronus, gray Bumblebee vs. Eva-01
scheme Underbite.
- Wave 5:
Windblade, Clampdown, Thunderhoof, Autobot Drift.
- Wave 6:
Blizzard Strike Optimus Prime (redeco), Autobot Ratchet (Strongarm
retool).
- Wave 7:
Groundbuster (aka Groundpounder, excavator), Bisk (sportscar). Bonus review:
One-Step Bisk. Later addition: Blizzard Strike Autobot Drift, which did ship
with this wave, but it took a while for me to find it at $6 instead of $8.
- Wave 8:
Springload (Amphiboid/Jeep), Starscream, plus reships or maybe slight
redecos of Optimus Prime and Grimlock (reships not reviewed).
- Wave 9: Blurr
(sportscar), repackaged older figures.
- Wave 10:
Didn't really make it to U.S. retail. I was able to get one on Amazon at
MSRP, and made a trade with a friend in Australia for the other two.
Twinferno (dragon-themed jet), Heatseeker (Stunticon), Cyclonus (Cybertronian
jet). I did find Twinferno at Walmart after starting this review.
Between Tiny Titans and Titan Heroes are the $5-7 Titan
Guardians, durable and minimally articulated non-transforming toys about 6"
tall. PRiD's version is slightly better than the Beast Hunters ones, and
cheaper, so I got them to try out.
- Wave 1:
Steeljaw, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Sideswipe.
The successor to the Activators line introduced for the
2014 movie, this continues on as the $10 price point, rather than Cyberverse
Commanders. That size was reintroduced in year two in the Hunter two-packs
below.
- Wave 1:
Sideswipe (muscle car), Strongarm (police SUV), Bumblebee (sports car),
Underbite (Cybertronian car that turns into a sort of griffin). Only
Underbite reviewed fully, Strongarm capsule added later.
- Wave 2: Fixit,
Grimlock, Steeljaw. Only Fixit gets a full review, the others just
Capsules.
- Wave 3: Drift,
Fracture, Thunderhoof. Only Thunderhoof reviewed.
- I stopped really caring, but I think wave 4 was redecos of Sideswipe
(gray), Grimlock (yellow and gray), Strongarm (black) and Bumblebee (black).
Then wave 5 had new molds of Bumblebee and Strongarm.
- Wave 6: Patrol
Mode Bumblebee, Quillfire (Hummvee), Springload (deformed pickup truck).
Only Springload reviewed.
- Wave 7 brought in Weaponizer packaging, with reships of the new Bumblebee
and Strongarm molds, plus Blizzard Strike redeco of Sideswipe and a new
Optimus Prime mold.
- Wave 8 brought in Autobot Ratchet and Bisk. Capsule for Ratchet below,
Bisk gets reviewed along with his Legion class version above.
- Autobot Ratchet is horribly under-painted in vehicle mode, using the
blister insert to hide the fact that almost none of the cab part of the
vehicle is painted. None on the roof, nor side windows, and no side
ambulance detailing. Robot mode has okay paint, and universal joint
shoulders. Don't waste money on this turkey.
| DECEPTICON HUNTER/BATTLEPACK |
A Legends (Generations) scale figure with clear plastic
accessories packaged together with a stripped-down Mini-Con that is being
hunted. Also called a Battle Pack in some materials, but no actual class
name on the package itself. $15 price point.
- Wave 1: Optimus Prime vs. Decepticon Bludgeon (truck
and cannonball), Sideswipe vs. Decepticon Anvil (sports car and cannonball).
- Wave 2: Bumblebee vs. Major Mayhem (car and
cannonball), Grimlock vs. Decepticon Back (Dinobot and cannonball). Updated
9/24/16 with single-pack Back notes.
- Wave 3: Switch to Weaponizer pairs. Strongarm with
Sawtooth (trident), white redeco Sideswipe with Windstrike (sword).
A couple of slightly larger than Legion-sized vehicles that can transform
into robots or crash together to make a bigger robot...sounds fun, but
suffers from needing probably twice the budget to avoid sucking. These do
not avoid sucking.
- Wave 1: Beesides (Bumblebee + Sideswipe),
Primestrong (Optimus Prime + Strongarm). If you must get a set,
Primestrong is slightly less bad.
- Wave 2: Skyhammer (Skysledge + Stormhammer), reship of Primestrong.
Skyhammer is slightly better than Primestrong, helped by being an entirely
new character rather than a mangling of an existing one. Stormhammer's
trigger mechanism is very sensitive, he turns into upper body mode with very
little provocation. Both individuals are Arbitrary Jet-Like Things, and
their robot modes are both barely removed from an RPM toy. The arms can lift
to the sides, that's it. Skyhammer's arms bend at the elbows, that's it, but
it has decent proportions and looks okay. Not going to write a full review,
though.
- Wave 3: Lunar Force Primestrong (blue Optimus, white Strongarm),
Shocknado (retool of Skyhammer, Shockdrive + Warnado, with a definite
Cyclonus and Galvatron feel to the art if not to the actual toy heads),
Dragbreak (Dragstrip + Wildbreak, Wildbreak has a show-inaccurate formula
racer design). I got Shocknado and Dragbreak, but wasn't impressed enough to
write reviews. I put a few comments about Dragbreak in the Menasor review,
though.
Perhaps to distinguish these simpler designs from the
Generations Deluxes they'll be sharing shelves with, they've designated the
default size as Warrior Class. Maybe it'll stick like Voyager, maybe it'll
vanish like Supercon.
- Wave 1:
Bumblebee (sports car), Strongarm (police SUV), Steeljaw (off-road vehicle),
Grimlock (T.rex).
- Wave 2:
Optimus Prime (truck), Autobot Drift (sports car), plus wave 1 reships.
- Wave 3:
Sideswipe (sports car), Autobot Jazz (sports car).
- Wave 4: Gold
Armor Grimlock (new head, G1-ish colors), Night Ops Bumblebee (really bad
stealth deco, not reviewed).
- Megatronus:
TRU "Clash of the Transformers" exclusive. (I didn't get the other ones.)
- Wave 5:
Fracture (new mold), Night Strike Bumblebee (yet another recolor, but
packaged to look like a retool), Megatronus (open faceplate, not yet
reviewed), Blizzard Strike Optimus Prime (blue arctic redeco, not planning to
get).
- Wave 6:
Thunderhoof (new mold), Quillfire (new mold), Blizzard Strike Drift (redeco,
not reviewed).
- TRU Clash of
the Transformers Wave 2: Starscream, Power Surge Optimus Prime (retool),
Paralon (scorpion).
- Wave 7: Power
Surge Optimus Prime (redeco of TRU version), Scorponok (redeco and head swap
on Paralon), Windblade (painfully underpainted and wrong-painted jet).
- Wave 8:
Autobot Ratchet (extensive Strongarm retool), Bisk (sportscar), Shatterspike
(Quillfire redeco).
- Wave 9:
Stormshot (jet), Blastwave (Bludgeon predeco, Megatronus retool), unreviewed
redecos Strongarm, Starscream, Grimlock, and Arctic Assault Drift (original
Generations Drift homage).
- Wave 10:
Skywarp (Starscream redeco), Windblade (headswap retool), Soundwave (truck),
Blurr (racecar, maybe the Rescue Bots character?).
- Wave 11:
Twinferno (dragon jet), Thermidor (Bisk retool), Bludgeon (Blastwave
redeco).
- Hyperchangers Wave 1: Slightly more complicated than the Flip and
Change toys of the 2014 movie. Bumblebee (sportscar), Grimlock
(T.rex).
- Hyperchangers Wave 2: Optimus Prime
fills half the case, then one each of the Wave 1 toys.
- Hyperchangers Wave 3: Mixes Steeljaw in. I got one, wasn't impressed
enough to write a review.
- Hyperchangers
Thunderhoof: (stopped tracking waves carefully when it became clear I
wouldn't be buying many of these) Decent for the type, but still a brick.
- Deployers Wave 1: Sold at the Voyager price point,
but the main figures are Warrior sized and come with a Mini-Con.
Gimmick-crippled, brickish toys, Drift is a total waste of space,
while Fracture is merely meh.
- Deployers Wave 2: Overload (cannonball
shooter) with Backtrack is reviewed, because I got it on 50% off clearance.
I did not buy Blizzard Strike Drift even at half off. If it drops to $5 I
might grab it for the Jetstorm.
- Titan Changers Optimus Prime: The people in charge of the Titan
line decided to make a transforming toy. While more convincing than the
Euro-exclusive transforming Actionmasters, it's still pretty horrible as a
toy, mixing all the bad stuff of Titan Heroes with the bad stuff about
Hyperchangers. This
image is as close as you're going to get to a review of this turkey.
- Activator Combiners Wave 1: The successor to the
Deployer design, I suppose. A Mini-Con plugged into the vehicle changes it
into a slightly different vehicle, or it acts as a weapon for the brickish
robot. Bumblebee with Stuntwing and Strongarm with Trickout (capsule
review only).
- Activator Combiners Wave 2: Adds in Sideswipe with Great Byte. The
Mini-Con has the same basic engineering as Sawtooth, but turns into a jet
plane rather than a trident. Pretty disappointing Mini-Con, mediocre
Sideswipe.
- Activator Combiners Wave 3: Optimus Prime with Hi-Test (not Hi-Q),
Soundwave with Laserbeak. Tail-end charlies with pretty limited
distribution. Both suffer from needing a lot higher tolerances than they
got, so their gimmicks tend to misfire.
- Optimus Prime looks decent in both modes and has a good-looking Activator
gimmick, but it's SUPER dodgy, it took me several minutes of fiddling to get
it to stay un-deployed. Hi-Test is basically Armada Demolishor in his
vehicle mode, a decent hand cannon, and passable Mini-Con bot. It's possible
I just got a bad sample and other Optimuses hold together better.
- Soundwave has a clever extra gimmick for his activated mode,
reciprocating action on his cannons as the truck mode rolls along (the wheel
for it can be accessed in robot mode). Unfortunately, it suffers from having
the connections not always line up during transformation. Laserbeak turns
into a gun drone and is decent in both modes, but is a little too
snap-together which means snap-apart...I spent half an hour trying to find a
wingtip that flew off on its own.
- Mega Optimus
Prime: Same engineering as Hyperchanger Optimus Prime, but bigger and
with slightly better arm articulation. Appears to be a "power up" deco.
- Mega
Megatronus: A Toys R Us exclusive that later got cleared out to
TJMaxx/Ross, where I got it for $15 and still felt a bit ripped off.
- Power Surge Starscream: Another TRU
exclusive, better than Megatronus, but still glad I got it on sale.
- Power Surge
Optimus Prime: It had promise, but was massively let down by
questionable design choices and low QC.
- Team Combiners Wave
1: Ultra Bee (Bumblebee, Strongarm, Sideswipe, Grimlock, uncredited Drift
sword) and Menasor (Motormaster, Dragstrip, Wildbreak, Heatseeker,
Slashmark). Menasor is a little better, but neither is that impressive.
They use the same connector ports as Crash Combiners, but actual
compatibility is minimal.
- Team Combiners Wave
2: Galvatronus (Cyclonus, Skyjack, Cyberwarp, Treadshock, Decepticon
Riotgear). I had some hopes for this, due to the cybertronian modes freeing
them from needing to match anything in particular, but it's still an
uninspired and way too unstable design.
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