Okay, a decade or so after Generations became a thing, it's gotten too big to
keep in one directory. So I'm spinning the 2022-24(?) line into its own
directory. The G1 homages continue, but are joined by more homages from the
90s and 00s because the Unicron Trilogy was twenty years ago.
Bolded names got Strongly Recommended, while italic indicates a
rating of neutral or worse.
2023
The general "story? what story?" theme of everyone kind of getting together
from different universes to fight (much like the original Universe line)
continues, but the Energon weapon gimmick is dropped in favor of "Evo-Fusion"
which sometimes means SIEGE-like combining weapons and sometimes just means
whatever weapon gimmick the toy happens to have (Leo Prime's fold-out claws
in robot mode are Evo-Fusion, for instance, despite not fusing with
anything). The QR codes move from the back to the top of the box. I'm
continuing the wave numbers from the 2022 line, so don't worry about the lack
of a Wave 1 for any of the classes.
These are in the new no-plastic-blister style of packaging that debuted with
the Studio Series Core Class. They have the QR code on the instructions
rather than on the box.
- Wave 4: Dinobots Slug and Sludge, who will be part of a
combiner, and Soundblaster (redeco of Kingdom Soundwave).
- Wave 5: Grimlock (part of the combiner), Nemesis Prime
(black redeco of Kingdom Core Optimus Prime with an Energon Axe instead of a
rifle), and Thundercracker (blue redeco of Kingdom Core Starscream).
- Wave 6: Scarr (Volcanicus, Ankylosaur), Swoop
(Volcanicus, Pterodactyle), repackage of Kingdom Starscream (not reviewed).
- Wave 7: Dinobot Snarl (Volcanicus, Stegosaur),
repackage of Optimus Prime again. Review includes overview of the completed
Volcanicus.
- Wave 4 (Evolution 1): Armada Universe Hot Shot
(sports car), Breakdown (sports car, Menasor component), Needlenose with
Sunbeam and Zigzag (jet with Targetmasters), Scraphook (Junkion truck).
- Wave 5 (Evolution 2): Shrapnel (Stag Beetle),
Animated Universe Prowl (police motorcycle), Crosscut (Skids retool),
Crashbar (Junkion motorcycle).
- Origin Jazz: Sometimes called "Jazzworthy Jazz,"
this is the Cybertronian altmode Jazz to go along with the Buzzworthy line's
Origin Bumblebee from during Kingdom.
- RiD2000 Tow-Line: Another Buzzworthy exclusive, this
is a head-swap retool of Scraphook as a post-apoc version of RiD01's psycho
parking enforcer. Yes, they call it Robots in Disguise 2000 universe, for
reasons I speculate about in the review.
- Toxitron Capsule: A bunch of Deluxes and one Leader
(Toxitron himself) from Walmart's 2023 "capsule" assortment, featuring mostly
abandoned G2 designs. Deluxes are orange Jazz, G2 Laser Cycle (scrapped Jazz
deco of Road Rocket), pink and green Mirage, G2 Dead End, and yellow and
Miami Vice sort of motif Sideswipe. (I passed on Cloudcover the blue Ramjet,
and I left yellow Grimlock on the shelf too.)
- Medix: The 2023 Walgreens exclusive, a bit of a frankenretool of
Crankcase with Crosscut's head and both of Minerva's guns. Status: Bought,
in queue.
- Wave 6: Axlegrease (Scraphook retool), Beachcomber (dune buggy), Autobot
Devcon (major retool of Studio Series Blurr), repackage of Kingdom
Tarantulas. This entire wave seems to have been skipped by stores, and I
missed the window for getting any of them on Pulse, now they're all at 100%
or more markup on the places that still have 'em in stock.
- Wave 7: Insecticon Bombshell (beetle), Detritus (tan retool of Siege
Hound), Cyberverse Universe Shadow Striker (frankencar), RiD15 Strongarm
(heavy retool of Minerva/Elita-1 mold). Status: I have all but Bombshell,
who is a scalper exclusive so far.
- Wave 4: Leo Prime (Lion, Lioconvoy) and Tarn (tank, from the IDW comics).
- Wave 5: Metalhawk (jet, reuses a few pieces of
Kingdom Cyclonus), Twincast with Rewind (redeco of
Kingdom Blaster and Eject).
- Wave 6: Dirge (repackage of Earthrise), Nemesis Leo
Prime (mostly black and dark gray redeco of Leo Prime).
- Wave 7: Comic Universe Bludgeon (retool of Tarn), Trashmaster (Junkion
garbage truck with a robot mode that's kinda Bulkhead in Junkion fashions).
Status: Bludgeon almost done (waiting for the QR code to work), Trashmaster
in progress.
- Wave 4: Prime Universe Skyquake (with some G1
Skyquake elements in both modes), plus repackages of TM2 Megatron.
- Wave 5: Armada Universe Megatron (H-tank), plus a
repackage of Legacy Blitzwing in Evolution packaging.
- Wave 6: Prime Universe Dreadwing (Skyquake redeco). Probably skipping
this. If I'm gonna get a second copy of this mold, it needs to be G2
Skyquake.
- Armada Optimus Prime (specifically the version with the trailer that
combines with the cab for Super Optimus Prime).
- Nemesis: The Ark gets an opposite number as the
Decepticon G1 starship gets her own robot mode. Kinda disappointing in terms
of production quality, especially for $200.
- Generations Selects Guardian Robot with Lunar-Tread: Redeco of Titan
Omega Supreme in blue and white. $200. Passing on this one.
- Menasor Multipack: A gift set of Menasor (2022's Commander) with all four
Stunticon limbs, at Titan price point (well, $190, so a little less). No
changes, purely a second chance for people who missed some or all of the set
last year.
2022
The high concept is a sort of Crisis on Infinite Earths or Into the
Spider-Verse or...well, the original Universe line back in the day.
Explicitly inter-world interactions as universes collide, excusing just about
any character while making it fit into something story-like. While the toys
will retain compatibility with War for Cybertron gear, the new line-wide
gimmick is Energon weaponry (similar to 2003's Energon, including the ability
to combine weapons and gear). Additionally, they put QR codes on the boxes
that link to extended bios and techspecs.
These are in the new no-plastic-blister style of packaging that debuted with
the Studio Series Core Class. They have the QR code on the instructions
rather than on the box.
- Wave 1: Skywarp (redeco of Kingdom Starscream with new
weapon), Hot Rod (Kingdom tail-end reship), Iguanus (motorcycle with robot
mode based on the G1 Pretender shell). The three weapons combine into a
bigger sword.
- Wave 2: Shockwave (tiny version of Siege Shockwave), G2
Megatron (Kingdom redeco), repackage of Kingdom Optimus Prime (no changes at
all).
- Wave 3: Bomb-Burst (Pretender shell robot, inner
figure's vehicle mode, done fairly well), and repackaged Kingdom Soundwave
(unlikely to review unless I find it cheap).
- Wave 4: Dinobot Sludge, Soundblaster, Dinobot
Slug.
- Wave 5: Nemesis Prime (redeco of Kingdom Core Optimus,
not reviewed), Thundercracker (redeco of Kingdom Core Starscream), Grimlock
(T.rex and combiner), and reportedly reships of Bomb-Burst.
- Wave 1: Autobot Skids (G1, car), Decepticon Dragstrip
(G1, racecar), Prime Universe Arcee (motorcycle), Kickback (G1,
grasshopper).
- Wave 2: Decepticon Wild Rider, Prime Universe Knock
Out, Predacon Tarantulas, Elita-1 (Cybertronian car). All recommended.
- Minerva: A head-swap redeco of Elita-1, her first
appearance as a transforming toy in the U.S.
- Wave 3: Skullgrin (Cybertronian Tank), Autobot
Pointblank with Autobot Peacemaker (Cybertronian Car and Targetmaster),
Crankcase (significant Skids retool), Dead End (Sports Car, Menasor left arm
decoration). Crankcase is recommended, the rest suffer from designs that
needed more real-life testing and don't quite work when made by Hasbro
factories.
Deluxe Retools And Exclusives not directly tied to the waves above:
- Selects Lift-Ticket: A redeco of Earthrise Hoist
inspired by the red Diaclone version of the toy that became Hoist. No
Energon gear.
- Buzzworthy Bumblebee Autobot Silverstreak:
Target exclusive redeco (with the fixed knees) of Bluestreak, but in Diaclone
blue colors, but no Energon gear.
- Selects DK-2 Guard: A black Diaclone-inspired redeco
of Earthrise Ironhide. Also no Energon gear.
- Walmart Exclusives: Predacon Sandstorm (A new-head retool of Kingdom
Scorponok in the colors of the old Botcon exclusive), Autobot Nightprowler
(light gray snow leopard deco of Kingdom Cheetor, based on an unreleased
Universe toy), Buzzsaw (Kingdom Waspinator
head-swap based on BW Buzz Saw).
- Target Exclusive Red Cog: Yeah, they didn't bother
coming up with a real name. It's just Red Cog. Pretty good deco, though,
and it comes with a bunch of new weapons and an adapter that lets the
Earthrise Arcee mold mount Weaponizers on her back.
- Walmart Exclusive Speedia 500 Collection: Well,
most of it. Override (new mold, Cybertron series) is good, Blurr (IDW-style
retool of Studio Blurr) is so-so, Burn Out (black Skids with Crosscut head)
is decent, Cosmos is good but not worth scalper prices, and Road Rocket
(Legacy Arcee with a new head) is still bad but not AS bad. I passed on
Clampdown, Hauler, and Scourge. Later added Road Hauler, who I decided was
worth the clearance price. Much later found Clampdown for $8 and Scourge for
$17 at Ross, might add them to the review if I get my to be reviewed pile
whittled down enough.
- Speedia 500 Wave 2: Shadow Strip (G2 colored Drag Strip) and Crasher
(another Mirage redeco/retool). Status: Found both at Ross for $8.
- Amazon Wreck 'N Rule Collection: Twin Twist
(Diaclone colors), Autobot Springer (original toy colors), Prime Universe
Bulkhead (random camo colors), Impactor (comic colors and tooling) with
Spindle (Spinosaur retool of Paleotrex), G2 Leadfoot (Battle Across Time
Mirage retool) with Masterdominus (Tricranius retool as a mammoth). The
packaging fronts mostly combine to make a combined group picture.
- Wave 1: Galvatron (repackage of Kingdom version, but without the battle
damage paint), G2 Universe Laser Optimus Prime (G2,
reuses some of Earthrise Optimus Prime's parts)
- Wave 2: Blitzwing (triple-changer), and one
presumes more of Laser Optimus Prime.
- Wave 3: Transmetal 2 Megatron, the dragon
version. Some stability problems in robot mode, otherwise decent.
- Motormaster: The cab turns into the robot, the
trailer turns into either a battle station or skeletal limbs. So, you can
have a sort of Menasor without any other Stunticons, they just sort of plug
into spots on the limbs in bent or chopped up vehicle modes. As of 11/26/22
I have all but Breakdown, I'll update the review once I have the complete
Menasor. Note, Breakdown ended up pushed back to 2023, but reportedly will
be in 2022 Legacy packaging rather than Legacy Evolution.
- Cybertron Metroplex: Bigger than the original from
20 years ago and with a few design tweaks, but still turns into a weaksauce
chunk. I did break down and get this because I had a bunch of Target
discounts about to expire, so I only paid about $150 for it. That's about
what it's worth.
- Generations Selects: Black Zarak (retool of Earthrise Scorponok).
Completely new head in addition to the new colors, but I decided to pass on
this one.
- HasLab: Victory Saber (crowdfunded, I ordered one). Mine has arrived,
it's in the To Be Reviewed stack.
- HasLab: Deathsaurus (crowdfunded, I ordered one). Maybe I'll even get
Victory Saber reviewed before this arrives.
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