The movies have been running long enough to get their own "Generations" sort
of line, apparently. Nostalgia happens, as does a desire to keep trademarks
active despite the movieverse being really into killing off characters.
Released in 2018 to bridge the gap between shelf-warming Last Knight toys and
the Bumblebee movie toys, it's a mix of tweaked molds and all new molds,
spanning the decade's worth of movies to date.
Toys with names in italics rated worse than "Mildly Recommended" while
those in boldface are "Strongly Recommended" or better.
Core Class didn't get added until 2022, hence having so many fewer waves.
$10 or so price point, modulo inflation.
- Wave 1: Shockwave (quad-tank), Ravage (block of
plastic that stores in Voyager #83 Soundwave's chest).
- Wave 1: Bumblebee (retooled Last Knight
version with 1970s Camaro shell), Ratchet (entirely new mold based on
MechTech), Stinger (new 2014-movie design), Crowbar (inferior retool
of 2017 Berzerker).
- Wave 2: Autobot Jazz (Pontiac Solstice), Lockdown
(Lamborghini Aventador). Jazz would be strongly recommended but for a fatal
flaw of hubris in assuming assembly would always allow for the exacting
tolerances the designers required. I outline a fix if you're handy with a
Dremel.
- Wave 3: Autobot Ratchet (redeco for Dark of the Moon
colors, swaps saw for a gun, not reviewed), Shadow Raider (orange retool of
Lockdown with battlemask head and new weapon), VW Bumblebee. I decided not
to pay $20 for just a new gun for Ratchet, but the new gun and head were
enough to tip me over the edge on Shadow Raider.
- Wave 4: KSI Sentry (Stinger retool with new head and
weapon, the new weapon enhances his kibble blades), Dropkick
(helicopter...it's a triple-changer in the movie, but the toys don't try to
get that fancy, it's either-or).
- Wave 5: Really disappointing wave. I only did
capsules for WWII Bumblebee (great idea, horrible execution) and Barricade
(kinda meh in general). Sideswipe is the other new mold, with tweaks or
redecos for Clunker Bumblebee and Crankcase (both of which have prior reviews
in wave 1).
- Wave 6: #39 Cogman (redeco of TLK version, mainly
without the grime), #40 Shatter (muscle car), #41 Constructicon
Scrapmetal (excavator and giant hand).
- Wave 7: #45 Drift (helicopter), #46 Dropkick (muscle
car), Constructicon Hightower (truss crane, arm for Scrapmetal to connect
with). Drift shares engineering with helicopter Dropkick, but few if any
mold parts.
- Wave 8: #49 Bumblebee (new mold of modern Camaro, but
not interested in getting it), #50 WWII Hot Rod (retool of WWII Bumblebee,
burned enough by that mold to not bother with this one), #51 Soundwave with
Laserbeak (Mercedes SLS AMG), Arcee/Chromia/Elita-1 three-pack (three
Legion-sized motorcycles with an abandoned combination ability). Update: I
did get Hot Rod for $10 from Ollie's, and I might even open it someday.
- Wave 9: #57 Offroad Bumblebee (jeep), #58 Roadbuster
(attack mode NASCAR car), #59 Shatter (jet).
- Wave 10: #62 RotF Soundwave (spy satellite),
#63 Autobot Topspin (attack mode NASCAR Chevy Impala), #64 Cliffjumper (BB
movie, Cybertronian mode).
- Target Exclusive Leadfoot: NASCAR #42, Studio Series
#68 (attack mode NASCAR Chevy Impala).
- Buzzworthy Bumblebee #74BB: A redeco of #49 with a
single-piece Sam Witwicky "army man" style figure. The rest of the wave was
either purely repacked or maybe slight redecos, retaining their original
numbers (#15 junker Bumblebee with Charlie single-piece figure added, #26
WWII Bumblebee, #40 car mode Shatter).
- Wave 11: 86-01 Autobot Jazz (TFtM), 86-02 Kup
(TFtM), 86-03 Blurr (TFtM). Note: Kup is getting a redeco in the Buzzworthy
line in 2022.
- Wave 12: #70 B-127 (retool of #64 Cliffjumper as
Cybertronian Bumblebee), #71 Autobot Dino (DotM). (Note: B-127 is getting a
Buzzworthy version in 2022.)
- Wave 13: #74 Bumblebee (not reviewed, mostly the
same as #74BB), #75 Jolt (Chevy Volt), #86-08 Gnaw (Sharkticon).
- Wave 14: #78 Sideswipe (hardtop RotF version, retool
of not-reviewed convertible). The rest of the wave is pure reships.
- Wave 15: #80 Brawn (Cybertronian drill car), #81 Wheeljack (Cybertronian
car), #82 Autobot Ratchet (Cybertronian vehicle), #86-11 Perceptor
(microscope).
- Wave 16: #?? Arcee (Cybertronian motorcycle), possible others.
- Buzzworthy Bumblebee line repackages a lot of Studio Series toys, some
with slight redecos. A notable outlier is that Earthrise Cliffjumper is
getting a redeco as #86-13BB. No indication yet if there will be a regular
#86-13 Cliffjumper.
- Wave 1: Optimus Prime, Starscream (2009). While, contrary to initial
impressions, they seem to be entirely new molds, I'm just not interested in
more movie Optimuses and the movie Starscream aesthetic has done the opposite
of growing on me. Don't expect reviews unless I get them on deep clearance.
(I did see Starscream on clearance at Ollie's but decided $20 was still too
much.)
- TRU Exclusive Thundercracker: Possibly the
last TRU exclusive ever, it's a redeco of Nitro Zeus from 2017, but with a
Starscream (2009) style head and a blue deco. The new head implies a
Starscream might be in a later wave, even though a regular Starscream is in
the first wave?
- Wave 2: Decepticon Brawl (2007), Megatron (2009). Brawl's decent, but Megatron
disappoints the moment he gets out of the box.
- Wave 3: Autobot Ironhide (2007), seems to have
been swapped into the wave 2 assortment in Brawl's place.
- Wave 4: Starscream (RotF, not reviewed).
- Wave 5: #32 Optimus Prime (redeco of the wave 1 mold, I think), #33 Bonecrusher (2007). Won't be getting Optimus.
- Wave 6: #37 Constructicon Rampage (part of a Devastator combiner team),
#38 Optimus Prime (Bumblebee movie version). I don't
plan to get Rampage, nor do I plan to get most of Devastator's components.
- Wave 7: #42 Constructicon Long Haul (dump truck), #43 KSI Boss (redeco of
TLK Nitro Zeus). No plans to get either (KSI boss is a decent mold, but I
have two versions already).
- Wave 8: #53 Mixmaster (cement mixer), #54 Megatron
(2007 space jet).
- Wave 9: #60 Constructicon Scrapper (front loader)
and #61 Sentinel Prime (firetruck).
- Wave 10: #67 Skipjack (Rampage redeco, not reviewed), #65 Blitzwing (Bumblebee movie).
- Wave 11: 86-04 Autobot Hot Rod (TFtM), 86-05 Scourge (TFtM).
- Wave 12: #72 Starscream (Bumblebee
movie). Loosely based on Blitzwing's engineering, but horribly abused.
Passable robot mode, I guess.
- Wave 13: #86-09 Wreck-Gar and #76 Thrust (redeco of
#72 Starscream, so I gave it a pass).
- Wave 14: #86-10 Decepticon Sweep (Scourge redeco, not getting)
- Wave 15: #83 Soundwave (from Bumblebee movie,
kinda crab ship).
- Wave 1: Grimlock (new mold, 2014-style), Blackout (new mold, 2007
style). While Blackout is reportedly not as bad as most movieverse Leaders,
I'm still not thrilled by the fiddly bits on either mold, and don't plan to
buy either.
- Wave 2: #34 DotM Megatron with Igor (fuel
truck), #35 Jetfire (old man jet). No plans to get or review Jetfire.
- Wave 3: #44 DotM Optimus Prime, with trailer turning into the weapon rack
halo. Combines with #35 Jetfire. No plans to get.
- Wave 4: #55 Scavenger (RotF), #56 Shockwave with Brains, Wheelie, and
Paratrooper (DotM). No plans to get.
- Wave 5: #66 Constructicon Overload. No plans to get. Note, #69 is used
for a gift set of all the Constructicons.
- Wave 6: 86-06 Grimlock and Autobot Wheelie.
Wheelie is non-transforming but articulated.
- Wave 7: #73 Grindor and Ravage (retool of Blackout, replacing Scorponok
with Ravage), 86-07 Dinobot Slug with Spike Witwicky. Not
getting Grindor.
- Wave 8: #86-12 Coronation Starscream (Earthrise Voyager Starscream
retooled a bit, with cloak, crown, and throne). No plan to get it.
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