The Cybertronian Enquirer 12/18/06

Opening Salvo

Well this is the last CE from me until Christmas. I’ve got some fun things for you all today so sit back and relax; Christmas has come to the Cybertronian Enquirer.

Toys: What I got, what they got and some news too

The hunt for Jetfire continues but to no avail; I haven’t bought anything else since I’ve got a ton of stuff coming from BBTS. I just hope I’m not missing out on anything good. Well that’s what E-bay is for.

Some of you may be wondering what happened to Mike’s CE last week. Well there was a problem with Inside Pulse central but it is back up now right here. Thanks to Firefox making that link took half the time it usually does. Also a big tip of the hat to Mike since he is working on making an all new links section for the TFrC. WE LOVE YA MIKE!

The first news item for this week is Big Bad Toy Store announcing that it will be an orange cap on the barrel of Masterpiece Megatron and not paint. This is good news of sorts since many Transfans were worried about a really bad paint job ruining MP Megatron. Now all we have to worry about is prying the cap off without damaging the figure. Has anyone thought about how the figure is going to fit in the box with the extra length that the cap is going to add? How about the fact that stores are still modifying Megs even though he will be shipped in robot mode? Makes ya wonder doesn’t it.

Michael Bay and Don Murphy have both made their final posts for 2006 on the TF movie. They both basically said the same thing; the teaser trailer will be online December 20th and in theaters with “Night at the Museum.” They also said, not in so many words, that it’s over. The movie is what it is and it can’t be changed now. Get ready folks; this will either be the biggest flop in history or we will have to put up with 2 to 3 years of robots that look like crap. At least Rocky Balboa opens this week.

There is a rumor that Marvel and IDW will be teaming up for an Avengers/Transformers crossover. I’m not sure how I feel about this since Marvel has been up to some funky things with their Civil War story line but seeing Optimus Prime and Captain America side by side would be really cool.

Toys R Us has canceled or delayed all of the online orders for Classics Commemorative Soundwave. As of this writing there hasn’t been any type of reason given for the cancellations. The rumor going around is that TRU underestimated the demand for the toy. An odd thing is that Soundwave has been released in Hong Kong already so you can get him through stores like Action HQ. A funny thing that most sites haven’t picked up on is that nowhere has TRU said the in store release of Soundwave will be delayed. I think that will be kinda rotten that those of us who live near a TRU will be able to get him sooner than others.

The Pros and Cons of Being a Transformer Fan: End of the Year.

A few weeks back I did a best and worst of the Cybertron line. Now it’s time to take a look at, in no particular order, the best and worst of TF overall for the year 2006.

Best

Cybertron Optimus Prime- Armada Prime and Energon Prime were both universally panned so this was the Supreme Commanders big comeback.

Masterpiece 04 Complete Convoy- The best TF toy of the past 20 years got a little better with the addition of his trailer. Can’t say enough good things about the Prime that was 20 years in the making.

Alternator Mirage- This guy is just cool, one of the best Alternators ever which means he is one of the best Transformers ever.

The entire Classics line- This is Hasbro’s thank you to all the fans who have been with them since day one. It’s nice to know that they remember the good old days.

Peter Cullen being announced as the voice of Optimus Prime for the live action movie- I put this on the same level as going to see Queen live a year ago. This really is the only reason to go see the movie.

Worst

The first details of the live action TF movie- I still remember the disappointment I felt when I first saw the early test shots of the main robots. Some have changed and the new images haven’t been released to the Internet yet, but nothing is going to make up for the crap that is Starscream.

The 10th anniversary BW toys- On paper it was a good idea, in execution it was anything but. The packaging while slick in appearance made getting the toy and DVD next to impossible to get out of the box. Also a production error on Rhinox forced pretty much everyone to become robo surgeons. Normally I would over look something like that but the fact they were charging $13 plus for deluxe sized toys made it inexcusable.

Masterpiece Starscream- This was supposed to be the greatest version of Starscream ever. This was supposed to surpass MP Prime in every way imaginable. It ended up being a poor tribute to a noble character. If Yammato released it as a special edition Macross Valk then I would be singing its praises, instead I’m hoping for a redone edition further on down the line.

Surfing The Space Bridges

Well, I think you can guess what this week’s forum topic will be. What do you think was the best and worst in Transformers this year?

Sixty-Second Review

Transformers: Masterpiece
Starscream
MSRP:$93.00

I was hoping that the extra week would calm me a tad on how I felt about Starscream. It hasn’t. For all this toy could have been the sad reality of what it is leaves me feeling quite let down. If Starscream was released by Yammato as a special edition Macross figure then I would be saying how this is the greatest toy ever made; sadly the standards set by MP-01 force this product to be held to a higher standard, lets take a closer look shall we?

Even before you take Starscream out of his box you can feel that there is something up with the toy since he is significantly lighter than the previous two Masterpiece figures. Takara broke with tradition by packaging the figure in jet mode, which makes sense since that was the big selling point. Included with the figure are two sets of missiles, a display stand, an unpainted Dr. Arkiville figure, a sheet of stickers, and a clip to attach the Megatron gun from MP-01 to Starscreams undercarriage. The stickers can be applied either as shown in the instructions or as you see fit. They give you a few versions of the battalion insignia to choose from which I like.

The first thing you’ll notice once Screamer is removed from the package is just how little Die-Cast metal there is. This was very disappointing since Prime was basically loaded with Die-Cast. Again if this was a Macross toy the lack of Die-Cast would be acceptable. In jet mode Starscream has working tailfins, air breaks and a radar dish located in his nose cone. I like how they designed the nosecone to remain attached to the vehicle once it is opened to show the radar dish. I hope this is something that Yammato begins implementing on one of their newer Valkries.

Transformation is fairly simple if the instructions are followed. I was greatly disappointed to see not only stress marks on the tabs that join the wings to the main fuselage but one of them was so bent out of shape, fresh from the box mind you, that it couldn’t peg into the body properly leaving and unsightly hole. Get used to this line folks; if it was a Macross Valk then it would have been expected but on a Masterpiece figure this is inexcusable.

Robot mode looks like a combination of G1 and Energon Starscream. While this is understandable, especially since I found out this is Starscreams new body in the Kiss player series, I can’t help but feel let down by the overall design. This is not the Starscream I remember. He is well articulated although not as much as Prime. Instead of having five movable digits his hands are an improved Alternators design where the index finger and thumb have full articulation while the other three figures are joined together. My biggest disappointment came with the face changing gimmick; the one thing that would have saved this figure for me would have been seeing a big smirk on the old Air Commanders face, imagine my shock and sadness when I discovered that I have a figure with a production error and the same face is on both sides. To add insult to injury there is a blemish on one of the faces that makes it look like Starscream has Herpes!

I’ve used words like disappointed, let down, and saddened to describe this travesty of a figure. Those words don’t even carry enough weight. Don’t get me wrong; this is a great figure but not a great Masterpiece figure. If you are on the fence about buying one I would suggest waiting until the obligatory Anime accurate version is released. On Elohim’s scale I give Masterpiece 03 Starscream six cubes. I just couldn’t go higher.

Parting Shots

Well folks on behalf of everyone on the TFrC have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukah, a Merry Kwanzaa, a Joyous Tiet, and a good Ramadan. To those of you who don’t believe in anything, have a nice day. As always I am

The King of the Fanboys,

Charles