Transformers Platinum Series Year of the Snake Optimus Prime & Omega Supreme

In honor of 2013 being the Year of the Snake (at least I assume it is) Hasbro has released two Platinum Series toys, a repaint of Energon Optimus Prime and a repaint and remold of Energon Omega Supreme.  As you may recall, last year Hasbro released a Year of the Dragon repaint of Dark of the Moon Ultimate Optimus Prime.  Another Platinum Series toy, the upcoming Transformers Prime Weaponizer Ultra Magnus, is scheduled to be released.  I’m not sure how the toy itself will differ, if at all, from the regular release version, but it is going to include a new accessory, the Forge of Solace Prime.

Optimus Prime

Box: The box is impressive, with an ultra glossy finish inlaid with gold foil and using the original box art recolored into the new colors.  They created an intricate Year of the Snake Autobot logo, which looks great, but is unfortunately only found on the box and not the toy itself.  Oddly, the back of the box is not glossy.  I’m not sure I can recall a glossy finish box that was not glossy on all sides.

Vehicle Mode: When originally released, Energon Optimus Prime was quite a departure from previous Optimus Prime toys.  His trailer holds four drones, a fire truck, a submarine, a drill tank, and a helicopter.  The trailer itself turns into a base or launch bay for the vehicles.  The trailer is a rather odd (but pretty cool) design, with the drones riding at an angle rather that horizontally.  It’s not bad looking, but it is very different.

I really like Optimus Prime’s vehicle mode.  He looks a lot like G1 Prime with the flat front cab.  My only problems with it are the head in the top of the vehicle and the helmet for Super Optimus Prime riding up on top.

Robot Mode: In robot mode, Optimus Prime seems to have put on some weight. :-)  As an old fat guy myself, I know how hard it is to keep the weight off, but Optimus really needs to stop hitting the Energon chips. :-)  Seriously, he does look rather wide around the middle, but overall he’s got a pretty decent robot mode.  This uses the faceplate version head.  The original USA release had a mouth which was changed during the run to a faceplate.  This version uses the faceplate mouth.  His eyes are painted blue, something they do on far too few Optimus Prime toys in my opinion.

Drones: There really isn’t much to say about the drones.  They don’t do much.  One thing that really annoyed me is that they didn’t paint the numbers on the sides like they did on the original.  The trailer doors have numbers on them corresponding to the different drones, and I had to go look at an original figure to figure out which port they were supposed to go in (other than the helicopter, of course).

Super Optimus Prime: Optimus looks pretty impressive when combined with his drones.  I must admit the brown and gray legs took a bit out of place, but it’s not too bad.  He doesn’t look as chubby in this mode, and maybe that’s the issue.  He would have looked too thin in Super mode in his regular robot mode were thinner.

One noteworthy item here, the original Japanese release of Energon Optimus Prime (AKA SL Grand Convoy) differed from the USA version in that it did not have any electronics.  That is the version used here.

Omega Supreme

Box: See my comments above about Optimus Prime’s box.

Vehicle Mode: Omega Supreme has a number of vehicle modes.  The battleship portion of him is awesome.  It’s best feature is a geared system that allows you to turn one of his guns and the rest turn as well.  His train portion is not nearly as nice.  They have remolded his right hand, and in my opinion it does not look as nice in vehicle mode as the original did.

He has a combined vehicle mode where you literally hook the two separate vehicles together.  Yeah, I don’t get it either.

As you can see on the back of the box picture above, he also has two other modes as a crane and a gun.  Both suck so much, I didn’t bother taking pictures of them since it would have required me to put them in those modes.

Robot Mode: Robot mode is where Omega Supreme is truly impressive.  His right hand has been remolded from the original to look a bit more like G1 Omega Supreme’s claw, though it doesn’t really.  Still, it’s nice that they made the effort to make him look a little more like the G1, especially since he is done in G1 colors.  He also has a new head that looks a lot like Omega Supreme’s animation model head and even has a flip out gun turret on the back.  The one drawback here, is that his original head separated as a headmaster, transforming into a pilot for the battleship.  He could also sit in the cockpit on his right shoulder when in Omega Prime mode.  It’s not a huge loss, but I wish they could have kept that feature and just changed his face.

Omega Prime

Robot Mode: Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme combine into Omega Prime.  As you can see, the drones also connect to Omega Prime.  He’s pretty impressive looking.  The one issue with this new version is the new Omega Supreme head.  Since the original was removable the piece it mounted on could be set straight up as a missile rack (at least I assume that’s what it is supposed to be).  The head makes you need to leave it at an angle.  (Note, I forgot to flip out the cannon on the back of Omega Supreme’s head when I took the picture.)  The only way around this is to tilt the drill tank up, but that looks a little silly.

Overall: These are really cool toys.  If you have the original Energon versions, and are not a completist, then you may want to pass of Optimus Prime, but I think Omega Supreme is more than worth it for the new head and the new hand.  Of course, if you don’t have an original Energon Omega Supreme, this one is probably cheaper than an original at around $100, making it well worth it.

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Transformers Platinum Edition Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magus is a repaint and remold of Transformers Prime Weaponizer Optimus Prime. I’m not really sure why they decided to do a Transformers Prime toy as a Platinum Edition. Originally I thought he was supposed to come out as a retail toy without the hammer, but that is not the case. (Unless they changed it, which is possible.)

Vehicle Mode: Ultra Magnus looks great, he’s got a wonderful paint job. I just don’t like the look of the cab with that wide back on it. They would have been much better off having the arms become sides of the rear part of the truck. I didn’t get a picture of the guns deployed, but you can see it my review of the original version. It still has the same problem, you have to unclip and fold down the grill in order to deploy it.

Robot Mode: Ultra Magnus looks great in robot mode, a really well painted toy with a really nice head sculpt. The Forge of Solus Prime looks amazing. Unfortunately, there is a problem. Ultra Magnus’s wrists rotate and the weight of the hammer is too much for it. If you put the hammer in his hand, and don’t get it balanced perfectly, it will start to slowly turn to one side, until it reaches the tipping point, and just turns his wrist over. With the weight of the forge, they needed to put a ratcheting mechanism in his wrists. This should not have been too difficult to do. You can of course have him hold it in both hands, but that doesn’t fix the underlying problem.

Overall: It’s hard to argue against buying this toy, if for no other reason than to get the Forge of Solus Prime. It is nice looking, but they took a toy with design problems and gave it more with wrists not having enough tension to hold up the hammer.

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Transformers Platinum Edition Grimlock vs. Bruticus

I have previously reviewed these molds.  I have little to add to my reviews of Generations Fall of Cybertron Voyager Grimlock and all three versions of Bruticus (Retail, SDCC 2012, Generation 2).  I am going to focus on the differences, which are mostly small.

This toy is one of the “Thrilling Thirty” toys celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the Transformers.  Click here for more info on that.

Packaging

The most obvious thing about the packaging is that while it carries the Platinum Edition name, unlike the first three toys in the series, it does not have lots of awesome looking gold foil.  It’s a decent enough looking box, but after how amazing the first three were, it has to be considered a let down.

Grimlock

The main difference from the original Grimlock is that his dinosaur neck and robot chest are now metallic gold.  There are a couple of other minor changes.  The paint on his sides of his upper tail was all tan on the original, but now has some unpainted areas.  Also there is some additional red paint apps on his dinosaur shoulders.  The Platinum Edition is on the left in the pictures below.

Combaticons

Before I got this toy, I was finding very little info on whether or not Bruticus was identical to the SDCC 2012 version.  It actually is different, though the differences are minor.  All the toys are slightly darker, slightly more metallic looking.  It’s pretty easy to tell side by side, accept on Onslaught, where the difference is so slight it’s really hard to see.  In all the pics below the Platinum Edition is on the left and the SDCC 2012 version is on the right.

Vortex

Blastoff

Swindle
 

Brawl

Onslaught

Bruticus

Overall: Grimlock is really nice and colored the way the retail version should have been.  This trend by Hasbro of intentionally giving toys inferior paint apps or accessories in order to make the better version an expensive exclusive really sucks.  As to Bruticus, at $100 for the set, if you never got a SDCC Bruticus due to the expense, then this one is for you.  While slightly different, it’s pretty darn close, and the color change only makes it look better.

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BBTS and HTS Exclusive Transformers Platinum Edition G1 Predaking

The only currently announced G1 mold in the Thrilling Thirty line (or Thrilless Thirty line as I like to think of it) Predaking is an online exclusive available from BigBadToyStore.com and HasbroToyShop.com (possibly others, I’m not certain).  The toy itself seems to be identical to the 2010 Japanese release with the gold paint.  The only differences are that this one includes a new sword for Predaking and it does not include the red eye stickers.  Also of note, they have changed Tantrum’s name to Torax.

You can read my original review of Predaking here, and a more detailed review here.

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Transformers Platinum Edition Year of the Horse Supreme Starscream

I’m just going to ask the question I think everyone has on their mind.  Was there really any need for this toy?  When you think of all the other toys they could have done from Cybertron, why in gods name did they rerelease Cybertron Supreme Starscream?  I would have loved to see Optimus Prime and Wing Saber in G1 colors.

The issue of why they released this aside, it looks really nice, and I’ve always liked the mold, it’s just enormous.  Really, this is the color scheme it should have come out with to begin with way back when, so points for finally getting it right.

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Transformers Platinum Edition Year of the Horse Masterpiece Optimus Prime

For anyone who missed the original USA release of the second version of Masterpiece Optimus Prime (MP-10), here is another chance to get it, albeit in different colors and missing Roller.  Read my reviews of the original Japanese release and Toys R Us exclusive USA release of MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime.

First off, Hasbro fixed the paint screw up on his fenders, so they get credit for that.  (See my review of the original USA release for details.)

Optimus Prime has been repainted in a dark red with dark metallic blue.  His elbows are black, which is a departure from most Optimus Prime toys but looks really nice.  His chrome is all gold and looks amazing.  On his right shoulder and the back of his trailer is the Year of the Horse Autobot symbol.  It looks nice, but it feels odd to have the raised molded logo on his left shoulder and the flat one on the right.

His trailer is done in clear and translucent blue plastic.  Not sure that really adds anything to the toy.  I think a black trailer would have looked awesome on him given the darker red and blue.  It might have been nice if they had used gold paint rather than silver for the stripes around the cab to match the chrome.

The unfortunate thing about this toy is that they left a part out.  While he does come with his axe in translucent blue (I didn’t get a picture) he does not come with Roller.  That makes no sense to me at all.  He also does not come with the Spike figure, but I think that’s less of an issue.  I would love an explanation from Hasbro as to why they removed Roller, but I know it’s unlikely we’ll ever get one.

Overall, this is a beautiful looking toy, but could have been better with a black (or other solid color) trailer and Roller.  Considering how hard the first release was to find, this at least gives everyone another opportunity to get the toy.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Voyager Optimus Prime & Grimlock 2-Pack

Read my reviews of the original Voyager Optimus Prime and Grimlock toys.

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime has the faceplate head sculpt that some of this toy’s repaints are getting here and in Japan, and it looks great.  In robot mode he has chromed his fists, upper arms, grill, front bumper, knees, and rear fenders.  Oddly, they did not chrome his fuel tanks where it would have made the most sense.  In vehicle mode his grill and front bumper are not chromed.  In recent years a lot of Optimus Prime toys have had a fake grill you see in robot mode as opposed to the one that you see on the truck.  It’s a bit odd that his grill is chromed in robot mode but not in vehicle mode.  They are painted silver, but I would have liked to see chrome there.  For some reason they used white instead of silver for the stripe around the front and sides of the cab.  It looks okay, but the silver would have looked better (and chrome even better than that).  They probably did this to differentiate this from the other versions of the toy, but they should have left well enough alone.

Grimlock

Grimlock has no mold changes and is basically the same as the regular release with a few exceptions.  Chrome was added on his head, lower jaw, back of his neck, and on his back.  He has a silver paint app on the outside of his dinosaur ankles.  This version has a black face instead of silver, which I do not like at all.  The silver face looks much better.

Overall: This is not a bad looking set.  I love the Chrome on Optimus Prime and new head sculpt.  I’m not sure how this Optimus Prime will differ from the one in the Toys R Us Evolution set which should be out soon.  Grimlock is okay, but it seems like Hasbro did not Chrome the regular one just so they could chrome it in the 2-Pack.  The real problem with this set is the cost.  At $60 it is $10 more than two Voyagers at most stores.  Back in 2009 stores had piles of unsold multipacks like this that had been priced more than the retail of the toys in the set.  When for 2010 and DotM, the box sets were more moderately priced, at or a little less than the individual toys would have been.  You would think they would learn from this, but apparently not.  Also, I’m a little annoyed at Hasbro’s willingness to throw the “Platinum Edition” name on things.  Some of the early Platinum Edition Toys were something special, older molds in super fancy boxes with completely new paint jobs.  Now it’s just an excuse to bump up a price on a toy.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Target Exclusive Platinum Edition Leader Class Silver Knight Optimus Prime

If you read my original review of the mold, you’ll know that I really like it a lot.  It’s a pretty great toy, though I do see why some people didn’t like it.  This repaint is nice, but I’ve got a few issues.  First off, what’s with the black face?  His face should have been silver or blue.  That just looks out of place.  I do love the translucent blue weapons, they look much better than the yellow did on the original.  He could have used a few more paint apps in vehicle mode.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Shared Exclusive Leader Optimus Prime & Grimlock 2-Pack

Read my reviews of the original Leader Optimus Prime and Grimlock toys.

Optimus Prime

I really like the new paint job on Leader Optimus Prime.  It’s darker blue and has a lot more chrome on his chest, head, weapon, and smokestacks.  I really like the blue sword as well.

Grimlock

Grimlock looks much better in silver, bronze, green, and blue than he did in his original colors.  This is a really well done repaint.

Overall: This is not a bad looking set, but the cost is ridiculous.  When it first appeared on Toys R Us’s web site it was $109.99.  It then came out on HasbroToyShop.com for $99.99 and suddenly the price was reduced on TRU.  Each toys retailed at $44.99, so this set is overpriced.  Back in 2009 stores had piles of unsold multipacks like this that had been priced more than the retail of the toys in the set.  When for 2010 and DotM, the box sets were more moderately priced, at or a little less than the individual toys would have been, and they seemed to sell a lot better, you would think would have learned their lesson, but apparently not.  Also, I’m a little annoyed at Hasbro’s willingness to throw the “Platinum Edition” name on things.  Some of the early Platinum Edition Toys were something special, older molds in super fancy boxes.  Now it’s just an excuse to bump up the price of a toy.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Shared Exclusive First Edition Leader Optimus Prime with Trailer and Deluxe Sideswipe

Read my reviews of the original First Edition Leader Optimus Prime here and the Masterpiece Optimus Prime (Trailer) here.  I have not previously reviewed this Sideswipe mold.

Optimus Prime

Hasbro took the trailer from MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime and put it on the First Edition Leader Optimus Prime.  They chromed part of his smokestacks and changed the flames from all red to red and yellow.  They also chromed his hubcaps.  The MP-10 trailer has been repainted to match Movie Optimus Prime, with most of the outside of it chromed.  It looks pretty sharp.  I didn’t get a picture of it, but they had to modify the trailer to make it fit on this cab.  They did this by adding a piece under the front of the cab that covers the old connector and give it the one it needs.  They designed it to bolt on to existing screw holes in the trailer with longer screws, thus they did not have to make any mold changes to the trailer.  They made his sword orange and did not paint it, which kind of sucks.  They did not include his shield, which I sort of understand as there is no place to store it in vehicle mode.

Sideswipe

Vehicle Mode: I never did a review of Revenge of the Fallen Sideswipe.  This is a really cool toy in vehicle mode.  The car just looks amazing.  Fans have wanted this mold, originally done in silver, in G1 red for a long time, and I’m glad we finally got it.  I know a lot of people aren’t happy with the new incarnations of old characters, but I think Sideswipe would be more than happy with his vehicle upgrade.

Robot Mode: In robot mode, I like his blade weapons.  They did a good job of giving him wheels for feet like he has in the movies, while still giving him traditional feet so he can be stood up unassisted.  He’s still not the easiest to make stand up, but it’s not as bad as some other toys.  I wish they could have painted his head red and or chest red.

Overall: This is not a bad looking set, especially if you want Optimus in truck mode with the trailer, but the cost is excessive.  It was reported in Toys R Us’s stores at $169.99, though I have yet to see any AOE Platinum toys at TRU.  BBTS had it for $159.99.  It’s hard to figure a reasonable price given that it takes parts of several toys, but it seems really overpriced to me.  I was thinking this one would be $100-$120.  I can’t recommend against it even with the exorbitant price.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Shared Exclusive Autobots United 5-Pack (Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Drift, Hound, Optimus Prime)

These reviews will focus on the new paint jobs.  Read my reviews of the original molds here:(Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Drift, Hound, Optimus Prime.

Bumblebee

In robot mode, the new version has silver toes, silver on the sides of his legs, and silver pistons on his torso.  He has yellow stripes on his thighs and sides of his chest.  He has black striping on his arms and arm cannon.  In vehicle mode he has silver hub caps and silver logos on the sides of the vehicle.  He’s got black on the small triangular windows behind his doors, rear bumper, and rear spoiler.  Also the black striping on his hood and roof are continued onto his trunk (and it is unforgivable this wasn’t done on the original).  They also painted his taillights.

Nice of them to actually finish painting him this time.  The regular version looks like they got 3/4 done and decided it was enough.  He’s a great improvement over the original, but most of that improvement is because of the incompetence with which the original was painted.  His overall coloring stays the same.  This is not the case with some of the others in the set.

Crosshairs

His overall green color has been changed.  I really like it.  In robot mode the new version has green feet silver toes and darker silver on his knees and thighs.  His torso is green with dark silver and red.  He’s got a red Autobot logo on a black patch on his chest.  He’s got blue eyes with silver goggles.  They added black striping on his forearms and red paint apps on his arms, and more black on his shoulders.  In car mode, they changed the black striping patter and continued it on both sides of the vehicle.  His seats and black and his front bumper is now green with a patch of black.  They painted the logo on his hood silver.  They painted his headlights and taillights.

Crosshairs looks phenomenal.  He’s a huge improvement over Hasbro’s half assed retail version.  Hmmm…  Perhaps I’ll start calling them Half-assed-bro.  But I digress.

Drift

Drift looks sweet!  They changed the metallic light blue to a darker richer blue making his two tone color scheme really look nice.  His shoulder and thigh samurai pads are now two tone blue instead of just blue.  His weapons are gray instead of gold.  He has black stripes and a silver vehicle brand logo on his lower torso.  His waist is black as well as his upper arms and he has gold on his right forearm.  His legs are black with more gold paint apps.  His upper chest is also black with some gold apps.  They used darker gold on his face and gave him blue eyes, which looks great.  In vehicle mode his hubcaps match his lighter blue.  Frankly I think the hub caps would have looked better in silver, but it still looks great.  His engine is silver, one of the most idiotic things left out of the original version, and they added the silver logo on the back end of the vehicle.

The overall changes on Drift are not quite as striking as the changes to Crosshairs, but he’s still a huge improvement and looks really great.

Hound

I love what they’ve done with Hound.  Overall he’s more army green than the dark green he was originally, and he now has black camouflage markings.  They added silver paint on his thighs and gave him black hands.  You can’t see it in the photo but one of the strips of ammunition that makes up his arms is red.  Not sure why that is, I would have preferred all the ammo be bronze with silver tips.  He’s got more paint apps on the missiles on his upper arms.  He has silver on the sides of his neck and his helmet.  In vehicle mode they made the metal bars, side mirrors, grill and some other details around the cab black.  On the left side of the vehicle they added a star emblem.

Very nicely done.  If only they had fixed the pegs that connect the weapons, but that would be too much to ask of Half-assed-bro.

Optimus Prime

They did a nice job on Optimus Prime.  His gray plastic is a lighter gray color, but it would have looked better all in silver.  He has silver stripes on his lower legs and thighs and blue on his hips.  His grill and headlights are painted silver and there is a G1 style silver stripe across his chest.  He’s missing the wide silver stripe beside his head that the regular version had.  His fake smokestacks are painted silver.  He uses the faceplate head sculpt and it’s perfectly painted.  He has a much better looking black gun.  His upper shoulders are red and have Autobot logos, and his middle arms are silver.  In robot mode they removed the thick silver stripe in favor of a thinner one.  Looks cool.  Oddly they removed the silver from around his front windows.  I kind of liked that, but my guess is they didn’t want to accentuate his hideous design flaw (the sides and center of the truck front still won’t line up, another unforgivable failure on the part of Half-assed-bro).  The side of the truck now has Autobot logos in the G1 position.  They changed the painting of his small side windows.  Some of his blue plastic is now painted blue.  This is because of other color changes that required changing plastic colors.  This makes the ports on his flat bed red.

Overall he’s very nice, but I’ve lost count of how many of this mold I have.  This one and the heavily chromed one would have been enough.

Overall: This is a really great looking set.  It’s just incredibly overpriced at $125.  $100 would have been reasonable.  What really bothers me is that this is proof that Hasbro KNOWS that they give us crap.  They KNEW that the retail versions were inferior product so they could jack up the price and sell them to us again later.  The only other explanation is that they are completely incompetent and really thought the retail versions were worth what we were paying for them.  While I will grant that Hasbro has shown it’s fair share of incompetence over the years, they do get it right sometimes.  The only conclusion is that sometimes it’s on purpose, and I hope all these overpriced platinum sets sit unsold and end up on clearance.  Stores don’t have them at all yet, which considering this is the time of year they might be able to unload them, is really stupid.  That one might be on Toys R Us.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Shared Exclusive Breakout Battle 3-Pack (Rollbar, Vehicon, Optimus Prime)

Someone, I don’t know who, came up with the name “Farmageddon” for this set.  That is so AWESOME!

These reviews will focus on the new paint jobs on Rollbar and Optimus Prime.  Read my reviews of the original molds here: Rollbar and Optimus Prime.

Rollbar

Rollbar, a repaint of generations Skids is painted up like Shane Dyson’s rally car from Age of Extinction.  The mold doesn’t quite work for it.  One of the movie deluxe Skids molds with a new head would have been a better choice, at least in vehicle mode.  Having said that, they did a really nice job painting it, but I’m not sure how accurate it is to the movie.

Vehicon

Dark of the Moon Deluxe Vehicon has been repainted to take the place of one of the Cemetery Wind SUV’s.  I think he’s one of the better deluxe Dark of the Moon molds.  He’s still predominantly black, but the gray has been replaced with blue. Interestingly, they left him with his Mech Tech weapon.  I am a little disappointed that they did not use the 2010 Lockdown mold for the really cool cars that Cemetery Wind was using in the farm attack.  They put the Cemetery wind logo on his hood, which does not photograph very well.  It’s the version without the actual words on it, which is unfortunate.

Optimus Prime

Pictured is the Breakout Battle Optimus Prime (left) with the Movie Advanced Rusty Version Optimus Prime (right).  This is a rare instance where I think Hasbro did something better than Takara.  He looks much better with the black legs and blue head.  In vehicle mode the Japanese version might be a little more accurate, but I really like the red flames on the USA version.  The Japanese version looks too much like Ultra Magnus.

Overall: This is a really great looking set.  It’s just incredibly overpriced at $100.  $60-$70 would have been much more reasonable.  To make matters worse, I *think* Toys R Us is supposed to get this in, but right now Robot Kingdom is the only one who has it, and all of their stuff ships from overseas, so shipping is every expensive.  Fortunately there is only one more of these overpriced platinum sets to come out.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Shared Exclusive Dinobots Unleashed 5-Pack (Scorn, Slug, Strafe, Grimlock, Slog)

Hard to believe with is my 800th blog.

These reviews will focus on the new paint jobs.  Read my reviews of the original molds here: Scorn, Slug, Strafe, Grimlock, Slog.  You can read my review of the San Diego Comic Con G1 Dinobots Set here.

A few notes to start.  All the Dinobots are done in dark gray translucent, black, and gray plastic.  They have some chrome and silver paint, both smeared with black plaint to give them a gritty, weathered look.  The translucent dark gray plastic has silver paint smeared on for the same affect.  This is as close to their look in the movie as we are going to get.

Scorn

Really nice looking.  He’s one of my favorite AOE Dinobot molds, and he looks great in these colors.  I love his chromed robot head.  Not sure why they made his spines reddish in color, but it looks pretty good.

Slug

Definitely an improvement on the retail version.  Not sure why they left his back purple.  Gray or black would have looked better.  His dinosaur head looks awesome with the weathered silver chrome.

Strafe

Strafe really looks nice.  His silver wings look amazing with the black paint weathering.

Grimlock

I don’t recall Grimlock having any gold on his head and back in the movie.  Not sure why they couldn’t just go with the silver chrome brushed with black paint like the rest.  Still, he looks really great.

Slog

Be very careful transforming Slog.  This goes for all of them really.  As any collector will tell you, translucent plastic tends to break easier.  The first time I transformed him I broke one side of the base of his dinosaur neck.  It doesn’t prevent his transformation, but I didn’t even push that hard and it broke.  I think the joint was really tight.  Once I got it freed up it seems fine, but be very careful.  This toy should be awesome, but that damn soft plastic flap on his dinosaur chest is still terrible.  I really can’t understand how someone at Hasbro could have been so incompetent as to approve this design.

Overall: This is a really great looking set.  It’s just incredibly overpriced at $120.  $100 would have been more reasonable.  What really sucks is that we can’t get all the Dinobots in a single color scheme.  The Sand Diego Comic Con set was in G1 colors, but didn’t include Slog.  He is coming out from Amazon next month, but we still don’t get Slash and Scorn in those colors.  I know those two weren’t G1 characters, but it would be nice to have them in those colors.  Here we don’t get Snarl and Slash in these colors.  Slog wasn’t in the move and they included him in this set, so if we get him in these colors, why not Snarl and Slash?  This is just another example of Hasbro’s incompetent handling of the Age of Extinction line.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition Insecticons

First off, this set is disgustingly overpriced.  It’s $80.  When the exact same toys were released in the Universe line a few years ago at Toys R Us they were about half that price, maybe less.  I can’t recall for sure, but it was way cheaper than this.  Prices going up is one thing.  This should be illegal.  I don’t know if these are K-Mart exclusives.  That is the only store I have heard had them, but I don’t think they have a K-Mart Exclusive sticker on the box.

They are incredibly over packaged.  The box could have easily been half the size, but then they need to try to make stupid people think they aren’t having their wallets raped because the box is big.

The toys themselves are what you’d expect.  Stickers aren’t great, but otherwise toys seem to be excellent quality.  They include the energon cubes, which is cool.  I suppose if you don’t have them, $80 for a mint set isn’t terrible, but it’s still way over priced.  I’m almost afraid to find out what the G1 Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust set will go for.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition: Year of the Goat Laser Optimus Prime and Masterpiece Soundwave with Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ravage and Rumble

So, to some up these toys, they look like crap.  I don’t know what drugs someone was on when they came up with a metallic burnet orange and clear color scheme for these toys.  The look awful.  I don’t mind out there color schemes, I love G2 toys, but these look terrible.  I’m not a huge fan of clear toys, but if you want to do clear then do as much clear as you can.  There are always a few parts that can’t be clear, and that’s fine.  Do those in white.  I do really love translucent colored toys, and that’s what they should have done.  Optimus Prime would have looked awesome in translucent G1 colors.  For Soundwave, a translucent G1 color Soundwave and cassettes would look awesome, but even better, why not do Soundblaster and the add Ratbat or replace one of the birds with him?  Now, I hope that there is some reason for this color scheme.  Maybe it has something to do with Year of the Goat, or maybe this is what the toys would look like if a goat ate them, shit them out, and then they were put back together.  I don’t know, but they look like crap.

Then there is the price.  BBTS.com has them at $140 for Prime and $160 for Soundwave.  This is overpriced.  Soundwave was $120 when he came out at TRU, and I can’t see the prime at more than $90.  I can’t see Soundwave going up in price 33% in just a couple of years.  HasbroToyShop.com has the Soundwave for $180.  Optimus isn’t up yet, but I’m guessing $160.  ToysRUs.com has Optimus Prime for $180 and Soundwave for a mind blowing $190.  So, if you are a completist and need these, get them from BBTS.com.  They are still way too expensive, but it’s the best option I’ve seen.

Of course, the other option is to wait until the are deeply discounted, which will happen.  Chances are they won’t be able to give these things away.

Optimus Prime

To add to the absurd color scheme, his missiles and disks are translucent pink.  I mean, if not for the clear plastic, I could look at it as a wacky G2 color scheme, but all that clear plastic just sucks.  I do like the chrome trailer, but that’s not exactly saying a lot.  He’s got very few paint apps, especially on the robot.  They should have at least painted the windows on his chest blue if nothing else.

Soundwave

I did not bother transforming the cassettes.  I was nervous transforming the regular ones, but it didn’t seem worth the risk with all the small clear plastic bits.  The set still has all the accessories of the original TRU version.  If Soundwave were clear and gray, he might not look bad.  He has fewer paint apps than the regular version, which just adds to how overpriced it is.

All in all, these are really only for completists and people who like shit ugly toys.  The worst part is that they could have picked really good color schemes and made these toys people would have really wanted even with the ridiculous prices.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition Seeker Squadron (Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust)

Amazingly, a year after they should have done it for the 30th anniversary, we’ve finally got some new G1 mold reissues.  So far there aren’t any that haven’t been reissued before, but a few of them were very hard to find.

Dirge

The first thing you might notice is that I don’t have any of their cones tipped up on their heads.  While these three tend to be known together as the Cone Head Jets, the instructions don’t show that.  They never did.  So, the proper Generation One transformation is as pictured.  As near as I can tell, Dirge is the same as the Dirge released at Toys R Us as part of the Commemorative Series, but I can’t put my hands on mine right now, so I’m going from memory.  I had forgotten how misshaped his wing tip sticker is compared to the shape of his wingtip.

Ramjet

This is the first mint G1 Ramjet I’ve ever opened.  My G1 was loose many years after it came out.  He’s a beautiful toy.  I’ve always loved his coloring and the wing configuration.  Near as I can tell it’s the same as the G1, but I can’t compare them side by side, so I could be wrong.

Thrust

Thrust, like Ramjet, is the first one I’ve ever gotten MIB.  I love the black and maroon color scheme.  His launchers seem to have been remolded.  Previous USA releases of the original three jet molds have had the springs removed, but Thrust’s launchers have been remolded to remove the launch mechanism entirely.  I am not sure this is new or not.  I feel like I’ve see this modification before, but I can’t for the life of me figure out where.

Overall: Considering the price of Dirge when he came out at TRU more than ten years ago ($35, I believe) $100 for the set of three doesn’t really seem that bad.  It’s certainly not ridiculously overpriced like the Insecticon set.  Right now we don’t know if any of these sets past the Insecticons are reaching USA retail, but they are available from several online sources.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition Triple Changers (Astrotrain, Blitzwing)

Amazingly, a year after they should have done it for the 30th anniversary, we’ve finally got some new G1 mold reissues.  So far there aren’t any that haven’t been reissued before, but they picked a couple of good ones.

Astrotrain

Wow.  If I stare at Astrotrain too long I’m afraid I’ll have an aneurysm.  That doesn’t mean I don’t like it.  He would fit in perfectly among Generation Two toys.  The only thing I don’t understand is why his big die cast metal part is still blue.  That is the only part of him still in the original colors, while the rest is all over the place.  I wish they had painted that part orange or white.  Otherwise, I really like him.  I’ve always loved Astrotrain, but why did he need that enormous gun?  Perhaps he was overcompensating for his little short…arms.  (What did you think I was going to say?)

Blitzwing

Blitzwing, while in different colors than we’ve ever seen him before, is nowhere near as G2-ish.  He is in crimson and metallic brown, and looks really cool.  I almost wish the colors were a little brighter so the whole set fit in Generation Two.

Overall: I really don’t get it.  All the other announced Platinum sets (though I don’t think we’ve seen the actual Trypticon toy yet) are in standard G1 colors.  Why then was this one done in new colors?  I’m not complaining.  I have all the originals, I’d much rather they do them in different colors.  Also, the packaging on this one is different.  It has no box flap on the front.  Not sure how that’s connected to it.  At $80, they are a bit more expensive than Astrotrain would have been at TRU had the toy not been made a HTS exclusive, but the pricing is still better than the Insecticon set.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition Autobot Intel Ops (Blaster, Eject, Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Perceptor)

Is there anything better than G1 molds?  The answer is no.  Target’s Platinum Edition Autobot Intel Ops set is finally out via Target.com.  Not sure if this will ever show up in stores, but it was $100, and to my best recollection, it was about $40 more at the online toy stores.  I’m hoping this means that Trypticon will be a little more reasonably priced than the $200 the online toy stores have had him for.

Steeljaw, Eject, Ramhorn

I can’t put my hands on any of my other cassettes to compare them, but the cassettes look pretty standard, all painted details, no stickers.  The gold on Steeljaw’s weapons look a little darker than I remember.

Blaster

I can’t put my hands on my G1 or reissue Blaster, but using pictures of the original online, there appear to be a couple of changes.  Blaster’s gray parts are now a light brown-gold color.  It’s light, so at first glace it might appears to look like the G1, but it is definitely different.  The other change is in the stickers.  The original are metal finish stickers, but these have shiny reflective metal finish stickers, which is why they are so dark in the photographs.

Perceptor

I can’t find any differences on Perceptor from the original, but he does come with a  new accessory.  He has a rack that contains six microscope slides.  Each is clear plastic with a molded Autobot symbol and a sticker.  The stickers look lousy through the microscope and even under a magnifying glass, but it was a nice try.  The rack fits on his back by using the existing screw hole on his left but cheek, and uses the three small holes on his upper back as a guide to keep it straight.  It’s not a major thing, but a nice extra accessory that he probably should have come with to begin with.

Overall: You can’t complain about a slightly repainted Blaster, three cassettes, and Perceptor with a new accessory for $100.  Especially if you’re a G1 fanatic, this set is a must.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition Trypticon

After more than twenty years Trypticon is back!  Trypticon is one of the most fun G1 toys.  He walks, he lights up, he’s a dinosaur, what more can you ask?  Articulation?  Who needs it.  There is not much to say about Trypticon.  He has just a few changes from the original.  His eyes are now metallic gold stickers rather than gold chrome.  As noted in the photo above, the two tabs on the bottom of the ramp have been removed.  Unfortunately, I can’t get my hands on my G1 Trypticon to compare him.

Overall:  If you don’t have Trypticon, this is a great opportunity to grab one.  In 2017 a wholly inferior Titan Class Trypticon will be coming out.  If it’s half as bad as Generations Metroplex, you’ll be happy to have this one.

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Transformers: Platinum Edition G1 Dinobots

This set puts all new G1 heads on the AOE Dinobot molds.  I am getting kind of sick of Age of Extinction Dinobots.  Even Snarl, my favorite of them, I never want to see again, though the G1 versions (Both Platinum and SDCC/Amazon) are better overall than any of the others.

Links to all my previous AOE Dinobot reviews are below.  I should say this up front.  I have very little to say on the paint jobs.  They are extremely similar to the SDCC/Amazon G1 Dinobots, but the SDCC/Amazon ones are better.  It’s little things.  Brightness of the gold paint, a little more chrome, things like that in most cases, so I’m mostly going to focus on the new heads.

Grimlock

Reviews (AOE, AOE K-Mart, SDCC G1, Platinum AOE)

I like Grimlock’s new head sculpt, but it kind of looks like angry Grimlock.  It does resemble the G1, but I would have preferred less expression.

Slog

Reviews (AOE, Amazon G1, Platinum AOE)

They did a really nice job on Slog’s head sculpt.  It looks a  lot like the G1.  It’s a bit large, but I think that is because he has such a large bulky body that they didn’t want to give him a pinhead.

Slug

Reviews (AOE, SDCC G1, Platinum AOE)

Slug’s head sculpt I think suffers from the design of AOE Slug.  His original head is pretty small and round, so I am guessing they didn’t want to make the new head squarer, which it really should have been.  It’s not bad, but could be better.

Snarl

Reviews (AOE, SDCC G1)

This is the on place, where I need to talk about color scheme.  The SDCC G1 Snarl is infinitely better than the new one.  I don’t really like the silver plates at all.  The SDCC one looked so good with all the gold chrome.  I wish I could have the SDCC Snarl with the new head on it.  Snarl’s new head is good, but it would be so much better if they painted his forehead and made the “ears” a little large and more properly shaped.

Strafe

Reviews (AOE, SDCC G1, Platinum AOE)

Strafe’s head sculpt is excellent.  The problem is that without the red fin above it like the G1 has, it just doesn’t look right to me.

Overall: It’s new molding and overall the new heads make the molds better, as a lot of the original AOE Dinobot heads were not very good.  Frankly, I’m still disappointed that when the rumor came out about a Platinum Edition Dinobot set that they weren’t the G1 molds.  If you don’t have any AOE Dinobots, then this is the set to get, but otherwise, especially if you have the SDCC/Amazon Dinobots, you can probably skip them.

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