Haslab Victory Saber

I originally meant to publish a post on Haslab Victory Saber about a month ago, but...you know. Busyness, time slipping away, etc. 

     Honestly, at the time I wasn't too seriously considering backing the project, as the initial grey renders did not wow me (though the actual photos of physical prototypes started to get my attention). Me being the mark that I am, the first serious temptation was a couple of weeks ago when Tier 3 was unveiled, which included a wonderful photo gallery of the fully painted sample, including finally showing the blast effects to be a clear green - honestly, those blast effects are what did me in!

     Anyhow, if you've been paying attention, you know that the backing window for Victory Saber closed on the night of Sunday, 10/10/21. The initial unveiling and Tier 1 (V-Lock Cannon & blast effects) were both shown back in August, with Tier 2 (flight stand) shown in mid-September and Tier 3 (shield and micromasters Fire & Holi) shown on 10/1/21 (with that awesome gallery). The set reached its funding goal of 11,000 backers on my birthday (9/29!), with Tiers 1, 2 and 3 unlocking on 10/6, 10/8 and 10/10 respectively. I have just read that more of the international orders have finally been added, with the current number of backer reading 27,372!

     I managed to figure out funding last week and finally backed last Friday, 10/8/21, the same day I picked up the new Metroid: Dread game that I'd been looking forward to, so it was a fun day.

Now for the set itself:

Here's the Brain of Courage; that is to say, Saber in his Brainmaster form. He is tinier than even the Titanmasters/Primemasters of the Prime Wars Trilogy, which I think makes him the smallest functional -master type toy yet! The face flips up from the back when inserting him into the larger Saber body, and he sports shoulder and hip articulation so that he can be seated in Saber's alt mode. Visually, he resembles a tiny version of unhelmeted Star Saber.

Here's Saber's jet mode, which has a bit of a resemblance to a Gundam core fighter. Again, the Brain of Courage can pilot the jet (you can see this in the image).

This is Saber in his robot mode - the brainmaster is installed while still allowing for neck rotation. The nosecone is an unfortunate kibble "shield," but whatever. Overall I like the chunky look. He reminds me quite a bit of the Titans Return Jumpstarters.

Saber's "trailer" is the V-Star, an aerospace weapons platform that Saber can dock with in jet mode. As such, this can also be considered to be Star Saber's altmode. I have always loved how this looks, and they have certainly done a good job with this Haslab version. Mine will probably be in this mode quite a bit!

I love this image even more; the flight stand looks terrific and I've already expressed what a sucker I am for these green blast effects. This is one of the images that honestly helped sell me on the set!

Behold: Star Saber. This is Saber transformed into the torso unit (again; core fighter) of the V-Star; this is akin to Powermaster Optimus Prime. This design has always resonated with me because I have wanted a true jet mode Optimus that had a super mode as well; I think Star Saber is the closest we will get to this, especially due to his very Optimus-looking helmet and faceplate. 

Star Saber wields the Tier 3 shield in this image. The shield was an invention of the Victory television show and only appeared once (to my knowledge). It was included with the masterpiece Star Saber toy, but also had to double as the base of that toy's flight stand; thankfully the Haslab mold has a dedicated stand. 

I actually really like this base mode; I attribute this fondness to the base mode of Powermaster Optimus Prime (easily the biggest transformer I had as a child). This base mode isn't too different from PMOP's; however the shield really helps sell it as a defensive emplacement. I didn't include the shieldless base mode image as it is kind of pointless now that the shield has been unlocked. I do really like the articulated shoulder guns; apparently that is a feature that the original toy lacked. Saber looks great operating the base mode!

Victory Leo! His lion mode is interesting with its ridiculous armament and wings; he definitely looks like he means business, even down to the fantastical tusks. This mode is fun and has strong Voltron vibes.

This is Victory Leo's nominal attack configuration; I like hip-mounted cannons (see Armada Megatron or the smart rifles from Aliens), so I'm quite glad the V-Lock Cannon was unlocked in Tier 1. The cannon plus the arm-mounted rifles looks awesome. I have recently learned about Leo's characterization in the more recent IDW continuity, and I think it fits the design.

Leo's "3rd mode," which is really just an independent version of how he combines with the V-Star. Still, it's fun in a dumb way. I would love a bonus item to be thrown in - an add-on cockpit/nosecone as it was depicted in the Victory Show. If Star Saber can get his anime-exclusive shield (twice!), then surely Leo can get a somewhat more believable altmode, right? 

Again, the blast effects and flight stand are employed to make Leo's flight mode look pretty awesome!

As you can see, Saber is quite a bit smaller than Leo. Saber is about the size of a deluxe, while Leo is close to a modern Leader class transformer. I like this image, especially with how it contrasts with the next one: 

Woah! Saber's a big boy now! As you can see, Star Saber is quite a bit taller than Leo, being closer in size to older Leader class toys, such as from the Prime Wars Trilogy (I hesitate to say that he is as tall as something like Cybertron Galvatron, who for some reason still serves as a Leader class benchmark for me). Awesome shot.

The V-Star, as noted, combines with Leo's flight mode to gain a booster, more wings, and much heavier armament. The aircraft/physics enthusiast in me is a bit bothered by the huge V-Lock Cannon being off-center, but at least Saber's gun on the opposite kind of balances it out. Kind of.

While the flight stand and blast effects are back, you can also see that the shield can be incorporated into the combined vehicle mode, which I think looks great. it greatly improves the visual continuity of this giant vehicle. 

VICTORY SABER! Yep, Leo becomes a backpack and platform shoes. Not the most dignified combination, but i actually like it. The boots hit a good balance between big but not too big, and the wings and rifles from the backpack sell a war machine look. Also, one of the few things I dislike about the Star Saber mode is the lack of back-mounted wings, which this combination resolves. The V-Lock Cannon looks great once again. 

Victory Saber is posed with the shield swapped for the sword. I hope the shield and sword both can be attached somehow in this mode, but it's not a huge loss if it's not possible. 

This is another image that helped sell me on this set. It really is beautiful. 

Here are Fire and Holi. These two are too similar to their pre-existing Siege releases for me to be very interested, but at least we get one more (not great) weapon mode from them, though it's not shown in the gallery. 

Fire and Holi in alt mode. Again they are part of Tier 3 with the shield.

Finally, the base mode with Fire and Holi. This is fun and probably the best reason for their inclusion.

There has been some discussion about whether or not the Victory Saber set is worth the asking price of $180+tax. It's a totally fair question, and people who don't think the set is worth the cost don't bother me as I can understand some of the arguments used to support that stance. However, one word stands out to me that describes this set: uncompromised. When was the last time you saw a retro set this big that included all of its legacy features and components? I bought Titans Return Fortress Maximus for half price at Ross and was still disappointed due to his lack of a normal weapon and inaccurate base mode. Even Earthrise Scorponok, who is much better than his counterpart, is lacking a primary weapon and has non-elevating turret guns. Some other releases, like Combiner Wars Liokaiser and Titans Return Overlord, also come to mind specifically as JG1 designs hampered by being forced into the existing play pattern of the toylines they were released through (mind, I actually like CW Liokaiser quite a bit, but a proper update is always on peoples' minds. Overlord I find more boring and almost wish the original had been reissued instead).  What, exactly, is Victory Saber missing? Nothing that I can think of, at least as it compares to the original toy and the Masterpiece (which neglected Victory Leo, leaving an opening for an illegal "third party" version). If anything, I was a bit disappointed that Haslab didn't go whole hog and produce Deathsaurus, but at the same time that is a relief, as the price would have been somewhere around $250 minimum (the rumor mill suggests a Deathsaurus at retail in 2023 pending the success of Victory Saber; I think it's been a success, so hopefully they are right). Additionally, this thing is priced way more competitively than any large Masterpiece or third party release and still manages to scale with normal Generations releases. 

On top of the uncompromised aspect of the toy, while I have no real attachment to the character (I've never watched Victory and I don't care too much for the IDW version of Star Saber), I've always loved his look and the playability/functionality of the design. It really is "Optimus, but in space" in a way that Star Convoy isn't (or really any other futuristic type Optimus toy). It's nice to see that design get the appreciation it deserves outside of the Masterpiece realm.

One final point about the price: collectors having been paying very high prices for less for a while now. I've always been more of a Hasbro guy rather than Takara, willing to suffer deficits in accuracy, paint coverage, etc., in order to not pay an arm and a leg to acquire mainline toys (for the most part). However, once Pulse started offering Takara products in an easily accessible fashion with free shipping, I started to get tempted by such remolds as Star Convoy, Super Megatron and the Seacons. All of these have cost near double the price of their original molds, and not one of them is a new mold! The older FunPub releases similarly fall under this umbrella. Even the Crossovers Jurassic Park set - which includes one leader class retool and a new mold deluxe* is very high priced at $104. To be fair, I have seen a decent number of complaints about that price. And of course, I haven't even mentioned the illegal "third party" figures, most of which cost incredible sums for the amount of product you receive. Finally, I was priced out of the Masterpiece market years ago; those figures also have a tremendous price for their size. 

I think the issue here is that Haslab Victory Saber doesn't really fit into any of these other categories - he's not MP, not 3P, not a Takara import, not a licensed Crossovers release, etc. This set is definitely meant to fit in with the War for Cybertron line and upcoming Legacy line, both of which are retail lines . They are collector-oriented, but still ostensibly mainlines, of which our previously most expensive figures (aside from Unicron, of whom few question the value) have been the Titan class releases. And until the new Legacy line, all other Titans have been cheaper than Victory Saber. 

Oh well. I'm committed now, anyway, and the people who don't see the value will either be just fine without a Victory Saber or they will wish they didn't have to pay aftermarket prices come next winter.

*JP-93 - the Ford Explorer new mold from the Jurassic Park set - seems like a deluxe, though a larger one. He could have enough mass/engineering to be a voyager, maybe. Alternatively, it's been suggested that JP-93 is not the new mold as we've been led to believe, but rather a pretool for an up coming Legacy release. Not sure if I buy this, but it might be true.

Pulse Fan Fest April 2021

 Hey everyone (?)! 

My last post was in September, detailing the unveiling of the Kingdom line. I had actually drafted two posts since then, one about the unveiling of Studio Series '86 and then my once-usual "Transformers of the Year" post. However, I never finished either in a timely manner, so I thought I'd make up for it with a post covering the Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest, which occurred just the other day. This event served to replace what Hasbro would normally show at ToyFair, which is a February event in normal times. I'm really not sure why they waited about 2 months to show off these items, and it led to some problems like leakers showing ample Kingdom Galvatron footage about three weeks ago, but all in all it was a great showing with some killer transformers:

First we have Core Class Soundwave! This is exciting as Soundwave never got a small-sized release back during the Generations/Thrilling 30 line/Combiner Wars like Optimus, Megatron, Starscream (and other Seekers) and Shockwave did. Kingdom reinstated this size class, having been absent since the end of Power of the Primes. Soundwave looks particularly impressive. Like the Core Class versions of Optimus, Megatron and Starscream, his appearance is based on his "Earthrise" toy (though this previous Voyager Class Soundwave was actually released in the Walmart Exclusive Netflix line, not Earthrise proper). Wonderfully, he includes both weapons and can store/eject a Laserbeak cassette!

Next is Dracodon. I don't care too much for this one; this is one of the few straight repaints we've gotten in Kingdom (probably the only one so far), being a repaint of Vertebreak. The green color (normally a slam dunk for me) is meant to represent radioactivity, and this new character is a Maximal rather than a Predacon, but overall this is just going to be $10 saved. 

 Here's Tracks! Tracks hasn't seen an update since his incorrectly-named repaint of Crosshairs in The Last Knight (called Hot Shot) and prior to that, he got a pretty nice release in the Reveal the Shield line (shared with Wheeljack). This never version does an overall better job with the car modes - both normal and flying. The bot mode looks great too, but partly due to cheating with a fake roof chest. I do wish the flame hood deco was better; it needs yellow in addition to the red. My final complaint is that the primary weapon - the black beam gun - doesn't cover the hand. This is something they made work with other releases, like Trailbreaker and Hoist, so I'm not sure why it wasn't done here. Still, I'm really pleased with this. I've always had a soft spot for the character and his design, so it's great to see Tracks in the spotlight again!

Another Scorponok! Hot on the heels of the Titan Class Scorponok from Earthrise, the later (and smaller!) Predacon who took the name of the giant headmaster finally gets another release. Scorponok was homaged during the RiD '15 line with the release of Paralon, but this direct update is really nice to have - Scorponok hasn't had another release since the original during Beast Wars! The scorpion mode is terrific, and I'm very happy they included both the missiles and the cyber-bee. The bot mode could be more svelte, but I'm happy with him otherwise!

Wingfinger! This is the newest (and probably final) Fossilizer mold, and the first deluxe Fossilizer Maximal. While I've not shown it here due to the lack of good official photos, there is a designed combined mode for Wingfinger, Ractonite and Paleotrex! Kind of rare to have a cross-factional combiner, but a giant skeletal abomination is pretty cool. Wingfinger also looks cool on his own, being the most dynamic-looking Fossilizer. I am curious if he will get repainted into a more visually insterested deco like both Paleotrex and Ractonite have.

Rhinox! He looks great. A lot of folks think this version compares unfavorably with the Generations/Thrilling 30 version, but I passed on that one many times (for a few reasons), so I'm pretty happy to have another shot at an updated toy for this important character. Looking forward to him!

Ah, yes...Galvatron. I've been waiting for this one for a while! It's not that we've lacked in Galvatron updates; he was first given a decent update in the form of Energon Megatron/Galvatron, and in the neo-G1 lines, we've gotten the deluxe Universe (2.0) Galvatron, Combiner Wars Galvatronus, and Titans Return Galvatron. However, each of those releases was compromised in some way from being a truly updated toy of the character's appearance as seen in the original movie and cartoon show. I noted above that this toy was leaked several weeks before this official unveiling, and some unfortunate shots really soured some people on the look of the toy, but I couldn't be more excited for him to be released. I appreciate the accessories - yet another release of the Matrix (this time with Galvatron's chain) is never a bad thing, and the Revenge-styled guns are a neat new addition. Ever since the release of Combiner Wars Armada Megatron and Galvatronus, I've really been on a Decepticon leader kick and this really helps cement a cornerstone in that collection.

Speaking of controversial figures, here's another! Commander Class Rodimus Prime. Yes, that's right - Commander Class, as in $80. This is the first non-Masterpiece Rodimus toy to truly update the design of the original toy, with its combat deck trailer. Aside from the price, the main problem folks have is that the cab/car cannot slot far enough back into the trailer to have the wheels of both line up and also make a more compact appearance to the front of the combined vehicle. I too dislike this aspect of the toy, but it's not awful - just inaccurate - and it's not something that would prevent a purchase from me. I do really love the trailer's base mode, especially now that the cannon emplacement can be detached. Rodimus's robot mode is fantastic as well, and the fact that he can transform into an actual, complete car mode (as compared to the G1 toy) is great. I have a preorder placed, and while I'm not 100% certain I'll keep it, I'd hate to pass up this version of the character, especially as part of the modern take on the '86 Movie characters we have been getting since Springer was released during Siege. 

And here it is! Previewed in the Kingdom concept art that I posted last September, this is the Titan Class Autobot Ark. No, they unfortunately did not give him a robot mode name, but he is clearly at least based on the Last Autobot of the Marvel comics. The Ark mode itself looks great, though the gaps on the side are less than ideal. The robot mode is pretty awesome, and some have pointed out that he has a decent resemblance to Tidal Wave; I would not be opposed to such as release (and the recent unveiling of Generations Selects Black Zarak means such a thing is at least possible!). As you can see, the included Teletraan-1 console transforms into a yellow version of Actionmaster Mainframe, which is cool. He includes the Sky Spy that scans alt modes, but also both Golden Disks and can also transform into the Ark's bridge for use with the tiny Optimus figurine!

And here we have Tricranius! Not only is Tricranius a neat clear-plastic Fossilizer repaint in the vein of Skelivore, but he is also sort of this year's version of the Centurion drone - meaning a destructible deluxe with lots of bonus accessories. This time around, instead of character-specific weapons, Tricranius comes with tons of fireblast effects, which is pretty cool. I've really only used a few of the items from the Centurion Drone set - namely the Megatron pistol/silencer and morning star - but I use the WfC series fireblast effects quite a bit in my play/display. This does make me expect that Wingfinger will also get a clear plastic repaint so that you can make the Fossilizer combiner in both natural and "extreme" colors.

YES. 

I've been waiting for this for a while! We finally have an official Shattered Glass line. Rodimus Unicronus from Power of the Primes came close - completely based on Shattered Glass Rodimus Prime, only to lose his purple Autobot sigil between design and release. More recently, we got the Generations Selects 2-pack of Optimus and Ratchet based on the Earthrise molds, which is a great set but was released with little fanfare. Now, while limited to being Pulse-exclusive, Shattered Glass gets a "capsule" line (as the Pulse streamers described it) of 5 releases. Blurr is probably not the msot exciting to start with, but he looks great. The deco is killer - more visually interesting than the SS86 version - and the toy shows that Hasbro is willing to sink funds into retooling parts for the sake of accuracy. I've always thought an SG line could do well at retail (and Hasbro has been working with multiple factions at retail since Earthrise began), and while this isn't quite fully there, it's the next best thing. The only thing I'm really not looking forward to is the rumored Jetfire, since he'd be yet another $80 Commander purchase. Also, the toys include each issue of IDW's new SG comic series!

Kingdom Come

 As I type this, my last post was 3 years and 4 days ago - 9/16/17, in which I briefly gushed over The Last Knight Voyager Class Nitro Zeus. 

     Since then, I have made a few attempts at substantive posts. I attempted to do a write-up of the unveiled later-wave Power of the Primes toys from NYCC 2017, followed by an analysis of the initial Siege unveiling in late summer 2018, and finally a Transformers of the Year post for 2018. I never finished any of them! 

    This isn't to say I have failed to keep up with the Transformers toylines. Instead, I've probably spent more on Transformers in 2020 than in any other single year, except maybe in 2010 when I went to Botcon (that was a decade ago!). Also, since my last post, the brand has changed a bit, becoming much more collector-oriented. Studio Series (which I haven't written about at all) came onto the scene in early 2018, though we knew much of its early contents from The Big Leak in summer 2017. While still not officially announced, Studio Series is set to (at least temporarily) shift from the live-action movies to The Transformers: The Movie, the 1986 film set between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show. Presumably, this is to actually celebrate the animated film's 35th anniversary in 2021, but also to make room in the third chapter of Hasbro's "mainline"/primary collector-oriented trilogy, War for Cybertron (no, not the video game). 

Make room for what? The first two chapters of the WfC Trilogy - Siege and Earthrise - are unapologetically G1-focused. Prime Wars may have moved the Generations line in that direction, but the aesthetic was still filtered through the gimmicks of the line (combining and smaller partner figures). And yet, for the third chapter of the WfC Trilogy - officially revealed via a Netflix tweet to be titled Kingdom - we aren't simply getting more G1, but a mix of G1 and Beast Wars! Keep in mind, this is partly to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars (though the 10th anniversary was the only previous one that was truly celebrated). Based on early leaks, roughly half of Kingdom consists of Season 1 style Beast Wars characters. While we are still getting plenty of G1 characters in Kingdom (including, allegedly, Galvatron), the shift of some TFTM characters to Studio Series has allowed the "mainline" to accommodate the BW characters that may not have survived if released in their own series. 

     I'm not the world's biggest BW fan. I'm not one of, what I consider, the BW hipsters on some online locations. Yes, the show was great, and yes, the toyline was too, but it's no longer the apex of the franchise. Still, it's certainly one of the portions of the brand with a air of high quality about it, and the characters definitely deserve recognition. I'm very, very excited for it. I used to salivated over the leaked test shot of Fall of Cybertron Grimlock with the Transmetal Megatron new head mold, which was never released. Now, if the leaks are to be trusted, Beast Wars Megatron is getting a new leader class mold, and I can't wait to see it.

UPDATE #1:

Amusingly, I finished the previous paragraph a few days before (we had a scary family emergency in the interim, but things are fine now thank God). As of today, 9/23/20, Hasbro has finally officially unveiled some of the first wave Kingdom figures! They have shown off great images of Rattrap, Cheetor, Cyclonus and Megatron. Rattrap hails from the new Core class, which is replacing the micromaster 2-packs from Siege and Earthrise. Rumor says that most Core figures will be small iterations of typically larger G1 characters. Hmm, I wonder what they are intended for...;). Cheetor, as expected, is from the deluxe class, Cyclonus a Voyager, and Megatron (the Second, of the beast variety) is leader class. Somewhat sadly, all but Megatron had been previously leaked, though Cyclonus was leaked as an under-painted test shot with poor photos, and was assumed to be part of Studio Series fora while. It is a bit strange that he won't end up there. All four of these guys look great. Rattrap makes me happy I passed on the larger and wonkier Thrilling 30 version, and Cheetor has a much better balance between an accurate cheetah mode and his robot mode. His only downside is they gave him the claw/tail whip weapon of his Transmetal form instead of his gut gun. Cyclonus looks great, especially in jet mode. I love both Combiner Wars and Universe 2.0/Reveal the Shield Cyclonus, but this one has the size of the former but the lack of gimmick compromises of the latter. I do think the head/face sculpt could be better, but it'll do. Megatron looks amazing aside from all of the dino skin kibble on his back. The dino mode itself is really incredible, one of the best beast modes ever, maybe, especially for the realistic/organic style of BW Season 1.

I'll update more as Hasbro continues to push out more updates, especially this Saturday at PulseCon!

UPDATE #2: 

Ok, So PulseCon has come and gone. As typically happens when major toyline surprises are preceded by (multiple) leaks, I'm a bit disappointed that Hasbro didn't care to show more, namely Studio Series '86 and the "Headmasters" line that is supposedly Titans Return reissues/redecos exclusive to Walmart, if listings are to be believed. 

All that aside - WOW, what a great showing! The care that has gone into the presentation of the Kingdom line is fantastic, and I'm really happy that wave 1/what they decided to show off today is definitely heavy on Beast Wars characters, despite the line being partially Generation 1. Here we go:

Core Class: Core Class is the new, smallest size class, with Battlemasters being phased out and the Micromaster 2-packs being replaced by Core. Three figures were on display: Rattrap, Vertebreak and Optimus Prime:

Rattrap was the first leaked Kingdom toy, and he looks fantastic for his size. I'm very happy that they felt that they could be flexible and create a new size class to allow him to be closer to being in scale with the rest of the BW cast, especially compared to his Thrilling 30 toy, which I passed on. 

Vertebreak, who has an amazing name that has only be used for two transformer characters previously, is one of the first new fossilizers, who clearly transform into the fossil remains of extinct creatures. While larger fossilizers from the deluxe class (see Paleotrex below) can split apart into bone armor & weapons, akin to the Weaponizers and Modulators of Siege and Earthrise, I don't see any evidence that Vertebreak, as a smaller, Core class toy, can do the same, aside from her tail being shown as a weapon in another official image. This is supported by her transformation not seeming to show any rearranged parts in the way that Paleotrex does. If the Core class fossilizers can't be split apart, that will be too bad, but she does look great. Again, fossilizers are one of the best things about this line, both in toy concept but also for adding new Predacon (and presumably Maximal) characters to the BW cast line-up!

Here we have Core class Optimus Prime! His design is clearly trying to emulate the look of Earthrise Optimus (who seems to be getting reissued in Kingdom). Leaks/rumors have shown that a few G1 characters will be getting Core class toys...based on the poster art shown below, they are clearly intended to be paired with the upcoming Titan Class Ark! What's amusing is that you could interpret Core class G1 toys as an inversion of the scale of the characters as shown in the BW show, where all Beast Warriors were supposed to be much smaller than G1 counterparts, while we now we have larger BW character toys with small G1 counterparts!

The Deluxe class, of course, returns, with Hasbro revealing four of them:

Blackarachnia looks pretty great! Her original toy unfortunately suffered from simply being a Tarantulus repaint, while in the show her character model differed quite a bit. I'm pretty impressed with the spider mode, and the robot mode looks just about as accurate as it could, save for the legs being black rather than copper (I think the black works better for the spider mode). I do really hope we also get Tarantulus, though I doubt he would work as a remold.

And here's Cheetor, perhaps the quintessential BW character. My only complaint for Cheetor is the lack of a gun weapon. Giving him an organic version of his transmetal tail whip blade is clever, but he seems a bit incomplete without a firearm.  I am quite happy with how much better of a balance has been struck between an accurate cheetah mode and robot mode; Universe 2.0 Cheetor had a pretty great cheetah mode but the robot mode was terrible. I'm definitely sold on Cheetor, and the rumors already claim a Shadowpanther repaint; I'd love a Prowl repaint for Generations Selects!

Now, here is the guy I'm really interested in. While somewhat few in number, the Weaponizers and Modulators of Siege and Earthrise have been some of the most interesting and fun figures of this trilogy. They have allowed the trilogy to have a unifying gimmick that I don't think most of us would have asked for: parts-formers. Now that parts-forming has been adapted to the Fossilizers, or at least the Deluxe Fossilizers. Paleotrex is the first of these, and he can, as with Weaponizers, be disassembled to form armor/weapons for other characters. One of the most fun things about this guy is his head - not only does he have a moveable skull mask that can reveal his true face (an homage to the "mutant" heads of the first year of most BW toys), the skull mask is the mace that came with the original Optimus Primal toy, and can be wielded as such! It's almost unfortunate; this guy will be headless in many people's collections. As I noted with Vertebreak, the Fossilizers are one of the most fun things about Kingdom, especially Paleotrex with his ability to arm other figures.  

Warpath is the final Deluxe shown off, and probably the most conservative as he is yet another G1 update. While he is a Deluxe and not a Core class toy, I hope he is not much taller than the Earthrise Cliffjumper mold, as that toy was suitably short for a Minibot. Warpath's previous Deluxe toy in the original Generations line was terrific, but had an "H-tank" alt mode that many don't care for, and his Combiner Wars Legends class toy suffered from being a Thrilling 30 Megatron remold that lacked Warpath's signature design cues. I'll probably pick him up, but he's definitely the least exciting of this set of four deluxes. 

Optimus Primal kicks off the Voyager class, and he looks fantastic! His robot mode is great, but I think I am most impressed with the gorilla mode. I was fortunate enough to obtain Power of the Primes "Throne of the Primes" Optimus Primal two years ago, but as great as that mold looks in Primal's Season 1 color scheme, the mold itself has some problems and I don't care much for the stickers, which are wearing out over time. I'm grateful that Season 1 Primal is getting a much more faithful release for a fraction of what his Throne of the Primes incarnation cost. I do wish this Voyager Primal didn't have so much of a height deficit with Leader class Megatron, but it's not something I'm too worried about. 

And here we have a new take on Cyclonus! Again, not sure why he would not be in Studio Series '86, but I'm not complaining. Cyclonus looks nearly perfect; I think his head/face sculpt could be a bit better. However, everything else is pretty perfect. I do really like my Reveal the Shield repaint of Universe 2.0 Cyclonus, and Combiner Wars Cyclonus is pretty great too, but the former is a bit too small for the character and the latter spends nearly all its time in combiner mode as Galvatronus, so I'm quite happy that we are getting a larger, accurate take on the character. Makes me a bit sad that I won't be getting War for Cybertron Unicron, but I guess you can't win them all!

Ah, Megatron. Beast Wars Megatron, interestingly trademarked here as "T-Rex Megatron," is something the Generations line has needed for a long time. While the character did get both a new mold (Cybertron-style) and repaint/remold in the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line, this character is significant enough to deserve the new mold, Leader class treatment he is finally getting. While the Fall of Cybertron Grimlock mold isn't amazing, Hasbro missed an opportunity to get this important version of Megatron on shelves when they didn't pursue the Transmetal-style remold of FoC Grimlock. This toy may have one of the best beast modes Hasbro has ever done, at least of the organic variety. The robot mode looks great as well, and thankfully the left arm/tail does include a normal hand (even the new-mold Deluxe BWX toy had a weird, 3-clawed left hand underneath the tail). I can't wait to add this guy to my display of Megatrons and Galvatrons. 

I included this image because, as I noted earlier, I love how much care has been put into the presentation of this new toyline. The toys themselves look great, but the volcanic backdrop and dramatic lighting really sells the whole idea. I love how Cyclonus is "fossilized" with Paleotrex parts, and seeing Primal and Prime fighting together is a treat. Also, as an aside, Earthrise Leader class Optimus Prime seems to be getting reissued in Kingdom (sort of like how Siege Astrotrain was for Earthrise), and I can't say I blame Hasbro. I acquired Earthrise Optimus myself over the summer, and I've really become enamored with him; he is the definitive Optimus Prime toy (aside from any Masterpiece releases), and it makes sense to have him on shelves alongside his "descendant." At the same time, I'm glad we didn't get yet another new mold or remold of Optimus (aside from the Core class toy), as it would look a bit greedy on Hasbro's part to release 3 different, but similar Optimus toys for three toylines in a row. I do think it's a bit strange to not have a G1 Megatron (like Earthrise Megatron) also in the picture, but maybe he will also be reissued later in Kingdom. 

Here is the poster-type artwork that was leaked in the late summer. I do wonder if Bumblebee will actually be released in Kingdom as well as the Netflix line, and again, G1 Megatron is referenced alongside Galvatron. I do think that they are meant to be the same individual, since so much inspiration is being taken from the actual 1986 movie rather than other depictions of 1986 characters (such as IDW Galvatron being very distinct from Megatron). 

This artwork for Kingdom is amazing. I'm pretty sure it's Don's work, and while some online have already confirmed that it serves more of a conceptual role for the line rather than acting as a strict preview of upcoming toys, it's amazing. This is the first confirmation that the new Titan class toy will be the Ark (!), with a Last Autobot-inspired robot mode, which is pretty amazing. I love the inclusion of Polar Claw and the several Fossilizers, though I understand that some of those may not have made the cut for Kingdom, though this doesn't totally rule out some other kind of release, such as Generations Selects, Netflix, or a store exclusive. I'm very much looking forward to seeing a Leader Class Galvatron that isn't compromised by gimmicks or poor design (and this is coming from someone who likes Titans Returns Galvatron quite a bit, and will still fiddle with Universe 2.0 Galvatron from time to time). I also hope Tracks does show up, as I think he will look great through the lens of War for Cyberton-style engineering. Primal looks great with the Smilodon armor (we do need to get at least one mammal/Maximal Fossilizer), and again, seeing Primal and Prime fight together is great (as is seeing Galvatron alongside Beast Megatron). 

That's all for now! While there were some other announcements today at PulseCon, I really wanted to focus on Kingdom as it is one of the most exciting things Hasbro has done in a long time. Hopefully it won't be too long until my next post!