basement invasion: Upcoming releases that I really want but will be expensive.

Hey there. Been a bit (as usual)! I meant to complete a post in January gushing over Legacy Transmetal II Megatron, but didn't finish. It's a wonderful figure, however - one of the best in years, really - and I'll complete the review/gush post sooner than later.

This time, I wanted to focus on something I'm also a bit late on, which are the recent showings from the Hasbro Pulse April Fanstream, including the more recent full debut of Titan class Nemesis on May 2nd.

The April Fanstream had a LOT for me to like! Being someone who jumped into adult transformer collecting in 2003, Armada holds a special place in my heart, and while the Optimus unveiling was spoiled by leakers, it didn't take too much away from how great it was to see both Optimus and Megatron in their Armada forms in this stream. Most of the other showings were great as well!

Beginning with core class, we have two more of the Dinobots (only Snarl remains unseen): Swoop and the "new" character Scarr! Swoop is far and away the best-looking of these core class combining Dinobots so far, especially in his robot mode. He suffers the least, probably because it's easier to condense his more lithe frame into this smaller scale. I'm not sure if I'll complete this set (probably will, but certainly haven't found any yet), but so far Swoop seems to be the standout. He forms one of the arms, with his pistols combining to form a fist for Volcanicus. The fist design is definitely shaped similarly to that of Monstructor/Dinoking, lending ever more credence to a Dinoking retool/repaint offering.

This one shot sells me on Swoop more than any of the other Core class Dinobots

This shot - not as much, but it'll work.

Making it more obvious is Scarr himself. An IDW-original character who died on cybertron before adopting an actual dinosaur mode, he is here given the form of an ankylosaur, which is the one type of alt mode that PotP Volcanicus lacks and Dinoking has, so it's certainly another nail in the coffin. Cleverly, the fist becomes the tail club for the dino mode. If memory serves, Scarr and Swoop were actually shown in a mini-unveiling a week or two before the Fanstream, so the design team had already gotten some feedback on them, including that they are aware of the interest for a leader class take on Scarr to fit in with the SS86 Dinobots, which I would love. I think it would do more justice to the ankylosaur mode, and Scarr's bot mode looks like it would be very massive and imposing at a larger scale.

Again, imagine this design at the SS86 Dinobot Leader scale.

More disappointing than I'd hoped, but the design deserves the opportunity to be done better at a larger scale.

Legacy Evolution deluxe wave 3 has 3 new figures (Tarantulus serves as a well-deserved package refresh): Beachcomber, Devcon and new Junkion Axlgrease. Beachcomber is completely serviceable and looks great, but that also means he's the least interesting of the three aside from his green parakeet/parrot accessory, which gets top billing on his package artwork. I'll likely get him but I'd be more interested in a G2 repaint.

Not much to say here, other than he looks solid

The bird can hang out on the back of the buggy mode

And here's an "action" robot mode shot with the bird

Devcon is a LONG time coming, another in a line of finally-realized figures of the formerly cartoon-only Floro Dery-designed characters, largely from season 2 or the movie. He's a heavily modified SS86 Blurr retool, to the point that it may as well be a new mold. He looks just as good as I need him too, and I'm very happy that they didn't try to force him as a Scourge retool. Shots alongside Earthrise Smokescreen have been released and the two make a terrific pair.

Really, the only noticeable Blurr parts here are the feet

And while TR Brainstorm was a bit compromised in alt mode by being a TR Blurr retool, it works perfectly for Devcon

Axlgrease is probably the most interesting of the group. She's another Junkion weaponizer, and a retool of Scrapheap to boot, but manages to look nearly completely different. This is mainly accomplished by the designers giving her a totally new deco, apparently based on an inverted Junkion color scheme. This is due to Axlgrease being a Decepticon; she's described as a possible evil sister to Junkion Nancy. Also interesting is that the designers probably intended to release this mold/retool in normal colors as seen on the Legacy Evolution artwork, but probably decided to break things up a bit visually; I wouldn't mind seeing this in normal Junkion colors at some point. Of course, the front of the car mode make a lot of folks think we will get a Lockdown retool as well. Which, based on how much additional retooling they are interested in, will be a somewhat inaccurate version of the character but but could be spun as G1-ified like Legacy Bulkhead.

This is a terrific image. The colors on the toy and background work amazingly well together

The first car mode Junkion (Detritus doesn't count)? The only thing I don't like here is that the tires look weird as a light blue. Not sure if this car is exactly what I want Lockdown to look like, but maybe he'll get more specific tooling as well.

The voyager class showings here are probably the least compelling, but still nice. Dirge is a nearly identical reissue of the Earthrise Amazon, terrific for those who couldn't get the hard-to-obtain Amazon exclusive (now Ramjet and, to a lesser degree, Thrust must be done as well). It turns out that this version actually as the wings molded in brown rather than blue with brown paint, so it'll be less susceptible to scratch damage. His packaging looks good, but otherwise no other comments. No pics either since he's a known quantity.

Nemesis Leo Prime is a sort of no-brainer purchase; the mold is terrific, and everyone loves evil Prime repaints. This one has a bonus as being the first version of the character to have a deco that actually matches its anime appearance, as well. However, the end result is a bit dull. The teal, as always, looks good, but the toy could benefit from more of it. It's literally the only color in a sea of blacks and greys, though some of the black may actually be a dark brown depending on which pictures you trust. One more plus is that he includes an additional firearm weapon that Leo Prime lacks, and that kind of additional value is always nice.

I think I like the lion mode more than the bot mode for this release.

Finally we arrive at leader class, and one that I've been anticipating for a long time, as well! The original Armada Megatron is a lot of fun, and the Combiner Wars version, though a dark horse that I didn't purchase until over six months after release, has gone on to become one of my favorite Transformer toys (https://basementinvasion.blogspot.com/2015/09/warlord.html). Still, both versions have their drawbacks and thus a true update to the original design was always warranted, and finally it's coming. Legacy Evolution Leader Armada Megatron has the faults you'd expect - mainly not really being worth the $55 you'd better pay or you'll never get it cheaper - but he does about what we've come to expect. Mini-con? No, but neither do the other Armada updates have them. Fully-featured? No, but enough where it counts. He does look great, and while I don't enjoy that he seems to have similar shoulder engineering to Legacy G2 Laser Optimus, it seems to be executed better here. I really do like the optional cannon-arm that he can use, though the original configuration is unique enough that I'll probably stick with that. The designers hinted at upcoming compatibility, presumably with some iteration of Tidal Wave, which would be terrific. I think the ideal there might be a Commander-class Weaponizer that updates the combined mode a bit (for example, give Megatron some lift boots).

Fun fact: none I have yet to see an image, either official or from the recent trade show, depicting Megatron with his cannon in its normal attack configuration.

Kind of a boring shot, but the tank mode certainly looks the part.

I really like this feature. A recent trade show confirmed that the right hand can do this as well.

Incredible box art

And, of course, Megatron needs (indeed...) his nemesis, Legacy Evolution Commander Armada Optimus Prime! I think Optimus, overall, is executed better than Megatron is, and is really only lacking Sparkplug and/or Overrun and mini-con ports to be a perfect update. The original toy had a terrible set of legs for super mode, but since that mode has been prioritized this time over the base mode, the super mode is the star of the show. I could honestly be ok with them never updating Armada Jetfire to make a combined form with how good Optimus's super mode looks (though they should definitely remake Armada Jetfire, AND Overload while we're at it). I can't discount the core robot and vehicle modes either, both of which look wonderful. Honestly, my only real complaint is that the smokestack guns use the 3mm pegs rather than being big enough to have 5mm ports, but that's not too bad. Well, and I wish the base mode turret could elevate to a useful height for the core robot, but oh well.

Sadly, Optimus has no "exiting the portal" image from what I could find.

Putting the smokestack guns on the main rifle/cannon is cool, but I wish they didn't have it for every super mode shot.

This thing looks dense and heavy, and the cannon on time is wonderful.

I'll just decide that the base mode is meant for smaller characters (this wouldn't be an issue if he included a mini-con).

Absolutely loving the articulation for supermode. This mode used to be a bit of a joke, but now it's very impressive

The art has some wonkiness with the torso proportions and placement of the smokestacks, but overall it's a win

Finally, teased on the Legacy Evolution artwork back in September, we finally have Titan class Nemesis! I'm much more excited for this than I was for the Kingdom Titan class Ark - both the ship and robot modes look much more interesting. It's also the first female Titan toy to be released. The ship mode itself looks amazing, and while I don't have the same hangups about the robot mode that others may, the ship mode is definitely the better of the two. It's beautiful, and I really appreciate the folding ventral fin to allow for some display/landing options. Some folks also don't like the lack of a partner figure (most Titans - T30 Metroplex, Fort Max, Trypticon, Predaking and Omega Supreme to a lesser degree, Scorponok and the Ark - have had them), but between the narrower frame of the ship design plus the use of two of the wings as large weapons (which most Titans do NOT tend to have), I don't mind. What I DO mind, and is holding me back from preordering, is the price tag, which increased to $200 for Titans last year with Legacy Cybertron Metroplex. Nemesis will inevitably go on sale/clearance, and I'd much prefer to get it for $150 or less than the current price. I DO want it, though, so I may place a preorder just in case, and cancel as the ship date approaches. It's even got me thinking I should try to find the Ark to compliment it, though I don't really have room for two more Titans (it'll be tough just trying to space for the Nemesis). Still, I'm glad that Hasbro it confident enough to attempt something like this. I think the Ark was more of a slam dunk, as it's more iconic than the Nemesis, but the Nemesis is a much more visually interesting toy (to me).

The only big negative I have in this mode is the above-elbow flaps. Those could have been done better. She looks terrific overall; I appreciate how different she looks compared to the Ark.