Also, it seems that this line will forego the inclusion of any kind of themed partsformer characters, such as the weaponizers or fossilizers. I'd imagine that this is due to roster concerns, since we are apparently continuing to get "normal" characters alongside members of the Thirteen.
One other thing to keep in mind is that Vector Prime should be kicking off this whole range of the Thirteen by being a Legacy United release, according to listings we've had for a while.
-Deluxe Solus Prime: Solus gets her first normal toy release. She'll be expected to include her hammer, and I really hope she is a unique mold and not based on another female TF's tooling. That said, I think ai expect a motorcycle alt mode, simply because that's the most common mode for deluxe female TFs (I think).
-Deluxe Air Raid: as with the Constructions, the Aerialbots appear to be back! Air Raid is always my favorite, so I'll probably get him. Also, it's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since the last set was released. I actually never got a complete set of CW Aerialbots (in the G1 colors, anyway), so I may actually go in for the whole set this time.
-Deluxe Fire flight: probably my second favorite Aerialbot. I wonder if he will be a proper Phantom this time or remain a retool of Slingshot.
-Deluxe Animated Wasp: ah, the first entry that I'm truly excited about. I've waited since 2009 or so for a true Wasp figure. I'd still be up for the concept to be executed across other continuities, like the movies, Prime, etc. I do hope that Wasp has a unique head mold, and it'd be fun later on to get a 2-pack with BB and Wasp in swapped colors in reference to that one episode.
-Deluxe Alchemist Prime: this guy has been more or less identified as Maccadam over the past decade or so. I do kind of wish that he was a voyager, and if they lean into the Cyberverse design I imagine he will turn into a truck, which is a boring choice for such a character. Hopefully this figure is surprisingly good.
-Deluxe Crasher package refresh: I actually did see Velocitron wave 2 deluxes at one of my local Walmarts, and even bought Crasher, but I was never overly excited by her and had plenty of the Mirage mold, so I returned her. However, that wave absolutely needs a refresh, so I'm happy to see it here.
-Deluxe Swindle: some theorize that this will be Animated Swindle and this not telling of a new Bruticus, but Wasp has an "Animated" adjective, so considering we now know that Devastator and Superion are in the works, what exactly is there to suggest that they aren't also revisiting Bruticus?
-Deluxe Micronus Prime: I'm a bit surprised that they aren't saving this guy for core class, but I imagine he'll be a small deluxe, possibly with a large accessory like the bubble his Prime universe version is usually shown with. I also hope this leads to minicons in the core class.
-Deluxe Venom: another one I'm really excited about! Venom is easily the best of the "deluxe" Insecticons, and I love cicadas. I'm pretty happy that he will be in the mainline, as the others (save the previously released Ransack) are relegated to the Mayhem capsule.
-Deluxe Sky Dive: my least favorite Aerialbot in terms of robot design and personality, Slingshot does have the cool Harrier alt mode going for him. Also, it looks like Skydive is the only Aerialbot limb left off this list, which contrasts with how only one Combaticon is included (not unlike the first two waves of Combiner Wars).
-Voyager Prima: it's about time we got a figure of this guy. A retool of the leader TR Black Shadow mold was planned for Power of the Primes, but then shelved, so I'm glad he'll get a chance to shine. I hope he does look mostly like his Covenant of the Primes art, as that is his most distinct appearance, and I love the Matrix-bearing Star Saber weapon. He needs to have a lot of silver paint, and I hope he has a flying alt mode.
-Voyager Armada Red Alert: this was the obvious next Armada Autobot choice since Hot Shot and Optimus are already done. I'm glad he's a voyager; the Cybertron designs are good, but I always appreciated how the Armada design was like Archer's take on a more RiD Car Bros-type transformation (and Cybertron Smokescreen later would have the same kind of feel).
-Voyager Rescue Bots Heat Wave: I'd kind of had this idea that the four main rescue bots might all get done as deluxes (as Chase is), so I'm glad to see that they are willing to make them more varied. Heatwave is honestly my least favorite of the four, but he is still a great character, and like all of them has deserved a more faithful rendition for a long time now. With this line being so focused on the Primes, some wonder if RB Heatwave will also be a torso core for Nexus Prime, but I think Hasbro is probably more concerned with making him a faithful RB representation. Plus, Timelines Heatwave was a retool of the Energon equivalent of Onslaught, so if we are getting new Combaticons AND if they actually want to make Nexus a full-fledged combiner, I can see his torso coming from Onslaught instead (I still don't understand how we didn't get a new Nexus Prime from Combiner Wars). I greatly look forward to Blades and Boulder, who I imagine would be a deluxe and voyager, respectively.
-Voyager RID Skybyte: Finally! While I used to own a TMII Cybershark (a mess of a mold) and I passed on T30 Skybyte (too many compromises in the design along with too few improvements), I do enjoy the character and have no plans to sell off my Botcon 2010 version. Still, between the RID resurgence we are seeing and the recent passing voice actor Peter Spellos, it's very appropriate that Skybyte gets another chance to shine. One thing I did like about the T30 toy was the shark head actually serving as the robot chest, which made much more sense than in hanging off the lower back in bot mode, so I hope that stays, but I worry that the current adherence to show-accuracy may not allow for that one major improvement. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to this guy and I hope we catch wind of a new RiD Megatron to join him sooner than later.
-Voyager Alpha Trion: Well, this is interesting. Not a surprise, as Alpha Trion has been part of the 13 for a while now, but we already have a pretty-much perfect G1 iteration from the Legacy 2-pack; there's a distinct chance that this could just be a rerelease of that Scourge retool (after all, while it was easy to acquire, that set was an exclusive set). On the other hand, we could also be dealing with either a retool of Thundertron OR Vector Prime, with either one making plenty of people happy. And again, we could get a totally new mold that is more in-line with the Covenant of Primus artwork. I suppose my least favorite option would be a Vector Prime retool. That was a great idea in 2007, but I want the pantheon of the 13 to look as distinct as possible from each other, and unless United Vector Prime gets some very heavy retooling, this idea won't allow for that.
-Voyager Flatline: FINALLY! Flatline is one of the greatest concepts to come from IDW, and it's a shame he hasn't already gotten a toy or otherwise seen more of a spotlight. Granted, it's incredibly likely that this toy will be an Armada Red Alert retool and thus not a hearse, but the Deceptions finally getting their creepy medic will be a great boon.
-Leader The Fallen: this also has the potential to be great. I've (and other's have) been wanting a better non-movie The Fallen since the release of the Titanium figure (which was great for the standards of that line). Like most, I'm hoping for a design that is closer to his War Within: The Dark Ages appearance, with the tank mode shown in the More Than Meets The Eye profile books. I'm also a fan of his RiD 2015 appearance, and the Covenant of Primus design (which was also used for IDW) isn't the worst either, so I wouldn't mind if some elements from these other forms made it into the toy. Ultimately, though, I definitely want it to most resemble the DW version, and I hope it's a large leader class toy as well (think SS86 Dinobots, as he should be able to take on Grimlock). This will likely be the big showpiece of all the releases thus far leaked, and I'm very excited for it.
-Leader G2 Grimlock: I'm a bit suprised that we are going to get yet another repaint as the original SS86 deco is getting a package refresh next year, and we have the 40th/Comic version this year, but I'm going to assume that this will be the actually-released G2 blue deco. Which, honestly, is as boring as the yellow/blue tiger deco is weird. I don't think I'll go for this, but I'm glad for those that are interested.
-Leader Onyx Prime: Onyx is a bit of a weird one, with a fuzor-like robot mode (winged centaur) and an altmode I don't think we've ever seen, even though it'll be some kind of "beast" since he's the progenitor of beast-formers. I hope this toy actually gets to represent Onyx himself, as he became effectively a non-character in IDW for reasons I'll leave out here in case anyone's unaware. This has the potential to be another showpiece, and I hope it's at least as amazing at Legacy TMII Megatron.
And that's it! For now, anyway.
Clearly, some of the Thirteen remain unlisted:
-Nexus Prime: I already discussed him a bit. I really hope he isn't based on the Covenant of Primus design; it's a boring pile of parts. He definitely need to be a combiner.
-Amalgamous Prime: being the progenitor of a race that barely gets fictional representation (the Shifters), I expect him to either be a multi-changer or rewritten to be the progenitor of the "-izer" type characters/toys, like Weaponizers, Fossilizers, etc. and be able to break apart himself.
-Quintus Prime: the remaining Prime I'm most excited about. There's a chance that this could be made female to reference TLK Quintessa, but then Solus Prime is supposed to be the progenitor of females, so maybe not. Either way I hope this turns out nicely.
-Liege Maximo: Some hope for the G2 incarnation as a Titan class toy, but I find that unlikely. At the same time, I don't think Disney will be too fond of LM being too close to Loki in appearance, so I suspect we will get something a bit between the two. I figure he will be at least voyager class, but preferably leader class (maybe even commander).
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