The other features I might appreciate more if I knew where they originated. The two pile drivers can be plugged into a third cap piece and then mounted on the figures’ back. The cap piece can be mounted on the figures back by itself. There are pictures in yesterday’s gallery for all these configurations. I’m not going to knock in any of these options because, hey, options are great, but I imagine I’ll be storing the pile drivers on my Frenzy & Rumble instead of mounting them on the figure’s back.
But wait! There’s more! The “battery packs” also have some Soundwave interactivity. If you thought that would end with just the tapes fitting in his chest… nuh uh, buster. There are two more fun features with the pile drivers. One, that cap piece can be affixed to Soundwave’s sensor and plugged into Soundwave to make a nifty interface. The cap piece will also snap onto Soundwave’s elbow guards and give Soundwave some nifty cannons on his arms. Again, I probably won’t be doing these all that often, but for $300 I’ll take all the play value I can get!
And, finally, of course, Soundwave can hold up to three cassettes in his chest. There’s a cool ratcheting feature in this chest that lets the back of the cavity move back-and-forth depending on how many cassettes you want in there. I tend to leave all the little guys out, but it’s fun to load up Soundwave. It’s a little like musical chairs with five cassettes and three slots though!
Overall, I might have to have my head examined, but I love these guys even at $120. In fact, I want more. Ratbat is a must (though I kinda hope he doesn’t come with a Soundwave repaint – $$$). I’d love to see Slugest & Overkill. And primus knows who else in addition to those new sculpts, these cassettes have so many great repaints that I think this is going to be a rather large rabbit hole for me in the future. Oh, and there’s that little matter of Autobot cassettes too!
If you’re a huge fan of the cassettes and aren’t bad with money, waiting for the TRU exclusive release is probably a good idea. Even with the yellow visor and possibly other color changes, I think it’s going to be a bang up set. All the heavy lifting has been and covered in these three reviews and it’s safe to say these are some of the best Transformers out there.
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cool stuff. I’m almost tempted by this entire set, but then I remember I don’t have any money. :/
ah, for the days when all this stuff was actually affordable….
It’s a testament to the Transformers’ appeal to collectors that we can view two repainted characters as four unique individuals. I mean, who wouldn’t want Buzzsaw? Dude took out freaking Omega Supreme!
That’d be me. I don’t want Buzzsaw. I have Laserbeak who is a much more important character, and those two are the same toy. I only want one of that toy. I know the orange one is a different character, but it’s the same toy, and I only need one. Same thing goes for Frenzy.
Great review and pics, as always!
Regarding the pile-drivers, they do actually clip onto the robot’s arms securely . . . but you have to press ’em on pretty hard, and getting them off might make you worry about breaking the arms. I found this out whilst “reading” the instructions, and though I can’t read much Japanese, it looked like you were supposed to push the pile-drivers in until they clicked. As I say, you can do this, and they stay in place really well, but the force required to do so and then undo it is a bit nerve-wracking on such an expensive and potentially fragile toy.
I’m with you on the desire for more Cassetticons and their repaints. But I’ll also take as many Soundwave repaints as they want to throw at us. If they want to release Soundblaster with Ratbat, Slugfest, Overkill, Beastbox, and Squawktalk, I’d be all for that. Then perhaps some more repaint 2-packs with Enemy & Wingthing, Garboil & Howlback, and Glit and Bat-Bot. Then they can do a massive Shattered Glass box set with Sir Soundwave and all his minions in it. With a green ribbon headband.
Then I might, possibly, be satisfied. };D
Don’t forget ENEMY!
Oh, I didn’t, mate. };D
I think the birds look best in perch-looking-down poses, because that’s when you can take advantage of their wing articulation. Unfortunately, the wings don’t have any upward movement, but they look great in any pose in which their wings can be partially folded.
I’m glad you covered a lot of the hidden cool details like the storage compartments in Soundwave’s feet, which aren’t even mentioned in the instructions that come with Soundwave. Feels like a lot of value added. I also love that Soundwave comes with perches for the birds on both his shoulders and (well-hidden) forearms.
Like you, I ordered them from Japan instead of waiting for TRU, and I don’t regret it.
To not repeat stuff I said yesterday, I’ll just say that I like the review a lot as usual.
I always liked a full stable of casettes, so I’m very happy Takara decided to make Buzzsaw in the first assortment instead of as some weird exclusive. The G1 Buzzsaw (who was packaged with Soundwave in the US) was not released in Japan at all, except as a one-time exclusive, so they could just as well have ignored him. But I’m glad they didn’t. As Clutch noted above, he had a weirdly effective killing streak in the US Comics, where he maimed and disabled an increasingly powerful lineup of enemies until Starscream finally took him out.
As for Rumble… er. Frenzy. Whatever! I’m glad they included the piledrives, but I do agree they have a somewhat limited use in terms of posing. Still, extra value is always good.
Speaking of value, the cost for these are insane, and as an international fan I won’t even have the chance of buying these “cheaper” AT TRU… :/
If we want to fall further down the cassette hole…
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=2810&company=1561
Yeah, I’m starting to worry this might be the only way to get Squawktalk and Beastbox ever again. Takara don’t seem to be in any rush to re-release them. I’d like to think it’s because they’re now going to put their efforts into super-articulated Masterpiece versions of them, but I’m a bit of a dreamer. A dreamer that would also love a Botch. };D
The last interview by Takara said they only have plans for casettes that were in the cartoon. So Slugfest and Overkill may be a go, Ratbat probably almost certainly, but the combiners are probably not gonna happen… MP is the G1 Cartoon line after all…
MEANWHILE, AT TAKARA HEADQUARTERS:
Sarariman 1: What can we do for next year’s TransFormers Masterpiece line-up?
Sarariman 2: We have an obsessive, irrational fanbase around the world who never tire of throwing vast sums of money at us. Why don’t we make all of Soundwave’s cassettes, then we can all retire early?
Sarariman 1: FOOL! This is a cartoon-only line! You dare speak such blasphemy under the guise of profit margins? You have shamed yourself and your family! Go commit seppuku immediately!
[Exit Sarariman 2. Noises Off: The sound of a razor-honed ceremonial blade slicing through flesh and bone, followed by a pronlonged, wet, meaty splash, and a complex thud that could only be a body hitting the floor in a tangle of limp, blood-soaked limbs.]
Sarariman 1: Honour is satisfied. Now, about the next Optimus Prime repaint . . . .
Shame they can’t do a black repaint of Ravage, but the others should be fair game, hmmm? Black and chrome? 😉
Buy the Takara version if you want all the goodies.
Not 100% sure TRU version will include the piledrivers or cassette cases.
My speculation is no for those.