So, with
Titans Return winding down, Hasbro looks to the future with its follow up, and
the conclusion to the Prime Wars Trilogy with Power of the Primes. After it's
official unveil at San Diego Comic Con recently, I've been thinking over the
news and leaks that have come from it, and would like to voice my views on the
new line.
So first
of all, I should state that I have been enjoying Titans Return overall. While
some of the figures have been pretty "meh", a lot more have been
really entertaining moulds to mess around with. While I do get where some
people are coming from, in that it doesn't make the Headmasters from G1 feel as
special anymore, and I personally would have liked some of the newer
headmasters get the CHUG treatment over some in the line *cough* Sideways
*cough* Overload *cough*. I have enjoyed the fact that it’s given some
characters new chances at life, some who haven't been seen in years, even
decades. Unfortunately, the biggest issue I've had with the line is
availability here in Australia. US readers, I hope you like your Wave 5, it’s
not going to be seen here until September at the earliest. On top of the US
Exclusives like Chaos on Velocitron and Siege on Cybertron, and you have people
like me wishing they could get a complete Titans Return set, knowing they may
never will. Another issue I've had with the line is a more personal issue. I
hate stickers. I hate Sticker details. I can live with them to an extent, if
the design is more complicated then basic paint can do, but later on into the
line, all the voyagers and leaders started using these foil stickers for
everything more complicated then paint and it gets frustrating to see them peel
off due to the quality of them. What makes it worse is that they do them for
the insignias of the characters too, and I know they've got all sizes of
Autobot and Decepticon tampographs they can apply, so to see them as stickers
makes them look cheap. I know some people like them, as it is better than no
details at all. But there are some characters like Broadside and Megatron which
would have benefited with paint and tampographs over stickers. Silver doesn't
work on grey plastic.
So, with
that out of the way, let me go into Power of the Primes. Starting with its
announcement, and I was pretty underwhelmed by it honestly. So, the new gimmick
is Powermasters... which does lead to why Powermaster Prime and Overlord were
in Titans Return, but that's beside the point. Contained in the new replacement
for Titan Master class sets, Prime Masters can be combined with Deluxe, Voyager
and Leader class characters to power them up, or used as a weapon in their
pretender shells. Prime Masters themselves are retools of Titan Masters, and
with the announcements so far, what's confirmed. It feels like a pretty average
opening wave.
For the
Prime Masters, we have Liege Maximo, which comes with the Skullgrin pretender
suit. Doing some research into Pretenders, the first thing that comes to mind
is "what's going to fill out the line?", there are thirteen primes,
and I think the SDCC panel said there would only be 12 in PotP, but I could be
wrong. To compare that to Titans Return, the Titan Masters were at bot 12 by
wave 3. If my predictions are correct, there are going to be 6 waves of both
Titans Return and probably Power of the Primes, and there are more pretenders,
33 not counting Classic Pretenders and Japan exclusives. Who's going to make
the cut? Are we getting normal Powermasters too?
Moving
onto the Legends class, and the way they sold this, it makes it sound like
they're characters they couldn't fit into Titans Return, because the way they
interact with Prime Masters is exactly the same as how most Legends class bots
interacted with Titan Masters, riding in the vehicle modes. Not to insult
Beachcomber fans, but the initial push for me wasn't there for me. The other
thing for me is that we seem to be getting a lot of Autobot Legends class
characters lately, and while I don't know if was like that in G1, from my
perspective I'd like to see some more decepticon legends class characters.
On to
Deluxe, and this is where things get a bit more interesting. Three characters
were revealed officially, Jazz, Dreadwind and Darkwing. Jazz I'm honestly
surprised wasn't in Prime Wars sooner, just due to the nature of the character,
but Dreadwind and Darkwing have my interest. While yes, they do use Combiner
Wars parts (hello Galvatronus limbs), they also do have a vehicle combined mode
like their original toys to create Dreadwing. I personally enjoy gimmickformers
depending on how the gimmick is implemented, its why I enjoy the Cybertron line,
so something like this is more interesting for me as it adds some more
originality to the line, makes them feel more unique. I admit I'm hesitant to
see the execution of the Prime Master gimmick in this and the voyager class,
because I can see things going badly depending on the execution.
Onto the
Voyager announced, and this almost killed my interest. Starscream. I have mixed
feelings about Starscream, it really depends on how he's written, but in terms
of toys. Starscream often comes with the promise of the Seekers. Skywarp and
Thundercracker at least, cone heads maybe, the "Something Storm" ones
if they're reaching hard, so when I see a Starscream, my first thought is
"Oh Primus we're going to have waves of just that mould as voyagers aren't
we?". Also, can we please pull back on sticker details?!
Last, but
not least, the confirmed Leader class characters. Rodimus Prime, and Optimus
Primal. While we haven't seen Primal, we have seen Rodimus and Rodimus does
make up for Starscream (before leaks). The fact that this is the first Rodimus
that lets you turn Hot Rod into Rodimus without trailer kibble. That genuinely
excites me, and the figure itself looks great. He's one I definitely want to
get.
Overall,
the official announcement was mediocre for me. But, what did get my interest in
the line was the leaks. Now, I'm not going to post the images of the leaks
here, as I'd rather not risk Hasbro wanting me to take this post down, as I'm
pretty sure they're image hunting them. I do encourage you look around for them
though if you want to see what they look like.
According
to the leaks, incoming characters include (and if these names are wrong, they
are phone camera captures of a computer screen, I am trying here):
Prime
Masters (I can't see some of their pretender shells..): Micronus Prime, Vector
Prime and Metalhawk, Alchemist Prime, Alpha Trion, Quintus Prime and Bludgeon,
Megatronus and Bomb Burst, Solus Prime and Octopunch
Legends:
Slash, Windcharger, Skrapnel Rerelease, Battleclash?, three that I can't see
the names for, Cindersaur
Deluxe:
Slug, Swoop, Snarl, Sludge, Rippersnapper, Moonracer, Cutthroat, Blot,
Simmertwin Novastar,
Voyager:
Grimlock, Hun-Gurr, Elita-1, Inferno, a Grimlock repaint, Predacons (to make
Predaking)
Leader: Optimus
Prime, Rodimus Unicronus (Rodimus Prime Repaint), an Optimus Prime rerelease?,
Optimus Primal, a Rodimus Prime rerelease?
Now,
there's a lot to unpack here, and many wouldn't recognise the names, so... The
Prime Masters are going to be who you expect, their pretender shells though,
not so much. Not much to say on Legends due to the quality of the picture,
we're getting G1 Dinobots in Deluxe and Voyager scale, Predaking and Abominus
incoming, lots more fembots, with Moonracer and Novastar getting toys for the
first time ever, and Leader Class is looking to get really old, really fast,
and is the one thing about this leak I'm hoping is fake. 3 waves in a row of
Rodimus Prime? I like the look of the mould, I don't like it that much,
especially since there are other characters who deserve the CHUG Treatment.
Overall though, this leak was what got me excited for the upcoming line,
because of the new characters, that don't get a lot of toy treatment, if at
all. Again, my only issue is the leaders.
While the
leaks have given me more interest in the line overall, what really interests me
is what could be coming. The main ones for me being Leader Star Saber and
Deathsaurus. The other Powermasters like Doubledealer, Joyride and Slapdash?
Some characters that were Japan exclusives? Something that justifies the S in
Generations that isn't G1 related? There's a lot of possibilities here that I
hope gives the Prime Wars Trilogy a strong note to end on. One way to find out,
maybe some of the leaks will be shown off in Hascon (I'll admit that Titans
Return Arcee looks really nice). Anyway, see you in the next review.
