Spoiler: Mech biology speculation While it makes sense from a cool-factor perspective, the idea that different Transformers have differing weapon capabilities based on some sort of "power level" even for weapons that aren't physically attached to them is rather strange mechanistically. Like, for humans, the physical requirements to wield a gun are based on roughly 1: the ability to lift the gun, and 2: the ability to withstand the recoil. These requirements somewhat scale with the power of the gun, but only to certain extents. While it is possible that mecha have similar issues, unless they're constantly operating at the boundaries of their physical abilities, these shouldn't matter so much. But the power source for the gun is in the bullet itself, which makes it a marked contrast from weapons like bows that depend on the user's strength for the initial energy storage: provided you are above the necessary thresholds to use the gun at all, the power of the bullet doesn't depend on your personal attributes. Contrast to, say, Dragon Ball, where the energy beams are being directly drawn from and emitted by the physical bodies of the combatants, and hence the power of the beam is related to the power of the combatant. The combatant is the power source, not merely the scaffolding, and hence their ability to fire beams is not directly connected to the amount of recoil damage their bodies can withstand except at the very high end. So why is it that some mecha, despite not being physically larger and not having noticeably more recoil-mitigation, are capable of handling stronger weaponry? Well, what if there is a relation to power sources? Is it just the case that mecha happen to actually power their beam weaponry from their own bodies? That a stronger reactor for the mech as a whole also gets fed via some conduit into the gun? Again, these are weapons are largely detached, with their only point of connection to the mech being via the hands, or occasionally an arm mount, but are still easily detachable. Do mechs just have power-ports in their hands that connect to their guns? Do their ports continue to bleed energy if they're suddenly disarmed? Can those ports be used for anything else? Are TF kink authors unaware of yet another possible orifice?
So I'm usually a big fan of third-party toys and am willing to put up with complicated transformations in the name of clean modes and stable combined forms but uhhh I think these boatformers might be a tad over-engineered: Even with all of that, the combined mode's head is still just hanging off the robot-mode's back. On the other hand, the fact that the torso inverts for combined mode is bonkers in the "impressive but why" kind of way.
So I have little interest in the Flame Toys action figures, mostly because they don't transform, but also because they're extremely...dudeular. Which, fine, some people like muscular robots. But, uh, Spoiler not exactly my style.
[looking at the crotch] yeah dudeular is the appropriate adjective for that. hi guys spock is holding my hand through the thing
01-Studio is making an All-in-One Devastator! No combiner kibble! The chestplate is built into Long Haul, the head is built into Hook, the arms and hands are built into Scavenger and Bonecrusher! Kind of surprised that no one else has attempted this before. I guess the arm kibble has always been such a standard part of the Devastator aesthetic. I mean, the 01-Studio Bonecrusher is oddly long in vehicle mode because of the built-in arm. Spoiler: long [EDIT] So Mastermind Creations and Mecha Invasion are also making all-built-in Devastators.
So I just read the first volume of the new Image Comics Transformers series and uh... Spoiler Apparently you can recharge the matrix by sticking a human in it? We're already doing the pink alchemy bit this early? Or does it have to be a voluntary sacrifice?
Transformers One quick review: Pretty good, and accessible to people who don't really have any Transformers background, but with some nice references and cameos for people who do. Spoiler I actually really liked the OP/Meg fight at the end. At first I was a little worried it was just going to be a pair of guys punching each other as many OP/Meg fights end up being, but then they remembered that they can transform, and even partially transform! One reason that I really liked the tournament arc of Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita was that it was the first place that I found that really explored the question of what kind of martial arts can only be done by robots? And like, yeah, the axe didn't really make any sense, but it was a callback to the '86 movie, where it also didn't make any sense. But the part where OP transformed only his legs so that he could roll Megatron into a wall was fun. Also the part where Meg manifested his arm cannon. Like, in most continuities, the arm cannon is a detachable weapon, something that Megatron picked up somewhere on his way to power, but here it came from his rage and his transformation cog. This is what it means to have the power to change yourself, not just to have an alt mode but to be a shapeshifter. And that makes it a fascinating contrast with Functionism from the IDW comics; in this movie, it is particularly the lack of alt mode that forces all of these bots into the mines, not because they are especially suited to them, but because they don't have anything else to be. Having a transformation cog would be more than just having an alt mode; a Cybertronian with a cog is larger, stronger, but also has more options in terms of what their physical form can do. B-127 suddenly discovering knife-hands! Like, not even deliberately! It implies that with enough effort, a Cybertronian could change their alt mode! I'm not sure how I feel about the Decepticons all being former High Guard. Maybe I'm just too used to the IDW Decepticons, who started out as the angry downtrodden but quickly morphed into pure violence and sadism. They made a hint at the reform-versus-revolution thing, but with the Decepticons apparently all being High Guard (except for Megatron) it doesn't quite feel like such a revolutionary movement as it does a counter-revolution, an attempt to restore the old aristocracy against the new dynasty. Also I don't know how I feel about Zeta being one of the Thirteen Primes. Also also, I wish that when they were in the cave, D-16 had used the word "deceived" instead of "lied to". Just, as setup for the Decepticon name. Also, the name "Autobot" came out of nowhere. Actually, the last fifteen minutes of the movie felt rather rushed, trying to cram in both the fall of Sentinel and the start of the Autobot-Decepticon schism without time to really work the political or social issues that would lead to the schism being more than just OP and Meg, to being identities that could sprawl into a million-year-long war. Like, the fight was great, but the context wasn't really there. If was OP trying to protect Sentinel from Meg so that Sentinel could stand trial, that would be one thing, but Sentinel was dead at that point. The age of false prophets was over; by what authority did OP have to then unilaterally exile Megatron? I guess this is the usual problem with OP: like a scimitar lobbed by a moistened bint, the Matrix of Leadership grants OP a claim of authority that, for however much he deserves it, was granted by a power that is not recognized by a good chunk of the population for perfectly legitimate reasons. But like the kings of old, he is a conduit to a god that brings plenty in times of scarcity, which doesn't really mean anything for his right or ability to govern but does make it a little awkward to piss him off.
