A new conventions in Singapore, titled Botfest, has been underway this weekend. Mastermind Creations is in attendance with productions samples from their Ocular Max and Reformatted line. Included with their Reformatted figures is a new reveal, Nitro. Nitro is a retool of Reformatted Calidus (Rodimus) into Nitro Convoy/Override from Galaxy Force/Transformers Cybertron. Thanks to U. Nem Studios and Butterfly Effect TF Box on Facebook for supplying a ton of new images.
Additionally, there are a ton of images of the latest incoming projects from various 3rd party companies like X-Transbots, KFC, Open Play, FansHobby and Maketoys.
You can check out the pics of Reformatted Nitro by clicking the title bar.
Chaotic91
I finally decided to order a copy since it was available on BigBadToyStore. Now to just get a Galaxy Meteor which is going to be a pain because of how rare that figure has gotten. I really regret selling my original copy.
QuintusTheExaltedOne
Override is a better character, just way more entertaining and memorable. I disagree that the other person said the face sculpt was bad. This was never attempting to be IDW Override, it was a retool of IDW Rodimus into a Cybertron Override or Galaxy Force Nitro Convoy modern reinterpretation. The headsculpt works great for the original intended character, and allows people to choose if this mold is male or female. I'd love for someone to do a dedicated IDW Override, but I'm not gonna get upset that this isn't something it was never trying to be.
LazyAza
This is still a very bizarre complaint of yours given its you n all and you also lambast this same mold for its inaccuracy to Rodimus
The only parts of the toy that can be replaced, as is inherent to how it was designed are the upper chest piece (not the overall torso piece), the upper shoulder pieces, the head, the forearm panels and the back wing inserts and maybe the shin panels and hood scoop, so you can imagine how much the Getaway version still just looked like Calidus.
Swapping all of these in to any number of new shape variations would not give you an IDW override toy that looks the part so I'm not sure why you're so interested in the idea. And certainly a mere head swap alone would have been that much further from achieving this.
It would be wasted effort resulting in a fairly mediocre representation of her. You would have the same core frame of toy, the same fairly masculine broad upper body physique. Mostly same alt mode etc when IDW Override is very clearly overtly feminine in shape and stature and has more in common with the likes of a TFP Arcee. Her head to torso ratio alone is radically different to that of this mold, keeping in mind its head has to slot in to the tiny compartment at the back of the torso.
This is the fundamental nature of retooling sometimes. Some toys are better designed for it or specific kinds of character types than others and have vastly more options for what can and can't work. I think you both misunderstand retooling, body archetypes and how important they are and undervalue your own arguments and your own past criticisms of mmc's efforts by making such an exception for this toy and what you think should have been done with it. I don't think you actually want what you think you want in this instance.
I think it was much smarter to do what mmc did with Nitro specifically because of how the Cal mold works and looks.
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No its not some mind blowing effort, the retooling was modest indeed, but it resulted in the best looking version of this toy and is quite a nice representation of the original character as intended.
Thundershot
I put a couple coats of future polish on his fins and they stay in just fine. Same for Rodimus/Calidus.
I’m glad they didn’t try to give the figure a more feminine head. Because then it wouldn’t evoke Nitro Convoy, who is male and my preferred version of the character. Hasbro decided at the last minute to make him female.
Honesty
Still so disappointed with this figure and what it could have been with perhaps some better retooling — instead of just a different (terrible) head/face.
I mean, she could have still been… quasi-sorta-kinda-but-still-not-really-passable, with a proper, accurate IDW head/face. But nope. They didn’t even bother. Instead giving … her … this weird, original creation of a face/head instead.
At least after all the complaining, Byrin (and I hate saying this, because Byrin is awesome), gave us a new (bad) head for the crappy Cyclonus repaint. But the effort didn’t happen here.
As of now, in my opinion of course, this is up there with one of the laziest of MMC’s releases.. ever. As it stands, she looks like their terrible Rodimus in drag.
Nice photos tho.
(what could have been:
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Paladin
so i'm curious- was there any release of this mold (or Calidus for that matter) where the fins actually STAY IN?!
Love it but it's an annoying flaw.
IceConvoy
Is this a reissue or president to no stock?
just wondering on the viability of one of those alternate color schemes, like the GTS one, we discussed back when Nitro was first released.
Strike Creamsicle
BBTS is taking orders for Nitro coming "this month" ?
Reformatted R-30 Nitro
In case anyone is interested. I just stumbled across it kind of randomly.
solskjaer
Looking for box and insert for MMC R-30
Nitro. Please pm. Thanks
godotislate
Vagabond Elf
Oh, of course. Short of hate speech, I fully support the right of any person to write whatever they want. But I rather doubt a setting as uncounsiously sexist as – well, anything from 1984, really, Transformers is hardly unique in that regard – would find a market.
Which is the mechanism by which the setting's unacceptabilitynwould be expressed.
At the risk of drama, I cannot see any difference between this statement and "Why isn't there a Straight Pride Parade?" If you genuinely don't think men and women deserve to be treated equally, I've no idea how to reply. If you think I'm only talking about toys, I respectfully ask you reread my post, in greater detail. And if you don't believe that media portrayals of gender roles make no difference to how the real world acts, I suppose my only recourse is to assure you it does and offer to have some doctors of sociology comment here.
Lodril
Unless I'm mistaken, Vagabond Elf is a member of the public, and that's exactly the intention being expressed… but also, by corollary, offering a commendment of MMC's choice.
Personally, I feel that since a character of similar styling appears in three places, and is female in two of them, one of which is the usual resource from which MMC pulls their inspiration with this line, it would have been the stranger choice for them to assert the character was masculine.
siccoyote
I don't remember anything in the original cartoon continuity which said females HAD to be in a minority, they just were, because, toys.
I also don't see why there HAS to be parity. I mean nobody moans there aren't enough guys in Yuru Yuri for example even though it seems like they've been wiped off the face of the earth.
Sammael
I'll give you reality, but limiting fiction (particularly science fiction) by demanding that it must adhere to the current societal norms is… limiting. Any fiction author should feel free to explore the possibilities without having to worry about being ostracized. If the public doesn't like his views, they will simply not buy/consume his or her work.
TCracker
Hmmmm….I feel weird referring to Nitro Convoy as a her. I only watched Galaxy Force and to me Nitro is like a shounen, aka young man rather than a lady.
Anyways, dont mind me and please.dont get offended. Just my rambling
Vagabond Elf
Well, first off, I don't like the cartoon and thus it's canon plays no role in my collecting choices.
But far more importantly, I didn't say "gender parity in Transformers." I said "gender parity." Full stop. Meaning gender parity throughout society, not just within one media franchise.
Is having more toys of female transformers a big step? No, of course not. But the portrayal of women in media influences the way society acts towards women in the real world, and I approve of and support anything that improves that. TF fiction is driven by the toys; more female toys means more female characters. Toys of female warriors means stories about female warriors, challenging the presumption that women must be secondary, caregiver characters.
Which brings us back to the old cartoon canon – which apparently demands that women be a massive minority with highly limited roles in society. (You seem to be saying that females must be either Maids or Nurses.) That means the writers have created an excuse for inequality – but the inequal society the canon portrays was not an accurate reflection of society even in 1984 and is certainly not acceptable in fiction or reality in 2018.
And that is why I think MMC's choice to portray Nitro as female is a good thing.
Max Tower
Dark Nitro Convoy deco would make a nice convention exclusive colour repaint.
As for the idea of an accessory – how about a Shield shaped like the character's Cyberplanet Key ?
Or you could just lend them the sword and shield from the 2018 Reveal the Shield Voyager Optimus Prime.
Ellamin
he should be from drift or wing if they kept it repaints, otherwise, why not make a "fast looking assault tank" hybrid for him?
Deadend
Never noticed this before, but Nitro Convoy/Overdrive kind of is the original Drift design in a lot of ways. Some different colors, but they share many similar trademark elements in helmet design and shoulders. And some other design cues across his other variations.
LazyAza
At this point in time I don't think their is any need to hold true to whatever implied nature was established to the transformer lore or brand in the past and how it represented gender in its characters anymore. The franchise is defined by re-inventing itself and always trying to do something new and different with how it handles its characters and that variety and diversity has never been more important in the modern age.
But I just want cool and fun and new and different toys all the time really. Approaching gender in a variety of ways and how it is represented in transformer design is a big part of what allows design to be better. With particular characters their are always the good ways to approach them and the bad ways, it really just comes down to your end goals though and what is considered important for any given design interpretation.