Robot Kingdom has updated their Facebook page with images of prototypes of iGear’s four upcoming Miniwarriors – Stinger, Rocky, Red Baron and Busta, their unlicensed versions of Minibots Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Powerglide and Wheelie respectively. The images show off each character in robot and alternate mode, along with some size comparison images alongside another of iGear’s Miniwarriors, Bushwacker.
Scaleface
I know this is 3 years after the announcement of a canceled toy, but I JUST got the joke in the bio for Stinger!
For those who don't know obscure WWII history, Adolf Hitler commissioned as a design for the "People'c Car" the Volkswagon Beetle, which is a fact that's mentioned in a UK GoBots annual as a reason why Bug Bite choose it as his form, because he liked Hitler. So accordingly Stinger (Bumblebee) here had a form commissioned by "Horror Monarch" (which was the unreleased iGear Voyager MP Megatron) as his alt mode, then decided to give it up for an earth mode… of a Beetle! Ha! You can't win Stinger!
jamarmiller
more cartoon accurate wouldnt hurt for me at least
Stygian360
So… by that reckoning we should be seeing some news by what… June?
Agreed. They needed to increase the complexity a bit overall (thinking like the recent Cogwheel/Trash-Talk) rather than simply upscale the original smaller-scale sculpts to accommodate the new larger size.
rosewater
Maybe they went back to the drawing board to fix all the problems with them.
Scaleface
No, the last wave took 14 months from announcement to release.
Stinger and Rocky were announced a year ago.
Stygian360
Sorry for the resurrect on this thread— but is this set of figures all but dead at this point? iGear has been silent on the mini-warriors front for a looooong time.
STRAKER454
No, it's me as well.
Really, I'm not a fan of the "penny racer" look alt-mode and i was REALLY hoping for a more "real car" aesthetic but even THAT I can deal with…but that head sculpt XD He looks so BAAAD in the face. And the mouth just tops off the obese look. Really, iGear…you need to fix the heads on BB AND CJ. CJ isn't quite as bad but I agree with another poster here. If you cut the horns off him he looks like Brawn. There's nothing inherently "Cliffjumper" about that.
I DO like Wheelie though and think it's the most true to their previous Mini Warrior offerings in terms of an update to a classic design in their own style. Powerglide here is…not that impressive though. I dunno. Is it lack of enthusiasm for their own work that's sabotaging themselves?
I dunno, I may get these anyway since I really like VW Bumblebee's but I can only hope they will change the head or someone else makes a 3rd Party replacement, lol. There's been enough of a trend in 3rd Party upgrades to 3rd Party toys to hope for it.
SMOG
I wonder if they have any idea at all… I mean, they seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that their Bumblebee face is roundly despised by pretty much everyone in the fandom (ie: their entire buying public)…
zmog
Macross7
I wonder what it was like in the iGear offices when TT announced MP BB. Knowing they put all this money into their BB version & now the market for theirs has shrunked to hardly anyone. Bet it was like that angry german kid who wants to play that video game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOzF5ec6B_k
RustyBarnacles
Bee would end up beige and Cliff would be magenta.
Who knows, mp bee may end up a vw bug so those looking for the penny racer style may have an option. All depends on what takara is going to put up.
agentcastle
exactly! hench wasn't perfect but i really like him (with/without mods) and I'm looking forward to the recently released set… but damn……. those new guys are fugly and lumpy and nauseating (wheelie being the most palatable of the bunch)… i may still get bee but more out of irony than for display purposes…
lee9
Well, I'd hate for them to scrap it entirely. If they can still get the same product out at Scout size, then at least they can continue the line. Hopefully it's not too late to change the mold size.
OptimusTimelord
Pretty sure TT will reshell MP BB into CJ, so I hope iGear scrap theirs (or shrink them down to scout size for Classics), but I would still like to see iGear's take on Windcharger and Warpath. I might be very disappointed but I'd still like to see them! Seriously, this MW line has had some really great designs and some really awful stuff, you just never know what to expect!
Trouble is, Powerglide has a better alternative out there, and iGear's Wheelie ain't no supermodel either, so even that strategy would be a mistake.
I'm still looking forward to getting my Gears, Swerve, and Beachcomber any day now, but after that things are looking pretty dull on the iGear front.
SMOG
See, that's part of the problem for me as well… I DO see a need for a Bumblebee in Classics, because although Classics Bumblebee is a great piece, he feels much too big and thick (especially with Classics figures getting smaller all the time). I've been waiting for a looooong time for someone to fill that lack with a Scout sized Bumblebee. It looked like MW Stinger would be the obvious candidate… but yeah… as you said, too big and too ugly.
zmog
agentcastle
oh, that shit's happening – there's gonna be hundreds of lonely i-gear kim jong-un not-bumblebees flabbin' up ebay
Transbot90210
With the news about MP BB coming, with Classics already having a BB and CJ and the iGear BB being too big and too ugly, I see these guys (BB n CJ) flopping hard for iGear.
I am a big MiniWarrior fan and collect them for my Classics display. I see absolutely zero need for a Bb and a CJ in Classics and, well, MP is now covered.
Cut your losses now iGear or I look forward to buying the deep discounted version of these. Oh, and if you want to get stupid and put one with Powerglide and one with Wheelie, you lose a customer in me.
SMOG
This is exactly how I feel.
iGear lost a lot of momentum and loyalty right away with this headsculpt, demonstrating a pretty brazen lack of aesthetic vision, and just about ZERO communication with their customers. Then they decided to release their Bumblebee at a size that conflicts with… well, pretty much everything. And at the prices Mini-Warriors have been going for, it really doesn't make much sense when there's a Masterpiece figure on the horizon that will likely be the same size, and a far better toy.
RIP iGear. You did it to yourselves this time.
zmog
Max Rawhide
I already wasn't planning on getting iGears BB & CJ because there was nothing in their design that I liked.
Now with MP Bumblebee there's zero motivation for me to get these. Actually, I've become somewhat hesitant about other Mini Warriors. Maybe TT wll release those as well,
lee9
Yep, I agree. I'm so happy I'll have an official MP-sized Bumblebee. Now the only hole left in my collection is a proper minibot update… and iGear's figure at legends/scout size would be perfect.
DogFriedRice
I completely agree with you. Scout or legends size BB I'd definitely buy.
My Henkei BB doesn't need replacing.