Transformers Stream 11/14/23 Recap – Reactivate Toys and More!

NEOLAB

Is that just the prime and soundwave set?

Just that one, yes.

NEOLAB

Have these shown up in the US yet? Aside from Pulse shipping next week, are any other retailers sending notices?

Gamestop’s already released one of the sets

TF Hot Rod

Bayverse design wise I don’t think he fits in to begin with so I don’t think he’d ever look that great visually with them. As for scale I still might use him with my Generations stuff as he’s a van Soundwave

I was thinking specifically of Bumblebee. Which I expect to be around the same height, as they're both the Deluxe in those packaging. Soundwave is fine at different scales. But I don't think it looks right if Bumblebee is taller than other Autobot cars.

I threw in Bayverse for the hell of it. Not my bag. But the live-action toys (under Studio Series, anyway) have been the most consistent in having the characters and alt modes in relative scale.

I like the look of that Bumblebee sculpt. But he seems like he could be too big to fit in a CHUG collection if he's taller than the deluxe cars. I know they expect us collectors to snap everything up. But it would help if they told us exact height. Instead of pretending in the marketing material that both bots are the exact same height by Photoshopping the deluxe.

I looked at the Soundwave review by you-know-who, and compared a screenshot comparison he did with Netflix Soundwave. I put the screenshot still side-by-side with my Siege Soundwave. (One-click to remove the background and save each character as a separate layer.) These are very rough estimates and obscured by angles. But if RA Soundwave actually is about 15cm, that would make this a larger-than-average deluxe. Having to eyeball the relative size between the Deluxe and Voyager in each set, I would expect Bee to be that tall or nearly that tall.

So… this is a bigger Bee is my guess. I'm all for getting more for your money. But collection-wise, that means this Bee may not just fit, visually, with other Generations characters… or Gamerverse… or Bayverse…

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My full thoughts on the reveals if anyone is interested. I think these two sets are cool but a tad boring if for no other reason than the constant "G1 but slightly different" design approach. The additional details on the last SS reveals were cool too, I'm especially glad to hear that Mohawk had decent demand behind him!

Bass X0

but is it so sick, I'm not sure this video answers that

TFtoycollector

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Pc8A4PeZfUU?feature=share

HNNGH… He's awfully close to FOC Jazz-levels of shellage-turned-robot. *sigh* Granted, his vehicle parts *do* fill in the empty space so it's not exactly like FOC Jazz, but it at least feels on the same level.

With the waffles in his limbs, the emptiness of him (before the vehicle parts enter the picture), I can imagine he'll be quite light and feel it. I do think filler kits will go a long way to fixing a lot of my problems with him, however. Nothing can fix him being shorter, however.

I don't hate him, I'm just not as impressed as I had hoped. Prime sets the bar so high.

I'd happily buy that Soundwave from anyone in Europe who only wants to get Optimus, PM me.

TF Hot Rod

I’m glad I stayed out of this thread then, yeez tell me where Bumblebee touched you.

My wallet. Violently and repeatedly. Doggone. Lil' man can wreck a dollar bill, y'all.

YoungPrime

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UGH!!! I’m also no fan of Evan and Hasbro's ongoing sells pitch of Bumblebee yesterday, claiming he's ranked as "Second in command" of the Autobots simply due to popularity resulting in constantly making him a Marysue of current TF lore via Bay-verse, TF Prime, Netflix Trilogy, IDW Vol.1, Cyberverse, and Earthspark to name an irratating few!

So as a loyal G1 fan who still appreciates SIEGE and the true G1 continuity and rankings its based on….
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Starscream: "Autobot 2nd in command my @ss!"

Evan's a good guy. I had a problem with a comment he made a while back, but aside from that, he's a good and decent dude who works very hard to do right by us along with Sam and Mark. (Even BMac (who doesn't design) helps to get these gems made for us.)

Bumblebee's popularity can be blamed on Michael Bay, the original 2007 movie writers, and the producers. They made him into more than he should've been and now we're stuck with him. I'd be fine with that if he was a more compelling character. Lately, they just make him OP and roll with it. Give him something to chew on, like in the actual Bumblebee movie. But don't be a non-fan of Evan because he's doing his job. That's not fair.

Gumblor Gimbles

i dont understand what the issue is. bumblebee is popular, so hes a high rank autobot in tfp, rid2015, cyberverse and earthspark.

new shows dont erase g1.

No, but the thinking behind those lines will hit a misstep somewhere and the sales numbers will look bad and could possibly drag down the entire franchise if it got bad enough. Let's face it, the live-action movies really did a number on things by the time TLK and ROTB were done screwing with everything. I could imagine a toyline being so bad it could do that. We're not quite to Action Master territory, but if we ever got there, might as well just call it quits.

YoungPrime

My opinion gives advice that could possibly make new or pending projects BETTER than G1 was…

It's safe to say that even some writers are getting sick of Bee since they've been picking Bee off in recent films and comics… But other than that they tend to be cheap and lazy with making Bee the star of everything thus diminishing the TF IP's popularity, leaving nobody but its original fans remaining which could possibly end up divided.

Basically a lot of people like myself would like to see more true high ranking Autobots than Bee moving forward. I think it would increase the Brand if they did.

Your opinion is just that, an opinion. They hear you, but that doesn't mean it's taken as advice. Certainly not when the spirit behind it is mean towards Evan. Bumblebee isn't the franchise/ip problem, the movies are. The shows come on cable (that most people aren't subscribed to anymore), or you have to pay for expensive streaming to see it (gee, more money…) don't help matters either. The problem is, the world has passed the 1980s by and left it in the dust. Sure, we wring it for every cent possible through nostalgia, but no one would go back to what the world was like then in the here and now.

I'd say Transformers has adapted as well as can be considering the world's changes since the brand's inception in 1984. Perfect? No. Do we complain a lot? Yes. But it keeps on keepin' on. Bumblebee isn't the problem, the powers that be are. (And no, that's not Evan, Mark, Sam, or BMac.)

Gumblor Gimbles

The Bumblebee movie was more of a success than rotb and tlk lol. Making bee the star hasn't made transformers less popular

Yup. This.

YoungPrime

Should this reply change anything that I've explained to you from my perspective..?

Well, kind of. Taking in other people's perspectives sometimes helps us see that ours isn't perfect and certainly not right all the time.

Gumblor Gimbles

yes? you said bumblebee diminished transformers' popularity

This.

YoungPrime

Yes, some people are getting kind of sick of him, especially the mute one…

The profit Bee made in his solo didn't help them much in that most recent one. I never even bothered watching either film. So I'd like to believe that they would like to know why a TF fan like me (and others) doesn't support their films or like that Earthspark show enough to introduce it to my nephews or grandson.

Some people. Key word: Some. The majority of the people (non-fans included) don't mind him. Some even embrace him. He's basically suffering from a disability and people gravitate towards that. Plenty of people suffer from Mutism and he's proof that you can communicate and live a full life in many other ways. Not only that, he's endearing to the children (y'know, the main audience), and families generally find him pleasant. You want that out of a character/product, you certainly don't want to push people away. He helps them connect.

PrimeBot

It kinda does make me wonder if having Bee take a back seat in ROTB in favor of Mirage probably hurt its box office a little.

I'm not so sure it was that. I think the main thing was the movie just wasn't as strong or as good as it needed to be, but I do think "killing" him off again (much like Prime) has worn out its welcome and people are sick of *that*.

PrimeBot

I don't think the studio is going to care if someone doesn't watch their new movies cause they don't like the fact that Bumblebee has got more popular.
Also this isn't related to the topic so why even debate this here ?

Yeah, Bumblebee's popularity (or lack thereof) isn't the box office problem. The lack of a good movie starring him (and the rest) is the problem. And this is far from the worst derailment these threads/forums have seen. Just saying.