There are some new in-hand images of Bumblebee from various angles, along with comparison shots against Netflix Bumblebee and other toys:

https://tformers.com/transformers-red-g1-bumblebee-in-hand-images/41469/news.html

Looks like they're just taking the Action Masters route and made Bumblebee the exact same height as Optimus Prime and Megatron. Oh, well. So much for the characters being in scale with each other.

Also, the circle on Bumblebee's back has been turned into a spare tire, like he's in an AKOM episode or something. So, if you've ever been dying for a version of Bumblebee from "City of Steel," now's your time to shine.

Also, Starscream:

https://tformers.com/transformers-red-coronation-starscream-in-hand-preview/41452/news.html

This is honestly the best non-transforming version of Starscream we've ever gotten. The SCF figure was great, but it lacked articulation. The MegaSCF was a far worse sculpt, with cheats made to the sculpt to allow for articulation. This edition seems to get it right finally. He's the same height as Earthrise Starscream!

He's also got coronation gear, which is a cool bonus. It's Malibu Stacy with a new hat! I can't figure out how his cape attaches. I hope there are connection points somewhere, and you're not just supposed to tuck it behind his wings and call it good. The sculpt looks good without the extra gear, though, so that's also nice.

The different values of grey bother me. It's like somebody went, "Hey, as long as we're painting his face dark grey, let's also paint the backs of his wings and part of his cockpit assembly, too."

Zob (and you just know we'll get R.E.D. Thundercracker and Skywarp eventually... Hasbro producing a $20 Starscream figure is an easy $60 sale, if you know what I'm saying)

On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 9:03:43 AM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:

> Also, Starscream:
> https://tformers.com/transformers-red-coronation-starscream-in-hand-preview/41452/news.html
>
> This is honestly the best non-transforming version of Starscream we've ever gotten. The SCF figure was great, but it lacked articulation. The MegaSCF was a far worse sculpt, with cheats made to the sculpt to allow for articulation. This edition seems to get it right finally. He's the same height as Earthrise Starscream!

That comparison shot with the Earthrise version shows exactly where ER goes wrong. It is way too greebled, blocky, and chunky. And of course I hate that crossbar against the cockpit. Cockpit in robot mode should be prominent and the legs should be curvy and slender, not a blocky mess. And the thing is they could have sculpted it in a way that minimized the blockiness while still being transformable, but chose not to.

On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 12:03:43 PM UTC-4, Zobovor wrote:
> There are some new in-hand images of Bumblebee from various angles, along with comparison shots against Netflix Bumblebee and other toys:
>
> https://tformers.com/transformers-red-g1-bumblebee-in-hand-images/41469/news.html
>
> Looks like they're just taking the Action Masters route and made Bumblebee the exact same height as Optimus Prime and Megatron. Oh, well. So much for the characters being in scale with each other.
>
> Also, the circle on Bumblebee's back has been turned into a spare tire, like he's in an AKOM episode or something. So, if you've ever been dying for a version of Bumblebee from "City of Steel," now's your time to shine.
>
> Also, Starscream:
>
> https://tformers.com/transformers-red-coronation-starscream-in-hand-preview/41452/news.html
>
> This is honestly the best non-transforming version of Starscream we've ever gotten. The SCF figure was great, but it lacked articulation. The MegaSCF was a far worse sculpt, with cheats made to the sculpt to allow for articulation. This edition seems to get it right finally. He's the same height as Earthrise Starscream!
>
> He's also got coronation gear, which is a cool bonus. It's Malibu Stacy with a new hat! I can't figure out how his cape attaches. I hope there are connection points somewhere, and you're not just supposed to tuck it behind his wings and call it good. The sculpt looks good without the extra gear, though, so that's also nice.
>
> The different values of grey bother me. It's like somebody went, "Hey, as long as we're painting his face dark grey, let's also paint the backs of his wings and part of his cockpit assembly, too."
>
>
> Zob (and you just know we'll get R.E.D. Thundercracker and Skywarp eventually... Hasbro producing a $20 Starscream figure is an easy $60 sale, if you know what I'm saying)

I'm also holding out hope for an Alpha Trion in the RED series.

I wonder if they'd consider an Ironhide/Ratchet. Of all the G1 updates we've received, they've consistently gotten short shrift. Their Universe/Henkei versions were abominations from the standpoint of both screen accuracy and playability. The MPs diverged from the animation models to account for the reality of physics when handling their transformations. WFC's versions were nice, but still a departure. RED would offer a great opportunity at last for a screen accurate Ironhide unencumbered by the compromises of a vehicle mode. Bonus for Hasbro, the inevitable Ratchet repaint.

On Friday, May 21, 2021 at 9:12:49 PM UTC-6, Codigo Postal wrote:

> I wonder if they'd consider an Ironhide/Ratchet.

Ironhide's a solid choice. I guess it really depends on what kind of collection Hasbro is trying to build. So far, the character selection seems like it's been a fairly random hodgepodge. They're obviously not just going for top-tier G1 characters since they also did Cheetor from Beast Wars and and Arcee from Transformers: Prime.

Super7 expressed some frustration with Hasbro about not immediately disclosing that they were doing Transformers R.E.D., which in some ways makes the Transformers Ultimates line rather redundant (and there's already been a bit of character overlap). They didn't indicate any kind of a game plan like "hey, we're just going to focus on core characters, and we'd like to see you do more obscure collector-driven stuff." Nothing like that. I assume their strategy is going to be similar to what they've done in the past: keeping familiar, recognizable characters in the rotation but also including more obscure fan favorites in the mix.

Zob (I loved MegaSCF, but I hated that it shifted to Armada characters)

On Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 9:22:16 AM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:

> Super7 expressed some frustration with Hasbro about not immediately disclosing that they were doing Transformers R.E.D.,

Sucks to be them having to pay for the license then get out distributed and undercut like that with Hasbro's wider release and better sculpted R.E.D. Super7's Ultimates sculpts don't look like they have a unified house style and that kills it for me. Their Actionmasters are more G1 toy accurate in appearance and don't look like they belong next to Ultimates Prime and Starscream's ghost, which look like Akom renditions.

> I assume their strategy is going to be similar to what they've done in the past: keeping familiar, recognizable
> characters in the rotation but also including more obscure fan favorites in the mix.

I think Super7 is good for the long run. I expect Hasbro to abandon R.E.D. after they've done the top five characters from most of their more popular animated series. Like we'll probably see Unicron trilogy maybe, and maybe some Japanese guys and that's it.

> Zob (I loved MegaSCF, but I hated that it shifted to Armada characters)

I am sure if this line continues we're gonna see more of that.

On Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 7:41:04 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> Sucks to be them having to pay for the license then get out distributed and undercut like that with Hasbro's wider release and better sculpted R.E.D..

Yeah, and I get the feeling they might have had to adjust their game plan to try and not create a lot of unnecessary overlap. Hasbro R.E.D. and Super7 Ultimates are essentially serving the same markets. Ultimates are slightly larger, but a seven-inch articulated non-transforming Optimus Prime for $55 is pretty much redundant when there's a five-inch non-transforming Optimus Prime for $20 that serves nearly the same purpose. Diversifying and diving deep into the lore, with super-obscure characters, is the only thing that's going to save Ultimates over the long term. I think they realized this, which is why they started hitting European Action Masters almost immediately. That's honestly about as obscure as it gets.

> Super7's Ultimates sculpts don't look like they have a unified house style and that kills it for me. Their Actionmasters are more G1 toy accurate in appearance and don't look like they belong next to Ultimates Prime and Starscream's ghost, which look like Akom renditions.

Well, there are no cartoon models for a lot of Action Masters characters. The Marvel Comics "character model" for Action Master Grimlock, such as it was, was basically to draw the toy. And if you take Bombshell or Tracks and give them cartoon elements, then they no longer look like the Action Masters, but become some kind of pointless Studio Ox/Dreamwave/Revoltech amalgamation.

> I think Super7 is good for the long run. I expect Hasbro to abandon R.E.D.. after they've done the top five characters from most of their more popular animated series. Like we'll probably see Unicron trilogy maybe, and maybe some Japanese guys and that's it.

Hasbro and Super7 have such radically different sales models that I'm having difficulty predicting how this is going to go. My suspicion is that Ultimates is going to significantly outlast R.E.D. Consumers are seeing R.E.D. in stores and can't figure out why the toys don't transform. That's a major sticking point for them. If Walmart sales are poor, then Hasbro will reevaluate the toy line and axe it. I will be surprised if we get more than three or four waves.

What Super7 is doing is smarter in some ways, because they're completely forgoing the impulse consumers and catering specifically to collectors. You don't accidentally end up with a non-transforming fifty-five dollar Banzai-Tron in your shopping cart. You have to actively seek it out. You have to make a deliberate decision to buy it. And the pricing, though exorbitant, probably works in Super7's favor. The toys are probably considered premium collectibles just by merit of being insanely expensive. The reasoning, probably, is that Hasbro churns out cheap toys for twenty clams, but Super7's product must be better because they charge more. It's the marketing placebo effect.

I look at Super7's sales model for Ninja Turtles and it's insane. NECA is handling TMNT toys that look like they stepped out of the 1988 cartoon, so Super7 is leaning hard into capturing the look of the original action figure sculpts by Playmates Toys. It's roughly the equivalent to doing an action figure of, say, G1 toy Megatron instead of an action figure of Sunbow cartoon Megatron. There's a huge difference. Now, obviously there are some Ninja Turtles characters who are very iconic and some who just aren't. When Super7 said they were only doing five waves, that meant about 20 characters, and the list of characters who would populate such a toy line pretty much writes itself. Now that they're expanding, though, they're digging much deeper than I expected. They're already doing tributes to some of the dreaded "Turtles in costumes" toys that plagued much of the original Ninja Turtles run.

What's awful is that I'm buying them. Each and every one of them, so far. They're churning out so many of them. I was a bit older than most kids when I got into Ninja Turtles (I was 14 years old) but these new sculpts manage to make the pleasure center of my brain light up. Huge nostalgia rush. Do the old toys, but make them bigger and better. It's the same as the Masters of the Universe Origins sales model that Mattel is using. They're just selling us the same characters from 1982, but with knee joints and moving elbows, and we're all gobbling it up. It's simple and it's lazy and it's fucking brilliant.

It's a little harder for Hasbro and Takara to do with Transformers because in addition to nailing the aesthetics, they also have to engineer a working transformation. I think that's one of the reasons why they've historically struggled with homages at times, because the legacy transformation scheme itself is part of the nostalgic draw. I think that's one of the reasons why their "G1 with ball joints" approach is so effective. It's why Titans Return Sixshot was such a successful toy. But if you just eliminate the transformation aspect entirely, like with Super7's Ultimates, you can focus entirely on aesthetics. There's no transformation to complain about. Taking that out of the equation is going to help.

Zob (armchair market analyst-at-large)