I pre-ordered this toy a while ago, sort of lost interest in it, and forgot to cancel it before it shipped. I'll probably give it to my son, who has expressed some interest in wanting Siege Springer, who is of course long out of print by this point.

But, let's back up. In 1986, Springer was conceived as a character for animation, who was later translated into a Hasbro toy. His look and transformation was conceived by a visual artist, not a toy engineer, so the specifics of how he transformed were largely impossible at the relatively meager Triple Changers price point. The Hasbro version of Springer had far fewer colors and was much more simple in design, capturing Springer's look only in broad strokes. His multiple greens and greys were reduced to only one shade of each, and the G1 toy remains among one of the worst in the entire line..

The Siege edition released in 2020 was a phenomenal improvement. It was a far more complex toy, allowing it to capture the specifics of his transformations more accurately, and it was more accurate to his animated color mapping as well. The Siege Springer toy was released over two years ago, and it seemed like we'd never get any kind of redeco out of it. However, a Wreckers-themed toy assortment is not complete without Springer at the forefront, as he became the de facto leader of that group in the Marvel Comics stories in the UK.

So, just as we've gotten "toy colors" redeco versions of Galvatron and Cyclonus, this is the Siege toy tarted up in the Hasbro toy colors of the 1986 release. (It's not the Marvel Comics color scheme as some have suggested. His boots were purple in the comics, and his shoulder pads were yellow.) On this release, his entire chest is yellow (it was a die-cast piece on the G1 release); his shoulder pads and forearms and boots are completely grey; his pelvis and upper legs and biceps and helmet are lime green, with a slightly lighter green paint used for his face. He does get blue eyes, though, because the guys at Hasbro aren't total monsters.

I haven't handled the Siege toy for a while, so I'd completely forgotten his transformation (other than a vague recollection that it was insanely complex). Had trouble locking the roof down. Car mode is pretty Geewunesque, mostly grey with a yellow hood and a lime green body and a translucent blue canopy window. Helicopter mode is essentially a variation on the car mode, so same color profile.

It's a little weird to get a new toy with pegs for blast effects again, since it's been a while since we've seen this consistently.

His guns are grey; the mount for his helicopter blades is black; the blades themselves are a dark grey. If they wanted to go full G1, they should have done vaccum metalized weapons and black chopper blades.

It's great that they made Springer available again for fans who either weren't collecting two years ago, or couldn't get their hands on him due to COVID-related issues. It's not his best color scheme, though. The toy-based deco is different, certainly, but it's an inferior look. It feels like a step backwards. Somehow I can't look on it as fondly as I do with the Galvatron and Cyclonus toys, though that may be due to the fact that I never owned G1 Springer until I picked one up at BotCon, so he arguably wasn't part of my childhood experience per se. Maybe I'm just not sentimental enough about the toy version of Springer to truly appreciate this release.

They've been producing a great deal of inessential toys lately. I should probably stop buying them.

Zob (is there a cure for #FOMO?)

On Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 10:05:38 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> I pre-ordered this toy a while ago, sort of lost interest in it, and forgot to cancel it before it shipped. I'll probably give it to my son, who has expressed some interest in wanting Siege Springer, who is of course long out of print by this point.
>
> But, let's back up. In 1986, Springer was conceived as a character for animation, who was later translated into a Hasbro toy. His look and transformation was conceived by a visual artist, not a toy engineer, so the specifics of how he transformed were largely impossible at the relatively meager Triple Changers price point. The Hasbro version of Springer had far fewer colors and was much more simple in design, capturing Springer's look only in broad strokes. His multiple greens and greys were reduced to only one shade of each, and the G1 toy remains among one of the worst in the entire line.
>
> The Siege edition released in 2020 was a phenomenal improvement. It was a far more complex toy, allowing it to capture the specifics of his transformations more accurately, and it was more accurate to his animated color mapping as well. The Siege Springer toy was released over two years ago, and it seemed like we'd never get any kind of redeco out of it. However, a Wreckers-themed toy assortment is not complete without Springer at the forefront, as he became the de facto leader of that group in the Marvel Comics stories in the UK.
>
> So, just as we've gotten "toy colors" redeco versions of Galvatron and Cyclonus, this is the Siege toy tarted up in the Hasbro toy colors of the 1986 release. (It's not the Marvel Comics color scheme as some have suggested. His boots were purple in the comics, and his shoulder pads were yellow.) On this release, his entire chest is yellow (it was a die-cast piece on the G1 release); his shoulder pads and forearms and boots are completely grey; his pelvis and upper legs and biceps and helmet are lime green, with a slightly lighter green paint used for his face. He does get blue eyes, though, because the guys at Hasbro aren't total monsters.
>
> I haven't handled the Siege toy for a while, so I'd completely forgotten his transformation (other than a vague recollection that it was insanely complex). Had trouble locking the roof down. Car mode is pretty Geewunesque, mostly grey with a yellow hood and a lime green body and a translucent blue canopy window. Helicopter mode is essentially a variation on the car mode, so same color profile.
>
> It's a little weird to get a new toy with pegs for blast effects again, since it's been a while since we've seen this consistently.
>
> His guns are grey; the mount for his helicopter blades is black; the blades themselves are a dark grey. If they wanted to go full G1, they should have done vaccum metalized weapons and black chopper blades.
>
> It's great that they made Springer available again for fans who either weren't collecting two years ago, or couldn't get their hands on him due to COVID-related issues. It's not his best color scheme, though. The toy-based deco is different, certainly, but it's an inferior look. It feels like a step backwards. Somehow I can't look on it as fondly as I do with the Galvatron and Cyclonus toys, though that may be due to the fact that I never owned G1 Springer until I picked one up at BotCon, so he arguably wasn't part of my childhood experience per se. Maybe I'm just not sentimental enough about the toy version of Springer to truly appreciate this release.
>
> They've been producing a great deal of inessential toys lately. I should probably stop buying them.
>
>
> Zob (is there a cure for #FOMO?)

There are times I kinda wish I loved closer to you, I could sell you the G1 part of my collection I lose interest in, like the Pretenders, Actionmasters, Powermasters, etc, and could get your new style toys you end up with and then don't enjoy.

Zobovor <zmfts@aol.com> wrote:

> So, just as we've gotten "toy colors" redeco versions of Galvatron and
> Cyclonus, this is the Siege toy tarted up in the Hasbro toy colors of the
> 1986 release. (It's not the Marvel Comics color scheme as some have
> suggested. His boots were purple in the comics, and his shoulder pads
> were yellow.) On this release, his entire chest is yellow (it was a
> die-cast piece on the G1 release); his shoulder pads and forearms and
> boots are completely grey; his pelvis and upper legs and biceps and
> helmet are lime green, with a slightly lighter green paint used for his
> face. He does get blue eyes, though, because the guys at Hasbro aren't total monsters.

There are lots of details pulled out with paint a little darker than the
plastic — gray on gray, and green on green. Given the original color scheme
they were inexplicably aiming for, I think they did a remarkable job of
adding a little bit of visual interest.

> It's great that they made Springer available again for fans who either
> weren't collecting two years ago, or couldn't get their hands on him due
> to COVID-related issues. It's not his best color scheme, though. The
> toy-based deco is different, certainly, but it's an inferior look. It
> feels like a step backwards. Somehow I can't look on it as fondly as I
> do with the Galvatron and Cyclonus toys, though that may be due to the
> fact that I never owned G1 Springer until I picked one up at BotCon, so
> he arguably wasn't part of my childhood experience per se. Maybe I'm
> just not sentimental enough about the toy version of Springer to truly
> appreciate this release.

Or maybe it’s just not an interesting color scheme. Galvatron and Cyclonus
really evoke an era with their toy color schemes — I want to say those
color schemes looked dated even in 1986.

Springer evokes nothing. Just a lot of gray.

I would almost want a fake 1986 toy color scheme — start from tiger
original Siege Springer and do darker green, find a way to get the biceps
and thighs silver, and a more blue color for the boots. And some stickers.
Or just do the Siege without Battle Damage.

> They've been producing a great deal of inessential toys lately. I should
> probably stop buying them.
>
>
> Zob (is there a cure for #FOMO?)

You give the toy to your kid, and he is happy.