Dave's Kinda-Transformers Rant: Dicelings wave 2

White Dragon (retool of Themberchaud)
Displacer Beast
Blue Beholder (redeco, not purchased)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/misc/Dicelings2

Note, there's already pre-orders up for a clear redeco of the Displacer
Beast, a Green Dragon, a brown Owlbear, and a Mimic (turns into the treasure
chest variety with long tongue). I might get the Mimic.

http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/misc/Dicelings1 - Themberchaud mold

CAPSULES

$14 at Hasbro Pulse

White Dragon: Original mold Mildly Recommended. This one is really no
better or worse, but it lacks the "named character" element of the wave 1
dragons. Very mildly recommended unless you're trying to assemble a full set
of chromatics.

Displacer Beast: Almost a complete shellmaster, with most of the shell
folding up into the shoulder tentacles and the rest supporting the tail, but
it works reasonably well. Mildly recommended.

RANTS

Packaging: Same as wave 1. Figures in cardboard spacers to hold them in
place, with something like parchment paper (silicone impregnated) around the
D20, and more sheets of it in between parts to prevent paint scraping (dragon
only, Displacer Beast lacks these internal sheets).

WHITE DRAGON
Transformation Steps: 8

Color Swaps: All the plastic is now white.

Paint Apps: In D20 mode, the & logo is painted metallic light blue.
In dragon mode, that metallic light blue is used for the neck and chest
scutes. The undersides of the wings (the sites that are inside in D20 mode)
are painted a cool silver with a hint of blue to it. The two tiny horns, the
claws, and the spines along the top of the tail are painted warm gray. The
inside of the mouth is painted blue-purple with the teeth either left
unpainted or painted over in white. Most likely the first one, based on UV
response. Finally, the eyes are bright blue.

Mold Changes: Just a new head. I guess the white dragon standards
changed over time, there's very little of the "kinda a parasaur" head found
on the classic white dragons. Two little conical devil horns, a serious
underbite with big fangs pointing up, and chin spikes.

Other Notes: I haven't seen the movie yet (waiting for streaming or
disk), but I suspect the lack of a name beyond "white dragon" means that at
most white dragons are deep background scenery.
I presume that the rolling characteristics are the same as Rakor's, the
head change isn't going to throw off the center of mass by much.

Overall: I guess it depends on what "your" white dragons look like, and
if you got any of the other dragon molds (or if you're hoping for a blue one
so you can have a complete set of chromatics), but this is really just a head
swap in new colors without being a "character" of any sort.

Displacer Beast
Transformation Steps: 5

AKA A.E. van Vogt's Dark Destroyer, aka Mughi (book version of the Dirty
Pair).

D20 Mode: All black plastic, distinguishable from Rakor in this mode by
the & logo being painted metallic gold rather than metallic green.
When properly transformed, this is pretty solid, resisting gap-opening
pretty well when rolled.

Transformation: Almost all of the die surface unfurls into the beast's
shoulder tentacles, with panels folding under to thin them a bit and make
them look less wing-like. The rest of the die surface has the tail molded on
its inner faces, giving the beast a really long and dragging tail (the first
joint is well below the butt). Once you peel it, there's a kitty all curled
up inside.
Getting back into D20 mode requires a lot of stuff to be in the right
places simultaneously, so basically get things close and then massage the die
for a while. You might want a thin blade handy to pry out any piece that
gets pushed too far in. The side shared by 17 and 3 took me the most work to
shove into place.

Displacer Beast Mode: Okay, so one of the elements that makes the
Displacer Beast "unique" to D&D is that it has six legs, although artists
tend to differ on where the third pair goes (the original art has them just
ahead of the rear legs, but this toy follows other art that puts them up
against the front legs, almost sharing a shoulder with each front leg.
Anyway, it's a six-legged cat with shoulder tentacles that end in fleshy and
toothy pads, plus a really long tail.
From snout to tail tip it's about 6.25" (16cm) long, although about half
of that is tail. Each tentacle can flatten out to a length of 4" (10cm) from
the shoulderblade connection, a little more if you flip the final segment
over. The whole thing is black plastic, with the non-shell parts being a
softer plastic than the shell parts.
The claws, teeth, and the spikes on the tentacle ends are painted bone
white. The gums, inside of the mouth, insides of the ears, and the tentacle
end pads are painted a dark pink. The eyes are yellow with black slit
pupils.
The head is on a ball joint at the end of the neck, and the neck itself
is on a hinge that lets it move up and down. The jaw is hinged to open, and
for some reason there's a hole in the roof of the mouth (it's smaller than
3mm, but might accept a sufficiently jammed-in Lego flame piece...might just
be there to make it easier to shove the neck joint in without creating an
airight seal, though). There's a hinge at the waist that's mainly for
transformation but does allow for some useful posing opportunities. The
front two pairs of legs share limited ball joint shoulders, and have hinge
and swivel joints at the ankles (backwards "knees") and for the paws. The
rear legs have individual ball joint hips, hinge and swivel knees, fused
ankles, hinge and swivel paws. The tail has a simple hinge joint where the
molded hanging-down part meets the 8 face of the D20 shell, two more
hinged-strut-and-ball-joint (HSABJ) connections along the way, and a simple
hinge for the final segment. Each tentacle starts with a socket over one of
the front shoulderblades, with a hinge where the strut connects to the D20
shell piece. The next two joints are hinges, and then there's another HSABJ
for the spiky pad bit. There's a smaller bit of spiky pad that's folded over
to give some thickness, and it's on another HSABJ joint although it's meant
to stay put in this mode.

Overall: It's a little like the Owlbear in terms of having a few too
many triangular panels for its own good in beast mode, but it manages the
problems better. Nice old school danger kitty, and almost to scale with
gaming miniatures if you assume it's one of the "occasional mutant" beasties
that's 15-20 feet long.

Dave Van Domelen, wonders if the Dicelings can roll themselves for
initiative.

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 2:56:43 PM UTC-5, Dave Van Domelen wrote:
> Dave's Kinda-Transformers Rant: Dicelings wave 2
>
> White Dragon (retool of Themberchaud)
> Displacer Beast
> Blue Beholder (redeco, not purchased)
>
> Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/misc/Dicelings2
>
> Note, there's already pre-orders up for a clear redeco of the Displacer
> Beast, a Green Dragon, a brown Owlbear, and a Mimic (turns into the treasure
> chest variety with long tongue). I might get the Mimic.
>
> http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/misc/Dicelings1 - Themberchaud mold
>
> CAPSULES
>
> $14 at Hasbro Pulse
>
> White Dragon: Original mold Mildly Recommended. This one is really no
> better or worse, but it lacks the "named character" element of the wave 1
> dragons. Very mildly recommended unless you're trying to assemble a full set
> of chromatics.
>
> Displacer Beast: Almost a complete shellmaster, with most of the shell
> folding up into the shoulder tentacles and the rest supporting the tail, but
> it works reasonably well. Mildly recommended.
>
>
> RANTS
>
> Packaging: Same as wave 1. Figures in cardboard spacers to hold them in
> place, with something like parchment paper (silicone impregnated) around the
> D20, and more sheets of it in between parts to prevent paint scraping (dragon
> only, Displacer Beast lacks these internal sheets).
>
>
> WHITE DRAGON
> Transformation Steps: 8
>
> Color Swaps: All the plastic is now white.
>
> Paint Apps: In D20 mode, the & logo is painted metallic light blue.
> In dragon mode, that metallic light blue is used for the neck and chest
> scutes. The undersides of the wings (the sites that are inside in D20 mode)
> are painted a cool silver with a hint of blue to it. The two tiny horns, the
> claws, and the spines along the top of the tail are painted warm gray. The
> inside of the mouth is painted blue-purple with the teeth either left
> unpainted or painted over in white. Most likely the first one, based on UV
> response. Finally, the eyes are bright blue.
>
> Mold Changes: Just a new head. I guess the white dragon standards
> changed over time, there's very little of the "kinda a parasaur" head found
> on the classic white dragons. Two little conical devil horns, a serious
> underbite with big fangs pointing up, and chin spikes.
>
> Other Notes: I haven't seen the movie yet (waiting for streaming or
> disk), but I suspect the lack of a name beyond "white dragon" means that at
> most white dragons are deep background scenery.
> I presume that the rolling characteristics are the same as Rakor's, the
> head change isn't going to throw off the center of mass by much.
>
> Overall: I guess it depends on what "your" white dragons look like, and
> if you got any of the other dragon molds (or if you're hoping for a blue one
> so you can have a complete set of chromatics), but this is really just a head
> swap in new colors without being a "character" of any sort.
>
>
> Displacer Beast
> Transformation Steps: 5
>
> AKA A.E. van Vogt's Dark Destroyer, aka Mughi (book version of the Dirty
> Pair).
>
> D20 Mode: All black plastic, distinguishable from Rakor in this mode by
> the & logo being painted metallic gold rather than metallic green.
> When properly transformed, this is pretty solid, resisting gap-opening
> pretty well when rolled.
>
> Transformation: Almost all of the die surface unfurls into the beast's
> shoulder tentacles, with panels folding under to thin them a bit and make
> them look less wing-like. The rest of the die surface has the tail molded on
> its inner faces, giving the beast a really long and dragging tail (the first
> joint is well below the butt). Once you peel it, there's a kitty all curled
> up inside.
> Getting back into D20 mode requires a lot of stuff to be in the right
> places simultaneously, so basically get things close and then massage the die
> for a while. You might want a thin blade handy to pry out any piece that
> gets pushed too far in. The side shared by 17 and 3 took me the most work to
> shove into place.
>
> Displacer Beast Mode: Okay, so one of the elements that makes the
> Displacer Beast "unique" to D&D is that it has six legs, although artists
> tend to differ on where the third pair goes (the original art has them just
> ahead of the rear legs, but this toy follows other art that puts them up
> against the front legs, almost sharing a shoulder with each front leg.
> Anyway, it's a six-legged cat with shoulder tentacles that end in fleshy and
> toothy pads, plus a really long tail.
> From snout to tail tip it's about 6.25" (16cm) long, although about half
> of that is tail. Each tentacle can flatten out to a length of 4" (10cm) from
> the shoulderblade connection, a little more if you flip the final segment
> over. The whole thing is black plastic, with the non-shell parts being a
> softer plastic than the shell parts.
> The claws, teeth, and the spikes on the tentacle ends are painted bone
> white. The gums, inside of the mouth, insides of the ears, and the tentacle
> end pads are painted a dark pink. The eyes are yellow with black slit
> pupils.
> The head is on a ball joint at the end of the neck, and the neck itself
> is on a hinge that lets it move up and down. The jaw is hinged to open, and
> for some reason there's a hole in the roof of the mouth (it's smaller than
> 3mm, but might accept a sufficiently jammed-in Lego flame piece...might just
> be there to make it easier to shove the neck joint in without creating an
> airight seal, though). There's a hinge at the waist that's mainly for
> transformation but does allow for some useful posing opportunities. The
> front two pairs of legs share limited ball joint shoulders, and have hinge
> and swivel joints at the ankles (backwards "knees") and for the paws. The
> rear legs have individual ball joint hips, hinge and swivel knees, fused
> ankles, hinge and swivel paws. The tail has a simple hinge joint where the
> molded hanging-down part meets the 8 face of the D20 shell, two more
> hinged-strut-and-ball-joint (HSABJ) connections along the way, and a simple
> hinge for the final segment. Each tentacle starts with a socket over one of
> the front shoulderblades, with a hinge where the strut connects to the D20
> shell piece. The next two joints are hinges, and then there's another HSABJ
> for the spiky pad bit. There's a smaller bit of spiky pad that's folded over
> to give some thickness, and it's on another HSABJ joint although it's meant
> to stay put in this mode.
>
> Overall: It's a little like the Owlbear in terms of having a few too
> many triangular panels for its own good in beast mode, but it manages the
> problems better. Nice old school danger kitty, and almost to scale with
> gaming miniatures if you assume it's one of the "occasional mutant" beasties
> that's 15-20 feet long.
>
>
> Dave Van Domelen, wonders if the Dicelings can roll themselves for
> initiative.

Thank you for confirming I can skip yet another dragon

I'm probably getting the Displacer Kitty.
They also announced a Mimic and I was hoping it was this wave

Additionally I will likely skip the Blue dragon, the blue Beholder recolor, the transparent Displacer, and a dark colored Owlbear. They're definitely cashing in on the recolors.

I heard the movie was good, I wish I had a day off to see it.