Next GI Joe Transformers Crossover Rumoured to be a Thunder Machine Soundwave

If that rumor is true and the bot mode is not a pile of kibble cancer like Bee, I'd be all over it.

This kind of make sense: The Dreadnoks were a mini-team more loyal to Zartan than the rest of Cobra, memorable and beloved by fans due in part to their use of unconventional weapons and more savage fighting style, so if you had to pick some Cobra characters that were the equivalent of Soundwave and the cassettes, they're the best fit.

Hoping it'll be better than the other two Collaboratives, also finally a non-kiddie G1 Land Vehicle Soundwave

rairakku16 wrote:Hoping it'll be better than the other two Collaboratives, also finally a non-kiddie G1 Land Vehicle Soundwave

The Cyberverse deluxe was fine for a land vehicle soundwave, wasn't more kiddie than any other soundwave, as were the 2 War for Cybertron game figure releases

william-james88 wrote:

rairakku16 wrote:Hoping it'll be better than the other two Collaboratives, also finally a non-kiddie G1 Land Vehicle Soundwave

The Cyberverse deluxe was fine for a land vehicle soundwave, wasn't more kiddie than any other soundwave, as were the 2 War for Cybertron game figure releases

Oh yeah. Forgot about the WFC and FOC ones,hoping they redo them in SS.

I guess this was more successful than we gave them credit for (though there's still time for this to be cancelled). The initial report when Megatron was leaked was that they were only doing two figures. At least this time we're potentially getting one that'll be mostly the correct color in both modes.

Emerje

That... certainly is a vehicle. As Soundwave I am indifferent, and ultimately these are not going to be in a scale I want for my main shelf. But after seeing the picture of the "car" I really wish they would pull a Snowcat and give us this as a Decepticon in line with the main offerings. Because that this is wicked and weird looking

rairakku16 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

rairakku16 wrote:Hoping it'll be better than the other two Collaboratives, also finally a non-kiddie G1 Land Vehicle Soundwave

The Cyberverse deluxe was fine for a land vehicle soundwave, wasn't more kiddie than any other soundwave, as were the 2 War for Cybertron game figure releases

Oh yeah. Forgot about the WFC and FOC ones,hoping they redo them in SS.

Too small or too big for what I want. But then what I really want is a G1 Soundwave with a surveillance plane alt in line with Prime.

Flashwave wrote:Too small or too big for what I want. But then what I really want is a G1 Soundwave with a surveillance plane alt in line with Prime.

It would be quite difficult to turn a bot that is basically a bunch of boxes strung together to an altmode that is sleek and full of curves.

The Siege space barge was the best possible flying vehicle possible to make from the G1 bot.

A "G1ified" Prime Soundwave could manage it I guess.

This means at least one more GI Joe collab then. Can't see them leaving 2 'Cons to 1 bot. My guess is Optimus as a HAVOC.

First-Aid wrote:This means at least one more GI Joe collab then. Can't see them leaving 2 'Cons to 1 bot. My guess is Optimus as a HAVOC.

That'd be awesome, and the HAVOC always was my fav Joe land vehicle, but HISS Megs does need to be repainted red and given an Optimus head at some point in the future to homage Op's appearance in the Devil's Due crossover, even if that would throw off the Joe/Bots vs. Cobra/Cons theme.

Bumblevivisector wrote:

First-Aid wrote:This means at least one more GI Joe collab then. Can't see them leaving 2 'Cons to 1 bot. My guess is Optimus as a HAVOC.

That'd be awesome, and the HAVOC always was my fav Joe land vehicle, but HISS Megs does need to be repainted red and given an Optimus head at some point in the future to homage Op's appearance in the Devil's Due crossover, even if that would throw off the Joe/Bots vs. Cobra/Cons theme.

Don't think they'd go to far from main lines for either.

My belief is still Optimus (because they already did Megatron) but options may include:

HAVOC- may allow for bot mode to be comparable to Megs due to removal of hover vehicle despite larger vehicle size

Tiger Cat- longer armored Jeep-type vehicle

Mean Dog- longer vehicle, splits in two normally, could allow for an armored Prime to counter Megs heavily armed bot mode

MOBAT- because Prime as a tank is long overdue.

"In Your Dreams" vehicle: Rolling Thunder. 'Nuff said!

I too would find it crazy if they omitted Optimus from this crossover

It's a shame they are only doing the same old boring (yes I said it) legacy characters. Those Joe vehicles are so cool one can easily imagine all the cool bits in an original robot mode. But no, we get the same 5 characters in vehicles that don't match colors with their bot modes leading to DISGUSTING mismatched, obtuse kibble. literally screaming into my gobots pillow rn tbh ngl

The other two looked pretty dire. So I'm not hopeful that this one will course correct the "Bot in cosplay kibble" aesthetic that BB and Megs enjoy. The comic book crossover designs ala Dreamwave & IDW, seem to grasp the concept a whole lot better than Hasbro does.

Not overly keen on GI Joe, in general. As strictly vehicle crossovers go, I think MASK would have been a better choice.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:The other two looked pretty dire. So I'm not hopeful that this one will course correct the "Bot in cosplay kibble" aesthetic that BB and Megs enjoy. The comic book crossover designs ala Dreamwave & IDW, seem to grasp the concept a whole lot better than Hasbro does.

Not overly keen on GI Joe, in general. As strictly vehicle crossovers go, I think MASK would have been a better choice.

MASK would be tougher to pull off since the idea is to retain vehicke functionality and MASK vehicles have their own transforming gimmicks.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:The other two looked pretty dire. So I'm not hopeful that this one will course correct the "Bot in cosplay kibble" aesthetic that BB and Megs enjoy. The comic book crossover designs ala Dreamwave & IDW, seem to grasp the concept a whole lot better than Hasbro does.

Not overly keen on GI Joe, in general. As strictly vehicle crossovers go, I think MASK would have been a better choice.

MASK would be tougher to pull off since the idea is to retain vehicke functionality and MASK vehicles have their own transforming gimmicks.

Right, the Rhino as Optimus seems like an obvious choice, but that would probably work as a deco only and not include any of the original play features. That would be the issue for most of the line.

On the other hand, the iconic Thunderhawk had only two main functions that I recall, the gull wing doors and a minor change with the bumper and spoiler. I think they should be able to develop a 3.75" compatible functional figure with similar engineering to Siege Sideswipe. I would really like to see that as a one-off.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:The other two looked pretty dire. So I'm not hopeful that this one will course correct the "Bot in cosplay kibble" aesthetic that BB and Megs enjoy. The comic book crossover designs ala Dreamwave & IDW, seem to grasp the concept a whole lot better than Hasbro does.

Not overly keen on GI Joe, in general. As strictly vehicle crossovers go, I think MASK would have been a better choice.

MASK would be tougher to pull off since the idea is to retain vehicke functionality and MASK vehicles have their own transforming gimmicks.

Most of the MASK vehicles are essentially triple changers EG Switchblade. Not a completely alien concept to Transformers. I think they would look a lot more interesting than this line's output of "good looking vehicle, but don't look too closely at the Bot Mode".

I think we may just have to accept that mask is a dead line and that the reason its GI Joe and Transformers is to capitalise on the fandoms of both.

Yeah, MASK had it's time. Even IDW botched it, as a revival. Chiefly because I don't think it works in a shared universe. Particularly the same one as Transformers. The only dormant 80's property I think still deserves a revival is Bravestarr.

GI Joe's popularity is a strange one to me. I dunno, maybe it is a popular thing in America? But I don't hear too many people that actually like it, globally. Certain characters have pop culture status IE Cobra Commander or Destro. But personally, I couldn't name more than probably ten characters? I only know them from reading the crossovers that were printed in the part work.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:GI Joe's popularity is a strange one to me. I dunno, maybe it is a popular thing in America? But I don't hear too many people that actually like it, globally. Certain characters have pop culture status IE Cobra Commander or Destro. But personally, I couldn't name more than probably ten characters? I only know them from reading the crossovers that were printed in the part work.

GI Joe is conceived as an American brand, especially the 80s version which is what all this is based on. It makes sense that it wouldn't have much appeal outside of the US if that is indeed the case.

Most M.A.S.K vehicles barely "transform" anyway and we already have some Transformers with "M.A.S.K.ish" altmodes like Autobot Tracks or even ROTF Megatron. But what will make them never happen is the obscurity of the line. The Joe-Xover is a miracle to have ever happen and it's a HUGE brand.

BTW, my Megatron from Amazon.ca was delayed once again a few weeks ago but today I just "nudged" it by "modifying" the delivery date. So, in theory I should finally have it in 2 days.

You wouldn't have thought Hasbro would have difficulties releasing crossovers between brands it owns.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:You wouldn't have thought Hasbro would have difficulties releasing crossovers between brands it owns.

There may be a lot of corporate shenanigans and red tape behind the scenes.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:You wouldn't have thought Hasbro would have difficulties releasing crossovers between brands it owns.

There may be a lot of corporate shenanigans and red tape behind the scenes.

I know that is definitely a thing with the ..complicated issue of the GoBots. Which otherwise would have been a no-brainer crossover years ago.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:GI Joe's popularity is a strange one to me. I dunno, maybe it is a popular thing in America? But I don't hear too many people that actually like it, globally. Certain characters have pop culture status IE Cobra Commander or Destro. But personally, I couldn't name more than probably ten characters? I only know them from reading the crossovers that were printed in the part work.

GI Joe is conceived as an American brand, especially the 80s version which is what all this is based on. It makes sense that it wouldn't have much appeal outside of the US if that is indeed the case.

The other factor for G.I.Joe ARAH is that it hasn't aged all that great due to real world events. In one of Jim Sorenson's animation model books, there's a note from Buzz Dixon (I think?) that episodes should be structured like mini James Bond movies when possible. Well, one thing the '80s Joe has in common with James Bond is that they don't make as much sense now that the Cold War is over.

And while I agree that making TFs turn into functional MASK vehicles would just create toys that are jumbled messes, it always seemed like MASK would actually make sense in a TF universe with the same dynamics as early Marvel continuity, where the public feared and hated Autobots and Decepticons alike. R.A.A.T. creating vehicles that partially emulated Cybertronian transformation abilities to hunt down TFs would've made more sense than the full-on sci-fi vehicles they started deploying in the latter half of Budianski's run.

If Soundwave's true I hope they learn from the previous two collabs. But it's probably been in development close to the other two, so likely not.

SW is a good choice. He's an iconic TF. I have to admit, I don't care about the Ravage with a collar. I'd rather they have redecoed a G1 Ravage into Black Cat. And have G1 tape compatibility!

If I'm gonna dream, may as well dream big, lol.

They couldn't include Thrasher, the driver of the vehicle?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:They couldn't include Thrasher, the driver of the vehicle?

Keeping the trend going. The HISS tank didn't come with a HISS Tank Driver and the AWE Striker didn't come with Crankcase.

Emerje

I really do wish they had used the Earth Wars Joe Crossover designs, seeing that vehicle for Soundwave, I really do think Earth wars had the better concepts.

I finally did my HISS Tank Megatron. So have my TlDr review:

Pros:
- Big and commanding presence.
- Kibble management is good and the backpack is forgiven because it serves as a "baby seat" for a Joe figure.
- Megatron do look like Megatron.
- The vehicle is just PERFECT and is clearly the main mode.
- The Baroness figure is excellent at this scale.
- The transformation was very interesting to figure out.

Cons:
- Too many hollow spaces that needs filling for the bot mode. Especially for Meg's classic arm canon. That's unforgivable.
- Poseability is very limited for the bot mode.
- Transformation is a bit fiddly toward the end to make sure everything align and tab properly.
- Not worth the full 130$CAN at all. It should have been at maximum the same price as the Joe Bee. But that's the price I paid so it's all good.

Conclusion:
Expensive, yes, but I'm glad I didn't missed out on this flawed, yet pretty cool thing. I might get the Bee while I'm at it.

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:They couldn't include Thrasher, the driver of the vehicle?

Keeping the trend going. The HISS tank didn't come with a HISS Tank Driver and the AWE Striker didn't come with Crankcase.

Emerje

Technically The Baroness IS a HISS tank driver. It was on her original file card, and her being disfigured while driving a HISS was a major storyline in the comics.

I hated that Bee. I hated it so much. And here I am, loving the shiit out of it!

The bot was better than expected despite the fact that just a good shake is enough to untab the whole torso. As for the transformation and the vehicle? Chef kiss.

I wouldn't have paid full price for it. But as a trade-in against some unwanted used Transformers? Count me in!

I'm looking forward the rest of this libe, if they ever happen.

While I like these figures overall, there are some pretty obvious problems that are pretty hard to ignore. If I were to refine it down to my two biggest gripes, it would be:

- Megatron's small hollow fusion cannon, with half the bottom cut out, so it only looks ok when viewed from above.
- Bumblebee's roll cage, that gets in the way, restricts all movement; from the hinges and shoulderpad design, it looks like it was designed to sit even lower, but doing so restricts everything even further!

Does anyone know what the chances of getting upgrade kits for these might be? Maybe even just from one of the little guys making the 3D printed part/shapeways stuff?

If anyone has seen anything along these lines, let me know. I'd love to find a better cannon, and a rollcage with few extra hinges that can fold up out of the way.

I have three or four Siege and Earthrise Megatrons, so I'm not hurting for fusion cannons. They might be a tad small for his size, but nothing that bothers me. Then again, I wasn't too concerned by the hollow parts to begin with. I've found the best way to appreciate my toys is to manage my expectations rather than correct Hasbro's production decisions.

SimianProphet wrote:
Does anyone know what the chances of getting upgrade kits for these might be? Maybe even just from one of the little guys making the 3D printed part/shapeways stuff?

If anyone has seen anything along these lines, let me know. I'd love to find a better cannon, and a rollcage with few extra hinges that can fold up out of the way.

I saw on some forum that an upgrade kit is being made for Megatron, but that's yet to be truly confirmed. A bit baffling that it's not already being done.

As for Bee's roll-cage, I don't think a "further folding" one is possible. Simply because THAT'S the very thing that's holding the whole vehicle together. So unless you want your dune-buggy to be like a wet noodle, you have to make do with the solid roll-cage.

That is a good point on the BB roll cage providing stability in vehicle mode. Mine holds together fairly well in alt mode without the front of the roll cage being tabbed in, but I'm also not 'playing' with it that mode. I'm not putting extra figures into passenger seats/side boards/back turret, or even rolling it around, but I could imagine it being less stable if I did.

That all said, I'm still hoping to see a roll cage upgrade of some sort one day.

SimianProphet wrote:That is a good point on the BB roll cage providing stability in vehicle mode. Mine holds together fairly well in alt mode without the front of the roll cage being tabbed in, but I'm also not 'playing' with it that mode. I'm not putting extra figures into passenger seats/side boards/back turret, or even rolling it around, but I could imagine it being less stable if I did.

That all said, I'm still hoping to see a roll cage upgrade of some sort one day.

The roll-cage in bot mode is cumbersome but not a dealbreaker for me. What it is is the fact that Bee's chest barely tab together. So just a wee bit of play make the whole thing come undone. Is it just my copy or is it a widespread issue?

I was of the same mind about BB's chest not clipping together well, until the last time I changed it and, with enough force, I was able to clip the chest together better.

The black strut should be straight up and down inside, flush up against the backside of the chest piece. there are two tabs that hold it in place when doing this, a vertical one along the center of the black strut, and the more obvious one one at the bottom. with both tabs in their slot, the chest is very stable. I can pick the toy up by its chest piece and shake it around, and it does not come loose.

It takes much more force to clip this in, to the point I was a bit worried about damaging the figure, but it all seems good!

I put a bit of nail polish on the tab and it holds solidly now.

Apparently, Sgt. Slaughter, a good friend of Hasbro's, let it slip during a convention that his character would be in an upcoming Transformers GI Joe collaboration. The transforming vehicle would be the Triple T and it would come with a Sgt. Slaughter O-ring figure. This is all just a rumour, but it has been circulating around the internet, like in the video below, so we wanted to let you know. Let us know which Transformers character you think could be used for the Triple-T and if this is an item that could interest you.

So apparently Sgt. Slaughter himself has hinted about the Triple-T with himself may be a future G.I.Joe Transformers collab. No clues to what Autobot it would be.

Here's a link to a video reporting about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuuKu7j6lEE

I'm giddy like a fangirl right now!

Sergeant Slaughter is one of my childhood icons along MrT and Swartzeneger. As for what the vehicle could be, it could be anything. Maybe Ironhide?

william-james88 wrote:Apparently, Sgt. Slaughter, a good friend of Hasbro's, let it slip during a convention that his character would be in an upcoming Transformers GI Joe collaboration. The transforming vehicle would be the Triple T and it would come with a Sgt. Slaughter O-ring figure. This is all just a rumour, but it has been circulating around the internet, like in the video below, so we wanted to let you know. Let us know which Transformers character you think could be used for the Triple-T and if this is an item that could interest you.

I've never been sure about most of the G.I. Joe vehicles. Sure, they look cool. And with a toy, that's usually the main point. But I always wind up looking at a vehicle with an eye to how practical it would be in real life. For the Triple T, there's two 'kinds' of vehicles it might be, and what kind it is would determine whether it would be practical.

If it's an all-terrain transport, then it might be OK. It looks like it might do well over fields, dirt, rocky ground, sand, and so on. But if it's a tank that's supposed to protect the occupant? Then it would be terrible. The driver is completely exposed to enemy gunfire, and so is anybody hanging onto the sides. The purpose of a tank is to shield the occupants as well as inflicting damage. It doesn't look like the Triple T would do that. And it's not a slam particularly against the Triple T. A large amount of the G.I. Joe vehicles did that. It was great for the toys, which needed an easy-access cockpit so you could jam the figures in as pilots/drivers. But for real-world military application? The designs were not very good.

Okay, given the good Sergeant's depiction as borderline superhumanly strong in the Joe cartoon, and the likelihood that all these crossovers will involve the top 10 most recognizable 'Bots or 'Cons, I'm guessing Grimlock.

The Triple T is even structurally similar to Grimlock's War Within tank mode.

Bumblevivisector wrote:Okay, given the good Sergeant's depiction as borderline superhumanly strong in the Joe cartoon, and the likelihood that all these crossovers will involve the top 10 most recognizable 'Bots or 'Cons, I'm guessing Grimlock.

The Triple T is even structurally similar to Grimlock's War Within tank mode.

Goddamn...if it IS Grimlock, I may have to get this.

Though I wonder...the bot choices haven't exactly been in line with the vehicles. Soundwave would've made more sense with a spy plane, or a trouble bubble with a Tele-Viper, instead of the Thunder Machine. Hound would've made a great choice for the jeep-like AWE Striker...

Just saying, so far vehicles and bots seem like they have been names pulled out of hats.

Which could explain why we haven't seen Prime yet.

I'm going to say Wheeljack or Ironhide for the Triple-T.

Overcracker wrote:I'm going to say Wheeljack or Ironhide for the Triple-T.

We still haven't had Prime yet. How many of these do we think they're going to do?

AcademyofDrX wrote:

Overcracker wrote:I'm going to say Wheeljack or Ironhide for the Triple-T.

We still haven't had Prime yet. How many of these do we think they're going to do?

As Sergeant Slaughter was seen as one of the leaders of GI Joe, maybe Prime is an option here.

DeathReviews wrote:I've never been sure about most of the G.I. Joe vehicles. Sure, they look cool. And with a toy, that's usually the main point. But I always wind up looking at a vehicle with an eye to how practical it would be in real life. For the Triple T, there's two 'kinds' of vehicles it might be, and what kind it is would determine whether it would be practical.

If it's an all-terrain transport, then it might be OK. It looks like it might do well over fields, dirt, rocky ground, sand, and so on. But if it's a tank that's supposed to protect the occupant? Then it would be terrible. The driver is completely exposed to enemy gunfire, and so is anybody hanging onto the sides. The purpose of a tank is to shield the occupants as well as inflicting damage. It doesn't look like the Triple T would do that. And it's not a slam particularly against the Triple T. A large amount of the G.I. Joe vehicles did that. It was great for the toys, which needed an easy-access cockpit so you could jam the figures in as pilots/drivers. But for real-world military application? The designs were not very good.

Even the HISS tank is illogical with it's huge clear cockpit and exposed artillery guy.

But it's all right because if I remember the Sunbow cartoon, EVERYONE shoot like Star Wars Stormtroopers. Joes and Cobras. And it's always the vehicles that get hit.

So, eh. "Logic" need not apply. And that's perfectly fine.

First-Aid wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:

Overcracker wrote:I'm going to say Wheeljack or Ironhide for the Triple-T.

We still haven't had Prime yet. How many of these do we think they're going to do?

As Sergeant Slaughter was seen as one of the leaders of GI Joe, maybe Prime is an option here.

my only issue with that would be how tiny he'd be. The Triple T isn't a large vehicle by any stretch. Then again, neither is the HISS Tank. Guess I'll wait and see.