Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Ratchet Review With New Images

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:WJ, I wouldn't call that a "stark white" on SIEGE Firebolt so much as a very pale gray. Stark white would be Jetfire and Red Alert's color. It's a paler gray than the original toy, but it's still very much a gray. Speaking of color matching, you might call SIEGE Blowpipe's blue "an off shade" but it's a hell of a lot closer to the original toy than the Legends version's blue is. As for that "Fracas"... He's a lousy Fracas, but he's a great Premium Firedrive

Regarding the arms... as AcademyofDRX pointed out, the arms are a different color because they're actually separate pieces from the torso (unlike the original toys). That and Hasbro decided to put all the separate pieces on one sprue (rather than the arms and torso sharing a sprue); this may have been influenced by cartoon!Firebolt having gray arms, or maybe they just wanted the arms to be visibly separate pieces.

As for Takara's Legends Targetmasters turning out much more accurate, IMO that's only half true. They may all have unique parts and more accurate color layouts, but Aimless' details are wonky and they all transform wrong.

I would, in fact I would more accurately call it a "Pastel Easter White". All of the early Battle masters fall into that description. Which mwould be okay if it were consistant, but almost all of the Siege Figures and many of the older figures use darker, matte-ed hues. Neutral greys over bright white.

That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise it's a must have. I just hope Walgreens around here won't drop the ball with him like they did with Wreck-Gar.

Rodimus Prime wrote:That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise it's a must have. I just hope Walgreens around here won't drop the ball with him like they did with Wreck-Gar.

Are you going to maybe paint the crest red? I’m debating it I just don’t want to mismatch my reds.

Wolfman Jake wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:I agree with you that "Caliburst" is completely wrong. He is not really Caliburst at all, he is G2 Blowpipe. I can only assume he was spawned by some fool operating under the delusion that it was a good idea to use "The TrainwreckRebirth" as a reference.

As you said, Caliburst is just a mess, even if you squint and try to make it a darker colors "The Rebirth" version of the character.

They at least at some point intended Caliburst to have his normal colors if you go by the package art.



It's hard to tell in the lighting of the photo, but the art is definitely blue and not purple in person.

Emerje

The good thing with the Battlemaster is, if you're collecting them to assign to their respective characters who came out in Titans Return then odds are you will have both Aimless and Blowpipe. Since they are simple ball joints you can swap their legs around and get a much more accurate look right away.

Emerje wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:I agree with you that "Caliburst" is completely wrong. He is not really Caliburst at all, he is G2 Blowpipe. I can only assume he was spawned by some fool operating under the delusion that it was a good idea to use "The TrainwreckRebirth" as a reference.

As you said, Caliburst is just a mess, even if you squint and try to make it a darker colors "The Rebirth" version of the character.

They at least at some point intended Caliburst to have his normal colors if you go by the package art.



It's hard to tell in the lighting of the photo, but the art is definitely blue and not purple in person.

Emerje

You sure that's not a darker Blowpipe in that art?

I think with Caliburst they worried it would be too close to the other two. From a toy-selling standpoint this make perfect sense as in G1 the Targetmaster came with the partner as a bonus accessory. Here they need to sell these little guy alone and them being too samey doesn't help sales.

Skritz wrote:I think with Caliburst they worried it would be too close to the other two. From a toy-selling standpoint this make perfect sense as in G1 the Targetmaster came with the partner as a bonus accessory. Here they need to sell these little guy alone and them being too samey doesn't help sales.

In that case they should have released Shrute at retail and Caliburst in correct colors with Skywarp. Then Skywarp would have come with a black gun and a blue gun, it would have worked out just as well.

Emerje

Why couldn’t they have named him anything other than Blowpipe...except for Suckpipe, that would definitely be worse.

Stargrave wrote:Why couldn’t they have named him anything other than Blowpipe...except for Suckpipe, that would definitely be worse.

What's wrong with Blowpipe? It's just another name for a blow gun or dart gun.

Emerje

That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise, it's a must-have! It's a shame in Italy will be really hard to get it! Really a shame!

Blowgun or Dartgun would be way better than Blowpipe. I mean, well, he’s a gun. None of other TM’s fire stones or insults, just this guy blowin’ hot air.

o.supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I dont get it. So right now, your targets stock new toys, but you would rather they be gone and instead get back the TRU you lost? Everyone on these boards kept saying TRU didnt stock toys well and were always more expensive, why would you want that instead?

No I dont want back the TRU I lost, I want the one from 20 years ago that looked good. The one YOU have NOW, ya know, with Siege Jetfires as far as the eyes can see, and all that

There are only a few jetfires and nobody cares since all those who wanted him bought him from tru.ca when he was up 2 weeks prior. The TRU you liked is long gone, from both the US and Canada. Aside from big releases like Jetfire, Canada's TRU is constantly 4-6 months behind. It still didnt stock studio series Jetfire for instance and only now are we seeing Siege Ironhide. I am sure fans would much rather have a store that stocked toys they wanted sooner rather than have a nice store with a bunch of old merchandise, which is the case with Canada's TRU at the moment. Walmart and Amazon have been getting a lot of my business this year even though I can get to 3 TRUs quite easily.

Yeah. If my local TrU bother having anything, it's always FIRST WAVES of thing. Plus they STILL have a tons of TLK Hounds to liquidate.
And finally, my local Walmart is Tumbleweed City. This is frustrating.

The only thing I miss about TRU was being able to buy the titans in store, with a 15% discount on certain days for using their credit card, and usually getting a $10-$15 bonus reward for the purchase. I've always been too impatient to wait for a Black Friday sale, so that was the next best thing.

Emerje wrote:

Skritz wrote:I think with Caliburst they worried it would be too close to the other two. From a toy-selling standpoint this make perfect sense as in G1 the Targetmaster came with the partner as a bonus accessory. Here they need to sell these little guy alone and them being too samey doesn't help sales.

In that case they should have released Shrute at retail and Caliburst in correct colors with Skywarp. Then Skywarp would have come with a black gun and a blue gun, it would have worked out just as well.

Emerje

That's....huh, crap you're right.

Ratchet is totally going to donate his Wrench to Nautica. He looks really good too!

Stargrave wrote:I love this Longarm fanmode. I haven't tried this loadout with my Shockwave yet but of course now I've got to try it out:

This is awesome. Animated Longarm in Siege!

That Siege Longarm looks like he is a black and white photo

I love this idea! Reminds me of the "brute modes" from Energon

EDIT: That Ratchet review was touching. Reminds me of the somewhat deeper reasons - the nostalgia, the great works of fiction, etc - that I and presumably others pursue the hobby.

still think he needs red thighs though

Finally scored two more Refraktors at my WalMart tonight. It’s just a silly little kids purple camera, I mean it’s a lavender freaking camera, but man...feels like I’m watching the first episode of Transformers again. I’ve wanted this toy for 35 years. I had the original complete but it’s been lost to time and I never put down for one of the 3rd party ones. I freaking love Siege.

Stargrave wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise it's a must have. I just hope Walgreens around here won't drop the ball with him like they did with Wreck-Gar.

Are you going to maybe paint the crest red? I’m debating it I just don’t want to mismatch my reds.

If I do customize the head, I'm going all the way. Red helmet, white crest. I'm just not sure how well the white will cover the black. The other option is to swap the head out altogether, depending on how it's attached.

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I dont get it. So right now, your targets stock new toys, but you would rather they be gone and instead get back the TRU you lost? Everyone on these boards kept saying TRU didnt stock toys well and were always more expensive, why would you want that instead?

No I dont want back the TRU I lost, I want the one from 20 years ago that looked good. The one YOU have NOW, ya know, with Siege Jetfires as far as the eyes can see, and all that

There are only a few jetfires and nobody cares since all those who wanted him bought him from tru.ca when he was up 2 weeks prior. The TRU you liked is long gone, from both the US and Canada. Aside from big releases like Jetfire, Canada's TRU is constantly 4-6 months behind. It still didnt stock studio series Jetfire for instance and only now are we seeing Siege Ironhide. I am sure fans would much rather have a store that stocked toys they wanted sooner rather than have a nice store with a bunch of old merchandise, which is the case with Canada's TRU at the moment. Walmart and Amazon have been getting a lot of my business this year even though I can get to 3 TRUs quite easily.

Yeah, TRU died sometime in the 90’s. It just took another 20 some years for the carcass to rot away.

Rodimus Prime wrote:That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise it's a must have. I just hope Walgreens around here won't drop the ball with him like they did with Wreck-Gar.

Microbot wrote:That Ratchet is a really good figure, I just wish it had a comic accurate head. Otherwise, it's a must-have! It's a shame in Italy will be really hard to get it! Really a shame!

Which would make little sense in line that is stated to be based/influenced by the cartoon.

Shouldn't be surprised by this though, as people have been bitching about not getting show accurate <insert part> on figures based on the original toys for years, so why would it change that we're getting a line intent on homaging the show.

well, ratchet does look better than the early photos. I'm still no fan of the mold and the 'repair bay' is terrible but it's still one of the better G1 Ratchet figures. If I got it (probably not as not a fan of Siege but I will be getting Springer though wish it had the Devastation-style shading of the upcoming Prima dn Megatron redecos. G1 stuff looks way better to me with that style and certainly way better than Siege's half-assed scuffed look) I'd probably paint the head red with a white crest to be the Marvel version the review mentions as yeah I definitely had some love for the comic incarnation who had to deal with a lot of crap (and his fate in Regeneration One still bugs me). The cartoon incarnation meant nothing to me at all. I didn't find him memorable. The paint deco makes him look better to me than the Ironhide version of the mold.

I will stick with iGear Ironhide and Ratchet. Not Hasbro or Takara have any renditions that i really like to replace them in my collection.

Speaking of Ironhide. I saw this van today and it made me think it could be a slightly updated G1 Earth mode.

With the toes up it totally looks like a pop up flash:

Great photos!

Not sure if we got a review of the siege 10 pack.... but here’s my take on it.

Absolutely love it! While I thought getting a 3rd set of planes and our 3rd and 4th version of the cannon/fire truck was “meh” at first. The amount of paint on some of these little guys is insane. For ground shaker and over air; it looks like they were molded in reverse colors and completely repainted.

Ricon feels the weakest of the bunch, but Iron Tread makes up for it. Really dig his truck and bot mode. His “half” of the “weapon” mode is refreshingly different.

Over all with the micro masters I’m impressed with the sculpting and paint. After discovering road-police (and his other mood mate) had articulated heads(!) I wish more of the others did. I know for Nightflight/Groundshaker/Whisper(?) that their heads are on pins thus stuck same with Cratermaker and his mold mate.... but many of the others the could.

I know some folks have asked for elbows and other joints, but considering how often the arms make up large pieces it would be harder on this scale.

10/10 would recommend picking up. I think out of *all* the “teams” currently out the race patrol is my least favorite. Weakest of the “weapon” modes and Blackjack and his silver mold mate.... I hate those shoulders.... very restrictive and a pain to transform.

Stargrave wrote:With the toes up it totally looks like a pop up flash:

It.... didn’t occur to me to flip the front toes up! The back ties approximate the “hump” on the center decently too.

Well autobots pulled ahead of the decepticons... guess that’s why the first combiner goes to them!

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Well autobots pulled ahead of the decepticons... guess that’s why the first combiner goes to them!

Even after the battle squad comes out though, Autobots outnumber the cons 14 to 10, unless you were counting the cassettes as well, then of course, everything evens out after wave 5...for the moment

o.supreme wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Well autobots pulled ahead of the decepticons... guess that’s why the first combiner goes to them!

Even after the battle squad comes out though, Autobots outnumber the cons 14 to 10, unless you were counting the cassettes as well, then of course, everything evens out after wave 5...for the moment

Yeah.... that occurred me about the cassettes after I posted. That’s a good question though.... should they count? I know hasbro has then I’m in the same category... and they’re not exactly target masters.... so?

Might have to get out my old Dreamwave encyclopedia again (did they ever trade paperback that?) but... we got ratbat frumble and half of the off-road patrol with orange semi and grey jeep/suv?

They better do dirtboss and the monster trucks

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Might have to get out my old Dreamwave encyclopedia again (did they ever trade paperback that?) but... we got ratbat frumble and half of the off-road patrol with orange semi and grey jeep/suv?

They did. In two volumes.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:(did they ever trade paperback that?)

IDW did reprint the DW sourcebooks.... they collected all 8 issues into 2 volumes. I'm glad I have them, though sadly they are long OOP (I have the original 8 issues also, but the TPB's are an easy reference).

I was hoping at some point IDW would do another set of Guidebooks for new characters and Japanese characters not included in the original. But a lot of fans wanted all new profile books seeing as how IDW changed so any of the characters. It would have been quite cumbersome, which is probably why IDW chose not to go there. Of course, now with IDW being completely rebooted again...who knows.

sol magnus wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Might have to get out my old Dreamwave encyclopedia again (did they ever trade paperback that?) but... we got ratbat frumble and half of the off-road patrol with orange semi and grey jeep/suv?

They did. In two volumes.

Oh, may have track those down.

Would be cool if they talked idw into it again

What other combiner teams do you think we’ll get? What are the chances the blackbird team is another sword lol

o.supreme wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:(did they ever trade paperback that?)

IDW did reprint the DW sourcebooks.... they collected all 8 issues into 2 volumes. I'm glad I have them, though sadly they are long OOP (I have the original 8 issues also, but the TPB's are an easy reference).

I was hoping at some point IDW would do another set of Guidebooks for new characters and Japanese characters not included in the original. But a lot of fans wanted all new profile books seeing as how IDW changed so any of the characters. It would have been quite cumbersome, which is probably why IDW chose not to go there. Of course, now with IDW being completely rebooted again...who knows.

At they very least they could use the War for Cyberton trappings and have short bios with stat ratings. Update the Micromasters with weapon modes (if they must). I adore the instructions have them, but a source book with it all in one place would be slick. Could flesh out the rank insignia that I don’t believe we’ve had explained?

Wonder if we’ll get Raiden/six build/ etc before this is over. Bonus points, they’re big enough to hold the other Micromaster weapons

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Wonder if we’ll get Raiden/six build/ etc before this is over. Bonus points, they’re big enough to hold the other Micromaster weapons

I have mixed feelings here. It sounds odd, but I'd really like *if* there were any re-releases of Micromaster Combiner teams from Operaton Combinaton, that they be scaled up to match the current CW/PotP combiner system. The issue is, since they all have 6 members, that each one wojuld lose a member, or be relegated to a legends class as some form of accessory.

I would be OK, however if the Micromaster OC combiner teams stayed small If they could do THIS:

o.supreme wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Wonder if we’ll get Raiden/six build/ etc before this is over. Bonus points, they’re big enough to hold the other Micromaster weapons

I have mixed feelings here. It sounds odd, but I'd really like *if* there were any re-releases of Micromaster Combiner teams from Operaton Combinaton, that they be scaled up to match the current CW/PotP combiner system. The issue is, since they all have 6 members, that each one wojuld lose a member, or be relegated to a legends class as some form of accessory.

I would be OK, however if the Micromaster OC combiner teams stayed small If they could do THIS:

Is that one of the micro combiners taking a piece out of Bruticus? I’m a little confused because there is a black and white “combiner” shuttle.

Still waiting for Battle Gaia and Guard City redecos Takara...

ZeroWolf wrote:Still waiting for Battle Gaia and Guard City redecos Takara...

Is battle Gaia different from Baligus,

o.supreme wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Wonder if we’ll get Raiden/six build/ etc before this is over. Bonus points, they’re big enough to hold the other Micromaster weapons

I have mixed feelings here. It sounds odd, but I'd really like *if* there were any re-releases of Micromaster Combiner teams from Operaton Combinaton, that they be scaled up to match the current CW/PotP combiner system. The issue is, since they all have 6 members, that each one wojuld lose a member, or be relegated to a legends class as some form of accessory.

I would be OK, however if the Micromaster OC combiner teams stayed small If they could do THIS:

The impression I always had was that the Micromaster Six-Combiners merged to form average- or slighty-taller-than-average-sized guys.

Sixliner (the first of these combiners) in particular didn't seem to be that much bigger than a normal TF.

In particular, when Sixliner is held captive by False Convoy, he looks to be about the same size as Optimus's original body (who, in said body, was a pretty tall guy, but not gigantic), since False Convoy is an evil copy of Optimus in his old body.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:Wonder if we’ll get Raiden/six build/ etc before this is over. Bonus points, they’re big enough to hold the other Micromaster weapons

I have mixed feelings here. It sounds odd, but I'd really like *if* there were any re-releases of Micromaster Combiner teams from Operaton Combinaton, that they be scaled up to match the current CW/PotP combiner system. The issue is, since they all have 6 members, that each one wojuld lose a member, or be relegated to a legends class as some form of accessory.

I would be OK, however if the Micromaster OC combiner teams stayed small If they could do THIS:

Is that one of the micro combiners taking a piece out of Bruticus? I’m a little confused because there is a black and white “combiner” shuttle.

Thats the Micromaster Combiners putting their power with Guard City (a Defensor redeco) to destroy Battle Gaia (a Bruticus redeco) its from the Japanese only Operation Combiner toyline which also saw Metroplex redecoed in to the Decepticon Metro Titan. I can't remember if the story was told through story pages like the Return of Convoy was

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sixwing

Huh.... didn’t know the combiner kibble combined into a jet... that’s slick

SpikeyTigertron wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Still waiting for Battle Gaia and Guard City redecos Takara...

Is battle Gaia different from Baligus,

Yes.

ZeroWolf wrote:Thats the Micromaster Combiners putting their power with Guard City (a Defensor redeco) to destroy Battle Gaia (a Bruticus redeco) its from the Japanese only Operation Combiner toyline which also saw Metroplex redecoed in to the Decepticon Metro Titan. I can't remember if the story was told through story pages like the Return of Convoy was

Metrotitan was from Zone, two toylines before Operation Combination.

And yes, it was told through story pages with no manga.