[Shin Densetsu]

Now that the Revenge of The Fallen toys are out, what do you think of them? How do you feel about them compared to the 1st movie line?

I enjoy all "main" TF lines. I liked TF1(the engineering and automorph impressed me), love Animated(see Mattel, toys based on animated designs can have full articulation!), and of course, G1 is my childhood so I love Classics(though 2.0 seemed to be overshadowed by Animated).

Here are my thoughts on the few ROTF toys I have:

• Optimus Prime-I miss the automorph on the TF1 version. The automorphing ankles and chest/head/torso were awesome. Even now it's stil impressive. I also miss how tight the ankle joints were. Nonetheless, the ROTF version is superior. The sculpt is much, much, much more movie-accurate. The articulation is great all around. The sculpt has much better proportions(none of the tiny waist, huge torso thing going on like the TF1 version). The transformation is a bit more difficult, but straightforward. TF1 Leader Prime was one of my favorite Prime figures(it's funny, up until then I hadn't realized that I had most Prime figures from most TF lines), and the ROTF Prime surpasses it. If you have to buy 1 ROTF figure, make it leader Prime.
  
• Starscream-Oh man. I'm not going to lie, when I first saw the TF1 Prime, I absolutely hated the design. It was not until the weeks leading to the movie premiere, that I was won over. The design slowly grew on me, but watching the automorph in action sold me. It was a highly playable toy and I overlooked it's faults because I had bought worse in the past. The ROTF version surpasses it in so many ways, and despite a Leader version coming in the future, the voyager is still worth getting. I am a huge Starscream fan, and I like having multiple versions of characters(for TF1 I have both voyager, and Leader Primes, and like them both). The jet mode on the ROTF version is better, transformation more shockingly exciting, and the mech alive works well. I do miss the automorph on the TF1 version, it was very impressive, and I miss the size in robot mode. However, the ROTF version is far superior in many ways, hell it even has landing gear! Both are good toys; the ROTF version is better.
  
• Megatron-As with Prime, I also have both the voyager and leader versions of Megatron from TF1. The voyager was alright, I'm a sucker for clear plastic, plus I like the arm cannon since it was a G1 homage. I got the Premium version of the leader(wondered why it wasn't painted that way to begin with). I actually preferred the way that the toy looked to the CGI model, it's more balanced. I hated how the head stuck out in alt mode. Loved the robot mode except for the immovable neck. That didn't change much on the ROTF version. The neck barely moves, being tied to the mech alive gimmick(why this was done is beyond me). It lacks a functional right elbow joint but this doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as I thought it would. It is an imposing figure in both modes, the gimmicked right arm works very well, awesome weapon integeration. Fun to pick up and pose. The TF1 version has better articulation all around. It's hard to say which 1 I like better, both are good, but flawed. I plan on getting the voyager ROTF version, which I think will be the best movie Megatron figure to date.

As for Bumblebee, I am skipping on the deluxe versions in favor of the Human Alliance version. I love the idea of a piloted robot, and the HA figures are close to Alternators size. So I will be a completist for HA. The driver integration, retaining full articulation, and awesome gimmicks like the fold-down battle mask on Bumblebee have me excited.

Overall, I think the engineering on the ROTF figures surpasses that of TF1, however I do prefer automorph to mech alive. Mech alive has minimal implementation on some figures, such as Breakaway. Yet it works very well on Starscream.

What are your thoughts on the ROTF and TF1 figures?

[Snowflakian]

Love Ironhide's new canons.
Ratchet's better in premium TF1.
ROTF Leader Prime amazes me with the accuracy and I'm sucker for swords.
Voyager TF1 Prime for bonecrusher.
ROTF Megatron Reminds me of Bonaparte, so I have legends of him for now. But I do much prefer his ROTF incarnation in leader scale. Seems more an intricate transformation into a neat scifi tank.
ROTF Swerve is pure awesome too. But where's the yellow variant?
Starscream I'm starting to lean leader scale, but for now I'm not really fond of his mold really. Or Brawl for that matter. I love the new Bumblebee head, but the remolding of his arm to a pure cannon annoys me. He's a transformer who needs both hands. So TF1 got that right.

So it's really a mixed bag it seems depending on what characters you like and who appeared when, but the ROTF toys seem far more intricate and complicated while staying easy and being accurate. Though some exceptions do apply like prime for accuracy, but it pays off. That sideswipe mold is badass too, it needs to start being repainted. Some molds also are the same as previous, or just not different enough imho.
Ratchet is indifferent, Jazz has already been through the rainbow, Bumble bee (really none/all, but you need to swap parts), Ironhide's canons. And voyager Prime.

I haven't gotten chromia yet to judge her though in comparison to Arcee from TF1, but I'll save final verdict upon seeing her combined too. ICT is already a winner.

The twins over the drone car easily as well design-wise. I think the same principlese are there as before, but are better put in practice design wise now. Makes me wonder what kind of innovation movie 3 toys will have. Prime with matrix cavity and super armor trailer? Ultramagnus? Megatron combining with the fallen? Power Master Optimus Prime and engine bot. Etc. They've really outdone themselves in a lot of instances for detail makes me wonder what'll be their way of topping it in movie 3.


Human Alliance though wins hands down in my book. Now if only they do the constructicons to scale in this manner.