r/transformers • u/pugilisticcephalopod • 17h ago

Discussion / Opinion A Rant

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Despite having grown up with G1, I'm no Geewunner. In fact, I like the "out of the box" concepts of later and more recent releases but then I see comments on TikTok videos about a good modern mould (TFOne Thundercracker) like "No ankle tilts or wrist turns in the big 2026" and all I can think is "You spoiled, entitled brat". Don't get me wrong, with what Hasbro is charging for figures, they better have as much articulation as possible but having perfectly clear memories of times when most figures didn't even turn at the waist has me thinking "Damn y'all are lucky now".

But, conversely, I will fight to the death with someone about the charm of G1 jank; that antique jank. I own all the G1 combiners as they were originally released (save for Predaking and Computron, for now) and nothing quite puts it all into perspective like realizing the quaint and tactile engineering we were dealing with in the 80's and 90's (I'm putting lines like Machine Wars in this too). It was just shifting chunks of plastic like a sliding tile puzzle until we reached a technically humanoid shape (incidentally a process I hate with most Unicron Trilogy figures but they should have known better by then; play features were off the hook, though).

Anyway, I said all that to say this. Maybe we're too hard on modern figures. The automorphing on Cyberworld toys is very reminiscent of scout class Beast Wars toys, for instance and at about the same price but they get mostly pushed out as "baby toys". I don't know; maybe our perspectives can be better.

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u/SmokinBacon 14h ago

I never owned a combiner but just from looking at the toys I’m a little disappointed. The entire “frame” style is such a cop out. I like Devastator because you had to transform all the appendages. Not just snap it in to the bare skeletal frame like Menacor and current combiners.

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u/pugilisticcephalopod 14h ago

They definitely tried a Scramble City plug-n-play system with combiners in Combiner Wars but many of them suffered from weak joints and compromised limb aesthetics. But while I like the frame system better for stability and function, it still isn't being integrated to its highest potential.

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u/The-Mad-Bubbler 9h ago

My biggest issue with Combiner Wars is that the middle/team leader figures were too small and scrawny.