Transformers Armada: Initial Thoughts

First off you need to check out BWTF's Armada previews if you haven't already. It has scans from an upcoming issue of Toy Fare which has a multi-page preview of the new Transformer toys. And now, OPINIONS! Well, mine anyway.

Okay, check out Altered State Magazine for some very cool pics of the new Armada TFs from Toy Fair 2002. All updates (made on 2/11) will be in blue.

Added some slight updates on 2/18, all of them pertaining to Megatron, both modes.

Combined Optimus Prime
One again Ops is a tractor trailer, and his trailer apparently won't be useless as it was in G1 (well, it had that battle station thing, but how many times did he use that?). My initial thoughts on this were that it was horkin' cool. I like how his chest is the top of the truck instead of the front (unlike every other Optimus we've gotten with windows and a grill for an upper body).

I also really like his head. It's very un-Optimus, something not often seen with the Primes. They did it in Beast Machines (to an even more extreme than this), but not since I guess TM Optimus has he had a head with a face plate that different (TM Ops, of course, didn't have one, but he retained the helmet).

Also I must say I like the silver used here instead of the yellow in the Toy Fare shots, improves upon an already great design.

However, he doesn't look like he has any knees, which may be a problem, though you could say the same for RID Optimus in any of his combined modes. All in all this looks cool, and apparently when you don't combine him with the trailer it will auto-transform into a base of some sort. Neat.

Still no knees to speak of. Ah well.

(next three are from one image)

Non-Combined Optimus
I don't like it. He looks more like the Optimus we grew up with, but he has massive Rescue Hero fists and his head sits really low on his body. I'm hoping they mistransformed him and his arms or shoulders move down or his head moves up. Or possibly he looks better in real life. Maybe he just doesn't photo well... I do like his gun a lot though.

I'm liking him a lot better now. Not only is he the first American made Prime to have a matrix (not necessarily the Matrix, mind you), but he looks to be quite well articulated. I still think his hands are way too big though.

Megatron (robot mode)
Wow. He's like the poseable version of G2 Megatron we never saw (because it didn't exist, unless you count hero Megs). This is one of the few toys I didn't initially worry about a lack of poseability. Clearly his knees bend, as they are bent. He also has a badass cannon at his hip and in tank mode I would presume the treads above his shoulders use those grinding blades like Tankor and his spinning blades. I'm not sure what he would use that gimpy dagger he's holding for. Stabbing annoying minicons I suppose.

The new pics on Altered State Magazine show off Megs' new robot mode. He still looks pretty cool, though I have a few problems with it. For one his feet look kinda dumpy, and um, he has antlers. I'm hoping those things fold backwards, because if they don't I may have to cut them off or something. Also it still looks like he has knees, but his thigh joints look like they only move in and out, not forwards in any way, though I could be wrong. All in all, still pretty cool, though those antlers I could do without.

The Three Minicons
Pictured is a green tank (Leader-1 I believe), a yellow chap who reminds me of a slim Bumblebee and a black fire truck or something. They seem to be nothing more than mini-bots. I probably won't be buying a hell of a lot of these, though Leader-1 looks pretty neat.

Megatron (tank mode)
Wow. That is cool. I am definetly going to have to buy Megs when he comes out. Actually, come to think of it, he's the only TF I consistantly bought throughout Beast Wars. A pity his BM form sucked. This one, however, is everything the green G2 tank wished it coule be. And those chopping blades I mentioned before appear to be on a spinner of some sort. He's a gaint blender with a few cannons. YESSS!

In the picture where he's held he actually doesn't look as big as I was expecting, but it is loaded with gimmicks, which is always a plus, and it's possible whoever is holding the tank has a giant hand. Tank mode is still bad ass. Everything G2 Megs wanted to be. Yes now!

Hot Shot with Mini-con
Hmm, I dunno what the hell those things attached to his bumper are, but they just don't do it for me. He's also apparently mistransformed as the sides of the car don't seem to be stuck together right. Hopefully that's not a weak point of the toy. I'm not overly crazy about this one though.

I'm still not liking this one. Car mode looks better, but the yellow is a bit much for me. Robot mode looks like a horror however. He does look very poseable though, which is a plus. I probably won't be getting this one (sure, I say that now...sheesh)

High Wire
Well, a bike Transformer. Looks pretty bad to me. He reminds me of a Lego set of some sort. Though this gives you some idea of the size scale with his ball joints. I'd estimate he's around the same height as Choro-Q Prime.

Grindor
A skateboard, well that's creative at least, though it's one of the dumpiest skateboards I've ever seen, it's nice to see Hasbro branching out from the traditional cars and jets. Grindor also gets points for having a lewd name. Rodimus Prime, eat your heart out!

Perceptor
Looks like three combined minicons. A bike, jet ski and our pal Grindor. Actually, upon closer inspection it looks more like a scooter forms his legs, or rather a moped thing. I think that's the right name. I don't get why he has that name though. He doesn't look like the sort of fellow who would percieve much, except maybe when it was time for some extreme sports. Looks pretty neat though. Maybe I will have to pick up some minicons after all.

Bah, Perceptor looks like a pile of parts here. Either he's mistransformed or Toy Fare got his one good angle. Scratch the minicons again.

Wreckage
Ah, so it wasn't Leader-1 in that picture. He has those annoying ball poping missiles (Prowl from RID has them as well) which I was never a fan of, though I guess you can't expect spring loaded stuff on such a small robot, right? The big horkin' missile launchers certainly add something though.

Cyclonus
Gah! Okay, so the name makes sense as he turns into a helicoptor, but he looks like he's about to fall over and die or something. He's more like a Fisher Price robot or something. I can't tell if he has knees either. For the love of god why is there no knee bending?! Someone should tell Toy Fare that knees have come standard on almost every TF since late G2 stuff. Also I hope his head moves forward a little. Those colors aren't working for me either. This one needs to either be improved or burried.

I still don't like him, though you can see he has knees now and possibly ball jointed hips. The picture is mistransformed by the way, his waist needs to be spun around so he legs won't be backwards any more.

Demolisher
Ahh! It's Metroplex re-incarnated! I still have bad memories of the time my Metroplex snapped in half at the waist, and this guy looks ready to pull the same stunt. Still, how can you not love someone named 'Demolisher' who has guns for fingers and four huge missiles (or spikes at the very least) on his shoulders? This one looks like a keeper, me thinks.

Not so sure any more. He looks like a big fat brick. Even more than Cyclonus did. His vehicle mode, however, is total badass. He may be added to my collection as a 'never gonna get transformed' addition (kinda like TM2 Scourge).

Red Alert
Wow, talk about backpacks. It's like the illegitimate child of Rampage and Bazooka (heh, how that would work I don't know) in terms of the backpack. I like his vehicle mode a lot, however, and the robot mode is growing on me. Also note he has no fists, but some sort of welding equipment or something. Also if you look between his legs you can see a battery panel, so he will have electronics. Not too shabby for a deluxe.

Also the crane minicon sitting on his shoulder is neat, though that seems to be the trend where the minicons sit. Will they be like parrots? One can only guess.

Okay, looks like his backpack can detach to make for some neat car armor (ala the Autobot brothers of RID). I'm starting to like this one a lot more. Why oh why did Hasbro make the bigger, more expensive TFs so cool? They want me to go broke, that's why. I also still like his mini-con a lot. Maybe even more now that he has an extending ladder.

Runway
Hm. Well, Runway looks like Astrotrain and Movor had a kid, but the sword looks...well...kinda weird. Makes you wonder why all the transformers want to get their hands on the thing. Not for displaying purposes, that's for sure.

Okay, the minicon three pack ('air assortment' or something) has cool vehicle modes, pretty cool robot modes, but a crappy combined form. Still looks like a jumble of crap. Minicons have that about them when they combine it seems. Too much Build King inspiration.

Starscream
Oh yes, Starscream is back. With Cyclonus this is the second use of that name, which is cool. I like both modes a lot. He reminds me of deluxe Jetstorm a bunch as well, and that was, I think, the best jet TF ever made. This will be the first one I buy, oh yes. Expect a review in August some time. Yes indeed. Heh.

I still can't figure out why he has a car on his head though. That can't be comfortable.

Oh yes, he is still very bad ass. And the closeup of his face shows he looks nearly exactly like the original Screamer. So far he is such a kickass homage to the original. Hopefully the show version will live up to the name, because now I'm expecting it (unlike with Cyclonus, who I have blocked off from being associated with the original one). Either way this toy is bad ass. Oh and it appears he doesn't have a minicon for a hat, but rather as a backpack accessory.

The Story
Apparently the show will take place after G1 ended but before the downsizing to Maximals and Predacons. Around 2010. These guys discover a race/faction of TFs called minicons who have some sort of weird powers allowing for TFs to unlock more weapons and such. Hrm, can you say, Pokemon? Okay, I shouldn't be too mean, I mean, I haven't even seen the show (think there'll be a preview at Botcon?).

Also it appears the minicons that make up Perceptor will be discovered by some fleshy-bots so it appears those three will probably get a lot of screen time. I'm not sure if I enjoy that, though to be fair, kids will like it, and the show is aimed at kids, right?

To be fair, someone pointed out that Bionicle has a Pokemon-like plot, but manages to not be like Pokemon. Also, mind you, the Pokemon basic plot (find Pokemon, catch them, use them to win) isn't really that bad. What makes the show bad, so to speak, is the fact that it's geared at six year olds and is filled with stuff like Pikachu looking cute for twenty minutes. The actual idea of catching monsters or whatever the hell Pokemon are and using them to fight each other is pretty neat. Also, I must say, when they stop being dumb (dumb things include stuff like talking, walking, and general things) and actually battle, it's a fun show to watch. If you can get through the bad dialogue and stuff. Which is the tough part. It's no worse than RID is, in my opinion.

That said, the Armada story line has potential. Also, remember the 'race to the stasis pod' episodes of Beast Wars (The Spark, Spider's Game, Fallen Comrades etc)? Those were some of the best episodes of BW, and I'd assume a lot of Armada plots will be like that as well. Though I'm sure the minicons won't fall from the sky, but they probably don't all hang out together. Probably in sets of three. Heh. For $5.99 at K-Mart.

Actually, suggested price is $6.99. Hm. That's $2.33 per basic, which is roughly what they cost now (less actually) with the spychanger two packs.

I can also hope for stuff like decent writing. I'm hoping the writing will be like that of Beast Wars. I mean, nifty story arches spanning more than one episode, not an overly huge amount of dumb jokes (like RID does so often it makes me want to bang my head on the table), and some good character development.

Every character in Beast Wars was unique and cool in their own way. G1 did it pretty well, as well, though G1 spent a lot of time focusing on Prime and Megatron which BW was able to stay away from most of the time.

Of course, I know the show is geared towards kids, but I really don't think I could put up with another RID. The only thing that kept me interested in RID was the amazing toys. Armada, if the show sucks, does not have that to back it up, because so far I only like two of the toys a lot and one a decent amount. That could change, mind you, but I would just like more substance than RID has given.

Hey, it changed! I now like Optimus, Megatron (who I would like to see some more pics of robot mode, by the way), Starscream and Red Alert. Cyclonus also went from sucking hard core to being almost decent. I'll wait for reviews of him before I buy.

To Sum It Up
So, there you have it, my initial impressions of the first Armada pics and storyline. Also sorry about the bad spelling, I really should check it, but I'm not going to, so there. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Still sorry about the bad, blue spelling.