Death's Head
30-12-11, 08:03 AM
2011 should have been a banner year for Transformers, what with the release of the third live action film, instead it’s been a year of a more muted acceptance that the Transformers brand continues to be. No doubt a combination of a cooling of the usual anticipation and the wider state of the economy has people’s attention focused elsewhere. Hasbro continued to bring some new things to the table to keep interest in the line shored up, and in perhaps what is a sign of the times rolled out the Cyberverse line of figures and playsets at a smaller scale and lower rrp.
The year kicked off for Britain with an assortment of remaindered 2010 lines, with the ill-fated Powercore Combiners line limping into clearance bins up and down the land, swiftly followed by a clutch of Hunt For The Decepticon figures (although surprisingly, no Skids and Mudflap figures. Perhaps the kids found something to enjoy about them that us curmudgeonly grown ups didn’t). Taking their place on the nation’s toy shelves for a brief three month period was an assortment of Reveal The Shield Figures. A funny line, this mixed in the fan pleasing Classics-style figures with a couple of movie-themed designs. The figures most of interest being Jazz, Tracks, Windcharger, Lugnut, Wreck Gar and an exclusive of sorts in the Rodimus Vs Cyclonus two pack. The ‘gimmick’ of this line was the use of the old heat sensitive rubsigns to reveal the faction to which your Transformer belonged. A great idea in principle, undermined by Hasbro clearly printing the figure’s allegiance on the back of the packet. It was also a fairly cheap gimmick to realise too, rubsigns having been reintroduced on the Classics line in 2006. Running concurrently were a few brief squirts of the catch-all Generations line which saw the usual scalper frenzy for the latest batch of G1 redux figures. As ever, the Decpeticons emerged with the ugliest and most poorly executed figures. Whilst the Deluxe size works well for most vehicles, anything that’s airborne or even a tank looks hopelessly contrived to fit in this size class. Both lines were brought to a sharp halt by the arrival of the next batch of movie toys.
Although the film was some weeks away, most places had the DOTM figures on shelves a month or so prior to release. After the generally excellent figures cranked out for Revenge Of The Fallen and it’s two sister lines (N.E.S.T. & HFTD), DOTM had a lot to live up to. Which for me, it failed to do. The tiresome but expected appearance of yet more Bumblebees, Ironhides, Ratchets and Primes was allied with a new menace: smaller toys made with rubbery feeling plastics with less detailing at a higher rrp. A couple of decent figures aside (Topspin, Crankcase, Roadbuster) the Deluxe line was a little sad looking overall and over time just relied on redressing older product to generate interest, giving us ROTF moulds dressed as ‘Trans-Scanning’ figures with translucent parts and some unwanted Target exclusive ‘Cyber-glyph’ repaints of the same. The Voyager Class didn’t fare much better, with Shockwave a squat looking Cyber-Stomping type figure that turned into some girders on wheels passing itself off as a tank. Megatron faced the same ignomy that he’s faced both on screen and off, with another mediocre toy to add to his name that was somewhat wide of the mark. Only the Autobot Steamhammer seemed much cop, but looked like he was from another line entirely. For the expensive Leader Class premium figures, Sentinel Prime and Ironhide could count themselves as some of the best large scale Transformers ever made, but Bumblebee was turned into a steroid abusing bodybuilder by way of a K’Nex set and Ultimate Optimus Prime an expensive folly. The line did feature something that’s been absent from Transformers since Generation 2 : separate pack in weapons in the form of various spring loaded ‘Mech Tech’ weapons. These chunky things brought a nice addition to familiar play patterns and meant that the Transformers had something more substantial to wield than the normal pea shooter style integral weapons. Pocket money toys proliferated this year, with more Legions (the new name for Legends) figures than you can shake a stick at joined by the Scout Class replacement Cyberverse, which featured Legion-style designs and transformations at a larger scale (and thus higher price point – nearly £10 a throw) capable of interacting with a small range of bases and playsets. A great idea that riffs on the old Micromaster play patterns and also an answer to the question why we no longer get any huge City-bot style Transformers.
The film itself was an improvement over Revenge Of The Fallen and came close to matching the first film. There was much to enjoy, particularly in the shape of Laserbeak whom pretty much stole the show from his larger comrades. As ever, a strong focus on the human cast – most of whom remained crude charicatures – left the Transformers themselves side lined in their own film, despite some impressive sequences set on Cybertron and in Chicago. The biggest failing of the film was an unfortunate jump in the narrative. The Autobots go racing into Chicago to liberate the city and some soliders jump out of a plane and glide down in a sequence that feels interminably long ander, oh - how did the Autobots get rounded up and captured so easily? The toilet humour of which Bay is so fond also reared its ugly head in the shape of Jerry Wang and a particularly uncomfortable scene with John Malkovich rolling around giggling like a baby whilst being petted by Bumblebee. The bleaker tone and level of carnage – human bodies exploding in a burst of crimson leaving charred bones, not to mention the fluids spewed out by the Transformers themselves – made the film a largely joyless affair, and coupled with Rachel Underwear-Model’s school assembly acting made it difficult not to agree with the critical mauling the film got. Not that this stopped it doing exceptionally well at the Box Office, but that’s no measure of acceptance given that Batman and Robin also did very well despite being one of the worst films ever made. It would be nice if we had a break from the live action movies, as the franchise is in sore need of a rest and I don’t think I could stick another film like this which is the equivalent to being stuck in a washing machine on spin cycle while someone bangs it with hammers. A muted release both theatrically and onto DVD and Blu-Ray (both bereft of any ‘extra features’, which probably tells you something) sums up the overall feeling of at best a “will this do?” approach and at worst, a sense of complacency.
Outside of the film and toys, IDW continued to plumb new depths with a consistently bad run of Transformers comics. Still, Andy Schimdt got what he wanted out of his tenure as ‘editor’ when Hasbro – God help them- gave him a job, so that’s alright then. There were small glimmers of hope towards the end of the year with the announcement of James Roberts and John Barber as new writers and editor respectively and both of them seem to have a good grasp of what Transformers are all about – itself something of a conundrum these days thanks to a load of sales chasing lurches into reboots and restarts. Hopefully, 2012 will bring a renewed focus and tighter direction for the battling ‘bots. Or at the very least some comics that don’t make you curse the day you learnt to read.
The year kicked off for Britain with an assortment of remaindered 2010 lines, with the ill-fated Powercore Combiners line limping into clearance bins up and down the land, swiftly followed by a clutch of Hunt For The Decepticon figures (although surprisingly, no Skids and Mudflap figures. Perhaps the kids found something to enjoy about them that us curmudgeonly grown ups didn’t). Taking their place on the nation’s toy shelves for a brief three month period was an assortment of Reveal The Shield Figures. A funny line, this mixed in the fan pleasing Classics-style figures with a couple of movie-themed designs. The figures most of interest being Jazz, Tracks, Windcharger, Lugnut, Wreck Gar and an exclusive of sorts in the Rodimus Vs Cyclonus two pack. The ‘gimmick’ of this line was the use of the old heat sensitive rubsigns to reveal the faction to which your Transformer belonged. A great idea in principle, undermined by Hasbro clearly printing the figure’s allegiance on the back of the packet. It was also a fairly cheap gimmick to realise too, rubsigns having been reintroduced on the Classics line in 2006. Running concurrently were a few brief squirts of the catch-all Generations line which saw the usual scalper frenzy for the latest batch of G1 redux figures. As ever, the Decpeticons emerged with the ugliest and most poorly executed figures. Whilst the Deluxe size works well for most vehicles, anything that’s airborne or even a tank looks hopelessly contrived to fit in this size class. Both lines were brought to a sharp halt by the arrival of the next batch of movie toys.
Although the film was some weeks away, most places had the DOTM figures on shelves a month or so prior to release. After the generally excellent figures cranked out for Revenge Of The Fallen and it’s two sister lines (N.E.S.T. & HFTD), DOTM had a lot to live up to. Which for me, it failed to do. The tiresome but expected appearance of yet more Bumblebees, Ironhides, Ratchets and Primes was allied with a new menace: smaller toys made with rubbery feeling plastics with less detailing at a higher rrp. A couple of decent figures aside (Topspin, Crankcase, Roadbuster) the Deluxe line was a little sad looking overall and over time just relied on redressing older product to generate interest, giving us ROTF moulds dressed as ‘Trans-Scanning’ figures with translucent parts and some unwanted Target exclusive ‘Cyber-glyph’ repaints of the same. The Voyager Class didn’t fare much better, with Shockwave a squat looking Cyber-Stomping type figure that turned into some girders on wheels passing itself off as a tank. Megatron faced the same ignomy that he’s faced both on screen and off, with another mediocre toy to add to his name that was somewhat wide of the mark. Only the Autobot Steamhammer seemed much cop, but looked like he was from another line entirely. For the expensive Leader Class premium figures, Sentinel Prime and Ironhide could count themselves as some of the best large scale Transformers ever made, but Bumblebee was turned into a steroid abusing bodybuilder by way of a K’Nex set and Ultimate Optimus Prime an expensive folly. The line did feature something that’s been absent from Transformers since Generation 2 : separate pack in weapons in the form of various spring loaded ‘Mech Tech’ weapons. These chunky things brought a nice addition to familiar play patterns and meant that the Transformers had something more substantial to wield than the normal pea shooter style integral weapons. Pocket money toys proliferated this year, with more Legions (the new name for Legends) figures than you can shake a stick at joined by the Scout Class replacement Cyberverse, which featured Legion-style designs and transformations at a larger scale (and thus higher price point – nearly £10 a throw) capable of interacting with a small range of bases and playsets. A great idea that riffs on the old Micromaster play patterns and also an answer to the question why we no longer get any huge City-bot style Transformers.
The film itself was an improvement over Revenge Of The Fallen and came close to matching the first film. There was much to enjoy, particularly in the shape of Laserbeak whom pretty much stole the show from his larger comrades. As ever, a strong focus on the human cast – most of whom remained crude charicatures – left the Transformers themselves side lined in their own film, despite some impressive sequences set on Cybertron and in Chicago. The biggest failing of the film was an unfortunate jump in the narrative. The Autobots go racing into Chicago to liberate the city and some soliders jump out of a plane and glide down in a sequence that feels interminably long ander, oh - how did the Autobots get rounded up and captured so easily? The toilet humour of which Bay is so fond also reared its ugly head in the shape of Jerry Wang and a particularly uncomfortable scene with John Malkovich rolling around giggling like a baby whilst being petted by Bumblebee. The bleaker tone and level of carnage – human bodies exploding in a burst of crimson leaving charred bones, not to mention the fluids spewed out by the Transformers themselves – made the film a largely joyless affair, and coupled with Rachel Underwear-Model’s school assembly acting made it difficult not to agree with the critical mauling the film got. Not that this stopped it doing exceptionally well at the Box Office, but that’s no measure of acceptance given that Batman and Robin also did very well despite being one of the worst films ever made. It would be nice if we had a break from the live action movies, as the franchise is in sore need of a rest and I don’t think I could stick another film like this which is the equivalent to being stuck in a washing machine on spin cycle while someone bangs it with hammers. A muted release both theatrically and onto DVD and Blu-Ray (both bereft of any ‘extra features’, which probably tells you something) sums up the overall feeling of at best a “will this do?” approach and at worst, a sense of complacency.
Outside of the film and toys, IDW continued to plumb new depths with a consistently bad run of Transformers comics. Still, Andy Schimdt got what he wanted out of his tenure as ‘editor’ when Hasbro – God help them- gave him a job, so that’s alright then. There were small glimmers of hope towards the end of the year with the announcement of James Roberts and John Barber as new writers and editor respectively and both of them seem to have a good grasp of what Transformers are all about – itself something of a conundrum these days thanks to a load of sales chasing lurches into reboots and restarts. Hopefully, 2012 will bring a renewed focus and tighter direction for the battling ‘bots. Or at the very least some comics that don’t make you curse the day you learnt to read.