How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 3: Cinematic Universe ideas

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays, regardless of if you celebrate it, and what you celebrate.

While this further stretches the definition of Bayformers, though at this point some people are probably just looking at the title of the post, thinking I'm insane and moving on... They're partially right, at least for that insane part. This post looks more at story ideas that could work well for in a Live Action aesthetic, and tweaks that could be made to bring them to the big screen. It'll be going through the Generations one at a time, so with that out of the way.

Generation 1 and Generation 2 (I'm lumping them together): Let's piss off a lot of fans right away, I don't think there's much worth bringing from G1, at least from the show. The problem is that the show was so ingrained in the 80's kids show design mentality that not much of it would work well without having to do massive rewrites to the point where it might be the stories in name only. Take Dark of The Moon which is basically the space bridge arc from the show (I want to say the Season 1 finale based off what I remember off the top of my head, but I could be wrong). If anything, I think the Season 4 episodes (all three of them) would be worth bringing over as I think it could be interesting to do the Nebulos story around the Headmasters and Targetmasters. It could even borrow elements from the Japanese exclusive cartoons to have a mini-series of stories. In terms of the comics though, I think more could come from them, such as Bludgeon, Jihaxus, the Underbay saga (heck for fun I'd like to see them do Ratbat's evil carwash). I will admit that I don't know too much about the G1 and G2 comics (both Marvel US and Marvel UK) as I haven't looked into older comics from most lines (the exception being the old Archie Sonic comics).

Beast Wars: Beast Wars is something that I think could be really interesting to do, just due to the nature of the beasts. There are lots of different ways I could see it brought in. It could be brought in with the Time Travel gimmick of the show, and maybe have that be the justification of the legends of monsters, akin to how the Predacons from Transformers Prime were the reason the legends of Dragons exist in the show. I think it would be funny that the reason the legend of Big Foot exists is Optimus Primal. Another way I could see it is to borrow an element of Cybertron, and have the stories be on the Jungle Planet, turning it into a place for all the Beastformer Transformers. Imagine Cybertron Scourge being aligned with the Beast Wars Predacons as an example. Another way I could also see it happening is if it was brought to Earth in the modern day, adding elements of RID 2001 and maybe doing some actual monster movies with Transformers, rather then the pseudo monster movies the real movies have been so far. This could also be used as an excuse to do Beast Wars versions of other Transformers, such as Starscream as that Basilisk concept from The Last Knight. Beast Machines could also be brought into the story, with the Vehicons being an experiment made by the Predacons to bolster their army, eventually leading to the Transmetal technology.

Beast Machines and RID 2001: See above, I haven't got any ideas for them solo. What I will say though about RID 2001 is that the concept of it (and Rescue Bots), Autobots being common knowledge and don't have to hide in order to save people, can just be a side part of a story once the set up for it is ready.

Armada: With the main exception of the weapon Mini-Cons, I could see most of the Mini-Cons being something more like a commercial product in a Live action universe, the new version of small vehicles like bikes, scooters etc. Some could be used to add versatility to the Transformers akin to the PS2 game, and the Decepticons could be weaponizing the technology. It could even be used for things like the Apex Armour being a Mini-Con weapon.

Energon: The collection of Energon story would only work once (as evident by the fact that Energon is one of the worse entries in the franchise, and it did the "collect Energon to power Unicron" twice. However, turning Prime's Combination Spark into a power of the Enigma of Combination could be good for stories, just as long as they remember who can combine with who. It would be good for keeping things fresh in combat without needing to rely on 5-6 bot combiners, as they could have any of the two bot combiners from the trilogy, or even 3 bot combiners like Rail Racer. Some Autobots and Decepticons could even have "power armor modes", such as Energon Landmine and Bulk Head, or to use the one G1 fans know, Powermaster Prime.

Cybertron: I can easily see the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys being a multi film arc, though with one big change. I would keep the Jungle Planet, Velocitron and Gigantion planet keys where they are, but move Earth's key to Caminus, if not tying the planet keys to the Titans, so that there are 13 Planet keys, each with a power either tied to the Titan, or tied to the planet. Such as a key from Necrotitan allowing for resurection of the dead, or the Gigantion key able to make things grow or shrink. Combined with the Omega Lock, the keys would give an ultimate power to anyone who weilded the weapon. If anyone is wondering, yes this is inspired by the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems.

Animated: While in terms of story ideas, there's not much I'd take from Animated. I would however take characters, such as Blitzwing's split personalities, Lugnut, Lockdown and Sari. Bulk Head would be a combo of his Prime and Energon incarnations.

IDW: A lot of stories from IDW I'd like to see in the Live action style, such as Last Stand of the Wreckers (as teased in the first post) and Dark Cybertron. In terms of characters, the Decepticon Justice Division would make for a great series of villains for a story, and remember that arc based on the Omega Lock I mentioned before? Well, I'd personally do that story not with Megatron as the villain, but Nova Prime, with the goal to use the Lock to make him stronger then a god, using the Dead Universe as his personal prison. To those wondering why I didn't bring up Dreamwave, well its the same as the Marvel comics.

Prime: I've got nothing more to add from Prime that hasn't been addressed in other paragraphs. It would be cool for the Decepticons to use the Nemesis as an aerial base in a story, and I would use that incarnation of Shockwave for stories as it could be cool if he was the one that opened a gate to a Live Action Shattered Glass universe, or was the one who freed Nova Prime from the Dead Universe.

RID 2015: Mainly as a side story at first, though maybe as a main story later, the idea of an Autobot team trying to capture Decepticons would be a nice idea. Maybe lead by Sentinel Prime who in this timeline would be an Autobot enforcer, capturing Decepticons causing trouble for other planets. It could be a way to use the DJD for a main story, as both see the other as getting in their way.

War For Cybertron/ Fall of Cybertron: Aside from acting as a good base for the stories of the war, one idea that I admit I'm tweaking from a post I saw on Facebook (If you read this sir and want your work shared, please let me know and I will edit this page), based around the idea of two seperate Autobot factions. Optimus's faction, and while the original had Ultra Magnus as the more war driven leader, I'd rather use Zeta Prime, who would survive the war, but would see both the Decepticons and Optimus's Autobots as an enemy, leading to an Autobot v Autobot battle.

Ok. I think I've the general points covered now. If anyone would like to see a full pitch for any of these ideas, let me know and I'll come back to this topic. For now though, the year is almost done, plans are underway to do a Podcast looking back on 2017, but if that doesn't happen next week, then I'll be starting a new marathon. Not on robots, but of another franchise I was into as a kid, but didn't stick with me. Keep an eye out for either the 2017 Podcast, or the start of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles marathon with the 8

How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 2: A clean slate

Encase you missed last week's post, you can find it here: https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/how-would-i-fix-live-action.html

Very quickly, before beginning, while I will not go into spoilers, I have seen The Last Jedi and my personal views around the controversies it has been causing in the Star Wars community is really petty. Looking at the larger picture, I'm personally fine with the issues people have with it after a single view and thinking back on it. That view might change when I go to review it though, which I'll try to do as soon as the DVD gets released.

While it is all well and good to try and fix, course correct, take something into a new direction and more, many people believe that Bayformers is something irredeemable. While I stand by my choice of releasing the post talking about how I'd start to handle it going forward, there's also the flip side of "what if I could give it a clean slate? What if I was in control from the beginning?".

For the sake of a challenge, I'm limiting myself to the movie release schedules of the actual movies, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017. As such, I am only using characters and ideas that existed around those times. Original ideas are still fair game, but I can't add in a character like Victorion into Movie 1, she didn't even exist yet. The thing to remember about this though is that hindsight is 20/20, and I am looking at this with the knowledge of the five movies, so these ideas wouldn't be the same as if I was coming at it without that knowledge. And like with the last post, I am keeping in mind that these are for mass audiences, but I still hold to my rule of "if there is an audience for it, its there for a reason, and it'll be your free advertisement", so there will naturally be a combination and balance of the two audiences. Also, like with the last post, this is being done with the visual style of Live action/ CGI (even though I prefer animation). Also I'm using the poster/ DVD art for the actual movies as placeholder images, just to help break up the wall of text.  With those out of the way:

How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 1: The current path

If you'll allow me, I want to take a small break from reviews for a few weeks, not to go on leave again, but to write down something that has been clawing at my mind for some time. It should probably not come as a shock to anyone who's been here for a while, I am a Transformers fan. I've watched all the shows (including the Machinima stuff everyone hates, those are for another time), read some of the comics (before I get hate from that, comic books in general are something I've been trying to get myself into), seen the movies, been collecting the toys recently and used to collect them when I was a kid. If there was one franchise that defined my childhood... it would probably be Lego, then Pokemon, and then Transformers though mostly because when I was growing up I was really into robots and machines, its why Thunderbirds also makes that list. However, its pretty safe to say that the live action movies have not gotten a good reputation both in the fandom, and in the film analysis community, with general audiences overall not caring about the details. It's a shame because, like many, I know the IP has potential. As to what kind of potential, well that's something I'd like to test for myself (heck I need to use some of that self taught game design knowledge for something other then a DMCA waiting to happen as a thing for fun).

Inspired by Movie Bob's series, which in turn was inspired by the Whatculture team (almost certain that's right, correct me if I'm wrong), I'm going to try my hand at a "How would I fix" series. What comes out of it going forward? I'm not sure, it'll really depend on any feedback I get from this. At the moment, this is planned for three parts:

• Part 1: How would I handle this series in its current state (if I was, for some reason, brought on to direct Transformers 6 and 7, yes this part is two movies)
• Part 2: How would I have handled it if I was in charge from the beginning/ how would I reboot it (ignore the fact that when movie 1 came out in cinemas, I was 11)
• Part 3: Movie ideas that would work in either timeline

While this is going to come into play more next week, I will set one ground rule, while creating new ideas is on the table, if an idea is being borrowed from the source material, it has to have existed at the time (for example, no Windblade in Movie 1). What is however in play is visual style. These are being designed with Live Action and Live Action CGI in mind, none of these would be fully animated, though considering the subject matters later on, there might need to be a lot of Live Action CGI. With that out of the way, let's begin.

So with this following on from The Last Knight, let's first establish what is in play, and who can be in play. The last movie teased that Unicron would play a big role in the movie, which means that by the end of this post, Unicron has to have been dealt with in some form. A lot of major Decepticons are dead, though thankfully there's still room to grow. For this though, I am assuming that all the Autobots in The Last Knight survived, because to be honest I don't care enough to rewatch that movie to find out, and that the only two survivors on the Decepticons were Megatron and Barricade. To get the ball rolling, every movie needs a plot, and what I've come up with is as follows.

Earth is right now in a state of chaos. Government bodies have stood down their Anti-Transformer policies and defense divisions due to the looming nature of what is below their feet. With the cities in chaos, the Autobots have begun preparations for a planetary evacuation, using their technology to rapidly increase the nations' individual space programs. With the assistance of the Knights of Cybertron, Cade, Viviane and Cogman believe they may have found structures on Cybertron that could have survived the chaos the planet has gone through in recent years, and have traveled to the dead planet to look for them.

Meanwhile, on a defensive front, Optimus Prime and Megatron have agreed to unite their forces, including recent arrivals to Earth, to counter the threat. Taking a team made up of the strongest Autobots and Decepticons available to them, Optimus Prime and Megatron travel to the planet's core to try and stop Unicron from awakening. Before departure though, Megatron orders a Decepticon flier to travel with Barricade to the old Decepticon base on Mars and prepare it for the fight should they fail (something we won't see until the post credits of the movie).

The idea for movie 6 is to give more of a build up to Unicron's arrival, adding weight to it by showing how unprepaied everyone was, splitting the teams up to each prepare for the chaos. But, I hear you ask, what are those teams? Well:

• Team to Cybertron: Cade, Viviane, Cogman, Bumblebee, Drift, Hound and Crosshairs. Their goal, to awaken the dormant Cybertronian cities, the Titans, along with any usable ships, to help with evacuation and (eventually), heavy fire power against Unicron
• Team on Earth: Perceptor, Hot Spot, Blades, Streetwise, Rook, First Aid, along with several, unnamed Transformers. Tasked with the evacuation of the continents
• Team in the core: Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, Megatron, Silverbolt and the Arialbots (which would be unnamed in this movie), Motormaster and the Stunticons (which would be unnamed), Six Shot, Quick Switch and Springer. Tasked with trying to stop Unicron from awakening, and would be fighting constructs of Unicron the further they traveled
• Team on Mars: Skywarp and Barricade: Tasked with reactivating the ship, which is in reality Trypticon. Yes, the post credits scene is dedicated to awakening the first Decepticon Titan (that anyone actually cares about).

Now transformers fans would know I named three combiner teams there, the Aerialbots, the Stunticons, and the Protectorbots, and yes its because some of those are going where you think they're going. Superion and Menasor would form in this movie, though I wouldn't form Defensor, simply due to the nature of the missions. Granted this is very Autobot heavy, mostly due to the fact that its almost a given there will be Decepticon drones of some form, a lot of the Decepticons I had in mind for this would work better later on, so expect some of those stories in movie 3. As for the Dinobots, sadly to many, the movies don't care enough about them which is why I've ignored them here. However, doing some research, I have something in mind related to them for part 3.

So, onto Movie 7. With the assumption that the events of Last Knight and Movie 6 have happened several months apart, and Movie 7 directly following on from Movie 6, the transformers have managed to evacuate the human population from Earth. I know that sounds like several leaps in logic, but I have to ask you, has anything in these movies made any logical sense? At least this one you could use the arguement of the Governments actually doing something with all that Transformer knowledge accumulated over a decade and a bit. Moving on, the humans are on Mars, Metroplex, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon, each in their battle modes, have moved into position outside of Earth's orbit. Cade, Viviane, Cogman, Bumblebee, Drift, Hound and Crosshairs. are onboard Metroplex alongside Six Gun, Slammer, Scamper, a small team of Autobots tasked with the protection of Metroplex. Onboard Fortress Maximus is the Earth Evacuation team along with Cerebros and Cog, two (though secretly four) Autobots tasked with the protection of Fortress Maximus. Skywarp and Barricade pilot Trypticon along with Wipe-Out, Full-Tilt, Necro (who wouldn't be a headmaster this time) and Brunt, who were the guards of the Decepticon Base, due to the fact that it was still making Protoforms.

As for the team in the planet's core, they are currently trapped inside Unicron and must find four ancient Cybertronian Weapons inside of it as it is transforming. Yes, the reason why I held him back, is because I want to do something I doubt the movies will actually do, and transform Unicron into his robot mode. As for the weapons they need to find, because I personally need to squeeze some post G1 in here somewhere, the Energon Saber and Chaos Saber (I want to save the name Star Saber for, we Star Saber), the Requium Blaster, and the Skyboom shield, four weapons said to have been placed onto Unicron by Primus should he ever be awakened again, though due to the transformation, are now inside him. From there the movie becomes one half space battle, one half land battle/ Scavenger Hunt as the Autobots and Decepticons battle to defeat Unicron. The day is eventually won, Unicron's body returns to planet mode as his spark is believed destroyed. The reconstruction begins once the humans return to the planet, now having to remake the world due to the changes caused from Unicron (I'm leaning towards continent mass changing in some way), the weapons break to reveal themselves as Mini Cons before scattering themselves to the universe. Credits roll, mid credits scene, Fortress Maximus and Metroplex are in city form acting as a centralized point to help with the rebuilding efforts. Some Autobots depart earth now that the mission is done to return to tasks they were doing before, including Springer and Perceptor, who say they are gathering a team to handle a situation on Garrus-9 (hint hint for part 3). Post credits scene: Unicron's spark finds its way to a dead planet, fusing itself with it, the planet begins to cyberform into a far more familiar planet look. Drained of Energon, the new planet breaks free of its orbit, and begins to travel the universe for planets to feed on.

While I'm not one for handling casting, as that would depend on what happens to the pitch, those would be the story ideas I'd put forward as a semi course correction, and better set up other movies going forward. For next week, we go back in time to see what I'd have done if I was in charge from day 1.

CNtober: G.I Joe; A Real American Hero: Is there anyone here actually called Joe?

I'm back! I'm rested, hardware's not fixed, but hey, it can be worked around. And with me, we bring a marathon. With at least one exception coming this Sunday (because I hate myself), all the reviews this month have been aired on Cartoon Network during one of its many eras. Why? Because neither of us thought they'd do anything to celebrate other then more Teen Titans Go. Both myself and Marissa have a review a week planned out for this month, with both of us looking at one show per era. For this week, let's start off with the era where it all began, the point in time when Cartoon Network first launched, and all they had were the rights to other cartoons, development on original content hadn't started yet. Now while this might not have been one of the staples of that era, I feel the Hanna-Barbera cartoons are something best left for another day. So before jumping to another overly militarized bit of US entertainment, let's jump back to a time when a militarized show could be aired and not be called a racist show. G.I Joe: A real American Hero.

To get one thing out of the way first, these are some of the weirdest armies I have ever seen.

The plot for the show can be summed up pretty quickly. G.I Joe are the good guys, Cobra are the bad guys. The plot overall revolves around Cobra wanting to concur the world with some sort of super weapon, and its up to G.I Joe to stop them. Remember, this is the time period for cartoons where the priority wasn't making quality entertainment, it was selling more toys... the original time at least, even though that trend never really died... Point being, the story is pretty basic overall with plot really coming from the episode to episode story, there's no real continuity except for multipart episodes (which the show opens with two 5 part specials). Best thing I can compare it to is Generation One Transformers, where the overarching story wasn't a thing overall.

Another strong comparison to Generation One Transformers is in the characters and technology, as stories had to revolve around selling toys. But that's kinda where that "weirdest armies" line from before comes from. Granted, I'm assuming the hardware is faithful to the toys, but the military equipment for both the Joes and Cobra look really stupid seeing as they're supposed to be "realistic"  (kinda) for the time, in terms of the show. The vehicles do however have a level of charm to them, and look like they're animated versions of the toys, including cockpit windows being the point of entry for the pilots, and tanks with exposed drivers. As for the characters... you know how most depictions of armies have one or two key figures and then the rest are nameless grunts? Well while that's more of an issue for the Cobra grunts, it seems like they tried to give personalities to all of the Joes and... who uses spears and a crossbow in a modern day army? Who names themselves (I hope it wasn't there parents) Sergent Slaughter, Shipwrecked, Spirit, ect. Granted those names sound awesome, but its where I'd kinda like the setting to be more futuristic then modern day, separate it a bit more.

I think the constant comparisons to Transformers Generation One is actually the main reason why I find myself really liking the show. Animation and soundtrack is similar to G1 Transformers, and the stupidity of some of the plots have a weird charm to them. Is it good? No, there are genuine flaws here which will boil down to "Can you accept a cartoon that exists to sell toys?" If you can and you're looking for a show that's 100% army themed without making it depressing or realistic, then you'll like the show. If not though, then trust me, stay away. You'll save yourself a headache. From one army glorifier to the next. Come Sunday... ugh... I'll be tackling Transformers: The Last Knight.

Jem and the Holograms 2015: A new challenger approaches

To many, its generally accepted that Hasbro's endeavors into Live action movies... haven't gone too well. You've got the unfortunate juggernaut of Bayformers which have gotten worse over the years due to poor direction, movies like Battleship where you wonder who thought this would be a good idea in the first place, and now this movie. A movie that was in cinemas for a week before getting pulled because of how bad it is, one that's so blatantly pandering to the teenage audience that it makes people in my generation, hate my generation. So what are my thoughts on this movie?

Galvatron's Army: This, is a lot of cons

So, literally yesterday, at time of writing, Galvatron got a bit of a boost to his army. To fans of Generation 1, they know that his personal subset of the Decepticons was the Sweeps, Scourge, Cyclonus, and himself. They were to Galvatron, what Starscream and the Seekers were to Megatron. So lets take a look at them. Here are all of them... as photographed by me with no proper set up on my bed with a phone camera...

Combiner Wars Sky Reign (minus Hound): Combiners, now with 100% more cats

Who here is sick of people talking about Combiner Wars? Who here is sick of all the repaints? Who here is probably telling me I have no life because I review kids toys? To those I say: You have seen what's commonly covered on this site right? Trust me, this will probably be the last time Combiner Wars gets covered... at least gestalts. I do have a few Legends class characters from the line, just not the rest of their teams when applicable. So, lets finish off Combiner Wars before Titans Return goes to far ahead... I've got time... I hope... For those wanting to see a review of Hound, look up my review of Combiner Wars Swindle, I cover the two of them together. Also so that I can power through these: Deluxe figures that make up the limbs: Arm mode is half robot, half car with a hand on its foot, and the Leg mode is a compressed car with a foot in its exhaust.

Gotta go to the gym more mate, you're meant to be the Autobot bouncer

Transformers Combiner Wars Bruticus, Part 6: Onslaught: Time to activate the Scramble City Protocol

We're finally at the end of Bruticus, for that is left is the combiner boss himself, Onslaught. I've wasted enough of your time, let's just do it.

Transformers Combiner Wars Bruticus, Part 5; Shockwave: A weapon fit only for a combiner

Yes, I did promise to also review Onslaught and Bruticus. I said that thinking I wouldn't get sick while working on the 2016 Tech Games Fest. I was wrong. Shout outs to my cousin, for giving me his cold, and for keeping me awake that first night with his coughing that sounds like he's choking. That being said though, the event itself was a blast as per usual, though granted my health did get worse as the event went on. However, now that I'm back home, I am recovering, though more of the cold signs are appearing. Why I'm not doing Onslaught? Because I have a bad headache now, and doing the Legends class figure is easier then doing the voyager combiner boss. Time to put the Decepticon Scientist under the microscope.

Transformers Combiner Wars Bruticus, Part 3: Swindle: +1

I can tell you I genuinely wasn't procrastinating with this. I've had Swindle for ages. The last two weeks have just been me getting some things off my chest, pieces I've been meaning to write for a while, but haven't found the time to fit them in, there is a reason I started doing Sunday posts after all. However, during that time, it did give me a chance to pick up another figure which will be brought up here too, as they are almost exactly the same. Why? Because Combiner Wars Bruticus is now not the only combiner I have completed, the other is Combiner Wars Sky Reign. Not only is this a review of Swindle, but also of Hound as I don't feel the need to have them separate. There will be some time before I review Sky Reign, we'll need some break from the robot onslaught (no pun intended). After the final review of Bruticus, being Onslaught himself, will be reviews of other things, such as 2016 BIONICLE, a proper review of Amiibos, some music reviews, I have an impression on World of Final Fantasy to do because I forgot to bring it up in an upcoming video, and potentially more. So for now, consider this Part 3 of Bruticus, and Part 1 of Sky Reign.

IDW Transformers; Last Stand of the Wreckers: How to make Hell on Earth look like a Paradise

"War, is hell"

On one corner you have the honor bound, live to protect Autobots. But what happens when you need something stronger, when you need a looser, glass cannon? That's when you call in The Wreckers. The bots who you send in when the mission is suicidal, who go in guns blazing, and just because you walked off their ship doesn't mean you're walking back on. "Sometimes in teh Wreckers, your first day is your last". Or to put it more bluntly, they are the Autobot equivalent of the Expendibles. So let's take a look at one of their missions. In terms of continuity, this is post Autocracy, but long before Combiner Wars.

Autobot outposts all over the galaxy have been falling to Decepticon forces, with one in particular located on Garrus-9, a prison complex designed to house war criminals run by Fortress Maximus (not the titan), is taken over by a loose cannon, one that even Megatron fears (or so we're told), Overlord. One of the three "Phase six" (for another arc review) decepticons, normally sent in to destroy what's left of a planet and its resistance. Autobot and Decepticon alike fear him because while many kill in the names of their leaders. Overlord can be best described as a sadist, the pain, fear and suffering of others pleasures him. He now runs the prison. With everyone there killing each other either for sport, or survival, in a more primal sort of way. The mission: Break into "G-9", save any autobot survivors and Aequitas, a super computer that serves as a judge and jury for the prison, and get out. Simple enough, right? Well, I won't say how the story ends.

Oh don't worry, I'll come back to this girl later

The simple plot though leads to some terrifying visuals. The bright colour pallete makes all the darker moments stronger, its actually so good that I'd love to see this animated. It's practically begging for an animated form. I also love the contrast of the veteran Wreckers like Kup, Springer, and Impactor to the new recruits like Ironfist, Guzzle and Rotorstorm. It further highlights the strains of war, especially when you're on a team constantly getting fresh parts because recruits keep dying on these suicidal missions.

Kinda heavy, but while I do recomend this arc, it is pretty dark. And considering the other arcs reviewed recently, I think we need to get something lighter covered for next month. In the meantime, I feel like talking about Doctor Strange on Friday, anyone care to listen?

Transformers Combiner Wars Bruticus, Part 2; Blast Off: We need a Doctor here!

It took them 30 years, but they finally did it. They finally fixed the problem of "Why is there a space shuttle on the army guy team?"

Part two of Bruticus, and now we come to his right arm, Blast Off. Who is a repaint, and repaint of Slingshot (or rather, Quickslinger) who is a remold of Fireflight (Firefly). The mold reuse is real here people. At least he still looses to Vortex who's been Alpha Bravo, Blades, Vortex, and the twins in Victorion.

False advertisement, that landing gear is not purple on mine!

Transformers Combiner Wars Bruticus, Part 1; Vortex: No, I'm not going to make that joke

It's too obvious.

So, lets take a stab at some Generations figures, the continuation of Classics, which is basically re designs of Generation 1 characters. With Titans Return on the way, and the combiner wars concluded, I figure it would be interesting to take a look at the, at time of writing, the only combiner from that line I've completed, Bruticus. As a forewarn, I'll be reviewing them in the order I got them, if it comes off as random, that's why. Time to begin the drone coverage with Alpha Bravo... I mean Blades... I mean Vortex.

I'm no photographer, but still, would you rather my bad photography skills, or promo images?

Starting with the helicopter mode and... its a helicopter. It has nice details, but what does suffer from is the problem with the line. It's Alpha Bravo as a decepticon. Critiquing the mold itself, its pretty long, but personally I think in the wrong places. The front end has pretty much most of the mass in the copter, making the tail look rather small in comparison, boosted by the fact that the "stabilizers" are just as far back. There are reasons why, but it still makes it look kinda awkward. Adding to that, looking at the underside... and you see most of the robot. The chest, the head, the arms, and you can guess how the legs are going to work. Yellow missile's aside, the paint is also pretty good for a retail release, very fitting of Vortex. If there was someway to bring the arms forward though and a way to compact them better, the look for the copter would look so much better.

Combiner Wars Deluxe figures, like Vortex, have four modes. Vehicle, Robot, Leg mode (or rather, shin mode), and arm mode. So for these, I'll be doing them in order of transformation, so first off, Leg mode, which to do it, you transform the cockpit of Vortex into his feet for Robot mode, put the complimentary Hand Foot Gun into its foot form and plug it into the now exposed port for it, compress the tail and propellers and then flip out the combiner peg. And now, you have a shin. And this will probably be the last time Vortex will ever be in Shin mode, because for one, there are better shin bots then Vortex and for another reason, scramble city gimmick or not, Vortex is an arm. In arm mode, he looks a lot better, with the robot mode legs being the elbow for Bruticus, and the arms... just hanging there, which is a common problem for arm modes in the line. I personally bend the arms back, having the missiles pointed out, just for the sake of the arm mode. But yeah, it's an arm... Next!

Robot mode then, and its a pretty competent robot. Far, far, FAR better then the last batch of combiners reviewed. Vortex isn't a brick, having articulation in his head, sholders, elbows, waist, and knees. Everything is also secure on him, nothing's too tight, nothing's too loose. Gun's a little on the bland side in terms of paint, just boring grey plastic, and the combiner peg sticks out like a sore thumb, but overall, its a great robot.

Nothing feels tacked on aside from the Hand Foot Gun, it probably would have worked better to have a separate hand and a separate foot, there's no reason they couldn't do it that way, as you need four of the things anyway to make a combiner. The arms suffer from the simpler, smaller transformations, but apart from those, I do really like the mold, worth picking up if you can get one. Next Sunday will be Blast Off, a new video is coming in the next few days, and I want to try something a bit more casual for Wednesday, so bare with me for it.

Transformers Energon Perceptor Mini Con Team: Why did you want this?

No seriously, why? I put that poll up as a joke, thinking no one would want to see this. How wrong I was. is it just because this is one of the transformers that even the big Transformers Toy reviewers don't do? I don't follow every one who does Transformers reviews, but looking at who I primarily follow, Emgo316, BensCollectables, Thew Addams, Lazy Eyebrow Reviewer and TJ Omega, none of them have done these figures, and I can only confirm one of them has them at all. Last chance to say no... fine...

You wanted them

Allow me to show you what happens when you try to make a combiner small, and cheep. Starting with the vehicle modes, which for Mini cons, they aren't that bad. From left to right, we have High Wire, who's a motor cross bike, and in my opinion the weakest of the three, as you will see later. Sureshock, who's a quadbike, and Grindor... who's a hovercraft... one of these three isn't like the others. Generally when there are Mini con teams, they tend do have some sort of theme. During Armada, these three were the street mini con team, a bike, a skateboard, and a scooter, which makes sense. How does a Hovercraft fit in with a dirt bike and a quad bike? I'd even settle for a hover board, which is how Grindor was used in Energon. Standard features for those vehicles still work here. Grindor is a brick, Sureshock moves with all rolling wheels, along with Highwire... but its a toy motor bike, they don't stand on their own, at all.

I swear there were some good looking Mini cons back then

Robot modes then... can you tell these three are going to combine yet? Have you noticed how much they've had to sacrifice for the combined mode? Then allow me to tell you about them. Highwire first, no, that isn't a miss transformation, and no, that's not a factory defect. Highwire genuinly has no paint on his face. It was so bad that promo images actually showed him with Perceptor's head as his head, which just makes him look super awkward. He (and before I get angry comments, I've had these three for over a decade, I've just always referred to them as male) is also one of those mini cons where a gentle breeze will tip him over. Highwire is very back heavy, as he is the head of Perceptor, and with barely any form of feet, he will just fall. While he is pretty posable, being the only one of the three with standard articulation (head swivel, movable "arms", waist swivel, and two joints in the legs, you can't do much with them, because again, he falls easy, not to mention, HE'S MISSING AN ARM. Again, not a factory error, one of his arms, is his front wheel. There isn't even something that gives him at least a left hand. Sureshock... has been spending to much time in a gorilla cosplay costume. He's all arms and sholders, which can't do much. His arms can do a full 360 movement thanks to the ball joints on them, but that's all you can do. His "legs" lock into place, so you're not supposed to bend them, his feet can be posed in a broken ankle position, but that's it. but at least he's better then Grindor, who is again, a brick. That pose he's in now, is one of two, the other being having his arms back in their vehicle mode configuration, to have it look like his arms are on his hips. Now I'm sure you're probably wondering, if all of them have this many flaws in robot mode, it must be in service to the combined mode.

And you thought Power Core Combiners sucked

See for yourself. This is Perceptor, who is just as much of a brick as what made him up. Starting from the bottom up. Grindor makes up the legs, and due to how his transformation works, they may as well be locked into the position I have them in for this picture. They don't bend at all, and the only thing you can have them do is the splits, not even a high kick because of the weight distribution. Sureshock's cut backs at least make sense here, as he's the main torso for Perceptor, and as a chest, he works, but those gorilla arms don't even work here. They're on a slider joint to get the length right, which is fine, but they molded his arms in a way so that they don't bend forward, only backwards. Combined with the lack of friction in those arms from the years, and move his arms up far enough, and it will look like someone tried breaking his arms. Now then, know all those things Highwire had to give up to be the combiner boss. All he is in Perceptor is the head, and the back pack. He is a Headmaster who fails at being a Headmaster... or should I call him a Titan Master now. Could they not get the rights to Headmaster? He does so many of his forms so badly that I wonder why he was even a thing here. Yes, his head moves, but thanks to the joints its on, move it in any way, and you break his neck.

Some size comparisons, and yes, the three mini cons are in scale with RiD 2015 mini cons

Encase you couldn't tell, this combiner sucks. Every mode has sacrifices, but none of the sacrifices benefit any other mode. The only modes that work are the vehicle modes, but even then there are far better Mini con vehicles. To try and counter this, next toy review is going to start a more recent combiner, Bruticus. But before we get to who'll start it, Vortex, Avengers vs X-Men.

Top 20 Bayformers bot predictions

While I am still working on Man Of Steel, suffice to say, that preparations for next week have been putting a toll on it. I'm delaying Man of Steel for a day, to bring it up to snuff. So in the mean time, something quick, something easy, a top X list... Yes I do still try to do those. For some reason I've had Bayformers on the mind, not enough to watch them again, wouldn't even if I had the time. But with 3 new movies already in the works, with release days, may as well do a bot prediction on them. The quota for these choices are

• Personal opinion
• How much attention they've gotten recently, from the TV shows, games, and comics
• How they could be used in the movies
• Do they fit Bay's quota, based on the last four movies

Would I like to be wrong about some of these following comments, yes, absolutely yes. But I am basing these off of the last four, and stories of his other films. This is going to be interesting...

Combiner Wars: Peace is but a brittle thing for them

Encase it might not be obvious, I have no intention on doing arcs in the order they were released, simply being because of how old some arcs are. I'd rather bounce between old and new arcs, as to me, it would be more interesting, and may shine a new light on older arcs. For now, we go back to Cybertron, and while there are many arcs between Autocracy and Combiner Wars I want to talk about, such as Dark Cybertron, Last Stand of the Wreckers and All Hail Megatron, let's see what the toy line has been up to lately, the Combiner Wars.

Equestria Girls: Friendship Games: Saturday Morning sport turned into a movie?

I have had people try to say I'm a brony because of how much coverage I give the series. And while I maintain that I still come back to this series because I get requests, my counter argument includes all the Transformers coverage, Digimon Marathon and May 2015, also known as the Marvel Movie Marathon. Now giving Hasbro the lion's share of coverage, yes I am guilty of that (however that does mean you have to really convince me to consider looking at the Jem movie, seeing as the only other I.P of Hasbro's I have any knowledge of is G.I Joe thanks to those live action movies). So while I listen to Transformers Prime's soundtrack as I can't make a Transformers joke without pushing the source material for this one, sadly, let's tackle High School Musi... I mean Equestria Girls: Friendship Games...

Megatron's Origins and Autocracy: Because you can't have one without the other

Throughout all of the generations I've seen of Transformers, is it sad to say that I only recall a single dedicated origin story for Megatron? Not to mention, how many Transformers fans who read this can tell me, without looking up a wiki who Orion Pax is? Yeah, you'd think that the two main characters of the series would get dedicated origin stories often, if at all. Well, we have 12 comics that give dedicated origin stories for the two, along with the Autobots and the Decepticons. They won the poll, so its time to look at the two IDW Transformers arcs: Megatron's Origins and Autocracy.

Disclaimer: I have not seen and/or read every single iteration of Transformers. The only time I recall seeing a origin story for Megatron was Transformers Prime and the only two times outside of this series of comics I've seen Optimus Prime referred to as Orion Pax was an episode of Generation 1 and late season 1-early season 2 of Transformers Prime.

Nightmare Rarity arc: Would this be considered a downgrade for them?

The first villain introduced in the current generation of My Little Pony was a enemy called Nightmare Moon, a "hero turned villain because of having to live in the shadows of [insert character connection here]", in this case, it was Luna living in the (not so subtle) shadows of her sister, Celestia. I'm not going to retell the plot of the pilot, if you're curious, look it up for yourself. The reason I mention this is because this arc asks "What if "Nightmare Moon" survived?", let's see how this way to tie in a animation change to the plot works, Nightmare Rarity, and remember, you voted for this: http://strawpoll.me/5105730/r

Opening Impressions: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 5. Horses, Cults and repetitive arcs.

I did put this up as a Strawpoll, something that will be a common thing for stuff like this. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 5. If you’ve read the review of the last four season, then you’ll know what I’m going to say, nothing much has changed. But to be fair, by the fifth season, the only thing that’s going to change is the situations. At time of writing, all I’ve seen is the first three episodes, a two parter that introduces a new villain, and a world building episode.