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Countdown wrote:Has anyone seen a release date? Or seen them in stores?

Generations Deluxe series 3: (Orion Pax, Bumblebee, Megatron and Trailcutter....err, breaker) went up for pre-order yesterday. BBTS has the singles available, while TfSource only has it to where you have to order the entire set. I'm only in it for TB, myself.

As for the Voyagers (Springer and Blitzwing), they've been showing up all across the nation. I haven't seen any locally, but there has been sightings even in my state, which is surprising. From what I'm gathering Target has been getting these first. Wal-Marts distribution rate sux! Not sure about TRU.

Thanks for the answer. I am going to hit Target tomorrow. Really want to pick up Blitz, Springer, & Trailbreaker.

Picked up Blitzwing and Springer. Saw Optimus and Bumblebee (since they are only legends, it was disappointing).

Springer is a pretty cool little dude. Both alt modes are streets ahead of the original. Bot mode is a bit skinny, but very pose worthy. There is a small problem of getting slots and tab to line up and the head likes to stick in transformation, but overall he is the better of the two. 9/10

Blitz wing is a source of frustration. First, the good... Bot mode looks decent, and there was a little surprise in that the face actually has 3-modes. There is G-1 face, and both of the Animated faces. Now, the alt modes and transformations. If Springer has a slight issue with slots and tabs lining up, this guy is a nightmare. A couple of places he is supposed to line up in jet mode are physically too far apart to have it hold place (legs into shoulder/back pieces). The jet has Macross/Jetfire style boosters, but underneath them, there is nothing but his cannon turret, completely hanging out sticking out of the rear. There is no additional structure, just a thin "tailpipe." The Tank mode is a better process, but there is still some tight corners you must cross and way too much daylight shows through. Ever since the classics/titantium series started, the tanks have been completely solid in every line. Not this one. There are breaks in the armor everywhere. If you think the alt mode for the classics/generations/universe Ironhide/ratchet has cracks, you ain't seen nothing. I am talking holes like G1 Prime's back. Last big issue of note is the nosecone. It is made of soft rubber, and is way too tight a squeeze to fit over the head it is supposed to obscure. when you finally get it there, it is supposed to hook onto a tab on the front side of the canopy. This nose cone is going to be the feature that determines the secondary market. You will be looking for the pic that proves "nose cone complete!" Proper transformation is going to eventually rip this thing. Withholding rating until the inevitable recall on this clunker.

It really ticks me off about Blitzwing. He has been the only triple changer I wanted, and for the "last" decepticon (not including bases and whatnot), they really let me down. He should have been deluxe, like his brothers (Octane and Astrotrain). He is just to clunky and non responsive.

So, got my eyes open for Orion Pax, Trailbreaker, and Metroplex. As Springer was such a surprise, Sand Storm is on my checklist.


Pics to come soon.

Nice finds!
I preordered these guys from TFCC, we'll see when they get here. It sounds too bad about Blitzie.. I was really looking forward to him.
Despite the size classes, I think there are deeper differences among the Decepticon triples. The difference in feel between Astro and Tankor was huge... the latter being a couple years hence, and having a much lighter feel. His truck mode didn't hit the spot. Since Blitzie is probably the star character of the bunch, I was hoping he'd be the nicest toy, too.
We'll see.

At least Tankor and Astro train were somewhat scaled when considering shuttle and cargo plane modes. Blitz is a bit bigger than, say Megatron Deluxe, or Galvatron in tank mode, but with all of the openings, it is "embarassing" to display them together. When sitting beside the classics seekers, he is bigger and more cartoonie. When sitting next to Classics Jetfire, he may be to scale (I am having trouble with the comparison), but still looks so silly.

I hoped that he would look nice sitting next to G1 Jetfire, but that is an absolute no-no.

Back to the drawing board, I guess.

TFSource should be shipping my Blitzwing/Springer out any day now. I've had them both on pre-order for freakin' forever and they've finally got their stock in. As for the size class....I hope all the triple changers, decepticon seekers, exc. get done in Voyager scale. Astrotrain and Octane both are too small for what they're trying to represent and I hope they get redone. Deluxes are nice for my Autobot crew as they're mostly cars, with a few exceptions of course: Prime, Magnus, Grimock all should be Voyager. Blitzwing's a nice figure and there's a 3rd party kit coming out to make him even better. The only issue I've heard of so far with him are the shoulder tabs not locking into place in robot mode, but taking the chest assembly apart and sanding down the ridges inside seems to fix this issue.

Faster than a speeding bullet, 3rd party upgrades to the rescue!

Okay, guys. I promised you some pics, so here they are. Today, I focused on Blitzy,

Let's knock out the easy ones, first. Here are different angles of tank mode:
Side

Front

Rear

Top


Top view of Jet mode per the instructions


Blurry attempt to show where slots and groves will not line up on both sides


Attempt to show how tight soft rubber nose cone transform is (remember that the head is spring loaded, so it fights back)


Attempt to show how the spring loaded head causes soft rubber to bulge at sides, and what is going to be the resale problem down the road


Here is turret up in Jet mode (If not displayed like this, the turret is just a super long tailpipe)


Here is a comparison shot with Classics Jetfire


Shot with the other CHUG Decepticon triples


Chug Seekers (I didn't grab them all, of course)


Here he is with G1 Jetfire (and a Macross VF-A1 to show the scale without armor, and compare a more friendly coloring. Note Blitzy's sword trying to cover large gap in rear)


Side Shot with Jetfire


Side shot with VF-1A



And all three faces:
G1


Animated (the eye does not glow, that was just a lucky case of "red eye")


Animated Crazy

A lot of people are removing the spring inside the neck assembly (you'll have to manually pull the head up), that should fix the bulging head/rubber nosecone issue, plus make transformation easier.

As for the shoulder tabs not locking into place, try this simple but effective mod (takes only 10-15 minutes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvus19gTEsg

Thanks for the vid, but that is not where I am encountering problems at all.

My problems have been where the arms and legs are supposed to connect to the turret in alt modes. The arms can be manipulated to click in, but they sit crooked. The legs have no chance to get both in place, as the turret piece is simply too narrow.

As for the head fix, I might try that, but the toy should not be designed to fail. Flat out, this feature is exactly that. Though I am not afraid to mod these things, I should not have to in order to save the figure.

My review is simply for out of the box. You can make in better, but you should not have to.

The tank mode looked good from the side. As soon as you turned it, I couldn't tell what I was looking at! The jet mode is better, but I was mostly like "Nice Macross wing Jetfire." And then I was like ooo! Nice VF-1A!

The spring issue reminds me of Movie Megatron, where they installed the spring for his launching flail fist behind his fusion cannon, so it would spring shut the moment you let go, making fusion cannon poses impossible until fixed.

And Magnus, his head could be worse... think of all the Animated Blitzwings that didn't even have a head!

I only bought 1 animated figure, and it was not Blitz.

The Jetfire is one i picked up from Matt a couple of weeks ago. Rhe front landing gear was broken, and I had to hit some of the red with a paint marker. Now I just need to replace the labels.

For the VF-1a, you just wait. I am only awaiting one more J to complete the full (1/55th scale) Bandai set. I can't wait to drop those pics on ya.

I need those VF-1As... I am missing all of them and the Rick/Hikaru VF-1J. But nowadays they are too rich for my blood.

Magnus, do you need a front landing gear for JF? I have several junkers/parts bots.

Oh no. I had a spare nose cone from one of the A's that I was painting orange to match one of the scenes from the first or second episode. Since it was for a display, it did not need to keep the landing gear.

I also lucked out in that I ordered a free sample of a paint marker (supposed to be for touch ups on automobiles) that matched the red perfectly. So, the paint wear is no gone as well.