The Core Class made for a welcoming surprise when it comes to the WFC line; as someone that didn't always buy the Battlemasters and Micromasters, I was very interested to see what the miniature interpretations on the characters have to offer. Generally speaking, Wave 1 did very well in terms of quality and execution, and I was interested in seeing what Wave 2 has to offer. Don't worry, though, it won't just be two Decepticons taking over, as I also got a Target exclusive to join the mix. So with all that said, let's take a look at Megatron, Starscream, and Buzzworthy Bumblebee with Spike Witwicky!
Here we have all three characters in their altmodes. They each look pretty neat, and I think are worth delving into if you want to get mini versions of these guys.
Let's go over Megatron first! This is practically a shrunken-down version of his Earthrise counterpart with plenty of differences worth going over. Firstly, the toy has different colors to it, the barrel is a gun instead of a proper tank barrel, and the feet are not molded on the back of the tank rather than being separate parts. Also, because of his altmode size, he has no piece meant to make the altmode look less like an H-tank from the back. It's still a neat representation of the altmode from the front apart from the funny gun barrel, but the back is not as smooth.
As far as play features go, you can swivel the turret and raise the barrel up and down...
...but should be worth noting that he has no wheels in the bottom of the tank mode. The front treads make sense since they're hollow, but the bottom treads have none of them whatsoever, so you're practically scraping the paint on a rolling surface.
Here he is next to the Earthrise version, which this toy is inspired by. I'd say that they're somewhat equal in terms of details, though the Earthrise version does look more like a proper tank.
Transformation is a simplified version of the Voyager toys, what with the waist swivel, the use of a fusion cannon swiveling in bot mode position, the legs strengthening out, and the front treads becoming the back of the toy. The only main difference is the fact that the front of the turret is around the shoulders, the treads are not able to fold away, and the right forearm has a wrist panel that swivels. Beyond that, I like the way he turned out in the robot mode, especially considering how the paint apps are present as well as the silver paint on him. Aside from the oddities, I think he turned out very nicely by comparison.
Head sculpt is nicely done apart from the scuffs and scratches, but it's interestingly different from the two Voyager heads. The articulation is very nice, with a head swivel, ball-jointed shoulders and elbows, a waist swivel, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, and the knees are on ball joints.
If the fusion cannon isn't enough, he can use the barrel as a pistol...which is actually a Cybertronian-styled Walther P38! It's pretty interesting how we get that as an accessory considering we last got that gun with the Centurion Droid! It can also be stored on the back to replicate the G1 character model.
Here is Megatron next to his larger Earthrise counterpart. They're both different from each other but I do appreciate how unique they both have some similarities despite the Kingdom Core being simplified by comparison. The fusion cannon is also closer to the cartoon model design in terms of proportions.
Now let's give that gun mode accessory to every other figure representing a character that used him! Optimus and Starscream can barely have the handle go all the way down for some reason. I don't get why either.
Now it's time for the same characters we saw in the Core Class as Voyagers! Optimus is just barely holding onto it, but Starscream can't really hold it straight due to the forearms being too big compared to the fists, and the fact that the one Transformer best-known for holding him couldn't do it properly! Maybe it'd work if you clipped the stock.
And let's see how the gun looks with other characters NOT in the WFC line! Maybe it'd go for some added stock and silencer pieces for Optimus. And yes, a Power Ranger is using the weapon mode of a Decepticon.
Next up we have Starscream! This guy is a very nice representation of the Decepticon jet mode, and the paint apps are nice and present for this size. I especially like how nice the cockpit looks compared to the rest of the jet mode. Beyond that, it's basically the same small jet mode we saw previously.
The underside is funny because not only does it have the back of the head exposed, but he has a faux chest! We don't always get that with the larger versions apart from the POTP version; usually the Legends version of Starscream has that.
For a comparison with the Earthrise version, you can see how similar both are, though the ER version is longer than the Core version; basically stretched out.
The gun accessory can be placed underneath the gun if you want to have him use the flight stand hole.
Transformation is similar at first glance, but the wings are now backwards in robot mode, there is a unique swivel used to move the chest in its place, and the partsforming is no longer needed due to the way the arms are left underneath the wings. The robot mode is still very accurate, capturing how the figure looks from the character model. The only bad thing about this guy in robot mode is the lack of red paint on the crotch.
Head sculpt is very accurate in terms of shape and proportions, though the head is now stretched vertically...also the mouth looks rather missing. The articulation on this guy just as good, though he lacks the waist swivel Megatron has. Beyond that, it's about the same as his leader.
For size comparison with his larger counterpart, it's practically the same but little with a few differences. Pretty neat how it turned out if you ask me.
And now we have Bumblebee! He looks more like Bumper from the old toyline, which is rather interesting since you'd think Bumblebee would have more of a chibi VW look to him. That being said, it's a nicely done take on the vehicle, with some nice paint apps with the windows, the grille, headlights, and the bumper. There's even a nice Autobot insignia on the top. I couldn't show you this, but he rolls very nicely in vehicle mode! Much better than Optimus Prime did and most of the Autobot vehicles these days!
The tiny pistol can be stored underneath him, and it's VERY TINY! Not even a 5mm base for it.
For a size comparison, here he is next to his G1 counterpart to show how small he is, and honestly if you hadn't seen the G1 Bumper toy for a good while you would almost mistaken Core Bumblebee for the regular Bumper! Kind of crazy how it turned out.
kind of a r
For a comparison with other versions of Bumblebee, you can see how small he is compared to the already small versions of Bumblebee, though it was fine for the Titans Return version being 10 bucks and the Netflix version being $20 due to the weapons, paint, and articulation. You would think Core Bumblebee would be $10 bucks, but...
...Spike's exosuit bumps it up to $15 somehow. It's got some paint apps, transforms by flipping the panel up, and move the arms around only. Yeah, it's a ripoff. As for Bumblebee's transformation, it's pretty much what we've come to expect with G1 Bumblebee transformations in the past many years as expected, but interestingly, we're back to there being no waist swivel nor is there any use of partsforming involved. The robot mode is not as proportionate as I've come to expect; he's got thin arms, big feet, three-tiers of thickness for the legs, and the like. From the front, it's not too shabby, but the sides have some kibble that doesn't benefit the look, and the toy definitely has that less-refined look that toys from the past would have.
Head sculpt is nicely done, and does feel a little more cartoon-accurate, though it is chubbier than I expected in some angles. His articulation is the same as the two Decepticons, but he has thigh swivels! His puny gun can be held in his hands, though it's at an interesting angle when it's bent because his forearms are bent upwards yet his hands are bent downwards. Very interesting.
And for a reuse I will skip, this version of Bumblebee has a slightly darker shade, slightly lighter black plastic, painted fists, and a new gun but no Spike. He comes with Optimus Prime and a trailer.
For a comparison with G1 Bumblebee, you can see just how much inspiration there is between the two because that's how modern G1 toys are of course. Still, the main takeaway is the size because holy crap is he smaller than expected.
And here he is with the two prior Generations versions of himself! Yep, he's still smaller than either one of these guys. He's inferior to the Netflix version yet I like his ability to roll nicely in vehicle mode while also having a more accurate shade of yellow.
And here he is with his favorite leader, Optimus Prime! He's shorter than him, which surprised me since you would think they'd both be the same size, but they're surprisingly somewhat kinda in scale. Very neat for a potential Autobot display.
And that covers the Wave 2 assortment of Core Class guys! It's neat that they all turned out better than I expected; each has plenty of pros that encouraged me to get into the Core Class line even further, especially as these are the best miniature versions of their respective G1 characters (Bumblebee has some issues but is otherwise decent, I just wish Spike didn't spike their price up by $5).
It's pretty neat to have two Autobots and two Decepticons to go with the sole Maximal and Predacon in the size class so far. I know we're getting a Soundwave and a green Vertebreak in the form of Ractonite, so we'll see what the rest of the line has to offer! I hope to get important characters, because I wouldn't really want a Core Class version of some nobody like G1 Skids.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment