Seriously, what the fuck is that thing supposed to be?!
Ok, I’ve had it. I can stay quiet and bite my finger nails no longer. The G1 Chronicles sets were announced ages ago and since then it’s felt like a circus to figure out just what the hell is actually coming in these sets.
Originally, it was announced that 2-packs for a G1 version of Megatron would be paired with the Dark of the Moon version, same for Optimus Prime. The prices were expected to crest around $100. A few different online retailers have been posting pre-orders for said 2-packs at prices ranging from $99-$125. That’s all fine and fancy, except pretty much every online store has a different god damn photograph for the sets. Apparently, no one knows what is actually coming in the sets, as indicated by the variety of photos supplying the listings. See below:
Dark of the Moon Chronicles listings on BBTS May 2011
Dark of the Moon Chronicles listings on Ages Three and Up May 2011
Both the listings above are for the same sets of toys, from two different stores: Big Bad Toy Store and Ages Three And Up. First off, it appears that BBTS has made note of the lack of solid information regarding these sets and has taken it upon their design staff to cleverly blur out the DOTM versions of Megatron and Optimus, leaving the G1 versions. Ages Three and Up is using some sort of solicitation provided by presumably TakaraTomy featuring the Deluxe version of Optimus Prime with… hey what is that?? A Trailer? No one seems to have made any noise about the fact that these solicitations show a God damn trailer with the basic sized version of Optimus! That means TakaraTomy has made not one, not two, but THREE sizes of trailer to attach to Optimus!! Good thing I’m here to spell this kind of blatantly obvious detail to you, Collecticons. Ages Three and Up isn’t the only store using this solicitation, my buddies at Fan to Fan seem to be doing the same:
Dark of the Moon Chronicles listings on FantoFan.jp May 2011
So what I am surmising is that the more recent solicitation for this set is what the non-US-based retailers are using to promote these mysterious sets. Then there’s TFsource’s:
Dark of the Moon chronicles product listing on TFsource.com
Notice anything strange with this and Big Bad Toy Store’s listings? Wait for it… You’ll shit bricks!
I have never ever seen a G1 Megatron that looks like THAT thing on the right. Not only that, but this completely contradicts the listings seen previously with the original Takara G1 Blue-legged gunmetal Megatron. What the hell!? I mean, I’d love an exclusive new deco, but blood red hands and inner thighs? Charcoal legs and siding? Whoa. And if Megatron is going to be a completely new deco, (which is totally cool!) then one could assume G1 Convoy might also get a make-over.
So here are the big pressing questions left to ponder:
- Will any of the figures have unique exclusive decos seen only in these two-packs?
- Which accessories will be included for each figure?
- Is the Chronicles banner going to be a sub-sect of Dark of the Moon or something new altogether?
- Which figure molds are we ACTUALLY getting in these sets?
Now I, Diablien, would not just leave you all hanging, now would I? Although I cannot answer these questions will absolute certainty, we can follow my Energon Gut. I believe these figures will be under the Dark of the Moon toyline and include the following:
Megatron Set:
Redeco of G1 Megatron with a DOTM Voyager redeco. G1 Megatron will include the Japanese accessories included in the first G1 Megatron, however not the scope and barrel stock.
Optimus Set:
Redeco of G1 Optimus Prime with a DOTM Deluxe redeco. G1 Optimus will not include his G1 trailer and roller, etc, but the Deluxe version of Optimus will include a brand new trailer, mech tech weapon, and the trailer will fit on G1 Optimus some how.
In the end, who knows. This whole line is already a mess that makes my head hurt. It is always a gamble pre-ordering something before we have seen a boxed sample. However, by waiting you risk the pre-orders selling out or the price sky-rocketing. These are cool sets and wrap up what I love about Transformers in one nice neat package: the new and the old. This is a cool concept and I just hope it’s executed well. There is also chatter of the 3rd Chronicles set to contain G1 Bumblebee, but considering that there are about 100 different movie-verse Bumblebees to choose from, I’ll just leave that topic for another day.