Although the
Generation 2 line was retired in 1995 in favor of the massive changes in store with
Beast Wars, the brand has hardly been forgotten, and indeed has been revisited by Hasbro several times since then. In 2012, a set of molds created for the Constructicons as they appeared in the
Fall of Cybertron games were given a full "G2" treatment in one the most comprehensive homages to-date.
We've already covered these molds... or later remolds of them, at any rate... when we covered the
Fall of Cybertron Wreckers (
here are all three of those
posts), so we'll move a bit more briskly here. From left to right, these are Blast Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex.
Here are the Combaticons in vehicle mode. The original G2 Combaticons used what the packages called "realistic camouflage graphics," but no one has yet discovered the universe in which these colors would realistically serve camouflage purposes. That said, the schemes are indeed more or less faithfully translated to the Cybertronian forms of these molds, although I recommend against trying to figure out where in the Transformers timeline these molds would have been used with the G2 colors.
The main feature of this set, of course, is the combined form of the individual robots into Bruticus. The
Fall of Cybertron Combaticons are different from all other versions of the Combaticons in that all five members are essentially the same size (usually, Onslaught is a size-class larger), which explains the excessively long limbs of this combined form. It's an ambitious attempt, but not the best example of combiner technology Hasbro has ever created, truth be told.
That said, no review of this set is complete without discussing the box that it comes in. The designers at Hasbro hit all of the nostalgia buttons here, creating a
Generation 2 box set that would not have looked at all out of place had it come out alongside the original
Generation 2 toys (the Cybertronian toys themselves notwithstanding). The call outs. The logo. The way the figure's name is formatted. It's all there.
This attention to detail extends to the back of the box as well, with the images of each individual toy, and even a Tech Specs bio, all done as they would have been done back in the G2 era. Even the Hasbro logo on the bottom of the box (not seen here, sadly) was the logo Hasbro used in the early 90s, rather than the current version. Such attention to detail is greatly appreciated, and in my opinion, the box itself is worth the price paid for the whole set. In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that the recent "retro" Headmasters figures (which similarly attempt to homage the original packages) didn't do nearly as good a job as this set. It's really a gem to include in a collection.
Of course, part of the reason for featuring this set
now is to invite you to come back and catch the next episode of
Not Your Father's Autobot: A Transformers: Generation 2
Comic Book Podcast when it drops on Sunday. This time, we'll be talking about issue #8. See you there!
Although the Generation 2 line was retired in 1995 in favor of the massive changes in store with Beast Wars, the brand has hardly been forgotten, and indeed has been revisited by Hasbro several times since then. In 2012, a set of molds created for the Constructicons as they appeared in the Fall of Cybertron games were given a full "G2" treatment in one the most comprehensive homages to-date.
We've already covered these molds... or later remolds of them, at any rate... when we covered the Fall of Cybertron Wreckers (here are all three of those posts), so we'll move a bit more briskly here. From left to right, these are Blast Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex.
Here are the Combaticons in vehicle mode. The original G2 Combaticons used what the packages called "realistic camouflage graphics," but no one has yet discovered the universe in which these colors would realistically serve camouflage purposes. That said, the schemes are indeed more or less faithfully translated to the Cybertronian forms of these molds, although I recommend against trying to figure out where in the Transformers timeline these molds would have been used with the G2 colors.
The main feature of this set, of course, is the combined form of the individual robots into Bruticus. The Fall of Cybertron Combaticons are different from all other versions of the Combaticons in that all five members are essentially the same size (usually, Onslaught is a size-class larger), which explains the excessively long limbs of this combined form. It's an ambitious attempt, but not the best example of combiner technology Hasbro has ever created, truth be told.
That said, no review of this set is complete without discussing the box that it comes in. The designers at Hasbro hit all of the nostalgia buttons here, creating a Generation 2 box set that would not have looked at all out of place had it come out alongside the original Generation 2 toys (the Cybertronian toys themselves notwithstanding). The call outs. The logo. The way the figure's name is formatted. It's all there.
This attention to detail extends to the back of the box as well, with the images of each individual toy, and even a Tech Specs bio, all done as they would have been done back in the G2 era. Even the Hasbro logo on the bottom of the box (not seen here, sadly) was the logo Hasbro used in the early 90s, rather than the current version. Such attention to detail is greatly appreciated, and in my opinion, the box itself is worth the price paid for the whole set. In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that the recent "retro" Headmasters figures (which similarly attempt to homage the original packages) didn't do nearly as good a job as this set. It's really a gem to include in a collection.
Of course, part of the reason for featuring this set now is to invite you to come back and catch the next episode of Not Your Father's Autobot: A Transformers: Generation 2 Comic Book Podcast when it drops on Sunday. This time, we'll be talking about issue #8. See you there!
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