They're more than meets the eye, all over again!

CLASSICS AUTOBOTS
	Optimus Prime In keeping withe the Gen 1 homage idea, Classics Optimus Prime is a flat-nosed truck. What this version gains is a windvane... what it loses is the almost ubiquitous trailer. It's not exactly an even trade, as what this means is that he has no battlestation/repair bay but, considering the windvane turns into one weapon and the smokestacks turn into another, he's hardly underarmed. The homage works very well on this figure - the colours are very similar, and the overall construction definitely harks back to the original model... but this time around, with contemporary toymaking technology, he's far more poseable. The upper torso has two rotating segments alone! One obvious complaint about this one is the sides of the truck hanging off the robot's arms because of the rather cheaty way it transforms. They just about look like shields, though, so he kind of gets away with it. Also, while the 'smokestacks' gun looks very good (though it looks terrible as smokestacks), the windvane/ion blaster weapon looks oversized and awkward. The lack of silver on the robot is a bit crappy, to be honest - Gen 1 Prime had chromed upper legs and the bumper and grille on the truck were also chromed... this version has flat, grey plastic for the most part, and the model does suffer for it. Still, robot mode is very impressive.
	Bumblebee The figure fans have been clamouring for since... well, pretty much every line since Gen 1. Bumblebee has been an enduringly popular character because he's the weak, little guy who nevertheless gets things done, and done well. The most impressive thing about this guy is the similarity to the proposed Binaltech Bumblebee. While the transformation isn't the same, there are common design elements, such as the way the arms attach to the rear wheels, and the way the seats flap down over the upper legs. All it really needed to complete the picture was front wheels which flap down... but the model doesn't require that. While Bumblebee doesn't come with any weapons, he does have one accessory - Wave Crusher - a jetski on a trailer which transforms into a jetpack. A clever addition, but it does leave Bumblebee unarmed. Still, if he relies on stealth rather than strength, guns probably wouldn't be his style. My only real disappointment with this is the head - it's very Gen 1 Cartoon-style, and I've always preferred the cute-yet-robotic face of the toy. Then again, it seems this toy was designed with a rerelease as Cliffjumper in mind, so it's easy to see why that decision was made.
	Mirage Another character who's been missing (or effectively missing, since characters using this name haven't been quite the same) since Gen 1, and even a racing car in his Classics form, Mirage is easily one of my favourites in the new batch. The original Gen 1 Mirage is one toy I really regret missing out on, not least because - the legend goes - the mold has been lost, so it won't get a re-release. This one more than makes up for that, though. Vehicle mode fits with today's sleeker racing cars, and robot mode is probably one of the most poseable and stable TransFormers in recent history, if not ever. He has joints everywhere! Better still, the large footprint means that he can often be posed to stand on one leg. While some have complained about the vehicle's front wheels sticking out of his back, this actually harks back to the Gen 1 model, though it's rather more noticable here. Others complain about the 'anorexic' waistline but, let's face it, the look suits the character... ...Or it would do, if Hasbro hadn't turned him into another lighthearted joker in the Autobot ranks, rather than the cool, aloof, and downright untrustworthy snob of Gen 1. Overall, this is one Classic that really lives up to that title.
	Hot Rod Or 'Rodimus', to give him his official title. Strangely, of all the Gen 1 characters they could have chosen, they've added Hot Rod to the roster of wave 1 releases. It's not that hard to see why, considering that this version is quite Movie accurate (far more than the original Gen 1 Autobot cavalier), even down to the wrist-mounted saw. Transformation is nearly indentical to the original Gen 1 model, but with subtle changes to some details, and far more articulation thrown in as a bonus. Hot Rod is perhaps not as poseable as some of the others in the line, but he's not bad. The main problems are the 'skirt' pieces on his thighs, which get in the way of his knees, and the awkward shape of the arms - the long shoulders make his forearms look far too short, and his tailfin gets in the way of his arms. Nevertheless, this is another excellent figure. His dual-purpose afterburner/handgun looks pretty good, but the flame/missile is rather crappy. Personally, I'd rather have gone with a plain missile that wouldn't need to be attached in vehicle mode. Curiously, the head looks like an attempt at a generic Bluestreak/ Prowl/ Smokescreen head... so perhaps some more Gen 1 favourites will be making their way into the Classics line. I'd certainly look forward to a Classics Jazz...
	Jetfire While the name 'Jetfire' has come up once or twice since Generation 1 days, the character and his look have never been terribly well represented in the wake of Bandai's Variable Fighter model. That has now changed thanks to a very impressive Classics Jetfire model which, while completely different from anything that has ever appeared in the Macross series, retains some of the characteristics, and cleverly references others. Transformation is complex enough to be satisfying, and is quite clever in parts. One is left with the impression that the designers behind this line really understand the concept of TransFormers, and wanted to give the fans something of the action figure/3D puzzle vibe that made them popular in the first place. Additionally, Jetfire comes with a number of removeable armour parts - the arm-mounted launchers, the helmet and the boosters/cannons on his back - which really adds to the play value of this model. Stability is the only real complaint about this one - the feet are, frankly, terrible. While wearing all of his armour, hns centre of gravity is quite high, and his feet are designed to fit the middle-ground between looking like robot feet and looking like afterburners for the jet mode. The latter is accomplished far better than the former, so posing him is quite a chore. Jetfire without his armour
	Ultra Magnus As has become all too common over the years, Ultra Magnus (why isn't he plain old Magnus when he's not wearing his powered armour?) is a straight repaint of the Optimus Prime mold... but with far less paintwork. Prime is actually lacking some of the paintwork he was supposed to have, but this one is manages to be pretty pathetic. Curiously, though, while Prime has bare grey plastic for his truck grille and bumper, those parts are painted silver on Ultra Magnus. As you'd expect, transformation is identical to Prime, posability is identical to Prime and, ignoring the sparse paintwork, the figure is just as much fun as Prime. This model is part of a 2-pack - Battle for Autobot City - with Classics Skywarp
	Final Battle Optimus Prime Easily one of the worst incarnations of Optimus Prime, both in robot mode and in vehicle mode. Admittedly, the robot mode is very posable, and looks reasonable at a distance, but this thing is actually significantly worse than Robot Masters G1 Convoy. Remember how the truck body didn't quite meet the truck bottom? Well, on this the truck body just isn't deep enough to look realistic (particularly in comparason to 'normal' Classics Prime), and the front wheels actually stick out. Additionally, the rear end of the truck doesn't retract at all, making it far too long and making the cab look even smaller. The head sculpt is pretty terrible, too... for some reason, it makes me think it was modelled on a plushie Optimus Prime - it's just too 'chubby' and rounded. It has a couple of 'interesting' gimmicks. In robot mode, there's a button on the back that makes the upper chest spin right round... This is alleged to be a kind of super punching action, but it just looks silly. The other gimmick is that his gun also transforms. In truck mode, it acts as a mounted machine gun (more suited to a Classics Hound... had there been such a glorious thing), but for robot mode, it transforms into something that looks suspiciously like a Tommy-gun. Give this guy a gangster suit and a trilby... Why did we need two versions of Optimus Prime for the Classics line? Oh, yes... So we could have another version of Megatron as well... Multiple incarnations of the same character appear to be the norm these days. Yawn.
CLASSICS DECEPTICONS
	Megatron For the first time since Generation 1, Megatron has returned to his roots to become a handgun. Rather than anything 'real world', though, like the Walther P-38 of Gen 1, Hasbro have turned him into a fairly generic sci-fi 'blaster' weapon. They've made some fairly odd choices in colour for this one, too... While he's largely white and 'Decepticon Purple', his transparent parts are all green... when surely red would have been a far more appropriate and menacing choice. Gold accents bring out some of the details, and then the critical gun parts are bright orange to comply with US gun laws. The majority of both gun and robot modes is a dull, flat grey. The gun mode's sight, just like Gen 1, becomes an arm-mounted cannon, though this one seems more unweildy than even Gen 1's Fusion Cannon. Also, because of the transformation, it's mounted on the outside of his forearm, so posing him in Gen 1 style leads to his hand being twisted into a most uncomfortable position. While this is a homage to Generation 1 Megatron, there are interesting parallels with Beast Wars Megatron, particularly in the way that the two halves of the gun mode 'shell' form wings on the robot's back. I must say I'm a little disappointed in the head. While it's clearly a Gen 1 homage, it's derived mainly from the TV series, and looks far too simple. That said, my only real complaint is the way they've butchered his profile, and made him a Generic Baddy.
	Starscream The Decepticon Air Commander returns and, far from being a Robot Masters rehash, he's a miniature Masterpiece - literally, this model bears a striking resemblance to MP-03 Starscream. While it's obviously simplified because of the smaller size of this model, it manages to capture most of the details one way or another. Much like Gen 1, Classics Starscream has the nose of the plane hanging off the back of his head and, while it certainly restricts its motion, at least this version's head has motion. The Gen 1 Seekers were always basically bricks, but this model shows up exactly how poor they - and, indeed, the Robot Masters versions - really were. The only real complaint one can level against this model is that the missile launchers are vastly oversized, verging on the ridiculous. Also, Gen 1 had two different kinds of missile, whereas Classics just has his Null Rays... which shouldn't really be missiles anyway. Considering his size, this is a very well engineered model, and quite poseable, though the paint job is a little sparse and poorly done. Certainly an excellent homage, though it's a bit of a shame that - so far at least, there only seems to be plans for a Skywarp repaint, no Thundercracker.
	Astrotrain Another character not seen since Gen-1 (not including the Collectors' Club exclusive, which is a repaint of Armada Jetfire and - crucially - not a triple-changer), Astrotrain has been updated in more ways than one. Firstly, whereas Gen 1 had him become - somewhat anachronistically - a steam train, Classics Astrotrain turns into a Japanese-style bullet train. Sadly, while toymaking technology has improved dramatically in the intervening years, bullet train mode isn't very convincing because of the way the shuttle mode's wings fold down at the rear - they don't quite cover everything they need to. On the Gen 1 version, most of the train mode was essetially a shell, so that was the most convincing mode of the three. Shuttle mode fares a little better, though having two halves of the front of bullet train mode sticking out at the back doesn't look very convincing. With nowhere to hide them, though, this is a necessary concession. Robot mode works quite well, and is certainly a huge improvement on the short-armed, floppy-legged Gen 1 brick. His head does seem a little too large, and the feet are rather awkward, but the overall effect is good. Clever jointing in the hips and knees makes this one quite poseable, too, and the Gen 1 homage is completed by the addition of a huge handgun. As with Starscream, the paint job on this model is disappointingly sloppy, and the predominant colour is the white of the bear plastic, which made him rather difficult to photograph well... A different background colour might have helped.
	Ramjet A clever partial re-use of the Starscream/Skywarp mold, with a new nosecone (to facilitate the 'conehead' robot mode) and an entirely new wing configuration. The missiles are also a new mold, but the launchers are the same Transformation remains essentially the same, but dealing with the head is far less complicated - it literally just twists right round (the face is actually visible on the underside of the plane, just like the Gen-1 Seeker mold!). There are small fragments of wing on either side which get rotated round, but the bulk of the wing is fixed to the lower leg. On the whole, I'm not sure I like the 'coneheads' on principle - the were, after all, an intentional mistransformation to differentiate Ramjet, Dirge and Thrust from Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker (because, y'know, colour scheme and wing configuration don't mean a thing). That said, while Gen-1 'coneheads' looked daft, this one looks pretty good... ...and it seems this year's BotCon set will complete the roster of Classics Seekers.
	Skywarp The other half of the Battle for Autobot City pack, with Ultra Magnus, this is another straight repaint... but what an excellent job they've done. Despite being exactly the same model as Starscream, Skywarp is completely individual. He doesn't look clownish, either, which is easily Starscream's biggest failing. By some bizarre coincidence, my Gen-1 Reissue Skywarp has a loose wing, and this fellow has a loose launcher. What is it about Skywarp and loose bits?
	Final Battle Megatron While FB Optimus Prime is a wholly new model, the 2-pack Megatron is more of a variation on a theme. After Generation 1, Megatron spent many years as a tank, and this model is very much like most of them... only better in many ways. Posability has been much improved thanks to the introduction of halfway decent feet and, in total about 15 worthwhile joints in the legs, body and arms. The head sculpt, compared to FBOP, is excellent, and the only real complaint anyone could have about this one is its right arm. I'm perfectly happy for Megatron to have an arm-mounted cannon, harking back to Gen-1's Fusion Cannon, but this thing was very poorly handled, so as to introduce another pointless 'spinning' gimmick. Rotate the 'hand' round to that the cannon and it's armour plate are perpendicular to the arm, and Megatron has a 'spinning claw weapon', for some reason. I don't get it. Due to the way the arm is molded, it's actually quite difficult to place the cannon in such as way as to make it useful while retaining the elbow's mobility, partly because if the 'spinner' button which juts out of his elbow. Not the greatest Megatron ever, but he certainly makes the 2-pack almost worthwhile. Not too sure about the colour scheme, though

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