Transformer fans sometimes fight over the silliest things – then I guess that’s what the Internet is for. One of the most enduring arguments over the decades has been ‘which was a better series: Generation One or Beast Wars’.
Personally I’ve never really weighed in on the debate as I enjoy them both. Both had some great cartoon episodes, both produced some fantastic toys, both have contributed a huge amount to the enduring Transformers mythos. So why the debate even exists is beyond me.
But exist it does.
In an effort to bring decades of arguing to an end I have examined the issue and, through scientific experimentation and logical deduction, found an answer to this long pondered question.
So sit back and enjoy the following video which will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt which was better – Beast Wars or Generation One.
I hope this video has answered all the questions you ever had about the relative quality of both franchises in relation to each other.
Today at the New York Toyfair the world was treated to the teaser trailer for the new Transformers cartoon trilogy coming to Netflix later this year – War For Cybertron: Siege. Even though this has been touted as ‘Anime’ we are getting a CGI cartoon like the Power of the Prime’s trilogy rather than some stylized Japanese animation. Based mainly on the Siege Toyline, but also reminiscent of the opening sequence to the 2018 Bumblebee Movie, this cartoon has kept many of us in keen anticipation and is set in the final stages of their war on Cybertron. Watch below:
Video from Transformers Official Youtube Channel
So let’s have a quick rundown of what characters we saw in this short video, what they did and what implications it could have for the upcoming cartoons storyline.
AUTOBOTS
Optimus Prime: Voiced by Peter Cullen, we see Optimus doing his usual – saving other Autobots, battling Megatron, protecting the Allspark and so on. More interestingly, you get to see some of his warriors questioning his methods rather than talking about how great he is.
Elita-1: The only Transformer from the video that did not have a toy in the Siege line or the upcoming Earthrise (her figure coming out in POTP). Her line said to Optimus ‘This is not the life I imaged for us’ brings up the question: is she referring to her and Optimus indicating a relationship between the two, or referring to the Transformer race in general.
Ultra Magnus: Instead being his usual ‘Yes Prime’ self, we see him questioning Prime’s methods, and even going in secret to see the Decepticon command. This potentially could be the most interesting we have ever seen him portrayed on screen.
Bumblebee: Another bot that is usually at Prime’s beck and call, we see him telling Prime his attitude to the war will get him killed. Thankfully it seems he is based on his G1 self which will get a toy in the Earthrise line, rather being based on the Bumblebee Movie.
Chromia: Seen fighting Barricade, one wonders with the inclusion of her and Elita, does this mean we will finally get a break from Windblade and Arcee being the two main female Autobots in any given story?
Cog: Seen dying of an injury, but his parts being used by Sideswipe in Weaponizer fashion. Oddly later in the trailer we see a bot that has Cog’s body type but is coloured like Six-Gun running after Elita. A trick of the lighting or the first animation error?
Wheeljack: Like Bumblebee, he has a figure coming up in the Earthrise toyline, so will he transform in the cartoon?
Megatron:Not voiced by Frank Welker, but sounds good all the same. Sporting some battle damage and some big Overlord-style lips. Like Optimus he is doing his usual – inspiring his army and trying to kick Prime’s butt.
Soundwave: Seen standing off to the side of the Decepticon command table. Does this mean he wont be as big a character as usual? Or without Welker’s voice that he may remain silent?
Shockwave: Also seen at the command table.
Refracktor/s: Two Refracktor’s are seen firing over a barricade. The powers that be have obviously gone for the choice of having them all identical like the G1 cartoon, rather than Spectro, Viewfinder and Spyglass getting their own colour schemes and weaponry.
Barricade: I guess this solidifies Barricade’s inclusion to the G1 universe. Seen sitting at the command table as well as putting the smack down on Chromia.
Skytread: Seen getting punched in the face by Optimus.
Jetfire: In a few scenes with Megatron and most definitely sporting the Decepticon symbol. Looks like we will get the inevitable ‘Jetfire swaps sides’ storyline at some point.
Impactor: Like Jetfire we see his Decepticon incarnation. Will he, like Jetfire undoubtedly will, join the side of the Autobots at some stage in the series?
SEEKERS: From some shots it looks like there is going to be a lot of them, perhaps all of them. Here are the ones that were definitely spotted:
Starscream: In both battle scenes and at the command table. Given all the other story implications, we might actually be spared the ‘Starscream betrays Megatron’ story that has been played to death in the past.
Skywarp: Battle scenes and at the command table.
Thundercracker: In a few battle scenes
Redwing and Acid Storm: Seen standing guard as Ultra Magnus approaches the Decepticon base.
So, seems like there may be some interesting story arcs and some interesting takes on characters. One can just hope that this cartoon is better than the last CGI transformers cartoons we received.
What do you think of this trailer? Pop it in the comments section below!
Yes kids, the wait is over! For months now we have been seeing previews of both the new Hero Cards and Battle Cards for Wave 2 of Transformers: Trading Card Game, the wave entitled Rise of the Combiners. People have been anxiously awaiting to get thier hands on these cards to see if they are as good, or even better, than the excellent cards that were released in Wave 1 last year.
Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have been kind enough to send me a box of the new Booster Packs from Wave 2, in order to review in much the same way I did the Metroplex Pack last year and the Dirge Reveal several weeks ago. Once again, it must be stated that I have not been paid to do this review nor have either company tried to dictate the contents of this blog.www.bigangrytrev.com would like to thank both Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast for the opportunity to examine these cards.
Oh the sweet anticipation of opening!
Now, as you may have noticed from the title of this blog post, this is Part 1 of a review of these booster packs. Why am I doing it over more than one post? Because in recieving a box of the Booster Packs, each box holding 30 packs which in turn contain at least 8 cards, it means I now have over 200 cards on my billiard table (er… I mean gaming table) with at least a hundred of them different! That’s a LOT of cards to look at and a pretty big undertaking! So in Part 1 we will be examining Drop Rates, new types of cards, Combiners and new Hero & Battle Cards. In Part 2 we will look at how they perform in gameplay.
The Packs Themselves
Each Pack contains 7 Battle Cards and 1 Hero Cardor1 Pair of Combiner Character Cards. We will look at the likelihood of doubles near the end of this review.
The Cards Themselves
Note:At the end of each discussion of the new cards I will be popping in their Drop Rate. This is to signify how many times I was able to find these cards from the 30 packs contained within a single box of Booster Packs.
Combiner Cards
So many Combiners to be made!
Whereas Hero Cards have the robot on the front and the alt-mode on the back, Combiner Character Cards come in pairs. On one card you will find the robot mode and the other the alt-mode. On the back of the cards you will find artwork to join together to make the Combiner itself.
Gotta Combin’em all!
There are 5 different Combiners to make from the Booster Packs: Volcanicus, Optimus Maximus, Predaking, Superion and Menasor.
The Stunticons
I was lucky enough to find from the one box all 5 sets of Character Cards in order to make Menasor. I look forward to bringing you a review of just how he goes in actual gameplay. I was also able to form what could be termed a Mini-Combiner:
The Dreadwing PairDreadwing
First revealed exclusively by Ozformers, this pair of Decepticons – Dreadwind and Blackwing(formerly Darkwing) combine to form the Dreadwing Sky Destroyer Jet. This was a smart move on the part of the game makers, as it means you have a greater likelihood of making a Combiner sooner rather than later since he only needs two Character Card pairs instead of 5 or 6.
Drop Rate: Both the side of the box and the official website say the drop rate for Combiner Character Cards is about 50%. When opening multiple packs I was pleasantly surprised to find, for me at least, it surpassed that promise. Out of the 30 packs I opened, 20 of them had Combiner Character Cards. So rather than a drop rate of 50% it was a drop rate of 66%. That’s great considering most Combiners are made up of 5 or 6 different characters you have to collect.
Hero Cards
New Hero Cards
As well as the Combiner Cards, we have the same sort of Hero Cards that were released in Wave 1. There are quite a few new characters getting a showing, and many of the most famous characters, such as Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream, have been released again but with new artwork and stats
New Hero Cards
I got a mix of characters I had other versions of from Wave 1 along with a good dose of new guys. I was particularly pleased I was able to get Dirge since www.bigangrytrev.com was given the exlusive reveal of Dirge earlier in the year. Some Character Cards have their special abilities blank, such as Novastar and Ruckus. I have yet to figure out exactly why this is and how it will affect their gameplay value.
Drop Rate: Those packs that don’t come with a Combiner Character come with a regular Hero Card. I found the drop rate to be one in every 3 packs, which doesn’t sound great but actually is if you are after the Combiners specifically, which I believe most players will be actively seeking.
Drop rates for Ultra Rare cards are described as 50:1. You’ll note I got a King Starscream which is indeed Ultra Rare. So I got one at a ratio of 30:1 but its entirely possible I could buy 20 more packs without finding another.
Battle Cards
Before we had Battle Cards that came in a few different colours based on their ability to attack and defend, with some cards overlapping. Rise of the Combiners see’s some new categories introduced.
Star Battle Cards
Oh. My. Primus!
This cards are definitely going to be a game changer! Big time! Got a team which only uses up 22 or 23 or the 25 Star allowance. Well now there are Battle Cards that have stars! That means you can put them in as part of your team. Valued at 1 Star apiece, these are perfect for rounding up your team. I can see Bolt of Lightning being very useful but it’s Vandalize, where you can scrap all enemy Weapons, Armour or Utilities, that blows me away! I can’t think of many instances where that wont be invaluable!
Drop Rate: There are 7 Star Battle Cards, in 30 packs I obtained 6 of them.
Enigma Cards
Enigma Cards
So you have all your characters needed to create a Combiner. But you need one more thing – an Enigma Card. There is an Enigma Card for each Combiner. Being Green (discussed shortly), these cards can be rescued from the discard pile which saves a lot of heartache. The Enigma Card is used to make your Combiner Character cards join together, even if some of those characters have been previously KO’ed.
Drop Rate: In 30 packs I was able to get all 5 Enigma’s as well as a couple of spares.
Team Specific Cards
Team Specific Cards
There are specific cards that you can use with each team but no others. They can be placed on only one member of this team. I have yet to see if they can be retroactive – for instance I have a Dinobot Swoop card from Wave 1, but it does not make up the Volcanicus Team. Can I use my Electrified Spikes card on that old Swoop since he is a Dinobot and the card talks about Dinobots, not Volcanicus? Stay tuned for future reviews to find out!
Drop Rate: I was able to find cards for four of the five teams within 30 packs.
Green Battle Cards
If you get a Green Battle Card, it means that you are able to retrieve it from the discard pile. You can only do this with one card per turn. Whilst this sounds good but not game changing, it can be of extreme importance given what some of these cards (such as the Enigma’s) do.
Regular Battle Cards
White Battle Cards
We have a slew of new Battle Cards in already established catagories, so many it would take too long to list them all. Some of them we have already seen in exclusive reveals, such as those made by Lisamaree on the Life with SPROGS site, like Inferno Breath and Surprise Attack. I was a little disappointed to not get a Defensive Driving card but don’t believe it will take me long to obtain one.
Orange Battle CardsBlue Battle Cards
Drop Rate: Well you are guaranteed 7 Battle Cards per pack. I was very heartened that I never got the same two cards in the same pack.
So there ya go, a not-so-short synopsis of the new cards on offer from the Wave 2 Transformers Trading Card Game Rise of the Combiner Booster Packs. I was very pleasantly surprised that I only got two doubles of characters (Dead End and Mirage) out of the 30 packs, which made this undertaking even bigger! Stay tuned for Part 2, where we test these bad bots (now available in selected stores) out with some serious gameplay!
For a bit of fun and a bit of comparison I pulled out of my storage crates a lot of my Decepticons. In particular, toys that were updates of classic characters, mainly (but not exclusively) from G1. I was amazed and how many characters have gotten new toys!
So enjoy this short video I made of the display. Also below you will find some screenshots and a full list of the Decepticons on display along with links to reviews of many of the figures displayed here – have fun!
